The history of Rome

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TITUS LIVIUS.

TRANSLATED FROM THE ORIGINAL,

WITH NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS,

BY GEORGE BAKER, A.M.

Hislor; is Philosophy teaching by examples.— BOMNGAROKII.

A NEW EDITION, CAREFULLY CORRECTED AND REVISED.

IN TWO VOLUMES.

VOL. I.

LONDON:
PUBLISHED BY JONES & CO.

TEMPLE OF THE MUSES, (I.ATE LACKING-TON'S,) FINSBURY SQUARE.

MDCCCXXX.

78W826

GLASGOW:

HUTCHISON AND BROOKMAN, PRJNTEHS.

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PREFACE.

TITUS LIVIUS, the illustrious author of the Roman History, descended from a noble
family in Rome, and was born at Patavium, now called Padua, in Italy, in the 694th year
of Rome, fifty-eight years before the commencement of the Christian era.

Like many other literary men, his life was contemplative, rather than active ; very few
particulars, therefore, concerning him, have come down to us. He resided at Rome for
a considerable time, where he was much noticed, and highly honoured, by Augustus ;
to whom he was previously known, it is said, by some writings which he had dedicated
to him. Seneca, however, is silent upon the subject of this supposed dedication," though
he mentions the work itself, which, he says, consisted of moral and philosophical
dialogues.

He appears to have conceived the project of writing his history, immediately upon his
settling at Rome ; or, perhaps, he came thither for the purpose of collecting the neces-
sary materials for that great work.

Augustus appointed him preceptor to his grandson Claudius, afterwards emperor. But
he seems not much to have attended to the advantage which might have resulted from
so advantageous a connection, and to have occupied himself, entirely, in the composi-
tion of his history ; parts of which, as they were finished, he read to Augustus and
Mecsenas.

Distracted with the tumult, and disgusted, it may be, with the intrigues and cabals of
Rome, he sought retirement and tranquillity in the beautiful country, and delightful
climate, of Naples. Here, enjoying uninterrupted literary ease and quiet, he continued
his labour and finished his work, comprising, in a hundred and forty-two books, the
history of Rome, from the foundation of that city to the death of Drusus, containing
a period of seven hundred and forty-three years, ending nine years before the birth
of our Saviour. Having completed this great work, he returned to pass the remain-
der of his days in his native country, where he died, A. D. 17, at the age of seventy-five
years.

What family he left behind him, is not known. Quintilian, however, mentions that he
had a son, fur whose instruction he drew up some excellent observations on rhetoric ; and
there is also reason to suppose that he had a daughter, married to Lucius Magius, anora-"*''
tor, who is advantageously spoken of by Seneca.

How highly his works were esteemed, and himself personally honoured and respected,
may be gathered from the manner in which he is mentioned by many ancient authors.
Tacitus tells us,' that " T. Livius, that admirable historian, not more distinguished by his
eloquence than by his fidelity, was so lavish in his praise of Pompey, that Augustus
called him the Pompeian : and yet his friendship for him was unalterable." The younger

I Annul, ir. 34.

;v PREFACE.

Pliny informs us,1 that "a certain inhabitant of the city of Cadiz was so struck with
the illustrious character of Livy, that he travelled to Rome on purpose to see that great
genius ; and as soon as he had satisfied his curiosity, returned home.

Of the hundred and forty-two books, of which the history of Rome originally con-
sisted, thirty-five only have come down to us. The contents of the whole, the hundred
ind thirty-seventh and eighth excepted, have been preserved ; compiled, as some, with-
out any good reason, have supposed, by Livy himself; while others, with equal impro-
bability, have asserted them to be the work of Lucius Floras, author of a portion of
Roman history. Whoever may have been the compiler, a fact as useless as it is now
impossible to ascertain, they are highly curious ; and although they contain but a faint
outline, yet they serve to convey some idea of the original, and greatly excite regret at
the loss of so large a portion of this valuable work.

The parts of this history which we now possess, are, the first decade : for it appears, from
his having prefixed separate prefatory introductions to each portion, that the author had
divided his work into distinct parts, consisting each of ten books. The first decade com-
mences with the foundation of the city of Rome, and rapidly runs over the affairs of four
hundred and sixty years. The second decade is lost : it comprised a period of seventy-
five years ; the principal occurrence in it was the first Punic war, in which the Romans,
after a long and arduous struggle, were finally victorious. The third decade is extant : it
contains a particular and well-detailed account of the second Punic war ; the longest, as our
author himself observes, and the most hazardous war, the Romans had ever been engaged
in ; in the course of which they gained so many advantages, and acquired so much
military experience, that no nation was ever able, afterwards, to withstand them. The
fourth decade contains the Macedonian war against Philip, and the Asiatic against An-
tiochus. These are related at considerable length, insomuch that the ten books comprise
a space of twenty-three years only. Of the fifth decade, the first five books only re-
main, and these very imperfect. They give an account of the war with Perseus king of
Macedonia, who gains several advantages against the Romans, but is at length subdued,
and his kingdom reduced to the form of a Roman province ; of the corruption of several
Roman governors in the administration of the provinces, and their punishment ; and of
the third Punic war, which lasted only five years.

Of the remaining books, it has been already said, that the contents only have been
preserved; and they serve to show us the greatness of our loss, the greatest literary
loss, perhaps, owing to the ravages of the time. Livy had employed forty-five books in
the history of six centuries ; but so many, so various, and so interesting were the events,
which he had before him for selection, in the latter period of the Republic, that it took
him above double that number to relate the occurrences of little more than a hundred
and twenty years. From the admirable manner in which he has written the former part
of his History, we may judge of what must have been the merit of this latter part, which
fails us, unfortunately, at a most remarkable period, when rational curiosity is raised to
the highest pitch. Nor can we doubt the excellence of its execution, when we consider
how much better, and how much more copious his materials must have been ; for, be-
sides what he could draw from his own personal knowledge, having lived among, and
conversed familiarly with, the most considerable men in the empire, who were them-
selves principal actors in the important transactions which he relates, he had access to
the best possible written materials ; to the memoirs of Sylla, Csesar, Labienus, Pollio,

2 Kp. II. 3.

PREFACE. v

Augustus, and many others which were then extant. What would we not give for the
picture, finished by so able a hand, from the sketches of such masters ? What delight
would it not afford us, to see the whole progress of a government from liberty to ser-
vitude?— the whole series of causes and effects, apparent and real, public and private?
— those which all men saw, and all good men opposed and lamented, at the time ; and
those which were so disguised to the prejudices, to the partialities, of a divided people,
and even to the corruption of mankind, that many did not, and that many could pretend
they did not, discern them, till it was too late to resist them; I own, says a noble
author ', I should be glad to exchange what we have of this history, for what we
have not.

Much as our Historian was admired, and highly as he was respected, yet he was not
without his detractors. He was charged with Patavinity in his writings. The first
person who brought this charge against him seems to have been Asinius Pollio, a polite
and elegant writer, and a distinguished ornament of the age of Augustus.f

In what this Patavinity consisted, no ancient author having defined it, it is not now easy
to say ; and, accordingly, it is a matter which has been much disputed. Some will have
it, that it was a political term, and that it signified an attachment to the Pompeian party :
others contend that it meant a hatred to the Gauls ; that it was symbolical of some blame-
able particularity, they know not what. The more probable opinion, however, seems,
from the term itself, to be, that it signified some provincial peculiarity of dialect. An-
cient Italy, like modern Italy, had its differences, not of idiom merely, but of language,
in every different province. In proportion as their language varies, at this day, from the
purity of the Tuscan dialect, they become almost unintelligible to each other : with dif-
ficulty can a Venetian and a Neapolitan converse together; that is, the people: for the
well-educated in every country learn to speak and write the dialect of the metropolis ;
although, if brought up in their own provinces, however nearly their language may
approach the purity of that of the capital, yet it will ever retain some tincture of pro-
vinciality.

If this supposition of the meaning of the word Patavinity be right, the fact, upon such
authority as that of Pollio, must be admitted.; although in what, precisely, it consisted, it is
not at present perhaps possible to determine. Much has been written upon the subject,
which in reality seems now to be an idle inquiry ; and as a dissertation upon this matter
could afford neither instruction nor entertainment to the mere English reader, for whose
use the following translation is principally intended, we shall dismiss the subject with ob-
serving, that what Quintilian has not told us, no modern scholar will ever, it is probable,
have penetration enough to discover : and we may be also allowed to suppose, that, what-
ever these peculiarities may have been, as that great critic has not thought them worth
pointing out, they cannot have been either very numerous, or of very material conse-
quence.

Nor will, perhaps, another objection, made by modern critics, be deemed of much
greater weight. They dislike, it seems, the plan of his History, and they found that dis
like chiefly on the speeches which he so frequently introduces, which, they contend, it is
not probable could have been spoken upon the occasions alleged ; and therefore they pro-
nounce them to be violations of truth. That many of them were not spoken by the per-
sons to whom they are ascribed, nor upon the occasions alleged, must be admitted : but
they do not, upon that account, violate the truth of history. Nobody can suppose that

1 Bulingbroke. ( Quiritil. Instil, i. 5. viii. i.

vi PREFACE.

our Author ever meant to impose upon his readers, and to make them believe that what he
has given us, as said by the different persons whom he introduces, was really said by
them : the supposition is absurd. He could only mean to vary his style ; and to enliven
and embellish matter, which, if continued in the even and unvaried tone of narration,
would be sometimes heavy and tedicus; making these supposed speeches a vehicle for
conveying, and that in a very lively manner, the arguments for and against a proposed
measure j and he thus often brings into them a relation of facts, chiefly facts of remoter
times, and much more agreeably than he could have interwoven them into his narrative,
which should always be progressive. Modern historians, it is true, have rejected this
plan : but Livy is not reprehensible, because his ideas of historic structure were different
from theirs. He chose rather to coniform himself to a custom which prevailed very
generally before his time, and which succeeding writers, of great taste and judgment,
have approved and adopted. The conduct of Livy, in this respect, if necessary, might be
justified by the example of Herodotus, Xenophon, Polybius, Sallust, Tacitus, and others,
whose histories abound with speeches. These speeches frequently give a more perfect
idea of the character of the supposed speaker, than could easily have been done by mere
description ; and it must be acknowledged, that the facts which they sometimes contain,
would, if thrown into formal narrative, with episodes and digressions, lose much of their
animation and force, and consequently much of their grace and beauty.

When we consider the use of such speeches, we shall not perhaps feel inclined to give
them up, although many are to be held as mere fictions ; contrived, however, with much
ingenuity, and for the laudable purpose of conveying useful reflections and salutary ad-
monitions. But though it be admitted that several of them are fictitious, yet it may be
contended that they are not all so. Many of those delivered in the senate, in popular
assemblies, in conventions of ambassadors, and other the like occasions, are most pro-
bably genuine ; and, if they are so, they furnish us with very curious specimens of an-
cient eloquence. Public speakers among the Romans were in the habit of publishing
their speeches upon particular occasions ; and others, delivered upon important occur-
rences, would, doubtless, be noted down, and circulated, by those who were curious about,
and probably interested in the subjects of them. We know that, in our own times, the
substance of speeches in the British parliament, and other assemblies, has often been ac-
curately collected, and carefully preserved ; and we may, therefore, reasonably suppose
that speeches in the Roman senate, upon matters in which the whole community were
deeply interested, would be heard with equal attention, and preserved with equal
care.

A charge, of a very heavy nature, has been brought against our Author, which, M'ere it
well founded, would utterly disqualify him from writing a credible history. He is ac-
cused of superstitious credulity. That he was of a serious and religious turn of mind is
sufficiently apparent from many passages in his History, in which he severely reprehends
the licentiousness and profligacy of the times he lived in, and applauds the simplicity of
conduct, aud sanctity of manners, of ancient days, when " that disregard of the gods,
which prevails in the present age, had not taken place ; nor did every one, by his own
interpretations, accommodate oaths and the laws to his particular views, but rather adap-
ted his practice to them."1 Again, speaking of Spurius Papirius, he describes him as
a " youth, born in an age when that sort of learning which inculcates contempt of the
gods was yet unknown "f Numberless passages, to this effect, might be cited ; suffice it,

1 B. Hi. 46. | B. x. 40.

PREFACE. rii

however, to observe, that, while reprehending, with strong indignation, the profane, tho
impious, and the immoral among his countrymen, ho omits no opportunity of applauding
the virtuous and the good.

But, to be religious is one thing ; to be superstitious is another. He has certainly
recorded many and monstrous prodigies ; to enumerate which would be both tedious and
disgusting. As, however, they were not merely the subject of popular tales and vulgar
conversation, but the objects of particular attention, noticed always by the magistrates,
and even by the senate, whom we frequently find ordering expiations of them, it was his
duty, as a historian, to relate them, since they thus made a part of the public transac-
tions of the times. And this he does with great caution ; apparently anxious lest he
should be supposed to believe in such absurdities, and protesting, as it were, against the
imputation of superstition. Thus, upon an occasion where he relates extraordinary
prodigies, (more extraordinary, indeed, than in any other part of his History,) he intro-
duces his account of them by saying, " Numerous prodigies were reported to have
happened this year ; and the more they were credited by simple and superstitious people,
the more such stories multiplied." ' He generally prefaces the mention of all such, with
a reserve as to his own belief of them : — " Many prodigies were reported." a " It was
believed that crows had not only torn with their beaks some gold in the capitol, but had
even eaten it."3 And again; "Fires from heaven, breaking out in various places, had,
as was said," * &c. Nor is he at all scrupulous in declaring these numerous prodigies
to derive their origin from superstitious weakness : thus ; " so apt is superstitious weak-
ness to introduce the deities into the most trivial occurrences." * " The mention of one
prodigy was, as usual, followed by reports of others." 6 " From this cause arose abun-
dance of superstitious notions ; and the minds of the people became disposed both to
believe and to propagate accounts of prodigies, of which a very great nnmber were re-
ported." ' " The consuls expiated several prodigies which had been reported." •
" Several deceptions of the eyes and ears were credited." 9 One is almost tempted to
think, that those who charge our author with credulity, had never read him ; otherwise,
how could they overlook such passages as these, and especially the following, in which
he seems aware that such a charge might "be brought against him, and labours to obviate
it? — " In proportion as "the war was protracted to a greater length, and successes and
disappointments produced various alterations, not only in the situations, but in the senti-
ments of men, superstitious observances, and these mostly introduced from abroad, gained
such ground, among the people in general, that it seemed as if either mankind, or the
deities, had undergone some sudden change." 10

From the passages here adduced, and very many others to the same purport might be
quoted, it may be confidently pronounced, that our author was not the dupe of those
vulgar rumours, those " deceptions of the eyes and ears," which yet he has thought it
his duty to record. And, in truth, it seems as if the people themselves, at least the more
enlightened of them, were equally inclined, if established custom would have allowed, to
disregard them : " They grew weary," we are told, " not only of the thing itself, but of
the religious rites enjoined in consequence ; for neither could the senate be convened,
nor the business of the public be transacted, the consuls were so constantly employed in
sacrifices and expiations." ' And accordingly, with a view to diminish the reports of

1 B- xxiv. 10. 2 B. xxvi i. 4. SB. xxx 2. 4 B. xxxix 22.

5 B. xxvii. 23. 6 Ib. 37. 7 B. xxix. 14. 8 B. xxiv. 44.

9 B. xxiv. 44. 10 B. xxv. 1. 11 B. xxxiv. 55.

viii PREFACE.

these miracles, and the troublesome ceremonies consequent thereupon, the consuls, by
direction of the senate, published an edict, that when " on any day public worship should
be ordered, in consequence of the report of an earthquake, no person should report
another earthquake on that day." ' indeed, how very little faith the senate really had
in omens, prodigies and auspices, we may learn from a remarkable order made by them,
upon receiving from a consul the report of unfavourable omens, in no less than three
victims successively sacrificed ; " they ordered him," says the historian, " to continue
sacrificing the larger victims, until the omens should prove favourable." »

It may be asked, — If Livy, the senate, and very many, perhaps the greater number of
the people disbelieved these omens and prodigies, why relate them ? He answers the
question himself. " I am well aware," he says, " that, through the same disregard to
religion, which has led men into the present prevailing opinion, of the gods never giving
portents of any future events, no prodigies are now either reported to government, or
recorded in histories. But, for my part, while I am writing the transactions of ancient
times, my sentiments, I know not how, become antique ; and I feel a kind of religious
awe, which compels me to consider that events which the men of those times, renowned
for wisdom, judged deserving of the attention of government, and of public expiation,
must certainly be worthy of a place in my history." 3 And, in truth, it must be allowed,
that an account of the religious ceremonies, and the superstitious observances, of dif-
ferent nations at different periods, forms not the least curious chapter in the history of
the human mind.

A still heavier charge hath been brought against our author ; indeed, the heaviest that
can be alleged against an historian ; namely, the violation of the first great law of his-
tory : which is, not to dare to assert any thing false, and not to suppress any truth.4 He
who could not be warped by views of private interest, has yet been supposed, from an
excess of zeal for the honour and glory of his country, in some instances, to have gone
beyond the truth, in others to have suppressed it.

It has been already mentioned how highly he was esteemed by Augustus, and that he
had even received no inconsiderable marks of favour from him. Yet he does not seem
to have courted this esteem, or those favours, by any particular attention on his part ;
nor to have endeavoured to repay them by the only return which authors can make, the
loading their patrons with perhaps undeserved praises. Although, at the time when he
wrote his History, Augustus was in complete possession of the Roman empire, yet he
names him but three times, and then but in a slight and cursory manner ; not availing
himself of the opportunity to heap adulation upon him, but simply giving him that praise
to which he was unquestionably entitled. On occasion of shutting the temple of Janus
he takes the opportunity of mentioning, that it had been but twice shut since the reign
of Numa: the first time in the consulship of Titus Manlius, on the termination of the
first Punic war ; and that " the happiness of seeing it shut again, the gods granted to our
own times ; when, after the battle of Actium, the emperor, Caesar Augustus, established
universal peace on knd and sea." s As Augustus was highly vain of this circumstance, had
our author's disposition led him to flatter this master of the world, it would have af-
forded him an excellent opportunity; as would another occasion, where speaking of
spolia opima, deposited by Cossus in one of the temples, he appeals to the testimony of

1 B. xxxiv. 55. 2 B. xli. 15. 3 B. xlii. 13.

4 Cic. de Oral. 5 B. j. 19.

PREFACE. ix

Augustus Ciesar, whom he styles " the founder or restorer of nil our temples." ' But above
all, he might have found a niche for him as well as others of his family, when he mentions
the distinguished victory gained by Livius and Nero over Hasdrubal. * He relates the
affair itself in very splendid terms, and bestows the most exalted praises on the admirable
conduct of those victorious generals. He who was thus rigidly tenacious, when private
motives, friendship, or interest might have swayed him, is nevertheless accused, from
national vanity, of having written with partiality; and of having sometimes exaggerated,
and sometimes concealed the truth.

It must be acknowledged that, when the grandeur of the Roman empire presents it-
self to his mind, he is not always sufficiently reserved in the terms which he uses. Thus,
speaking of Cincinnatus, 3 so early as the 296th year of Rome, he calls him " the sole
hope of the empire of Rome, at a time wheu we know that this thus pompously an-
nounced empire extended not more than twenty miles beyond the city. And again, not
many years after, * he introduces Canuleius boasting of its " eternal duration and im-
mense magnitude." s When we find him applying such magnificent terms to the Roman
state, then in its infancy, we must suppose him to have forgotten the period of which he
was writing, and to have had present to his mind the splendour and extent to which it
had attained at the time when he himself li ved and wrote. He even puts the same
language into the mouths of foreigners, and of enemies : he makes Hannibal call Rome
" the capital of the world," B at a time when the Romans had not even the whole of
Italy in subjection, and no possessions whatever out of Italy, except a part of Sicily and
Sardinia. In the game vain-glorious boasting strain he tells us, 7 that the Romans " were
never worsted by the enemy's cavalry, never by their infantry, never in open fight, never
on equal ground." He seems here not to have recollected, what he afterwards acknow-
ledges, * that, in the first battle with Hannibal, " it manifestly appeared that the Car-
thaginian was superior in cavalry ; and, consequently, that open plains, such as those
between the Po and the Alps, were unfavourable to the Romans." Although he thus
asserts in unqualified terms, that the Romans were never worsted in the open field, yet
he gives very just and candid accounts, not only of this battle with Hannibal, but of
another also against the same commander, and of that of Allia, against the Gauls; in
every one of which the Romans were completely overthrown.

But these, it is probable, should rather be considered as inadvertencies than falsehoods ;
and, however inclined we may be to overlook or excuse them, we shall not, perhaps, find
it so easy to justify some other omissions or changes, which he has made in his narra-
tive, respecting facts which, if fairly and fully related, would do no honour to his coun-
try; or would tend, in some degree, to tarnish the lustre of those celebrated characters
which he holds up to our admiration.

Polybius is allowed to be an author of consummate judgment, indefatigable industry,
and strict veracity. Livy himself admits that he is entitled to entire credit. He takes
extraordinary pains to investigate the canses of the second Punic war, and to determine
which of the two nations had incurred the guilt of breach of treaty. He discusses the
mutter at considerable length ; 9 stating accurately, and carefully examining, the facts and
arguments urged on both sides; and brings the matter to this issue, — that, if the war is
to be considered as taking its rise from the destruction of Saguntum, the Carthaginians

1 B. iv. 20. 2 B. xxvii. 47, 48, 49. 3 B. i!i. 2<">.

4. Y. It. 310. 5 15. iv. 4. 6 B. xxi. SO.

7 B. ix. 19. 8 B. xxi. 47. 9 Lib. x.

b

x PREFACE.

were in the wrong; but by no means so, if the matter be taken up somewhat higher, and
the taking of Sardinia by the Romans, and the imposing a tribute upon that island, be
included in the account : for that, th«n, the Carthaginians did no more than take occa-
sion to avenge an injury done them.

Now, how stands the account of this affair, according to Livy ? ' From this disquisi-
tion of Polybius, he carefully selects, and strongly states, every thing which tends to
favour the cause of the Romans ; but passes over in silence every fact, and every ar-
gument, urged by the Greek historian in favour of the Carthaginians : and thus he makes
the worse appear the better cause.

It has been urged, in defence of Livy, that, in his twelfth book, he gave the account of
the affair of Sardinia ; and that, if that book had not been lost, it might from thence
have appeared that the conduct of the Romans in that transaction was perfectly justifi-
able ; and that, consequently, what he has suppressed of Polybius's argument, he has
omitted not so much to favour the cause of his own countrymen, as because he knew
the allegations therein to be false. It must, however, be observed, that Polybius
was neither a Roman nor a Carthaginian; that he has alwa\ ; been held to be an
historian of the highest credit, and the strictest impartiality; that he lived nearer
the times he writes of than Livy, and was a most diligent inquirer into the truth
of the facts which he relates in his history; that he was by no means unfriendly
to the Romans, but the contrary, taking all opportunities to speak of them with the
highest praise.

It is not meant here to detract from the merit of Livy as an historian, by the
mention of such particulars as these. It may be assumed as a maxim, that no
historian of his own country can be, strictly speaking, impartial : he may intend to be
so ; but the mind will be under an involuntary bias, influenced by some secret inclination*
of which he himself may be unconscious ; he may believe what he asserts, and yet it may
not be true.

Another instance of his partiality to his countrymen may be found in his account of
the murder of Brachyllas, * who, he tells us, was made Bosotarch, or chief magistrate of
the Boeotians, " for no other reason, than because he had been commander of the Boeotians
serving in the army of Philip ; passing by Zeuxippus, Pisistratus, and the others who
had promoted the alliance with Rome." That these men, offended at present, and alarmed
about future consequences, resolved to take off Brachyllas, and accordingly procured six
assassins, who put him to death. In these and other circumstances, our author perfectly
agrees with Polybius, whose account of this whole affair he seems to have almost lite-
rally copied ; with the omission, however, out of tenderness for the character of Quin-
tius, of a very material circumstance : which is, that the project of murdering Brachyllas
was first opened in a conference between Zeuxis, Pisistratus, and Quintius, who told
them, that he would not himself do any thing to promote it ; but that, if they were dis-
posed to the execution of such a plan, he would do nothing to obstruct it : and he adds
that he directed them to confer upon the matter with Alexamenes, the ^Etolian, who
was the person, he says, that procured the assassins.

Another, and a very remarkable instance of partiality to the character of his country-
men, we have in his celebrated account of Scipio Africanus ; who seems, above all others
mentioned in his history, to have engaged his fondest, and, as he himself admits, his

1 B. xxi. 19. 2 B. xxxiii. 27, 28.

PREFACE. xi

partial attention : for when he first introduces him, he does it in the most advantageous
manner, as a youth who had scarcely attained to manhood, rescuing his father, who was
wounded in a hattle with Hannibal. " This," says he,1 " is the same youth who is,
hereafter, to enjoy the renown of terminating this war, and to receive the title of Africauus,
on account of his glorious victory over Hannibal and the Carthaginians." He then, in
a manner, avows his partiality ; for he tells us, that Coelius attributes the honour of saving
the consul to a slave, by nation a Lignrian : " but I rather wish the account to be true which
gives it to his son ; and so the fact is represented by most authors, and generally believed.

That Scipio was a most accomplished character, eminently distinguished by his
military talents, valour, coolness, patience under difficulties, and moderation in victory,
of most gentle manners, and a most generous temper, never has been, nor ever will bo
denied. But, if other writers knew the truth, and have spoken it, he was not that model
of absolute perfection which Livy paints him : and perhaps, had he been the cold and
unimpassioned stoic which he describes him to have been, he had deserved less praise
than is undoubtedly due to him when considered, as other authors represent him, of a
very different temperament.

That he generously restored a beautiful captive to her parents, and to her intended
spouse, Livy and Polyhius are agreed ; but they differ somewhat in the account of that
affair. Polybius tells us *, that a party of Roman youth, having taken captive a damsel
of exquisite beauty, brought her to Scipio, whom they knew to be much attached to
the sex ; and he makes Scipio say to them, that " a more acceptable gift could
not have been presented to him, were he in a private station : but that, in his si-
tuation of general, he could by no means accept of it." Livy suppresses entirely the cir-
cumstance of his favourite's amorous disposition : and yet, what he represents him assay-
ing to Allucius, bears so strong a resemblance to his answer, recorded by Polybius>
though he gives it a different turn, to accommodate it to his purpose, that we cannot
doubt his having had this passage in his eye : " If my thoughts were not totally employed
by the affairs of the public, and if I were at liberty to indulge in the pleasurable pursuits
adapted to my time of life" *, &c.

That Scipio, with all his perfections, was not that mirror of chastity which Livy is
desirous of representing him, we learn also from an anecdote related by Valerius Max-
imus4, who highly praises the amiable temper and patient, forbearance of his wife
^Emilia, " who," he tells us, " knew of his attachment to a female slave, and yet concealed
the fact, that there might be no stain upon so illustrious a character."

Such are the principal facts alleged to prove our Historian's neglect of veracity in his
narration. Rigorous, and, it may be, invidious scrutiny has noted some few more ; but
they are of little importance : and, as it is not improbable, so it is not unfair to suppose,
that the paucity of cotemporary historians may have induced those, who were also predis-
posed to believe that to be false which fuller information might perhaps have proved to be
true. Why may we not believe that he had better opportunities of knowing the truth
than the Greek historian ? He admits Polybius to be an author of credit, and yet he dif-
fers from him without scruple ; he cannot, then, surely, be thought to mean more than
that he was a writer of integrity, who compiled his history with fidelity, according to the
best information he was able to obtain : that he did not wilfully falsify any fact, rather
than that every fact he relates is strictly and absolutely true. He acknowledges him for
his master, but does not conceive himself bound to swear to his words.

1 B. xxxi. 46. S Lib. x. 3 B. xxxvi. 50. 4 Lib. vl. 7.

XH PREFACE.

Besides, it is but doing justice to our author to observe, that if, in some few, and those
not very material instances, he may have deviated from the truth, if he has done so, it is
never with an ill design : if he palliates a fault, or suppresses a fact, it is not so much for
the purpose of lessening the reputation, or tarnishing the glory of others, whether nations
or individuals, as to aggrandize the character of his own nation. He allows himself in a
practice which some of his countrymen have, since his time, carried to a much greater, as
well as a more blameable extent, and which has received the name of pious fraud.

But, whatever may be the case, whether our author must lie under the reproach of
softening facts in some instances, or even of suppressing them in others, yet will
his genius and talents as an historian, ever be respected. He cannot be denied the merit
of having furnished us with a perfect model of historical composition, in the purest and
most elegant style ; more remarkable for perspicuity of narration, and neatness of ex-
pression, than for depth of reasoning, or pomp of diction. Although he seldom digresses,
and but rarely indulges in moral observations or philosophical reflections, yet he never
loses sight of what he himself lays down in his preface as the great object of history :
the furnishing " clear and distinct examples of every line of conduct ; that we may
select for ourselves, and for the state to which we belong, such as are worthy of imita-
tion ; and carefully noting such, as, being dishonourable in their principles, are equally
so in their effects, learn to avoid them."

ALL that the present writer feels it necessary to say, upon delivering to the public a
new translation of so esteemed a work as Livy's History, is, that it lias been the employ-
ment, and amusement, of many years, — a very laborious, but not unuseful occupation :
and that, if he be not deceived by self-love, and the partiality of a few friends, who have
taken the trouble of looking into the work, it will be found not altogether unworthy of
public acceptance.

The translator had intended a much more copious commentary than that which now
accompanies this work ; and in that view, he had prepared several dissertations upon the
manners and customs of the Romans : their senate, their laws, their religious rites,
their arts of war, navigation, and commerce, &c. But he acknowledges, with much
pleasure, that he has since found his labour, upon those subjects, rendered unnecessary
by the publication of Dr Adam's Roman Antiquities : a work so excellent in its kind,
that whoever has the instruction of youth committed to his care, will do him injustice
if he omits to recommend it to their perusal. The notes, therefore, which are added,
and which the Translator now thinks it his duty to make as few and as short as pos-
sible, are such only as were deemed more immediately necessary to render some passages
intelligible to the mere English reader.

It hath been a usual practice, in Prefaces to works of this kind, for the authors of
them to load the labours of their predecessors with abuse : a practice, of which the pre-
sent Translator acknowledges he neither sees the necessity, nor the utility. For, should
he succeed in disparaging the works of others in the humble walk of translation / should
he be able to prove them ever so wretchedly executed, it will by no means follow from
thence that his is better. That he thinks it so, is clear from his presuming to publish it.
But as the public has an undoubted right to judge for itself, and will most assuredly

PREFACE. xiii

exercise that right, the success of every work, of whatever kind, must ultimately depend
upon its own merit.

To the public judgment, therefore, he submits his labour ; knowing that every
endeavour of his, except that of rendering it worthy of acceptance, would be useless ;
and that, in spite of his utmost exertions, his book will stand or fall by its own merit
or demerit, whichever shall be found to preponderate. The public candour he has
no reason to doubt ; and he awaits its decision with tranquillity, but not without
anxiety.

CONTENTS

OF

THE FIRST VOLUME.

Page
BOOK I. l

BOOK II. ... 43

BOOK III. ... 87

BOOK IV 135

BOOK V. . 175

BOOK VI. 213

BOOK VIL -' . 245

BOOK VIII 273

BOOK IX ."* 303

BOOK X. 339

CONTENTS of the LOST BOOKS, 372

BOOK XXL ...» 377

BOOK XXII. . 413

BOOK XXIII. 451

BOOK XXIV. ... 485

BOOK XXV. . . N . 517

BOOK XXVI 549

BOOK XXVII. 587

THE

HISTORY OF ROME.

BOOK I.

The arrival of ./Eneas in Italy, and his achievements there ; the reign of Ascanius in Alba, and of the other Syl-
vian kings, his successors- Birth of Romulus and Remiy. Romulus builds Rome ; forms the senate ; divides
the people into curias. His wars. He offers the spolia opima to Jupiter Feretri us ; is deified. Numa Pompilius
institutes the rites of religious worship ; builds a temple to Janus ; rules in peace, and is succeeded by Tiillns
Hostilius. His war with the Albans ; combat of the Horatii and Curiatii. The Albans removed to Rome.
Tullus killed by lightning. Ancus Martins conquers the Latines, and incorporates them with the Romans;
enlarges the city, and the bounds of his dominions- Lucumo arrives atf Rome ; assumes the name of Tarquinius ;
and, on the death of Ancus, gains possession of the throne; defeats the Latines and Sabines ; builds a wall
round the city, and makes the common sewers ; is slain by the sons of Ancus, and is succeeded by Servius
Tullius. He institutes the census ; divides the people into classes and centuries ; extends the pomcerium ; is
murdered by Lucius Tarquinius, afterwards surnamed Superbus- He seizes the throne, wages war with the
Volscians, and, with their spoils, builds a temple to Jupiter in the Capitol; in consequence of his son Scxtus
having forcibly violated the chastity of Lucretia, he is dethroned and banished. Consuls elected.

PREFACE.

WHETHER, in tracing the series of the Roman
History, from the foundation of the city, I
shall employ my time to good purpose, is a
question which I cannot positively determine ;
nor, were it possible, would I venture to pro-
nounce such determination ; for I am aware
that the matter is of high antiquity, and has
been already treated by many others ; the latest
writers always supposing themselves capable,
either of throwing some new light on the sub-
ject, or, by the superiority of their talents for
composition, of excelling the more inelegant
writers who preceded them. However that
may be, I shall, at all events, derive no small
satisfaction from the reflection that my best
endeavours have been exerted in transmitting
to posterity the achievements of the greatest
people in the world; and if, amidst such a mul-
titude of writers, my name should not emerge
from obscurity, I shall console myself by attri-
buting it to the eminent merit of those who
stand in my way in the pursuit of fame. It
may be further observed, that such a subject
must require a work of immense extent, as our
I.

researches must be carried back through a space
of more than seven hundred years ; that the
state has, from very small beginnings, gradually
increased to such a magnitude, that it is now
distressed by its own bulk ; and that there is
every reason to apprehend that the generality
nfjggHore nrj]| rficeive but little pleasure from
the accounts of its fiji^t origin, or of the times
immediately succeeding, but will be impatient

to arrive at that period, in which the powers 6F
This overgf owiTstate have been long employed
in working their own destruction. On the other
hand, this much will be derived from my labour,
that, so long at least as I shall have my thoughts
totally occupied in investigating the transactions
of such distant ages, without being embarrassed
by any of those unpleasing considerations, in
respect of later days, which, though they might
not have power to warp a writer's mind from
the truth, would yet be sufficient to create
uneasiness, I shall withdraw myself from the
sight of the many evils to which our eyes have
been so long accustomed. As to the relations
which have been handed down of events prior to
the founding of the city, or to the circumstances
that gave occasion to its being founded, and
A

THE HISTORY

which bear the se nblance rather of poetic fie-,
tions, than of authentic records of history —
these, I have no intention either to maintain
or refute. Antiquity is always indulged with
the privilege of rendering the origin of cities
more venerable, by intermixing divine with hu-
man agency ; and if any nation may claim the
privilege of being allowed to consider its origi-
nal as sacred, and to attribute it to the opera-
tions of the gods, surely the Roman people,
who rank so high in military fame, may well
expect, that, while they choose to represent
ftlars as

nd that of their

founder, the other nations of the world may
acquiesce in this, with the same deference with
which they acknowledge their sovereignty.
But what degree of attention or credit may be
given to these and such-like matters I shall not
consider as very material. To the following
considerations, I wish every one seriously and
earnestly to attend ; by what kind^f men, and
by what sort of conduct, in peace and war, the
empire has been both acquired and extended :
then, as discipline gradually declined, let him
follow in his thoughts the structure of ancient
morals, at first, as it were, leaning aside, then
sinking farther and farther, then beginning to
fall precipitate, until he arrives at the present
times, when our vices have attained to such a
height of enormity, that we can no longer en-
dure either the burden of them, or the sharp-
ness of the necessary remedies. This is the
great advantage to be derived from the study of
history ; indeed the only one which can make
it answer any profitable and salutary purpose ;
for, being abundantly furnished with*clear and
distinct examples of every kind of conduct, we
may select for ourselves, and for the state to
which we belong, such as are worthy of imita-
tion ; and, carefully noting such, as, being dis-
honourable in their principles, are equally so
in their effects, learn to avoid them? Now, /'
either partiality to the subject of my intendeds '\>
work misleads me, or there never was any state
either greater, or of purer morals, or richer in
good examples, than this of Rome ; nor was
there ever any city into which avarice and luxury
made their entrance so late, or where poverty
and frugality were so highly and so long held
in honour ; men contracting their desires in
proportion to the narrowness of their circum-
stances. Of late years, indeed, opulence has
introduced a greediness for gain, and the bound-
less variety of dissolute pleasures has created,

in many, a passion for ruining, themselves, and
all around them. But let us, in the first stage
at least of this undertaking, avoid gloomy re-
flections, which, when perhaps unavoidable,
will not, even then, be agreeable. If it were
customary with us, as it is with poets, we
would more willingly begin with good omens,
and vows, and prayers to the gods and god-
desses, that they would propitiously grant suc-
cess to our endeavours, in the prosecution of
so arduous a task.

I. It has been handed down to us, as a cer-
tain fact, that the Greeks, when they had taken
Troy, treated the Trojans with the utmost se-
verity ; with theeXgCPtionThowever. ot two ol

them, Aiiieas and Antenor, towards whom they
exercised rume-jofLthe i rights or' conquest". Thislj
lenity they owed, partly, to" an old connection!
of hospitality, and, partly, to their having been,*
all along, inclined to peace, and to the restora-
tion of Helen. These chiefs experienced after-
wards great varieties of fortune. Antenor, be-
ing joined by a multitude of the Henetians, who
had been driven out of Paphlagonia in. a civil
war, and having lost their king Pylsemenes at
Troy, were at a loss both for a settlement and
a leader, came to the innermost bay of the
Adriatic sea, and expelling the Euganeans, who
then inhabited the tract between the Alps and
the sea, settled the Trojans^ and Henetians
in the possession of the country. The place
where they first landed is called Troy, and
from thence the Trojan canton also has its
name ; the nation in general were called Hene-
tians. ^Eneas, driven from home by the same
calamity, but conducted by the fates to an esta-
blishment of more importance, came first to
Macedonia ; thence, in search of a settlement,
he sailed to Sicily, and from Sicily proceeded
with his fleet to the country of the Lauren-
;'tians. ' Here also, to the spot where they land-
was given the name of Troy. Here the
Trojans disembarked ; and as, after wandering
about for a great length of time, they had no-
thing left, beside their ships and arms, they be-
gan to make prey of whatever they found in
the country. On this king Latinus, and the
Aborigines, who were then in possession of
those lands, assembled hastily from the city and
country, in order to repel the violence of the
strangers. Of what followed, there are two

1 The Trojans wore in number about six hundred*

OF ROME.

different accounts. Some writers say, that j therefore, without reluctance, concluded an alli-

Latinus, being overcome in battle, contracted ance, and joined his forces with those of the

an alliance, and afterwards an affinity, with Rutulians. .^Eneas, with the view of conciliat-

./Eneas ; others, that, when the armies were ing the affection of the aborigines, that he

drawn up in order of battle, before the signal might be the better able to oppose such formid--

was given, Latinus, advancing in the front, in- able enemies, gave to both the nations under

vited the leader of the strangers to a conference ; ' his rule the name of Latines, that all should

then inquired who they were, whence they came, not only be governed by the same laws, but

what had induced them to leave their home, have one common name. From thenceforth

and with what design they had landed on the the aborigine ; yielded not to the Trojans in

Laurentian coast ; and that, when he was in- zeal and fidelity towards their king ./Eneas,

formed that the leader was xEtieas, the son of This disposition of the two nations, who coa-

Anchises by Venus, and his followers Trojans; lesced daily with greater cordiality, inspired him

that they had made their escape from the flames
of their native city and of their houses, and

with so much confidence, that, notwithstanding
Etruria was possessed of such great power, that

were in search of a settlement, and a place ; it had filled with the fame of its prowess not
where they might build a town ; being struck only the land, but the sea also, through the
with admiration of that renowned people and whole length of Italy, from the Alps to the

their chief, and of their spirit, prepared alike
for war or peace, he gave him his right hand,
and by that pledge assured him of his future
friendship. A league was then struck between
the leaders, and mutual salutations passed be-
tween the armies. Latinus entertained JEneas
in his palace, and there, -in the presence of his
household gods, added a domestic alliance to
their public one, giving him his daughter in
marriage. This event fully confirmed the hopes
of the Trojans, that here, at last, they were to
find an end of their wanderings ; that here they
would enjoy a fixed and permanent settlement.
They built a town, -which ^Eneas called La-

Sicilian Strait ; and although he might have
remained within his fortifications, secure from
any attack of the enemy, yet he led out his
troops to the field. The battle that followed
was, with respect to the Latines, their second,
with respect to .33neas, the last of his mortal
acts. He, by whatever appellation the laws of
gods and men require him to be called, is
deposited on the bank of the river Numicus.
The people gave him the title of Jupiter
Indiges.2

III. His son Ascanius was as yet too young
to assume the government ; nevertheless his
title to the sovereignty remained unimpeached,

vinium, from the name of his wife. In a short until he arrived at maturity. During this in-
time after, his new consort bore him a son, vvhq terval, and under the regency of Lavinia, a

was named by his parents Ascanius.

II. The aborigines, in conjunction with the
Trojans, soon found themselves engaged in a

woman of great capacity, the Latine state, and
the united subjects of the prince's father and
grandfather, continued firm in their allegiance.

war. Tumus, king of the Rutulians, to whom I am not without some doubts (for who can

Lavinia had been affianced before the arrival of
jEneas, enraged at seeing a stranger preferred
to him, declared war against both ^Eneas and
Latinus. A battle that ensued gave neither
army reason to rejoice. The Rutulians were
defeated, and the victorious aborigines and
Trojans lost their leader Latinus. Whereupon
Turnus and the Rutulians, diffident of their
strength, had recourse to the flourishing state
of the Etrurians, and their king Mezentius,
who held his court at Caere, at that time an

affirm with certainty in a matter of such anti-
quity?) whether this was the same Ascanius
mentioned above, or one older than him, born
of Creusa, wife to ./Eneas, before the destruc-
tion of Troy, and who accompanied his fathe
in his flight from thence ; whom, being also
called lulus, the Julian family claim as the
founder of their name. This Ascanius, where-
soever, and of whatsoever mother born, cer-
tainly the son of ^2neas, finding the number of
inhabitants in Lavinium too great, left that city,

opulent city. He had been, from the beginning, then in a flourishing and opulent state, consi-
not at all pleased at the foundation of the_new4/dering the circumstances of those times, to his

city ; and now began to think that the Trojan. - — -

power was increasing to a degree inconsistent 2 Indige9 „ the term applied to delfied heroeg> ^^
with the safety of the neighbouring states ; and wise called gods terrestrial.

THE HISTORY

QBOOK i.

mother, or stepmother, and built a new one o
the Alban mount, which, from its situatio
being stretched along the hill, was called Alb
Longa.1 Between the building of Lavinium
and the transplanting the colony to Alb
Longa, the interval was only about thirty years
yet so rapidly had this people increased in power
especially after the defeat of the Etrurians, that
not even on the death of ^Eneas, nor afterwards
during the regency of a woman, and the firs
essays of a youthful reign, did either Mezentiu
and the Etrurians, or any other of the border
ing nations, dare to attempt^nostilities agains
them. A peace was agreed upon, in which i
was stipulated that the river Albula, now calle
the Tiber, should be the boundary between
the Etrurians and Latines. Ascanius's son
called Sylvius, from his Laving by some acciden
been bom in the woods, succeeded him in the
kingdom. He begat ^neas Sylvius, who
afterwards begat Latinus Sylvius. This prince
planted several colonies, who have obtained the
name of Ancient Latines. The surname ol
Sylvius was henceforward given to all those
who reigned at Alba. Of Latinus was born
Alba ; of Alba, Atys ; of Atys, Capys ; of
Capys, Capetus ; of Capetus, Tiberinus ; who,
being drowned in endeavouring to cross the
river Albula, gave to that river the name so
A celebrated among bis posterity. Agrippa,
l_« son of Tiberinus, reigned next ; after Agrippa,
AT ]) Romulus. Sylvius received the kingdom from
his father, and being struck by lightning, de-
mised it to Aventinus, who, being buried on
that hill which is now a part of the city of Rome,
gave it his name. To him succeeded Procas,
who had two sons, Numitor and Amulius. To
Numitor, as being the first-born, he bequeathed
the ancient kingdom of the Sylvian family ; but
force prevailed over both the will of their father,
and the respect due to priority of birth. Amu-
lius dethroned his brother, took possession of
the kingdom, and adding crime to crime, put to
death the male offspring of Numitor, making
his daughter Rhea Sylvia a vestal, under the
specious pretence of doing her honour, but, in
fact, to deprive her of all hope of issue, the
vestals being obliged to vow perpetual virgin-
ity.'

IV. But the fates, I suppose, demanded the

1 It was railed Alba, from a white sow with a litter
of thirty young ones, found there by J£neas.

2 Kur an account of the vestal virgins, see Dr Adam's
Human Antiquities, p. 314.

founding of this great city, and the first esta-
blishment of an empire, which is now, in power,
next to the immortal gods. TV, vpfitM being
hy force, ^broughtforth twins, and
!edared that the father of her doubtful off-
spring was Mars; either because she really
*tEought sn, or in hnpps nf f xtpnuating the guilt
of her transgression by imputing itjto-tke-"act

of a deity. But neither gods nor men screened

"her or her children from the king's cruelty :
the priestess was loaded with chains, and cast
into prison, and the children were ordered to
be thrown into the stream of the river. It
happened providentially that the Tiber, over-
flowing its banks, formed itself into stagnant
pools in such a manner, as that the regular
channel was every where inaccessible, and those
who carried the infants supposed that they
would be drowned in any water, however still.
Wherefore, as if thereby fulfilling the king's
order, they exposed the boys in the nearest
pool, where now stands the Ruminal fig-tree,
which, it is said, was formerly called Rornular.
Those places were at that time wild deserts.
A story prevails that the retiring flood having
left on dry ground the trough, hitherto floating,
n which they had been exposed, a thirsty she-
wolf from the neighbouring mountains directed
her course to the cries of the children, and,
stooping, presented her dugs to the infants,
showing so much gentleness, that the keeper of
the king's herds found her licking the boys
with her tongue ; and that this shepherd,whose
name was Faustulus, carried them home to his
yife Laurentia to be nursed. Some there
vho think that this Laurentia, from her having
>een a prostitute, was, by the shepherds, called

upa ; and to this circumstance they ascribe
he origin of this fabulous tale. Thus born,
ml thus educated, as soon as years supplied
hem with strength, they led not an inactive
ife at the stables, or among the cattle, but tra-
ersed the neighbouring forests in bunting,
lence acquiring vigour, both of body and mind,
iey soon began not only to withstand the wild
easts, but to attack robbers loaded with booty.
The spoils thus acquired they divided with the
liephcrds ; and, in company with these, the
umber of their young associates continually
ncreasing, they carried on both their business,
nd their sports. / --«••«-••»_

V.'It is said that, even at that early period,
he sports of the Lupercal,3 which we still

3 See Adiftn, p. 312.

OF ROME.

celebrate, were practised on the Palatine hill,
and that this was called Palatium, from Pallan-
teum, a city of Arcadia, and afterwards the
Palatine hill; and that Evander, who was of
that tribe of Arcadians, and had been many years
before in possession of this part of the country,
had instituted there this solemnity brought from
Arcadia, in which young men were to run
about naked, in sport and wantonness, in honour
of Lycean Pan, whom the Romans afterwards
called Inuus. While they were intent on the
performance of these sports, the time of their
celebration being generally known, the robbers,
enraged at the loss of their booty, attacked
them by surprise, having placed themselves in
ambush. Romulus making a vigorous defence,
extricated himself; but they took Remus
prisoner, delivered him up to king Amulius,
and had the assurance to accuse them both of
criminal misbehaviour. The principal charge
made against them was, that they had made
violent inroads on the lands of Numitor, and,
with a band of youths which they had collected,
plundered the country in a hostile manner. In
consequence of this, Remus was given up to
Numitor to be punished. From the very be-
ginning, Faustulus had entertained hopes, that
the children, whom he educated, would prove
to be descended of the royal blood ; for he knew
that the infants of Rhea had been exposed by
order of the king, and that the time, when h
had taken them up, corresponded exactly with'
that event ; but he had resolved to avoid any
hasty disclosure, unless some favourable con-
juncture or necessity should require it. The*
necessity happened first ; wherefore, constrain-
ed by his apprehensions, he imparted the affair
to Romulus. It happened also that Numitor,
while he had Remus in his custody, heard that
the brothers were twins ; and when he combin-
ed with this circumstance their age, and their
turn of mind, which gave no indication of a ser-
vile condition, he was struck with the idea of
their being his grandchildren ; and, all his in-
quiries leading to the same conclusion, he was
upon the point of acknowledging Remus. In*
consequence, a plot against the king was con-
certed between all the parties. Romulus, not
going at the head of a band of youths, for he
was unequal to an open attempt, but ordering
the shepherds to come at a certain hour, by
different roads, to the palace, forced his way
co the king, and was supported by Remus, with
another party, procured from the house of Nu-
mitor. Thus they put the king to death.

VI. In the beginning of the tumult, Numi-
tor, calling out that the city was assaulted by
an enemy, and the palace attacked, had drawn
away the Alban youth to the citadel, on pre-
tence of securing it by an armed garrison ; and,
in a little time, seeing the young men, after
' perpetrating the murder, coming towards him,
; with expressions of joy, he instantly called the
' people to an assembly, laid before them the
iniquitous behaviour of his brother towards
I himself; the birth of his grandchildren, how
they were begotten, how educated, how dis-
covered ; then informed them of the death of
the usurper, and that he had himself encouraged . _,
the design. The youths at the same time ad- fv'
vancingwith their followers, through the midst
of the assembly, saluted their grandfather as
king ; on which the multitude, testifying their
assent by universal acclamations, ratified to
him the royal title and authority. When Nu-
mitor was thus reinstated in the sovereignty at
Alba, Romulus and Remus were seized with a
desire of building a city in the place where they
had been exposed and educated. There were
• great numbers of Albans and Latines, who
could, be spared for the purpose, and these were
joined by a multitude of shepherds ; so that, all
together, they formed such a numerous body,
as gave grounds to hope that Alba and Lavini-
um would be but small, in comparison with the
£ity which they were about to found. These
views were interrupted by an evil, hereditary
in their family, ambition for rule. Hence arose
a shameful contest ; though they had in the be-
ginning rested their dispute on this amicable
footing, that, as they were twins, and conse-
quently, no title to precedence could be derived
from priority of birth, the gods, who were
guardians of the place, should choose by an-
guries4, which of the two should give a name
to the new city, and enjoy the government of
it when built. Romulus chose the Palatine,
Remus the Aventine mount, as their conse-
crated stands to wait the auguries. We are
^tbld that the first omen appeared to Remus,
consisting of six vultures ; and that, after this
had been proclaimed, twice that number show-
ed themselves to Romulus ; on which each
was saluted king by his own followers ; the
former claiming the kingdom, on the ground of
the priority of time ; the latter, on that of the
number of the birds. On their meeting, an

4 For an account of augurs, auspices, &c. see Adam,
p. 266-

6

THE HISTORY

[BOOK i.

altercation ensued, then blows ; and their pas-
sions being inflamed by the dispute, the affair
proceeded at last to extremity, and murder was
the consequence. Remus fell by a blow re-
ceived in the tumult. There is another ac-
count more generally received, that Reinus, in
Pderision of his brother, leaped over the new
•wall, and that Romulus, enraged thereat, slew
ihim, uttering at the same time this impreca-
tion, " So perish every one that shall hereafter
leap over my wall." By these means Romulus
[year before Christ 751] came into the sole
possession of the government, and the city,
when built, was called after the name of its
founder. The first buildings, which he raised,
were on the Palatine hill, where he himself
had been brought up. To the other deities he
performed worship, according to the mode of
the Albans, but to Hercules, according to that
of the Greeks, as instituted by Evander.

VII. It is recorded that Hercules, after
having slain Geryon, drove away his cattle,
which were surprisingly beautiful ; and that,
being fatigued with travelling, he lay down,
near the river Tiber, in a grassy place, to
which he had swum over, driving the herd be-
fore him, in order to refresh the cattle with
rest and the rich pasture. There, having in-
dulged himself in meat and wine, he was over-
powered by sleep ; whereupon a shepherd, who
dwelt in the neighbourhood, named Cacus, of
great strength and fierceness, being struck with
the beauty of the cattle, wished to make prey of
some of them ; but considering, that if he
should drive the herd before him into his cave,
their tracks would direct the owner's search,
he dragged the cattle backward by the tails into
the cave, picking out those that were the most
remarkable for their beauty. Hercules awak-
ing at the dawn of day, took a view of his herd,
and missing some of the number, went directly
to the next cave, to examine whether the foot-
steps led thither ; but when he observed that
they all pointed outward, and yet did not direct
to any other quarter, perplexed, and not know-
ing how to act, he began to drive forward his
herd from that unlucky place. Some of the
cows, as they were driven off, missing those
that were left behind, began, as was natural, t
low after them, and the sound being returne
from the cave, by those that were shut up in it
brought Hercules back. Cacus, endeavouring
by force to prevent his approach to the cave
and invoking in vain the assistance of the shep

erds, received a blow of his club, which put
n end to his life. At that time, Evander, a
ative of Peloponnesus, who had removed
ither, governed that part of the country, rather
irough an influence acquired by his merit, than
ny power of sovereignty vested in him. He
as highly revered on account of his having in-
roduced the wonderful knowledge of letters, a
matter quite new to these men, who were ig-
orant of all the arts ; and still more so, on ac-
ount of the supposed divinity of his mother
'armenta, whose prophetic powers had been
n object of admiration to those nations, before
he arrival of the Sibyl in Italy. Evander then,
eing alarmed by the concourse of the shep-
erds, hastened to the spot, where they were
ssembled in a tumultuous manner about the
tranger, whom they accused as undeniably
milty of murder ; and when he was informed
)f the fact, and of the cause of it, observing
he person and mien of the hero, filled with
nore dignity and majesty than belonged to a
uman being, he inquired who he was : and
>eing told his name, that of his father and his
country, he addressed him in these words :
' Hail, Hercules, son of Jove ! my mother
he infallible interpreter of the gods, foretold
to me that you were destined to increase the
number of the celestials, and that an altar would
dedicated to you in this place, which a na-
tion, hereafter the most powerful in the world,
should distinguish by the name of The Great-
est,1 and would offer thereon sacrifices to your
honour." Hercules, giving his right hand,
replied, that " he embraced the omen, and
would fulfil the decree of the fates, by building
and dedicating an altar in the place." There,
then, for the first time, was performed a sac .
rifice to Hercules, of a chosen heifer taken out
of the herd : and the Potitii, and Pinarii, the
most distinguished families in the neighbour-
hood at the time, were invited to assist
in the ceremonies, and share the entertainment.
It happened that the Potitii attended in time,
and the entrails were served up to them ; the
Pinarii, arriving after the entrails were,eaten,
came in for the rest of the feast ; hence it con-
tinued a rule, as long as the Pinarian family
existed, that they should not eat of the entrails.
The Potitii, instructed by Evander, were di-
rectors of that solemnity for many ages, until

1 Ara Maxima : it stood in the cattle market, where
it remained in the time of Augustus.

OF ROME.

the solemn office of the family was delegated to
public servants, on which the whole race of the
Potitii became extinct. These were the only
foreign rites that Romulus then adopted, show-
ing thereby, from the beginning, a respect
for immortality obtained by merit, a dignity
to which his own destiny was conducting him.

VIII. After paying due worship to the gods/"
he summoned the multitude to an assembly ;
and, knowing that they could never be brought
to incorporate as one people by any other means,
than by having their conduct directed by cer-
tain rules, he gave them a body of laws ;* and
judging, that if he added to the dignity of his
own carriage, by assuming the ensigns of sove-
reignty, it would help to procure respect to
those laws, among a rude uninformed people,
he adopted a more majestic style of appear-
ance, both with regard to his other appoint-
ments, and particularly in being attended by
twelve lictors. Some think that he was led
to fix on this number by that of the birds in the
augury which had portended the kingdom to
him : I am rather inclined to be of their opi-
nion, who suppose that all the officers atten-
dant on magistrates, and among the rest, the
lictors, as well as the number of them, were
borrowed from their neighbours, the Etrurians,
from whom the curule chair, and the gown
edged with purple, were taken ; and that the
Etrurians used that number, because their king
being elected by the suffrages of twelve states,
each state gave him one lictor. Meanwhile'
the city increased in buildings, which were car-
ried on to an extent proportioned rather to the-
number of inhabitants they hoped for in future,
than to what they had at the time.3 But that
its size might not increase beyond its strength,
in order to augment hlj numbers, he had re-
course to a practice common among founders
of cities, who used to feign that the multitude
of mean and obscure people, thus collected,
had sprang out of the earth. He opened a
sanctuary, in the place where the indosure now
is, on the road down from the Capitol, called.
The Pass of the Two Groves. Hither fled,
from the neighbouring states, crowds of all sorts,
without distinction, whether freemen or slaves,
led by a fondness for novelty ; and this it was
that gave solidity to the growing greatness of

8 Without doubt, he framed the government^ and the
laws, nearly on the model of those established at Alba.
3 About 3000 foot, and 300 horsemen.

the city. Having reason now to be pretty well
satisfied with his strength, he next made pro-
vision that this strength should be regulated by
wisdom ; and for that purpose, he created a
hundred senators,4 either because Jhat number
was sufficient, or because there were no more
than a hundred citizens who could prove their
descent from respectable families. They were
certainly styled Fathers from their honourable
office, and their descendants Patricians.

IX. Txhe Roman state had now attained
such a degree of power, that it was a match in
arms for any of the neighbouring nations ; but,
from the small number of its women, its great-
ness was not likely to last longer than one age
of man, as they had neither hopes of offspring
among themselves, nor had yet contracted any
intermarriages with their neighbours. Ro-
mulus, therefore, by advice of the senate, sent
ambassadors round to all the adjoining states,
soliciting their alliance, and permission for his
new subjects to marry among them ; he inti-
mated to them , that " cities, like every thing
else, rise from low beginnings. ; that, mtime,
those which are supported by their own merit,
and the favour of the gods, procure to them-
selves great power, and a great name ; and that
he had full assurance both that the gods favour-
ed the founding of Rome, and that the people
would not be deficient in merit. Wherefore, / (
as men, they ought to show no reluctance toJ "
mix their blood and race with men." In no
one place were his ambassadors favourably
heard ; such contempt of them did people en-
tertain, and, at the same time, such apprehen-
sions of danger to themselves and their pos-
terity, from so great a power growing up in the
midst of them. By the greater part, they were
dismissed with the question, " whether they
had opened an asylum for women also, for that
would be the only way to procure suitable i
matches for them ?'' This was highly resented^ •|ky^
by the Roman youth, insomuch that the busi-v-**'*^
ness appeared evidently to point towards vio-
lence. Romulus, in order to afford them a
convenient time and place for a design of that
sort, dissembling his displeasure, prepared,

4 This expression must be understood in a qualified
sense, in the same manner as when a magistrate, pre-
siding at an election, is said to elect such and such per-
SODS. Romulus nominated one senator ; each tribe,
and each curia, chose three ; and thus the number was
made up-

B

THE HISTORY

with that intent, to celebrate solemn games in
honour of the equestrian Neptune,' to which he
gave the name of Consualia. He then orderec
the intended celebration to be proclaimed among
the neighbouring nations, while his people ex-
erted themselves in making the most magnifi-
cent preparations that their knowledge and
abilities allowed, in order to engage atten-
tion and raise expectation. Great numbers of
people assembled, induced, in some measure, by
a desire of seeing the new city, especially those
whose countries lay nearest, the Caeninensians,
Crustuminians, and Antemnatians, especially
the whole multitude of the Sabines came with
their wives and children. They were hospita-
bly invited to the different houses ; and when
they viewed the situation, and the fortifications,
and the city crowded with houses, they were
astonished at the rapid increase of the Roman
power. When the show began, [ Year of Rome,
4. B. C. 748.] and every person's thoughts
and eyes were attentively engaged on it, then,
according to the preconcerted plan, on a signal
being given, the Roman youth ran different
ways to carry off the young women. Some
they bore away as they happened to meet with
them, without waiting to make a choice ; but
others of extraordinary beauty, being designed
for the principal senators, were conveyed to
their houses by plebeians employed for that
purpose. It is said, that one highly distinguish-
ed above the rest for her beauty, was carried off
by the party of one Talassius ; and that in an-
swer to many who eagerly inquired to whom
they were hurrying her, they, every now and
then, to prevent any interruption in their course,
cried out, that they were carrying her to Ta-
lassius : this circumstance gave rise to the use
of that word at weddings. The terror occa-
sioned by this outrage put an end to the sports,
and the parents of the young women retired
full of grief, inveighing against such a violation
of the laws of hospitality, and appealing to the
god, to whose solemn festival and games they
had come, relying on the respect due to reli-
gion, and on the faith of nations. Nor did the
women who were seized entertain better hopes

1 So called, from his having produced the first horse
from the earth by a stroke of his trident. Romulus
called him Consus, the god of counsel, as having sug-
gested the scheme of seizing the women. The games,
which he called Consualia, were afterwards termed the
Roman, or the great games ; they lasted, at first, one
day, then two, three, and, at length, nine days.

with regard to themselves, or a less degree of
indignation : however Romulus went about in
person, and told them, that " this proceeding
had been occasioned by the haughtiness of
their parents, who refused to allow their neigh-
bours to marry among them ; that, notwith-
standing this, they should be united to his peo-
ple in wedlock in the common enjoyment of all
property, and of their common children ; a bond
of union than which the human heart feels
none more endearing. He begged of them • to
soften their resentment, and to bestow their
affections on those men on whom chance had
bestowed their persons. It often happened,
he said, that to harsh treatment mutual regard
had succeeded, and they would find their hus-
bands behave the better on this very account ;
that every one would exert himself, not merely
in performing his duty as a husband, but to
make up to them for the loss of their parents
and of their country. " To these persuasions was
added, the soothing behaviour of their husbands
themselves, who urged, in extenuation of the
violence they had been tempted to commit,
the excess of passion, and the force of love :
arguments, than which there can be none more
powerful to assuage the irritation of the female
mind.

X. The women, who had been forcibly
carried off, soon became reconciled to their
situation ; but their parents, still more than at
first, endeavoured to rouse their several states
to revenge, employing both complaints and tears,
and wearing the dress of mourners. Nor did
they confine their demands of vengeance with-
in the limits of their own states, but made joint
applications from all quarters to Titus Tatius,
king of the Sabines, the embassies being ad-
dressed to him as the person of the highest re-
nown in all those parts. The people who
were the. principal sufferers by the outrage,
were the Caeninensians, the Crustuminians,
and the Antemnatians. To them, the pro-
:eedings of Tatius and the Sabine nation ap-
peared too dilatory; wherefore these three
states, uniting in a confederacy, prepared for
mmediate war. Nor did even the Crustumini-
ans and Antemnatians exert activity enough
?or the impatient rage of the Caeninensians.
This state, therefore, alone, made an irruption
"nto the Roman territories; but while they
;arried on their ravages in a disorderly manner,
Romulus met them, and, without much diffi-
culty, taught them that rage without strength

y. R. 5.]

OF ROME.

avails but little. He routed and dispersed
their army ; pursued it in its flight ; slew their
king in the battle, and seized his spoils ; after
which he made himself master of their city at
the first assault. From thence he led home
his victorious troops ; and being not only capa-
ble of performing splendid actions, but also
fond of displaying those actions to advantage,
he marched up in procession to the Capitol,
carrying on a frame, properly constructed for
the purpose, the spoils of the enemy's general
whom he had slain ; and there laying them
down under an oak, which the shepherds ac-
counted sacred, he, at the same time, while he
offered this present, marked out with his eye
the bounds of a temple for Jupiter, to whom
he gave a new name, saying, " Jupiter, Fere-
trius*, in acknowledgment of the victory which
I have obtained, I, Romulus the king, offer to
thee these royal arms, and dedicate a temple to
thee on that spot which I have now measured
out in my mind, to be a repository for those
grand spoils, which, after my example, generals
in future times shall offer, on slaying the kings
and generals of their enemies." This was the
origin of that temple which was the first con-
secrated in Rome. Accordingly, it pleased
the gods so to order, that neither the prediction
of the founder of the temple, intimating that
future generals should carry spoils thither,
should prove erroneous, nor that the honour of
making such offerings should be rendered com-
mon, by being imparted to many. In after-
times, during so many years, and so many wars,
there have been only two instances of the grand
spoils being obtained ; so rare was the attain-
ment of that high honour.

XL While the Romans were thus employed,
the army of the Antemnatians, taking advan-
tage of the opportunity which the country being
left without troops afforded them, made a
hostile incursion into the Roman territories ;
but a Roman legion,3 hastily led out, surprised

2 So called, from the feretrum, or frame, supporting
the spoils. The second spolia opima, or grand spoils,
were offered by Cornelius Cossus, who killed Tolum-
nius, king of the Veientians ; and the third by Claudius
Marcellus, who killed Viridomarus, a king of the Gauls.
The spoil*, called spolia opima, or grand, or chief, spoils,
were so denominated when they were taken from a
king or general-in-chief, commanding an army.

3 So called from legere, to choose, to select. The
legion consisted, at this time, of 3000 foot and 300 horse.
The number afterwards was generally 4000 foot and
300 horse ; and sometimes augmented to 6000 foot and
400 horse. It was divided into 10 cohorts, 30 companies,
and 60 centuries.

I.

them, while they straggled through the country.
They were routed therefore at the first onset,
and their town was taken. While Romulus
exulted in this second victory, his consort,
Hersilia, teased by the intreaties of the cap-
tured women, earnestly petitioned him that he
would show favour to their parents and admit
them into the number of his citizens, a measure
which could not fail of forming an union satis
factory to all parties. This request was easily
obtained. He then marched against the Crus-
tuminians, who were carrying on hostilities :
with these he had still less trouble than with
the Antemnatians, because they had been dis-
pirited by the defeats of their allies. Colonies
were sent to both countries, but greater num-
bers were found willing to give in their names
for Crustuminium, on account of the fertility
of the soil. There were frequent migrations
also from those places to Rome, chiefly of the
parents and relations of the ravished women.
The last war, on this occasion, was begun by
the Sabines; [Y. R. 5. B. C. 747.] and it
was by far the most formidable, for none
of their operation1? were directed by rage
or passion, nor did they disclose their inten-
tions until they began to act. They em-
ployed stratagem, too, in aid of prudence. The
Roman citadel was commanded by Spurius
Tarpeius. His maiden daughter, who had ac-
cidentally gone without the fortifications to
bring water for the sacred rites, was bribed by
Tatius with gold to admit some of his troops
into the citadel. As soon as they gained ad-
mittance they put her to death, by throwing
their armour in a heap upon her, either because
they wished that the citadel should rather
appear to have been taken by storm, or for the
sake of establishing a precedent that faith was
not to be kept with a traitor. The story is told
in another manner : that, as the Sabines gener
ally carried on their left arms bracelets of great
weight, and wore rings set with precious stones,
which made a great show, she bargained for
what they wore on their left arms ; accordingly,
instead of the presents of gold which she
expected, they threw their shields upon her.
Others say, that, in pursuance of their agreement
to deliver up what was on their left arms, she
expressly demanded their shields; and this
seeming to be done with a treacherous intent,
she was put to death by means of the v^ry
reward which she required.

XII. The Sabines however kept possession
of the citadel ; but though, on the following
B

10

THE HISTORY.

(_BOOK I.

day, the Roman army, in order of battle, fille
the whole plain between the Palatine an
Capitoline hills, yet they did not come down
to the level ground ; until the Romans, stimu
lated by rage and eagerness to recover thi
citadel, advanced to an assault. The foremos
champions of the two parties, who led on the
troops, were MettJus" Curtius on the side o
the Sabines, and Hostus Hostilius on that o
the Romans. The latter, in the front of the
army, by his spirit and intrepidity, enabled th<
Romans to support the fight, in spite of the
disadvantage of the ground ; but, on his falling
the Roman soldiers quickly gave way, and were
driven back to the old gate of the Palatium.
Romulus himself being forced along by the
flying crowd, raised his hands toward heaven,
and said, " O Jupiter ! by the direction of thy
auspices, I, here on the Palatine hill, laid the
first foundation of my city. The Sabines are
already in possession of our citadel, which they
obtained by fraud ; from thence they now make
their way hither in arms, and have passed the
middle of the valley ; but do thou, O father of
gods and men ! from hence at least repel the
enemy ; remove dismay from the minds of the
Romans, and stop their shameful flight. I vow
a temple here to thee, Jupiter Stator,1 as a
testimony to posterity of the city being preserv-
ed by thy immediate aid." Having prayed thus,
as if he had perceived that his supplications
were heard, he called out, " Here, Romans,
Jupiter, supremely good and great, orders you
to halt, and renew the fight." The Romans,
as if they had heard a voice from heaven, halted,
and Romulus himself flew forward to the front.
On the side of the Sabines, Mettius Curtius
had run down first from the citadel ; had driven
back the Romans, in disorder, through the
the whole space at present occupied by the
Forum, and was now at no great distance from
the gate of the Palatium, crying aloud, " We
have conquered these traitors to hospitality,
these cowards in war. They now feel that it
is one thing to ravish virgins, and another, far
different, to fight with men." While he was
vaunting in this manner, Romulus attacked
him with a band of the most courageous of
the youths. Mettius happened at that time
to fight on horseback, and on that account was
the more easily repulsed : he soon gave way,
and was pursued by the Romans : the rest of
the Roman troops also animated by the bravery

1 From ttare, to halt.

of their king, put the Sabines to the rout. Met-
tius was plunged into a lake, his horse taking
fright at the noise of the pursuers ; and this
circumstance turned the attention of the Sa-
bines to the danger in which they saw a per-
son of so much consequence to them. How-
ever his friends beckoning and calling to him,
he acquired fresh courage from the affection of
the multitude, and accomplished his escape.
Both parties now renewed the engagement in
the plain between the two hills, but the advan-
tage was on the side of the Romans.

XIII. At this crisis the Sabine women,
whose sufferings had given cause to the war,
with their hair dishevelled and garments torn,
their natural timidity being overcome by the
sight of such disastrous scenes, had the resolu-
tion to throw themselves in the way of the fly-
ing weapons ; and, rushing across between the
armies, separated the incensed combatants, and
assuaged their fury ; beseeching, on the one hand
their parents, on the other their husbands, " not
to pollute themselves with the impious stain
of the blood of father-in-law and son-in-law,
nor brand with the infamy of parricide their
offspring, the children of one, and grandchildren
of the other party. If ye wish, said they, to
destroy the affinity and connection formed be-
tween you by our marriage, turn your rage
against us ; we are the cause of the war : we
are the cause of wounds and death to our
husbands and fathers. It is better for us to
perish, than to live either widowed by the loss
of one party, or fatherless by that of the
other." This transaction powerfully affected
t)oth the multitude and the leaders : silence sud-
denly ensued, and a suspension of the fight.
The commanders then came forward, in order
to concert measures for a pacification ; [ Y. R. 7.
B. C. 745. ] and they not only concluded a peace,
but combined the two nations into one, associat-
ing the two sovereigns in the government, and
establishing the seat of empire at Rome. By
his accession the number of citizens was dou-
)led ; and, as some compliment to the Sabines,
:he united people were called Quirites, from
:he town of Cures. To perpetuate the re-
membrance of that battle, the place where his
lorse, emerging from the deep of the lake, first
brought Curtius to a shallow, was called the
urtian lake.8 This happy re-establishment

2 This name it retained long alter it was filled up,
nd became a part of the Forum.

Y. R. 7.]

OF ROME.

11

of peace, after a war so distressitig, rendered
the Sabine women still dearer both to their
husbands and parents, and above all to Romu-
lus himself, so that, when he divided the people
into thirty Curias,* he gave these the names of
the women. But as the number of the wo-
men was undoubtedly greater than that of the
Curias, whether those who were to give their
names to them were selected on account of
their age, or their own dignity, or that of
their husbands, or by lot, we are not inform-
ed. At the same time also, three centuries of
knights were enrolled ; the Ramnenses, so
called from Romulus ; the Titienses, from
Titus Tatius ; and the Luceres, the reason of
whose name and origin is unknown. Thence-
forward the two kings reigned together, only
not with equal power, but with concord.

XIV. Several years after, some relations of
king Tatius offered violence to the ambassa-
dors of the Laurentians ; for which violation of
the law of nations, the latter demanded satisfac-
tion ; but Tatius paid more regard to the inter-
est and importunities of his relations, and there-
by drew upon himself the punishment due to
them. For he was slain afterwards at Lavinium,
in a tumult raised on his going thither to an anni-
versary sacrifice. It is said, that Romulus
showed less resentment of this proceeding than
became him, either because there had been no
sincere cordiality between them, while associ-
ated in the government, or because he thought
that the other deserved the death which he
met. He avoided therefore entering into a
war on the occasion ; but to make some atone-
ment for the ill-treatment of the ambassadors,
and the murder of the king, the league between
the cities of Rome and Lavinium was renewed.
Thus, beyond their expectations, the Romans
enjoyed peace on that side ; but a war broke
out from another quarter, much nearer home,
and almost at their gates. The Fidenatians,
looking with jealousy on the great increase of
power in so near a neighbour, determined to

3 He divided the city into three tribes : the Ramnen-
ses, so called from Romulus, being his original follow,
ers ; the Titienses, from Titus Tatius, composed of the
Sabi in>s ; and the Luceres, of those who had assembled
in the Lucus, or sanctuary, or afterwards joined the
Romans. Each tribe he divided into ten curias, or wards.
Each curia had its own priest, called curio, and its own
place of worship, where, on certain stated days, sacri-
fices were offered to particular deities ; and the people
of the curia feasted together. The centuries of knights
were named after the tribes out of which they were
taken-

make war on them before they should arrive
at that degree of strength which it was evident
they would in time acquire, and sent a body of
young men in arms, who laid waste the whole
country between Fidenze and the city. Then,
turning to the left hand, because the Tiber
confined them on the right, and continuing their
depredations, they threw the country people
into the utmost consternation, and the sudden
alarm spreading from the country into the
city, made known what had happened. Ro-
mulus instantly led out his forces, for a war so
near home admitted no delay, and pitched his
camp at the distance of a mile from Fidenae.
Leaving there a small guard, and marching out
with all the rest of his troops, he ordered a
party to lie in ambush, among the bushes that
grew there in abundance ; then advancing with
the other more numerous body of infantry, and
all the cavalry, by riding up almost to the gates,
and offering battle, in an irregular and insulting
manner, he drew the enemy out of the town as
he wished. The cavalry, acting in this manner,
answered also another purpose, as it afforded a
more specious pretext for the retreat, which he
was to counterfeit ; and when the foot too be-
gan to retire, while the horse seemed irresolute,
whether to fight or fly, the enemy rushing
suddenly out of the gates in crowds, eager to
pursue and press on the Roman army in its re-
treat, were drawn to the place of the ambuscade.
The Romans, now rising suddenly, attacked
their line in flank ; and the ensigns of those
who had been left to guard the camp, advanc-
ing at the same time, added to their fears.
Dismayed at so many dangers, the Fidenatians
fled, before Romulus, and the horsemen with
him, could well turn to pursue them. Thus
they, who had lately pursued an enemy, who
only pretended to fly, now fled themselves in
earnest, with much greater haste, back to the
city ; but they could not get clear of the ene-
my ; the .Romans pressing close on their rear,
rushed into the city along with them, before
the gates could be shut

XV. The contagion of the Fidenatian war
infected the Veientians. Induced by the re-
lationship subsisting between them and the
Fidenatians, (for they also were Etrurians,)
and urged on besides by their dangerous vicinity
of situation, in case the Roman arms were to
be turned against all their neighbours, made an
incursion into the Roman territories, in the
manner of a predatory, rather than of a regular,

12

THE HISTORY

war ; and thus, without encamping or waiting
the approach of the enemy's army, they return-
ed to Veii, carrying home the plunder collected
in the country. On the other side, the Roman
commander, not finding the enemy in the coun-
try, and being prepared for, and determined on,
a decisive action, crossed over the Tiber.
The Veientians, hearing that he was forming
a camp, and that he intended to advance to
their city, marched out to meet him ; for they
chose rather to engage in tne open field, than
to remain shut up, and fight from the walls
and houses. There, unassisted by any stra-
tagem, the Roman king, through the mere
force of his veteran troops, obtained the vic-
tory, and pursued the routed enemy to their
walls. The city was so strong, and so well
secured both by art and by nature, that he did
not choose to attempt it, but led home his
troops ; and, in his way, ravaged the enemy's
country for the sake of revenge rather than of
booty. These devastations having distressed
the Veientians no less than the loss of the
battle, they sent deputies to Rome to sue for
peace. A part of their lands was taken from
them, and a truce granted for a hundred years.
These were the principal transactions in peace
and war, during the reign of Romulus ; and
none of them was unsuitable to the belief of
his divine origin, or to the rank of a divinity,
which after his death he was supposed to have
obtained. This may be said of the spirit which
he showed in recovering the kingdom for his
grandfather, as well as of his wise conduct in
founding the city, and establishing its power,
by the arts both of war and peace ; for, by the
strength which it acquired under his manage-
ment, it became so respectable, that, during
forty years after, it enjoyed profound peace and
security. He stood, however, much higher in
the favour of the people than he did in that of
the senate. ; and was yet more beloved by his
army. He established a body-guard of three
hundred men, whom he called Celeres ;' and
these he kept constantly about his person, in
ti me of peace as well as war.

XVI. Such were his achievements in his

1 Or, the Swift, if we suppose them to derive their
name from the Latin word celer. This must be allowed
to be the most probable origin of the appellation, al-
though it must be admitted to be by no means certain,
tlmt they were not so called, as some allege, from the
name of their captain, Celer ; while others contend that
they were so called from the Greek word KS'AJJ;, which
signifies a horseman.

mortal state. One day, while holding an
assembly in the plain, on the borders of the
lake of Capra, for the purpose of reviewing his
army, a sudden storm arose, accompanied with
violent thunder and lightning ; 'the king was
enveloped in a thick cloud, which hid him
from the eyes of the assembly, and was never
more seen upon earth. The Roman youth were
at length eased of their apprehensions, by the
return of calm and serene weather, after such
a turbulent day ; but when they saw the royal
seat empty, though they readily believed the
senators, who had stood nearest to him, that he
had been carried up on high by the storm, yet
they were struck with such dread at being thus
left in a manner fatherless, that, for some time,
they remained in mournful silence. At last,
some few setting the example, the whole mul-
titude saluted Romulus as " a deity, the son
of a deity; the king and parent of the city of
Rome ;" and implored his favour, with prayers,
that he would be pleased always " propitiously
to watch over 'the safety of his own offspring."
Some, I believe, even at that time, harboured
silent suspicions that the king had been torn in
pieces by the hands of the senators. Such a
report was spread abroad, but it was little
credited, both on account of the high admira-
tion entertained of the man, and because the
general consternation caused the other account
to be more universally received. It is farther
mentioned, that a contrivance, of one particular
man procured additional credit to this repre-
sentation of the matter ; for Proculus Julius,
a person whose testimony, as we are told,
deserved respect in any case, even of the
greatest importance, while the public were
full of grief for the king, and of displea-
sure against the senators, came out into an
assembly of the people, and said, " Romans,
yesterday, at the dawn of day, Romulus, the
parent of this our city, descending suddenly
from heaven, appeared before me • and when,
seized with horror, I stood in a worshipping
posture, and addressed him, with prayers, that
I might be allowed to behold him without being
guilty of impiety, Go, said he, tell the Romans
that it is the will of the gods that my Rome
should be the metropolis of the world. Let
them therefore cultivate the arts of war ; and
be assured, and hand this assurance down to
posterity, that no human power is able to
withstand the Roman arms. After these words,
he went up, and vanished from my sight." It

y. R. 38.]

OF ROME.

13

was wonderful how readily the story was cre-
dited on this man's word ; and how much the
grief of the people, and of the army, was as-
suaged, by their being satisfied of his immor-
tality.

XVII. Meanwhile the minds of the sena-
tors were agitated by ambition and contention
for the vacant throne. Factions had not yet
taken their rise from the interests of indivi-
duals ; for, among a new people, no one yet
possessed any eminent superiority over the
rest. The contest lay between the different
bodies of which the state was composed ; those
of Sabine descent were anxious that a king
should be chosen from among them, apprehen-
sive lest they might lose their claim by disuse,
there having been no king of their race since
the death of Tatius : although, by the terms
of the union, they were entitled to equal pri-
vileges. On the other hand, the original Ro-
mans spurned the thought of a foreigner being
placed on the throne. Notwithstanding this
diversity in their views, yet all concurred in
wishing for a king, for they had not yet tasted
the sweets of liberty. The senate now began
to fear, lest as the sentiments of many of the
neighbouring states were very unfriendly to-
wards them, some foreign power might attack
them, while the state was destitute of a go-
vernment, and the army destitute of a com-
mander. Every one therefore was desirous
that there should be some head, but no one
party could be induced to give way to another.
In this difficulty, the senators shared the go-
vernment among themselves ; forming out of
their number, which consisted of a hundred,
ten decades, with one president in each, who
were tc- have the direction of public affairs.
Each ten governed jointly ; the president alone
had the lictors and other badges of sovereignty.
The time of each holding the government was
limited to five days, and the administration
went to them all in rotation. In this manner
a year [Y. R. 38. B. C. 714.] passed without
a king ; and that interval, from this circum-
stance, was called an interregnum ; which term
is still applied to similar interruptions of the
regular government. By this time, the people
began to murmur, alleging that slavery was
multiplied on them ; that they had a hundred
masters set over them instead of one ; and it
became evident that they would no longer be
satisfied without a king, nor without one chosen
by themselves. The senators, perceiving that

such schemes were in agitation, judged it pru-
dent to make a voluntary offer of what they
could not much longer retain. Yet while they
gratified the people in surrendering to them
the sovereign power, they took care not to give
up a larger share of privilege than they kept in
their own hands; for they passed a decree,
that, when the people should elect a king
that election should not be valid, unless the
senate approved their choice. And, to this
day, the same right is claimed with respect to
the enacting of laws, and the appointing of
magistrates ; though the efficacy of it has been
quite taken away : at present, before the peo-
ple begin to vote, the senate previously declare
their approbation of the proceedings of the as-
sembly, and that, even before they are yet re-
solved upon. The interrex, then, having called
an assembly, said, " Romans ! be the event
prosperous, fortunate, and happy ; elect a
king : the fathers have thought proper to de-
cree that it should be so. If ye choose a per-
! son worthy to be esteemed a fit successor to
Romulus, the fathers will join their approba-
tion. " This proceeding was so pleasing to the
people, that, lest they might appear to be out-
done in generosity, they voted, and ordered,
nothing more than that the senate should deter-
mine, by their decree, who should be king of
Rome.

XVIII. There was at that time a person
named Numa Pompilius,3 who was universally
celebrated for justice and piety: he lived at
Cures, in the country of the Sabines ; and was
j as eminently skilled, as any one in that age
' could be, in all laws human and divine : he
was supposed to have been instructed by Pytha-
goras of Samos ; for which supposition there is
no other foundation, than its not being known
from what other quarter he derived his know-
ledge : certain it is, that more than a hundred
years after this period, in the reign of Servius
Tullius, Pythagoras assembled the youth of the
remoter parts of Italy, about Metapontum,
Heraclea, and Croton, and had them instructed
under his own direction. From places so re-
mote, even if he had lived in the time of Numa,
how could such a character of him have reached
the Sabines, as should have inspired them with
the desire of receiving his instructions ? In
what common language could they have com-

3 He was the son of a Sabiue nobleman, And bad been
married to a laughter of King Tatius, but was now a
widower.

14

THE HISTORY

[BOOK i.

municated ? or with what safety could a single
man have made his way thither, through so
many nations differing in their language and
manners ? I therefore rather believe, that his
mind was, by nature, furnished with virtuous
dispositions, and that the instructions which
he received were, not so much in foreign
learning, as in the coarse and severe discipline
of the Sabines, than whom no race of
men were less corrupted by refinements.
On hearing the name of Numa Pompilius, al-
though the Roman fathers saw that the balance
of power would incline to the Sabines, if a king
were chosen from among them, yet, no one
presuming to prefer himself, or any other of his
own party, or, in short, any one of the fathers,
or citizens, to him, they all, to a man, concur-
red in voting that the kingdom should be con-
ferred on Numa Pompilius. [Y. R. 39. B. C.
713.] When he arrived, in consequence of
their invitation, he ordered, that, as Romulus,
on the founding of the city, had obtained the
sovereign power by an augury, so the gods
should be consulted, in like manner, concerning
himself. Accordingly, being conducted into
the citadel by an augur, to which profession was
annexed, for ever after, by public authority, the
honour of performing that solemn office, he sat
down on a stone with his face turned towards
the south : the augur took his seat at his left
hand, with his head covered, holding in his right
hand a crooked wand free from knots, which
they called lituus ; then, taking a view towards
the city, and the adjacent country, after offer-
ing prayers to the gods he marked out the re-
gions of the sky from east to west ; the parts
towards the south, he called the right, those
toward the north, the left ; and, in front of
him, he set, in his mind, a boundary at the
greatest distance that bis eye could reach.
Then, shifting the lituus into his left hand,
and laying his right on Numa's head, he prayed
in this manner: — " Father Jupiter, if it is thy
will that this Numa Pompilius, whose head I
hold, should be king of Rome, display to us,
we beseech thee, clear tokens of the same, with-
in those limits which I have marked out." He
then named the particular auspices, which he
wished should be sent; and these having
appeared, Numa was declared king, and came
down from the consecrated stand.

XIX. Being thus put in possession of the
kingdom, and considering that the city was but
of short standing, and had been founded by

means of violence and arms, he formed a design
of establishing it anew, upon principles of just-
ice, laws, and morals ; and, knowing that the
minds of the people, rendered ferocious by a
military life, would never accommodate them-
selves to the practice of these, during the con-
tinuance of war, he resolved, by a disuse of
arms, to mollify the fierceness of their temper.
With this view, he built a temple to Janus,1
near the foot of the hill Argiletum,* which was
to notify a state either of war or of peace :
when open, it denoted that the state was engag-
ed in war; when shut, that there was peace
with all the surrounding nations. Since the
reign of Numa, it has been shut but twice;
once in the consulate of Titus Manlius, upon
the conclusion of the first Punic war : the hap-
piness of seeing it once more shut, the gods
granted to our own times, when, after the battle
of Actium, the emperor Caesar Augustus estab-
lished universal peace, on land and sea. This
temple he then shut; and having, by treaties
and alliances, secured the friendship of all his
neighbours, and thereby removed all apprehen-
sion of danger from abroad, he made it his first
aim, lest the dispositions of the people, which
had hitherto been restrained by fear of their
enemies, and by military discipline, should, in
time of tranquillity, grow licentious, to inspire
them with fear of the gods ; a principle of the
greatest efficacy with the multitude, in that
rude and ignorant age. And as this did not
seem likely to make much impression on their
minds, without the aid of some pretended mira-
cle, he made them believe chat he had nightly
meetings with the goddess Egeria; and that,
by her direction, he instituted the sacred rites,
most acceptable to the gods, and appointed pro-
per priests for each of the deities. His first
undertaking was to divide the year into twelve
months, according to the course of the moon :
and because the moon does not make up the
number of thirty days in each month, and con-
sequently there are some days wanted to fill

1 Janus is the most ancient king in Italy, of whom
any knowledge has been handed down to posterity : be
was the first who introduced civilization, and the use-
ful arts, among the wild inhabitants of that country.
He is represented with two faces, as knowing both the
past and the future : sometimes with four ; in which
attor form, one of the many temples dedicated to him

at Rome, was erected ; having four equal sides, on each
side one door and three windows ; the four doors were
emblematical of the seasons ; the twelve windows, of
the months ; and the whole, of the year.

2 A small hill to the east of the Palatine.

Y. R. 39.]

OF ROME.

15

up the complete year, formed by the revolution
of the sun, he managed in such a manner, by
inserting intercalary months, that every twenty -
fourth year, the space of all the intermediate
years being completed, the days coincided with
the same position of the sun from whence they
had set out. He also appointed days of bus-
iness, and days of cessation therefrom, foresee-
ing how expedient it would be in future, that
there should be times wherein no business
could be brought before the people.

XX. He next turned his thoughts to the
appointment of priests, though he performed in
person the greatest part of the sacred rites,
especially those which now belong to the office
of the flamen of Jupiter ;3 judging, that in such'
» warlike state, the greater number of kings
would resemble Romulus, rather than Numa.
and would go abroad themselves to war ; there-
fore, lest the sacred rites, the performance of
which pertained to the office of the king, should
be neglected, he created a flamen of Jove, who
was to attend constantly on the duties of that
priesthood, and decorated him with a splendid

likewise two other flamens ; one of Mars, the
other of Quirinus. He also selected virgins
for the service of Vesta, an order of priesthood
derived from Alba, and therefore related, in
some sort, to the family of the founder of the
city. For these he fixed a stipend, to be paid
out of the public treasury, that they might,
without interruption, attend to the business of
the temple ; and by enjoining virginity, and
other religious observances, gave them a sanctity

and on what days, and in what temples, each
should be performed ; and out of what funds jt
the expenses of them should be defrayed. He
also subjected all other religious performances,
whether public or private, to the determination
of the pontiff; in order that there should be
an authorized person to whom the people
might, on every occasion, resort for instruction
lest, through their neglect of the rites of their
own country, or the introduction of foreign
ones, irregularities might take place in the ,
worship of the gods. The same pontiff was ^/
also to determine all matters relative, not only
to the invocation of the celestial gods, but to
funeral solemnities, and the worship of the in-
fernal deities, and when and how such pro-
digies as appeared either by lightning or any
other phenomenon, should be attended to and
expiated. For the purpose of obtaining infor-
mation of the sentiments of the deities, respect-
ing these matters, he dedicated an altar, on
the Aventine, to Jupiter Elicius ; 4 and con-
sulted the gods, by auguries, concerning the
prodigies that were to be expiated.

dress, and a royal curule chair. He created^' XXI. The attention of the whole commu-

of character that attracted veneration. He «/their manners after the example of the king,

elected also twelve priests, called salii, for Mars
Gradivus ; and gave them as an ornament of
distinction, a flowered tunic, and, ovet the
tunic, a brazen covering for the breast. He
ordered these to carry the celestial armour, call-
ed Ancilia, and go in procession through the
city, singing hymns, with leaping and solemn
dancing. He then chose out of the senators,N
a pontiff, named Numa Marcius, son of Mar-
cus, and gave him a written and sealed copy of
the institutions respecting all the sacred rites,
together with directions as to what victims,

3 For a full account of the duty and office of the differ-
ent flamens, see Dr Adam's Roman Antiquities. Also
for those of the vestal virgins, and the salii, mentioned
in this chapter, see the same learned work, which may
be considered as a perpetual commentary upon the
Roman historians, in general, and Livy, in particular.

nity being diverted from violence and arms, to
the considering and adjusting of these matters,
necessarily prevented idleness; whilst reve-
rence towards the gods, with the thought of the
deity of heaven interfering in the concerns of
mankind, filled their breasts with such a degree
of piety, that good faith, and regard to the ob-
ligation of oaths, operated as powerfully on
their minds, as the dread of the laws and of
punishment And while the people formed

as the most perfect model, the neighbouring
powers, who had formerly looked upon Rome,
not as a city, but as a camp pitched in the
midst of them, for the purpose of disturbing
the general peace, were brought to entertain
such respect for it, as to deem any one guilty
-of impiety, who. should give trouble to a state
entirely occupied in the worship of the gods.
There was a grove, in the centre of , which,
from out of a dark cave, flowed a rivulet, fed
by a perpetual spring ; thither it was Numa's
custom frequently to repair unattended, to
meet, as he pretended, the goddess Egeria.
He therefore dedicated it to the muses, they
having been, he alleged, of her councils whom
he called his spouse. To Faith, under the de.

4 From eticere, to solicit information.

THE HISTORY

K I.

signation of Single Faith, he instituted an anni-
versary^ festival ; in the celebration of which,
he ordered the flamens to be carried in a cover-
ed chariot, drawn by two horses ; and, while
employed in the worship of her, to have their
hands covered, close down to the fingers, to
signify that Faith was to be carefully preserved,
and that even its seat, in the right hand, was
sacred. He appointed many other sacrifices,
and consecrated the places where they were to
oe performed, which the priests call Argenses.
But the greatest of all his works was the estab-
lishment of a permanent peace, which he main-
tained through the whole course of his reign, -with
no less care than he employed in securing his own
authority. Thus two kings in succession,
by different methods, one by warlike, the other
by peaceful institutions, contributed to the ag-
grandisement of the state. Romulus reigned
thirty-seven years, Numa forty-three. The
nation, by this time, became possessed not only
of great strength, but had also attained to a
competent knowledge of the arts both of war
and peace.

XXII. On the death of Numa, an interreg-
num again took place. [Y. R. 82. B. C. 60.]
After some time, the people elected to the
throne Tullus Hostilius, grandson to that Hos-
tilius who distinguished himself in the battle with
the Sabines, at the foot of the citadel ; and the
senate gave their approbation, He was not only
of a temper very different from that of the late
king, but more warlike in his disposition than
even Romulus himself. His youth and vigour,
and at the same time, the renown of his grand-
father, stimulated his native courage. Think-
ing, therefore, that the strength of the state
was growing languid, through inactivity
he sought on all sides for an opportunity 01
stirring up a war. It happened that some Ro-
man and Alban peasants committed mutual de-
predations on each other's lands : at this time
C. Cluilius held the government of Alba
Ambassadors were sent from both sides, a
nearly the same time, to demand restitution
Tullus gave orders to his, that they should at
tend to nothing else, until they executed thei
commission : he well knew that the Albar
would give a refusal, and then war might bt
proclaimed, without incurring the charge of im
piety. TKe Albans proceeded with less des
patch ; being courteously and liberally enter
tained by Tullus in his palace, they cheerful!
enjoyed the pleasures of the king's table

Meanwhile, the Romans had made the first
emand of restitution, and, on the Alban's re-
usal, had declared war to commence on the
hirtieth day after, and returned to Tullus with
u account of their proceedings. He then
gave the ambassadors an opportunity of propos-
ng the business of their embassy ; they, entire.
y ignorant of what had passed, spent some
ime, at first, in making apologies ; that " it
vas very disagreeable to them to say any thing
hat would not be pleasing to Tullus, but that
,hey were compelled by their instructions -. they
came to demand restitution, and if that were
not granted, had orders to declare war." To
his Tullus answered -. " Tell your king, that
the king of Rome appeals to the gods, to judge
which of the two states first dismissed, with a
refusal, the ambassadors of the other demand-
ng restitution : that, upon that state, they may
nflict all the calamities of this war."

XXIII. This answer the Albans carried
home, [Y. R. 85. B. C. 667.] and both parties
made the most vigorous preparations for a war,
which might almost be called a civil war, as it
was to be waged, in some manner, between
parents and their children, both parties deriving
their descent from Troy : for Lavinium owed
its origin to Troy, from Lavinium sprung Alba,
and, from the race of the Alban kings, the Ro-
mans were descended. The issue of the war,
however, was such as rendered the dispute
less grievous than might have been apprehend-
ed : for, without a general engagement, and
without any farther damage than the demolition
of the houses of one of the cities, the two states
were incorporated into one. The Albans first,
with very numerous forces, made an irruption
into the Roman territories : and, at the distance
of no more than five miles from the city, for-
tified their camp with a trench, which, from
the name of their leader, was afterwards called
the Cluilian Trench, and retained the name
for several ages, until the occasion being in
time forgotten, the name too fell into disuse.
In this camp, Cluilius the Alban king died, on
which the Albans created Mettius Fuffetius
their dictator. Tullus, now impatient for ac-
tion, especially after the death of the king,
assured his men that the supreme power of the
gods, which had already begun with the head,
would inflict, upon the whole body of the Al-
bans, the penalty incurred by their having oc-
casioned this impious war ; and, marching past
the enemy's camp in the night, he advanced,

Y. K. 85.]

OF ROME.

17

with his army ready for action, into the Alban
territories. This procedure drew out Mettius
from the camp where he lay ; he led his troops,
by the shortest road, towards the enemy, send-
ing forward an ambassador to tell Tullus, that
" it was highly expedient that they should con-
fer together, before they came to an engage-
ment ; that, if he would give him a meeting,
he was confident that what he had to propose
to his consideration would appear to concern
the interest of Rome, no less than that of
Alba." Tullus, not thinking it proper to de-
cline the proposal, though he saw no probabi-
lity of any good consequence arising from it,
led out his troops into the field ; the Albans
likewise marched out to meet him. When
both parties were drawn up in order of battle,
the leaders, attended by a few of the principal
officers, advanced into the middle space, where
the Alban began thus •. — "I understood, from
our king Cluilius, that, on our part, injuries
sustained, and a refusal of satisfaction, when
demanded, were the causes of the present war ;
and I doubt not that you, Tullus, allege, on
your part, the same grounds of quarrel : but if,
instead of plausible professions, I may be
allowed to declare the truth, it is a thirst for
dominion that stimulates two nations connected
by their situation, and by consanguinity, to
take up arms against each other. Nor do I
examine whether the measures pursued are
justifiable or not ; the determination of that
point was the business of him who commenced
the war ; for my part, it was for the purpose
of carrying it on, that the Albans constituted
me their leader. Of this, however, Tullus, I
wish to warn you ; what a formidable power
the Etrurians possess, both in our neighbour-
hood and more especially in yours, you, as be-
ing nearer to them, know better than we. On
land, they are very powerful ; on the sea ex-
ceedingly so. Now consider, that, when you
shall give the signal for battle, they will enjoy
the sight of these two armies engaged as they
would a show, and will not fail to attack both
the victor and the vanquished together, when
they see them fatigued, and their strength ex-
hausted. Wherefore, since we are not content
with the certain enjoyment of liberty, but are
going to hazard an uncertain cast for dominion
or slavery, let us, in the name of the gods, pur-
sue some method, whereby, without great loss,
without much blood of either nation, it may be
decided which shall have dominion over the
I.

other." This proposal was not unpleamng to
Tullus, though, from his natural disposition, as
well as from confidence of success, he was ra-
ther inclined to violent measures. Both of
them then turning their thoughts to devise
some plan, they adopted one, for which acci-
dent had already laid the foundation.

XXIV. It happened, that, in each of the
armies, there .were three twin brothers, between
whom there was no disparity, in point of age,
or of strength. That their names were Hora
tius and Curiatius, we have sufficient certainty,
for no occurrence of antiquity has ever been /^
more universally noticedt yet, notwithstanding
that the fact is so welTascertained, there still
remains a doubt respecting the names, to which
nation the Horatii belonged, and to which the
Curiatii : authors are divided on the point ;
finding, however, that the greater number con-
cur, in calling the Horatii^ Romans, I am in-
clined to follow them. To these three bro-
thers, on each side, the kings proposed, that
they should support by their arms the honour
of their respective countries ; informing them,
that the sovereignty was to be enjoyed by that
nation whose champions should prove victori-
ous in the combat. No reluctance was shown
on their parts, and time and place were ap-
pointed. Previous to the fight, a league was
made between the Romans and Albans, on
these conditions ; that whichever of the two
nations should, by its champions, obtain victory
in the combat, that nation should, without fur-
ther dispute, possess sovereign dominion over
the otherT"! Treaties are variously formed, but
the mode "of ratification is the same in all.
The following is the manner in which, as we
are told, they proceeded on that occasion ; and
we have no record of any more ancient treaty.
The herald addressed the king in these words :
" Dost thou, O king, order me to strike a
league with the Pater Patratus1 of the Alban
nation ?" Having received the king's order,
he said, " O king, I demand vervain from
thee :" the king answered, " Take it pure."
The herald brought clean stalks of that herb
from the citadel. He afterwards asked the
king in these words ; " Dost thou, O king,
constitute me the royal delegate of the Roman
people, the Quirites ; including, in my privi-
leges, my attendants and implements." The

1 The duty of the Pater Patratus was, to attond tlie
making of the treat;- ind to ratify it by oath.

c

18

THE HISTORY

[BOOK i.

Icing replied, " Be it without detriment to me,
and to the Roman people, the Quirites, I do
constitute thee. " The herald was Marcus Vale-
rius, and he made Spurius Fusius Pater Patra-
tus, hy touching his head and hair with the ver-
vain. The Pater Patratus is appointed "ad jus-
jurandum patrandum," that is, to ratify the
league ; and this he does in a great many words,
which being expressed in a long set form, I
may be excused from repeating. Then, after
reciting the conditions, he said, " Hear thou,
O Jupiter ! hear thou, Pater Patratus of the
Albaa nation : hear, ye people of Alba : as
those conditions, from first to last, have been
recited openly from those tablets, or thut wax,
without fraud or deceit, in such sense as they
are most clearly understood here this day, from
those conditions the Roman people will not
first depart : if they shall, at any time, first
depart from them, under authority of the state,
through any fraud or deceit, do thou, O Jupi-
ter, on that day, 'Strike the Roman people in
like manner as I shall here, this day, strike this
swine ; and strike them, thou, with greater
severity, in proportion as thy power and ability
are greater." So saying, he struck down the
swine with a flint stone. The Albans like-
wise, by their dictator and their priests, re-
peated their form of ratification and their oath.
~^ XXV. The league being concluded, the
three brothers, on each side, pursuant to the
agreement, took arms ; the friends of each
putting them in mind that " the gods of their
country, their country itself, the whole of their
countrymen, whether at home or in the army,
rested on their prowess the decision of their
fate." Naturally bold and courageous, ane
highly animated besides by such exhortations,
they advanced into the midst between the two
armies. The two armies sat down before their
respective camps, free from all apprehensions
of immediate danger to themselves, but not
from deep anxiety ; no less than sovereign power
being at stake, and depending on the braven
and success of so small a number. With al
the eagerness therefore of anxious suspense
they fixed their attention on an exhibition
which was far indeed from being a matter o
__ mere amusement. | The signal being given, th<
three youths, who had been drawn up on each
side, as in battle array, their breasts animated
with the magnanimous spirits of whole armies
rushed forward to the fight, intent on mutual
slaughter, utterly thoughtless of their own per

onal peril, and reflecting, that, on the issue
f the contest, depended the future fate and
brtune of their respective countries. On the
irst onset, as soon as the clash of their arms,
and the glittering of their swords, were per-
ceived, the spectators shuddered with excess of
iorror ; and their hopes being, as yet, equally
mlanced, their voice was suppressed, and even
:heir breath was suspended. Afterwards, in
;he progress of the combat, during which, not
only the activity of the young men's limbs, and
the rapid motions of their arms, offensive and
defensive, were exhibited to view, the three
Albans were wounded, and two of the Romans
"ell lifeless to the ground. On their fall, the
Alban army set up a shout of joy ; while the
Roman legions were almost reduced to a state
of despair, by the situation of their champion,
who was now surrounded by the three Curiatii.
It happened that he was unhurt; so that,
though singly, he was by no means a match for
them collectively, yet was he confident of suc-
cess, against each taken singly. In order
therefore to avoid their joint attack, he betook
himself to flight, judging from their wounds
that they would pursue him with different de-
grees of speed. He had now fled some way
from the place where they had fought, when
looking back, he perceived that there were
large intervals between the pursuers, and that
one was at no great distance from him : he
therefore turned about, with great fury, and
while the Alban army called out to the Curiatii
to succour their brother, Horatius, having in
the mean time slain his antagonist, proceeded
victorious to attack the second. The Romans
then cheered their champion with shouts of
applause, such as naturally burst forth on oc-
casions of unexpected success : on his part, he
delayed not to put an end to the combat ; for,
before the third could come up to the relief of
his brother, he had despatched him. And now,
they were brought to an equality, in point of
number, only one on each side surviving, but
were far from an equality either in hopes or in
strength ; the one, unhurt, and flushed with
two victories, advanced with confidence to the
third contest ; the other, enfeebled by a wound,
fatigued with running, and dispirited, besides,
by the fate of his brethren, already slain, met
the victorious enemy. What followed, could
not be called a fight ; the Roman, exulting,
cried out, " Two of you have I offered to the
shades of my brothers, the third I will offer to

R. 85.]

OF ROME.

19

the cause in which we are engaged, that the
Roman may rule over the Alban : and, whilst
the other could scarcely support tha weight of
his armour, he plunged his sword downward
into his throat ; then, as he lay prostrate, he
despoiled him of his arms. The Romans re-
ceived Horatius with triumphant congratula-
tions, and a degree of joy proportioned to the
greatness of the danger that had threatened their
cause. Both parties then applied themselves
to the burying of their dead, with very different
dispositions of mind ; the one being elated with
the acquisition of empire, the other depressed
under a foreign jurisdiction. The sepulchres
still remain, in the several spots where the
combatants fell ; those of the two Romans in
one place nearer to Alba, those of the three
Albans, on the side next to Rome ; but, in
different places, as they fought.

XXVI. Before the armies separated, Met-
tius, in conformity to the terms of the treaty,
desired to know from Tullus what commands
he would give, and was ordered to keep the
young men in readiness, under arms, as he in-
tended to employ them in caseof a war break-
ing out with the Veientians. 4—The two parties
then retired to their respective homes. Hora-
tius advanced at the head of the Romans, bear-
ing in triumph the spoils of the three brothers :
near the gate Capena he was met by his sister,
a maiden who had been betrothed to one of the
Cuiiatii : observing, on her brother's shoulder,
the military robe of her lover, made by her own
bands, she tore her hair, . and, with loud and
mournful outcries, called on the name of her
deceased spouse. His sister's lamentations, in
the midst of his own triumph, and of so great
- public joy, irritated the fierce youth to such a
degree, that, drawing his sword, he plunged it
i^to her breast, at the same time upbraiding her
, oln 'these words, " Begone to thy spouse, with thy
. unseasonable love, since thoucouldst forget what
» ^isdueto the memory of thy deceased brothers, to
\ uim who still survives, and to thy native country :
I so perish every daughter of Rome that shall
Hpourn for its enemy." Both the senate and
people were shocked at the horrid deed ; but
still, in their opinion, his recent merit outweigh-
ed its guilt : he was, however, instantly carried
•—^before the king for judgment?! The king, un-
willing to take on himselPiniecision of such a
melancholy nature, and evidently disagreeable
to the multitude, or to inflict the consequent
punishment, summoned an assembly of the

people, and then said, " I appoint two commis-
sioners to pass judgment on Horatius for mur-
der, according to the law." The law was of
dreadful import : " Let two commissioners pass
judgment for murder ; if the accused appeal
from the commissioners, let the appeal be tried ;
if their sentence be confirmed, cover his bead,
hang him by a rope on the gallows, let him be
scourged either within the Pomo3rium or with-
out the Pomoerium." The two commissioners
appointed were of opinion, that, according to
that law, they were not authorized to acquit
him, however small his offence might be ; and,
after they had found him guilty, one of them
pronounced judgment in these words : " Pub-
lius Horatius, I sentence thee to punishment as
a murderer ; go, lictor, bind his hands." The
lictor had come up to him, and was fixing the
cord, when Horatius, by the advice of Tullus,
who wished to give the mildest interpretation
to the law, said, " I appeal :" so the trial, on
the appeal, came before the commons, fjburingt*:
this trial, the people were very deeply affected,
especially by the behaviour of Publius Horatius,
the fatherT") who declared that, " in his judg-
ment, histlaughter was deservedly put to death ; ^
had it not been so, he would, by his own au-
thority as a father, have inflicted punishment
on his son." He then besought them that ~~
" they would not leave him childless, whom
they had beheld, but a few hours ago, surrcmjyl§i^"»
by a progeny of uncommoruj^Q^^jUttenng
these woras^Cne old man embraced the youth,
and pointing to the spoils of the Curiatii, which
were hung up in the place where now stands
the Horatian column; " O my fellow- citi-
zens," he exclaimed, " can you bear to behold
him laden with chains, and condemned to igno-
miny, stripes, and torture, whom, but just now,
you saw covered with the ornaments of victory,
marching in triumph ! a sight so horrid, that
scarcely could the eyes of the Albans them-
selves endure it Go, lictor, bind the arms,
which, but now, wielded those weapons which
acquired dominion to the Roman people : cover
the head of that man, to whom'your city owes
its liberty : hang him upon the gallows :
scourge him, within the Pomoerium ; but do it
between those pillars, to which are suspended
the trophies of his victory ; scourge him, with-
out the Pomoerium, but do it between the
tombs of the Curiatii. For to what place can
ye lead this youth, where the monuments of bis
glory would not redeem him from the ignominy

20

THE HISTORY

.> of such a punishment ?" The people could not
withstand either the tears Tjf the father, or the
intrepid spirit of the youth himself, which no
kind of danger could appal, and rather out of
admiration of his bravery, than regard to the
justice of his cause, they passed a sentence of
^acquittal. "] Wherefore, that some expiation
' might be made for the act of manifest murder,
the father was ordered to make atonement for
his son at the public expense. After perform-
ing expiatory siicrifices, which continued after-
wards to be celebrated by the Horatian family,
he laid a beam across the street, and, covering
the young man's head, made him pass, as it
were, under the yoke. 'The beam remains to
this day, being constantly kept in repair at the
expense of the public, and is called the Sister's
beam. A tomb of squared stone was raised
for Horatia, on the spot where she fell.
/ XXVII. The peace with Alba was not of
long continuance. The dissatisfaction of the
multitude, on account of the power and for-
tune of the state having been hazarded on three
champions, perverted the unsteady mind of the
dictator ; and as his designs, though honour-
able, had not been crowned with success, he
endeavoured, by others of a different kind, to
recover the esteem of his countrymen. With
this view, therefore, as formerly, in time of
war, he had sought peace, so now, when peace
was established, he as ardently wished for war :
but, perceiving that his own state possessed
more courage than strength, he persuaded other
nations to make war, openly, by order of their
governments,reserving to his own people the part
of effecting their purposes, by treachery, under
the mask of allies. The Fidenatians, a Ro-
man colony, being assured of the concurrence
of the Veientians, and receiving from the Al-
bans a positive engagement to desert to their
side, were prevailed on to take arms and de-
clare war. Fidenae having thus openly revolt-
ed, Tullus, after summoning Mettius and his
army from Alba, marched against the enemy,
and passing the Anio, pitched his camp at the
conflux of the rivers. Between that place,
and Fidenae, the Veientians had crossed the
Tiber, and, in the line of battle, they composed
the right wing near the river, the Fidenatians
being posted on the left towards the moun-
tains. Tullus drew up his own men facing
the Veientians, and posted the Albans oppo-
site to the troops of the Fidenatians. The
Alban had not more resolution than fidelity,

so that, not daring either to keep his ground,
or openly to desert, he filed off slowly towards
the mountains. When he thought he had pro-
ceeded to a sufficient distance, he ordered the
whole line to halt, and being still irresolute, in
order to waste time, he employed himself in
forming the ranks : his scheme was to join his
forces to whichever of the parties fortune
should favour with victory. At first, the Ro-
mans who stood nearest were astonished at
finding their flank left uncovered, by the de-
parture of their allies, and, in a short time, a
horseman at full speed brought an account to
the king that the Albans were retreating.
Tullus, in this perilous juncture, vowed to
institute twelve new Salian priests, and also to
build temples to Paleness and Terror ; then,
rebuking the horseman with a loud voice, that
the enemy might hear, he ordered him to re-
turn to the fight, telling him, that " there was
no occasion for any uneasiness ; that it was by
his order the Alban army was wheeling round,
in order to fall upon the unprotected rear of
the Fidenatians." He commanded him, also,
to order the cavalry to raise their spears aloft ;
and, this being performed, intercepted, from a
great part of the infantry, the view of the Al-
ban army retreating ; while those who did see
them, believing what the king had said, fought
with the greater spirit. The fright was now
transferred to the enemy, for they had heard
what the king had spoken aloud, and many of
the Fidenatians understood the Latin tongue,
as having been intermixed with Romans in the
colony. Wherefore, dreading lest the Albans
might run down suddenly from the hills, and cut
off their retreat to the town, they betook them-
selves to flight. Tullus pressed them close,and af-
ter routing this wing composed of the P'idenati-
ans, turned back with double fury against the
Veientians, now disheartened by the dismay of
the other wing. Neither could they withstand
his attack, and the river intercepting them be-
hind, prevented a precipitate flight. As soon
as they reached this, in their retreat,, some,
shamefully throwing away their arms, plunged
desperately into the water, and the rest, hesi-
tating on the bank, irresolute whether to fight
or fly, were overpowered and cut off. Never
before had the Romans been engaged in so
desperate an action.

XXVIII. When all was over, the Alban
troops, who had been spectators of the engage-
ment, marched down into the plain, and

y. R. 85.]

OF ROME.

21

Mettius congratulated Tullus on his victory
over the enemy. Tullus answered him, with-
out showing any sign of displeasure, and gave
orders that the Albans should, with the favour
of fortune, join their camp with that of the
Romans, and appointed a sacrifice of purifica-
tion to be performed next day. As soon as
it was light, all things being prepared in the
usual manner, he commanded both armies to
be summoned to an assembly. The heralds,
beginning at the outside, summoned the Albans
first ; and they, struck with the novelty of the
affair, and wishing to hear the Roman king de-
livering a speech, took their places nearest to
him : the Roman troops, under arms, pursuant
to directions previously given, formed a circle
round them, and a charge was given to the
centurions to execute without delay such orders
as they should receive. Then Tullus began in
this manner ; "If ever, Romans, there has
hitherto occurred, at any time, or in any war,
an occasion that called on you to return thanks,
first, to the immortal gods, and, next, to your
own valour, it was the battle of yesterday : for
ye had to struggle not only with your enemies,
but, what is a more difficult and dangerous
struggle, with the treachery and perfidy of your
allies : for I will now undeceive you ; it was
not by my order that the Albans withdrew to
the mountains, nor was what ye heard me say,
the issuing of orders, but a stratagem, and a
pretext of having given orders, to the end that
while ye were kept in ignorance of your being
deserted, your attention might not be drawn
away from the fight ; and that, at the same time,
the enemy, believing themselves to be surround-
ed on the rear, might be struck with terror and
dismay : but the guilt which I am exposing to
you, extends not to all the Albans : they follow-
ed their leader, as ye would have done, had I
chosen that the army should make any move-
ment from the ground which it occupied.
Mettius there was the leader of that march,
the same Mettius was the schemer of this war.
Mettius it was who broke the league between
the Romans and Albans. May others dare to
commit like crimes, if I do not now make him
a conspicuous example to all mankind." On
this the centurions in arms gathered round
Mettius, and the king proceeded in his dis-
course : " Albans, be the measure prosperous,
fortunate, and happy to the Roman people, to
me, and to you ; it is my intention to remove
the entire people of Alba to Rome, to give to

the commons the privileges of citizens, and to
enroll the principal inhabitants among the
fathers, to form of the whole one city, one re-
public. As the state of Alba, from being one
people, was heretofore divided into two, so let
these be now re-united." On hearing this, the
Alban youth who were unarmed, and surround-
ed by armed troops, however different their
sentiments were, yet, being all restrained by the
same apprehensions, kept a profound silence
Tullus then said, " Mettius Fuffetius, if you
were capable of learning to preserve faith, and
a regard to treaties, I should suffer you to live,
and supply you with instructions ; but your
disposition is incurable : let your punishment,
then, teach mankind to consider those things
as sacred, which you have dared to violate. As,
therefore, you lately kept your mind divided
between the interest of the Fidenatians and
of the Romans, so shall you now have your
body divided and torn in pieces. " Then two
chariots being brought, each drawn by four
horses, he tied Mettius extended at full length,
to the carriages of them, and the horses being
driven violently in different directions, bore
away on each carriage part of his mangled body,
with the limbs which were fastened by the
cords. The eyes of all were turned with hor-
ror from this shocking spectacle. This was
the first, and the last, instance among the Ro-
mans, of any punishment inflicted without
regard to the laws of humanity. In every other
case, we may justly boast, that no nation in the
world has shown greater mildness.

XXIX. During these proceedings, [Y. R.
87. B. C. 665. ] the cavalry had been sent for-
ward to Alba, to remove the multitude to
Rome. The legions were now led thither, to
demolish the city. As soon as they entered
the gates, there ensued not a tumult, or panic,
as is usual in cities taken by storm, where the
gates being burst open, or the walls levelled by
:he ram, or the citadel being taken by force, the
shouts of the enemy, and the troops running
furiously through the city, throw all into con-
Fusion with fire and sword ; but gloomy silence,
and dumb sorrow, so stupified the inhabitants,
that, not knowing in their distraction what to
eave behind or what to carry with them, and
ncapable of forming any plan, they stood at
their doors, making inquiries of each other, or
wandering through their own houses, which
;hey were now to see for the last time. But
low, when the horsemen, with shouts, urged

22

THE HISTORY

[BOOK i.

them to depart, and the crash of the houses,
which the troops were demolishing in the outer
parts of the city, assailed their ears, and the
dust, raised in distant places, had filled a.1! parts,
enveloping them as with a cloud ; each of them
hastily snatching up whatever he could, and
leaving behind his guardian deity, his household
gods, and the house wherein he had been born
and educated, they began their departure, and
soon filled the roads with one continued troop
of emigrants. The sight of each other continu-
ally renewed their tears, through the mutual
commiseration which it excited in every breast.
Their ears were assailed with bitter lamenta-
tions, especially from the women, as they passed
the temples which they had been used to revere,
now filled with armed soldiers, and reflected
that they were leaving their gods, as it were,
in captivity. When the Albans had evacuated
the city, the Romans levelled to the ground all
the buildings in every part of it, both public
and private, and in one hour ruined and de-
stroyed the work of four hundred years, during
which Alba had stood. The temples of the
gods, however, they left untouched, for so the
king had commanded.

XXX. Meanwhile from this destruction of
Alba, Rome received a considerable augmen-
tation. The number of citizens was doubled.
The Caelian mount was added to the city ; and,
in order to induce others to fix their habitations
there, Tullus chose that situation for his palace,
where, from thenceforth, he resided. The
persons of chief note among the Albans, the
Tulii, Servilii, Quintii, Gegani, Curiatii, Clo3-
lii, he enrolled among the senators, that this
part of the state also might receive an addition ;
and, as a consecrated place of meeting for this
body, thus augmented, he built a senate-house,
which retained the name of Hostilia, even
within the memory of our fathers. And, that
every order in the state might receive an ac-
cession of strength from this new people, he
chose from among the Albans ten troops of
horsemen. From among them also he drew
, recruits, with which he both filled up the old,
and formed some new, legions. [Y. R. 100.
B. C. 652.] Encouraged by this formidable
state of his forces, he declared war against the
Sabines, a nation the most powerful of that age,
next to the Etrurians, both in point of num-
bers, and of skill in arms. Injuries had been
offered on both sides, and satisfaction demand-
ed in vain. Tullus complained that some Ro-

mam traders had been seized in an open fair at
the temple of Feronia. The Sabines, that
prior to this, some of their people had fled into
the Asylum, and were detained at Rome.
These were the reasons assigned for the war.
The Sabines, reflecting that a great part of their
original strength had been fixed at Rome by
Tatius, and that the Roman power had been
also lately increased, by the accession of the
people of Alba, took care, on their part, to look
round for foreign aid. Etruria lay in their
neighbourhood, and the state of the Etrurians
nearest to them was that of the Veientians.
From among these they procured a number of
volunteers, who were induced to take part
against the Romans, principally by the resent-
ment which they still retained on account of
their former quarrels. Several also of the
populace, who were indigent and unprovided
of a setlement, were allured by pay. From the
government they received no assistance, and the
Veientians, for it was less surprising in others,
adhered to the terms of the truce stipulated
with Romulus. Vigorous preparations being
made on both sides, and it being evident, that,
whichever party should first commence hostili-
ties, would have considerably the advantage,
Tullus seized the opportunity of making an in-
cursion into the lands of the Sabines, A furi-
ous battle ensued at the wood called Malitiosa,
in which the Romans obtained the victory.
For this, they were indebted not only to the
firm strength of their infantry, but chiefly to
the cavalry, which had been lately augmented ;
since, by a sudden charge of this body, the ranks
of the Sabines were thrown into such disorder,
that they were neither able to continue the fight,
nor to make good their retreat, without great
slaughter.

XXXI. After the defeat of the Sabines,
the government of Tullus, and the Roman
state in general, possessed a large degree of
power and of fame. At this time an account
was brought to the king and the senate that a
shower of stones had fallen on the Alban mount.
This appearing scarcely credible, and some per-
sons being sent to examine into the prodigy,
there fell from the air, in their sight, a vast
quantity of stones, like a storm of hail. They
imagined also that they heard a loud voice from
the grove on the summit of the hill, ordering,
that the Albans should perform religious rites
according to the practice of their native coun-
try. These the Albans had entirely neglected,

v. n. 114.]

OF ROME.

as it', with their country, they had also aban-
doned its deities, and had adopted the Roman
practice, or, perhaps, incensed against fortune,
had renounced the worship of the gods. On
account of the same prodigy, the Romans also
instituted for themselves, by order of govern-
ment, a festival of nine days ; either in obe-
dience to a voice from heaven, uttered on the
Albari mount, for that likewise is mentioned,
or by direction of the aruspices. Be this as it
may, it is certain, that, whenever an account
was received of a similar phenomenon, a festi-
val for nine days was celebrated. In a short
time after, the country was afilicted with a pes-
tilence ; and though this necessarily rendered
men averse to military service, yet the king,
in himself fond of war, and persuaded that
young men enjoyed better health while employ-
ed abroad, than when loitering at home, gave
them no rest from arms, until he was seized by
a tedious disorder. Then, together with the
strength of his body, the fierceness of his spirit
was reduced to such a degree, that he who
lately thought nothing less becoming a king than
to busy his thoughts in matters of religion, be-
came, at once, a slave to every kind of supersti-
tion, in cases either of great or of trifling import,
arid even filled the minds of the people also with
superstitious notions. The generality, com-
paring the present state of their affairs with that
which they had enjoyed under Numa, became
possessed of an opinion, that the only prospect
left them, of being relieved from the sickness,
was, in obtaining pardon and favour from the
gods. It is said, that the king himself, turning
over the commentaries of Numa, and discover-
ing therein that certain sacrifices, of a secret
and solemn nature, had been performed to
Jupiter Elicius, shut himself up, and set about
the performance of this solemnity; but, not
having undertaken, or conducted, the rites in
due form, he not only failed of obtaining any
notification from the gods, but, through the re-
r-entment of Jupiter, for being addressed in an
improper manner, was struck with lightning,
and reduced to ashes, together with bis house.
Tullus reigned thirty-two years, highly renown-
ed for his military achievements.

XXXII. [Y. R. 114. B. C.638.] On the
death of Tullus, the direction of affairs, accor-
ding to the mode adopted from the beginning,
fell into the hands of the senate ; they nomin-
ated an interrex, who presided at the election,
when the people created Ancus Marcius king,

and the senate approved of their choice. An
cus Marcius was the grandson of Numa Pom-
pilius, by his daughter. As soon as he was in.
possession of the throne, reflecting on the glory
which his grandfather had acquired, and con-
sidering that the late reign, though highly
honourable in other respects, yet, in one par-
ticular, had been very deficient, the affairs of
religion having been either quite neglected or
improperly managed, he judged it to be a mat-
ter of the utmost consequence, to provide that
the public worship should be performed in the
manner instituted by Numa; and ordered the
pontiff to make a transcript of every particular
rite, from the commentaries of that king, on
white tables, and to expose it to the view of
the people. From these proceedings, not only
his subjects, whose wishes tended to peace,
but the neighbouring states also, conceived
hopes that the king would conform himself to
the manners and institutions of his grandfather.
In consequence of which, the Latines, with
whom a treaty had been concluded in the reign
of Tullus, assumed new courage, and made an
incursion into the Roman territories ; and,
when the Romans demanded satisfaction, re-
turned a haughty answer, imagining the Roman
king so averse to action, that he would spend
his reign among chapels and altars. The
genius of Ancus was of a middle kind, partak-
ing both of that of Numa and of Romulus.
He was sensible, not only that peace had been
more necessary in the reign of his grandfather,
to a people who were but lately incorporated
and still uncivilized, but also, that the tran-
quillity, which had obtained at that time, could
not now be preserved, without a tame submis-
sion to injuries ; that they were making trial
of his patience, and would soon come to despise
it ; in short, that the times required a king like
Tullus, rather than one like Numa. However,
being desirous, that, as Numa had instituted
the religious rites to be observed in time of
peace, so the ceremonies, to be observed in
war, should have himself for their founder,
and that wars should not only be waged, but
be proclaimed likewise, according to a certain
established mode, he borrowed from the an-
cient race of the JEquicolae that form of de-
manding satisfaction which is still used by the
heralds. The ambassador, when he comes to
the frontiers of the state, from whom satisfac-
tion is demanded, having his head covered with
a fillet of wool, says, " O Jupiter, hear me ;

24

THE HISTORY

[BOOK i.

hear, ye frontiers," (naming the state to which
they belong,) " let justice hear ; I am a public
messenger of the Roman people. I come, an
ambassador duly authorized, according to the
forms of justice and religion ; let my words
therefore meet with credit." He then makes
his demands, and afterwards appeals to Jupiter :
" If I demand that those persons, and those
effects, should be given up to me, the messen-
ger of the Roman people, contrary to justice
and the law of nations, then suffer me not to
enjoy my native country." These words he
repeats, when he passes over the boundaries ;
the same to the first person that he meets ;
again, when he enters the gate ; and, lastly,
when he enters the Forum, only making
the necessary change of a few words in the
form of the declaration and of the oath. If
the persons whom he demands are not given
up, then, on the expiration of thirty-three days,
that being the number enjoined by the rule, he
declares war in this manner : " O Jupiter,
hear me ! and thou, Juno, Quirinus, and all
ye gods of heaven, and ye of the earth, and ye
of the infernal regions, hear, I call you to wit-
ness, that that people," naming them, whoever
they are, " are unjust, and do not perform
what equity requires. But concerning those
affairs we will consult the elders in our own
country, by what means we may obtain our
right. " After this, the messenger returned to
Rome, in order that the opinion of the govern-
ment might be taken. The king immediately
consulted the senate, nearly in these words :
" Concerning those matters, controversies, and
arguments, which were agitated between the
Pater Patratus of the Roman people, the
Quirites, and the Pater Patratus of the an-
cient Latines, and the ancient Latine people,
which matters ought to have been granted, per-
formed, and discharged ; but which they have
neither granted, performed, nor discharged,
declare," said he, to the person whose vote he
first asked, " what is your opinion?" The
other then said, " I am of opinion, that the
performance of them ought to be exacted in
just and regular war, wherefore I consent to
and vote for it." The rest were then asked in
order, and the majority of those present being
of the same opinion, a vote passed for war.
It was a customary practice for the herald to
carry a spear pointed with steel, or burnt at
the point and dipped in blood, to the frontiers,
and there, in the presence of at least three

grown-up persons, to say, " Forasmuch as the
states of the ancient Latines, and the ancient
Latine people, have acted against and behaved
unjustly towards the Roman people the Qui-
rites, forasmuch as the Roman people the
Quirites have ordered that there should be war
with the ancient Latines, and the senate of the
Roman people the Quirites have given their
opinion, consented, and voted that war should
be made with the ancient Latines ; therefore I,
and the Roman people, do declare and make
war against the states of the ancient Latines,
and the ancient Latine people ;" and saying
this, he threw the spear within their bounda-
ries. In this manner was satisfaction demanded
from the Latines, at that time, and war de-
clared ; succeeding generations adopted the
same method.

XXXIII. Ancus, having committed the
care of religious affairs to the flamens and other
priests, assembled a new army, set out to the
war, and took Politorium, a city of the Latines,
by storm. Then, pursuing the practice of for-
mer kings, who had augmented the power of
the Roman state, by receiving enemies into the
number of thsir citizens, he removed the whole
multitude to Rome ; and, as the original Ro-
mans entirely occupied the ground round the
Palatium, the Sabihes the Capitol with the
citadel, and the Albans the Cselian Mount, the
Aventine was assigned to this body of new
citizens ; and in a little time after, on the re-
duction of Tellenae, and Ficana, an additional
number of inhabitants were settled in the same
place. Politorium was soon after attacked,
a second time, by the Roman forces, the
ancient Latines having taken possession of
it, when left without inhabitants ; and this
induced the Romans to demolish that city, that
it might not again serve as a receptacle for the
enemy. At length, the whole force of the
Latine war was collected about Medullia, and
the contest was carried on there with vari-
ous success ; for the city was not only well de-
fended by works, and secured by a strong gar-
rison, but the army of the Latines having
pitched their camp in the open country, fought
the Romans several times in close engagement.
At last, Ancus, making a vigorous effort with
all his force, first defeated them in the field,
and then made himself master of the city, from
whence he returned, with immense booty, to
Rome. On this occasion, too, many thousands
of the Latines, being admitted into the number

Y. R. 121.]

OF ROME.

25

of citizens, had ground allotted to them near
the temple of Murcia, in order to unite the
Aventine to the Palatine hill. The Janiculum
also was taken in, not for want of room, but to
prevent its serving, at any time, as a place of
strength to an enemy ; and it was determined
that this should be joined to the city, not only
by a wall, but likewise for the convenience of
passage, by a wooden bridge, which was then
first built over the Tiber. The Quiritian
trench also, no inconsiderable defence to those
parts, which, from their low situation, are of
easy access, is a work of king Ancus. In con-
sequence of these vast accessions to the state,
and the numbers of people becoming so very
large, many, disregarding the distinctions be-
tween right and wrong, committed various
crimes, and escaped discovery. In order to
suppress by terror the boldness which the vi-
cious assumed from hence, and which gained
ground continually, a prison was built in the
middle of the city, adjoining the Forum : and
not only the city, but the territory also and
boundaries of the state, were extended by this
king. The Maesian forest was taken away
from the Veientians, the Roman dominion ex-
tended as far as the sea, and the city of Ostia
built at the mouth of the Tiber, near which
salt-pits were formed ; and in consequence of
the glorious success obtained in war, the tem-
ple of Jupiter Feretrius was enlarged.

XXXIV. During the reign of Ancus,
[Y. R. 121. B. C. 631.] a person named
Lucumo, of an enterprising spirit, and pos-
sessed of great wealth, came and settled at
Rome, led principally by ambition, and hopes
of attaining higher honours than he could
expect at Tarquinii, where also he was con-
sidered as an alien. He was the son of De-
maratus a Corinthian, who, having left his na-
tive country, in consequence of some intestine
commotions, happened to fix his residence at
Tarquinii, and marrying there, had two sons.
Their names were Lucumo and A runs. Lu-
cumo survived his father, and inherited all his
property. Aruns died before the father, leav-
ing a wife pregnant. The father did not long
survive his son, and not knowing that his
daughter-in-law was with child, he died with-
out taking any notice of a grandson in his will,
so that the boy, who was born after his grand-
fathers decease, not being entitled to any share
of his property, was called, from the poverty
of his situation, Egerius. Lucumo, on the

other hand, becoming sole heir, was, by his
riches, inspired with elevated notions ; and
these were much increased by his marriage with
Tanaquil, a woman of the highest distinction,
who could not endure, with patience, that the
rank of the man whom she had married, should
remain inferior to that of the family which
gave her birth. As the Etrurians looked with
contempt on Lucumo, the descendant of a for-
eign exile, she could not support the indignity,
but, disregarding her natural attachment to her
country, in comparison with the pleasure of
seeing her husband raised to an honourable
rank, formed the design of removing from Tar-
quinii. Rome appeared best suited to her pur-
pose. In a new state, where all nobility was
of late date, and acquired by merit, she thought
there would be room for a man of spirit and
industry. She considered that Tatius, a Sa-
bine, had enjoyed the throne ; that Numa had
been called to the crown from Cures ; and that
Ancus was of a Sabine family by his father,
and could show only the single image of Numa
to entitle him to nobility. It was not difficult
to persuade her husband, who was ambitious of
honours, and had no natural attachment to
Tarquinii, except through his mother, to enter
into her designs. Wherefore, carrying their
effects along with them, they set out together
for Rome. They happened to come through
the Janiculum ; there, as he sat in the chariot
with his wife, an eagle suspending herself on
her wings, stooped gently, and took off his cap,
and, after hovering for some time, over the
chariot, with loud screams, replaced it in its
proper position on his head, as if she had been
sent by some deity to perform that office ; and
then, flying up into the air, disappeared. It is
said, that this augury was received with great
joy by Tanaquil, who was well skilled in ce-
lestial prodigies, as the Etrurians generally are.
Embracing her husband, she desired him to
cherish hopes of high and magnificent fortune,
for that such a bird, from such a quarter of the
heaven, the messenger of such a deity, portended
no less ; that it had exhibited the omen on the
most elevated part of the human body, and had
lifted up the ornament, placed on the head of
man, in order to replace it on the same part, by
direction of the gods. Full of these thoughts
and expectations, they advanced into the city,
and having purchased a house there, they gave
out his name as Lucius Tarquinius. The
circumstance of his being a stranger, and his
U

26

THE HISTORY

EBOOK i.

wealth, soon attracted the general notice of the
Romans ; nor was he wanting, on bis part, in
aiding the efforts of fortune in his favour ; he
conciliated the friendship of all, to the utmost
of his power, by his courteous address, hospita-
ble entertainments, and generous acts ; at last
his character reached even the palace. Having
thus procured an introduction there, he soon
improved it to such a degree, by his politeness
and dexterity in paying his court, that he was
admitted to the privileges of familiar friendship,
and was consulted in all affairs both public and
private, foreign and domestic, and having ac-
quitted himself to satisfaction in all, was at
length, by the king's will, appointed guardian
to his children. Ancus reigned twenty-four
years, equal in renown, and in the arts both
of peace and war to any of the former kings.

XXXV. The sons of Ancus had now
nearly reached the age of manhood ; for which
reason Tarquinius the more earnestly pressed,
that an assembly might be convened as speedily
as possible for the election of a king. The
proclamation for this purpose being issued,
when the time approached, he sent the youths
to a distance on a hunting party. He is said
to have afforded the first instance of making
way to the crown, by paying court to the peo-
ple, and to have made a speech, composed for
the purpose of gaining the affections of the
populace ; telling them, that " It was no new
favour which he solicited ; if that were the case,
people might indeed be displeased and surpris-
ed ; that he was not the first foreigner, but the
third, who aimed at the government of Rome :
—that Tatius, from being not only a foreigner,
but even an enemy, was made king ; and Numa,
entirely unacquainted with the city, and not
proposing himself as a candidate, had been,
from their own choice, invited to accept the
crown : — that he, as soon as he became his own
master, had removed to Rome, with his wife
and all his substance : — that he had spent the
most active part of his life at Rome : — that
both in civil and military employments he had
learned the Roman laws and Roman customs,
under such a master as ought to be wished for,
king Ancus himself: — that in duty and obedi-
ence to the king, he had vied with all men ; in
kindness towards others, with the king him-
self." As these assertions were no more than
the truth, the people unanimously consented
that he should be elected king. [Y. R, 138.
B. C. 614.] And this was the reason that this

man, of extraordinary merit in other respects,
retained through the whole course of his reign, the
same affectation of popularity which he had
used in suing for the crown. For the purpose of
strengthening his own authority, as well as of
increasing the power of the commonwealth,
he added a hundred to the number of the senate,
who afterwards were entitled, " minorum gen-
tium," L e. of the younger families, and neces-
sarily constituted a party in favour of the king,
by whose kindness they had been brought into
the senate. His first war was with the Latines,
from whom he took the city Appiolse by storm ;
and having brought from thence a greater quan-
tity of booty than had been expected, from a
war of so little consequence, he exhibited games
in a more expensive and splendid manner than
any of the former kings. On that occasion,
the ground was first marked out for the circus,
which is now called " maximus " (the prin-
cipal), in which certain divisions were set
apart for the senators and knights, where each
were to build seats for themselves, which were
called Fori (benches). They remained, during
the exhibition, on these seats, supported by
pieces of timber, twelve feet high from the
ground ; the games consisted of horse-races and
the performances of wrestlers, collected mostly
from Etruria ; and from that time continued
to be celebrated annually, being termed the
Roman, and, sometimes, the great games. By
the same king, lots for building were assigned
to private persons, round the forum, where
porticoes and shops were erected.

XXXVI. He intended also to have sur-
rounded the city with a stone wall ; but a war
with the Sabines interrupted his designs. And
so suddently did this break out, that the enemy
passed the Anio, before the Roman troops
could march out to meet them, and stop their
progress. This produced a great alarm at
Rome, and, in the first engagement, the victory
remained undecided, after great slaughter on
both sides. The enemy afterwards having re-
tired to their camp, and allowed the Romans
time to prepare for the war anew, Tarquinius,
observing that the principal defect of his army
was the want of cavalry, resolved to add other
centuries to the Ramnenses, Titienses, and
Luceres, instituted by Romulus, and to leave
them distinguished by his own name. As Ro-
mulus, when he first formed this institution,
had made use of augury, Accius Naevius, a
celebrated augur at that time, insisted that no

Y. R. 138.]

OF ROME.

alteration or addition could be made to it, with-
out the sanction of the birds. The king was
highly displeased at this, and, in ridicule of the
art, said, as we are told, " Come, you diviner,
discover, by your augury, whether what I am
now thinking of can be accomplished." The
other having tried the matter according to the
rules of augury, and declared that it could be
accomplished, " Well," said he, " what I was
thinking of was, whether you could cut a
whetstone in two with a razor. Take these,
then, and perform what your birds portend to
be practicable." On which, as the story goes,
he, without any difficulty, cut the whetstone.
There was a statue of Accius, with a fillet on
his head, in the place where the transaction
happened, in the Comitium1 or place of assem-
bly, just on the steps, at the left-hand side of
the senate-house. It is also said, that the
whetstone was fixed in the same place, there to
remain, as a monument of this miracle, to
posterity. This is certain, that the respect
paid to auguries, and the office of augurs, rose
so high, that, from that time forth, no business
either of war or peace was undertaken without
consulting the birds : meetings of the people,
embodying of armies, the most important con-
cerns of the state, were postponed when the
birds did not allow them. Nor did Tarquinius
then make any change in the number of the
centuries of the knights, but doubled the
number in each, so that there were one thou-
sand eight hundred men in the three centuries-.
The additional men were only distinguished
by the appellation of the younger, prefixed
to the"original names of their centuries ; and
these, at present, for they have been since
doubled, are called the Six Centuries.

XXXVII. Having augmented this part of
his army, he came to a second engagement with
the Sabines. And here, besides that the Ro-
man army had an addition of strength, a stra-
tagem also was made use of, which the enemy,
v.'ith all their vigilance, could not elude. A
number of men were sent to throw a great
quantity of timber, which lay on the bank of
the Anio, into the river, after setting it on fire ;
and the wind being favourable, the blazing tim-
ber, most of which was placed on rafts, being
driven against the piers, where it stuck fust

I The Comitium was a part of the Roman Forum,
where, in early times, assemblies of the people wt re
held ; and the assemblies of the Curia: always.

burned down the bridge. This event not only
struck terror into the Sabines during the fight,
but prevented their retreating when they be-
took themselves to flight, so that great numbers
who had escaped the enemy, perished in the
river ; and their arms being known at the city,
as they floated in the Tiber, gave certain as.
surance of the victory, sooner almost than any
messenger could arrive. In that battle the
cavalry gained extraordinary honour. We are
told, that being posted on both wings, when
the line of their infantry which formed the
centre was obliged to give ground, they made
so furious a charge on the flanks of the enemy,
that they not only checked the Sabine legions,
who were vigorously pressing the troops which
gave way, but quickly put them to the rout.
The Sabines fled precipitately toward the
mountains, which but few of them reached.
The greatest part, as has been mentioned,
were driven by the cavalry into the river.
Tarquinius, judging it proper to pursue the
enemy closely, before they should recover from
their dismay, as soon as he had sent off the
booty and prisoners to Rome, and burned the
spoils, collected together in a great heap, ac-
cording to a vow which he had made to Vul-
can, proceeded to lead his army forward into
the Sabine territories. On the other hand, the
Sabines, though they had met with a defeat,
and had no reason to hope that they should be
able to retrieve it, yet, their circumstances not
allowing lime for deliberation, advanced to
meet him, with such troops as they had hastily
levied ; and being routed a second time, and
reduced almost to ruin, they sued for peace.

XXXVIII. Collatia, and all the land
around that city, was taken from the Sabines,
and Egerius, son to the king's brother, was
left there with a garrison. This was the man-
ner, as I understand, in which the people of
Collatia came under the dominion of the Ro-
mans, and this was the form of the surrender.
The king asked, " Are ye ambassadors and
deputies on behalf of the people of Collatia, to
surrender yourselves, arid the people of Colla-
tia ?" " We are." — " Are the people of Col-
latia in their own disposal ?" " They are. " —
" Do ye surrender yourselves and the people
of Collatia, together with your city, lands,
waters, boundaries, temples, utensils, all pro-
perty both sacred and common, under my do-
minion, and that of the Roman people ?''
" We do surrender them." — " Well, I leceive

28

THE HISTORY

[BOOK i.

them." The Sabine war being thus concluded,
Tarquinius returned in triumph to Rome.1
Soon after this, he made war on the ancient
Latines, during which there happened no gene-
ral engagement. By leading about his army
to the several towns, he reduced the whole
Latine race to subjection. . Corniculum, old
Ficulnea, Cameria, Crustumerium, Ameriola,
Medullia, Nomentum, all these, which either
belonged to the ancient Latines, or had revolt-
ed to them, were taken, and soon after peace
was re-established. He then applied himself
to works of peace, with a degree of spirit,
which even exceeded the efforts that he had
made in war : so that the people enjoyed little
more rest at home, than they had during the
campaigns : for he set about surrounding with
a wall of stone, those parts of the city which
he had not already fortified ; which work had
been interrupted, at the beginning, by the war
of the Sabines. The lower parts of the city
about the Forum, and the other hollows that
lay between the hills, from whence it was dif-
ficult to discharge the water, by reason of their
situation, he drained, by means of sewers drawn
on a slope down to the Tiber. He also mark-
ed out, and laid the foundations for inclosing a
court round the temple of Jupiterj in the Capi-
tol, which he had vowed during the Sabine
war, his mind already presaging the future
magnificence of the place.

XXXIX. About that time a prodigy was
seen in the palace, wonderful, both in the ap-
pearance and in the event. They relate that,
whilst a boy, whose name was Servius Tullius,
lay asleep, his head blazed with fire, in the
eight of many people ; that, by the loud cries
of astonishment, occasioned by such a mira-
culous appearance, the king and queen were
alarmed ; and that when some of the servants
brought water to extinguish it, the queen pre-
vented them ; and having quieted the uproar,
forbade the boy to be disturbed until he awoke
of his own accord. In a short time, on his
awakening the flame disappeared. Then Ta-
naquil, calling her husband aside to a private
place, said to him, " Do you see this boy,
whom we educate in such an humble style ?
Be assured that he will hereafter prove a light
to dispel a gloom which will lie heavy on our

1 This is the first instance of a regular triumph men-
tioned iu the Roman History ; the invention of which
ceremony is, by some, ascribed to Tarquinius. For a
full account of the Roinau triumph, see Dr Adam.

affairs, and will be the support of our palace in
distress. Let us therefore, with every degree
of attention that we can bestow, nourish this
plant, which is, hereafter, to become the great-
est ornament to our family, and our state."
From that time they treated the boy as if he
were their own child, and had him instructed
in all those liberal arts, by which the mind is
qualified to support high rank with dignity.
That is easily brought to pass which is pleas-
ing to the gods. The youth proved to be of a
disposition truly royal, so that when Tarqui-
nius came to look for a son-in-law, there was
not one among the Roman youth who could
be set in competition with him, in any kind of
merit ; and to him Tarquinius betrothed his
daughter. This extraordinary honour con-
ferred on him, whatever might be the reason
for it, will not let us believe that he was born
of a slave, and had himself been a slave in his
childhood : I am rather inclined to be of their
opinion, who say, that, when Corniculum was
taken, the wife of Servius Tullius, the princi-
pal man in that city, being pregnant when her
husband was slain, and being known among the
rest of the prisoners, and, on account of her
high rank, exempted from servitude by the
Roman queen, was delivered of a son at Rome,
in the house of Tarquinius Priscus : that, in
consequence of such kind treatment, an inti-
macy grew between the ladies, and that the boy
also, being brought up in the house from his
infancy, was highly beloved and respected ;
and that the circumstance of his mother having
fallen into the enemy's hands, on the taking of
her native city, gave rise to the opinion of his
being born of a slave.

XL. About the thirty-eighth year of the
reign of Tarquinius, Servius Tullius stood in t
the highest degree of estimation, not only with
the king, but with the senate and the commons.
At this time, the two sons of Ancus, although
they had before this always considered it as the
highest indignity, that they should be expelled
from the throne of their father, by the, perfidy
of their guardian, and that the sovereignty of
Rome should be enjoyed by a stranger, whose
family, so far from being natives of the city,
were not even natives of Italy, yet now felt
their indignation rise to a higher pitch of vio-
lence, at the probability that the crown was not
to revert to them even after Tarquinius, but
was to continue to sink one step after another,
until ,it fell on the head of a slave : so that.

y. n. 138.]

OF ROME.

29

within the space of a little more than a hun-
dred years from the time when Romulus, de-
scended from a deity, and himself a deity, had,
during his abode on earth, held the government,
a slave, the son of a slave, should now get pos-
session of it. They looked on it as a disgrace
to the Roman name in general, and particularly
to their own house, if, while there was male
issue of king Ancus surviving, the government
of Rome should be prostituted not only to
strangers, but to slaves. They determined,
therefore, to prevent this dishonour by the
sword. But resentment for the injury which
they had suffered stimulated them strongly to
attack Tarquinius himself, rather than Ser-
vius; and also the consideration that the king,
if he survived, would be able to take severer
vengeance for any murder committed than a
private person could ; and that, besides, were
Servius put to death, it was to be expected that
whatever other son-in-law he might choose,
would be made heir of the kingdom. For these
reasons, they formed a plot against the king
himself; for the execution of which, two of
the most undaunted of the shepherds were
chosen, who, armed with the iron tools of hus-
bandmen, which they were used to carry, pre-
tended a quarrel in the porch of the palace, and
attracted, by their outrageous behaviour, the
attention of all the king's attendants : then both
appealing to the king, and their clamour having
reached the palace, they were called in, and
brought before him. At first they both bawled
aloud, and each furiously abused the other, until
being rebuked by a lictor, and ordered to speak
in their turns, they desisted from railing. Then,
as they had concerted, one began to explain the
affair; and while the king, attentive to him,
was turned quite to that side, the other, raising
up his axe, struck it into his head, and leaving
the weapon in the wound, they both rushed out
of the house.

XLI. Whilst the persons present raised up
Tarquinius, who scarcely retained any signs of
Hfe, the lictors seized the assassins, who were
endeavouring to escape. An uproar immedi-
ately ensued, and the people ran together in
crowds, surprised, and eager to be informed of
what had happened. Tanaquil, during this
tumult, turned out every person from the pa-
lace, and ordered the doors to be shut, and at
the same time appeared to be very busy in pro-
curing such things as were necessary for the
dressing of the wound, as if there were reason

to hope ; nor did she neglect to provide other
means of safety, in case her hopes should fail.
Sending instantly for Servius, and showing him
her husband just expiring, she laid hold of his
right hand, besought him that he would not
suffer the death of his father-in-law to pass un-
revenged, nor his mother-in-law to be exposed
| to the insults of their enemies. " Servius,"
• said she, " if you act as a man, the kingdom
i is yours, and not theirs, who, by the hands of
others, have perpetrated the basest of crimes.
Call forth your best exertions, and follow the
guidance of the gods, who, formerly, by the
divine fire which they spread around your head,
gave an evident indication that it would after-
wards be crowned with glory. Now let that
heavenly flame rouse you. Now awake to real
glory. We, though foreigners, have reigned
before you. Consider your present situation,
not of what family you are sprung. If the
suddenness of this event deprives you of the
power of forming plans of your own, then fol-
low mine." When the clamour and violence of
the populace could hardly be withstood, Tana-
quil addressed them from the upper part of the
palace, through the windows facing the new
street : for the king resided near the temple of
Jupiter Stator. She desired them " not to be
disheartened :" told them, that " the king had
been stunned by a sudden blow ; that the wea-
pon had not sunk deep into his body; that he
had come to himself again ; that when the
blood was wiped off, the wound bad been exa-
mined, and all appearances were favourable ;
that she hoped he might be able to show him-
self to them again in a few days ; and that, in
the mean time, he commanded the people to
obey the orders of Servius Tullius ; that he
would administer justice, and supply the king's
place in other departments." Servius came
forth in the robe of state, attended by the lic-
tors, and seating himself on the king's throne,
adjudged some causes,, and, concerning others,
pretended that he would consult the king.
1 Thus, though Tarquinius had already expired,
! his death was concealed for several days ; while
! Servius, under the appearance of supplying the
place of another, strengthened his own interest.
Then, at length, the truth being made public,
and loud lamentations raised in the palace,
Servius, supported by a strong guard, with the
approbation of the senate, took possession of
the kingdom, being the first who attained the
sovereignty without the orders of the people.

30

THE HISTORY

[BOOK i.

The sons of Ancus, as soon as they found that
thie instruments of their villany were seized,
and understood that the king was alive, and
that the interest of Servius was so strong, had
gone into exile to Suessa Pometia.

XLII. And now Servius laboured to con-
firm his authority, [ Y. R. 176. B. C. 576.] not
only by schemes of a public, but by others of a
private nature. And lest the sons of Tarquinius
should entertain the same sentiments of resent-
ment against him, which had animated the sons of
Ancus against Tarquinius, he joined his two
daughters in marriage to the young princes, the
Tarquinii, Lucius and Aruns. But by no hu-
man devices could he break through the unalter-
ably decrees of fate, or prevent envy of the sove-
reign power from raising discord and animosity,
even amongthose of his own family. Very season-
able for preserving stability to the present esta-
blishment, war was undertaken against the Vei-
entians, the truce with them having expired, and
against the other Etrurians. In that war, both
the valour and the good fortune of Tullius were
very conspicuous : and, after vanquishing a
powerful army of the enemy, he returned to
Home, no longer considering his authority as
precarious, whether it were to depend on the
disposition of the patricians towards himself, or
on that of the commons. He then entered on
an improvement in civil polity of the utmost
importance, intending, that, as Numa had been
the founder of such institutions as related to
the worship of the gods, so posterity should
celebrate Servius, as the author of every dis-
tinction between the members of the state ;
and of that subordination of ranks, by means
of which, the limits between the several degrees
of dignity and fortune are exactly ascertained.
For he instituted the census, an ordinance of
the most salutary consequence, in an empire
that was to rise to such a pitch of greatness •
according to which the several services requisite
in war and peace were to be discharged, not by
every person indiscriminately, as formerly, but
according to the proportion of their several
properties. He then, according to the census,
formed the plan of the classes and centuries,
and the arrangement which subsists at present,
calculated to preserve regularity and propriety
in all transactions either of peace or war.

XLIII. [Y. R. 197. B. C. 555.] Of those
who possessed a hundred thousand asses,1 or

1 3221. 18*. M. according to Dr Arbuthnot's caten-
ation.

more, he formed eighty centuries, forty elder,
and the same number of younger.* The
collective" body of these was denominated
the first class. The business of the elder
was to guard the city; that of the younger,
to carry on war abroad. The arms which
they were ordered to provide, were a helmet,
shield, greaves, coat of mail, all of brass —
these for the defence of the body: their
weapons of offence were a spear and a sword.
To this class were added two centuries of arti-
ficers, who were to serve without arms ; the
service allotted to them was to attend the ma-
chines in war. The fortune fixed for the
second class, was from a hundred down to
seventy-five thousand asses :3 of these, elder
and younger, were formed twenty centuries
the arms for these were, a buckler, instead of a
shield, and all the rest, except the coat of mail,
the same with the former. The fortune of the
third class he fixed at fifty thousand asses :4 the
number of centuries was the same, and these
regulated by the same distinctions of age ; nor
was any difference made in their arms, only the
greaves were taken from them. In the fourth
class the fortune was twenty-five thousand
asses-.* the same number of centuries was
formed : their arms were different ; they were
allowed none but a spear and a buckler. The
fifth class was larger ; it contained thirty cen-
turies : these carried slings and stones, which
they were to throw. Among these, the extra-
ordinaries, trumpeters, and fifers, were distri-
buted into three centuries. This class was
rated at eleven thousand asses.6 The rest of
the populace were comprehended under an es-
timate lower than this, and of them was formed
one century, exempted from military service.
The foot forces being thus distinguished and
armed, he enrolled twelve centuries of horse-
men from among the principal persons of the
state. He formed likewise six other centuries,
out of the three instituted by Romulus, pre-
serving still the original names under which
they had been incorporated. Ten thousand
asses7 were given these out of the public funds,
to purchase horses ; and certain widows were
appointed, who were to pay them annually two
thousand asses" each, towards the maintenance

Z The elder, consisted of those who had attained to
forty-six years of age ; the younger, from seventeen to
forty-six.

3 *-W/. 3s. 9<f. 4 16U 9*. 2rf. 5 80/. Uv. 7<f. 6 35£ 10*.
5d. 7 Ki 5*. 10. 8 61- 9*. 2rf.

R. 197.]

OF ROME.

31

of their horses. In all these instances, the
burden was taken off from the poor, and laid
on the rich. To make the latter some amends,
additional honours were conferred on them.
For henceforth suffrages were given, not ac-
cording to the mode established by Romulus,
and retained by the other kings, man by man
promiscuously, with equal weight, and equal
privileges ; but degrees of precedency were es-
tablished in such a manner, that while no one
appeared to be excluded from giving his suf-
frage, still the whole power was lodged in the
chiefs of the state : the knights being first called,
then the eighty centuries of the higher class.
If there was a difference of opinion among
these, which seldom happened, then the cen-
turies of the second class were to be called ;
and scarcely ever djd an instance occur of their
descending beyond this, so as to come to the
lowest classes. Nor ought it to be wondered
at, that the arrangement, which subsists at pre-
sent, after the tribes had been increased to
thirty-five, and the number of them almost
doubled, does not agree in the number of cen-
turies younger and elder, with the amount of
those instituted by Servius Tullius : for the
city being laid out into four divisions, according
to the several quarters and hills (the parts that
were inhabited), these were what he called
Tribes, I suppose from the tribute ; for. the
mode of the people's paying their shares of this,
in an equal proportion to their rated property,
took its rise also from him : nor had these tribes
any relation to the number and distribution of
the centuries.

XLIV. When the census was completed,
which he had expedited by the terrors of a law
passed concerning such as should neglect to
attend it, with denunciations of confinement
and death, he issued a proclamation, that all
citizens of Rome, horse and foot, should assem-
ble in the Campus Martius at the dawn of day,
each in his respective century ; and having
there drawn up the whole army in order, he
performed the lustration or purification of it,
by the ceremonies and sacrifices called Suove-
taurilia.9 This was called the closing of the
lustrum, because it was the conclusion of the
census. In that survey eighty thousand citi-

9 So called from the victims, tut, ovit, taunts, a swine,
a sheep, and bull ; which, after being three times led
round the army, were offered in sacrifice to Mars. See
Adam.

/ens are said to have been rated. Fabius
Pictor, the most ancient of our writers, adds,
that this was the number of those who were
able to bear arras. To accommodate so great a
multitude, it was found necessary to enlarge the
city in proportion : he added to it, therefore,
two hills, the Quirinal and Viminal, and
immediately adjoining the latter extended the
limits of the Esquiliae, and there fixed bis own
residence, in order to bring the place into
repute. He surrounded the city with a ram-
part, trenches, and. a wall, and thus extended
the Pomoerium. Those who consider merely
the etymology of the word, explain Pomoerium,
as denoting a space on the outside of the wall,
Postmcerium : but it is rather a space on each
side of the wall which the Etrurians, formerly,
on the founding of cities, consecrated with the
ceremonies used by augurs, in the direction
wherein they intended the wall should run, of
a certain breadth on both sides of it ; with the
intention that, on the inside, no buildings
should be erected close to the walls, though now
they are, in many places, joined to them ; and
also that, on the outside, a certain space of
ground should lie open and unoccupied. This
space, which it was unlawful either to inhabit
or to till, the Romans called Pomoerium, not
because it was on the outside of the wall any
more than because the wall was on the outside
of it : and always, on occasion of an addition
being made to the city, as far as they intended
.that the walls should advance outward, so far
these sacred limits were extended.

XLV. Having increased the power of the
state by this enlargement of the city, and made
every internal regulation that appeared best
adapted to the exigencies both of war and peace,
the king, who wished that the acquisition of
power should not always depend on the mere
force of arms, laid a scheme for extending his
dominion, by the wisdom of his counsels, and
raising, at the same time, a conspicuous orna-
ment to the city. The temple of Diana at
Ephesus was at that time universally celebrat-
ed, and it was commonly believed, that it had
been built by a general contribution from
the several states of Asia : Servius, in conver-
sation with the chief men of the Latines, with
whom he had taken pains to form connections
of hospitality and friendship, both in his public
and private capacity, used frequently, in the
strongest terms, to recommend concord and a
social union between their several gods ; and

THE HISTORY

[BOOK r.

by often repeating the same sentiments, prevail-
ed so far at last, that the Latine states agreed to
build, in conjunction with the Roman people,
a temple to Diana at Rome. This was an ac-
knowledgment that Rome was the sovereign
head of both nations, a point which had been
so often disputed in arms. But though the
Latines, rinding all their efforts in war ineffec-
tual, seemed now to have thrown aside all con-
cern with regard to that matter, yet among the
Sabines one particular person did not neglect
an opportunity, which seemed to be thrown in
his way by fortune, of recovering independence,
by the execution of a scheme which he planned
himself. It is related, that this person, the
head of a family, had a heifer calf of extraor-
dinary size and beauty produced by one of his
cows : her horns, which remained for many
ages fixed in the porch of the temple of Diana,
were a monument of this wonder. The mat-
ter was considered in the light of a prodigy, as
it deserved, and the soothsayers declared, that
sovereignty would reside in that state whose
subject should sacrifice this heifer to Diana ;
and this prediction had reached the ears of the
priest who had the charge of Diana's temple.
The Sabine, as soon as he had fixed on a proper
day for the sacrifice, drove the heifer to Rome,
brought her to the temple of Diana, and placed
her before the altar ; the priest, suspecting the
truth, from the size of the victim, of which he
had heard so much, and remembering the pre-
diction, addresses the Siibine thus : " Stranger,
what are you preparing to do ? To perform
sacrifice to Diana without the necessary puri-
fication ? Why do you not first dip yourself
in a running stream ? The Tiber flows along
in the bottom of that vale." The stranger,
struck with the scruple, and anxious to have
every thing performed in due order, that the
event might answer to the prodigy, went down
from the temple to the Tiber. In the mean
time the Roman sacrificed the heifer to Diana,
a circumstance which gave great pleasure to the
king, and to the whole state.

XL VI. Servius, though long possession had
now rendered his title to the crown indisput-
able, yet having heard that young Tarquinius
sometimes threw out insinuations, that he held
the government without the order of the people,
first ingratiated himself with the commons, by
making a general distribution among them of
the lands taken from the enemy; and then
ventured to propose the question to the people,

whether they " chose and ordered that he should
be king ?" Whereupon he was declared king,
with greater unanimity than had ever before
appeared on any similar occasion. But the
event did not lessen the hopes which Tarqui-
nius had conceived, of being able to seat him-
self on the throne : on the contrary, having
observed that the proceedings, relative to the
lands for the commons, were highly disagreeable
to the patricians, he embraced, the more eager-
ly, the opportunity which this afforded him, ot
arraigning the conduct of Servius before them,
and of increasing his own influence in the
senate. This young man was naturally of a
fiery temper, and his restless spirit was con-
tinually stimulated at home by his wife Tullia :
and the palace at Rome was destined to ex-
hibit a scene of tragical villany ; so that, dis-
gusted at kings, the people might become more
ripe for the asserting of their liberty, and that
a reign, founded in wickedness, should prove
the last. Whether this Lucius Tarquinius
was the son or grandson of Tarquinius Pris-
cus, is not clear ; following, however, the au-
thority of the greater number, I have chosen
to call him his son. He had a brother, Aruns
Tarquinius, a youth of a mild disposition : to
these two, as has already been mentioned,
were married the two Tullias, the king's
daughters, who were also of widely different
tempers. It happened, luckily, that the two
violent dispositions were not united in wed-
lock, owing, I presume, to the good fortune of
the Roman people, that the reign of Servius
being lengthened, the manners of the people
might be fully formed. The haughty Tullia
was highly chagrined, at finding in her husband
no principle either of ambition or enterprise ;
she turned, therefore, her whole regard towards
the other Tarquinius ; him she admired, him
she called a man, and a true descendant of the
royal blood ; her sister she despised, who, hav-
ing got a man for her husband, showed nothing
of that spirit of enterprise which became a
woman. Similarity of disposition quickly pro-
duced an intimacy between them, as is gene-
rally the case ; evil is fittest to consort with its
like. But it was the woman who set on foot
the scene of universal confusion which follow-
ed. In the many private conversations which
she used to hold with her sister's husband, she
refrained not from throwing out the most vio-
lent reproaches against her own, to his brother,
and against her sister, to that sister's husband ;

y. R. 197.1

OF ROME.

33

affirming, that " it were better that both he and
she were unmarried, than to be so unsuitably
matched ; that, through the stupidity of others,
they were condemned to a life of inactivity.
If the gods had granted her such a husband, as
she deserved, quickly would be seen in her own
house, that crown which was now upon her
father's head." She soon inspired the young
man with notions as desperate as har own.
Aruns Tarquinius, and the younger Tullia,
dying almost immediately after, and thus leav-
ing room in their families for new nuptials,
they were joined in matrimony, Servius rather
not obstructing, than approving of, the match.

XL VII. From that time forward, Tullius,
r.ow in au advanced age, found himself daily
exposed to new disquietudes, and his authority
to new dangers ; for Tullia now prepared to
proceed from one wickedness to another, and
never ceased, either night or day, teasing her
husband not to let the parricides which they
had committed, pass without effect. " She
wanted not," she said, " a person who should
give her the name of a wife, or with whom
she might, in silence, submit to bondage ; what
she desired was, one who would consider him-
self as worthy of the throne ; who would re-
member that he was the son of Tarquinius
Priscus ; who would prefer the present posses-
sion, to distant hopes of a kingdom. If you
be such a man as' I took you for, when I mar-
ried you, I address you by the titles of my hus-
band, and my king •. if not, my condition is
now changed so far for the worse, that in you,
together with poverty of spirit, I find villany
united. Why not proceed in the business ?
You are not obliged to set out from Corinth
or Tarquinii, as your father was, to struggle for
foreign kingdoms. The gods of your family,
and those of your native country, and your fa-
ther's image, and the royal palace in which you
reside, and the royal throne in that palace, and
the name of Tarquinius, these constitute you,
and call you king. Or, if you have not a spirit
oaring enough for such an enterprise, why de-
ceive the nation ? Why assume the figure of a
youth of royal blood ? Get you hence to Tar-
qiu'nii, or to Corinth. Sink back again into
the original obscurity of your race ; fitter to be
compared with your brother, than with your
father." With these, and other such reproaches
and incentives, she spurred on the young man ;
nor could she herself, with- any degree of pa-
tience, endure the reflection, that Tanaquil, a

I.

foreign woman, had by her spirited exertions
acquired such consequence, as to be able to dis-
pose of the kingdom twice successively ; first,
to her husband, and next, to her son-in-law ;
while she, sprung from royal blood, was to have
no influence in bestowing it, or taking it away.
Tarquinius, hurried on by the phrenzy infused
into him by this woman, went round among the
patricians, particularly those of the younger
families, and solicited their interest ; put them
in mind of his father's kindness to them, and
demanded a requital of it ; enticed the young
men by presents ; and endeavoured to increase
his consequence on every occasion, both by
magnificent promises on his part, and by heavy
charges of misconduct against the king. At
length, judging the season ripe for the accom-
plishment of his purpose, he rushed suddenly
into the Forum, attended by a band of armed
men, and, while all were struck motionless
with terror, proceeded through it, and then
seating himself on the king's throne in the
senate-house, ordered the senators to be sum-
moned by a herald, to attend their king Tar-
quinius. They assembled instantly, some hay.
ing been prepared before for the occasion,
others dreading ill consequences to themselves
in case they did not attend ; for they were filled
with amazement at the novelty and strangeness
of the proceeding, and thought the case of
Servius utterly desperate. Then Tarquinius,
beginning his invectives with reflections on the
king's immediate ancestors, represented him as
a " slave, the son of a slave, who, after the
untimely death of his parent, without an inter-
regnum being appointed as usual, without an
election being held, had taken possession of the
throne, not in consequence of a vote of the
people, or of the approbation of the senate,
but as the gift of a woman. Being thus de-
scended, and thus created king, ever favouring
the lowest class of people, to which he himself
belonged, he had, through an antipathy to the
honourable descent of others, taken away the
lands from the chief men in the state, and
distributed them among the very meanest.
All the burdens which heretofore had been
borne in common, he had thrown on those of
highest rank. He had instituted the cen-
sus, in order that the fortunes of the more
wealthy might be more conspicuously exposed
to envy, and become a ready fund, out of which
he could, when he chose, give bribes to the
most needy."

E

THE HISTORY

[BOOK i.

XLVIII. In the midst of this harangue,
Servius, having been alarmed by an account of
the disturbance, entered, and immediately, from
the porch of the senate-house, called out, with a
loud voice, " What is the matter here, Tar-
quinius ? How dare you presume, while I am
alive, to convene the senate, or to sit on my
throne ?" To this the other, in a determined
tone, replied, " That the seat which he occu-
pied was the seat of his own father : that, as
the king's son, he was much better entitled to
inherit the throne than a slave ; and that he
(Servius) had been suffered long enough to in-
"sult his masters with arbitrary insolence." A
clamorous dispute immediately began between
the partizans of each ; the people ran together
in crowds into the senate-house, and it became
evident, that the possession of the throne de-
pended on the issue of this contest. On this,
Tarquinius, compelled now by necessity to pro-
ceed to the last extremity, having greatly the
advantage in point of age and strength, caught
Servius by the middle, and carrying him out of
the senate-house, threw him from the top to
the bottom of the stairs, and then returned to
keep the senators together. The king's officers
and attendants fled immediately. He himself,
being desperately hurt, attempted, with the
royal retinue, who were terrified almost to death,
to retire to his house, and had arrived at the
head of the Cyprian street, when he was slain
by some, who had been sent thither for that
purpose by Tarquinius, and had overtaken him
in his flight. It is believed, other instances of
her wickedness rendering it credible, that this
was done by the advice of Tullia. It is certain,
for there is sufficient proof of the fact, that she
drove into the Forum in her chariot ; and,
without being abashed at such a multitude of
men, called out her husband from the senate-
house, and was the first who saluted him king.
She was then ordered by him, to withdraw from
such a tumult ; and when, in her return home,
she arrived at the head of the Cyprian street,
where the enclosure of Diana lately stood, as
the chariot turned to the right towards the
Virbian hill, in order to drive up to the Esqui-
lian mount, the person who drove the horses,
stopped and drew in the reins, and showed his
mistress the murdered Servius lying on the
ground. Her behaviour on this occasion is re-
presented as inhuman and shocking ; and the
place bears testimony to it, being thence called
the Wicked street, where Tullia, divested of all

feeling, agitated by the Furies, the avengers of
her sister and husband, is said to have driven
her chariot over her father's corpse, and to have
carried on her bloody vehicle, part of the body
and the blood of that parent, with which she
herself was also sprinkled and stained, to the
household gods of her and her husband's family,
through whose resentment followed, shortly
after, a train of events suited to the iniquitous
commencement of this reign. Servius Tullius
reigned forty-four years, during which his con-
duct was such, that even a good and moderate
successor would have found it difficult to sup-
port a competition with him. This circum-
stance also still farther enhanced his fame, that,
together with him, perished all regular and le-
gal government. Mild and moderate as his
administration was, yet, because the govern-
ment was lodged in the hands of a single per-
son, some authors tell us, he intended to have
resigned it, had not the wickedness of his fam-
ily broken off the designs which he meditated,
for establishing the liberty of his country.

XLIX. [Y. R. 220. B. C. 532.] Thus
began the reign of Lucius Tarquinius, who,
from his subsequent behaviour, acquired the
surname of the proud ; for this unworthy son-
in-law prohibited the burial of the king, alleging
that Romulus likewise had remained unburied.
The principal senators, whom he suspected of
favouring the interest of Servius, he put to
death ; and soon becoming apprehensive, that
the precedent of acquiring the crown by wicked
means, might be adopted, from his own prac-
tice, against himself, he kept an armed band
about him for the security of his person : for
he had no kind of title to the crown, but that
of force, holding it neither by the order of the
people, nor with the approbation of the senate.
And besides this, as he could place no reliance
on the affection of his subjects, he was obliged
to raise, in their fears, a fence to his authority.
In order to diffuse these the more extensively,
he took entirely into his own hands the cog-
nizance of capital offences, which he determined
without consulting with any person whatever ;
so that he could put to death, banish or impose
fines, not only on those whom he suspected or
disliked, but on persons, with respect to whom
he could have no other view, than that of plun-
der. Having, by these means, diminished the
number of the senate, against whom his pro-
ceedings were chiefly levelled, he determined
not to fill up the vacancies ; hoping that the

Y. R. 220.]

OF ROME.

35

smallness of their number would expose that
body to the greater contempt ; and that they
would show the less resentment, at their not
being consulted on any business ; for he was
the first of the kings who discontinued the
practice of his predecessors, of consulting the
senate upon every occasion. In the adminis-
tration of public affairs, he advised with none
but his own private family. War, peace,
treaties, alliances, he of himself, with such ad-
visers as he chose, declared, contracted, and
dissolved, without any order, either of the peo-
ple, or of the senate. He took particular pains
to attach the nation of the Latines to his in-
terest, availing himself of foreign aid, the
more effectually to insure his safety at home :
and he formed with their chiefs, not only con-
nections of hospitality, but affinities ; to Oc-
tavius Mamilius of Tusculum he gave his
daughter in marriage. Mamilius was of the
most illustrious family, by far, of any among
the Latines, being descended, if we may give
credit to fame, from Ulysses and the goddess
Circe. By this match he engaged the support
of his numerous friends and relations.
y L. Tarquinius now possessed great influence
* among the Latine chiefs, when he issued orders
that they should assemble on a certain day, at
the grove of Ferentina, saying, that he wished to
confer with them on some matters of common
concern. They accordingly met in great num-
bers, at the dawn of day : Tarquinius himself
observed indeed the day, but did not come until
a little before sun-set. Meanwhile, many,
topics were discussed, and various opinions
uttered in the assembly. Turnus Herdonius,
of Aricia, inveighed violently against Tar-
quinius, for not attending. " It was no won-
der," he said, " that the surname of proud
had been bestowed on him at Rome : " for,
at this time, they generally gave him that
appellation, though only in private dis-
course. " Could any instance be given
of greater pride, than his trifling thus with the
whole nation of the Latines ? After their
chiefs had been brought together by his sum-
mons, at so great a distance from home, the
very person who called the meeting did
not attend. He was certainly making trial of
their patience, intending, if they submitted to
the yoke, to crush them, when they could not
resist. For who did not see plainly, that he
was aiming at sovereignty over the Latines ?
and if his own countrymen had reason to be

pleased at having intrusted him with that
power ; or if, in reality, it had been intrusted
to him, and not forcibly seized on through
parricide, then the Latines ought also to in-
trust him with it. But no : riot even in that
case, because he was a foreigner. Yet, if the
Romans repined at his government, exposed
as they were to murders, banishment, and
confiscations without end, what better pro-
spect could the Latines entertain ? If they lis-
tened to him, they would depart each to his
own home, and would pay no more regard to
the day of assembly, than was shown- by the
person who appointed it." Whilst this man,
who was naturally seditious and turbulent, and
who had by these means acquired some degree
of power at home, was thus haranguing the
people, Tarquinius came into the assembly.
This put an end to his discourse. Every one
turned away from him to salute Tarquinius,
who, being advised by his friends to make an
apology for having come at that time of the
day, when silence was made, told them, that
'•" he had been chosen arbiter between a father
and son, and had been detained by the pains
which he was obliged to take to bring about a
reconciliation ; and that, as that business had
consumed the day, he would on the morrow,
lay before them what he had to propose."
Even this, we are told, was not suffered by
Turnus to pass without notice ; for he ob-
served, that " there could be- no controversy
shorter than one between a father and son,
which might be despatched in a few words ;
if the son did not submit to his father, he
should take the ill consequences."
VLI. Uttering these reflections against the Ro-
man king, the Arician withdrew from the as-
sembly ; and Tarquinius, who was more in-
censed at his behaviour than he appeared to be,
began immediately to contrive schemes for the
destruction of Turnus, in order to strike the
same terror into the Latines, by which he had
depressed the spirits of his subjects at home.
And as he could not, of his own mere authority, i
openly put him to death, he effected, by a r
false accusation, the ruin of an innocent man.
By means of some Aricians, of the opposite
faction, he bribed a servant of Turnus to suf-
fer a large quantity of swords to be privately
conveyed into his lodging : this part of his
scheme being completed, during the course of
that same night, Tarquinius, a little before day,
called together about him the chiefs of the La-

THE HISTORY

tines, as if he had been alarmed by some ex-
traordinary occurrence, and told them, that "his
delay yesterday, as if it were the effect of the
particular care of the gods, had been the means
of preserving him and them from destrnction :
— that he had received information that a plan
had been laid by Turnus to murder him and
the Latine chiefs, in order that he might enjoy
alone the government of the Latines : — that he
intended to have fallen upon them yesterday,
in the assembly, but the business was deferred,
because the person who called the meeting,
and ifrto was his principal object, was not there:
this was the reason of all that abuse thrown
on him for being absent ; because, by that
absence, he had frustrated his design : — that
he had no doubt but, if the intelligence was
true, he would, early next morning, when
the assembly met, come thither in arms,
and attended by an armed force. He was
told, that a vast number of swords had been
carried to his house ; whether that were false
or not, might be instantly known, and he re-
quested that they would go with him directly to
Turnus." They saw some grounds of suspicion
in the violent temper of Turnus ; his discourse
the day before, and the delay of Tarquinius ; and
it seemed not impossible that the massacre might
have been deferred on that account. They went,
therefore, with minds inclined to believe the re-
port, but at the same time determined, unless
the swords were discovered, to consider all the
rest as groundless. When they came to the
spot, guards were placed round Turnus, who
was roused from sleep ; and the servants, who,
out of affection to their master, prepared to use
force, being secured, the swords, which had
been concealed, were drawn out from every
part of the lodging, and then the affair appeared
manifest. Turnus was loaded with chains, and
a great tumult ensuing, an assembly of the La-
tines was immediately summoned. There, on
the swords being placed in the midst of them,
to such a pitch of fury were they raised, that
not allowing him to make a defence, and using
an extraordinary method of execution, they
threw him into the reservoir of the water of
Ferentina, where a hurdle being placed over
him, and a heap of stones cast on that, he was
jjrowned.

LI I. Tarquinius, having then re-assembled
the Latines, and highly commended them, for
having inflicted on Turnus, as one convicted of
parricide, the punishment which he had merited

by his attempt to overturn the government,
spoke to this purpose : " That he might, with-
out doubt, take upon himself to act, in virtue
of a right long since estabb'shed, because all the
Latines, deriving their origin from Alba, were
comprehended in that treaty, by which, under
Tullus, the whole Alban nation, together with
their colonies, were subjected to the dominion
of the Romans. However, for the sake of the
general advantage of all parties, he rather
wished that that treaty should be renewed, and
that the Latines should, as partners, enjoy
the good fortune of the Roman people, than
live always under the apprehension or endur-
ance of the demolition of their cities, and the
devastation of their lands, to which they had,
during the reign of Ancus, first, and after-
wards, in that of his father, been continually
exposed." He found no difficulty in persuad-
ing the Latines, though in that treaty the advan-
tage lay on the side of the Romans : they saw,
too, that the chiefs of the Latine nation, in
their behaviour, and sentiments, concurred with
£he king | and Turnus was a recent instance of K
|he dangejr to be apprehended oy aTrfCne'wKof
Ihould attempt*opp5sittOni- "Th*e"Treaty was
rherelore renewed, ami Ul'flers were given to the
young men of the Latines, that they should on
a certain day, according to the treaty, attend in
a body under arms, at the grove of Ferentina.
And when, in obedience to the edict of the
Roman king, they had assembled there, from
all the several states, in order that they should
not hare a general of their own, nor a separ-
ate command, or their own colours, he mixed
the Romans and Latines together in compan-
ies, by dividing every company into two parts,
and then forming two of these divisions, one
of each nation, into one company, and having _
by this means doubled the number of the com-
panies, he appointed centurions to command
them.

LIU. Iniquitous as he was, in his conduct as
king, his behaviour, at the head of an army, was
not equally reprehensible : jp tfrat capacity, in-
deed, he woijld have equalled his predecessors.

had

in nfher particulars, dfi-

tracted from themerit which, in that liner he
possessed^ He began the war against the

Volscians, which lasted for more than two
hundred years after his death, and took Suessa
Pometia from them by storm ; from the sale of
the plunder of which place, having amassed
silver and gold to the value of forty ta-

Y. R. 220.]

OP ROME.

37

lents,1 he conceived a design of erecting a temple
to Jupiter, of such grandeur as should be wor-
thy of the king of gods and men, worthy of the
Roman empire, and of the dignity of the place
itself : for the building of this temple, he set
apart the money which arose from the spoils.
He was soon after engaged in a war, which
gnv-e him employment longer than he expected,
during which, having in vain attempted, by
storm, to make himself master of Gabii,
a town in his neighbourhood, and seeing no
reason to hope for success from a blockade,
after he had been repulsed from the walls, he
at length resolved to pursue the attack^jot
n a method becoming a Roman, but byjfcaiid.

stratagem. Accordingly, whilst he pre-

tended to have laid aside all thoughts of pro-
ceeding In the war, and to have his atten-
tion entirely engaged in laying the foundation
of the temple, and the construction of other
works in the city, his son ^extugj the youngest

of three, pursuant to a plan concerted, tied as,a

de'serter to (jabii,jnaking grievous complaints
of his lather's intolerable severity towards him,
saying, that " he now made his own family feel
the effects of his pride, which hitherto had
fallen only on strangers, and was uneasy at see-
ing a number even of his own children about
him, so that he intended to cause the same
desolation in his own house, which he had
already caused in the senate- house, and not to
suffer any of his offspring, or any heir of the
kingdom, to remain : that he himself had, with
difficulty, made his escape from the sword of
his father, and couLf in no place consider him-

selt sate, except jjm""g

of Lucius

rjjrq"'"i"«- — That the war against them, which
was pretended to be laid aside, was not at an
end ; but, on the first opportunity, when he
found them off their guard, he would certainly
attack them. For his part, if, among them,
suppliants could find no refuge, he would tra-
verse every part of Latium, and if rejected
there, would apply to the Volscians, the^Equans,
and the Hernicians, nor rest, until he found
some who were disposed to afford protection to
children, from the cruel and unnatural severity
of fathers. Perhaps, too, he should meet with
those who might be inspired with ardour to
take arms, and wage war, against the proudest
of kings, and the most overbearing of nations."
The Gabians, supposing that, if they did not

1 7.7SO/-

show some regard to him, he would go from
them, full of resentment, to some other place,
received him with every mark of kindness ; told
him, " he ought not to be surprised, that his
father's behaviour towards his children now,
was no better than what he had formerly shown
towards his subjects and allies ; that if other
objects could not be found, he would at last
vent his rage on himself : assured him, that his
coining was very acceptable to them, and that
they expected, in a short time, to see the seat
of war transferred, with his assistance, from the
gates of Gabii to the walls of Rome."

LIV. He was immediately admitted to a
.share in their public councils ; and on these
occasions, while he declared, that, in other
affairs he would be guided by the opinion of
the Gabian elders, who had better knowledge
of those matters than he could have, he took
every opportunity of recommending war, in
respect of which he assumed to himself a supe-
rior degree of judgment, because he was well
acquainted with the resources of both nations,
and knew how utterly detestable to his subjects
the king's pride had become, which even his
own children could not endure. Whilst he
thus, by degrees, worked up the minds of the
Gabian chiefs to a renewal of the war, he used
to go out himself, with the boldest of the youth,
on expeditions and plundering parties ; and, as
all his words and actions were framed to the
purpose of carrying on the deceit, their ill-
grounded confidence in him increased to such a
degree, that at length he was chosen corn-
man der-in-chief of the army. In this capacity,
he fought several slight engagements with the
Romans, in which he generally got the advan-
tage : so that the Gabians, from the highest to
the lowest, began to consider Sextus Tarqui-
'hius as a leader sent to them by the favour ot
fhe gods. Among the soldiers particularly,
from his readiness to expose himself to danger
and fatigue, and likewise from the liberal dis-
tribution of the spoil, he was so highly beloved,
that Tarquinius was not more absolute at
Rome than Sextus was at Gabii. Finding
himself, therefore, secure of a support suffi-
cient to carry him through any enterprise, he
sent one of his attendants to his father at
Rome, to inquire in what manner he would
choose that he should proceed, since the gods
had granted to him the entire disposal of every
thing at Gabii : to this messenger, no answer
was given in words, I suppose because he did

38

THE HISTORY

[BOOK

not seem fit to be trusted. The king, seem-
ingly employed in deep deliberation, walked
out into a garden adjoining the palace, followed
by the messenger, and walking there in silence,
4 as we are told, struck off with his cane the
I' heads of the tallest poppies. The messenger,
I weary of repeating the question and waiting for
| an answer, returned to Gabii without having
accomplished his business, as he thought ; told
what he himself had said, and what he had seen;
that the king, either through anger or dislike,
or the pride natural to his disposition, had not
uttered a word. Sextus readily comprehend-

ing his father's meaning, and what conduct he

'prosecutions before the people ; others, who,

attacked with

gfegteTsafety, he put to death of his own au-
ttrortfy ; many were executed openly ; several^
"SgSirist whom accusations would appear less
plausible, were privately murdered ; some who
chose to fly were not prevented, others were
forced into banishment ; and the effects of the
absentees, as well as of those who bad suffered
death, were distributed in largesses among the
people : by these means, all sense of the public
calamity was so entirely drowned in the sweets
of bribery, plunder, and private profit, that, at
length, the Gabian stqtfR, ^stripped of its coun-
sellors and supporters, was delivered over, with"!

out a Struggle, into ^he "Bands oi_tJi£_Jioman

lose*.

LV. Tarquinius, having thus acquired pos-
session of Gabii, concluded a peace with the na-
tion of the zKquans, renewed the treaty with
the Etrurians, and then turned his thoughts to
the internal business of the city : among which,
the object of his principal concern was to leave
the temple of Jupiter, on the Tarpeian mount,^fient
a monument of his reign and of his name, to
testify, that of two Tarquinii, both of whom
reigned, the father had vowed, and the son
completed it. And in order that the ground
might be clear from the interference of any of
the other gods, and the temple to be erected
thereon be appropriated wholly to Jupiter, he
determined to cancel the inauguration of the
temples and chapels, several of which had been
vowed, first by Tatius during the very heat of
the battle against Romulus, and afterwards con-
secrated there. It is related, that, during the
preparations for founding this structure, the
gods exerted their divine power, to exhibit in-

dications of the stability of this great empire ;
for, whilst the birds admitted the cancelling the
inaugurations of all the other chapels, they did
not give the signs of approbation, in the case
of the temple of Terminus ; and that omen,
and that augury, were deemed to import that
the residence of Terminus must not be chang-
ed ; and his being the only one of the gods who
would not submit to be called forth from the
boundaries consecrated to him, denoted that all
things were to stand firm and immoveable.
After they had received this presage of its per-
petual duration, there followed another prodigy,
portending the greatness of the empire ; a hu-
man head, with the face entire, is said to have
appeared to those who were opening the foun-
dation of the temple ; which appearance de-
noted, without the help of any far-fetched al-
lusion, that this would be the metropolis of the
empire, and the head of the world. Such was
the interpretation given of it by the sooth-
sayers, both those who were in the city, and
others whom they sent for from Etruria, to
hold a consultation on the subject. This en-
couraged the king to enlarge the expense, sc
that the spoils of Pometia, which, according to
his first design, were to have completed the
edifice, were scarcely sufficient for the founda-
tions. For this reason, besides his being the
more ancient writer, I should rather believe
Fabius, that these amounted to no more than
forty talents,1 than Piso, who writes, that
forty thousand pounds weight of silver' were
set apart for that purpose ; a sum of money,
that could not be expected out of the spoil of
any one city in that age, and which must have

been more than sufficient for laying the founda-
tions even of the most magnificent of our modem
structures. Intent on finishing the temple, he
for workmen from all parts of Etruria,
and converted to that use, not only the public
money, but the public labour ; and although
this, which was in itself no small hardship, was
added to the toils of military service, yet the
people murmured the less, when they considered
that they were employing their hands 'in erect-
ing temples to the gods They were afterwards
obliged to toil at other works, which, though
they made less show, were attended with great-
er difficulty ; the erecting seats in the Circus,
and conducting under ground the principal
sewer, the receptacle of all the filth of the city ;

1 7.75W.

2 129.16K.

Y. R. 197.]

OF ROME.

39

two works to which the magnificence of modern
times can scarcely produce any thing equal.
After the people had been fatigued by these
labours, the king, considering so great a multi-
tude as a burden to the city, where there was^
not employment for them, and wishing at the
same time to extend the frontiers of his dom-
inions, by means of colonies, sent a number of
colonists to Signia and Circeii, to serve as
barriers to the city, against an enemy, both by
land and sea.

L VI. While he was thus employed, a dread-
ful prodigy appeared to him ; a snake, sliding
out of a wooden pillar, terrified the beholders,
and made them fly into the palace. This not
only struck the king himself with sudden terror,
but filled his breast with anxious apprehensions :„
so that, whereas in the case of public prodigies^
the Etrurian soothsayers only were applied to,
being thoroughly frightened at this domestic
apparition, as it were, he resolved to send to
Delphi, the most celebrated oracle in the
world ; and judging it unsafe to intrust
the answers which should be given to indif-
ferent persons, he sent his two sons into
Greece, through lands little known at that
time, and seas still less so. Titus and
Aruns set out, and, as a companion, was
sent with them, iLucius Junius Brutus, son
to Tarquinia, the king's sister, a young man
of a capacity widely different from the appear- i
ance which he had put on. Having heard that
the principal men in the state, and, among the
rest, his brother, had been put to death by his
uncle, ^p resolved that the king should find
nothing to dread, either from his manners or
his means, and to seek security in contempt.
He took care, therefore, to fashion his beha-
viour to the semblance of foolishness, submit-
ting himself and his fortune to the pleasure and
rapacity of the king. Nor did he show anyv
dislike to the surname of Brutus, content that,
under the cover of that appellation, the genius,
which was to be the deliverer of the Roman
people, should lie concealed, and wait the pro-
per season for exertion. He was, at this time, ,
carried to Delphi by the Tarquinii, rather as a
subject of sport, than as a companion ; and is
said to have brought as an offering to Apollo,
a golden wand, inclosed in a staff of cornel-
wood, hollowed for that purpose, an emblem
figurative of the state of his own capacity.
When they arrived there, and executed their
father's commission, the young men felt a wish

to inquire, to which of them the kingdom of
Rome was to belong ; and we are told, that
these words were uttered from the bottom of
the cave, " Yqung_m.en., whu-h_ever of you
shall first kiss your motherT he shall pn-^egs th?

sovereign power at Rome." The Tarquinii
ordered that this matter should be kept secret,
with the utmost care ; that Sextus, who had
been left behind at Rome, might remain ignor-
ant of the answer, so as to have no chance for
the kingdom. They themselves had recourse
to lots, to determine which of them should first
kiss their mother, on their return to Rome ;
Krytus judged that the expression of Apollo

had

nr ;f

ally stumbled and

Jir toiinhml thn parth.^

with bis lipsr considering that she was the com-

nf nil

On their return
from thence to Rome, they found vigorous
preparations going on for a war against the
Rutulians,

LVII. Ardea was a city belonging to the
Rutulians, a nation, considering the part of the
world and the age, remarkably opulent; and
this very circumstance gave occasion to the war ;
for the Roman king was earnestly desirous,
both of procuring money for himself, his treas-
ury being exhausted by the magnificence of his
public works, and also of reconciling, by means
of the spoils, the minds of his subjects, who
pvere highly dissatisfied with his government :
for, besides other instances of his pride, they
thought themselves ill-treated by being engaged,
for such a length of time, in the employments
of handicrafts, and in labour fit for slaves. Any
attempt was made to take Ardea by storm, and
that not succeeding, he adopted the plan of dis-
tressing the enemy by a blockade, and works
erected round them. In this fixed post, as is.j
generally the case when the operations of
war are rather tedious than vigorous,. leave of
absence was readily granted, and to the princi-
pal officers, more readily than to the soldiers ;
the young men of the royal family in particular
frequently passed their leisure time in feasting
and entertainments. It happened that while
these were drinking together, at the quarters of
Sextus Tarquinius, where Collatinus Tarquin-
ius, the son of Egerius, also supped, mention V
was made of their wives ; each extolled his own
to the skies : on this a dispute arising, Col-
latinus told them, that " there was no need of
words ; it could easily be known, in a few
hours, how much his Lucretia excelled the rest :

40

THE HISTORY

we are young, and strong ; let us mount our
horses, and inspect in person the behaviour of
our wives : that must be the most unexception-
able proof which meets our eyes, on the un-
expected arrival of the husband." They were
heated with wine : " Agreed," was the word ;
at full speed they fly to Rome. Having arrived
there at the first dusk of the evening, they pro-
ceeded thence to Collatia, where they found
Lucretia, not like the king's daughters-in-law,
whom they had seen spending their time in lux\
urious entertainments among those of their own
rank, but busily employed with her wool,
though at that late hour, and sitting in the
middle of the house, with her maids at work
around her : the honour of superiority among
the ladies mentioned in the dispute was of
course acknowledged to Belong to Lucretia.
Her husband, on his arrival, and the Tarquinii,
were kindly received ; and the husband, exult-
ing ia his victory, gave the royal youths a
friendly invitation. There, Sextus Tarqui-
nius, instigated by brutal lust, formed a design
of yiplatingljucretia's chastity by force, both
her beauty and her approved modesty serving as
incentives : after this youthful frolic of the night,
they returned to the camp.

LVIII. A few days after, Sextus Tarqui-
nius, without the knowledge of Collatinus,
went to Collatia, with only a single attendant :
he was kindly received by the family, who sus-
pected not his design, and, after supper, con-
ducted to the chamber where guests were
lodged. Then, burning with desire, as soon
as he thought that every thing was safe, and
the family all at rest, he came with his sword
drawn to Lucretia, where she lay asleep, and,
holding her down, with his left hand pressed
on her breast, said, " Lucretia, be silent : I
am Sextus Tarquinius ; my sword is in my
hand, if you utter a word, you die." Terri-

"fied at being thus disturbed from sleep, she saw
no assistance near, and immediate death threat-
ening her. Tarquinius then acknowledged his
passion, entreated, mixed threats with entrea-
ties, and used every argument likely to have
effect on a woman's mind : but finding her in-
flexible, and not to be moved, even by the fear
\of death, he added to that fear, the dread of

dishonour, telling her that, after killing her, b
would murder a slave, and lay him naked
her side, that she might be said to have been
slain in base adultery. The shocking appre-
hensions, conveyed by this menace, overpower-

ing her resolution in defending her chastity,
his lust became victorious ; and Tarquinius
departed, applauding himself for this triumph
over a lady's honour. But^Ljjcretia, plunged
by such a disaster into the deepest distress,
despatched a messenger to Rome to her father,
with orders to proceed to Ardea to her hus-
band, and to desire them to come to her, each
with one faithful friend ; to tell them, that
there was a necessity for their doing so, and
speedily ; for that a dreadful affair had hap-
pened. Spurius Lucretius came with Publius
Valerius, the son of Volesus ; Collatinus with
Lucius Junius Brutus, in company wfttrwhom
he chanced to be returning to Rome, when he
was met by his wife's messenger. They found
Lucretia sitting in her chamber, melancholy
and dejected : on the arrival of her friends, she
burst into tears, and on her husband's asking,
" Is all well ?'* " Far from it," said she, " for
how can it be well with a woman who has lost
her chastity ? Collatinus, the impression of
another man is in your bed ; yet my person only
has been violated, my mind is guiltless as my
death will testify. But give me your right
hands, and 'pledge your honour that the adul-
terer shall not escape unpunished. He is
Sextus Tarquinius, who, under the appearance
of a guest, disguising an enemy, obtained here,
last night, by armed violence, a triumph deadly
to me, and to himself also, if ye be men."
They all pledged their honour, one after an-
other, and endeavoured to comfort her dis-
tracted mind, acquitting her of blame, as under
the compulsion of force, and charging it on the
violent perpretator of the crime, told her, that
" the mind alone was capable of sinning, not
the body, and that where there was no such in-
tention, there could be no guilt." " It is your
concern," said she, " to consider what is due
to him ; as to me, though I acquit myself of
the guilt, I cannot dispense with the penalty,
nor shall any woman ever plead the example of
Lucretia, for surviving her chastity." Thus
saying, she plunged into her heart a knife,
which she had concealed under her garment,
and falling forward on the wound, dropped
lifeless. The husband and father shrieked
oud.

LIX. But Brutus, .while they were over-
powered by grief, drawing the knife from the
wound of Lucretia, and holding it out, reeking
with blood, before him, said, " By this blood,
most chaste until injured byroyaTinsolence, I

Y. R. 220.]

OF ROME.

41

swear, mid will you, O ye gods, to witnesSjJhaLJ Lticretia's chastity, n:id her lamentable death ;

I wjILprgsecute to destruction? I>y sword, fire

and every forcible means in my power, both

Lm-uisJTarqiiiiiius thp Proud, and his impious

wi fe, together with their entire race, and never

One of

whatsoever, to be king jn ytnmp " He then
delivered the knife to Collatinus, aftenvards to
Lucretius, and Valerius, who were filled with
amazement, as at a prodigy, and at a loss to
account for this unusual elevation of sentiment
in the mind of Brutus. However, they took
the oath as directed, and converting their grief
into rage, followed Bnitus, who put himself at
their head, and called on them to proceed in-
stantly to abolish kingly power. They brought
out the body of Lucretia from the house, con-
veyed it to the forum, and assembled the peo-
ple, who came together quickly, in astonish-

ment, as may be supposed, at a deed so atro-» /lamed the rage of the multitude to such a de-

cious and unheard-of. Every one exclaimed
with vehemence against the villany and violence
of the prince : they were deeply affected by the
grief of her father, and also by the discourse of
Brutus, who rebuked their tears and ineffectual
complaints, and advised them, as became men,
as became Romans, to take up arms against
those who had dared to treat them as enemies.N
The most spirited among the youth offered
themselves with their arms, and the rest fol-
lowed their example. On which, leaving half
their number at the gates to defend Collatia,
and fixing guards to prevent any intelligence of
the commotion being carried to the princes, the
rest, with Brutus at their head, marched to
Rome. When they arrived there, the sight of
such an armed multitude spread terror and con-
fusion wherever they came: but, in a little
time, when people observed the principal men
of the state marching at their head, they con-
cluded, that whatever the matter was, therey
must be good reason for it. Nor did the hein-
ousness of the affair raise less violent emotions
in the minds of the people at Rome, than it
had at Collatia : so that, from all parts of the
city, they hurried into the forum ; where, as
soon as the party arrived, a crier summoned
the people to attend the tribune of the celeres,
which office happened at that time to be held
by Brutus. He there made a speech, no way
consonant to that low degree of sensibility and
capacity, which, until that day, he had counter-
feited; recounting the violence and Just of
Sextus Tarquinius, the shocking violation of
I.

the misfortune of Tricipitinus, in .being left
jchildless, who must feel the cause of his
.daughter's death as a greater injury and cruelty,
than her death itself : to these representations
•bo-added the prirle of the king himself, the
miseries and toils of the commons, buried un-
der ground to cleanse sinks and sewers, saying,
that " the citizens of Rome, the conquerors of
all the neighbouring nations, were, from war- .

riofs, reduced to labourers and stone cutters ;"

mentioned the barbarous murder of king Ser-
vius Tullius, his abominable daughter driving
in her carriage over the body of her father, and
invoked the gods to avenge the cause of parents.
By descanting on these and other, I suppose,
more forcible topics, which the heinousness of
present injuries suggestec" at the time, but
which it is difficult for writers to repeat, he in-

gree, that they were easily persuaded to deprive
the king of his government, and to pass an or-
der for the banishment of Lucius Tarquinius,
his wife, and children. Brutus himself, having
collected and armed such of the young men as
voluntarily gave in their names, set out for the
camp at Ardea, in order to excite the troops
there to take part against the king. The com-
mand in the city he left to Lucretius, who had
some time before been appointed by the king to
the office of praefect of the city. ' During this
tumult Tullia fled from her house ; both men
and women, wherever she passed, imprecating
curses on her head, and invoking the furies,
the avengers of parents.

LX. News of these proceedings having
reached the camp, and the king, alarmed at
such extraordinary events, having begun his
march towards Rome, to suppress the commo-
tions, Brutus, informed of his approach, turned
into another road, in order to avoid a meeting,
and very nearly at the same time, by different
roadsjBrutus arrived at Ardea,and Tarquinius at
Rome. Tarquinius found the gates shut against
him, and an order of banishment pronounced.
The deliverer of the city was received in the camp
\lrith joy, and the king's sons were driven thence
/with disgrace. Two of these followed their
father, and went into exile at Coere, among the
Etrurians. Sextus Tarquinius having retired to

1 The Praefect of the city was, in these times, a ma-
gistrate extraordinary, appointed to administer justice,
and transact other necessary business, in the absence of
the king, or consul?.

F

THE HISTORY OF ROME.

QBOOK

Gabii, as if to his own dominions, was slain
by some persons, who were glad of an oppor-
tunity of gratifying old animosities, which he
had excited there by his rapine and murders.
Lucius Tarquinius Superbus reigned twenty-
five years. The government of kings continu-
ed, from the building of the city to the estab-
lishment of its liberty, two hundred and forty-

four years. After that, in an assembly of the
centuries, held by the prsefect of the city, were
elected, conformably to a plan found in the com-
mentaries of Servius Tullius, two magistrates,
called consuls. These werey Lucius Junius
Brutus, and Lucius Tarquinius Collatinus.
[Y. R. 245. B. C. 507.]

THE

HISTORY OF ROME.

BOOK II.

Brutus binds the people, by an oath, never to restore the kingly government; obliges Tarquinius Collatinus, on
account of his relationship to the Tarquinii, to resign the consulship, and retire from the city ; puts to death
his own sons, together with some other young men of rank, for a conspiracy in favour of the Tarquinii ; falls
in battle against the Veientians and Tarquinians, together with his antagonist Aruns, son of Superbus. War
with Porsena. Exploits of Horatius Codes, Mucius Scoevola, and Cloelia. The Claudian tribe formed, and the
number of the tribe's increased to twenty-one. The Latines, attempting to restore Tarquinius, are defeated
by Aulus Post minus, dictator. The commons, on account of the great numbers confined for debt, secede to the
Sacred mount ; are appeased, and brought back, by the prudence of Menenius Agrippa. Five tribunes of the
commons created. Banishment and subsequent conduct of Caius Marcius Coriolanus. First proposal of an
Agrarian law. Spurius Cassius, aspiring to regal power, put to death. Oppia, a vestal virgin, convicted of
incest, buried alive. The Fabian family undertake the Veieutian war, and are all cut off, except one boy.
Wars with the Volscians, JEquans, and Veientians. Dissensions between the Patricians and Plebeians.

I. HENCEFORWARD I am to treat of the affairs,
civil and military, of a free people, for such
the Romans were now become ; [ Y. R. 245.
B. C. 507.] of annual magistrates, and the
authority of the laws exalted above that of
men. What greatly enhanced the public joy,
on having attained to this state of freedom,
was, the haughty insolence of the late king :
for the former kings governed in such a man-
ner, that all of them, in succession, might de-
servedly be reckoned as founders of the several
parts, at least, of the city, which they added to
it, to accommodate the great numbers of inha-
bitants, whom they themselves introduced.
Nor can it be doubted, that the same Brutus,
who justly merited so great glory, for having
expelled that haughty king, would have hurt
the public interest most materially, had he,
through an over-hasty zeal for liberty, wrested
the government from any one of the former
princes. For what must have been the con-
sequence, if that rabble of shepherds and vaga-
bonds, fugitives from their own countries, hav-
ing, under the sanction of an inviolable asylum,
obtained liberty, or at least impunity ; and,
uncontrolled by dread of kingly power, had
once been set in commotion by tribunitian

storms, and had, in a city, where they were
strangers, engaged in contests with the patri-
cians, before the pledges of wives and children,
and an affection for the soil itself, which in
length of time is acquired from habit, had
united their minds in social concord ? The
state, as yet but a tender shoot, had, in that
case, been torn to pieces by discord ; whereas
the tranquil moderation of the then govern-
ment cherished it, and by due nourishment,
brought it forward to such a condition, that,
its powers being ripened, it was capable of
producing the glorious fruit of liberty. The
origin of liberty is to be dated from that period,
rather on account of the consular government
being limited to one year, than of any diminu-
tion made of the power which had been pos-
sessed by the kings. The first consuls enjoyed
all their privileges, and all their ensigns of au-
thority ; in this respect, only, care was taken
not to double the objects of terror by giving
the fasces to both the consuls. Brutus, with
the consent of his colleague, was first honoured
with the fasces, and the zeal which he had
shown as the champion of liberty in rescuing
it from oppression, was not greater than that
which he afterwards displayed in the character

44

THE HISTORY

[BOOK ii

of its guardian. First of all, while the people
were in raptures at their new acquisition of
freedom, lest they might afterwards be per-
verted by the importunities or presents of the
princes, he bound them by an oath, that they
would never surfer any man to assume the au-
thority of king at Rome. Next, in order that
the fulness of their body might give the greater
weight to the senate, he filled up the number
of the senators, which had been diminished by
the king's murders, to the amount of three
hundred, electing into that body the principal
men of equestrian rank ; and hence the prac-
tice is said to have taken its rise, of summon-
ing to the senate those who are Fathers, and
those who are Conscripti ; for they called
those who were elected into this new senate
Conscripti. This had a wonderful effect to-
wards producing concord in the state, and in
attaching the affection of the commons to the
patricians.

II. People then turned their attention to
matters of religion ; and because some public
religious rites had been usually performed by
the kings in person, in order that there should
be no want of one on any occasion, they ap-
pointed a king of the sacrifices. This office
they made subject to the jurisdiction of the
pontiff, fearing lest honour, being joined to the
title, might in some shape be injurious to
liberty, which was then the first object of their
concern : I know not whether they did not
carry to excess their great anxiety to raise bul-
warks to it, on all sides, even in points of the
most trivial consequence ; for the name of one
of the consuls, though there was no other
cause of dislike, became a subject of jealousy
to the people. It was alleged, that " the Tar-
quinii had been too long accustomed to the
possession of sovereign power : Priscus first
began : next indeed reigned Servius Tullius,
yet though that interruption occurred, Tarqui-
nius Superbus never lost sight of the crown,
so as to consider it the right of another ; but,
by violent and flagitious means, reclaimed it,
as the inheritance of his family. Now, that
Superbus had been expelled, the government
was in the hands of Collatinus ; the Tarquinii
knew not how to live in a private station ; the
very name itself was displeasing, and danger-
ous to liberty." These discourses were, at
first, gradually circulated through every part of
the city, for the purpose of trying the disposi-
tion of the people. After the suspicions of

j the commons had, by these suggestions, been
sufficiently excited, Brutus called them toge-
ther : when they were assembled, after first
reciting the oath which the people had taken,
that " they would never suffer a king at Rome,
or any thing else that might be dangerous to
liberty ;" he told them, that " they must sup-
port this resolution with their utmost power ;
and that no circumstance, of any tendency that
way, ought to be overlooked : that from his
regard to the person alluded to, he mentioned
the matter unwillingly ; nor would he have
mentioned it at all, did not his affection for the
commonwealth outweigh all other considera-
tions. The Roman people did not think that
they had recovered entire freedom : the regal
family, the regal name remained, not only in
the city, but in the government : this was a cir-
cumstance, not merely unpropitious, but dan-
gerous, to liberty. Do you, Lucius Tarqui-
nius, of your own accord, remove from us this
apprehension : we remember, we acknowledge
that you expelled the princes : complete your
kindness : carry hence their name. Your
countrymen, on my recommendation, will not
only give you up your property, but if you have
occasion for more, will make liberal additions
to it. Depart in friendship. Deliver the state
from this, it may be, groundless apprehension ;
but the opinion is deeply rooted in their minds,
that, only with the race of the Tarquinii, will
kingly power depart hence." Astonishment
at this extraordinary and unexpected affair at
first deprived the consul of all power of utter-
ance : and when he afterwards began to speak,
the principal men of the state gathered round
him, and with earnest importunity urged the
same request. Others affected him less ; but
when Spurius Lucretius, his superior in age,
and dignity of character, and his father-in-law
besides, began to try every method of persua-
sion, using, by turns, arguments and entreaties,
that he would suffer himself to be overcome
by the general sense of his countrymen, the
consul, fearing lest hereafter, when he should
have returned to a private station, 'the same
measures might be used against him, with the
addition perhaps of confiscation of his property,
and other marks of ignominy, resigned the
office of consul, and, removing all his effects to
Lavinium, withdrew from the territories of the
state. Brutus, in pursuance of a decree of the
senate, proposed to the people, that all who
were of the Tarquinian family should be ban-

y. R. 245.]

OF ROME.

ished ; and in an assembly of the centuries, he
elected for his colleague, Publius Valerius,
who had been his assistant in expelling the
royal family.

III. No person now doubted but war would
be immediately commenced by the Tarquinii :
that event, however, did not take place so soon
as was expected. But, what they entertained
no apprehension of, liberty was very near being
lost, by secret machinations and treachery.
There were, among the Romans, several young
men of no inconsiderable families, who, during
the reign of the king, had indulged their plea-
sures too freely ; and being of the same age,
and constant companions of the younger Tar-
quinii, had been accustomed to live in a princely
style : the privileges of all ranks being now
i educed to one level, these grew uneasy at the
restraint hereby laid on their irregularities, and
complained heavily among themselves, that the
liberty of others had imposed slavery on them.
" A king was a human being ; from him might
a request be obtained, whether right or wrong :
with him there was room for favour, and for
acts of kindness ; he could be angry, and he
could forgive ; he knew a distinctiQti between
a friend and an enemy. But the law was a deaf
inexorable being, calculated rather for the safety
and advantage of the poor, than of the rich ;
and admitted of no relaxation or indulgence, if
its bounds were transgressed. Men being
liable to so many mistakes, to have no other
security but innocence is a hazardous situation."
While their minds were in this discontented
state, ambassadors arrived from the Tarquinii,
who, without any mention of their restoration,
demanded only their effects : the senate, having
granted them an audience, continued their de-
liberations on the subject for several days, being
apprehensive that a refusal to give them up,
would afford a plausible reason for a war, and
the giving them up, a fund in aid of it. Mean-
while the ambassadors were busily employed in
schemes of another nature : whilst they openly
demanded the effects, they were secretly form-
ing a plan for recovering the throne, and ad-
dressing themselves to the young nobles, seem-
ingly on the business which they were supposed
to have in charge, they made trial of their dis-
positions. To those who lent an ear to their
suggestions, they delivered letters from the
Tarquinii, and concerted measures with them
for receiving those princes privately into the
city by night.

IV. The business was first intrusted to the
brothers of the name of Vitellii, and those of
the name of Aquillii ; a sister of the Vitellii
had been married to the consul Brutus, and
there were two sons born of that marriage,
now grown up, Titus and Tiberius : these
were led in, by their uncles, to take part in the
design ; and several others of the young nobility
were drawn into the conspiracy, whose names,
at this distance of time, are unknown. In the
meanwhile, the opinion of those, who advised
the giving up of the property, having prevailed in
the senate, this afforded the ambassadors a pre-
text for remaining in the city, because they had
been allowed time by the consuls to procure
carriages for the conveyance of the effects
of the princes ; all which time they spent
in consultations with the conspirators, and
had, by pressing instances, prevailed upon
them to send letters for the Tarquinii ; for
" without these, how- could they be so fully as-
sured, as an affair of that high importance re-
quired, that the report of the ambassadors was
not groundless ?" These letters, given as a
pledge of their sincerity, proved the means of
detecting the plot : for the day before that on
which they were to return to the Tarquinii,
the ambassadors happening to sup with the
Vitellii, and the conspirators having here in
private had much conversation, as was natural,
on the subject of their new enterprise, their
discourse .was overheard by one of the slaves,
who had, before this, discovered that such a
design was in agitation, but waited for this
opportunity, until the letters should be given
to the ambassadors ; because these, being
seized, would furnish full proof of the transac-
tion. As soon as he found that they were
delivered, he made a discovery of the affair to
the consuls. The consuls, setting out from
home directly, and apprehending the ambassa-
dors and conspirators in the fact, effectually
crushed the affair without any tumult ; taking
particular care, with regard to the letters, that
they should not escape them. They instantly
threw the traitors into chains, but hesitated
for some time with regard to proceeding
against the ambassadors ; and though, by their
behaviour, they had deserved to be treated as
enemies, yet regard to the law of nations pre-
vailed.

V. With respect to the effects of the princes,
which they had before ordered to be restored,
the business was now laid before the senate

THE HISTORY

n.

for reconsideration ; and they, actuated en-
tirely by resentment, decreed, that they should
not be restored, but converted to the use of the
state. They were, therefore, given up to the
commons as plunder, with the intent, that these,
after such an act of violence against the princes,
as the seizing of their effects, might for ever
lose all hope of reconciliation with them. The
land of the Tarquinii, which lay between the
city and the Tiber, being consecrated to the
god of war, has, from that time, been called the
Field of Mars. It happened, that there was
then on that ground a crop of corn, ripe for
the sickle, and, because it would be an impiety
to make use of this produce of the field, a great
number of men were sent in at once, who,
having cut it down, carried it in baskets, and
threw it, grain and straw together, into the
Tiber, whose waters were low at that time, as
is generally the case in the middle of summer.
The heaps of corn then being frequently stop-
ped for a while in the shallows, and having
contracted a covering of mud, sunk, and re-
mained fixed, and by these means, with the
afflux of other materials which the stream is apt
to carry down, an island1 was gradually formed.
I suppose that mounds were afterwards added,
and assistance given by art, to raise the surface
to its present height, and give it sufficient firm-
ness to support temples and porticoes. After
the people had made plunder of the effects of
the princes, the traitors were condemned and
executed. And the execution was the more
remarkable on this account, that his office of
consul imposed on a father the severe duty of
inflicting punishment on his own sons ; and
that he, who ought not to have been present
as a spectator, was yet the very person whom
fortune pitched on to exact the penalty of
their offence. The youths, all of the first
distinction, stood tied to stakes, but the sons
of the consul entirely engaged the eyes of the
spectators, as if the others were persons un-
known ; and people felt compassion not only
for their punishment, but even for the crime
by which they had brought it on themselves :
to think that " they could, during that year par-
ticularly, have been induced to entertain a de-
sign of betraying their country, just delivered
from tyranny, their father its deliverer, the
consulship, which had commenced in the

1 Between the Janiculum and the city. It was after,
wards called the Holy Island, from the number of tern-
pies built upon it.

Junian family, the patricians, commons, in a
word, whatever Rome held in highest venera-
tion, into the hands of one who was formerly
a tyrannical king, now an enraged exile." The
consuls mounted their throne, and the lictors
were sent to inflict the punishment : after strip-
ping the criminals naked, they beat them with
rods, and beheaded them ; whilst, through the
whole process of the affair, the looks and coun-
tenance of Brutus afforded an extraordinary
spectacle, the feelings of the father often strug-
gling with the character of the magistrate en-
forcing the execution of the laws. Justice
done to the offenders, in order to exhibit a
striking example for the prevention of crimes,
in their treatment of the several parties, they
gave, as a reward to the discoverer of the trea-
son, a sum of money out of the treasury, his
freedom, and the rights of a citizen. This
man is said to be the first who was made free
by the Vindicta.* Some think that the term
" Vindicta" was taken from him, his name
having been Vindicius ; after him, it obtained,
as a rule, that whoever was made free in that
manner, should be considered and admitted a
citizen.

VI. Tarquinius, on being informed of these
transactions, became inflamed, not only with
grief for the disappointment of such promising
hopes, but with hatred and resentment ; and,
finding every pass shut against secret plots,
determined to have recourse to open war ; and,
to that end, he went round to all the cities of
Etruria, in the character of a suppliant, address-
ing himself particularly to the people of Veii
and Tarquinii, entreating them, " not to suffer
him, who was sprung from themselves, and
of the same blood ; who was lately possessed
of so great a kingdom, now exiled and in
want, to perish before their eyes, together
with the young men his sons. Others had
been invited from foreign countries to Rome,
to fill the throne ; but he, when in posses-
sion of the government, and while he was
employing his arms in extending the limits of
the Roman empire, was expelled by a villanous

2 The vindicta was a rod, or wand, with which the
consul, in early times, afterwards the city-prsetor,
struck the slave presented to him for enfranchisement,
the owner having previously given him a slight blow,
and let him go out of his hands. The prsetor then gave
the rod to a lictor, who likewise struck the person
manumitted. He was then registered as a freeman, and
assumed the rap, the symbol of liberty, with much cere,
mony, in the temple of Feronia-

y. R. 245.]

OF ROME.

47

conspiracy of men who were most closely
connected with him j who, because no one of
their number was qualified to hold the reins of
government, had forcibly shared the several
parts of it among them, and had given up his
property to be plundered by the populace, to
the intent that all might be equally guilty. He
only wished to be restored to his own country
and crown, and to be avenged on his ungrateful
subjects. He besought them to support and
assist him, and, at the same time, to take re-
venge for the injuries which they themselves
had sustained of old, for their legions so often
slaughtered, and their lands taken from them."
These arguments had the desired effect on the
Veientians, every one of whom earnestly, and
with menaces, declared that they ought now at
least, with a Roman at their head, to efface the
memory of their disgraces, and recover, by arms,
what they bad lost. The people of Tarquinii
were moved by his name, and his relation to
themselves : they thought it redounded to their
honour, that their countrymen should reign at
Rome. Thus two armies of two states follow-
ed Tarquinius to demand his restoration, and
prosecute war against the Romans. When
they advanced into the Roman territories, the
consuls marched out to meet the enemy.
Valerius led the infantry, in order of battle ;
Brutus, with the cavalry, marched at some
distance before them, in order to procure in-
telligence. In like manner, the vanguard of
the enemy was composed of cavalry, under the
command of Aruns Tarquinius, the king's son ;
the king himself followed with the legions.
Aruns, perceiving at a distance, by the lictors,
that a consul was there, and afterwards, on a
nearer approach, plainly distinguishing Brutus
by his face, became inflamed with rage, and
cried out, " That is the man who has driven us
as exiles from our country ; see how he marches
in state, decorated with our ensigns : ye gods,
avengers of kings, assist me !" He then spurred
or his horse, and drove furiously against the
consul. Brutus perceived that the attack was
meant for him ; and as it was at that time reck-
oned not improper for generals themselves to
engage in fight, he eagerly offered himself to the
combat ; and they advanced against each other
with such furious animosity, neither thinking
of guarding his own person, but solely intent
on wounding his enemy, that, in the violence
of the conflict, each of them received his an-
tagonist's ppear in his body, through his buck-

,er, and being entangled together by the two
spears, they both fell lifeless from their horses.
At the same time, the rest of the cavalry began
to engage, and were shortly after joined by the
nfantry : a battle then ensued, in which victory
seemed alternately to incline to either party,
:he advantages being nearly equal .• for the right
wings of both armies got the better, and the
ieft were worsted. At length the Veientians,
accustomed to be vanquished by the Roman
troops, were routed and dispersed : the Tar-
quinians, a new enemy, not only kept their
ground, but even, on their side, made the Ro-
mans give way.

VII. Though such was the issue of the
battle, yet so great terror took possession of
Tarquinius and the Etrurians, that, giving up
the enterprise as impracticable, both armies,
the Veientian and the Tarquinian, retired by
night to their respective countries. To the
accounts of this battle, writers have added mir-
acles ; that, during the silence of the following
night, a loud voice was uttered from the Arsian
wood, which was believed to be the voice of
Sylvanus, in these words : " The number of
the Etrurians who fell in the engagement was
the greater by one. The Romans have the
victory." The Romans certainly departed
from the field as conquerors, the Etrurians as
vanquished : for when day appeared, and not one
of the enemy was to be seen, the consul, Pub-
lius Valerius, collected the spoils, and returned
in triumph to Rome. He celebrated the
funeral of his colleague with the utmost degree
of magnificence which those times could afford ;
but a much higher mark of honour to the de-
ceased, was the grief expressed by the public,
singularly remarkable in this particular, that the
matrons mourned for him as for a parent, during
a whole year, in gratitude for his vigorous exer-
tions in avenging the cause of violated chastity.
In a little time> the consul who survived, so
changeable are the minds of the populace, from
having enjoyed a high degree of popularity, be-
came an object not only of jealousy, but of suspi.
cion, attended with a charge of an atrocious na-
ture ; it was given out that he aspired at the so-
vereignty, because he had not substituted a col-
league in the room of Brutus ; and besides,
was building a house on the summit of Mount
Velia, which, in such a lofty and strong situ-
ation, would be an impregnable fortress. The
consul's mind was deeply affected with concern
and indignation, at finding that such reports

48

THE HISTORY

[BOOK II.

were circulated and believed : he therefore
summoned the people to an assembly, and,
ordering the fusees to be lowered,1 mounted
the rostrum. It was a sight highly pleasing
to the multitude, to find the ensigns of sove-
reignty lowered to them, and an acknowledg-
ment thus openly given, that the majesty and
power of the people were superior to those
of the consul. Attention being ordered, the
consul extolled the good fortune of his col-
league, who, " after having accomplished the
deliverance of his country, and being raised to
the highest post of honour, met with death,
while fighting in defence of the republic, when
his glory had arrived at full maturity, without
having excited jealousy : whereas he himself,
surviving his glory, was become an object of
calumny ; and from the character of deliverer
of his country, had sunk to a level with the
Aquilii and Vitellii. Will no degree of merit,
tlien," said he, " ever gain your confidence, so
far as to be secure from the attacks of suspi-
cion ? Could I have the least apprehension that
I, the bitterest enemy to kings, should undergo
the charge of aiming at kingly power ? Suppos-
ing that I dwelt in the very citadel, and in the
Capitol, could I believe that I was an object of
terror to my countrymen ? Does my reputation
among you depend on so mere a trifle ? Is my
title to your confidence so slightly founded, that
it is more to be considered where I am, than
what I am ? Citizens, the house of Publius
Valerius shall be no obstruction to your free-
dom ; the Velian mount shall be secure to you :
I will not only bring down my house to the
plain, but will fix it under the hill, that your
dwellings may overlook that of your suspected
countryman. Let those build on the Velian
mount to whom ye can better intrust your lib-
erty than to Publius Valerius." Immediately
all the materials were brought down from the
Velian mount, and the house was built at the
foot of the hill, where the temple of victory
now stands.

-VIII. Some laws were then proposed by the
consul, which not only cleared him from all
suspicion of a design to possess himself of re-
gal power, but whose tendency was so contrary
thereto, that they even rendered him popular,
and from thence he acquired the surname of

1 At the same time, he took the axes out of the fas-
OPS, and they were never, afterwards, carried in the
f tun-en of the consuls within the city.

Publicola. Such, particularly, was that con-
cerning an appeal to the people against the de-
crees of the magistrates, and that which devoted
both the person and goods of any who should
form a design of assuming regal power. These
laws were highly acceptable to the populace,
and, having effected the ratification of them,
while alone in office, in order that the credit of
them might be entirely his own, he then held
an assembly for the election of a new colleague.
The consul elected was Spurius Lucretius,
who, being far advanced in years, and too fee-
ble to support the duties of his office, died in a
few days after. Marcus Horatius Pulvillus
was substituted in the room of Lucretius. In
some old writers I find no mention of Lucre-
tius as consul ; they place Horatius as immedi-
ate successor to Brutus : I suppose he was not
taken notice of, because his consulate was not
signalized by any important transaction. The
temple of Jupiter in the Capitol had not yet
been dedicated ; the consuls Valerius and
Horatius cast lots which should perform the
dedication, and it fell to Horatius. Publicola
set out to conduct the war against the Veien-
tians. The friends of Valerius showed more
displeasure, than the occasion merited, at the
dedication of a temple so celebrated being given
to Horatius. Having endeavoured, by every
means, to prevent its taking place, and all their
attempts having failed of success, when the con-
sul had already laid his hand on the door-post,
and was employed in offering prayers to the
gods, they hastily addressed him with the
shocking intelligence, that his son was dead,
and insisted that his family being thus defiled,
he could not dedicate the temple. Whether he
doubted the truth of the intelligence, or whe-
ther it was owing to great firmness of mind, we
are not informed with certainty, nor is it easy
to conjecture : but he was no farther diverted
from the business he was engaged in, by that
information, than just to give orders that the
body should be buried ; and, still holding the
post, he finished his prayer, and dedicated the
temple. Such were the transactions' at home
and abroad, which occurred during the first year
after the expulsion of the royal family. The
next consuls appointed were, Publius Valerius,
a second time, and Titus Lucretius. [Y. R.
246. B. C. 506.]

IX. Meanwhile, the Tarquinii had carried
their complaints to Lars Porsena, king of Clu-
sium ; and there, mixing admonitions with in-

Y. K. 246.]

OF ROME.

49

treaties, they at one time besought him that he
would not suffer those, who derived their ori-
gin from Etruria, and were of the same blood
and name, to spend their lives in poverty and
exile ; then warned him " not to let this new
practice of dethroning kings proceed without
chastisement ; adding, that liberty had in itself
sufficient sweets to allure others to follow the ex-
ample, unless kings would show the same degree
of vigour, in support of kingly power, which the
people exerted to wrest it from them : the high-
est ranks would be reduced to a level with the
lowest : there would be no dignity, no pre-
eminence among the several members of
society : there would soon be an end of regal
authority, which among gods and men had
heretofore been held in the highest degree of
estimation." Porsena, considering it as highly
conducive to the honour of Etruria, that there
should be a king at Rome, and also that that
king should be of Etrurian race, led an army to
Rome, determined to support his pretensions
by force of arms. Never on any former occa-
sion were the senate struck with such terror, so-
powerful was the state of Clusium at that time,
and so great the name of Porsena : nor were
they in dread of their enemies only, but also of
their own countrymen : lest the Roman popu-
lace, overcome by their fears, might admit the
kings into the city, and, for the sake of peace,
submit to slavery. The senate, therefore, at
this season practised many conciliatory measures
toward the commons : their first care was ap-
plied to the markets, and people were sent,
some to the Volscians, others to Cumae, to*
purchase corn ; the privilege also of selling salt,
because the price had been raised to an extra-
vagant height, was taken out of the hands of
private persons, and placed entirely under the
management of government ; the commons were
also exempted from port-duties and taxes, that
the public expenses might fall upon the rich,
who were equal to the burden, the poor paying
tax sufficient if they educated their children.
This indulgent care preserved such harmony in
the state, even during the people's severe suf-
ferings afterwards, from siege and famine, that
the name of king was abhorred by all ; nor did
any single person, in after times, ever acquire
such a high degree of popularity by artful in-
trigues, as the whole senate then obtained by
their wise administration.

X. As the enemy drew nigh, every one re-
moved hastily from the country into the city,

on every side of which strong guards were
posted. Some parts seemed well secured by the
walls, others by the Tiber running close to
them. The Sublician bridge was very near
affording the enemy an entrance, had it not been
for one man, Horatius Codes : no other bul-
wark had the fortune of Rome on that day.
He happened to be posted on guard at the
bridge, and when he saw the Janiculum taken
by a sudden assault, and the enemy pouring
down from thence in full speed, bis country-
men in disorder and confusion no longer
attempting opposition, but quitting their ranks,
he caught hold of every one that he could, and,
appealing to gods and men, assured them, that,
" it was in vain that they fled, after deserting
the post which could protect them ; that if they
passed the bridge, and left it behind them, they
would soon see greater numbers of the enemy
in the Palatium and the Capitol, than in the
Janiculum ; wherefore he advised and warned
them to break down the bridge, by their swords,
fire, or any other effectual means, while he
should sustain the attack of the enemy, as long
as it was possible for one person to withstand
them. He then advanced to the first entrance
of the bridge, and being easily distinguished
from those who showed their backs in retreat-
ing from the fight, by his facing to the front,
with his arms prepared for action, he astonished
the enemy by such wonderful intrepidity.
Shame however prevailed on two to remain
with him, Spurius Lartius and Titus Hermi-
nius, both of them men of distinguished families
and characters : with their assistance he, for a
time, supported the first storm, and the most
furious part of the fight. Even these he sent
back, when the bridge was nearly destroyed,
and those who were employed in breaking it
down called upon them to retire ; then darting
fierce menacing looks at each of the leaders of
the Etrurians, he sometimes challenged them
singly, sometimes upbraided them altogether,
as slaves of haughty kings, who incapable of
relishing liberty themselves, had come to wrest
it from others. For a considerable time they
hesitated, looking about for some other to begin
the combat : shame at length put their troops
in motion, and setting up a shout, they poured
their javelins from all sides against their single
opponent : all which having stuck in the shield
with which he guarded himself, and he still per-
sisting with the same undaunted resolution, and
with haughty strides, to keep possession of his
G

50

THE HISTORY

CBOOK ri.

post, they had now resolved, by making a vio-
lent push, to force him from it, when the crash
of the falling bridge, and at the same time a
shout raised by the Romans, for joy at having
completed their purpose, filled them with sud-
den dismay, and stopped them from proceed-
ing in the attempt. Then Codes said, " Holy
father, Tiberinus, I beseech thee to receive
these arms, and this thy soldier, into thy
propitious stream." With these words, armed
as he was, he leaped down into the Tiber,
and through showers of darts which fell
around him, swam safe across to his friends,
having exhibited a degree of intrepidity
which, in after-times, was more generally cele-
brated than believed. The state showed a
grateful sense of such high desert ; a statue was
erected to him in the Comitium, with a grant
of land as large as he could plough completely
in one day. The zeal of private persons too
was conspicuous, amidst the honours conferred
on him by the public ; for, great as the scar-
city then was, every one contributed something
to him, in proportion to the stock of their fa-
mily, abridging themselves of their own proper
support.

XL Porsena, disappointed of success in this
first effort, changed his plan from an assault to
a blockade ; and, leaving a force sufficient to
secure the Janiculum, encamped his main body
in the plain along the bank of the Tiber, at the
same time collecting ships from all quarters, at
once to guard the passage, that no corn should
be conveyed to Rome, and to enable his troops
to cross over the river, in different places, as
occasion offered, to lay waste the country.
In a short time he extended his depredations
so successfully, through every part of the Ro-
man territories, that people were obliged to
convey their effects into the city, as also their
cattle, which no one would venture to drive
without the gates. The Etrurians were per-
mitted to act in this uncontrolled manner, not
so much through fear, as design ; for Valerius
the consul, intent on gaining an opportunity of
making an unexpected attack on a large num-
ber of them, at a time when they were unpre-
pared, overlooked trifling advantages, reserving
his force for a severe revenge on a more impor-
tant occasion. With this view, in order to
allure the plunderers, he gave orders to his
men to drive out some cattle through the Es-
quiline gate, which was at the opposite side
from the enemy ; judging that these would soon

get information of it, because, during the block-
ade and the scarcity of provisions, many of the
slaves turned traitors and deserted. Accord-
ingly they were informed of it by a deserter,
and passed over the river in much greater
numbers than usual, in hopes of getting posses-
sion of the entire booty. Publius Valerius
then ordered Titus Herminius, with a small
body of men, to lie c&ncealed near the two-
mile stone on the Gabian road ; Spurius Lar-
tius, with a body of light-armed troops, to stand
at the Colline gate until the enemy should pass
by, and then to take post in their rear, so as to
cut off their retreat to the river ; the other
consul, Titus Lucretius, with some companies
of foot, marched out of the Naevian gate ; Va-
lerius himself led down his chosen cohorts from
the Ccelian mount, and these were the first who
were observed by the enemy. Herminius, as
soon as he found that the alarm was taken,
rushed out from his ambush, to take his share
in the fray, and while the Etrurians were bus-
ied in forming an opposition to Valerius, fell
upon their rear ; the shout was returned, both
from the right and from the left ; from the
Colline gate on the one hand, and the Ncevian
on the other. The plunderers being thus sur-
rounded, destitute of strength to make head
against their adversaries, and shut out from all
possibility of a retreat, were cut to pieces.
After this the Etrurians confined their ravages
to narrower limits.

XII. The siege continued notwithstanding,
and provisions becoming exceedingly scarce and
dear, Porsena entertained hopes, that, by re-
maining quiet in his present position, he should
become master of the city ; when Caius Mucius,
a noble youth, filled with indignation on reflect-
ing that the Roman people, while they were
in bondage under their kings, were never in any
war besieged by any enemy, and that the same
people, nosv in a state of freedom, were held
besieged by those very Etrurians whose armies
they had often routed, resolved therefore, by
some great and daring effort, to remove such
reproach. At first he designed to make his
way into the enemy's camp, without com-
municating his intention ; but afterwards,
dreading lest, if he should go without the
order of the consuls, and the knowledge of any,
he might be apprehended by the Roman
gaurds, and brought back as a deserter, an impu-
tation for which the present circumstances of
the city would afford plausible grounds, he ap-

y. n. 246.]

OF ROME.

61

plied to the senate, and told them, " Fathers,
I intend to cross the Tiber, and to enter, if I
cnn, the enemy's camp, not to seek for plunder,
or to revenge their depredations in kind ; the
blow which I meditate, with the aid of the
gods, is of more importance." The senate
gave their approbation, and he set out with a
sword concealed under his garment. When
he came into the camp, he took his place close
to the king's tribunal, where a very great
crowd was assembled. It happened that, at
this time, the soldiers were receiving their pay,
and a secretary, sitting beside the king, and
dressed nearly in the same manner, acted a
principal part in the business, and to him the
soldiers generally addressed themselves. Mu-
cius, not daring to inquire which was Porsena,
lest his not knowing the king should discover
what he was, fortune blindly directing the
stroke where it was not intended, slew the
secretary, instead of the king. Then endea-
vouring to make his escape through a passage,
which with his bloody weapon he cleared for
himself among the dismayed crowd, a concourse
of the soldiers being attracted by the noise, he
was seized by the king's life-guards, and drag-
ged back. Standing there single, among a
crowd of enemies, before the king's tribunal,
even in this situation, in the midst of fortune's
severest threats, showing himself more capable
of inspiring terror, than of feeling it, he spoke
to this effect : " I am a Roman citizen ; my
name is Caius Mucius. As an enemy, I in-
tended to have slain an enemy, nor is my reT
solution less firmly prepared to suffer death,
than to inflict it. It is the part of a Roman
both to act, and to suffer, with fortitude : nor
am 1 the only one who has harboured such de-
signs against you. There is a long list, after
me, of candidates for the same glorious dis-
tinction. Prepare therefore, if you choose,
for a contest of this sort, wherein you must
every hour engage at the hazard of your life,
and have the enemy and the sword continually
in the porch of your pavilion ; this is the kind
of war in which we, Roman youths, engage
against you; fear not an army in the field, nor
in battle ; the affair will rest between your
single person, and each of us, separately."
The king, inflamed with rage, and, at the same
time, terrified at the danger, ordered tires to be
kindled round him, threatening him with se-
vere punishment unless he instantly explained
what those plots were, with which he threat-

ened him in those ambiguous expressions :
" Behold," said Mucius, " and perceive what
little account is made of the body, by those
who have in view the attainment of great
glory ;" and thrusting his right hand into a
chafing-dish of coals which had been kindled
for the purpose of a sacrifice, held it there to
burn, as if he were void of all sense of feeling:
on which the king, thunderstruck in a manner
by such astonishing behaviour, leaped from his
seat, ordered the youth to be removed from the
altars, and said to him, " Retire in safety ; for
the treatment which you intended for me, was
mild in comparison of that which you have
practised on yourself. I should wish increase
and success to your bravery, if that bravery
were exerted on the side of my own country.
However, I dismiss you untouched and un-
hurt ; and discharge you from the penalties,
which, by the laws of war, I might inflict."
Mucius then, as if to make a return for this
act of favour told him, " Since I find you dis-
posed to honour bravery, that you may obtain
from me by kindness what you could not by
threats, know that three hundred of us, the
principal youths in Rome, have bound our-
selves to each other by an oath, to attack you
in this manner ; my lot happened to be first ;
! the others will be with you, each in his turn,
according as the lot shall set him foremost,
until fortune shall afford an opportunity of suc-
ceeding against you."

XIII. Mucius, who afterwards got the sur-
name of Scaevola, or the left-handed, from the
loss of his right hand, being thus dismissed, was
followed to Rome by ambassadors from Por-
sena. The king had been so deeply affected
by the danger to which he had been exposed, in
the first attempt, from which nothing had pro-
tected him but the mistake of the assailant ;
and by the consideration that he was to undergo
the same hazard, as many times as the number
of the other conspirators amounted to, that he
thought proper, of his own accord, to offer
terms of accommodation to the Romans. Dur-
ing the negotiation, mention was made, to no
purpose, of the restoration of the Tarquinian
family to the throne; and this proposal he made,
rather because he had not been able to refuse
it to the Tarquinii, than from entertaining the
slightest expectation of its being accepted by
the Romans. He carried the point, respecting
the giving up of the lands taken from the Vei-
entians, and compelled the Romans tb submit

52

THE HISTORY

QBOOK ii.

to give hostages, if they wished to see his forces
withdrawn from the Janiculum. Peace being
concluded on these terms, Porsena withdrew
his troops from the Janiculum, and retired out
of the Roman territories. To Caius Mucius,
as a reward of his valour, the senate gave a
tract of ground on the other side of the Tiber,
which was afterwards called the Mucian mea-
dows j and, such honour being paid to courage,
excited even the other sex to merit public dis-
tinctions. A young lady called Cloelia, one of
the hostages, (the camp of the Etrurians hap-
pening to be pitched at a small distance from
the banks of the Tiber,) evaded the vigilance
of the guards, and, at the head of a band of
her companions, swam across the Tiber, through
a shower of darts discharged at them by the
enemy, and restored them all, in safety, to their
friends at Rome. When the king was informed
of this, being at first highly incensed, he sent
envoys to Rome, to insist on the restoration of
the hostage Cloelia ; as to the rest, he showed
little concern. But his anger, in a little time,
being converted into admiration, he spoke of
her exploit as superior to those of Codes and
Mucius ; and declared that as, in case the hos-
tage should not be given up, he would consider
the treaty as broken off; so, if she should be
surrendered, he would send her back to her
friends in safety. Both parties behaved with
honour ; the Romans, on their side returned
the pledge of peace, agreeably to the treaty,
and wkh the Etrurian king merit found, not
security only, but honours. After bestowing
high compliments on the lady, he told her that
he made her a present of half of the hostages,
with full liberty to choose such as she liked.
When they were all drawn out before her, she
is said to have chosen the very young boys,
which was not only consonant to maiden de-
licacy, but, in the universal opinion of the hos-
tages themselves, highly reasonable, that those
who were of such an age as was most liable to
injury, should, in preference, be delivered out
of the hands of enemies. Peace being thus
re-established, the Romans rewarded this in-
stance of intrepidity, so uncommon in the fe-
male sex, with a mark of honour as uncommon,
an equestrian statue. This was erected at the
head of the sacred street.

XIV. Very inconsistent with this peaceful
manner, in which the Etrurian king retired
from the city, is the practice handed down from
early times, and continued, among other cus-

tomary usages, even in oui own days, of pro-
claiming at public sales, that they are selling
the goods of king Porsena : which custom
must necessarily either have taken its rise ori-
ginally during the war, or it must be derived
from a milder source than seems to belong to
the expression, which intimates that the goods
for sale were taken from an enemy. Of the
several accounts which have been given, this
seems to be the nearest to truth : that Por-
sena, on retiring from the Janiculum, made
a present to the Romans of his camp, which
was plentifully stored with provisions col-
lected from the neighbouring fertile lands of
Etruria, the city at that time labouring under a
scarcity, in consequence of the long siege :
and lest the populace, if permitted, might seize
on them, as the spoil of an enemy, they were
set up to sale, and called the goods of Por-
sena ; the appellation denoting rather grati-
tude for the gift, than an auction of the king's
property, which, besides, never came into the
power of the Romans. After he bad put an
end to the war with Rome, Porsena, that he
might not appear to have led his troops into
those countries to no purpose, sent his son
Aruns, with half of his forces, to lay siege to
Aricia : the unexpectedness of the attack struck
the Aricians at first with dismay ; but after,
wards having collected aid, both from the La-
tine states and from Cumae, they assumed such '
confidence, as to venture an engagement in the
field. At the beginning of the battle, the Etru-
rians rushed on so furiously, that at the very
first onset they put the Aricians to the rout :
the cohorts from Cuma, opposing art to force,
moved a little to one side ; and when the enemy,
in the impetuosity of their career, had passed
them, faced about, and attacked their rear. By
these means the Etrurians, after having almost
gained the victory, were surrounded and cut to
pieces : a very small part of them, their general
being lost, and no place of safety nearer, made
the best of their way to Rome, without arms,
and in their circumstances and appearance
merely like suppliants ; there they were kindly
received, and provided with lodgings : when
their wounds were cured, some of them re-
turned home, and gave an account of the hos-
pitality and kindness which they had experi-
enced. A great number remained at Rome,
induced by the regard which they had contracted
for their hosts and for the city: they had
ground allotted to them for building houses,

y. «. 247.]

OF ROME.

53

wliii'h was afterwards called the Tuscan
street.

XV. The next elected consuls were Publius
Lucretius, and Publius Valerius Publicola a
third time. [Y. R. 247. B. C. 505 ] During
this year, ambassadors came from Porsena, for
the last time, about restoring Tarquinius to the
throne. The answer given to them was, that
the senate would send ambassadors to the king;
and accordingly, without delay, a deputation,
consisting of the persons of the highest dignity
among the senators, was sent with orders to
acquaint him, that " it was not because their
answer might not have been given in these few
words, that the king would not be admitted,
that they had chosen to send a select number
of their body to him, rather than to give the
answer to his ambassadors at Rome ; but in
order that an end might be put for ever to all
mention of that business ; and that the inter-
course of mutual kindness, at present subsisting
between them, might not be disturbed by the
uneasiness which must arise to both parties, if
he were to request what would be destructive
of the liberty of the Roman people ; and the
Romans, unless they chose to comply at the
expense of their own ruin, must give a refusal
to a person, to whom they would wish to refuse
nothing : that the Roman people were not un-
der regal government, but in a state of freedom,
and were fully determined to open their gates
to declared enemies, rather than to kings : that
this was the fixed resolution of every one of
them ; that the liberty of the city, and the city
itself, should have the same period of existence ;
and, therefore, to entreat him that, that if he
wished the safety of Rome, he would allow it
to continue in its present state." The king,
convinced of the impropriety of interfering any
farther, replied, " Since this is your fixed and
unalterable resolution, I will neither teaze you
by a repetition of fruitless applications on the
same subject, nor will I disappoint the Tar-
qainii, by giving hopes of assistance, which they
must not expect from me. Let them, whether
they look for war or for quiet, seek some other
residence in their exile, that there may subsist
no cause of jealousy, to disturb, henceforward,
the good understanding which I wish to main-
tain between you and me." To these expres-
sions he added acts still more friendly ; the
hostages, which remained in his possession, he
restored, and gave back the Veientian land,
of which the Romans had been deprived by

the treaty at the Janiculum. Tarquinius,
finding all hopes of his restoration cut off, re-
tired for refuge to Tusculum, to his father-in-
law, Mamilius Octavius. Thus peace and
confidence were firmly established between the
Romans and Porsena.

XVI. The next consuls were Marcus Va-
lerius and Publius Postumius. [Y. R. 249.
B. C. 503. ] During this year, war was carried
on, with success, against the Sabines, and the
consuls had the honour of a triumph. The
Sabines, afterwards, preparing for a renewal of
hostilities in a more formidable manner ; to
oppose them, and, at the same time, to guard
against any sudden danger which might arise
from the side of Tusculum, where, though war
was not openly declared, there was reason to
apprehend that it was intended, Publius Va-
lerius, a fourth time, and Titus Lucretius, a
second time, were chosen consuls. [Y. R. 250.
B. C. 502.] A tumult which arose among the
Sabines, between the advocates for peace and
those for war, was the means of transferring a
considerable part of their strength to the side
of the Romans. For Atta Clausus, called
afterwards at Rome Appius Claudius, being
zealous in favour of peaceful measures, but
overpowered by the turbulent promoters of war,
and unable to make head against their faction,
withdrew from Regillum to Rome, accompa-
nied by a numerous body of adherents. ' These
were admitted to the rights of citizens, and had
land assigned them beyond the Anio. They
have been called the old Claudian tribe, to dis-
tinguish them from the new members, who,
coming from the same part of the country,
were afterwards added to that tribe. Appius
was elected into the senate, and soon acquired
a reputation among the most eminent. The
consuls, in prosecution of the war, marched
their army into the Sabine territories ; and,
after reducing the power of the enemy, by
wasting their lands, and afterwards in battle,
to such a degree, that there was no room to ap-
prehend a renewal of hostilities in that quarter
for a long time to come, returned in triumph to
Rome. [Y. R. 251. B. C. 501.] In the en-
suing year, when Agrippa Menius arid Publius
Postumius were consuls, died Publius Valerius,
a man universally allowed to have excelled all
others, in superior talents both for war and
peace, full of glory, but in such slender circum-

1 Not less than five thousand families accompanied him.

THE HISTORY

QBOOK n.

stances, that lie left not sufficient to defray the
charges of his funeral. He was buried at the
expense of the public, and the matrons went
into mourning for him, as they had done for
Brutus. During the same year, two of the
Latine colonies, Pometia and Cora, revolted
to the Aurunciaris, and war was undertaken
igainst that people ; a very numerous army,
with which they boldly attempted to oppose the
consuls, who were entering their borders, was
entirely routed, and the Auruncians compelled
to make their last stand at Pometia •. nor was
the carnage less after the battle was over, than
during its continuance ; there were greater
numbers slain than taken, and those who were
made prisoners, were in general put to death ;
nay, in the violence of their rage, which ought
to be confined to foes in arms, the enemy
spared not even the hostages, three hundred of
whom had been formerly put into their hands.
During this year also there was a triumph at
Rome.

XVII. The succeeding consuls, Opiter
Virginius and Spurius Cassius, [Y. R. 252.
B. C. 500.] attacked Pometia, at first by
storm, afterwards by regular approaches. ! The
Auruncians, actuated rather by implacable
hatred, than by any hope of success, and
without waiting for a favourable opportunity,
resolved to assail them ; and, sallying out, ar-
med with fire and sword, they filled every place

1 Orig. Vi, deiniic vineis, aliisgue operibus. The great
difficulty of translation consists in the impossibility of
finding corresponding terms. The modern art of war
differs, so entirely, from the ancient, owing to the
various improvements that have been introduced into
that destructive science, during a period of more than
two thousand years, and principally to the invention of
gunpowder, that the ancient modes of attack and defence,
as well as the various military machines, are not only
now disused, but even no equivalent terms can, in any of
the modern languages, be found for them. Thus, in the
above passage, wherein the translator has taken the
liberty, rather of describing the operation, than trans,
lating the original, the word vinea occurs : this, as Vege-
tius informs us, was a machine constructed of timbers,
strongly framed together, mounted on wheels and cover,
ed with hurdles, over which was put a quantity of earth ;
the assailants, thus protected against the missile wea-
pons of the enemy, moved forward the machine ; and,
under cover of it, endeavoured to beat down, or under,
mine, the walls. The translator here begs leave, once
for all, to observe, that he will often take the liberty he
has done in this place of dropping terms, which cannot
be translated ; and which, if left untranslated in the text,
could convey no idea whatever to the English reader ;
endeavouring, however, he hopes not unsuccessfully,
by a short description, or slight circumlocution, to make
hit author's meaning sufficiently intelligible.

with slaughter and conflagration ; and besides
burning the machines, and killing and wounding
great numbers of their enemies, were very near
killing one of the consuls, (which of them,
writers do not inform us,) who was grievously
wounded, and thrown from his horse. The
troops, thus foiled in their enterprize, returned
to Rome, leaving the consul, whose recovery
was doubtful, together with a great number of
wounded. After a short interval, just sufficient
for the curing of their wounds, and recruiting
the army, the Romans renewed their operations
against Pometia, with redoubled fury and
augmented strength ; and when they had anew
completed their military works, the soldiers
being just on the point of scaling the walls, the
garrison capitulated. However, although the
city had surrendered, the chiefs of the Aurun-
cians were from all parts dragged to execution,
with the same degree of cruelty as if it had
been taken by assault : the other members of
the colony were sold by auction : the town
was demolished, and the land set up to sale.
The consuls obtained a triumph, rather in con-
sideration of their having gratified the people's
resentment by severe revenge, than of the mag-
nitude of the war which they had brought to a
conclusion.

XVIII. 'The following year [Y. R. 2.53.
B. C. 499. ] the consuls were Postumus Comi-
nius and Titus Lartius ; when some Sabine
youths having, through wantonness, used vio-
lence to certain courtezans at Rome, during
the celebration of the public games, and a
mob assembling, a scuffle ensued, which might
almost be called a battle ; and, from this trifling
cause, matters seemed to have taken a ten-
dency towards a renewal of hostilities. Besides
the apprehension of a war with the Sabines,
there was another affair which created much
uneasiness : undoubted intelligence was re-
ceived, that thirty states had already formed a
conspiracy, at the instigation of Octavius Ma-
milius. While Rome remained in this per-
plexity, looking forward with anxious appre-
hension to the issue of such a perilous con-
juncture, mention was made, for the first
time, of creating a dictator.* But in what year,

2 The dictator was an officer endued with absolute
authority over all orders and bodies of men whatever j
and from whom there was, in the early times of the re-
public, no appeal. He could not hold the office longer
than six months, nor go out of Italy, nor could he march
on horseback without leave previously obtained from

Y. u. 251.]

OF ROME.

55

or who the consuls were, who could not be
confided in, because they were of the Tar-
quinian faction, for that also is related, or
who was the first person created dictator,
we have no certain information. In the
most ancient writers, however, I find it assert-
ed, that the first dictator was Titus Lartius,
and that Spurius Cassius was appointed
master of the horse. They chose men of
consular dignity, as ordered by the law en-
acted concerning the creating of a dictator.
For this reason, I am the more induced to be-
lieve, that Lartius, who was of consular dignity,
and not Manius Valerius, son of Marcus, and
grandson of Volesus, who had not yet been
consul, was placed over the consuls, as their
director and master ; as, even if it had been
thought proper, that the dictator should be
chosen out of that family, they would the rather
have elected the father, Marcus Valerius, a
man of approved tnerit, and of consular dignity.
On this first establishment of a dictator at
Rome, the populace, seeing the axes carried
before him, were 'struck with such terror, as
made them more submissive to rule ; for they
could not now, as under consuls who were
equal in authority, hope for protection, from
one of them, against the other ; but prompt
obedience was required of them, and in no case
was there any appeal. Even the Sabines were
alarmed at the appointment of a dictator by the
Romans, the more so, because they supposed
•that he had been named to act against them ;
they therefore sent ambassadors to treat of an
accommodation ; who, requesting of the dicta-
tor and senate, that they would pardon the
misconduct of thoughtless young men, were
answered, that pardon might be granted to
young men, but not to the old, who made it
their constant practice to kindle one war after
another. However, a negotiation was entered
into for an adjustment of affairs, and it would
have been concluded, if the Sabines had been
willing to reimburse the costs expended on the
war, for that was the condition required. War
was proclaimed, but still a suspension of
hostilities continued during the remainder of
the year.

XIX. The consuls of the next year, [Y. R.
254. B. C. 498.] were Servius Sulpicius, and

the people. It became the practice, that one of the con.
euU, in the night, within the territory of the republic,
named the dictator ; and it was required that the no-
roination should he confirmed hy auspices.

Manius Tullius. Nothing worth mention
occurred. Then succeeded Titus jEbutius
and Caius Vetusius. In their consulate, Fi-
denae was besieged, Crustumeria taken, Pne-
neste revolted from the Latines to the Romans,
and a Latine war, the seeds for which had, for
several years past, been growing to maturity,
could not now be choked. Aulus Postumius
dictator, and Titus ^butius master of the
horse, [ Y. R. 255. B. C. 497.] marching out a
numerous army of cavalry and infantry, met
the forces of the enemy at the lake Regillus,
in the territory of Tusculum ; and, as it was
known that the Tarquinii were in the army of
the Latines, the rage of the Romans could not
be restrained, but they insisted on engaging in-
stantly ; for this reason, too, the battle was
unusually obstinate and bloody ; for the generals
not only performed the duty of directing every
thing, but, exposing their own persons, mixed
with the combatants, and shared the fight ; and
scarcely one of the principal officers of either
army left the field without being wounded,
except the Roman dictator. As Postumius
was encouraging and marshalling his men in
the first line, Tarquinius Superbus, though
now enfeebled by age, spurred on his horse
furiously against him ; but receiving a blow,
was quickly surrounded by his own men, and
carried off to a place of safety. On the other
wing, ^Ebutius, the master of the horse, made
an attack on Octavius Mamilius ; nor was his
approach unobserved by the Tusculan general,
who advanced in full career to meet him, and
each aiming his spear at his antagonist, they
encountered with such violence, that the arm
of ^Ebutius was pierced through, and Mami-
lius received a wound in his breast ; the latter
was received by the Latines in their second
line ; while ^Ebutius, disabled by the wound
in his arm from wielding a weapon, retired
from the fight. The Latine general, not in
the least dispirited by his wound, continued
his vigorous exertions ; and perceiving his men
begin to give ground, sent for a cohort of Ro-
man exiles, commanded by Lucius the son of
Tarquinius ; these, fighting under the impulse
of keen resentment, on account of their having
been deprived of their property, and of their
country, kept the battle for some time in
suspense.

XX. The Romans were now on one side
giving way, when Marcus Valerius, brother of
Publicola, observing young Tarquinius, with

56

THE H ISTORY

[BOOK ii.

ostentatious fierceness, exhibiting his prowess
in the front of the exiles, and inflamed with a
desire of supporting the glory of his house, and
that those who enjoyed the honour of having
expelled the royal family, might also be signa-
lized by their destruction, set spurs to his horse,
and with his javelin presented-, made towards
Tarquinius ; Tarquinius avoided this violent
adversary, by retiring into the body of his men,
and Valerius rashly pushing forward into the
line of the exiles, was attacked, and run through,
by some person on one side of him, and as
the horse's speed was in no degree checked
by the wound of the rider, the expiring Ro-
man sunk to the earth, his arms falling over
his body. Postumius the dictator, seeing a
man of such rank slain, the exiles advancing to
the charge with fierce impetuosity, his own men
disheartened and giving way, issued orders to
his cohort, a chosen band which he kept about
his person as a guard, that they should treat as
an enemy, every man of their own army whom
they should see retreating. Meeting danger
thus on both sides, the Romans, who were
flying, faced about against the enemy, and re-
newed the fight j the dictator's cohort then, for
the first time, engaged in battle ; and, with fresh
strength and spirits, falling on the exiles, who
were exhausted with fatigue, made great slaugh-
ter of them. On this occasion another com-
bat between two general officers took place ;
the Latine general on seeing the cohort of
exiles almost surrounded by the Roman dic-
tator, ordered several companies from the re-
serve to follow him instantly to the front ; Titus
Herminius, a lieutenant-general, observing these
as they marched up, and, among them, knowing
Mamilius, who was distinguished by his dress
and arms, encountered him with a strength so
much superior to what had been shown a little
before, by the master of the horse, that with
one blow he slew Mamilius, driving the spear
through his side. Thus was he victorious ;
but having received a wound from a javelin,
while he was stripping the armour from his ad-
versary's body, he was carried off to the camp,
and expired during the first dressing of it.
The dictator then flew to the cavalry, entreat-
ing them, as the infantry were now fatigued, to
dismount and support the engagement ; they
obeyed his orders, leaped from their horses, flew
forward to the van, and covering themselves
with their targets, took post as the front line :
this instantly revived the courage of the infan-

try, who saw the young men of the first dis-
tinction foregoing every advantage in their man-
ner of fighting, and taking an equal share of
the danger. By these means, the Latines were
at length overpowered, their troops were beaten
from their ground, and began to retreat : the
horses were then brought up to the cavalry, in
order that they might pursue the enemy, and
the line of infantry followed. At this juncture,
the dictator, omitting no means of engaging the
aid both of gods and men, is said to have vowed
a temple to Castor j and to have proclaimed
rewards to the first and to the second of the
soldiers who should enter the enemy's camp ;
and so great was the ardour of the Remans,
that they never remitted the impetuosity of the
charge, by which they had broken the enemy's
line, until they made themselves masters of the
camp. Such was the engagement at the lake
Regillus. The dictator and master of the
horse, on their return to the city, were honour-
ed with a triumph.

XXI. During the three ensuing years,
[Y. R. 256. B. C. 496.] there was neither
war, nor yet a security of lasting peace. The
consuls were, Quintus Cloelius and Titus Lar-
tius : then Aulus Sempronius and Marcus
Minutius, [Y. R. 257. B. C. 495.] in whose
consulate the temple of Saturn was dedicated,
and the festival called Saturnalia instituted.
After them, [Y, R. 258. B. C. 4-94.] Aulus
Postumius and Titus Virginius were made
consuls. I find it asserted by some writers,
that the battle at the lake Regillus was not
fought until this year, and that Aulus Postu-
mius, because the fidelity of his colleague was
doubtful, abdicated the consulship, and was
then made dictator. Such perplexing mistakes,
with regard to dates, occur from the magistrates
being ranged in different order, by different
writers, that it is impossible, at this distance of
time, when not only the facts, but the authors
who relate them, are involved in the obscurity
of antiquity, to trace out a regular series of the '
consuls as they succeeded each other, or of the
transactions as they occurred in each particular
year. Appius Claudius and Publius /Senilius,
[Y. R. 259. B. C- 493.] were next appointed
to the consulship. This year was rendered
remarkable by the news of Tarquinius's death j
he died at Cuma3, whither, on the reduction of
the power of the Latines, he had retired for
refuge, to the tyrant Aristodemus. By this
news, both the patricians and the commons

v. n. 259.]

OF ROME.

57

Awere highly elated ; but the former suffered
their exultation on the occasion to carry them
to unwarrantable lengths ; and the latter, who,
until that time, had been treated with the ut-
most deference, began to feel themselves exposed
to insults from the nobility. During the same
year, the colony of Signia, which Tarquinius
had founded in his reign, was re-established, by
filling up its number of colonists. The tribes
of Rome were increased to the number of
twenty-one. The temple of Mercury was

§ dedicated on the ides of May.
XXII. During these proceedings against
the Latines, it could hardly be said that there
was either war or peace with the nation of the
Volscians ; for, on the one hand, these had
got troops in readiness, which they would have
sent to the assistance of the Latines, if the
Roman dictator had not been so quick in his
measures ; and, on the other, the Roman had
used this expedition, in order that he might not
be obliged to contend against the united forces
of the Latines and Volscians. In resentment
of this behaviour, the consuls led the legions into
the Volscian territory ; the Volscians, who had
no apprehensions of punishment, for a design
which had not been put in execution, were con-
founded at this unexpected proceeding, inso-
much that, laying aside all thoughts of opposi-
tion, they gave three hundred hostages, the
children of the principal persons at Cora and
Pometia ; in consequence whereof, the legions
were withdrawn from thence, without having
come to an engagement. However, in a short
time after, the Volscians being delivered from
their fears, resumed their former disposition,
renewed secretly their preparations for war, and
prevailed on the Hernicians to join them ; they
also sent ambassadors through every part of
Latiuni, to stir up that people to arms. But
the Latines were so deeply affected by their
recent disaster, at the lake Regillus, and so
highly incensed at any persons attempting to
p-irsuade them to engage in a war, that they
even offered violence to the ambassadors : seiz-
ing the Volscians, they conducted them to
Rome, and there delivered them to the consuls,
with information, that the Volscians and Her-
nicians were preparing to make war on the
Romans. The affair being laid before the
senate, the conduct of the Latines was so ac-
ceptable to the senators, that they restored to
them six thousand of the prisoners : and made
un older, besides, that the new magistrates
J.

should proceed in the business relative to an
alliance, a point which had been almost abso-
lutely refused them. The Latines then highly
applauded themselves for the part which they
had acted, and the friends of peaceful mea-
sures were held irt high estimation ; they sent
to the Capitol a golden crown, as a present tu
Jupiter, and, together with the ambassadors
and the present, came a great multitude of at-
tendants, consisting of the prisoners who had
been sent back to their friends. These pro-
ceeded to the several houses of the persons, with
whom each of them had been in servitude, re-
turned thanks for their generous behaviour and
treatment of them, during the time of their
calamity, and formed mutual connections of
hospitality. Never, at any former time, was
the Latine nation more closely united to the
Roman government, by ties both of a public
and private nature.

XXIII. But, besides being immediately
threatened with a Volscian war, the state itself
was torn in pieces by intestine animosities,
between the patriciang_ajid_^ommons, on ac-
count principally of persons confined jforjlebt :'
these complained loudly, that after fighting
abroad for freedom and empire, they were made
prisoners and oppressed by their countrymen
at home, and that the liberty of the commons
was more secure in war than in peace, amongst
their foes than amongst their own countrymen.
This spirit of discontent, of itself increasing
daily, was kindled into a flame, by the extra-
ordinary sufferings of one man. A person far
advanced in years, whose appearance denoted
severe distress, threw himself into the forum ;
his garb was squalid, and the figure of his person
still more shocking, pale and emaciated to the
last degree ; besides, a long beard and hair had
given his countenance a savage appearance :
wretched as was the plight in which he appear-
ed, he was known notwithstanding ; several
declared, that he had been centurion in the

1 If a debtor did not discharge hia debt, within thirty
days after it was demanded, he was summoned before
the praetor, who gave him up into the hands of the cre-
ditor. He was kept in chains by him for sixty days ,
and then, on three successive market days, was brought
to the praetor's tribunal, where a crier proclaimed the
debt, and, sometimes, wealthy per*ins redeemed tho
poor, by discharging their debts ; but, if that did not
happen, the creditor, after the third market-day, had a
right to sell him, or keep him a slave in his own house.
This slavery was afterwards changed into imprison'
meut.

H

58

THE HISTORY

[BOOK ii.

army, and filled with compassion for him,
mentioned publicly many other distinctions,
which he had obtained in the service ; he him-
self exhibited scars on his breast, as testimonies
of his honourable behaviour in several actions.
To those who inquired the cause of that wretch-
ed condition, both of his person and apparel,
(a crowd meantime having assembled round
him, which resembled, in some degree, an as-
sembly of the people,) he answered, that " while
he served in the army during the Sabine war,
having not only lost the produce of his farm by
the depredations of the enemy, but his house
being burnt, all his goods plundered, his cattle
driven off, and a tax being imposed at a time so
distressing to him, he was obliged to run in debt :
that this debt, aggravated by usury, had con-
sumed, first, his farm, which he had inheri-
ted from his father and grandfather ; then, the
remainder of his substance ; and, lastly, like a
pestilence, had reached his person ; that he
had been dragged by a creditor not into ser-
vitude, but into a house of correction, or
rather a place of execution. " He then show-
ed his back disfigured with the marks of
fresh stripes : on this sight, after such a relation,
a great uproar arose ; and the tumult was no
longer confined to the forum, but spread
through every part of the city : those who were
then in confinement, and those who had been
released from it, forced their way into the
public street, and implored the protection of
their fellow-citizens : there was no spot which
did not afford a voluntary associate to add to
the insurrection ; from all quarters they ran in
bodies, through every street, with great clam-
our, into the forum. The situation of the
senators who happened to be there at that time,
and who fell in the way of this mob, became
highly perilous, for they would certainly have
proceeded to violence, had not the consuls,
Publius Servilius and Appius Claudius, hastily
interposed their authority. To them the mul-
titude turned their applications ; showed their
chains, and other marks of wretchedness ; said
this was what they had deserved ; and, remind-
ing them of their former services in war, am
in various engagements, insisted, with menace
rather than supplications, that they should as-
semble the senate ; they then placed themselvei
round the senate-house, that they might act as
witnesses, and directors of the councils of gov-
ernment A very small number of the senators
whom chance threw in the way, and these

jgainst their will, attended the consuls : fear
kept the rest at a distance : so that nothing
ould be done by reason of the thinness of the
meeting. The populace then conceived an
pinion, that there was a design to elude their
demands by delay ; that the absence of certain
of the senators was occasioned, not by chance,
nor by fear, but by their wishes to obstruct the
msiness ; that the consuls themselves showed a
mckwardness,andthat their miseries were mani-
festly made a matter of mockery. The affair
md now nearly arrived at such a state, that
even the majesty of the consuls, it was feared,
might be insufficient to restrain the rage of the
>eople. At length the senators, beginning to
doubt, whether they should incur the greater
danger, by absenting themselves, or by attend-
ng, came to the senate ; and when, after all this
delay, a proper number had assembled, not only
the senators, but even the consuls themselves,
differed widely in opinion. Appius, a man of
a violent temper, thought that the riot ought to
Be quelled by the weight of the consular au-
thority, and that when one or two were taken
into custody, the rest would be quiet ; Servi-
lius, more inclined to gentle remedies, main-
tained that, as the people's spirits were already
wound up to such a pitch of ill-humour, it
would be both the safer and the easier me-
thod, to bend, than to break them. To add
to these perplexities, they were threatened with
still greater peril from another quarter.

XXIV. Some Latine horsemen arrived, in
the utmost haste, with the alarming intel-
ligence, that the Volscians, in hostile array,
were coming to attack the city; which news,
so entirely opposite were the views of the
parties into which the state was split, affected
the patricians and the commons in a very dif-
ferent manner. The commons exulted with
joy ; said the gods were coming to take ven-
geance for the tyranny of the patricians, and
encouraged each other in the resolution not to
enrol themselves ; saying, " it was better that
all should perish together, than that they should
be the only victims ; let the patricians serve as
soldiers ; let the patricians take arms, that
those who reap the advantages of war, may
also undergo its severities and hazards." On
the other hand, the senate, dejected and con-
founded on finding themselves thus eiicom-
passed by dangers, from their countrymen on
one side, and from the enemy on the other,
besought the consul Servilius, whose temper

Y. R. 259.]

OF ROME.

59

was adapted to conciliate the regard of the
people, that he would find means to extricate
the commonwealth from the dreadful appre-
hensions with which it was beset. Whereupon
the consul, dismissing the senate, went forth to
the assembly of the people ; there he assured
them, that the senators were solicitous that
care should be taken of the interest of the
commons ; but that their " fears for the safety
of the commonwealth, in general, had inter-
rupted their deliberations, concerning that part
of the state, which, though it must be allowed
to be the largest, was still but a part j nor
could they, while the enemy was just at the
gates, allow any business to take place of the
necessary provisions for the war ; nor, even if
they were allowed a little respite, would it be
either for the honour of the commons, to have
refused to take arms in defence of their country,
unless on condition of first receiving hire for
it; nor could it fail of injuring the reputation
of the senators themselves, if they should ap-
pear to have now applied their attention to the
good of their countrymen, through fear, rather
than afterwards through inclination. " He gave
proof of lus sincerity in this discourse, by an
edict, whereby he ordained, that " no person
should hold any Roman citizen in bonds or
confinement, so as to prevent his giving in his
name to the consuls ; that no person should
take possession, or make sale, of the goods of
a soldieiv .while upon service ; nor detain in
custody either his children or grandchildren."
On the publication of this edict, such debtors
under arrest, as were present, instantly gave in
their names, and crowds of others, in every part
of the city, rushing out of their confinement,
when the creditors had no longer a right to de-
tain them, ran together to the forum, to take
the military oath : these composed a large body
of troops, and none, during the Volscian war,
displayed a greater share of bravery and activity.
The consul led out his army against the en-
emy, and pitched his camp at a small distance
from theirs.

XXV. The following night, the Volscians,
expecting great advantages from the dissensions
of the Romans, approached their camp, in
hopes that, in the surrounding darkness, some
might desert or betray their posts. They were,
however, perceived by the sentinels ; the troops
were called up, and, the signal being given,
they ran to arms ; and by these means frustrated
the attempt of the Volscians -. the remainder

of the night was dedicated to repose by both
parties. Next day, at the first dawn, the Vol-
scians, having filled up the trenches, assaulted
the rampart, and were proceeding to demolish
the fortifications on every side, when the con-
sul, having delayed for some time in order to
try the temper of his men, though called on
from all sides, and particularly by the debtors,
to give the signal, at length, on finding their
ardour so great, issued the order rbr sallying,
and sent forth his troops, eager for the fight.
At the first onset, the enemy were immediate-
ly routed, and their rear harassed in their re-
treat, as far as the infantry were able to pursue ;
while the cavalry, not suffering them to recover
from their consternation, drove them to their
camp. In a little time, the camp itself was
surrounded by the legions ; and the Volscians
not having courage enough left to make a stand
there, it was taken and plundered. Next day,
the legions were led to Suessa Pometia, whi-
ther the enemy had retreated, and shortly after
the town was taken, and given up to the troops
to be plundered ; by these means, the needy
soldiers were in some measure relieved. The
consul, having acquired great glory, led back his
victorious army to Rome. As he was prepar-
ing for his departure, ambassadors came to him
from the Volscians of Ecetra, who, after the
taking of Pometia, felt apprehensions for their
own safety : these had peace granted them by
decree of the senate, but were deprived of their
lands.

XXVI. Immediately after, the Sabines
also caused an alarm at Rome ; but it was, in
fact, a tumult rather than a war. An account
was brought by night to the city, that a Sabine
army were plundering the country, and had ad-
vanced as far as the river Anic, and that
they were ravaging and burning all the farms in
that neighbourhood. Aulus Postumius, who
had been dictator in the Latine war, was in-
stantly despatched thither with all the cavalry,
and the consul Servilius followed with a chosen
body of foot. The greater part of the strag-
glers were cut off by the cavalry ; nor was the
main body of the Sabines capable of resist-
ing the infantry on their approach ; fatigued
both by their march and by collecting booty, a
great number of them in the country-houses,
overcharged with meat and wine, had scarcely
strength sufficient to enable them to fly. Thus
was this Sabine war finished within the same
night in which the first account of it had been

GO

THE HISTORY

[[BOOK n.

received. The next day, while sanguine hopes
were entertained that peace with all her neigh-
hours was now securely established, umbassa
dors came to the senate from the Auruncians
denouncing war, unless the troops were with
drawn from the territories of the Volscians
the army of the Auruncians had set out from
home, at the same time with the ambassadors
and intelligence arriving, that it had been seen
not far from Aricia, it excited such an alarm
among the Romans, that neither could th<
senate be consulted in a regular manner, no
could they, while busy themselves in taking up
arms, give a peaceable answer to those who
were advancing against them. The troops
marched to Aricia, and not far from thence
meeting with the enemy, came to a general en-
gagement, which, without further contest, put
an end to the war.

XXVII. When the Auruncians were de-
feated, the Romans, having vanquished so many
different powers, within the space of a few days,
expected the fulfilment of the promises made
them by the consuls, and strengthened by the en-
gagements of the senate. But Appius, insti-
gated both by his own natural haughtiness, and
a desire to undermine the credit of his colleague,
issued his decrees on suits between debtor and
creditor, with all possible severity ; in conse-
quence of which, both those who had for-
merly been in confinement, were delivered up
to their creditors, and others also were taken
into custody. When this happened to be the
case of any of the soldiers, he appealed to the
other consul j a crowd gathered about Servi-
lius, reminded him of his promises, upbraided
him with their services in war, and the scars
which they had received ; insisted that he
should lay the affair before the seriate ; and
that, as consul, he should support his country-
men, and, as general, his soldiers. The consul
was affected by these remonstrances ; but cir-
cumstances obliged him to decline interfering,
not only his colleague, but the whole faction
of the nobles, having gone so violently into
opposite measures. By thus acting a middle
part, he neither avoided the hatred of the com-
mons, nor procured the esteem of the patri-
cians ; the latter, considering him as destitute
of the firmness becoming his office, and as too
fond of popular applause, while the former
looked upon him as a deceiver ; and it shortly
appeared that he was become no less odious
than Appius. A contest happened between

I the consuls, as to which of them should dedi-
' cate the temple of Mercury. The senate re-
fused to decide the matter, and referred it to
the people, passing a vote that to whichever
of them the dedication should be granted, the
same should preside over the markets, should
institute a college of merchants, and join the
pontiff in the performance of the ceremonies
usual on such occasions. The people gave the
honour of the dedication to Marcus Laetorius,
a centurion of the first rank, showing plainly
that they acted thus, not merely out of respect
to the person, on whom they conferred an
office of higher dignity than became his station,
but with design to affront the consuls. This
threw the patricians, and one of the consuls
particularly, into a rage ; but the commons
had now assumed a greater degree of courage,
and began to prosecute their measures in a
very different method from that in which they
had set out. Having given up all hopes of
protection from the consuls and the senate,
whenever they saw a debtor led to the court,
they flew together from all quarters ; so that
neither could the sentence "of the consul be
heard amidst their noise and clamours, nor
when it was pronounced did any one obey it.
All was managed by force ; and the whole
dread #nd danger, with respect to their free-
dom, was transferred from the debtors to the
creditors, who, standing single, were abused
iy the multitude, under the very eye of the
consul. To add to the perplexity of the se-
nate, the alarm was spread of an attack being
ntended by the Sabines ; and, orders being
ssued for levying troops, not a man gave in
us name. Meanwhile Appius, in a rage, in-
eighed bitterly against the criminal lenity of
lis colleague, saying, that, by his popular
ilence, he was betraying the commonwealth ;
,nd that, besides refusing to enforce the laws
vith respect to creditors, he neglected also to
execute the decree of the senate, for levying
roops. He declared that " the interest of
he state was not yet entirely deserted, nor the
onsular office yet stripped of its authority ;
hat he himself would stand forth singly, and
indicate his own dignity, and that of the
enate." Though surrounded by the multi-
ude which assembled daily, and were of a
emper too violent to be controlled, he ordered
ne of the principal ringleaders of the mob to
e apprehended. When the lictors laid hold
f him, he appealed ; but the consul would

Y. it. 260.]

OF ROME.

61

not. at first, allow the appeal, there being no
doubt what the sentence of the people would
be. His obstinacy, however, was at length
overcome, more by the advice and influence
of the nobility, than by the clamours of the
people ; so firmly did he withstand the indig-
nation of the multitude. From this time, the
evil daily gained ground, showing itself not
only in open expressions of discontent, but,
.vhat was much more peniicious, in secret
meetings and private cabals. At length these
consuls, so odious to the people, went out of
office, Appius in high favour with the patri-
cians, Servilius with neither party.

XXVIII. Next entered on the consulship,
[Y. R. 2fi(). B. C. 492.] Aulus Virginius and
Titus Vetusius. The people now, not being
able to judge what sort of consuls they were to
have, took care to form nightly meetings, some
on the Esquiline, others on the Aventine
mount, in order that their proceedings might
not be confused, by their being obliged to adopt
measures hastily in the forum, and to act, on
every occasion, at random, and without a plan.
The consuls, considering this as a very danger-
ous proceeding, which it really was, proposed
it to the consideration of the senate, but were
not allowed, after proposing it, to take the votes
regularly, a great tumult arising on the mention
of it among the senators, who exclaimed, and
expressed the highest indignation at the con-
suls attempting to throw on that body the odi-
um of an affair which ought to have been quel-
led by the consular authority. They told them,
that " if there really had been magistrates in
the commonwealth, there would have been
no council at Rome, but the public one. At
present the government was divided and dis-
persed into a thousand senate-houses and as-
semblies, some meetings being held on the
Esquiline mount, others on the Aventine.
That they had no doubt, but one mnn, such
as Appius Claudius, would have dispersed
those meetings in a moment's time." The
consuls, on receiving this rebuke, asked the
senate, what then they would have them do ?
for they were resolved, they said, to act with
all the activity and vigour which the senate
might recommend. A decree then passed that
they should enforce the levies with the utmost
strictness ; for that the commons were grown
insolent through want of employment Dis-
missing the senate, the consuls mounted the
tribunal, and cited the younger citizens by their

name. No answer being made, the multitude
which stood round, like a general assembly, de-
clared that " the commons could be no longer
deceived ; and that not a single soldier should be
raised, until the public engagements were ful-
filled. That every man must have his liberty
restored, before arms were put into his hands,
that the people might be convinced they were
to fight for their country and fellow-citizens,
not for their masters." The consuls saw clear-
ly enough what the senate expected from them ;
but of those who spoke with the greatest vehe-
mence within the walls of the senate-house, not
one was present to stand the brunt of the con-
tests, and every thing threatened a desperate
one with the commons. It was resolved,
therefore, before they should proceed to extre-
mities, to consult the senate again ; the conse-
quence of which was, that all the younger sen-
ators rushed up hastily to the seats of the con-
suls, desiring them to abdicate the consulship,
and lay down a command which they wanted
spirit to support.

XXIX. Having made sufficient trial of the
dispositions of both sides, the consuls at length
spoke out : " Conscript fathers, lest ye should
hereafter say that ye were not forewarned,
know that a dangerous sedition 5s ready to
break out. We demand that those who are
the most forward to censure us for inactivity,
may assist us by their presence, while we hold
the levy. We will proceed in the business in
such a manner as shall be approved by the most
strenuous advocates for vigorous measures,
since such is your pleasure. " They then went
back to the tribunal, and ordered, purposely,
one of those, who were within view, to be
cited : finding that he stood mute, and that a
number of people had formed in a circle round
him, to prevent any force being used, the con-
suls sent a lictor to him, who being driven back,
those of the senators who attended the consuls
exclaiming against the insolence of such beha-
viour, flew down from the tribunal to assist the
lictor. The populace then, quitting the lictor,
to whom they had offered no other opposition
than that of hindering him from making the
seizure, directed their force against the sena-
tors ; but the consuls interposing quickly, put
an end to the scuffle, in which, as neither stones
nor weapons had been used, there was more
clamour and rage than mischief. The senate,
called tumultuously together, proceeded in a
manner still more tumultuous ; those who had

THE HISTORY

[BOOK ii.

been beaten, demanding an inquiry into the
affair ; and the most violent of them endeav-
ouring to carry their point by clamour and
noise, rather than by vote. At length, when
their rage had somewhat subsided, the consuls,
reproaching them with being equally disorderly,
in the senate-house as in the forum, began
to collect the votes. There were three dif-
ferent opinions ; Publius Virginius thought
that " the case did not extend to the whole
body of the commons, and that those only were
to be considered, who, relying on the promises
of the consul Publius Servilius, had served in
the Volscian, Auruncian, arid Sabine wars:"
Titus Largius was of opinion, that " the pre-
sent juncture required something more than the
making a return for services performed ; that
the whole body of the commons were over-
whelmed with debt, nor could the progress of
the evil be stopped, unless the advantages of the
whole were attended to. On the contrary, if
distinctions were made, this would add fuel to
the dissensions, instead of extinguishing them."
Appius Claudius, whose temper, naturally harsh,
was roused to a degree of ferocity by his hatred
to the commons on the one hand, and the ap-
plause of the patricians on the other, affirmed
that " all these disturbances were excited, not
by the people's sufferings, but their licentious-
ness ; and that the commons were actuated
by a spirit of wantonness, rather than by re-
sentment of injuries : this was the consequence
of giving them a right to appeal ; for all that a
consul could do, was to threaten, he could not
command, when people are allowed to appeal to
those who have been accomplices in their trans-
gressions. Come, said he, let us create a dic-
tator, from whom there is no appeal : this mad-
ness, which has set the whole state in a flame,
will quickly sink into silence. Let me then
see, who will strike a lictor, when he knows
that the very person whose dignity he insidts,
has the sole and entire disposal of his person
and of his life."

XXX. To many, the expedient recom-
mended by Appius appeared too rough and vio-
lent, and justly so ; on the other hand, the pro-
positions of Virginius and Largius were con-
sidered as tending to establish a bad precedent ;
particularly that of Largius, which was utterly
subversive of all credit. The advice of Vir-
ginius was deemed to be the farthest from ex-
cess on either side, and a just medium between
the other two. But, through the spirit of fac-

tion, and men's regard to their private interests,
(things which ever did and ever will impede
the public councils,) Appius prevailed, and was
himself very near being created dictator ; which
proceeding, beyond any other, would have highly
disgusted the commons, at a very critical junc-
ture, when the Volscians, the ^quans, and
the Sabines, happened to be all in arms at the
same time. But the consuls and the elder part
of the senate took care that a command in itself
uncontrollable, should be intrusted to a person
of a mild disposition ; and accordingly they
chose for dictator Manius Valerius, son of
Volesus. Although the commons saw that
the dictator was created in opposition to them,
yet, as by his brother's law, they enjoyed the
privilege of appeal, they dreaded nothing harsh
or overbearing from that family. Their hopes
were farther encouraged by an edict which the
dictator published, of the same tenor in general
with the edict of the consul Servilius ; but as
they thought that they had now securer grounds
of confidence, both in the man himself, and in
the power with which he was invested, they
desisted from the contest, and gave in their
names. Ten legions were completed, a force
greater than had ever been raised before ; of
these, three were assigned to each of the con-
suls, the other four were commanded by the
dictator. War could now be no longer de-
ferred : the JEquans had invaded the terri-
tories of the Latines ; and these by their am-
bassadors petitioned the senate, that they would
either send troops to protect them, or permit
them to take arms themselves, to defend their
frontiers. It was judged the safer method to
defend the Latines without their own assistance,
than to allow them to handle arms again : the
consul Vetusius was therefore sent thither, who
put an end to the depredations. The ^Equans
retired from the plains, and provided for their
safety on the tops of the mountains, relying
more on the situation than on their arms. The
other consul who marched against the Volscians,
not choosing that his time should be wasted in
like manner, used every means, particularly by
ravaging the country, in order to provoke the
enemy to approach nearer, and to hazard an en-
gagement. They were drawn up in order of
battle in a plain between the two camps, each
party before their own rampart. The Vol-
scians had considerably the advantage in point
of numbers ; they therefore advanced to the
fight, in a careless manner, as if despising the

y. R. 260.]

OF ROME.

63

enemy. The Roman consul did not suffer his
troops to move, nor to return the shout, but
ordered them to stand, with their javelins fixed
in the ground, and as soon as the enemy should
come within reach, then to exert at once their
utmost efforts, and decide the affair with their
swords. The Volscians, fatigued with run-
ning and shouting, rushed upon the Romans,
whom they believed to be benumbed with
fear ; but when they found a vigorous resis-
tance, and the swords glittering before their
eyes, struck with consternation, just as if they
had fallen into an ambuscade, they turned their
backs : nor had they strength left to enable
them to make their escape, having exhausted
it by advancing to the battle in full speed.
The Romans, on the other hand, having stood
quiet during the first part of the engagement,
had their vigour fresh, and easily overtaking
the wearied fugitives, took their camp by as-
sault, and pursuing them, as they fled from
thence to Velitrae, the victors and the van-
quished composing, as it were, but one body,
rushed into the city together. People of every
kind were put to the sword, without distinc-
tion, and there was more blood spilt than even
in the fight : a small number only, who threw
down their arms, obtained quarter.

XXXI. While these things passed in the
country of the Volscians, the Sabines, who
were by far the most formidable enemy, were
routed, put to flight, and beaten out of their
camp by the dictator. He had at first, by a
charge of his cavalry, thrown the centre of the
enemy's line into disorder ; which, while they
extended their wings too far, had not been suf-
ficiently strengthened by a proper depth of files.
Before they could recover from this confusion,
the infantry fell upon them, and continued
their attack, without intermission, until they
made themselves masters of their camp, and
put a conclusion to the war. Since the battle
at the lake Regillus, there had not been ob-
tained, in those times, a more glorious victory
than this : the dictator entered the city in
triumph, and besides the accustomed honours,
there was a place in the circus assigned to him
and his posterity, for a seat, and a curule chair
fixed in it. From the vanquished Volscians
the lands of the district of Velitrae were taken,
for which inhabitants were sent from the city,
and a colony established there. Soon after
this, a battle was fought with the ./Equans,
against the inclination indeed of the consul,

who considered the disadvantage of the ground
which the troops had to traverse ; but the
soldiers accusing him of protracting the busi-
ness, in order that the dictator might go out of
office before they should return to the city, arid
so his promises fall to the ground Without ef-
fect, as had those of the former consul, they
at length prevailed on him to march up his
army, at all hazards, against the steep of the
mountain. Rash as this undertaking was,
yet, through the cowardice of the enemy, it
was crowned with success ; for, before a wea-
pon could be thrown, struck with amazement
at the boldness of the Romans, they abandoned
their camp, which they had .fixed in a very
strong position, and ran down precipitately
into the valleys, on the opposite side : there
the Romans gained a bloodless victory, and
abundance of booty. Though their arms were
thus attended with success, in three different
quarters, neither patricians nor commons were
free from anxiety respecting the issue of their
domestic affairs. With such powerful influ-
ence, and with such art also, had the lenders
of money concerted their measures, that they
were able to disappoint not only the commons,
but even the dictator himself : for Valerius, on
the return of the consul Vetusius, took care
that the first business which came before the
senate should be that of the people, who had
returned home victorious ; and proposed the
question, what did they think proper to be
done with respect to the persons confined for
debt ? and when they refused to take the mat-
ter into consideration, he said, " My endea-
vours to restore concord are, I see, displeasing
to you : believe me when I solemnly declare,
that the time will shortly come when you will
wish, that the commons of Rome had just such
patrons as I am : as to myself, I will neither
be the means of farther disappointments to the
hopes of my countrymen, nor will I hold the
office of dictator without effect. Intestine dis-
cord and foreign wars made it necessary for the
commonwealth to have such a magistrate :
peace has been procured abroad, at home it is
not suffered to take place : it is my determina-
tion then, in time of sedition, to appear in the
character of a private citizen, rather than that
of dictator. " Then withdrawing from the se-
nate-house, he abdicated the dictatorship. The
case appeared to the commons, as if he had re-
signed his office out of resentment of the treat-
ment shown to them, and therefore, as if he

THE HISTORY

[BOOK ii.

had fulfilled his engagements, it not having been
his fault that they were not fulfilled, they at-
tended him, as he retired to his house, with
approbation and applause.

XXXII. The seriate were then seized with
apprehensions, that if the citizens should be
discharged from the army, their secret cabals
and conspiracies would be renewed ; wherefore,
supposing that, though the levy was made by
the dictator, yet as the soldiers had sworn 'obe-
dience to the consuls, they were still bound by
that oath, they ordered the legions, under the pre-
text of hostilities being renewed by the ^Equans,
to be led out of the city : which step served
only to hasten the breaking out of the sedition.
It is said, that the plebeians, at first, entertain-
ed thoughts of putting the consuls to death, in
order that they might be thereby discharged
from the oath ; but being afterwards informed,
that no religious obligation could be dissolved
by an act of wickedness, they, by the advice of
a person called Sicinus, retired, without wait-
ing for orders from the consuls, to the sacred
mount, beyond the river Anio, about three
miles from the city. This account is more
generally credited, than that given by Piso,
who says, the secession was made to the Aven-
tine. In this place, without any commander,
having fortified their camp with a rampart and
trench, they remained quiet for several days,
taking nothing from any one but necessary
subsistence, neither receiving norgiving offence.
Great was the consternation in the city ; all
was fearful suspense and mutual apprehension :
the plebeians, who were left behind by their
brethren, dreaded the violence of the patricians ;
the patricians dreaded the plebeians who remain-
ed in the city, not knowing whether they ought
to wish for their stay, or for their departure :
but " how long could it be supposed that the
multitude which had seceded, would remain
inactive ? And what would be the conse-
quence, if, in the meantime, a foreign war
should break out ? No glimpse of hope could
they see left, except in concord between the
citizens, which must be re-established in the
state on any terms, whether fair or unfair."
They determined, therefore, to send, as ambas-
sador to the plebeians, Menenius Agrippa, a
man of eloquence, and acceptable to the com-
mons, because he had been originally one of
their body. He, being admitted into the camp,
is said to have related to them the following
fable, delivered in antiquated language, and an
uncouth style :— " At a time when the mem-

bers of the human body did not, as at present,
all unite in one plan, but each member had its
own scheme, and its own language ; the other
parts were provoked at seeing that the fruits of
all their care, of all their toil and service, were
applied to the use of the belly ; and that the
belly meanwhile remained at its ease, and did
nothing but enjoy the pleasures provided for it ;
on this they conspired together, that the hand
should not bring food to the mouth, nor the
mouth receive it if offered, nor the teeth chew
it. While they wished, by these angry mea-
sures, to subdue the belly through hunger, the
members themselves, and the whole body,
were, together with it, reduced to the last stage
of decay : from thence it appeared that the
office of the belly itself was not confined to a
slothful indolence ; that it not only received
nourishment, but supplied it to the others, con-
veying to every part of the body, that blood, on
which depend our life and vigour, by distribut-
ing it equally through the veins, after having
brought it to perfection by digestion of the
food." Applying this to the present case, and
showing what similitude there was between
the dissension of the members, and the resent-
ment of the commons against the patricians, he
made a considerable impression on the people's
minds.

XXXIII. A negotiation was then opened
for a reconciliation ; and an accommodation
was effected, on the terms, that the plebeians
should have magistrates of their own, invested
with inviolable privileges, who might have
power to afford them protection against the
consuls : and that it should not be lawful for
any of the patricians to hold that office. Ac-
cordingly, there were two tribunes of the com-
mons created, Caius Licinius, and Lucius
Albinius ; and these created three colleagues
to themselves, among whom was Sicinius, the
adviser of the secession : but who the other
two were, is not agreed : some say, that there
were only two tribunes created on the sacred
mount, and that the devoting law1 was passed

1 Which declared, that any person who should violate
the person or privileges of a plebeian tribune, should be
devoted to Ceres, with his property; and any one
might put him to death with impunity. These tribunes,
at their first institution, could not properly be called
magistrates, having no particular tribunal, nor any
jurisdiction over their fallow-citizens. Dressed like
private men, and attended only by one officer, or beadle,
called Viator, they sat on a bench without the senate,
into which they were uot admitted, except when the
consuls required their attendance, to give their opinion

v. u. •_>()!. j

OF ROME.

65

there. [Y. R. 261. B. C. 491.] During
the secession of the commons, Spurius Cassius
and Postumus Cominius entered on the
consulship. In their consulate the treaty
with the Latines was concluded ; for the pur-
pose of ratifying this, one of the consuls re-
mained at Rome, and the other, being sent
with an army against the Volscians, defeated
and put to flight those of Antium ; and, having
driven them into the town of Longula, pur-
sued the blow, and made himself master of the
town. He afterwards took Polusca, another
town belonging to the same people ; then with
all his force attacked Corioli. There was then
in the camp, among others of the young no-
bility, Cains Marcius, a youth of quick judg-
ment and lively courage, who was afterwards
surnamed Coriolanus. The Roman army,
while engaged in the siege of Corioli, applying
their whole attention to the garrison, which
they kept shut up in the town, without any
ftar of an attack from without, were assaulted
on a sudden by the Volscian legions, who had
marched thither from Antium, and at the same
time the enemy sallied out from the town :
Marcius happened to be then on guard, and
being supported by a chosen body of men, he
not only repelled the attack of the sallying
party, but rushed furiously in at the open gate ;
and, putting all to the sword in that part of the
city, laid hold of the first lire which he found,
and threw it on the houses adjoining the wall ;
on which the shouts of the townsmen mingling
with the cries of the women and children oc-
casioned by the first fright, served both to adc
courage to the Romans, and to dispirit the

on some affair which concerned the interest of the pie

beians. Their sole function was to protect the plebeian

by interposing in case of any grievance or imposition at

tempted by their superiors ; and their power extende

no farther than one mile round the city. Yet the

afterwards found means, under various pretences, anc

by almost imperceptible degrees, to draw to themselves

Bill to the commons, the larger share of the power <i

government ; introducing a great degree of democrat-

into the polity of the state, which, since the expulsio

of the kings, had been akind of aristocracy. They wer

not allowed to be absent from the city one whole da)

except during the Latine festivals, and were obliged t

keep their doors open, night and day, to admit com

pi ai nants. At the same time were elected two othe

plebeian officers, called assistants to the tribunes ; bu

being afterwards charged with the care of the publ

buildings, and the cognizance of a like nature, \\ hit

had before belonged to the consuls, they got the tit

JEdiles ; (ad sedibtis curandis,) from inspecting the pub

lie edifices.

I.

/olscians, as they perceived that the town \s a*
aken which they had come to relieve. By this
means the Volscians of Antium were defeated,
nd the town of Corioli taken ; and so entirely
id the glory of Marcius eclipse the fame of the
onsul, that, were it not that the treaty with the
jatines, being engraved on a brazen pillar, re-
mained to testify that it was ratified by Spurius

Mns alone, the other consul being absent,
t would not have been remembered that Pos-
umus Cominius was appointed to conduct the
'ar. This year died Menenius Agrippa,
irough the whole course of his life equally
eloved by the patricians and the plebeians ;
nd, after the secession, still more endeared to
he latter. This man, who, in the character of
nediator and umpire, had re-established con-
ord among his countrymen, the ambassador of
he senate to the plebeians, the person who
rought back the Roman commons to the city,
was not possessed of property sufficient for the
expense of a funeral. He was buried at the
:harge of the commons, by a contribution of a
sextans2 from each person.

XXXIV. The consuls who succeeded were
Titus Greganius and Publius Minucius.
During this year, [Y. R. 262. B. C. 490.]
when the state was undisturbed by foreign
wars, and the disscntious at home had been
lealed, a more grievous calamity of another
nature fell upon it : at first a scarcity of pro-
visions, occasioned by the lands lying untilled
during the secession of the commons ; and
afterwards, a famine, not less severe than what
is felt in a besieged city. This without doubt
would have increased to such a degree that the
slaves, and also many of the commons, must
have perished, had not the consuls taken mea-
sures to remedy it, by sending to all quarters
to buy up corn ; not only into Etruria on the
coast to the right of Ostia, and by permission
of the Volscians, along the coast on the left as
far as Cumze, but even to Sicily ; for the ha-
tred entertained against them by their neigh-
bours, compelled them thus to look for aid to
distant countries. After a quantity of corn had
been purchased at Cumse, the ships were de-
tained by the tyrant Aristodemus, as the pro-
perty of the Tarquinii, whose heir he was.
Among the Volscians, and in the Pomptine
district, it could not even be purchased, the
persons employed in that business being in dan-

2 About one half penny each-

THE HISTORY

[BOOK u.

ger of their lives from the violence of the in-
habitants. From Etruria, some corn was
conveyed by the Tiber, by which the people
were supported. At this unseasonable time,
while thus distressed by the scarcity, they
were in danger of being farther harassed by
war, had not a most destructive pestilence
attacked the Volscians, when they were just
ready to commence hostilities. By this dread-
ful calamity the enemy were so dispirited,
that, even after it had abated, they could not
entirely rid their minds of the terror which it
had occasioned. Besides, the Romans not only
augmented the numbers in their settlement at
Velitra, but sent a new colony into the moun-
tains of Norba, to serve as a barrier in the
Pomptine territory. In the succeeding con-
sulate of Marcus Minucius and Aulus Sempro-
nius, [Y. R. 263. B.C. 489.] a great quantity
of corn was brought from Sicily, and it was
debated in the senate, at what price it should be
given to the commons. Many were of opinion,
that now was the time to humble the commons,
and to recover those rights which, by the se -
cession and violence, had been extorted from
the patricians ; Marcius Coriolanus particu-
larly, an avowed enemy of the power of the
tribunes, said, " If they wish to have provi.
sions at the usual price, let them restore to
the patricians their former rights : why am I
obliged, after being sent under the yoke, after
being ransomed, as it were, from robbers, to
behold plebeian magistrates, to behold Sici-
nius invested with power and authority ? Shall
I submit to such indignities longer than neces-
sity compels me ? Shall I, who could not en-
dure Tarquinius on the throne, endure Sicinius ?
Let him now secede, let him call away the
commons : the road is open to the sacred mount,
and to other hills : let them carry off the corn
from our lands, as they did two years ago : let
them make the best of the present state of the
market, which they have occasioned by their own
madness. I affirm with confidence, that when
they are brought to reason by their present
sufferings, they will themselves become tillers
of the lands, rather than take arms and secede,
to prevent their being tilled. " Whether such a
measure were expedient, is not now easy to say ;
but, in my opinion, it was very practicable for the
patricians, by insisting on terms for lowering the
price of provisions, to have freed themselves
from the tribunitian power, and every other re-
straint imposed on them against their will.

XXXV. The method proposed appeared to
the senate to be too harsh, and incensed the
commons to such a degree, that they were very
near having recourse to arms. They complain-
ed, that, " as if they were enemies, attempts
were made to destroy them by famine : that
they were defrauded of food and sustenance ;
that the foreign corn, the only support which,
unexpectedly, fortune had given them, was to
be snatched out of their mouths, unless the
tribunes were surrendered up in bonds to Cains
Marcius ; unless he were gratified by the per-
sonal sufferings of the Roman commons : anew
kind of executioner had come forward, who
gave them no alternative but death or slavery/'
They would have proceeded to violence against
• him as he came out of the senate-house, had
I not the tribunes very opportunely summoned
him to a trial. This suppressed their rage,
: when every one saw himself a Judge, and em-
powered to decide on the life and death of his
] foe. At first, Marcius heard the threats of the
| tribunes with scorn : " The authority given
j to their office," he said, " extended only to the
affording protection, not to the inflicting of
punishment. That they were tribunes of the
1 commons, not of the patricians." But the
j whole body of the commons had taken up the
I cause with such implacable animosity, that the
! patricians were under the necessity of devoting
one victim to punishment for the general safety.
They struggled, however, notwithstanding the
weight of the public hatred which they had to
contend with, and not only each particular
member, but the whole collective body exerted
their utmost efforts ; and first they tried,
whether, by posting their clients in divers places
convenient for the purpose, they could not deter
the several plebeians from attending the meet-
ings and cabals, and thereby put a stop to far-
ther proceedings. Afterwards they all came
forth in a body, addressing the commons with
entreaties and supplications ; one would have
thought that every patrician was going to stand
his trial. They besought them, if they did not
think proper to acquit Marcius as innocent, yet
considering him as guilty, to grant as a favour
on their request, the pardon of one citizen, one
senator. However, as he himself did not appear
on the day appointed, they persisted in their re-
sentment. He was condemned in his absence,
and went into exile to the Volscians, uttering
menaces against his country, and breathing al-
ready the resentment of an enemy. The Volsd •

v. n. 263.]

OF R O M E.

67

nns received him kindly, and daily increased their
attention and respect, in proportion as they had
opportunities of observing the violence of his
anger towards his countrymen, against whom he
would often utter complaints, and even threats.
He lodged in the house of Attius Tulhis, who
was then the man of by far greatest consequence
among the Volscians, and an inveterate enemy
to the Romans : so that the one, being stimu-
lated by an old animosity, the other, by a fresh
resentment, they began to concert schemes for
bringing about a war with Rome. They judged,
however, that it would be a difficult matter to
prevail on their people to take arms, which
they had so often tried without success ; that
by the many wars which they had sustained at
different times, and lately by the loss of their
young men in the pestilence, their spirits were
broken ; and that it was necessary to make use
of art, in order that their hatred, which had
now lost its keenness through length of time,
might be thereby whetted anew.

XXXVI. It happened that preparations
were then making at Rome for a repetition of
the great games. The reason of repeating them
was this : on the morning of the day when the
games were to have been celebrated, before
the shows began, a master of a family, after
lashing his slave loaded with a neck yoke, had
driven him across the middle of the circus ; the
games were afterwards exhibited, as if this
affair had no relation to religion. Some short
time after, Titus Atinius, a plebeian, had a
ilream ; he imagined Jupiter to have said to
him, that " the dancer, who performed previ-
ously to the games, had been displeasing to
him, and unless those games were repeated,
and that, in a magnificent manner, the city
would be in danger ; and ordered him to go
and tell this to the consuls." Although the
man's mind was under the influence of a con-
siderable degree of superstition, yet the awe
which he felt at the high dignity of the magis-
trates, and bis own apprehensions lest he should
be treated by them, and the public, as an object
of ridicule, overcame his religious fears : this
delay cost him dear ; for within a few days he
lost his son : and, lust the cause of that sudden
disaster should be doubtful, while he was over-
whelmed with grief, the same phantom appeared
to him in his sleep, and seemed to ask him,
" whether he had gotten a sufficient reward for
his contempt of the deity?" telling him that
" a still greater awaited him, unless he went

immediately and delivered the message to the
consuls." This made a deeper impression on
his mind, and yet he hesitated and delayed, un-
til at length he was attacked by a grevious
disorder, a stroke of the palsy. He then
submitted to the admonitions of the divine dis-
pleasure : and, wearied out by his past suffer-
ings, and the apprehension of others which
threatened him, he called a council of his inti-
mate friends ; and, after acquainting them with
the several things which he had seen and heard,
and with Jupiter's having appeared to him so
often in his sleep, and likewise the anger and
threats of the deity, so speedily fulfilled in the
calamities which had befallen him, he was, in
pursuance of the clear and unanimous opinion
of all present, carried in a litter into the forum,
to the consuls : from thence he was conveyed
by their order into the senate-house ; where,
when he had related the same accounts, to the
utter astonishment of all, behold another mir-
acle ; it is recorded that he, who had been
carried thither incapable of using any of his
limbs, had no sooner discharged his duty, than
he was able to walk home without assistance.

XXXVII The senate decreed that the
games should be exhibited in the most splendid
manner. To these games, in consequence of a
plan laid by Attius Tullus, a vast number of
the Volscians repaired. Before the commence-
ment of the exhibition, Tullus, according to a
scheme concerted at home with Marcius, came
to the consuls, told them that he wished to
•confer with them, in private, on some matters
which concerned the commonwealth, and, every
other person having retired, he addressed them
thus •. " It is painful to me in the extreme, to
say any thing of my countrymen that is not to
their honour : I do not come, however, to
charge them with having committed any wrong
act, but to guard against such being committed.
That the dispositions of our people are fickle,
to a degree infinitely beyond what might be
wished, numerous disasters have given sensible
proofs ; for, to your forbearance it is owing,
and not to our own deserts, that we have not
been utterly destroyed. There are great num-
bers of the Volscians now in Rome ; there
are games to be celebrated; the public will
be intent on the exhibition : I well remem-
ber the outrage which was committed in this
city, by the Sabine youths, on a similar oc-
casion. I shudder with apprehension, lest
some inconsiderate and rash deed may ensue ;

THE HISTORY

[BOOK ir.

thus much I thought it my duty, both for our
own sake, and for yours, to mention before-
hand to you, who are consuls ; for my own
part, I intend instantly to return home, lest,
if I should be present, my character might be
stained with the imputation of some improper
word or action." After this discourse he de-
parted. The consuls proposed the matter to
the consideration of the senate ; a matter, in-
deed, unsupported by proof, but yet coming
from a person whose authority was of great
weight. The authority then, rather than any
reason appearing in the case, as it often hap-
pens, determined them to use precautions,
even though they might be unnecessary ; and
a decree being passed, that the Volscians
should retire from the city, criers were des-
patched to every quarter, to order them all to
remove before night. At first, they were
struck with great terror, as they ran up and
down to their lodgings, to take away their ef-
ects : indignation afterwards filled their minds,
when they were beginning their journey;
they considered themselves stigmatised as per-
sons infamous and polluted ; driven away from
the converse of men and gods ; from public
games, on the day of a festival.

XXXVIII. As they formed in their jour-
ney almost one continued train, Tullus, who
had proceeded to the fountain of Ferentina,
accosted the chief persons among them as each
arrived ; and, by asking questions, and expres-
sing indignation, while they greedily listened
to expressions which favoured their resent-
ment, led them on, and by their means, the rest
of the multitude, to a plain that lay near the
road, and there began to harangue them, as if
at a general assembly : " Although," said he,
" ye should forget all the injurious treatment
which ye formerly received from the Roman
people, the calamities of the Volscian race,
and every other matter of the kind, with what
degree of patience do ye bear this insult thrown
on you, when they commenced their games by
exhibiting us to public ignominy? Did ye not
perceive, that they performed a triumph over
you this day ? That, as ye were retiring, ye
served as a spectacle to all their citizens, to
foreigners, to so many of the neighbouring
nations ? That your wives and your children
were led captives before the eyes of the public ?

What do ye suppose were the sentiments of
those who heard the words of the crier, of

those who beheld you departing, or of those

who met this disgraceful cavalcade ? What
else but that we must be some polluted
wretches, whose presence at the shows would
contaminate the games, and render an expiation
necessary ; and that therefore we were driven
away from the mansions of a people of such
purity of character, from their meeting and
converse ? And besides, does it not strike
you, that we should not now be alive, if we
had not hastened our departure ? if indeed it
ought to be called a departure, and not a flight.
And do ye not consider as enemies the inhabi-
tants of that city, wherein, had ye delayed for
one day, ye must, every one of you, have per-
ished ? It was a declaration of war against
you ; for which, those who made it will suffer
severely, if ye have the spirit of men." Their
anger, which was hot before, was, by this dis-
course, kindled to a flame, in which temper
they separated to their several homes ; and each
taking pains to rouse those of his own state to
vengeance, they soon effected a general revolt
of the whole Volscian nation.

XXXIX. The commanders appointed for
this war, by the unanimous choice of all the
states, were Attius Tullus and Caius Marcius
the Roman exile ; on the latter of whom they
reposed by far the greater part of their hopes ;
nor did he disappoint their expectations, but
gave a convincing proof that the commonwealth
was more indebted for power to its generals,
than to its troops. Marching to Circeii, he
first expelled the Roman colonists, and de-
livered the city, after restoring it to freedom,
into the hands of the Volscians : turning thence
across the country towards the Latine road, he
deprived the Romans of their late acquisitions,
Satricum, Longula, Polusca, and Corioli. He
then retook Lavinium, and afterwards made a
conquest of Corbio, Vitellia, Trebia, Lavici,
and Pedum, one after another. From Pedum,
lastly, he led his forces towards Rome, and
pitching his camp at the Cluilian trenches, five
miles from the city, sent parties to ravage the
lands ; at the same time appointing persons
among the plunderers to take care that the pos-
sessions of the patricians should be left un-
molested ; either because his anger was levelled
principally against the plebeians, or with the
design of causing thereby a greater dissension
between these different orders ; and this would,
no doubt, have been the consequence, so power-
fully did the tribunes, by their invectives against
the patricians, excite the resentment of the

v. H. 266.]

OF ROME.

69

commons, which was sufficiently too violent be-
fore, but that, however full their minds were of
mutual distrust and rancour, their dread of a
foreign enemy, the strongest tie of concord, ob-
liged them to unite : in one point only did they
disagree ; the senate and consuls placing their
hopes entirely in arms, the commons preferring
all other measures to war. By this time, Spu-
rius Nautius arid Sextus Furius were consuls.
[Y. R. 266. B. C. 489.] While they were
employed in reviewing the legions, and posting
troops on the walls, and in other places, where
it was thought proper to fix guards and watches,
a vast multitude of people assembling, and in-
sisting on peace, terrified them, at first by their
seditious clamours, and, at length, compelled
them to assemble the senate, and there propose
the sending of ambassadors to Cains Marcius.
The senate, finding that they could not depend
on the support of the commons, took the matter
into consideration, and sent deputies to Mar-
cius to treat of an accommodation : to these he
replied in harsh terms, " that if the lands were
restored to the Volscians, a treaty might then
be opened for an accommodation ; but if they
were resolved to enjoy, at their ease, what they
had plundered from their neighbours in war, he
would not forget either the injustice of his
countrymen, or the kindness of his hosts, but
would take such steps as should show the world,
that his courage was irritated by exile, not de-
pressed." The same persons being sent a se-
cond time, were refused admittance into the
camp. It is related, that the priests afterwards,
in their sacred vestments, went as suppliants
to the camp of the enemy, but had no more in-
fluence on him than the ambassadors.

XL. The matrons then assembled in a body
about Veturia, the mother of Coriolanus, and
Volumnia his wife ; whether this was a scheme
of government, or the result of the women's
own fears, I cannot discover. It is certain that
they carried their point, and that Veturia, who
was far advanced in years, and Volumnia, lead-
ing two little sons whom she had by Marcius,
went to the camp of the enemy ; so that wo-
men by tears and prayers, preserved the city,
which the men were not able to preserve by
arms. When they arrived at the camp, and
Coriolanus was itiformed that a great proces-
sion of women was approaching, he, who had
not been moved, either by the majesty of the
state, represented in its ambassadors, or by
the awful address made by the ministers of

religion both to his sight and his under-
standing, at first resolved to show himself
still more inflexible against female tears : but
soon after, one of his acquaintance knowing
Veturia, who was distinguished above the rest
by an extraordinary degree of sadness, as she
stood between her daughter-in-law and grand-
children, said to him, " Unless my eyes deceive
me, your mother with your wife and children
are coming." Coriolanus, in a transport of
amazement, and almost distracted, sprang from
his seat to embrace his mother as she advanced,
who, instead of intreaties, addressed him with
angry reproofs : " Let me know," said she,
" before I receive your embrace, whether I am
come to an enemy or to a son ; whether I am
in your camp a prisoner, or a mother. Was it
for this, that age has been lengthened out, that
I might behold you an exile, and afterwards an
enemy; could you lay waste this land, which
gave you birth and education ; whatever degree
of anger, whatever thirst of vengeance, might
have occupied your mind on your march, did
you not, on entering its borders, feel your pas-
sion subside ? When you came within sight
of Rome, did it not recur to you, — Within
those walls are my house and guardian gods,
my mother, my wife, my children ? Had I
never been a mother, then Rome would not
have been now besieged : had I not a son,
I might have died free, and left my country
free ; but, for my part, there is no suffering
to which I can be exposed, that will not re-
flect more dishonour on you, than misery on
me ; and be my lot as wretched as it may,
I am not to endure it long ; let these claim
your regard, who, if you persist, can have no
other prospect, but either untimely death or
lasting slavery." His wife and children then
embraced him ; and the whole crowd of wo-
men, uttering bitter lamentations, and deplor-
ing their own and their country's fate, at
length got the better of his obstinacy : so that,
after embracing and dismissing his family, he
removed his camp to a greater distance from
the city. In a short time he drew off the troops
entirely from the Roman territories, which is
said to have incensed the Volscians so highly
against him, that he perished under the effects
of their resentment ; by what kind of death
writers do not agree. In the account given by
Fabius, the most ancient writer by far, I find
that he lived eyen to old age ; he mentions
positively, that when Marcius became far ad-

70

THE HISTORY

ii.

vanned in years, lie used 1'requently to utter
this remark, that " the evils of exile bore much
the heavier on the aged." The men of Rome
were not sparing in bestowing on the women
the honours which they had earned ; so distant
were the manners of that age from the practice
of detracting from the merits of others : they
even erected and dedicated a temple to female
Fortune, as a lasting monument of their meri-
torious conduct The Volscians afterwards,
in conjunction with the ^Equans, made another
inroad into the Roman territories ; but the
^Equans soon became dissatisfied at being com-
manded by Attius Tullus ; and in consequence
of the dispute, whether the Volscians or the
.<?Equans should give a general to the combined
army, a separation ensued, and soon after a
furious battle. There the good fortune of the
Roman people wasted the two armies of its
enemies, in a contest no less bloody than obsti-
nate. The consuls of the next year [Y. R.
267. B. C. 485.] were Titus Sicinius and Cains
Aquillius. The Volscians were allotted, as a
province, to Sicinius ; the Hernicians, for they
also were in arms, to Aquillius. The Herni-
eians were subdued in that year. The opera-
tions against the Volscians ended without any
advantage being gained on either side.

XLI. The next consuls elected were Spurius
Cassius and Proculus Virginius. [Y. R. 268.
B. C. 484.] A league was made with the
Hernicians. Two-thirds of their lands were
taken from them, one-half of which the consul
Cassius intended to distribute among the
Latines, the other half among the commons.
To this donation he proposed to add a consider-
able tract of land which belonged, he said, to
the public, though possessed by private persons.
Many of the patricians, who were themselves
in possession of this land, were hereby alarmed
for their property, and besides, that body in
general were seized with anxiety for the safety
of the people ; observing that the consul, by
these donatives was forming an influence at
once dangerous to liberty and to right. This
was the first proposal of the Agrarian law,
which from that time to the present age, has
never been agitated without the most violent
commotions in the state. The other consul
opposed the donations ; and in this, he was sup-
ported by the patricians ; nor did all the com-
mons oppose him : at first, they began to de-
spise a gift, which was not confined to them-
selves, but extended to the allies, in common

with the citizens : then they were accustomed
to hear the consul Virginius in the assemblies
frequently, as it were, prophesying, that " the
donatives of his colleagues were full of infec-
tious poison ; that those lands would bring
slavery on such as should receive them ; that he
was paving the way to arbitrary power ; for
why should the allies and the Latine nation be
thus included ? What was the intent of re-
storing a third part of the lands, taken in war,
to the Hernicians, who so lately were enemies,
only that these nations might set Cassius at
their head as a leader, instead of Coriolamis."
Whoever argued and protested against the Ag-
rarian law, as thus proposed, was sure of pop.
ularity, and from that time, both the consuls
vied with each other in humouring the com.
mons. Virginius declared that he would al-
low the lands to be assigned, provided they
were not made over to any other than citizens
of Rome. Cassius, finding that, by his pur-
suits of popularity among the allies, which he
had betrayed in the proposed distribution of the
lands, he had lowered himself in the estimation
of his countrymen, and, hoping to recover their
esteem by another donative, proposed an order
that the money received for the Sicilian corn
should be refunded to the people. But this
the commons rejected with as much disdain, as
if he were avowedly bartering for arbitrary
power : so strongly were they influenced by
their inveterate suspicions of his ambition, that
they spurned at all his presents, as if they were
in a state of affluence ; and no sooner did he go
out of office, than he was condemned and exe-
cuted, as we are informed by undoubted author-
ity. Some say that it was his father who
inflicted this punishment on him ; that having,
at home, held an inquiry into his conduct, he
scourged him, and put him to death, and con-
secrated the allowance settled on his son,1 to
Ceres ; that out of this a statue was erected,
with this inscription, " Given from the Cas-
sian family." I find in some writers, and it
is the more credible account, that he was
prosecuted for treason by the quaestors Caeso
Fabius and Lucius Valerius ; that he was
found guilty on a trial before the people,
and his house razed by a public decree ; it

1 By the Roman law, a father had full and absolute
power, even to life and death, over his children, who
were in a state of absolute slavery ; even what property
they might acquire, belonged not to ihein, but lo their
father.

Y. R. 273.]

OF ROME.

71

stood on the spot which is now the area be-
fore the temple of Tellus. However, whe-
ther the trial was private or public, he was con-
demned in the consulate of Servius Cornelius
and Quintus Fabius. [Y. R. 269. B. C.
483.]

XLII. The anger which the people had
conceived against Cassius, was not of long con-
tinuance. The alluring prospects held out by
the agrarian law were sufficient, of themselves,
now the proposer of it was removed out of
the way, to make a lively impression on
their minds ; and their eagerness, in pursuit
of them, was inflamed, by an act of unreason-
able parsimony in the patricians, who, when the
Volscians and ^Equans were vanquished in that
year, deprived the troops of the booty : the
whole of what was taken from the enemy, the
consul Fabius sold, and lodged the produce of
it in the treasury. The name of Fabius was
odious to the commons, on account of this
conduct : yet the patricians had influence enough
to procure the election of Caeso Fabius to the
consulship, with Lucius .^Emilius. [Y. R. 270.
B. ('. 482.] This farther exasperated the peo-
ple, who, by raising a sedition at home, en-
couraged foreign enemies to attack them : but
war put a stop to intestine dissentions. The
patricians and plebeians united, and under the
conduct of .^Einilius, with little loss to them-
selves, overthrew in battle the Volscians and
.<Equans, who had revived hostilites. On this
occasion, the enemy lost greater numbers dur-
ing their retreat, than in the battle ; for, after
they were broken, they were pursued by the
cavalry to a vast distance. In the same year,
on the ides of July, the temple of Castor was
dedicated : it had been vowed, during the La-
tine war, by Postumius the dictator, and his
son being appointed duumvir for the purpose,
performed the dedication. This year also the
people were tempted to new exertions, by the
charms of the agrarian law. The tribunes
wished to enhance the importance of their of-
fice, by promoting that popular decree. The
patricians, convinced that the multitude were,
of themselves, too much inclined to desperate
measures, looked with horror on such largesses,
as incitements to acts of temerity ; and they
found in the consuls, leaders as active as they
could wish, in opposing those proceedings.
Their party consequently prevailed : and that
not only for the present, but they were unable
to appoint as consuls for the approaching year

Marcus Fabius, brother to Caeso, and Lucius
Verus, [Y. R. 271. B. C. 481.] who was still
more odious to the plebeians, on'account of his
having been the prosecutor of Spurius Cassius.
In that consulship, there was another contest
with the tribunes ; the law in question was con-
sidered as a vain project, and the proposers ot
it disregarded as claiming merit from holding out
to the people's views, advantages which were
not attainable. The name of Fabius was now
held in the highest estimation after three suc-
cessive consulates, all of which had been uni-
formly distinguished by opposition to thetiibuni-
tian power ; and, for that reason, this dignity
was continued in the same family, for a consi-
derable time, from a general persuasion that it
could not be placed in better hands. Soon after
this, war was undertaken against the Veien-
tians. The Volscians also renewed hostilities.
For security against foreign enemies, the
strength of the Romans was more than suffi-
cient : but they perverted it to a bad purpose,
namely, to the support of quarrels among them-
selves. To add to the general disquiet, several
prodigies appeared : the sky, almost daily exhibit-
ing threatening portents, both in the city and in
the country. The soothsayers, employed as well
by the state as by private persons, after con-
sulting both entrails, and birds, declared that
no other cause of the displeasure of the deity
existed, than that the worship of the gods was not
duly performed. All their apprehensions how-
ever ended in this ; Oppia, a vestal, was con-
•victed of a breach of chastity, and suffered
punishment.

XLIII. Quintus Fabius, a second time, and
Caius Julius, then succeeded to the consulship.
[Y. R. 272. B. C. 480.] During this year, the
domestic dissentions abated not of their acri-
mony, and the war abroad wore a more danger-
ous aspect. The ./Equans took up arms.
The Veientians even carried their depredations
into the territories of the Romans. And as
these wars appeared every day more alarming,
Caeso Fabius and Spurius Furius were made
consuls. [Y. R. 273. B. C. 479.] The ^Equaris
laid siege to Ortona, a Latine city. The
Veientiansinow, satiated with booty, threatened
to besiege Kome itself; yet all these dangers
which surrounded^them, instead of restraining
the ill-humour of the commons, only served to
augment it. They resumed the practice of re-
fusing to enlist as soldiers, not indeed of their
own accord, but by the advice of Spurius Dici-

72

THE HISTORY

[BOOK n.

nius, a plebeian tribune, who, thinking that
this was the time to force the agrarian law on
the patricians, when it would be impossible
for them to make opposition, had undertaken
to obstruct the preparations for war. How-
ever, all the odium excited by this exertion of
the tribuni tian power rested solely on the author :
nor did the consuls unite their efforts against
him with more eager zeal, than did his own col-
leagues, by whose assistance the levy was com-
pleted. Armies were raised for the two wars
at the same time j the command of one was
given to Fabius, to be led against the ^Equans j
of the other to Furius, against the Veientians.
In the expedition against the latter, nothing
memorable was performed. Fabius met with
a great deal more trouble from his countryman,
than from the enemy : that single man, by his
conduct, as consul, supported the common-
wealth, which the troops out of aversion to him,
as far as lay in their power, treacherously be-
trayed to ruin : for, after numberless other in-
stances of military skill, which he had displayed,
both in his preparatory measures, and in his
operations in the field, and when he had made
euch a disposition of his forces, that, by a
charge of his cavalry alone, he put the enemy
to rout, the infantry refused to pursue their
broken troops ; nor could any motive, not to
mention the exhortations of the general, whom
they hated, nor even the immediate consequence
of infamy to themselves, and disgrace to the
public, nor the danger to which they would be
exposed, should the enemy resume their cour-
age, prevail on them to quicken their pace, or
even to stand in order of battle, so as to resist
an attack. Without orders, they faced about ;
and, with countenances as dejected as though
they had been vanquished, retired to their
camp, execrating, at one time, the general, at
another, the exertions of the cavalry. The
consul, however, sought not any remedy against
so pestilent an example, showing by one in-
stance among many, that men of the most
transcendant abilities are more apt to be defi-
cient in regard to the discipline of their own
troops, than in conquering an enemy. Fabius
returned to Rome, having reaped little fresh
glory from the war, but having irritated and ex-
asperated, to a high degree, the hatred of the
soldiers against him. The patricians, notwith-
standing, had influence enough to continue the
consulship in the Fabian family : they elected
Marcus Fabius to that office; and Cneius Man-

lius was appointed his colleague. [Y. R. 274.
B. C. 47a]

XLIV. This year also produced a tribune
hardy enough to make another attempt at car-
rying the agrarian law. This was Titus Ponti-
iicius, who pursued the same method, as if it
had succeeded, with Spurius Licinius, and for
some time obstructed the levy •. the patricians
being hereby again perplexed. Appius Clau-
dius asserted, that " the plan adopted last year
had effectually subdued the tribunitian power,
for the present, by the very act, and, to all fu-
ture times, by the example which it had esta-
blished j since it was discovered how that
power might be deprived of efficacy, through
the very means supplied by its own strength ;
for there would, at all times, be one among
them, desirous of procuring to himself a supe-
riority over his colleague, and, at the same time
the favour of the better part of the community,
by promoting the good of the public. They
would even find more than one tribune, if more
were necessary, ready to support the consuls,
though one would be sufficient against all the
rest : only let the consuls, and principal sena-
tors, exert themselves to secure in the interest
of the commonwealth and of the senate, if not
all the tribunes, yet as many at least as they
could." Convinced of the propriety of Appi-
us's advice, the patricians in general addressed
the tribunes with civility and kindness j and
those of consular dignity employed whatever
personal influence they had over each of them j
and thus, partly by conciliating their regard,
and partly by the weight of their influence, they
prevailed on them to let their powers be di-
rected to the advantage of the state : while the
consuls, being supported by four tribunes,
against one opposer of the public interest, com-
pleted the levy. They then marched their
army against the Veientians, to whom auxili-
aries had flocked from all parts of Etruria, in-
duced to take arms, not so much from affection
to the Veientians, as in the hope that the
Roman state might be brought to ruin by in-
testine discord. Accordingly, in the assemblies
of each of the states of Etruria, the leading
men argued warmly, that " the power of the
Romans would be everlasting, unless civil
dissention armed them with rage against each
other. This was the only infection, the only
poison that operated, so as to set limits to the
duration of great empires. This evil, whose
progress had been long retarded, partly by the

y. R. 274-.]

OF ROME.

73

wise management of the patricians, and partly
by the patient conduct of the commons, had
now proceeded to extremity ; out of the one,
were formed two distinct states, each of
which had its own magistrates, and its own
laws. At first, though they used to give a }
loose to their rancorous animosities, when :
troops were to be levied, yet these very men, ]
as long as war continued, paid obedience to
their officers ; and while military discipline re-
mained in force, whatever might be the state of
affairs in the city, ruin might be deferred. But
now, the Roman soldier carried with him to
the field, the custom of refusing submission to
superiors : during the last war, in the very heat
of battle, the troops conspired to make a volun-
tary surrender of victory to the vanquished
JSquans ; deserted their standards, forsook
their general, and, in despite of orders, retreat-
ed to their camp. Without doubt, if proper
exertions were made, Rome might be subdued
by means of its own forces : nothing more was
necessary, than to make a declaration, and a
show of war. The fates and the gods would
of themselves accomplish the rest." Such
prospects as these had allured the Etrurians to
arm, notwithstanding the little success they had
experienced in their wars.

XLV. The Roman consuls had no other
dread than of the power, and the arms, of their
countrymen. When they reflected on the very
dangerous tendency of their misbehaviour in
the last war, they were deterred from bringing
themselves into a situation where they would
have two armies to fear at the same time : to
avoid therefore being exposed to this double
danger, they kept the troops confined within
the camp, in hopes that delay, and time itself,
might perhaps soften their resentment, and
bring them back to a right way of thinking.
This encouraged their enemies the Veientians
and Etrurians, to act with greater precipita-
tion : at first, they endeavoured to provoke the
foe to fight, by riding up to the camp, and of-
fering challenges ; and, at length, finding that
this had no effect, by reviling both the consuls
and the army, telling them, that " the pretence
of dissentions among themselves, was an arti-
fice contrived to cover their cowardice ; that
the consuls were more diffident of the courage
of their troops than of their disposition to obey
orders : that it was a strange kind of sedition,
which showed itself in silence and inaction,
among men who had arms in their hands:"

I.

throwing out, besides, many reproaches, some
true, and some false, on their upstart origin.
Such invectives, though uttered with great vo-
ciferation, close to the very rampart and the
gates, gave the consuls no manner of uneasiness;
but the minds of the uninformed multitude
were strongly agitated, at one time by indig-
nation, at another by shame, which diverted
them from reflecting on domestic quarrels ; they
could not bear the thoughts of suffering the
enemy to iasult them unrevenged, neither could
they wish success either to the consuls or the
patricians. Thus there was a struggle in their
breasts, between their animosity against foreign-
ers, and that which inflamed them against their
countrymen : the former at length prevailed,
in consequence of the haughty and insolent
scoffs of the enemy : they assembled in crowds
at the Prsetorium,' demanding the fight, and
requiring the signal to be given. The consuls
held a consultation together, as if deliberating
on the demand, and conferred for a considerable
time : they wished to fight ; but it was neces-
sary to restrain and conceal that wish, in order,
by opposition and delay, to add to the alacrity
which had now sprung up in the minds of the
troops : they returned for answer, that " the
measure was premature : it was not yet a proper
time for meeting the enemy. That they must
keep within the camp." They then issued
orders, that " all should refrain from fighting ;
declaring, that if any should engage without
orders, they would be punished." After the
.troops were thus dismissed, their ardour for
battle increased in proportion to the aversion,
which they supposed, in the consuls : besides,
the enemy approached with much greater bold-
ness, as soon as it became known that it was
determined not to come to an engagement.
They thought they might continue their insults
with perfect safety ; that the soldiers would not
be entrusted with arms ; that the business
would end in a desperate mutiny ; and that the
final period of the Roman empire was arrived.
Buoyed up with these hopes, their parties
pressed forward to the very gates, heaped re-
proaches on the troops, and hardly refrained
from assaulting the camp. But now, the Ro-
mans could no longer endure such insults ; from
every quarter of the camp, they ran hastily to
the consuls, and did not, as before, propose
their demand regularly, through the principal

1 The general's quarters.
K

THE HISTORY

QBOOK ii.

centurions, but joined in one general clamour.
The affair was now ripe ; yet still the consuls
showed a backwardness : but at length begin-
mng, from the increasing uproar, to dread a mu-
tiny, Fabius, with the consent of his colleague,
having caused silence by sound of trumpet, said,
" Cneius Manlius, that those men are able to con-
quer, I know ; but they themselves have given
me reason to doubt, whether it is their wish : for
which reason I am determined not to give the
signal, unless they swear that they will return
from the battle with victory. Soldiers have
once deceived a Roman consul in the field, but
they will never deceive the gods." There was
a centurion, called Marcus Flavoleius, who was
among the foremost in demanding battle ; he
cried out, " Marcus Fabius, I will return vic-
torious from the field ;" and, at the same time,
imprecated on himself the anger of Father Ju-
piter, of Mars Gradivus, and the other gods, if
he did not perform his promise : after him the
whole army severally took the same oath. As
soon as they had sworn, the signal was given ;
instantly they marched out to battle, full of
rage and of confidence. They bade the Etru-
rians now throw out their reproaches j now let
the enemy, who was so bold in words, come in
the way of their arms. There was not a man,
on that day, either plebeian or patrician, who
did not display an uncommon degree of valour :
the Fabian name, and Fabian race, shone forth
with peculiar lustre : they were determined to
recover, in that battle, the affection of the com-
mons, which, during the many quarrels of the
parties at home, had been withdrawn from
them. The line was formed, nor did their
Veientian enemy or the Etrurian legions de-
cline the combat.

XL VI. These expected, and indeed firmly
believed, that the Romans woidd show no
more willingness to fight with them, than they
had with the ^quans -. nay, considering the
high ferment of their passions, and that, in the
present case, the issue of a battle was the more
uncertain, they did not despair of obtaining
some important advantage. In this they were
entirely disappointed, for in no former war did
the Romans enter the field, inflamed with
keener animosity ; so highly were they exas-
perated by the taunts of the enemy on one side,
and the delay of the consuls on the other.
The Etrurians had scarcely time to form their
ranks, before they found themselves engaged in
close fight, hand to hand with swords, the

most desperate method of deciding a battle, the
javelins having in the first hurry been thrown
at random, rather than aimed at the enemy.
Among the foremost, the Fabian family par-
ticularly attracted the notice of their country-
men, and encouraged them by their example :
as one of these, Quintus Fabius, who had -been
consul two years before, advanced before the
rest against a thick body of the Veientians, a
Tuscan, who assumed resolution from a con-
fidence in his strength, and skill in arms, came
up to him unobserved, while he was busily en-
gaged with a number of foes, and thrust him
through the breast with his sword ; on the
weapon's being drawn out of the wound, Fabius
fell to the ground. Both armies felt the fall of
this one man, and the Romans were in conse-
quence of it beginning to give ground, when
Marcus Fabius, the consul, leaped over the
body where it lay, and opposing his buckler to
the enemy, called out, " Soldiers, is this what
ye bound yourselves to perform ? Was it that
ye would return to the camp in flight ? Are ye
so much more afraid of the most dastardly
enemy, than of Jupiter and Mars, by whom ye
swore ? But for my part, though bound by no
oath, I will either return victorious, or die here,
fighting beside thee, Quintus Fabius." On
this, Cseso Fabius, consul of the former year,
said, " Brother, do you expect by words tc
prevail on them to fight ? The gods by whom
they have sworn will prevail on them. Let
us, as becomes our noble birth, as is worthy of
the Fabian name, animate the men by deeds of
valour, rather than by exhortations." The two
Fabii then rushed forward to the front with
their presented spears, and drew the whole line
along with them.

XL VII. By these means, the battle was
renewed on that side ; nor, in the other wing,
was Cneius Manlius, the consul, less strenuous
in his efforts against the enemy. Here, too, a
like course of events took place : for as the
soldiers followed Quintus Fabius with alacrity,
so did they here follow the consul Manlius,
while he pressed, and almost routed the enemy :
and when he was compelled by a severe wound
to retire from the field, supposing him slain,
they began to shrink. They would indeed
have given way entirely, had not the other
consul, riding up to the place at full speed
with some troops of horse, revived their
drooping courage ; calling out, that his col-
league was alive, and that he was come to

Y. u. 275.]

OF ROME.

75

their support, having defeated the enemy In
the other wing : Manlius also showed himself,
in order to encourage them to return to the fight.
The sight of the two consuls rekindled the
courage of the soldiers, and hy this time, too,
the enemy's line was considerably weakened ;
for, confiding in the superiority of their num-
bers, they had drawn off a part, and sent them
to attack the camp : these met but little resis-
tance in the assault, but wasted time after-
wards, being more intent on plunder than on
fighting. The Roman Triarii,1 however, who
had not been able to prevent their breaking in
at first, and who had despatched to the consuls
an account of their situation, returned in a
compact body to the Praetorium, and without
waiting for aid, of themselves renewed the
combat. At the same time, the consul Man-
lius having rode back to the camp, posted
troops at all the gates, and blocked up every
passage by which the enemy could retreat.
The desperate situation in which the Etrurians
then saw themselves, inspired them not only
with boldness, but with fury ; so that, after
they had made several fruitless efforts, attempt-
ing every place where they saw any prospect
of gaining a passage, one band of their young
men made an attack on Manlius himself, whom
they distinguished by his armour. His atten-
dants covered him from the first discharge of
their weapons ; but could not long withstand
their force : the consul receiving a mortal
wound, fell, and his defenders were entirely
dispersed. This added new confidence to the
Etrurians, and so dispirited the Romans, that
they fled in dismay, through all parts of the
camp ; and would probably have been utterly
ruined, had not the lieutenant-generals, hastily
removing the consul's body, opened a passage
for the enemy by one of the gates. Through
this they rushed out ; and, as they were re-
treating in the utmost disorder, fell in with
Fabius, who was flushed with success. In
this second encounter many were cut off, and
the rest fled different ways. The victory was
complete, but the joy, which it occasioned, was
greatly damped by the death of two such illus-
trious persons as Fabius and Manlius : for
which reason the consul, when the senate were
proceeding to vote him a triumph, told them,
that " if the army could triumph without their

1 The Triarii were veterau soldier* of approved va-
lour : tliey formed tlie third line, hence their name.

general, he would readily consent to it, on
account of their extraordinary good behaviour
in that war : but as to himself, while his own
family was overwhelmed with grief, for the
death of his brother Quintus Fabius, and the
commonwealth bewailed the loss of a parent,
as it were, in that of one of its consuls, he
would not accept of the laurel, blasted both by
public and private mourning." A triumph re-
fused on such grounds, redounded more to his
honour, than if he had actually enjoyed it : so
true it is, that fame prudently declined, often
breaks forth with increased lustre. He then
celebrated the two funerals of his colleague,
and his brother, one after the other, and took
upon himself the office of pronouncing the
panegyric of both ; in which he attributed to
them the merit of his own performances, in
such a manner, as showed him to be entitled
to the greatest share of any. Not losing sight
of the design which he had conceived at the
beginning of his consulate, of recovering the
affection of the commons, he distributed the
wounded soldiers among the patricians, to be
taken care of, until they were cured. Th3
greater number were given to the Fabii, ani
by no others were they treated with more at-
tention. Henceforward the Fabii grew high
in the favour of the people, and that without
any practices prejudicial to the state.

XL VIII. With the same view, Caeso Fa-
bius, whose election to the consulship, with
Titus Virginius, [Y. R. 275. B. C. 477.] was
owing as much to the support of the commons,
*as to that of the patricians, would enter on no
business, either of wars or levies, or any other
matter, until the hopes of concord, which had
already made some progress, should be ripened
into a perfect union between the plebeians and
patricians. In the beginning of the year there-
fore he proposed, that " before any tribune
should stand forth to press the agrarian law,
the senate should seize the opportunity, and
take to themselves the merit of conferring that
favour : that they should distribute among the
commons, in as equal proportion as possible,
the lands taken from their enemies : for it was
but just that they should be enjoyed by those
whose blood and labour acquired them." The
senate rejected the proposal with disdain ;
some of them even complained, that the talents
of Caeso, formerly so brilliant, were, through a
surfeit of glory, become heavy and languid.
No disputes ensued between the factions in

76

THE HISTORY

[BOOK it.

gate, and then retired to their respective
homes.

XL IX. The report of this conduct spread
quans, by ravaging their territories. They j immediately over the whole city, and all ex-

the city. The Latines were harassed by in-
cursions of the IE quans ; CSBSO being sent
thither, with an army, retaliated on the

retired into the towns, and kept themselves
within the walls ; consequently, there was no
buttle of any importance. But, from the arms
of the Veientians, a severer blow was received,
through the rashness of the other consul : and
the army would have been utterly destroyed,
had not Caeso Fabius arrived seasonably to its
support. From that time there was properly
neither peace nor war with the Veientians,
whose proceedings were more like those of a
banditti, than of regular troops. On the ap-
proach of the Roman legions, they retreated
into the town, and when they understood that
those were withdrawn, they made incursions
into the country ; shifting alternately from war
to quiet, and from quiet to war. For this
reason, nothing could be brought to a con-
clusion. There was also apprehension of
other wars, two of which were just ready to
break out, that is, with the & quans and Vol-
scians, who only remained inactive, until the
smart of their late disaster should wear off.
And besides, it was evident that the Sabines,
ever hostile, and all Etruria, would soon be in
motion. But the Veientians kept the Ro-
mans in continual uneasiness, rather indeed by
frequent insults, than by any enterprise which
threatened danger, yet this was such a business
as would neither allow them to neglect it at
any time, nor to turn their attention to other
matters. While affairs were in this state, the
Fabian family addressed the senate ; the con-
sul, in the name of the whole, speaking in this
manner : — " Conscript fathers, ye know that
the Veientian war requires rather an establish-
ed, than a strong force, on the frontiers : let
your care be directed to other wars ; commit
to the Fabii that against the Veientians. We
pledge ourselves, that the majesty of the Ro-
man name shall be safe on that side : that war,
as the particular province of our family, we
propose to wage at our own private expense
The state shall not be troubled either for men
or money to support it." The warmest thanks
were given to them, and the consul coming out
of the senate, returned to his house, accom-
panied by the Fabii in a body, who had stooc
in the porch of the senate-house, waiting th
senate's determination. They received order*
to attend next day in arms, at the consul1!

tolled the Fabii with the most exalted enco-
miums ; that a " single family had undertaken
to sustain the burden of the state ; that the
Veientian war was become a private concern,

private quarrel. If there were two other
amilies of equal strength in the city, one of
hem might claim the Volscians for their share,
he other the ^Equans ; thus all the neighbour-
ng states might be subdued, and the majority
f Roman people, in the mean time, enjoy per-
ect tranquiUity. Next day the Fabii took
irms, and assembled in the place appointed.
The consul, coming forth in his military robe,1
aw his whole family in the court-yard, drawn
ip in order of march, and being received into
he centre, commanded them to set forward,
tfever did an army, either smaller in number,
or more highly distinguished in fame, and the
general admiration of all men, march through
;he city. Three hundred and six soldiers, all
of them patricians, not one of whom would be
udged unfit for supreme command by the se-
nate at any time whatever, proceeded on their
way, threatening destruction to the state of the
Veientians, by the prowess of one family. A
crowd attended them, composed, partly, ol
their own connections, relations, and particular
acquaintances, who held no moderation either
in their hopes or anxieties ; and partly, of such
as were attracted by zeal for the public interest,
all enraptured with esteem and admiration.
They bade " the heroes to proceed ; to proceed
with happy fortune, and to obtain success pro-
portioned to the merit of their undertaking ;"
desiring them to expect afterwards, consulships,
triumphs, every reward, every honour, which
was in the power of the public to bestow."
As they passed by the Capitol, the citadel, and
other sacred places, whatever deities occurred
to the people's sight or thoughts, to them they
offered up their prayers, that they would "crown
that band with success and prosperity^ and soon
restore them in safety to their country and their
parents." But their prayers were made in vain.

Passing through the right-hand postern of the

1 Before a consul set out on any expedition, he offered
sacrifices and prayers in the Capitol; and then, laying
aside his consular gown, marclied out of the city, dressed
in a military robe of state, called Paludamentum.

Y. R. 276.]

OF ROME.

77

Carmental gate, they arrived at the river Cre-
mera, which they judged to be a proper situation
for securing a post by fortifications. Lucius
.'Kinilius and Caius Servilius were soon after
.•le.'tcd consuls. [Y. R. 276. B. C. 476.]
As long as the operations of the war were
confined to predatory expeditions, the Fabii
\vcrc not only sufficiently able to defend their
post, but by their excursions, along the com-
mon boundaries, they both effectually secured
their own frontiers, and spread terror and
devastation in those of the enemy, through the
whole tract, as far as the Etrurian territories
join the Roman. Their mutual depredations
were soon after discontinued, though but for a
short time, for the Veientians having collected
a reinforcement from Etruria, laid siege to the
post at the Cremera ; and the Roman legions,
led thither by the consul Lucius .ZEinilius,
fought a close engagement with the Etrurians
in the field, in which, however, the Veientians
liad scarcely dine to form their troops ; for in
the midst of the hurry, while they were taking
their posts under their several banners, and
placing bodies of reserve, a brigade of Ro-
man cavalry charged them suddenly on the
flank, in such a manner as to put it out of their
power either to make a regular onset, or even
to stand their ground. Being thus compelled
to retreat to the Red Rocks, where they had
their camp, they humbly sued for peace : yet
after it had been granted, they renounced it, be-
fore the Roman guard was withdrawn from the
Cremera ; such was their natural inconstancy,
and such their bad faith.

L. The contest, then, again lay between the
Fabii and the Veientian state, unsupported by
any additional forces on either side. There
passed between them not only incursions into
each other's territories, and sudden attacks on
the parties employed in those incursions, but
several pitched battles in the open field; in
which a single family of the Roman people
often obtained victory over a state, at that
time the most powerful in Etruria. This, at
first, stung the Veientians with grief and in-
dignation ; afterwards they formed a design,
suggested by the present circumstances, of en-
snaring their enemy, elated with success ; and
they even observed, with pleasure, the confi-
dence of the Fabii daily increasing, from a series
of successful attempts. In pursuance of this
design, cattle were frequently driven in the way
of the plundering parties, as if they had come

there by chance ; the fields were deserted by the
Sight of the peasants, and the bodies of troops
sent to repel the invaders, retreated with pre-
tended, oftener than real, fear. The Fabii had
now contracted such a contempt of the enemy,
that they thought their own arms invincible,
and not to be withstood in any place or on any
occasion. This presumption carried them so
far, that on seeing, from Cremera, some cattle
at a distance — a long tract of country lying be-
tween, in which, however, but few of the
enemy's troops appeared, — they ran down to
seize them, and pressed forward with such care-
less haste, as to pass by the Veientians, who
lay in ambush, on each side of the very road
through which they marched. They then dis-
persed themselves on all sides to collect the
cattle, which ran up and down, as was natural
on being frightened ; when, suddenly, the sol-
diers rose from their concealments, and ap-
peared not only in front, but on every side of
them. The shout first struck them with terror,
and, in a little time, they were assailed by wea-
pons on all sides. As the Etrurians closed in
upon them, they were obliged, hemmed in, as
they were, by one continued line of troops, to
contract the circle which they had formed, into
a narrower compass; which circumstance showed
plainly, both the smallness of their number,
and the great superiority of the Etrurians,
whose ranks were multiplied as the space grew
narrower. They then changed their method
of fighting, and, instead of making head on all
sides, bent their whole force towards one point ;
where, forming in the shape of a wedge, and
exerting every effort of their bodies and arms,
they at length forced a passage. Their course
led to a hill of moderate acclivity ; there, first,
they halted ; and then the advantage of the
ground affording them a little time to breathe,
and to recover from the consternation into
which they had been thrown, they afterwards
even repulsed an attack of the enemy ; and
this little band would probably, with the aid of
the ground, have come off victorious, had not a
body of Veientians, sent round the ridge of the
hill, made their way to the summit : by which
means the enemy became again superior ; the
Fabii were all cut off to a man, and their fort
taken. It is agreed, on all hands, that the three
hundred and six perished ; and that only one
single person, then quite a youth, was left, as a
stock for the propagation of the Fabian race ;
and who was. afterwards, on many emergencies,

78

THE HISTORY

QBOOK ii,

both in peace and war, to prove the firmest
support of the state.

LI. At the time when this disaster happened, |
Caius Horatius and Titus Menenius were in '
the consulship. Menenius was immediately
sent against the Etrurians, elated with their |
victory. He also was worsted in battle, and j
the enemy took possession of the Janiculum ; j
nor would the city, which, besides the war, was
distressed also by scarcity, have escaped a siege,
the Etrurians having passed the Tiber, had not
the consul Horatius been recalled from the j
country of the Volscians. So near, indeed, !
did the enemy approach to the walls, that the (
first engagement was at the temple of Hope, in j
which little was gained on either side ; and the j
second, at the Colline gate, in which the Ro- j
mans obtained some small advantage ; and this, j
though far from decisive, yet by restoring to [
the soldiers their former courage, qualified
them the better to contend with the enemy in
future. Aulus Virginius and Spurius Servilius
were next elected consuls. After the loss sus-
tained in the 'ast battle, the Veientians avoided
coming again to an engagement. They em-
ployed themselves in committing depredations,
by sending out parties from the Janiculum,
which served them as a fortress ; and these
parties scoured every part of the Roman terri-
tories, so that neither the cattle, nor the hus- |
bandmen, could any where remain in safety. [
At last they were entrapped by the same stra-
tagem, by which they had circumvented the
Fabii : pursuing some cattle, which had been '
purposely thrown in their way as a temptation, |
they fell into an ambuscade. In proportion as
their numbers were greater, so was the slaugh-
ter. The violent rage which this overthrow
excited, gave cause to one of greater magnitude :
for, having crossed the Tiber by night, they
made an assault on tlie camp of the consul
Servilius ; and, being repulsed with great loss,
with difficulty effected a retreat to the Janicu-
lum. The consul immediately passed the Ti-
ber, and fortified a camp at the foot of the
Janiculum. Next day, as soon as light appear-
ed, partly led by the confidence inspired by his
success in the fight of the day before, but
chiefly because the scarcity of corn made it ex-
pedient to adopt even dangerous measures,
provided they were expeditious, he rashly march-
ed up his troops against the steep of the Jani-
culum, to the camp of the enemy : where he
met with a repulse, more shameful than that

which he had given them the preceding day; and
both he and his army owed their preservation
from destruction to the timely intervention of
his colleague. The Etrurians, now enclosed
between the two armies, to one or other of
which their rear was by turns exposed, were
entirely cut off. Thus, through a fortunate
act of temerity, the Veientians were effectually
overpowered, and the war brought to a conclu-
sion.

LIL Together with peace, plenty returned
to the city, corn being brought from Campania ;
and every one, as soon as he was freed from
the dread of impending famine, producing the
stores which he had concealed. In this state
of abundance and ease, the people began again
to grow licentious, and not finding abroad any
cause of complaint, sought for it, as usual, at
home. By infusing into their minds the usual
poison, the agrarian law, the tribunes threw
the people into a ferment, at the same time
rousing their resentment against the patricians,
who opposed it ; and, not only against that
body in general, but against particular members
of it. Quintus Considius and Titus Genu-
cius, the present proposers of the agrarian law,
lodged an accusation against Titus Menenius :
the charge brought against him was, the loss
of the fort of Cremera, when he, the consul,
was encamped in a fixed post at no great dis-
tance. Him they crushed, although the patri-
cians struggled in his cause with no less zeal
than they had shown for Coriolanus, and though
his father Agrippa's title to the favour of the
public was not yet forgotten. The tribunes,
however, went no farther than to impose a fine,
though they had carried on the prosecution as
for a capital offence. On his being found guil-
ty, they fixed the mulct at two thousand asses. '
This proved fatal to him ; for we are told that
he could not bear the ignominy and anguish of
mind which it occasioned, and that this threw
him into a disorder which put an end to his life.
Another was soon after brought to trial, Spu-
rius Servilius, against whom, as soon as he
went out of the consulship, in the beginning of
the year in which Caius Nautius and Publius
Valerius were consuls, a prosecution was
commenced by two tribunes, Lucius Caedicius
and Titius Statius. He did not, like Menenius,
meet the attacks of these tribunes with suppli-
cations from himself and the patricians, but

1 Five pounds sterling-.

v. it. 281.]

OF ROME.

79

with the utmost confidence, inspired by inno-
cence, and by the justice of his claim to the
favour of the public. He was charged with
misconduct in the battle with the Etnirians at
the Janiculum ; but being a man of an intrepid
spirit, as he had done formerly in the case of
public peril, so now in one that threatened him-
self, he dispelled the danger by facing it with
boldness. In a speech full of undaunted fortitude,
he retorted on both tribunes and commons, and
upbraided them with the condemnation and
death of Titus Menenius, the son of that
man, to whose good offices the people stqpd
indebted for the restoration of their privile-
ges, for those very laws and magistrates,
which enabled them now to let loose their pas-
sions in this unreasonable manner. His col-
league Virginius, too, being produced as a wit-
ness, greatly assisted his cause, by attributing
to him a share of his own merit ; but what did
him the most essential service was, the sen-
tence passed on Menenius ; so great a change
had taken place in the minds of the people.

LIU. No sooner had these domestic disputes
subsided, than a new war broke out with the
Veientians, with whom the Sabines had united
their forces. After auxiliaries had been brought
from the Latines and Hernicians, the consul
Valerius, being sent with an army to Veii,
instantly attacked the Sabine camp, which they
had pitched under the walls of their allies.
This occasioned such consternation among the
Sabines, that while they ran different ways in
small parties, to repel the enemy's assault, the
gate, first attacked, was taken ; and afterwards,
within the rampart, there was rather a carnage
than a battle. From the tents the alarm spread
into the city, and the Veientians ran to arms
in as great a panic as if Veii itself were taken :
some went to support the Sabines, others fell
upon the Romans, whose whole force and at-
tention were employed on the camp. For a
little time the latter were put to a stand and
disordered ; but soon forming two fronts, they
faced the enemy on both sides ; and, at the
same time, the cavalry, being ordered by the
consul to charge, routed and dispersed the
Etrurians. Thus were overcome, in the same
hour, two armies of the two greatest and most
powerful of the neighbouring states. During
these transactions at Veii, the Volscians and
./Equans had encamped in the Latine territo-
ries, and laid waste the country. The Latines,
however, being joined by the Hernicians, with-

out the aid either of Roman general or troops,
beat them out of their camp, and there, besides
recovering their own effects, got possession of
immense booty. The consul Caius Nautius
was, however, sent against the Volscians from
Rome, where, I suppose, it was considered as
improper, that the allies should get a custom
of carrying on wars, with their own forces and
under their own direction, without a Roman
general and troops. Every kind of severity
and indignity was practised against the Vol-
scians, yet they could not be brought to an en-
gagement in the field.

LI V. The next consuls were Lucius Furius
and Aulus Manlius. [Y. R. 280. 13. C. 472.]
The Veientians fell to the lot of Manlius as his
province ; but the war with that people did not
continue. At their request atruce forforty years
was granted them, and they were obliged to fur-
nish corn, and to pay the soldiers. No sooner
was peace restored abroad, than discord began at
home. The commons were set in a flame at the
instigation of the tribunes, on their constant sub-
ject, the agrarian law, which the consuls, not de-
terred by the condemnation of Menenius, or the
danger incurred by Servilius, opposed with all
their might. On this account, as soon as they
went out of office, Titus Genucius, the tribune,
laid hold of them. They were succeeded in
the consulship by Lucius ^Emilius and Opiter
Virginius. [ Y. R. 281. B. C. 471.] In some
annals, instead of Virginius, I find Vopis-
cus Julius set down for consul. During this
year, whoever were the consuls, Furius and
Manlius being summoned to a trial, before the
people, went about in the garb of suppliants,
addressing not only the commons, but the
younger patricians. The latter they advised
and cautioned to " keep at a distance from pub-
lic employments, and the administration of af-
fairs, and to look on the consular fasces, the
pnstexta, and curule chair, as nothing better
than the decorations of a funeral ; for those
splendid badges, like the fillets of victims, were
placed on men who were doomed to death.
But, if there were such charms in the. consul-
ship, let them, once for all, be convinced, that
the office was crushed, and held in captivity by
the tribunitian power ; that a consul must act
in every thing according to command, and, like
a bailiff, be obedient even to the tribune's nod.
If he should exert himself, if he should show
any respect to the patricians, if he should sup-
pose that there wts any powerful part in the

80

THE HISTORY

[BOOK IN

state but the commons alone, let him place
before his eyes the banishment of Caius Mar-
cius, with the penalty and death of Menenius."
By such discourses the patricians were fired
with indignation, and from that time they no
longer held their consultations publicly, but
in private, and suffered but few to be privy to
them : and here, however, they might differ
in other points, in this they were unanimous,
that the accused should be rescued from danger
by any means possible, whether right or wrong ;
and the most violent method proposed, was the
most acceptable. Nor were they at a loss for
an actor to perpetrate any, the most atrocious
deed : on the day of trial, therefore, the people,
standing in the forum, in eager expectation of
the tribune's appearing, first began to wonder
that he did not come down ; then beginning,
from his delay, to suspect something amiss,
they supposed that he had been terrified from
attending by the nobles, while some complained
that the cause of the public was deserted and
betrayed by him. At length, an account was
brought of the tribune's being found dead in
his house. As soon as this report had spread
through the assembly, every one separated dif-
ferent ways, just as an army disperses on the
fall of its leader. The tribunes, particularly,
were seized with the greatest terror, warned by
the death of their colleague, how very little
security the devoting laws afforded them. The
patricians, on the other side, exulted with too
little moderation : and so far were they from
feeling any compunction at the deed, that even
those who were clear of the crime, wished to
be considered as the perpetrators of it ; and
they declared openly, that the tribunitian power
must be subdued by severity.

LV. Soon after this victory had been ob-
tained, by means which furnished a precedent
of the worst tendency, a proclamation was
issued for a levy of soldiers : and the tribunes
being awed into submission, the consuls ac-
complished the business without any interrup-
tion. The commons, on this, were highly
enraged, more on account of the acquiescence of
the tribunes, than of the execution of the
orders of the consuls ; they declared that "there
was an end of their liberty ; that they were
reduced again to their old condition, for the
tribunitian power had expired with, and was
buried in the grave of Genucius. Other means
must be devised and practised, to put a stop
to the tyranny of the patricians. There re-

mained now only one method to be pursued ;
which was, that the commons, since they wore
destitute of every other protection, should un-
dertake their own defence. The retinue of
the consuls consisted of twenty-four lictors,
and even these were plebeians ; no force couid
be more contemptible,- or less capable of re-
sistance, if people had but the spirit to de-
spise them ; but every one magnified those
matters, and made them objects of terror to
himself." While they thus spurred on each
other with such discourses as these, it hap-
pened that a lictor was sent by the consul to a
plebeian of the name of Volero Publilius,
who had insisted, that, having been a centurion,
he could not be compelled to enlist as a com-
mon soldier. Volero appealed to the tribunes ;
but none of them supporting him, the consuls
ordered the man to be stripped, and the rods
to be got ready : " I appeal to the people,"
said Volero : " the tribunes choose rather that
a Roman citizen should be beaten with rods
before their eyes, than that themselves should
be murdered in their beds by your faction."
The more vehemently he exclaimed, the more
violently did the lictor proceed in tearing off"
his clothes, and stripping him. Then Volero,
who was a man of great bodily strength, and
aided also by those who took part with him,
drove away the lictor, and retired into the
thickest part of the crowd, where he heard the
loudest expressions of indignation at the treat-
ment which he received j at the same time
crying aloud, " I appeal, and implore the pro-
tection of the commons. Support me, citi-
zens ; support me, fellow-soldiers. You have
nothing to expect from the tribunes, who
themselves stand in need of your support."
The people inflamed with passion, prepared
themselves as for a battle : and there was every
appearance of the contest proceeding to such
extremity, as that no regard whatever would
be paid either to public or private rights. The
consuls, having undertaken to face this violent
storm, quickly experienced that dignity, unsup-
ported by strength, is not exempt from, danger.
Their lictors were abused, the fasces broken,
and themselves forced to take refuge in the
senate-house, uncertain how far Volero would
push his victory. In some time after, the
tumult subsiding, t'..ey assembled the senators,
and complained to them of the ill-treatment
which they had suffered, of the violence of the
commons, and the audacious behaviour of

Y. R, 283.]

OF ROMtt.

81

Volero. Though many harsh methods of pro
(reding were proposed, the opinion of the elde
members prevailed ; who recommended to the
senate, not to let their conduct be as strongl)
marked by passionate resentment, as that of thi
commons was by inconsiderate violence.

LVI. The commons, interesting themselve
w annly in favour of Volero, chose him at thi
next election tribune for the year : the consul,
being Lucius Pinarius and Publius Furius
[Y. R. 282. 13. ('. 4-70.] And now, con
trary to the expectation of all men, who
supposed that he would give a loose to the
reins of the tribunitian power, in harassing
tl.e consuls of the preceding year; postpon-
ing his own resentment, and affecting onh
the public interest, without uttering even a
word to offend the consuls, he proposed a law
that plebeian magistrates should be elected in
assemblies where the votes were given by
tribes. This, though covered under an ap-
pearance which, at first view; showed not any
evil tendency, was considered as a matter of no
trivial consequence ; as it would entirely de-
prive the patricians of the power of electing
such tribunes as they liked, by means of the
votes of their dependents. To prevent this
proposition, which was highly pleasing to the
commons, from passing into a law, the patri-
cians strained every nerve ; and though neither
the influence of the consuls nor that of them-
selves could prevail on any one of the college
of tribunes to protest against it, that being the
only power that could effectually stifle it ; yet,
as it was in itself an affair of great weight, and
required long and laborious exertions, the ob-
stacles thrown in its way were sufficient to de-
lay it until the following year. The commons
re-elected Volero to the tribuneship ; and the
patricians, judging that this business would not
end without the severest struggle, procured the
consulship for Appius Claudius, son of Ap-
pius, who both hated, and was hated by, the
commons, in consequence of the contentions
between them and his father. Titus Quintius
was given him for colleague. The law was the
first matter agitated in the beginning of the
year , and though Volero was the author of it,
yet Laetorius his colleague, from having more
recently joined in the business, became in con-
sequence the more eager for its adoption : his
renown in war inspired him with confidence,
for there was no one of that age possessed of
more personal prowess. Volero contented
I.

himself with arguing in favour of the law, and
avoided all abuse against the consuls ; but Lae-
torius began with severe invectives against
Appius and his family, charging them with
having always shown a disposition in the high-
est degree overbearing and cruel : asserting that
the patricians had elected him not for a consul,
but an executioner, to torment and torture the
plebeians. Being however a rough soldier,
unskilled in the art of speaking, he was at a loss
for expressions suited to the boldness of his
thoughts ; and finding himself unable to pro-
ceed in his discourse, he said, " Citizens, since
I cannot speak with the same readiness with
which I can perform what I have spoken, I re-
quest your attendance to-morrow. Either I
will lose my life, here in your presence, or I
will carry the law." Next day the tribunes
took possession of the temple ; and the consuls
an:l nobles placed themselves among the crowd,
in order to oppose the law. Lsetorius ordered
all persons to retire, except those who were to
vote ; but the younger nobility kept their seats,
and paid no regard to the officer ; on which
La?torius ordered some of them to be taken in-
to custody. The consul Appius insisted, that
" a tribune had no power over any but the
plebeians ; for he was not a magistrate of the
people at large, but of the commons ; that even
he himself could not, conformably to ancient
usage, of his own authority, compel people to
withdraw, the words in use being, If ye think
proper, Romans, retire." It was easy for him
to disconcert La^torius in arguing, even thus
contemptously, about his authority ; the tri-
bune therefore, inflamed with anger, sent one
of his officers to the consul, while the consul
sent a lictor to the tribune, calling out that he
was but a private person without command and
ivithout magistracy ; nor would the tribune have
escaped ill-treatment, had not the whole asscm-
)ly joined, with great warmth, in taking his
lart against the consul ; and at the same time,
he alarm having spread among the populace,
wrought a great concourse from all parts of the
city to the forum. Appius, notwithstanding,
nflexibly withstood the violence of the storm ;
.nd the dispute must have terminated in blood,
lad not Quintius, the other consul, giving it in
Charge to the consulars to take away his col-
eague from the forum by force, if they could
lot do it otherwise, now soothing the enraged
lebeians with intreatics, then begging the tri-
mnes to dismiss the assembly, so as to " give

82

THE H ISTORY

[BOOK n.

time for their anger to cool," telling them, that
" delay would not diminish aught of their
power, but would afford them the advantage of
uniting prudence with that power; that the pa-
tricians would still l)e under the direction of the
people, and the consul under that of the patri-
cians.

LVII. With great difficulty, the commons
were pacified by Quintius ; and with much
greater, was the other consul quieted by the
patricians ; and the assembly of the people be-
ing at length dismissed, the consuls convened
the senate. There, fear and anger prevailing
by turns, produced for some time a variety of
opinions ; but having gained time for reflection,
in proportion as passion gave place to reason,
they became more and more averse from inflam-
matory measures ; in so much, that they return-
ed thanks to Quintius, for having, by exertions,
put a stop to the quarrel. Appius they re-
quested to " be satisfied with such a degree of
deference to the consular authority, as was
compatible with concord between the several
parts of the state ; for whilst the tribune and con-
suls violently drew all power, each to their own
side, there was none left in the other members
of the community. The object of the dispute
was not the safety of the commonwealth, but
who should have the disposal of it, mangled
and torn as it was." On the other hand, Ap-
pius appealed to gods and men that " the state
was betrayed and deserted through cowardice ;
that the consul was not wanting in support of
the senate, but the senate in support of the
consul ; and that they were submitting to more
grievous laws than those which were imposed
at the sacred mount." Yielding, however, to
the unanimous judgment of the senate, he de-
sisted, and the law was carried through without
farther opposition.

LVIII. Then, for the first time, were the
tribunes elected in an assembly of the people,
voting by tribes. Piso relates also, that there
were three added to their number, having before
been but two. He even names the tribunes,
Caius Sicinius, Lucius Numitorius, Marcus
Duilius, Spurius Icilius, Lucius Mecilius.
During the dissentions at Rome, war com-
menced with the ^Equans and Volscians, who
had committed depredations on the Roman
lands, with design, that if the commons shoulc
again think proper to secede, they might find a
refuge with them. When the differences in
the city were afterwards composed, they remov-

d their camp to a greater distance : Appius
Claudius was sent against the Volscians, the
^Bquans fell to Quintius as his province.
The same severity, which Appius had shown
at home, he practised at the head of the army
abroad, and even with less reserve, as he was
out of the reach of any control from the tri-
mnes. He detested the commons to a degree
of rancour, even beyond what he inherited from
iis father; and considered himself as vanquished
>y them ; for that when he had been set up as
:he only person, who, in the character of con-
sul, was qualified to oppose the tribunitian
>ower, that law had been carried which the
:brmer consuls had been able to prevent, though
they made not such strenuous exertions as him-
self against it, nor did the patricians expect so
much from them. His anger and indignation
icreby excited, he sought to wreak on the array
every kind of rigour which the command had
jut in his power : but no degree of violence
was able to subdue the temper of the troops,
such an unconquerable spirit of opposition had
they imbibed. In every part of their business
they showed indolence and carelessness, negli-
gence and stubbornness ; neither shame nor
fear had any effect on them. If he wished that
the army should proceed with more expedition,
they marched the slower ; if he came to en-
courage them to hasten their work, every one
relaxed the diligence which he had used before ;
when he was present, they cast down their
eyes ; as he passed by, they muttered curses
against him ; so that while he seemed invulner-
able to popular dislike, his mind was occasion-
ally affected with disagreeable emotions. After
trying every kind of harsh treatment without
effect, he renounced all intercourse with the
soldiers, declaring that the army was corrupted
by the centurions, whom, in a gibing manner,
he sometimes called plebeian tribunes, and
Voleroes.

LIX. Not one of these circumstances was
unknown to the Volscians, who, for that rea-
son, pressed forward their operations the more
vigorously, in hopes, that the Roman army
would be animated with the same spirit of op-
position against Appius, which they had for-
merly displayed against Fabius, when consul ;
and, in fact, in Appius's case, it showed itself
with a much greater degree of inveteracy than
in that of Fabius ; for they were not only un-
willing to conquer, like Fabius's troops, but
even chose to be conquered. When led out

v. u. 284.]

OF ROME.

to the field, they fled shamefully to their camp,
or made a halt, until they saw the Volscians
advancing to the rampart, and committing great
slaughter on the rear of the army. The neces.
sity of repelling the victorious enemy from the
rampart, then prevailed on them to fight, which,
however, they did in such a manner, as made
it evident, that they acted only because Roman
soldiers would not suffer their camp to be tak-
en •. in other respects, they rejoiced at their
own losses and disgrace. All this had so
little effect towards softening the stubborn
fierceness of Appius, that he resolved to exhibit
farther examples of severity ; but when he had
summoned an assembly for the purpose, the
lieutenant-generals and tribunes gathered hastily
about him, and cautioned him " not to hazard
a trial .of the extent of an authority, whose
whole efficacy depended on the will of those
who were to obey it ; informed him, tbat^&e
soldiers in general declared that they would not
attend the assembly ; and that, in every quarter,
they were heard loudly demanding that the
camp should be removed out of the Volscian
territories. They reminded him that the con-
quering army had approached almost to the
gates and to the rampart, and that if he per-
sisted, there was not only reason to apprehend,
but every certain indication of a most grievous
calamity ensuing." At length, yielding to
persuasion, as nothing but a delay of punish-
ment could be the consequence, he prorogued
the assembly ; gave orders that the troops
should be in readiness to march next day ; and,
at the first dawn, gave, by sound of trumpet,
the signal for setting out. When the army had
scarcely got clear of the camp, and while they
were just forming in order of march, the Vol-
scians, as if they had been summoned by the
same signal, made an attack on their rear ; and,
the alarm spreading from thence to the van,
caused such consternation, as threw both the
battalions and ranks into confusion, so that
neither could orders be heard, nor a line formed.
No one now thought of any thing but flight ;
and with such precipitation did they make
their way through the ranks, that the enemy
ceased to pursue sooner than the Romans to
fly. In vain did the consul follow his men,
calling on them to halt. But when he had at
length collected them together, he encamped
in a peaceful part of the country : and
there, having summoned an assembly, after
uttering severe and just reproaches against

the army, as betrayers of military discipline,
and deserters from their posts, asking each
where were their standards ? where were their
arms ? he beat with rods, and beheaded, the
soldiers who had thrown away their swords, the
standard-bearers who had lost their ensigns,
and also such of the centurions, and of the pri-
vates, as had quitted their ranks. Of the rest
of the multitude every tenth man was drawn by
lot and punished.

LX. In a very different manner were mat-
ters conducted in the country of the -£quans,
There seemed a mutual contest carried on be-
tween the consul and his troops, who should
exceed the other in civility and good offices.
Quintius was naturally of a milder disposition,
and besides, the ill consequences attending the
harshness of his colleague made him feel the
greater satisfaction in indulging his own tem-
per. The ^Equans, not during to meet in the
field, a general and army so cordially united,
suffered them to carry their depredations
through every part of the country ; and in no
former war was a greater abundance of booty
brought off from thence, all which was distri-
buted among the soldiers. Their behaviour
was also rewarded with praises, in which the
minds of soldiers find as much delight as in gain.
The troops returned home in better temper
towards their general, and, on the general's
account towards the patricians also ; declaring,
that the senate had given to them a parent, to
the other army a master. This year, during
which they experienced a variety of fortune ui
their military operations, and furious dissensions
both at home and abroad, was particularly
distinguished by the assemblies of the people
voting by tribes : a matter which derived its
seeming importance rather from the honour of
the victory obtained by one party over the
other, than from any real advantage accruing
from it. For the share of power, which was
either gained by the commons, or taken from
the patricians, was trifling, in proportion to the
great degree of dignity of which the assemblies
themselves were deprived by the exclusion of
the patricians.

LXI. The following year, [Y. R. 284.
B. C. 468.] the consulate of Lucius Valerius
and Tiberius ^Emilius was disturbed by more
violent commotions, both in consequence of the
struggles between the different orders of the
state concerning the agrarian law, and also of
the trial of Appius Claudius ; who, having

84

THE HISTORY

FllOOK If.

tuken a most active part, in opposition to the
law, and supported the cause of those who were
in possession of the public lands, as if he were
a third consul, and thought it his duty, had a
criminal prosecution instituted against him by
Marcus Duilius and Caius Sicinius. Never
hitherto had a person, so odious to the com-
mons, been brought to trial before the people,
overwhelmed as he was with their hatred, on
his father's account, besides the load which his
own conduct had drawn on him ; and hardly
ever did the patricians exert such strenuous ef-
forts in favour of any other, seeing this champion
of the senate, the assertor of its dignity, their
bulwark against all the outrageous attempts,
both' of tribunes and commons, exposed to the
rage of the populace, only for having in the
contest exceeded, in some degree, as they con-
ceived, the bounds of moderation. Appius
Claudius himself was the only one among the
patricians, who looked with scorn on the tri-
bunes and commons, even affecting a disregard
as to his own trial. Neither the threats of the
commons, nor the entreaties of the senate, could
ever prevail on him either to change his garb,1
or use a suppliant address, or even to soften
and relax, in any degree, the usual harshness of
his language, when he was to plead his cause
before the people. He still preserved the same
expression of countenance, the same stubborn
fierceness in his looks, and the same vehemence
in his discourse ; so that a great many of the
commons felt no less dread of Appius, while
he stood a culprit at their bar, than they had
done when he was consul. He pleaded in his
defence, and that with all the haughtiness which
he could have shown, had he been the accuser,
just as he used to behave on every other occa-
sion ; and, by his intrepidity, so astonished the
tribunes and commons, that, of their own
choice, they adjourned the trial to another day,
and afterwards suffered the business to cool.
The day of adjournment was not very distant,
yet, before it arrived, he was seized with a
disorder and died. The tribunes endeavoured
to prevent his being honoured with a funeral
panegyric, but the commons would not allow
that the last day of so great a man should be
defrauded of the usual glories. They listened
to the encomiums pronounced on him after his
death with as favourable an attention as they

1 It was usual for persons under accusation to put on
a mourning dress, and to let their hair and beard grow.

had shown to the charges brought against him,
when alive, and, in vast numbers, attended his
funeral.

LXII. During this year, the consul Vale-
rius marched with an army against the -<Equans ;
and, finding it impracticable to entice them to
an etigagement, made an assault on their camp.
A violent storm of thunder and hail obliged
him to desist, and people's surprise was in-
creased, when, as soon as the signal for retreat
had been given, the weather became perfectly
calm and clear ; so that they were deterred by
a religious scruple from again attacking a camp
which had been defended by an evident inter-
position of some divinity, and vented all their
rage in devastations on the enemy's lands. The
other consul, JEmilius, conducted the war in
the country of the Sabines, and there also,
the enemy keeping within their walls, the lands
were laid waste ; at length, by the burning, not
only of the country-houses, but of the villages,
which in that populous country were very nu-
merous, the Sabines were provoked to give
battle to the troops employed in the depreda-
tions ; and, being obliged to retreat without
having gained any advantage, removed their
camp, next day, to a place of greater safety.
This appeared to the consul a sufficient reason
to consider the enemy as vanquished, and to
cease any farther operations ; he accordingly
withdrew his men, without having made any
progress in the war.

LXIII. While these wars still raged abroad,
and party divisions at home, Titus Numicius
Priscus and Aulus Virginius were elected con-
suls. [Y. R. 285. B. C. 467]. There was
reason to believe that the commons would not
endure any farther delay with respect to the
agrarian law, and every degree of violence was
ready to be committed, when it was discovered,
by the smoke from the burning of the country-
houses, and by the inhabitants flying to the city,
that the Volscians were at hand ; this incident
repressed the sedition, when just ripe, and on
the point of breaking forth. The consuls were
instantly ordered by the senate to lead out the
youth from the city against the enemy ; and
this made the rest of the commons less turbu-
lent. On the other side, the assailants, with-
out performing any thing farther than alarming
the Romans by the destruction of some few
buildings, retired with great precipitation.
Numicius marched to Antium against the Vol-
scians ; Virginias against the ^Equans. Here,

v. H. 286.]

OF ROME.

85

the army falling into an ambuscade, and being
in the utmost danger of a total overthrow, was
rescued by the bravery of the soldiers from the
imminent peril to which the carelessness of the
consul had exposed them. The operations
against the Volscians were better conducted ;
in the first engagement, the enemy was routed,
and compelled to fly into Antium, which, con-
sidering those times, was acity of great strength ;
the consul therefore not choosing to venture to
attack it, took from the Antians another town
called Ceno, which was not near so strong.
Whilst the ;^Equans and Volscians gave em-
ployment to the Roman armies, the Sabines
carried depredation to the very gates of the
city ; however, they themselves, in a few days
after, suffered, from the two Roman armies,
greater losses than any which they had occa-
sioned ; both the consuls, provoked at their
proceedings, having marched into their terri-
tories.

LXIV. Towards the close of the year,
there was some interval of peace, but disturbed,
as was always the case, by struggles between
the patricians and plebeians. The latter were
so incensed, that they refused to attend the as-
sembly held for the election of consuls, so that
by the rotes of the patricians and their depen-
dents, Titus Quintals and Quintus Servilius
were appointed to the consulship. [ Y. R. 286.
B. C. 466.] These experienced a year similar
to the preceding; the beginning of it tilled
with civil broils, which were afterwards re-
pressed by the breaking out of foreign wars.
The Sabines, marching across the plains of
Criistumiiium with great rapidity, carried fire
and sword through all the country on the banks
of the Anio j and though, when they had ad-
vanced almost to the Colline gate, and the walls
of the city, they met with a repulse, yet they
carried off a vast booty both of men and cattle.
The consul Servilius marched in pursuit, with
design to bring them to an engagement : but not
being able to overtake their main body in the
champaign country,he spread devastation to such
an extent, as to leave nothing unmolested, and
returned with a quantity, of spoil, exceeding,
by many degrees, what the enemy had car-
ried off. In the campaign against the Vol-
scians also, the arms of the state were remark-
ably successful, through the conduct both of
the general and of the soldiers : first, they
fought a pitched battle, on equal ground, with
great loss of blood on both sides. The Ro-

mans, however, whose small number made them
feel the loss more sensibly, would have quitted
the field, had not the consul, by a happy feint,
re-animated the troops, calling out, that the
enemy were flying on the other wing : they
then returned to the charge, and the opinion
that victory was on their side, was the means
of their obtaining it in reality. But Titus
fearing lest, if he pressed the fugitives too far,
he might have the battle to fight over again,
gave the signal for retreat. After this, an in-
terval of some few days passed, during which
both parties reposed, as if they had ^ tacitly
agreed to a suspension of arms ; and, in the
mean time, vast multitudes from every state
of the Volscians and JEquans flocked'to their
camp, not doubting but that the Romans, when
informed of their numbers, would make their
retreat by night. About the third watch,
therefore, they came to attack the camp.
Quintius, after appeasing the tumult which the
sudden alarm had excited, and ordering the
soldiers to stay quiet in their tents, led out a
cohort of Hernicians to form an advanced guard,
mounted the trumpeters, with others of their
band, on horses, and ordered them to sound
their instruments before the rampart, so as to
keep the enemy in suspense until day-light.
During the remainder of the night, every thing
was quiet in the camp, so that the Romans
were not even prevented from sleeping. The
Volscians, on the other hand, expecting
every instant an attack, were kept in a state of
.earnest attention by the appearance of the
armed infantry, whom they believed to be Ro-
mans, and whom they also conceived to be more
numerous'than they really were, from the bustle
and neighing of the horses, and which, being
under the management of riders with whom
they were acquainted, and having their ears
continually teazed with the sound of the in-
struments, made in their trampling a considera-
ble noise.

LXV. When day appeared, the Romans,
marching into the field in full vigour, after be-
ing thoroughly refreshed with sleep, at the first
onset overpowered the Volscians, fatigued with
standing and want of rest. However, the
enemy might be said to retire, rather than to
be routed ; for some hills, which lay behind
them, afforded a safe retreat to all the troops
that were stationed to the rear of the first line,
whose ranks were still unbroken. On coming
to this place, where the height of the ground

86

THE HISTORY OF ROME.

n.

was against him, the consul ordered his men to
haJt : but it was with great difficulty that they
could be restrained ; they called out, and insist-
ed on being allowed to pursue the advantage
which they had gained : while the horsemen,
collected round the general, were still more
ungovernable, loudly declaring that they would
advance before the front line. While Titus
hesitated, between the confidence which he
knew he might place in the valour of his men,
and the difficulty of the ground, all cried out,
with one voice, that they would proceed ; and
they instantly put their words in execution ;
sticking their spears in the ground, that they
might be lighter to climb the steeps, they ran
forward in full speed. The Volscians having
at the first onset discharged their missive wea-
pons, began to pour down on them, as they
approached. The incessant blows from the
stones of the higher ground, and which lay
among their feet, so galled and disordered the
Romans, that their left wing was by this means
almost overborne ; when the consul, just as
they were beginning to give way, reproaching

them with their rashness, and at the same time
with want of spirit, made their fears give place
to shame. At first, they stood their ground
with determined firmness ; then, as they reco-
vered strength to renew the attack, in spite of
the disadvantage of situation, they ventured to
advance, and raising the shout anew, moved
forward in a body. Rushing on again in full
career, they forced their way, and when they
had reached almost to the summit of the hill,
the enemy turned their backs, and the pursuers
and pursued, exerting their utmost speed, both
rushed into the camp together, almost in one
body. In this consternation of the Volscians,
their camp was taken. Such of them as could
make their escape, took the road to Antium ;
thither also the Roman army marched ; and,
after a siege of a few days, the town surrender-
ed, not because the force of the besiegers was
stronger now than in the former attack, but
because the spirits of the besieged were broken
by the late unsuccessful battle, and the loss of
their camp.

THE

HISTORY OF ROME.

BOOK III.

Dimensions about the agrarian laws. The Capitol seized by exiles and e'aves. Quintius Cincinnati^ called from
the cultivation of his farm, to conduct a war against the /Equans ; vanquishes them, and makes them pass under
the yoke. The number of the tribunes of the people augmented to ten. Ten magistrates, called decemvirs,
Invested with the authority of the consuls, and of all other magistrates, are appointed for the purpose of
digesting and publishing a body of laws. These, having promulgated a rode of laws, contained in ten tables,
obtain a continuation of their authority for another year, during which, they add two more to the former ten
tables. They refuse to resign their office, and retain it a third year. At first, they act equitably and justly ;
afterwards, arbitrarily and tyrannically. At length the commons, provoked by a base attempt of one of them,
Appius Claudius, to violate the chastity of a daughter of Virginius, seize upon the Aventinc mount, and com.
pel them to resign. Appius and Oppius, two of the most obnoxious, are thrown into prison, where they put
an end to their own lives; the rest are banished. War with the Sabines, Volscians, and JKquans. Unjust
determination of the Roman people, who being chosen arbitrators in an affair between the people of Ardea and
Aricin, concerning some disputed lands, adjudge them to themselves.

I. SOON after the taking of Antium, Titus
./Emilius and Quintus Fabius were elected
consuls. [Y. R. 287. B. C. 465.] This
Quintus was the single one of the Fabii who
remained alive when the family were cut off
at the Cremera. JEmilius had before, in his
former consulate, recommended the distribu-
tion of lands among the commons : now, there-
fore, on his being a second time invested with
that office, those, who expected the lands, con-
ceived sanguine hopes of the law being passed.
The tribunes, supposing that an affair for
which such straggles had often been made, in
opposition to both the consuls, might probably
be accomplished now, when one of those ma-
gistrates was an advocate for it, set the busi-
ness on foot ; and the consul continued in the
same sentiments. The possessors of the lands,
and most of the patricians, complaining loudly
that a person at the head of the state aimed to
distinguish himself by intrigues more becom-
ing a tribune courting popularity, by making
donations out of other people's property, re-
moved the odium of the whole transaction
from the tribunes to the consul. A desperate
contest would have ensued, had not Fabius

struck out an expedient to prevent it, by a
plan disagreeable to neither party ; which was,
that, as a considerable tract of land had been
taken from the Volscians in the preceding
year, under the conduct and auspices of Titus
Quintius, a colony should be led off to Antium,
a town at no great distance, convenient in
every respect, and a sea-port ; by these means,
the commons might come in for lands, with-
out any complaints from the present possessors
at home, and harmony might be preserved in
the state. This proposition was approved of,
and he had commissioners, called triumvirs,
appointed to distribute the same ; these were
Titus Quintius, A. Virginius, and Publius
Furius ; and such as chose to accept of those
lands, were ordered to give in their names.
The gratification of their wishes, as is gene-
rally the case, instantly begat disgust ; and so
few subscribed to the proposal, that, to fill up
the colony, they were obliged to take in a
number of the Volscians. The rest of the
populace chose rather to prosecute claims of
land at Rome, than to receive immediate pos-
session of it elsewhere. The JEquans sued
to Quintus Fabius for peace, for he had gone

88

THE HISTO11Y

QBOOK in.

against them with an army; yet they them-
selves broke it, by a sudden incursion into the
Latino territories.

II. In the year following, [Y. R. 288. B. C.
4Gi.] Quintus Servilius, who was consul with
Spurius Postumius, being sent against the
^Equans, fixed his camp in the Latino territory,
a post which he intended to retain. Here the
troops were compelled by sickness, to remain
inactive within their lines ; by which means the
war was protracted to the third year, in which
Quintus Fabius and Titus Quintals were con-
suls. As Fabius, in consequence of his former
successes there, had granted peace to the
./Equans, that province was now particularly
assigned to him. He set out with confident
expectations, that the splendour of his name
would be sufficient to induce the ^Equans to
put an end to hostilities, and sent ambassadors
to the general meeting of that nation, with or-
ders to tell them, that Quintus Fabius, consul,
gave them notice, that as he had brought peace
to Rome from the /Equans, so now he brought
war to the JEquans from Rome ; having armed
for war the same hand which he had formerly
given to them as a pledge of peace. Which
of the parties had, by perjury and perfidy, given
occasion to this rupture, was known to the
gods, who would soon prove avengers of the
crime : yet, notwithstanding this, he was still
more desirous that the ^Equans should, of their
own accord, repent of their misconduct, than
suffer the evils of war. If they repented, they
should find safety in that clemency which they
had already experienced .- if they chose to per-
sist in a conduct which involved them in the
guilt of perjury, they must expect, in the pro-
gress of the war, to find the resentment of the
gods even greater than that of their enemies."
So far were these declarations from producing
the desired effect on them, that the ambassadors
narrowly escaped ill-treatment, and an army
was sent to Algidum against the Romans.
[Y. R. 289. B.sC. 463.] When the news of
these transactions was brought to Rome, the
indignity of the affair, rather than the danger,
called out the other consul from the city, and
the two consular armies advanced to the enemy
in order of battle, prepared for an immediate
engagement. But this happening rather late
in the day, a person called out from one of the
enemy's posts, " Romans, this is making an
ostentatious parade, not waging war : ye draw
up your forces for battle, when night is at hand.

We require a greater length of day-light to de-
cide the contest which is to come on : return
into the field to-morrow at sun-rise ; ye shall
have an opportunity of fighting, doubt it not."
The soldiers were led back into camp until the
next day, highly irritated by those expressions,
and thinking the approaching night would ap-
pear too long, which was to occasion a delay to
the combat : the intervening hours, however,
they employed in refreshing themselves with
food and sleep. Next morning, as soon as it
was light, the Roman army were the first, by a
considerable time, to take their post in the field.
At length, the JEquans also came forward.
The battle was fought with great fury on both
sides, for the Romans were stimulated both by
anger- and hatred, while the ./Equans, conscious
that the dangers to which they were exposed
were the consequence of their own crimes, and
despairing of ever being treated with confidence
in future, felt a necessity of making the most
desperate exertions. However, they were not
able to withstand the Roman troops. They
were driven from the field, and retreated to
their own territories ; where the outrageous
multitude, not at all the more disposed to peace
from their failure, censured their leaders for
having hazarded success in a pitched battle ; a
manner of fighting in which the Romans pos-
sessed superior skill. The JEquans, they said,
were better fitted for predatory expeditions ;
and there was greater reason to hope for suc-
cess, from a number of detached parties acting
separately, than from one army of unwieldy
bulk.

III. Leaving therefore a guard in the camp,
they matched out, and fell upon the Roman
frontiers with such fury, as to carry terror even
to the city. Such an event caused the greater
uneasiness, because it was entirely unexpected ;
for nothing could be less apprehended, than
that a vanquished enemy, almost besieged in
their camp, should entertain a thought of- com-
mitting depredations. The country people,
in a panic, pouring into the gates, and, in the
excess of their fright, exaggerating every thing,
cried out, that they were not small savaging
parties, nor employed in plundering ; but that
the legions, and the entire army of the enemy
were approaching, marching rapidly towards the
city, and prepared for an assault The first
who heard these rumours, spread them about
among others, unauthenticated as they were,
and therefore the more liable to exaggeration ;

.'. R. 290.]

OF ROME.

89

which mused such a hurry and confused cla-
mour, every one calling to anns, as in some
nieiiMire resembled the consternation of a city
taken by storm. Luckily Quintius the consul
had returned from Algidum ; this proved a
remedy for their fears ; he calmed the tumult,
upbraiding them with being afraid of a van-
quished people, and posted guards at the gates.
He then convened the senate, and having, by
their directions, issued a proclamation for a
cessation of all civil business,1 marched out to
protect the frontiers, leaving Quintus Servilius
to command in the city ; but he found no
enemy ia the country. The other consul en-
countered the .^Equans with extraordinary suc-
cess ; for he attacked them on the road while
heavy laden with booty, which so embarrassed
their motions, as to render them unfit for action,
and took severe revenge for the devastations
which they had committed. He succeeded so
effectually, that few made their escape, and the
whole of the booty was recovered. On this
the consul Quintius returned to the city, and
took off the prohibition of business, when it
had continued four days. The general sur-
vey was then held, and the lustrum was closed
by Quintius ;' the number of citizens rated in
the survey, being one hundred and twenty-four
thousand two hundred and fourteen, besides
the orphans of both sexes. Nothing memor-
able passed afterwards in the country of the
.^Equans : they took shelter in their towns,
abandoning their surrounding possessions to fire
and devastation. The consul, after having
repeatedly carried hostilities and depredations
through every part of the enemy's country, re-
turned to Rome with great glory, and abun-
dance of spoil.

IV. The next consuls were Aulus Postu-
mius Albus and Spurius Furius Fusus, [ Y. R.

1 Jiittitittm i guia jui sittebatur. In cases of great
and immediate danger, all proceedings at law were sus-
pended ; the shops also were shut, and all civil business
«ti.pped, until the alarm was over-

2 The lustrum was a period of five years, at the expi-
ration of which a general review of the people was
held, and their Dumber, state, and circumstances in-
quin-d into. The senate also was reviewed by one of the
rensnrs : and if any one, by his behaviour, had rendered
himself unworthy of a place in that body, or had sunk
his fortune below the requisite qualification, his name
was passed over by the censor, in reading the roll of
senators : and thus he was held to be excluded Irom the
si'ii.-itc. \Vli,-n the business was done, the censor, to
whose lot it fell, condidit lustrum, closed the lustrum,
by offering H solemn sacrifice in the Campus Martius.

290. B. C. 4.62.] The Furii, some writers
have called Fusii : this I mention, lest any
should think there was a difference in the
persons, when it is only in the name. There
was no doubt entertained, but that one of the
consuls would march an army against the
^Equans ; these, therefore, requested assistance
from the Volscians of Ecetra, who gladly com-
plied with the request ; and so inveterate was
the hatred which those states bore towards the
Romans, that they eagerly vied with each other,
in making the most vigorous preparations for
war. This coming to the knowledge of the
Hernicians, they gave notice to the Romans,
that the people of Ecetra had revolted to the
y]-'.i|u.-m>. The colony of Antium was also
suspected, because on that town being taken, a
great multitude had fled thence for refuge to
the ^quans ; and while the war with that
people lasted, these proved the most valiant
soldiers in their army. Afterwards, when the
^quans were driven into their towns, this
rabble withdrawing privately, and returning to
Antium, seduced the colonists there from their
allegiance to the Romans, which, even before
that time, was not much to be relied on. Be-
fore the business was yet ripe, on the first in-
formation being laid before the senate of their
intention to revolt, directions were given to the
consuls to send for the heads of the colony, and
inquire into the truth of the matter. These
having readily attended, and being introduced
to the senate by the consuls, answered the
.questions put to them in such a manner, that
the suspicions against them were stronger when
they were dismissed, than before they came.
Wai- was then considered as inevitable. Spu-
rius Furius, to whose lot that province had
fallen, marching against the .Xquans, found the
enemy in the country of the Hernicians, em-
ployed in collecting plunder ; and, being igno-
rant of their numbers, because they had never
been seen altogether, he rashly hazarded an en-
gagement, though his army was very unequal
to the forces of the enemy. At the first onset,
he was driven from his ground, and obb'ged to
retreat to his tents ; nor did the misfortune
end there : in the course of the next night, and
the following day, his camp was surrounded on
all sides, and attacked so vigorously, that there
was no possibility even of sending a messenger
from thence to Rome. The Hernicians brought
an account both of the defeat, and of the consul
and the army being besieged, which struck the
M

90

THE HISTORY

[JJOOK III.

senate with such dismay, that by a decree, in
that form which has been always deemed to be
appropriated to cases of extreme exigency, the
other consul Postumius was charged " to take
care, that the commonwealth should receive no
detriment." It was judged most expedient that
the consid himself should remain at Rome, in
order to enlist all who were able to bear arms ;
and that Titus Quintius should be sent as pro-
consul to the relief of the camp, with an army
composed of the allies ; to complete the num-
ber of which, the Latines, Hernicians, and the
colony at Antium, were ordered to supply
Quintius with subitary soldiers ; this was the
appellation then given to auxiliaries called out
on a sudden emergency.

V. For some time there was a great variety
of movements, and many attempts made, both
on one side and on the other ; for the enemy,
relying on their superiority in number, endea-
voured to weaken the force of the Romans, by
obliging them to divide it into many parts, in
hopes that it would prove insufficient to with-
stand them on every different quarter. At the
same time that the siege of the camp was car-
ried on, a part of their forces was sent to ravage
the lands of the Romans, and to attempt even
Rome itself, if a favourable occasion should of-
fer. Lucius Valerius was left to guard the city,
and the consid Postumius was sent to protect
the frontiers from the enemy's incursions. No
degree of vigilance and activity was left unem-
ployed in any particular : watches were sta-
tioned in the town, out-posts before the gates,
and guards along the walls ; and, as was neces-
sary in a time of such general confusion, a ces-
sation of civil business was observed for seve-
ral days. Meanwhile, at the camp, the consul
Furius, after having endured the siege for some
time, without making any effort, burst forth,
from the Decuman gate,1 on the enemy, when
they least expected him ; and though he might
have pursued their flying troops with advantage,
yet, fearing lest an attack might be made on the
camp from the opposite side, he halted. Ano-
ther Furius, who was a lieutenant-general, and
brother to the consul, hastily pushed forward
too far ; and so eagerly intent was he on the
pursuit, that he neither perceived his own party
retreating, nor the enemy intercepting him be-

1 The Decuman gate was in the rear of the encamp-
ment. For the order and disposition of a Roman camp,
see Adam's Roman Antiouities.

hind : being thus shut out from assistance, and
having often in vain essayed, by every kind of
effort, to open himself a passage, he tell, fighting
with great bravery. The consul, on the othei
hand, hearing that his brother was surrounded,
turned back on the enemy, and while, forget,
ting all caution, he rushed too precipitately into
the thick of the fight, he received a wound, and
was, not without difficulty, carried off by his at-
tendants. This both damped the courage of
his own men, and rendered the enemy more
daring ; and so highly were the latter elated by
the death of the lieutenant-general, and the
consul's being wounded, that no force could af-
terwards withstand them, so as to prevent their
driving the Romans back to their camp, and
compelling them to submit again to a siege,
with both strength and hopes considerably di-
minished ; they were even in danger of utter
destruction, had not Titus Quintius, with the
troops supplied by the Latines and Hernicians,
come to their relief. He attacked the jEquans
on their rear, whilst their attention was em-
ployed on the Roman camp, and as they were
insultingly exhibiting to view the head of the
lieutenant-general ; and a sally being made
from the camp at the same time, on a signal
given by him at some distance, a great number
of the enemy were surrounded and cut off.
Of the /Kquans who were employed in the
Roman territories, the number slain was less,
but their defeat and dispersion was more com-
plete. Being divided into separate parties,
and busied in collecting plunder, they were at-
tacked by Postumius in several places, where
he had posted troops in convenient situations ;
when, not knowing what course to take, and
pursuing their flight in great disorder, they fell
in with Quintius, who, after his victory, was
returning home with the wounded consul.
Then did the consular army, exerting them-
selves with extraordinary alacrity, take full
vengeance for the consul's wound, and for the
loss of the lieutenant-general and the cohorts.
Many heavy losses were sustained on both sides
in the course of that campaign : but it is difii-
cult, at this distance of time, to assign, with
any degree of certainty, the precise number of
those who were engaged, and of those who fell.
Yet Valerius Antius undertakes to estimate
them, affirming that, of the Romans, there fell
in the country of the Hernicans five thousand
three hundred ; that, of the plundering parties
of the .ZEijuans, who spread themselves over

Y. R. 291.]

OF ROME.

91

the Roman territories, two thousand four hun-
dred \\IMC slain by the consul Aulus Postu-
inius ; that tin- other body of them, who, while
they were carrying off the spoil, fell in with
Quintiiis, escaped not without a much greater
I-"--, there being slain of these, four thou-
sand, (and pretending exactness, he adds,)
two hundred and thirty. After this, the
troops returned to Rome, and the order for
cessation of civil business was discharged.
The sky appeared as on fire in many places,
and other portents either occurred to people's
sight, or were formed by terror in their
imaginations. To avert the evils which
these foreboded, a proclamation was issued for
a solemn festival, to be observed for three days,
during which all tie temples were filled with
crowds, both of men and women, supplicating
the favour of the gods. The cohorts of the
Latines and Hernicians were then dismissed by
the senate to their respective homes, with
thanks for their spirited behaviour. During
the campaign, a thousand men, who came from
Antiuin after the battle, but too late to be of
any service, were sent off in a manner little less
than ignominious.

VI. The elections were then held, and Lu-
cius JEbutius and Publius Servilius being cho-
sen consuls, entered on their office, on the
calends of August, which was at that time con-
sidered as the beginning of the year with respect
to them. [Y. R. 291. B. C. 461.] This was
a season of great distress ; for, during this year,
a pestilential disorder spread itself, not only
through the city, but over the country, affecting
both men and cattle with equal malignity ; the
violence of the disorder was increased by ad-
mitting into the city the cattle, and also the
inhabitants of the country, who fled thither for
shelter from the enemy's ravages. Such a col-
lection of animals of every kind nearly suffo-
cated the citizens by the intolerable stench ;
while the country people, crowded together in
narrow apartments, suffered no less from the
heat, the want of rest, and their attendance on
each other ; besides which, mere contact serv-
ed to propagate the infection. While they could
scarcely support the weight of the calamities
under which they laboured, ambassadors from
the Hernicians suddenly arrived with intelli-
gence, that the ./Equans and Volscians in con-
junction had encamped in their territory, and
from thence were ravaging the country with
very numerous forces. Besides the proof,

which the thinness of the senate afforded to
the observation of the allies, of the low state to
which the commonwealth was reduced by the
pestilence, the answer which they received, de-
monstrated a great dejection of spirits : that
" the Hernicians themselves, with the assist-
ance of the Latines, must provide for their own
safety. That the city of Rome, through the
sudden anger of the gods, was depopulated by
sickness. If they (the Romans) should find
any respite from that calamity, they would, as
they had done the year before, and on all occa-
sions, give assistance to their allies." Thus
the ambassadors departed, carrying home the
most sorrowful intelligence ; as they now found
themselves obliged, with their own single
strength, to support a war, to which they had
hardly been equal, even when assisted by the
power of Rome. The enemy remained not
long in the country of. the Hernicians, but pro-
ceeded thence, with hostile intentions, into the
Roman territory ; which, without the injuries
of war, was now become a desert. Without
meeting there one human being even unarmed,
and finding every place through which they
passed destitute, not only of troops, but of the
culture of the husbandman, they yet came as
far as the third stone on the Gabian road. By
this time ^K but his the Roman consul was dead,
and his colleague Servilius so ill, that there was
very little hope of bis recovery ; most of the
leading men were seized by the distemper, as
were the greater part of the patricians, and al-
most every one of military age ; so that they
wanted strength, not only to form the expedi-
tions which were requisite in a conjuncture so
alarming, but even to mount the guards, where
no exertion was necessary. The duty of the
watches was performed by such of the senators
in person, as by their age and strength were
qualified for it ; the care of posting and visiting
these, was intrusted to the plebeian sediles ; on
them devolved the whole administration of af-
fairs, and the dignity of the consular authority.
VII. The commonwealth in this forlorn
state, without a head, without strength, was
saved from destruction by its guardian deities,
who inspired the Volscians and ^Equans v.-ith
the spirit of banditti, rather than of warriors ;
for so far were they from conceiving any hope,
either of mastering, or even of approaching
the walls of Rome, and such an affect had the
distant view of the houses and adjacent hills, •
to divert their thoughts from the attempt, that

92

THE HISTORY

[BOOK in.

murmurs spread through all the camp, each
asking the other, "why they should throw
away their time without employment, and
without booty, in a waste and desert coun-
try, among the putrid carcasses of men and
cattle ; when they might repair to places
that had felt no distress ; to the territory of
Tusculum, where every kind of opulence
abounded ?" and accordingly, they hastily put
themselves in motion, and, crossing the country,
passed on through the territory of Lavici, to
the Tusculan hills ; and to that quarter was the
whole storm and violence of the war directed.
Meanwhile, the Hernicians and Latines,
prompted not only by compassion, but also by
the shame which they must incur, if they neither
gave opposition to the common enemy, march-
ing to attack the city of Rome, nor even when
their allies were besieged, afforded them any as-
sistance, united their forces, and proceeded to
Rome. Not finding the enemy there, and pur-
suing their tracks by such intelligence as they
could procure, they met them coming down
from the heights of Tusculum to the Alban
vale. There an engagemennt ensued, in which
they were by no means a match for the com-
bined forces, and the fidelity of the allies prov-
ed, for the present, unfortunate to them. The
mortality occasioned by the distemper at Rome
was not less than what the sword caused among
the allies. The consul Servilius, with many
other illustrious persons, died : namely, Marcus
Valerius and Titus Virginius Rutilus, augurs ;
Servius Sulpicius, principal curio ; while,
among persons of inferior note, the virulence
01 the disorder spread its ravages on every side.
The senate, unable to discover a prospect of re-
lief in any human means, directed the people
to have recourse to vows and to the deities :
they were ordered to go, with their wives and
children, to offer supplications, and implore the
favour of the gods ; and all being thus called
out by public authority, to perform what each
man was strongly urged to by his own private
calamities, they quickly filled the places of
worship. In every temple, the prostrate ma-
trons, sweeping the ground with their hair,
implored a remission of the displeasure of
heaven, and deliverance from the pestilence.

VIII. From that time, whether it was owing
to the gods having become propitious, or to the
more unhealthy season of the year being now
past, the people began to find their health
gradually restored. And now their attention

being turned to public business, several inter-
regna having expired, Publius Valerius Pub-
licola, on the third day after he had entered on
the office of interrex, caused Lucius Lucretius
Tricipitinus and Titus Veturius, or Vetusius,
Geminus, to be elected consuls. [Y. R. 292.
B. C. 460.] These assumed their office on the
third of the ides of August, at which time the
state had recovered its strength so far as to be
able not only to repel an attack, but to act offen-
sively on occasion. Wherefore, on the Herm'ci-
ans sending information, that the enemy had
made an irruption into their frontiers, they cheer-
fully promised to assist them. Two consular
armies were raised. Veturius was sent to carry
on an offensive war against the Volscians. Trici-
pitinus being appointed to protect the tern-
Lories of the allies from all incursions, pro-
ceeded no farther than the country of the Her-
nicians. Veturius, in the first engagement,
routed and dispersed his enemy. While Lu-
cretius lay encamped among the Hernicians, a
party of plunderers, unobserved by him, marched
over the Praenestine mountains, and from
thence descended into the plains. These laid
waste all the country about Prseneste and Gabii,
and from the latter turned their course towards
the high grounds of Tusculum. Even Rome
was very much alarmed, more so by the unex-
pectedness of the affair, than that they wanted
strength to defend themselves. Quintus Fabius
had the command in the city. He armed the
young men, posted guards, and soon put every
thing into a state of safety and tranquillity.
The enemy therefore, not daring to approach
the walls, but hastily carrying off whatever they
could find in the adjacent places, set out on
their return, making a long circuit, and while
their caution relaxed, in proportion as they re-
moved to a greater distance, they, fell in with
the consul Lucretius, who having procured in-
telligence of all their motions, lay with his
troops drawn up, and impatient for the combat.
These the consul, with premeditated resolution,
attacked, who, terrified and thrown into dis-
order by this sudden appearance of danger, and
though considerably greater in number, were
easily routed and put to flight. He then drove
them into deep valleys, from which, being sur-
rounded by his troops, it was difficult to escape.
On this occasion the Volscian race was nearlj
extinguished. I find in some histories, that
there fell, in the field and the pursuit, thirtee;
thousand four hundred and seventy ; that one

Y. ii. -.

OF HO M K.

lliousaiul t\vo hundred anil fifty were made pris-
oners ; and tliat t\\enty-scvt'ii military standards
were taken. However, though, in those ac-
counts, the numbers may be somewhat exag-
gerated, the slaughter certainly was very great.
The victorious consul, possessed of an immense
booty, returned to his former post. The con-
suls then made a junction of their forces. The
Volscians and JEquans also united their shat-
tered troops. On which ensued the third battle
in the course of that campaign. The same good
fortune attended the Romans, the enemy being
routed, with the loss of his camp.

IX. Thus did the course of affairs at Rome
return into its former channel, and successes
abroad immediately excited commotions at
home. Cains Terentillus Arsawas tribune of
the people that year. He, taking advantage of
the absence of the consuls, as an opportunity
favourable to tiibunitian intrigues, entertained
the commons for several days with railings
against the arrogance of the patricians ; but
levelled his invectives chiefly against the con-
sular government, as possessing an exorbitant
degree of power, and intolerable in a free state :
" In name," he said, " it was less odious than
regal government ; while, in fact, it was rather
more oppressive — as, instead of one tyrant, two
had been set over them, invested with immode-
rate and unlimited rule ; who, while they them-
selves were privileged and uncontrolled, direct-
ed every terror of the laws, and every kind of
severity against the commons. Now, in order
to prevent their continuing for ever to possess
this arbitrary influence, he would propose, that
five commissioners be appointed to compose a
set of laws for the regulation of the consular
government. Whatever share of authority the
people should think proper to intrust in the
hands of the consuls, such they should enjoy ;
but they should not hold their own will and
absolute determinations as law." When this
decree was published, the patricians were filled
with dread, lest, in the absence of the consuls,
the yoke might be imposed on them : the se-
nate was called together by the prafect of the
city, Quintus Fabius, who inveighed against
the proposition, and the author of it, with such
vehemence, as to omit no kind of threats, or
means of intimidation, which could have been
applied, had both the consuls, provoked to the
highest, stood beside the tribune. He urged,
that " this man had lain in ambush, and, watch-
ing his opportunity, had made an assault on the

commonwealth. If the gods, in their anger
had sent a tribune like him, during the last
year, while sickness and war raged together, his
designs could not have been prevented. When
both the consuls were dead, and the enfeebled
state lay overwhelmed in universal anarchy and
confusion, he would probably have introduced
laws for abolishing the consular government,
and would have become a leader to the Vol.
scians and TEquans in an attack upon the-city.
And, after all, where was the occasion for such
a law ? If a consul, in his behaviour towards
the citizens, proved himself arbitrary or cruel,
was it not in the tribune's power to bring him
to a trial? to prosecute him, where his judges
would be those very persons, against one of
whom the injury was committed ? His man.
ner of acting tended to render, not the consular
government, but the office of tribune, odious
and intolerable ; because, from being in a state
of peace and amity with the patricians, he was
forcing it back into the old evil practices. But
it was not intended to beseech him to desist
from proceeding as he had begun. Of you the
other tribunes," said Fabius, " we request, that
ye will, first of all, consider, that your office
was instituted for the protection of individuals,
and not for the destruction of any part of the
community ; that ye were created tribunes of
the commons, not foes of the patricians. It
reflects as much dishonour on you, as it does
concern on us, that the commonwealth should
be invaded in the absence of its chief magis-
trates. Take measures with your colleague,
that he may adjourn this business until the ar-
rival of the consuls ; ye will not hereby lessen
your rights, but ye will lessen the odium which
such proceedings must excite. Even the /Equans
and Volscians, when the consuls were carried
off last year by the sickness, refrained from
adding to our afflictions by a cruel and implaca-
ble prosecution of war." The tribunes ac-
cordingly made application to Terentillus, and
the business being suspended in appearance,
but in reality suppressed, the consuls were im-
mediately called home.

X. Lucretius returned with a very great
quantity of spoil, and much greater glory. He
added to the glory which he had acquired, by
exposing, on his arrival, all the spoil in the field
of Mars, in order that every one should have
an opportunity, during three days, to recognise
and carry home his share of the same. The
remainder not having claimants, was sold.

THE HISTORY

[BOOK in

All men agreed in opinion, that a triumph
was due to the consul ; but the considera-
tion of that matter was postponed, because
the tribune had renewed his attempts to
carry his law ; and this was deemed by the
consul an affair of more importance. The
business was canvassed during several days,
both in the senate, and the assembly of the
people ; at length, the tribune yielded to the
weight of the consid's authority, and desisted.
Then was paid to the consul and his army, the
honour which they so justly merited. He
triumphed over the Volscians and ./Equans, his
own legions attending him in the procession.
To the other consul was granted the honour of
entering the city in ovation,1 unattended by the
troops. In the following year, [Y. R. 293.
B. C. 459.] the law of Terentillus, supported
by the concurrence of all the tribunes, again as-
sailed the consuls. These were Publius Vo-
lumnius and Servius Sulpicius. In this year
the sky appeared on fire, and a violent earth-
quake happened ; it was also now believed that
an ox spoke, an incident to which in the last
year credit had been refused. Among other
prodigies, a shower of flesh fell, which, as was
reported, was in a great measure intercepted in
its fall by a vast number of birds flying about
the place, and what escaped them, lay scattered
on the ground for several days, without any de-
gree of putrefaction, or being even changed in
smell. The books' were consulted by the
duumviri presiding over sacred rites, and it was
predicted that dangers impended from a con-
course of foreigners ; that an attack was to be

1 The ovation was an inferior kind of triumph, in
which the victorious general entered the city, crowned
with myrtle, not with laurel ; and instead of bullocks,
as in the triumph, sacrificed a sheep, ovit , hence the
name.

2 These were the famous sibylline books, purchased,
it was said, by Tarquiniua Superbus, from an old wo-
man whom nobody knew, and who was never seen
again. These books, which were supposed to contain
prophetic information of the fate and fortune of the
Roman state, were carefully deposited in a stone chest,
in a vault under the Capitol, and two officers chosen
from the order of patricians, called duumviri sacrorum,
appointed to take care of them. The number of these
was afterwards increased to ten, half of whom were
plebeians ; then to fifteen, upon which occasion they
were called Quindecemviri ; which name they retaiued
when augmented to sixty. Upon occasions of extreme
danger, of pestilence, or the appearance of any extraor.
dinary prodigies, these officers were ordered by the
senate to consult, or to pretend to consult, the books,
»nd they reported what expiations and other rites
were necessary to avert the impending evil.

made on the higher parts of the city, and lives
lost in consequence ; among other things,
warning was given, that all seditious practices
should be avoided. This the tribunes cried
out against, as a forgery, contrived for the pur-
pose of hindering the passing of their law ; and
matters were tending to a desperate contest ;
when lo ! that things might revolve in the same
circle every year, the Hernicians brought an
account, that the Volscians and J5quans, not-
withstanding their late defeat, were recruiting
their armies ; that their chief dependance was
upon Antium ; that the people of that colony
held meetings openly at Ecetra; that they
were the first movers of the war, and composed
the greatest part of the forces. As soon as
this intelligence was communicated to the sen-
ate, an order was passed for levying troops, and
the consuls were directed to take the manage-
ment of the war between them, so that one
should have the Volscians as his province, the
other the ^quans. The tribunes exclaimed
loudly to their faces in the forum, that " this
Volscian war was but a concerted farce ; that
the Hernicians had been instructed how to
act their part in it ; that now the Roman peo-
j pie were not deprived of liberty by manly ef-
forts, but cheated out of it by cunning. That
because it was incredible, that the Volscians
and JEquans, who were almost exterminated,
could of themselves commence hostilities, new
enemies had been sought for,and slanders thrown
on a loyal colony closely connected with Rome ;
that the war was proclaimed, indeed, against
the unoffending people of Antium, but waged
against the commons of Rome, whom they
intended to lead out of the city with precipi-
tate haste, loaded with arms, thus wreaking
their vengeance on the tribunes by the expul-
sion and banishment of the citizens. That by
these means, and let not people think there was
any other design, all efforts in favour of the
law \vould be effectually overpowered, if they
did not, before matters proceeded farther,
while they were yet at home, and retained
the garb of citizens, adopt such measures as
would prevent their being driven out of pos-
session of the city, and obliged to submit to
the yoke. If they had spirit, they should not
want support ; the tribunes were all un-
animous in their favour; there was no dan-
ger, no reason of apprehension from abroad.
The gods had taken care the year before
that they might now stand up with safety in

v. H. 293.]

OF ROME.

95

defence of their liberty." Such was the lan-
guage of the tribunes.

XL But on the other side, the consuls,
fixing their chairs within view of them, began
to proceed in the levy ; thither the tribunes
hastened, and drew the assembly with them.
A few were cited by way of experiment, and
immediately outrages commenced. Whenever
a lictor, by the consul's command, laid hold of
any person, a tribune ordered him to be set at
liberty. Nor did either party confine them-
selves within the limits of that authority, to
which their office entitled them ; every mea-
sure taken was to be supported by force. The
same line of conduct, which the tribunes had
observed in obstructing the levy, was followed
by the consuls in their opposition to the law,
which was brought forward on every day
whereon an assembly could be held. The riot
was continued by the patricians refusing to
withdraw, after the tribunes had ordered the
people to proceed to the place of voting. The
elder citizens hardly ever attended the meetings
on this affair, by reason that they were not
regulated by prudence, but abandoned to the
direction of rashness and violence ; and the
consuls generaJly kept out of the way, lest, in
such general confusion, they should expose
their dignity to insult. There was a young
man, called Caeso Quintius, full of presumption,
on account both of the nobility of his descent,
and his personal size and strength ; to these
qualifications bestowed by the gods, he added
many warlike accomplishments, and had
evinced a considerable degree of eloquence in
the forum, insomuch that no person in the state
was deemed to possess greater abilities, either
for acting or speaking. This man having

ced himself in the midst of the body of the
iitricians, conspicuous in stature above the
rest, and as if he carried in his eloquence and
bodily strength, every power of the consulship
or dictatorship, withstood by his single efforts
the attacks of the tribunes, and the whole
popular storm. In consequence of his exer-
tions, the tribunes were often driven out of the
forum, and the commons routed and dispersed.
Such of them as came in his way, he caused to
be stripped, and otherwise severely handled ;
so that every one saw, that if he were allowed
to proceed in this manner, it would be impos-
sible to cany the law. At this juncture, when
the tribunes were almost reduced to despair,
Aulus Virginius, one of their body, instituted

a criminal prosecution on a capital charge
against Cieso. But by this proceeding he
rather irritated than repressed his impetuous
temper : he thence became the more vehement
in his opposition to the law, persecuted the
commons, and harassed the tribunes, in a man-
ner, with open hostilites. The prosecutor
suffered the accused to run headlong to ruin,
and to draw down- on himself such a degree of
public displeasure, as would serve to inflame
men's minds on the charges which he had
brought against him, and in the mean time fre-
quently introduced the law, not so much in hope
of carrying it through, as with design to provoke
the rashness of Caeso. Many inconsiderate
expressions and actions, which often passed on
these occasions among the young men, were
all, through the general prejudice against him,
imputed to Caeso's violent temper. The law,
however, was still opposed, and Aulus Vir-
ginius frequently observed to the people, " Do
ye not perceive, Romans, that it is impossible
for you to have, at the same time, Cseso among
the number of your citizens, and this law which
ye wish for ? Though why do I speak of this
law ? Your liberty is endangered by him ; he
surpasses in tyrannical pride, all the Tarquinii
together : wait until he is made consul or dic-
tator, whom ye now behold in a private station,
exerting all the prerogatives of royalty." He
was supported in these invectives by great
numbers, who complained of being personally
abused by Caeso, and importuned the tribune to
go through with the prosecution. ,

XII. The day of trial now approached, and
it was manifest that the people in general had
conceived an opinion, thai the existence of their
liberty depended upon the condemnation of
Caeso. Then at length he was compelled,
though not without indignation, to solicit the
favour of each : he was followed by his rela-
tions, who were the principal persons in the
state. Titus Quintius Capitolinus, who had
been thrice consul, after recounting many hon-
ourable achievements of his own, and of his
family, affirmed, that " there never had ap-
peared, either in the Quintian family, or in the
Roman state, any person possessed of such a
capacity, and who exhibited so early, such dis-
plays of valour. That he served his first cam-
paign under himself, and had often in his sight
fought with the enemy." Spurius Furius de-
clared, that " he had, by order of Quintius
Capitolinus, come to his relief, when in a

96

THE HISTORY

IJJOOK in.

dangerous situation ; and that tliere was no
one person to whom he thought the public so
much indebted for the restoration of their
affairs." Lucius Lucretius, consul the pre-
ceding year, in the full splendour of fresh glory,
attributed to Cteso a share of his own merits ;
enumerated the battles he had been engaged
in ; related extraordinary instances of his good
behaviour, both on expeditions and in the field ;
advised and warned them, rather " to preserve
among themselves, than to drive into a foreign
country, a youth of such extraordinary merit,
endowed with every accomplishment which
nature and fortune could bestow, and who
would prove a vast accession to the in-
terest of any state, of which he should be-
come a member. That the only parts in his
character which coidd give offence, heat and
vehemence, diminished daily, as he advanced
in age ; \vhile the only requisite wanting,
namely, prudence, was continually gathering
strength : that as his faults were on the de-
cline, and his virtues advancing to maturity,
they should allow a man of such rare talents to
become an old member of their community."
Along with these, his father, Lucius Quintius,
surnamed Cincinnatus, not dwelling on his
praises, for fear of heightening the public dis-
pleasure, but intreating their forgiveness for
his mistakes and his youth, besought them to
pardon the son for the sake of him who, neither
in word or deed, had ever given offence to any.
But some, either through respect or fear,
avoided listening to his intreaties ; while others,
complaining of the ill-treatment which they
and their friends had received, showed before-
hand, by their harsh answers, what their sen-
tence would be.

XIII. Besides the notorious instances of
the ill conduct of the accused, there was one
charge which bore heavily on him : Marcus
Volscius Fictor, who some years before had
been tribune of the people, stood forth and
testified, that " a short time after the pestilence
in the city, he met with a number of young
men rioting in the Suburra ;' that a scuffle en-
sued, and that his brother, who was advanced
in years, and not thoroughly recovered from
the disorder, received from Creso a blow
of his fist, which felled him to the ground ;
that he was carried home from thence, and
that he believed this blow was the cause of

1 A part of the town, so called.

his death ; but that he was prevented from
prosecuting him for such an atrocious act, by
the consuls of the preceding years." The loud
asseverations of Volscius on the matter so en-
raged the people, that they could hardly be
restrained from falling on Caeso, and putting
him to death. Virginius ordered him to be
seized, and carried to prison : the patricians
opposed force to force. Titus Quintius ex-
claimed, that " a person formally accused of a
capital crime, whose trial was shortly to come
on, ought not, before trial, and without sen-
tence passed, to suffer violence." The tribune
declared, that " he had no intention of inflict-
ing pains before condemnation, but that he
would keep him in custody until the day of
trial, that the Roman people might have it in
their power to punish the man who had been
guilty of murder." The other tribunes being
appealed to, resolved on a middle course, and
thereby avoided every impeachment of their
right to give protection : they forbade his being
put in confinement, and declared it as their
determination, that Cseso should give bail for
his appearance, and that a sum of money should
be secured to the people, in case of his failing
so to do. The sum in which it was reason-
able that the sureties should be bound, came
then to be discussed ; it was referred to the
senate ; and, until they should come to a reso-
lution, the accused was detained in the public
assembly. It was determined that he should
find sureties, and that each surety should be
bound to the amount of three thousand asses.-*
the number of sureties to be furnished was
left to the decision of the tribunes ; they fixed
it at ten, and on that number being bound, the
prosecutor consented that the offender should
be admitted to bail. He was the first who
gave bail, in this manner, where the penalty
was to be applied to the use of the public.
Being dismissed from the forum, he went the
night following into exile among the Etrurians.
On the day appointed for his trial it was plead-
ed in his favour, that he had gone into exile ;
nevertheless, Virginius presiding in the assem-
bly, his colleagues, on being appealed to, dis-
missed the meeting, and the forfeited money
was exacted from his father with such severity,
that all his property being sold, he lived for a
long time in an obscure cottage beyond the
Tiber, as if banished from his country. This

2 9;. 13*. 6rf.

Y. R. 294.]

OF ROME.

97

triiil, and the proceedings about the law, gave
full employment to the state. There was no
disturbance from foreign enemies.

XIV. The tribunes, flushed with this suc-
niagined, from the dismay into which the
patricians had been thrown by the exile of
Cseso, that the passing of the Law was almost
certain. But though the elder patricians had
in fact relinquished the administration of affairs,
the younger part of them, especially those who
wnv Cicso's friends, instead of suffering their
spirits to droop, assumed a higher degree of
vehemence in their rage against the commons.
Yet in one particular they improved their plan
exceedingly, which was by moderation. The
first time, indeed, after Caeso's bankhment,
when the law in all their proceedings became
the question, having prepared themselves for
the occasion, and formed in a body with a great
band of their dependents, they, as soon as the
tribunes afforded a pretext by ordering them to
retire, attacked the people furiously, and all
exerted themselves with activity so equal, that
no one carried home a greater share than an-
other, either of honour or of ill-will ; while the
commons complained, that a thousand Csesos
had started up in the room of one. During
the intermediate days, however, in which the
tribunes brought forward no proceedings re-
specting the law, nothing could be more mild
and peaceable than these same .persons ; they
saluted the plebeians kindly ; entered into con-
versation with them ; invited them to their
houses ; took care of their affairs in the forum,
and allowed even the tribunes themselves to
hold meetings for any other purposes without
interruption. In a word, they showed no kind
of incivility to any, either in public or private,
except when the business of the law began to
be agitated. On other occasions, as I have
said, the behaviour of the young patricians was
popular, and the tribunes not only executed the
rest of their business without disturbance, but
were even re-elected for the following year with-
out one offensive expression, much less any
violence being used. By thus soothing and
managing the commons, they rendered them, by
degrees, more tractable, and, by these methods,
the passing of the law was evaded during that
whole year.

XV. The succeeding consuls, Caius Clau-
dius, son of Appitis, and Publius Valerius,
found, on entering on the office, the common-
wealth in a state of perfect tranquillity. [ Y. R.

I.

201. 15. C. 458.] The new year had brought
no change in affairs. The thoughts of every
member of the state were occupied, either in
wishes for the passing of the law, or in appre-
hensions of being obliged to submit to it. The
more the younger patricians endeavoured to in-
sinuate themselves into the favour of the com-
mons, the more earnestly did the tribunes strive
to counteract them ; exciting suspicions to their
prejudice in the minds of the populace ; and
asserting, that there was a conspiracy formed.
They maintained likewise, that Cseso was at
Rome ; that plans had been concerted for put-
ting the tribunes to death, and massacring the
commons ; that the elder patricians had engaged
the younger to abolish the office of tribune, and
to reduce the state to the same form which had
subsisted before the secession to the sacred
mount. While fears were entertained of an
attack from the Volscians and ^quans, which
had now become a stated matter, and occurred
regularly almost every year, a new danger made
its appearance nearer home. A number of
exiles and skves, amounting to four thousand
five hundred, under the command of Appius
Herdonius, a Sabine, seized on the Capitol and
citadel by night, and put to death all those in
the latter, who refused to join the conspiracy,
and take arms along with them. Some, during
this tumult, ran down to the forum with all the
precipitance which their fright inspired, and the
cries of, " to arms," and " the enemy are in
the city," resounded alternately. The consuls
were afraid either to arm the commons, or let
them remain without arms, not knowing what
this peril was, which had so suddenly assailed
the city ; whether it was occasioned by foreign
or domestic forces ; whether by the disaffection
of the commons, or the treachery of the slaves.
They exerted themselves to quiet the tumults ;
but, not unfrequently, these very endeavours
served but to exasperate them the more : for it
was impossible, in such a state of terror and
consternation, to make the populace obey
command. They gave them arms notwith-
standing, but not to all without distinction,
only to such as they could safely rely on
in all emergencies, not yet knowing with
what enemy they had to contend. The rest
of the night was passed in posting guards
in proper places all over the city, the magis-
trates still remaining in anxious suspense, and
unable to find out who the enemy were, or
what their number. Daylight then arriving,
N

98

THE HISTORY

[BOOK in.

made a discovery of the insurgents, and of
their leader : Appius Hcrdonius from the ca-
pitol invited the slaves to liberty, telling them,
that " he had undertaken the cause of all the
unfortunate, with intent of restoring to their
country those who had been unjustly driven
into banishment, and of delivering those who
groaned under the grievous yoke of slavery.
He rather wished that this might be accom-
plished by the voluntary act of the Roman
people : but if it was not to be so effected, he
would rouse the Volscians and ./Equans in the
cause, and would persevere in the attempt to
the utmost extremity."

XVI. The affair appeared now to the con-
suls and senate in a less formidable light, yet
they still dreaded lest, besides the purposes
which were declared, that this might be a
scheme of the Veientians or the Sabines ; and
that the disaffected might, in consequence of a
concerted plan, be supported presently by the
Sabine and Etrurian legions ; and that their
everlasting enemies, the Volscians and JEquans,
might come, not, as formerly, to ravage the
country, but to seize on the city, which their
favourers already possessed in part. Many
and various were their fears, the principal of
which was their dread of the slaves, lest every
one should find in his own house an enemy,
whom it was neither safe to trust, nor, by ap-
parent distrust, to provoke to infidelity and
hate. So critical, indeed, was their situation,
that, had perfect harmony subsisted in the
state, they could scarcely hope to be extricated
from it. But amidst the crowd of. dangers
which started up on every side, no one had any
apprehensions from the turbulence of the tri-
bunes or the commons : that was deemed an
evil of a milder nature ; and which, as it always
began to operate in times undisturbed by foreign
affairs, they supposed would now be at rest.
Yet this alone proved the heaviest aggravation
of their distress ; for such madness possessed
the tribunes, that they insisted, that they were
not enemies, but people under the appearance
of enemies, who had seized on the capitol, for
the purpose of diverting the attention of the
commons from the business of the law ; and
that these guests and dependents of the patri-
cians, if the law were once passed, and it were
perceived that the tumults, which they raised,
had not answered their purpose, would depart
in greater silence than they came. They then
called away the people from their arms, and

held an assembly for passing the law. In the
mean time, the consuls convened the senate,
more terrified by the danger apprehended from
the tribunes, than from the exiles and slaves.

XVII. On bearing that the people were
laying down their arms, and quitting their posts,
Publius Valerius, leaving his colleague to pre-
side in the senate, rushed forth from the senate-
house, and came to the assembly of the tribunes,
whom he thus accosted : " What mean ye, tri-
bunes, by these proceedings ? Do ye intend,
under the command and auspices of Appius
Herdonius, to overturn the commonwealth ?
Has he been successful in corrupting you.
though he had not authority sufficient to influ-
ence the slaves? Do ye think this a proper
time, when the foe is within our walls, for
arms to be laid aside, and laws to be propos-
ed?" Then directing his discourse to the po-
pulace, " If, Romans, ye are unconcerned for
the city and for yourselves, yet pay respect to
the gods of your country, now taken captive.
Jupiter supremely good and great, Juno queen
of heaven, Minerva, with the other gods and
goddesses, are held in confinement : a band of
slaves occupies the residence of the tutelar
deities of the state. Do ye think this method
of acting consistent with sound policy ? These
slaves have a powerful force, not only within
the walls, but in the citadel, looking down on
the forum and the senate-house ; meanwhile,
in the forum, are assemblies of the people ; in
the senate-house, the senate sitting ; just as in
time of perfect tranquillity the senator gives
his opinion, the other Romans their votes.
Ought not every man, as well of the patricians
as commoners, the consul, tribunes, citizens,
all in short, to have snatched up arms in such
a cause, to have run to the capitol, to have re-
stored to liberty and peace that most august resi-
dence of the supremely good and great Jupiter?
O father Romulus, grant to thine ofTspring that
spirit, by which thou formerly recoveredst the
citadel from these same Sabines, when they
had got possession of it by means of gold.
Direct them to pursue the same path, in which
thou leddest the way, and which thine army fol-
lowed. Lo, I as consul will be the first to fol-
low thee and thy footsteps, as far as a mortal
can follow a divinity." The conclusion of his
speech was, that " he now took up arms, and
summoned every citizen of Rome to arms. If
any one should attempt to prevent the execu-
tion of this order, he would never," he said,

Y. R. 294.]

OF ROME.

99

" regard the extent of the consular authority,
nor of the tribunitian power, nor the devoting
law* ; hut, he he who he might, or where he
might, whether in the capitol or in the forum,
he would treat him as an enemy. Let the tri-
bunes, then, give orders for arming against Pub-
hus Valerius the con-ul, since they had forbid-
den it against Appius Herdonius, and he would
not hesitate to use those tribunes, in the same
manner which the founder of his family had
the spirit to show towards kings." On this
declaration, every one expected the utmost de-
gree of violence, and that the enemy would be
gratified with the sight of a civil war among the
Romans. Yet neither could the law be carried,
nor the consul march to the capitol ; night com-
ing on, put a stop to the contests ; and the tri-
bunes, dreading the armed attendants of the
consuls, retired. And as soon as the fomen-
ters of sedition had withdrawn, the patricians
went about among the commons, and introduc-
ing themselves into their circles of conversa-
tion, threw out discourses adapted to the junc-
ture, advising them to " consider well into what
hazards they were bringing the commonwealth ;"
telling them that " the contest was not between
the patricians and plebeians, but whether the
patricians and plebeians together, the fortress of
the city, the temples of the gods, and the guar-
dian deities of the state, and of private fami-
lies, should all be given up into the hands of
the enemy." While these measures were em-
ployed in the forum to appease the dissensions,
the consuls had gone to visit the gates and walls,
lest the Sabines or Veientians might make any
hostile attempt.

XVIII. The same night, messengers arriv-
ed at Tusculum, with accounts of the citadel
being taken, the capitol seized, and of the other
disturbances which had taken place in the city.
Lucius Mamilius was at that time dictator at
Tusculum. He instantly assembled the senate,
and introducing the messengers, warmly recom-
mended, that " they should not wait until am-
bassadors might arrive from Rome to request
assistance, but instantly send it ; the danger
and distress of their allies, with the gods, who
witnessed their alliance, and the faith of trea-
ties, demanded it. That the deities would ne-
ver afford them again perhaps so good an oppor-
tunity of engaging the gratitude of so powerful
a state, and so near a neighbour." It was im-
mediately resolved, that assistance should be
sent ; and the youth were enrolled and aimed.

Coming to Rome at day-break, they were at a
distance taken for enemies ; it was imagined
that they were the ^Lquans or the Volscians ;
but this groundless alarm being removed, they
were received into the city, and marched down
in a body to the forum, where Publius Valerius,
having left his colleague to secure the gates, was
employed at the time in drawing up the people
in order of battle. They had been prevailed
on to arm by the confidence placed in his pro-
mises, when he assured them, that, " as soon
as the capitol should be recovered, and peace
restored in the city, if they would suffer them-
selves to be convinced of the dangerous designs
that lurked under the law proposed by the tri-
bunes, he would give no obstruction to the as-
sembly of the people, mindful of his ancestors,
nyndful of his surname, by which, attention to
promote the interest of the community was
handed down to him, as an inheritance from his
ancestors." Led by him, then, and notwith-
standing that the tribunes cried out loudly
against it, they directed their march up the
steep of the capitol. They were joined by the
troops of Tusculum ; and citizens and allies
vied with each other for the glory of recover-
ing the citadel ; each leader encouraging his own
men. The besieged, on this, were greatly ter-
rified, having no reliance on any thing but the
strength of the place ; apd while they were thus
disconcerted, the Romans and allies pushed for-
ward to the assault. They had already broken
into the porch of the temple, when Publius
Valerius, leading on the attack, was slain at
the head of his men. Publius Volumnius, for-
merly consul, saw him fall, and charging those
about him to cover the body, rushed forward to
take the place and the office of the consul. The
ardour and eagerness of the soldiers were such,
as hindered their perceiving so great a loss, and
they gained the victory, before they knew that
they were fighting without their leader. Many
of the exiles defiled the temple with their
blood ; many were taken alive ; Herdonius was
skin. Thus was the capitol recovered. Pun-
ishments were inflicted on the prisoners, suita-
ble to their several conditions either of free-
men or slaves. Thanks were given to the
Tusculans. The capitol was cleansed and
purified. It is said that the plebeians threw
into the consul's house a quadrans each, that
his funeral might be solemnized with the
greater splendour.

XIX. Peace being re-established, the tri-

100

THE HISTORY

[BOOK in.

bunes earnestly pressed the senate to fulfil the
promise of Publius Valerius, and pressed
Claudius to acquit the shade of his colleague
of breach of faith, and suffer the business of
the law to proceed. The consul declared, that
he would not b'sten to the matter, until he
should have a colleague appointed in the room
of the deceased. The disputes on this sub-
ject lasted until the assembly was held for sub-
stituting a consul. In the month of December,
in consequence of very zealous efforts of the
patricians, Lucius Quintius Ciiicinnatus, fa-
ther of CJESO, was elected consul, to enter on
his office without delay. The commons were
quite dismayed, on finding, that they were to
have for consul a person highly incensed against
them, arid whose power was strengthened by
the support of the patricians, by his own merit,
and by three sons, no one of whom was in-
ferior to Caeso in greatness of spirit, while
they excelled him in prudence and moderation
on proper occasions. When he came into
office, in the frequent harangues which he made
from the tribunal, he showed not more vehe-
mence in his censures of the commons, than
in his reproofs to the senate, " through the
indolence of which body," he said, " the tri-
bunes, now become perpetual, by means of
their harangues and prosecutions, exercised
sovereign authority, as if they were not in a
republic of Roman citizens, but in an ill-regu-
lated family. That together with his son
Caeso, fortitude, constancy, and every qualifi-
cation that gives ornament to youth, either in
war or peace, had been driven out and banished
from the city of Rome ; while talkative, sedi-
tious men, sowers of dissension, twice and
even thrice re-elected tribunes, spent their lives
in the most pernicious practices, and in the
exercise of regal tyranny. Did Aulus Virgi-
nius," said he, " because he was not in the
capitol, deserve less severe punishment than
Appius Herdonius would have merited ? More,
undoubtedly, if we judge fairly of the matter.
Herdonius, though nothing else could be said
in his favour, by announcing himself an enemy,
gave out public orders in such a manner, that
ye necessarily would take arms. The other,
denying that there were enemies to be opposed,
took the arms out of your hands, and exposed
you defenceless to your slaves and exiles. And
did ye, notwithstanding, (I wish to speak
without offence to Cains Claudius, or in detri-
ment to tne memory of Publius Valerius) lead

your troops to an attack on the capitoline hill,
before he had expelled these enemies from the
forum ? It is scandalous in the sight of gods
and men, that when a host of rebels was in the
citadel, in tiie capitol, and when a leader of
exiles and slaves, profaning every thing sacred,
took up his habitation in the shrine of Jupiter,
supremely good and great, it is disgraceful, I
say, that arms were taken up at Tusculum
sooner than at Rome. It actually appeared
doubtful, whether Lucius Mamilius, a Tus-
culan general, or Publius Valerius and Caius
Claudius, consuls, should have the honour of
recovering the Roman citadel. Thus we who,
heretofore, would not suffer the Latines to
take up arms, not even in their own defence,
and when they had the enemy within their
territories, should have been taken and de-
stroyed, had not these very Latines afforded
us assistance of their own accord. Is this, tri-
bunes, your duty towards the commons, to un-
arm and expose them to slaughter ? Surely, if
any, even the lowest person among these com-
mons of yours, whom from being a part ye have
broken off, as it were, from the body of the
people, and made a republic peculiar to your-
selves ; if any one of these should inform
you that his house was surrounded by an
armed band of slaves, surely ye would think
that ye ought to go to his assistance. And
was the supremely good and great Jupiter,
when hemmed round by the arms of exiles
and slaves, unworthy of any human aid ? Yet
these men expect to be held sacred and in-
violable, who esteem not the gods themselves
as either sacred or inviolable. But it seems,
contaminated as ye are with the guilt of
your offences against gods and men, ye give
out that ye will carry through your law before
the end of this year. It would then, in-
deed, be an unfortunate day to the state, on
which I was created consul, much more so, than
that on which the consul Valerius perished, if
ye should carry it. Now, first of all, Romans,
my colleague and I intend to march the
legions against the Volscians and ^Bquans. I
know not by what fatality we find the gods
more propitious, while we are employed in war
than during peace. How great the danger
from those nations would have been if they had
known that the capitol was in the possession of
exiles, it is better that we should 'conjecture
from the past than feel from experience."
X X. The consul's discourse hsvd a consider-

y. R. 294.]

OF ROME.

101

able effect on the commons ; and the patricians
recovering their spirits, looked on the common-
wealth as restored to its proper state. The
other consul, showing more eagerness in pro-
moting than in forming a design, readily allowed
his colleague to take the lead in the preparatory
proceedings on so weighty an affair ; but in the
execution of the pldn, claimed to himself a
share of the consular duties. The tribunes,
mocking these declarations, proceeded to ask,
" by what means the consuls would be enabled
to lead out an army, when no one would suffer
them to make a levy ?" To this Qu;ntius re-
plied, " We have no occasion for a levy, because
when Publius Valerius gave arms to the com-
mons, for the recovery of the capitol, they all
took an oath to him, that they would assemble
on an order from the consul, and would not
depart without his permission. We therefore
publish our orders, that every one of you who
have taken the oath, attend to-morrow, under
arms, at the lake Regillus." The tribunes then
began to cavil, and alleged, that " the people
were absolved of that obligation, because Quin-
tius was in a private station, at the time when
the oath was taken." But that disregard of
the gods, which prevails in the present age, had
not then taken place ; nor did every one, by his
own interpretations, accommodate oaths and the
laws to his particular views, but rather adapted
his practice to them. The tribunes, therefore,
finding no hope of succeeding in their opposi-
tion on that pound, endeavoured to delay the
marching of the troops ; and in this they were
the more earnest, because a report had spread,
that orders had been given for the augurs also
to attend at the lake Regillus, and that a place
should be consecrated by them, in order that
the people might transact business with the
benefit of auspices, so that any measures en-
acted at Rome through means of the violence
of the tribunes, might be repealed in an assem-
bly held there. It was urged, however, that
ary one would vote there, just as the consuls
chose ; for at any greater distance from the
city than that of a mile, there was no appeal :
and even should, the tribunes come thither,
they would, among the crowd of other citizens,
be subject to the consular authority. This
alarmed them. But what excited their strong-
est apprehensions was, that Quintius used
frequently to say, that " he would not hold an
election of consuls •. that the distemper of the
state was not such as could be stopped by the

usual remedies : that the commonwealth stood
in need of a dictator, in order that any person
who should stir one step towards raising dis-
turbances, might feel, that the power of that
magistrate was above an appeal."

XXI. The senate was sitting in the capi-
tol ; thither came the tribunes, attended by the
commons, who were full of perplexity and
fear : the populace, with loud clamours, implored
the protection, at one time, of the consuls, at
another of the senate ; yet they could not pre-
vail on the consul to recede from his resolution,
until the tribunes promised that they would be
directed by the senate. The consul then laid
before the senate the demand of the tribunes
and commons, and it was decreed, that " the
tribunes should not introduce the law during
that year j and that, on the other hand, the con-
suls should not lead out the troops from the
city. For the time to come, it was the judg-
ment of the senate, that re-electing the same
magistrates, and re-appointing the same tri-
bunes, was injurious to the interest of the com-
monwealth." The consuls conformed to the
decisions of the senate ; but the tribunes, not-
withstanding the remonstrances of the consuls,
were re-appointed. The senate likewise, not
to yield to the commons in any particular, on
their side wished to re-elect Lucius. Quintius
consul. On no occasion during the whole
year, did the consul exert himself with more
warmth. " Can I wonder," said he, " conscript
fathers, if your authority is lightly regarded
.among the commons ? ye yourselves deprive it
of its weight. For instance, because the
commons have broken through a decree o'f
the senate with respect to the re-election of
their magistrates, ye wish to break through
it also, lest ye should fall short of the popu-
lace in rashness ; as if superiority of power
in the state, consisted in superior degrees of
inconstancy and irregularity ; for it is, certainly,
an instance of greater inconstancy and irregu-
larity, for us to counteract our own decrees
and resolutions, than those of others. Go on,
conscript fathers, to imitate the inconsiderate
multitude ; and ye, who ought to show an ex-
ample to the rest, rather follow the steps of
others in a wrong course, than guide them into
the right one. But let me not imitate the
tribunes, nor suffer myself to be declared con-
sul, in contradiction to the decree of the senate.
And you, Caius Claudius, I exhort, that you,
on your part, restrain the Roman people from

102

THE HISTORY

this licentiousness ; and be persuaded, that, on
my part, I shall regard your conduct therein in
such a light, that I shall not consider you as
obstructing my attainment of honour, but as
augmenting the glory of my refusal, and pro-
tecting me against the ignominy which I should
"incur by being re-elected." They then issued
their joint orders, that " no person should vote
for Lucius Quintius being consul ; and that, if
any one did they would not allow such vote."

XXII. The consuls elected were Quintus
Fabius Vibulanus a third time, and Lucius
Cornelius Maluginensis. [Y. R. 295. B. C.
437.] The general survey was performed that
year. The lustrum could not be closed, con-
sistently with the rules of religion, on account
of the capital having been taken and the consul
slain. In the beginning of the year, in which
Quintus Fabius and Lucius Cornelius were
consuls, various disturbances arose. The tri-
bunes excited commotions among the commons.
The Latines and Hernicians gave information
of a formidable war being commenced against
them by the Volscians and jEquans ; that the
legions of the Volscians were at Antium ; and
that there were strong apprehensions of that
colony itself revolting. With difficulty the
tribunes were prevailed on to allow the busi-
ness of war to be first attended to. The con-
suls then divided the provinces between them :
Fabius was appointed to march the legions to
Antium, Cornelius to remain at Rome, for the
protection of the city, in case any part of the
enemy, as was the practice of the -fl£quans,
should come to make depredations. The Her-
nicians and Latines were ordered to supply a
number of men in conformity to the treaties ;
and of the army, two parts were composed of
the allies, the third consisted of natives. The
allies arriving on the day appointed, the consul
encamped outside the Capuan gate ; and, after
purifying the army, marched from thence to
Antium, and sat down at a small distance from
the city, and the post occupied by the enemy ;
where the Volscians, not daring to risk an en-
gagement, because the troops from the ^quans
had not yet arrived, endeavoured to screen
themselves within their trenches. Fabius, next
day, forming his troops, not in one body, com-
posed of his countrymen and the allies inter-
mixed, but in three separate bodies, consisting
of the three several nations, surrounded the
rampart of the enemy. Placing himself in the
centre with the Roman legions, he commanded

all to look for the signals from thence, in order
that the allies and his own forces might begin
the action at the same time, and also retire to-
gether, if he shoidd sound a retreat : in the rear
of each division, he also placed their own ca-
valry. Having thus surrounded the camp, he
assaulted it in three different places, and press-
ing them vigorously on every side, beat down
the Volscians from the rampart, who were un-
able to stand with his force : then advancing
within the fortifications, he drove them before
him in confusion and dismay towards one side,
and at length compelled them to abandon their
works. After which, the cavalry, who could
not easily have passed over the rampart, and
had hitherto stood as spectators of the fight,
coming up with them, as they fled in disorder
in the open plain, and making great havoc of
their affrighted troops, enjoyed a share in the
honour of the victory. The number of slain,
both within the camp and on the outside of
the fortifications, was great, but the spoil was
much greater ; for the enemy were scarcely able
to carry off their arms, and their army would
have been entirely destroyed, had not the woods
covered them in their flight.

XXIII. During these transactions at An-
tium, the J3quans, sending forward the main
strength of their youth, surprised the city of
Tusculum by night ; and, with the rest of their
army, sat down, at a little distance from the
walls of that town, for the purpose of dividing
the force of their enemies. Intelligence of
this being carried to Rome, and from Rome to
the camp at Antium, the Romans were not
less deeply affected, than if they had been told
that the capitol was taken. Their obligations
to the Tusculans were recent, and the similari-
ty of the danger seemed to demand a requital,
in kind, of the aid which they had received
Fabius, therefore, neglecting every other busi
ness, having hastily conveyed the spoils from
the camp to Antium, and left a small garrison
there, hastened to Tusculum by forced marches.
The soldiers were allowed to carry nothing but
their arms, and what food they had ready dres-
sed ; the consul Cornelius sent suppb'es of pro-
vision from Rome. The troops found em-
ployment at Tusculum for several months.
With one half of the army, the consul besieged
the camp of the ^Equans ; the other he gave to
the Tusculans to effect the recovery of the ci-
tadel ; but they never could have made their
wav into it by force. Famine, however, com-

Y. n. 295.]

OF ROME.

103

pelied the enemy to give it up : and when they
were rcduei'd to that extremity, the Tusculans
sent them all n\vay unarmed and naked under
the yoke. But as they were attempting their
ignominious flight, the Roman consul overtook
them at Algidum, and put every man to the
sword. After this success, he led back his ar-
my to a place called Columen, where he pitch-
ed his camp. The other consul, also, the city
being no longer in danger, after the deieat of
the /Kqnans marched out from Rome. Thus
the two consuls entering the enemy's territories
on different sides, vied eagerly with each other
in making depredations, the one on the Vol-
sM-ians, the other on the ^Equans. I find, in
many writers, that the people of Antium revolt-
ed this year, that Lucius Cornelius, consul, con-
ducted the war against them, and took their
city. I cannot venture to affirm this as cer-
tain, because in the earlier writers there is no
mention of such a transaction.

XXIV. No sooner was this war brought to
a conclusion, than a tribunitian commotion at
home alarmed the senate. The tribunes ex-
claimed, that "the detaining of the troops
abroad was a mere artifice, calculated to frus-
trate their endeavours respecting the law. But
that they were determined, nevertheless, to go
through with the business which they had un-
dertaken." However, Publius' Lucretius, pre-
fect of the city, so managed matters, that the pro-
ceedings of the tribunes were postponed until the
arrival of the consuls. There arose also a new
cause of disturbance : Aulus Cornelius and
Quintus Servilius, quaestors, commenced a pro-
secution against Marcus Volscius for having
manifestly given false evidence against Cteso :
a discovery having been made, supported by
many proofs, that the brother of Volscius, from
the time when he was first taken ill, had not
only never appeared in public, but that he never
rose from his sick bed, where he died of a dis-
order, which lasted many months ; and also
that, at the time when the witness had charged
the fact to have been committed, Ca>so had
not been seen at Rome. Those who had
served in the army with him also affirmed that
he, at that time, regularly attended in his post
along with them, without having once obtained
leave of absence. Many in private stations
challenged Volscius, in their own names, to
abide the decision of the judge,1 content to

1 As the praetors could not attend the trial of every
cause, they always had a list of persons properly quali
Bed, cMed judicei tetecti, out of whose number, as oc

submit to the penalty, if they should fail in
>roof. As he did not dare to stand the tri il,
all these circumstances concurring together, no
more doubt was entertained of the condemna-
tion of Volscius, than there had been of Cre-
so's, after Volscius had given his testimony.
The business, however, was put a stop to by
;he tribunes, who declared, that they would not
suffer the quaestors to hold an assembly on the
jusiness of the prosecution, until one was
irst held on that of the law ; and thus both af-
kirs were deferred till the arrival of the consuls.
When these entered the city in triumph, with
their victorious army, silence being observed
with respect to the law, people from thence

magined that the tribunes were struck with
'ear. But the}', directing their views to the
tribuneship for the fourth time, it being now
the latter end of the year, had changed the di-
rection of their efforts, from the promoting of
the law, to canvassing for the election ; and al-
though the consuls struggled against the con-
tinuing of that office in the same hands with
no less earnestness than if the act had been pro-
posed for the purpose of lessening their own
dignity, the tribunes got the better in the con-
test. The same year, peace was, on petition,

ranted to the ./Equans ; and a survey which
had been begun in the former one, was now
finished, the lustrum being closed, which was
the tenth from the founding of the city. The
number of citizens rated, was one hundred and
thirty-two thousand four hundred and nine.

The consuls acquired great glory this year, as
well in the conduct of the war, as in the estab-
lishing of peace while at home : though the
state enjoyed not perfect concord, yet the dis-
sensions were less violent than at other times.1

casion required, they delegated judges to act in their
stead. These select judges were chosen in an assembly
of the tribes, five out of each tribe ; and the praetor*
according to the importance or the difficulty of the
cause in dispute, appointed one or more of them to try
it. This office was, at first, confined to the senators ;
but was, afterwards, transferred to the knights ; and
was, at different times, held sometimes by one of these
bodies, sometimes by the other, and sometimes in com.
mon between them both. The usual method of pro-
ceeding was this: the plaintiff either named the judge,
before whom he summoned the defendant to appear,
which was termed ferrejudicem ; or he left the denom-
ination to the defendant, ut judicem diceret, and when
they had agreed on the judge, guum judicem conveni*.
tet, they presented a joint petition to the praetor, pray-
ing that he would appoint ut daret, that person to try
the cause ; and at the same time, they bound themselves
to pay a certain sum of money, the plaintiff ni ita esset,
if he should not establish his charge ; the defendant, if
he should not acquit himself.

104

THE HISTORY

[[BOOK in.

XXV. Lucius Minucius and Caius Nau-
tius, who were next elected consuls, [Y. R.
296. B. C. 4^6.] found on their hands the two
causes in dispute, which lay over from the last
year. The consuls obstructed the passing of
the law, and the tribunes the trial of Volscius,
with equal degrees of activity. But the new
quaestors were possessed of greater power and
influence. Together with Marcus Valerius,
son of Manius Valerius, grandson of Volesus,
Titus Quintals Capitolinus, who had been
thrice consul, was quaestor. Although Caeso
could not be thereby restored to the Quintian
family, and, in him, one of the most valuable
of the young Romans, to the state, yet with a
rigour dictated by justice and duty, he prosecut-
ed the false witness, by whose means an inno-
cent person had been deprived of the liberty of
making his defence. The tribunes, and parti-
cularly Virginius, endeavouring to procure the
passing of their law, the consuls were allowed
the space of two months to examine it, on con-
dition that when they should have informed the
people of the dangerous designs which were
concealed under the propositions which it con-
tained, they would then allow them to give
their votes on it. This respite of proceedings
being acceded to, rendered matters quiet in the
city. But the ./Kquans did not allow them
long to enjoy rest ; for, violating the league
which had been made the preceding year with
the Romans, they conferred the chief command
on Gracchus Cloelius, a man at that time of by
far the greatest consequence among them ; and
headed by him, carried hostile depredations into
the district of Lavici ; from thence into that of
Tusculum ; and then, loaded with booty,
pitched their camp at Algidum. To that camp
came Quintus Fabius, Publius Volumnius, and
Aulus Postumius, ambassadors from Rome, to
complain of injuries, and demand redress, in
conformity to the treaty. The general of the
^Equans bade them deliver to that oak what-
ever message they had from the Roman senate,
while he should attend to other business : a
very large oak-tree hung over the prajtorium,
and under its shade afforded a pleasant seat : to
this one of the ambassadors, as he was going
away, replied, " Let that consecrated oak, and
all the deities, bear witness, that the treaty has
been broken by you, and so favour both our
complaints at present, and our arms hereafter,
as that we avenge the violated rights of gods
and men." On the return of the ambassadors

to Rome, the senate ordered one of the consuls
to lead an army to Algidum against Gracchus ;
and gave to the other, as his province, the ra-
vaging the territories of the ^Equans. The
tribunes, according to their usual custom, ob-
structed the levy, and might, perhaps, have
effectually prevented it, but that a new and sud-
den alarm excited stronger apprehensions of
danger.

XXVI. A very large body of Sabines.
spreading devastations around, advanced al-
most to the walls of Rome. The fields were
deserted, and the city struck with terror. The
commons then cheerfully took arms, while the
tribunes in vain attempted to dissuade them
from it. Two large armies were raised. Nan-
tius led one against the Sabines, and, pitching
his camp at Eretum, by detaching small par-
ties, especially on incursions by night, he
caused such desolation in the country of the
Sabines, that compared to it, the injuries sus-
tained in the Roman territories seemed trifling.
Minucius neither met the same success, nor
showed the same ability in the conduct of his
business ; for, having encamped at a little dis-
tance, without experiencing any considerable
loss,he kept his men confined within the trenches.
When the enemy perceived this, they assumed
new boldness from the others' fears, and made
an assault on the camp by night ; but rinding
that they were not likely to succeed by open
force, they began, next day, to inclose it by
lines of circumvallation. Before this work
could be completed, and the passes thereby
entirely shut up, five horsemen were despatch-
ed, who, making their way between the ene-
my's posts, brought intelligence to Rome, that
the consul and his army were besieged. No-
thing could have happened so unexpected, or
so contrary to people's hopes ; and the fright
and consternation, in consequence of it, were
not less than if the city were surrounded and
threatened, instead of the camp. They sent
for the consul Nautius, yet not supposing him
capable of affording them sufficient protection,
resolved that a dictator should be chosen to ex-
tricate them from this distress, and Lucius
Quintius Cincinnatus was accordingly appoint-
ed with unanimous approbation. Here they
may receive instruction who despise every qua-
lity which man can boast, in comparison with
riches ; and who tliink, that those who possess
them can alone have merit, and to such aloi.e
honours and distinctions belong. Lucius Quin-

Y. R. I^

O F 11 O M E.

105

tins, the now sole hope of the people, and of
the empire of Rome, cultivated a farm of four
acres on the other side of the Tiber, at this
time called the Quintian meadows, opposite to
the very spot where the dock-yard stands.
There he was found by the deputies, either
leaning on a stake, in a ditch which he was
making, or ploughing ; in some work of 1ms-
bfindry he was certainly employed. After mu-
tual salutations, and wishes on the part of the
commissioners, " that it might be happy both
to him and the commonwealth," he was re-
quested to " put on his gown, and hear a mes-
sage from the senate." Surprised, and asking
if "all was well?" he bade his wife Racilia
bring out his gown quickly from the cottage.
When he had put it on, after wiping the sweat
and dust from his brow, he came forward, when
the deputies congratulated him, and saluted him
dictator ; requested his presence in the city,
and informed him of the alarming situation of
the army. A vessel had been prepared for
Quintius by order of government, and on his
landing on the other side, he was received by
his three sons, who came out to meet him ;
then by his other relations and friends, and
afterwards by the greater part of the patricians.
Sui rounded by this numerous attendance, and
the lictors marching before him, he was con-
ducted to his residence. The plebeians like-
wise ran together from all quarters ; but they
were far from beholding Quintius with equal
pleasure, for they thought the powers annexed
to his office too unlimited, and the man still
more arbitrary. During that night, no farther
steps were taken than to post watches in the
city.

XXVII. Next day, the dictator coming
into the forum before it was light, named Lu-
cius Tarquitius master of the horse ; he was of
a patrician family, but though, by reason of the
narrowness of his circumstances, he had served
among the foot, yet he was accounted by many
degrees the fast in military merit among all
t'.it- young men of Rome. Attended, then, by
his muster of the horse, Quintius came to the
assembly of the people, proclaimed a cessation
of civil business, ordered the shops to be shut
in all parts of the city, and that no one should
attend to any private affairs. He then issued
orders that all who were of the military age
should attend, under arms, in the field of Mars,
before sun- set, with victuals for five days, and
twelve palisades each ; and that those whose
I.

age rendered them unfit for service, should dress
that victuals for the soldiers who lived near
them, while they were preparing their arms,
and procuring the military pales. Immediately
the young men ran different ways to look for
palisades, which every one without molestation
took, wherever he could find them ; and they
all attended punctually according to the dicta-
tor's order. The troops being then formed in
such a manner as was not only proper for a
inarch, but for an engagement also, if occasion
should require it, the dictator set out at the
head of the legions, and the master of the horse
at the head of his cavalry. In both bodies such
exhortations were used, as the juncture requir-
ed ; that " they should quicken their pace ; that
there was a necessity for expedition, in order
to reach the enemy in the night ; that the Ro-
man consul and his army were besieged ; that
this was the third day of their being invested ;
that no one could tell what any one night or
day might produce ; that the issue of the great-
est affairs often depended on a moment of
time." The men too, to gratify their leaders,
called to each other, " standard-bearer, advance
quicker; soldiers, follow." At midnight they
arrived at Algidum, and when they found
themselves near the enemy, halted.

XXVIII. The dictator then having rode
about, and examined as well as he could in the
night, the situation and form of the enemy's
camp, commanded the tribunes of the soldiers
to give orders that the baggage should be thrown
together in one place ; and then that the sol-
diers, with 'their arms and palisades, should
return into the ranks. These orders were exe-
cuted ; and then with the same regularity in
which they had marched, he drew the whole
army in a long column, and directed that, on a
signal being given, they should all raise a shout,
and that on the shout being raised, every man
should throw up a trench in front of his post,
and fix his palisades. As soon as these orders
were communicated, and the signal given, the
soldiers performed what they were commanded -.
the shout resounded on every side of the ene-
my, and reaching beyond their camp, was heard
in that of the consul, exciting terror in the one,
and the greatest joy in the other. The Ro-
mans observing to each other, with exultation,
that this was the shout of their countrymen,
and that assistance was at hand, took courage,
and from their watch-guards and out-posts
issued threats. The consul likewise declared,
O

106

THE HISTORY

[BOOK in.

that " they ought not to lose time, for that tht
shout then heard was a signal, not only that
their friends were arrived, but that they hac
entered upon action ; and they might take it for
granted, that the camp was attacked on the out-
side." He therefore ordered his men to take
arms, and follow him ; these falling on the
enemy before it was light, gave notice by a
shout to the dictator's legions, that on their
side also the action was begun. The /Kquans
were now preparing measures to hinder them-
selves from being surrounded with works ; when
being attacked within, they were" obliged, lest
a passage might be forced through the midst of
their camp, to turn their attention from those
employed on the fortifications, to the others
who assailed them on the inside ; and thus left
the former at leisure, through the remainder of
the night, to finish the works, and the fight
with the consul continued until morn appeared.
At the break of day, they were entirely encom-
passed by the dictator's works, and while they
were hardly able to support the fight against
one army, their trenches were assaulted by
Quintius's troops, who instantly, on completing
those works, had returned to their arms. Thus
they found themselves obliged to encounter a
new enemy, and the former never slackened
their attack. Being thus closely pressed on
every side, instead of fighting, they had recourse
to entreaties, beseeching the dictator on one
side, and the consul on the other, to be content
with the victory without their entire destruc-
tion, and to permit them to retire without
arms. By the consul they were referred to
the dictator, and he, highly incensed against
them, added ignominy to their defeat. He
ordered their general, Gracchus Clcelius, and
the other leaders, to be brought to him in
chains, and the town of Corbie to be evacu-
ated ; then told them, that " he wanted not the
blood of the ^Equans j that they were at liberty
to depart ; but he would send them under the
yoke, as an acknowledgment, at length extort-
ed, that their nation was conquered and sub-
dued." The yoke is formed of three spears,
two being fixed upright in the ground, and the
other tied across between the upper ends of
them. Under this yoke the dictator sent the
jEquans.

XXIX. Having possessed himself of the
enemy's camp, which was filled with plenty, for
he had sent them away naked, he distributed
the entire booty among his own troops. Re-

primanding the consular army and the consul
himself, he said to them, " Soldiers, ye shall
share no part of the spoil of that enemy, to
whom ye were near becoming a prey ; and as to
you, Lucius Minucius, until you begin to show
a spirit becoming a consul, you shall command
those legions, with the rank of lieutenant-gen-
eral only." Accordingly Minucius resigned the
consulship, and, in obedience to orders, re-
mained with the army. But so well were
people then disposed to obey, without repining,
the commands of superiors, that this army re-
garding more the benefit which he had conferred,
than the disgrace which he had inflicted on
them, not only voted a golden crown of a pound
weight to the dictator, but at his departure
saluted him as their patron. At Rome, the
senate, being convened by Quintus Fabius,
praefect of the city, ordered that Quintius on
his arrival should enter the city in triumph,
without changing his order of march. The
generals of the enemy were led before his char-
iot, the military ensigns carried before him, and
his army followed, laden with spoil. It is said
that tables were laid out with provisions before
every house, and that the troops, partaking of
the entertainment, singing the triumphal hymn,
and throwing out theircustomary jests, followed
the chariot like revellers at a feast. The same
day, the freedom of the state was, with univer-
sal approbation, conferred on Lucius Mamilius
of Tusculum. The dictator would have imme-
diately resigned his office, but was induced to
hold it some time longer on account of the as-
sembly for the trial of Volscius, the false witness.
Their dread of the dictator prevented the tri-
bunes from obstructing it, and Volscius being
sentenced to exile, departed into Lanuvium.
Quintius on the sixteenth day resigned the dic-
tatorship, which he had received for the term
of six months. About the same time, the
consul Nautius engaged the Sabines at Eretum
tvith great success ; a heavy blow to the Sabines
after the devastation of their country. Fabius
Quintus was sent to Algidum in the room of
Minucius. Toward the end of the year, the
tribunes began to agitate the affair ot the law :
tmt as two armies were then abroad, the patri-
cians carried the point, that no business should
je proposed to the people. The commons pre-
vailed so far as to appoint the same tribunes
he fifth time. It was reported that wolves
lad been seen in the capitol, and were driven
,way by dogs ; and, on account of that prodigy,

R. 300.]

OF ROME.

107

the capitol was purified . such were the trans-
actions of that year.

XXX. Quintus Minucius and C;iius Ho-
ratius Pulvillus succeeded to the consulship
[Y. R. 297. B. C. 455.] In the beginning o
t'lis year, while the public were undisturbec
by any foreign enemy, the same tribunes an<
tin- same law occasioned seditions at home
and these would have proceeded to still greater
lengths, so highly were people's passions in-
flamed, but that, as if it had been concertet
for the purpose, news was brought, that by an
attack of the ^Equans, in the night, the garri-
son at Corbio was cut off. The consuls callec
the senate together, by whom they were or-
dered to make a hasty levy of troops, and to
lead them to Algidum. The contest aboul
the law was now laid aside, and a new strug-
gle began about the levy ; in which the consular
authority was in danger of being overpowered
by the force of tribunitian privileges, when
their fears were more effectually roused by an
account of the Sabine army having come down
into the Roman territories to plunder, and
nearly advanced to the city. This struck such
terror, that the tribunes suffered the troops to
be enlisted ; yet not without a stipulation, that
since they had been baffled for five years, and
as their office, as it stood, was but a small pro-
tection to the commons, there should for the
future be ten tribunes of the people appointed.
Necessity extorted a concession from the se-
nate : they only made one exception ; that the
people should not, hereafter, re-elect the same
tribunes. An assembly was instantly held for
the election of those officers, lest, if the war
was once ended, they might be disappointed in
that, as in other matters. In the thirty-sixth
year from the first creation of the tribunes of
the people, the number ten were elected, two
out of each of the classes ; and it was esta-
blished as a rule, that they should thenceforth
be elected in the same manner. The levy
being then made, Minucius marched against
the Sabines, but did not come up with them.
Horatius, after the ^Equans had put the garri-
son of Corbio to the sword, and had also taken
Ortona, brought them to an engagement in
the district of Algidum, killed a great number,
and drove them not only out of that district,
but from Corbio and Ortona. Corbio he razed
to the ground, in revenge for the treachery
practised there against the garrison.

XXXI. Marcus Valerius and Spun us Vir-

ginias were next elected consuls. [ Y. R. 298,
B. C. !.'>!. Quiet prevailed both at home and
abroad. The price of provisions was high,
in consequence of an extraordinary fall of rain.
A law passed for disposing of the Aventine as
public property. The same tribunes of the
people were continued in office. These, during
the following year, [Y. R. 299. B. C. 453.]
which had for consuls Titus Romilitis and
Caius Veturius, warmly recommended the law
in all their harangues. " They must be
ashamed of the useless addition made to their
number, if that affair were to lie, during the
course of their two years, in the same hopeless
slate in which it had lain for the last five."
While they were most earnestly engaged in this
pursuit, messengers arrived, in a fright, from
Tusculum, with information that the jEquans
were in the Tusculum territory. The recent
services of that people made the tributes
ashamed of throwing any delay in the way of
assistance being given them. Both the consuls
were sent with an army, and found the enemy
in their usual post, in the district of Algidum
There they fought ; above seven thousand of
the ^Equans were slain, the rest dispersed, and
vast booty was acquired. This the consuls
sold on account of the low state of the trea-
sury ; which proceeding excited a general dis-
satisfaction among the soldiery, and also afforded
grounds to the tribunes for bringing an accu-
sation against the consuls before the commons.
Accordingly, as soon as they went out of office,
Spurius Tarpeius and Aulus Alterius having
succeeded them, [Y. R. 300. B. C. 452.] a
•harge was instituted against Romilius by
Caius Claudius Cicero, tribune of the people,
and against Veturius, by Lucius Allienus, ple-
)eian aedile. To the great mortification of the
mtricians they were both sentenced to fine,
Romilius to pay ten thousand asses,' Veturius
ifteen thousand.* The sufferings of these
consuls, however, did not lessen the activity of
heir successors ; they said, they were able to
iupport a similar sentence, while both tribunes
and commons combined, were in sufficient to
*arry the point. The tribunes now desisting
rom farther prosecution of the law, with re-
jard to which, in the length of time since its
ublication, people's ardour had cooled, applied
jo the senate in amicable terms, requesting that
they would at length " put an end to all cou-

•JT-l.

108

THE HISTORY

[BOOK in.

tentions : and, since it was disagreeable to them,
that laws shoidd be proposed by plebeians,
woidd permit lawgivers to be chosen in common,
out of the plebeians, and out of the patricians,
in order to the framing of such as would be
advantageous to both parties, and tend to esta-
blish liberty on an equal footing." This pro-
posal the senate did not disapprove of, but de-
clared that no one, except a patrician, should
have the propounding of laws. As they agreed
with regard to the necessary statutes, and only
differed about the persons to propose them*
ambassadors were sent to Athens, namely
Spurius Postumius Albus, Aulus Manlius,
and Servius Sulpicius Camerinus, who were
ordered to procure a copy of the famous laws
of Solon, and to make themselves acquainted
with the institutions, customs, and laws of the
other states of Greece.

XXXII. This year passed undisturbed by
any foreign wars. [Y. R. 301. B. C. 451.] The
following also, in which Publius Curiatius and
Sextus Quintilius were consuls, \vas still more
quiet: the tribunes observing uninterrupted
silence, which was owing, at first, to their wait •
ing for the arrival of the ambassadors who had
gone to Athens for copies of the laws of that
state ; and, afterwards, to two heavy calamities
which fell on them at once, famine and pesti-
lence making dreadful havoc among both men
and cattle. The country was desolated, the
city exhausted, by a continual succession of
deaths. Many illustrious houses were in mourn-
ing: Servilius Cornelius, Flam en Quirinalis
died, and Caius Horatius Pulvillus, augur, in
whose room the augurs elected Caius Veturius,
with the greater satisfaction, because he had
been condemned by the commons. The con-
sul Quintilius also died, and four tribunes of
the people. Such a multiplicity of losses made
it a melancholy year, but there was no distiuv
bance from any enemy. The next consuls
were Caius Menenius and Publius Sestius
Capitolinus. [Y. R, 302. B. C. 450.] Nei-
ther during this consulate was there any foreign
war : at home, however, some commotions
arose. The ambassadors had now returned
with the Athenian laws, and the tribunes
therefore pressed more earnestly, that the
business of compiling and settling their own
laws might be begun. It was at last resolved,
that ten magistrates, to be called decemvirs,
should be created, from whom no appeal shoidd
lie, and that there should be no other appointed

during that year. It was disputed for some
time whether plebeians shoidd be admitted
among them. At length, that point was given
up to the patricians, provided that the Icilian
law concerning the Aventine, and others,
called the devoting laws, should not be re-
pealed.

XXXIII. Thus, in the three hundred and
first year from the building of Rome, the form
of the government underwent a second change ;
the supreme power being transferred from con-
suls to decemvirs, as it had formerly been from
kings to consuls. This new form, however,
was not of long duration ; for the happy be-
ginnings of that government terminated in ex-
travagant licentiousness, which hastened its
dissolution ; and recourse was had to the for-
mer practice of intrusting the power and con-
sular title to two persons. The decemvirs
created were, Appius Claudius, Titus Genu-
cius, Publius Sestius, Lucius Veturius, Caius
Julius, Aulus Manlius, Servius Sulpicius. Pub-
lius Curiatius, Titus Romilius, and Spurius
Postumius. [Y. R. 303. B. C. 449.] Claudius
and Genucius being consuls elect, this honour
of being of the decemvirate was conferred on
them as a compensation for the loss of the
other; and on Sestius, one of the consuls of
the former year, because he had proposed
this business to the senate, against the mil
of his colleague. Next to these, were con-
sidered the three who had gone ambassadors
to Athens, that the honour might serve as
a recompense for such a distant embassy ;
and, at the same time, it was supposed, that
they, having acquired a knowledge of the
laws of foreign countries, would be useful in
digesting the new proposed regulations. It is
said, that in choosing the remainder, they pitch-
ed upon persons far advanced in years, with in-
tent that there should be the less warmth in any
opposition which might be made to the opinions
of the others. The direction of the whole
business of government, however, was lodged
in the hands of Appius Claudius, through the
favour of the people ; for he had assumed a de-
meanor so entirely new, that from a harsh and
severe prosecutor of the commons, he became,
on a sudden, a zealous promoter of their inter-
ests, and an eager candidate for popular ap-
plause. Each of them administered justice one
day in ten. On that day, the twelve fasces
attended him who presided in the court of jus-
tice ; his nine colleagues being attended each

y. H. 303.]

OF ROME.

109

by a beadle; and, while perfect barmony sub-
sisted among themselves, although such union
between governors is sometimes found prejudi-
cial to the governed, they observed the strictest
equity towards all. It will be sufficient to pro-
duce a single proof of their moderation and
hiirness. Though, by the terms of their ap-
pointment, there could be no appeal from their
decisions ; yet upon occasion of a dee d body
being found buried in the house of Publius
Sestius, a man of patrician family, and of the
decemvirate, (and which dead body was pro-
duced in a public assembly, in a case as clear
as it was atrocious,) Caius Julius, a decemvir,
also commenced a criminal process against Ses-
tius, and appeared before the people as prose-
cutor when he might legally have sat as judge ;
departing from his own right, that, while he
took away from the power of the magistracy,
he might add, in proportion, to the liberty of
the people.

XXXIV. Whilst the highest and the low-
est alike experienced this prompt execution of
justice, impartial, as if dictated by an oracle,
the decemvirs at the same time employed them-
selves assiduously in framing the laws ; and at
length, after people's expectations had been rais-
ed to the utmost height, they produced for public
inspection ten tables ; and then, summoning an
assembly of the people, after praying that " it
might prove fortunate and advantageous, and
happy to the commonwealth, to themselves, and
to their posterity ;" ordered them " to go and
read the laws which were exhibited ; declared,
that they had placed the rights of all on an
equal footing, and in as precise a manner as
could be devised by the abilities of ten men;
but that the understandings and judgments of a
larger number might, perhaps, strike out im-
provements : desired them to examine rigor-
ously each particular in their own minds, can-
vass it in conversation, and bring it to public
discussion, should any deficiency or excess ap-
pear in any article. They were resolved," they
said, " that the Roman people should be bound
only by such laws as the whole community,
with general consent, might appear, not so
much to have ratified, when proposed, as to
have proposed from themselves." When, ac-
cording to the reports of the people, respecting
each bead of the laws, they appeared sufficient-
ly correct, then, in an assembly voting by cen-
turies, were ratified the laws of the ten tables,
which even af, this present time after all which

have been added, continue to be the source of
all our jurisprudence, respecting either public or
private affairs. It was afterwards said, that
there were two tables wanting, and that by the
addition of these, a body, as it were, of the whole
Roman law might be completed. The expecta-
tion of this, when the day of election of officers
approached, raised a wish that decemvirs should
be chosen a second time ; and the commons,
besides that they hated the name of consuls,
as much as they did that of kings, felt at the
present, no loss even of the support of the tri-
bunes, because the decemvirs in turn allowed
an appeal to their colleagues.

XXXV. But when the assembly for elect-
ing decemvirs was proclaimed to be held on the
third market-day, the minds of many were so
fired with ambition of obtaining the office, that
even persons of the first dignity in the state,
dreading, I suppose, lest, if it should be left
unoccupied by them, an opening might be
given for improper persons to obtrude them-
selves in a post of such high authority, solicit-
ed votes, humbly suing for a power, the esta-
blishment of which they had with their utmost
efforts before opposed, and from those same
plebeians, against the gratification of whose
wishes they had hitherto so strenuously con-
tended. Persons of advanced age, and who
had passed through dignified stations, thus low-
ering their pride to hazard a contest of this
sort, made Appius Claudius redouble his exer-
tions. It were difficult to determine whether he
should be reckoned among the decemvirs, or
among the candidates : he appeared sometimes
more like a person petitioning for, than one who
was invested with, the office : he aspersed the
characters of the candidates of high rank, and
extolled the most insignificant and the lowest.
Surrounded by the Icilii and Duilii, who had
been tribunes, he bustled about the forum, and
through their means recommended himself t.cr
the commons; until even his colleagues, who
till that time had been entirely attached to his
interests, looked on him with amazement, won-
dering what his intentions could be. They
were convinced, that there was no sincerity in
his professions ; that such affability, in one who
had always evinced a haughty mind, could not
be without some interested views j that lower-
ing himself to the common level in this extra-
ordinary manner, and mixing on an equal foot-
ing with the private citizens, did not look like
haste to quit the office, but rather like seeking

110

THE HISTORY

[BOOK in.

for means to be continued in it. Not dar-
ing, however, openly to oppose his wishes, they
endeavoured to baffle his efforts by a seeming
desire to gratify him ; and agreed among them-
selves to appoint him, as the youngest of their
body, to the office of presiding at the election.
This was an artifice to prevent his returning
himself, which no one had ever done, except in
the case of tribunes of the people ; and, even
there, it was deemed a most pernicious prece-
dent. However, he declared, that, with the
favour of fortune, he would preside at the
election ; and he laid hold of the intended ob-
struction to his design, as the lucky means
of effecting its accomplishment. Having, by
means of a coalition which he formed, foiled
the pretensions of the two Quintii, Capito-
linus, and Cincinnatus ; of his own uncle,
Gains Claudius, a most steady supporter of the
cause of the nobility ; and of other citizens of
the same high rank ; he promoted to the de-
cemvirate persons of very inferior condition in
life. And, among the first raised, was him-
self : an act highly disapproved of by all men
of honourable minds, and which no one had
believed that he would dare to be guilty of.
Together with him were elected Marcus Cor-
nelius Maluginensis, Marcus Sergius, Lucius
Minucius, Quintus Fabius Vibulanus, Quintus
Paetilius, Titus Antonitis Merenda, Caeso
Dm'lius, Spurius Oppius Cornicen, and Ma-
nius Rabuleius.

XXXVI. Now the mask, which Appius
had assumed, fell off. He began to live accord- i
ing to his natural disposition ; and to form his !
new colleagues early to his own plan of pro-
ceeding, before they should enter on the admi- I
nistration of their office. They held daily i
cabals, remote from witnesses • wherein, being
furnished with schemes of tyranny, digested !
among themselves, and without the knowledge
^of any, they no longer dissembled their arro-
gance ; became difficidt of access, morose to
such as addressed them, and continued this be-
haviour until the ides of May, [Y. R. 304.
B. C. 448.] the then usual time for entering
on office. At the beginning, then, of their
magistracy, they distinguished the very first
day of it by an exhibition which excited the
greatest alarm : for whereas the former decem-
virs had observed a rule, that only one should
have the fasces, and that this emblem of royalty
should pass in rotation with them all, that is,
to each in his turn, but these unexpectedly

1 made their appearance, attended severally by
twelve fasces. One hundred and twenty lie-
tors filled the forum, and carried axes bound
up with those ensigns, the decemvirs alleging
that, as, by the terms of their appointment,
there lay not any appeal, there could be no
reason why the axe should be taken away.
Thus these ten magistrates appeared as so
many kings, and thus they multiplied ten-ore,
not only among the lower classes, but among
the principal patricians ; eveiy one being per-
suaded, that they wanted only a pretext to
begin the work of death, so that should any
one, either in the senate, or in a meeting of
the people, utter an expression favourable to
liberty, the rods and axes would instantly be
got ready, to strike terror into the rest. For,
besides that there was no hope of protection
from the people, an appeal to them having been
prohibited, they had, by agreement, also pro-
hibited themselves from interfering with each
other's decrees ; whereas the former decemvirs
had allowed their decrees to be amended by an
appeal to a colleague, and had referred to the
public decision several matters which might
seem to belong to their own jurisdiction. For
some time the danger seemed to threaten
equally all ranks of men, but began, by degrees,
* to be directed entirely against the commons.
j They avoided giving offence to the patricians,
; while they treated the lower ranks with arbi-
; trary cruelty. Interest having usurped in their
breasts the place of justice, they on every oc-
i casion regarded the person, not the cause.
! Their decisions they adjusted privately at home,
and afterwards pronounced them in the forum.
I If an appeal was made from any one of them to
his colleagues, the treatment he met from those
to whom he appealed was always such as made
him repent of not having abided by the former
sentence. An opinion had also gone abroad,
though without known authority, that they had
conspired in the scheme of iniquity, not merely
for the present year, but that a clandestine
league had been struck among them, and rati-
fied by an oath, that they would not call an
assembly for elections, but, perpetuating the
decemvirate, keep a lasting hold of the power
which they had now in their hands.

XXXVII. The plebeians now began to
watch the countenances of the patricians ; and
though they had been accustomed to dread be-
ing enslaved by them, and, influenced by that
dread, had brought the commonwealth into its

v. it. :H>4.]

OF RO M E.

Ill

present situation ; yet they now anxiously
looked to those patriciaifs for some ray of hope
which might guide them to liberty. The prin-
cipal of these, while they hated the decemvirs,
bore no less hatred toward the commons : and,
though they did not approve the proceedings
of the former, thought the latter suffered no
more than they had deserved ; and had no in-
clination to give assistance to men who, through
their intemperate eagerness in pursuit of liberty,
had fallen into slavery. On the contrary, they
heaped injuries on them, in hopes that being
thoroughly disgusted with the present state of
affairs, they might wish for the restoration of
the former government by consuls. The
greater part of the year was now past, and two
tables of laws had been added to ten of the for-
mer year; so that there was not any circum-
stance, if these laws were once ratified in as-
sembly of the centuries, which could make the
now form of government necessary to the com-
mon wealth, People were in continual expec-
tation of ah assembly being called for the elec-
tion of consuls, and the thoughts of the com-
mons were solely employed in devising a re-
vival of that bulwark of liberty, the tribunitian
office, which had been laid aside so long. In
the mean time, not the least mention was made
of an election ; and the decemvirs, who, at
first, had exhibited themselves to the commons,
for the purpose of gaining their favour, sur-
rounded by men who had been tribunes, now
collected about them crowds of young patri-
cians. These encompassed every tribunal ;
they seized, and drove about at will, the com-
mons and their effects ; the most powerful
being sure of success, in possessing himself of
any man's property, in which he saw any thing
desirable, while even their persons were not
secure from injury. Some were beaten with
rods ; others felt the stroke of the axe : in a
word, cruelty and profit went hand in hand, for
a grant of his effects to some of their partizans
evei followed the execution of the owner. The
young nobility, corrupted by such bribes, not
only declined making opposition to the injus-
tice, but openly demonstrated that they pre-
ferred the indulgence of their own licentious-
ness to the establishment of the general liberty.
XXX VII I. The ides of May came. The
offices of the state not having been filled up by
election, men, invested with no public charac-
ter, made their appearance an decemvirs, retain-
ing still the same spirit to enforce their author-

ity, and the same emblems to support the
splendour of their station. This was held the
height of arbitrary government, and the loss of
liberty was deplored as irrecoverable. No one
champion stood forth in its cause, nor was there
a prospect of any such appearing : so that the
people not only sunk into despondence, but
began to be despised by the neighbouring na-
tions, who thought it would reflect shame on
themselves, if a state which had forfeited its
own liberty, should be allowed to retain its
dominion over others. The Sabines with a
numerous army, made an irruption into the
Roman territories ; and, having spread devasta-
tion through a great part of the country, and
collected, without loss, a great booty of men
and cattle, they recalled their forces from the
various parts in which they were dispersed,
and pitched their camp at Eretum, grounding
their hopes on the dissensions at Rome, which
they trusted would prevent the raising of
troops. Besides the couriers that arrived, the
country-people, flying into the city, caused a
general alarm. The decemvirs held a consul-
tation on the measures necessary to be taken ;
and, while they were left destitute of support
on every side, being equally detested by the
patricians and ihe commons, another circum-
stance occurred which aggravated their fears
by presentiug an additional danger to their
view : the ^Equans on the opposite side had
encamped in the district of Algidum, and am-
bassadors, who came from Tusculum to request
assistance, brought accounts, that their lands
were ravaged by detachments from thence. The
decemvirs were so thoroughly frightened, on
finding the city surrounded by two enemies at
once, that they determined to have recourse to
the advice of the senate : accordingly they
ordered the senators to be summoned to a
meeting, though they well knew what a storm
of public resentment threatened to break upon
themselves ; that all men would heap, on their
heads, the blame of the devastations of the coun-
try, and of all the dangers by which they were
encompassed ; and that, on these grounds, at-
tempts would be made to deprive them of their
office, if they did not firmly unite in the support
of their cause ; and, by enforcing their authority
with severity, on a few of the most intractable
tempers, repress the forwardness of others.
When the voice of the crier was beard in the
forum, summoning the senators to attend the
decemvirs in the senate-house, it excited no

112

THE HISTORY

[HOOK in.

less wonder than if it were a matter entirely
new ; " What could have happened now," the
people said, " that those who had, for a long
time past, laid aside the custom of consulting
the senate, should now revive it ? But they
might, no doubt, thank the war, and their
enemies, for any thing being done that was
formerly usual with them as a free state.'
They looked about the forum for senators, yet
could hardly discover one. They then turned
their eyes to the senate-house, remarking the
solitude which appeared round the decemvirs,
who, on their part, attributed the non-atten-
dance of the summoned to the general detes-
tation of their government ; while the commons
found a reason for it, in the want of authority
in private persons to convene them, observing,
at the same time, that a head was now formed
for those who wished for the recovery of lib-
erty, if the people generally would let their
endeavours accompany those of the senate ; and
if, as the fathers refused to attend in senate,
they should in like manner refuse to enlist.
Such were the general topics of discourse
among the commons ; while of the senators,
there was scarcely one in the forum, and very
few in the city. Disgusted with the times,
they had retired to their country-seats ; and,
being deprived of their share in the administra-
tion of the public business, attended solely to
their private affairs ; thinking, that, by remov-
ing to a distance from the meeting and converse
of their tyrannic masters, they were out of the
reach of ill-treatment. Not meeting according
to summons, apparitors were despatched to all
their houses, to levy the penalties, and at the
same time to discover whether their non-
attendance was owing to design : and these
brought back an account that the members of
the senate were in the country. This gave less
pain to the decemvirs, than if they had heard
that they were in town, and refused to obey
their commands. They then gave orders, that
every one of them should be summoned, and
proclaimed a meeting of the senate on the day
following, when the members assembled in
much greater numbers than the decemvirs
themselves had hoped. This raised a suspicion
in the minds of the commons, that the senators
had deserted the cause of liberty, since they
had paid obedience, as to a legal summons, to
the order of men whose office had expired, and
who, except so far as force prevailed, were
nothing more than private citizens.

XXXIX. But, by all accounts, they showed
more obedience in coming to the house, than
servility in delivering their sentiments. It is
related, that after Appius Claudius had pro-
posed the business to be considered, and before
the opinions were demanded in order, Lucius
Valerius Potitus occasioned a great ferment, by
insisting on being allowed to speak on the state
of the commonwealth ; and, when the decem-
virs endeavoured to prevent him, by declaring,
that he would go out and apply to the com-
mons. It is likewise said that Marcus Horatius
Barbatus entered the lists with no less bold-
ness, calling them " ten Tarquinii, and putting
them in mind, that the Valerii and Horatii
were among the foremost in effecting the ex-
pulsion of the kings. Nor was it the title
merely, which had then given people so much
offence ; for it was one which was properly
applied to Jupiter, one which had been applied
to Romulus, the founder of the city, and to
the princes his successors ; and which was still
retained in the religious institutions, and even
considered as material to the performance of the
sacred rites. It was the haughtiness, the vio-
lence of Tarquin, which then filled them with
abhorrence ; and if these were not to be borne,
in a person who was, at the time, a king, and
the son of a king, who would bear them in so
many private citizens ? Let them take care,
lest, by forbidding men to speak with freedom
in the senate-house, they might oblige them
to utter their sentiments in another place.
Nor did he see how he, in his private ca-
pacity, had less right to call the people
to an assembly, than they, to convene the
senate. Let them try, whenever they chose,
how much more forcibly a sense of injuries
would operate in vindication of liberty, than
ambition in retaining usurped authority.
They had proposed the Sabine war as the
business to be considered : as if the Roman
people had any more important war on
their hands, than against those, who, having
been created for the purpose of framing laws,
had left no law remaining in the state ; who
had abolished elections ; abolished annual ma-
gistrates ; abolished the regular changing of the
chief magistrate, the only means of preserving
the balance of liberty : who, standing in the
rank of private citizens, kept possession of the
fasces and of regal sovereignty. After the ex-
pulsion of the kings, there were patrician ma-
gistrates ; afterwards, on the secession ol t'ie

Y. R. 305.]

OF ROME.

113

commons, plebeian magistrates were created.
Of which party were the decemvirs ?" he ask-
ed, " Were they of the popular party ? In
what business did they ever look for the .con-
currence of the people ? Were they of that
of the nobility? who, during almost a whole
year, never held a meeting of the senate ; and
now, hold it in such a manner, that people are
not allowed to speak of the state of the com-
monwealth. Let them not rely too much on
the timidity of their fellows ; for men feel
more sensibly the weight of present suffer-
ings, than of such as exist only in apprehen-
sion."

XL. While Horatius was exclaiming in
this manner, and the decemvirs knew not how
either to gratify their anger, or to pass over the
provocation, nor could judge how the business
would end, Caius Claudius, uncle to Appius,
addressed him in a speech, fraught with en-
treaties rather than reproaches ; besought him
by the shade of his own brother, the decem-
vir's father, " to pay more regard to the rights
of that civil society in which he was born, than
to a confederacy, formed on the most flagi-
tious principles. This he requested, more ear-
nestly on Appius's account, than even on that
of the commonwealth : for the commonwealth
would, doubtless, be abundantly able to assert
its own rights, in spite of any resistance which
the then magistrates could make ; but that, as
great contests generally excite great animosi-
ties, he could not, without horror, think of
what might be the consequence." Although
the decemvirs had refused liberty to speak
on any subject, but the business which
they had proposed, yet such was their respect
for Claudius, that they did not interrupt him ;
he proceeded therefore in his discourse, which
he concluded, with moving a resolution, that
no decree of the senate should be passed.
This was considered by every one as import-
ing that, in the judgment of Claudius, they were
l/ut private citizens, and many of the consulars
expressed their approbation. Another mea-
sure was proposed, more harsh in appearance,
but much less efficacious ; it was to order
the patricians to assemble and appoint an in-
terrex : for that the passing of any resolution
would be an acknowledgment that the persons,
who convened the senate, were invested with
some office ; whereas, the member who recom-
mended that no resolution should pass, meant
thereby to declare them private citizens.

When the cause of the decemvirs was thus
sinking into ruin, Lucius Cornelius Malupi-
iiensis, brother to Marcus Cornelius the de-
cemvir, having been purposely reserved from
among the consulars to close the debate, un-
der the pretence of anxiety about the war,
supported his brother and his colleagues thus :
" He wondered," he said, " by what fatality it
happened, that those, who had been themselves
candidates for the decemvirate, were the per-
sons who, either as secondaries or principals,
waged this attack on the decemvirs ; and why
they should now, at this particular time, when
the enemy were just at the gates, take such
pains to sow dissension among the citizens ;
while during so many months, wherein the at-
tention of the state had been disengaged, no
one ever made it a matter of dispute, whether
those who held the administration of the go-
vernment, were legal magistrates or not ; un
less it were because they supposed, that in a
state of confusion, their conduct would not be
so easily seen through. However, it was
highly improper in any one to attempt to pre-
judice a cause of that magnitude, while men's
minds were occupied by more urgent concerns.
It was his opinion, then, that the plea urged
by Valerius and Horatius, that the office of
decemvirs had expired on the ides of May,
should be taken into consideration, and discus-
sed by the senate, when the wars with which
they were then threatened should be brought
to a conclusion, and tranquillity restored to the
state : that Appius Claudius should consider
himself as having now received sufficient notice,
that he must be ready to give an account of the
proceedings of the assembly in which he, in
quality of decemvir, had presided, and in which
the decemvirs were elected, whether they
were appointed for one year, or, until the
laws, then wanting, should be ratified. It
was also his opinion, that, for the present,
every other business, except the war, should
be laid aside ; and that, if they imagined that
the reports concerning it were propagated with-
out foundation, and that not only the couriers,
but the Tusculan ambassadors, had conveyed
false intelligence, then that scouts should be
despatched to procure more certain informa-
tion ; but that, if they gave credit to the cou-
riers and the ambassadors in that case, troops
should be levied without delay, and the decem-
virs should lead armies to whatever places each
should think proper. He repeated, that no

114

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other business ought to take place, until this
was disposed of."

XLI. This resolution was carried, on a
division, by means of the young patricians.
Valerius and Horatius then, with greater ve-
hemence, renewed their efforts, and loudly de-
manded permission to speak more particularly
on the state of the commonwealth, declaring,
that " if by a faction they were prevented from
delivering their sentiments in the senate, they
would appeal to the people ; for that private
men had no right to hinder them from speak-
ing, either in the senate-house, or in a general
assembly, nor would they give way to those
men's imaginary fasces." Appius then think-
ing the juncture so critical, that the authority
of the decemvirate must be overpowered, unless
the violence of their opposers were resisted
with an equal degree of boldness, called out,
that " whoever uttered a sentence, except on
the business proposed, should have cause to
repent ;" and, on Valerius insisting that he
would not be silenced by a private citizen,
ordered a lictor to advance : Valerius, from
the door of the senate-house, implored the
protection of the citizens ; when Lucius Cor-
nelius, embracing Appius, through concern for
an effect so different from what he intended,
put a stop to the contest, and procured Valerius
permission to say what he chose. This pro-
ducing nothing beyond words in favour of li-
berty, the decemvirs carried their point j and
even the consulars and elder patricians, from
inveterate hatred to the tribunitian office, which
they supposed the people wished for with
much more eagerness than for the consular
government, would have been rather better
pleased that the decemvirs themselves should,
at some future time, voluntarily resign their
office, than that, through means of the indigna-
tion of the public against them, the commons
should rise again to consequence. They hoped,
too, that if, by gentle management, the consu-
lar government should be restored, without
the turbulent interposition of the popidace,
they might, either by the intervention of wars
or by the moderation of the consuls in the
exercise of their authority, induce the commons
to forget their tribunes. No objection being
made by the patricians, a levy was proclaimed,
and the young men, there being no appeal from
the present government, answered to their
names. When the legions were filled up, the
decemvirs settled among themselves who should

go out with the troops, and who command the
several armies. The leading men among the
decemvirs were Quintus Fabius and Appius
Claudius. It was evident that there would be
a greater war at home than abroad. The vio-
lence of Appius was thought the better calcu-
lated for suppressing commotions in the city,
as the disposition of Fabius had long been
considered as rather wanting in good pursuits,
than strenuous in bad ; yet this man, hitherto
highly distinguished both in civil and military
conduct, was so entirely changed by his office
of decemvir and the example of his colleagues,
that he now chose rather to be like Appius,
than like himself. To him was given in charge
the war against the Sabines ; and, along with
him, were sent his colleagues, Manius Rabu-
leius and Quintus Paetilius. Marcus Cornelius
was sent to the territory of Algidum, with
Lucius Minutius, Titus Antonius, Caeso Dui-
lius, and Marcus Sergius j and it was deter-
mined that Spurius Appius should assist Ap-
pius Claudius in the management of affairs in
the city, where they should have full authority,
as if all the decemvirs were present.

XLII. Public affairs were conducted with
no better success in war than at home. In
this, the leaders were no farther to blame, than
for having rendered themselves odious to their
countrymen ; in other respects, the faidt lay
entirely in the soldiery, who, rather than that
any enterprise should succeed under the con-
duct and auspices of the decemvirs, suffered
themselves to be overcome, to the disgrace 01'
both. The armies were routed, both by the
Sabines at Eretum, and by the /Kquan.s in
the country of Algidum. From Eretum the
troops made a retreat in the dead of the
night, and fortified a camp nearer to the city,
on a high ground, between Fidenae and Crus-
tumeria ; and, being pursued by the enemy,
would not risk a battle on equal ground, but
provided farther safety by the nature of the
place and a rampart, not by valour and arms.
In the country of Algidum greater disgrace
and greater loss were sustained : even Jhe camp
was taken : and the soldiers, deprived of all
their utensils, betook themselves to Tusculum,
depending, for the necessaries of life, on the
good faith and compassion of their hosts, who,
on this occasion, did. not disappoint their ex-
pectations. Such terrifying accounts were
brought to Rome, that the senate, dropping the
prosecution of their hatred to the decemvirs,

Y. ii. 305.]

OF ROME.

115

passed an order, that watches should be held
in the city ; commanded all, who were of an
age to bear arms, to mount guard on the walls,
and to form outposts before the gates ; they
ulso decreed a supply of arms to be carried to
Tusculum ; that the decemvirs should come
down from the citadel of Tusculum, and keep ]
their troops encamped ; and that the other
camp should be removed from Fidenae into the
country of the Sabines, to tue end that the
enemy, feeling themselves attacked at home,
might be deterred from operations against the
city.

XLIH. To the calamities inflicted by the
enemy, the decemvirs added two most flagitious
deeds, one at home, and the other in the army.
In the army which acted against the Sabines,
a person, called Lucius Siccius, taking ad-
vantage of the general aversion from the de-
cemvirs, and having frequently, in private
conversation with the common soldiers, made
mention of a secession, and of electing tribunes,
they sent him on a party of observation, to
choose ground for a camp, and gave instructions
to the men whom they sent to attend on the
expedition, that they should fall upon him in
some convenient place, and put him to death.
He did not fall unrevenged ; for, though sur-
rounded on all sides, he stood on his defence ;
and being possessed of extraordinary personal
strength, and of spirit equal to his strength, he
slew several of the assassins. The rest, on
their return, gave out in the camp, that they had
fallen into an ambush, and that Siccius was lost,
after fighting with great bravery and some of
the soldiers with him. At first this story was
believed: but afterwards, a cohort, which went,
with permission of the decemvirs, to bury those
who had fallen, observing that none of them
were stripped ; that Siccius, with his arms, lay
in the middle with the faces of all the others
turned towards him, while not a trace could be
found of the enemy having retreated from
. thence ; they brought back the body, with an
account that he was evidently slain by his own
men. The camp was now filled with indigna-
tion ; and it was resolved, that Siccius should
be carried directly to Rome, which would have
been put in execution, had not the decemvirs
as speedily as possible, buried him with mili-
tary honours, at the public expense. His
funeral was attended with great grief of the
soldiery, and a general belief of guilt in the
decemvirs.

XLIV. There followed, in the city, another
atrocious proceeding, which took its rise from
lust, and was not less tragical in its consequences
than that which, through the injured chastity
and violent death of Lucretia, had occasioned
the expulsion of the Tarquinii from the throne
and the city ; so that the government of the de-
cemvirs not only ended in the same manner as
that of the kings, but was lost through the same
cause. Appius Claudius was inflamed with a
criminal passion towards a young woman of plc-
jeian rank. The father of this young woman,
Lucius Virginius, held an honourable rank
among the centurions, in the camp near Algi-
dum, a man of exemplary good conduct, both
as a soldier and a citizen, and by the same prin-
ciples were the behaviour of his wife, and the
education of his family regulated. He had
betrothed his daughter to Lucius Icilius, who
bad been tribune, a man of spirit, and of ap-
proved zeal in the cause of the commons.
This maiden, in the bloom of youth, and of ex-
traordinary beauty, Appius, burning with de-
sire, had attempted to seduce by bribes and
promises ; but, finding every avenue to his hopes
barred by modesty, he resolved to have recourse
to violence. He gave instructions to Marcus
Claudius, one of his dependents, that he should
claim the young woman as his slave, and not
submit to any demand which should be made, of
her being left at liberty until the decision of the
suit, thinking that the absence of the damsel's
father afforded the fittest opportunity for the
injury which he meditated. As Virginia came
into the forum, (for the schools of learning
were held there in sheds,) this minister of the
decemvir's lust laid his hand on her, and affirm-
ing that " she was a slave, and born of a woman
who was his slave," ordered her to follow him ;
threatening, in case of refusal, to drag her away
by force. While the girl stood motionless
through fright and astonishment, a crowd was
collected by the cries of her nurse, who implor-
ed the protection of the citizens. The popular
names of her father Virginius, and her spouse
Icilius, were heard on every side. Their ac-
quaintances were engaged in favour of the mai-
den, by their regard for them ; and the multi-
tude in general, by the heinousness of the pro-
ceeding. She was now secured from violence,
when the claimant said, " there was no occasion
for raising a mob, he was proceeding by law,
not by force," and summoned the maiden to a
court of justice. She being advised, by those

116

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who appeared in her favour, to follow him, they
arrived at the tribunal of Appius. The claim-
ant rehearsed the concerted farce before the
judge, alleged that " the girl was born in his
house, and had been clandestinely removed from
thence to that of Virginius, her supposed fa-
ther ; that of this he had sufficient evidence,
and would prove it even to the satisfaction of
Virginius himself, the principal sufferer in the
case ; and it was reasonable," he added, " that
in the meantime, the servant should remain in
the custody of her master." The advocates
for Virginia, pleading that Virginius was absent
on business of the state, and would, were notice
sent him, attend in two days' time, and that it
was unreasonable that a suit concerning his
child should be carried on in his absence, de-
manded of Appius to adjourn all proceedings
in the cause, until the father's arrival ; that, in
conformity to the law which he himself had
framed, he should leave her in the mean time
in the enjoyment of her liberty; and not suffer
a young woman of ripe age to encounter the
hazard of her reputation, before the case of her
freedom was determined.

XLV. Appius prefaced his decree with ob-
serving that " the very law, which Virginius's
friends held out as the foundation of their de-
mand, was a proof how much he was inclined
to favour liberty : however, tha£ law could af-
ford no firm security to liberty, if it were not
invariable in the tenor of its operation, without
regard either to causes or persons. In the case
of those who, from servitude, claimed a right
to freedom, the privilege mentioned was allow-
ed, because any citizen can act in their behalf :
but in the case of her, who was in the hands of
her father, there was no other person to whom
the owner should yield the custody of her. It
was therefore his determination, that the father
should be sent for ; that, in the meantime, the
claimant should suffer no loss of his right, but
should take the maiden into his custody, and
give security for her appearance, on the arrival
of him who was alleged to be her father."
Whilst all murmured against the injustice of this
decree, though not one had courage to oppose it,
Publius Numitorius, the maiden's uncle, and Ici-
lius, her betrothed spouse, arrived at the spot.
The crowd having readily made way for them,
because they were of opinion, that, if any thing
could stop the proceedings of Appius, it would
be the interference of Icilius, the lictor called
out, that " sentence was passed ;" and, on Ici-

liua making loud remonstrances, ordered him to
retire. Even a cool temper would have been
inflamed by such gross ill-treatment : Icilius
said, " Appius, you must drive me hence with
the sword, before you shall accomplish, in si-
lence, what you wish to be concealed. This
young woman I intend to wed, and expect to
find in her a lawful and a chaste wife. Call
together then even all the lictors of your col-
leagues, order the rods and axes to be got rea-
dy : the spouse of Icilius shall not remain
in any other place than her father's house.
Though you have taken from us the protection
of tribunes, and an appeal to the Roman people,
the two bulwarks which secured our liberty, yet
there has been no grant made, to your lust of ab-
solute dominion over our wives and daughters.
Vent your fury on our persons and our lives ;
let chastity, at least, find safety. If any vio-
lence is offered to her, I shall appeal for suc-
cour to the citizens now present, in behalf of
my spouse ; Virginius will appeal to the sol-
diers in behalf of his only daughter : and all of
us to the gods, and to all mankind : nor shall
you ever carry that sentence into effect, while
we have life to prevent it. I charge you, Ap-
pius, consider again and again to what lengths
you are proceeding : let Virginius, when he
comes, determine what measures he will pur-
sue in regard to his daughter ; only of this I
would have him assured, that if he submits to
this man's claim of obtaining the custody of
her, he must seek another match for his daugh-
ter : as for me, in vindication of the liberty of
my spouse, I will forfeit my life sooner than my
honour."

XL VI. The passions of the multitude were
now raised, and there was every sign of a vio-
lent contest ensuing. The lictors had gathered
round Icilius, but proceeded, however, no far-
ther than threats, when Appius said, " that the
defence of Virginia was not the motive which
actuated Icilius ; but, turbulent by nature, and
breathing, at that instant, the spirit of the tri-
buneship, he was seeking an occasion of sedi-
tion. He would not, however, at that time,
give him matter to work on : but, in order to
convince him at once that this indulgence was
granted, not to his petulance, but to the absent
Virginius, to the name of the father, and to
liberty, he would not then decide the cause,
nor interpose any decree ; he would even re-
quest of Marcus Claudius to depart somewhat
from his right, and suffer the maiden to be

y. n.305.]

OF ROME.

117

bailed until the next day. But if, on the next
day, the father did not attend, he now gave no-
tice to Icilius, and to persons like Icilius, that,
as its founder, he would not fail to support his
ov/n law ; nor, as a decemvir, to show a proper
degree of resolution ; nor should he call toge-
ther the lictors of his colleagues, to check the
efforts of the fomenters of sedition, but be con-
tent with his own lictors." The execution of
his iniquitous design being thus deferred, the
advocates of the girl having retired, resolved,
first of all, that the brother of Icilius and the
son of Numitorius, active young men, should
set off directly, and with all possible haste
call home Virginius from the camp, acquaint-
ing him that " the safety of the maiden depend-
ed on his being present in time next day to
protect her from injury." They set out the
instant they received their directions, and, with
all the speed their horses could make, carried
the account to her father. In the meantime,
the claimant of the maiden urged Icilius to pro-
fess himself a defendant in the cause, and to pro-
duce sureties. This, however, Icilius delayed,
in order that the messengers despatched to the
camp might gain the longer time for their jour-
ney, telling him that he was preparing to do so.
The whole multitude on this held up their
hands, and every one showed himself ready to
be surety to Icilius. To them he replied, tears
at the same time filling his eyes, " I am thank-
fid for your goodness ; to-morrow I will claim
your assistance ; at present, I have sufficient
sureties." Virginia was then admitted to bail
on the security of her relations. Appius, after
remaining on the tribunal for a short time
lest he should seem to have sat merely for the
sake of the present business, and finding that
no one applied to him, the general anxiety
about Virginia calling their attention from
every other subject, retired to his house, and
wrote to his colleagues in camp not to allow
Virginius to leave it, and even to keep him in
confinement. This wicked scheme, as it de-
served, was too late to succeed ; for Virginius,
having already got leave of absence, had set out
at the first watch ; so that the letter for detaining
him, which was delivered in the morning, neces-
sarily produced no effect.

XL VI I. In the city, a vast multitude of
citizens were assembled in the forum at day-
break, full of anxious expectation. Virginius,
clad in mourning, and accompanied by a great
number of advocates, led lus daughter into the

forum, habited in weeds, denoting her distress,
and attended by a number of matrons. There
he began to solicit each man's favour ; and not
only requested their aid, as a boon granted to
his prayers, but demanded it as his due, re-
minding them, that " he stood daily in the field
of battle, in defence of their wives and chil-
dren ; nor was there any man who had given
greater proof of valour and intrepidity in action
than he had done. Yet what did this avail, if,
while the city was secure from danger, their
children were exposed to calamities as grievous
as could be dreaded, if it were taken by
an enemy ?" With such discourses, uttered in
a manner as if he were addressing a public
assembly, he applied to the people individually.
Icilius addressed them with like arguments j and
the female attendants, by their silent tears, affect-
ed them more deeply than any words could do.
Appius> whose mind was hardened against all
such occurrences, violent madness, rather than
love, having perverted his understanding, as-
cended the tribunal ; and when the claimant
had just begun to urge, that " through partial-
ity, he had refused yesterday to pronounce
judgment in the cause ;" Appius, without
allowing him to proceed in stating his claim,
or giving Virginius an opportunity of answer-
ing, delivered his sentence. The discourse
with which he introduced his decree some
ancient writers have set down, perhaps with
truth ; but as I no where find any one that
seems likely to have been used on occasion of
such an iniquitous business, I think it best to
represent the plain fact, of which there is no
doubt : he decreed, that she should be held in
bondage until the final decision. At first, all
were struck motionless with astonishment at
such an atrocious proceeding. Silence then
prevailed for some time : afterwards, when
Marcus Claudius went to seize the maiden,
where she stood in the midst of the matrons,
and was opposed by the women with lament-
able cries of grief, Virginius, stretching forth
his hands in a menacing attitude towards
Appius, said, " Appius, I betrothed my daugh .
ter to Icilius, not to thee ; and I have educated
her for a wife, not for a harlot. Do you
intend that men shall indulge their lust promis-
cuously like cattle and wild beasts ? Whether
Jthese present will endure such things I know
not : but those who carry arms, I hope, never
will." The claimant of the maiden being forced
back, by the crowd of women and advocates

118

THE HISTO RY

[BOOK in

who stood round her, silence was commanded
by the crier.

XL VI II. The decemvir, whose mind was
warped by his ungovernable lust, said, that
" the abusive language of Icilius yesterday, and
the violence of Virginius, now the whole
Roman people were witnesses of, but that he
had learned, on good authority, that, during the
whole night, cabals had been held for the pur-
pose of stirring up sedition. Wherefore, being
aware of the disputes likely- to ensue, he had
come down with a band of men in arms, not
with a design of injuring any person who
should demean himself, but of punishing in a
manner suited to the majesty of government,
such as should presume to disturb the tranquil-
lity of the state. It will, therefore, said he,
be your better way to remain quiet. Go, lie-
tor, remove the crowd, and make way for the
owner to seize his slave." When, bursting
with passion, he had thundered out these
words, the multitude of themselves voluntarily
separated, and the maiden stood forsaken, a
prey to injustice. Virginius then, seeing no
prospect of assistance from any quarter, said,
" Appius, I entreat you, first, to make allow-
ance for a father's grief, if I have made use of
too harsh expressions towards you ; and next,
to allow me here, in the presence of the maiden,
to inquire of her nurse the truth of this affair :
that if I have been falsely called her father, I
may depart hence with the more resignation."
Permission being granted, he drew the maiden
and her nurse aside, to the sheds near the tem-
ple of Cloacina, now called the new sheds, and
there, snatching a knife from a butcher, plunged
it into his daughter's breast, with these words :
'' In this manner, my child, the only one in my
power, do I secure your liberty." Then look-
ing back on Appius, " With this blood, Appi-
us," said he, " I devote thee and thine head to
perdition." Appius, alarmed by the cry raised
at such a horrid deed, ordered Virginius to be
seized. But he, clearing a passage with the
weapon wherever he went, and protected also
by a great number of young men who escorted
him, made his way to the gate. Icilius and
Numitorius raised up the lifeless body, and
exposed it to the view of the people, deploring
the villany of Appius, the fatal beauty of the
maiden, and the necessity which had urged the
father to the act. The matrons who followed
joined their exclamations : " Were these the
consequences of rearing children ? Were these

the rewards of chastity ?" with other mournful
reflections, such as are suggested by grief to
women, and which, from the greater sensibility
of their tender minds, are always the most af-
fecting. The discourse of the men, and par-
ticularly of Icilius, turned entirely on their
being deprived of the protection of tribunes,
and consequently of appeals to the people, and
on the indignities thrown upon all.

XLIX. The passions of the multitude
were strongly excited, partly by the villany
of the decemvir, partly by their hopes that the
occasion might be improved to the recovery of
liberty. Appius now ordered Icilius to be
called before him ; then on his refusing to
attend, to be seized : at last, when the beadles
were not suffered to come near him, he himself,
with a band of young patricians, pushing through
the crowd, ordered him to be taken into con-
finement. By this time, there had collected
round Icilius, not only the multitude, but per-
sons fit to head that multitude, Lucius
Valerius and Marcus Horatius, who, driving
back his lictor, told Appius, that " If he meant
to proceed in a legal way, they would be security
for Icilius, against any charge which he, as a
private citizen, should bring. If he should at-
tempt to make use of force, in that point too
they would not be his inferiors." A furious
scuffle ensued. The decemvir's lictor at-
tacked Valerius and Horatius. The fasces
were broken by the people. Appius then
mounted the tribunal, whither he was fol-
lowed by Horatius and Valerius ; to these the
assembly paid attention, but drowned .the de-
cemvir's voice with noise. Valerius now
assumed authority to order the lictors to depart
from one who was but a private citizen ; and
then Appius, bereft of courage, and dreading
for his life, covered his head, and, unobserved
by his adversaries, made his escape into a house
near the forum. Spurius Oppius, rushing
into the forum from the other side, in order to
assist his colleague, saw their authority over-
powered by force. After revolving several
expedients, confused by listening to a multitude
of advisers on every side, he at last commanded
the senate to be summoned. This step calmed
the minds of the populace, by giving them
hopes, that as the conduct of the decemvirs
seemed displeasing to the greater part of the
patricians, their government would be abolished
through the means of the senate. The senate
gave their opinion, that the commons should

v. n. 305.]

OF ROME.

119

not be farther exasperated ; and i hat. above all
things, care should be taken to hinder distur-
bances being excited in the camp on the arrival
of Virginius.

L. Accordingly some of the younger patri-
cians were sent to the camp, which, at that time,
was on mount Vecilius, to caution the decem-
virs to use their utmost efforts for preventing a
mutiny among the soldiers. Here, Virginius
caused greater commotions than he had left in
the city : for, besides the notice which he at-
tracted, by coming attended by a band of near
four hundred men ; who, incensed at the scan-
dalous injustice done him, had accompanied
him from the city ; the unsheathed weapon, and
himself being besmeared with blood, engaged
the general attention, while gowns' being ob-
served in many different parts of the camp,
made the number of people from the city ap-
pear much larger than it was. Being asked the
reason of all this, grief for a long time prevent-
ed Virginius from uttering a word. At length,
when the crowd grew still, and silence took
place, he related every circumstance in order as
it passed. Then raising his hands towards
Leaven, besought his fellow-soldiers " Not to
impute to him the guilt which belonged to Ap-
pius Claudius, nor to abhor him as the murderer
of his child. Declaring, that the life of his
daughter was dearer to him than his own, could
she have lived with honour and liberty. When
he saw her dragged as a slave to violation, he
thought it better that his child should be lost
by death than by dishonour. Actuated by
compassion, he had fallen under the appearance
of cruelty: nor would he have survived his
daughter, had he not looked to the aid of his
fellow-soldiers, with hopes of revenging her
death : for they also had daughters, sisters,
wives ; and the lust of Appius Claudius was
not extinguished by the death of Virginia, but
would be encouraged, by impunity, to rage with
less restraint. They had now warning given
them, in the calamity of another, to guard them-
selves against the like injury. As to what con-
cerned himself, his wife had been torn from him
by fate ; his daughter, because she could not
longer preserve her chastity, had fallen by an
unfortunate but honourable death. There was
now in his house no object for Appius's lust
and from any other kind of violence which he
could offer he would defend his own per-

) The citizens' dresp, diffirent from that of the military

on with the same spirit with which he had
escued that of Virginia. Let others take care
f themselves and of their children. " To these
epresentations, uttered by Virginias in a loud
oice, the multitude replied, with shouts, that
hey would not be backward in vindicating
either his wrongs or their own liberty. At the
>ame time, the gown-men intermixed with the
crowd of soldiers, relating with sorrow the same
circumstances, and observing how much more
shocking they appeared to the sight than hear-
ng, acquainting them also that the affairs of
he decemvirs at Rome were desperate; while
some, who came later, averred that Appius,
laving with difficulty escaped with life, was
fone into exile. All this bad such an effect on
he soldiery, that they cried out, To arms !
snatched up the standards, and marched towards
Rome. The decemvirs, exceedingly alarmed,
as well by the transactions which they saw, as
>y those which they heard had passed at Rome,
ran to different parts of the camp, in order to
quell the commotion. While they acted with
mildness, they received no answer. If any of
them offered to exert authority, he was answer-
ed, that " they were men ; and besides, had
arms." The soldiers proceeded in a body to the
city, and posted themselves on the Aventine,
exhorting the commons, whenever they met
any of them, to reassume their liberty, and
create plebeian tribunes. No other violent
expression was heard. Spurius Oppius held
the meeting of the senate, when it was re-
solved, that no harsh measures should be used
because themselves had given occasion to the
insurrection. Three consulars were sent as
deputies to the mount, Spurius Tarpeius,
Caius Julius, and Servius Sulpicius, to ask,
in the name of the senate, by whose orders
they had quitted the camp ; or what was their
intention in posting themselves in arms, on the
Aventine ; in changing the direction of their
hostile operations from the enemy, and by
seizing a strong post in their native country.
The revolters were at no loss what to answer :
but they were at a loss for a person to give the
answer, having not yet appointed any particular
leader, and individuals not being very forward
to take on themselves the invidious, and per-
haps dangerous, office. The multitude only
called out with one voice, that Lucius Vale-
rius and Marcus Horatius might be sent, and
to them they would give their answer.

LI. When the deputies were dismissed, Vir-

J20

THE HISTORY

[BOOK in.

ginius reminded the soldiers, " how much they
bad been embarrassed in a case of no extraor-
dinary difficulty, in consequence of their being
a multitude without a head ; and that the an-
swer given, though not inexpedient, was the
result rather of an accidental concurrence, than
of a concerted plan : he recommended to them,
therefore, to elect ten persons, who should
preside in the direction of their affairs, and. in
the style of military dignity, be called tribunes
of the soldiers." This honour, being offered,
in the first place, to himself, he said, " Reserve,
to a juncture more happy, both to you and me,
such expressions of your good opinion of me.
It is neither possible for me, while my daughter
is unre venged, to reap satisfaction from any hon-
our, nor is it expedient for you, in the present
disordered state of the commonwealth, to have
those at your head who are most obnoxious to
party malice. If I can be of any service, my re-
maining in a private capacity will in no degree
prevent it." They accordingly elected ten mili-
tary tribunes. Nor was the army in the country
of the Sabines inactive. There also, at the in-
stance of Icilius and Numitorius, a secession
from the decemvirs was made ; men being no
less strongly agitated by having the murder of
Siccius recalled to their memory, than by the re-
cent account of the barbarous attempt against the
chastity of Virginia. When Icilius heard that
tribunes of the soldiers had been elected on the
Aventine,he feared lest the assembly of election
in the city might follow the lead of the military
assembly, and choose the same persons tribunes
of the commons. Being well versed in popu-
lar intrigues, and aiming himself at that office,
he took care that, before they proceeded to the
city, the same number of soldiers, with equal
powers, should be elected by the party then
with him. They entered the city, in military
array, through the Colline gate, and continued
their march in a body through the middle of the
city to the Aventine. There, in conjunction
with the other army, they gave directions to
the twenty tribunes of the soldiers to choose
two out of their number who were to hold the
command in chief: they chose Marcus Oppius
and Sextus Manilius. The senate were alarmed
for the general safety, but though they sat every
day, they spent more time in wrangling than in
deliberation : the decemvirs were upbraided
with the murder of Siccius, the lust of Appius,
and the disgraces which they had incurred in
war. It was resolved, at length, that Valerius

and Homtius should proceed to the Aventine :
but they refused to go thither, on any other
terms than those of the decemvirs resigning the
badges of office, their title to which bad expired
a year before. The decemvirs, remonstrating
against the severity of degrading them to the
common level, declared that they would not re-
sign their authority, until the purpose of their
election should be fulfilled by the ratification of
the laws.

„ LI I. The commons, on being informed by
Marcus Duilius, who had been plebeian tribune,
that the time was passed by the patricians in
continual disputes, and no business done, re-
moved from the Aventine to the sacred mount :
for Duilius had assured them, that " the senate
would never attend seriously to the business,
until they saw the city deserted ; that the sa-
cred mount would remind them of the firmness
of the commons, and that they would then dis-
cover, that the re-establishment of concord was
impracticable, without the restoration of the
tribunitian office." Marching along the No-
mentan road, then called the Ficulnean, they
encamped on the sacred mount, imitating the
moderation of their fathers, in refraining from
every act of violence. The army was followed
by the commons, not one, whose age would
permit him, refusing to go. Their wives
and children attended their steps, asking, in
melancholy accents, to whose care they were
to be left, in such a city, where neither chastity
nor liberty were safe ? So general a desertion,
beyond what was ever known, left every part
of the city void, not a creature being even seen
in the forum, except a few very old men, when
the senators were called into their house.
Thus the forum appearing entirely forsaken,
many others, with Horatius and Valerius be-
gan to exclaim, " Conscript fathers ! how long
will ye delay ? If the decemvirs will not desist
from their obstinacy, will ye suffer every thing
to sink into ruin ? And yc, decemvirs, what is
this power which ye so positively refuse to
part with ? Do ye intend to administer justice
to bare walls and empty houses ? Are ye not
ashamed, that the number of your lictors should
exceed that of all the other citizens in the fo-
rum ? What do ye propose to do, should the
enemy advance to the city? What, if the
commons, finding that we are not moved by
their secession, should presently come in arms ?
Do ye choose that your command should be
terminated by the fall of the city ? The case

Y. u. 305.]

OF ROME.

121

stands thus ; eithei we must lose the commons,
or they must have their tribunes. We would
sooner part with our patrician magistrates, than
they with the plebeian. The office of tribunes,
when it was a thing unknown 'and untried,
they extorted from our fathers ; and it is much
more improbable that, after having tasted the
sweets of it, they will put up with its loss,
especially as we do not exercise authority with
such moderation, as to prevent their standing
in need of protection." Assailed by such ar-
guments from every quarter, and overpowered
by the united opinions of all, the decemvirs
declared, that since it was judged necessary,
they would submit to the orders of the senate.
This only they requested, that they would af-
ford them protection from the rage of the
opposite party : warning them, at the same
time, not to suffer the commons, by the spilling
of their blood, to come into the practice of in-
flicting punishment on patricians.

LIII. Valerius and Horatius were then
deputed to invite the commons to return, on
such conditions as they should judge proper,
and to adjust all matters in dispute. They
were ordered also to take measures, for secur-
ing the decemvirs from the rage and violence of
the populace. On their arrival at the camp,
they were received with excessive joy, as hav-
ing evidently proved themselves the patrons of
liberty, both at the commencement of the
disturbances, and on the determination of the
business. For this, they received thanks on
their coming, Icilius addressing them in the
name of the whole ; and when they began to
treat about conditions, the same person, on the
deputies inquiring what were the demands of
the commons, proposed, in pursuance of a
plan which had been adjusted before their ar-
rival, such terms as plainly evinced, that they
grounded their expectations on the equity of
their cause, rather than on their strength : for
they only required the restitution of the tribuni-
tian office, and the privilege of appeal, by
which the rights of the commons had been
guarded, before the creation of decemvirs ;
and, that no one should suffer for having in.
stigated the soldiery, or the commons, to pro-
cure the restoration of liberty, by a secession.
They were intemperate only in respect to the
punishment of the decemvirs : for they ex-
pected that they should be delivered into their
liamls, and they threatened to burn them alive.
In reply, the deputies said, " Such of your

I.

demands, as have been the result of delibera-
tion, are so equitable, that they ought to be
voluntarily offered to you : for the object of
them is the attainment of a security for
liberty, not for unbounded licence to violate
the rights of others. But the dictates of your
resentment, we must rather pardon than in-
dulge : for, through your detestation of cruelty,
ye are precipitating yourselves into the very
vice which ye abhor ; and before ye can well
be said to be free yourselves, ye wish to act the
tyrant over your adversaries. Is our state
never to enjoy rest from punishments, either
inflicted by the patricians on the Roman com-
mons, or by the commons on the patricians ?
Ye stand in need of a shield, rather than of a
sword. It is abundantly sufficient to humble
a man so far as that he shall live on an equal
footing with the rest of his countrymen, neither
offering nor enduring injury. Besides, should
ye ever choose to render yourselves objects of
terror, when ye shall have recovered your
magistrates, and your laws, and shall have the
power in your bands of deciding on our lives
and fortunes, then ye will determine according
to the merit of each case ; at present it is
sufficient to require the restoration of liberty."
LIV. Having, with universal consent, re-
ceived permission to act as they thought proper,
the deputies assured them that they would
speedily bring back a final settlement of the
business ; and, returning, reported to the senate
the message from the commons. On which
the other decemvirs, finding, that, beyond their
hopes, no mention was made of any punish-
ment being reserved for them, raised no ob-
jection. Appius, stern in his nature, conscious
that he was the object of particular detestation,
and measuring the rancour of others towards
him by his own towards them, said, " I am not
blind to the fate which hangs over me. I see
that violent proceedings against us are deferred
until our arms are surrendered into the hands
of our adversaries. Blood must be offered to the
rage of the populace. I myself no longer demur
to resign the office of decemvir." A decree
of the senate was then made that " The decem-
virs should, without delay, resign their office.
That Quintus Furius, chief pontiff, should
hold an election of plebeian tribunes, and that
no one should suffer, on account of the seces-
sion of the soldiers and commons." As soon
as these decrees were finished, the senate was
dismissed, and the decemvirs, coming forth to
Q

THE HISTORY

[BOOK in.

the comitium, made a resignation of their office,
to the extreme joy of all. News of this was
carried to the commons. Whatever people
there were remaining in the city, escorted the
deputies. This was met by another procession
from the camp, exulting with joy ; and they
mutually congratulated each other, on the re-,
establishment of liberty and concord in the
state. Tiie deputies addressed the assembly
thus : " Be it advantageous, fortunate, and
happy to you, and to the commonwealth. Re-
turn into your native city, to your household
gods, your wives and children ; the same mo-
deration, with which' ye have behaved here,
where, notwithstanding the great consumption
of necessaries in so large a multitude, no man's
field has been injured, that moderation carry
with you into the city. Go to the Aventine,
whence ye removed. In that auspicious place,
where ye took the first step towards liberty, ye
shall elect tribunes of the commons : the chief
pontiff will attend and preside in the assem-
bly." Great were the applauses given, and the
cheerfullest approbation was shown of every
thing which was done. They then hastily raised
the standards ; and, as they marched towards
Rome, vied with such as they met in expres-
sions of joy. They proceeded under arms, in
silence, through the city to the Aventine.
There, the chief pontiff holding an assembly,
they instantly elected tribunes of the commons ;
first, Lucius Virginius ; then Lucius Icilius,
and Publius Nomitorius, uncle of Virginia, the
first advisers of the secession ; then Caius Si-
cinius, a descendant of that man who is re-
corded as the first tribune of the commons,
elected on the sacred mount ; with Marcus
Duilius, who had distinguished himself by his
conduct in the tribuneship, before the creation
of the decemvirs, and who, during the contest
with them, had not failed to exert himself in
the support of the common cause. At the
same time were elected, rather on account of
hopes entertained of their future conduct, than
of their previous deserts, Marcus Titinius,
Marcus Pomponius, Caius Apronius, Publius
Villius, and Caius Oppius. Lucius Icilius, as
soon as he entered on the office of tribune,
proposed to the commons, and the commons
ordered, that no person should suffer on account
of the secession from the decemvirs. Imme-
diately after, Duilius carried a proposition for
electing consuls, with privilege of appeal. All
this was transacted in an assembly of the com-

mons in the Haminian meadows, now called
the Flaminian circus.

LV. After this, under the direction of an
interrex, consuls were elected. [Y. R. 306.
B. C. 4-46.] These were Lucius Valerius
and Marcus Horatius, who entered immediate-
ly upon the exercise of their office. Their
consulate was popular. But though unattended
by any actual ill-treatment of the patricians, it
yet incurred their displeasure ; for they imagin-
ed that whatever added to the liberty of the
commons, was necessarily a diminution of their
own power. First of all, as if it were a point
in controversy, whether the patricians were
bound by regulations enacted in an assembly of
the commons, a law was passed in an assembly
of the centuries, " that whatever was ordered
by the commons collectively, should bind the
whole people." A law which gave the keenest
edge to such propositions as might be introduc-
ed by the tribunes. Another law, introduced
by a consul, concerning the right of appeal, (a
singular security to liberty, and which had been
subverted by the power granted to the decem-
virs,) they not only revived, but guarded for
the time to come, by further enacting, " that no
magistrate should ever be chosen, from whom
there should not be a right of appeal ; and that
if any person should cause the election of such,
then it should be lawful and right to put that
person to death, and the killing of him should
not be accounted a capital offence. " When
they had provided sufficient barriers for the
commons, by the right of appeal on one side,
and the aid of the tribunes on the other, they
renewed to the tribunes themselves the privi-
lege of being deemed sacred and inviolable, a
matter which now had been almost forgotten,
reviving, also, for the purpose, certain cere-
monies which had been long disused ; and they
not only rendered them inviolable by this reli-
gious institution, but by a law, enacting, that.
" whoever should offer injury to the tribunes
of the commons, the sediles, the judges, his
person should be devoted to Jupiter, and his
property confiscated at the temple of Ceres,
Liber, and Libera." Lawyers deny, that any
one is thus rendered sacred and inviolable ; but
admit, that the person who does injury to any of
the above-named is deemed to be devoted. Ac-
cordingly an acdile is sometimes seized, and put
in confinement by superior magistrates, which,
though it is not a legal proceeding, as offending
against a person exempted by this law, is yet a

Y. 11. 306.]

OF ROME.

123

sufficient proof that such person is not deemed
sacred and inviolable. It is alleged, however,
by some, that the tribunes became sacred and
inviolable, in consequence of the old oath
taken by the commons when they first created
that office; while other expositors have sup-
posed, that, by this Horatian law, the same
exemptions were extended to the consuls also,
the consuls being termed judges ; and to the
praetors, as being elected under the same aus-
jiiccs with the consuls. But that exposition is
refuted by this argument, that in those times,
it was not the custom, as it has been since, to
call a consul judge, but pretor. These were
the laws proposed by the consuls. A regula-
tion was also made by the same consuls, that
the decrees of the senate should be deposited
with the plebeian aediles, in the temple of
Ceres ; they had hitherto been frequently sup-
pressed and altered at the pleasure of the con-
suls. Marcus Duilius, plebeian tribune, after-
wards proposed to the commons, and the com-
mons enacted, that " whoever should cause the
commons to be left without tribunes, or any
magistrate to be elected from whom there was
no appeal, should be punished with stripes and
beheaded." All these transactions, though
highly disagreeable to the patricians, passed
without opposition from them, because no se-
verity was yet aimed at any particular person.

LVI. The tribunitian office and the liberty
of the commons being thus fixed on a solid
foundation, the tribunes, judging it now sea-
sonable and safe to attack individuals, singled
out Virginius as the first prosecutor, and Ap-
pius defendant. Virginius, having preferred
a charge against Appius, and the latter coming
to the forum, attended by a crowd of young
patricians, the sight of him and his attendants
instantly recalled to every mind his shocking
abuses of authority. Virginius then said,
" Long speeches are only of use in cases of a
doubtful nature. I shall therefore neither
waste time in descanting before you on the
guilt of this man, from whose cruelty ye have
rescued yourselves by force of arms ; nor will
I suffer him to add impudence to his crimes, in
endeavours to exculpate himself. Wherefore,
Appius Claudius,! remit to you all the impious
and flagitious deeds,which during two years past
you have dared to commit in constant succession.
With respect to one charge, unless you name
a judge, and engage to acquit yourself of hav-
ing, contrary to the laws, sentenced a free per-

son to slavery, I order that you be taken into
custody." Neither in the protection of the
tribunes, nor in a sentence of the people,
could Appius place any hope : yet he called on
the tribunes for aid, and when that was disre-
garded, and he was seized by the bailiff, cried
out, " I appeal." This expression, the pecu-
liar safeguard of liberty, uttered from that
mouth which had so lately threatened the sub-
version of liberty,caused a general silence, whilst
all with earnestness observed one to another,
that "at length it appeared that there were gods,
and that they did not disregard the affairs of man-
kind. That the punishments which attended
pride and cruelty, though they might come late,
were not light. That he now pleaded for the
right of appeal, who had aboh'shed that right" : he
implored the protection of the people, who had
trodden under foot all the people's rights : and
he, who had so lately doomed a free person to
slavery, was himself refused the privilege of
liberty, and dragged to prison." Amidst these
murmurs of the assembly, Appius's voice was
also heard imploring the protection of the peo-
ple. He enumerated " the services of his an-
cestors to the state, both in peace and war ; his
own unfortunate zeal for the interest of the
Roman commons, when, for the sake of ob-
taining equitable laws, he resigned the consul-
ship, to the high displeasure of the patricians :
mentioning his own laws ; and that while they
yet remained in force, the framer of them was
to be dragged to prison. But the peculiar ad-
vantages or disadvantages attending his case,
he would endeavour to set in a proper light,
when he should be allowed to make his defence.
At present, by the common right of every
member of the state, he, a Roman citizen, ac-
cused of an offence, demanded liberty of speak-
ing in his own behalf, and the benefit of a trial
before the Roman people. That his appre-
hensions from the popular rage were not so
great, as to deprive him of all hope from the
equity and compassion of his countrymen. But
if he was led to prison without being heard, he
again called on the tribunes of the commons,
and warned them, not to follow the example of
those who were the objects of their hatred.
But should the tribunes acknowledge them-
selves to have combined in the same kind of
confederacy, for abolishing the right of calling
for their protection, which they charged the
decemvirs with having formed, then he~~ap-
pealed to the people, and implored the benefit

124

THE H ISTORY

[BOOK in.

of the laws concerning appeals, passed that very
year at the instance of the consuls and of the
tribunes. For who was to appeal, if that pri-
vilege was refused to a person on whom no
sentence was passed, and who had not been
heard in his defence ? What plebeian or per-
son in a low station could expect to find pro-
tection in the laws, if Appius Claudius found
none ? His case would afford a proof, whether,
by the new regulations, tyranny or liberty was
established j and whether appeals to the tri-
bunes and people, against the injustice of ma-
gistrates, were effectually granted, or only held
out in show, to amuse the people with empty
words."

LVIL Virginius, on the other hand, af-
firmed, that Appius Claudius was the only per-
son who was not entitled to any of the privi-
leges of the laws, nor of civil nor even of human
society : desired people to " look at the tribunal,
that fortress, where every kind of wickedness
had been exercised with impunity ; where
that perpetual decemvir, venting his fury on the
goods, the persons, and lives of the citizens,
threatening all with his rods and axes, showing
an utter contempt both of gods and men, en-
compassed with executioners, not lictors,
changing at length his pursuits from rapines
and. murders to the gratifications of lust, had,
before the eyes of the Roman people, torn a
free-born maid from the embraces of her father,
as if she had been a captive taken in war, and
given her as a present to one of his clients', the
pander of his secret pleasures j where, by a
cruel decree, and a decision, dictated by the
blackest villany, he armed the hand of a father
against his child ; where, more strongly affected
by the disappointment of his unruly passion
than by her untimely death, he had ordered the
uncle and spouse of the maid, while employed
in raising her lifeless body, to be dragged to
prison. The prison was built for him as well
as for others, though he used to call it the man-
sion of the Roman commons. Wherefore,
however frequently he might appeal, he would
as frequently insist on his abiding the decision
of a judge, on the charge of his having sen-
tenced a free person to slavery. And if he
declined appearing before a judge, would now
order him, as convicted, to be carried into con-
finement." Accordingly he was thrown into
prison ; a step which, though disapproved by
none in point of justice, yet gave occasion to
much serious reflection : the commons them-

selves considering their power as carried rather
too far, in the punishment inflicted on a person
of such consequence. The tribune deferred
the trial to a distant day. Meanwhile ambas-
sadors came to Rome from the Latines and Her-
nicians, with congratulations on the re-establish-
ment of concord between the patricians and com-
mons, and, as an offering on that account to Ju-
piter supremely good and great, carried to the
capitol a golden crown, of small weight, as riches
at that time did not abound, and the worship of
the gods was performed with greater piety than
magnificence. The same persons also brought
information that the JEquans aftd Volscians
were preparing for war with the utmost vigour.
The consuls were therefore ordered to divide
the provinces between them. The Sabines
fell to Horatius, the ^Equans and Volscians
to Valerius ; and so highly were they regarded,
by the commons, that, on proclaiming a levy
of troops for those v ars, not only the younger
men, but even a great number of those who had
served out the legal time, attended, mostly as
volunteers, to give in their names. Thus the
strength of the army was increased beyond what
was usual, not only in respect of number, but
also of the kind of soldiers that composed it :
a considerable proportion of them being veter-
ans. Before they marched out of the city, they
engraved on brass, and fixed up, in public view,
the laws of the decemvirs, which are called the
" Twelve Tables :" some writers, however,
say, that this business was performed by the
sediles, in pursuance of orders from the tribunes.
LVIII. Caius Claudius, uncle to Appius,
detesting the iniquitous proceedings of the de-
cemvirs, and, above all, disgusted at the arro-
gant conduct of his nephew, had retired to
Regillum, the country of his ancestors.
Alarmed, however, at the danger which now
threatened the man whose vices he had fled to
avoid the sight of, old as he was, he returned,
in hopes of deprecating the impending mischief.
He appeared in the forum, clad in a nfourning
habit, and surrounded by his relations and de-
pendents, implored the favour and protection
of every individual citizen he met with, and
besought them " not to thio\r such a stain upon
the Claudian family, as to show that they
thought them deserving of imprisonment and
chains ; represented to them, that a person,
whose image would be revered among posterity,
as distinguished by the highest honours, the
framer of their laws, the founder of the Roman

Y. R. 306.]

OF ROME.

125

jurisprudence, lay in fetters among common
thieves and robbers. He begged that they
would for a while suspend resentment, and
employ their thoughts in candid examination
and cool reflection ; and grant to the interces-
sion of such a number of Claudii, the pardon
of one individual, rather than through hatred
towards that one, reject the prayers of a mul-
titude : declaring, that he himself, in his present
conduct, was actuated merely by a regard to the
race and to the name : for he had not renewed
any friendly intercourse with him for whose
wretched situation he wished to find a remedy :
that, by fortitude, liberty had been recovered ;
and by clemency, harmony might be established
among the several orders of the state." He
brought several to incline to his side, rather in
consideration of such laudable attachment to
his family, than of the merits of him whose
cause he espoused. On the other hand, Virginius
besought them, " rather to bestow their com-
passion on himself and daughter. He prayed
them not to listen to the supplications of the
Claudian family, but to those of the near rela-
tions of Virginia, the three tribunes ; who,
having been elected for the protection of the
commons, now, in their own cause, implored
from those commons favour and protection."
The tears of the latter seemed the more enti-
tled to pity. Wherefore Appius, precluded
from all hope, voluntarily put an end to his
life, before the day arrived to which the trial
had been adjourned. Immediately after, Pub-
lius Numitorius arraigned Spurius Oppius, who
stood next in the way of the public indignation,
as having been present in the city when the un-
just sentence was pronounced by his colleague.
However, an act of injustice, committed by
himself, drew on Oppius greater weight of re-
sentment than his conduct in regard to Appius.
A soldier stood fonvard, who reckoned up
twenty-seven campaigns, in which he had serv-
ed ; during which service, he proved that he had
been eight times particularly distinguished by
honourable rewards. These rewards he produced
to the view of the people ; and then, throwing
open his garment, he showed his back mangled
with stripes ; begging no other terms of favour,
than that " unless the accused ( Spurius Oppius)
could name any one offence of which he (the
soldier) had ever been guilty, he then should
have liberty, though a private citizen, to repeat
the same cruel treatment towards him." Oppi-
us was thrown into prison, and before the day

of trial put an end to his life. The tribunes
confiscated the property of Appius and Oppius.
Their colleagues went into exile, and their
property was confiscated. Then Marcus
Claudius, who laid claim to Virginia, was
brought to trial and condemned ; but Virginius
himself agreeing to a mitigation of the sentence,
so far as it affected his life, he was discharged,
I and also went into exile to Tibur. And now
I the shade of Virginia, whose cause was best
supported after her death, having roamed
through so many families in quest of vengeanee,
rested in peace, none of the guilty being left
unpunished.

LIX. The patricians were now filled with
dreadful apprehensions, — for the tribunes seem-
ed to wear the same countenance which had for-
merly marked the decemvirs, — when Marcus
Duilius, tribune of the commons, imposed a
| salutary restraint on their power, tending as it
was, to excess, by telling them, " We have pro-
ceeded to a sufficient length, both in asserting
our liberty, and in punishing our enemies.
Wherefore, during the remainder of this year, I
will not suffer any person, either to be brought
to trial, or to be put into confinement. For I
think it highly improper, that old crimes, now
buried in oblivion, should be again dragged
forth to notice, and after recent ones have been
expiated by the punishment of the decemvirs.
Add to this, that we have sufficient security,
in the unremitting attention ever shown by
both our consuls to the interests of liberty, that
no instance of misconduct will henceforth oc-
cur, which can require the interposition of the
tribunitian power." This moderation of the
tribune first dissipated the fears of the patri-
cians ; and, at the same time, increased their
ill-will towards the consuls ; for they had been
so entirely devoted to the interest of the com-
mons, that even a plebeian magistrate hal
shown more readiness to consult the liberty
and safety of the patricians, than they who
were themselves of that order. Indeed their
enemies were weary of inflicting punishments
on them, before the consuls showed any inten-
tion of opposing the violence of those mea-
sures ; and many said, that the senate had bf-
trayed a want of firmness in giving their appro-
bation to the laws proposed ; in fact, there was
not a doubt, 'but that in this troubled state of
the public affairs, they had yielded to the times.
LX. After all business in the city was ad-
justed, and the rights of the commons firmly

126

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[BOOK in.

established, the consuls departed to their re-
spective provinces. Valerius prudently delay-
ed engaging with the armies of the .ZEquans
and Volscians, who had by this time formed a
junction in the district of Algidum. Had he
attempted to bring the matter to an immediate
decision, such was the state of mind, both of the
Romans and of their enemies, in consequence of
the misfortunes which had attended the auspices
of the decemvirs, that I know not whether the
contest could have been decided without a
heavy loss. Pitching his camp at the distance
of a mile from that of the united army, he kept
his men quiet. The enemy filled the middle
space, between the two camps, with their
troops, in order of battle, and gave several
challenges to fight, to which no Roman return-
ed an answer. Fatigued at length with stand-
ing, and waiting in vain for an engagement,
the JEquans and Volscians, considering this
as almost equivalent to an acknowledgment
of the victory in their favour, detached several
parties to make depredations, some against
the Hernicians, others against the Latines ;
leaving rather a guard to the camp, than
such a force as could contend with the Ro-
mans. As soon as the consul understood
this, he retorted the menaces which they had
before used to him, and drawing up his troops,
advanced to provoke them to battle : and when,
in consequence of. so great a part of their force
being absent, they declined to fight, the Ro-
mans instantly assumed fresh courage, and
looked upon those troops as already vanquished,
who, through fear, kept within their rampart.
After remaining the whole day in readiness for
action, they retired at the close of it. The
Romans, on their part, full, of confidence, em-
ployed the night in refreshing themselves ;
while the enemy, very differently affected, des-
patched messengers in the utmost .hurry to
every quarter, to call in the plundering parties.
Such as were in the nearest places returned
with speed ; those who had gone to a greater
distance could not be found. At the first dawn,
the Romans marched out of their camp, re-
solved to assault the enemy's rampart, if they
should refuse to fight ; and, when a great part
of the day had passed, and no movement was
made by the enemy, the consul ordered the
troops to advance. On the army beginning to
march, the ^Equans and Volscians, indignant
that victorious troops were to be defended by
a rampart, rather than by valour and arms, de-

manded the signal for battle, in which they
were gratified by their leaders. And now,
half of them had got out of the gates, and the
rest followed in regular order, inarching down
each to his own post, when the Roman con-
sul, before the enemy's line could be completed,
and strengthened with their whole force, ad-
vancing to the engagement, fell on them, and
thus encountering an unsteady multitude, who
were hurrying from one place to another, and
throwing their eyes about on themselves and
their friends, he added to their confusion by a
shout, and a violent onset. They at first gave
ground, but afterwards collected their spirits,
their leaders, on every side, asking them in re-
proach, if they intended to yield to vanquished
enemies ; and the fight was renewed.

LXI. On the other side, the Roman con-
sul desired his troops to reflect, that " on that
day, for the first time, they, as free men,
fought for Rome, as a free city ; that they
were to conquer for themselves, and not in or-
der to become a prize to the decemvirs ; that
they were not acting under the orders of Ap-
pius, but of their consul Valerius, descended
from the deliverers of the Romantpeople, and,
himself, One of their deliverers. He bade them
show, that in the former battles, the failure of
victory had been owing to the leaders, not to
the soldiers. He told them, it would be scan-
dalous to evince a greater courage against their
countrymen than against their enemies, and to
be more afraid of slavery at home than abroad ;
that Virginia had not perhaps been the only
person whose chastity was in danger in time
of peace ; but. that Appius, their countryman,
was the only one from whose lust danger was
to be dreaded ; and that, should the fortune of
war turn against them, the children of every
one of them would be in like hazard, from so
many thousands of enemies. That he was
unwilling, an account of the omen, to mention
such things, as neither Jupiter, nor Father
Mars, would suffer to happen to a city built
under such auspices " He put them in mind of
the Aventine and sacred mounts, and that
" they ought to bring back dominion unim-
paired to that spot, where a few months ago
they had obtained liberty ; to show that the
Roman soldiers retained the same abilities
after the expulsion of the decemvirs, which
they had possessed before their appointment,
and that the valour of the Roman people wus
not diminished by the establishment of laws

R. 306.]

OF ROME.

127

which equalized their rights." After speaking
to this purpose among the battalions of the in-
fantry, he flew from thence to the cavalry.
" Come on, young men," said he, " show that
ye excel the infantry in valour, as ye excel them
in honour and in rank. The infantry at the
first onset have made the enemy give way ;
before they recover the shock, give the reins to
your horses, and drive them out of the field ;
they will not stand against your charge, and
even now they rather hesitate than resist."
They spurred on their horses, and drove furi-
ously against the enemy, already disordered by
the attack of the foot ; and after they had
broken through the ranks, and pushed on to the
rear of their line, a part, wheeling round in the
open space, cut off their retreat to the camp,
towards which the greater number now began
to fly on all sides ; and, by riding on before,
compelled them, through fear, to take another
course. The line of infantry, with the consul
himself, and the main body of the army, rushed
into the camp, and made themselves masters of
it, killing a vast number, and getting possession
of considerable booty. The news of this vic-
tory was carried both to the city, and to the
camp in the country of the Sabines : in the
city it excited only general joy ; in the camp it
fired the minds of the soldiers with emula-
tion of the glory their fellow-soldiers had
acquired. Horatius had already inured them
to the field by excursions and skirmishes, so
that they began rather to place confidence in
themselves, than to think of the ignominy which'
had been incurred under the command of the
decemvirs ; while these slight engagements had
strengthened their hopes with regard to a gen-
eral one. The Sabines, at the same time, who
were rendered presumptuous by their successes
in the last year, ceased not to provoke and urge
them to fight ; asking, " why they wasted time
in excursions and retreats like marauders ; and,
instead of making one main effort to decide a
single war, multiply their operations into a
number of insignificant skirmishes ? Why not
come to a general engagement in the field, and
let fortune determine the victory at once ?"

LXII. The Romans, besides that they had
new acquired a high degree of courage, were
exasperated at the dishonour which it would
reflect on them, if the other army were to re-
turn victorious to Rome, while they lay exposed
to the abuse and insults of the enemy : " And
when," said they, " shall we ever be a match

for that enemy, if we are not at present ?"
When the consul understood that such were
the sentiments generally expressed by the sol-
diers in the camp, he called them to an assem-
bly, and said, " Soldiers, I suppose ye have
heard the issue of the campaign in Algidum ;
the army have behaved as became the army of a
free people. Through the judicious conduct
of my colleague, and the bravery of the sol-
diers, victory has been obtained. For my part,
what plan I am to adopt, or what degree of re-
solution I am to maintain, depends upon you
The war may either be prolonged with advan-
tage, or it may be brought to a speedy conclu-
sion. If it is to be prolonged, I shall take
care, that, through means of the same discipline
with which I began, your hopes and your val-
our shall every day increase. If ye have already
sufficient courage, and wish for a speedy de-
cision, come on, raise here a shout, such as ye
would raise on the field. That will demon-
strate at. once your inclinations and your spirit."
The shout being given with uncommon alacri-
ty, he assured them, that, " with the good
favour of fortune, he would comply with their
desire, and next morning lead them to the field.''
The remainder of that day was spent in putting
their arms in order. On the following, as soon
as the Sabines perceived that the Romans were
forming their line of battle, they also marched
out, having for a long time ardently wished for
an opportunity of fighting. The battle was
such as might be expected, between armies both
of whom were assured of their own courage ;
the one animated by a long and uninterrupted
career of glory, the other lately elevated by
unusual success. The Sabines added to their
strength the advantage of a stratagem; for,
after forming a line equal to that of the enemy,
they kept two thousand men in reserve, who
were to make a push during the heat of the
engagement on the left wing of the Romans.
These, by attacking their flank, were likely to
overpower that wing, which was thus, in a man-
ner, surrounded, when the cavalry of two le-
gions, amounting to about six hundred, leaped
from their horses, and rushing forward to the
front of their party, who were giving way, stop-
ped the progress of the enemy, and at the same
time roused the courage of the infantry, both
by taking an equal share of the danger, and by
exciting their emulation ; for they reflectedr
that it would be shameful that the horse should
incur double danger, by discharging both their

128

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own duty and that of others ; and that the foot
should not be equal to the horse, even when
they were dismounted.

LXIII. They pressed forward therefore to
the fight, which on their part had been suspend-
ed, and endeavoured to recover the ground which
they had lost. In a moment they were on an
equality, while one wing of the Sabines was
compelled to give way. The "horsemen then,
covered between the ranks of the foot, returned
to their horses, and gallopped across to the
other division ; they carried with them on ac-
count of this success ; and, at the same time,
made a charge on the enemy, disheartened by
the defeat of their stronger wing. None dis-
played in that battle more conspicuous bravery j
than themselves. The consul's attention was
everywhere employed. He commended the
active, and reproved the remiss. These im-
mediately, on being rebuked, exerted them-
selves with spirit ; shame stimulating them as
powerfully, as commendation had done the
others. The shout being raised anew, and all
uniting their efforts, they drove the enemy
from their ground, and then the force of the
Romans could no longer be resisted ; the Sa-
bines abandoned their camp, and were dispersed
all over the country. The Romans here re-
covered not the property of their allies, as was
the case in Algidum, but their own, which
they had lost in the devastation of the country.
For this victory, obtained in two battles, and
in different places, the senate, so unwilling
were they to gratify the consuls, decreed a sup-
plication, in their name, of one day only.
The people, however, went in great numbers
on the second day also, to offer thanksgivings,
and which they did with rather greater zeal
than before. The consuls by concert came
to the city within a day of each other, and
called out the senate to the field of Mars;
where, while they were relating the services
which they had performed, the principal mem-
bers began to complain, that the senate was
purposely held in the midst of the soldiers, to
keep them in terror. The consuls, therefore,
to take away all ground for such a charge, re-
moved the assembly into the Flaminian mea-
dows, to a place where the temple of Apollo
now stands, called, even at that time, the Cir-
cus of Apollo. Here, a vast majority of the
senators concurring in refusing a triumph to
the consul, Lucius Icilius, tribune of the com-
mons, proposed to the people, that they should

take on them the ordering of it. Many stood
forth to argue against this proceeding ; parti-
cularly Caius Claudius exclaimed, that " it was
over the patricians, not over the enemy, that
the consuls sought to triumph ; and that more
as a return for their private kindness to a tri-
bune, not as an honour due to valour. That a
triumph was a matter which had never, hither-
to, been directed by the people ; but that the
judgment on the merit, and the disposal of it,
had always been in the senate. That even the
kings had not in this respect derogated from
that order, the principal one in the state. He
charged the tribunes not to occupy every de-
partment so entirely with their own authority,
as to leave no room for the deliberation of the
public ; and asserted, that by no other means
could the state be free, or the laws equalized,
than by each class maintaining its own rights,
and its own dignity." Though many arguments
were used to the same purpose by the other
and elder senators, yet every one of the tribes
approved of the proposition. This was the
first instance of a triumph celebrated by order
of thei'people, without the approbation of the
senate.1

LXIV. This victory of the tribunes and
commons was very near terminating in a wan-
ton irregularity of pernicious tendency, a con-
spiracy being formed among the tribunes to
procure the re-election of the same persons to
that office ; and, in order that their own ambi-
tion might be the less conspicuous or objec-
tionable, to re-elect also the same consuls.
They alleged, as a pretext, a combination of
the patricians to sap the foundation of the
rights of the commons, by the affronts which
they threw upon the consuls. " What would
be the consequence," they said, " if, befofe the
laws were firmly established, consuls should,
with , the power of their factions, make an at-
tack on the new tribunes ? For they could not
always have Valerii and Horatii for consuls,
who would postpone their own interest, when
the liberty of the commons was in question."
By a concurrence of circumstances, fortunate
at this juncture, the charge of presiding at the
election fell to the lot of Marcus Duilius, a
man of prudence, and who clearly perceived
what a heavy load of public displeasure they
would probably have to sustain, if they should
be continued in office. He declared, that he
would admit no vote for any of the former
tribunes ; while his colleagues strenuously in-

y. R. 308.]

OF ROME.

129

sisted, that he should leave the tribes at liberty
to vote as they thought proper ; or else, should
give up his turn of presiding to his colleagues,
who would hold the election, according to the
laws, rather than according to the pleasure of
the patricians. Duilius, on finding a contest
thus forced upon him, called the consuls to
his seat, and asked them what was their in-
tention with respect to the consular election.
To which they answered, that they were re-
solved to appoint new consuls. Having thus
gained popular supporters of his unpopular mea-
sure, he advanced together with them into the
assembly. The consuls being there brought
forward, and asked in what manner they would
act, should the Roman people, out of gratitude
for having, by their means, recovered their li-
berty, and for their meritorious and successful
services in war, appoint them a second time to
the consulship, declared the same resolution as
before. On which, Duilius, after many eulo-
giums paid to them for persevering in a line of
conduct quite different from that of the decem-
virs, proceeded to the election ; and when five
tribunes of the commons were elected, the other
candidates, not being able to make up the requi-
site number of tribes, on account of the eager-
ness with which the nine tribunes openly pushed
for the office, he dismissed the assembly, and
did not afterwards call one. He said that he
had fulfilled the law ; which, without any where
specifying the number of tribunes, only enacted,
that tribunes should be left ; and he recited the
terms of the law, in which it is said, " If I pro-
pose ten tribunes of the commons, and if there
should at that time be found a less number than
ten tribunes, then the persons whom these shall
assume as colleagues shall be legal tribunes of
the commons, with the same privileges as those
whom ye on that day made tribunes of the com-
mons." Duilius, persevering to the last, and
declaring the commonwealth could not have fif-
teen tribunes, after baffling the ambition of his
colleagues, resigned his office, with high approba-
tion both from the patricians and the plebeians.

LXV. [Y. R. 307. B. C. 445.] The
new tribunes of the commons showed, in
their election of colleagues, an inclination to
gratify the patricians. They chose two, who
were patricians and even consulars, Spurius
Tarpeius and Aulus Aterius. The consuls
then elected were Largius Herminius and Ti-
tus Virginius Coelimontanus, men not warm-
ly attached to either party, patricians or ple-

1.

beians. They had a peaceful year both at
home and abroad. Lucius Trebonius, tribune
of the commons, a bitter enemy to the patri-
cians, because, as he said, he had been imposed
on by them, and betrayed in the affair of choos-
ing colleagues, carried a proposal that whoever
took the votes of the commons on the election
of plebeian tribunes, should continue the pro-
ceedings until he should return ten of that or-
der. The whole time of being in office was
passed in creating uneasiness to the patricians,
from whence the surname of Asper (harsh) was
given him. Marcus Geganius Macerinus and
Caius Julius, the next consuls chosen, [Y. R.
308. B.C. 444.] prevented the ill effects of some
combinations, formed by the tribunes against the
young nobles, without taking any violent steps
against those magistrates, and at the same time
preserving unhurt the dignity of the patricians.
Wishing to give time for the matter to cool,
they restrained the commons from rising in se-
dition by a proclamation for a levy of troops, to
act against the ^Equans and Volscians ; giving
as a sufficient reason, that while harmony pre-
vailed in the city, every thing abroad was also
quiet, but whenever civil discord broke out,
their foreign enemies assumed new courage.
This care to preserve peace abroad proved the
cause of domestic concord. But each of the
orders always took an improper advantage of
moderation in the other. As soon as the com-
mons grew tranquil, the younger patricians be-
gan to insult them. When the tribunes attempt-
ed to protect the weaker party, even at first
they were of little use ; afterwards, they them-
selves incurred ill-treatment, particularly in the
latter months, because the combinations, then
formed among the more powerful, encouraged
them to it, while the vigour of every magis-
tracy generally relaxes somewhat at that time.
And now the commons began to think that
they had nothing to hope from their tribunes,
unless they procured such as Icilius, for those
whom they had for two years past were but no-
minal tribunes. On the other side, the elder
patricians, although they were convinced that
the younger part of their body carried their
presumption too far, yet were better pleased, if
the bounds of moderation were to be exceeded,
that those of their own order should possess a
redundancy of spirit, than should their adver-
saries. So difficult it is to preserve moderation
in the asserting of liberty, while, under the
pretence of a desire to balance rights, each ele-
R

130

THE HISTORY

[BOOK in.

vates himself in such a manner, as to depress
another ; for men are apt, by the very measures
which they adopt to free themselves from fear,
to become the objects of fear to others ; and to
fasten upon them the burthen of injustice,
which they have thrown off from their own
shoulders : as if there existed in nature a per-
petual necessity, either of doing or of suffering
injury.

LXVI. The next consuls elected were Ti-
tus Qiuntius Capitolinus a fourth time, and
Agrippa Furius, who found, at the commence-
ment of their year, neither sedition at home
nor war abroad, but reason sufficient to appre-
hend both. [Y. R. 309. B. C. 443.] The
citizens could no longer be kept within bounds,
both tribunes and commons being highly ex-
asperated against the patricians, and every
charge brought against any of the nobility
constantly embroiling the assemblies and cre-
ating new contests. As soon as these were
noised abroad, the JEquans and Volscians, as
if they had waited for this signal, immedi-
ately took up arms ; being, at the same time,
persuaded by their leaders, who were eager
for plunder, that the levy which had been pro-
claimed the last year had been found imprac-
ticable, the commons refusing obedience ; and
that, for that reason, no army had been sent
against them ; that their military discipline was
subverted by licentiousness, and that Rome
was no longer considered as their common
country ; that all the resentment and animosity
which they had entertained against foreigners,
was now turned against each other, and that
there was a favourable opportunity of destroy-
ing those wolves, while they were blinded by
intestine rage. Having therefore united their
forces, they laid waste the country of Latium ;
where, none attempting to obstruct them, and
the promoters of the war highly exulting, they
advanced to the very walls of Rome, carrying
on their ravages opposite to the Esquiline gate,
and insulting the city. From thence, they
marched back without molestation, in regular
order, driving the prey before them to Corbio.
Quintius the consul then summoned the people
to an assembly.

LXVII. There, as we are told, he spoke to
this purpose : " Although unconscious of any
misconduct on my part, yet it is with the ut-
most shame, Romans, that I am come here, to
meet you in assembly. That ye should be
witnesses of such an event, that it should be

I handed down, on record, to posterity ; that, in
the fourth consulate of Titus Quintius, the
^Equans and Volscians, who, a short time ago,
were barely a match for the Hernicians, should
have marched in arms, without molestation, to
the walls of the city of Rome ! Could I have
foreseen that this ignominy was reserved for
this particular year, though such is the general
state of manners for a long time past, such the
condition of affairs, that my mind could pre-
sage no good, I would yet have avoided this
honourable post, by exile or by death, if there
had been no other way of escaping it. Could
Rome then have been taken in my consulship,
if those arms, that were at our gates, had been
in the hands of men of courage ? I had enjoy-
ed enough of honours, more than enough of
life : I ought not to have outlived my third
consulship. But, of whom have those once
dastardly enemies dared to show such con-
tempt ; of us consuls ? or of you Romans ? If
the fault lies in us, we should be deprived of
the command, as unworthy of it, and if that be
not enough, inflict some farther punishment :
if in you, may no divine, or human, being chas-
tise your transgressions, only may ye yourselves
gain a proper sense of them. They have not
been actuated to this conduct, as supposing you
void of spirit, nor from confidence in their own
valour. After being so often routed and put
to flight, beaten out of their camps, stripped of
their territories, and sent under the yoke, they
well know both themselves and you. 'Party
dissensions are the bane of this city ; the strug-
gles between the patricians and the plebeians,
while neither we fix due limits to our authori-
ty, nor ye to your liberty ; while ye wish to get
rid of patrician, we of plebeian magistrates,
they have assumed unusual courage. In the
name of the gods, what would ye have ? Ye
wished for tribunes of the commons ; for the
sake of concord, we granted them to you. Ye
longed for decemvirs ; we allowed them to be
created. Ye grew weary of decemvirs; we
compelled them to resign the office. Your re-
sentment against them continuing, even after
they were divested of their public character,
we suffered men of the most distinguished fa-
milies and stations, some to perish, and others
to go into exile. Ye wished again to create
tribunes of the commons ; ye created them.
Although we saw manifest injustice to the
nobles in electing men of your order to the
consulship, yet have we beheld patrician ma-

Y. R. 209.]

OF ROME.

131

gistracy, along with the rest, conceded to the
commons. The tribunes' power of protecting
the privilege of appeal to the people ; the
acts of the commons rendered binding on
the patricians ; our own rights subverted, un-
der the pretext of equalizing the laws ; all
this we have endured, and still endure.
Where, then, will be the end of our dissen-
sions ? Shall we never be allowed to have
an united city and one common country ?
We, the party vanquished, sit down in quiet,
with greater composure, than ye who have
gained the victory. Do ye think it enough,
that to us ye are objects of terror? The
Aventine is taken from us ; the sacred mount
is seized. But when the Esquiline is almost in
the hands of the enemy, no one appears in its
defence. The Volscian foe scales your ram-
part, and not a man drives him back. Against
us ye exert your courage, against us ye readily
take arms.

LXVII. " Now then that ye have block-
aded the senate-house, rendered the forum the
seat of hostilities, and filled the prison with
the principal citizens, show an equal degree of
valour, and march out through the Esquiline
gate ; or, if ye have not courage for that, view
from the walls your lands desolated with fire
and sword, your own property carried off, and
the burning houses smoking all around. But
ye will say, it is the public interest that suffers
by these means, by the country being wasted
with fire, the city besieged, and the enemy
enjoying the honour of the war. Be it so ;
but I will ask in what situation are your
private affairs ? Soon will you hear from the
country accounts of your losses : and what
means have ye, at home, of procuring a com-
pensation for them ? Will the tribunes bring
back, will they restore what ye have lost ?
Words they will load you with, until ye are
tired, and accusations against the principal citi-
zens, and laws upon laws, and public meetings;
but, from these, never did one of you return
home with an increase of substance or for-
tune. Let me see any, who ever carried
thence aught to his wife and children, except
hatred, quarrels, animosities, public and pri-
vate ; from the ill effects of which, indeed,
ye have always been screened, not however by
your own merit and innocence, but by the pro-
tection of others. But I \vill affirm, that, when
ye used to make your campaigns, under the
command of consuls, not of tribunes, in the

camp, not in the forum ; when your shout
used to strike terror into the enemy in the field,
not into the Roman nobles in an assembly ;
after enriching yourselves with plunder, taking
possession of your adversaries' lands, and ac-
quiring a plentiful stock of wealth and glory,
both to the public and to yourselves ; then, I
say, ye returned home in triumph to your
families ; now, ye suffer these invaders to de-
part laden with your property. Continue im-
moveably tied to your assemblies, and live in
the forum ; still the necessity of fighting, which
ye so studiously avoid, attends you. Was it
too great a hardship to march out against the
^Equans and Volscians ? The war is at your
gates. If not repelled from thence, it will
shortly be within the walls. It will scale the
citadel and the capitol, and will pursue you,
even into your houses. A year ago, the senate
ordered a levy to be made, and an army to be
led into Algidum. Yet we sit at home in
listless inactivity, delighted with the present in-
terval of peace, scolding each other like women,
and never perceiving, that, after that short
suspension, wars double in number must re-
turn upon us. I know that I might find more
agreeable topics to dwell upon ; but even
though my own disposition did not prompt to
it, necessity compels me to speak what is true,
instead of what is agreeable. I sincerely wish,
Romans, to give you pleasure : but I feel
wishes, much more ardent, to promote your
safety, let your sentiments respecting me after-
wards be what they may. It results from the
nature of the human mind, that he who ad-
dresses the public with a view to his own par-
ticular benefit, is studious of rendering him-
self more generally agreeable than he who has
no other object but the advantage of the public.
But perhaps ye imagine that it is out of re-
gard to your individual interests, that those
public sycophants, those artful flatterers of the
commons, who neither suffer yuu to carry arms,
nor to live in peace, excite and stimulate your
passions. When they have once raised you in
a ferment, the consequence to them is, either
honour or profit And because they see that,
while concord prevails between the orders of
the state, they are of no consequence on any
side, they wish to be leaders of a bad cause,
rather than of none, of tumults even, and
seditions. Which kind of proceedings, if ye
can at length be prevailed on to renounce ;
and, if ye are willing, instead of these new

132

THE HISTORY

[BOOK in.

modes of acting, to resume those practised by
your fathers, arid formerly by yourselves, I am
content to undergo any punishment, if I do not
within a few days rout and disperse those rava-
gers of our country, drive them out of their
camp, and transfer from our gates and walls,
to their own cities, the whole terror of the
war, which at present fills you with consterna-
tion."

LXIX. Scarcely ever was the speech of a
popular tribune more acceptable to the com-
mons, than was this of a consul remarkable for
strictness. Even the young men who were ac-
customed to consider a refusal to enlist in such
times of danger, as their most effectual weapon
against the patricians, began to turn their
thoughts towards war and arms. At the same
time the inhabitants flying from the country,
and several, who had been robbed there and
wounded, relating facts still more shocking than
what appeared to view, filled the entire city
with a desire of vengeance. When the senate
assembled, all men turned their eyes on Quin-
tius, regarding him as the only champion for
the majesty of Rome : und the principal sena-
tors declared, that "his discourse had been
worthy of the consular command, worthy of
his former administraton in so many consul-
ships, worthy of his whole life, which had
been filled up with honours, often enjoyed and
oftener merited. That other consuls either
flattered the commons, so far as to betray the
dignity of the senate, or through the harshness
of their measures, in support of the rights of
their order, exasperated the populace by their
attempts to reduce them : but that Titus
Quintius, beyond all others, had delivered sen-
timents suitable, at ence, to the dignity of the
senate, to the harmony which ought to subsist
between the several orders, and to the junc-
ture of the times : and they entreated him and
his colleague to exert themselves in behalf of
the commonwealth. The tribunes they en-
treated to unite cordially with the consuls in
repelling the enemy from their walls, and to
bring the commons to submit, at this perilous
juncture, to the direction of the senate. Their
common country, they told them, at that crisis,
when the lands were laid waste, and the city
besieged, called on them as tribunes, and im
plored their protection." With universal ap-
probation, a levy of troops was decreed. The
consuls gave public notice in assembly that
" they could not now admit excuses, but that

all the young men must attend next day at the
first light, in the field of Mars : that, when the
war should be brought to a conclusion, they
would appoint a time for considering such mat-
ters, and that he whose excuse was not satis-
factory should be treated as a deserter." A1J
the young men attended accordingly. The
cohorts chose each its own centurions, and two
senators were appointed to command each co-
hort. We are told, that all these measures
were executed with such expedition, that the
standards brought out from the treasury on that
same day by the quaestors, and carried down to
the field of Mars, began to move from thence
at the fourth hour; and that this new -raised
army, with a few cohorts of veterans who fol-
lowed as volunteers, halted at the tenth stone.
The following morning brought them within
view of the enemy, and they pitched their camp
close to theirs, near Corbio. On the third
day they came to an engagement ; the Romans
being hurried on by desire of revenge, and the
others by consciousness of guilt, and despair of
pardon, after so many rebellions.

LXX. In the Roman army, although the
two consuls were invested with equal powers,
yet they adopted a measure exceedingly ad-
vantageous in all important exigencies. The
supreme command was, with the consent of
Agrippa, lodged in the hands of his colleague,
who being thus raised to a superiority, made
the politest return for the other's cheerful con-
descension to act in a subordinate capacity ;
making him a sharer in all his counsels and
honours. In the line of battle Quintius com-
manded the right wing, Agrippa the left ; the
care of the centre they intrusted to Spurious
Postumius Albus, lieutenant-general ; and
that of the cavalry to another lieutenant-gene-
ral, Servius Sulpicius. The infantry, in the
right wing, fought with extraordinary valour,
and met with a stout resistance from the Vol-
scians. Servius Sulpieius, with the cavalry,
broke the centre of the enemy's line, an'd when
he might have returned to his own station, he
thought it more adviseable to make an at-
tack on the rear of the enemy, before they
could recover from the disorder into which
their ranks had been thrown. By his charge
on their rear, the enemy, being assailed on both
sides, must have been instantly dispersed, had
not the cavalry of the Volscians and ^quans,
throwing themselves in his way, given him em-
ployment for a considerable time, opposing him

y. R. 309.]

OF ROME.

133

with forces the same as his own. On this Sul-
picius told his men, that there was no time to
hesitate; and called out that they were surround-
ed and cut off from their friends, if they did not
unite their most vigorous efforts, and rout the
enemy's cavalry : nor was it enough to drive
them off the ground, without disabling them ;
they must kill both horses and riders, lest any
should return and renew the fight. The ene-
my, he said, were not able to withstand them,
to whom a compact body of infantry had been
obliged to give way. His orders were obeyed
with alacrity. By one charge they routed the
whole body of cavalry, dismounted vast num-
bers, and killed, with their javelins, both the
men and horses. They met no farther obstruc-
tion from the cavalry. And now falling on
the line of infantry, they despatched an account
of their success to the consuls, before whom
the enemy's line was beginning to give ground.
The news gave fresh spirit to the Romans, to
pursue their advantage ; while it dismayed the
yEquans, who were already wavering. Victory
began to declare against them, first in the
centre, where the charge of the cavalry had
disordered their ranks : their left wing next be-
gan to retreat before the consul Quintius : the
greatest struggle was made by their right : there
Agrippa, full of the ardour inspired by youth
and vigour, when he saw every part of the
Roman line more successful than his own,
snatched some of the ensigns from the stand-
ard-bearers, and carried them forward himself :
some he even threw into the thick of the ene-
my ; and the dread of the disgrace to which
this might expose them, so animated the sol-
diers, that they instantly rushed on. This
rendered the victory equally decisive in every
quarter. At this juncture, a message was
brought to him from Quintius, that he had
defeated the enemy, and was ready to attack
their camp ; but did not choose to break into
it, until he should understand that the battle
was determined on the left, wing also ; and de-
siring that if he had completed the discom-
fiture there, he would march up his troops to
join him, that the whole army might take pos-
session of the prize. Agrippa, now victorious,
met his victorious colleague with mutual con-
gratulations ; and, in conjunction with him,
advanced to the enemy's camp ; where, meet-
ing very few to oppose them, and these being
instantly routed, they forced their way through
the fortifications without difficulty; and the

troops having here acquired an immense booty,
besides recovering their own effects which hal
t>een lost in the plundering of the country,
were then led home. I do not find, either that
the consuls sued for a triumph, or that it was
bestowed on them by the senate : neither is
there any reason assigned why they either did
not wish, or might not hope to obtain that
honour. It might probably be, as far as I can
onjecture at this distance of time, that as this
mark of approbation had been refused by the
senate to the consuls Valerius and Horatius,
who, besides having vanquished the Volscians
and .(Equans, had acquired the glory of subdu-
ing the Sabines also, the consuls were ashamed
to demand a triumph for services which amount-
ed only to the half of theirs ; lest, even if they
should obtain it, there might be room to ima-
gine that the compliment was paid to the oer-
sons rather than to their deserts.

LXXI. This honourable victory obtained
over their enemies, the people disgraced at
home, by a scandalous decision of a dispute
concerning the boundaries of their allies. The
people of Aricia, and those of Ardea, had often
contended in arms the right of property to a
certain district of land, and, wearied by many
losses on both sides, referred the affair to the
arbitration of the Roman people. Both par-
ties attended to support their claims, and an
assembly was held by the magistrates at their
request. Here the matter was debated with
great vehemence ; and after the witnesses had
been produced, when the tribes ought to have
been called, and the assembled proceed to give
their suffrages, there arose one Publius Scap-
tius, a plebeian, a very old man, who said,
" Consids, if I may be permitted to speak on
a matter which concerns the interest of the
commonwealth, I will not suffer the people to
proceed in a mistake, with respect to this
affair." The consuls saying, that he was not
worthy of attention, and should not be heard,
he exclaimed, that the cause of the public was
betrayed ; and on their ordering him to be re-
moved, called on the tribunes for protection.
The tribunes, who in almost every case are
rather ruled by, than rule the multitude, to
gratify the populace, gave liberty to Scaptius to
say what he pleased. He then began with in-
forming them, that " he was in his eighty-
third year, that he had served as a soldier in
the very district in dispute, and was not young
even then, that being his twentieth campaign,

134

THE HISTORY OF-ROME.

[BOOK in.

when the operations against Corioli were car-
ried on. He could, therefore, speak with
knowledge of an affair, which, though after
such a length of time it was generally for-
gotten, was deeply fixed in his memory. The
lands in dispute, he said, had belonged to the
territory of Corioli, and when Corioli was
taken, became, by the right of war, the proper-
ty of the Roman people. He wondered by
•what precedent the Ardeans and Aricians
could justify their expectations, of surrepti-
tiously wresting from the Roman state, by
making it an arbiter, instead of proprietor, its
right to a tract, to which, while the state of
Corioli subsisted, they had never advanced any
kind of claim. For his part, he had but a short
time to live ; yet he could not prevail on him-
self, old as he was, to decline asserting by his
voice, the only means then in his power, a title
to those lands, which, by his vigorous exertions
as a soldier, he had contributed to acquire :
and he warmly recommended it to the people,
not to be led by improper notions of delicacy,
to pass a sentence subversive of their own
rights."

LXXII. The consuls, when they perceived
that Scaptius was heard, not only with silence,
but with approbation, appealed to gods and
men against the infamy of the proceeding ;
and, sending for the principal senators, went
round with them to the tribes, beseeching them
" not to be guilty of a crime of the worst kind,
which would afford a precedent still more per-
nicious, by converting to their own use a mat-
ter in dispute, whereon they were to decide
as judges. Especially when, as the case stood,
although it were allowable for a judge to show
regard to his own emolument, yet the utmost
advantage that could accrue from the seizure of

the lands, would by no means counterbalance
the loss which they must sustain in the aliena-
tion of the affections of the allies, by such an
act of injustice : for the loss of reputation and
the esteem of mankind are of importance be-
yond what can be estimated. Must the depu-
ties carry home this account ? Must this be
made known to the world ? Must the allies,
must the enemy hear this ? What grief would
it give to the former, what joy to the latter !
Did they imagine, that the neighbouring state?
would impute this proceeding to Scaptius, an
old Babbler in the assemblies ? This indeed
would serve, instead of a statue, to dignify the
Scaptian name ; but the Roman people would
incur the imputation of corrupt chicanery and
fraudulent usurpation of the claims of others.
For what judge, in a cause between private
persons, ever acted in this manner, adjudging
to himself the property in dispute ? Surely, even
Scaptius himself, dead as he was to all sense
of shame, would not act in such a manner."
Thus the consuls, thus the senators exclaimed ;
but covetousness, and Scaptius, the instigator
of that" covetousness, had greater influence.
The tribes being called, gave their judgment,
that the land in question was the property of
the Roman people. It is not denied, that it
might with justice have been so determined,
had the matter been tried before other judges :
but, as the affair was circumstanced, the infa-
my of their determination was in no degree
lessened by the equity of their title ; nor did it
appear to the Aricians and Ardeans themselves
in blacker or more hideous colours than it did
to the Roman senate. The remainder of the
year passed without any commotion either at
home or abroad.

THE

HISTORY OF ROME.

BOOK IV.

A law, permitting the intermarriage of plebeians with patricians, carried, after a violent struggle and strong op.
position on the part of the patricians. Military tribunes, with consular power created. Censors created. The
kinds which were taken from the people of Ardea, by an unjust determination of the Roman people-, restored.
Spurius Mnelius, aiming at regal power, slain by Cains Servilius Ahala. Cornelius Cossus, having killed Toluni.
nius, King of the Veientians, offers the second opiraa spolia. The duration of the censorship limited to a year
and a half. Fidenre reduced, and a colony settled there. The colonists murdered by the Fidenatians, who are
reconquered by Mamercus TEmilius, dictator. A conspiracy of slaves suppressed. Postumius, a military tribune,
slain by the army, exasperated by his cruelties. Pay first given to the soldiers out of the public treasury.
Military operations against the Volscians, Fidenatians, and Faliscians.

I. THE next who succeeded in the consulship
were Marcus Genuciusand Cains Curtius, whose
year was disturbed by commotions, both at home
and abroad. [Y. R. 310. B. C. 44-2.] For, in
the beginning of it, Caius Canuleius, a tribune
of the people, proposed a law, for allowing the.
intermarriage of patricians and plebeians, which
the former considered as tending to contami-
nate their blood, and to confound all the dis-
tinctions and privileges of noble birth. Some
hints, too, suggested by the tribunes, that
liberty ought to be granted of choosing one of
the consuls from among the commons, were
afterwards improved, to such a degree, that
the other nine tribunes proposed a law, that
ihe people should have power of electing con-
suls, either from among the commons or the
patricians, as they should think fit. The
patricians were of opinion, that if this took
place, the supreme authority would not only
be shared with the very lowest ranks, but per-
haps be entirely removed out of the hands of
the nobility into those of the plebeians. With
great joy, therefore, they received intelligence,
that the people of Ardea, in resentment of
the injustice of the sentence which had de-
prived them of their land, had revolted ; that
the Veientians were laying waste the Roman
frontiers, and that the Volscians and JEquans

expressed great discontent on account of the for-
tifying of Verrugo, preferring even a war, which
promised not success, to an ignominious peace.
These tidings being brought, with exaggera-
tions, the senate, in order to silence the in-
trigues of the tribunes during the bustle of so
many wars, ordered a levy to be held, and pre-
parations for hostilities to be made with the
utmost diligence, even with more despatch, if
possible, than had been used in the consulate
of Titus Quintius. On which Caius Canuleius
declared aloud in the senate, that " the consuls
would in vain think of diverting the attention
of the commons from the new laws, by holding
out objects of terror to their view ; and that,
while he was alive, they should never hold a
levy, until the people had first ratified the laws
proposed by him and his colleagues ;" and then
he instantly called an assembly.

II. Whilst the consuls were employed in
rousing the indignation of the senate against the
tribune, the tribune was as busy in exciting the
people against the consuls. The latter asserted
that " the outrageous proceedings of the tribunes
could not be any longer endured -. that matters
were now come to a crisis, there being more
dangerous hostilities excited at home than
abroad : that for this the commons were not
more to be blamed than the senate, nor the tri-

136

THE HISTORY

[BOOK iv-

bunes more than the consuls. In any state,
whatever practices meet with rewards, these
are always pursued to the greatest degree of
proficiency, and these are the incitements which
call forth merit, both in peace and war. Now,
at Rome, there was nothing so highly rewarded
as sedition ; this was in every instance attended
with honours both to individuals and to collec-
tive bodies. They ought therefore carefully to
consider in what condition they had received
the majesty of the senate from their fathers,
and in what condition they were likely to hand
it down to their children ; whether they could
make the same boast which the commons might,
with respect to their privileges, that it was im-
proved both in degree and in splendour. No
end appeared of these proceedings, nor would,
so long as the fomenters of sedition were re-
warded with honours in proportion to the suc-
cess of their projects. What were the new and
important schemes which Caius Canuleius had
set on foot ? No less than the prostitution of
the privileges of nobility, and the confounding
the rights of auspices, both public and private ;
that nothing might be left pure and unpolluted ;
and that, every distinction being removed, no
person might know what himself was, nor to
what order he belonged. For what other ten-
dency had such promiscuous intermarriages,
than to produce an irregular intercourse be-
tween patricians and plebeians, not very differ-
ent from that between brutes ? So that, of their
offspring, not one should be able to tell of what
blood he was, or in what mode he was to wor-
ship the gods, being in himself a heterogeneous
composition, half patrician and half plebeian ?
And, not content with the confusion which this
would create in every affair, divine and human,
those incendiaries, the tribunes, were now pre-
paring to invade the consulship itself. At first
they had ventured no farther than to sound
people's sentiments in conversation on a plan
of one of the consuls being elected from among
the commons ; now, they publicly proposed a
law, that the people might appoint consuls,
either from among the patricians, or from among
the plebeians, as they should think fit ; and
there could be no doubt that they would appoint,
from among the commons the most seditious
that could be found. The Canuleii and Icilii
therefore would be consuls. But might Jupi-
ter supremely good and great forbid, that the
imperial majesty of the sovereign power should
sink so low as that, and for their part they

would rather die a thousand deaths, than suffer
such disgrace to be incurred. They were con-
fident, that could their ancestors have foreseen,
that, in consequence of unlimited concessions,
the commons, instead of showing a better tem-
per towards them, would become more intract-
able, and, as fast as they obtained their de-
mands, would advance others more unreason-
able and exorbitant, they would have struggled
at first with any difficulties whatever, rather
than have allowed such terms to be imposed on
them. Because a concession was then made
to them with respect to tribunes, it was for the
same reason made a second time. This would
be the case for ever. Tribunes of the commons,
and a senate, could not subsist together, in the
same state ; either the office of the former, or
the order of the latter, must be abolished, and
it was better late than never, to endeavour to
put a stop to presumption and temerity. Must
they with impunity, after they have, by sowing
discord, encouraged the neighbouring nations to
attack us, prevent the state afterwards from
arming and defending itself against the attack
which they have brought on it ? and, when they
had done every thing but send an invitation to
the enemy, prevent troops from being enlisted
to oppose that enemy ? But Canuleius has had
the audacity to declare openly in the senate,
that he would hinder the making of the levy,
unless the senate, acknowledging in a manner
his superiority, allowed his laws to be enacted.
What else was this, than to threaten that he
would betray his country ; that he would suffer
it to be attacked, and to fall into the enemy's
hands ? What courage must that declaration af-
ford, not to the Roman commons, but to the Vol-
scians, to the -flEquans, and Veientians ? Might
not these hope, that, under the guidance of Ca-
nuleius, they would be able to scale the capitol
and the citadel ; might they not hope this, if the
tribunes, while they stripped the patricians of
their privileges and their dignity, robbed them
also of their courage ?" The consuls concluded
by saying, that they were ready to act as their
leaders, first against the wicked practices of
their countrymen ; and afterwards, against the
arms of their enemies.

III. At the very time while such arguments
as these were urged in the senate, Canuleius
was employed in declaiming in favour of his
laws, and against the consuls, in the following
manner -. " Roman citizens ! In many former
instances I have seen enough to convince me in

Y. n. 305.]

OF ROME.

137

what degree of contempt the patricians hold you,
how unworthy they esteem you to live in the
same city, within the same walls with them.
But this is now more clearly than ever demon-
strated by their outrageous opposition to those
propositions of ours. And this, for what?
unless for reminding them thereby that we are
members of the same community with them-
selves ; and that, though we possess not the
same degree of power, we are yet inhabitants of
the same country. By the one, we require the
liberty of intermarrying with them, a liberty
usually granted to people of the neighbouring
states, and to foreigners : for we have admitted
even vanquished enemies to. the right of citizen-
ship, which is of more importance than that of
intermarriage. By the other, we offer no inno-
vation, we only reclaim and enforce an inherent
right ; that the Roman people should commit
the high offices of the state to such persons as
they think proper. And what is there in this,
that can justify the patricians in thus disturbing
heaven and earth ? Their treatment of me just
now, in the senate, very little short of personal
violence ? Their open declarations that they
will have recourse to force, and their threaten-
ing to insult an office which has been held
sacred and inviolable ? Can the city no longer
subsist, if the Roman people are allowed to
give their suffrages with freedom, and to intrust
the consulship to such persons as they may ap-
prove ; or must the downfall of the empire en-
sue, if a plebeian, how worthy soever of the
highest station, is not precluded from every
hope of attaining to it ? And does the question,
whether a commoner may be elected consul,
carry the same import, as if a person spoke of
a slave, or the issue of a slave, for the consul-
ship ? Do ye not perceive, do ye not feel, in
what a despicable view ye are considered ?
Were it in their power, they would hinder you
from sharing even the light of the sun. That
ye breathe, that ye enjoy the faculty of speech,
that ye wear the human shape, are subjects of
mortification to them. But then, they tell you,
that truly it is contrary to the rules of religion
that a plebeian should be made consul. For
heaven's sake, though we are not admitted to
inspect the records,1 or the annals « of the pon-

1 The records, in which the names of the magistrates,
in succession, and the most memorable event*, were re-
corded.

2 The annals were a compendious registry of events,
as they occurred, made by the pontifis, who likewise

tiffs, are we ignorant of the things which even
every foreigner knows ? That consuls were
substituted in the place of kings ; and conse-
quently have no kind of privilege or dignity
which was not possessed before by kings ? Do
ye suppose that we never heard it mentioned,
that Numa Pompilius, not only no patrician,
but not even a citizen of Rome, was invited
hither from the country of the Sabines, and
made sovereign at Rome, by the order of the
people, and with the approbation of the senate ?
That Lucius Tarquinius, of a race which, so
far from being Roman, was not even Italian,
the son of Demaratus a Corinthian, having
come hither a stranger from Tarquinii, was
raised to the like high station, though the sons
of Ancus were alive ? That after him Servius
Tullius, the son of a captive woman of Comi-
culum, his father not known, and his mother in
servitude, obtained the crown, through his abil-
ities and merit ? Need I speak of Titus Tatius,
the Sabine, whom Romulus himself, the foun-
der of the city, admitted into partnership in the
throne ? The consequence was, that while no
objection was made to~ any family, in which
conspicuous merit appeared, the Roman empire
continually increased. It well becomes you to
show disgust, now, at a plebeian consul ; though
our ancestors disdained not to call foreigners to
the throne, nor even after the expulsion of the
kings, ever shut the gates of the city against
foreign merit. It is well known, that we since
admitted the Claudian family from among the
Sabines, not only into the number of citizens,
but even into that of .the patricians. ]\Iuy a
person, then, from a foreigner, become a patri-
cian, and in consequence, consul ; and shall a
citizen of Rome, if he be a commoner, be cut
off from every hope of the consulship? Is
it deemed impossible that a plebeian can be
a man of fortitude and activity, qualified to
excel in peace and war, like Numa, Lucius
Tarquinius, and Servius Tullius ? Or, should
such appear, shall we still prohibit him from
meddling with the helm of government ? In a
word, shall we choose to have consuls rather
resembling the decemvirs, the most profligate of
mankind, who in their time were all patricians,
than like the bestof the kings,who were new men?1

had the care of the records, and kept both carefully shut
up from the inspection of the lower order.

3 The lir-t in a family who attained any of the curnle
offices, that is, any of the superior magistracies, wa»
called nocus homo, a new man.

138

THE HISTORY

QBOOK iv.

I V. " But it is argued, that since the ex-
pulsion of the kings, there has been no instance
of a plebeian consul. What then ? Is no new
institution ever to be known? Must every
measure not heretofore practised, (and in a new
state there must be many measures not yet in- !
troduced into practice,) be therefore rejected,
even though it should be evidently advantage- j
ous ? In the reign of Romulus, there were j
neither pontiffs nor augurs ; Numa Pompilius
introduced them. There was no such thing
in the state as a general survey, and distribu-
tion of the centuries and classes, until instituted
by Servius Tullius. There was a time when
there never had been consuls ; on the expulsion
of the kings they were created. Of a dictator
neither the office nor name had existed ; in the
time of our fathers it was introduced. There
had never been tribunes of the commons, sediles
or quaestors ; and yet it was resolved that those
offices should be created. The office of decem-
virs for compiling laws, we ourselves have
within the last ten years both created and abol-
ished. Who is not convinced that in a city,
founded for eternal duration, and growing up
to an immense magnitude, many new offices,
both civil and religious, many new rights, both
of families and individuals, must necessarily be
instituted. This very rule, prohibiting the in-
termarriage of patricians and plebeians, was it
not enacted by the decemvirs within these few
years, with the utmost injustice towards the
plebeians, on a principle highly detrimental to
the public? Can there be any insult greater
or more flagrant, than that one half of the state,
as if it were contaminated, should be held un-
worthy of intermarrying with the other ? What
else is this than, within the same walls, to suf-
fer all the evils of rustication or of exile ? They
are anxious to prevent our being united to them
Tby any affinity or consanguinity ; to prevent our
blood from being mingled with theirs. What !
If this would be a stain on that nobility, which
the greater number of you, the progeny of Al-
bans and Sabines, possess, not in right of^birth
or of blood, but of cooptation into the body of
the patrician ; having been elected, either by
the kings, or after their expulsion, by order of
the people, could ye not preserve its purity by
regulations among yourselves ? By neither
taking plebeian wives, nor suffering your daugh-
ters and sisters to marry out of the patrician
line ? No plebeian will offer violence to a noble
maiden ; such outrageous lust is to be found

only among nobles. None of them would
compel any man against his will to enter into
a marriage-contract. But it is the prohibition
of it by a law, the intermarriage of patricians
and plebeians being interdicted ; this is what
the commons must consider as an insult. Why
do ye not procure a law to be passed, that the
rich shall not marry with the poor ? A matter
which in all countries has been left to the regu-
lation of people's own prudence ; that each
woman should marry into whatever family
she has been betrothed to ; and each man take
a wife from whatever family he had contracted
with ; this ye shackle with the restraints of a
most tyrannical law, whereby ye tear asunder
the bands of civil society, and split one state
into two. Why do ye not enact, that a plebeian
shall not dwell in the neighbourhood of a patri-
cian? That he shall not travel on the same
road ? That he shall not appear at the same
entertainment ? That he shall not stand in the
same forum ? For what more material conse-
quence can in reality ensue, should a patrician
wed a plebeian woman, or a plebeian a patrician
woman ? What alteration is thereby made in
the rights of any person ? Surely the children
follow the condition of the father. So that
neither have we any advantage in view, from
intermarriage with you, except that of being
considered on the footing of human beings,
and of fellow-citizens ; nor is there any rea-
son for contesting the point, unless ye feel
pleasure in labouring to subject us to scorn and
insult.

V. " In fine, let me ask you, whether is the
supreme power vested in the Roman people, or
in you ? Was the expulsion of the kings intend-
ed to procure absolute dominion to yourselves,
or equal freedom to all ? Is it fitting that the
Roman people should have the power of enact-
ing such laws as they choose ? or whenever any
matter of the kind has been proposed to their
consideration, shall ye, by way of punishment,
pass a decree for a levy of troops ? And as soon
as, in capacity of tribune, I shall begin to call
the tribes to give their suffrages, will you, in
the office of consul, compel the younger citizens
to take the military oath, and lead them out to
camp ? Will you menace the commons ? Will
you menace their tribune ? As if ye had not
already experienced, on two several occasions,
how little such menaces avail against the united
sense of the people. I suppose it was out of
regard to our interests, that ye did not proceed

Y. K. 310.]

OF ROME.

139

to force ; or was the avoiding of extremities
owing to this, that the party which possessed
the greater share of strength, possessed also a
greater degree of moderation ? Romans, there
will now be no occasion for force. Those men
will on every occasion make trial of your pa-
triot spirit : your strength at home they will
never try. Wherefore, consuls, to those wars,
whether real or fictitious, the commons are
ready to attend you, provided that by restoring
the right of intermarriage, ye at length unite
the state into one body ; provided they are al-
lowed to coalesce, to intermix with you by the
ties of relationship ; provided the road to hon-
ours shall be laid open to men of industry and
abilities ; provided, in short, they are allowed
to stand on the footing of partners and associ-
ates in the commonwealth ; and, what is the
natural result of equal freedom, be admitted in
the rotation of annual magistracies, to obey and
to command in turn. If any shall obstruct
these measures, harangue about wars, and mul-
tiply them by reports, not a man will give in
his name ; not a man will take arms ; not a
man will fight for haughty masters, by whom he
is excluded as an alien, both from the partici-
pation of public honours, and the private con-
nections of marriage."

VI. The consuls then came into the assem-
bly, and, after a long series of harangues on the
subject, an altercation arising, and the tribune
asking, " for what reason was it improper that
a plebeian should be made consul ?" one of
them answered, though perhaps with truth, yet
unluckily, with regard to the present dispute,
" Because no plebeian had the right or power of
taking the auspices ; and, for that reason the
decemvirs had prohibited intermarriage, lest,
from the uncertainty of men's descent, the aus-
pices might be vitiated." This, above all,
kindled the indignation of the commons into a
flame ; they heard it affirmed that they were
not qualified to take auspices, as if they were
objects of the aversion of the immortal gods.
So that the contest grew high, the commons
being headed by a tribune of undaunted resolu-
tion, and themselves vying with him in steadi-
ness, until the senate were at length overpower-
ed, and gave their consent to the passing of the
law concerning intermarriage ; judging, that the
tribunes might most probably be thereby in-
duced, either to lay aside entirely, or to defer
until the end of the war, the struggle for ple-
beian consuls ; and that, in the meantime, the

commons, satisfied with having obtained the
right in question, would be ready to enlist On
the other hand, the high degree of credit which
Canuleius had attained by his victory over the
senate, and the favour of the commons, proved
a strong incentive to the other tribunes to ex-
ert their utmost efforts in support of the law,
which they had proposed in regard to the con-
sulship ; and whilst the accounts of the enemy's
proceedings grew every day more alarming, they
obstructed the enlisting of troops. The con-
suls, finding, that, by the continual protests of
the tribunes, every proceeding of the senate
was rendered abortive, held consultations at their
houses with the principal patricians. Here,
they saw their dilemma : they must be van-
quished, either by their enemies, or by their
countrymen. The only consulars who were
present at their deliberations were Valerius
and Horatius. Caius Claudius gave his opin-
ion, that the consuls should proceed against the
tribunes by force of arms. The Quintii, both
Cincinnatus and Capitolinus, declared them-
selves averse from the shedding of blood, and
of offering violence to those officers, whom, by
the treaty concluded with the commons, they
had acknowledged as sacred and inviolable. The
result of these consultations was, that they should
allow military tribunes, with consular power, to
be elected out of the patricians and plebeians with-
out distinction ; and that, with respect to the
election of consuls, no change should be made ;
and with this the tribunes were satisfied, and the
commons also. An assembly was now pro-
claimed for the election of three tribunes with
consular power ; and, as soon as this proclama-
tion was issued, immediately every one, who
had, either by word or deed, been a promoter
of the sedition, particularly those who had held
the office of tribune, began to solicit votes, and
to bustle through the forum as candidates ; so
that the patricians were deterred, first, in des-
pair of attaining that dignity, while the minds
of the commons were in such a ferment ; and
afterwards, from making their appearance, from
the indignation which they felt at the thoughts
of holding the office in conjunction with such
colleagxies. At last, however, overcome by
the pressing instances of the leading patricians,
some of them declared themselves candidates,
lest they might seem to have voluntarily sur-
rendered the administration of public affairs.
The issue of that election afforded a proof,
that men's sentiments during the heat of the con-

140

THE HISTORY

[BOOK IV-

test for liberty and dignity, are very different
from those which, they feel after the contest has
been ended, and when the judgment is unbias-
sed. For the advocates for the plebeians,
satisfied with the admission of their right to
stand candidates, elected every one of the tri-
bunes from among the patricians. Never was
there found, even in a single individual, such
moderation, disinterestedness, and elevation of
mind, as was displayed on that occasion by the
whole body of the people.

VII. In the year three hundred and ten from
the foundation of the city of Rome, for the
first time, military tribunes in the room of con-
suls entered into office. [Y. R. 311. B. C.
441.] These were Aulus Sempronius Arra-
tinus, Lucius Atilius, and Titus Csecilius ;
and, during their continuance in office, con-
cord prevailing at home, produced likewise
peace abroad. There are some writers, who,
without mentioning the proposal of the law
concerning the election of plebeian consuls,
affirm, that on account of a war breaking out
with the Veientians, in addition to those with
the .^Equans and Volscians, and the revolt of
the Ardeans, two consuls being unequal to the
task of conducting so many wars at once, three
military tribunes were created, and vested both
with the authority and the badges of consuls.
However, the establishment of this office did
not, at that time, remain on a permanent foot-
ing ; for in the third month from its commence-
ment they resigned their dignity, in pursuance
of a decree of the augurs, alleging a defect in
the election, Caius Curtius, who had presided
on that occasion, not having performed the re-
quisite ceremonies in marking out the ground
for his tent. Ambassadors came to Rome from
Ardea, complaining of the injustice done to
them, and at the same time professing an inten-
tion of remaining in amity, and adhering to the
treaty, provided that, by the restoration of their
lands, that injustice were redressed. The se-
nate answered, that " they could not rescind the
sentence of the people, were there no other
.f reason than the preservation of concord be-
tween the orders in the state ; but, besides,
such a measure was not justified either by law
or precedent. If the Ardeans would be con-
tent to wait until a seasonable conjuncture, and
leave it entirely to the senate to find a remedy
for the injury offered them, they would have
reason afterwards to rejoice for having moder-
ated their resentment, and should be convinced

that the senate had ever been sincerely dis-
posed to prevent any harm being done to them ;
and also that they were not less so to hear that
which they now complained of." On which
the ambassadors declaring, that they would take
the sense of their countrymen anew, before
they formed any resolution, they were dismiss-
ed with expressions of friendship. The com-
monwealth being now without any curule
magistrate, the patricians assembled and created
an interrex, and the interregnum was prolonged
for a great many days, by a contention whether
consuls or military tribunes should be appoint-
ed. The interrex and the senate warmly pro-
moted the election of consuls ; the plebeian
tribunes and the commons, the election of
military tribunes. The patricians at length
prevailed ; for the commons, who had no inten-
tion of conferring either the one office or the
other on any but patricians, desisted from their
fruitless opposition : and besides, the leaders
of the commons were better pleased with an
election where they were not to appear as can-
didates, than with one where they would be
passed over as unworthy. The plebeian tri-
bunes wished also that their declining to press
the dispute to a decision should be considered
as a compliment to the patricians. Titus
Quintius Barbatus, the interrex, elected consuls
Lucius Papirius Mugilanus and Lucius Sem-
pronius Atratinus. In their consulate, the
treaty with the Ardeans was renewed ; and this
serves as a record to prove, that they were ac-
tually consuls in that year, though they are not
to be found, either in the old annals, or in the
books of the magistrates, by reason, as I ima-
gine, that in the beginning of the year there
were military tribunes, and therefore though
these consuls were afterwards substituted in
their room, yet the names of the consuls were
omitted, as if the others had continued in office
through the whole of the appointed time. Li-
cinius Macer affirms, that they were found both
in the Ardean treaty, and in the linen books in
the temple of Moneta. Tranquillity prevailed,
not only at home but abroad, notwithstanding
so many alarms given by the neighbouring
states.

VIII. Whether this year [Y. R. 312.
B. C. 440.] had tribunes only, or consuls sub-
stituted in their room, is uncertain, but the
succeeding one undoubtedly had consuls ; Mar-
cus Geganius Macerinus a second time, and
Titus Quintius Capitolinus a fifth time, being

y. R. 312.]

OF ROME.

Ill

invested with that honour. This same year
produced the first institution of the censorship ;
an office which sprung from an inconsiderable
origin, but grew up afterwards to such a height
of importance, that it became possessed of the
entire regulation of the morals and discipline of
the Roman people. The senate, the centu-
ries of the knights, and the distribution of
honour and ignominy, were all under the su-
preme jurisdiction of these magistrates. The
discrimination of public from private property
in lands or houses, and the entire revenue of
the Roman people, were finally adjusted by
their sovereign decision. What gave rise to
the institution was, that as the people had not,
for many years past, undergone a survey, the
census could neither be longer deferred, nor
could the consuls find leisure to perform it,
while they were threatened with war by so
many different states. An observation was
made in the senate, that a business, so labori-
ous and ill-suited to the office of consul, would
require officers to be appointed for that parti-
cular purpose, to whose management should be
committed the business of the public secreta-
ries, the superintendance and custody of the
records, and the adjustment of the form of pro-
ceeding in the census. This proposal, though
deemed of little consequence, yet, as it tended
to increase the number of patrician magistrates
in the commonwealth, the senate, on their part,
received with great pleasure ; foreseeing also, I
suppose, what really happened, that the influ-
ence of those who should be raised to that post,
would derive additional authority and dignity
on the office itself. And, on the other side,
the tribunes, looking on the employment rather
as necessary, which was the case at the time,
than as attended with any extraordinary lustre,
did not choose to oppose it, lest they should
seem, through perverseness, to carry on their
opposition even in trifles. The leading men
in the state showing a dislike of the office, the
people by their suffrages conferred the employ-
ment of performing the census on Papirius and
Sempronius, the persons whose consulate is
doubted, in order to recompense them, by that
office, for having enjoyed the consulship only
for a part of the usual period. From the busi-
ness of their office they were called censors.

IX. During these transactions at Rome,
ambassadors came from Ardea, imploring, in
regard of the alliance subsisting between them
from the earliest times, and of the treaty lately

renewed, relief for their city, now on the brink
of ruin. The peace with Rome, which they
had, by the soundest policy, preserved, they
were prevented from enjoying by intestine war,
the cause and origin of which is said to have
arisen from a struggle between factions, which
have proved, and will ever continue to prove, a
more deadly cause of downfall to most states,
than either foreign wars, or famine, or pesti-
lence, or any other of those evils which men
are apt to consider as the severest of public
calamities, and the effects of the divine ven-
geance. Two young men courted a maiden of
a plebeian family, highly distinguished for beau-
ty : one of them on a level with the maid, in
point of birth, and favoured by her guardians,
who were themselves of the same rank ; the
other of noble birth, captivated merely by her
beauty. The pretensions of the latter were
supported by the interest of the nobles, which
proved the means of introducing party disputes
into the damsel's family ; for the nobleman's
wishes were seconded by her mother, who was
ambitious of securing the more splendid match
for her daughter ; while the guardians, actuated
even in a matter of that sort by a spirit of party,
exerted themselves in favour of the person of
their own order. Not being able to come to
any conclusion on the point in domestic con-
ferences, they had recourse to a court of jus-
tice, where the magistrates having heard the
claims of the mother and of the guardians, de-
creed, that she should marry according to the
direction of her parent : but this was pre-
vented by violence ; for the guardians, after
haranguing openly in the forum, among peo-
ple of their own faction, on the iniquity
of the decree, collected a party in arms, and
forcibly carried off the maiden from her mother's
house : while the nobles, more highly incensed
against them than ever, united in a body, and in
military array followed their young friend, who
was lendered furious by this outrage. A des-
perate battle was fought, in which the com-
mons were worsted : and being incapable of
imitating, in any particular, those of Rome,
they marched out of the city, seized on a neigh-
bouring hill, and from thence made excursions
with fire and sword on the lands of the nobles.
Even the city itself, which had hitherto escap-
ed the effects of their dispute, they prepared to
besiege, having by the hopes of plunder, allured
a great number of the artizans to come out and
join them : nor is there any shocking form or

142

THE HISTORY

[BOOK iv.

calamity of war which was not experienced on
the occasion, as if the whole state were infected
with the mad rage of two youths, who sought
the accomplishment of that fatal match through
the means of their country's nun. Both par-
ties thinking that they had not enough of hos-
tDities among themselves, the nobles called up-
on the Romans to relieve their city from a siege ;
while the commons besought the Volscians to
.join them in the storming of Ardea. The
Volscians, under the command of Cluilius an
-5Cquan, arrived first at Ardea, and drew a line
of circumvallation round the enemy's walls.
An account of this being conveyed to Rome,
Marcus Geganius, consul, instantly set out
with an army, chose ground for his camp,
at the distance of three miles from the enemy :
and, as the day was now far spent, ordered his
men to refresh themselves : then, at the fourth
watch, he put his troops in motion. They were
soon set to work, and made such expedition, that
at sun-rise the Volscians saw themselves inclosed
by the Romans with stronger works than those
with which they had surrounded the city.
The consul had, also, on one side, drawn a
line across, to the wall of Ardea, to open a
communication with his friends in the city.

X. The general of the Volscians, who had
hitherto maintained his troops, not out of ma-
gazines provided for the purpose, but by corn
brought in daily from the plunder of the coun-
try, finding himself cut off at once from every
resource, by being shut up within the enemy's
lines, requested a conference with the consid,
and told him, that "if the intention of the
Romans in coming thither was to raise the
siege, he was willing to withdraw the troops of
the Volscians from the place." To this the
consul answered, that it was the part of the
vanquished to receive terms,not to dictate them;
and that the Volscians should not have the
making of their conditions for departure, as
they had come to attack the allies of the Ro-
man people." He insisted, that " they should
deliver up their general into his hands, lay
down their arms, and acknowledging themselves
vanquished, submit to his farther orders j"
declaring, that if these terms were not com-
plied with, whether they remained there or re-
tired, he would proceed against them as a deter-
mined enemy ; and would be better pleased to
carry home a victory over the Volscians, than
an insidious peace." The Volscians, resolving
to make trial of the small remains of hope,

which they could place in their arms, as they
were utterly destitute of every other, came to
an engagement ; in which, besides other disad-
vantages, the ground rendered it difficult for
them to fight, and still more so to retreat.
When, finding themselves repulsed on all sides
with much slaughter, from fighting they had
recourse to entreaties ; and, having delivered
up their general, and surrendered their arms,
they were sent under the yoke, each with a
single garment, loaded with ignominy and suf-
ferings ; and, having afterwards halted near the
city of Tusculum, the inhabitants of that city
out of the inveterate hatred which they bore
them, attacked them unarmed as they were,
and executed severe vengeance on them ; leav-
ing scarcely any to carry home the news of
their defeat. The Roman general re-establish-
ed tranquillity in the affairs of Ardea, which
had been thrown into great confusion by the
sedition, beheading the principal authors of the
disturbances, and confiscating their effects to
the public treasury. These now considered
the injustice of the former sentence against
them, as sufficiently repaired by such an im.
portant act of kindness : the senate, however,
were of opinion that something still remained
to be done, to obliterate, if possible, all re-
membrance of the Roman people's avarice.
The consul returned into the city in triumph,
Cluilius, the general of the Volscians, being
led before his chariot, and the spoils borne
before him, of wlu'ch he had stripped the
enemy when he disarmed and sent them un-
der the yoke. The other consul Quintius
had the singular felicity of acquiring by his
administration in the civil department, a share
of glory equal to what his colleague had
acquired by his military achievements ; for so
steadily did he direct his endeavours for the
preservation of internal peace and harmony, dis-
pensing justice temperedwith moderation,equal-
ly to the highest and the lowest, that while the
patricians approved of his strictness in the exe-
cution of his office, the commons were highly
satisfied with his lenity. Even against the
schemes of the tribunes, he carried his measures
more by means of the respect universally paid
to him, than by exertions of authority. Five
consulships administered with the same tenor
of conduct, and every part of his life being
suited to the consular dignity, attracted to his
person almost a greater degree of veneration
than was paid even to the high office which he

Y. K. 31;i.]

OF ROME.

143

bore. There was therefore no mention of mi-
litary tribunes in this consulate.

XL There were chosen, [Y. R. 313. B.
C. 4-39.] to succeed them, Marcus Fabius
Vebulanus and Postumius JEbutius Corni-
cen. These consuls were emulous of the
high renown which they observed their pre-
decessors had attained by their services at
home and abroad, that year having been ren-
dered very remarkable among all the neighbour-
ing states, both friends and enemies, by the verv
zealous support afforded to the Ardeansin their
extreme distress. They exerted themselves then
the more earnestly, with the view of erasing en-
tirely from the minds of men the infamy of the
former sentence of the people in respect of the
appropriation of the lands : and sought to pro-
cure a decree of the senate, that whereas the
Ardeans had by intestine war been reduced to
an inconsiderable number, therefore a colony
should be conducted thither, to serve as a bar-
rier against the Volscians. These were the
expressions made use of in the tables exhibited
to public view, in order to conceal from the tri-
bunes and commons the design which they
formed of rescinding the sentence. But they
had agreed among themselves, to enrol for the
colony a much greater number of Rutulians
than of Romans ; and then, that no other land
should be distributed, but that which had been
fraudulently obtained by the infamous sentence
of the people ; and that not a sod of it should,
be assigned to any Roman until every one of
the Rutulians should have received his share :
by these means the land returned to the Ar-
deans. The commissioners appointed to con-
duct the colony to Ardea, were Agrippa Me-
nenius, Titus Clselius Siculus, and Marcus
jEbutius Elva ; who, in the execution of their
very unpopular employment, having given of-
fence to the commons, by assigning to the allies
that land which the Roman people had by their
sentence pronounced to be their own, and not
being much favoured even by the principal pa-
tricians, because they had shown no difference
to the influence of any of them, were by the
tribunes cited before the people, to answer a
charge of misconduct ; but they evaded all vex-
atious attacks, by enrolling themselves as set-
tlers, and remaining in that colony, which would
ever bear testimony to their justice and inte-
grity.

XII. Tranquillity continued at home and
abroad during both this and the following year,

in which Cains Furius Pacilus, and Marcus
Papilius Crassus, were consuls. [Y. R. 314.
B. C. 4-38.] The games vowed by the decemvirs
in pursuance of a decree of the senate, on oc-
casion of the secession of the commons from
the patricians, were this year performed. An
occasion of sedition was sought in vain by Pe-
tilius ; who, though he was elected tribune of
the commons a second time, merely out of peo-
ple's reliance on the strength of his declaration,
which was, that the consuls should propose to
the senate a distribution of lands to be made to
the commons ; yet he was neither able to carry
this point, nor when, after a great struggle, he
had prevailed so far as that the senate should
be consulted, whether it was their pleasure that
consuls should be elected, or tribunes, could he
prevent an order for the election of consuls;
and the tribune made himself still more ridicu-
lous by threatening to hinder a levy of troops,
at a time when, all their neighbours remaining
in quiet, there was no occasion either for war
or any preparation for it. This tranquillity
was succeeded by a busy year, [Y. R. 315.
B. C. 437.] wherein Proculus Geganius
Macerinus and Lucius Menenius Lanatus
were consuls; a year remarkable for a va-
riety of dangers and disasters ; for seditions,
for famine, and for the people having almost
bowed their necks to the yoke of arbitrary go-
vernment, seduced by allurements of largesses.
One calamity they were exempt from, foreign
war : had this aggravation been added to their
condition, the aid of all the gods could scarcely
have preserved them. Their misfortune began
with a famine ; whether owing to the season
being unfavourable to the productions of the
earth ; or, from more attention being paid to
the pleasures of the city and the assemblies
than to agriculture : for both causes are men-
tioned. Xhe patricians laid the blame on the
idleness of the commons : the tribunes some-
times on the evil designs, sometimes on the ne-
;ligence of the consuls. At length the plebeians
prevailed, the senate giving no opposition, that
Lucius Minucius should be created president
f the market, who proved, in the course of that
employment, more successful in guarding the
public h'berty, than in the immediate business
of his own department; although in the end,
he obtained the honour of having relieved the
people in regard to the scarcity, and also their
gratitude for that important service. He first
proceeded as follows : rinding little additiuu to

144

THE HISTORY

[BOOK

the markets from several embassies which he
sent, by land and sea, to all the neighbouring
nations, except that some corn was brought,
though in no great quantity, from Etruria, he
had recourse to the expedient of dealing out, in
shares, the scanty stock of provisions, at the
same time compelling all to discover their stores
of corn, and to sell whatever they had beyond
a month's allowance. He took from the slaves
one-half of their daily portion of food ; passed
censures on the hoarders of corn, and exposed
them to the rage of the people. So strict a
scrutiny, however, served rather to make known
the greatness of the scarcity, than to remedy it ;
so that many of the commoners abandoning
themselves to despair, rather than drag on their
lives in torment, covered their heads, and threw
themselves into the Tiber.

XIII. While things were in this situation,
Spurius Mselius, a man of equestrian rank, and
possessed of extraordinary wealth for those
times, engaged in a plan, which, though useful
for the present, was pernicious in its tendency ;
and was in fact suggested by designs still more
pernicious : for having by means of his connec-
tions and dependents bought in a quantity of
corn from Etruria (which very proceeding, I
suppose, obstructed the endeavours of the ma-
gistrates to lower the price of provisions), he
began the practice of bestowing largesses of
corn ; and, having gained the hearts of the com-
mons by this munificence, became the object of
general attention. Assuming thence a degree
of consequence, beyond what belonged to a
private citizen, wherever he went he drew them
after him in crowds ; and they, by the favour
which they expressed towards him, encouraged
him to look up to the consulship with a certain
prospect of success. As men's desires are
never satiated, while fortune gives room to hope
for more, he began to aim at higher and less
justifiable objects. And since even the con-
sulship must be obtained by violent efforts, in
opposition to the inclinations of the patricians,
and be, at the same time, a contest attended
with such difficulties as would cost infinite la-
bour to surmount, he directed his views to regal
power. The election of consuls drew nigh ;
and the circumstance of its coming on before
his schemes were sufficiently digested, and ripe
for execution, was the cause of their being en-
tirely disconcerted. To the consulship was
elected, Titus Quintius Cincinnatus, a sixth
time, a man not at all calculated to encourage

the views of one who aimed at innovations :
his colleague was Agrippa Menenius, suniamed
Lanatus. [Y. R. 316. B. C. 436.] Minu-
cius, too, was either re-elected president of the
market, or was originally appointed for an un-
limited term, as long as occasion should require;
for there is nothing certain on this head, only
that his name, as president, was entered in the
linen books among the other magistrates for
both years. This Minucius transacting in a
public character the same kind of business
which Mjelius had undertaken in a private ca-
pacity, the houses of both were consequently
frequented by the same sort of people ; which
circumstance, having led to a discovery of the
designs of the latter, Minucius laid the infor-
mation before the senate : that " arms were
collected in the dwelling of Meelius ; that he
held assemblies in his house ; and that there
remained not a doubt of his having formed a
design to possess himself of absolute power :
that the time for the execution of that design
was not yet fixed, but every other particular
had been settled : that tribunes had been cor-
rupted, by bribes, to betray the public liberty ;
and that the leaders of the multitude had their
several parts assigned them. That he had
deferred laying this matter before the senate,
rather longer than was consistent with safety,
lest he might offer any information which was
ill-grounded or uncertain." On hearing this,
the principal patricians highly blamed the con-
suls of the former year, for suffering such lar-
gesses, and such meetings of the commons in a
private house ; and also, the new ones for their
supineness, while the president of the market
reported to the senate an affair of such impor-
tance, and which it was the duty of a consul both
to discover and to punish. To this Quintius
replied, that " it was unfair to blame the con-
suls, who, being tied down by the laws concern-
ing appeals enacted for the purpose of weaken-
ing their authority, had not, in their office, the
ability, however much they might have the will,
to inflict condign punishment on such atrocious
proceedings : that the business required not
only a man of resolution, but one who should
be free and unshackled by the fetters of those
laws ; that therefore he would name Lu-
cius Quintius dictator : in him would be
found a spirit equal to so great a power."
Every one expressed his approbation. Quin-
tius at first refused the office, and asked
them, what they meant by exposing him in the

v. n. 316.]

OF ROME.

145

extremity of age to such a violent contest On
which they all joined in asserting, that his age<
breast was fraught not only with more wisdom
but with more fortitude also, than was to be
found in all the rest, loading him with deservec
praises, while the consul persisted in his inten-
tion : so that at length Cincinnatus, after pray-
ing to the immortal gods that his declining
years might not, at a juncture so dangerous, be
the cause of detriment or dishonour to the com-
monwealth, was appointed dictator by the con-
sul, and he then named Cains Servilius Ahala
his master of the horse.

XIV. Next day, after fixing proper guards,
the dictator went down to the forum, the whole
attention of the commons being turned towards
him by the surprise and novelty of the affair ;
and whilst the partizans of Maelius, and also
himself, perceived that the power of this high
authority was aimed against them ; others, who
were ignorant of their designs, were wholly at
a loss to discover what tumult, what sudden
war, required either the majesty of a dictator,
or the appointment of Quintius, after his eight-
ieth year, to the administration of affairs. The
master of the horse, by order of the dictator,
then came to Maelius, and said to him, " the
dictator calls you." Struck with apprehension,
he asked the reason, and was informed by Ser-
vilius, that he must stand a trial, and acquit
himself of a charge made against him in the
senate by Minucius. Maelius then drew back
into the band of his associates ; and, at first,
cautiously looking round, attempted to skulk
away ; and when, at length, a sergeant, by order
of the master of the horse, laid hold on him,
he was rescued by the by-standers, and betook
nimself to flight ; imploring the protection of
the commons of Rome ; affirming that he was
persecuted by a conspiracy of the patricians,
for having acted with kindness toward the
people ; and beseeching them to assist him in
this extremity of danger, and not to suffer him
to be murdered before their eyes. Whilst he
exclaimed in this manner, Ahala Servilius
overtook and slew him ; and besmeared with
the blood which flowed from the wounds, and
surrounded by a band of young patricians, car-
ried back an account to the dictator, that Mae-
lius, on being summoned to attend him, had
driven back the sergeant, and endeavoured to
excite the multitude to violence, for which he
had received condign punishment. " I ap-
plaud," said the dictator " your meritorious

I.

conduct ; Caius Servilius, you have preserved
the commonwealth."

XV. He then ordered the multitude, who,
not knowing what judgment to form of the
deed, were in violent agitation, to be called to
an assembly ; there he publicly declared, that
" Maelius had been legally put to death, even
supposing him to have been innocent of the
crime of aspiring at regal power, for having re-
fused to attend the dictator, when summoned
by the master of the horse. That he himself
bad resolved to examine into the charge ; and
that when the trial should have been finished,
Maelius would have met such treatment as his
cause merited : but when he attempted by
force to elude a legal decision, force was em-
ployed to stop his proceedings. Nor would it
have been proper to treat him as a citizen, for
though born in a free state, under the dominion
of the laws divine and human, in a city from
which he knew that kings had been expelled ;
and that in the same year the offspring of the
king's sister, and the sons of the consul, the
deliverer of his country, on discovery of their
engaging in a plot for re-admitting the kings
into the city, were by their father publicly be-
headed ; from which, Collatinus Tarquinius,
consul, was ordered, through the general de-
testation of the name, after resigning his office,
to retire into exile ; in which Spurius Cassius
was, several years after, capitally punished for
having formed a design of assuming the sove-
reignty ; in which, not long ago, the decemvirs,
on account of their regal tyranny, had been
punished with confiscations, exile, and death ;
in that very city Spurius Maelius had conceived
hopes of possessing himself of regal power.
And who was this man ? Although no nobili-
ty, no honours, no merits, could open to any
man the way to tyranny ; yet still the Claudii
and Cassii, when they raised their views to an
unlawful height, were elated by consulships,
ay decemvirates, by honours conferred on them-
selves and their ancestors, and by the splendour
of their families. But Spurius Maelius, to
whom a plebeian tribuneship should have been
an object rather of wishes than of hope, a weal-
thy corn-merchant, had conceived the design of
nirchasing the liberty of his countrymen, for a
"ew measures of corn ; had supposed, that a
)eople victorious over all their neighbours,
could be inveigled into slavery by being sup
>lied with a little food. A person, whose
elevation to the rank of senator, the state
T

146

THE HISTORY

QBOOK iv.

could have hardly digested, they were patiently
to endure as king, possessing the ensigns and
the authority of Romulus their founder, who
Lad descended from, and returned to the gods.
This must be deemed not more criminal than
it was monstrous : nor was it sufficiently ex-
piated by his blood ; it was farther necessary
that the roof, the walls within which such a
desperate design had been conceived, should be
levelled to the ground ; and that his effects
should be confiscated, being contaminated by
the intention of making them the price of the
people's liberty ; and that therefore he directed
the quaestors to sell those effects, and deposit
the produce in the public treasury.''

XVI. He then ordered his house to be im-
mediately razed, and that the vacant space
should remain as a monument of the suppres-
sion of that abominable enterprise. This
was called JEquimslium. Lucius Minucius
was honoured with a present of an ox, with
its horns gilded, and a statue, on the outside of
the gate Trigemina ; and this with the appro-
bation of the commons, for he distributed among
them the cora collected by Mselius, at the rate
of an as for each peck. In some authors, I
find, that this Minucius had changed sides
from the patricians to the commons, and that
having been chosen by the plebeian tribunes,
as an eleventh member of their body, he quieted
the commotion which arose on the death of
Mselius. But it is hardly credible, that the
patricians suffered the number of tribunes to
be augmented, or that the precedent should
have been introduced particularly in regard of
a man of their own order j or that the com-
mons did not afterwards maintain, or even
attempt to maintain, a privilege once conceded
to them. But what above all evinces the
falsehood of that inscription on his statue, is,
that, a few years before this, provision had
been made by a law, that the tribunes should
not have power to assume colleagues in their
office. Of the college of tribunes Quintus
Caecilius, Quintus Junius, and Sextus Titi-
nius had neither been concerned in the law for
conferring honours on Minucins, nor did they
cease to throw out censures in presence of the
people, at one time on Minucius, at another on
Servilius ; and to complain of the unmerited
death of Malius. By such methods they ac-
complished their purpose so far as to procure
an order, that military tribunes should be
elected instead of consuls ; not doubting, but

in the filling up of six places, for so many
were then allowed to be elected, some plebeians,
who should profess a resolution to revenge the
death of Mselius, would be appointed among
the rest. The commons, though kept in con-
tinual agitation during that year, from many
and various causes, elected three tribunes only,
with consular power, and even chose among
these Lucius Quintius the son of Cincinnatus,
whose conduct in the dictatorship those men
wished to render odious, and thence to gain
occasion of new disturbances. Prior to Quiri-
tius, Mamercus JEmilius was voted in, a man
who stood in the first rank of merit : in the
third place, they elected Lucius Icilius.

XVII. While these were in office, Fidenae,
a Roman colony, revolted to the Veientiaris,
whose king was Lars Tolumnius. [Y. R. 317.
B. C. 435.] To their revolt a more heinous
crime was added ; for, in pursuance of an order
from Tolumnius, they put to death Caius
Fulcinius, Clcelius Tullus, Spurius Ancius,
and Lucius Roscius, Roman ambassadors, who
came to inquire into the reasons of this change
of conduct. Some palliate the guilt of the
king, alleging, that an ambiguous expression
of his, on a successful throw at dice, being
misapprehended by the Fidenatians, as an order
for their execution, occasioned the death of the
ambassadors. But this seems an incredible tale ;
for it cannot be supposed that the thoughts
of Tolumnius would be so intently employed
upon his game, that he should be regardless of
a circumstance of so much consequence, as the
arrival of his new allies, the Fidenatians, and
who, if this be admitted, must have come to
consult him upon the perpetration of a murder,
which would violate all the laws of nations ;
or that, in such an affair, he should feel no
compunction. It is much more probable, that
his view was to involve them in such guilt, as
to cut off all hope of reconciliation with the
Romans. Statues of the ambassadors slain
at Fidenae were erected near the rostrum, at
the public expense. A desperate struggle was
now to be expected with the Veientians and
Fidenatians ; as, besides the circumstance of
their situation, contiguous to the frontiers,
they had stained the commencement of the war
with an action so abominable. The com.
mons, therefore, and their tribunes, seeing
the necessity of attending to the general wel-
fare, and suffering other matters to pass in
quiet, there was no opposition to the election

Y.R.318.]

OF ROME.

147

of consuls, who were Marcus Geganius Ma-
cerinus a third time, and Lucius Sergius Fide-
nas, so called, I suppose, from his services in
the succeeding war. For he was the first who
engaged in battle with the king of the Veien-
tians on this side of the Anio, in which he had
the advantage ; but he gained not an unbloody
victory, so that people's grief for the loss of
their countrymen exceeded their joy for the
defeat of the enemy ; and the senate, as in a
csi.se particularly alarming, ordered Mamercus
^milius to be named dictator. He chose his
master of the horse from among his colleagues
of the former year, in the office of military
tribunes with consular power, Lucius Quintius
Cincinnatus, a young man worthy of the father
from whom he sprung. To the troops levied
by the consuls, were added many veteran cen-
turions, skilled in the business of war, and the
number of men lost in the last battle was re-
placed. The dictator ordered Quintius Capi-
tolinus and Marcus Fabius Vibulanus to
attend him in quality of lieutenant-general.
The appointment of a magistrate with ex-
traordinary power, and the character of the
person appointed being fully suited to those
powers, both together so affected the enemy,
that they withdrew from the Roman territory to
the other side of the Anio -. and continuing to re-
treat, took possession of the hills between Fi-
dense and the Anio. Nor did they descend
into the plains, until the legions of the Fali-'
scians came to their aid : then, indeed, the
camp of the Etrurians was pitched under the
walls of Fideme. The Roman dictator took
his post at a little distance from thence, at the
conflux and on the banks of the two rivers,
drawing lines across from one to the other
where the length of ground between them was
not greater than he was able to fortify. On
the day following, he led out his forces, pre-
pared for battle.

XVIII. Among the enemy there were
various opinions. The Faliscians, finding it
very distressing to carry on war at such a dis-
tance from home, and being full of confidence
in their own prowess, were urgent for fighting.
The Veientians and Fidenatians foresaw great-
er advantages in protracting the war. To-
lumnius, although the advice of his country-
men was more agreeable to his own senti-
ments, yet fearing lest the Faliscians should
grow weary of a distant war, gave notice that
he would fight on the following day. This,

however being still deferred, added to the con-
fidence of the dictator and the Romans ; so
that the soldiers, openly threatening that
they would assault the camp and the city,
if the enemy did not come to an engagement,
both armies marched forth into the middle of
a plain which lay between the two camps,
The Veientians, being superior in numbers,
sent a party round behind the mountains, who
were to attack the Roman camp during the
heat of the battle. The army of the three
states was drawn up in such a manner, that the
Veientians formed the right wing, the Fali-
scians the left, and the Fidenatians the centre.
The dictator charged on the right wing against
the Faliscians ; Quintius Capitolinus on the left
against the Veientians ; and the master of the
horse, with the cavalry, advanced in the centre.
For a short time all was silence and quiet ;
the Etrurians being resolved not to engage un-
less they" were compelled, and the dictator
keeping his eyes fixed on a Roman fort in the
rear, until a signal which had been concerted
should be raised by the augurs, as soon as the
birds gave a favourable omen ; on perceiving
which, he ordered the cavalry first to charge the
enemy with a loud shout ; the line of in fantry
following, began the conflict with great fury.
The Etrurian legions could not in any quarter
withstand the attack of the Romans. The
cavalry made the greatest resistance ; but the
•king.'himself, distinguished in valour far beyond
even these, by frequent charges on the Ro-
mans, while they were pursuing in disorder in
all parts of the field, prolonged the contest

XIX. There was at that time among the
Roman cavalry, a military tribune called Aulus
Cornelius Cossus, remarkable for the extraor-
dinary beauty of his person, as well as for his
spirit and bodily strength, and for attention to
the honour of his family, which, having de-
scended to him with a great" degree of lustre, he
conveyed to his posterity with a large increase,
and with additional splendour. Perceiving that
wherever Tolumnius directed his course, the
troops of Roman cavalry shrunk from his
charge, and knowing him by his royal apparel,
as he flew through every part of the army, he
cried out, " Is this he who breaks the bands of
human society, and violates the law of nations ?
This victim will I quickly slay, provided it is
the will of the gods that any thing should re-
main Scicred on earth, and will offer him to the
manes of the' ambassadors." With these

148

THE HISTORY

[BOOK iv.

words, he clapped spurs to his horse, and,
with his spear presented, rushed against
him. Having unhorsed him with a stroke, and
pressing him down with his spear, he instant-
ly sprung down on the ground, where, as
the king attempted to rise, he struck him back
with the boss of his shield, and with repeated
thrusts pinned him to the earth. He then
stripped off the spoils from the lifeless body,
and having cut off the head, and carrying it
about on the point of his spear as a trophy of
the victory, he put the enemy to rout, through
the dismay which struck them on the death of
their king. Their body of cavalry likewise,
which alone had kept the victory in suspense,
was defeated with the rest. The dictator pur-
sued close on the flying legions, and drove
them to their camp with great slaughter. The
greater number of the Fidenatians, through
their knowledge of the country, made their es-
cape into the mountains. Cossus, having
crossed the Tiber with the cavalry, brought to
the city an immense booty from the lands of
the Veientians. During this battle, there was
another fight at the Roman camp, against the
party which Tolumnius, as was mentioned
above, had sent against it ; Fabius Vibulanus,
manning the rampart all round, stood at first on
the defensive ; then, when the enemy were ear-
nestly engaged against the rampart, sallying
out with the veterans from the principal gate
on the right, he made a sudden attack on them,
which struck such terror, that though the
slaughter was less, they being fewer in num-
ber, yet the rout was not less disorderly than
that of their grand army.

XX. Crowned with success in every quar-
ter, the dictator, in pursuance of a decree of
the senate, and an order of the people, returned
into the city in triumph. By far the most dis-
tinguished object in this procession was Cossus,
carrying the spolia opima (grand spoils) of the
king whom he had slain, while the soldiers
chanted their uncouth verses, extolling him as
equal to Romulus. With the usual form of
dedication he presented and hung up the spoils
in the temple of Jupiter Feretrius, near to
those dedicated by Romulus, and first denomi-
nated opima, which were the only ones then
existing. He drew off the people's attention
from the chariot of the dictator to himself, and
enjoyed almost solely the honour of that day's
solemnity. The former, by order of the peo-
ple, deposited in the capitol, as an offering to

Jupiter, a golden crown of a pound weight, at
the expense of the public. Following all the
Roman authors, I have represented Aulus
Cornelius Cossus as a military tribune, when
he carried the second spolia opima into the
temple of Jupiter Feretrius : but, besides that
those spoils only are properly deemed opima,
which one general has taken from another, and
we know no general but the person under
whose auspices the war is carried on, the in-
scription itself, written on the spoils, proves
against both them and myself, that Cossus was
consul when he took them. Having once
heard Augustus Cajsar, the founder or restorer
of all our temples, on entering the temple of
Jupiter Feretrius, which from a ruin he had
rebuilt, aver, that he himself had read the
said inscription on the linen breast-plate, I
thought it would be next to sacrilege, to rob
Cossus of such a testimony respecting his
spoils, as that of Caesar, to whom the temple
itself owed its renovation. Whether the mis-
take is chargeable on the very ancient annals
and the books of the magistrates, written on
linen and deposited in the temple of Moneta,
and continually cited as authority by Licinius
Macer, which have Aulus Cornelius Cossus,
consul, with Titus Quintals Penius, in the
ninth year after this, every one may form his
own judgment. For that so celebrated a battle
could not be transferred to that year, there is
this farther proof ; that, for three years before
and after the consulship of Aulus Cornelius,
there was an almost entire cessation from war
on account of a pestilence, and a scarcity of the
fruits of the earth ; so that several annals, as if
they had no other transactions but those of
mourning to relate, mention nothing more than
the names of the consuls. Cossus, indeed, is
mentioned as military tribune, with consular
power, in the third year before his consulate ;
and in the same year as master of the horse, in,
which post he fought another remarkable bat-
tle with cavalry. In respect to this there is
room for conjecture : but in my opinion, sur-
mises are not to be brought in support of any
matter whatsoever; when the person con-
cerned in the fight, on placing the recent spoils
in the sacred repository, and having in a manner
before his eyes Jupiter, to whom they were con-
secrated, and Romulus, as witnesses ; and, as
would be the case in falsifying the inscription,
who were not to be treated with contempt, en-
titled himself Aulus Cornelius Cossus, consul.

Y. K.

OF ROME.

149

XXI. During the next year, wherein Marcus
Cornelius Muluginensis and Lucius Papirius
Crassuswere consuls, [Y. R. 319. B. C. 433.]
armies were led into the territories of the Vei-
entians and of the Faliscians, and numbers of
men and cattle were earned off as spoil, but the
enemy did not show themselves, nor give any op-
portunity of fighting. However, no attempt was
made on their towns, the people at Rome being
attacked by a pestilential disorder. Endeavours
were also used at home to excite disturbances,
but without effect, by Spurius Maelius, a ple-
beian tribune, who, imagining that, by the po-
pularity of his name, he should be able to raise
some commotion, had commenced a prosecu-
tion against Minucius ; and also proposed a
law for confiscating the effects of Servilius
Ahala, alleging that Mselius had been insidi-
ously crushed under false charges by Minucius ;
and objecting to Servilius his having put to
death a citizen who was under no legal sentence.
These charges, however, when canvassed be-
fore the people, were found entitled to as little
credit and attention as the promoter of them.
But they found greater cause for anxiety in the
increasing violence of the pestilence, attended
with other alarming occurrences and prodigies ;
particularly in the accounts which were re-
ceived, of many houses in the country being
thrown down by frequent earthquakes. A ge-
neral supplication to the gods was therefore
performed by the people, who repeated it in
form after the decemvirs.1 The disorder in-
creasing during the following year, [Y. R. 320.
B. C. 432.] in which Caius Julius, a second
time, and Lucius Virginius were consuls, oc-
casioned such dreadful apprehensions of total
desolation, both in the city and the country,
that not only an entire stop was put to preda-
tory excursions from the Roman territories, but
every thought of offensive operations laid aside
both by patricians and commons. The Fide-
natians, who had at first shut themselves up
within their towns or forts, or among the
mountains, now ventured to come down into
the lands of the Romans, and commit depreda-
tions. Then the army of the Veientians being
called to their aid, (for the Faliscians could not
be prevailed on, either by the calamities of the

1 In the performance of such rites, the slightest mis-
take of a word or syllable was deemed highly inauspici-
ous ; to prevent which, the regular form of .words was
pronounced by a priest, and repeated after him by tli<-
person!) officiating.

Romans, or the entreaties of their allies, to re-
new hostilities,) the two nations crossed the
Anio, and displayed their ensigns at a little
distance from the Colline gate. This occa-
sioned great consternation as well in the city
as in the country. The consul Julius drew up
the troops on the rampart and the walls, whilst
Virginius held a consultation of the senate in
the temple of Quirinus. Here it was resolved
to create for dictator Quintus Servilius, to
whom some gave the surname of Priscus, others
that of Structus. Virginius delayed no longer
than till he had conferred with his colleague,
and having obtained his consent, named the
dictator that night. He appointed Postumius
(Ebutius Elva bis master of the horse.

XXII. The dictator issued an order that
all should appear at the first light, outside the
Colline gate ; and that the ensigns from the
treasury should be brought to him. Every
one, whose strength enabled him to carry arms,
attended accordingly. In the meantime, the
enemy withdrew to the higher grounds.: thither
the dictator followed, and coming to a general
engagement near Nomentum, defeated the
Etrurian legions, drove them from thence into
the city of Fidenae, and inclosed them with
lines of circumvallation. But neither could the
city be taken by storm, by reason of its high
situation and the strength of its works, nor
could a blockade turn to any effect, because
they had such abundant stores of corn laid up
in their magazines, as to be more than sufficient
for necessary consumption. The dictator,
therefore, having no hopes, either of taking the
place by assault, or of reducing it to a surren-
der, being thoroughly acquainted with the same,
resolved to carry a mine into the citadel, on
the opposite side of the city ; which, being the
best secured by its natural strength, was the
least attended to. He carried on his approaches
to the walls, in the parts most distant from
this ; and, having formed his troops into four
divisions, who were to relieve each other suc-
cessively in the action, by continuing the fight
night and day, without intermission, he so en-
gaged the attention of the enemy, that they
never perceived the work which was carrying
on, until, a way being dug from the camp
through the mountain, a passage was opened
up into the citadel, and the Etrurians, whose
thoughts were diverted from their real danger
by false alarms, discovered, from the shouts of
the enemy over their heads, thai their city was

150

THE HISTORY

[BOOK iv-

taken. In this year the censors, Caius Furius
Pacilus and Marcus Geganius Macerinus, pro-
nounced that the undertakers had fulfilled their
contract for finishing the court-house1 in the
field of Mars, and the survey of the people was
performed there for the first time.

XXIII. I find, in Licinius Macer, the same
consuls re-elected for the following year; [Y.
R. 321. B. C. 431.] yet Valerius Antias and
Quintus Tubero mention Marcus Manlius and
Quintus Sulpicius as consuls. In support of
representations so widely different, both Tubero
and Macer cite the linen books as their author-
ity: but neither of them deny the record of
ancient writers, who maintain that there were
military tribunes in that year. Licinius is of
opinion, that the linen books ought to be impli-
citly followed. Tubero cannot determine pos-
itively on either side. But this is a point
which, among others, involved in obscurity by
length of time, must be left unsettled. The
capture of Fidenae spread great alarm in Etru-
ria ; for not the Veientians only were terrified
with apprehensions of similar ruin, but the
Faliscians also, conscious of having commenced
the war in conjunction with them, although they
had not joined them in the renewing of hostili-
ties. Those two nations, therefore, having
sent ambassadors to all the twelve states, and
procured an order for a general meeting at the
temple of Voltumna, the senate, apprehensive
of a powerful attack from that quarter, ordered
Mamercus ^Emilius to be a second time ap-
pointed dictator. He named Aulus Postumius
Tubertus master of the horse, making more
powerful preparations for this campaign than
for the last, in proportion as the danger was
greater from the whole body of Etruria, than it
had been from two of its states.

XXIV. That business ended more quietly
than could have been expected. For accounts
were received from some itinerant traders, that
the Veientians had met with a refusal of aid,
and had been desired to prosecute, with their
own strength, a war in which they had engaged
on their own separate views, and not endeavour
to bring others to partake in their distresses, to
whom they had imparted no share of their
prospects, when they were favourable. The
dictator, thus robbed of the harvest of glory

1 Villa publica. It was destined to public uses, such
as holding the census or survey of the people, the re-

crjitiou of ambassadors, &<;.

which he expected to have reaped from mili-
tary affairs, in order that his appointment
might not be altogether without effect, con-
ceived a desire of performing some exploit in
the civil line of business, and which should re-
main as a monument of his dictatorship.
He undertook therefore to limit the censor-
ship ; either judging its powers excessive, or
disapproving of their duration more than of
their extent. In pursuance of this design,
having summoned an assembly of the people, he
told them, that, " with regard to foreign affairs,
and the establishing of security on every side,
the immortal gods had taken the administration
on themselves. That as to what was fitting to
be done within the walls, he would zealously
maintain the liberty of the Roman people :
now there was no method of guarding it so
effectual, as the taking care that offices of great
power should not be of long continuance ; and
that those, whose jurisdiction could not be lim-
ited, should be limited in point of duration : —
that while other magistracies were annual, the
censorship was of five years' continuance ; and
it was grievous to people to have the greater
part of their actions subjected to the control of
the same persons for such a number of years ;
he would therefore prppose a law, that the cen-
sorship should not last longer than a year and a
half." Next day, the law was passed, and with
the universal approbation of the people. He
then said, " To convince you by my conduct,
Romans, how much I disapprove of long con-
tinuance in office, I here resign the dictator-
ship." Having thus put an end to one office,
and limits to another, he was, upon his resigna-
tion, escorted by the people to his house with
the warmest expressions of gratitude and affec-
tion. The censors, highly offended at his
having imposed a restriction on a public office
of the Roman state, degraded Mamercus
into a lower tribe,* and, increasing his taxes

2 The division of the people into tribes, miide by Rom-
ulus, regarded the stock, or origin, of the constituent
members ; the subsequent one, by Servius, was merely
local, and a tribe then signified nothing more than a cer-
tain space of ground with its inhabitants; but as the
tribes increased in number, which they did at last to
thirty-five, tliis kind of division was set aside, and a tribe
became, not a quarter of the city, but a fraternity of citi-
zens, connected by a participation in the common rights
of the tribe, without any reference to their places of
residence. The rustic tribes were always reckoned more
honourable than the city tribes, because the business of
agriculture was held in the highest estimation, and be.
caueo the lowest of the people were enrolled in the' lut

Y. R. 323.]

OF ROME.

151

eight-fold, disfranchised him.3 We are told,
that lie bore this treatment with great mag-
nanimity, regarding the cause of the dis-
grace rather than the disgrace itself: and
that the principal patricians, though they had
been averse from a diminution of the privileges
of the censorship, were, nevertheless, highly
displeased at this instance of harsh severity in
the censors ; every one perceiving that he must
be oftener and for a longer time subject to
others in the office of censor, than he could
hold the office himself. The people's indigna-
tion certainly rose to such a height, that no
other influence than that of Mamercus himself
could have deterred them from offering violence
to the censors.

XXV. [Y. R. 322. B. C. 430.] The ple-
beian tribunes, by constantly haranguing the
people against the election of consuls, prevailed
at last, after bringing the affair almost to an in-
terregnum, that military tribunes, with consular
power, should be elected. In the prize of vic-
tory which they aimed at, the procuring a ple-
beian to be elected, they were entirely
disappointed. The persons chosen were all
patricians, Marcus Fabius Vibulanus, Marcus
Foslius, and Lucius Sergius Fidenas. During
that year, the pestilence kept other matters
quiet. For the restoration of health to the
people, a temple was vowed to Apollo, and the
decemvirs, by direction of the books, perform-
ed many rites for the purpose of appeasing the
wrath of the gods, and averting the pestilence.
The mortality, notwithstanding, was great
among men and cattle, both in the city and the
country. Dreading a famine, in consequence of
the death of the husbandmen, they sent for corn
to Etruria, and the Pomptine district, to Ciimae,
and at last to Sicily also. No mention was
made of electing consuls. Military tribunes
with consular power were appointed, all patri-
cians, Lucius Pinarius Mamercinus. Lucius
Furius Medullinus, and Spurius Postumius
Albus. [Y. R. 323. B. C. 429.] In this
year, the violence of the disorder abated, nor
were there any apprehensions of a scarcity of
corn, care having been taken to provide against

ter. The difference of rank, among the rustic tribes,
depended partly on their antiquity, and partly on the
number of illustrious families contained in each. In
many cases, the tribes took their names from some of
those distinguished families.

3 JErarium facere, signifies to strip a person of all the
privileges of a citizen, on which he became c»'pi> eerari-
ui, a citizen ao far only as he paid taxes.

it. Schemes for exciting wars were agitated in
the meetings of the .ZEquans and Volscians,
and in Etruria at the temple of Voltumna. Here
the business was adjourned for a year, and a
decree passed, forbidding any assembly to be
held before that time, while the nation of the
Veientians in vain complained, that the same
misfortunes hung over Veii, which had destroy-
ed Fidenae. Meanwhile at Rome the leaders
of the commons, who had for a long time in
vain pursued the hopes of attaining higher dig-
nity during this interval of tranquillity abroad,
called the people together in the houses of the
tribunes, and there concerted their plans in
secret. They complained that " they were
treated with such contempt by the commons,
that, notwithstanding military tribunes with
consular power had been elected for so many
years, no plebeian had ever yet been allowed
to attain that honour. Their ancestors, they
said, had shown great foresight in providing
that the plebeian magistracies should not
lie open to any patrician, otherwise they
would have had patrician tribunes of the
commons ; so despicable are we even in the
eyes of our own party, and not less contemned
by the commons than by the patricians them-
selves." Others took off the blame from
the commons, and threw it on the patricians :
" It was through their arts and intrigues,"
they said, " that the access to honours was
barred against the plebeians. If the com-
mons were allowed time to breathe from their
entreaties mixed with menaces, they would
come to an election with a due regard to the
interest of their own party, and as they had
already secured protection to themselves, would
assume also the administration of the govern-
ment." It was resolved, that, for the purpose
of abolishing the practice of those intrigues,
the tribunes should propose a law, that no per-
son should be allowed, on applying for an office,
to add any white to his garment.* This may
appear at present a trivial matter, scarcely
fit to be seriously mentioned, yet it then
kindled a very hot contention between the
patricians and plebeians. The tribunes, how-
ever, got the better, and carried the law ; and

4 To rub it with chalk, in order to increase its white,
ness, and render themselves more conspicuous. It was
the practice of those who solicited any public office, thus
to make their garments more white, candidam t hence
they were railed candidati, candidates, a word still in
use.

152

THE HISTORY

[BOOK iv.

as it was evident that the commons, in their
present state of ill-humour, would give their
support to persons of their own party in order
to put this out of their power, a decree of the
senate was passed, that the election should be
held for consuls.

XXVI. The reason assigned was, intelli-
gence received from the Latines and Herni-
cians of the ^Equans and Volscians having
suddenly commenced hostilities, [Y. R. 324.
B. C. 428.] Titus Quintius Cincinnatus, who
had also the'surname of Pennus, son of Lucius,
and Caius Julius Mento, were made consuls.
Nor were they kept in suspense, with respect to
the danger apprehended from their enemies.
The .(Equans and Volscians having held a levy
of troops under their devoting law, which is
their most powerful instrument for forcing
men into the service, marched a numerous com-
pany from each nation to Algidum, where they
met, and formed separate camps ; the generals
taking extraordinary pains, beyond what had
ever been practised before, in fortifying their
posts, and exercising their men ; which render-
ed the accounts brought to Rome still more
alarming. The senate resolved that a dictator
should be appointed, because, though these
were nations often vanquished, yet, in the pre-
sent revival of hostilities, they had used more
vigorous efforts than before ; and no small
number of the Roman youth had been cut off
by the sickness. Above all, they were alarmed
by the perverse ness of the consuls, the disagree-
ment between themselves, and the opposition
which they gave each other in every measure.
Some writers say, that these consuls were de-
feated in a battle at Algidum, and that this
was the reason for appointing a dictator. This
much is certain, that though they differed in
every thing else, they perfectly agreed in the
one point, that of opposing" the will of the se-
nate, and refusing* to name a. dictator, until
Quintus Servilius Priscus, a man who had
passed through the highest dignities with singu-
lar honour, finding the intelligence which
arrived grow more and more alarming, and that
the consuls would not be directed by the senate,
expressed himself thus : " Tribunes of the com-
mons, matters having come to extremity, the
senate appeals to you, that, in the present state
of public affairs, ye may, by the authority vested
in you, oblige the consuls to name a dictator."
This application seemed to the tribunes to af-
ford them a good opportunity of extending their

power ; wherefore, after retiring together, they
declared, by the authority of their body, that
"it was their determination that the consuls
should follow the directions of the senate, and
that if they persisted in their opposition to the
sentiments of that most illustrious body, they
would order them to be carried to prison."
The consuls were better pleased to be overcome
by the tribunes than by the senate, at the same
time remonstrating, that " the prerogatives of
the chief magistracy were betrayed by the se-
nators, and the consulship subjugated to the
tribunitian power. If the consuls were liable
to be overruled by a tribune, by virtue of his
office, in any particular, they were liable also
to be sent to prison. And what greater hard-
ship could any private person apprehend ?" It
fell by lot, for even on that point, the col-
leagues could not agree, to Titus Quintius to
name the dictator, and he made choice of Aulus
Postumius Tubertus, his own father-in-law, a
man of remarkable strictness in command.
Lucius Julius was by him nominated master of
the horse. At the same time, a proclamation
was issued for a vacation from civil business,
and that nothing should be attended to, in any
part of the city, but preparations for hostilities.
The examination of the cases of those who
claimed immunity from service, was to be made
at the conclusion of the war, which induced
even those, whose claims were doubtful, to give
in their names. The Hernicians and Latines
also were ordered to send a supply of forces,
and they both exerted themselves with zeal, in
obedience to the dictator's will.

XXVII. All these measures were executed
with the utmost despatch, the consul Caius
Julius being left to guard the city, while Lu-
cius Julius, master of the horse, was to answer
the exigencies of the camp ; and that there
should be no delay with respect to any thing
which might there be wanted, the dictator, re-
peating the form after the chief pontiff Aulus
Cornelius, vowed to celebrate the great games
on the occasion of this sudden war. Then,
dividing his troops with the consul Quintius,
he began his march from the city, and quickly
came up with the enemy. Having observed
that these had formed two camps at a little
distance from each other, they in like manner
encamped separately at about a mile from them,
the dictator towards Tusculum, and the consul
towards Lanuvium. Thus there were four ar-
mies, and so many fortified posts, having be-

v.

1.S3

tween them a plain of sufficient extent not only
for the skirmishes of small parties, but even for
rir iwing up the armies, on both sides, in battle
array. From the time when the camps were
pitched in the neighbourhood of each other,
there was continual skirmishing, the dictator
readily allowing his men to compare strength,
and from the success of these combats he
gradually formed a confident expectation of
future victory in a regular fight. The enemy,
therefore, finding no hopes left of succeeding
in a general engagement, made an attack by
night, on the camp of the consul, on the issue
of which the final decision of the dispute
would probably depend. Their shout, which
they set up on a sudden, roused from sleep,
not only the consul's watch guards, and after-
wards all his troops, but the dictator also.
The conjuncture requiring instant exertion, the
consul showed no deficiency either of spirit or
of judgment. One part of the troops reinforc-
ed the guards at the gates, while another man-
ned the rampart around. In the other camp,
where the dictator commanded, as there was
less tumult, so it was easier to perceive what
was necessary to be done. Despatching, then,
a reinforcement to the consul's camp, under the
command of Spurius Postumius Albus, lieu-
tenant-general, he himself, with a body of for-
ces, making a small circuit, proceeded to a
place quite retired from the hurry of action,
whence he proposed to make an unexpected at-
tack on the enemy's rear. To Quintus Sulpi-
cius, lieutenant-general, he gave the charge of
the camp ; to Marcus Fabius, lieutenant-gene-
ral, he assigned the cavalry, with orders that
those troops, which it would be hardly possible
to manage in the confusion of a conflict by
night, should not stir until day-light. Every
measure, which any other general, however skil-
ful and active, could at such a juncture order
and execute, he ordered and executed with per-
fect regularity. But it was a singular instance
of judgment and intrepidity, and entitled to
more than ordinary praise, that, not content
with defensive plans, he despatched Marcus
Geganius, with some chosen cohorts, to attack
that camp of the enemy, from which, according
to the intelligence of his scouts, they had
marched out the greater number of troops.
Falling upon men whose whole attention was
enc^rossed by the danger of their friends, while
they were free from any apprehension for them-
selves, and had neglected posting watches or

advanced guards, he made himself master of the
camp, sooner almost than they knew that it was
attacked. A signal being then given by smoke,
as had been concerted, the dictator perceiving
it, cried out, that the enemy's camp was taken,
and ordered the news to be conveyed to all the
troops.

XXVIII. By this time day appeared, and
every thing lay open to view. Fabius had al-
ready charged with the cavalry, and the consul
had sallied from the camp on the enemy, who
were now much disconcerted ; when the dicta-
tor on another side, having attacked their re-
serve and second line, threw his victorious
troops, both horse and foot, in the way of all
their efforts, as they turned themselves about
to the dissonant shouts, and the various sudden
assaults. Being thus hemmed in on every side,
they would, to a man, have undergone the pun-
ishment due to their infraction of the peace,
had not Vectius Messius, a Volstian, a man
more renowned for his deeds than his descent,
upbraiding his men as they were forming them-
selves into a circle, called out with a loud
voice, " Do ye intend to offer yourselves to the
weapons of the enemy here, where ye can nei-
ther make defence nor obtain revenge ? To
what purpose, then, have ye arms in your
hands ? Or why did ye undertake an offensive
war, ever turbulent in peace and dastardly in
arms ? What hopes do ye propose in standing
here ? Do ye expect that some god will pro-
tect and carry you from hence ? With the
sword the way must be opened. Come on, ye
who wish to see your houses and your parents,
your wives and children, follow wherever ye
see me lead the way. There is neither wall
nor rampart, nothing to obstruct you, but men
in arms, with which ye are as well furnished as
they. Equal in bravery, ye are superior to
them in point of necessity, the ultimate and
most forcible of weapons." No sooner had he
uttered these words, than he put them in exe-
cution, and the rest raising the shout anew, and
following him, made a violent push on that
part where Postumius Albus had drawn up his
forces in their way, and made the conqueror
give ground, until the dictator came up, just as
his men were on the point of retreating. Thus
the whole weight of the battle was turned to
that quarter. Messius alone supported the
fortune of the enemy, while many wounds were
received, and great slaughter was made on both
sides. By this time the Roman generals them-
U

154

THE ^ISTORY

[BOOK rv.

selves were not unhurt in the fight : one of
them, Postumius, retired from the field, having
his skull fractured by the stroke of a stone;
but neither could the dictator be prevailed on,
by a wound in his shoulder, nor Fabius, by
having his thigh almost pinned to his horse,
nor the consul, by his arm being cut off, to
withdraw from this perilous conflict.

XXIX. Messius, at the head of a band of
the bravest youths, charged the enemy with
such impetuosity, that he forced his way
through heaps of slaughtered foes to the
camp of the Volscians, which was still in
their possession, and the whole body of
the army followed the same route. The
consul, pursuing their disordered troops to
the very rampart, assaulted the camp itself, and
the dictator brought up his forces with the same
purpose on the other side. There was no less
bravery shown on both sides in this assault
than had been seen in the battle. We are
told that the consul even threw a standard
within the rampart; to make the soldiers push
on with more briskness, and that the first
impression was made in recovering it. The
dictator, having levelled the rampart, had now
carried the fight within the works, on which the
enemy every where began to throw down their
arms and surrender ; and on giving up them-
selves and their camp, they were all, except the
members of their senate, exposed to sale.
Part of the spoil was restored to the Latines
and Hernicians, who claimed it as their proper-
ty ; the rest the dictator sold by auction ; and
having left the consul to command in the
camp, after making his entry into the city in
triumph, he resigned the dictatorship. Some
historians have thrown a gloom on the memory
of this glorious dictatorship ; they relate that
Aulus Postumius beheaded his son, after a suc-
cessful exploit, because he had left his post
without orders, tempted by a favourable oppor-
tunity of fighting to advantage. While we feel
a reluctance against giving credit to this story,
we are also at liberty to reject it, there being a
variety of opinions on the subject ; and there is
this argument against it, that such orders, by
those who believe in the circumstance, have
been denominated Manlian, not Postumian ;
while the person who first set an example of
such severity would surely have acquired the
disgraceful title of cruel. Besides, the surname
of Imperiosus has been imposed on Manlius,
and Postumius has not been marked by any

hateful appellation. The consul Caius Julius,
in the absence of his colleague, without casting
lots for the employment, dedicated the temple
of Apollo ; at which Quintius being offended
on his return to the city, after disbanding the
army made a complaint to the senate, but with-
out any effect. To the great events of this year
was added a circumstance, which, at that time,
did not appear to have any relation to the
interests of Rome. The Carthaginians, who
were to become such formidable enemies, then,
for the first time, on occasion of some intestine
broils among the Sicilians transported troops
into Sicily in aid of one of the parties.

XXX. In the city, endeavours were used by
the tribunes of the commons to procure an elec-
tion of military tribunes with consular power ;
but they were not able to effect it. Lucius Papi-
rius Crassus andLucius Julius were made consuls.
[Y. R. 325. B. C. 427.] Ambassadors from the
JEquans having requested of the senate that a
treaty of peace might be concluded, it was
required of them, that instead of a treaty they
should make a surrender of themselves. In the
end they obtained a truce of eight years. The
affairs of the Volscians,besides the loss sustained
at Algidum, were involved in seditions, arising
from an obstinate contention between the
advocates for peace and those for war. The
Romans enjoyed tranquillity on all sides. The
consuls having obtained information from one
of the tribunes, who betrayed the secret, that
those officers intended to promote a law con-
cerning the commutation of fines,1 which would
be highly acceptable to the people, they them-
selves took the lead in proposing it. The next
consuls were, Lucius Sergius Fidenas, a second
time, and Hostus Lucretius Triciptinus, in
whose consulate nothing worth mention occur-
red. [Y. R. 326. B. C. 426.] They were
succeeded by Aulus Cornelius Coffus and Ti-
tus Quintius Pennus, a second time. [Y. R.
327. B. C. 425.] The Veientians made inroads
on the Roman territories ; and a report prevail-
ing, that some of the youth of Fidenae were
concerned in those depredations, the cognizance
of that matter was committed to Lucius Ser-
gius, Quintius Servilius, and Mamercus JEmi-

1 The fines imposed in early tiroes were certain num.
bers of sheep or oxen ; afterwards it was ordered by laiv
that these fines might be appraised, and tlie value paid
in money. Another law fixed a certain rate at which
the cattle should be estimated, 100 uixet for an ox, 10
for a sheep-

Y. K. 329.]

OF ROA1K.

155

tins. Some of them, who could not give satis-
factory reasons for their being absent from
Fidi'iiie, at the time, were sent into banishment
to Ostiu. A number of new settlers were
added to the colony, to whom were assigned
the lands of those who had fallen in war. There
was very great distress that year, occasioned by
drought ; for besides a want of rain, tlie earth,
destitute of its natural moisture, scarcely
enabled the rivers to continue their course : in
some places, the want of water was such, that
the cattle died of thirst, in heaps, about the
springs and rivulets, which had ceased to flow ;
in others, they were cut off by the mange, and
their disorders began to spread by infection to
the human species. At first they fell heavy on
the husbandmen and slaves ; soon after the city
was rilled with them : and not only men's bo-
dies were afflicted by the contagion, but super-
stitions of various kinds, and mostly of foreign
growth, took possession also of their minds ;
while those who converted this weakness to
their own emolument, introduced into people's
families, through their pretences to the art of
divination, new modes of worship, until at
length the principal men of the state were
touched with shame for the dishonour brought
on the public, seeing in every street and chapel
extraneous and unaccustomed ceremonies of
expiation practised, for obtaining the favour of
the gods. A charge was then given to the
rediles, to see that no other deities should be
worshipped than those acknowledged by the
Romans ; nor they, in any other modes than
those established by the custom of the country.
The prosecution of their resentment against
the Veientians was deferred to the ensuing
year, wherein Caius Servilius Ahala and Lu-
cius Papirius Mugillanus were consuls : [ Y. R.
328. B. C. 424.] even then, an immediate de-
claration of war and the march of the army
were prevented by superstition. It was deem-
ed necessary that heralds should first be sent to
demand restitution. There had been open war,
uiid battles fought, with the Veientians, not
long before, at Nomentum and Fidence ; since
which, not a peace, but a truce, had been con-
cluded, the term of which had not yet expired,
yet they had renewed hostilities. Nevertheless,
the heralds were sent; and when, after taking
the customary oath, they demanded satisfaction,,
no attention was paid to them. Then arose' a
dispute whether the war should be declared by
order of tin- people, or whether a decree of the

senate were sufficient. The tribunes, by threat-
ening openly that they would hinder any levy
of soldiers, carried the point that the consuls
should take the sense of the people concern-
ing it. AH the centuries voted for it. In
another particular, too, the commons show-
ed a superiority, for they carried the point,
that consuls should not be elected for the next
year.

XXXI. Four military tribunes, with con-
sular power, were elected, Titus Quintius Peii-
nus, from the consulship, Caius Furius, Mar-
cus Postumius, and Aulus Cornelius Cossus.
[Y. R. 329. B. C. 423.] Of these, Cossus
held the command in the city. The other
three, after enlisting forces, marched to Veii,
and there exhibited an instance of the per-
nicious effects on military operations result-
ing from a divided command : for while each
maintained an opinion different from the rest,
and endeavoured to enforce his own plans, they
gave an opportunity to the enemy to take them
at advantage. Accordingly, the Veientians,
seizing a critical moment, made an attack on
their troops, who knew not how to act, one of
their generals ordering the signal for retreat to
be given, another the charge to be sounded.
They were thrown into confusion consequent-
ly, and turned their backs ; but found safety in
their camp, which was nigh at hand : their dis-
grace, therefore, was greater than their loss.
The citizens, unaccustomed to defeats, were
seized with dismal apprehensions, execrated the
tribunes, and called aloud for a dictator ; in him
alone, they said, the state could place any hopes.
Here again a religious scruple interfered, lest
there should be an impropriety in a dictator be-
ing nominated by any other than a consul : but
the augurs being consulted, removed that doubt.
Aulus Cornelius nominated Mamercus .ZEmi-
lius dictator, and was himself nominated by
him master of the horse, so little was the ef-
fect of the disgrace inflicted by the censors ; for
when the state once came to stand in need of a
person of real merit, it would not be prevented
from seeking a supreme director of its affairs
in a house undeservedly censured. The Veien-
tians, puffed up by their success, sent ambas-
sadors to all the states of Etruria, boasting,
that they had in one battle defeated three Ro-
man generals ; and though they could not there-
by prevail on the general confederacy to embark
publicly in their cause, yet they procured from
all parts a number of volunteers allured by the

156

THE HISTORY

[BOOK iv.

hopes of plunder. The Fidenatians were the
only state which resolved to renew hostilities :
and, as if there were some kind of impiety in
commencing war otherwise than with some
atrocious deed, staining their arms now with
the blood of the new colonists, as they had
formerly done with that of the ambassadors,
they joined themselves to the Veientians. The
leaders of the two nations then consulted toge-
ther, whether they should choose Veii or Fidense
for the seat of the war : Fidenae appeared the
more convenient. The Veientians, therefore,
crossing the Tiber, removed it thither. At
Rome the alarm was excessive : the troops
were recalled from Veii, very much dispirited
by their defeat, and encamped before the Col-
line gate : others were armed and posted on the
walls. Business was stopped in the courts of
justice, the shops were shut up, and every thing
bore the appearance of a camp rather than of a
city.

XXXII. The dictator then, sending criers
through the streets, called the alarmed people
to an assembly, and rebuked them sharply

the Fidenatian colonists in time of peace, the
infraction of truces, and a seventh unsuccessful
revolt : assuring them, he was fully confident,
that when they should have once encamped
within reach of the foe, the joy of those
enemies, so deeply plunged in guilt for the
late disgrace1 of the Roman army, would soon
be at an end ; and also that a demonstration
would be given to the Roman people, how
much better these persons merited of the com-
monwealth, who nominated him dictator a
third time, than those, who out of malice, on
account of his having snatched arbitrary power
out of the hands of the censors, threw a blot
on his second successful dictatorship." Hav-
ing offered up vows to the gods, he soon began
his march, and pitched his camp fifteen hun-
dred paces on this side of Fidense, having his
right covered by mountains, and his left by the
river Tiber. He ordered Titus Quintius
Pennus, lieutenant-general, to take possession
of the hills, and to post himself privately on
whatever eminence stood in the enemy's rear.
Next day, when the Etrurians had marched

for suffering their courage to depend so en- out to the field, full of confidence in conse-

tirely on every trifling incident in the course of
fortune, as that on meeting with an inconsider-
able loss, and that not owing to the bravery of
the enemy, or to want of courage in the Roman
army, but to a disagreement between their com-
manders, they should be seized with dread of
their enemies of Veii, whom they had six
times vanquished, and of Fidenee, a town as
often taken as attacked. He reminded them,

quence of their success on the former day,
though more indebted for it to accident than
to their prowess in tight, the dictator, after
waiting a short time, until he received infor-
mation from his scouts that Quintius had
reached an eminence which stood near the
citadel of Fidense, put his troops in motion,
and led on his line of infantry in order of battle
in their quickest pace against the enemy.

that both the Romans and their enemies were I The master of the horse he commanded not to

the same that they had been for so many cen-
turies past ; their courage the same ; their
strength of body the same j and the same the
arms which they wore. That he himself,
Mamercus 2Emilius, was also the same dictator
who formerly at Fidenae routed the armies of
the Veientians and Fidenatians, when they
had the additional support of the Faliscians ;
and his master of the horse was the same,
Aulus Cornelius, who in a former war, when
he ranked as military tribune, slew Lars To-
lumnius, the king of these Veientians, in the

enter on action without orders, telling him that
he would give a signal when there should be
occasion for the aid of the cavalry, and desir-
ing him then to show by his behaviour, that
he still bore in mind his fight with their king,
the magnificent offering which he had made,
and the respect which he owed to Romulus and
Jupiter Feretrius. The legions began the
conflict with impetuosity. The Romans, in-
flamed with keen animosity, gratified their ran-
cour both with deeds and words, upbraiding
the Fidenatians with impiety, the Veientians

sight of both armies, and carried his spolia j as robbers, calling them truce-breakers, pol-
opima to the temple of Jupiter Feretrius. He

exhorted them therefore to take arms, reflecting
that on their side were triumphs, on their side
spoils, on their side victory ; on the side of the
enemy, the guilt of violating the laws of nations
by the murder of ambassadors, the massacre of

luted with the horrid murder of ambassadors,
stained with the blood of their own brethren
of the colony, perfidious allies, and dastardly

foes.

XXXIII. Their very first onset had made
an impression on the enemy ; when, on a sud-

Y. R.

OF ROME.

157

den, the gates of Fidenae flying open, a strange
kind of army sallied forth, unknown and un-
heard-of before. An immense multitude, armed
with burning fire-brands, as if hurried on by
frantic rage, rushed on against the Romans.
This very extraordinary mode of fighting filled
the assailants for some time with terror ; on
which the dictator, who was actively employed
in animating the fight, having called up the
master of the horse with the cavalry, and also
Quintius from the mountains, hastened him-
self to the left wing, which being in horror
from the conflagration, as it might more pro-
perly be called than a battle, had retired from the
flames, and with a loud voice called out, " Will
ye suffer yourselves to be driven from your
ground, and retreat from an unarmed enemy,
vanquished with smoke, like a swarm of ices ?
Will ye not extinguish those fires with the
sword ? Or will ye not each in his post, if
we must fight with fire, and not with arms, seize
on those brands, and throw them back on the
foe ? Advance ; recollect the honour of the
Roman name, your own bravery, and that of
your fathers : turn this conflagration on the
city of your enemy, and with its own flames
demolish Fidenae, which ye could never reclaim
by your kindness. This is what the blood of
your ambassadors and colonists, and the desola-
tion of your frontiers, ought to suggest." At
the command of the dictator, the whole line
advanced ; the firebrands which had been
thrown, were caught up ; others were wrested
away by force, and thus the troops on both
sides were armed alike. The master of the
horse too, on his part, introduced among the
cavalry a new mode of fighting : he ordered his
men to take off the bridles from their horses ;
while he himself clapping spurs to his own,
sprung forward and was carried headlong by the
unbridled animal into the midst of the flames.
In like manner, the other horses being spurred
on and freed from all restraint, carried their
riders with full speed against the enemy. The
clouds of dust intermixed with the smoke, ex-
cluded the light from both men and horses ; so
that the latter were consequently not affrighted
as the former had been. The cavalry, there-
fore, wherever they penetrated, bore down
every thing with irresistible force. A shout
was now heard from a new quarter, which hav-
ing surprised and attracted the attention of both
armies, the dictator called out aloud, that his
lieutenant-general, Quintius and his party, had

attacked the enemy's rear; and then, raising
the shout anew, advanced against them with
redoubled vigour. The Etrurians, surrounded
and attacked both in front and rear, and
closely pressed by two armies in two different
battles, had no room for retreat, either to the
camp, or to the mountains. The way was
blocked up by the new enemy ; and the horses
freed from the bridles, having spread themselves
with their riders over every different part, the
greatest number of the Veientians fled pre-
cipitately to the Tiber. The surviving Fiden-
atians made toward the city of Fidenae. The
former, flying in consternation, fell into the
midst of their foes and met destruction. Many
were cut to pieces on the banks of the river ;
some were forced into the water and swallowed
in the eddies ; even such as were expert at
swimming, were weighed down by fatigue,
by their wounds, and the fright : so that, out
of a great number, few reached the opposite
bank. The other body proceeded, through
their camp to the city, whither the Romans
briskly pursued them, particularly Quintius,
and those who had descended with him from
the mountains, these being the freshest for
action as having come up towards the end of
the engagement.

XXXIV. These entering the gate together
with the enemy, made their way to the top of
the walls, and from thence gave a signal to their
friends of the town being taken. The dictator,
who had by this time taken possession of the
deserted camp, encouraging his men, who were
eager to disperse themselves in search of plun-
der, and with hopes of finding the greater booty
in the city, led them on to the gate ; and, being
admitted within the walls, proceeded to the cit-
adel, whither he saw the crowds ,of fugitives
hurrying. Nor was less slaughter made here
than in the field ; until, throwing down their
arms, and begging only their lives, the enemy
surrendered to the dictator : both the city and
camp were given up to be plundered. Next
day the dictator assigned by lot one captive to
each horseman and centurion, and two to such
as had distinguished themselves by extraordi-
nary behaviour, and sold the rest by auction :
then he led back to Rome his victorious army,
enriched with abundance of spoil ; and order-
ing the master of the horse, to resign his office,
he immediately gave up his own, on the six-
teenth day of his holding it ; leaving the gov-
ernment in a state of tranquillity, which he had

158

THE HISTORY

[BOOK iv.

received in a state of war and of danger. Some
annals have reported, that there was also a naval
engagement with the Veientians, at Fidenae, a
fart equally impracticable and incredible ; the
river, even at present, being not broad enough
for the purpose, and at that time, as we learn
from old writers, considerably narrower. This
we can no otherwise account for, than by sup-
posing that they magnified the importance of a
scuffle which took place, perhaps, between a
few ships, in disputing the passage of the river,
and thereon grounded those empty pretensions
to a naval victory.

XXXV. The ensuing year had military
tribunes, with consular power. Aulus Sem-
pronius Atratinus, Lucius Quintius Cincinna-
tus, Lucius Furius Medullinus, and Lucius
Horatius Barbatus. [Y. R. 330. B. C. 422.]
A truce, for twenty years, was granted to the
Veientians ; and one for three years to the
^Equans, although these had petitioned for a
longer term. At home, there were no disturban-
ces. The year following, though not distin-
guished by either troubles abroad or at home,was
rendered remarkable by the celebration of the
games, which had been vowed on occasion of
the war, through the splendid manner in which
they were exhibited by the military tribunes,
and also through the extraordinary concourse of
the neighbouring people. The tribunes, with
consular power, [Y. R. 331. B. C. 421.] were,
Appius Claudius Crassus, Spurius Nautius
Rutilus, Lucius Sergius Fidenus, and Sextus
Julius lulus. The shows, to which the several
people had come with the concurrent approba-
tion of their states, were rendered more agree-
able by the courtesy of their hosts. After the
conclusion of the games, the tribunes of the
commons began their seditious harangues,
upbraiding the multitude, " that they were so
benumbed with awe of those very persons who
were the objects of their hatred, as to sit down*
listless in a state of endless slavery ; they not
only wanted spirit to aspire to the recovery of
their hopes of sharing in the consulship ; but
even in the election of military tribunes, which
lay open to both patricians and plebeians, they
showed no regard to themselves or their party.
They ought therefore to cease wondering, that
no one busied himself in the service of the
commons : labour and danger woidd always be
extended on objects from whence honour and
emolument might be looked for ; and there was
nothing which men would not undertake, if

for great attempts, great rewards were propo.-cd.
But surely it could neither be required nor ex-
pected, that any tribune should nish blindfold
into disputes, the danger of which was great,
the profit nothing : in consequence of which he
knew, with certainty, that the patricians, against
whom his efforts were directed, would perse-
cute him with inexpiable rancour ; and the
commons, on whose side he contended, would
never think themselves the more obliged to
him. By great honours, the minds of men were
elevated to greatness : no plebeian would think
meanly of himself, when he ceased to be con-
temned by others. The experiment ought at
length to be made, whether there were any
plebeian capable of sustaining a high dignity, or
whether it were next to a miracle and a pro-
digy, that there should exist a man of that ex-
traction endowed with fortitude and industry.
By the most vigorous exertions, and after a vio-
lent struggle, the point had been gained, that
military tribunes with consular power might be
chosen from among the commons. Men of
approved merit, both in the civil and military
line, had stood candidates. During the first
years they were hooted at, rejected and ridicu-
led by the patricians : of late they had desisted
from exposing themselves to insult. For his
part he could see no reason why the law itself
could not be repealed, which granted permission
for that which was never to happen : for they
would have less cause to blush at the injustice
of the law, than at their being passed by on ac-
count of their own want of merit."

XXXVI. Discourses of this sort being
listened to with approbation, induced several to
offer themselves as candidates for the military
tribuneship, each professing intentions of intro-
ducing, when in office, some measure or regu-
lation advantageous to the commons. Hopes
were held forth of a distribution of the public
lands, of colonies to be settled, and of money
to be raised for paying the troops, by a tax im-
posed on the proprietors of estates. The
military tribunes soon after laid hold of an op
portunity, when most people had retired from
the city, having previously given private notice
to the senators to attend on a certain day, to
procure a decree of the senate, in the absence
of the plebeian tribunes, — that whereas it WHS
reported, that the Volscians had marched from
home with intent to plunder the country of the
Hcmicians, the military tribunes should there-
fore proceed to the spot and inspect into the

y. R.

OF ROME.

159

nutter, and that an assembly should be held
for the election of consuls. At their departure,
they left Appius Claudius, sou of the decem-
vir, prefect of the city, a young man of activity ;
and who had, even from lus cradle, imbibed a
hatred towards the commons and their tribunes.
The plebeian tribunes had no room for conten-
tion, neither with those who had procured the
decree of the senate during their absence, nor
with Appius, as the business was already con-
cluded.

XXXVII. The consuls elected were, Caius
Sempronius Atratinus, "and Quintus Fabius
Vibulanus. [Y. R. 332. B. C. 4-20.] An
event which is related to have happened in this
year, though in a foreign country, deserves to
be recorded. Vulturnum, a city of the
Etrurians, now Capua, was seized by the
Samnites, and called Capua," from Capys their
leader, or, which is more probable, from its
champaign grounds. The manner in which
they made themselves masters of it was this :
they were some time before, when the Etru-
rians had been greatly harassed in war, ad-
mitted to a share of this city and its lands ;
these new settlers, aftenvards taking the oppor-
tunity of a festival, attacked and massacred in
the night the first inhabitants, heavy with sleep
and food. After this transaction, the consuls,
whom we have mentioned, entered on office on
the ides of December : by this time, not only
those employed in inquiries had reported that
the Volscians were ready to commence hos-
tilities : but also ambassadors from the Latines
and Heniicians had brought information, that
" never at any former time had the Volscians
exerted more diligence and care either in the
choice of commanders, or the enlisting of
troops : that it was a common expression among
them, that they must either lay aside for ever
all thoughts of war and arms, and submit to the
yoke, or they must prove themselves not infe-
rior to their competitors for empire, either in
courage, perseverance, or military discipline."
The intelligence was not without foundation :
yet the senate were not affected by it, as might
have been expected ; and Caius Sempronius,
to whom the command fell by lot, acted with
carelessness and negligence in every particular,
relying on fortune, as if it were incapable of
change, because he before had headed a victo-
rious soldiery against those who had l>een be-
fore overcome ; so that there was more of the
Roman discipline in the Volscian army than in

his own. Success, therefore, as on many other
occasions, attended merit. The engagement
was entered on by Sempronius, without either
prudence or caution, without strengthening the
line by a reserve, and without posting the cav-
alry in a proper situation. The shout gave a
presage at the very beginning to which side the
victory would incline. That raised by the
Volscians was loud and full ; whilst the shout
of the Romans, dissonant, unequal, lifeless,
and often begun anew, betrayed, by its unsteadi-
ness, the fears which possessed them. This
made the enemy charge with the greater bold-
ness ; they pushed with their shields, and bran-
dished their swords : on the other side, the
helmets were seen to droop as the wearers
looked round for safety, disconcerted and dis-
ordered on every side. The ensigns sometimes
kept their ground, deserted by those who ought
to support them : at other times they retreated
between their respective companies. As yet
there was no absolute night, nor was the vic-
tory complete. The Romans covered them-
selves rather than fought ; the Volscians ad-
vanced, and pushed fiercely against the line,
but still were seen greater numbers of the for-
mer falling than running away.

XXXVIII. The Romajis now began to
give way in every quarter, while the consul
Sempronius in vain reproached them, and ex-
horted them to stand; neither his authority,
nor his dignity, had any effect ; and they would
shortly have turned their backs to the enemy,
had not Sextus Tempanius, a commander of a
body of horse, with great presence of mind,
brought them support, and when their situation
was almost desperate. He called aloud, that
the horsemen who wished the safety of the
commonwealth, should leap from their horses,
and, his order being obeyed by every troop, a .
if it had been delivered by th'e consul, he said,
" unless this cohort, by the power of its arms,
can stop the progress of the enemy, there is an
end of the empire. Follow my spear, as your
standard-, show, both to RoR'ans and Vol-
scians, that as no horse are equal to you when
mounted, so no foot are equal to you when ye
dismount." This exhortation being received
with a shout of applause, he advanced, holding
his spear aloft : wherever they directed their
march, they forced their way in spite of op-
position ; and, advancing their targets, pushed
on to the place where they saw the distress of
their friends the greatest. The fight was re-

160

THE HISTORY

FBOOK rv.

stored in every part as far as their onset
reached ; and there was no doubt, that if it had
been possible for so small a number to have
managed the whole business of the field, the
enemy would have turned their backs.

XXXIX. Finding that nothing could with-
stand them, the Volscian commander gave di-
rections, that an opening should be made for
these targeteers, until the violence of their
charge should carry them so far, that they might
be shut out from their friends : which being exe-
cuted, the horsemen on their part were inter-
cepted, in such a manner, that it was impossible
for them to force a passage back ; the enemy
having collected their thickest numbers in the
place through which they had made their way.
The consul and Roman legions, not seeing,
any where, that body which just before had
afforded protection to the whole army, lest so
many men, of such consummate valour, shoidd
be surrounded and overpowered by the enemy,
resolved at all hazards to push forward. The
Volscians forming two fronts, withstood, on
one side, the consul : and the legions, on the
other, pressed on Tempanius and the horse-
men, who, after many fruitless attempts to
break through to their friends, took possession
of an eminence, and there forming a circle de-
fended themselves, not without taking ven-
geance on the assailants. Nor was the fight
ended when night came on. The consul kept
the enemy employed, never relaxing his efforts
as long as any light remained. The darkness
at length separated them, leaving the victory
undecided : and such a panic seized both camps
from the uncertainty in which they were with
respect to the issue, that both armies, as i
they had been vanquished, retreated into the
nearest mountains, leaving behind their wound
ed, and a great part of their baggage. The
eminence however was kept besieged until afte:
midnight ; when intelligence being brought to
the besiegers that their camp was deserted
they, supposing that their friends had been de
feated, fled also, each wherever his fears trail
sported him. Tempanius apprehending an
ambush, kept his men quiet until day-light
and then going out himself with a small party
to make observations, and discovering on in
quiry from the wounded men of the enemy
that the camp of the Volscians was abandoned
he called down his men from the eminence wit!
great joy, and made his way into the Roman
camp. Here finding every place waste and de

erted, and in the same disgraceful state in
vhich he had seen the post of the enemy, he-
ore the discovery of their mistake should bring
jack the Volscians, he took with him as many
f the wounded as he could ; and not knowing
,vhat route the consul had taken, proceeded by
he shortest roads to the city.

XL. News had already arrived there of the
oss of the battle, and of the camp being aban-
doned : and great lamentations had been made ;
or the horsemen above all, the public grief
>eing not inferior to that of their private con-
nections. The consul Fabius, the city being
alarmed for its own safety, had troops posted
)efore the gates, when the horsemen being seen
at a distance, occasioned at first some degree ol
Tight, while it was not known who they were ;
jut this being presently discovered, people's
iears were converted into such transports of
oy, that every part of the city was filled with
shouting j each one congratulating the other
on the return of the horsemen, safe and victo-
rious. Then were seen pouring out in crowds
into the streets from the houses, which a little
before had been filled with lamentation and
mourning, for friends supposed lost, their
mothers and wives ; each rushing wildly to her
own, and scarcely retaining, in the extravagance
of their rejoicings, the powers either of mind
or body. The tribunes of the commons, who
had commenced a prosecution against Marcus
Postimius and Titus Quintius, for having oc-
casioned the loss of the battle at Veii, thought
that the recent displeasure of the people to-
wards the consul Sempronius, afforded a fit
opportunity for reviving the anger of the public
against them. Having therefore convened the
people, they exclaimed loudly, that the com-
monwealth had been betrayed by its command-
ers at Veii ; and afterwards, in consequence of
their escaping with impunity, the army was
also betrayed by the consul in the country of
the Volscians, the cavalry, men of distinguished
bravery, given up to slaughter, and th^ camp
shamefully deserted. Then Caius Junius, one
of the tribunes, ordered Tempanius the horse-
man to be called, and in then' presence address-
ed him thus •. " Sextus Tempanius, I demand
of you, whether it is your opinion that the
consul Caius Sempronius either engaged the
enemy at a proper season, or strengthened his
line with a reserve, or discharged any duty of
a good consul : and whether you yourself, when
the Roman legions were defeated, did not, of

Y. n. 333.]

OF ROME.

161

your own judgment, dismount the cavalry and I
restore the fight? Did he afterwards, when
you and the horsemen were shut out from our
army, either come himself to your relief, or
send you assistance ? Then again, on the day
following, did you find support any where ?
Did you and your cohort, by your own bravery,
make your way into the camp ? Did ye in the
camp find any consul or any army ? Or, did
ye find the camp forsaken, and the wounded
soldiers left behind ? These things, it becomes
your bravery and honour, which have proved in
this war the security of the commonwealth, to
declare this day. In fine, where is Cains Sem-
pronius ? where are our legions ? Have you
been deserted, or have you deserted the consul
and the army ? In short, have we been de-
feated, or have we gained the victory ?"

XL I. In answer to these interrogatories,
Tempanius is said to have spoken, not with j
studied eloquence, but with the manly firmness
of a soldier, neither vainly displaying his own
merit, nor showing pleasure at the censure
thrown on others : " As to the degree of mili-
tary skill possessed by Caius Sempronius the
general, it was not his duty, as a soldier, to
judge ; that was the business of the Roman
people, when, at the election, they chose him
consul. He desired, therefore, that they would
not require from him a detail of the designs
and duties becoming the office of a general, or
of a consul ; matters which, even from persons :
of the most exalted capacity and genius, re- '
quired much consideration : but what he saw,
that he could relate. He had seen, before his
communication with the army was cut off, the j
consul fighting in the front of the line, en- j
couraging the men, and actively employed be-
tween the Roman ensigns and the weapons of
the enemy. He was afterwards carried out of
sight of his countrymen : however, from the
noise and shouting, he perceived that the battle
was prolonged until night ; nor did he believe,
that it was in their power, on account of the
great numbers of the enemy, to force their way
to the eminence where he had taken post.
Where the army was, he knew not. He sup-
posed that as he, in a dangerous crisis, had
taken advantage of the ground to secure him-
self and his men, in like manner the consul,
consulting the safety of hie army, had chosen a
stronger situation for his camp. Nor did he
believe, that the affairs of the Volscians were
in a better posture than those of the Roman

I.

people : for fortune and the night had canned
abundance of mistakes, both on one side and
the other." He then begged that they would
not detain him, as he was much distressed with
fatigue and wounds; and he was dismissed
with the highest expressions of applause, no
less for his modesty than his bravery. Mean-
while the consul had come as far as the Temple
of Rest, on the road leading to Lavici ; whither
waggons and other carriages were sent from
the city, and which took up the men who were
spent with the fatigue of the action, and the
march by night. The consul soon after enter-
ed the city, and was not more anxiously desi-
rous to clear himself from blame, than he was
to bestow on Tempanius the praise which he
deserved. While the minds of the citizens
were full of grief for the ill success of their
affairs, and of resentment against their com-
manders, the first object thrown in the way of
their ill humour was Marcus Postumius, for-
merly military tribune, with consular power, at
Veii, who was brought to trial, and condemned
in a fine of ten thousand asses in weight, of
brass.1 Titus Quintius endeavoured to transfer
all the blame of that event from himself on his
colleague, who was already condemned ; and
as he had conducted business with success,
both in the country of the Volscians when
consul, under the auspices of the dictator Pos-
tumius Tubertus, and also at Fidenae, when
lieutenant-general to another dictator, Mamer-
cus ^milius, all the tribes acquitted him. It
is said that his cause was much indebted to the
high veneration in which his father Cincinnatus
was held ; and likewise to Quintius Capitoli-
nus, who being now extremely old, begged with
humble supplications that they would not suffer
him who had so short a time to live, to carry
any dismal tidings to Cincinnatus.

XLII. The commons created Sextus Tem-
panius, Aulus Sellius, Lucius Antistius, and
Sextus Pompilius, in their absence, plebeian
tribunes; [Y. R. 333. B. C. 419.] these be-
ing the persons whom, by the advice of Tem-
panius, the horsemen had appointed to com-
mand them as centurions. The senate finding
that through the general aversion from Sem-
pronius, the name of consul was become dis-
pleasing, ordered military tribunes with consu-
lar power to be chosen. Accordingly there
were elected Lucius Manlius Capitolinus,

1 331. 5*. 10<f.

X

162

THE HISTORY

[BOOK iv.

(in hit us Antonius Merenda, and Lucius Pa-
pirius Mugillanus. No sooner had the year
begun, than Lucius Hortensius, a plebeian tri-
bune, commenced a prosecution1 against Caius
Sempronius, consul of the preceding year.
His four colleagues, in the presence of the
Roman people, besought him not to involve
in vexation an unoffending general, in whose
case fortune alone could be blamed : Horten-
sius took offence at this, thinking it meant a
trial of his perseverance ; and that the accused
depended not on the entreaties of the tribunes,
which were thrown out only for the sake of
appearance, but on their protection. Turning
first therefore to him, he asked, " Where were
the haughty airs of the patrician ? Where was
the spirit upheld in confidence by conscious in-
nocence, that a man of consular dignity took
shelter under the shade of tribunes ?" Then
to his colleagues ; " As to you, what is your
intention in case I persist in the prosecution ?
Do ye mean to rob the people of their juris-
diction, and to overturn the power of the tri-
bunes ?" To this they replied ; " That with
respect both to Sempronius, and to all others,
the Roman people possessed supreme authori-
ty ; that it was neither in their power nor in
their wishes to obstruct the exercise of it ; but

1 A prosecution before the people was a very tedious
business, and afforded the person arc-used many chances
of escaping, even though he should not be able to prove
his innocence ; he might prevail on the prosecutor to
relinquish the charge, or on a plebeian tribune to inter-
pose, or on the augurs to report ill omens on the day of
the assembly for the decision ; or at the worst, he might
go into voluntary exile ; vertere solum exilii gratia. A
magistrate, who intended to impeach a person before the
people, mounted the rostrum, and gave notice that on
such a day he intended to accuse that person of such a
crime ; on which the party accused was obliged to give
bail for his appearance, which if he failed to do, he was
thrown into prison. On the day appointed, the people
being assembled (by centuries if the crime charged
was capital, by tribes if fineable), the person accused was
summoned by the crier, and if he did not appear, was
punished at the pleasure of the prosecutor. If he ap-
peared, the accuser mounted the rostrum, and began his
charge, which he carried on through that and two other
days, allowing an interval of one day between each.
On the third day he made a recapitulation of the charge,
and mentioned the punishment specified in the law for
such an offence. This was expressed in writing, and
exhibited to public view during three market-days.
This proceeding was termed rogatio in respect of the
people, and irrogatio in respect of the accused. Onthe
day after the third market-day, the accuser finished the
business of the prosecution, and concluded with giving
notice of the day on which the assembly should meet to
pass judgment. The accused was then at liberty to
make his defence, cither by himself, or by advocates.

if their prayers in behalf of their general, who
was to them a parent, should have no effect,
they were determined to change their apparel
along with him." Hortensius then declared,
" the commons of Rome shall not see their
tribunes in the garb of culprits -. I have nothing
farther to say to Sempronius, since, by his
conduct in command, he has rendered himself
so dear to his soldiers." Nor was the dutiful
attachment of the four tribunes more pleasing
to the patricians and to the commons, than was
the temper of Hortensius, complying so readi-
ly with entreaties founded on justice. Fortune
no longer indulged the ^quans, who had em-
braced the doubtful success of the Volscians
as their own.

XLIII. In the year following [Y. R. 334.
B. C.418.] which had for consuls, Numerius Fa-
biusVibulanusand Titus Quintius Capitolinus,
son of Capitolinus, nothing memorable was per-
formed under the conduct of Fabius,to whom the
province of encountering the enemy fell by lot.
The^Equans, on merely showing their spiritless
army, were driven off the field in a shameful
flight, without affording the consul much hon-
our, for which reason he was refused a triumph ;
however, as he had effaced the ignominy of the
misfortune under Sempronius, he was permit-
ted to enter the city in ovation. As the war
was brought to a conclusion with less difficulty
than had been apprehended, so the city, from a
state of tranquillity, was unexpectedly involv-
ed in a scene of turbulent dissentions between
the patricians and plebeians. This was the ef-
fect of a plan for doubling the number of
quaestors : for the consuls having proposed,
that, in addition to the two city-quaestors, two
others should always attend the consuls, to
discharge the business relative to the army, and
the measure having been warmly approved by
the patricians, the tribunes contended, in op-
position to the consuls, that half the number
of quaestors should be taken from among the
commons, for hitherto patricians only had been
elected : against which scheme both consuls
and patricians struggled at first with their ut-
most power. They afterwards offered a con-
cession, that according to the practice in the
election of tribunes with consular power, the
people should have equal freedom of suffrage
with respect to quaestors ; yet finding that this
had no effect, they entirely laid aside the design
of augmenting the number. No sooner, how-
ever, was it dropped by them, than it was

Y. R. 335.]

OF ROME.

163

taken up by the tribunes, while several other
seditious schemes were continually started,
and among the rest, one for an agrarian law.
The senate was desirous, on account of these
commotions, that consuls should be elected
rather than tribunes, but no decree could be
passed, by reason of the protests of the tri-
bunes, so that the government, from being
consular, became a kind of interregnum :
nor was even that accomplished without a
violent struggle, the tribunes obstructing
the meeting of the patricians. The great-
er part of the ensuing year was wasted in con-
tentions between the new tribunes, and the
several interreges, the tribunes sometimes hin-
dering the patricians from assembling to declare
an interrex ; at others, protesting against the
interreges passing a decree for the election of
consuls ; at last, Lucius Papirius Mugillanus,
being declared interrex, severely reproved both
the senate and the plebeian tribunes, affirming,
that " the commonwealth, being forsaken by
men, and preserved by the care and providence
of the gods, subsisted merely by means of the
Veientian truce, and the dilatoriness of the
.1 '.i)ii;ms : from which quarter, should an alarm
of danger be heard, did they think it right, that
the nation, destitute of a patrician magistrate,
should be exposed to a surprise ? That it nei-
ther should have an army, nor a general to en-
list one ''. Did they think an intestine war the
proper means to repel a foreign one ? Shonjd
both take place at the same time, the power of
the gods would scarcely be able to preserve the
Roman state from ruin. It were much fitter
that both parties should remit somewhat of their
strict rights ; and, by a mutual compromise of
their pretensions, unite the whole in concord,
the senate permitting military tribunes to be
appointed instead of consuls, and the tribunes
of the commons ceasing to protest against the
four quzestors being chosen out of the patri-
cians and plebeians, indiscriminately, by the
free suffrages of the people."

XLIV. The election of tribunes was first
held, [Y. R. 335. B. C. 417.] and there were
chosen tribunes, with consular power, Lucius
Quintius Cincinnatus a third time, Lucius Fu-
rius Medullinus a second time, Marcus Man-
lius and Aulus Sempronius Atratinus, all pa-
tricians. The last-named tribune presided at
the election of quaestors, when there appeared
among several other plebeian candidates, a son
of Antistius, a plebeian tribune, and a brother

of Sextus Pompilius, of the same order : but
neither their power nor interest were able to
prevent the people from choosing rather to raise
those to the rank of nobility, whose fathers and
grandfathers they had seen in the consulship.
This enraged all the tribunes to madness, espe-
cially Pompilius and Antistius, who were in-
censed at the disappointment of their relations.
" What could be the meaning of this," they
said, " that neither their services, nor the inju-
rious behaviour of the patricians, nor even the
pleasure of exercising a newly acquired right,
though a power was now granted which had
hitherto been refused, had been sufficient to
procure, for any plebeian whatever, the office
of military tribune, or even that of quaestor ?
The prayers of a father in behalf of bis son,
those of one brother in behalf of another, those
of persons invested with the tribuneship of the
commons, that sacred and inviolable power cre-
ated for the protection of liberty, had approv-
ed ineffectual. There must certainly have been
some fraudulent practices in the case, and Au-
lus Sempronius must have used more artifice in
the election than was consistent with honour;"
in fine, they complained loudly, that their rela-
tions had been disappointed of the office by his
unfair conduct. But as no serious attack could
be made on him, because he was secured, both
by innocence, and by the office which he held
at the time, they turned their resentment
against Caius Sempronius, uncle to Atratinus ;
and, aided by Camuleius, one of their col-
leagues, entered a prosecution against him on
account of the disgrace sustained in the Vol-
scian war. By the same tribunes mention was
frequently introduced, in the senate, of the dis-
tribution of lands, which scheme Caius Sem-
pronius had always most vigorously opposed ;
for they foresaw, as it fell out, that, on the one
hand, should he forsake that cause, he would
be less warmly defended by the patricians ;
and, on the other, if he should persevere, at the
time when his trial was approaching, he would
give offence to the commons. He chose to face
the torrent of popular displeasure, and rather
to injure his own cause, than to be wanting to
that of the public ; and therefore, standing firm
in the same opinion, he declared, that " no such
largess should be made, which would only tend
to aggrandize the three tribunes ; affirming,
that the object of their pursuits was not to pro-
cure lands for the commons, but ill-will against
him. That, for his own part, he would under-

164

THE HISTORY

[BOOK TV.

go the storm with determined resolution ; and,
with regard to the senate, it was their duty, not
to set so high a value on him, or on any other
citizen, as through tenderness to an individual,
to give room for an injury to the public."
When the day of trial arrived, he pleaded his
own cause with the same degree of intrepid-
ity ; and, notwithstanding the patricians used
every expedient to soften the commons, he
was condemned in a fine of fifteen thousand
asses. l The same year, Postumia, a vestal
virgin, was charged with breach of chastity.
She was free from the guilt, but took too little
pains to avoid the imputation of it, which was
grounded merely on suspicion, caused by her
too great gaiety of dress, and from her manners
being less reserved than became her state. The
trial having been adjourned to a farther hearing,
and she being afterwards acquitted, the chief
pontiff, by direction of the college, ordered her
to refrain from indiscreet mirth; and, in her
dress, to attend more to the sanctity of her
character, than to the fashion. In this year
Cumae, a city then possessed by Greeks, was
taken by the Campanians.

XLV. The ensuing year [Y. R. 336. B.
C. 416.] had for military tribunes with consular
power, Agrippa Menenius Lanatus, Publius
Lucretius Tricipitinus, Spurius Nautius, and
Caius Servilius ; a year which, by good fortune,
was rendered remarkable, rather by great dan-
gers, than by losses. The slaves formed a con-
spiracy to set fire to the city in different quar-
ters : and, while the people should be every
where intent on saving the houses, to take arms,
and seize on the citadel and the capitol. Jupi-
ter frustrated their horrid designs, and the of-
fenders being seized upon the information of
two of their number, were punished. The
informers were rewarded with their freedom,
and ten thousand asses3 in weight of brass, paid
out of the treasury, a sum which, at that time,
was reckoned wealth. Soon after, intelligence
was received at Rome, from good authority,
that the .ZEquans were preparing to renew hos-
tilities, and that this old enemy was joined in
the design by a new one, the Lavicanians.
Fighting with the JEquans was now become
to the state almost an anniversary custom. To
Lavici ambassadors were sent, who having re-
turned with an evasive answer, from which it was
evident that, though immediate war was not in-

1 L.48 8*.

2 L.32 6s. lOrf.

tended, yet peace would not be of long continu-
ance, orders were given to the Tusculans to watch
attentively, lest any new commotion should
arise at Lavici. The military tribunes, with
consular power, of the next year, [Y. R. 337.
B. C. 415.] Lucius Sergius Fidenas, Marcus
Papirius Mugillanus, Caius Servilius, soli of
Priscus, who, in his dictatorship, had taken
Fidenae, were, soon after the commencement
of their office, attended by an embassy from
Tusculum, the purport of which was, that the
Lavicanians had taken arms, and after having,
in conjunction with the ^quans, ravaged that
territory, had pitched their camp at Algidum.
War was then proclaimed against the Lavican-
ians. The senate having decreed that two of
the tribunes should go out to command the
army, and that the other should manage affairs
at Rome, there sprung up on a sudden a warm
dispute among the tribunes, each representing
himself as the fittest person to command in the
war, and scorning the business of the city as
disagreeable and inglorious. The senate, be-
holding with surprise this indecent contention
'between the colleagues, Quintus Servilius said,
" Since ye pay no deference either to this au-
gust body, or to the commonwealth, parental
authority shall put an end to your unseemly al-
tercation. My son, without putting it to the
lots, shall hold the command in the city. I
hope that those, who are so ambitious of being
employed in the war, may act with greater pru-
dence and manliness in their conduct of it, than
they show in their present competition."

XL VI. It was resolved that the levy should
not be made out of the whole body of the peo-
ple indiscriminately : ten tribes were drawn
by lot, and out of these the tribunes enlisted
the younger men, and led them to the field.
The contentions which began in the city, were,
through the same eager ambition for command,
raised to a much greater height in the camp.
On no one point did their sentiments agree ;
each contended strenuously for his own opin-
ion ; endeavoured to have his own plans and his
own commands only put in execution ; showed
a contempt of the other ; and met with a like
contempt in return : until at length, on the re-
monstrances of the lieutenant-generals, they
came to a compromise, which was to enjoy the
supreme command alternately, each for a day.
When these proceedings were reported at
Rome, Quintus Servilius, whose wisdom was
matured by age and experience, is said to have

y. R. 339. J

OF ROME.

165

prayed to the immortal gods, that the discord
of the tribunes might not prove, as he feared it
might, more detrimental to the commonwealth
than it had done at Veii ; and to have urged
his son earnestly to enlist soldiers and prepare
arms, as if he foresaw with certainty some im-
pending misfortune. Nor was he a false pro-
phet : for under the conduct of Lucius Sergius,
whose day of command it was, the troops were
suddenly attacked by the .<Equans, in disadvan-
tageous ground, adjoining the enemy's camp ;
into which they had been decoyed by vain
hopes of mastering it ; the enemy counterfeit-
ing fear, and having retreated to their rampart.
They were driven in great disorder down a de-
clivity in the rear, and while they tumbled one
on another, rather than fled, vast numbers
were overpowered and slain. With difficulty
they defended the camp for that day ; and on
the following, the enemy having invested it on
several sides, they abandoned it in shameful
flight through the opposite gate. The generals,
lieutenant-generals, and such part of the body
of the army as followed the colours, took the
route to Tusculum : the rest dispersing up and
down made their way to Rome, by many differ-
ent roads, bringing exaggerated accounts of the
disaster which had happened. This unfortu-
nate affair caused the less consternation, because
it was not unexpected, and because there was
a reinforcement of troops already prepared by
the military tribune, to which, in this disorder
of their affairs, they could look for security.
By his orders also, after the confusion in the
city had been quieted by means of the inferior
magistrates, scouts were instantly despatched
for intelligence, who brought accounts that the
generals and the army were at Tusculum, and
that the enemy had not removed their camp.
But what chiefly contributed to raise people's
spirits was, that, in pursuance of a decree of the
senate, Quintus Servilius Priscus was created
dictator, a man whose extensive judgment in
public affairs the state had experienced, as well
on many former occasions as in the issue of that
campaign ; he alone having, before the misfor-
tune happened, expressed apprehensions of
danger from the disputes of the tribunes. He
appointed for his master of the horse the tri-
bune by whom he had been nominated dictator,
his own son, according to some accounts ; but
other writers mention Servilius Ahala as mas-
ter of the horse that year. Then, putting him-
self at the Lead of the new raised troops, and

sending orders to those at Tusculum to join
him, he marched against the enemy, and chose
ground for his camp within two miles of theirs.

XLVIL The negligence and the vanity in-
spired by success, which were formerly mani-
fested in the Roman commanders, were now
transferred to the .^Equans. In the first en-
gagement, the dictator having thrown the ene-
my's van into disorder by a charge of the caval-
ry, immediately directed the infantry to advance
with speed, and slew one of his own standard
bearers who did not readily obey the order.
Such ardour was in consequence displayed by
the troops, that the yKquans could not support
the shock of their onset. Vanquished in the
field, they fled precipitately to their camp, the
taking of which cost even less time and trouble
than the battle had done. After the camp had
been taken and plundered, the dictator giving
up the spoil to the soldiers, the horsemen, who
had pursued the enemy in their flight, returned
with intelligence, that after their defeat all the
Lavicanians, and a great part of the ^Kquans,
had retreated to Lavici ; on which the army
was next day conducted thither, and the town,
being invested on every side, was taken by
storm. The dictator, having led back his vic-
torious army to Rome, resigned his office, on
the eighth day after his appointment ; and the
senate, seizing the opportunity, before the tri-
bunes of the commons should raise seditions
about the agrarian laws, voted, in full assembly,
\hat a colony should be conducted to Lavici,
at the same time introducing a proposal for a
distribution of its lands. One thousand five
hundred colonists, sent from the city, received
each two acres. During two years after the
taking of Lavici, [Y. R. 33S. B. C. 4-14.] in
the first of which Agrippa Menenius Lanatus,
Lucius Servilius Structus, Publius Lucretius
Tricipitinus, all these a second time, and Spu-
rius Rutilius Crassus were military tribunes
with consular power; and in the following,
[Y. R. 339. B. C. 4-13.] Aulus Sempronius
Atrantinus a third time, and Marcus Papirius
Mugillanus and Spurius Nautius Rutilus both
a second time. There was tranquillity with
respect to affairs abroad, but at home dissen-
sions occasioned by agrarian laws.

XLVHI. The incendiaries of the populace
were the Spurii, tribunes of the commons,
Msecilius a fourth time, and Ma:tilius a third,
both elected in treir absence. A very violent
contest between the patricians and plebeians

1GG

THE HISTORY

[BOOK iv.

was now expected ou the subject of the
agrarian laws ; for these tribunes had publicly
proposed, that the lands, taken from their
enemies, should be distributed in such a man-
ner, that every man might have a share. Had
this proposal passed into a law, the property
of a great part of the nobles would have
been confiscated ; for scarcely was there any
of the public territory, not even the ground on
which the city' itself was built, but what
had been acquired by arms ; all of which
consequently must have been comprehended in
it ; nor could the military tribunes, either in
the senate, or in the private meetings of the
nobles, devise, in this exigency, any promising
plan of conduct : when Appius Claudius,
grandson of him who had been decemvir for
compiling the laws, being the youngest senator
in the assembly, is said to have told them, that
" he had brought from home, for their use, an
old scheme, which had been first devised by his
family : — that his great-grandfather Appius
Claudius had shown the patricians one method
of baffling the power of the tribunes, by the
protests of their colleagues : — that new men
were easily drawn off from their designs by the
inriuence of people of consequence, if they
were addressed in language suited to the times
rather than to the dignity of the speakers.
Their sentiments were ever directed by their
circumstances. When they should see that
their colleagues who first set the business on
foot had got the start, and monopolized the
whole credit of it with the commons, so that
there was no room left for them to come in for
any share, they would, without reluctance, lean
for support to the cause of the senate, by means
of which they might conciliate the favour, not
only of the principal patricians, but of the
whole body." Every one expressing approba-
tion, and particularly Quintus Servilius Pris-
cus, highly commending the youth for not hav-
ing degenerated from the Claudian race, a
general charge was given, that they should gain
over as many of the college of tribunes as pos-
sible, to enter protests. On the breaking up
of the senate, the principal patricians made
their applications to the tribunes, and by per-
suasions, admonitions, and assurances that it
would be acknowledged as a favour by each of
them in particular, and also by the whole senate,
they prevailed on six to promise their protests.
Accordingly, on the day following, when the
senate was consulted, as had been preconcerted,

concerning the sedition which Mtccilius and
Maetilius were exciting, by the proposal of a
largess of most pernicious tendency, the speech-
es of the principal patricians ran all in the sarne
strain, each declaring that, for his part, " he
could neither devise any satisfactory mode of
proceeding, nor could he see a remedy any
where, unless it were found in the protection of
the tribunes. To that office the common-
wealth, embarrassed with difficulties, in like
manner as a private person in distress, had now
recourse for aid : and that it would be highly
honourable to themselves, and to their office,
if they showed that the tribuneship possessed
not greater power to harass the senate, and ex-
cite discord between the orders of the state,
than to favour ill-designing colleagues." The
voices of the whole senate were then heard to-
gether, appeals to the tribunes coming from
every corner of the house ; and, in some time,
silence being obtained, those who had been
prepared through the inriuence of the principal
nobility gave notice, " that the proposal of a
law, published by their colleagues, which, in
the judgment of the senate, tended to the disso-
lution of the commonwealth, they would op-
pose with their protests." The thanks of the
senate were given to the protestors : but
the authors of the proposal, having called an
assembly of the people, abused their colleagues
as traitors to the interests of the commons,
and slaves to the consuliirs ; but, after uttering
other bitter invectives against them, dropped
the prosecution of their scheme.

XLIX. The two perpetual enemies of the
Romans would have given them employment
during the following year, [Y. R. 340. B. C.
412.] in which Publius Cornelius Cossus,
Cains Valerius Potitus, Quintus Quintals
Cincinnatus, and Numerius Fabius Vibulanus,
were military tribunes with consular power,
had not the religious scruples of their leaders
deferred the military operations of the Veien-
tians, in consequence of their lands haying suf-
fered severely, principally in the destruction of
their country-seats, by an inundation of the
Tiber. At the same time, the ^Equans, by
the loss which they had sustained three years
before, were deterred from affording aid to the
Volani, one of their kindred states. These
had made inroads on the contiguous district of
Lavici, and committed hostilities on the new
colony ; in which unjust proceeding they had
hoped to have been supported by the concur-

Y. R. 341.]

OF ROME.

167

rencc of all the JEquans ; but, being forsaken
by their confederates, they, without perform-
ing any action worth mentioning, won- stripped,
in one slight battle and a siege, both of their
liiinis and their city. An attempt made by
Lucius Sextius, plebeian tribune, to procure
a law that a colony should be sent to Volae, in
like manner as to Lavici, was crushed by
the protests of his colleagues : who declared
openly that they would not suffer any order
of the commons to be passed, unless it were
approved by the senate. Next year [Y. R.
.341. B. C. 411.] the JSquans, having re-
covered Vola:, and sent a colony thither,
strengthened the town with additional for-
tifications, the military tribunes with consu-
lar power, at Rome, being Cneius Cornelius
Cossus. Lucius Valerius Potitus, Quintus
Fabius Vibulanus a second time, and Marcus
Postumius Regillensis. The conduct of the
war with the ^Equans was intrusted to the last-
mentioned, a man of a depraved mind ; which,
however, did not appear so much in his ma-
nagement of the campaign, as in his behaviour
on gaining success. Having, with great activi-
ty, levied an army and marched to Volae, after
breaking the spirits of the ^quans in slight
engagements, he at length forced his way into
the place ; where he began a contention with
his countrymen, instead of the ^quans. For
having proclaimed, during the assaidt, that the
plunder should be given to the soldiers, he
broke his word on getting possession of the
town. This, I am inclined to believe, was the
cause of the displeasure of the army, rather
than from finding less booty than the tribune
had represented, and which they could not well
expect in a new colony, and a town which had
been sacked a short time before. Their anger
was farther inflamed on his return to the city,
(whither he had been summoned by his col-
leagues, on account of seditions raised by the
plebeian tribunes,) from an expression which
he was heard to utter in an assembly of the
people, and which showed great weakness, or
rather a degree of insanity. On Sextius, the
plebeian tribune, proposing an agrarian law,
and at the same time declaring that he would
also propose the sending of a colony to Volae,
because those men deserved to enjoy the city
and lands of Volac, who had gained possession
of them by their arms, he exclaimed, " Woe to
my soldiers, if they are not quiet" Which
words gave not greater offence to the assembly,

than they did soon after to the patricians, when
they heard them ; and the plebeian tribune, a
keen man, and not destitute of eloquence, hav-
ing found among his adversaries this haughty
temper and ungovemed tongue, which he could
easily provoke to such expressions as would
excite indignation, not only against himself, but
against the whole body and their cause, took
occasion to draw Postumius more frequently
into disputes than any other of the military tri-
bunes. But now, on such a barbarous and in-
human expression, he remarked, " Do ye hear
him, citizens ! denouncing woe to soldiers as
he would to slaves ? and yet this brute will be
judged by you more deserving of his high office
than those who send you into colonies, and en-
rich you with lands and cities ; who provide a
settlement for your old age ; and who fight, to
the last, in defence of your interests. Begin
then to learn why so few undertake your cause.
What would they have to expect at your hands ?
posts of honour ? These ye choose to confer
on your adversaries, rather than on the cham-
pions of the Roman people. Ye murmured
just now on hearing that man's words. What
does that avail ? If ye had an opportunity, this
moment, of giving your votes, ye would no
doubt prefer him who denounces woe to you,
before those who wish to procure establish-
ments for you, of lands, habitations, and pro-
perty."

L. The words of Postumius being conveyed
to the soldiers, excited in the camp a much
higher degree of indignation. " Should a frau-
dulent embezzler of the spoils," they said, " de-
nounce also woe to the soldiers ?" A general
and open avowal of their resentment ensuing,
the quaestor, Publius Sextius, supposing that
the mutiny might be quashed, by the same vio-
lence which had given rise to it, sent a lictor
to one of the most clamorous of the soldiers,
on which a tumult and scuffle arose, in which
he received a blow of a stone, which obliged-
him to withdraw from the crowd ; the person
who had wounded him adding, with a sneer,
that •' the quaestor had got what the general had
threatened to the soldiers." Postumius being
sent for, on account of this disturbance, exas-
perated still farther the general ill-humour, by
the severity of his inquiries and cruelty of his
punishments. At last, a crowd being drawn
together, by the cries of some whom he had
ordered to be put to death under a hurdle, he
gave a loose to his rage, running down from

168

THE HISTORY

[[BOOK iv.

Inn tribunal, like a madman, against those who
interrupted the execution. There the indig-
nation of the multitude, increased by the lictors
clearing the way on all sides, and by the con-
duct of the centurions, burst out with such
fury, that the tribune was overwhelmed with
stones by his own troops. When this deed
of such a heinous nature was reported at
Rome, and the military tribunes endeavoured
to procure a decree of the senate, for an
inquiry into the death of their colleague,
the plebeian tribunes interposed their protest.
But this dispute was a branch of a contest of
another kind ; for the patricians had been
seized with apprehensions that the commons,
actuated by resentment and dread of the in-
quiries, would elect military tribunes out of
their own body ; therefore they laboured with
all their might for an election of consuls. The
plebeian tribunes, not suffering the decree of
the senate to pass, and also protesting against
the election of consuls, the affair was brought to
an interregnum. The patricians then obtained
the victory.

LI. Quintus Fabius Vibulanus, interrex,
presiding in the assembly, Marcus Cornelius
Cossus and Lucius Furius Medullinus were
chosen consuls. [Y. R. 342. B. C. 410.] In
the beginning of their year of office, the senate
passed a decree, that the tribunes should, with-
out delay, propose to the commons an inquiry
into the murder of Postumius, and that the
commons should appoint whomsoever they
should think proper to conduct the inquiry.
The employment was, by a vote of the com-
mons, which was approved by the people at
large, committed to the consuls ; who, not-
withstanding they proceeded in the business
with the utmost moderation and lenity, passing
sentence of punishment only on a few, who, as
there is good reason to believe, put an end to
their own lives ; yet could he not prevent the
commons from conceiving the highest displea-
sure, and from observing that " any constitu-
tions, enacted for their advantage, lay long dor-
mant and unexecuted ; whereas a law passed,
in the meantime, consigning their persons and
lives to forfeiture, was instantly enforced, and
that with such full effect." This would have
been a most seasonable time, after the punish-
ment of the mutiny, to have soothed their
minds with such a healing measure as the dis-
tribution of the territory of Volse ; as it would
have diminished their eagerness in the pursuit

of an agrarian law, which tended to expel the
patricians from the public lands, the possession
of which they had unjustly acquired. But as
matters were managed, the ill-treatment shown
them, in this very instance, was an additional
source of vexation, as the nobility not only per-
sisted with obstinacy to retain possession of
those public lands, but even refused to distribute
to the commons such as had been lately taken
from the enemy, which otherwise would, like
the rest, in a short time become the prey of a
few. This year, the legions were led out by
the consul Furius against the Volscians, who
were ravaging the country of the Hernicians ;
but not finding the enemy there, they proceeded
to and took Ferentinum, whither a great mul-
titude had retreated. The quantity of the spoil
was less than they had expected, because the
Volscians, seeing small hopes of holding out,
had carried off their effects by night, and aban-
doned the town ; which, being left almost with-
out an inhabitant, fell next day into the hands
of the Romans. The lands were given to the
Hernicians.

LII. That year, through the moderation of
the tribunes, passed in domestic quiet ; [ Y. R.
343. B. C. 409.] but the succeeding one,
wherein Quintus Fabius Ambustus and Caius
Furius Pacilus were consuls, was ushered in
with the turbulent operations of Lucius Icilius,
a plebeian tribune. Whilst in the very begin-
ning of the year, he was employed in exciting
sedition by the publication of agrarian laws, as
if that were a task incumbent on his name and
family, a pestilence broke out, more alarming,
however, than deadly, which diverted men's
thoughts from the forum, and political disputes,
to their own houses, and the care of their per-
sonal safety. It is believed that the disorder
was less fatal, in its effects, than the sedition
would have proved, the state being delivered
from it, with the loss of very few lives, though
the sickness had been exceedingly general.
This year [Y. R. 344. B. C. 408.] of pesti-
lence was succeeded by one of scarcity', owing
to the neglect of agriculture, usual in such
cases. Marcus Papirius Atratinus and Caius
Nauticus Rutilus were consuls. Famine would
now have produced more dismal effects than the
pest, had not a supply been procured to the
market by despatching envoys round all the
nations bordering on the Tuscan sea, and on
the Tiber, to purchase corn. The Samnites,
who were then in possession of Capua and Cu-

Y. u.346.]

OF ROME.

169

mae, in a haughty manner prohibited them from
trading there : they met, however, with a dif-
ferent reception from the tyrants of Sicily, who
kindly afforded every assistance. The largest
supplies were brought down by the Tiber,
through the very active zeal of the Etrurians.
In consequence of the sickness, the consuls
were at a loss for men to transact the business
of the nation, so that not finding more than one
senator for each embassy, they were obliged to
oin to it two knights. Except from the sick-
ness and the scarcity, there happened nothing
during those two years, either at home or
abroad, to give them any trouble. But no
sooner did those causes of uneasiness disap-
pear, than all the evils which had hitherto so
frequently distressed, the state, started up to-
gether, intestine discord and foreign wars.

LIII. In the succeeding consulate of Ma-
mercus ^Emilius and Caius Valerius Potitus,
[Y. R, 345. B. C. 407.] the ^Equans made
preparations for war ; and the Volscians,
though they took not arms by public authority,
supplied them with volunteers who served for
pay. On the report of hostilities having been
committed by them, for they had now marched
out into the territories of the Latines and
Hernicians, Valerius the consul began to en-
list troops, whilst Marcus Msenius, a plebeian
tribune, who was pushing forward an agrarian
law, obstructed the levies ; and as the people
were secure of the support of the tribune, no
one, who did not choose it, took the military
oath, — when on a sudden, news arrived that
the citadel of Carventa had been seized by the
enemy. The disgrace incurred by this event,
while it served the senate as a ground of severe
reproaches against Mienius, afforded at the
same time to the other tribunes, who had been
already pre-engaged, to protest against the
agrarian law, a more justifiable pretext for
acting in opposition to their colleague. Where-
fore, after the business had been protracted to
a great length, by wrangling disputes, the con-
suls appealing to gods and men, maintained
that whatever losses or disgrace had already
been, or was likely to be suffered, from the
enemy, the blame of all was to be imputed to
Maenius, who hindered the levies ; Mosnius,
on the other hand, exclaiming, that if the
unjust occupiers would resign the possession
of the public lands, be would give no delay to
the levies. On this, the nine tribunes inter-
posed, by a decree, and put an end to the
J.

contest, proclaiming as the determination of
their college, that " they would, for the pur
pose of enforcing the levy, in opposition to
the protest of their colleague, support Caius
Valerius in inflicting fines and other penalties
on such as should refuse to enlist." Armed
with this decree, the consul ordered a few,
who appealed to the tribune, to be taken into
custody ; at which, the rest, being terrified,
took the military oath. The troops were led
to the citadel of Carventa, and though mutual
dislike prevailed between them and the consul,
yet, as soon as they arrived at the spot, they
retook the citadel with great spirit, driving out
the troops which defended it. Numbers hav-
ing carelessly straggled from the garrison, in
search of plunder, had left the place so exposed
as to be attacked with success. The booty
was there considerable ; because the whole of
what they collected, in their continual depre-
dations, had been stored up in the citadel, as a
place of safety. This the consul ordered the
quaestors to sell by auction, and to carry the
produce into the treasury, declaring that when
the soldiers should appear not to have a desire
to decline the service, they should then share
in the spoil. This so much increased the
anger of the people and soldiers against the
consul, that when, in pursuance of a decree of
the senate, he entered the city in ovation, in
the couplets of rude verses, thrown out with
military license, and in which he was reflected
on with severity, the name of Maenius was
extolled with praises, and on every mention of
the tribune the attachment of the surrounding
populace manifested itself in expressions of ap-
probation and applause, which vied with the
commendations of the soldiers. This cir •
cumstance, in regard to the tribune, more than
the wanton raillery of the soldiers against the
consul, and which was in some measure custo-
mary, gave great uneasiness to the senate ; so
that, not doubting but Mienius would be
honoured with a place among the military tri-
bunes, if he were to be a candidate, they put
it out of his reach by appointing an election of
consuls.

LIV. The consuls elected were Cneius
Cornelius Cossus and Lucius Furius Medul-
linus a second time. [Y. R. 31-6. B. C 406.]
The commons were never more highly dis-
pleased than now, at not being allowed to elect
tribunes. At the nomination of qua-stors,
they discovered this displeasure, aud at the
Y

170

same time took their revenge by raising, for
the first time, plebeians to their place : of the
four appointed, Caeso Fabius Ambustus was
the only patrician ; the three plebeians, Quin-
tus Silius, Publius JElius, and Publius Pupius
being preferred before young men of the most
illustrious families. That the people exerted
this freedom, in giving their suffrages, was
owing, I find, to the Icilii, out of which
family, the most hostile of any to the patri-
cians, three were chosen tribunes for that year ;
who, after flattering the multitude with the
prospect of various and great designs to be
achieved, and thereby exciting their most
ardent expectations, affirmed that they would
not stir a step, unless the nation would, at least
in the election of quaestors, the only one which
the senate had left open to both patricians
and plebeians, show a proper degree of spirit
for the accomplishment of what they had long
wished for, and what the laws had put in their
power. The commons, therefore, considered
this as an important victory, and estimated the
qusestorship in its present state, not according
to the intrinsic value of the office itself, but as
it appeared to lay open to new men an access
to the consulship and the honours of a triumph.
On the other hand, the patricians expressed
great indignation at the prospect of the posts of
honour not only being shared with others, but
perhaps lost to themselves, affirming that, " if
things were to remain in that state, it would
be folly to educate children, who, being ex-
cluded from the station of their ancestors, and
seeing such in possession of their rightful hon-
ours, would be left without command or power
in the character of Salii or Flamens, with no
other employment than that of offering sacri-
fices for the people." The minds of both par-
ties became highly irritated, while the commons
assumed new courage, in having acquired three
leaders of the popular cause, of most distin-
guished reputation. The senate, seeing that
every election wherein the commons had liberty
of choosing out of both parties, would prove in
the issue like that of the quaestors, were earnest
for the naming of consuls, which was not yet
( laid open to them. On the other hand, the
Icilii insisted that military tribunes should be
elected, and some posts of dignity be at length
imparted to the commons.

L V. The consuls had no business on their
hands, by an opposition to which they could
extort a compliance to their wishes : when at a

[BOOK ivi

moment surprisingly seasonable for their pur-
pose, news was brought that the Volscians and
.ZEquans had marched beyond their own fron-
tiers, to 'ravage the lands of the Latines and
Hernicians. But when the consuls began to
levy troops, the tribunes exerted themselves
strenuously to hinder it ; affirming that this
was an advantageous opportunity, presented by
fortune to them and to the commons. There
were three of them all men of the most active
talents, and considerable families among the
plebeians. Two of these chose each a consul,
whose motions he was to watch with unremit-
ting assiduity; the third had the charge as-
signed him, of sometimes restraining, some-
times spiriting up the commons by his ha-
rangues. Thus the consuls could not accomplish
the levy, nor the tribunes the election which they
had planned. After some time expresses ar-
rived that the yEquans bad attacked the citadel
of Carventa, while the soldiers of the garrison
were straggling abroad in search of plunder,
and had put to death the few who were left to
guard it : that several were slain as they were
hastily returning to the citadel, with others who
were dispersed through the country. This in-
cident, while it prejudiced the state, added
force to the project of the tribunes. For,
though assailed by every argument to induce
them to desist, at least in the present situation
of affairs, from obstructing the business of the
war, they would not give way either to the
storm which threatened the public, or to the
torrent of displeasure to which themselves
were exposed ; and, at length, carried their
point, that the senate should pass a decree for
the election of military tribunes. This, how-
ever, was accompanied with an express stipu-
lation, that no person should be admitted as a
candidate who was in that year a plebeian tri-
bune ; and that no plebeian tribune should be
re-chosen for the year following : the senate in
this, pointing undoubtedly at the Icilii, whom
they suspected of aiming at the consular tribune-
ship. After this, the levy and other prepara-
tions for war, went forward, with the general
concurrence of all ranks. The diversity of the
accounts given by writers renders it uncertain,
whether the two consuls marched to the citadel
of Carventa, or whether one remained at home
to hold the elections ; but those facts in which
they do not disagree we may receive as cer-
tain ; that, after having carried on the attack
for a long time, without effect, the army retired

y. n. 347.]

OF ROME.

171

from that citadel ; that, by the same army,
Verrugo, in the country of the Volscians, was
retaken, great devastation made, and immense
booty captured, in the territories both of the
JBquans and Volscians.

LVL At Rome, [Y. R, 347. B. C. 405.]
as the commons gained the victory, so far as to
procure the kind of election which they pre-
ferred, so in the issue of it, the patricians were
victorious : for, contrary to the expectation of all,
three patricians were chosen military tribunes
with consular power ; Caius Julius lulus,
Publius Cornelius Cossus, and Caius Servili-
us Ahala. It is said that an artifice was prac-
tised by the patricians on the occasion, and the
Icilii charged them with it at the time ; that
by intermixing a number of unworthy candi-
dates with the deserving, they turned away the
people's thoughts from the plebeian candidates.
The disgust was excited by the remarkable
meanness of some of the number. Information
was now received that the Volscians and
JEquans, actuated by hopes, from having been
able to keep possession of the citadel of Car-
venta, or by anger, for the loss of the garrison
of Verrugo, had in conjunction commenced
hostilities, with the utmost force which they
could muster, and that the Antians were the
chief promoters of this measure ; for that
their ambassadors had gone about among
both those states, upbraiding their spiritless
conduct, saying that they had the year before
lain hid behind walls, and suffered the Romarfs
to carry their depredations through every part
of the country, and the garrison of Verrugo to
be overpowered. That now, armed troops, as
well as colonies, were sent into their terri-
tories; and that the Romans not only kept
possession of their property, and distributed it
among themselves, but even made presents of
a part of it to the Hernicians of Terentinum,
a district of which they had been stripped.
People's minds being inflamed by these repre-
sentations of the envoys, great numbers of the
young men were enlisted. Thus the youth of
all the several nations were drawn together to
Antium, and there pitching their camp, they
waited the attack. These violent proceedings
being reported at Rome, and exaggerated be-
yond the truth, the senate instantly ordered a
dictator to be nominated, their ultimate resource
in all perilous conjunctures. We are told that
this measure gave great offence to Julius and
Cornelius, and was not accomplished without
much ill tcmuer in others. The principal pa-

tricians, after many fruitless complaints against
the military tribunes, for refusing to be directed
by the senate, at last went so far, as to appeal
to the tribunes of the commons, representing,
that compulsory measures had been used by
that body even to consuls in a similar case.
The plebeian tribunes, overjoyed at this dissen-
sion among the patricians, made answer, that
" there was no support to be expected from
persons who were not accounted in the num-
ber of citizens, and scarcely of the human race.
If at any time the posts of honour should
cease to be confined to one party, and the peo-
ple should be admitted to a share in the admi-
nistration of government, they would then
exert their endeavours to prevent the decrees
of the senate being invalidated by any arrogance
of magistrates. Until then, the patricians,
who were under no restraint in respect to the
laws, might by themselves manage the tribuni-
tian office along with the rest."

LVII. This connection, at a most unsea-
sonable time, and when they had on their
hands a war of such importance, occupied every
one's thoughts ; until at length, after Julius and
Cornelius had for a long time descanted, by
turns, on the injustice done them in snatching
out of their hands the honourable employment
intrusted to them by the people, (they being
sufficiently qualified to conduct the war,) Ser-
vilius Ahala, one of the military tribunes, said,
that " he had kept silence so long, not because
he was in doubt as to the part he ought to
take ; for what good citizen would consider his
own emolument, rather than that of the pub-
lic ? but because he wished that his colleagues
would, of their own accord, yield to the au-
thority of the senate, rather than let supplica-
tions be made to the college of tribunes, for
support against them. That notwithstanding
what had passed, if the situation of affairs
would allow it, he would still give them time
to recede from an opinion, too obstinately
maintained. But as the exigencies of war
would not wait on the counsels of men, he
would prefer the interest of the commonwealth
to the regard of his associates ; and if the se-
nate continued in the same sentiments, he
would, on the following night, nominate a dic-
tator ; and if any person protested ' against the
senate passing a decree, he would consider a

1 Many circumstances might prevent the senate's
passing a decree ; in such cases the opinion of the ma-
jority was recorded, and was called tenatut auctorita*.
It might be referred to the people fur coufiiination.

172

THE HISTORY

[BOOK iv.

vote of that bod}' as sufficient authority." By
this conduct, having, deservedly, obtained the
praises and continuance of all, after he had
nominated Publius Cornelius dictator, he was
himself appointed by him master of the horse,and
afforded an example to such as observed his case,
and that of his colleagues, that honours and pub-
lic favour sometimes offer themselves the more
readily to those who show no ambition for them.
The war produced no memorable event. In
one battle, and that gained without diffi-
culty, the enemy were vanquished at Antium.
The victorious army laid the lands of the Vol-
scians entirely waste. Their fort, at the lake
Fucinus, was taken by storm, and in it three
thousand men made prisoners ; the rest of the
Volscians were driven into the towns, without
making any attempt to defend the country.
The dictator having conducted the war in such
a manner as showed only that he was not neg-
ligent of fortune's favours, returned to the city
with a greater share of success than of glory,
and resigned his office. The military tribunes,
without making any mention of an election of
consuls, I suppose through pique for the ap-
pointment of a dictator, issued a proclamation
for the choosing of military tribunes. The
perplexity of the patricians became now greater
than ever, when they saw their cause betrayed
by men of their own order. In like manner,
therefore, as they had done the year before, they
set up as candidates the most unworthy of the
plebeians, thus creating a disgust against all of
these, even the deserving; and then, by en-
gaging those patricians who were most eminent-
ly distinguished by the splendour of their
character, and by their interest, to stand forth
as candidates, they secured every one of the
places, according to their wish. There were
four military tribunes elected, [Y. B. 348. B.
C. 404.] all of whom had already served, Lucius
Furius Medullinus, Caius Valerius Potitus,
Numerius Fabius Vibulanus, and Caius Ser-
vilius Ahala : the last being continued in office,
by re-election, as well on account of his other
deserts, as in consequence of the popularity
which he had recently acquired by his singular
moderation.

L VIII. In that year, the term of the truce
with the Veientian nation being expired, am-
bassadors and heralds were employed to make
a demand of satisfaction for injuries, who, on
coming to the frontiers, were met by an em-
bassy iiom the Veientians. These requested

that the others would not proceed to Veii, un-
til they should first have access to the Roman
senate. From the senate they obtained, that,
in consideration of the Veientians being dis-
tressed by intestine dissensions, satisfaction
should not be demanded : so far were they
from seeking, in the troubles of others, an oc-
casion of advancing their own interests. In
another quarter, and in the country of the Vol-
scians, a disaster was felt in the garrison at
Verrugo being lost. On which occasion so
much depended on time, that though the troops
besieged there by the Volscians had requested
assistance, and might have been succoured, if
expedition had been used, the army sent to their
relief came only in time to destroy the enemy,
who, just after putting the garrison to the
sword, were dispersed in search of plunder.
This dilatoriness was not to be imputed to the
tribunes, so much as to the senate ; who, be-
cause they were told that a very vigorous resis-
tance was made, never considered, that there
are certain limits to human strength, beyond
which no degree of bravery can proceed. These
very gallant soldiers, however, were not with-
out revenge, both before and after their death.
In the following year [Y. R. 349. B. C. 403.]
Publius and Cneius Cornelius Cossus, Nume-
rius Fabius Ambustus, and Lucius Valerius
Potitus being military tribunes with consular
power, war was commenced against the Veien-
tians, in resentment of an insolent answer of
their senate j who, when the ambassadors de-
manded satisfaction, ordered them to be told,
that if they did not speedily quit the city, they
would give them the satisfaction which Lars
Tolumnius had given. The Roman senate
being highly offended at this, decreed, that the
military tribunes should, as early as possible,
propose to the people the proclaiming war
against the Veientians. As soon as that pro-
posal was made public, the young men openly
expressed their discontent. The war "with
the Volscians," they said, " was not yejt at an
end ; it was not long since two garrisons were
utterly destroyed, and one of the forts was with
difficulty retained. Not a year passed, in which
they were not obliged to meet an enemy in the
field, and, as if these fatigues were thought too
trifling, a new war was now set on foot against
a neighbouring, and most powerful nation, who
would soon rouse all Etruria to arms." These
discontents, first suggested by themselves, were
farther aggravated by the plebeian tribunes

v.n.349.]

OF ROME.

173

who affirmed, that " the war of greatest mo-
ment subsisting, was that between the patricians
and plebeians. That the latter were designed-
ly harassed by military service, and exposed
to the destructive weapons of enemies. They
were kept at a distance from the city, and
in a state of banishment, lest, should they
enjoy rest at home, they might turn their
thoughts towards liberty, and the establishment
of colonies, and form plans, either for obtain-
ing possession of the public lands, or assert-
ing their right of giving their suffrages with
freedom." Then taking hold of the veterans,
they recounted the years which each of them
had served, their wounds and scars, asking,
" where was there room on their bodies to re-
ceive new wounds ? what quantity of blood had
they remaining which could be shed for the
commonwealth." As they had by these insi-
nuations and remarks, thrown out in pubb'c
assemblies, rendered the commons averse from
the war, the determination on the proposition
was adjourned, because it was manifest, that if
it came before them, during the present ill-hu-
mour, it would certainly be rejected.

LIX. It was resolved, that, in the mean-
time, the military tribunes should lead an ar-
my into the territories of the Volscians.
Cneius Cornelius alone was left at Rome.
The three tribunes, finding that the Volscians
had not any where formed a camp, and
that they were resolved not to hazard a
battle, divided their forces into three parts,
and set out towards different quarters to waste
the enemy's country. Valerius directed his
march to Antium, Cornelius to Ecetra, and
wherever they came, they made extensive de-
predations both on the lands and houses, in
order to separate the troops -of the Volscians.
Fabius marched, without plundering, to attack
Anxur, which was the principal object in view.
Anxur is a city which we now call Tarracinae,
situated on a declivity adjoining a morass. On
this side, Fabius made a feint of attacking it,
but sent round four coho'rts under Caius Ser-
vDius Ahala, who, having seized on an emi-
nence which commands the city, assailed the
walls, with great shouting and tumult, and
where there was no guard to defend them.
Those, who were employed in protecting the
lower part of the city against Fabius, being
stunned and in amazement at this tumult, gave
him an opportunity of applying the scaling
ladders. Every place was quickly filled with

the Romans, and a dreadful slaughter continu-
ed a long time without distinction of those who
fled and those who made resistance, of the
armed or unarmed. The vanquished therefore
were under the necessity of fighting, there
being no hope for such as retired, until an or-
der was suddenly proclaimed, that no one
should be injured except those who were in
arms, which induced all the surviving multi-
tude instantly to surrender. Of these, there
were taken alive, to the number of two thous-
and five hundred. Fabius would not suffer his
soldiers to meddle with the spoil, until his col-
leagues arrived, saying, that those armies had
also a part in the taking of Anxur, who had
diverted the other troops of the Volscians from
the defence of the place. On their arrival,
the three armies plundered the city, which a
long course of prosperity had filled with opu-
lence ; and this liberality of the commanders
first began to reconcile the commons to the
patricians : which end was soon after promot-
ed ; for the principal nobility, with a generosi-
ty towards the multitude the most seasonable
that ever was shown, procured a decree of the
senate, and before such a scheme could be
mentioned by the tribunes or commons, that
the soldiers should receive pay out of the pub-
lic treasury,1 whereas hitherto every one had
served at his own expense.

LX. No measure, we are told, was ever re-
ceived by the commons with such transports of
joy : they ran in crowds to the senate-house,
caught the hands of the senators as they came
out, declaring that they were fathers in reality,
and acknowledging that their conduct had been
such, that every man, whilst he had any share
of strength remaining, would risk his person
and property, in the cause of a country so li-
beral to its citizens. Whilst they were de-
lighted with the comfortable prospect of their
private substance, at all events resting unim-
paired, during such time as they should be con-
signed over to the commonwealth, and employ-
ed in its service, their joy received a manifold
addition, and their gratitude was raised to a
higher pitch, from the consideration that
this had been a voluntary grant, having never
been agitated by the tribunes, nor attempted

1 The toot soldiers only. The horse did not receive
pay until three years after. The pay of a foot soldier,
in the time of the second punic « ar, was three astet,
too small, if they had not received an allowance of corn
and sometimes of clothes.

174

THE HISTORY OF ROME.

[[BOOK iv.

to be gained by any requisitions of their own.
The plebeian tribunes, alone, partook not of
the general satisfaction and harmony diffused
through every rank, but averred, that " this
would not prove such matter of joy, nor so hon-
ourable to the patricians, as they themselves
imagined. That the plan appeared better on
the first view, than it would prove on experience.
For how could that money be procured unless
by imposing a tax on the people ? They were
generous to some, therefore, at other's expense.
Besides, even though this should be borne,
those who had served out their time in the ar-
my would never endure that their successors
should be retained on better terms than they
themselves had been ; and that they should
bear the expense first of their own service and
then of that of others." These arguments had
an effect on great numbers of the commons.
At last, on the publication of the decree for
levying the tax, the tribunes went so far, as, on
their part, to give public notice, that they
would give protection to any person who should
refuse his proportion of the. tax for payment to
the soldiers. The patricians persisted in sup-
port of a matter so happily begun. They first
of all paid in their own assessment ; and there
being no silver coined at that time, some ofi(
them conveying their weighed brass to the
treasury in waggons, gave a pompous appear-
ance to their payments. This being done by
the senate with the strictest punctuality, and
according to their rated properties, the princi-
pal plebeians, connected in friendship with the
nobility, in pursuance of a plan laid down, be-
gan to pay ; and, when the populace saw these
highly commended by the patricians, and also
respected as good citizens by those of military
age, scorning the support of the tribunes, they
began at once to vie with each other in paying
the tax. The law being then passed for de-
claring war against the Veientians, a numerous
army, composed chiefly of volunteers, followed
the new military tribunes, with consular power,
to Veil.

LXI. These tribunes were Titus Quintius
Capitolinus, Publius Quintius Cincinnatus,
Caius Julius lulus a second time, Aulus Man-
lius, Lucius Furius Medullinus a second time,
and Manius JEmilius Mamercinus. [Y. R.
350. B. C. 402.] By these Veii was first in-
vested. A little before this siege began, a full
meeting of the Etrurians being held at the
temple of Voltumna, the question whether the
Veientians should be supported by the joint

concurrence of the whole confederacy, was left
undecided. During the following year the
siege was prosecuted with less vigour, because
some of the tribunes and their troops were
called away to oppose the Volscians. The
military tribunes, with consular power, of this
year were, Caius Valerius Potitus a third time,
Manius Sergius Fidenas, Publius Cornelius
Maluginensis, Cneius Cornelius Cossus, Caeso
Fabius Ambustus, Spurius Nautius Rutilus, a
second time. [Y. R. 351. B. C. 401.] A
pitched battle was fought with the Volscians,
between Ferentinum and Ecetra, in which the
Romans had the advantage. Siege was then
laid by the tribunes to Artena, a town of the
Volscians. After some time, the enemy hav-
ing attempted a sally, and being driven back
into the town, the besiegers got an opportunity
of forcing their way in, and made themselves
masters of every place, except the citadel.
This fortress was naturally very strong, and a
body of armed men had thrown themselves
into it. Under its walls great numbers were
slain and made prisoners. The citadel was
then besieged, but it neither could be taken by
storm, because it had a garrison sufficient for
the size of the place, nor did it afford any hope
of a surrender, because, before the city was
taken, all the public stores of corn had been
conveyed thither; so that the Romans would
have grown weary of the attempt, and retired,
had not the fortress been betrayed to them by
a slave. He gave admittance, through a place
of difficult access, to some soldiers, who made
themselves masters of it ; and while they were
employed in killing the guards, the rest of the
multitude, losing all courage at the sight of
this unexpected attack, laid down their arms.
After demolishing both the citadel and city of
Artena, the legions were led back from the
country of the Volscians, and the whole power
of Rome turned against Veii. The traitor
received as a reward, besides his liberty, the
property of two families, and was called Ser-
vius Romanus. Some are of opinion,' that
Artena belonged to the Veientians, not to the
Volscians : a mistake occasioned by there
having been once a town of that name between
Caere and Veii. But that town the Roman
kings demolished ; it was the property of the
Caeritians, not of the Veientians ; this other
of the same name, the destruction of which
we have related, was in the country of the
Volscians.

THE

HISTORY OF ROME.

BOOK V.

On occasion of the siege of Veii, winter huts erected for the troops ; on account of which, being a new plan, the
tribune* of the people endeavour to excite discontent, complaining that no repose is given to the soldiers, even
in winter. The cavalry, for the first time, serve on horses of their own. Veii, after a siege of ten yeare, taken
by Furius Camillus, dictator. In the character of military tribune, he lays siege to Faliscij sends back the
children of the enemy, who were betrayed into his hands ; being charged with criminal conduct, goes into exile.
The Senonian Gauls lay siege to Clusium. Roman ambassadors, sent to mediate peace, take part with the
Clusians ; provoked at which, the Gauls march directly against Rome, and, after routing the Romans at the
Allia, take possession of the whole city, except the Capitol. Having scaled the Capitol in the night, they are
discovered by the cackling of geese, and repulsed, principally by the exertions of Marcus Manlius. The Romans,
compelled by famine, agree to ransom themselves. While they are weighing the gold, Camillus arrives with
an army beats off the Gauls, and destroys their army. He prevents the design of moving to Veil

I. PEACE now subsisted in all other quarters ;
[Y. R. 352. B. C. 400.] but the Romans and
Veientians were still in arms, and displayed
such violent rancour and animosity as made it
evident that utter destruction would be the fate
of the party vanquished. The election of ma-
gistrates in the two states was conducted in
very different methods. The Romans aug-
mented the number of their military tribunes
with consular power, electing eight, a number
greater than had hitherto been known. These
were Manius xKmilius Mamercinus a second
time, Lucius Valerius Potitus a third time,
Appius Claudius Crassus, Marcus Quintilius
Varus, Lucius Julius lulus, Marcus Postu-
mius, Marcus Furius Camillus, Marcus Postu-
mius Albinus. The Veientians, on the other
hand, disgusted at the annual intrigues of can-
didates, which were sometimes the cause of
violent dissensions, elected a king. This step
gave great offence to all the states of Etruria,
as, besides their abhorrence of kingly govern-
ment, they held the person elected in no less
detestation. He, out of the insolence of wealth,
and the arrogance of his temper, had, before this,
rendered himself obnoxious to the nation, by
violently breaking off the performance of cer-
tain annual games, the omission of which was

deemed an impiety : for, instigated by pique,
because another candidate for the office of priest
had been preferred before him, by the suffrages
of the twelve states, in the middle of the
solemnity, he abruptly carried away the per-
formers, of whom a great part were his slaves.
That nation, therefore, devoted beyond all
others to religious performances, the more so,
because they excelled in the conduct of them,
passed a decree, by which all aid was refused to
the Veientians, so long as they should continue
under the government of a king. At Veii, all
mention of this decree was suppressed by peo-
ple's dread of the king, who would have treated
any person, reported to have mentioned such a
matter, as a leader of sedition, not as the author
of an idle rumour. Although the Romans
received intelligence that all was quiet in
Etruria, yet, being also informed that this busi-
ness was again agitated in every one of their
meetings, they formed and strengthened their
fortifications in such a manner as gave them
security on both sides. Some they raised on
the part next the town, against the irruptions of
the townsmen; others on the side opposite Etru-
ria, so as to guard against any auxiliaries which
might come from thence.

II. The Roman generals, conceiving greater

176

THE HISTORY

[BOOK v.

hopes from a blockade, than from an assault,
resolved to curry on their operations during the
whole winter ; and accordingly they began to
erect huts, a proceeding quite new to Roman
soldiers. As soon as an account of this was
brought to the plebeian tribunes, who for along
time past found no pretext for starting new dis-
turbances, they flew out to meet the people in
assembly, and laboured to inflame the minds of
the commons, asserting, that " this was the
purpose for which pay for the soldiery had been
established ; nor had they been so blind, as not
to see, that such a present from their enemies
was tainted with poison. That the liberty of
the commons had been sold j their young men
carried away without hope of return, exposed
to the severity of winter, excluded from their
houses and family affairs. What did they sup-
pose was the reason for keeping the troops on
duty without intermission ? They would find
it, in fact, to be no other than the apprehen-
sion, lest, in case of the attendance of those
youths, in whom the whole strength of the com-
mons consisted, some steps might be taken to-
wards promoting their interests. Besides, the
men were more harassed, and subjected to
greater hardships than the Veientians. For
the latter passed the winter under their own
roofs, having their city secured by strong walls,
and its natural situation ; while the Roman sol-
diers, in the midst of labour and toils, lay per-
ishing in tents, overwhelmed by snow and frost ;
never laying their arms out of their hands even
in that severe season, which had ever given a
respite to all wars either on land or sea. Nei-
ther kings nor consuls, overbearing as they
were, before the institution of the tribunitian
office ; nor the stern government of a dictator ;
nor the arbitrary decemvirs ; ever imposed such
a puin as this of unremitting military service.
Yet military tribunes assumed that degree of
kingly power over the commons of Rome.
What would have been the behaviour of those
men, in the office of consul or dictator, who
have exhibited a picture of proconsular power
in colours of such harshness and cruelty ? but
this was no worse than what the people deserv-
ed. Among eight military tribunes, they did
not give room to one plebeian. Till of late,
the patricians used to find the utmost difficulty
in filling up three places ; but now they march
in files, eight deep, to take possession of the
posts of government ; and even in such a crowd,
no plebeian is found intermixed, who, if he

served no other purpose, might remind his col-
leagues, that the army was composed not of
slaves but of freemen ; of citizens who ought
to be brought home, at least in winter, to their
habitations, and the comforts of their own
roofs, and allowed, at some time of the year,
to visit their parents, children, and wives ; to
exercise the rights of Romans, and to take a
part in the election of magistrates." While
they exclaimed in these, and such like terms,
they were not unequally matched in an oppo-
nent, Appius Claudius, who had .been left at
home, by his colleagues, for the purpose of re-
pressing the turbulent schemes of the tribunes ;.
a man trained, from his youth, in contentions
with the plebeians ; who, some years before,
had recommended, as has been mentioned, the
disuniting the power of the tribunes by the
protests of their colleagues.

III. Endowed by nature with good abilities,
and possessed also of experience, from long
practice, he spoke on this occasion in the fol-
lowing manner : " If it ever was a matter of
doubt, citizens, whether the motives which led
the plebeian tribunes to foment sedition, on
every occasion, regarded your interests or their
own, I am confident that, in the course of this
year, every such doubt must have vanished ; and
while I rejoice at your being at length unde-
ceived in respect of a mistake of long continu-
ance, I cannot at the same time refrain from
congratulating you, and on your account the
commonwealth, that the delusion has been re-
moved by a train of prosperous events, rather
than by any other means. Is there a person
living, who is not convinced that the plebeian
tribunes were never so highly displeased and
provoked by any instance of the ill treatment
felt by you, if any such ever really existed, as
by the generosity of the patricians towards the
commons, in establishing pay for the army?
What other event do ye think they either dread-
ed then with so much anxiety, or wish so ar-
dently at present to obviate, as an union be-
tween the orders, which in their opinion 'would
prove the subversion of the tribunitian power ?
Thus, in fact, as labourers in the field of ini-
quity, they are at a loss for employment ; and
even wish, that there may be always some dis-
eased part in the commonwealth, for the cure
of which they may be employed by you. For
whether tribunes, are ye at present defending
the commons, or making an attack on them ?
Whether are ye adversaries of the soldiery, or

T. n. 35-2.]

OF ROME.

177

patrons of their cause ? Perhaps ye will say
thus, whatever the patricians do, we disapprove,
whether it be favourable or prejudicial to the
commons; and, just as masters forbid their
slaves to have any dealings with those belong-
ing to others, and think proper to cut off the
commerce between them either of kindness or
unkindness, ye, in like manner, interdict us,
the patricians, from all intercourse with the
commons ; lest by our civility and generosity
we should challenge their regard, and they be-
come obedient and willing to .be directed as
we might see best Would it not much better
become you, if ye had any of the sentiments,
or feelings, I say not, of fellow citizens, but
of human beings, rather to favour, and, as far
as in your power, to cherish this kindness of the
patricians, and the tractable disposition of the
commons ? Were such harmony once estab-
lished, on a permanent footing, who is there
that would not venture to engage, that this em-
pire would soon arrive at a height of grandeur
for beyond all the neighbouring states.

IV. "I shall hereafter explain to you, not
only the expediency, but the necessity, of the
plan adopted by my colleagues, of not drawing
off the troops at Veii, until the business shall
be completed. At present I choose to confine
my observations to the state of the soldiery;
and if what I shall say on that head were to be
spoken, not only before you, but also in the
camp, I am persuaded, that it would appeal-
reasonable to the army themselves. Indeed, if
my own understanding were incapable of sug-
gesting any arguments on the subject, I might
be well content with those which have been
thrown out in the discourses of our adversaries.
They lately insisted that pay ought not to be
given to the soldiers, because it had never been
given before. Upon what grounds, therefore,
can they now be displeased, if persons who
have received an addition of profit, beyond
what was usual, are enjoined to perform some
additional labour proportioned thereto ? In no
case is labour to be procured without emolu-
ment, nor emolument, in general, without the
expense of labour. Toil and pleasure, in their
natures opposite, are yet linked together in a
kind of necessary connection. Formerly, the
soldier deemed it a hardship to give up his la-
bour to the commonwealth, and to bear his own
expenses. At the same time, he found plea-
sure in having it in his power, for a part of the
year, to till his own ground, and to acquire the

means of supporting himself and his family, at
home, and in the field. At present, he has a
source of pleasure in the profits set apart for
him by the commonwealth, and he no doubt
receives his pay with joy. Let him, therefore,
bear with resignation the being detained a b'ttle
longer from his home and from his family af-
fairs, which are not now burthened with his
expenses. Suppose the commonwealth called
him to a statement of accounts, might it not
justly say, you receive pay by the year, give me
your labour by the year. Do you think it just,
that for half a-year's service, you should receive
a whole year's pay ? It is disagreeable to me,
Romans, to dwell on this topic ; for this kind
of proceeding suits only those, who employ
mercenary soldiers ; but we wish to deal, as
with our fellow citizens. Either, then, the
war ought not to have been undertaken, or it
ought to be conducted in a manner suited to"
the dignity of the Roman people, and to be
brought to a conclusion as soon as possible.
Now it will certainly be brought to a conclu-
sion, if we press forward the siege ; if we do
not retire, until we have attained the object of
our hopes, in the capture of Veii. In truth, if
there' were no other motive, the very discredit of
acting otherwise ought to urge us to persever-
ance. In former times, a city was held besieg-
ed for ten years on account of one woman, by
the united force of all the Greeks. At what a
distance from their homes ! What tracts ot
land and sea lying between ! Yet we grum-
ble at the fatigue of a siege of one year's
continuance, within less than twenty miles
of us, almost within sight of our city ;
because, I suppose, the ground of our quar-
rel is not sufficiently just to stimulate us to
persevere. This is the seventh time that
the people have rebelled. During peace, they
were never faithful to their engagements.
They have laid waste our territories a thousand
times. They have compelled the Fidenatians
to revolt from us ; have put to death our colo-
nists in that district ; and have been the insti-
gators of the impious murder of our ambassa-
dors, in violation of the laws of nations : they
have endeavoured, in short, to stir up all Etru-
ria against us ; and, at this day, are busy in the
same attempt : and scarcely did they refrain
from offering violence to our ambassadors who
demanded satisfaction. Against such peoplr,
ought war to be waged in a remiss and dilatory
manner ?

Z

178

THE HISTORY

EBOOK v-

V. " If such just causes of resentment have
no weight with us, have, I beseech you, the fol-
lowing considerations none ? The city has
been inclosed with immense works, by which
the enemy are confined within their walls. Of
late they have not tilled their lands ; and what
were cultivated before, have been laid waste in
the course of the war. If we withdraw our
army, who can doubt that not only through de-
sire of revenge, but even through the necessity
imposed on them of plundering the property of
others, since they have lost their own, they
will make an invasion on our territories ? By
such conduct, therefore, we should not defer
the war, but open it a passage into our own
frontiers. What shall we say, as to the cir-
cumstances immediately affecting the soldiers,
of whose interests your worthy tribunes have,
all on a sudden, grown so careful, after having
attempted to wrest their pay out of their hands?
How do they stand ? They have formed a
rampart and a trench, both works of immense
labour, through so great an extent of ground :
they have erected forts, at first only a few, af-
terwards a great number, when the army was
augmented ; and they have raised defences, not
only on the side next to the city, but also op-
posite Etruria, against any succours which
should arrive from thence. Why need I men-
tion towers, covered approaches, and the like ;
together with all the various machines used in
attacking towns ? Now, that such a quantity
of labour has been expended, and that they
have just come to the finishing of the work, do
ye think it would be prudent to abandon all
these preparations, that, the next summer, they
may be obliged to undergo again the same
course of toil and labour in forming them anew?
How much less difficult would it be, to support
the works already formed, to press forward, to
persevere, and thus at once to be set at rest ?
The business might soon be accomplished by
a uniform course of exertions ; for it is cer-
tain, that by thus interrupting and suspending
all proceedings, we absolutely hinder the at-
tainment of our own hopes. What I have said,
regards only the labour, and the loss of time.
But let me ask farther, can we disregard the
danger which we incur by procrastination, while
we see so frequent meetings held by the Etru-
rians on the subject of sending aid to Veii ?
As matters stand, at present, they are displeas-
ed and angry with that people ; declare that
they will not send them aid ; and for any con-

cern which they take in the affair, we are at
liberty to take Veii. But who can promise
that if we suspend our operations, they will be
in the same temper hereafter? For, if you
allow any relaxation, more respectable, and
more frequent, embassies will be despatched ;
and the very circumstance which now disgusts
the Etrurians, the establishment of a king at
Veii, may, in the interim, be done away, either
by the joint determination of the several mem-
bers of the state, for the sake of recovering the
friendship of Etruria, or by a voluntary act of
the king himself, who may be unwilling to con-
tinue on the throne, when he finds it an ob-
struction to the welfare of his countrymen. See
now how many consequences, and how detri-
mental, attend that method of proceeding ; the
loss of works formed with so great labour ; the
consequent devastation of our frontiers ; and,
instead of the Veientians, the whole nation of
Etruria united against us. These, tribunes,
are your plans, much indeed, of the same kind,
as if, in the case of a sick person, who by sub-
mitting to a regimen with resolution, might
quickly recover his health, should render his
disorder tedious, and perhaps incurable, for the
sake of the present pleasure which eating and
drinking would afford him.

VI. " I insist, that, though it were of no
consequence, with respect to the present war,
yet it is certainly of the utmost importance to
military discipline, that our soldiers be accus-
tomed, not only to enjoy the fruits of victory,
but, should the business prove tedious, to en-
dure the irksomeness of delay ; to wait the
issue of their hopes, though tardy ; and, if the
summer did not finish the war, to try what the
winter might produce ; and not, like birds of
spring, to look about for hiding places and
shelter, the moment autumn arrived. Consi-
der, I beseech you, how the pleasure of hunting
and eagerness in the chace hurry men through
woods and over mountains, in the midst of frost
and snow ; and shall we not bestow on flie ne-
cessary exigencies of war, the same degree of
patience, which is usually called forth, even by
sport and amusement ? Do we suppose the
bodies of our soldiers so effeminate, their minds
so feeble, that they cannot for one winter en-
dure the fatigue of a camp, and absence from
home ? That, like those who carry on war by
sea, they must regulate their operations by tak-
ing advantage of the weather, and observing
the seasons of the year ? That they are incapa-

Y. n. 352.]

OF ROME.

179

We of enduring either heat or coid ? I am con
vinced they would blush, if such things wen
laid to their charge, and would maintain tha
both their minds and bodies were possessed o
manly firmness : that they were able to perform
the duties of war, as well in winter as in sum-
mer: that they never had commissioned the
tribunes to patronize sloth and effeminacy ; am
remembered very well, that it was not under
their own roofs nor in the shade, that their an-
cestors established the tribuneship. Such
sentiments are worthy of the valour of soldiers,
such are worthy of the Roman name ; not to
consider merely the city of Veii, nor the pre-
sent .war, in which ye are employed, but to seek
a reputation which may last during other wars,
and among all other nations. Do ye look on
the difference between the characters which will
be applied to you, according to your conduct in
this affair, as a matter of trivial importance ?
Whether the neighbouring nations deem the
Romans to be soldiers of such a kind, that any
town which can withstand their first assault,
and that of very short continuance, has nothing
farther to apprehend ; or, whether our name be
terrible on this account, that neither the fatigue
of a tedious siege, nor the severity of winter,
can remove a Roman army from a place, which
it has once invested ; that it knows no other
termination of war, than victory ; and that its
operations are not more distinguished by brisk-
ness of action, than by steady perseverance ?,a
qualification which, as it is highly requisite in
every kind of military service, is most particu-
larly so in carrying on sieges of towns ; because
these being generally, from the nature of their
situation, and the strength of their works, im-
pregnable by assault, time alone overpowers and
reduces them by means of hunger and thirst, as
it will certainly reduce Veiij unless the tribunes
of the commons supply aid to the enemy, and
the Veientians find in Rome that support, which
they seek in vain in Etruria. Could any other
event so fully accord to the wishes of the Vei-
entians, as that the city of Rome first, and then,
by the spreading of the contagion, the camp,
should be filled with sedition? But now, among
the enemy, such a temperate disposition pre-
vails, that neither through disgust at the length
of the siege, nor even at the establishment of
kimrly government, has one change of measures
been attempted ; nor has the refusal of aid,
from the Etrurians, soured their temper ; be-
cause, if any one there proposes seditious mea-

sures, he will be instantly put to death ; nor
will any person be suffered to utter such things,
as are uttered among you without any fear of
punishment. He deserves the bastinade who
forsakes his colours, or quits his post : yet men
are heard, openly in public assembly, recom-
mending, not to one or two particular soldiers,
but to whole armies, to leave their colours, and
desert their camp. With such partiality are yc
accustomed to listen to whatever a plebeian
tribune advances, although it manifestly tends
to the ruin of your country, and the dissolution
of the commonwealth ; and so captivated are
ye by the charms of that office, that, under
shelter of it, ye suffer every kind of wickedness
to lurk unnoticed. They have but one step
farther to take, to engage the soldiers in camp,
in the same measures which they urge here with
so much clamour, to debauch the troops, and
allow them no longer to obey their officers,
since liberty, according to the present notion of
it at Rome, consists in casting off all reverence
for the senate, for the magistrates, for the laws,
for the practices of our ancestors, for the insti-
tutions of our fathers, and for military disci-
pline."

VII. Appius was now fully equal to a con-
tention with the plebeian tribunes, even in the
assemblies of the people, when a misfortune
suffered before Veii, by an effect which no one
could have expected, threw the superiority at
once on his side, and produced both an unusual
harmony between the orders of the state, and a
general ardour to push on the siege of Veii
with greater vigour. For when the trenches
bad been advanced almost to the very town, and
the machines were just ready to be applied to the
walls, the troops, employing greater assiduity
in forming their works by day, than in guard-
ing them by night, one of the gates was thrown
open on a sudden, and a vast multitude, armed
chiefly with torches, sallied forth, and set fire
to them on all sides ; so that the flames de-
stroyed in an instant both the rampart and the
machines, the construction of which had cost
so much time ; and great numbers of men, at-
tempting in vain, to save them, perished by
ire and the sword. When news of this dis-
aster arrived at Rome, it diffused a general
sadness through all ranks of men, and filled
;he senate also with anxiety and strong apprc-
lensions lest they should find it impossible to
vithstand any longer the machinations of the
editions, cither in the city, or the camp, and

180

THE HISTORY

[BOOK v.

lest the tribunes of the commons should insult
over the commonwealth, as if it lay vanquished
at their feet. At this juncture, those persons
who possessed equestrian fortunes, and bad not
had horses assigned them by the public, after
previously consulting together, went in a body
to the senate, and having obtained permission
to speak, declared their resolution to serve in
the army, on horses provided at their own ex-
pense. On which the senate returning them
thanks in the most honourable terms, and the
report of this proceeding having spread through
the forum, and all parts of the city, there im-
mediately ensued a general concourse of the
commons to the senate-house, where they de-
clared, that " they were now the infantry of
that army ; and that, though it was not their
turn to serve, yet they freely engaged in the
cause of the commonwealth, whether it should
be thought proper to lead them to Veii, or to
any other place. If they should be led to
Veii," they affirmed, " that they would never
return from thence, until that city should be
taken from the enemy." The senate now
scarce set any bounds to the torrent of joy
which flowed in upon them ; for they did not,
as in the case of the horsemen, pass an order
for thanks to be conveyed by the magistrates,
neither were the people called into the senate-
house to receive an answer ; nor did the sena-
tors confine themselves within their house ; but,
from the eminence adjoining, every one of
them eagerly, with voice and hands, testified
the public satisfaction, to the multitude who
stood below in the assembly ; declared, that,
by such unanimity, the city of Rome was ren-
dered happy, invincible, and everlasting ;
praised the horsemen, praised the commons ;
blessed even the day, as a day of happiness,
and acknowledged that the courtesy and kind-
ness of the patricians were now outdone, while,
through excess of joy, tears flowed in abun-
dance, both from the patricians and commons ;
until the senators, being called back into their
house, passed a decree, that " the military
tribunes, s'ummoning an assembly, should give
thanks to the infantry, and to the horsemen,
and should assure them, that the senate would
keep in remembrance the dutiful affection
which they had shown towards their country ;
and bad come to a resolution that every one
of those who had, out of turn, voluntarily
undertaken the service, should enjoy rank and
pay from that date." A certain stipend

was also assigned to the horsemen. This
was Jhe first instance of the cavalry serv-
ing on their own horses. This army of volun-
teers, being led to Veii, not only restored the
works which had been destroyed, but erected
new ones. Greater care than ever was used in
sending them supplies from the city, that no
kind of accommodation should be wanting to
troops who merited so highly.

VIII. The ensuing year [Y. R. 353. B. C.
399. ] had military tribunes with consular power,
Caius Servilius Ahala a third time, Quintns
Servilius, Lucius Virginius, Quintus Sulpi-
cius, Aulus Manilas a second time, Manius
Sergius a second time. In their tribunate,
whilst all men's attention was directed to the
Veientian war, the security of the garrison at
Anxur was neglected, the soldiers obtaining
leave of absence, and the Volscian traders
being freely admitted : the consequence of
which was, that the guards at the gates were
suddenly overpowered, and the place taken by
surprise. The number of soldiers slain was
the less, because, except the sick, they were
all employed like suttlers, in trafficking about
the country and the neighbouring cities. Nor
did better success attend the operations before
Veii, which were then the grand object which
engrossed all the public solicitude; for the
Roman commanders showed a stronger dis-
position to quarrel among themselves, than to
act with spirit against the enemy. Besides,
the power of their adversaries received an ad-
dition, by the unexpected arrival of the Cape-
natians and Faliscians. These two states of
Etruria, contiguous in situation to Veii, judged
that, should that city be conquered, they
should be the next exposed to the attacks of
the Romans. The Faliscians were farther in-
duced, by a reason particularly affecting them-
selves, to enter into the quarrel, as having been
formerly a party in the war of the Fidenatians :
wherefore, after having, by reciprocal em-
bassies, ratified their engagements with an
oath, they advanced with their forces to Veii, at
a moment when no one thought of their coming.
They happened to attack the camp on that
quarter, where Manius Sergius, military tri-
bune, commanded, which caused a violent
alarm ; for the Romans imagined that all Etru-
ria had been set in motion, and had come out
in a mass against them. The same opinion
roused to action the Veieritians in the city.
Thus the camp was attacked on both sides ;

Y. n. 354.]

OF ROME.

181

and the troops, in opposing the attempts of
the enemy, being obliged to wheel round their
battalions from one post to another, could nei-
ther effectually confine the Veientians within
their fortifications, nor repel the assault from
their own works, nor even defend themselves
on the outer side. Their only hope was, that
they might be reinforced from the greater camp,
and then the several different legions would
support the different parts of the fight, some
against the Capenatians and Faliscians, others
against the sallies from the town. But that
camp was commanded by Virginius, between
whom and Sergius there subsisted a personal
hatred : on being informed that most of the
forts were attacked, the fortifications scaled,
and that the enemy poured in on both sides, he
kept his men within his own works, under
arms, saying, that if there were need of a rein-
forcement, bis colleague would send to him.
His arrogance was equalled by the obstinacy of
the other, who, rather than appear to have ask-
ed any assistance from a person with whom he
was at variance, chose to be conquered by
the enemy. His troops, inclosed on either
side, suffered great slaughter for a long time ;
at last, abandoning the works, a very small
part of them made their way to the principal
camp ; the greater number with Sergius him-
self, proceeded to Rome ; here as he threw the
entire blame on his colleague, it was determin-
ed that Virginius should be called home, and
that in the mean time the lieutenant-generals
should hold the command. The affair was
taken into consideration by the senate, where
the dispute between the colleagues was carried
on with mutual recriminations. Few of the
members regarded the interests of the com-
monwealth, each adhered to one, or the other,
just as he happened to be prejudiced by private
regard, or interest.

IX. The principal senators were of opinion,
that whether the misconduct, or the misfortune
of the commanders, had been the cause of such
an ignominious overthrow, they ought not to
wait for the regular time of election, but to
create immediately new military tribunes, who
should enter into office on the calends of Oc-
tober. While the members were proceeding to
show their assent to this opinion, the other mi-
litary tribunes offered no objection ; but Ser-
pius and Virginius, to whose behaviour it was
fviik-ntly owing that men wished to get rid of
the magistrates of that year, at first deprecated

the ignominy which would hereby oe thrown
upon them, and afterwards protested against
the passing of the decree, and declared that
they would not retire from office before the
ides of December, the usual day for others en-
tering into office. On this the tribunes of the
commons, who, during the general harmony
and the prosperity of public affairs, had unwil-
lingly kept silence, at once assuming confi-
dence, threatened the military tribunes, that,
unless they submitted to the direction of the
senate, they would order them to be carried to
prison. Then Caius Servilius Ahala, one of
the military tribunes, said, "As to your part,
tribunes of the people, I assure you I would
with great pleasure put it to the proof, whether
your threats are more destitute of authority, or
yourselves of spirit. But I consider it as im-
pious to act in opposition to the will of the
senate ; wherefore on the one hand, I desire
that ye may desist from seeking in our dis-
putes for an opportunity of doing mischief;
and on the other hand, either my colleagues
shall act according to the order of the senate,
or if they persist any farther in opposition, I
will instantly nominate a dictator, who wilt
compel them to retire from office." This dis-
course being received with universal approba-
tion, and the senators rejoicing that another
power had been thought of, which, by its su-
perior authority, might reduce the magistrates
to order, without the terrors of the tribunitian
office, those magistrates yielded to the univer-
sal desire of the public, and held an election of
military tribunes, who were to enter into of-
fice on the calends of October; and before
that day, they divested themselves of the nuu
gistracy.

X. [Y. R. 354-. B. C. 398.] This
military tribunate with consular power, of
Lucius Valerius Potitus a fourth time, Mar-
cus Furius Camillus a second, Manius uEmi-
lius Mamercinus a third, Cneius Cornelius
Cossus a second, Cccso Fabius Ambustus, and
Lucius Julius lulus, was occupied by a multi-
plicity of business both civil and military : for
the operations of war were to be carried on in
many different places at once, at Veii, and at
Capena ; at Falerii, and among the Volscians
for the recovery of Anxur. Then at Rome,
there was great uneasiness, occasioned by the
levying of troops, and at the same time by the
paying in of the tax. There was also a strug- '
gle about the appointment of the plebeian tri-

182

THE HI S.TORY

[BOOK v.

bunes ; while the trial of two of those, who
had lately been invested with consular power,
excited no trifling disturbance. The military
tribunes applied themselves, first of all, to the
raising of troops, and not only the younger men
were enlisted, but the elder citizens also were
compelled to give in their names, to serve as a
garrison to the city. Now, in proportion as the
number of soldiers was augmented, so much
the more money became necessary for their pay,
and this was made up by a tax which was very
unwillingly paid by those who remained at
home, because, as the guard of the city lay
upon them, they must also perform military
duty, and give their labour to the public.
These circumstances, grievous in themselves,
were set forth in more provoking terms, in the
seditious harangues of the plebeian tribunes,
who insisted, that " the establishment of pay to
the soldiers was intended for the purpose of
ruining one-half of the commons, by the fatigues
of war, and the other half, by a tax. That
one war had now been protracted to the fifth
year ; and was conducted, without success, de-
signedly, in order that it might afford them the
longer employment. Besides, armies had been
enlisted at one levy for four different expedi-
tions, and even boys and old men dragged from
their homes. That no distinction was made
between summer and winter, lest any respite
should be allowed to the wretched commons j
who, now, as the finishing stroke, had been
made subject to a tax ; so that when they should
return, with their bodies wasted through toils,
wounds, and even age, and find every thing at
home in disorder, from the long absence of
the owners, would at the same time be obliged,
out of their ruined property, to refund in a
manifold proportion, to the state, the money
which they had received as pay, as if it had been
taken up at usurious interest." Between the
levy, and the tax, and from men's thoughts
being occupied by more important concerns,
the number of plebeian tribunes could not be
filled up on the day of election. A violent ef-
fort was afterwards made to have patricians
assumed into the vacant places, but that being
found impracticable, another plan was adopted,
for the purpose of weakening at least the
authority of the Trebonian law, by the as-
sumption of Caius Lacerius and Marcus Acu-
tius as plebeian tribunes ; and this was effected
evidently by the influence of the patricians.
XL It so happened, that this year Caius

Trebonius was a plebeian tribune : and he con-
sidered it as a duty incumbent on his name and
family, to patronize the Trebonian law. He
therefore complained loudly, that " a measure
which had been attempted by some patricians,
and in which they were baffled at their first
setting out, had been violently carried by the
military tribunes :— that the Trebonian law had
been subverted, and plebeian tribunes elected,
not in conformity to the suffrage of the people,
but to the mandate of the patricians. That
the matter was brought to this issue, that
people must be content to see the office of ple-
beian tribune filled either by patricians or their
dependants : — that all the advantages of the de-
voting laws were wrested from them, and the
tribunitian power forcibly transferred to other
hands. And he insisted, that this must have
been effected, either by some artifices of the
patricians, or by the villany and treachery of
his colleagues." The public being inflamed
with a high degree of resentment not only
against the patricians, but the tribunes of the
people also ; as well those who had been elect-
ed, as those who had elected them ; three of
that body, Publius Curatius, Marcus Metilius,
and Marcus Minucius, greatly alarmed for
their own interests, made an attack on Sergius
and Virginius, military tribunes of the former
year, and, by a prosecution which they com-
menced, turned off upon them the anger of the
commons, and the resentment of the public.
They desired people to " take notice, that
such as felt themselves aggrieved by the levy,
by the tax, by long service in the army, and
the distance of the seat of war ; such as la-
mented the loss sustained at Veii ; such as had
their houses in mourning for the loss of chil-
dren, brethren, kinsmen, and relations j all
these had now, by their means, both the right
and the power afforded them, of avenging
the public and private calamities on the two
persons who were the guilty causes of them.
For to Sergius and Virginius were owjng,"
they asserted, " all their misfortunes. And
that was not more fully evinced by the charge
of the prosecutor, than by the acknowledgment
of the defendants ; who, being equally con-
scious of crime, each imputed it to the other ;
Virginius charging Sergius with cowardice;
Sergius, Virginius with treachery. The ab-
surdity of whose conduct was so great, that
there was a high degree of probability that the
whole affair had been transacted by concert.

Y. R. 354.]

OF ROME.

18.1

and according to a wicked design of the patri-
cians ; who, for the purpose of protracting the
war, first gave the Veientians an opportunity
to bum the works, and now had delivered up
an army to the sword of the enemy, and sur-
rendered a Roman camp to the Faliscians.
The management of all affairs was directed to
one end, that the young men should grow old
before Veii ; and that the tribunes should be
thereby deprived of the power of taking the
sense of the people, either concerning the lands,
or any other advantages of the commons : of
having their plans supported by a numerous at-
tendance of citizens, or of making head against
the conspiracy of the patricians. That the
cause of the defendants had been already pre-
judged by the senate, by the Roman people,
and by their own colleagues. For, by a decree
of the senate, they had been removed from the
administration of government; and, refusing
to resign their office, had been constrained to
submit by their colleagues, who threatened
them with a dictator ; and that the Roman
people had elected tribunes, who were to as-
sume the government, not on the usual day, the
ides of December, but instantly on the calends
of October ; because the continuance of the for-
mer in office was -incompatible with the safety
of the commonwealth. Yet, after all this, those
men, censured and overwhelmed by so many
decisions against them, presented themselves
for trial before the people, and imagined tftat
they were discharged, and had undergone suf-
ficient punishment, because they had been re-
duced to the rank of private citizens two months
sooner than ordinary ; never considering, that
this was only taking out of their hands the
power of doing farther mischief, not inflicting
punishment ; their colleagues, who were mani-
festly clear of all share of the blame, being de-
prived of authority as well as themselves.
They requested that the citizens of Rome
would resume the same sentiments which they
had felt when the disastrous event was recent,
when they beheld the army flying in consterna-
tion, covered with wounds, and filled with dis-
may ; pouring into the gates, accusing not for-
tune, nor any of the gods, but these their com-
rades. They were confident, that there was
not a man present in the assembly who did not,
on that day, utter execrations and curses against
the persons, the families, and fortunes of Lu-
cius Virginius and Marcus Sergius. And it
would be the highest inconsistency if they did

not now, when it was not only lawful but their
duty, exert their own power against those, on
whom each of them had imprecated the ven-
geance of the gods. The gods themselves ne-
ver laid their hands on the guilty, it was enough
if they armed the injured with power to take
revenge. "

XII. Instigated by such discourses, the com-
mons condemned the accused in a fine of ten
thousand asses in weight ; ' while Sergius in
vain alleged that the miscarriage was to be im-
puted to fortune and the common chance o
war : and Virginius made earnest supplications
that they would not render him more unfortu-
nate at home than he had been in the field.
The current of popular resentment, having
been thus turned against them, almost obh'ter-
ated the remembrance of the assumption of
tribunes, and the fraudulent infraction of the
Trebonian law. The victorious tribunes, in
order that the commons might reap an imme-
diate advantage from their effort, published a
proposal of an agrarian law, and forbade the
tax to be paid, since pay was required for such
a number of troops, while the success of their
arms in any of the wars had been no more than
sufficed to keep their hopes in suspense. At
Veii, the camp which had been lost was reco-
vered, and strengthened with forts and a garri-
son. Here Marcus ^milius and Caeso Fa-
bius, military tribunes, commanded. Marcus
Furius in the territory of the Faliscians, and
Cneius Cornelius in that of the Capenatians,
meeting with none of the enemy in the field,
drove off the spoil and ravaged the country,
burning all the houses and the fruits of the earth.
The towns they neither assaulted nor besieged.
But in the country of the Volscians, after the
lands had been wasted, Anxur was assaulted,
though without success. Being seated on a
lofty eminence, and force being found ineffec-
tual, it was determined to surround it with H
rampart and trench. This province of the
Volscians had fallen to Valerius Potitus.
While the business of the campaign was in this
state, a sedition burst out at home, with more
formidable violence than appeared in the opera-
tions against the enemy. And as the tribunes
would not suffer the tax to be paid, and conse-
quently no remittances were made to the gene-
rals for the payment of the troops, and as the
soldiers clamorously demanded their due, there

1 L.32 5». 10d.

184

THE HISTORY

[BOOK v.

was the greatest danger that the contagion of
sedition might spread from the city, and the
camp also be involved in the confusion. Though
the commons were so much incensed against
the patricians, and though the plebeian tribunes
asserted, that the time was now come for es-
tablishing liberty, and transferring the supreme
dignity from such as Sergius and Virginius, to
men of plebeian rank, men of fortitude and in-
dustry, yet they proceeded no farther in gratifi-
cation of their passion, than the election of one
plebeian, Publius Licinius Calvus, [Y. R. 335.
JB. C. 397.] to the office of military tribune
with consular power, for the purpose of estab-
lishing their right by a precedent. The others
elected were patricians, Publius Mienius, Lu-
cius Titinius, Publius Maelius, Lucius Furius
Medullinus, and Lucius Publius Volscus.
The commons themselves were surprised at
having carried such an important point, no less
than the man himself who had been elected, a
person who had no post of honour before, al-
though a senator of long standing, and now far
advanced in years. Nor does it sufficiently ap-
pear why he was chosen in preference to others,
to taste the first sweets of this new dignity.
Some are of opinion, that he was appointed to
so high a station by the influence of his brother
Cneius Cornelius, who had been military tri-
bune the preceding year, and had given triple
pay to the cavalry. Others, that it was owing
to a seasonable .discourse, made by himself, re-
commending harmony between the orders of
the state, which was equally acceptable to the
patricians and plebeians. The plebeian tri-
bunes, filled with exultation by this victory in
the election, remitted their opposition with
respect to the tax, which was the principal ob-
struction to the public business. It was then
paid in without murmuring, and sent to the
army

XIII. In the country of the Volscians,
Anxur was quietly retaken, through the neglect
of the guards on a festival day. This year was
remarkable for a cold winter and great fall of
snow, so that the roads were impassable, and
the navigation of the Tiber shut up. There
was no change in the price of provisions, con-
siderable stores having been previously collect-
ed. As Publius Licinius had obtained his of-
fice without any riotous proceeding, to the
great joy of the commons, and the no less mor-
tification of the patricians, so the same regu-
Jaritv was preserved through the whole course

of his administration. Hence the people- be-
came enraptured with the thoughts of choosing
plebeians at the next election of military tri-
bunes. [Y. R. 356. B. C. 396.] Of the pa-
trician candidates, Marcus Veturius alone car-
ried his election. The centuries almost unani-
mously appointed the following plebeians
military tribunes with consular power : Marcus
Pomponius, Caius Duilius, Volero Publilius,
Cneius Genutius, and Lucius Atilius. The
severe winter, whether from the ill temperature
of the air occasioned by the sudden transition
from one extreme to the other, or from some
other cause, was succeeded by a sickly sum-
mer, fatal to all kinds of animals ; and as neither
the beginning nor end of the virulence of the
disorder could be discovered, the Sibylline
books were consulted, in pursuance of a decree
of the senate. The decemvirs who had the
direction of religious matters, then first intro-
duced the lecti-sternium1 in the city of Rome,
and decking out three couches with the utmost
magnificence which those times could afford,
implored thus the favour of Apollo, Latona,
and Diana ; and of Hercules, Mercury and
Neptune, for the space of eight days. The
same solemn rites were performed by private
persons. We are told, that the doors were
thrown open in every part of the city ; that »
every thing was exposed in public to be
used in common ; that passengers, whether
known or unknown, were universally invited
to lodgings ; and even that people at variance
refraining from animosity and ill language, con-
versed together with complaisance and kind-
ness. During those days too, such &j were in
confinement were set at liberty ; and that after-
wards people were deterred, by a religious scru-
ple, from imprisoning those persons to whom
the gods had brought such deliverance. Mean-
while dangers multiplied at Veii, to which
point the operations of three different wars were
concentred ; for the Capenatians and Faliscians
coming up unexpectedly to the relief of the
town, the troops were obliged in the same
manner as formerly, to make head against three

1 From teetus, a bed, or rather a couch, and sterna, to
spread. Upon couches of this kind the Romans reclined
at their meals, but especially at entertainments. Upon
this occasion these couches were brought out into the
streets, and being decorated in the most magnificent
manner, the statues of the gods and goddesses were laid
thereupon, and sumptuous banquets placed before them
Of these repasts all comer* were allowed to partake.

v. K. 357.]

OF ROME.

1S5

different armies, on different sides, through the
whole extent of their works. What contribut-
ed to their safety beyond every thing else, was
the recollection of the sentence passed on Ser-
gius and Virginius: so that a reinforcement
was quickly led round from the principal camp,
where the delay had been made in the former
case, and these fell upon the rear of the Cape-
natians, while their front was engaged against
the rampart of the Romans. The fight no
sooner began here, than it struck terror into
the Faliscians also, and a seasonable sally, made
from the camp while they were thus disorder-
ed, obliged them to turn their backs. The
victors then, pursuing them in their retreat,
made vast slaughter among them ; and, in a
short time after, a party, which had been em-
employed in ravaging the territory of Capena,
accidentally meeting them as they fled in con-
fusion, entirely cut off those who had survived
the fight. Great numbers of the Veientians
also, in their retreat to the city, were slain be-
fore the gates ; for, dreading lest the Romans
should force in along with them, they closed
the gates, and shut out the hindmost of their
own men. These were the transactions of
that year.

XIV. And now approached the election of
military tribunes, which seemed to engross a
greater share of the attention of the patricians,
than even the business of the war : for they saw
that the sovereign power was not only shared
with the commons, but almost entirely lost to
themselves. They therefore by concert, en-
gaged the most illustrious characters to stand
candidates, such as they believed people would
be ashamed to pass by ; the others, neverthe-
less, put in practice every possible expedient,
as if they had all been aiming at the same ob-
ject, and endeavoured to draw to their side, not
only men, but the gods, representing the elec-
tion held two years before in a light offensive
to religion : that " in the former of those years,
a winter came on with intolerable severity,
such as bore every appearance of a prodigy sent
from the gods. In the following, no longer
portents but events ensued ; a pestilence fell
on both country and city, manifestly displaying
the wrath of heaven ; whom, as was discovered
in the books of the fates, it was necessary to
appease, in order to avert that plague. It ap-
pears to the im mortals as an affront, that, in an
election held under their auspices, honours
should be prostituted, and the distinctions of
I.

birth confounded." The people being deeply
struck, both by the high dignity of the candi-
dates, and also by a sense of religion, chose all
the military tribunes with consular power from
among the patricians, the greater part of them
men who had been highly distinguished by pub-
lic honours : [Y. R, 357. B. C. 395.] Lucius
Valerius Potitus a fifth time, Marcus Valerius
Maximus, Marcus Furius Camillus a third
time, Lucius Furius Medullinus a third time,
Quintus Servilius Fidenas a second time, Quin-
tus Sulpicius Camerinus a second time. Dur-
ing their tribunate, nothing very memorable
was performed at Veii : the forces were wholly
employed in wasting the country : two com-
manders of consummate abilities did nothing
more than carry off vast quantities of spoil,
Potitus from Falerii, and Camillus from Ca-
pena, leaving nothing undestroyed that could be
injured either by sword or fire.

XV. In the mean time, many prodigies were
reported to have happened, the greater part of
which met with little credit, and were gene-
rally disregarded ; partly, because the accounts
rested on the testimony of single persons ; and
partly because, while they were at war with the
Etrurians, they could not procure aruspices to
perform the expiations. One of them, how-
ever, attracted universal attention ; the lake in
the Alban forest swelled to an unusual height,
without any rain or other cause, so that the
fact could only be accounted for by a miracle.
Commissioners were sent to the oracle at Del-
phi, to inquire what the gods portended by this
prodigy ; but an interpreter of the will of the
fates was thrown in their way nearer home : a
certain aged Veientian, amidst the scoffs thrown
out by the Roman and Etrurian soldiers, from
the out-posts and guards, pronounced, in the
manner of one delivering a prophecy, that " the
Roman would never be master of Veii, until
the water were discharged from the Alban
lake." This, at first, was disregarded, as
thrown out at random ; afterward it became the
subject of conversation : at length one of the Ro-
man soldiers on guard asked a townsman on the
nearest post, as from the long continuance of the
war they had come into the practice of convers-
ing with each other, who that person was, that
threw out those ambiguous expressions concern-
ing the Alban lake ; and, on hearing that he
was an aruspex, the man, whose mind was not
without a tincture of religion, pretending that
he wished to consult him on the expiation of u
2 A

186

THE HISTORY

[BOOK v.

private portent, enticed tbe prophet to a con-
ference. When they had proceeded free from
any apprehensions, being both without arms, to
a considerable distance from their parties, the
young Roman, having the superiority in
strength, seized the feeble old man, in the view
of all, and, in spite of the bustle made by the
Etrurians, carried him off to his own party.
Being conducted to the general, he was sent by
him to Rome to the senate ; and, on their in-
quiring the meaning of the information which
he had given concerning the Alban lake, he
answered, that " certainly the gods had been
incensed against the Veientian nation, on that
day when they prompted him to disclose the
decree of the fates, which doomed his native
country to destruction. What, therefore, he
had then delivered under the influence of divine
inspiration, he could not now recall, so as to
render it unsaid ; and perhaps the guilt of im-
piety might be contracted in as high a degree,
by concealing what it was the will of the gods
should be published, as by publishing what
ought to be concealed. Thus, therefore, it was
denounced in the books of the fates, and the
Etrurian doctrine, that whensoever the Alban
water should rise to an unusual height, if the
Romans should then discharge it in a proper
manner victory would be granted them over
the Veientians ; but until that should be done,
the gods would never abandon the walls of
Veii." He then gave directions with respect
to the proper method of draining it ; but the
senate, deeming his authority of but little
weight, and not to be entirely relied on in a
case of such importance, determined to wait
for the deputies, with the answer of the Pythian
oracle.

XVL Before the commissioners returned
from Delphi, [Y. R. 358. B. C. 394.] or the
method of expiating the Alban prodigy was
discovered, the new military tribunes with con-
sular power came into office. These were
Lucius Julius lulus, and Lucius Furius Me-
dullinus a fourth time, Lucius Sergius Fidenas,
Aulus Postumius Regillensis, Publius Corne-
lius Maluginensis, and Aulus Manlius. This
year there started up a new enemy, the Tar-
quinians ; who, seeing the Romans embroiled
in so many wars at once, against the Volscians
at Anxur, where the garrison was besieged ; at
Lavici against the 2Bquans, who were besieg-
ing the colony there; and also against the
Veientians and the Faliscians, and the Cape-

natians, while their affairs within the walls
were not less embarrassed by dissensions,
thought this a favourable season to attack them
with effect They sent their light-armed
cohorts to make depredations on the Roman
territories, concluding that the people would
either suffer that affront to pass unrevenged,
rather than burden themselves with an additional
war, or if they resented it, would send out an
army neither numerous nor strong. The Ro.
mans felt greater indignation at the affront than
concern for the loss sustained by the inroads of
the Tarquinians. They, therefore, undertook
the business without either much preparation or
Jong delay. Aulus Postumius and Lucius Julius
having collected a body of troops, not by a regu-
lar levy, for in that they were prevented by the
tribunes of the commons, but mostly volun-
teers, whom by persuasions they had prevailed
on to follow them, directed their march by cross
roads through the territory of Caere, and came
upon the Tarquinians unawares, as they were
returning from their depredations, heavily laden
with booty : they slew great numbers of their
men, got possession of all their baggage ; and,
having retaken the spoils of their lands, re-
turned to Rome. The space of two days was
allowed to the owners to reclaim their proper-
ty ; on the third, what remained unclaimed, the
greatest part of which had belonged to the
enemy, was sold by auction, and the produce
distributed among the soldiers. The issue of
the other wars, particularly that of Veii, still
remained doubtful. And now the Romans,
despairing of success through human aid, began
to look for succour towards the fates and the
gods, when the deputies arrived from Delphi,
bringing with them the decision of the oracle,
which corresponded with the answer of the
captive prophet. " Roman, beware lest the
Alban water be confined in the lake ; beware
lest thou suffer it to flow into the sea in a
stream. Thou shalt form for it a passage over
the fields ; and, by dispersing it in a multitude
of channels, consume it. Then press thou
boldly on the walls of the enemy ; assured, that
over the city which thou besiegest through so
many years, conquest is granted by these orders
of the fates, which are now disclosed. The war
concluded, do thou, possessed of victory, bring
ample offerings to my temples, and renewing
the religious rites of thy country, the obser-
vation of which has been neglected, perform
hem in the usual manner."

Y. R. 358.]

OF ROME.

187

XVII. The captive prophet, upon this, be-
gan to be held in very high esteem, and the
military tribunes, Cornelius and Postumius,
thenceforward consulted with him concerning
the expiration of the Alban prodigy, and the
proper method of appeasing the gods. It was
at length discovered what \vas that neglect of
ceremonies, and omission of customary rites,
for which they were blamed by the gods. It
was, in fact, nothing else than that the magis-
trates, their election being defective, had not,
with due regularity, directed the Latine festi-
val, ' and the anniversary solemnities on the
Alban mount. The only mode of expiation in
this case was, that the military tribunes should
resign the government, the auspices be taken
anew, and an interregnum appointed. All
which was performed, pursuant to a decree of
the senate. There were three interreges in
succession : Lucius Valerius, Quintus Servili-
us Fidenas, and Marcus Furius Camillas. In
the mean time the city was a scene of unceas-
ing confusion and disorder, the plebeian tri-
bunes refusing to let the elections proceed, un-
less a previous stipulation were agreed to, that
the greater number of the military tribunes
should be chosen out of the commons. During
these transactions, a general assembly of Etru-
ria was held at the temple of Voltumna, and
the Capenatians and Faliscians demanding that
all the states of Etruria should unite in the de-
sign of raising the siege of Veii, the answer
returned was, that " they had formerly given a
refusal of the same request to the Veientians,
because these ought not to apply for succour,
where, in a case of such consequence, they bad
not applied for advice. That at present, though
they of themselves would not refuse it, yet the
situation of their affairs compelled them so to
do : especially as in that part of Etruria, the

1 The Romans, Ltttines, and some states of the Her-
niriiuis and Volscians, met annually on the Alban mount
to celebrate this festival, in commemoration of the treaty
made with those states by Tarquin the Proud. It was
attended by the deputies of forty-seven states, who, un-
der the direction of the Roman consul, or other chief
magistrate, offered joint sacrifices to Jupiter, whom
they termed Latialit. In particular, they offered a
white bull, of which the deputies of each state received
* piece. The public festivals./erur, were of four kinds :
ttaticer, immoveable ; conceptiva, or indicia, moveable ;
imperatirtr, commanded on particular occasions ; and
nundintr, for holding markets ; so called, because the
time was fixed by proclamation : they were generally
celebrated by the consuls, before departure for their
province*.

Gauls, a race of men with whom they were
unacquainted, had lately become their neigh-
bours, and with whom they were not on a foot-
ing, either of secure peace, or of determined
war. Nevertheless, in consideration of the
blood, the name, and the present dangers of
their kinsmen, they would go so far, as that if
any of their young men chose to go to that war,
they would not hinder them." The arrival of
these was announced at Rome, as of a formi-
dable number of enemies ; and through the ap-
prehensions which this excited for the pubb'c
safety, the violence of their intestine quarrels
of course began to subside.

XVIII. Without causing any displeasure
to the patricians, the prerogative tribe,1 at the
election, chose for military tribune Publius Li-
cinius Calvus, although he had not declared
himself a candidate ; this honour was done him,
because in his former administration he had ap-
proved himself a man of moderation ; but he
was now in extreme old age. It was observed,
that those who had been his colleagues, in that
year, were re-elected in order ; Lucius TitinL
us, Publius Maenius, Publius Maelius, Cneius
Genutius, and Lucius Atilius. Before these
were proclaimed to the tribes, who were to vote
in the ordinary course, Publius Licinius Cal-
vus, with permission of the interrex, spoke to
this effect : " I consider it, Romans, as an
omen of concord, a thing essentially requisite
to the state at the present juncture, that, from
the remembrance of our former administration,
ye are desirous of re-electing the same col-
leagues, improved by experience. As to me,
ye no longer see me the same, but the shadow
and the name of Publius Licinius. The powers
of my body are decayed, my senses of sight and
hearing are grown dull, my memory falters, and
the vigour of my mind is blunted. Behold
here a youth," pursued he, holding his son,
" the representation and image of him whom
ye formerly made a military tribune, the first
plebeian that was ever so honoured. Him,
formed under my own discipline, I present
and dedicate to the commonwealth as a substi-

2 The prerogative tribe was that to which the lot fell
to vote first, at the election of magistrate*. Anciently,
the centuries were called to give their votes according
to the order established among them by Servius Tullius.
first, the eguitei, then the centuries of the first class,
&c. It was afterwards (at what time is not known)
determined by lot, nrtito, in what order they thoold
vote.

188

THE HISTORY

[BOOK v

tute in my stead. And I beseech you, Ro-
mans, that the honour which, of your own mo-
tion, ye offered to me, ye will vouchsafe to
grant to his petition, and to my prayers, which
I add in his behalf." This request of the fa-
ther was complied with and his son Pub-
lius Licinius was declared military tribune
with consular power, together with those
whom we mentioned before. [Y. R. 359.
B. C, 393.] The military tribunes, Titinius,
and Genucius, marched against the Faliscians
and Capenatians, and acting with more courage
than conduct, fell into an ambush. Genucius
atoned for his rashness by an honourable death,
falling among the foremost, and in the front of
the standards. Titinius, after rallying his
men, who had been thrown into the utmost
confusion, and leading them to a rising ground,
formed them again in order of battle ; but did
not venture to come down and meet the ene-
my. The disgrace was greater than the loss,
and had like to have proved the cause of
grievous misfortunes, so great was the alarm
which it excited, not only at Rome, where it
was highly exaggerated by report, but also in
the camp before Veil. Here the soldiers
were, with difficulty, restrained from flight, on
a rumour having spread, that the generals and
the army had been cut to pieces ; and that the
Capenatians and Faliscians, flushed with vic-
tory, and all the youth of Etruria were at no
great distance from their posts. Accounts
still more dreadful had gamed credit at Rome :
that the camp at Veii was already attacked,
and that part of the enemy were already on
their march to the city, prepared for an as-
sault. The men ran in crowds to the walls,
and the matrons, called out from their houses
by the public distraction, offered supplications
for protection in all the temples, beseeching
the gods to repel destruction from the Roman
walls, from the houses of the city, and the
temples, and to turn back such terrors on Veii,
if the sacred rites had been renewed, and the
prodigies expiated in due manner.

XIX. The games and the Latine festival
had now been performed anew, the water from
the Alban lake1 discharged on the fields, and
the fates demanded the ruin of Veii. Ac-

1 The remains of the sewer, a stupendous work, by
which the water was discharged, still subsist, at the
bottom of the hill on which stands Castel Gandolpho,
the olejfant country-retirement of the Pope.

cordingly, a general, selected both for the des-
truction of that city, and the preservation of
his native country, Marcus Furius Camillus,
was nominated dictator, and he appointed Pub-
lius Cornelius Scipio his master of the horse.
The change of the commander at once pro-
duced a change in every particular : even the
fortune of the city seemed to have assumed a
new face ; so that men felt themselves inspired
with different hopes and different spirits. He
first of all put in force the rules of military
discipline against such as had fled from Veii,
on the alarm excited there, and took effectual
care that the enemy should not be the principal
object of the soldier's fears. Then having, by
proclamation, appointed a certain day for hold-
ing a levy of troops, he made, in the meantime,
a hasty excursion in person to Veii in order to
strengthen the courage of the soldiers. From
thence he returned to Rome to enlist the
new army, and not a man declined the service.
Young men came even from foreign states,
Latines and Hernicians, offering their service
in the war : to whom the dictator returned
thanks in the senate. And now, having com-
pleted all necessary preparations for the cam-
paign, he vowed, in pursuance of a decree of
the senate, that he would, on the capture of
Veii, celebrate the great games : and would
repair and dedicate the temple of Mother
Matuta, which had been formerly consecrated
by king Servius Tullius. Marching out of
the city at the head of his army, while peo-
ple's anxiety was stronger than their hopes, he
came to the first engagement with the Fali-
scians and Capenatians, in the district of
Nepote, on which occasion every particul r
was conducted with consummate prudence and
skill ; success of course ensued. He not only
routed the enemy in battle, but took posses-
sion of their camp, and seized a vast quantity
of spoil, the greatest part of which was put
into the hands of the quaestor, and no great
share distributed to the soldiers. From thence
the troops were led to Veii, where additional
forts were erected at smaller distances from
each other, and by an edict, forbidding any to
fight without orders, the soldiers were taken
off from skirmishing, which had hitherto been
frequently practised between the walls and the
rampart of the camp, and their labour applied
to the works. Of these, the greatest by far
and most laborious was a mine, which they
undertook to carry into the citadel of the enemy.

Y. R. 359.]

OF ROME.

189

In order that there should be no interruption in
this, and at the same time that the same set of
persons should not, by uninterrupted labour
under ground, be spent with fatigue, he formed
the whole number of pioneers into six divisions,
and six hours were allotted for each division to
work in rotation ; nor did they stop either by
night or day, until they formed a passage into
the citadel.

XX. When the dictator now saw conquest
within his reach, and that he was on the point
of getting possession of a city of the greatest
opulence, the spoil of which would exceed in
quantity whatever had been obtained in all for-
mer wars taken together, fearing lest he might
incur either the resentment of the soldiers, as
being too sparing in his distribution of it, or
the displeasure of the senators as being pro-
fusely lavish, he despatched a letter to the
senate, that " through the favour of the im-
mortal gods, his own conduct, and the perse-
vering courage of the troops, Veii would
immediately be in the power of the Roman
people, and requested their directions with re-
gard to the spoil." Two opinions divided the
senate ; one was that of the elder Publius
Licinius, who being first called upon by his
son, as we are told, proposed a resolution, that
public notice should be given to the people by
proclamation, that whosoever chose to share
in the spoil should retire to the camp before
Veii. The other that of Appius Claudius,
who censured such profusion as unprecedented,
extravagant, and partial ; and which would also
be productive of ill consequences, if people
should once conceive an opinion that it would
be criminal to deposit in the treasury, when
exhausted by wars, the money taken from the
enemy. He therefore recommended it to them
to make that a fund for the payment of the
soldier's wages, to the end that the commons
might be eased of part of the tax. For " every
man's family," he said, " would feel its share
of such a bounty in equal proportion, and' the
hands of the idle city rabble, ever greedy of
rapine, would not then snatch away the prizes
due to men who had showed their bravery in war:
it being generally the case, that the man who is
most ready, on every occasion, to undertake
the largest share of toil and danger, is the least
active in plundering." Licinius, on the other
hand, argued, that in that case, the money would
be an eternal cause of jealousy and ill-humour,
would afford grounds for invidious representa-

tions to the commons, and, in consequence, for
seditions, and the enacting of new laws. " It
was therefore more to be desired," he said,
" that the affection of the commons might be
conciliated by a bounty of that kind ; that this
resource should be afforded them, after they
had been exhausted and entirely drained, by
the payment of the tax for so many years ; and
that they should enjoy the fruits arising from a
war, in which they had employed, one might
say, the better part of their lives. That what
a man took with his own hand from the enemy,
and brought home with him, would afford him
more satisfaction and delight, than a share
many times larger conferred on him by another.
That the dictator himself was aware of the
odium and the disagreeable reflections to wlu'ch
this business might subject him, and had for
that reason transferred the determination of it
from himself to the senate : and that the senate
ought, on their part, since the business had
been thus thrown upon them, to hand it over to
the commons, and let every man enjoy what the
chance of war should give him." This plan
was deemed the safer, as it promised to procure
popularity to the senate. Accordingly pro-
clamation was made, that all such as chose
might go to the camp of the dictator, to share
in the plunder of Veii. The vast multitude
who went entirely filled the camp.

XXI. Then the dictator, after taking the
auspices, came forth, and having previously
ordered the soldiers to take arms, spoke thus :
" O Pythian Apollo, under thy guidance, and
inspired by thy divinity, I am now proceeding
to destroy the city of Veii, and I devote to
thee the tenth part of the spoil thereof. Thee
also, imperial Juno, who now dwellest in Veii,
I beseech, that when we shall have obtained
the victory, thou wilt accompany us into our
city, soon to be thine own, where a temple shall
receive thee, worthy of thy majesty." After
these prayers, having more than a sufficient
number of men, he assaulted the city on every
quarter, in order to prevent their perceiving the
danger which threatened from the mine. The
Veientians, ignorant that they had been already
doomed to ruin by their own prophets, and
likewise by foreign oracles ; that the gods had
been already invited to a share in their spoil ;
that some of them listening to the vows by
which they had been solicited to forsake their
city, began to look towards the temples of the
enemy, and new habitations, and that this was

190

THE HISTORY

[BOOK v.

the last day of their existence ; tearing nothing
less, than their walls being already undermined,
and the citadel filled with enemies, ran briskly
in arms to the ramparts, wondering what could
be the reason, that when for so many days not
one Roman had stirred from his post, they
should now run up to the walls without appre-
hension, as if struck with a sudden fit of mad-
ness. A fabulous account has been given of
an incident happening at this juncture ; it is,
that while the king of the Veientians was offer-
ing sacrifice, the words of the aruspex were
heard in the mine, denouncing, that whoever
should cut up the entrails of that victim should
obtain the victory, and that this incited the
Roman soldiers to burst open the mine, seize
the entrails, and carry them to the dictator.
But in matters of such remote antiquity, I
think it enough, if relations which carry a re-
semblance of truth, be received as true ; stories
of this kind, better calculated for the extrava-
gant exhibitions of the stage, which delights in
the marvellous, than for gaining belief, it is j
needless either to affirm or refute. The mine
at this time, full of chosen men, suddenly dis-
charged its armed bands in the temple of Juno,
which stood in the citadel of Veii, some of
whom attacked the rear of the enemy on the
walls, some tore down the bars of the gates,
some set fire to the houses, from the roofs of
which stones and tiles were thrown by females
and slaves. Every place was filled with con-
fused clamour, composed of the terrifying
shouts of the assailants, and the cries of the
affrighted, joined to the lamentations of the
women and children. Those who defended
the works were in an instant beaten off, and
the gates forced open, where some entering in
bodies, others scaling the deserted walls, the
town was filled with the enemy, and a fight
commenced in every quarter. After great
slaughter the ardour of the combatants began
to abate, and the dictator, proclaiming orders
by the heralds, that no injury should be done to
the unarmed, put an end to the effusion of
blood. The townsmen then began to lay
down their arms and surrender, and the sol-
diers, with permission of the dictator, dispersed
in search of booty. When the spoil was col-
lected before his eyes, far exceeding both in
quantity and in the value of the effects all his
calculations and hopes, the dictator is said to
have raised his hands towards heaven, and
prayed, " that if any gods or men looked on

his success and that of the Roman people as
excessive, such jealousy might be appeased by
some calamity peculiar to himself alone, rather
than by the slightest detriment to the Roman
people." Jt is recorded, that as he turned him-
self about, during this address to the gods, he
stumbled and fell ; and this was considered
afterwards, by such as judged of the matter by
the events which followed, to be an omen por-
tending Camillus's own condemnation, and the
disaster of the city of Rome being taken,
which happened a few years after. The sub-
duing of the enemy, and the plundering of this
very opulent city, employed that whole day.

XXII. Next day the dictator sold the in-
habitants of free condition by auction : the
money arising from this sale was all that was
applied to the use of the public, and even that
was resented by the commons. As to what
spoil they brought home, they did not think
themselves under any obligation, in applying it
either to the general who, with design to pro-
cure their countenance to his own parsimony,
had referred to the senate a business which
properly belonged to his own jurisdiction, or to
the senate, but to the Licinian family, of which
the son had laid the affair before the senate,
and the father first proposed the popular reso-
lution. When the wealth, belonging to the
inhabitants, had been carried away from Veii,
they then began to remove the treasures of the
gods, and the gods themselves, but with the
demeanor of worshippers rather than of ra-
vishers : for certain young men selected out of
the army, to whom was assigned the charge of
conveying imperial Juno to Rome, after thor-
oughly washing their bodies, and clothing
themselves in white garments, entered her tem-
ple with tokens of adoration, and approaching,
laid hands upon her with religious awe, because,
according to the Etrurian rules, no person but
a priest of a particular family had been usually
allowed to touch that statue. Afterwards one
of them, either prompted by divine inspiration,
or in a fit of youthful jocularity, saying, " Juno,
art thou willing to go to Rome," the rest cried
out at once, that the goddees had assented.
To this fable an addition was made that she
was heard to utter the words, " I am willing."
However we are informed, that she was raised
from the place whereon she stood by machines,
with slight efforts, and was found light and
easy to be removed, as if she accompanied them
with her own consent ; that she was brought

y. n. 360.]

OF ROME.

191

safe to the Avcmine, her ctc-rnal seat, to
\\hii-h the vows of the Roman dictator had
invited her, where the same Camillas who
had vowed it afterwards dedicated her temple.
Thus fell Veii, the most powerful city of the
Etrurian nation, even in its final overthrow
demonstrating its greatness ; for, after having
withstood a siege during ten summers and win-
ders, without intermission, after indicting on its
enemy losses considerably greater than itself
had felt ; even now, even when fate at last ur-
ged its doom, yet still it was vanquished not by
force, but by the art of engineers.

XXIII. When the news arrived at Rome
that Veii was taken, notwithstanding that the
prodigies had been expiated, that the answers of
the prophets and the responses of the Pythian
oracle were known to all, and that they had
used the most effectual m^ans which human
wisdom could suggest, for insuring success, in
giving the command to Marcus Furius, the
greatest general of the age ; yet, as they had
for so many years experienced such a variety of
fortune in that war, and had sustained so many
losses, their joy was as unbounded as if they
had entertained no hopes of that event. And
before the senate passed any decree to the pur-
pose, evecy temple was filled with the Roman
matrons returning thanks to the gods. The
senate ordered supplications for the space of
four days, a longer term than had ever been ap-
pointed in the case of any former war. Th,e
dictator also on his arrival was more numerously
attended than any general hud ever been before ;
all ranks pouring out to meet him, while the
honours, conferred on him in his triumph, far
surpassed the compliments usually paid on such
occasions. He himself was the most conspi-
cuous object of all, riding through the city in a
chariot drawn by white horses, was deemed un-
becoming, not to say a member of a common-
wealth, but a human being : people deeming it
an affront to religion, that the dictator should
emulate the equipage of Jupiter and Apollo ;
and on account chiefly of that single circum-
stance, his triumph was more splendid than
pleasing. He then contracted for the building
of a temple to imperial Juno on the Aventine,
and dedicated that of mother Matuta : after
performing these services to the gods, and to
mankind, he laid down his office of dictator.
The offering to be made to Apollo came then
under consideration, and Cam ill us declaring
that he had vowed the tenth part of the spoil to

that use, and the pontiffs having given their
opinion that the people ought to discharge that
vow, it was found difficult to strike out a pro-
per mode of obliging them to refund the spoil,
in order that the due proportion might be set
apart for that religious purpose. At length,
recourse was had to a method which seemed
least troublesome, that every man who wished
to acquit himself and his family of the obliga-
tion of the vow, making his own estimate of his
share of the spoil, should pay into the treasury
the tenth part of the value, in order that a gold-
en offering might be made, worthy of the
grandeur of the temple, the divinity of the god,
and the dignity of the Roman people : this
contribution also helped to alienate the affection
of the commons from Camillus. During these
transactions, ambassadors had come from the
Volscians and .<£quans to sue for peace, and
peace was granted them rather out of a desire
that the state, wearied with so tedious a war,
might enjoy some repose, than in consideration
of the desert of the persons petitioning.

XXIV. The year [Y. R. 360. B. C. 392.]
which followed the taking of Veii had six mili-
tary tribunes, with consular power, the two
Publii Cornelii, Cossus, and Scipio, Marcus
Valerius Maximus a second time, Caeso Fabius
Ambustus.a third time, Lucius Furius Medul-
linus a fifth time, and Quiritus Serviliusa third
time. The war with the Faliscians fell by lot
to the Cornelii ; that with the Capenatians to
Valerius and Servilius. These latter made no
attempt on the towns, either by assault or siege,
but spread devastation over the lands, and car-
ried off as spoil every thing found in the coun-
try ; not a fruit tree, nor any useful vegetable,
was left in the whole territory. These losses
reduced the people of Capena to submission,
and on their suing for peace, it was granted.
The war with the Faliscians still continued.
Meanwhile seditions multiplied at Rome, and
in order to assuage their violence it was resolv-
ed, that a colony should be sent to the country
of the Volscians, for which three thousand
Roman citizens should be enrolled, and the
triumvirs, appointed to conduct it, distributed
three acres and seven-twelfths to each man.
This donation was looked on with scorn, be-
cause they considered the offer as intended to
pacify them, on the disappointment of higher
expectations : for " why," said they, " should
the commons be sent into exile among the Vol-
scians, when the beautiful city of Veii laj

192

THE HISTORY

([BOOK v.

within view, and the territory belonging to it I
being more fertile and more extensive than the
territory of Rome ?" This city, too, they ex- }
tolled as preferable even to that of Rome, both
in point of situation, and the magnificence of
its edifices and inclosures, both public and
private. Nay, they went so far as to pro-
pose the scheme which, after the taking of
Rome by the Gauls, was more generally
adopted, of removing to Veii. But their plan
now was, that half of the commons, and half
of the senate, should fix their habitations at
Veii ; and thus two cities, composing one com-
monwealth, might be inhabited by the Roman
people. The nobles opposed these measures
with such warmth, as to declare, that they
would sooner die in the sight of the Roman
people, than that any of those matters should
be put to the vote : for, " when one city at
present supplied such abundance of dissensions,
what would be the case with two ? Was it pos-
sible that any one could prefer a vanquished, to
a victorious city, and suffer Veii, after being
captured, to enjoy a greater degree of prosper-
ity than ever it had known in its most flourish-
ing days ? In short, they might be forsaken
in their native country by their fellow-citizens,
but no force ought ever to compel them to for-
sake that country and those citizens, and to
follow Titus Sicinius, (for he was the plebeian
tribune who had brought forward the propo-
sition,) as a founder to Veii, abandoning the
divine Romulus, the son of a god, the parent
and founder of the city of Rome." These
disputes proceeded to a shameful height : "for
the patricians had drawn over one half of the
plebeian tribunes to their sentiments ; so that
no other circumstance obliged the commons to
refrain from outrage, but that after a clamour
had been set up as the prelude to riot, the
principal members of the senate, throwing
themselves foremost in the way of the crowd,
desired that they might be the persons attacked,
struck, or put to death. On this the popu-
lace not only abstained from offering violence
to their age, their dignity, and honourable
characters, but in respect for their opinions
restrained their rage even from any such at-
tempts on others.

XXV. Camillus on every occasion, and in
every place, publicly asserted, that " there
was nothing surprising in all these commotions;
that the state was actually gone mad ; for
though it was engaged by a vow, yet it bestowed

more concern on every other kind of busi-
ness, than on acquitting itself of the obligation.
He would say nothing of the contribution
of an alms in reality, rather than of a tenth.
However, as each man had bound himself in
his private capacity, the public was set free.
But his conscience would not suffer him to be
silent on another head, — that the tenth of that
part only of the spoil was set apart, which
consisted of moveable effects, and no mention
was made of the city or of the lands, which, as
well as the rest, were comprehended in the
vow." The senate, finding it difficult to come to
a determination on this point, referred it to the
pontiffs in conjunction with Camillus ; and that
body gave their opinion, that whatsoever had
been the property of the Veientians before the
uttering of the vow, and after the vow was
made, came into the power of the Roman peo-
ple j of that the tenth part was sacred to
Apollo. Thus the city and the land were
brought into the estimate. The money was
issued from the treasury, and the consular
military tribunes were commissioned to lay it
out in the purchase of gold. A sufficient
quantity of this metal could not be procured ;
on which the matrons, after holding some
meetings to deliberate on the subject, with un-
animous consent, engaged to supply the military
tribunes with gold, and actually carried all their
ornaments into the treasury. Nothing ever
happened which gave greater pleasure to the
senate, and it is said, that in return for this
generosity, these women were honoured with
the privilege of using covered chariots, when
going to public worship or games, and open
chaises on any day whether festival or common.
The gold being received from each by weight,
and a valuation being made, in order that the
price might be repaid, it was resolved that a
golden bowl should be made thereof, to be
carried to Delphi as an offering to Apollo. No
sooner were men's minds disengaged from re-
ligious concerns, than the plebeian tribunes
renewed their seditious practices, stimulating
the resentment of the populace against all the
nobility, but especially against Camillus ;
alleging that, " by his confiscations and conse-
crations, he had reduced the spoils of Veii
to nothing ;" daringly abusing the nobles, in
their absence ; yet, on their appearing, as they
sometimes threw themselves in the way of their
fury, showing them some respect. When they
perceived that the business would be protract-

v. H. 361.]

OF ROME.

193

ed beyond the present year, they re-elected for
the year following such tribunes of the com-
mons, as had promoted the passing of the
law, and the patricians exerted themselves to
effect the same with regard to such of them as
had protested against it. By these means the
same persons mostly were re- elected plebeian
tribunes.

XXVI. At the election of military tribunes,
[Y. R. 361. B. C. 391.] the patricians, by
straining their interest to the utmost, prevailed
to have Marcus Furius Camillus chosen. They
pretended, that on account of the wars in which
they were engaged, they wished to have him as
a commander : but, in fact, they wanted him
as an antagonist to the tribunes, to check their
corrupt profusion. Together with Camillus
were elected military tribunes with consular
power, Lucius Furius Medullinus a sixth time,
Caius CEmilius, Lucius Valerius Poplicola,
Spurius Postumius and Publius Cornelius a
second time. In the beginning of the year, the
plebeian tribunes declined proceeding on the
business, until Marcus Furius Camillus should
set out against the Faliscians ; for he had been
appointed to the command in that war. In
consequence of this delay, the ardour of the
pursuit was cooled, and Camillus, whom they
had chiefly dreaded as an opponent, found an
increase of glory in the country of the Falisci-
ans : for the enemy at first confining themselves
within their walls, which appeared to be the
safest plan, he, by ravaging the country «nd
burning the houses, compelled them to come
forth from the city. But still their fears pre-
vented them from advancing to any consider-
able length. At the distance of about a mile
from the town, they pitched their camp, for
the security of which they confided entirely in
the difficulty of the approaches, all the roads on
every side being rough and craggy, in some
parts narrow, in others steep : but Camillus,
following the directions of a prisoner taken in
the country, who acted as his guide, decamped
in the latter end of the night, and, at break of
day, showed himself on ground much higher
than theirs. The Romans were formed into
three divisions, each of which, in turn, worked
on the fortifications of the camp, while the rest
of the troops stood in readiness for battle. The
enemy then making an attempt ta interrupt his
works, he attacked and put them to flight ; and
with such consternation were the Faliscians
struck, that in their haste, they passed by their

own camp, which lay in their way, and pushed
forward to the city. Great numbers were
slain and wounded before they reached the
gates, through which they rushed in great con-
fusion and dismay. Their camp was taken,
and the spoil given up by Camillus to the quae-
stors, to the great dissatisfaction of the sol-
diers : but such was the influence of his strict-
ness in discipline, that the same propriety of
conduct which excited their resentment, raised
also their admiration. The town was then in-
vested, and the approaches carried on, while
sometimes occasional attacks were made by the
townsmen on the Roman posts, and trilling
skirmishes ensued. Thus time was spent
without either party gaining a prospect of suc-
cess, and as the besieged were more plentifully
supplied than the besiegers, with corn and all
other necessaries, from magazines which they
had formed some time before, the affair, to
judge from appearances, would have been as
laborious and tedious as at Veii, had not for-
tune, together with an instance of meritorious
conduct, which, in respect of military mat-
ters, he had already sufficiently displayed, pro-
cured to the Roman cjmmander a sreedy vic-
tory.

XXVII. It was the custom among the
Faliscians, to employ the same person as mas-
ter and private tutor to their children ; and, as
it continues to be the practice to this day in
Greece, several were intrusted at the same time
to the care of one man. The teacher who ap-
peared to have the greater share of knowledge,
had of course the instruction of the children of
the first rank. The person supposed to possess
this knowledge, and now so intrusted, having
made it a custom in time of peace, to carry the
boys out of the city for the sake of exercise and
play, and having never discontinued the prac-
tice since the war began, drew them away from
the gate, sometimes in shorter, sometimes in
longer excursions. At length, he found an
opportunity of straying farther than usual ;
and, by introducing a variety of plays and con-
versations, he led them on between the advanc-
ed guards of the enemy, and then through the
Roman camp, into the tent of Camillus ; and
there, to this atrocious act, added a speech still
more atrocious : that " he had delivered Fa-
lerii into the hands of the Romans, by putting
into their power those boys, whose parents
were there at the head of affairs." On hear-
ing which, Camillus told him, " Neither the
* B

194

THE HISTORY

[BOOK v.

people, nor the commander, to whom thou hast
come, thou wretch, with thy villanous offer, is
like unto thyself. Between us and the Falis-
cians there subsists not, it is true, that kind
of society which is formed by human compact,
but that which nature has implanted in both,
does, and ever will subsist. War has its laws as
well as peace ; -and we have learned in wag-
ing it, to be as observant of those laws^ as we
are brave. We carry arms, not against per-
sons of such age as these, who, even in the
storming of towns, are exempted from injury,
but against men who have arms in their
hands, as well as ourselves, and who without
being either injured or provoked by us, made
an attack on a Roman camp at Veii. Those
thou hast conquered as far as in thee lay, by an
act of unexampled villany. I shall conquer
them as I conquered Veii, by Roman methods,
by valour, by labour, and by arms." Then or-
dering him to be stripped naked, and his hands
to be tied behind his back, he delivered him to
the boys to be conducted back to Falerii, and
gave them rods with which they should scourge
the traitor, and drive him into the city. Such
a spectacle first attracting a concourse of peo-
ple, and the senate being afterwards sum-
moned by the magistrates on the extraordinary
case, so great an alteration was hereby effected
in their sentiments, that they, who a short time
before were so outrageous in their hatred and
anger, as almost to have chosen the catastrophe
of the Veientians, rather than the truce ob-
tained by the Capenatians : these same persons
now, through every rank in the state, univer-
sally called out for peace. The faith of the
Romans, and the justice of their general, were
extolled by every mouth in the forum, and in
the senate-house : and in compliance with the
universal desire, ambassadors went to the camp
to Camillus, and from thence, with permission
of Camillus, to Rome, to make a surrender of
Falerii. On being introduced to the senate,
they are said to have spoken in this manner :
" Conscript fathers ! overcome by you and
your general, by a victory of such a kind, as
neither God nor man can view with displeasure,
we surrender ourselves into your hands, and in
an expectation which redounds in the highest
degree to the honour of the conqueror, that
we shall live more happily under your govern-
ment, than under our own laws. In the issue
of this war, two salutary examples have been
held out to mankind. Ye have preferred good

faith in war, to present victory. We, chal-
lenged to emulation in the observance of faith,
have voluntarily presented you with conquest.
I We are your subjects : send persons to receive
our arms, hostages, and our city, whose gates
, they will find open. Ye will never have reason
to complain of our fidelity, or we of your
government." Camillus received the thanks
both of the enemy and of his countrymen.
The Faliscians were ordered to furnish that
| year's pay for the soldiers, that the Roman
people might enjoy a respite from the tax. As
soon as peace was acceded to, the troops were
brought home to Rome.

XXVIII. Camillus returning home, crown-
ed with honours of far greater value than when
white horses had drawn him in triumph through
the city, being distinguished by a conquest ac-
quired through the means of justice and good
faith, the senate did not conceal their sense of
the respectful attention due to his concerns,
but hastened the measures for acquitting him
of his vow. Lucius Valerius, Lucius Sergius,
and Aulus Manlius, were sent ambassadors
with one ship of war, to carry the golden bowl
to Delphi, as an offering to Apollo. These
falling in with some Liparensian pirates, not
far from the Sicilian strait, were taken and
carried to Liparae. It was the custom of the
state to make a general division of all booty
acquired, as if piracy were the public act of
the government. It happened that the office
of chief magistrate was filled by one Timasi-
theus, a man more like the Romans than his
own countrymen, who, being touched himself
with reverence for the character of ambassa-
dors, for the offering, for the god to whom it
was sent, and the cause for which it was pre-
sented, impressed the multitude likewise, who
almost in all cases resemble their ruler, with
proper sentiments of religion on the occasion ;
and, after entertaining the ambassadors at the
public expense, convoyed them with some of
his own ships to Delphi, and from thence Con-
ducted them in safety to Rome. By decree of
senate a league of hospitality was formed with
him, and presents were made him by order of
the state. During this year, the war with the
uEquans was attended with advantages pretty
equal on both sides ; so that it was a matter of
doubt, both at Rome and even among the
troops themselves, whether they were victo-
rious or vanquished. The Roman command-
ers were Caius uEmilius and Spurius Postu-

Y. R. 362.]

OF ROME.

195

iniii-. two of tbe military tribunes. At first
they acted in conjunction, but after having de-
feated the enemy in the field, they came to a
determination that ^Emilius, with a sufficient
force, should keep possession of Verrugo, and
that Postumius should lay waste the country.
Li performance of this, the latter, since the
Lite success, thinking less caution requisite, and
marching in an unguarded manner, was attacked
by the j£quuns, who threw his troops into con-
fusion, and drove them to the next hills. The
panic spread from thence even to Verrugo, to
the other part of the enemy posted there. Pos-
t minus having withdrawn his men to a place of
safety, called them to an assembly, where he j
upbraided them with their fright, and with
having fled from the field, being routed by
an enemy heretofore remarkable for cowar-
dice and running away. On which the whole '
army cried out together, that they deserved
to hear such reproaches, and that they acknow- j
ledged the shamefulness of their behaviour ; but
that they were at the same time determined to
make amends for it, and that the conqueror's
joy on the occasion should be but of short du- :
ration. They requested earnestly that he would
lead them thence directly to the camp of the
enemy, which lay in the plain within their view,
offering to submit to any punishment if they
did not take it before night. After commend- '
ing their resolution, he ordered them to refresh
themselves, and to be in readiness at the fourth
wiitch : the enemy on the other side, with de-
sign to prevent the Romans from flying from
the hill by night, through the road which led to
Verrugo, were there prepared to receive them,
and the battle began at the first hour. How-
ever the moon was up through the whole night,
so that the fight was managed with as little con-
fusion as it could have been by day. But the
shout reaching Verrugo, where it was imagined
that the Roman camp had been attacked, the
troops were seized with such terror, that in
spite of the entreaties of JEmilius, and all his
endeavours to detain them, they fled to Tuscu-
lum in the utmost disorder. From thence a
report was carried to Rome, that Postumius
and his army were cut to pieces. However, as
soon as day-light had removed the danger of
falling into ambuscades, in case of a hasty pur-»
suit, riding through the ranks, and demanding
the performance of their promises, the general
infused into the men such a degree of ardour,
that the ^Equans could no longer withstand

their efforts, but betook thernsetves to flight,
when a slaughter of them ensued (as in a case
where anger was more concerned than courage),
that ended in the entire destruction of their
army ; and the afflicting news from Tusculum,
which bad caused a great, though groundless,
alarm in the city, was followed by a letter from
Postumius decked with laurel, ' — that victory
had fallen to the Roman people, and that the
army of the ./Equans was wholly destroyed.

XXIX. As no determination had yet been
made, with respect to the plans introduced by
the plebeian tribunes, the commons on the one
hand laboured to continue in office such of them
as had promoted the passing of the law, and
the patricians on the other, to procure the re-
election of those who bad protested against it.
But the commons had the superior influence in
the election of their own magistrates . for
which disappointment the patricians revenged
themselves by passing a decree of senate, that
consuls (magistrates ever odious to the com-
mons) should be elected. Thus, after an in-
terval of fifteen years, consuls were again ap-
pointed, Lucius Lucretius Flavus, and Servius
Sulpicius Camerinus. [Y. R. 362. B.C. 390.]
In the beginning of this year, while the ple-
beian tribunes, uniting their efforts, pressed the
passing of their law with great confidence, be-
cause there was not any of their body who
would protest against it, and while the consuls
for that very reason were no less active in op-
posing it, (the whole attention of the public
being taken up with this business,) the /Equans
made themselves masters of Vitellia, a Roman
colony in their territory. The general part of
the colonists escaped with safety to Rome ; for
the town being betrayed to the enemy in the
night, there was nothing to hinder their flight
from the contrary side of the city. That pro-
vince fell to the lot of the consul Lucius Lu-
cretius. He marched thither with an army,
defeated the enemy in the field, and returned
to Rome, where he was to encounter a contest
of much greater difficulty. A prosecution had
been commenced against Aulus Virginius and
Quintus Pomponius, plebeian tribunes of the
two preceding years, whom the senate was
bound in honour to defend with the joint exer-
tions of all the patricians : for no one laid any

1 It was the custom, when the Roman generals sent
intelligence of a r ictory, to wrap their letters up in lau-
rel.

196

THE HISTORY

[BOOK v.

other charge against them, with respect either
to their conduct in life, or their behaviour in
office, than that, to gratify the nobles, they had
protested against the law proposed by the tri-
bunes. However, the resentment of the com-
mons overpowered the influence of the senate,
and, by a sentence of most pernicious example,
those men, convicted of no crime, were con-
demned to pay a fine of ten thousand asses in
weight. ' This highly incensed the patricians :
Camillas openly reproached the commons with
violating the duty which they owed to their own
order, telling them, that " while they thus rent-
ed their spleen on their own magistrates, they
did not perceive that by their iniquitous sen-
tence they had abolished the privilege of pro-
testing, and by taking away that privilege, had
overturned the tribunitian power. For they
were much mistaken if they imagined that the
patricians would endure the unbridled licen-
tiousness of that office. If tribunitian violence
could not be repelled by tribunitian aid, the pa-
tricians would find out a weapon of some other
kind. He censured the consuls also, for silently
suffering those tribunes, who had complied with
the directions of the senate, to be disappointed
in their reliance on the faith of the public."
By such discourses, uttered in public, he ex-
asperated people daily more and more against
him.

XXX. As to the senate, he never ceased
urging them to a vigorous opposition to the
passing of the law j exhorting them, that " when
the day arrived on which it was to be put to
the vote, they should go down to the forum
with no other sentiments than such as became
men who knew they were to contend for their
religion and liberty ; for the temples of their
gods, and the soil that gave them birth. As
to his own particular part, if it were allowable
for him, during a contest wherein the interest
of his country lay at stake, to consider the ag-
grandizement of his own character, it would
even redound to the increase of his fame, that
a city which he had taken should be filled with
inhabitants, that he should every day enjoy
that monument of his own glory, and have be-
fore his eyes a people whom he himself had led
in his triumph, and that all men, at every step
they took, should meet with testimonies of his
valour. But, in his opinion, it would be an
impious proceeding, if a city forsaken and aban-

doned by the immortal gods were to be inhabit-
ed ; if the Roman people were to reside in a
captivated soil, and to exchange a victorious for
a vanquished country." Stimulated by such
arguments, uttered by the first man in the state,
the patricians, both old and young, when the
law was to be debated, came in a body to the
forum, and dispersing themselves through the
tribes, each endeavoured to influence the mem-
bers of his own body ; beseeching them, with
tears, " not to abandon the country, in defence
of which themselves and their fathers had
fought with the greatest bravery and the great-
est success, pointing at the same time to the
capitol, the temple of Vesta, and the other
temples of the gods which stood within view ;
that they would not drive the Roman people,
as exiles and outcasts, away from their native
soil and guardian deities, into a once hostile
city, and bring matters to such a conclusion,
that it would be better if Veii had never been
taken, lest Rome should be abandoned." As
they made use of no violence, but of entreaties
only, and among these entreaties made frequent
mention of the gods, the greatest part of the
! people were impressed with an opinion that re-
ligion was concerned in the case, and the tribes,
by a majority of one, rejected the law. The
1 patricians were so highly gratified by this suc-
j cess, that next day, the consuls holding a meet-
; ing for the purpose, a decree of senate was
I passed, that a distribution should be made to
' the commons of the Veientian lands, in the
proportion of seven acres to each, and that this
distribution should be extended not only to the
fathers of families, but to every person in their
houses of free condition, that they might have
satisfaction in rearing children with the hope of
such an establishment.

XXXI. [Y. R. 363. B. C. 389.] This
generosity had such a conciliatory eifect on the
| minds of the commons, that no opposition was
made to the election of consuls. Lucius Vale-
rius Potitus and Marcus Manlius, afterwards
' surnamed Capitolinus, were appointed to that
office. In their consulate were celebrated the
1 great games which Marcus Furius when dicta-
tor had vowed, on occasion of the war with the
Veientians. In this year also, the temple of
imperial Juno, vowed by the same dictator,
during the same war, was dedicated, and it i&
mentioned that the matrons displayed an ex-
traordinary degree of zeal in their attendance
on the dedication. In the campaign against the

Y. R. 364.]

OF ROME.

197

jEquans, the seat whereof was at Algidum,
nothing memorable occurred ; the enemy scarce-
ly waiting for the engagement to begin, before
they betook themselves to flight. To Valerius,
because he continued the pursuit and slaughter
with great earnestness, a triumph wa.3 decreed ;
to Manlius an ovation. This year there sprung
up a new enemy, the Volsinians, against whom
no army could be sent on account of a famine
and pestilence which raged in the Roman ter-
ritories, in consequence of extraordinary
drought and heat. On these circumstances
the Volsinians presumed with such confidence
that, forming a junction with the Salpinians,
they made incursiops on the lands of the Ro-
mans. War was then proclaimed against those
two nations. Caius Julius died in the office of
censor, and Marcus Cornelius was substituted
in bis room ; which proceeding came afterwards
to be considered as displeasing to the gods, be-
cause in that lustrum Rome was taken. Nor
since that time is a censor ever substituted in
the room of one dying. The consuls being
seized by the distemper, it was resolved that an
interregnum should be constituted, and auspices
taken anew.

XXXII. [Y. R. 364.. B. C. 388.] In pur-
suance therefore of a decree of the senate, the
consuls having resigned their office, Marcus
Furius Camillus was created interrex, who
appointed Publius Cornelius Scipio interrex,
and he, afterwards, Lucius Valerius Potitus.
By him were elected six military tribunes with
consular power, to the end that in case any of
them should be disabled by bad health, the
commonwealth might still have a sufficient num-
ber of magistrates. These were Lucius Lu-
cretius, Servius Sulpicius, Marcus ^Emilius,
Lucius Furius Medullinus a seventh time,
Agrippa Furius, and Caius JEmilius a second
time, who entered into office on the calends of
July. Of these Lucius Lucretius and Caius
jEmilius had the Volsinians as their province ;
Agrippa Furius and Servius Sulpicius the Sal-
pinians. The first battle happened with the
Volsinians. This war, formidable in appear-
ance, from the great number of the enemy, was
terminated without any difficulty '. at the first
onset, their army was put to flight, and eight
thousand of their soldiers, being surrounded by
the cavalry, laid down their arms and surren-
dered. The account which they received of
that battle, made the Salpinians determine not
to hazard an engagement ; their troops secured

themselves in the towns. The Romans, meet-
ing no opposition, carried oflf the spoil from all
parts, both of the Volsinian and Salpinian ter-
ritories, until the Volsinians, becoming weary of
the war, had a truce for twenty years granted
them, on condition that they should make resti-
tution to the Roman people, and furnish the
pay of the army for that year. During this
year, Marcus Caedicius, a plebeian, gave infor-
mation to the tribunes, that " in the new street,
where the chapel now stands, above the tem-
ple of Vesta, he had heard in the dead of the
night, a voice louder than that of a man, order-
ing notice to be given to the magistrates, that
the Gaids were approaching." This intelli-
gence, on account of the mean condition of the
author, was, as frequently happens, disregard-
ed ; and also, because that nation, lying at a
great distance, was therefore very little known.
They not only slighted the warnings of the gods,
at this crisis of impending fate, but the only
human aid which could have availed them,
Marcus Furius, they drove away to a distance
from the city : for, having been cited by Apu-
leius, a plebeian tribune, to answer a charge
concerning the plunder of Veii, and having,
about the same time suffered the loss of a son.
who had almost arrived at the years of man-
hood, he called together to his house the mem-
bers of his tribe and dependents, who compos-
ed a great part of the commons, and asked
their sentiments on the occasion ; when being •
told, in answer, that they would make up by a
contribution whatever fine he should he con-
demned to pay, but to effect his acquittal was
out of their power : he went into exile af-
ter praying to the immortal gods, that if he
was undeserving of such injurious treatment,
they would speedily give that ungrateful state
reason to regret his absence. On his not ap-
pearing, he was fined fifteen thousand asses
in weight.8

XXXIII. Having thus driven away the citi-
zen, whose presence, if in any case we can pro-
nounce with certainty on human affairs, would
have effectually saved Rome from falling into
the hands of an enemy, the destined ruin now
approached the city with hasty steps : at this
time ambassadors arrived from the people of
Clusium, soliciting aid against the Gauls.
According to some reports, that nation was al-
lured to cross the Alps, and take possession of

2 48J. St. 8A

198

THE HISTORY

[BOOK v.

the country formerly cultivated by the Etru-
rians, by the deliciousness of its productions,
and especially of the wine, a luxury then new
to them : and Aruns of Clusium having intro-
duced it into Gaul, for the purpose of enticing
that people, that he might, by their means,
gratify his resentment for his wife's being de-
bauched by Lucumo, (whose guardian he him-
self had been,) a young man of overgrown
power, on whom it would have been impossi-
ble to inflict punishment without foreign assist-
ance. He acted as their guide^ in passing the
Alps, and advised them to lay siege to Clu-
sium. I do not indeed take upon me to deny,
that the Gauls were conducted to Clusium by
Aruns, or some other Clusian, but that those
who laid siege to Clusium, were not the first
who crossed the Alps, is certain ; for the Gauls v
went over into Italy, two hundred years before
they besieged that town, and took the city of
Rome. Nor were these the first of the Etru-
rians with whom they waged war ; for long be-
fore this, the Gallic armies fought many battles
with those who dwelt between the Apennines
and the Alps. The Tuscans, before the growth
of the Roman empire, possessed very extensive
sway both by land and sea : how great their
power was in the upper and lower seas by which
Italy is almost surrounded, as an island, the
names of those seas demonstrate ; one being
called by the Italian nations, the Tuscan, the
general appellation of that people ; the other
the Adriatic, from Adria, a colony of Tuscans.
The Greeks also call those seas the Tyrrhenian
and Adriatic. This people inhabited both
the tracts of territory which stretch from each
side of the mountain, to the two seas, having
founded twelve cities on either, first on the hi-
ther side towards the lower sea, and afterwards
sending to the other side of the Apennines as
many colonies as there were capital cities in the
mother country. These acquired possession
of the whole region beyond the Po, all the way
to the Alps, except the comer of the Vene-
tians who dwell round the extreme point of the
Adriatic. The Alpine nations also, without
doubt, derived their origin from them, particu-
larly the Rhetians, who were rendered savage
merely by their situation, so as to retain no
mark of their original, except the accent of
their language, and not even that without cor-
ruption.

XXXIV. Concerning the passage of the
Gauls into Italy, what we have learned is this :

when Tarquinius Priscus reigned at Rome,
the supreme government of the Celts, who
composed one-third part of Gaul, lay in the
hands of the Biturigians. These gave a king
to the Celtic nation. Ambigatus, a man very
eminently distinguished by his own merit, and
by the extraordinary degree of prosperity which
attended him, both in his private concerns, and
in those of the public : in his time Gaul was
so fruitful, and so numerously peopled, that it
seemed scarcely practicable to retain such an
enormous multitude uuder the direction of one
government. Being far advanced in years, and
wishing to exonerate his realm of a crowd with
which it was over-burdened, he declared his in-
tention of sending away his sister's sons, Bello-
vesus and Sigovesus, two spirited young men,
to whatever settlements the gods should point
out by their auguries ; and that they should
cany with them any number of men, which
they themselves should choose ; so that no na-
tion which lay in their way should be able to
obstruct their course. Sigovesus was then di-
rected by the oracle to the Hercinian forest :
to Bellovesus the gods showed a much more
delightful route into Italy. He canned with
him from the Biturigians, the Arvemians, the
Senonians, the ^duans, the Ambarrians, the
Carnutians, and the Aulercians, all their su-
perfluous numbers : and setting out, at the
head of an immense body of horse and foot,
arrived in the country of the Tricastinians.
The Alps then stood in his way, which I do
not wonder that these people should consider
as impassable, having never been climbed over
by any path at least, as far as we have been able
to learn, unless we choose to believe the fables
told of Hercules. Whilst the height of the
mountains kept the Gauls penned up as it
were, and while they were looking about for
some route between those lofty summits which
joined the sky, an ominous incident also gave
them some delay ; for an account was brought
to them, that some strangers, who had come in
search of lands, were attacked by the nation of
the Salyans : these were the Massilians who
had come by sea from Phocea. ' The Gauls,

1 A city of Asia Minor, built by a colony of Athen-
ians. Being besieged and hard pressed by Harpagus,
au officer of Cyrus king of Persia, the inhabitants re-
solved to abandon the town, and seek another residence.
Accordingly, after uttering heavy imprecations on
themselves, if they should ever return, they carried their
effects on board their ships, and, sailing to the coaat of
Provence, founded the city of Marseilles.

Y. R. 364.]

OF ROME.

199

considering this as prognostic of their own for-
tune, gave them their assistance, in fortifying
the ground, which they had first seized on their
landing, covered with wide extended woods.
They themselves climbed over the pathless
Alps, through the forest of Taurinum, routed
the Tuscans in battle, not far from the river
Ticinus ; and, hearing that the district in which
they had posted themselves, was called Insubria,
the same name by which one of the cantons of
the Insubrian ./Eduans was distinguished, they
embraced the omen which the place presented,
and founded there a city, which they called
Mediolanum.

XXXV. Some time after, another body,
composed of the Cenomanians, under the con-
duct of Elitovius, following the tracks of the
former, made their way over the Alps, through
the same forest, Bellovesus favouring their
march, and settled themselves where the cities
Brixia and Verona now stand, places then pos-
sessed by the Libuans. After these, carne the
Salluvians, who fixed their abode near the an-
cient canton of the Ligurians, called Lajvi, who
inhabited the banks of the Ticinus. The next
who came over were the Boians and Lingonians,
through the Penine pass, who, finding all the
space between the Alps and the Po already oc-
cupied, crossed the Po on rafts, and drove out
of the country, not only the Etrurians, but the
Umbrians also. They confined themselves how-
ever within the Apennines. After them the
Senonians, the latest of these emigrants, pos-
sessed themselves of the track which reaches
from the river Utens to the JEsis. This latter
people, I find, it was, who came to Clusium,
and from thence to Rome. But whether
alone, or assisted by all the nations of Cisalpine
Gauls, is not known with certainty. The Clu-
siaris, on observing so great a multitude, the
appearance of the men, too, being different from
any which they had seen before, and also the
kind of arms which they carried, were terrified
at the approach of this strange enemy ; and
having heard that the legions of the Etrurians
had been often defeated by them, on both sides
of the Po, determined, although they had no
claim on the Romans, either in right of alliance
or friendship, except that they had not pro-
tected their relations the Veientians in oppo-
sition to the Roman people, to send ambassa-
dors to Rome, to solicit aid from the senate ;
which request was not complied with. The
three Fabii, sons of Ambustus, were sent to

mediate with the Gauls, in the name of the
senate and commons of Rome ; who recom-
mended to them not to attack the allies and
friends of the Roman people, from whom they
had received no injury, and whom they would
be obliged to support even by force of arms, if
matters went so far ; but who, at the same
time, would be better pleased, that hostile pro-
ceedings should be avoided if possible, and that
their acquaintance with the Gauls, a nation to
whom they were as yet strangers, should com-
mence in an amicable rather than in a hostile
manner.

XXXVI. This was an embassy mild in its
import, but intrusted to men of tempers too
ferocious, more resembling Gauls than Ro-
mans. These, having explained their commis-
sion in an assembly of the Gauls, received for
answer, that although this was the first time
that they had heard the name of the Romans,
yet they supposed, that they were men of bra-
very, whose assistance the Clusians had im-
plored in a conjuncture so perilous ; and in con-
sideration of their having chosen to interfere
between their allies and them, in the way of
negotiation, rather than that of arms, they
would make no objection to the amicable terms
which they proposed, provided that the Clusi-
ans, who possessed a greater portion of land
than they turned to use, would give up a part
of it to the Gauls, who wanted it. On no
other terms, they said, was peace to be obtain-
ed : that they wished to receive an answer in
presence of the Romans, and if the land were
refused them, would also decide the matter by
arms in the presence of the same Romans, that
they might inform their countrymen, how far
the Gauls excelled the rest of mankind in bra-
very. The Romans asking, by what right they
could demand land from the possessors, and in
case of refusal threaten war ; and what concern
the Gauls had in Etruria ? The others fiercely
replied, that they carried their right on the
points of their swords, and that all things were
the property of the brave. Thus, with minds
inflamed on both sides, they hastily separated
to prepare for battle, which began without de-
lay. Here, fate now pressing the city of Rome,
the ambassadors, contrary to the law of nations,
took a part in the action : a fact which could
not be concealed, for three of the noblest and
bravest of the Roman youth fought in the van
of the Etrurian army ; and the valour of these
foreigners was eminently conspicuous. Besides,

200

THE H ISTORY

[BOOK v

Quintus Fabius rode forward beyond the line,
and slew a general of the Gauls, who was mak-
ing a furious charge against the standards of
the Etrurians, running him through the side
with his spear. He was known by the Gauls
while he was stripping him of his spoils ; on
which notice was conveyed round through the
whole army, that he was one of the Roman
ambassadors. Dropping therefore their resent-
ment against the Clusians, they sounded a re-
treat, threatening to wreak their vengeance on
the Romans. Some advised that they should
march instantly to Rome. But the opinion of
the elders prevailed ; that ambassadors should
first be sent to complain of the ill treatment,
which they had received, and to demand that
the Fabii should be delivered into their hands
as a satisfaction for having violated the law of
nations. When the ambassadors of the Gauls
had explained those matters according -to their
commission, the senate were highly displeased
at the behaviour of the Fabii, and thought the
demand of the barbarians just : but in the case
of nobles, of such exalted rank, partial favour
prevented their passing a decree conformable to
their judgment. Lest, therefore, they might be
chargeable with any misfortune, which might per-
haps be sustained in a war with the Gauls, they
referred the determination, on the demands of the
Gauls, to the assembly of the people : where so
prevalent was the influence of interest and wealth,
that the very persons whose punishment was
the subject of deliberation, were appointed
military tribunes with consular power for the
ensuing year. At which proceeding the Gauls
being justly enraged, and openly denouncing
war, returned to their countrymen. Together
with the three Fabii were appointed military
tribunes, [Y. R. 365. B. C. 387.] Quintus
Sulpicius Longus, Quintus Servilius a fourth
time, and Servius Cornelius Maluginensis.

XXXVII. When fortune is determined
upon the ruin of a people, she can so blind
them, as to render them insensible to danger,
even of the greatest magnitude : accordingly
the Roman state, which, in its wars with the
Fidenatians and Veientians and other neigh-
bouring enemies, had left no means untried to
procure aid, and had, on many occasions,
nominated a dictator ; yet now, when an enemy
whom they had never met, or even heard of,
was, from the ocean and the remotest coasts,
advancing in arms against them, they looked
not for any extraordinary command or assis-

tance. Tribunes, whose temerity had brought
on the troubles, were intrusted with the reins
of government, and they used no greater dili-
gence in levying forces, than was usual in case
of a rupture with any of their neighbours, ex-
tenuating the importance which fame gave to
the war. Meanwhile the Gauls, hearing that
the violators of the rights of mankind had even
been recompensed with honours, and that their
embassy had been slighted, inflamed with anger,
a passion which that nation knows not how to
control, instantly snatched up their ensigns,
and began to march with the utmost expedition.
When their precipitate movement caused such
an alarm wherever they passed, that the in-
habitants of the cities ran together to arms,
and the peasants betook themselves to flight,
they signified to them, by loud shouts, that it
was to Rome they were going, while the space
covered by their men and horses was immense,
the troops spreading widely on every side. But
report outstripped them j and messengers also
from the Clusian, and from several other states,
one after another, and the quickness of the
enemy's proceedings, caused the utmost con-
sternation among the Romans, whose army,
composed, in a manner, of tumultuary troops,
with all the haste which they could make,
scarce advanced so far as the eleventh stone be-
fore they met them, where the river Allia,
running down from the Crustuminian moun-
tains in a very deep channel, joins the Tiber, a
little way below the road. Already every place,
in front, and on each side, was occupied by
numerous bodies of Gauls ; and, as that na-
tion has a natural turn for aggravating terror
by confusion, by their harsh music and dis-
cordant clamours, they filled the air with a hor-
rible din.

XXXVIII. There the military tribunes,
without having previously formed a camp, with-
out the precaution of raising a rampart which
might secure a retreat, regardless of duty to
the gods, to say nothing of that to man, with-
out taking auspices, without offering a sacri-
fice, drew up their line, which they extended
on towards the flanks, lest they should be sur-
rounded by the numerous forces of the enemy.
Still they could not show an equal front, and
at the same time thinned their line in suph a
manner, as weakened the centre, and left it
scarce sufficient to fill up the ranks without a
breach. There was a small eminence on the
right, which they determined to occupy with A

Y. R. 365.]

OF ROME.

201

body of reserve ; which measure, as it gave
the first cause to their dismay and desertion of
the field, so it proved the only means of safety
in their flight. Brennus, the chieftain of the
Gauls, thinking, that as his enemies were few,
their skill was what he had chiefly to guard
against ; and supposing, that the eminence had
been seized with design, that when the Gauls
should be engaged in front with the line of the
legions, that reserved body might make an at-
tack on their rear and flank, turned his force
against the reserve, not doubting, that if he
could dislodge them from their post, his troops,
so much superior in number, would find an
easy victory in the plain : thus not only fortune,
but judgment also stood on the side of the bar-
barians. In the opposite army there appeared
nothing like Romans, either among the com-
manders, or the soldiers. Terror and dismay
had taken possession of their minds, and
such a total unconcern for the rest of man-
kind, that greater numbers by far fled to
Veii, a city of their enemy, though the Tiber
lay across the way, than by the direct road
to Rome, to their wives and children. The
situation of the ground for some time defended
the reserve : but those who composed the rest
of the line, on their flank, and on their rear, no
sooner heard the shout, than, not only without
attempting to fight, but without even returning
the shout, fresh as they were and unhurt, they
ran away from an untried enemy, and at whom
they had scarcely ventured to look. Thus, 'no
lives were lost in battle ; but their rear was cut
to pieces while they crowded on one another,
in such hurry and confusion, as they retarded
their retreat. Great slaughter was made on
the bank of the Tiber, whither the whole left
wing, after throwing away their arms, had di-
rected-their flight; and great numbers who
knew not how to swim, or were not very strong,
being burthened with their coats of mail and
other defensive armour, were swallowed up
in the current. However, the greatest part
escaped safe to Veii, from whence they neither
sent any reinforcement to Rome, nor even a
courier to give notice of their defeat. Those
of the right wing, which had been posted at a
distance from the river, near the foot of the
mountain, all took the way to Rome, and with-
out even shutting the gates of the city, made
their way jnto the citadel.

XXXIX. On the other hand, the attain-
ment of such a speedy, such an almost miracu-

I.

lous victory, astonished the Gauls. At first,
they stood motionless through apprehension for
their own safety, scarcely knowing what had
happened ; then they dreaded some stratagem ;
at length, they collected the spoils of the slain,
and piled the arms in heaps, according to their
practice. And now, seeing no sign of an
enemy any where, they at last began to march
forward, and a little before sun-set arrived near
the city of Rome, where receiving intelligence
by some horsemen who had advanced before,
that the gates were open without any troops
posted to defend them, nor any soldiers on the
walls, this second incident, not less unaccounta-
ble than the former, induced them to halt ; and,
apprehending danger from the darkness of the
night, and their ignorance of the situation of
the city, they took post between Rome and the
Anio, sending scouts about the walls, and the
several gates, to discover what plans the enemy
would pursue in this desperate state of their
affairs. The Roman soldiers, who were living,
their friends lamented as lost : the greater part
of them having gone from the field of battle to
Veii, and no one supposing that any survived,
except those who had come home to Rome.
In fine the city was almost entirely filled with
sorrowings. But on the arrival of intelligence,
that the enemy were at hand, the apprehensions
excited by the public danger stifled all private
sorrow ; soon after, the barbarians patrolling
about the walls in troops, they heard their yells
and the dissonant clangour of their martial in-
struments. During the whole interval, between
this and the next morning, they were held in
the most anxious suspense, every moment ex-
pecting an assault to be made on the city. At
the enemy's first approach, it was supposed
that they would begin the attack, as soon as
they should arrive at the city, since, if this were
not their intention, they would probably have
remained at the Allia. Their fears were vari-
ous and many ; first, they imagined that the
place would be instantly stormed, because there
was not much of the day remaining ; then that
the design was put off until night, in order to
strike the greater terror. At last, the approach
of light sunk them in dismay, and the evil itself
which they dreaded, closed this scene of unre-
mitted apprehension, the enemy marching
through the gates in hostile array. During
that night, however, and also the following day,
the state preserved a character, very different
from that which such a dastardly flight at the Allia
2 C

202

THE HISTORY

[BOOK v.

had indicated : for there "being no room to hope
that the city could possibly be defended by the
small number of troops remaining, a reso-
lution was taken, that the young men who were
fit to bear arms, and the abler part of the senate,
with their wives and children, should go up into
the citadel and the capitol ; and having col-
lected stores of arms and corn, should, in that
strong post, maintain the defence of the deities,
of the inhabitants, and of the honour of Rome.
That the Flamen Quirinalis, and the vestal
priestesses, should carry away, far from slaugh-
ter and conflagration, all that appertained to the
gods of the state ; and that their worship should
not be intermitted, until there should be no one
left to perform it. " If the citadel, and the
capitol, the mansion of the gods ; if the senate,
the source of public counsel ; if the youth of
military age, should survive the ruin which im-
pended over the city, they must deem the loss of
the aged light, as of a crowd whom they were
under the necessity of leaving behind,though with
a certain prospect of their perishing." That
such of this deserted multitude as consisted of
plebeians, might bear their doom with.the greater
resignation, the aged nobles, formerly dignified
with triumphal honours and consulships, openly
declared, that " they would meet death along
with them, and would not burthen the scanty
stores of the fighting men, with bodies incapable
of carrying arms, and of protecting their coun- !
try." Such were the consolations addressed to
each other by the aged who were destined to
death.

XL. Their exhortations were then turned to
the band of young men, whom they escorted to
the capitol and citadel, commending to their
valour and youthful vigour the remaining for-
tune of their city, which, through the course of
three hundred and sixty years, had ever been
victorious in all its wars. When those who
carried with them every hope arid every re-
source, parted with the others, who had deter-
mined not to survive the capture and destruc-
tion of the city, the view which it exhibited
was sufficient to call forth the liveliest feelings,
the women at the same time running up and
down in distraction, now following one party,
then the other, asking their husbands and their
sons, to what fate they would consign them ?
All together formed such a picture of human woe
as could admit of no aggravation. A great part,
however, of the women followed their relations
into the citadel.no one either hindering or inviting

them ; because, though the measure of lessening
the number of useless persons, in a siege, might
doubtless be adviseable in one point of view,
yet it was a measure of extreme inhumanity.
The rest of the multitude, consisting chiefly of
plebeians, for whom there was neither room on
so small a hill, nor a possibility of support in
so great a scarcity of corn, pouring out of the
city in one continued train, repaired to- the
Janiculum. From thence some dispersed
through the country, and others made their
way to the neighbouring cities, without any
leader, or any concert, each pursuing his own
hopes and his own plans, those of the public
being deplored as desperate. In the meantime,
the Flamen Quirinalis, and the vestal virgins,
laying aside all concern for their own affairs,
and consulting together which of the sacred
deposits they should take with them, and which
they should leave behind, for they had not
strength sufficient to carry all, and what place
they could best depend on, for preserving them
in safe custody, judged it the most eligible
method to inclose them in casks, and to bury
them under ground, in the chapel next to the
dwelling-house of the Flamen Quirinalis, where
at present it is reckoned profane even to spit.
The rest they carried, distributing the burdens
among themselves, along the road which leads
over the Sublician bridge, to the Janiculum.
On the ascent of that hill, Lucius Albinius, a
Roman plebeian, was conveying away in a
waggon his wife and children, but observing
them among the crowd of those who being
unfit for war were retiring from the city, and
retaining, even in his present calamitous state,
a regard to the distinction between things
divine and human, he thought it would betray
a want of respect to religion, if the public
priests of the Roman people were .to go on
foot, thus holily laden, whilst he and his family
were seen mounted in a carriage ; ordering his
wife and children then to alight, he put the
virgins and the sacred things into the waggon,
and conveyed them to Caere, whither the priests
had determined to go.

XLI. Meanwhile at Rome, when every
disposition for the defence of the citadel had
been completed, as far as was possible in such
a conjuncture, the aged crowd withdrew to their
houses, and there, with a firmness of mind not
to be shaken by the approach of death, waited
the coming of the enemy : such of them as had
held curule offices, choosing to die in that garb

Y. R. 860.]

OF ROME.

which displayed the emblems of their former
fortune, of their honours, or of their merit, put
on the most splendid robes worn, when they
draw the chariots of the gods in procession, or
ride in triumph. Thus habited, they seated
themselves in their ivory chairs at the fronts of
their houses. Some say that they devoted
themselves for the safety of their country and
their fellow-citizens ; and that they sung a
hymn upon the occasion, Marcus Fabius, the
chief pontiff, dictating the form of words to
them. On the side of the Gauls, as the keen-
ness of their rage, excited by the fight, had
abated during the night ; and, as they had nei-
ther met any dangerous opposition in the field,
nor were now taking the city by storm or force ;
they marched next day, without any anger or
any heat of passion, into the city, through the
Colline gate, which stood open, and advanced
to the forum, casting round their eyes on the
temples of the gods, and on the citadel, the
only place which had the appearance of making
resistance. From thence, leaving a small guard
to prevent any attack from the citadel or
capitol, they ran about in quest of plunder.
Not meeting a human being in the streets, part
of them rushed in a body to the houses that
stood nearest ; part sought the most distant, as
expecting to find them untouched and abound-
ing with spoil. Afterwards, being frightened
from thence by the very solitude, and fearing
lest some secret design of the enemy might* be
put in execution against them, while they were
thus dispersed; they formed themselves into
bodies, and returned again to the forum, and
places adjoining to it. Finding the houses of
the plebeians shut up, and the palaces of the
nobles standing open, they showed rather
greater backwardness to attack these that were
open, than such as were shut ; with such a de-
gree of veneration did they behold men sitting
in the porches of those palaces, who, beside
their ornaments and apparel, more splendid
than became mortals, bore the nearest resem-
blances to gods, in the majesty displayed in
their looks, and the gravity of their counte-
nances. It is said, that while they stood gaz-
ing as on statues, one of them, Marcus PapU
rius, provoked the anger of a Gaul, by striking
him on the head with his ivory sceptre, while
he was stroking his beard, which at that time
was universally worn long : that the slaughter
began with him, and that the rest were slain in
their seats. The nobles being put to death, the

remainder of the people met the same fate. The
houses were plundered, and then set on lire.

XLII. However, whether it was, that they
were not all possessed with a desire of reduc-
ing the city to ruins, or whether the design had
been adopted by the chiefs of the Gauls, th at
some fires should be presented to the view of
the besieged for the purpose of terrifying them,
and to try if they could be compelled to sur-
render, through affection to their own dwellings,
or that they had determined that all the bouses
should not be burned down, because whatever
remained they could hold as a pledge, by means
of which they might work upon the minds of
the garrison, the fire did not, during the first
day, spread extensively, as is usual in a captur-
ed city. The Romans, beholding the enemy
from the citadel, who ran up and down through
every street, while some new scene of horror
arose to their view in every different quarter,
were scarcely able to preserve their presence of
mind. To whatever side the shouts of the
enemy, the cries of women and children, the
crackling from the flames, and the crash of fall-
ing houses called their attention, thither, deeply
shocked at every incident, they turned their
eyes, their thoughts, as if placed by fortune to
be spectators of the fall of their country ;—
left, in short, not for the purpose of protecting
any thing belonging to them, but merely their
own persons, much more deserving of commi-
seration, indeed, than any before who were ever
beleaguered ; as by the siege which they had to
sustain they were excluded from their native
city, whilst they saw every thing which they
held dear in the power of the enemy. Nor was
the night which succeeded such a shocking day
attended with more tranquillity. The morning
appeared with an aspect equally dismal ; nor did
any portion of time relieve them from the sight
of a constant succession of new distresses.
Loaded and ovenvhelmed with such a multi-
plicity of evils, they notwithstanding remitted
nought of their firmness ; determined, though
they should see every thing in flames, and le-
velled with the dust, to defend by their bravery
the hill which they occupied, small and ill pro-
vided as it was, yet being the only refuge of
their liberty. And as the same events recurred
everyday, they became so habituated, as it were,
to disasters, that, abstracting their thoughts as
much as possible from their circumstances, they
regarded the arms and the swords in their hands
as their only hopes.

OF ROME.

[BOOK v.

XLIII. On the other side, the Gauls, hav-
ing for several days waged only an ineffectual
war against the buildings, and perceiving that
among the fires and ruins of the city nothing
now remained but a band of armed enemies,
who were neither terrified in the least, nor like-
ly to treat of a capitulation unless force were
applied, resolved to have recourse to extremi-
ties, and to make an assault on the citadel. On
a signal given, at the first light, their whole
multitude was marshalled in the forum, from
whence, after raising the shout, and forming a
testudo, ' they advanced to the attack. The
Romans in their defence did nothing rashly,
nor in a hurry; but having strengthened the
guards at every approach, and opposing the
main strength of their men on the quarter
where they saw the battalions advancing, they
suffered them to mount the hill, judging that
the higher they should ascend, the more easi-
ly they might be driven back, down the steep.
About the middle of the ascent they met ; and
there making their charge down the declivity,
which of itself bore them against the enemy,
routed the Gauls with such slaughter, and such
destruction, occasioned by their falling down
the precipice, that they never afterwards, either
in parties, or with their whole force, made an-
other trial of that kind of fight. Laying aside
therefore the hope of effecting their approaches
by force of arms, they resolved to form a block-
ade, for which, having never until this time
thought of making provision, they were ill pre-
pared. With the houses, all was consumed in
the city ; and in the course of the days they had
passed there, the produce of the country round
about had been hastily carried off to Veil.
Wherefore, dividing their forces, they determin-
ed that one part should be employed in plunder-
ing among the neighbouring nations, while the
other carried on the siege of the citadel, in
order that the ravagers of the country might
supply the besiegers with corn.

XL IV. The party of Gauls, which marched
away from the city, were conducted merely by
the will of fortune, who chose to make a trial
of Roman bravery, to Ardea, where Camillus
dwelt in exile, pining in sorrow, and more
deeply grieving at the distresses of the public,
than at his own ; accusing gods and men, burn-

1 Forming themselves into a compact body, with their
shields joined together, and held over their heads to
protect them from the missile wrauous of the enemy.

ing with indignation, and wondering where
were now those men who with him had taken
Veii, and Falerii ; those men who, in other
wars, had ever been more indebted to their own
courage, than to chance. Thus pondering, he
heard, on a sudden, that the army of the Gauls
was approaching, and that the people of Ardea
in consternation were met in council on the
subject. On which, as if moved by divine in-
spiration, he advanced into the midst of their
assembly, having hitherto been accustomed to
absent himself from such meetings, and said,
" People of Ardea, my friends of old, of late
my fellow-citizens also, a relation encouraged
by your kindness, and formed by my fortune ;
let not any of you imagine, that my coming
hither to your council is owing to my having
forgotten my situation ; but the present case,
and the common danger, render it necessary
that every one should contribute to the public
every kind of assistance in his power. And
when shall I repay so great obligations as I owe
you, if I am now remiss ? On what occasion
can I ever be serviceable to you, if not in war ?
By my knowledge in that line, I supported a
character in my native country, and though
never overcome by an enemy in war, I was ban-
ished in time of peace by my ungrateful coun-
trymen. To you, men of Ardea, fortune has
presented an opportunity of making a recom-
pence for all the valuable favours which the
Roman people have formerly conferred on you.
How great these have been, ye yourselves re-
member ; nor need I, who know you to be
grateful, remind you of them. At the same
time you may acquire, for this your city, a high
degree of military renown, by acting against the
common enemy. The nation, which is now
approaching, in a disorderly march, is one to
whom nature has given minds and bodies of
greater size than strength : for which reason,
they bring to every contest more of terror, than
of real vigour. The disaster of Rome may
serve as a proof of this ; they took the 'city,
when every avenue lay open ; but still a small
band in the citadel and capitol are able to with-
stand them. Already tired of the slow pro-
ceedings of the seige, they retire and spread
themselves over the face of the country. When
gorged by food, and greedy draughts of wine,
as soon as night comes on, they stretch them-
selves promiscuously, like brutes, near streams
of water, without intrenchmen,t, and without
either guards or advanced posts ; using, at pre-

v. n. 365.]

OF ROME.

sent, in consequence of success, still less cau-
tion than usual. If it is your wish to defend
your own walls, and not to suffer all this part
of the world to become a province of Gaul, take
arms unanimously at the first watch. Follow
me, to kill, not to fight. If I do not deliver
them into your hands, overpowered with sleep,
to be slaughtered like cattle, I am content to
meet the same issue of my affairs at Ardea
which I found at Rome."
. XL V. Every one who heard him had long
been possessed with an opinion, that there was
not any where in that age a man of equal talents
for war. The meeting then being dismissed,
they took some refreshment, and waited with
impatience for the signal being given. As
soon as that was done, during the stillness of
the beginning of the night, they attended Ca-
millus at the gates : they had not marched far
from the city, when they found the camp
of the Gauls, as had been foretold, un-
guarded and neglected on every side, and,
raising a shout, attacked it There was no
fight any where, but slaughter every where :
being naked, and surprised in sleep, they
were easily cut to pieces. However, those
who lay most remote, being roused from
their beds, and not knowing how or by whom
the tumult was occasioned, were by their fears
directed to flight, and some of them even into
the midst of the enemy, before they perceived
their mistake. A great number, flying into ,the
territory of Antium, were attacked on their
straggling march by the inhabitants of that city,
surrounded and cut off. A like carnage was
made of the Tuscans in the territory of Veil :
for they were so far from feeling compassion
for a city, which had been their neighbour now
near four hundred years, and which had been
overpowered by a strange and unheard of ene-
my, that they made incursions at that very time
on the Roman territory : and, after loading
themselves with booty, purposed even to lay
siege to Veii, the bulwark, and the last re-
maining hope of the whole Roman race. The
soldiers there, who had seen them straggling
over the country, and also collected in a body,
driving the prey before them, now perceived
their camp pitched at no great distance from
Veii. At first, their minds were filled with
melancholy reflections on their own situation ;
then with indignation, afterwards with rage.
"Must their misfortunes," they said, " be mock-
ed even by the Etrurians, from whom they hud

drawn off the Gallic war on themselves ?"
Scarce could they curb their passions so far as
to refrain from attacking them that instant;
but, being restrained by Quintus Caedicius, a
centurion, whom they had appointed their com-
mander, they consented to defer it until night.
The action which ensued wanted nothing to
render it equal to the former, except that it
was not conducted by a general equal to Ca-
millus : in every other respect the course of
events was the same, and the issue equally for-
tunate. Not content with this blow, but tak-
ing, as guides, some prisoners who had escaped
the slaughter, and advancing to Salinse against
another body of Tuscans, they surprised them
on the night following, slew a still greater num-
ber, and then returned to Veii, exulting in
their double victory.

XL VI. Meanwhile, at Rome, the siege, in
general, was carried on slowly, and both par-
ties lay quiet ; for the attention of the Gauls was
solely employed in preventing any of the enemy
escaping from between their posts ; when on
a sudden, a Roman youth drew on himself the
attention and admiration both of his country-
men and the enemy. There was a sacrifice al-
ways solemnized by the Fabian family at stat-
ed times, on the Quirinal hill : to perform
which, Caius Fabius Dorso having come down
from the capitol, dressed in the form called
the Gabine cincture, and carrying in his hands
the sacred utensils requisite for the ceremony,
passed out through the midst of the enemy's
posts, without being moved in the least by any
of their calls or threats. He proceeded to the
Quirinal hill, and after duly performing there
the solemn rites, returned by the same way,
preserving the same firmness in his counten-
ance and gait, confident of the protection of
the gods, whose worship, even the fear of
death, had not power to make him neglect,
and came back to his friends in the capitol,
while the Gauls were either held motionless
with astonishment at his amazing confidence,
or moved by considerations of religion, of which
that nation is by no means regardless. Mean-
while, those at Veii found not only their cour-
age, but their strength also increasing daily.
Not only such of the Romans repaired thither,
who, in consequence either of the defeat in the
field, or of the disaster of the city being taken,
had been dispersed in various parts, but volun-
teers also flowed in from Latium, with a view
to share in the spoil ; so that it now seemed high

206

THE HISTORY

QBOOK v.

time to attempt the recovery of their native
city, and rescue it out of the hands of the ene-
my. But this strong body wanted a head :
the spot where they stood reminded them oi
Camillus, a great number of the soldiers hav-
ing fought with success under his banners and
auspices. Besides, Caedicius declared, that he
would not take any part which might afford
occasion, either for god or man, to take away
his command ; but rather, mindful of his own
rank, would himself insist on the appointment
of a general. With universal consent it was
resolved, that Camillus should be invited from
Ardea ; but that first the senate at Rome
should be consulted ; so carefully did they re-
gulate every proceeding by a regard to proprie-
ty, and though in circumstances nearly des-
perate, maintain the distinctions of the se-
veral departments of government. It was
necessary to pass through the enemy's guards,
which could not be effected without the ut-
most danger. A spirited youth called Pontius
Cominius, offered himself for the undertaking,
and supporting himself on pieces of cork, was
carried down the stream of the Tiber to the city.
From thence, where the distance from the bank
was shortest, he made his way into the capitol
over a part of the rock which was very steep
and craggy, and therefore neglected by the ene-
my's guards ; and being conducted to the ma-
gistrates, delivered the message of the army.
Then having received a decree of the senate,
that Camillus should both be recalled from ex-
ile in an assembly of the Curias, and instantly
nominated dictator by order of the people, and
that the soldiers should have the general whom
they wished, going out by the same way, he
proceeded with his despatches to Veii ; from
whence deputies were sent to Ardea to Camil-
lus, who conducted him to Veii : or else, the
law was passed by the Curians, and he was
nominated dictator in his absence ; for I am
inclined to believe, that he did not set outifrom
Ardea, until he found that this was done, be-
cause he could neither change his residence
without an order of the people, nor hold the
privilege of the auspices in the army, until he
was nominated dictator.

XL VII. Thus they were employed at Veii,
whilst, in the meantime, the citadel and capitol
at Rome were in the utmost danger. The
{Jfauls either perceived the track of a human
foot, where the messenger from Veii had pass-
ed; or, from their own observation, had re-

marked the easy ascent at the rock of Carmen-
tis : on a moonlight night, therefore, having first
sent forward a person unarmed to make trial
of the way, handing their arms to those before
them ; when any difficulty occurred, supporting
and supported in turns, and drawing each other
up according as the ground required, they
climbed to the summit in such silence, that they
not only escaped the notice of the guards, but
did not even alarm the dogs, animals particular-
ly watchful with regard to any noise at night.
They were not unperceived however by some
geese, which, being sacred to Juno, the people
had spared, even in the present great scarcity
of food ; a circumstance to which they owed
their preservation ; for by the cackling of these
creatures, and the clapping of their wings, Mar-
cus Manlius was roused from sleep — a man of
distinguished character in war, who had been
consul the third year before ; and snatching up
his arms, and at the same time calling to the
rest to do the same, he hastened to the spot :
where, while some ran about in confusion, he
by a stroke with the boss of his shield tumbled
down a Gaul who had already got footing on
the summit ; and this man's weight, as he fell,
throwing down those who were next, he slew
several others, who, in their consternation,
threw away their arms, and caught hold of the
rocks, to which they clung. By this time many
of the garrison had assembled at the place, who,
by throwing javelins and stones, beat down the
enemy, so that the whole band, unable to keep
either their hold or footing, were hurled down
the precipice in promiscuous ruin. The alarm
then subsiding, the remainder of the night was
given to repose, as much at least as could be
enjoyed after such perturbation, when the dan-
ger, though past, kept up the agitation of peo-
ple's mind. As soon as day appeared, the
soldiers were summoned, by sound of trumpet,
to attend the tribunes in assembly, when due
recompence was to be made both to merit and
demerit. Manlius was first of all commended
For the bravery which he had displayed, and
>vas presented with gifts, not only by the mili-
tary tribunes, but by the soldiers universally ;
for every one carried to his house, which was
.n the citadel, a contribution of half a pound of
corn and half a pint of wine — a present which
appears trifling in the relation, yet the scarcity
which prevailed rendered it a very strong proof
of esteem, since each man contributed, in hon-
our of a particular person, a portion subtracted

v. R. 365.]

OF ROME.

207

from his necessary supplies. Those who had
been on guard at the place where the enemy
climbed up unobserved, were now cited ; and
though Quintus Sulpicius, military tribune, had
declared, that he would punish every man ac-
cording to the rules of military discipline, yet
being deterred by the unanimous remonstrances
of the soldiers, who threw all the blame on one
particular man of the guard, he spared the rest.
The one who was manifestly guilty, he, with
the approbation of all, threw down from the
rock. From this time forth, the guards on both
sides became more vigilant : on the side of the
Gauls, because a rumour spread that messen-
gers passed between Veii and Rome ; and on
that of the Romans, from their recollection of
the danger to which they had been exposed in
the night.

XL VI II. But beyond all the evils of the
war and the. siege, famine distressed both ar-
mies. To which was added on the side of the
Gauls, a pestilential disorder, occasioned by their
lying encamped in low ground surrounded with
hills, which, besides having been heated by the
burning of the buildings, and filled with ex-
halations, when the wind rose ever so little,
sent up not only ashes but embers. These in-
conveniences that nation, of all others, is the
worst qualified to endure, as being accustomed
to cold and moisture. In a word, they suffered
so severely from the heat and suffocation, that
they died in great numbers, disorders spreading
as among a herd of cattle. And now growing
weary of the trouble of burying separately, they
gathered the bodies in heaps promiscuously, and
burned them, and this rendered the place re-
markable by the name of the Gallic piles. A
truce was now made with the Romans, and
conferences held with permission of the com-
manders : in which, when the Gauls frequently
made mention of the famine to which the for-
mer were reduced, and thence inferred the ne-
cessity of their surrendering, it is said, that in
order to remove this opinion, bread was thrown
from the capitol into their advanced posts,
though the famine could scarcely be dissembled
or endured any longer. But whilst the dictator
was employed in person in levying forces at
Ardca, in sending his master of the horse, Lu-
cius Valerius, to bring up the troops from Veii,
and in making such preparations and arrange-
ments as would enable him to attack the ene-
my on equal terms, the garrison of the capitol
was worn down with the fatigue of guards and

watches. They had hitherto stood superior to
all evils, yet famine was one which nature
would not allow to be overcome, so that look-
ing out day after day for some assistance from
the dictator, and at last, not only provisions,
but hope failing, their arms, in the course of re-
lieving the guards, at the same time almost
weighing down their feeble bodies, they in-
sisted that either a surrender should be made,
or the enemy bought off, on such terms as
could be obtained : for the Gauls had given
plain intimations, that, for a small compensa-
tion, they might be induced to reb'nquish the
siege. The senate then met, and the military
tribunes were commissioned to conclude a capi-
tulation. The business was afterwards managed
in a conference between Quintus Sulpicius a
military tribune, and Brennus the chieftain of
the Gauls, and a thousand pounds weight of
gold1 was fixed as the ransom of that people,
who were afterwards to be rulers of the world.
To a transaction so very humiliating in itself,
insult was added. False weights were brought
by tht Gauls, and on the tribune objecting to
them, the insolent Gaul threw in his sword in
addition to the weights, and was heard to utter
an expression intolerable to Roman ears, " woe
to the vanquished."

XLIX. But both gods and men stood forth
to prevent the Romans living under the dis-
grace of being ransomed. For, very fortunate-
ly, before the abominable payment was com-
pleted, the whole quantity of gold being not yet
weighed in consequence of the altercation, the
dictator came up to the spot, ordered the gold
to be carried away from thence, and the Gauls
to clear the place. And when they made op-
position, and insisted on the agreement, he
affirmed that such an agreement could have no
validity, being made after he had been created
dictator, without his order, by a magistrate of
subordinate authority ; and he gave notice to
the Gauls to prepare for battle. His own men
he ordered to throw their baggage in a heap, to
get ready their arms, and to recover their
country with steel, not with gold ; having be-
fore their eyes the temples of the gods, their
wives and children, the site of their native city
disfigured with nibbish through the calamities
of war, and every object which they were
bound by the strongest duties to defend, to re-
cover, and to revenge. He then drew up his

1 7..45.0001

208

THE HISTORY

[BOOK v.

forces for battle, as far as the nature of the
ground would allow, on the site of the half-
demolished city, which was in itself naturally
uneven, having made every previous arrange-
ment and preparation, which could be suggested
by knowledge in war, to secure all possible ad-
vantages to himself. The Gauls, alarmed at
this unexpected event, took up arms, and with
more rage than conduct rushed upon the Ro-
mans. Fortune had now changed sides; and
both divine favour and human wisdom aided
the Roman cause. At the first onset, there-
fore, the Gauls were put to the route with no
greater difficulty than they had themselves
found, when they gained the victory at the
Allia. They were afterwards defeated, under
the conduct and auspices of the same Camillus,
in a more regular engagement at the eighth stone
on the Gabine road, where they rallied after their
flight. Here the slaughter was immense ; their
camp was taken, and not even a single person
left to carry the news of the defeat. The dic-
tator, having thus recovered his country from
the enemy, returned in triumph, and among the
rough jokes which the soldiers throw out on
such occasions, received the appellations of a
Romulus, a second founder of the city — praises
certainly not unmerited. His country thus
saved by arms, he evidently saved it a second
time in peace, when he hindered the people
from removing to Veii, a scheme pressed by
the tribunes with greater earnestness after the
burning of the city, and which the commons, or
themselves, were then more inclined to pur-
sue ; and for that reason he did not resign the
dictatorship immediately after his triumph,
being entreated by the senate not to leave the
commonwealth in that unsettled state.

L. The first business which he laid before
the senate was that which respected the im-
mortal gods j for he was remarkably attentive to
all matters in which religion was concerned.
He procured a decree of senate, that " all the
temples having been in possession of the enemy
should be restored, their bounds traced, and ex-
piation made for them, and that the form of
expiation should be sought in the books by the
duumvirs. That a league of hospitality should
be formed by public authority with the people
of Caere, because they had afforded a reception
to the sacred utensils, and to the priests of the
Roman people ; and because to the kindness of
that nation it was owing, that the worship of
the immortal gods had not been intermitted ;

that Capitoline games should be exhibited in
honour of Jupiter, supremely good and great,
for having, in time of danger, protected his own
mansion, and the citadel of Rome ; and that a
certain number of citizens, for the due perfor-
mance thereof, should be incorporated by the
dictator, out of those who resided in the capitol
and fort." Mention was also introduced of
expiating the voice which had been heard by
night, giving notice of the calamity before the
Gallic war, and which had been neglected ; and
an order was made that a temple should be
erected to Aius Locutius, in the new street.
The gold, which had been rescued from the
Gauls, and also what had been, during the
hurry of the alarm, carried from the other tem-
ples into the recess of Jupiter's temple, was all
together judged to be sacred, and ordered to be
deposited under the the throne of Jupiter, be-
cause no one could recollect to what temples it
ought to be returned. The state had, before
this, manifested a high regard to religion, in ac-
cepting a contribution of gold from the matrons,
when the public fund was found insufficient to
make up the sum stipulated to be paid to the
Gauls, rather than meddle with the sacred gold.
To the matrons public thanks were given, and
also the privilege of having funeral orations de-
livered in honour of them on their death, the
same as on that of the men. When he had
finished such business as respected the gods,
and such as could be determined by the author-
ity of the senate, and as the tribunes never
ceased teasing the commons in their harangues
to abandon the ruins, and remove to Veii, a
city ready for their reception ; being attended
by the whole body of the senate, he mounted
the tribunal, and spoke to this effect.

LI. " Romans, so strong is my aversion from
holding contentions with the tribunes of the
people, that while I resided at Ardea, I. had no
other consolation in my melancholy exile than
that I was at a distance from such contests ;
and, on account of these, I was fully determin-
ed never to return, even though ye should recall
me by a decree of senate and order of the peo-
ple. Nor was it any change of my sentiments,
which induced me now to revisit Rome, but
the situation of your affairs. For the point in
question was, not whether I should reside in my
native land, but whether that land, (if I may
so express myself,) should keep in its own es-
tablished seat ? And on the present occasion
most willingly would I remain silent, did not

y. R. 365.1

OF ROME.

209

this struggle also affect the essential interests
of my country ; to.be wanting to which, as long
as life remains, were base in others, in Camillus
infamous. For to what purpose have we la-
boured its recovery ? Why have we rescued it
out of the hands of the enemy ? After it has
been recovered, shall we voluntarily desert
it? Notwithstanding that the capitol and
citadel continued to be held and inhabited by
the gods and the natives of Rome, even when
the Gauls were victorious, and in possession
of the whole city ; notwithstanding that the
Romans are now the victors ; shall that capi-
tol and citadel be abandoned with all the
rest, and our prosperity become the cause
of greater desolation, than our adversity was ?
In truth, if we had no religious institutions
which were founded together with the city, and
regularly handed down from one generation to
another ; yet the divine power has been so
manifestly displayed at this time in favour of
the Roman affairs, that I should think all dis-
position to be negligent in paying due honour
to the gods effectually removed from the minds
of men. For, take a review of the transactions
of these latter years in order, — prosperous and
adverse, — ye will find that in every instance
prosperity constantly attended submission to
the immortals, and adversity the neglect of
them. To begin with the war of Veii : for
what a number of years, and with what an im-
mensity of labour, was it carried on ? Yet it
could not be brought to a conclusion, until, in
obedience to the admonition of the gods, the
water was discharged from the Alban lake.
Consider, did this unparalleled train of misfor-
tunes, which ruined our city, commence until
the voice sent from heaven, concerning the ap-
proach of the Gauls, bad been disregarded, un-
til the laws of nations had been violated by our
ambassadors ; and until we, with the same in-
difference towards the deities, passed over that
crime which we were bound to punish ? Van-
quished, therefore, made captives, and ransom-
ed, we have suffered such punishments at the
hands of gods and men, as render us a warning
to the whole world. After this, our misfor-
tunes again reminded us of our duty to the
heavens. We fled for refuge into the capitol,
to the mansion of Jupiter, supremely good and
great. The sacred utensils, amidst the ruin of
our own properties, we partly concealed in the
earth, partly conveyed out of the enemy's sight,
to the neighbouring cities. Abandoned by
I.

gods and men, yet we did not intermit the
sacred worship. The consequence was, they
restored us to our country, to victory, and to
our former renown in war, which we had for-
feited ; and, on the heads of the enemy, who,
blinded by avarice, broke the faith of a treaty
in respect to the weight of the gold, they turn-
ed dismay, and night, and slaughter.

LIL " When ye reflect on these strong in-
stances of the powerful effects produced on the
affairs of men by their either honouring or
neglecting the deity, do ye not perceive, Ro-
mans, what an act of impiety we are about to
perpetrate ; even in the veiy moment of emerg-
ing from the wreck and ruin which followed
our former misconduct ? We are in possession
of a city built under the direction of auspices
and auguries, in which there is not a spot but
is full of gods and religious rites. The days
of the anniversary sacrifices are not more pre-
cisely stated, than are the places where they
are to be performed. All these gods, both
public and private, do ye intend, Romans, to
forsake ? What similitude does your conduct
bear to that, which lately, during the siege,
was beheld, with no less admiration by the
enemy than by yourselves, in that excellent
youth Cains Fabius, when he went down from
the citadel through the midst of Gallic wea-
pons, and performed on the Quirinal hill the
anniversary rites pertaining to the Fabian fa-
mily ? Is it your opinion that the religious
performances of particular families should not
be intermitted, though war obstruct, but that
the public rites and the Roman gods should
be forsaken even in time of peace ; and that
the pontiffs and namens should be more negli-
gent of those rites of religion than was a pri-
vate person ? Some, perhaps, may say, we will
perform those at Veii ; we will send our priests
thither for that purpose : but this cannot be
done without an infringement of the established
forms. Even in the case of the feast of Jupi-
ter, (not to enumerate all the several gods, and
all the different kinds of sacred rites,) can the
ceremonies of the Lectisternium be performed
in any other place than the capitol ? What shall
I say of the eternal fire of Vesta ; and of the sta-
tue, that pledge of empire, which is kept under
the safeguard of her temple ? What, O Mars
Gradivus, and thou, Father Quirinus, of thy An-
cilia?1 Is it right that those sacred things, coeval

1 AnciU, 8 thield, supposed tor be of the g< d Mart, said

210

THE HISTORY

[BOOK v.

with the city, nay some of them more ancient than
the city itself, should all be abandoned to pro-
fanation ? Now, observe the difference between
us and our ancestors. They handed down to
us certain sacred rites to be performed on the
Alban, and on the Lavinian mounts. Was it
then deemed not offensive to the gods, that
such rites should be brought to Rome, and
from the cities of our enemies ; and shall we,
without irnpiety, remove them from hence to
an enemy's city, to Veii ? Recollect, I beseech
you, how often sacred rites are performed
anew,- because some particular ceremony of our
country has been omitted through negligence
or accident. In a late instance, what other
matter, after the prodigy of the Alban lake,
proved a remedy for the distresses brought on
the commonwealth by the war of Veii, but the
repetition of them, and the renewal of the aus-
pices ? But besides, as if zealously attached to
religious institutions, we have brought not only
foreign deities to Rome, but have established
new ones. It was but the other day that im-
perial Juno was removed hither from Veii ;
and with what a crowded attendance was her
dedication on the Aventine celebrated ? And
how greatly was it distinguished by the extra-
ordinary zeal of the matrons ? We have passed
an order for the erecting of a temple to Aius
Locutius in the new street, out of regard to the
heavenly voice which was heard there. To our
other solemnities we have added Capitoline
games, and have, by direction of the senate,
founded a new college for the performance
thereof. Where was there occasion for any of
these institutions, if we were to abandon the
city at the same time with the Gauls ; if it was
against our will that we resided in the capitol
for the many months that the siege continued ;
if it was through a motive of fear that we suf-
fered ourselves to be confined there by the
enemy? Hitherto we have spoken of the sa-
cred rites and the temples, what are we now to
say of the priests ? Does it not occur to you,
what a degree of profaneness would be com-
mited with respect to them ? For the vestals
have but that one residence, from which no-
thing ever disturbed them, except the capture
of the city. It is deemed impious if the Fla-

to have fallen from heaven in the reign of Nuraa. It
was reposited in the sanctuary, and kept with great
care by the priests of Mars, called Salii. Being consi-
dered as a symbol of the perpetual duration of the em.
piro, to prevent its being stolen, eleven others were
made exactly resembling it, and laid up with it.

men Dialis remain one night out of the city.
Do ye intend to make them Veientian priests
instead of Roman ? And, O Vesta, shall thy
virgins forsake thee ? And shall the flamen, by
foreign residence, draw every night on himself
and the commonwealth so great a load of guilt?
What shall we say of other kinds of business
which we necessarily transact under auspices,
and almost all within the Pomcerium ? To
what oblivion, or to what neglect, are we to
consign them ? The assemblies of the Curias,
which have the regulation of military affairs,
the assemblies of the centuries, in which ye
elect consuls and military tribunes j where can
they be held under auspices, except in the accus-
tomed place ? Shall we transfer these to Veii ?
Or shall the people, in order to hold their
meetings, lawfully crowd together here, with
so great inconvenience, and into a city deserted
by gods and men ?

LI II. " But it is urged that the case itself
compels us to leave a city desolated by fire and
ruin, and remove to Veii, where every thing is
entire, and not to distress the needy commons
by building here. Now, I think, Romans, it
must be evident to most of you, though I
should not say a word on the subject, that this
is but a pretext held out to serve a purpose,
and not the real motive. For ye remember,
that this scheme of our removing to Veii was
agitated before the coming of the Gauls, when
the buildings, both public and private, were un-
hurt, and when the city stood in safety. Ob-
serve, then, tribunes, the difference between my
way of thinking and yours. Ye are of opinion,
that even though it were not advisable to re-
move at that time, yet it is plainly expedient
now. On the contrary, and be not surprised
at what I say until ye hear my reasons, even
allowing that it had been advisable so to do,
when the whole city was in a state of safety, I
would not vote for leaving these ruins now.
At that time, removing into a captured city
from a victory obtained, had been a cause ,glo-
rious to us and our posterity; but now, it
would be wretched and dishonourable to us,
while it would be glorious to the Gauls. For
we shall appear not to have left our country
in consequence of our successes, but from being
vanquished ; and by the flight at the Allia, the
capture of the city, and the blockade of the
capitol, to have been obliged to forsake our
dwelling, and fly from a place which we had
not strength to defend. And have the Gauls

Y. R. 365.]

OF ROME.

211

been able to demolish Rome, and shall the
Romans be deemed unable to restore it ? Whai
remains, then, but that ye allow them to come
with new forces, for it is certain they have
numbers scarcely credible, and make it their
choice to dwell in this city, once captured by
them, and now forsaken by you ? What woulc
you think, if, not the Gauls, but your olc
enemies the JEquans or Volscians, shoulc
form the design of removing to Rome ? Woulc
ye be willing that they should become Romans
and you Veientians ? Or would ye that this
should be either a desert in your possession,
or a city in that of the enemy ? Any thing
more impious I really cannot conceive. Is it
out of aversion from the trouble of rebuilding,
that ye are ready to incur such guilt and such
disgrace ? Supposing that there could not
be erected a ^better or more ample structure
than that cottage of our founder, were it not
more desirable to dwell in cottages, after the
manner of shepherds and rustics, in the midst
of your sacred places and tutelar deities, than
to have the commonwealth go into exile ?
Our forefathers, a body of uncivilized stran-
gers, when there was nothing in these places
but woods and marshes, erected a city in a very
short time. Do we, though we have the cap-
itol and citadel safe, and the temples of the
gods standing, think it too great a labour to
rebuild one that has been burned ? What each
particular man would have done, if his house
had been destroyed by fire, should the whole
of us refuse, in the case of a general confla-
gration.

LIV. Let me ask you, if, through some ill
design or accident, a fire should break out at
Veii, and the flames being spread by the wind,
as might be the case, should consume a great
part of the city; must we seek Fidenae, or Gabii,
or some other city, to remove to ? Has our na-
tive soil so slight a hold of our affections ;
and this earth, which we call our mother ? Or
does our love for our country extend no farther
than the surface, and the timber of the houses ?
I assure you, for I will confess it readily, that
during the time of my absence, (which I am
less willing to recollect, as the effect of ill
treatment from you, than of my own hard for-
tune,) as often as my country came into my
mind, every one of these circumstances occur-
red to me ; the bills, the plains, the Tiber, the
face of the country to which my eyes had been
accustomed, and the sky, under which I had

been born and educated ; and it is my wish,
Romans, that these may now engage you, by
the ties of affection, to remain to your own
established settlements, rather than hereafter
prove the cause of your pining away in anxious
regret at having left them. Not without good
reason did gods and men select this spot for
the building of Rome, where are most health-
ful hills, a commodious river, whose stream
brings down the produce of the interior coun-
tries, while it opens a passage for foreign com-
merce ; the sea, so near as to answer every
purpose of convenience, yet at such a distance
as not to expose it to danger from the fleets of
foreigners ; and in the centre of the regions of
Italy, a situation singularly adapted by its na-
ture to promote the increase of a city. Of
this the very size, as it was, must be held a
demonstration. Romans, this present year is
the three hundred and sixty-fifth of the city ;
during so long a time ye have been engaged in
war, in the midst of nations of the oldest
standing : yet, not to mention single nations,
neither the ^Equans in conjunction with the
Volscians, who possess so many and so strong
towns, nor the whole body of Etruria, pos-
sessed of such extensive power by land and
sea, and occupying the whole breadth of Italy,
from one sea to the other, have shown them-
selves equal to you in war. This being the
case, where can be the wisdom in making trial
of a change, when, though your valour might
accompany you in your removal to another
place, the fortune of this spot could not cer-
tainly be transferred ? Here is the capitol,
where a human head being formerly found, it
was foretold that in that spot should be the head
of the world, and the seat of sovereign empire.
Here, when the capitol was to be cleared by the
rites of augury, Juventas and Terminus, to the
very great joy of our fathers, suffered not them-
selves to be moved. Here is the tire of Vesta,
here the Ancilia sent down from heaven,
here all the gods, and they, too, propitious to
your stay." Camillus is said to have affected
hem much by other parts of his discourse, but
>articularly by that which related to religious
matters. But still the affair remained in sus-
>ense, until an accidental expression, season-
ably uttered, determined it. For in a short
jme after this, the senate sitting on this busi-
ness in the Curia Hostilia, it happened that
some cohorts, returning from relieving the
guards, passed through the forum in their

212

THE HISTORY OF ROME.

march, when a centurion in the comitium called
out, " Standard-bearer, fix your standard. It
is best for us to stay here." On hearing which
expression, the senate, coming forth from the
Curia, called out with one voice, that " they
embraced the omen ;" and the surrounding
crowd of commons joined their approbation.
The proposed law being then rejected, they
set about rebuilding the city in all parts at once.
Tiles were supplied at the public expense, and
liberty granted to hew stones and fell timber,
wherever each person chose, security being

taken for their completing the edifices within
the year. Their haste took away all attention
to the regulation of the course of the streets -.
for setting aside all regard to distinction of pro-
perty, they built on any spot which they found
vacant. And that is the reason that the old
sewers, which at first were conducted under the
public streets, do now, in many places, pass
under private houses, and that the form of the
city appears as if force alone had directed the
distribution of the lots.

THE

HISTORY OF ROME.

BOOK VI.

Sucressfiil operations against the .tfqu&ns, and Volscians, and Pranestines. Four new tribes added. Marcus
Manilas, who defended the capital, being convicted of aspiring to regal power, is thrown from the Tarpeian rork.
A law, proposed by two plebeian tribunes, that consuls might be chosen from among the commons, causes a
long and violent contest, during which, for five years, the same set of plebeian tribunes are the only magistrates
in the stale , is at length passed : and Lucius Sextus, one of the proposers, made the first plebeian consul. A
law passed, that no person shall possess more than five hundred acres of land.

L IN the five preceding books, I have exhibit-
ed a view of the affairs of the Romans, from
the building of the city of Rome, until it" cap-
ture ; [Y. R. 365. B. C. 387.] under the go-
vernment, first, of kings ; then of consuls and
dictators, decemvirs, and consular tribunes :
their foreign wars, and domestic dissensions :
matters involved in obscurity, not only by rea-
son of their great antiquity, like objects placed
at such a distance as to be scarcely discernible
by the eye ; but also because that, in those
times, the use of letters, the only faithful
guardian of the memory of events, was very
rare. And besides, whatever information
might have been contained in the commenta-
ries of the pontiffs, and other public or private
records, it was almost entirely lost in the burn-
ing of the city. Henceforward, from the
second origin of Rome, from whence, as from
its root, receiving new life, it sprung up with
redoubled health and vigour, I shall be able to
give the relation of its affairs, both civil and
military, with more clearness and certainty.
Now, after its restoration, it leaned still, for
principal support, on the same instrument which
had raised it from ruin, Marcus Furius Camil-
lus. Nor did the people suffer him to lay
aside the dictatorship before the end of that
year. It was judged improper that the tribunes,
during whose administration the city had been
taken, should preside at the elections for the
year ensuing, and an interregnum was resolved

on. While the public were kept diligently
employed in repairing the city, Quintus Fa-
bius, as soon as he went out of office, had a
prosecution instituted against him by Cains
Marcius, a tribune of the commons, for having,
while in the character of ambassador, contrary
to the law of nations, acted in arms against the
Gauls, with whom he had been sent as a min-
ister to negotiate : he escaped standing his
trial, by a death so opportune, that most peo-
ple believed it voluntary. The interregnum
commenced. Publius Cornelius Scipio was
interrex; and, after him, Marcus Furius Ca-
niillus a second time. [Y. R. 366. B. C.
386. ] He elected military tribunes with consu-
lar power, Lucius Valerius Poplicola a second
time, Lucius Virginius, Publius Cornelius,
Aulus Manlius, Lucius jEmilius, and Lucius
Postumius. These, entering on office, imme-
diately on the conclusion of the interregnum,
consulted the senate on no other business pre-
vious to that which related to religion. They
ordered, in the first place, that a collection
should be made of the treaties and laws which
could be found. The latter consisted of the
twelve tables, and some laws enacted by the
kings. Some of these were publicly pro-
mulgated ; but such as related to religious
matters were kept secret, chiefly through
means of the pontiffs, that they might hold
the minds of the multitude in bondage.
They next turned their deliberations to

214

THE HISTORY

[BOOK vi.

those days, which were to be accounted
displeasing to the gods ; and the fifteenth
day of the calends of August was distinguished
by an order, that on that unfortunate day no
public or private business whatever should be
transacted : it was deemed doubly unfortunate :
for on that day the Fabii were slain at Creme-
ra ; and afterwards, on the same day, the fatal
battle of Allia, which effected the destruction
of the city, was fought : from the latter disaster
it was denominated the Allian day. Some are
of opinion that, because, on the day following
the ides of July, Sulpicius, when military tri-
bune, had neglected to perform the rites of the
augury; and, without being assured of the
favour of the gods, had on the third day after
exposed the Roman army to the enemy, it was
ordained, that the days following the calends
and the nones should also be accounted equally
inauspicious.

II. But it was not long allowed them to
consult, in quiet, on the means of raising up the
city, after such a grievous fall. On one side
their old enemy, the Volscians, had taken arms,
resolved to extinguish the Roman name ; and,
on the other, according to intelligence received
from certain traders, a conspiracy of the leading
men, from all the several states of Etruria, had
been formed at the temple of Voltumna, for the
purpose of commencing hostilities. To which
was added a new cause of apprehension, by the
defection of the Latines and Hernicians, who,
ever since the battle fought at the lake Regil-
lus, during the course of near a hundred years,
had continued in friendship with the Roman
people, without ever giving reason to doubt
their fidelity. Wherefore, when such alarms
started up on every side, and all men plainly
perceived, that the Roman name was not only
loaded with hatred among their enemies, but
also with contempt among their allies, it was
determined, that the defence of the common-
wealth should be conducted by the same
auspices which had effected its recovery, and
that Marcus Furius Camillus should be no-
minated dictator. On being invested with
that office, he appointed Cains Servilius Ahala
master of the horse ; and, proclaiming a cessa-
tion of civil business, made a levy of the
younger citizens, at the same time administer-
ing the oath of obedience to such of the elders
also as retained any considerable degree of'
strength, and enrolling them among the troops.
The army, thuj enlisted and armed, he divided

into three parts ; one division he opposed to the
Etrurians, in the Veientian territories ; another
he ordered to encamp near the city ; the latter
were commanded by Aulus Manlius, military
tribune ; those who were sent against the
Etrurians, by Lucius JEmilius. The third
division he led, in person, against the Volsci-
ans, and prepared to assault their camp at a
place called Admarcium, near Lanuvium.
Their inducement to begin this war was, a
belief that almost of the whole Roman youth
were cut off by the Gauls ; nevertheless, on
hearing that the command was given to Camil-
lus, they were struck with such terror, that
they fenced themselves with a rampart, which
they further secured with trees piled on each
other, that the enemy might find no pass by
which they could enter the works. As soon
as Camillus saw the nature of this defence, he
ordered it to be set on fire : a high wind blow-
ing at the time towards the enemy, the flames
quickly opened a passage, which, together with
the heat, the smoke, and the cracking of the
green timber in burning, filled them with such
consternation, that the Romans found less dif-
ficulty in climbing over the rampart into the
Volscian camp, than they had met in making
their way across the fence, after it was consum-
ed by the flames. The enemy being routed
and put to the sword, the dictator, as he had
taken the camp by assault, gave the spoil to the
soldiers ; a present the more acceptable to them,
the less hopes they had conceived of it, from a
commander by no means inclined to profuse
generosity. Proceeding then in pursuit of
those who fled, by entirely wasting every part
of their lands, he at length, in the seventieth
year, reduced the Volscians to submission.
After subduing the Volscians, he marched
against the JEquans who likewise had begun
hostilities ; surprised their army at Bolae, and,
having attacked not only their camp, but their
city also, carried both at the first onset.

III. While such fortune attended the opera-
tions on that side where Camillus, the life of
the Roman affairs, was employed, a violent
alarm had fallen on another quarter : for the
Etrurians, having taken arms, with almost their
entire force, laid siege to Sutrium, a place in
alliance with the Roman people, whose ambas-
sadors, having applied to the senate, imploring
aid in their distress, obtained a decree, that the
dictator should, as soon as possible, carry
assistance to the Sutrians. But the circum-

Y. K. 367.]

OF ROME.

215

stances of the besieged not permitting them to
wait the issue of their hopes, from that quarter,
the townsmen being quite spent with labour,
watching, and wounds, which, through the
smallness of their number, fell continually on
the same persons, they gave up the city to the
enemy, by capitulation ; and being discharged
without arms, with only a single garment each,
were leaving their habitations in a miserable
train, when, at the very juncture, Camillus hap-
pened to come up at the head of the Roman
army. The mournful crowd prostrated them-
selves at his feet, and their leaders addressed
him in a speech dictated by extreme necessity,
and seconded by the lamentations of the women
and children, who were dragged into exile with
them : on which he bade the Sutrians cease
their lamentations, for he was come " to turn
mourning and tears to the side of the Etruri-
ans." He then ordered the baggage to be
deposited, the Sutrians to remain there with a
small guard, which he left, and the soldiers to
follow him in arms : then, advancing to Sutri-
um, with his troops freed from incumbrance,
he found, as he expected, every thing in disor-
der, the usual consequence of success ; no ad-
vanced guard before the walls, the gates open,
and the conquerors dispersed, carrying out the
booty from the houses of their enemies ; Su-
trium therefore was taken a second time on the
same day. The Etrurians, lately victorious,
were cut to pieces in every quarter, by this
new enemy; nor was time given them to* as-
semble together, and form a body, or even to
take up arms. They then pushed hastily
toward the gates, in order, if possible, to throw
themselves out into the fields, when they found
them shut, for such had been the dictator's
order at the beginning. On this, some took
arms ; others, who happened to be in arms
before the tumult began, called their friends
together to make battle, and a warm engage-
ment would have been kindled by the despair
of the enemy, had not criers been sent through
every part of the city, with orders to proclaim,
that " they should lay down their arms ; that
the unarmed should be spared, and no in-
jury done to any but those who made opposi-
tion." On which, even those who had been
"most resolutely bent on fighting, when their
situation was desperate, now that hopes of life
were given, threw down their arms, and surren-
dered themselves to the enemy; the safest
method in their present circumstances. Their

number being very great, they were divided
under several guards ; and the town was, before
night, restored to the Sutrians uninjured,
because it had not been taken by force, but had
surrendered on terms.

IV. Camillus returned tQ the city in tri-
umph, crowned at once with conquest over
three different enemies. By far the greater
part of the prisoners, led before his chariot,
were Etrurians ; and these, being sold by auc-
tion, such a vast sum of money was brought
into the treasury, that, after payment of the
price of their gold to the matrons, there were
three golden bowls made out of the surplus,
which being inscribed with the name of Cam-
illus, lay before the burning of the capitol, as
we are well informed, in the recess of Jupiter's
temple, at Juno's feet. In that year, such of
the Veientians, Capenatians, and Faliscians, as
had, during the wars with those nations, come
over to the Romans, were admitted members
of the state, and lands were assigned to these
new citizens. Those were also recalled by
decree of senate from Veii, who, to avoid the
trouble of building at Rome, had betaken them-
selves thither, and seized on the vacant houses.
This produced only murmurs, and they disre-
garded the order ; but afterwards, a certain day
being fixed, and capital punishment denounced
against those who did not return to Rome,
refractory as the whole had been, each particu-
lar person was reduced to obedience, through
fear for his own safety. And now Rome in-
creased, not only in number of inhabitants, but
in buildings, which rose up at the same time
in every part, as the state gave assistance in
the expenses, the aediles pressed forward the
work, as if a public one ; and private persons,
of themselves, incited by their feeling of the
want of accommodations, hastened to finish it ;
so that within the year, a new city was erected.
On the year being ended, an election was held
of military tribunes, with consular power. [Y.
R. 367. B. C. 385.] Those elected were
Titus Quintius Cincinnatus, Quintus Servi-
lius Fidenas a fifth time, Lucius Julius lulus,
Lucius Aquilius Corvus, Lucius Lucretius
Tricipitinus, and Servius Sulpicius Rufus.
They led one army against the Jvnians, not to
wage war, for that people acknowledged them-
selves conquered, hut, in the warmth of ani-
mosity, to lay waste their country, that they
might not have strength for any new enter-
prises ; and another, into the territory of Tar-

THE HISTORY

[BOOK vi.

quinii. Here Cortuosa and Contenebra, towns
belonging to the Etrurians, were taken by
storm, and demolished. At Cortuosa there
was no contest ; attacking it by surprise, they
took it at the first onset : the town was then
plundered and burnt. Contenebra sustained a
siege for a few days, and it was continual la-
bour, intermitted either by night or by day,
which subdued the townsmen ; for the Roman
army being divided into six parts, each division
maintained the fight, for one hour in six, in ro-
tation, whereas the smallness of their number
exposed the same townsmen always, fatigued
as they were, to a contest with an enemy who
were continually relieved. They gave way at
length, and made room for the Romans to en-
ter the city. It was agreed between the tri-
bunes, that the spoil should be converted to the
use of the public ; but the order not being is-
sued in time, during the delay the soldiers pos-
sessed themselves of the spoil, which could not
be taken from them, without occasioning gene-
ral discontent. In the same year, that the ad-
ditions to the city should not consist of private
buildings only, the lower parts of the capitol
were rebuilt with hewn stone ; a work deserv-
ing notice, even amidst the present magnificence
of the city.

V. And now, while the citizens were busily
employed in building, the tribunes of the com-
mons endeavoured to draw crowds to their ha-
rangues, by proposals of agrarian laws. The
Pomptine territory was held out as a lure to
their hopes, as the possession of it was then,
by the reduction of the Volscian power by
Camillas, perfectly secure, which had not been
the case before. They laid heavy charges, that
" that territory was much more grievously op-
pressed by the nobility than it had been by the
Volscians ; for the latter had only made incur-
sions into it, at such times as they had arms
and strength ; whereas certain persons of the
nobility forcibly usurped possession of land,
which was the property of the public ; nor, un-
less there were a division of it now made,
would there be any room left for the com-
mons." They made no great impression on
the commons, who were so intent on building,
that they did not much frequent the forum ;
and, besides, were so exhausted by their ex-
penses in that way, that they were careless
about land, which they had not abilities to im-
prove. The state having ever been strongly
affected with religious impressions, and even

those of the first rank having, at that time, in
consequence of the late misfortunes, become
superstitious, the government was changed to
an interregnum, in order that the auspices might
be taken anew. There were interreges in suc-
cession, Marcus Manlius Capitolinus, Servius
Sulpicius Camerinus, and Lucius Valerius Po-
titus. [Y. R. 368. B. C. 384.] The last
held, at length, an election of military tribunes,
with consular power ; and appointed Lucius
Papirius, Caius Cornelius, Caius Sergius, Lu-
cius ^milius a second time, Lucius Menenius,
and Lucius Valerius Poplicola a third time.
These entered into office immediately on the
expiration of the interregnum. In that year
the temple of Mars, vowed during the Gallic
war, was dedicated by Titus Quintals, one of
the duumvirs appointed for the performance of
religious rites. Four new tribes were formed
of the new citizens, the Stellatine, the Tro-
mentine, the Sabatine, and the Narnian, which
made up the number of twenty-five tribes.

VI. Lucius Sicinius, plebeian tribune, press-
ed the business of the Pomptine lands in the
assemblies of the people, who now attended in
greater numbers, and were also more easily led
to wish for land than formerly. Mention was
introduced, in the senate, of declaring war
against the Latines and Hernicians, but that
business was postponed, by their attention be-
ing called to a more important war, Etruria
being in arms. They had recourse, therefore,
to the expedient of electing Camillus a military
tribune, with consular power. [Y. R. 369. B.
C. 383.] The five colleagues, joined with him,
were Servius Cornelius Maluginensis, Quintus
Servilius Fidenas a sixth time, Lucius Quintius
Cincinnatus, Lucius Horatius Pulvillus, and
Publius Valerius. The cares of the public
were, in the very beginning of the year, divert-
ed from the Etrurian war : for a number of fu-
gitives, from the Pomptine district, running
hastily into the city, in a body, brought intel-
ligence, that the Antians were in arms, and that
the states of the Latines had privately sent
their young men to co-operate with them in the
war, alleging that the state was not concerned
in the business, but only did not hinder volun-
teers to engage in any service which they chose.
It had ceased to be the practice to despise any
enemy : the senate therefore thanked the gods
that Camillus was in office, because, had he
been in a private station, it would have been
necessary to have nominated him dictator :—

Y. R. 369.]

OF ROME.

217

his colleagues also agreed, that when any dan-
ger threatened, the entire direction of affairs
should be vested in him singly, and determined
to consign all their authority into his hands ;
nor did they think, that any concession which
they made, towards exalting his dignity, dero-
gated in the least -from their own. After the
tribunes had been highly commended by the
senate, Camillas too, covered with confusion,
returned them his thanks, and proceeded to
say, that " a heavy burthen was laid on him by
the Roman people, who had created him, in a
manner, dictator, now a fourth time : a very
great one, by the senate, in such judgments as
that body had expressed concerning him ; but
the greatest of all, by the condescension of col-
leagues of such eminent distinction. Where-
fore, if it were possible to add to his diligence
and vigilance, he would vie with himself, and
labour earnestly, that the opinion of the state
concerning him, so universally conceived, might
be as lasting as it was honourable to him.
With respect to the war, and the Antians,
there was more of threats in it than of danger :
nevertheless his advice was, that, as they should
fear nothing, so they should despise nothing.
The city of Rome was besieged on all sides, by
the ill-will and hatred of its neighbours. The
business of the commonwealth would there-
fore require more generals and more armies
than one. It is my design," said he, "that
you, Publius Valerius, as my associate in com-
mand and counsel, shall march with me, at the
head of the legions, against the enemy at An-
tium : that you, Quintus Servilius, after form-
ing another army; and putting it in readiness,
shall encamp in the city, and be ready to act,
in case the Etrurians, as lately, or these new
disturbers, the Latines and Hernicians, should,
in the meantime, make any attempts : I am
perfectly assured, that your conduct will be
worthy of your father, of your grandfather, of
yourself, and of six tribunates. Let a third
army be enlisted by Lucius Quintals, for the
guard of the city, out of those excused from
service, and those past the military age. Let
Lucius Horatius provide arms, weapons, corn,
and whatever else the exigencies of war may
demand. You, Servius Cornelius, we, your
colleagues, appoint the president of this grand
council of the state, the guardian of religion, of
the assemblies, of the laws, and of every thing
else pertaining to the city." All of them
cheerfully promising their best endeavours, in
I.

the several departments committed to them,
Valerius, whom he had chosen his associate in
command, added, that " he should consider Ca-
m il 1 us as dictator,and himself as his master of the
horse," and desired them therefore to " regulate
their expectations respecting the war, according
to the opinion which they entertained of their
sole commander." The senate, elated with joy,
one and all declared, that, " they really cher-
ished the best expectations with regard to war
and peace, and every branch of public business ;
nor would the commonwealth ever stand in need
of a dictator, if it were to have such men in
office, united in such harmony of sentiment,
equally ready to obey and to command, and
who rather considered fame as their joint-stock,
than endeavoured to monopolize it, to the ex-
clusion of others."

VII. A cessation of civil business being
proclaimed, and troops levied, Camillus and
Valerius marched towards Satricum, to which
place the Antians had drawn together not only
the youth of the Volscians, chosen from among
the new generation, but immense numbers from
the Latines and Hernicians, nations who, from
a long enjoyment of peace, were in the fullest
vigour. This new enemy then being united in
addition to the old, shook the resolution of the
Roman soldiery ; and the centurions reporting
to Camillus, while he was employed in forming
his line of battle, that " the minds of the sol-
diers were disturbed ; that a backwardness
appeared in their taking up arms, and that they
went out of the camp with reluctance, and after
several halts ; nay, that some had been heard to
say, that each of them would have to fight
against a hundred enemies ; that so great a
multitude, even if unarmed, could hardly be
withstood, much less when they were furnished
with arms ;" he leaped on his horse, and in the
front of the battalions, turning to the line, and
riding between the ranks, asked them, " what
is the meaning, soldiers, of this dejection, of
this unusual backwardness ? Are ye unac-
quainted with the enemy^ or with me, or with
yourselves ? The enemy, what are they, but
the continual subject of your bravery and
your glory ? On the other hand, with me
at your head, not to mention the taking of
Falerii, and Veii, or the cutting to pieces the
Gallic legions, by whom our country was held
in captivity, you have lately celebrated a triple
triumph, for three several victories gained over
these same Volscians, ^quans, and Ktruriuns.
2 E

218

THE HISTORY

[BOOK vi.

Is it that ye do not recognize me as your
leader, because I gave you the signal not in
character of dictator, but of tribune ? I desire
not the highest degree of authority over you ;
and with respect to me, you ought to regard
nothing but myself : for neither did the dicta-
torship ever add to my courage, nor even exile
deprive me of it. We are all therefore the
same, and since we bring to this war all the
same advantages which accompanied us in the
former, let us expect the same issue. Do ye
once begin the fight, each party will do what
they have learned and practised : you will con-
quer, they will fly."

VIII. Then giving the signal, he leaped
from his horse, and laying hold of the nearest
standard-bearer, hurried him onward against
the foe, calling aloud, " Soldier, advance the
standard." On seeing this, that Camillus him-
self, now unequal, through age, to acts of bodi-
ly strength, was advancing against the enemy,
they all raised the shout, and rushed forward to-
gether, every one crying out eagerly, " Fol-
low the general." It is said, that the standard
was even thrown, by order of Camillus, into
the ranks of the enemy, and the van hereby ex-
cited to exert themselves for its recovery •. that
in this spot, the Antians were first compelled
to give way, and that the panic spread, not on-
ly through the first line, but even to the troops
in reserve. Nor was it only the force of the
soldiers, animated by the presence of their
leader, which disheartened the enemy; the
very sight of Camillus struck terror intathe
Volscians : so that wherever he met their eyes,
victory was no longer doubtful. This was
particularly evident, when hastily mounting
his horse, he rode with a footman's shield to
the left wing, when it was almost driven from
its ground, and by his appearance restored the
battle, while he pointed to the rest of the line
who were fighting with success. The affair
was now decided. On the one side the ene-
my's disordered numbers impeded their flight ;
on the other, the wearied soldiers would have
had a long and laborious task, in putting to the
sword so great a multitude, when heavy rain
suddenly falling, attended with a violent storm
of wind, prevented the pursuit of the victory,
for it was no longer a fight. The signal for
retreat was then given, and the following night
put an end to the war, without any farther
trouble to the Romans : for the Latines and
Hernicians abandoning the Volscians, marched

away to their homes ; having found such an
issue of their enterprise as the wickedness of
it deserved. The Volscians seeing themselves
deserted by those, through reliance on whom
they had been induced to revive hostilities,
abandoned their camp, and shut themselves up
within the walls of Satricum ; against these,
the first plan of operations, adopted by Camil-
lus, was, to inclose them with lines of circum-
vallation, and to carry on his approaches by
mounds and other works ; but finding that no
obstruction was ever given to these, by any sal-
ly from the town, be judged that the enemy
were not possessed of such a degree of spirit as
should induce him, in apprehension thereof, to
wait in tedious expectation of victoiy ; and
therefore exhorting his men not to waste their
strength by a long course of labours, as in the
siege of Veii, for victory was within their
reach ; and the soldiers showing the greatest
alacrity, he assailed the walls on all sides by
scalade, and made himself master of the town.
The Volscians threw down their arms, and
surrendered.

IX.- But the general's thoughts were intent
on a matter of greater moment, on the city of
Antium. That, he knew, was the grand spring
which set the Volscians in motion, and had
given rise to the last war. But as a city of
so great strength could not be taken without
great preparations for the siege, and a large
train of engines and machines, he left his col-
league to command the army, and went to
Rome, in hopes of persuading the senate to
resolve on the destruction of Antium. In the
middle of his discourse on the subject, it being,
I suppose, the will of the gods, that the state of
Antium should have a longer duration, ambas-
sadors arrived from Nepte and Sutrium, im-
ploring aid against the Etrurians, and urging
that the opportunity for assisting them would
be quickly lost. Thither did fortune divert
the force of Camillus from Antium ; for as
those places were situated opposite Etruria,
and served as barriers, or gates, as it were on
that side, that people, on the one hand, when-
ever any new enterprise was undertaken, were
ever anxious to get possession of them ; and the
Romans on the other to recover and secure them.
The senate therefore resolved, that application
should be made to Camillus, to drop the design
against Antium, and undertake theEtrurian \viir.
The city legions, which had been under the
command of Quintius, were decreed to him :

y.

370.]

OF ROM

219

ul though he would have preferred the army
which was in the country of the Volscians, of
which he had made trials, and which was ac-
customed to his command, yet he offered no
objections ; he only insisted on Valerius being
associated with him in command. Accord-
ingly Quintius and Horatius were sent to suc-
ceed Valerius, in the country of the Volscians.
Camillas and Valerius marching from the city
to Sutrium, found one part of the town already
taken by the Etrurians ; and, in the other part,
the passages to which were barricaded, the
townsmen with great difficulty repelling the
assault of the enemy. The approach of aid
from Rome, together with the name of Camil-
las, universally celebrated among friends and
foes, not only gave them respite for the present
from the ruin which impended, but also afford-
ed an opportunity of effectuating their relief.
Camillus then, dividing his army into two parts,
ordered his colleague to lead round his division,
to that side which was in possession of the
enemy, and to make an assault on the walls ;
not so much in expectation that the city should
be taken by scalade, as that, whilst the enemy
should be diverted to that side, the townsmen,
now fatigued with fighting, might gain some
relaxation, and also that he himself might have
an opportunity of entering the city without a
dispute : both which consequences taking place,
at the same time, and terrifying the Etrurians
by the double danger to which they stood ex-
posed, when they saw the walls of one part as-
sailed with the greatest fury, and the enemy
within the walls of the other, they were struck
with such consternation, that they threw them-
selves out, in one body, by a gate which alone
happened to be unguarded. Great numbers
were slain in their flight, both in the city and
in the fields : the greatest execution done by
the soldiers of Camillus was within the walls :
those of Valerius were more alert in the pur-
suit ; nor did they desist from the slaughter,
until it was so dark that they could see no
longer. Sutrium being thus recovered, and
restored to the allies, the army was conducted
to Nepete, of which the Etrurians had now the
entire possession, having received it by capi-
tulation.

X. It was expected, that the recovery of this
city would have been attended with greater
difficulty ; not only because the whole of it was
possessed by the enemy, but also, because it was
in consequence of a party of the Nepesinians

betraying the public, that the surrender had
been made. However, it was thought proper
that a message should be sent to their principal
men, to separate themselves from the Etrurians,
and show on their own part the same faithful
attachment, which they had implored from the
Romans. But their answer importing, that
there was nothing in their power, for that the
Etrurians held possession of the walls and the
guards of the gates, a trial was first made to
terrify the townsmen, by laying waste their
lands. But when they were found to adhere
more religiously to the terms of the capitulation,
than to those of the alliance, the army was led
up to the walls, with fascines, made of bushes,
collected in the country, with which the ditches
being filled, the scaling ladders were raised,
and the town taken at the first attack. Pro
clamation was then made that the Nepesinians
should lay down their arms, and that the un-
armed should be spared. The Etrurians,
armed and unarmed, were put to the sword
without distinction : of the Nepesinians like-
wise, the authors of the surrender were behead-
ed. To the guiltless multitude their effects
were restored, and a garrison was left in the
town. Having thus recovered two allied cities
from the enemy, the tribunes, with great glory,
led home the victorious army. During this
year, satisfaction was demanded from the La-
tines and Hernicians, and the reason required,
of their not having for some years past, sent the
supplies of soldiers stipulated by tccaty. An
answer was given in full assembly by both na-
tions, that " there was neither design nor blame
to be imputed to the public, because some of
their young men carried arms in the service of
the Volscians. That these, however, had suf-
fered the penalty of their improper conduct ;
not one of them having returned home. As to
the supplies of soldiers, the reason of their not
sending them was, their continual apprehensions
from the Volscians, that pest still clinging to
their side, which so many successive wars had
not been able to exhaust." Which answer
being reported to the senate, they were of
opinion, that a declaration of war, in conse-
quence of it, would rather be unseasonable than
ill-grounded.

XI. In the following year, [Y. R. 370.
B. C. 382.] Aulus Manlius, Publius Corne-
lius, Titus and Lucius Quintii Capitolini,
Lucius Papirius Cursor a second time, and
Cains Sergius a second time, being military tri-

220

THE HISTORY

VI.

bunes, with consular power, a grievous war
broke out abroad, and a more grievous se-
dition at home : the war was set on foot by the
Volscians, assisted by a revolt of the Latines
and Hernicians : the sedition, by one, from
whom it could, least of all, have been appre-
hended ; a man of patrician birth, and of illus-
trious character, Marcus Manlius Capitolinus ;
who., being of a temper too aspiring, while he
looked with contempt on the other men of
chief distinction, burned with envy of one, who
was most eminently distinguished, at the same
time, by honours and by merit, Marcus Furius
Camillus. It gave him great uneasiness, that
" he should be the only man considered among
the magistrates, the only man at the head of
the armies ; that he was now exalted to such
eminence, that the persons elected under the
same auspices with himself, he used, not as
colleagues, but as subordinate officers ; while,
at the same time, if a just estimate were made,
it would have been impossible for Camillus to
have recovered their native city from the Gauls
who besieged it, if he himself had not first sav-
ed the capitol and citadel. The other indeed
attacked the Gauls when, between the receiving
of the gold and the expectation of peace, they
were off their guard : but he had beaten thefn
off, when armed for fight, and taking possession
of the citadel. In the other's glory, as far as
bravery was concerned, every soldier who con-
quered along with him had a right to share ; in
his own victory, no man living could claim a
part." Puffed up with such notions as these, and
being, besides, of a vicious disposition, vehe-
ment and headstrong, when he perceived that
his interest had not that prevailing influence
among the patricians which he thought 'his due,
he, the first of all the patricians, became a par-
tizan of the plebeians ; formed schemes in con-
junction with the magistrates of the commons,
and, while he criminated the patricians, and
allured the commons to his side, he came to be
actuated by ambition for popular applause, not
by prudence, and to prefer a great to a good
character. Not content with agrarian laws,
which had ever served the plebeian tribunes as
matter of sedition, he attempted to undermine
public credit : for debt, be knew, supplied
sharper incentives, as it not only threatened
poverty and ignominy, but menaced personal
freedom with stocks and chains ; and the
amount of the debts which the people had con-
tracted by building, an undertaking most dis-

tressing to the circumstances even of the rich,
was immense. The Volscian war, therefore,
heavy in itself, and charged with additional
weight by the defection of the Latines and
Hernicians, was held out as a colourable pre-
text for having recourse to a higher authority ;
while, in fact, they were the reforming plans of
Manlius which obliged the senate to create a
dictator. Aulus Cornelius Cossus being creat-
ed, he nominated Titus Quintius Capitolinus
master of the horse.

XII. The dictator, although he perceived
that he should have a greater struggle to main-
tain at home than in the field ; yet, either because
the war required despatch, or because he thought
that, by a victory and triumph, he might add to
the power of the dictatorship itself, as soon as
the levies were completed, proceeded to the
Pomptine territory ; where he was informed,
the Volscians had appointed the assembling of
their army. To persons reading in so many
former books, of wars continually waged with
the Volscians, I doubt not that, besides satiety,
this difficulty also will occur, whence the Vol-
scians and ^Equans, so often vanquished, could
procure supplies of soldiers ? which having
been passed over in silence by the ancient
writers, what can I possibly advance, but opi-
nion ? and that every one, indeed, can form for
himself. It seems probable, however, either
that they employed, according to the present
practice in the Roman levies, the several differ-
ent generations of their young men successively,
as they sprung up, during the intervals between
wars ; or, that the troops were not always
enlisted out of the states of the nation making
war ; or, that there was an innumerable multi-
tude of freemen in those places, which, at pre-
sent, were it not for the Roman slaves, would
be a desert, and where scarcely the smallest
seminary of soldiers remains. Certain it is, all
authors agreeing therein, that notwithstanding
their strength had lately been greatly reduced
under the conduct and auspices of Camillus, yet
the forces of the Volscians were exceedingly
numerous ; and to them were added the Latines
and Hernicians, a number of the Circeians,
together with some colonists from Velitrae.
The Roman dictator encamped on the first day ;
and on the following, having taken the auspices
before he made his appearance, and sacrificing
a victim, implored the favour of the gods.
With joy in his countenance, he presented him-
self to the soldiers, who were now at day-break

Y. n. 370.]

OF ROME.

221

taking arms, according to orders, on the signal
for battle being displayed, and said, " Soldiers,
victory is ours, if the gods and their prophets
know aught of futurity. Therefore, as becomes
men full of well-grounded hopes, and about to
engage with their inferiors, let us, fixing our
spears at our feet, bear no other arms than our
swords. I do not wish that any should even
push forward beyond the line ; but that stand-
ing firm ye receive the enemy's onset in a steady
posture. When they shall have discharged
their ineffectual weapons, and, breaking their
order, rush against you as ye stand, then let
your swords glitter in their eyes, and let every
one recollect, that there are gods who support
the Roman cause ; gods, who have sent us to
battle with favourable omens. Do you, Titus
Quintius, keep back the cavalry, watching at-
tentively the beginning of the conflict : as soon
as you shall see the armies closed foot to foot,
then, while their fears are employed on some
other object, strike dismay into them with your
horsemen ; and, by a brisk charge, disperse the
ranks that dispute the victory." As he had
ordered, so did the cavalry, so did the infantry
manage the fight. Nor did either the general
deceive the legions, or fortune the general.

XIII. The enemy, grounding their confi-
dence on no other circumstance than their num-
ber, and measuring both armies merely by the
eye, entered on the battle inconsiderately, and
inconsiderately gave it over. Fierce, only in
their shout, and the discharge of their missive
weapons at the first onset, they were unable to
withstand the swords, the close engagement
foot to foot, and the looks of the Romans dart-
ing fire through their ardour for the fight.
Their first line was driven from its ground ;
the confusion spread to the troops in reserve ;
and the charge of the cavalry increasing the
disorder, the ranks were quickly broken, so as
to resemble the waves of the sea. Thus the
foremost fell, and as each saw death approach-
ing, they quickly turned their backs. The
Romans followed close, and as long as the
enemy retreated in bodies, the trouble of the
pursuit fell to the share of the infantry ; but
' when it was perceived, that they every where
threw away their arms, wid were scattered over
• the country, then squadrons of horse were sent
out,. with instructions that they should not, by
spending time in attacking single persons, give
the multitude an opportunity of escaping : that
it would be sufficient if their speed were re-

tarded, and their forces kept employed by fre-
quent skirmishes, until the infantry might over-
take them, and complete their destruction.
The flight and pursuit did not cease until night
came on. The camp of the Volscians was also
taken the same day, and plundered, and the
whole booty, except the persons of free condi-
tion, bestowed on the soldiers. The greatest
number of the prisoners were Latines and Her-
nicians, and these not men of plebeian station,
who could be supposed to have served for hire,
but many young men of the first rank were
found amongst them ; an evident proof, that
aid had been given to the Volscians by public
authority. Several of the Circeians were like-
wise found there, with colonists from Velitne,
and being all sent to Rome, on being examined
by the principal senators, they made a plain
discovery, as they had done to the dictator, of
the defection of their respective states.

XIV. The dictator kept his army encamped
in one post, not doubting that the senate would
order war to be made on those states ; when
more momentous business, arising at home,
made it necessary that he should be called back
to Rome ; this was the sedition which ripened
daily, and which was become more than com-
monly alarming, on account of the person who
fomented it. It was now easy to perceive from
what motive proceeded the discourses of Man-
lius, disguised under the veil of popular zeal,
but pregnant with mischief. On seeing a cen-
turion, who was highly distinguished for his
behaviour in the army, led to prison, in conse-
quence of a judgment given against hiin for
debt, he ran up, with his band of attendants,
into the middle of the forum, and laid hands on
him, exclaiming against the tyranny of the pa-
tricians, the cruelty of the usurers, the miseries
of the commons, and the merits and hard for-
tune of the man. " Then, indeed, it was in
vain," said he, " that with this right hand I sav-
ed the capitol and citadel, if I must see my fel-
low-citizen and fellow-soldier, as if a prisoner
to the victorious Gauls, dragged into slavery."
He then paid the debt to the creditor in the
view of the people, and gave the man his
liberty, after purchasing him, in the regular
form, with the scales and brass, whilst the lat-
ter besought both gods and men to grant a
recompense to his deliverer, Marcus Manlius,
the parent of the Roman commons ; and being
instantly received into the tumultuous crowd,
he himself increased the tumult, showing the

222

THE HISTORY

[HOOK vi.

scars of the wounds which he had received in
the Veientian, Gallic, and other succeeding
trars ; telling them, that " his services in the
army, and the rebuilding his ruined dwelling,
had been the means of overwhelming him with
accumulated interest of a debt ; the interest
always precluding the possibility of discharging
the principal, though he had already paid the
amount of the first sum many times over.
That it was owing to the generosity of Marcus
Manlius that he now beheld the light of day,
the forum, and the faces of his fellow-citizens. |
Every obligation, due to parents, he owed to j
him ; to him, therefore, he devoted whatever
remained of his person, his lite, and his blood ;
whatever ties should bind him to his country,
to public or private guardian deities, by all these
united he was bound to that one man." While
the commons were deeply affected by these
expressions, another scheme was introduced,
of still greater efficacy, towards promoting a
general commotion. A piece of ground in the
country of the Veientians, the principal part
of Manlius's patrimony, he ordered to be sold
by auction ; adding, that " I will not suffer one
of you, my fellow-citizens, while I have any
property remaining, to have judgments given
against him, and to be ordered into custody of
a creditor." This, above all, inflamed their
minds to such a degree, that they seemed ready
to follow the asserter of their liberty, through
every measure, whether right or wrong. Be-
sides this, he made speeches at his own house, J
as if he were haranguing an assembly of the
people, full of imputations against the patri- ]
cians, in which he threw out, among the rest, ;
without regarding any distinction between truth
and falsehood, that " treasure, consisting of the !
gold rescued from the Gauls, was concealed by
the patricians ; that they were not content, now,
with keeping possession of the public lands,
unless they converted the public money like-
wise to their own use ; and that if this were
brought to light, it would be sufficient to clear
the commons of their debts." On this pros-
pect being presented to them, they at once
conceived it to be a scandalous proceeding,
that when gold was to be procured for the ran-
som of the city from the Gauls, the collection
had been made by a general contribution, and
that the same gold, when taken from the ene-
my, should become the prey of a few. The
next step, therefore, was, to inquire in what
place a treasure of such magnitude was kept

concealed : to this, he declined giving en an-
swer at present, saying, he would explain that
point in due time ; on which all other concerns
were neglected, and the attention of every man
directed solely to this ; and it was easy to
foresee, that neither people's gratitude, in case
the information were well founded, nor their
displeasure, should it prove false, would be
confined within the -bounds of moderation.

XV. While things were in this state, the
dictator, being called home from the army,
came into the city. Next day he called a meet-
ing of the senate : when, having made suffi-
cient trial of the people's inclinations, he for-
bade the senate to depart from him, and being
attended by the whole body, he fixed his throne
in the Comitium, and sent a serjeant to Marcus
Manlius ; who, on being summoned by order
of the dictator, after giving the signal to his
party, that a contest was at hand, came to the
tribunal surrounded by a very numerous band.
On one side stood the senate, on the other the
commons, as if in order of battle, watching at-
tentively qach their own leader. Then silence
being made, the dictator said, " I wish that I,
and the Roman patricians may agree with the
commons on every other subject, as I am very
confident we shall with respect to you, and the
business on which I am to interrogate you. I
understand that expectations have been raised
by you, in the minds of the citizens, that, with-
out injury to credit, their debts may be dis-
charged by means of the Gallic gold secreted
by the principal patricians. To -which pro-
ceeding, so far am I from giving any obstruc-
tion, that, on the contrary, I exhort you, Mar-
cus Manlius, to deliver the Roman commons
from the burthen of interest, and to tumble
from off these heaps of peculated wealth,
those men who lie brooding over it. But if
you refuse to perform this, either because you
wish to be yourself a sharer in the peculation,
or because your information is .groundless, I
shall order you to be led to prison j nor will I
suffer the multitude to be any longer disquieted
by you with fallacious hopes." To this Man-
lius answered, that " it had not escaped his ob-
servation that Cornelius was created dictator,
not for the purpose of acting against the Vol-
scians, who were enemies as often as it an-
swered any purpose to the patricians,' nor
against the Latines and Hernicians, whom they
were driving into hostilities by false imputa-
tions, but against himself and the Roman com-

y. n. 370.]

OF ROME.

223

mons. And now, the war which had been
feigned to subsist, being dropped, an assault
\\.i- made upon him: now the dictator acted
as the professed patron of usure* 3 against the
commons. Now the favour of the multitude
towards him was made a handle for criminal
charges, and for effecting his destruction.
The crowd that attends my person," said he,
" offends you, Aulus Cornelius, and you, con-
script fathers. Why then do y „ not draw it
uvi'iiy from me by doing acts of kindness ? by
becoming surety, by delivering your country-
men from the stocks? by hindering them,
when cast in suits and ordered into custody of
creditors, to be carried to prison ? by relieving
the necessities of others out of your own su-
perfluities? But why do I exhort you to ex-
pend your property ? Only fix a new capital, de-
duct from the principal what has been paid as
interest, and then the crowd about me will not
be more remarkable than about any other.
But why do I, alone, interest myself for my
fellow-citizens ? To this, I have no other an-
swer to make, than if you should ask why I,
alone, saved the capitol and the citadel ? I then
gave every aid in my power to the whole com-
munity, and will do so still to each individual.
Now, as to the Gallic treasures, the manner in
which I am questioned causes difficulty in a
matter, which, in itself, has none. Why do ye
ask, what ye already know ? Why do ye order
others to shake out what lies in your own la])s,
rather tlian lay it down yourselves, unless to
conceal some treacherous scheme ? The more
earnestness ye show for inquiry, the more I
fear, lest ye should be able to blind the eyes of
the observers. Wherefore compulsion ought
not to be used to make me discover your
hoard, but to yourselves, to make you produce
it to the public."

XVI. The dictator ordered him to lay aside
all evasion, and insisted on his either proving
the truth of his information, or acknowledging
himself guilty of having charged the senate
falsely of a fraudulent concealment ; and on
his declaring that he would not speak at the
pleasure of his enemies, ordered him to be led
-to prison. Being arrested by the serjeant, he
exclaimed, " O Jupiter, supremely good and
great, imperial Juno, Minerva, and all ye gods
and goddesses \\ ho inhabit the capitol and cita-
del, do ye suffer your soldier and guardian to
he harassed in this manner. Shall this hand.
with which I beat oflf the (Juuls from your

temples, be now loaded with chains ?" Neither
the eyes nor ears of any present could well en-
dure the indignity offered to him : but the peo-
ple of this state had taught themselves to con-
sider the authority of certain magistrates as in-
disputable ; nor dared either the plebeian
tribunes, or the commons themselves, to open
their lips, or lift up their eyes, against the dic-
tatorial power. On Manlius being thrown
into prison, it appears, that a great part of the
commons put on mourning ; and that great
numbers of the people, neglecting their hair
and beard, dejectedly flocked about its gates.
The dictator had triumphed over the Vol-
scians; and by that triumph had attracted a
greater share of ill-will than of glory : for it
was a general murmur, that " he had acquired it
at home, not in war ; and that it was a victory
over a citizen, not over an enemy ; that only
one thing was wanting to complete lu's arro-
gance, that Marcus Manlius shoidd be led be-
fore his chariot." And now the affair fell
little short of open sedition ; when, for the
purpose of softening it, the senate, without
any solicitation, became suddenly bountiful,
ordering a colony of two thousand Roman
citizens to be conducted to Sutrium, and two
acres and a half of land to be assigned to
each ; which being represented as trifling in
itself, conferred on a few,' and that too as a
bribe for betraying Marcus Manlius, the sedi-
tion was irritated by the intended remedy.
The crowd of Manlius's followers Avas now
become more remarkable by their mourning
dress, and the frequent appearance of persons
under prosecution : while the dread of the
dictator's power was removed by his resigna-
tion ; it had set men's tongues and thoughts at
liberty.

XVII. Many were heard, therefore, to speak
out freely in public, upbraiding the multitude,
that " they always continued their attachment
to their defenders, until they raised them to
the top of a precipice ; and then, in the hour
of danger, deserted them. Thus had Spurius
Cassius been undone, while be was inviting
the citizens to the possession of lands. Thus
Spurius Mielius ; when by the expenditure of
his own property, he warded off famine : and
thus was Marcus Manlius betrayed into the
hands of his enemies, and while drawing forth
to liberty and light one half of the state, sunk
and buried under usury. That the commons
fattened their favourites, in order that they

224

THE HISTORY

[[BOOK vr.

might be slaughtered. Was such a punishment
as this to be endured, because a man of consu-
lar dignity did not answer at the nod of a dic-
tator? Admitting that what he said before
was false, and therefore he had no answer to
make, what slave was ever punished with im-
prisonment for a lie ? Had they no recollection
of that night, which had so nearly proved fatal,
for ever, to the Roman name ? None, of the
band of Gauls, climbing up the Tarpeian rock ?
None, of Marcus Manlius himself, such as
they had seen him in arms, covered with sweat
and blood, after rescuing, in a manner, Jove
himself, out of the enemy's hands ? Had
recompense been made to the saviour of their
country by their half pounds of bread ? And
would they suffer a person, whom they had
almost deified ; whom, at least with respect to
the surname of Capitolinus, they had set on an
almost equal footing with Jupiter, to waste his
life in chains, in prison, in darkness, subjected
to the will of an executioner ? That all had
found such effectual support from a single per-
son, and now that single person found no sup-
port at all from such great numbers." The
crowd did not, even during the night, disperse
from the spot ; and they threatened to break
open the prison, when, conceding what would
have been taken by force, the senate, by a
decree, discharged Manlius from confinement.
But this proceeding, instead of putting an end
to the sedition, supplied it with a leader.
About the same time the Latines and Herni-
nicians, and also the colonists of the Circeii
and Velitrse, endeavouring to clear themselves
of the charge of being concerned in the Vol-
scian war, and re-demanding the prisoners, in
order to punish them according to their own
laws, met with severe replies ; the colonists
with the severer, because, being Roman citi-
zens, they had framed the abominable design
of attacking their own country. They were,
therefore, not only refused with respect to the
prisoners, but had notice given them, in the
name of the senate (who, however, did not
proceed to such a length with regard to the
allies,) to depart instantly from the city, from
the presence and the sight of the Roman peo-
ple ; lest the privilege of ambassadors, institut-
ed for the benefit of foreigners, not of fellow-
citizens, should afford them no protection.

XVIII. [Y. R. 371. B. C. 381.] The
sedition, headed by Manlius, re-assumed its
former violence, and on the expiration of the

year the election was held, when military tri-
tmnes, with consular power, were elected our
of the patricians ; these were Servius Corne-
lius Maluginensis a third time, Publius Vale-
rius Potitus a second time, Marcus Furius
Camillus a sixth time, Servius Sulpicius Rufus
a second time, Caius Papirius Crassus, and
Titus Quintius Cincinnatus a second time.
Peace being established with foreign nations,
in the beginning of this year, was highly
agreeable to both patricians and plebeians ; to
the latter, because, as they were- not called to
serve in the army, and had such a powerful
leader at their head, they conceived hopes of
being able to abolish usury ; to the former,
because their thoughts would not be drawn
away, by any dangers abroad, from applying
remedies to the evils subsisting at home. Both
parties, therefore, exerting themselves much
more strenuously than ever, a decisive contest
approached apace. Manlius, on his part,
calling together the commons at his house,
held consultations, night and day, with the
principal persons amongst them, on the methods
of affecting a revolution in affairs, being filled
with a much higher degree both of courage and
resentment, than he had possessed before.
The ignominy, recently thrown on him, operat-
ing on a mind unaccustomed to affronts, bad
inflamed his resentment ; his courage was aug-
mented by the consideration, that Cossus
had not ventured to proceed in the same
manner toward him, as Quintius Cincinnatus
had done towards Spurius Maelius ; and that,
besides, not only the dictator had endeavoured,
by abdicating his office, to avoid the general
odium excited by his imprisonment, but even
the senate itself had not been able to withstand
it. Elated with these reflections, and exasper-
ated at the same time, he laboured to inflame
the spirits of the commons, which, of them-
selves, were sufficiently heated. " How long,"
said he, " will ye continue ignorant of your own
strength, a knowledge which nature has not
denied even to brutes ? Only calculate your
numbers, and those of your adversaries. But
supposing that, in attacking them, each of you
were to meet an antagonist, yet I should ima-
gine, that ye would contend more vigorously
in behalf of liberty, than they in behalf of ty-
ranny. For whatever number of clients ye
compose round your several respective patrons,
so many of you will there be against each
single foe. Only make a show of war, and ye

v. R. 371.]

OF ROME.

shall have peace. Let them see you ready to
inakr use of force, and they will voluntarily
relax their pretensions. All must concur in
some effort, or separately submit to every kind
of ill-treatment. How long will ye look to me
for aid ? I certainly will not be waiting to any
of you ; it is your part to take care that suffi-
cient aid be not wanting to me. Even I, your
champion, when my enemies thought proper,
was at once reduced to nothing ; and ye, all to-
gether, beheld the person thrown into chains,
who had warded off chains from each individual
of you. What am I to hope, if my enemies
should attempt something more grievous against
me ? The fate of Cassius and Maelius ? Ye
act right, in showing yourselves shocked even
at the mention of this : may the gods avert it.
But they will never come down from heaven
on my behalf ; they must inspire you with pro-
per sentiments, that ye may avert it ; as they
inspired me, in arms and in peace, to defend
you, both from barbarous foes and from tyran-
nical fellow-citizens. Has so great a people a
spirit so mean as to be always satisfied with
being protected against its enemies ? And are
ye never to know any dispute with the patri-
cians, except about the degree of tyranny which
ye are to allow them to exercise over you ?
Yet this temper is not implanted in you by na-
ture ; ye are become their property through
habit. For what is the reason, that towards
foreigners ye show such vigour of mind, as" to
think yourselves entitled to bear rule over them?
Because ye have been accustomed to vie with
them for empire. But against the others ye
are content to make a few feeble essays towards
obtaining liberty, rather than, by manly exer-
tions, to maintain it. Nevertheless, whatever
sort of leaders ye have had, and whatever has
been your own conduct, ye have hitherto, either
by force or good fortune, parried every point, of
what magnitude soever, which ye have attempt-
ed. It is now time to aim at higher objects.
Only make trial of your own good fortune, and
of me, whom ye have already tried, I hope to
your advantage. Ye will, with less difficulty,
raise up one to rule the patricians, than ye have
raised up others to oppose their rule. Dicta-
torships and consulships must be levelled to the
ground, that the Roman commons may raise
up their heads. Give me, therefore, your sup-
port ; stop all judicial proceedings respecting
money. I profess myself the patron of the
comraons-^a title which I am authorized to
I.

I nsMime, both by my zeal and my fidelity. If
on your part, ye choose to dignify your leader
with any more distinguishing appellation of
honour or command, ye will render him the
better able to accomplish the objects of your
wishes." This, we are told, was the first in-
troduction of his scheme for attaining regal
power ; but we have no clear account who were
his accomplices, nor to what length the design
was carried.

XIX. On the other side, the senate were
seen deliberating on the secession of the com-
mons to one particular house, and that, as it
happened, standing in the citadel ; and on the
important danger -which threatened the liberty
of the public. Great numbers exclaimed that
they wanted a Servilius Ahala, who would not
irritate a public enemy, by ordering Manlius to
be led to prison, but would finish an intestine
war with the loss of one citizen. A resolution
was at length adopted, comprised in milder
terms, but comprehending the same force : that
" the magistrates should take care that the
commonwealth received no detriment from the
pernicious designs of Marcus Manlius. " On
this, the consular and plebeian tribunes con-
sulted together on the measures necessary
to be pursued in the present exigency ; for
even these latter magistrates, seeing that their
own power must come to an end, as also the
liberty of the public, had put themselves un-
der the direction of the senate. And now
no other expedient occurring but that of force,
and the shedding of blood, Marcus Maenius
and Quintus Publius, plebeian tribunes, spoke
to this effect : — " Why do we make that a
contest between the patricians and plebei-
ans, which ought to be between the state
and one pestilent citizen ? Why do we attack
the commons in conjunction with him, whom
we could attack, with more safety, through the
means of those very commons ; so that he
should sink under the weight of his own strength ?
Our recommendation is, to institute a legal
prosecution against him. Nothing is less po-
pular than regal power: as soon as the multi-
tude shall perceive that the contest is not with
them ; and that instead of advocates, they are
to be judges ; and shall behold the prosecutors,
plebeians ; the accused a patrician ; and that
the charge is, that of aiming at regal power ;
they will show more zeal in defence of their
own liberty, than they will attachment to any
person whatever.

2 F

22(5

THE HISTORY

[BOOK vi.

XX. The proposal meeting universal ap-
probation, a prosecution was commenced against
Manlius. At first it raised a great ferment a-
Tiong the commons ; more especially when they
saw the accused in a mourning habit, unaccom-
panied, not qnly by any of the patricians, but
by those who were connected with him by
blood or affinity ; nay, even deserted by his
own brothers, Aulus and Titus Manlius :
and indeed it had never before occurred, on an
occasion of such danger, that a man's nearest
relations did not put on a dress of sorrow. It
was mentioned, that when Appius Claudius
was thrown into prison, Caius Claudius, who
was at enmity with him, and the whole Clau-
dian family, appeared in mourning : that a
conspiracy was now formed to destroy this fa-
vourite of the people, because he was the first
who had come over from the patricians to the
commons. On the day of trial, I do not find,
in any author, what matters were objected to
the accused by the prosecutors, tending proper-
ly to prove the charge of his aspiring to kingly
authority, except this : his assembling the mul-
titude, his seditious expressions, his largesses,
and pretended discovery of fraudulent practi-
ces : but I have no doubt that they were of im-
portance j since not the merits of the cause,
but the place, was what prevented his being im-
mediately condemned by the commons. This
I have thought proper to remark, in order to
show that even such great and glorious achieve-
ments as those of this man, were not only strip-
ped of all their merit, but even rendered mat-
ter of detestation, by his depraved ambition for
regal power. It is said, that he produced near
four hundred persons, to whom he had lent
money without interest ; whose goods he had
prevented being sold, or whose persons he had
redeemed from confinement, after they had
been adjudged to creditors. That, besides this,
he not only enumerated the military rewards
which he had obtained, but also produced them
to view : spoils of enemies slain, to the num-
ber of thirty ; presents from generals, to the
amount of forty ; among which were particu-
larly remarkable, two mural, and eight civic
crowns.1 That he produced also the citizens

I The mural crown was made of gold, and presented
to those who, in assaults, were the first that forced their
way into the towns. The civic crown was composed of
oak leaves, and bestowed on him who had paved the life
of a citizen. The camp crown, corona vallaris, or can.
trensis, was of gold, and given to the man who first

whose lives he had saved in battle ; and men-
tioned among them Caius Servilius, when he
was master of the horse, now absent. Then,
after recounting his exploits in war, in a man-
ner suited to the dignity of the subject, dis-
playing, in a pompous discourse, eloquence
equal to the bravery of his actions, he uncover-
ed his breast, marked with an uncommon num-
ber of scars from wounds received in battle ;
and frequently turning his eyes from the capi-
tol, called down Jupiter, and the other gods, to
aid him in his present unhappy situation ; and
prayed, that the same sentiments with which
they had inspired him, while he stood in defence
of the fortress, for the preservation of the Ro-
man people, they would now, in the crisis of
his fate, infuse into the breasts of that same
Roman people ; and he besought each person
present, in particular, and the whole assembly,
that, with their eyes fixed on the capitol and
citadel, and their faces turned to the immortal
gods, they would form their judgment concern-
ing him. As the people were summoned by
centuries in the field of Mars, and as the ac-
cused stretched out his hands to the capitol,
and instead of addressing his entreaties to
men, directed them to the gods, the tribunes
saw plainly, that unless they removed the
multitude from a situation where even their
eyes must remind them of such an honourable
exploit, the best-founded charge would never
gain belief in minds so influenced : wherefore,
adjourning the trial, they summoned a meeting
in the Peteline grove, on the outside of the
Nomentan gate, from whence there was no view
of the capitol : there the charge was establish-
ed ; and people's minds being unmoved by any
foreign or adventitious circumstance, a severe
sentence, and which excited horror even in the
breasts of his judges, was passed on him. Some
authors say, that he was condemned by two
commissioners appointed to take cognizance of
matters of treason. The tribunes cast him
down from the Tarpeian rock : thus the same
spot, in the case of one man, became a monu-
ment of distinguished glory, and of the cruelest
punishment. After his death, marks of infamy
were fixed on him : for his house having stood
where the temple of Moneta and the mint-office

mounted the rampart of an enemy's camp. The obsidi-
onal crown, corona obsidionalis, was composed of grass,
and presented, by the troops relieved from a seige, to
the commander who succoured them.

Y. u. 373.]

OF ROME.

227

now stand, an order was made by the people,
that no patrician should dwell in the citadel or
capitol : a decree at the same time being passed,
to prohibit any of the Manlian family from ever
after bearing the name of Marcus Manlius.
Such was the end of a man, who, had he not
been born in a free state, would have merited
the esteem of posterity. A short time after,
the people, recollecting only his virtues, were
filled with deep regret for his loss. A pesti-
lence, too, which presently followed, without
any apparent cause of so great a malady, was
attributed, by most men, to the punishment
inflicted on Manlius. " The capitol," they
observed, " had been polluted with the blood
of its preserver ; and it had given displeasure
to the gods, that the person by whom their
temples bad been rescued out of the bands of
the enemy should be brought before their eyes,
in a manner, to suffer punishment."

XXI. The pestilence was succeeded by a
scarcity of the frails of the earth ; [ Y. R. 372.
B. C. 380.] and the report of both calamities
spreading abroad, a variety of wars ensued in
the following year, in which Lucius Valerius a
fourth time, Aulus Manlius a third time, Ser-
vius Sulpicius a third time, Lucius Lucretius,
Lucius ^milius a third time, and Marcus
Trebonius, were military tribunes, with consu-
lar power. Besides the Volscians, destined
by some fatality to give perpetual employment
to the Roman soldiery, and the colonies of
Circeii and Velitrae, long meditating a revolt,
and Latium, whose conduct gave room for sus-
picion, a new enemy suddenly sprung up in the
people of Lanuvium, a city whose fidelity had
hitherto been remarkably steady. The senate,
judging that this arose from contemptuous no-
tions entertained by that nation, on seeing that
the revolt of the people of Veh'trae, members
of the Roman state, remained so long unpun-
ished, decreed, that an assembly should be held
as soon as possible, concerning a declaration of
war against that colony : and to induce the
commons to engage in that service with the
greater readiness, they appointed five commis-
sioners to make a distribution of the Pomptiue
lands, and three to conduct a colony to Nepete.
Then it was proposed to the people, that they
should order the declaration of war ; and the
plebeian tribunes in vain endeavouring to dis-
suade them, the tribes unanimously passed it.
During that year, preparations were made for
hostilities, but on account of the pestilence, the

troops were not led into the field. This delay
afforded sufficient time to the colonists, to take
measures to appease the anger of the senate ;
and the greater part of their people were inclin-
ed to send a suppliant embassy to Rome; which
would have taken place, had not, as is often the
case, the interest of the public been involved
with the danger of individuals ; and had not the
authors of the revolt, dreading lest themselves
only might be considered as answerable for the
guilt, and be delivered up as victims to the
resentment of the Romans, infused into the
colonists an aversion from peaceful councils.
They therefore found means, not only to ob-
struct the proposed embassy in the senate, but
to excite a great part of the commons to make
predatory excursions into the Roman territory,
which new injury broke off all hopes of peace.
This year also, a report was first propagated of
the Pnenestians having revolted ; and when the
people of Tusculum, and Gabii, and Lavici, on
whose lands they had made incursions, brought
the charge against them, the senate, in their
answer, showed so little resentment, as made
it evident, that they gave the less credit to the
charges, because they wished them not to be true.
XXII. In the following year, [Y. R. 373.
B. C. 379.] the two Papirii, Spurius and Lu-
cius, new military tribunes, with consular power,
led the legions to Velitne, leaving their four
colleagues in the tribuneship, Servius Cornelius
Maluginensis a fourth time, Quintus Servilius,
Servius Sulpicius, and Lucius .^Emilius a fourth
time, to secure the safety of the city, and to be
in readiness, in case intelligence of any new com-
motion should arrive from Etruria ; for now
every thing was apprehended from that quarter.
At Velitrae, they fought a battle with success, in
which they were opposed by a number of Pnt-
nestine auxiliaries, rather greater than that of
the colonists : and here the city being so near,
was the reason of the enemy quitting the field
the sooner, as it was their only refuge after theii
flight. The tribunes did not proceed to lay
siege to the town, because the issue was
uncertain ; and besides, they did not think that
they ought to push the war to the utter
destruction of the colony. The letters sent to
Rome to the senate, with news of the victory,
expressed greater animosity against the Praenes-
tine enemy, than against those of Velitrse. In
consequence of which, by decree of the senate,
and order of the people, war was declared
against the Prwnestians. These, the next

228

THE HISTORY

[BOOK vi.

year, in conjunction with the Volscians, took
Satricum, a colony of the Roman people, by
storm, after an ohstinate defence made by the
colonists, and in their treatment of the prison-
ers made a barbarous use of their victory.
[Y. R. 374. B. C. 378.] Incensed thereat, the
Romans elected Marcus Furius Camillus a
seventh time, military tribune ; the colleagues
joined with him were the two Postumii Regil-
lenses, Avilus and Lucius, and Lucius Furius,
with Lucius Lucretius, and Marcus Fabius
Ambustus. The war with the Volscians was
decreed to Camillus out of the ordinary course.
Lucius Furius was chosen by lot, from among
the rest of the tribunes, his assistant, an ap-
pointment which proved not so advantageous
to the public, as productive of honour to Ca-
millus, in every branch of his conduct : in that
which respected the public, as he restored their
cause, when nearly ruined by the temerity of
Furius ; and in that which concerned them-
selves in particular, as, from the error of that
man, he sought the means of engaging his gra-
titude rather than of augmenting his own glory.
Camillus was now far in the decline of life,
and had intended at the election to take the
usual oath, in order to be excused, on account
of Ms health, but was prevented by the unani-
mous desire of the people. He retained all his
faculties entire ; his'vigorous genius still bloomed
and flourished, in a breast which glowed with
youthful ardour ; and though he took little share
in civil affairs, yet the business of war roused
his spirit. Enlisting four legions, of four thou-
sand men each, and ordering the troops to as-
semble next day at the Esquiline gate, he
marched towards Satricum. There the con-
querors of the colony waited for him nowise
dismayed, confiding in their number of men, in
which they had considerably the advantage :
and when they understood that the Romans
were approaching, marched out immediately to
the field, determined without any delay to pu
all on the hazard of one decisive effort : which
manner of proceeding, they thought, would put
it out of the power of the enemy to compensate
for the smallness of their number by the skil
of their great commander, on which they placec
their sole reliance.

XXIII. The same ardour prevailed likewisi
in the troops of the Romans, and in one of thei
generals ; nor was there any thing which pre-
vented them from hazarding an immediate en
gagement, but the wisdom and authority of tha

general, who sought, by protracting the war, to
ind some opportunity wherein their strength
might receive aid from skill. The more on
,hat account did the enemy urge them, and
now, not only drew out their troops in order of
rattle before their own camp, but advanced into
;he middle of the plain, and throwing up trench-
es near the Roman battalions, made ostenta-
tious show of boldness derived from their
strength. The soldiers were highly provoked
at this, and much more highly Lucius Furius,
the other military tribune ; who, besides a
naturally sanguine temper, and his vigorous
time of life, was elated with the hopes which
he saw possess the multitude, who are ever apt
to assume confidence from causes the worst
founded. The soldiery, of themselves full of
impatience, he instigated still farther, by depre-
ciating his colleague's judgment on account of
his great age, the only point on which he could
possibly impeach it, saying, " that war was the
province of youth, and that men's minds flour-
ished, and withered, together with their bodies ;
that he, who certainly had been a most active
warrior, was become a mere drone ; and, though
it had been his custom, immediately on coming
up with an enemy, to snatch from them the
possession of their camps and cities at the first
onset ; yet now he wasted time, lying inactive
within the trenches. And what accession to
his own strength, or diminution of that of the
enemy, did he hope for ? What opportunity,
what season, what place for practising strata-
gem? The old man's schemes were too
cold and languid. Camillus, for his own part,
had enjoyed a sufficient share both of life
and of glory ; but where was the propriety of
suffering the strength of the state, which ought
to be immortal, to sink into the debility of old
age, together with one mortal body?" By
such discourses he had drawn to himself the
attention of the whole camp ; and when, in
every quarter, they called for battle, he said 'to
his colleague, " Camillus, we cannot withstand
the violence of the soldiers ; and the enemy,
whose courage we have increased by our de-
lays, insults us with arrogance absolutely intol-
erable. Give up your single, judgment to the
general one, and suffer yourself to be overcome
in counsel, that you may the sooner overcome
in battle." To which Camillus replied, that,
" in all the wars which, to that day, had been
waged under his single auspices, neither himself
nor the Roman people had found reason to be

v. R. 374.] OF ROME.

displeased, either with his conduct or his for-
tune : at present, he was sensible that he had
a colleague, in command and authority, equal to
himself; in vigour of age, superior •. as to what
regarded the troops, he had ever hitherto been
accustomed to rule, not to be ml •<! ; but his
colleague's right of command he could not call
in question. Let him do, with the favour of
the gods, what he thought the interest of the
commonwealth required. He would even re-
quest so much indulgence to his age, as that he
should not be in the front line. That whatev-
er duties in war an old man was qualified for,
in these he would not be deficient ; and that
he besought the immortal gods, that no mis-
fortune might give them reason to think his
plan the wiser one." Neither was his salutary
advice listened to by men, nor such pious
prayers by the gods : the adviser of the fight
drew up the first line ; ( 'ami 11 us fonned the
reserve, and posted a strong guard in front of
the camp ; then, taking his own station on an
eminence, as a spectator, he anxiously watched
the issue of the other's plan.

XXIV. As soon as the clash of arms
was heard in the first encounter, the enemy
through stratagem, not through fear, began to
retire. There was a gentle acclivity in their
rear between the army and their camp ; and as
they had plenty of men, they had left in their
camp several strong cohorts, armed and ready
for action, who were to sally forth after the
battle should begin, and when the enemy
approached the rampart. The Romans, eagerly
following the retreating army, were drawn into
disadvantageous ground, where this sally could
be made on them with effect : terror thus i%-
verting on the conqueror, from this new force,
the declivity of the ground obliged the Roman
line to give way. The Volscians, who had
come fresh from their tents to the attack
pressed them close ; and those, too, who had
counterfeited retreat, now returned to the fight.
The Roman soldiers no longer retired in or-
der, but forgetting their late presumption and
their former renown, everywhere turned their
backs, and, with the utmost speed, ran towards
their camp : when Camillus being lifted on his
horse by his attendants, and hastily opposing
the reserved troops in their way, called out,
" Is this, soldiers, the fight that ye demanded ?
What man, what god can ye blame ? The for-
mer temerity was all your own ; your own this
present cowardice. As ye have followed ano-

220

ther leader, follow now Camillus ; and as ye
are accustomed to do, under my conduct, con-
quer. Why do ye look towards the rampart
and camp ? Not a man of you, unless vic-
torious, shall find admittance there," Shame,
at first stopped their precipitate flight . then,
when they saw the standards wheel about, and
a line formed to front the enemy ; when a
leader, who, besides being distinguished by so
many triumphs, was venerable even on account
of his age, exposed himself in the front of the
battalions, where there was the greatest share
both of labour and danger ; every one began
to upbraid both himself and others, and mutual
exhortation spread, in a brisk shout, through
the whole length of the line. Nor was the
other tribune deficient in activity. Being sent
to the cavalry by his colleague, while he was
reforming the line of infantry, he did not offer
to rebuke them ; for the share which he had in
their fault had rendered any thing he could say
of little weight. Instead of command, there-
fore, he had recourse entirely to intreaties ;
beseeching each, and all together, to " re •
deem him from misconduct, who was an-
swerable for the events of that day. In spite,"
said he, " of the advice and endeavours of my
colleague, I have associated myself in the
rashness of the many, rather than listened
to the prudence of one. Camillus sees
matter of glory to himself, on either side
to which your fortune may incline ; but 1,
unless the fight is restored, shall feel the evil,
in common with you all, and shall alone expe-
rience all the infamy ; the most wretched lot
that could befall me." It was thought best,
while the line was still unsteady, that the ca-
valry should dismount, and charge the enemy
on foot. Accordingly, distinguished beyond
others by their arms and their spirit, they ad-
vanced on the part where they saw the infantry
most pressed ; nor was there one among them,
whether officer or soldier, who did not display
the utmost efforts of courage : the aid, there-
fore, which their vigorous exertions of bravery
supplied, soon determined the event. The
Volscians were driven headlong in real flight
over the same ground, where they had just be-
fore retired with counterfeited fear : great
numbers of them were slain, both in the battle,
and afterwards in the pursuit : of the rest
however, who were found in the camp, which
the enemy took before they halted, more were
made prisoners than put to death.

230

THE HISTORY

[BOOK vi.

XXV. Here, in taking an account of the
prisoners, several Tusculans being observed,
they were separated from the rest, and brought
to the tribunes : and, being examined, confessed
that they had served in the war under the au-
thority of the state. Hereupon Camillus,
alarmed at the apprehension of a war so near
home, declared, that he would immediately
carry the prisoners to Rome, that the senate
might not be ignorant of the revolt of the Tus-
culans from the confederacy : meanwhile, his
colleague, if he thought proper, should com-
mand the camp and the army. One day had
been sufficient to teach him, not to prefer his
own counsels to better. However, neither
himself, nor any person in the army supposed,
that Camillus would, without marks of displea-
sure, pass over his misconduct, by which the
public had been thrown into such perilous haz-
ard ; and, as well in the army as at Rome, the
account uniformly received and universally ad-
mitted was, that, with respect to the different
degrees of success experienced in the country
of the Volscians, the blame of the troops, being
worsted in fight, and quitting the field, was to
be imputed to Lucius Furius, and that the
whole honour of their victory belonged to Ca-
millus. On the prisoners being brought before
the senate, it was decreed, that war should be
made on the Tusculans, and Camillus was ap-
pointed to the command in that expedition : on
which, he requested to be allowed one assistant
in the business ; and having received permission
to name any of his colleagues whom he thought
proper, contrary to all men's expectation, he
chose Lucius Furius ; by which, he both alle-
viated the disgrace of his colleague, and, at the
same time, acquired great honour to himself.
However, there was no war with the Tuscu-
lans. By a strict adherence to peaceable mea-
sures, they warded off the force of the Romans,
which it had been impossible for them to have
done by arms : for on entering their territory,
no removals were made from the places adja-
cent to the roads, no interruption in the culti-
vation of the grounds, the gates of their city
stood open, crowds of the inhabitants came
forth in their gowns to meet the generals, and
provisions for the troops were brought with
cheerfulness into the camp, both from the city
and the country. Camillus pitched his camp
before the gates, and being desirous to know,
whether the same appearance of peace prevailed
within the walls, which was held out in the

country, went into the city ; and when he saw
the doors and the shops open, and all kinds of
wares exposed to sale ; tradesmen busy in their
respective employments, the schools of learning
buzzing with the voices of the scholars, and the
streets filled with the populace of every sort,
among whom were women and children going
different ways, as their several occasions called
them, and when, in short, he perceived no cir-
cumstance which bore any appearance of fright,
or even of surprise, he looked round to find in
what manner, and where the preparation for
war had been made ; for there was not the least
trace of any thing having been either removed,
or placed to oppose him in his way : all, indeed,
was in a uniform state of peace, so that one
could hardly suppose that even the rumour of
war had reached them.

XXVI. Overcome, therefore, by the sub-
missive demeanour of the enemy, he ordered
their senate tobe called, and said to them : " Men
of Tusculum ; ye are the only persons who have
hitherto discovered the real strength, and the
true arms, wherewith ye might secure your-
selves from the resentment of the Romans. Go
to Rome, to the senate. The fathers will con-
sider whether your former conduct more merited
punishment, or your present, forgiveness. I shall
not arrogate to myself the gratitude which ye
will owe for favour conferred by the public.
From me, ye shall have liberty to solicit pardon.
The senate will grant such return to your pray-
ers as they shall judge proper." When the
Tusculans came to Rome, and the senate of
that people, who, very lately were faithful
allies, appeared in the porch of the senate-house,
with sorrow in their countenances, the senators,
moved with compassion, immediately ordered
them to be called in, in a manner expressive of
hospitality, rather than of enmity. The Tus-
culan dictator spoke to this effect : " Conscript
fathers ; we, against whom ye have proclaimed
and were about to wage war, just as ye see \is
now, standing in the porch of your house, went
forth to meet your commanders and your le-
gions. This was our habit, this the habit of
our commons ; and ever shall be, unless, at any
time, we shall receive arms from you, and in
your cause. We return thanks to your generals
and your troops for having given credit to their
own eyes, rather than to public rumour ; and for
committing no hostilities themselves, where
they found none subsisting. The peace, by
which our conduct has been governed, the

Y. n. 375.]

OF ROME.

231

same we request from you. War., we beseech
you to avert to that quarter, where, if any
where, war subsists. The power of your arms
against us, if after submission we are to expe-
rience it, we will experience unarmed. This is
our determination ; may the im.nortal gods
render it as successful as it is dutiful. As to
what regards the charges, by which ye were
moved to declare war against us, although it is
needless to refute with words what has been
contradicted by facts, yet, admitting that they
were true, after giving such evident proofs of
repentance, we should think ourselves safe in
pleading guilty before you. Consider us then
as guilty towards you, since ye are persons, to
whom such satisfaction may be made with pro-
priety." These were nearly the words of the
Tusculans. They obtained peace at the pre-
sent, and not very long after, the freedom of
the state also. The legions were then with-
drawn from Tusculum.

XXVII. Camillus, after having highly
signalized himself by his conduct and bravery
in the Volscian war, by his successful manage-
ment in the Tusculan expedition, and in both,
by bis singular moderation towards his col-
league, went out of office, having elected mili-
tary tribunes for the ensuing year, [Y. R. 375.
B. C- 377.] Lucius and Publius Valerius,
Lucius a fifth time, Publius a third, and Caius
Sergius a third time, Lucius Menenius a second
time, Spurius Papirius, and Servius Cornelius
Maluginensis. Censors became necessary this
year, principally on account of the various re-
presentations made of the debts : the tribunes
of the commons exaggerating the amount of
them, with design to increase the general dis-
content, while it was underrated by those
whose interest it was that the difficulty of pro-
curing payment should appear to be owing
rather to the want of honesty than of ability in
the debtors. The censors appointed were
Caius Sulpiciiis Camerinus, and Spurius Pos-
tumius Regillensis : after they had entered on
the business, it was interrupted by the death of
Postumius, as it was not allowable to employ a
substitute as colleague with a censor. Sulpi-
cius therefore, abdicating the office, others
were named to it ; but some defect being dis-
covered in the manner of their appointment,
they were not received ; and to appoint a third
set was not allowed, as the gods seemed un-
willing to admit of censors for that year. The
plebeian tribunes now exclaimed, that such

mockery of the commons was not to be endur-
ed ; that " the senate decb'ned a public inquiry,
which would ascertain each mans property, as
that would discover that one-half of the com-
monwealth was held in a state of depression
by the other; while, in the meantime, the
commons, overwhelmed with debt, were ex-
posed continually to the arms of one enemy
after another. Wars were now industriously
sought on all sides, without any distinction.
From Antium the legions were led to Satri-
cum, from Satricum to Velitrae, from thence to
Tusculum. The Latines, the Hernicians, the
Pnenestians, were now threatened with hostil-
ities ; and this, out of hatred to the citizens,
rather than for injuries ; with design to wear
out the commons under arms, not suffering
them either to take breath in the city, or to
have leisure to reflect on their liberty, or to take
their places in an assembly, where they might
sometimes hear a tribune's voice, discoursing
about the reduction of interest, and the removal
of other grievances. But, for their part, if
they could find in the commons a spirit capa-
ble of emulating the liberty of their fathers,
they would neither suffer any Roman citi-
zen to be made over to a creditor for money
lent, nor any levy of troops to be made, until,
the debts being examined, and some method
adopted for lessening them, every man should
know what was his own, and what another's ;
whether his person was still to enjoy freedom,
or whether that too was due to the stocks."
The prize, held out to sedition, quickly excited
it ; for numbers were continually made over to
creditors ; and, accounts being received of the
Praenestines being in arms, the senate voted
new legions to be levied, to both which pro-
ceedings obstructions began to be raised, at
once by the interposition of the tribunitian
power, and the united efforts of the commons.
For neither did the tribunes suffer those who
were adjudged to their creditors to be carried
to prison, nor did the younger citizens give in
their names for the war ; while the senate
were less solicitous at present about enforcing
the laws concerning the lending of money,
than about effecting the levy ; for now they
were informed that the enemy had marched
from Prseneste, and taken post in the Sabine
territory. That very intelligence, however,
rather irritated the tribunes to persist in tin-
opposition which they bad set up, than deter-
red them : nor was any thing sufficient to alley

232

THE HISTORY

[BOOK vi.

the discontents, but the approach of hostilities
almost to the very walls.

XXVIII. For the Praenestines, having
learned that there was no army levied at Rome,
no general fixed on, and that the patricians and
commons were taken up with quarrels among
themselves, their leaders deemed this a fortu-
nate opportunity for molestation ; and, having
made a hasty march, ravaging the country all
along as they passed, they advanced their
standards to the Colline gate. Great was the
consternation in the city ; the alarm was given
through every part ; people ran together to the
walls and gates, and turning at length their
thoughts from sedition to war, they created
Titus Quintius Cincinnatus dictator, who
nominated Aulus Sempronius Atratinus master
of the horse. No sooner was this heard, than
the enemy, such was the terror of that office,
retired from the walls ; while, on the dictator's
edict being issued, the Roman youth attended
without excuse. During the time that the
levy was going on at Rome, the enemy encamp-
ed not far from the river Allia, whence they
carried their depredations through all the coun-
try round, boasting among themselves, that
they had chosen a post fatal to the city of
Rome, whose troops would be dismayed, and
fly from thence, as they had done in the Gallic
war. For, " if the Romans were afraid of a
day, which was deemed inauspicious, and
marked with the name of that place, how
much more than the Allian day would they
dread the Allia itself, the monument of so great
a disaster ? The fierce looks of the Gauls,
and the sound of their voices, would certainly
recur to their eyes and ears. " Possessed with
these groundless notions of circumstances as
groundless, they rested their hopes on the for-
tune of the place. On the other hand, the
Romans considered that " in whatever place
their Latine enemies stood, they knew very
well that they were the same whom they had
utterly vanquished at the lake Regillus, and
had held under peaceable subjection for now
a hundred years : that the Allia, being that
way distinguished, would rather stimulate
them to blot out the remembrance of their
misfortune, than raise apprehensions of any
ground being inauspicious to their success.
Were they even to meet the Gauls themselves
on that spot, they would fight, as they fought
at Rome, for the recovery of their country ;
as, the day after at Gabii, where they took

effectual care that not a single enemy who had
entered the walls of Rome should carry home
an account either of their successes or defeats."
XXIX. With these sentiments on each side,
they met at the Allia. As soon as the Ro-
man dictator came within sight of the enemy,
who were drawn up and ready for action, he
said, " Aulus Sempronius, do you perceive
that those men have taken post at the Allia,
relying, no doubt, on the fortune of the place ?
Nor have the immortal gods afforded them any
surer ground of confidence, or any more effec-
tual support. But, do you, relying on arms
and courage, make a brisk charge on the mid-
dle of their line. When they shall be thrown
into disorder, I will bear down on them with
the legions. Ye gods ! who witnessed the
treaty, be favourable to our cause, and exact
the penalty due for the affront offered to your-
selves, and also for the deception imposed on
us, through an appeal to your divinity." The
Praenestines were unable to stand against
either the cavalry or the infantry : the first
shout and charge broke their ranks. In a
little time, no part of their line remaining en-
tire, they turned their backs, and fled in such
consternation, that they even passed by their
own camp, and never relaxed their speed, until
Praeneste was in view. There, rallying, they
took possession of a post, which they fortified
after a hasty manner, dreading, lest, if they re-
treated within the walls, the country should be
immediately wasted with fire, and when every
other place was desolated, siege should be laid
to the city. But no sooner did the victorious
Romans approach, after plundering the camp at
the Allia, than they abandoned this fortress al-
so, and shut themselves up in the town of Prae-
neste, scarcely thinking the walls a sufficient
security. There were eight other towns under
the dominion of the Praenestines : these were
attacked in succession, and taken without any
great difficulty, and the army led to Velitrss.
That also was taken by storm. They then
came to Praeneste, the main source of the war,
and it fell into their hands, not by force, but
capitulation. Titus Quintius having thus gain-
ed the victory in one pitched battle, having
taken from the enemy, by storm, two camps
and nine towns, and Praeneste on surrender,
returned to Rome ; and, in his triumph, carried
into the capitol the statue of Jupiter Impera-
tor, which he had brought away from Praeneste.
It was dedicated between the recesses of Jupi-

Y. R. 377.]

OF ROME.

233

ter and Minerva, and on a tabl. t, fixed under
it as a monument of his exploits, were engraved
nearly these words : " Jupiter, and all the gods,
granted that Titus Quintals, dictator, should
take nine towns in nine days." On the twen-
tieth day after his appointment he abdicated the
dictatorship.

XXX. An election was then held of mili-
tary tribunes, with consular power, when equal
numbers of patricians and plebeians were cho-
sen. [Y. R, 376. B. C. 376.] The patri-
rians were, Publius and Caius Manlius, with
Lucius Julius ; the plebeians, Caius Sextilius,
Marcus Albinius, and Lucius Antistius. To
the Manlii, because they were superior to the
plebeians in point of descent, and to Julius in
interest, the Volscians were assigned as a pro-
vince, out of the ordinary course, without cast-
ing of lots, or mutual agreement : of which
step both they themselves, and the senate, who
made the disposal, had afterwards reason to re-
pent. Without taking measures to obtain the
proper intelligence, they sent out some cohorts
to forage. Marching hastily to support these,
in consequence of a false report brought to them
of their being ensnared, without even retaining
the author of the report, and who was not a
Roman but a Latine soldier, they themselves
fell into an ambuscade ; where, whilst they gave
and received many wounds, maintaining resist-
ance on disadvantageous ground merely by dint
of valour, the enemy, in another quarter, made
an assault on the Roman camp, which lay in a
low situation. The generals, by their rashness
and unskilfulncss, had thrown affairs, in both
places, into most imminent danger; and that
any part of the army was saved was owing to
the fortune of the Roman people, and the bra-
very of the soldiers, capable of acting with
steadiness, even without a commander. When
an account of these transactions was brought to
Rome, it was at first thought necessary that a
dictator should be nominated : but intelligence
being received from the country of the Vol-
scians that matters were quiet, and it being evi-
dent that they knew not how to take advantage
of success and opportunity, even the troops and
generals which were there were recalled ; and a
cessation of hostilities continued during the re-
mainder of the year, as far as regarded that peo-
ple. The only interruption of tranquillity
which occurred, and that towards the end of the
year, was the revival of hostilities by the Pr«-
nestines, who had prevailed on the states of the

I.

Latines to co-operate with them. During this
year, new colonists were enrolled for Setia, the
colony themselves complaining of a scarcity of
men. Internal tranquillity, which was procur-
ed by the influence of the plebeian military tri-
bunes, and the respect paid to their dignity by
those of their own condition, proved some con-
solation for the failure of success in war.

XXXI. In the beginning of the next year,
[Y. R. 377. B. C. 375.] the flames of sedi-
1 rion blazed out with great violence ; the mili-
tary tribunes, with consular power, being Spu-
rius I-'urius, Quintus Servilius a second time,
; Caius Licinius, Publius Cloelius, Marcus Ho-
, ratius, and Lucius Geganius. This sedition
again arose from the debts ; for the purpose of
ascertaining which, Spurius Servilius Priscus
and Quintus Cloelius Sicilius were appointed
censors, but were hindered by a war from pro-
ceeding in the business : for hasty messengers
at first, and then people who fled from the coun-
try, brought information that the Volscian le-
gions had entered the borders, and were com-
mitting depredations through the Roman ter-
ritory. Alarming as this intelligence was, so far
was their fear of a foreign enemy from restrain-
ing the violence of their domestic feuds, that,
on the contrary, it gave occasion to the tribu-
nitian power to exert itself with greater vehe-
mence in obstructing the levies, until these
conditions were imposed on the senate : that,
during the continuance of the war, no one
should pay a tax, nor should any judicial pro-
cess be carried on respecting money due.
This relaxation being obtained for the com-
mons, there was no farther delay in the levies.
When the new legions were enlisted, it was
resolved that they should be divided, and two
different armies led into the Volscian territory.
Spurius Furius and Marcus Horatius pro-
ceeded to the right, towards Antium and the
sea-coast ; Quintus Servilius and Lucius Ge-
ganius to the left, towards Ecetra and the
mountains. On neither side did the enemy
meet them. Devastations were therefore
made, not like those which the Volscians had
committed in the manner of banditti, snatching
an opportunity, and hurried by their fears, re-
lying on the dissensions among the Romans,
and dreading their valour ; but with a regular
army, and giving full scope to their resent-
ment, more detrimental, too, by reason of their
continuance ; for the Volscians, dreading lest
in army should come out from Rome against
2 G

234

THE HISTORY

[BOOK vi.

them, had made their incursions only into the
skirts of the frontiers ; the Romans loitered
in their country, in hopes of bringing them to
an engagement. Every house, therefore, was
burnt, and severaj villages also ; not a fruit-
tree was left, nor the seed in the ground to
give a prospect of a harvest. All the men and
cattle found without the walls were driven off
as spoil, and the troops, from both quarters,
were led back to Rome.

XXXII. Thus a short interval had been
allowed to the debtors ; but no sooner was
quiet restored abroad, than the courts were
filled anew with lawsuits against them : and so
distant was every hope of lessening the burden
of former debts, that they were obliged to con-
tract new ones, by a tax for building a wall of
hewn stone, which the censors had contracted
for. To this hardship the commons were ne-
cessitated to submit, because there were, at
the time, no levies which the tribunes might
obstruct ; nay, such an ascendancy had the
nobility, that they obliged them to choose all
the military tribunes out of the patricians,
Lucius J^milius, Publius Valerius a fourth
time, Caius Veturius, Servius Sulpicius, Lu-
cius and Caius Quintius Cincinnatus. [ Y. R.
378. B. C. 374.] By the same influence, a
resolution was carried, without opposition,
that, to make head against the Latines and
Volscians, who, with their forces united, were
encamped at Satricum, all the young men
should be obliged to take the military oath ;
and that three armies should be formed j one,
for the protection of the city ; another, which,
in case any disturbance should arise elsewhere,
might be sent where the sudden exigencies of
war should require. The third, and by far
the most powerful, Publius Valerius and Lu-
cius .^Emilius led to Satricum ; and there, find-
ing the enemy drawn up in order of battle, on
level ground, they instantly came to an engage-
ment. But a heavy rain, attended with a vio-
lent storm of wind, put a stop to the fight ;
when, though victory had not declared for them,
they yet had a fair prospect of it. Next day
the battle was renewed, and for a considerable
time, the Latine legions particularly, who, dur-
ing the long continuance of the confederacy,
had learned the Roman discipline, maintained
their ground with equal bravery and success.
At length, a charge of the cavalry disordered
their ranks, and before this could oe remedied,
the infantry advanced upon them. Wherever

the Roman line attacked, the enemy were
pushed from their ground ; and when once the
advantage turned against them, they found the
Roman force irresistible. They were there-
fore utterly routed ; and flying to Satricum,
which was two miles distant, had many of
their men slain, chiefly by the cavalry. Their
camp was taken and plundered. The night
after the battle, they went off from Satricum
to Antium, in a manner more like a flight than
a march : and though the Roman army fol-
lowed, almost in their steps, yet fear proved
fleeter than fury ; so that they had got within
their walls, before the Romans could harass or
impede their rear. Several days were spent
in wasting the country ; for the Romans were
not properly furnished with military engines
for attacking walls, nor the others in a condi-
tion to hazard a battle.

XXXIII. At this time a dissention arose
between the Antians and the Latines : for the
Antians, quite reduced by a war which had
lasted from their birth, began to think of sub-
mission. The Latines, having but lately re-
volted, after a long enjoyment of peace, and their
spirits being still fresh, were, therefore, the
more resolutely determined to persevere in the
war. Their dispute lasted no longer, than un-
til each party perceived that they might accom-
plish their own views, without obstruction from
the other. The Latines, by leaving the place,
freed themselves from the imputation of being
concerned in a peace which they deemed dis-
honourable. The Antians, as soon as those
were removed, whose presence impeded their
salutary designs, surrendered themselves and
their territory to the Romans. The rage of
the Latines, on finding that they could neither
do any damage to the Romans in war, nor keep
the Volscians any longer in arms, vented itself
in setting fire to the city of Satricum, which
had been their first place of refuge after defeat.
Not a building in that city remained ; for they
threw their firebrands indiscriminately on those
that belonged to gods and to men, except the
temple of mother Matuta : and from this they
were withheld, not by any scruples of their own,
or reverence towards the gods, but by a tremen-
dous voice, which issued through the temple,
with severe denunciations of vengeance, unless
they removed their abominable fires to a distance
from the temples. Inflamed with the same
rage, they proceeded to Tusculum, in resent-
ment of its having forsaken the general associ-

v. R. 378.]

OF ROME.

235

ution of tlie Latines, and joined itself to the
Romans, not only as an ally, but even as a
member of their state. No notice being re-
ceived there of their intention, they rushed in
by the gates, and on the first shout, made
themselves masters of the whole town, except-
ing the citadel. Into this the townsmen had
made their escape, with their wives and children,
and sent messengers to Rome, to acquaint the
senate with their misfortune. With no less
expedition than became the honour of the Ro-
man people, an army was despatched to Tus-
culum, commanded by Lucius Quintius and
Servius Sulpicius, military tribunes. They
found the gates of Tusculum shut, and the La-
tines acting the parts both of besiegers and be-
sieged : on one side, defending the walls of the
town ; on the other, carrying on the attack of
the citadel ; at once striking terror into others,
and feeling it themselves. The approach of
the Romans made a great alteration in the
minds of both parties : the despondency of the
Tusculans it converted into the most joyful
alacrity; and the assured confidence entertained
by the Latines, that they should quickly become
masters of the citadel, as they were already of
the town, into an anxiety almost hopeless for
their own safety. The shout was now raised
by the Tusculans from the citadel, and returned
by a much louder one from the Roman army.
The Latines were hard pressed on all sides ;
nor could they either sustain the force of the
Tusculans, pouring down on them from the
higher ground, or repel the Romans advancing
to the walls, and forcing the bars of the gates.
The walls first were mastered by scalade ; the
gates were then broke open ; and the two ene-
mies, pressing them in front and in rear, no
strength being left for fight, no room for escape,
they were surrounded and cut to pieces to a
man. Tusculum being thus recovered from
the enemy, the army returned to Rome.

XXXIV. In proportion to the degree of
tranquillity which prevailed this year abroad, in
consequence of the successes obtained in war,
did the violence of the patricians, and the distres-
ses of the commons, increase daily in the city ;
the necessity of immediate payment, of itself,
impairing the ability to pay : so that having no
means left of answering any demands out of
their property, they were cast in suits, and or-
dered into custody. Thus, at the expense of
their reputations and persons, they satisfied
their creditors; punishment being substituted

in the place of money. In consequence of this,
they sunk into such despondency, not only the
lowest, but even the principal plebeians, that
no man could be found adventurous enough
cither to stand candidate among patricians for
the military tribuneship (a privilege which they
had used such mighty efforts to obtain); or even
to sue for and undertake the plebeian magistra-
cies : insomuch that it seemed as if the patri-
cians had now recovered, for ever, the posses-
sion of that honour ; and that it had been only
usurped, for a few years, by the commons.
The excessive joy which that party would have
reaped from this event was prevented by a cause
which was but trifling, as is very often the case,
in comparison with the important consequences
which it produced. Marcus Fabius Ambus-
tus was a man of considerable weight among
those of his own rank, and also among the
commons, because they considered him as one
who was not at all disposed to treat them with
contempt : he had two daughters married, the
elder to Servius Sulpicius, the younger to
Caius Licenius Stolo, of high reputation,
but a plebeian, and the very circumstance
of Fabius not having scorned this alliance
procured him favour in the minds of the
populace. It happened, that while the two
sisters were amusing themselves in conver-
sation at the house of Servius Sulpicius, then
military tribune, on Sulpicius's return home
from the forum, one of his lictors, according to
custom, rapped at the door with his rod : the
younger Fabia, who was a stranger to the cus-
tom, being frightened at tlu's, was laughed at
by her sister, who was surprised at her igno-
rance of the matter. That laugh, however, left
a sting in the other's breast ; as the merest
trifles will often affect the female mind. The
crowd also of attendants, and of people offer-
ing their sendee, I suppose, made her think her
sister happy in her marriage, and repine at her
own ; according to the so generally prevailing
foible, for it is certain that scarcely any can
bear to be surpassed by those nearest their own
level. While she was under great disquietude
from this recent mortification, her father hap-
pened to see her, and asked, " Is ull well ?"
and though she dissembled, at first, the cause
of her uneasiness, because it was neither very
consistent with the affection of a sister, nor
very honourable to her husband, he, by tender
inquiries, at length brought her to confess, that
her unhappiness arose from beinp m.i o,I to an

236

THE H I S T O R Y

[BOOK

inferior, from being married into a house which
neither dignities nor honours could enter. Am-
bustus, then, consoling his daughter, bid her
keep up her spirits : for that she should shortly
see, in her own house, the same honours which
she saw at her sister's. He then, with his son-
in-law, began to frame his designs ; and in con-
junction with Lucius Sextius, a young man of
active talents, to whose hopes there appeared
no impediment, except the want of patrician
descent.

XXXV. The j uncture appeared seasonable
for the 'introduction of innovations, on account
of the immense burthen of debt, from which
evil the commons could have no hope of relief,
except some of their own order were placed in
the administration of government. To that
point they saw it necessary to direct their most
vigorous exertions. The commons, by spirited
endeavours and perseverance, had already gained
one step towards it ; from whence, if they
struggled forward, they might arrive at the sum-
mit, and be placed on an equal footing with the
patricians, in honour as well as in merit. It
was resolved, that at present there should be
plebeian tribunes created ; in which office the
commons might find the means of opening for
themselves a way to the other distinctions.
[Y. R. 379. B. C. 373.] Accordingly, Caius
Lucinius and Lucius Sextius were elected tri-
bunes, and proposed several new laws, every
one of which was injurious to the power of the
patricians, and in favour of the interest of the
plebeians. One related to debt, enacting, that
whatever had been paid as interest, being de-
ducted from the principal, the remainder should
be discharged in three years, by so many equal
instalments. Another, setting bounds to land-
ed property, enacted, that no one should pos-
sess more than five hundred acres of land ; a
third, that there should be no election of mili-
tary tribunes; and that one of 'the consuls
should, indispensably, be chosen out of the
commons : all points of the utmost conse-
quence, and not to be accomplished without
powerful struggles. When the patricians were
thus challenged to contend, at once, for all
those objects which excite the warmest desires
in the human heart, they were terrified and dis-
mayed ; nor coidd they, either in their public
or private consultations, devise any other reme-
dy than the one which they had frequently tried
before, a protest : accordingly, they engaged
some of the tribunes to oppose the proposi-

tions of their colleagues. These, having col-
lected about them a band of patricians for
their support, as soon as they saw the tribes
summoned by Licinius and Sextius, to give
their suffrages, refused to suffer either the
proposition to be read, or any of the usu-
al forms, in taking the votes of the people,
to be gone through. After assemblies had
been often called to no purpose, and the pro-
positions were now considered as rejected,
Sextius said to them, " It is very well ; since
it is determined that a protest shall carry such
force in it, we will defend the commons with
the same weapon. Come, patricians, proclaim
an assembly for the election of military tri-
bunes ; I will take care that those words, I
FORBID IT, shall not be very pleasing in
your ears, though you listen with such delight
to our colleagues chaunting them at present."
Nor did his threats fall without effect ; except
for aediles and plebeian tribunes, there were no
elections held. Licinius and Sextius being re-
elected plebeian tribunes, suffered not any
curule magistrates to be appointed ; and, dur-
ing the space of five years, the city was kept
without magistrates in those offices, the com-
mons constantly re-electing the two tribunes,
and these preventing the election of military
tribunes.

XXXVI. There bad been a seasonable
cessation of wars ; but the colonists of Veli-
trae, grown wanton through ease, and knowing
that there was no army on foot at Rome, made
several incursions into the Roman territory,
and even laid siege to Tusculum. When, OP
this event, the Tusculans, their old allies and
new fellow-citizens, implored assistance, not
only the patricians, but even the commons, were
moved, principally by a sense of honour ; and
the plebeian tribunes withdrawing their opposi-
tion, an election of military tribunes was held
by an interrex, when Lucius Furius, Aulus
Manlius, Servius Sulpicius, Servius Cornelius,
and the two Valerii, Pnblius and Caius, were
chosen into that office. [Y. R. 385. B. C. 367.]
These, in raising the levies, found not the same
tractable temper in the commons which they
had shown in the election : however, having",
after very warm disputes, completed the num-
ber of troops, they began their march, and com-
pelled the enemy, not only to retire from Tus-
culum, but to take shelter within their own
walls ; and Velitree was then besieged by a
much greater force than had threatened Tuscu-

Y. u. 386.]

OF ROME.

237

him. Yet the commanders, who conducted
the siege, were not able to bring it to a conclu-
sion before the new military tribunes were
elected : these were, Quintus Servilius, Caius
Veturius, a second time, Aulus and Marcus
Cornelius, Quintus Quintius, and Marcus Fiu
bins. [Y. R. 386. B. C. 366.] Neither did
these, in their tribunate, perform any thing me-
morable at Veh'trzB. The dangerous state of
ufFairs at home called more powerfully for their
attention : for, besides Sextius and Licinius, the
proposers of the laws, now re-elected the eighth
time to the office of plebeian tribune, Fabiuw
likewise, the military tribune, father-in-law of
Stolo, without disguise, professed himself a
supporter of those laws of which he had been
an adviser : and whereas there had been, at
first, among the plebeian tribunes, eight pro-
testers against the laws, there were now only
five ; and these, as usual with men who desert
their party, were embarrassed and perplexed.
In expressions borrowed frcm others, they al-
leged, as a pretext for their protesting, merely
what they had been privately instructed to say,
that " a large share of the commons were ab-
sent in the army at Velitrae ; that the assembly
ought to be deferred until the soldiers returned,
in order that the entire body of the commons
might have an opportunity of giving their votes,
in matters wherein they were so deeply inter-
ested." Sextius and Licinius, in conjunction
with the other part of their colleagues, and Fa-
bius, one of the military tribunes, having, from
the experience of so many years, acquired the
art of managing the minds of the commons,
called on the principal patricians, and teazed
them with interrogatories on each of the sub-
jects proposed to the people : " Were they so
shameless as to require, that when the propor-
tion of the plebeian was only two acres of land,
they should be allowed to possess above five
hundred acres each ? That a single man should
enjoy the share of near three hundred citizens ;
while a plebeian had scarcely an extent of land
sufficient for a stinted habitation, or a place of
burial ? Did they think it reasonable, that the
commons, inextricably embarrassed by the ac-
cumulation of interest, should surrender their
persons to the stocks, and to the harsh treat-
of creditors, rather than that they should
be allowed a discharge of the debt, on paying
off the principal ? That men should daily be
driven in flocks from the forum, after being
made over to their creditors ? That the houses

of the nobility should be filled with Midi pri-
soners ? And that, in the habitation of every
patrician, there should be a private prison ?"

XXXVII. After painting those matters in
the most invidious and pitiable colours, to an
audience, whereof each individual was in dread
that the case might become his own, and excit-
ing, in the hearers, even greater indignation
than they felt themselves, they went on to in-
sist, that " there never could be any stop put
to the patricians engrossing the lands to them-
selves, and crushing the commons under the
weight of interest, unless the latter should con-
stitute one of the consuls out of their own
body, to be a guardian of their liberty. That
the tribunes of the commons were now despis-
ed, because those invested with that power, by
the present practice of protests, rendered its
own strength inefficacious. It was impossible
to deal on equal terms, while the others held in
their hands the power o command, and they
only that of giving protection. Unless admitted
to a share in the government, the commons
could never enjoy an equal portion in the com-
monwealth, Nor ought it to be thought suffi-
cient that plebeians should be allowed to stand
candidates at the election of consuls ; none of
them would ever be elected, unless it were made
an indispensable rule that one consul must, ne-
cessarily, be taken from among the commons.
Had they now forgotten, that though the practice
of electing military tribunes, rather than consuls,
had been instituted for the very purpose of
opening the hJghest honours to the plebeians,
yet, during a space of forty-four years, not
one plebeian had been elected into that office ?
How then could they believe, that when there
were but two places to be filled, those men
would voluntarily bestow a share of the honour
on the commons, who were accustomed to
monopolize the whole eight places at the elec-
tion of military tribunes ? That they would
suffer a passage to be laid open to the consul,
ship, who, for such a length of time, had kept
the tribuneship so closely fenced up ? They
must acquire by a law, what they could not
accomplish by influence at elections ; and one
consul's place must be set apart, beyond the
reach of contest, to which the commons may
have access : since as long as it is left subject
to dispute, it will ever become the prize of the
more powerful. Nor could the nobles now
pretend to say, what formerly they had been
fond of asserting, that there were not to Ire

238

THE HISTORY

[BOOK vi.

found, among the plebeians, men qualified for
the curule offices. For, was the administration
of government conducted with less diligence
and vigour since the tribunate of Publius Lu-
cinius Calvus, the first plebeian elected, than
during those years in which none but patricians
were military tribunes ? Nay, on the contrary,
several patricians, on the expiration of their of-
fice, had been condemned for misconduct, but
never one plebeian. Quaestors too, in like
manner as military tribunes, began, a few years
before, to be elected out of the commons : nor
had the Roman people seen reason to be dis-
pleased with any one of them. The consulship
now remained to be attained by the plebeians ;
that was the bulwark, that the basis of their
liberty. Could they once arrive at that, then
indeed, the Roman people would be satisfied
that kings were really banished from the city,
and liberty settled on a sure foundation. For,
from that day, every advantage, in which the
patricians now surpassed them, would come in-
to the possession of the commons ; command
and honour, military glory, birth, nobility, all
highly valuable to themselves in the present
enjoyment, and which they could leave, with
an increase of value to their children." Find-
ing such discourses favourably attended to, they
published another proposition : that instead of
two commissioners for performing religious
rites, ten should be appointed, half of whom
should be plebeians, half patricians ; and they
deferred the meeting, which was to decide on
all these matters, until the troops, then engag-
ed in the siege of Velitrae, should return.

XXXVIII. The year expired before the
legions were brought home from Velitrae;
[Y. R. 387. B. C. 365.] and consequently,
the affair of the laws remained suspended,
and was handed over to the new military
tribunes : for as to the plebeian tribunes, the
commons re-elected the same ; particularly the
two who had proposed the laws. The military
tribunes elected were Titus Quintius, Servius
Cornelius, Servius Sulpicius, Spurius Servi-
lius, Lucius Papirius, and Lucius Veturius.
Immediately on the commencement of the new
year, the contest about the laws was pushed
to extremity ; and when, on the tribes being
assembled, the proposers of the laws persisted
in their proceedings, in spite of the protests of
their colleagues, the patricians were so alarmed
that they recurred for aid to their last resource,
an office superior to all others in power, and a

citizen superior to all others in reputation. It
was resolved that a dictator should be appoint-
ed. Accordingly Marcus Furius Camillus
was nominated, and he chose Lucius ^Emilius
master of the horse. On the other side, the
proposers of the laws, in opposition to this
great effort of their adversaries, with determin-
ed resolution, collected every means of strength,
in aid of the plebeian cause ; and, summoning
an assembly of the people, cited the tribes to
give their votes. The dictator, attended by a
band of patricians, having taken his seat, with
many angry and menacing expressions, the busi-
ness, at first, produced the usual contest among
the plebeian tribunes ; some of them supporting
the law, and others protesting against it. But
their protest, which by right ought to have pre-
vailed, being nevertheless overpowered by the
people's warm attachment to the laws themselves,
and to the promoters of them ; and, the first
tribes having pronounced, " Be it as you pro-
pose ;" Camillus said, " Roman citizens, since
the headstrong passions of your tribunes, not
their legal authority, rule your proceedings ;
and since, after having at the expense of a se-
cession, procured the privilege of protesting,
ye now yourselves invalidate it, by the same
violence through which ye obtained it ; I, as
dictator, out of regard, as well to your par-
ticular interest, as to the general interest of the
commonwealth, will support the right of pro-
testing : and, by the power of my authority,
will defend your rights of protection, which
ye endeavonr to betray. Wherefore, if Caius
Licinius and Lucius Sextus mil give way
to the protest of their colleagues, I shall be far
from introducing the authority of a patrician
magistrate into an assembly of the commons.
But if, in opposition to the protest, they per-
sist in their attempt to impose laws on the
state, as if it were under captivity to them, I
will not suffer the tribunitian power to be
brought to dissolution by its own act." The
tribunes, in contempt of this declaration, still
proceeding in the business with unabated ac-
tivity, Camillus was so highly provoked, that
he sent his lictors to disperse the commons ;
adding threats, that " if they persisted, he
would compel every one of the younger men
to take the military oath, and would instantly
lead an army out of the city." This struck
great terror into the populace ; but the opposi-
tion served rather to inflame than lessen the
resolution of their leaders. However, before

y. R. 387.]

OF ROME.

239

the dispute was brought to any decision, the
dictator abdicated his office ; either, because
some informality was discovered in his ap-
pointment, as some writers have said ; or be-
cause the plebeian tribunes proposed to the
commons, and the commons passed it into an
order, that if Marcus Furius Camillus perform-
ed an act as dictator he should be fined five
hundred thousand asses.1 But the following
considerations induce me to believe, that he
was deterred from acting rather by a defect in
the auspices, than by such an unprecedented
order : first, the temper of the man himself;
then Publius Manlius being immediately sub-
stituted in his room. What end could it an-
swer, to appoint him for managing a dispute in
which Camillus had been worsted ? Besides,
the year following, the same Camillus was
created dictator, and he certainly could not,
without shame, have resumed an authority,
which had been foiled in his hands the year
before. At the time, too, when the proposi-
tion about fining him is reported to have
been published, he must either have had power
sufficient to have prevented the passing of this
order, by which he saw himself degraded, or
else he could not have been able to oppose the
others, on account of which this was introduc-
ed ; for through the whole course of the various
disputes, in regard to the authority of the tri-
bunes, and that of the consuls even down to
our memory, the dictatorship ever held a de-
cided pre-eminence over both.

XXXIX. During the interval between the
abdication of the former dictator, and the new
one, Manlius, entering into office, as if it were
an interregnum, the tribunes summoned an as-
sembly of the people ; and it was there discov-
ered, which of the laws proposed were favour-
ites of the public, and which of the proposers.
For the commons passed those which respect-
ed interest of money, and the lands, and re-
jected the one respecting a plebeian consul ;
both which decisions would have been carried
into effect, had not the tribunes insisted, that
they had put the question to the assembly, on
the whole of the laws collectively. Publius
Manlius then turned the advantage to the side
of the commons, by nominating as his master
of the horse a plebeian, Caius Licinius, who
had been military tribune. This, we are in-
formed, gave much displeasure to the patri-

1 1G14/. 11». Sd.

cians, to whom the dictator apologized for his
conduct, alleging the near relationship between
him and Licinius ; at the same time asserting,
that the post of master of the horse was no
way superior to that of consular tribune.
When the assembly for electing plebeian tri-
bunes was proclaimed, Licinius and Sextius
conducted themselves in such a manner, that,
while they professed an unwillingness any long-
er to be continued in office, they applied to
the commons the most powerful incentives,
towards the effectuating of that purpose, which,
from their dissimulation in the above parti-
cular, they seemed little desirous to promote.
Telling them, that " they were now standing
the ninth year, as it were in battle array against
the nobility, with the greatest danger to their
own particular interests, and without any ad-
vantage to the public. That, as they were now
grown old, so, together with them, both the
propositions which they had published, and the
whole tribunitian power, were fallen into a state
of languor. At first, the attack was carried
on, against their propositions, by the protest of
their colleagues ; then, by banishing the
younger citizens to the war of Velitrae ; at last
the dictatorial thunder had been levelled against
themselves. At present, neither colleagues,
nor war, nor dictator stood in their way : for
the latter had even, by nominating a plebeian
master of the horse, given them an omen of a
plebeian consul. The commons were the only
obstruction to themselves, and to their
own interests. They could, if they chose
it, immediately have the city and the forum
free from creditors, and the lands free
from unjust occupiers. And when would
they ever consider these kindnesses with
proper gratitude, if at the very time when
they were receiving plans for their own ad-
vantage they precluded the authors of them
from all hope of distinction ? It was not
suitable with the candour of the Roman peo-
ple, to require that the burthen of interest
money should be taken off from them, and that
they should be introduced into the possession
of the hinds unjustly occupied by the powerful,
and at the same time leave the persons, through
whose means they acquired those lands, to grow
old in the quality of tribunitians ; not only
without honours, but even without hope of
them. Wherefore, let them, first, determine
in their own minds what choice they would
make, and then notify that choice, in the <•!< < -

240

THE HISTORY

[BOOK vi.

tion of their tribunes. If they chose that the
propositions published by them should be
passed collectively, then there would be some
reason for re-electing the same tribunes ; for
they would carry into effect their own wishes.
But, if they chose that nothing more should
pass, than what each found necessary to his pri-
vate affairs, there would then be no occasion
for the invidious mode of re-election ; and, as
they would fail of obtaining the tribuneship,
so would the people of obtaining the matters
proposed to them."

XL. On hearing such peremptory language
from the tribunes, and whilst amazement, at the
insolence of their behaviour, held the rest of
the patricians motionless and silent, Appius
Claudius Crassus, grandson of the decemvir, is
said to have stood forth to combat their argu-
ment ; and, prompted rather by hatred and an-
ger than by hope of success, to have spoken to
this effect : " Roman citizens, to me it would
be neither new nor surprising, if I should hear
applied to myself, on the present occasion, the
same charge, which has always been objected,
by seditious tribunes, to our family ; that the
Claudian race, even from the very beginning,
has shown a more zealous attachment to the
dignity of the patricians, than to any other ob-
ject in the state ; and that they have constantly
opposed the interests of the commons. One
of these assertions, neither I, nor any of the
Claudii, will deny ; that, from the time when
we were first adopted, and admitted into the
order of the patricians, we have earnestly en-
deavoured that the dignity of those families,
among which ye were pleased to place us,
might truly be said to have been augmented,
rather than diminished, through our means.
As to the other declaration, I can take upon
me to insist and maintain, in behalf of myself
and of my ancestors, that, unless we are to
suppose that actions, which tend to the gene-
ral good of the state, are injurious to the
commons, as if they were inhabitants of another
city, we never either in our private capacity, or
in office, proceeded knowingly, in any instance,
to the detriment of those commons : and that
there cannot, consistently with truth, be men-
tioned any one act, or word, of ours, contrary
to your interest ; though some indeed there
may have been contrary to your inclinations.
But even were I not of the Claudian family,
nor sprung from patrician blood, but an in-
dividual in the general mass of citizens, only

supposing me sensible that I was descended
from free-born parents, and that I lived in a
free state, could I keep silence in such a case
as this ; when Lucius Sextius, and Cains
Licinius, perpetual tribunes, as it seems, have
during the nine years in which they have reign-
ed, acquired such a degree of arrogance, as to
declare, that they will not allow you freedom of
suffrage, either in elections or in enacting laws ?
On a certain condition, one of them says, ye
shall re-elect us tribunes, a tenth time. What
else is this, than if he said, what others court,
we disdain, so far, that without a valuable con-
sideration, we will not accept of it ? And now
I pray you, what is that consideration, for
which we may have you perpetually tribunes
of the commons ? Why, he tells you it is, that
ye admit all our propositions collectively, be
they pleasing or displeasing, profitable or un-
profitable. Let me intreat you, ye Tarquinii,
who are tribunes of the commons, to suppose
that I, one of the citizens, called out in reply
to you from the middle of the assembly : with
your good leave, let us be permitted to choose,
out of these propositions, such as we judge
salutary to ourselves, and to reject others. No,
says he, ye shall have no such pel-mission.
Must ye enact, concerning interest of money
and lands, which tends to the good of every
one of yourselves, -and must not the prodigy of
seeing .Lucius Sextius and Caius Licinius
consuls take place in the city of Rome, be-
cause ye view it with scorn and abhorrence ?
Either admit all, or I propose nothing. Just
as if, before a person pressed with hunger,
one were to lay food and poison together, and
then to order him either to abstain from
what would minister to life, or to mix along
with it what would cause death. If then
this state were really free, would not the
whole assembly have replied to you thus ;
begone with your tribuneships and your propo-
sitions. What ! If you do not propose that
which is advantageous to the people to admit,
can there be no other found to procure them
advantages ? If any patrician (or what they
wish to be thought more invidious) if a Clau-
dian should say, either admit all, or I propose
nothing ; what man among you, citizens, would
endure it ? Will ye never learn to attend to
facts, rather than persons ? For ever listen
with partial ears to every thing uttered by men
of their office, and with prejudice to what is
said by any of us ? But surely, their language

v. u. U67.]

OF ROME.

241

is very different from what becomes members
of a republic : and what shall we say of their
proposal, which they are so incensed at your
rejecting ? It is exactly of a piece, citizens,
with their language, lie says, I desire it may
be enacted, that it shall not be lawful for you
to elect into the consulship such persons as ye
may approve : for can he mean otherwise who
orders that one consul must necessarily be taken
from the plebeians, and does not allow you the
power of electing two patricians ? If wars
were to be waged now, such as the Etrurian
for instance, when Porsena lay on the Janicu-
liun ; or, as the Gallic lately, when, except the
capital and citadel, all places were in possession
of the enemy, and that Lucius Sextius stood
candidate for the consulship with Camillas,
would ye be able to bear, that Sextius should,
without any competition, be made consul, while
Camillus would be obliged to struggle against the
danger of a repulse ? "Is this to introduce a
community of honours ? to make it lawful for
two plebeians, but unlawful for two patricians,
to be chosen consuls. To make it necessary to
elect one plebeian, but allowable to pass by all
the patricians ; what sort of fellowship, what
sort of confederacy is this ? Are you not sat-
isfied with obtaining a part of that in which
hitherto you Lave had no concern ; must you be
laying violent hands on the whole ? I fear, says
Sextius, that if ye are at liberty to elect two
patricians, ye will elect no plebeian. What is
this but to say, because ye would not, of your
own choice, elect unworthy persons, I will
impose on you a necessity of admitting them
without choice ? What follows, but that, if
one plebeian be named, together with two pa-
tricians, he is not even under an obligation
to the people, and may say, that he was ap-
pointed by the law, and not elected by their
suffrages ?

XL I. " The power of extorting, not of
suing for honours, is what they aim at ; and to
attain the most exalted without incurring the
obligations even of the lowest : they choose
also to make their way to them by means of
accidental successes, rather than by merit. Is
there any man who can think it an affront to
have Ids character inspected and estimated ?
Who can deem it reasonable, that he alone,
amidst struggling competitors, should have a
certainty of obtaining honours ? Who would
exempt himself from your judgment ? Who
would render your suffrages necessary (if suf-

I. .

frages I must nay) instead of voluntary ; «er-
vilf instead of free? Not to mention Liri-
nius and Sextius, the years of whose perpetu-
ated power, as if t!:ry \verc kings, ye number
in the capitol ; what man is there this day,
in the state, so mean, that he might not, by the
opportunities created by this law, make bis way
to the consulship, with greater ease, than we or
our children ? Since, in some cases, it will not
be in your power to elect us, though ye wish
it, and ye will be under a necessity of electing
them, though against your will. Of the injury
offered to merit, I shall say no more, for merit
regards only the human race. But what shall
I say, with respect to religion, and the auspices ;
the affront and injury offered to which, reflect
immediately on the immortal gods ? That this
city was founded under-auspices ; that all busi-
ness, civil and military, foreign and domestic,
is conducted under them, who can be ignorant ?
In whom therefore is the privilege of auspices
vested according to the constitution of our
forefathers? In the patricians undoubtedly.
For no plebeian magistrate is even so elected.
So peculiar to us are the auspices, that the pa-
trician magistrates, whom the people may ap-
prove, can be in no other manner elected ;
while we ourselves, without the suffrages of
the people, create an interrex, under aus-
pices ; and, in private stations also hold such
privilege, which they do not, even when in
office. Does not he then, in effect, abob'sh
the auspices, who by creating plebeian con-
suls, takes them out of the hands of the pa-
tricians, the only persons capable of holding
them ? They may now mock at religion, and
say, where is the great matter, if the chickens
do not feed? If they come out too slowly
from the coop ? If a bird chaunt an ominous
note ? These are trivial matters : but by not
disregarding these trivial matters, our ances-
tors raised this state to the highest eminence.
In the present times, as if we stood in no
need of the favour of the gods, we violate all
religious institutions. Let therefore pontiffs,
augurs, . kings of the sacrifices, be chosen at
random. Let us place the tiara of Jupiter's
llamen on any one that offers, provided he be a
man. Let us commit the Ancilia, the shrines,
the gods, and the charge of their worship, to
persons to whom they cannot, without impiety,
be intrusted. Let neither laws be enacted,
nor magistrates elected under auspices. Let
not the approbation of the senate be requisite,
2 H

242

THE HISTORY OF ROME.

[BOOK vr.

either to the assemblies of the centuries, or
of the Curias. Let Sextius and Licinius,
like Romulus and Tatius, reign in the city of
Rome, in return for their generosity in plun-
dering from other men's fortunes : in giving
away other men's money and lands, does it not
occur to you, that by one of these laws, great
part of the possessions must be converted into
desolate wildsj in consequence of the owners
being expelled from them : by the other, that
credit would be annihilated, by which all human
society must be at an end. For every reason,
then, I am of opinion, that ye ought to reject
those propositions altogether. Whatever is
your determination, may the gods grant it a
happy issue."

XLII. The speech of Appius produced no
other effect, than the putting off the decision
on the propositions to another time. Sextius
and Licinius, being again re-elected tribunes,
the tenth time, procured a law to be enacted,
that, of the decemvirs, for superintending
religious matters, half should be chosen from
among the commons. Accordingly, five pa-
tricians were elected, and five plebeians.
Which step being gained, the way seemed
open to the consulship. Satisfied with this
victory, the commons conceded so far to the
patricians, that, no mention being made of
consuls for the present, military tribunes
should be elected. [Y. R. 388. B. C. 364.]
The election fell on Aulus and Marcus Cor-
nelius a second time, Marcus Geganius, Pub-
lius Manlius, Lucius Veturius, and Publius
Valerius a sixth time. Except the siege of
Velitrae, an affair of which the issue was
rather tedious than doubtful, the Romans
were undisturbed by any foreign concerns ;
when a sudden report of the Gauls approach-
ing in arms, occasioned so great an alarm that
Marcus Furius Camillus was appointed dic-
tator the fifth time, and he nominated Titus
Quintius Pennus master of horse. Clau-
dius asserts, that a battle was fought with
the Gauls this year, on the banks of the river
Ai:io, and that, at this time, happened the
famous combat on the bridge, in which Titus
Manlius, engaging with a Gaul who had chal-
lenged him, slew him in the sight of the two
armies, and spoiled him of a chain. But I
am led, by the authority of many writers to
believe, that these events happened at least
ten years later ; and that a pitched battle was
now fought with the Gauls by the dictator
Camillus, in the territory of Alba. The

victory was neither doubtful, nor obtained
with difficulty by the Romans ; although,
from people's recollection of former misfor-
tunes, the coming of the Gauls had diffused
very great terror. Many thousands of the bar-
barians were slain in the field, and great num-
bers in the storming of their camp. The rest
dispersing, mostly towards Apulia, escaped,
partly, by continuing their flight to a great
distance ; and partly, by being, through dis-
may and terror, scattered widely, in different
quarters. The dictator had a triumph decreed
him, with the concurrence of the senate and
commons. Scarcely, however, had he got rid
of the business of this war, than he found
employment, from a more violent commotion
at home : and the issue of an obstinate struggle
was, that the dictator and senate were over-
powered, and the proposition of the tribunes
admitted. In consequence, an election of
consuls was held, in spite of the opposition of
the nobility, in which Lucius Sextius was
made consul, the first of plebeian rank. Nor
did the disputes end even here. The patri-
cians refusing to give their approbation, the
affair was likely to produce a secession of the
commons, with dreadful consequences ; when
their dissensions were accommodated on terms,
by the interposition of the dictator. The
nobility made concessions to the commons,
with respect to the plebeian consul, and the
commons to the nobility with respect to one
praetor to be elected out of the patricians, to
administer justice in the city. Concord being,
by these means, restored between the orders,
after such a long continuance of mutual ani-
mosity, the senate were of opinion, that such
an event deserved to be signalized by an exhibi-
tion of the most magnificent games, and by
the addition of another day, to the usual three,
of the Latine festival ; expecting on this oc-
casion, if on any whatever, to find a general
willingness to show that testimony of grati-
tude to the immortal gods. But the plebeian
Dsdiles refused to undertake the business : on
which the younger patricians, with one accord,
cried out, that out of their desire of paying
due honour to the deities, they would with
pleasure perform it, provided they were ap-
pointed sediles. Their offer was accepted,
with universal thanks, and the senate decreed,
that the dictator should propose to the people,
to appoint two of the patricians to the office of
sediles ; and that the senate would give their ap-
probation to all the elections made in that year.

THE

BOOK VII.

Tho offices of praetor and curule aedile instituted. A pestilential dioorder rages in the city ; of which dies the cele-
brated Fiirius Camillas. Scenic representations first introduced. Curtius, armed, on horseback leaps into a
gulf in the forum. Titus Manlius, having slain in single combat a Gaul, who challenged any of the Roman
soldiers to fight, takes from him a golden chain which he wears, and is, from thence, called Torquatus. Two
nevv tribes added, called the Pomptine and Publilian. I.icinim Stolo in found guilty, upon a law carried by him.
self, of possessing- more than five hundred acres of land. Marcus Valerius, surnamed Corvinus, from having,
with the aid of a crow, killed a Gaul, who challenged him, is next year elected consul, though but twenty-three
years old. A treaty of friendship made with the Carthaginians. The Cuinpanians, overpowered by the Sam.
nites, surrender themselves to the Roman people, who declare war against the Samnites. P. Decius Mus saves
the Roman army, brought into extreme danger by the consul A. Cornelius. Conspiracy and revolt of the Ro-
man soldiers in the garrison of Capua. They are brought to a sense of duty, and restored to their country, by
Marcus Valerius Corvus, dictator. Successful operations against the Heroicians, Gauls, Tiburtians, Priver.
nians, Tarquinians, Samnites, and Volscians.

I. THIS year [Y. R. 389. B. C. 363.] will
ever be remarkable for the consulship of a man
of no ancestry ; and remarkable also, for the
institution of two new public offices, the praetor-
ship and the curule sedileship. These honours
the patricians claimed to themselves, as a com-
pensation for their concession of one consul's
place to the plebeians. The commons gave the
consulship to Lucius Sextius, the introducer of
the law by which it was obtained. The patri-
cians, by their influence among the people,
gained the proctorship for Spurius Furius Ca-
millus son of Marcus ; and the aedileship, for
Cneius Quintius Capitolinus and Publius Cor-
nelius Scipio, men of their own rank. The
patrician colleague, given to Lucius Sextius,
was Lucius ^milius Mamercinus. In the
beginning of the year, rumours were spread
concerning the Gauls, who, after having been
dispersed over Apulia, were now said to be
collecting themselves into a body; and also
concerning a revolt of the Hernicians. But all
kinds of business were purposely deferred, lest
the plebeian consul should have an opportunity
of performing any service, and silence was as
much observed on every subject, as though it
had been proclaimed. The tribunes, however,

did not suffer it to pass unnoticed, that the
patricians, by way of requital for one plebeian
consulship, had assumed to themselves three
patrician magistrates, sitting in curule chairs,
and clad in robes of state like consuls ; the
praetor even administering justice, as a colleague
to the consuls, and elected under the same
auspices. In consequence of this, the senate
were afterwards ashamed to order, that the cu-
rule aediles should be chosen from among the
patricians. It was at first agreed that plebeians
should be appointed every second year, but in
after time the choice was left open. In the
consulate of Lucius Genucius and Quintus
Servilius, [Y. R. 390. B. C. 362.] who imme-
diately succeeded, though affairs were tranquil
both at home and abroad, yet, as if at no time
there could be an exemption from danger and
alarm, a pestilence broke out with great vio-
lence ; a censor, a curule wdile, and three ple-
beian tribunes, are said to have fallen victims
to it, while its ravages among the populace
were proportionably numerous ; but this
calamity was rendered memorable chiefly by
the death of Marcus Furius Camillus, whose
loss, though at an advanced period of life,
was much to be regretted : he was, in truth,

244

OF ROME.

[DOOK vir.

a man singularly eminent in every change of
fortune ; before he went into banishment, the
first person in the state, as well in civil as mi-
litary departments ; in exile, still more illus-
trious, whether we consider the disaster by
which the nation was induced to supplicate his
return ; or his own successful conduct, by which,
on being restored to his country, he effected
that country's liberation, and justified his own
lair claim to celebrity. He then, through a
course of twenty-five years after, uniformly
maintained a character equal to this high rank
of glory, allowed on all hands as deserving of
being reckoned, next to Romulus, a second
founder of the city of Rome.

II. The pestilence continuing during both this
and the following year, [Y. R. 391. B.C. 361.]
in which Caius Sulpicius Peeticus and Cains
Licinius Stolo were consuls ; nothing memora-
ble was transacted, only that, for the purpose
of soliciting the favour of the gods, the Lec-
tisternium was performed the third time since
the building of the city. But the disorder re-
ceiving no alleviation, either from human wis-
dom or divine aid, the strength of the people's
minds became almost overpowered by super-
stition, and it is said, that, on this occasion,
among other devices for appeasing the wrath of
heaven, scenic plays were introduced ; a new
thing to a warlike people ; for hitherto there
had been only the shows of the circus. How-
ever, this kind of performance was, as in gene-
ral all beginnings are, but a trifling matter, and
even that borrowed from abroad. Actors were
sent for from Etruria, who, though without any
poetical language, or any gestures correspondent
to such language, yet regulating' their motions
by the measures of the music, exhibited, in the
Tuscan manner, something far from ungraceful.
The younger citizens soon began to imitate
these ; throwing out, at the same time, among
each other, ludicrous expressions in coarse
verses, and with gestures adapted to the words :
this kind of performance then being received
with approbation, in the course of frequent
practice gained much improvement. The na-
tive performers were called Histriones, from
the Tuscan word Hister, signifying a player ;
and they did not, as formerly, pronounce alter-
nately,, without regard to order, verses like the
Fescennine, artless and unpolished, but repre-
sented comic medleys, ' composed in regular

1 Satura signified a dish tilled with a variety of fruits,

metre, with the several parts of the perform-
ance properly adjusted to the music ; the deli-
very of the words and the gesticulation being
performed in concert with the music. Several
years after this, Livius, who was the first that
ventured to lay aside medleys, and to digest a
story into a regular plot, being also, as all were
at that time, the actor of his own pieces ; and,
having broken his voice by being obliged to re-
peat them too often, after requesting the indul-
gence of the public, placed a boy before the
musician, to chaunt, * while he himself per-
formed the gesticulations. And this he exe-
cuted with much freer action, because disen-
gaged from attention to the management of his
voice. Hence originated the practice of the
chaunting being performed by another to the
gesticulation of the actors, whose voices were
eased of all but the dialogue. When, by this
regulation, the scenic business was directed to
other objects than laughter and intemperate
mirth, and the amusement was by degrees con-
verted into an art, the younger citizens, leaving
to professed actors the exhibition of plays, be-
gan, according to the ancient practice, to throw
out alternately ludicrous jests, comprised in
verse, which thence got the name of exodia, or
interludes, and were collected principally out of
the Atellan farces. 3 This kind of entertain-
ment, thus borrowed from Oscia, these younger
citizens kept in their own hands, not suffering
it to be debased by professed players. For this
reason the rule was established, which is still
observed, that the actors of these Atellan farces
are not degraded from their tribe, and are ca-
pable of serving in the army, as if no way con-
cerned in the business of the stage. Among
the trifling beginnings of other matters, I
thought it not amiss to give a view of the ori-
gin of theatrical exhibitions also, in order to
sho\v, from a moderate setting out, to what an
intolerable extravagance they have proceeded ;
such extravagance, indeed, as scarcely to, be
supported by opulent kingdoms.

and other kinds of food, offered to Ceres, at the time of
her festival, and was used to denote a poetic medley,
comprising a variety of topics and matter. Livius An-
dronicus, a freed man of Marcus Living Salinator, be-
gan to write about the year of Rome 512.

2 It was customary at the end of every act to chaunt
a set of verses, accompanied by the music, and with cor.
respondent gesticulations.

3 The Atellan farces were borrowed from Atella, a
town in Oscia, which was a district of Campania, com-
prehending tlie two states of the Auruncians and Sidl-
cinians.

Y. H. 393.]

OF ROME.

245

III. However, this introduction of stage
plays, intended as a pious expiation, neither re-
lieved men's minds from religious dread, nor
their bodies from the disorder : so far otherwise,
that an inundation of the Tiber happening to
overflow the circus, and to interrupt a play in
the middle of the performance, that incident
excited the utmost degree of terror, as it was
deemed a token of the displeasure of the gods,
and that they disdained the atonements offered
to their wrath. Wherefore, in the next consu-
late, of Cneius Genucius, and Lucius ^Emi-
lius Mamercinus a second time, [Y. R. 392-
B. C. 360.] people's minds being more har-
assed in searching for expiations, than their
bodies by the sickness, it was collected, from
the memory of some of the more aged, that a
pestilence had formerly ceased, on the nail be-
ing driven by a dictator. The senate were so
superstitious on the occasion, as to order a
dictator to be appointed, for the purpose of
driving the nail : Lucius Manlius Imperiosus
was accordingly nominated, and he appointed
Lucius Pinarins master of the horse. There
is an obsolete law, written in antique letters
and words, that whoever is supreme officer,
should drive a nail on the ides of September.
It used to be driven into the right side of
the temple of Jupiter, supremely great and
good, in that part where the statue of Minerva
stands. This nail, it is said, served as a mark-
et' the number of years elapsed, the use of
letters being rare in those times ; and the law
directed the ceremony to the temple of Miner-
va, because the use of numbers was an inven-
tion of that goddess. Cincius, a diligent in-
quirer into such monuments of antiquity, assures
us, that there were to be seen, among the Vol-
scians also, nails fixed in the temple of the
Tuscan goddess Nortia, by which they kept
account of the number of years. Marcus
Horatius, being then consul, first performed
this ceremony in obedience to the law, at the
temple of Jupiter, supremely good and great,
in the year after the expulsion of the kings.
A f terwards, the solemnity of driving the nail
was transferred from the consuls to a dictator,
because this was a superior office : the custom
was dropped in after times, but it was now
deemed an affair of sufficient importance in it-
self, to require the nomination of a chief. Man-
lius, who was appointed for the puq>ose, as if
he had been commissioned to manage the affairs
of the state in general, and not merely to ac-

quit it of a religious duty, being ambitious of
commanding an army against the Hernicians,
harassed the youth by a rigorous severity in
levying troops, until at length all the plebeian
tribunes united to oppose him : and then over-
come, either by force or shame, he resigned the
dictatorship.

IV. Notwithstanding which, in the begin-
ningof the next year, [Y. R. 393. B. C. 359.]
Quintus Servilius Ahala, and Lucius Genu-
cius a second time, being consuls, a criminal
prosecution was commenced against Manlius,
by Marcus Pomponius, a plebeian tribune.
His rigour in the levies, which he had carried,
not only to the fining of the citizens, but even
to the wounding of their persons, (those who
refused to answer to their names being some
beaten with rods, others loaded with chains,)
had excited a general hatred against him ; but
more obnoxious than all were hir impetuous
temper, and the surname of Imperiosus, which
he had assumed out of an ostentation of severity,
a quality which appeared not more conspicu-
ously in his behaviour to strangers, than to the
persons most closely connected with him, and
to those of his own blood. — One of the charges
brought against him by the tribune, was, that
" he had banished his son, a youth convicted of
no dishonourable act, from the city, from his
house, from his tutelar gods, from the forum ;
prohibited him the enjoyment of the light, and
of the conversation of his equals ; having re-
duced him to work like a slave, in a kind of
prison or work- house, and thus had one of most
distinguished birth, of dictatorian rank, learned.
from his daily sufferings, that he was born of a
father really imperious. And for what fault ?
Because he was not endowed with eloquence,
nor ready in discourse. And whether ought
the father, if he had a particle of humanity in
him, to apply gentle remedies to a natural de-
fect, or to attempt to correct it by punishment,
and cause it to be more noticed by a course of
harsh treatment ? Even beasts, if any of their
offspring chance to be unhappily formed, are
nevertheless careful in nourishing and cherish-
ing it. But Manlius aggravated the misfor-
tune of his son, and clogged the slowness of
his capacity with additional impediments ; and
whatever spark of natural abib'ty he possessed,
took the method to extinguish it by accustom-
ing him to a rustic life and clownish manners,
keeping him among his cattle."

V. By these charges every one was highly

246

THE HISTORY

[BOOK vn.

incensed against Manlius, except the young man
himself; on the contrary, grieving that he should
be the cause of hatred and accusations against
his parent, in order to demonstrate to gods and
men that he wished support to his father,
rather than to his enemies, he formed a design,
which though not reconcileable to the rules of
civil society, was yet commendable in its prin-
ciple of filial duty. Having provided himself
with a dagger, he came to the city, without the
knowledge of any one, early in the morning,
and proceeding directly to the house of Marcus
Pomponius the tribune, told the porter that he
wanted to see his master immediately, and de-
sired him to acquaint him that Titus Manlius,
the son of Lucius, was there. He was imme-
diately introduced : for the other hoped that he
came inflamed with resentment against his fa-
ther, and had brought either some new matter
for accusation, or some scheme for accomplish-
ing the design. Manlius then, after mutual
salutations, told him that he wished to confer
with him, on some business, in private. All
who were present being ordered to withdraw
to a distance i'rom the apartment, he drew his
dagger, and standing over the couch with the
weapon ready to strike, threatened to stab him
that moment, if he did not swear, in the words
which he should dictate, that he " never would
hold a meeting of the commons for the purpose
of prosecuting his father." The tribune, af-
frighted at seeing the steel glittering before his
eyes, himself alone and unarmed, the other a
young man, his superior in strength, and what
was no less terrifying, full of savage ferocity
from consciousness of his strength, swore in
the terms enjoined him : and afterwards alleged
this sorry proceeding, as his reason for desist-
ing from his undertaking. Nor did the people
conceive any displeasure at so bold an attempt
of a son in behalf of his parent, although they
would have been much better pleased to have
had an opportunity of passing sentence on a
culprit of such a cruel and tyrannical disposi-
tion ; and it was thought the more commenda-
ble in him, that the excessive rigour of his fa-
ther had not erased from his mind the love of
him. Wherefore, besides the father being ex-
cused from standing a trial, that very affair was
also productive of honours to the son ; and on
its being determined that year, for the first
time, that the tribunes of the soldiers for the
legions should be appointed by vote of the peo-
ple, (for until then, the commanders used to

appoint them of their own authority, as they do
at present those termed Ruffuli,) he obtainei
the second place among six, though not recom-
mended to public favour by any merit, either
in a civil or military line, having spent his
youth in the country, and out of the way of any
intercourse with the world.

VI. In the same year, we are told, the earth,
near the middle of the forum, in consequence
either of an earthquake, or some other violent
cause, sunk down to an immense depth, form-
ing a vast aperture ; nor could the gulf be
filled up by all the earth which they could
throw into it, though every one exerted himself
in bringing it thither, until, pursuant to advice
of the gods, they set about inquiring what it
was which constituted the principal strength of
the Roman people ; for, according to the re-
sponses of the soothsayers, that must be devot-
ed to this place, if they wished that the Roman
commonwealth should be everlasting. Then
they tell us, that Marcus Curtius, a youth
highly distinguished by his military exploits,
reproved them for deliberating whether Rome
was possessed of any greater good than arms
and valour ; and, on this, silence being made,
throwing his eyes round to the temples of the
gods within view of the forum, and to the capi-
tol, and extending his hands, at one time to-
wards heaven, at another, towards the infernal
gods, through the gaping aperture of the earth
he devoted himself as a victim. Then, having
dressed himself in. complete armour, and mount-
ed a horse accoutred with the most gorgeous
furniture which could be procured, he plunged
into the opening, and the multitude, men and
women, threw in over him their offerings, and
quantities of the fruits of the earth ; and thus
it is said the lake received its name, and not,
as is supposed by some, from Mettius Curtius,
the ancient soldier of Titus Tatius. If there
were any way of coming at the truth, no dili-
gence should be wanting, on my part, in 'the
pursuit of it : but now, when the distance of
time precludes all certain evidence, we must
abide hy the reports of tradition, and account
for the name of the lake from this latter fable.
This great prodigy being expiated, the senate,
during the same year, taking the affair of the
Hernicians into consideration, voted, (after
sending heralds to demand satisfaction, without
effect) that on the first proper day, the sense of
the people should be taken on the subject of a
declaration of war against them, and the people,

y. R. 393.]

OF ROME.

•247

in full assembly, ordered it. That province fell,
by lot, to the consul Lucius Genucius : and
now the whole state was in anxious suspense ;
because, being the first plebeian who, in
quality of consul, was to wage war under his
own auspices, the issue of the expedition would
furnish an opportunity of judging of the wis-
dom or imprudence of introducing a commu-
nity of honours. Fortune so ordered it, that
Genucius marching against the enemy with a
powerful force, fell into an ambush, where the
legions being seized with a sudden panic, and
routed, the consul was surrounded and slain by
persons, who knew not at the time who they
had killed. When the news of this was brought
to Rome, the patricians, who were not so
much grieved at the calamity of the public, as
they were elated at the ill success attending
the command of a plebeian consul, everywhere
exclaimed, " Let them go now, and elect ple-
beian consuls ; yet transfer the auspices, they
could not without impiety. The patricians
might indeed, by a vote of the people, be driven
from the possession of their own peculiar hon-
ours ; but had this inauspicious law been able to
prevail likewise against the immortal gods ?
These had interposed to vindicate their own au-
thority, their own auspices : for no sooner had
these been defiled by a person prohibited by di-
vine and human laws, than the destruction of
their army, together with their commander, had
given them warning, not to conduct elections
in such a manner hereafter, as to confound the
rights of birth." The senate-house and the
forum resounded with such expressions. Ap-
pius Claudius, who had argued against the law,
and therefore, with greater authority, blamed
the people now for the issue of a scheme, of
which he had manifested his disapprobation,
was, at the general desire of the patricians,
nominated dictator by the consul Servilius,
and proclamation was issued for a levy and a
cessation of business.

VII. Before the arrival of the dictator, and
the new legions, at the place where the Her-
nicians lay, Caius Sulpicius, the lieutenant-
general, who held the command, making use of
an opportunity which offered, fought the ene-
my with brilliant success. After the death of
the consul, the Hernicians had advanced to-
wards the Roman camp, in a contemptuous
manner, confident, beyond doubt, of becoming
masters of it ; on which, the soldiers, burning
with rage and indignation, and encouraged by

the lieutenant-general, sallied out upon them.
The Hernicians were so widely disappointed
in their hopes of approaching the rampart, that
they were obliged to retire in great confusion.
Soon after, by the arrival of the dictator, the
new army was joined to the old, and the forces
doubled. The dictator, by bestowing com-
mendations, in a public speech, on the lieuten-
ant-general and the soldiers, by whose bravery
the camp had been defended, animated still
farther the courage of those, who heard their
own praises justly set forth, and stimulated the
rest to emulation of their merit. Nor were
the preparations for action less vigorous on the
side of the enemy ; mindful of the honour
which they had before acquired, and not igno-
rant of the addition to the strength of the
Romans, they applied themselves to augment
their own likewise. The whole Hernician
race, every man of military age, was called out
Eight cohorts were formed, consisting each of
four hundred men, the ablest which could be
chosen out of all their number. This select
body, the flower of their youth, they also filled
with hope and spirits by a decree, that they
should receive double pay : they were, besides,
excused from military works, in order that, be-
ing reserved entirely for the single labour of
fighting, they might be sensible that they ought
to make exertions beyond what was expected
from the generality of men : even an extraor-
dinary post in the field was allotted them, that
their valour might be the more conspicuous.
A plain of two miles in breadth separated
the Roman camp from that of the Hernicians ;
in the middle of this, the spaces being nearly
equal on both sides, they came to an engage-
ment. The fight was maintained, for some
time, without any apparent advantage, the Ro-
man cavalry making many fruitless attempts to
disorder the enemy's line by their charge : but
when they found that, acting as cavalry, they
could produce no effect in proportion to their
efforts, the horsemen, after first consulting the
dictator, and obtaining his permission, dis-
mounted from their horses, rushed forward,
with a loud shout, before the line, and recom-
menced the fight in a new mode. Nor could
they have been resisted, had not the extraor-
dinary cohorts, their equals in vigour both of
body and mind, thrown themselves in their
way.

VIII. The contest then lay between the
nobility of the two nations. Whatever the

248

THE HISTORY

[BOOK VIT.

common chance of war carried off from the
one side or the other, was a loss to be estimat-
ed on a much higher scale than that of the
numbers. The rest, an armed populace, as
if they had delegated the fight to their no-
bles, rested the issue of their own cause on the
bravery of the others. Many fell on both sides ;
more were wounded. At length the horsemen,
chiding each other, began to ask, " In what
manner they were to act next ? since, neither
on horseback had they made an impression on
the enemy, nor on foot were performing any
service of consequence ? What other method of
fighting did they wait for ? To what purpose
was their rushing forward so fiercely before the
line, and their combating in a post which did
not belong to them ?" Animated by these mu-
tual reproaches, they raised the shoutanew, pres-
sed forward, and compelled the enemy, first
to shrink, then to give way, and at last fairly
drove them off the field. It is not here easy to
say what circumstance turned the advantage
against strength so equally matched with their
own ; unless it were, that the fortune, which
continually attended each nation, had power
both to exalt and to depress courage. The
Romans pursued the flying Hernicians to their
camp ; but they did not choose to attack it,
because it was then late in the day. Some de-
lay in finishing the sacrifices with success had
detained the dictator, so that he could not give
the signal before noon, and, in consequence, the
battle had lasted until night. Next day, the
camp of the Hernicians was found deserted,
and many of their wounded left behind. Their
main body, as they fled, was attacked by the
Signians, who observing, as they passed by their
walls, that their standards were but thinly at-
tended, routed and dispersed them through the
country in precipitate flight. Nor did the
Romans gain the victory without bloodshed ;
a fourth part of their soldiers perished, and, what
was a loss of no less importance, several of the
Roman horsemen fell.

IX, In the year following, [Y. R. 391.
B. C. 358.] the consuls, Caius Sulpicius, and
Caius Licinius Calvus, led an army against the
Hernicians, and, not finding the enemy in the
field, took Ferentinum, one of their cities, by
storm ; when, on their return from thence, the
Tiburtians shut their gates against them. This
behaviour finally determined the Romans, many
complaints having been made on both sides,
I it fore this, to declare war against the people

of Tibur, after demanding satisfaction by her-
alds. We learn, from very good authority, that
Titus Quintius Pennus was dictator this year,
and Servins Cornelius Maluginensis master of
the horse. Macer Licinius writes, that he was
nominated by the consul Licinius, for the pur-
pose of holding the elections ; because, observ-
ing that his colleague hastened the elections, in
order to have them over before the commence-
ment of the campaign, with design to procure
his own re-election to the consulship, he judged
it necessary to thwart his ambitious designs.
This account, being calculated to enhance the
honour of his own family, renders the authority
of Licinius of the less weight ; as I find no
mention of that circumstance in the earlier an-
nals, I am inclined to think, that the dictator
was appointed rather on account of the Gallic
war. There is no doubt that, in that year, the
Gauls were encamped at the third stone on the
Salarian road, at the farther side of the bridge
of the Anio. The dictator having, in conse-
quence of the alarm of a Gallic tumult, pro-
claimed a cessation of civil business, obliged all
the younger citizens to take the military oath ;
and marching out of the city with a very power-
ful army, encamped on the hither bank of the
Anio. The bridge lay between the armies,
neither party choosing to break it down, lest it
should be construed as an indication of fear.
Frequent skirmishes were fought for the pos-
session of the bridge, but so indecisive, that it
could not be clearly discovered to which party
it belonged. While affairs were in this posture,
a Gaul, of a stature remarkably large, advanced
on the bridge, then unoccupied ; and, with a
loud voice, called out, " Let the bravest man that
Rome can produce, come forth here to battle,
that the event of a combat between us two may
determine which of the nations is to be held
superior in war."

X. The young Roman nobility were for a
long time silent, ashamed to refuse the chal-
lenge, yet unwilling to claim the first po^t of
danger. Then Titus Manlius, son of Lucius,
the same who had freed his father from the
persecution of the tribune, advancing from his
station to the dictator, said, " General, I would
on no account leave my post to fight without
your orders, not though I should see a certain
prospect of victory : but if you permit me, I
wish to show that brute, who makes such an
insolent parade in the front of the enemy's ar-
my, that I am sprung from that family which

y. H. 395.]

OF ROME.

249

beat down an army of Gauls from the Tar-
peian rock. " The dictator answered, " Titus
Manlius, 1 honour your bravery, and your
dutiful regard to your father, and to your
country ; go, and with the help of the
gods, bhow the Human name invincible." The
youth was then armed by his companions,
took a footman's shield, and girded on a Spanish
sword, adapted to dose fight. As soon as they
had fitted on his armour and ornaments, they
conducted him out towards the Gaul,who showed
a savage joy, and (the ancients have thought that
circumstance also worth mention) even thrust
out his tongue in derision. They then retired
to their posts, and the two champions were left
in the middle space, in the manner of a spec-
tacle, rather than according to the rules of com-
bat, very unequally matched, in the eyes of such
as judged by sight and appearance. The one
had a body of enormous size, glittering in a
vest of various colours, having armour painted
and inlaid with gold : the other was of the mid-
dle stature among soldiers, and his mien devoid
of ostentation, in arms calculated for ready use
more than for show. On his side there was no
song of defiance, no capering, or vain flourish-
ing of arms, but his breast, replete with resolu-
tion and silent rage, reserved all its fierceness
for the decision of the contest. They took
their ground between the two armies, while the
minds of such great numbers of men on both
sides,were suspendedbetween hope and fear. The
Gaul, like some huge mass, ready to crush the
other under it, stretching forward his shield with
his left hand, discharged an ineffectual blow on
the edge of his sword, with great noise, on the
armour of Manlius, as he approached j while
the Roman pushing aside the lower part of his
antagonist's shield with his own, and, insinuat-
ing himself between that and his body, closed
in with him in such a manner, as to be in no
danger of a wound. He then raised the point
of his Kword, and with one, and then a second
thrust, piercing the belly and groin of his foe,
laid him prostrate on the ground, of which he
covered a vast extent. The body, without offer-
ing it any other indignity, he despoiled of a chain
only, which, bloody as it was, he threw round his
own neck. Astonishment and dismay held the
Gauls motionless. The Romans, in rapture, ad
vanced from their posts to meet their champion,
and with congratulations and praises conducted
him to the dictator. Among the unpolishec
jests which they threw out, according to the

soldier's custom, composed in a manner Rotne-
what resembling verses, the appellation Tor-
juatus was heard joined with his name ; which,
>eing generally adopted, has since done honour
:o the descendants of that whole line. The
dictator also presented him with a golden crown,
and, in a public speech, extolled the action in
the highest terms.

XI. In fact, that combat was of so great
consequence with respect to the general issue
of the campaign, that on the night following
the army of the Gauls, abandoning their camp
in hurry and confusion, removed into the terri-
tory of Tibur ; and from thence, soon after,
into Campania, having first concluded an alli-
ance with the Tiburtians, for the purpose of
carrying on the war, and received from them
liberal supplies of provisions. This was the
reason, that in the next year [Y. R. 395. B. C.
357.] Caius Pcetelius Balbus, consul, notwith-
standing that province of the Hernicians had
fallen to the lot of his colleague Marcus Fabius
Ambustus, led an army, by order of the people,
against the Tiburtians, to whose assistance the
Gauls came back from Campania, and dreadful
ravages were committed in the territories of
Lavici, Tusculum, and Alba, in which the
Tiburtians openly took the lead. Though the
state had been content with a consul at the
head of the army, against such an enemy as the
Tiburtians, the alarm of a Gallic war made it
requisite, that a dictator should be created.
Quintus Servilius Ahala being accordingly
appointed, he nominated Titus Quintius mas-
ter of the horse ; and, by direction of the se-
nate, vowed to celebrate the great games, if in
that war he should be crowned with success.
The dictator then, ordering the consular army
to remain where it was, in order to keep the
Tiburtians at home, by obliging them to em-
ploy their arms in their own defence, enlisted
all the younger citizens, none declining the ser-
vice. A battle was fought with the enemy at
no great distance from the Colline gate, in
which the entire strength of the city was
employed, in the sight of their parents, wives,
and children. Such incitements to courage as
the preservation of their dearest relatives, which
operate powerfully even when those relatives
are absent, being now placed before their eyes,
roused every sentiment of honour and every
feeling of affection. After great slaughter on
both sides, the army of the Gauls was at
length defeated. They directed their flight
21

250

THE HISTORY

[BOOK vn.

towards Tibur, which the Gauls considered as
the grand stay of the war ; but being met in
disorder, not far from that city, by the consul
Pcetelius and the Tiburtians marching out
to their aid, they were all driven within the
gates. Thus both the dictator and the consul
conducted their operations most successfully.
Fabius likewise, the other consul, at first, in
slight skirmishes, and at last, in one remarka-
ble engagement, wherein the Hernicians at-
tacked him with their whole force, entirely
defeated them. The dictator, after passing
magnificent encomiums on the consuls, and
declining in their favour the honours due to his
own exploits, abdicated the dictatorship. Pce-
telius enjoyed a double triumph over the Gauls
and the Tiburtians. Fabius was contented
with entering the city in ovation. The Tibur-
tians treated the triumph of Pcetelius with de-
rision ; for, " where" they asked, " had he
tried their strength in the field ? a few of their
people, who had gone out at the gates, as
spectators of the flight and confusion of the
Gauls, on finding themselves also attacked, and
that every one who came in the way was slaiy
without distinction, had retired into the city.
Did the Romans deem this a matter worthy of
a triumph ? They had thought it a great and
marvellous exploit to raise a tumult at an ene-
my's gates, but they should soon experience
greater trepidation round their own walls."

XII. Accordingly in the year following, [ Y.
R. 396. B. C. 356.] when Marcus Popilius
Lsenas, and Cneius Manlius, were consuls, set-
ting out from Tibur in the dead of the night,
with forces prepared for action, they came to the
city of Rome, where the people, being roused
hastily from sleep, were filled with consterna-
tion, by the suddenness of the affair, and the
alarm happening in the night, great numbers
also being ignorant who were the enemy or
whence they came. However, they quickly ran
to arms, posted guards at the gates, and manned
the walls ; and when day-break showed no other
enemy before the city but the Tiburtians, and
those not very considerable, the consuls march-
ing out by two different gates, attacked their
army on both flanks as they were just advanc-
ing to the walls. It then appeared, that they
had come with greater reliance on the opportu-
nity for a surprise, than on their own valour ;
for they scarcely withstood the first onset of the
Romans. Their coming proved, in the event,
even fortunate to the Romans, a dissension

which was on the point of breaking out between
the patricians and plebeians being suppressed
by their apprehensions from a war so near at
home. Another irruption into their territory,
and by another enemy, succeeded this ; more
terrible, however, to the country, than to the
city. The Tarquinians overran the Roman
frontiers, committing depredations, principally,
on the side contiguous to Etruria : and, after
restitution had been demanded in vain, the new
consuls, Caius Fabius, and Caius Platius, by
order of the people, declared war against them :
that province fell to Fabius, the Hernicians to
Plautius. [Y. R. 397. B. C. 355.] A rumour
of a Gallic war also prevailed. But amid these
causes of apprehension, they derived some con-
solation in a peace with the Latines, granted at
their own request, and also from a large supply
of soldiers sent by that nation in compliance
with an ancient treaty, the terms of which had
been disregarded for many years past. This
addition of strength was such an effectual sup-
port to the cause of the Romans, that they
heard with the less concern, soon after, that the
Gauls had come to Prseneste, and afterwards,
that they were encamped near Pedum. It was
determined that Caius Sulpicius should be
created dictator ; he was accordingly nominated
by the consul, Caius Platius, who was called
home for the purpose ; and Marcus Valerius
was appointed master of the horse. These led
against the Gauls the ablest of the soldiers,
chosen out of the two consular armies. This
war proved much more tedious than was suita-
ble to the views of either party. At first, the
Gauls only were in haste to come to an engage-
ment ; but, in a little time, the Roman soldiery
far surpassed them in their eagerness for the
fight. The dictator thought it highly improper,
when no urgent occasion required it, to hazard a
battle against an enemy, whose strength time and
an incommodious situation would daily impair,
while they lay there inactive, without either a
magazine of provisions, or a fortification, of
any strength ; and who were, besides, of such
a constitution, both of body and mind, that
their whole force consisted in brisk exertions,
but flagged on a short delay. On these consid-
erations, the dictator protracted the war,
and denounced a severe punishment if any
should engage without orders. With this
the soldiers were highly displeased, censuring,
in their private conversations, sometimes
the dictator, and sometimes the senate in

y. R. 397.]

OF ROME.

251

general, for not having ordered the war to
be conducted by the consuls. " An ex-
cellent general," they said, " had been
chosen, an extraordinary commander, who
rxprrted, that, without any effort, victory
would fly down from heaven into his lap."
Afterwards, they began openly in the day to
utter the same expressions, and others still
more outrageous, saying, that, "without re-
garding the general's orders, they would either
fight the enemy, or go in a body to Rome."
The centurions, too, mixed themselves with the
soldiers ; nor did they confine their murmurs
to their own circles, but at length, in the head
quarters, and about the general's tent, utter-
ed their sentiments in one general confused
clamour : until, the crowd increasing to the
size of a general assembly, it was at last shout-
ed from every side, that they should go that
instant to the dictator, and that Sextus Tul-
lius should speak in behalf of the army, in
such manner as became his courage.

XIII. Tullius was now, the seventh time,
in the post of first centurion of a legion ; nor
was there a man in the army, at least among the
infantry, more eminently distinguished by his
behaviour. At the head of the body of the sol-
diery, he proceeded to the tribunal, and whilst
Sulpicius wondered not more at the crowd,
than at Tullius, a soldier most remarkable
for obedience to command, being the leader
of that crowd, he addressed him thus : —
" Dictator, permit me to inform you, that the
whole army, thinking themselves condemned,
in your judgment, as cowards, and kept without
arms, almost as if they had been sentenced to
ignominy, have entreated me to plead their
cause before you. In truth, could it even be
objected to us, that, on any occasion, we had
deserted our post, turned our backs to an ene-
my, or shamefully lost our standards, I think
we might, notwithstanding, reasonably expect
to obtain so much favour from you, as that you
woidd allow us by our bravery to atone for our
fault ; and by a new acquisition of glory, to blot
out the memory of our disgrace. Even the le-
gions, defeated at the Allia, marching out after-
wards from Veil, recovered by their valour the
country which they had lost through cowardice.
We, by the blessing of the gods, your good
fortune, and that of the Roman people, have
both our cause and our glory unimpaired ; al-
though I scarcely dare to mention glory, whilst
the enemy scoff at us with every kind of in-

sult, as biding ourselves, like women, behind a
rampart. And what grieves us still more, is,
that you, our general, should entertain so mean
an opinion of your army, as to suppose us with-
out spirit, without arms, without hands , and
that, before you have made any trial of our
strength, you should despair of us, as if you
considered yourself the commander of a set of
maimed and disabled men. For what else can
we believe to be the reason, that you, a gene-
ral of long experience, remarkable for spirit in
war, sit, as the saying is, with folded hands ?
But however this may be, it is fitter that you
should doubt our courage than we yours. If,
however, this plan be not your own ; if it be
enjoined by public authority ; and if some
scheme concerted among the patricians, and
not the Gallic war, detains us in banishment
from the city, and from our homes, I beseech
you, that what I say on this head, you will
not consider as spoken by soldiers to their
general, but to the patricians by the commons,
who declare, that as ye have your separate
plans, so will they have theirs. In such case,
who can blame us, if we look on ourselves as
your soldiers, not as your slaves ; as men sent
to war, not into exile ; as men who, if any one
were to give the signal and lead them to the
field, would fight as becomes Romans ; but
who, if there were no occasion for their arms,
would rather pass a time of peace at Rome,
than in a camp ? Let this be deemed as ad-
dressed to the patricians. Of you, general,
we, your soldiers, entreat that you will give us
an opportunity of fighting. We wish to con-
quer, and under your command ; to present
you with distinguished laurels ; to enter the
city with you in triumph, and following your
chariot with congratulations and rejoicings, to
approach the temple of Jupiter supremely
good and great." The speech of Tullius was
followed by the entreaties of the multitude,
who, from every side, loudly requested that he
would give the signal, that he would order them
to take arms.

XIV. This proceeding, however laudable
in its principle, was yet conducted in a manner
which the dictator could by no means approve.
He yet undertook to comply with the wishes
of the soldiers ; and, inquired of Tullius in pri-
vate, what sort of transaction this was, and on
what precedent they had acted ? Tullius ear-
nestly besought Sulpieius to believe that he had
not forgotten either his duty as a soldier, or the

252

THE HIST ORY

high respect due to his general . assuring him
that " his reason for not declining to put him-
self at the head of the incensed soldiery, who
were all actuated by the same spirit, was, lest
some other might stand forth, and such as a
multitude in commotion generally appoint.
That, as to himself, most certainly, he would
do nothing without the direction of the general ;
on whom, nevertheless, it was highly incum-
bent to use every precaution on his part, for
retaining the army in obedience to command.
That minds so exasperated would not brook
delay, and that they would themselves choose a
time and place for fighting, if not granted to
them by the general." While they were talking
in this manner, it happened that as a Gaul was
attempting to drive off some cattle that were
feeding on the outside of the rampart, two
Roman soldiers took them from him. Stones
were thrown by the Gauls, then a shout was
raised at the next Roman post, and several ran
out from both sides. The affair was now likely
to end in a general battle, had not the contest
been quickly stopped by the centurions. This
accident, however, served to confirm the testi-
mony of Tullius in the judgment of the dictator :
and the matter admitting no farther delay, notice
was given that they were to fight on the day
following. The dictator, however, as he was
going out to the field, confiding in the courage
more than in the numbers of his men, began to
look about and study how he might, by some
artifice, strike terror into the enemy. His
sagacious mind struck out a new device, which
many commanders, both of our own and foreign
nations, have since practised, some even in our
. times. Pie ordered the panniers to be taken
off from the mules, two side-cloths only being
left on each, and on these he mounted the
muleteers dressed up in arms, of which some
had been taken from the enemy, the rest belong-
ed to the sick. Having thus equipped about
one thousand of these, he mixed with them an
hundred horsemen, and ordered them to go up
during the night, into the mountains above the
camp, to conceal themselves in the woods, and
not to stir from thence, until they should receive
a signal from him. As soon as day appeared,
he began to extend his line along the bottom
of the mountain, with the purpose of making
the enemy draw up with their faces towards the
ascent : he thus completed his preparatory mea-
sures forinfusingterror, which terror, groundless
iis it was, proved rather more serviceable to him,

fjJOOK VII.

than his real strength. The leaders of the
Gauls at first believed that the Romans would
not come down to the plain : afterwards, when
they saw them begin on a sudden to descend,
they also, on their part, eager for the contest,
rushed on to battle, and the fight began before
the signal had been given by the generals.

XV. The Gauls made their fiercest attack
on the right wing, which would not have been
able to withstand them, had not the dictator
happened to be on the spot, who reproached
Sextus Tullius by name, and asked him, " Was
that the manner in which he had engaged that
the soldiers should fight ? Where were those
shouts, with which they had demanded arms ?
Where their threats that they would engage
without the general's orders? Behold their
general now, calling them with a loud voice to
battle, and advancing in arms before the front
of the line. Would any of those follow him,
who just now were to have led the way ; fierce
in the camp, but dastardly in the field ?" These
reproaches were just ; the men were, therefore,
so deeply stung with shame, that, totally regard-
less of danger, they rushed against the weapons
of their adversaries. This onset, made with a
degree of madness, first disordered the enemy ;
and the cavalry charging them while in disorder,
forced them to give way. Sulpicius, when he
saw their line wavering on that side, went
round with some troops to the left wing, where
he observed them collected in a close body, and
gave the signal agreed on to those who were
stationed on the mountains ; whereupon a new
shout was raised on that quarter also, and they
were seen coming down the mountain in an
oblique direction towards the camp of the
Gauls ; these, then, dreading lest they should
be cut off from their camp, ceased fighting, and
ran towards it with precipitation ; but being met
in the way by Marcus Valerius, the master of
the horse, who, after having routed their left
wing, was pushing forward to the intrenchment,
they turned their flight towards the mountains
and woods. Here the greater part of them were
intercepted by the muleteers, who personated
horsemen ; and of those, whose fears had carried
them into the woods, a terrible slaughter
was made, after the battle was ended. Nor
did any one, since Camillus, obtain a more com-
plete triumph over the Gauls than Caius Sul-
picius. From the spoils he consecrated a very
large quantity of gold, in the capitol, inclosing
it within a wall of hewn stone. The same

Y. R. 398.]

OF ROME.

253

year, the consuls also engaged with the enemy,
but with different success ; for the Herniciaris
were entirely defeated, and subdued by Caius
Plautius : whereas Fabius, his colleague, came
to an engagement with the Tarquinians with-
out caution or prudence. Nor was the loss
sustained in the field, on the occasion, so much
to be regretted, as that the Tarquinians put to
death three hundred and seven Roman soldiers,
their prisoners ; by which barbarity the disgrace
of the Roman people was rendered the more
conspicuous. To this disaster were added de-
vastations of the Roman territories, made, in
sudden incursions, by the Privernatians, and
afterwards, by the people of Velitrae. This
year two tribes, the Pomptine and Publilian,
were added to the others. The votive games
vowed by Marcus Furius Camillus, in his dic-
tatorship, were performed. And a law was
now first proposed to the people by Caius
Paetilius, plebeian tribune, in pursuance of the
directions of the senate, concerning the cor-
rupting of voters at elections, by the passing of
which they thought a sufficient restraint was
laid on the vicious practices of new men par-
ticularly, who had been accustomed to frequent
the markets, and other places of meeting, for
that purpose.

XVI. Nor equally pleasing to the patricians
was a law, carried in the year following, [Y.
R. 398. B. C. 354.] when Caius Marcius and
Cneius Manlius were consuls, by Marcus
Duilius, and Lucius Maenius, plebeian tribunes,
fixing the interest of money at the rate of twelve
for each hundred by the year, and which the
commons admitted, and passed with much the
greater eagerness. In addition to the wars de-
termined on in the foregoing year, a new one
arose with the Faliscians ; against whom, two
charges were made : first, that their youth had
fought in conjunction with the Tarquinians ;
the second, that they had refused, on the de-
mand of the Roman heralds, to restore these
soldiers, who, after the defeat, had escaped to
Falerii. That province fell to Cneis Manlius.
Alarcius led an army into the territory of Pri-
vernum, which was in a flourishing state, and
abounding in plenty, through a long continuance
of peace ; and there he enriched his soldiers
with abundance of spoil. To the great quan-
tity of effects, he added an act of munificence ;
for, by sequestering no part for the use of the
public, he favoured the soldier in the acquisition
of private property. The Privernians having

taken post in a strongly fortified camp under
their walls, he called the soldiers to an assem-
bly, and said to them, " I now bestow upon you
the spoil of the camp and city of the enemy,
provided ye promise me, that ye will exert
yourselves with bravery in the field, and show
that ye are not better disposed to plunder than
to fight." They called for the signal with loud
shouts ; and, full of spirits and with the utmost
confidence, advanced to battle. There Sextus
Tullius, whom we mentioned above, called out
in the front of the line, " General, behold how
your troops perform their promises to you."
Then, laying aside his javelin, he rushed for-
ward with his drawn sword. The whole van
followed Tullius, and, by their first onset,
overthrew the enemy, thence pursuing them as
they fled to the town ; and, when they were just
raising the scaling ladders to the walls, the city
surrendered. A triumph was performed over
the Privernians. .By the other consul nothing
memorable was done, only that, holding an as-
sembly of the tribes in the camp at Sutrium, a
proceeding unprecedented, he procured a law
to be passed concerning the twentieth of the
value of persons set free by manumission. As
this law produced no small increase of revenue
to the treasury, which was very low, the se-
nate gave it their approbation. However, the
plebeian tribunes, not so much displeased with
the rule as with the precedent, had a law en-
acted, by which it was made a capital offence
for any person in future, to hold an assembly
of the people, at a distance from the city : for
they said, " if that were allowed, there was
nothing, how prejudicial soever to the commun-
ity, which might not be passed into a law by
soldiers sworn to obey their consuls." This
year, Caius Licinius Stolo, being prosecuted on
his own law, by Marcus Popillius Laenas, was
fined ten thousand asxes,} for holding in part-
nership with his son a thousand acres of land,
and for attempting, by emancipating his son,
to elude the law.

1 32i 5». lOrf.

2 The method of emancipating a son was this: the
father made a fictitious sale of his son to a person, who
then manumitted, i. e. gave him his freedom in du«
form ; and this process, being performed thrice, released
the son from the jurisdiction of the father. It has been
already mentioned, that fathers had an entire property
in, and jurisdiction, even to life and death, over their
sons, who were in a condition little, if et all, better than
that of slaves. One sale and manumission released :i
daughter, or a grandchild.

254

THE HISTORY

[BOOK vii.

XVII. The new consuls who succeeded,
[Y. R. 399. B. C. 353.] Marcus Fabius Am-
bustus and Marcus Popillius Laenas, both a
second time, had two wars on their hands, one
with the Tiburtians of no great difficulty, in
which Lsenas commanded, who, after forcing
the enemy to take shelter in their town, laid
waste their country : the other consul was
routed, in the beginning of the right, by the
Faliscians and Tarquinians. These contrived
to excite the greatest terrors by means of their
priests, who, carrying lighted torches and the
figures of serpents, and advancing with the
gestures of furies, utterly disconcerted the
Roman soldiers by their extraordinary ap-
pearance ; so that they ran back to their en-
trenchments, in all the hurry of dismay, like
men seized with frenzy or thunder-struck.
Afterwards when the consuls, lieutenant-gene-
rals, and tribunes, began to ridicule and upbraid
them for being frightened like children at
strange sights, which could do them no injury,
shame wrought such a sudden change in their
minds, that they rushed, as if blindfold, on those
very objects from which they had fled. Hav-
ing quickly dispersed those insignificant instru-
ments of the enemy, and fallen in with those
who were in arms, they drove their whole line
from the field, and before the day was at an
end, getting possession of their camp, where
they found an immense booty, returned to their
own with victory, uttering ludicrous reflections,
in the military style, both on the stratagem of
the enemy and their own fright. The whole
Etrurian nation then rose up in arms, and,
headed by the Tarquinians and Faliscians, ad-
vanced as far as Salinae. To make head against
such an alarming force, Caius Marcius Rutilius
was nominated dictator, the first plebeian who
held that office, and he chose, for his master of
the horse, Caius Plutius, a plebeian likewise.
It excited great indignation in the minds of the
patricians, that the dictatorship, along with the
other offices, should now become common, and
they laboured, with all their might, to prevent
any thing requisite to the war from being de-
creed or prepared for the dictator ; for which
reason the people ordered, with the greater
readiness, every thing which the dictator pro-
posed. Marching his forces from the city on
both sides of the Tiber, and transporting his
troops on rafts, occasionally, as his intelligence
of the enemy required, he surprised many of
their straggling parties, scattered over the

country in search of plunder : attacking their
camp also by surprise, he made himself master
of it ; and eight thousand of the enemy being
made prisoners, and the rest either slain or
driven out of the Roman territory, he triumph-
ed by order of the people, contrary to the ap-
probation of the senate. The nobility, being
unwilling that the election of consuls should
be held either by a plebeian dictator or consul,
and the other consul, Fabius, being detained
abroad by the war, an interregnum took place.
There were then interreges, in succession, Quin-
tus Servilius Ahala, Marcus Fabius, Cneius
Manlius, Caius Fabius, Caius Sulpicius, Lucius
^milius. Quintus Servilius, and Marcus Fa-
bius Ambustus. In the second interregnum,
a contention arose on account of two patricians
being elected consuls ; and on the tribunes pro-
testing, the interrex Fabius said, that " was set
down in the twelve tables, that whatever the
people ordered last, that should be law, and in
force j and that the people's votes were their
orders." The tribunes not being able, by their
protest, to obtain any other advantage, than
that of putting off the election, two patricians
were at length chosen consuls, [Y. R. 4-00. B.
C. 352.] Caius Sulpicius Paeticus a third time,
and Marcus Valerius Publicola, and on the
same day entered into office.

XVIII. In the four hundredth year from
the building of the city of Rome, and the
thirty-fifth since its recovery from the Gauls,
the consulship was taken out of the hands of
the commons, at the end of eleven years ; and
consuls, who were both patricians, the inter-
regnum ceasing, entered on their office, Caius
Sulpicius Paeticus a third time, and Marcus
Valerius Publicola. During this year, Em-
pulum was taken from the Tiburtians without
much difficulty ; but whether this was owing,
as some writers assert, to the war being waged
there under the auspices of both consuls ; or,
whether it arose from the lands of the Tar-
quinians being wasted by the consul Sulpicius,
at the same time that Valerius led his legions
against the Tiburtians, is uncertain. The con-
suls, however, had a more difficult contest to
maintain at home against the commons and
tribunes. As they were both patricians, they
thought themselves bound, as well in regard to
their honour as to their resolution, to deliver
the consulships over to two patricians likewise :
for that if the consulship were now made a ple-
beian magistracy, they must yield it for e\er.

v. it. 402.]

OF ROME.

2.53

They therefore held it proper to retain entire a
right, which they had received entire from their
fathers. The commons, on the other hand,
made loud remonstrances; " Why did they live?
Why were they reckoned in the number of ci-
tizens, if they could not maintain by their unit-
ed efforts, what had been procured by the firm-
ness of two men, Lucius Sextius and Cains
Licinius ? It were better to endure kings or
decemvirs, or, if such there were, any title of
government still more obnoxious, than to have
both their consuls of the patrician order, and
not to be allowed to command and obey in
turn. Shall one half of the citizens be placed
in perpetual command, and think the commons
born for no other purpose than to be their
slaves ?" The tribunes were not remiss in fo-
menting these disorders ; but all were in such
a ferment, that hardly were any distinguished
particularly as leaders. After they had several
times gone down to the field of election to no
purpose, and after many days of meeting had
been wasted in debates, the commons, being at
last overcome by the perseverance of the con-
suls, took this method of venting their resent-
ment at the disappointment : the tribunes ex-
claimed, that there was an end of liberty, and
that now they ought to leave not only the field,
but the city also, since it was held under capti-
vity and oppression by the arbitrary power of
the patricians ; and then they were followed by
the plebeians in a melancholy crowd. The
consuls, though deserted by a part of the peo-
ple, yet, nevertheless, with the small number
who remained, finished the election. [Y. R.
401. B. C. 351.] Both the consuls appointed
were patricians, Marcus Fabius Ambustus a
third time, and Titus Quintius. In some an-
nals I find, instead of Titus Quintius, Marcus
Popillius consul.

XIX. Two wars were carried on this year
with success. The Tiburtians were reduced
by force of arms to submission ; the city of
Sassula was taken from them ; and the rest of
their towns would have shared the same fate,
had not the whole nation laid down their arms,
and surrendered themselves to the consul. He
triumphed over the Tiburtians. In other re-
spects, the victory was used with much moder-
ation : but the Tarquinians were treated with
rigorous severity. After a great slaughter had
been made of them in the field, there were
chosen out of the vast number of prisoners,
three hundred and fifty-eight of the most dis-

tinguished birth, to be sent to Rome : the rest,
of the multitude were put to the sword ; nor
were the people more merciful to those who
were sent to Rome : they were all beaten with
rods, and beheaded in the middle of the forum.
Such was the punishment retaliated on the
enemy, in return for their murdering the Ro-
mans in the forum of Tarquinii. These suc-
cesses in war induced the Samnites to solicit
their friendship : their ambassadors received a
courteous answer, and a treaty of alliance was
concluded with them. The Roman commons
did not experience the same prosperity at home
as in war ; for although the burthen of inter-
est-money had been lightened, by fixing the
rate at one for the hundred, the poor were une-
qual to the discharge of the principal alone, and
were put in confinement by their creditors.
The thoughts of the commons, therefore, were
so much engrossed by their private distresses,
as to exclude all solicitude about both the con-
suls being patricians, or the business of elec-
tions, or any party concerns. [Y. R. 402. B.
C. 350.] The consulate therefore remained
with the patricians, and Cain- Sulpicius Paeti-
cus a fourth time, and Marcus Valerius Publi-
cola a second time, were elected. While the
state was occupied \Vith the Etrurian war, en.
tered on in consequence of a report prevailing
that the people of Caere, out of compassion to
their relations, had joined the Tarquinians ;
ambassadors from the Latines diverted their
attention to the Volscians, bringing information
that these had enlisted and armed a number of
troops, with which they threatened to invade
their borders, whence they would certainly
carry forward their depredations into the Ro-
man territories. The senate therefore deter-
mined not to neglect either affair ; they ordered
legions to be enlisted for both purposes, and
the consuls to cast lots for their provinces. The
greater share of their attention was afterwards
directed to the Etrurian war, when it was dis-
covered, from the letters of the consul Sulpi-
cius, to whose lot Tarquinii had fallen as his
province, that the country round the Roman
Salinae had been laid waste ; that part of the
plunder had been conveyed into the country of
the Ca-ritians ; and that the young men of that
nation were certainly among the plunderers.
Wherefore, recalling the consul Valerius, who
had been sent to oppose the Volscians, and
was then encamped on the frontiers of Tuscu-
lum, the senate ordered him to nominate a die-

256

THE HISTORY

[[BOOK vii.

tator. He nominated Titus Manlius, son of
Lucius, who, having appointed Aulus Corne-
lius Cossus his master of the horse, and think-
ing the consular army sufficient, with the ap-
probation of the senate, and by order of the
people, declared war against the Cseritians.

XX. These were then first seized with
real dread of a war, not considering that the
Romans were provoked to it by the ravages
committed on their territory. They perceived
how unequal their own strength was to such a
contest, repented heartily of their depredations,
and cursed the Tarquinians, the advisers of
their revolt. Nor did any entertain a thought
of arms and hostilities, but every one earnestly
recommended that ambassadors should be sent
to solicit pardon of their error. Their am-
bassadors having applied to the senate, and
being by them referred to the people, implored
the gods, whose sacred property they had taken
into their care in the Gallic war, and treated
with all due reverence, that the Romans, in
their present flourishing state, might feel for
them the same commiseration which they had
formerly felt for the Roman people in their dis-
tress ; and, turning to the temple of Vesta, ap-
pealed to the bonds of hospitality subsisting be-
tween themselves and the priests and vestals, to
the forming of which they had contributed on
their part with pure and religious zeal : " Could
any one believe, that people who had such merits
to plead, would, on a sudden, without reason,
commence enemies ? Or, if they had been
guilty of some hostile act, that it was design,
and not rather mistake occasioned by frenzy,
that could induce them to act in such a man-
ner, as would cancel their ancient kindnesses
by recent injuries : especially as those, on
whom they were conferred, had shown so
grateful a sense of them ? Could it be sup-
posed, that they would choose to themselves,
as an enemy, the Roman people, while flour-
ishing in prosperity, and most successful in
arms, with whom, when oppressed by calami-
ties, they had formed a friendship ? Let them
not call that a studied matter, which really
arose from necessity. The Tarquinians, march-
ing through their territory in hostile array, al-
though they had asked for nothing but a pas-
sage, compelled some of their peasants to ac-
company them in that predatory expedition,
the guilt of which was now charged on them.
If it were the pleasure of the Romans, that
these should be delivered into their hands, they

were ready to deliver them ; or, if that they
should be punished, they would inflict the pun-
ishment. They then entreated, that Caere, the
sanctuary of the public worship of the Roman
people, the refuge of its priests, and the recep-
tacle of Rome's sacred effects, might, out of
regard to the rights of hospitality contracted
with the vestals, and to the gods whose wor-
ship was there preserved, be left unhurt, and
unstained with the imputation of having com-
menced hostilities." The people were moved,
not so much by the merits of the present case,
as by their old deserts, to overlook the injury,
rather than the kindness. Peace was therefore
granted to the people of Caere, and a resolution
passed, that it should be referred to the senate
to pass a decree, granting them a truce of an
hundred years. The force of the war was then
meant to be turned against the Faliscians, who
were guilty of the same crime ; but the enemy
were no where to be found. Depredations
were made in all parts of their country, but it
was not thought proper to besiege the towns ;
and, the legions being brought home to Rome,
the remainder of the year was spent in repair-
ing the walls and the towers : the temple of
Apollo was also dedicated.

XXI. In the latter end of the year, a dis-
pute between the patricians and plebeians sus-
pended the election of consuls; for the tri-
bunes declared, that they would not suffer it to
be held, unless conformably to the Liciniaa
law, and Manlius was obstinately determined
rather to abolish the consulship entirely out of
the state, than to lay it open to all promiscu-
ously. The election therefore being frequent-
ly adjourned, and the dictator going out of
office, the matter ended in an interregnum.
The interreges found the commons highly in-
censed against the patricians, so that the con-
test between the parties was prolonged to the
eleventh interrex. The pretext of the tribunes
was, the support of the Licinian law. The
commons had a cause of uneasiness in, a
matter which touched them more nearly,
the increasing weight of interest money;
and the ill temper, contracted from their pri-
vate grievances, broke out in the public
disputes, of which the patricians became so
wearied, that for concord's sake, they ordered
the interrex Lucius Cornelius Scipio to con-
form to the Licinian law in the election of con-
suls. [Y. R. 403. B. C. 349.] To Publius
Valerius Publicola, a plebeian colleague was

Y. R. 405. j

OP ROME.

257

assigned, Cains Marcius Rntilus. When a
disposition to harmony once began to prevail,
tbc now consuls directed their endeavours to the
procuring relief in the affair of interest money
also, which seemed the only obstacle in the way
of universal quiet ; accordingly they made the
payment of the debts a public concern, ap-
pointing five commissioners for the manage-
ment thereof, whom, from their dealing out the
money, they called bankers. These, by their
equity and diligence, rendered themselves de-
serving of having their names recorded with
honour in every history of the times. They
were Cains Duilius, Pnblius Decius Mus,
Marcus Papirius, Quintus Publilius and Titus
^Kmilius, who went through a business of a
most difficult nature, (at first dissatisfactory, in
general, to both parties, always certainly to one)
with moderation, and, moreover, at the expense
of the public rather than of the creditors : for
the more tardy debts, and such as were render-
ed troublesome, rather by unwilb'ngness than
want of ability in the debtors to satisfy them,
were either discharged by the treasury, on secu-
rity being first given to the public (tables being
placed in the forum with money for the pur-
pose); or were settled by composition, after an
equitable valuation of the effects of the debtor.
So that not only without injury, but finally with-
out complaint from any party was an immense
amount of debts cleared off. After this, a false
alarm of an Etrurian war, grounded on a ru-
mour that the twelve states had conspired to
that purpose, occasioned the nomination of a
dictator. Caius Julius was appointed in the
camp, for the decree of senate was sent thither
to the consuls, and Lucius JKmilius was joined
as master of the horse. However every thing
abroad remained in quiet.

XXII. At home, an attempt made by Ju-
lius, to procure the election of t\vo patricians
to the consulship, brought the government to
an interregnum. The two intermediate inter-
reges, Caius Sulpicius and Marcus Fabius, ef-
fected what the dictator had endeavoured in
vain, the election of consuls out of the patri-
cians, the temper of the commons being now
appeased by the late kindness shown them in
the lightening of their debts. Caius Sulpicius
Pa-ticus himself, who was the first interrex, and
now out of office, was chosen with Titus Qtiin-
tius Pennus. [Y. R. 404. B. C. 348.] Some
give the surname of Cselo, others that of Caius,
to Q.uintius. They both marched against the

I.

enemy : Quintius against the Faliscians, Sulpi-
cius against the Tarquinians ; and, not meeting
either enemy in the field, turned the rage of
war on the lands, plundering and burning every
thing throughout the country : by which kind
of operations, as by a slow consumption, both
those states were so enfeebled, that they were
obliged to abate of their obstinacy, and send to
request a truce ; first, from the consuls, and af-
terwards, with their permission, from the se-
nate : they obtained one for forty years. The
public being thus freed from all concern about
the two nations which threatened their quiet, it
was resolved, that, while they enjoyed some
repose from war, a general survey should be
made, on account of the many alterations in
property, caused by the payment of the debts.
But when the assembly was proclaimed for the
appointing of censors, Caius Marcius Rutilus,
who had been the first plebeian dictator, de-
claring himself a candidate for the censorship,
disturbed the harmony of the public : and this
step he seemed to have taken at an unfavoura-
ble juncture, because it happened that both the
consuls were then patricians, who declared that
they would not allow his pretensions. How-
ever, he effected his purpose, partly through his
own resolute perseverance, and partly through
the aid of the tribunes ; for they supported
him, with their utmost power, in the recovery
of a right which they had lost in the election of
consuls. Besides, as the worth of the man
himself set him on a level with any of the high,
est honours, so the commons were also desirous
that their title to a share in the censorship
should be established through the same person
who had opened their way to the dictatorship.
At the election no dissent was shown to the
appointment of Marcius along with Cneius
Manlius. There was likewise a dictator ap-
pointed this year, Marcus Fabius ; not in con-
sequence of any alarm of war, but to prevent
the observance of the Licinian law in the choice
of consuls. The dictatorship, however, gave
no greater efficacy to this scheme of the patri-
cians, as to the election of consuls, than it had
in that of censors.

XXIII. Marcus Popillius Lcenas was cho-
sen consul on the part of the commons, Lucius
Cornelius Scipio on that of the patricians.
[Y. R. 405. B. C. 347.] Fortune even threw
the greater share of lustre on the plebeian con-
sul : for, on the receipt of intelligence that a
vast army of Gauls had pitched their camp in
* K

258

THE HISTORY

[BOOK vii.

the Latine territory, Scipio then labouring
under a heavy fit of sickness, the Gallic war
was given out, of course, to Popillius. —
He levied forces with great diligence, order-
ed the younger citizens to assemble in arms
at the temple of Mars, outside the Capu-
an gate, and the quaestors to. carry out the
standards from the treasury to the same place ;
and, having completed four legions, gave the
surplus of the men to the praetor Publius
Valerius Publicola ; recommending it to the
senate, to raise another army as a reserve
against the uncertain contingencies of war.
Then, having completed every necessary pre-
paration and arrangement, he proceeded to-
wards the enemy. In order to acquire a know-
ledge of their strength, before he should hazard
a decisive action, he began to form an intrench-
ment on a hill, the nearest possible to the
camp of the Gauls. These being of a race
naturally fierce and eager for fighting, as soon
as they saw the Roman standards at a distance,
drew out their forces in order for battle, as if
they were immediately to engage ; but, when
the opposite army did not descend to the plain,
(the Romans being secure both from the height
of the ground, and by intrenchments,) imagining
that they were dispirited with fear, and also that
they might be attacked with greater advantage,
being particularly busy on their fortifications,
they advanced with a furious shout. On the
side of the Romans, the works suffered no in-
terruption, the veterans being the persons
employed therein ; but the battle was supported
by the younger soldiers and spearmen, who
had been formed in front of the others, armed
and ready for the fight. Besides their own
superior valour, the Romans had the advantage
of the higher ground, so that the spears and
javelins did not all fall without effect, as is
generally the case when thrown on the same
level, but flying with the greater force and
steadiness, by means of their own weight,
almost every one of them took effect ; so that
the Gauls were weighed down with the wea-
pons with which they either had their bodies
transfixed, or their shields rendered too heavy
for them to support, from the number stick-
ing in them. Though they had advanced
against the steep, almost in full speed at first,
yet they became irresolute, and halted. This
delay abated their courage, while it augmented
that of the opposite party ; they were then
pushed backwards headlong from the height,

the carnage ensuing in consequence being more
horrid than even that made by the enemy ; for
greater numbers were bruised to death, by
falling one on the other with their ponderous
shields, than were slain by the sword.

XXIV. But the victory was not yet decid-
ed in favour of the Romans. On coming
down to the plain, they found another for-
midable opposition still to be overcome : for
the numbers of the Gauls being so great as to
prevent them from feeling their loss, they led
on fresh troops against the victorious enemy,
as if a new army had sprung up from the ruins
of the other. The Romans therefore desisted
from the pursuit ; seeing that after all their
fatigue, another laborious contest remained for
them to maintain ; besides, that the consul
having his left shoulder pierced almost through
with a javelin, while he exposed himself in-
cautiously in the van, had retired for a short
time from the line. They were now letting
victory slip out of their hands by delay, when
the consul, having got his wound dressed, rode
back to the front of the line, and called out,
" Soldiers, why do ye thus stand? Ye have
not to do with a Latine or Sabine enemy,
whom, when ye have conquered him by your
arms, ye can, perhaps, make an ally : they are
brutes against whom we have drawn the sword ;
we must destroy them, or they will destroy us.
Ye have repulsed them from your camp ; ye
have driven them headlong down the declivity ;
ye stand on the prostrated bodies of your
enemy ; cover, then, the plains with the same
carnage, with which ye have covered the moun-
tains ; wait not until they fly from you, ad-
vance your standards, and charge your enemy."
Roused again to action by these exhortations,
they drove back the foremost companies of the
Gauls, and then, forming in wedges, broke
through the centre of their line. The barbarians
being thus disunited, and having no regular
system of command or subordination of officers,
in their confusion destroyed each other as be-
fore. After being dispersed over the plains,
and carried by the precipitancy of their flight,
even beyound their own camp, they bent their
way towards the citadel of Alba ; which,
among the hills nearly equal in height, happened
to strike their eyes as the highest eminence.
The consul did not continue the pursuit far-
ther than to their camp, being greatly weakened
by his wounds, and at the same time unwilling to
expose his troops, already fatigued, to new toil;

Y. n. 406.]

OF ROME.

259

especially as the high grounds were now occupied
by the enemy. Bestowing, therefore, on the
soldiers the entire plunder of the camp, he led
them back to Rome, exulting in victory, and
enriched with the spoils of the Gauls. The con-
sul's wound occasioned a delay of his triumph,
and the same cause made the senate wish for
a dictator, for both the consuls being sick, a
magistrate was wanted to hold the election.
Lucius Furitis Camillus being nominated ac-
cordingly, and Publius Cornelius S^ipio ap-
pointed his master of horse, he restored to the
patricians their original possession of the con-
sulship -. in return for which sen-ice, being
himself elected consul, through the zeal exert-
ed by the patricians, he declared Appius
Claudius Crassus his colleague.

XXV. Previous to the new consuls enter-
ing into office, the triumph of Popillius over
the Gauls was celebrated, with the highest ap-
plause from the commons, who, in making
their observations among themselves, frequent-
ly asked, did any one see reason to be sorry for
having a plebeian consul ? At the same time
they censured the dictator severely, who, they
said, had received the consulship as a bribe, for
having infringed the Licinian law, in a manner
more dishonourable on account of his selfish
ambition, than even of the injury offered to
the public ; as, while he was invested with the
office of dictator, he made himself consul.
[Y. R. 406. B. C. 346.] This year was rert-
dered remarkable by many and various commo-
tions. The Gauls, unable to endure the severity
of the winter, came down.from theAlban moun-
tains, and spread themselves over the plains,
and the parts near the sea, plundering wher-
ever they came. The sea was infested by fleets
of the Grecians, as were the coast of Antium,
the Laurentian district, and the mouth of the
Tiber : and it so fell out that these pirates even
fought an obstinate battle with the plunder-
ers on land ; after which they separated, the
Gauls to their camp, and the Grecians to their
ships, doubtful, on both sides, whether they
should consider themselves as victors or van-
quished. At the same time, the most alarm-
ing apprehensions were excited by assemblies
of the Latine states being held at the grove
of Ferentina ; and by the answer, which they
give in plain terms, to the order of the Ro-
mans for a supply of soldiers ; " that they
should cease to issue orders to people of whose
assistance they stood in need ; that the Ln-

tines would take arms, rather in support of
their own liberty, than of the dominion of
others." The senate being greatly disturbed
at this defection of their allies, in addition to
the two former wars, which they had already
on their hands, and, perceiving the necessity of
keeping them under restraint by fear, since the
faith of treaties had proved ineffectual, order-
ed the consul to exert the whole power of his
office, to the utmost stretch, in levying troops ;
observing, that they must now rely for sup-
port on an army of their own countrymen,
since their allies had deserted them. We are
told that, by collecting men from all quarters,
(not only the youth of the city, but of the
country likewise,) there were ten legions com-
pleted, consisting each of four thousand two
hundred foot, and three hundred horse ; such
a body of new raised troops, as, in case of
danger from a foreign power, the whole world,
though directed to one point, could not easily
furnish. So true it is, that our improvements
have been confined to those particulars, on
which alone we bestow our labour and our
wealth. Among the melancholy events of
this year, one of the consuls, Appius Clau-
dius, died in the midst of the preparations for
war, and the whole administration of affairs
fell on Camillus ; over whom, though standing
single in the consulship, the senate did not
think it decent that a dictator should be ap-
pointed, as well in consideration of the high
respectability of his character, which ought to
exempt him from being placed in a state of
subordination, as of the auspicious omen af-
forded by his surname with regard to a Gallic
war. The consul then stationed two legions
to guard the city, divided the other eight with
the praetor, Lucius Pinarius, and, emulating
his father's bravery, assumed to himself the
Gallic war without the decision of lots ; or-
dering the praetor to guard the sea coast, and
prevent the landing of the Grecians. When
he had marched down into the Pomptine terri-
tory, not choosing to come to an engagement
on the level grounds, when no circumstance
made it necessary, and judging that the enemy
would be effectually subdued, by being prevent-
ed from the acquisition of plunder, as they bad
no other resource than what they obtained in
that way, he chose out a situation convenient
for a fixed encampment.

XXVI. Here, while the men passed the
time in quiet in their quarters, a Gaul of extra-

260

THE HISTORY

[BOOK VH.

ordinary size, splendidly armed, advanced to-
wards them ; and striking his shield with his
spear, having caused silence, he challenged, by
an interpreter, any one of the Romans to enter
the lists with him in arms. There was a tri-
bune of the soldiers called Marcus Valerius, a
young man, who, thinking himself not less
qualified for an honourable enterprise of the
kind than Titus Manlius, after first inquiring
whether it would be agreeable to the consul,
advanced in armour into the middle space.
The contest between these men was the less
noticed, because of an interposition of the
power of the gods : for just as the Roman be-
gan the combat, a crow pitched suddenly on his
helmet, looking towards his antagonist, which,
as an augury sent from heaven, the tribune at
first received with joy, and then prayed that
" whatever god or goddess had sent him the
auspicious bird would be favourable and propi-
tious to him." What is wonderful to be told,
the bird not only kept the seat where it had
once pitched, but as often as the rencounter
was renewed, raising itself on its wings, attack-
ed the face and eyes of his antagonist, the Gaul,
with its beak and talons, who became so much
terrified by the sight of such a prodigy, that he
was slain by Valerius. The crow then flew upon
high towards the east, until it was out of sight.
Hitherto the advanced guards on both sides had
remained quiet : but when the tribune began to
strip the spoils from the body of his fallen ene-
my, the Gauls no longer confined themselves to
their post, and the Romans ran with still greater
speed to the conqueror, when a scuffle arising
round the body of the prostrate Gaul, a despe-
rate fight ensued. And now the contest was
supported, not by the companies from the near-
est posts, but by the legions pouring out from
both sides. While the Roman soldiers exulted
at the victory of the tribune, and likewise at
such attention and favour shown them by the
gods, Camillus ordered them to march on to
battle, and pointing to the tribune decorated
with the spoils, " Soldiers, imitate him," said
he, " and strew heaps of Gauls round their
fallen champion." Both gods and men contri-
buted their aid to insure success in that engage-
ment, and a complete and acknowledged vic-
tory was obtained over the Gauls, according to
the forebodings entertained by both parties from
the issue of the combat. The first party of
Gauls maintained the battle with fury ; but the
remainder, before they came within a weapon's

| cast, turned their backs and Hed. Tliey were
dispersed through the territories of the Vol-
1 scians, and of Falerii ; from thence they made
• towards Apulia and the upper sea. The con-
! sul calling an assembly, besides bestowing
j praises on the tribune, presented him with ten
oxen and a golden crown ; and then being or-
dered by the senate to attend in person to the
war on the coast, he joined his camp to that of
the praetor. There, as the business did not
promise a speedy conclusion, from the dastard--
ly conduct of the Grecians, who would not
venture into the field, he, by direction of the
senate, nominated Titus Manlius Torquatus
dictator, for the purpose of the elections. The
dictator accordingly, after appointing Aulus
Cornelius Cossus master of the horse, held the
elections ; and with the warmest applause of
the people, declared consul, though absent, his
rival in his own line of glory, Marcus Valerius
Corvus, for that surname was given him from
thenceforth j he was then only twenty-three
years old. [Y. R. 407. B. C. 34-5.] The col-
league joined with Corvus was a plebeian, Mar-
cus Popillius Lsenas, who was now to enjoy
that office a fourth time. Between the Gre-
cians and Camillus nothing memorable occur-
red. The former were not warriors by land, nor
the latter by sea. At length the Greeks, not
being suffered to leave their ships, and, besides
other necessaries, their water also failing, with-
drew from Italy. To what nation or what state
that fleet belonged, there is no certain account.
I am most inclined to believe that it was sent
by the tyrants of Sicily ; for the farther Greece,
at that time, besides being weakened by intes-
tine wars, stood much in dread of the power of
the Macedonians.

XX VII. After the armies were disbanded,
peace prevailed abroad, and concord subsisted
between the orders at home ; but, lest their
happiness should be too great, a pestilence at-
tacked the state, which obliged the senate to
order the decemvirs to inspect the Sibylline
books ; and, by their direction, a lectisternium
was performed. This year, a colony was led
by the Antians to Satricum ; and the city, which
the Latines had demolished, rebuilt. There
was also a treaty concluded at Rome with am-
bassadors of the Carthaginians, who had come
to solicit friendship and alliance. The same
tranquillity continued at home and abroad, dur-
ing the consulate of Titus Manlius Torquatus
and Cains Plautius. [Y. R. 408. B. C. 344.]

V. R. 411.]

O F R O M E.

261

The only business which occurred out of course
was, that the interest of money, instead of
twelve, was reduced to six for the hundred ; '
and the payment of the debts adjusted in such
a manner, that one-fourth part being paid at
the present, the other three parts should be
discharged in three years, by so many equal
payments. Notwithstanding which, numbers
of the commons were still distressed ; but the
senate paid more regard to public credit, than
to the difficulties of particular persons. The
greatest relief to their circumstances was the
cessation of the taxes and levies. In the third
year [Y. R, 409. B. C. 313.] after the rebuild-
ing of Satricuin by the Volscians, Marcus Va-
lerius Corvus, being a second time consul, with
Caius Poetelius, on intelligence received from
Latium, that ambassadors from Antium were
going round the states of the Latinos, to excite
them to war, he was ordered to march an army
against the Volscians, before the enemies
should be joined by others ; and he proceeded to
Satricum with his troops ready for action. To
this place the Antians, and other Volscians,
had advanced to meet him, with forces which
they had, sometime before, got in readiness, to
oppose any enterprise which might be under-
taken on the side of Rome ; and both parties
being inflamed with an inveterate hatred, an
engagement commenced without delay. The
Volscians, a nation who enter into war with
more ardour than they support it, being van-
quished in the fight, fled precipitately to the
walls of Satricum ; but not relying, with any
great confidence, even on the protection of those
walls, and the city being encompassed by a con-
tinued line of troops, who were on the point of
taking it by scalade, they surrendered them-
selves prisoners, to the number of four thousand,
besides the unarmed multitude. The town
was burned, the temple of mother Matuta only
being exempted from the flames. The entire
spoil was given to the soldiers. The four thou-
sand who surrendered were not considered as
part of the spoil : these, the consul, in his
triumph, drove before his chariot in chains ;

1 In this place, and in the sixteenth chapter, Livy uses
the expressions unciai'um, and temuncianim fceniu, in I
• sense very different from the common acceptation. In
general, at was considered as the integer, consequently
unciartim should mean 1.12th per month, one per cent,
for the year. But he here considers undo as the integer,
meaning one per cent- per month, 12 per cent, by tho
yei.r.

and from the sale of them afterwards, brought
a large sum of money into the treasury. Some
writers allege, that this body of prisoners con-
sisted of slaves ; and it is more probable that
they were so, than that men, who had capitul-
ated, should be set up to sale.

XXVIII. These consuls were succeeded by
Marcus Fabius Dorso, and Servius Sulpicius
Camerinus. [Y. R, 410. B. C. 342.] The
Aumncians soon after commenced hostilities,
by a sudden predatory irruption ; and apprehen-
sions being entertained, that this act of one
state was part of a scheme formed by the whole
Latine nation, Lucius Furius was created dic-
tator, as if all Latium were already in arms.
He nominated Cneius Manlius Capitolinus
master of the horse : and a cessation of civil
business being proclaimed, as usual on alarms
of a dangerous nature, and levies being made,
without allowing any exemption, the legions
were led, with all possible expedition, against
the Aumncians, who were found to possess the
spirit of freebooters rather than of soldiers ; so
that they were utterly vanquished in the first
engagement. However the dictator, consider-
ing that they had brought on hostilities by their
incursions, and that they had no apparent desire
to decline the fight, wished to engage the aid
of the gods in his favour ; and in the heat of
the battle, vowed a temple to Juno Moneta ;
and then returning to Rome, under the obliga-
tion of this vow, in consequence of his success,
he abdicated the dictatorship. The senate or-
dered two commissioners to be appointed to
erect the temple, with a magnificence becoming
the Roman people : the site chosen for it was
that spot in the citadel, whereon had stood the
house of Marcus Manlius Capitolinus. The
consuls, making use of the dictator's troops for
carrying on the Volscian war, took Sora from
the enemy by surprise. [Y. R. 411. B. 0.
341.] The temple of Moneta was dedicated in
the next year after it had been vowed, Caius
Marcius Rutilus a third time, and Titus Man •
lius Torquatus a second time, being consuls.
The dedication was immediately followed by
a prodigy, similiar to the ancient one of the
Alban lake ; for a shower of stones fell, and,
during the day, night seemed to cover the s-ky :
the state being filled with pious fears, and the
books being inspected, the senate came to a re-
solution that a dictator should be nominated,
for the purpose of directing the religious rites.
Publius Valerius Publicola was accordingly

262

THE HISTORY

[BOOK vii.

nominated, and Quinttis Fabius Ambustus
appointed his master of the horse. It was
thought proper, that not the tribes only should
offer supplications, but even the neighbouring
nations ; and a regular course was fixed for
them, and on what day each should perform
that duty. Some severe sentences are recorded,
which were passed this year by the people
against usurers, on charges brought by the
aediles. An interregnum took place in the
same year, for which no particular reason has
been given. At the conclusion of the interreg-
num, [Y. R. 412. B. C. 340.] both consuls
were elected out of the patricians, Marcus
Valerius Corvus a third time, and Aulus Cor-
nelius Cossus ; and this seems to have been the
purpose intended by it.

XXIX. Henceforward will be related wars
of greater importance, whether we consider the
strength of the powers, the length of their
continuance, or the distance of the countries in
which they were earned on : for in this year,
arms were first taken up against the Samnites,
a nation powerful in wealth and arms. After
the Samnitian war, in which a variety of fortune
was experienced, Pyrrhus appeared as an ene-
my ; after Pyrrhus, the Carthaginians. " What
a series of important events ! How often have
the extremities of danger been undergone, be-
fore the structure of this empire could be rais-
ed to its present magnitude, which the world
can scarcely endure ! The cause of the war
with the Samnites originated, with respect to
the Romans, in the affairs of others ; not im-
mediately between themselves, who had, till
then, been united in alliance and friendship.
The Samnites had, unjustly, merely because
thev were superior in strength, made war on the
Sidicinians. The weak being obliged to seek
assistance, united themselves to the Campa-
nians, who bringing to the support of these
their allies rather a nominal than any real
strength, enervated as they were by luxury,
were defeated in the Sidicinian territory, by
men inured to arms. Thus they thenceforth
drew on themselves the whole burthen of the
war : for the Samnites, neglecting the Sidici-
nians, turned their arms on the Campanians, as
chief of the neighbouring states, from whom
they expected to gain victory with equal ease
and a greater share both of spoil and glory
After posting a strong guard on Tifata, aridg<
of bills hanging over Capua, they marched down
from thence, with their army formed in $

quare, ready for action, into the plain which
ies between Capua and Tifata. There another
>attle was fought, in which the Campanians
vere defeated, and driven into the town ; and,
eeing no prospect of support at hand, the
lower of their youth being greatly reduced in
umber, they were under a necessity of implor-
ng aid from the Romans.

XXX. Their ambassadors, being introduced
o the senate, spoke nearly to this effect :

Conscript Fathers, the Campanian nation has
sent us, its ambassadors, to solicit at your
lands perpetual friendship and present succour.
Had this request been made when our affairs
were in a prosperous state, the connection,
:hough it might have been more readily effect-
id, would have been bound by a weaker tie.
For, in that case, as we should have been sen-
sible that we met in friendship on terras of
quality, though perhaps with as friendly dis-
sositions as at present, yet we might have been
ess submissive and compliant to your inclina-
tions, in the present case, attached to you in
:onsideration of your compassion towards us,
and defended, by your aid, from the perils which
surround us, we become bound to show also, in
our conduct, a due sense of the benefit receiv-
ed ; otherwise we must be deemed ungrateful
and unworthy of any assistance either from
gods or men. Nor certainly can we suppose,
that the circumstance of the Samnites having,
first, become friends and allies to you, is of
efficacy to preclude our being received into your
friendship ; or that it gives them any advantage
over us, except in point of priority, and order
of precedence : for there is no cautionary pro-
vision in your treaty with the Samnites, pro-
hibiting your forming other alliances. It has
ever indeed been deemed, by you, a sufficient
title to your friendship, that the person who
sought it, wished to be your friend. Now the
Campanians, who, although our present cir-
cumstances forbid ostentatious language, yield
to no other nation except yourselves, either in
the magnificence of our city, or the fertility of
our soil, if admitted to your friendship, 'bring
no small accession, we think, to the advantages
which ye already enjoy. Whenever the
u-Equans and Volscians, the perpetual enemies
of this city, shall take arms, we will be on their
rear ; and what ye shall have performed in be-
half of our safety, the same we shall, on every
occasion, perform in behalf of your dominion,
and your glory. When those nations, which

Y. R. 412.]

OF ROME.

i>63

lie between you and us, shall be subdued,
(which period, we may infer, both from your
prowess and your good fortune, is not very
distant,) ye will then have an uninterrupted
extent of dominion reaching to our borders.
It is a mortifying and a melancholy truth,
which our situation forces us to acknowledge,
Conscript Fathers, that our affairs are in such
a state, that we must become the property
either of friends or enemies. If ye defend us,
yours : if ye abandon us, that of the Samnites.
Consider, therefore, whether that Capua, and
all Campania, shall become an addition to your
strength, or to that of the Samnites. Romans,
it is undoubtedly reasonable that your compas-
sion and assistance should lie open, as a re-
source, to all men ; but still more especially to
those, who, by performing the same good offices
to others imploring their aid, have, by exertions
beyond their strength, brought themselves into
such distresses as ours. Although, while we
fought, in appearance, for the Sidicinians, we
were, in reality, fighting for ourselves -. because
that nation, which is in our neighbourhood,
was plundered by the Samnites in a- most cruel
manner ; and because we were apprehensive
that the flames, after consuming the Sidicinians,
would spread from thence to ourselves : for
they do not attack us, as feeling themselves
aggrieved, but they rejoice at a pretext being
afforded them for it. If their object were the
gratification of resentment, and not of satiating
their ambition, would it not be enough that
they cut our legions to pieces, once in the ter-
ritory of the Sidicinians, and a second time
in Campania itself? What kind of resentment
must that be, which could not be satisfied by
all the blood spilt in two general engagements ?
Add to this the devastation of our country;
men and cattle driven away as spoil ; our coun-
try-houses burned or otherwise destroyed ;
every thing, in short, nearly annihilated by fire
and sword. This, we say, was surely enough
to gratify resentment, yet their ambition must
be gratified also. It is that which hurries them
on to the siege of Capua : they wish either to
lay that most beautiful city in ruins, or to hold
the possession of it themselves. But make it,
Romans, your own. by your generous kindness,
nor suffer them thus unjustly to hold it. We
speak not to a people disposed to decline just
and necessary wars, yet allow us to observe,
that, if disposed to assist us, ye will not even
have occasion to use your arms. The inso-

lence of the Samnites has reached to our level ;
higher it does not soar. So that even the
prospect of your assistance will be our security.
And whatever, thenceforward, we shall possess,
whatever we ourselves shall be, we must ever
esteem it all as yours. For you, will the fields
of Campania be ploughed ; for you, the city of
Capua be stored with inhabitants ; ye will be
reckoned by us among our founders, our pa-
rents, and our gods. Not one of your own
colonies shall surpass us in obsequiousness and
fidelity towards you. Grant then, Conscript
Fathers, to the prayers of -the Campanians, the
"nod of favour ; your irresistible, your providen-
tial aid : bid us hope that Capua will be saved.
Multitudes of every denomination escorted us
on our setting out. Full of vows and tears
we left every place. Think, then, in what a
state of eager expectation are now the senate
and people of Campania, our wives and our
children. Doubtless, at this moment, they are
standing at the gates, watching the road which
leads from hence, impatient to know what an-
swer, Conscript Fathers, ye may order us to
bring back to them. One kind of answer
brings them safety, life, and liberty : another
there is horror in the thought. Deter-

mine then about us, as about people, who are
either to be your friends and allies, or not to
exist at all."

XXXI. The ambassadors then withdrawing,
the senate took the affair into consideration.
A great many were of opinion, that their city
of Capua, the largest and most opulent in Italy ;
and their land, the most fertile, and situated
near the sea, would serve the Roman people
as a granary, from whence they might be sup-
plied with all the various kinds of provisions,
yet they paid greater regard to the faith of
their engagements, than to these great ad-
vantages ; and the consul, by direction of the
senate, gave them this answer : " Campanians,
the senate deems you deserving of their assist-
ance. But, in contracting a friendship with
you, it is proper to guard against the violation
of any prior alliance. The Samnites are asso-
ciated with us by treaty. We refuse, there-
fore, to take arms against the Samnites, which
would be a breach of duty, first towards the
gods, and then towards men. But, as is con-
sistent with both those duties, we will send am-
bassadors to those our friends and allies, to re-
' quest that no violence may be offered to you."
1 To this, the chief of the embassy replied, ac-

264

THE HISTORY

[BOOK vii.

cording to instructions which they had brought
from home. " Though ye do not think proper
to defend us and our rights against violence
and injustice, ye will surely defend your own..
We therefore surrender into your jurisdiction,
Conscript Fathers, and that of the Roman
people, the inhabitants of Campania, the city
of Capua, our lands, the temples of the gods,
and all things else appertaining to us, divine and
human. Whatever sufferings we shall hence-
forward undergo, will be the sufferings of men
who have put themselves under your domin-
ion." Having spoken thus, they all stretched
forth their hands towards the consuls, and,
with floods of tears, prostrated themselves in
the porch of the senate-house. The senate
were deeply affected at this instance of the vi-
cissitude of human grandeur; seeing that na-1
tion which possessed an exuberance of wealth,
and was universally noted for luxury and pride,
and to whom, a short time since, the neigh,
bouring states looked up for support, so utterly
depressed in spirit, as voluntarily to resign
themselves, and all that belonged to them into
the power of others. They therefore thought
themselves bound in honour not to abandon
those who were now become their subjects ;
and that it would be unjustifiable behaviour in
the Samnites, if they persisted in carrying on
hostilities against a city and country which, in
consequence of the surrender, had become the
property of the Roman people. It was in con-
sequence resolved, that ambassadors should be
sent immediately to that nation. These were
instructed to make known " the request of the
Campanians; the answer of the senate, in
which due regard was paid to the friendship of
the Samnites ; and the surrender made in con-
clusion. To request, that in consideration of
the alliance and intercourse subsisting between
the states, they would spare their subjects, and
not carry arms into a country which now made
a part of the Roman state. And, if gentle re-
monstrances did not produce the desired effect,
that they should then denounce to the Samnites,
as the will of the senate and people of Rome,
that they should retire from the city of Capua,
and the Campanian territory." When these
things were represented to the ambassadors in
the assembly of the Samnites, they not only
answered fiercely, that they would continue
the war, but their magistrates, going out of the
senate-house, while the ambassadors were stand-
ing on the spot, called the commanders of their

cohorts, and, with a loud voice, gave them or-
ders to march instantly into the Campanian
territory, and plunder it.

XXXII. When the result of this embassy
was reported at Rome, the senate, laying aside
all other business, despatched heralds to de-
mand satisfaction j which not being complied
with, and war being, in consequence, declared
in the customary manner, they decreed that the
affair should, without loss of time, be submitted
to the consideration of the people. This was
done accordingly, and, in pursuance of their
order, the consuls instantly began their march ;
Valerius to Campania, Cornelius to Sunium.
The former pitched his camp near mount
Gaurus, the latter at Saticula. The legions of
the Samnites met Valerius first ; for they sup-
posed that the whole weight of the war would
be directed to that side. They were, at the
same time, stimulated by rage against the Cam-
panians, for having shown themselves so ready,
at one time to give, at another to call in aid
against them. But no sooner did they see the
Roman camp, than, with one voice, they furi-
ously demanded the signal from their leaders ;
maintaining, confidently, that the Romans
should meet the same fate, in supporting the
Campanians, which had attended the latter, in
supporting the SMicinians. Valerius, after
spending a few days in slight skirmishes, for
the purpose of making trial of the enemy, dis-
played the signal for battle, exhorting his men,
in few words, not to let the new war and the
new enemy dispirit them. ' In proportion as
they carried their arms to a greater distance from
the city, they would, in every stage of their
progress, meet nations more and more unwar-
1 ike. They ought not to estimate the value of
the Samnites by the losses of the Sidicinians
and Campanians. Let the combatants be of
what kind soever, one side must necessarily be
worsted. As to the Campanians, they were
undoubtedly vanquished by debility, flowing
from excessive luxury, and by their own pusil-
lanimity, rather than by the strength of their
enemy. And, after all, of what weight were
two successful wars on the side of the Sam-
nites during so many ages, in the balance
against the glorious achievements of the
Roman people, who reckoned nearly a greater
number of triumphs than of years from the
foundation of their city, and who had extended
the sway of their victorious arms over all around
them ; the Sabines, Etruria, the Latines, the

Y. R. 412.]

OP ROME.

265

llrniicians, the ifiqunns, the Volscians, the
A uruncians ? Who, after slaying myriads of
(iauls, in -ii many battles, forced them, at last,
to fly to their ships ? As every soldier ought
to go courageously into the field, animated by
the national renown in arm-, so ought he, at the
same time, to consider the commander, under
who*c conduct and auspices he is to fight,
whether he be one, capable of attracting atten-
tion, merely by his pompous exhortations,
spirited in words alone, and unqualified for
military labours : or one who well knows how
to wield arms, to advance before the standards,
and to encounter the thickest of the fight. Sol-
diers," said he, " I wish you to be led by my
actions, not by my words ; and to take, not
only orders, but example also, from me. It
was not by intrigues, nor by cabals, usual among
the nobles, but by this right hand, that I pro-
cured to myself three consulships, and the high-
est praises of my countrymen. There was a
time when it might have been said of me, —
You enjoyed these dignities because you were
a patrician, and descended from the deliverers
of your country ; and because your family had
the consulship in the same year wherein the
<ity first had a consul.— This might have been
said. But at present the consulship lies open
to us patricians, and to you plebeians, without
distinction ; nor is it, as formerly, the prize of
birth, but of merit. Look forward, therefore,
soldiers, to the very summit of honours. Al-
though ye have given me, among yourselves,
and in consequence of the approbation of the
gods, the new surname of Corvus, the ancient
one of our family, the Publicolae, is not erased
from my memory. I do, and ever did, culti-
vate the favour of the Roman commons, in
war and in peace ; in a private station, and in
public offices, both high and low; in that of
tribune, equally as in that of consul ; and with
the same tenor of conduct through all my seve-
ral consulships. As to the present business,
join your endeavours with mine, to obtain, by
the favour of the gods, a new and signal tri-
umph over these Samnftes."

XXXIII. Never was there a commander
who put himself on a more familiar footing
with his soldiers, performing every subaltern
duty, without reluctance. In the military
•ports, wherein it is the custom for equals to
vie with equals in speed and strength, he was
condescending and affable ; success or defeat
made no alteration in him, nor did he disdain
I.

any competitor whatever. In his actions,
beneficent according to the occasion; in his
conversation, as attentive to the ease and free-
dom of others, as to his own dignity ; and what
is in the highest degree attractive of public
esteem, the same mode of conduct, by which
he had gained the magistracy, was pursued by
him throughout the whole of his administra-
tion. The troops, therefore, universally ap-
plauding the exhortations of their commander,
marched out of the camp with incredible alac-
rity. The battle commenced with as equal
hopes, and as equal strength, on both sides, as
any that ever was fought ; each party full of
confidence in themselves, without despising
! their adversary. The Saranites were embold-
ened by their late exploits, and the having gained
two victories within the space of a few days :
the Romans, on the other side, by the glorious
achievements of four hundred years, and suc-
cess coeval with the foundation of their city ;
both parties, however, felt some unusual con-
cern on engaging with a hew enemy. The
conflict gave proof of the spirit which they
possessed; for they maintained it for a con-
siderable time, without either giving way in
the least. The consul, since the enemy could
not be overpowered by force, endeavoured, by
a charge of his cavalry, to disorder their fore-
most battalions ; but when he saw their irre-
gular efforts attended with no success, being
obliged to wheel their squadrons in a narrow
compass, and that they could not open to them-
selves a passage, he rode back to the van of
the legions, and, leaping from his horse, said
to them, " Soldiers, the task belongs to in-
fantry ; come on, then ; as ye shall see me
making way with my sword to the main
body of the enemy; so let each, with all
his might, beat down those who oppose him.
Soon then shall that ground, where their erect-
ed spears are now glittering, be effectually clear-
ed by a wide-extended slaughter." By the
time he had uttered these words, the cavalry,
by his order, turned to the wings, and left the
way open for the legions. The consul advanced
first, and slew the person whom he happened to
engage. Fired at this sight, every one on the
right and left of him, assaulted his opposite foe
with extraordinary fury. The Samnites, though
they received a greater number of wounds than
they gave, obstinately stood their ground. The
battle had now continued a considerable time,
and great slaughter was made round the stan-

266

THE HISTORY

[BOOK vn.

dards of the Samnites, yet in no part were any
of them seen to fly ; so determined were they
to be vanquished by death alone. The Romans,
therefore, rinding their strength beginning to
relax, and that only a small part of the day re-
mained, rushed upon the enemy. Now was the
first appearance of the Samnites giving ground,
and of the matter being likely to end in their
flight ; great numbers were made prisoners or
lain ; nor would many of them have survived had
not night stopped the pursuit, for it was no longer
a battle. O n the other side, the Romans acknow-
ledged that they never had fought withr a more
determined enemy ; and on the other, the
Samnites, on being asked what was the cause
which first impelled men so firm at the outset
to fly, made answer that it was occasioned by
the eyes of the Romans, which appeared to flash
with fire, together with their desperate looks
and furious aspect ; for that in fact they felt
more terror from these, than from any other
circumstance. And this terror was confirmed,
not only in the issue of the battle, but by their
marching away during the night. Next day, the
Romans took possession of the deserted camp,
into which the Campanians poured in a body to
congratulate them.

XXXIV. But the joy caused by this event
had nearly been allayed by a terrible disaster in
Samnium : for the consul Cornelius, departing
from Saticula, incautiously led his army into a
mountainous tract, passable only through a deep
defile, and occupied on all sides by the enemy :
nor did he perceive their troops posted over his
head, until it was too late for his men to retreat
with safety ; while the Samnites waited only
until he should bring down the whole of his
army into the valley. Publius Decius, a tri-
bune of the soldiers, observed one hill higher
than the rest hanging over the enemy's camp,
too steep to be climbed by an army encumbered
with baggage, but not difficult to troops lightly
accoutred. Addressing, therefore, the consul,
who was in great perturbation, he said, " Aulus
Cornelius, do you see that high point above the
enemy ? That is the bulwark of our hopes and
safety, if we are expeditious in making ourselves
masters of a post, which nothing but blindness
could have hindered the enemy from seizing. I
ask only the first rank and spearmen of one
legion ; when I shall have arrived at the sum-
mit with these, then do you proceed forward,
free from all apprehension, and preserve your-
self and the army. For the enemy will not

nave in their power to move without bringing
destruction on themselves, as they, from occu-
pying the lower ground, will be exposed to every
weapon we throw. As for ourselves, icither the
Fortune of the Roman people, or our own cour-
age, will extricate us." He was highly com-
mended by the consul, and having received the
body of troops which he desired, made his way
through the mountains by concealed paths ;
nor was he noticed by the enemy, until he came
near the spot which he wished to gain : they
were then universally seized with astonishment
and affright ; so that, attracting the eyes of all
to himself, he gave time to the consul to lead off
his troops to more favourable ground, while he
took-post himself on the highest summit. The
Samnites, marching their forces sometimes
towards one side, sometimes towards the other,
lost the opportunity of effecting either busi-
ness ; for they could neither pursue the consul,
except through the same defile in which they
lately had him under the power of their weap-
ons, nor march up their rnen against the accliv-
ity, to the eminence occupied by Decius, over
their heads. They were enraged principally
against those who had snatched from them the
opportunity of acting with success, and the
nearness of their situation, and the smallness
of the party, would have led them to seek for
vengeance there : but they could resolve on
nothing : at one time it was intended to sur-
round the hill on all sides with troops, and thus
cut off Decius from the consul ; at another, to
leave open a passage, and then to fall on him,
when he should have descended into the de-
file ; night however came upon them, before
they had determined which measure to pursue.
Decius, at first entertained hopes that he might
engage them advantageously, as they should
advance against the steep ;vand was afterwards
surprised that they did not proceed to attack
him, or, if they were deterred by the difficulty
of the ground, that they did not surround him
with works. . At length, calling the centurions
to him, he said, " What a want of military skill,
and what indolence do they not discover ?
How did such men as these gain a victory over
the Sidicinians and Campanians ? See how
their battalions move to and fro, sometimes*
collected into one spot, sometimes drawn out
for a march : not a man doing any thing, al-
though, by this time, they might have surrounded
us with a rampart. As this is the case, we
should too much resemble them, if we remained

y. R. 412.]

OF ROME.

267

here longer than is expedient. Come on, then ;
follow me, that, while there is yet some little
day-light remaining, we may discover in \vhut
places they post their guards, and if there is a
passage for us left open." Of all these matters
he took an accurate view, clad in a soldier's
vest ; the centurions, whom he took with him,
being also in the dress of common soldiers, lest
the enemy should take notice of the commander
going the round.

XXXV. Having placed watch-guards in
proper places, he commanded notice to be
issued, by ticket, ' to all the rest, that, on
the signal being given, by the cornet sound-
ing the second watch, they should come to
him silently in arms. When they had as-
sembled there, according to their orders, he
addressed them thus : " Soldiers, silence is
necessary, ye must therefore listen to me, with-
out testifying your approbation in the usual
manner. When I shall have fully explained my
sentiments to you, then such of you, as agree
in opinion with me, will pass over, with-
out noise to the right ; on which ever side the
majority shall be, that judgment shall be followed.
Now hear what I have to propose. The enemy
have surrounded you ; but not in consequence of
your taking refuge here in cowardice. By val-
our ye seized this spot : by valour ye must make
your way from it. By coming hither, ye have
saved a most valuable army to the Roman
people ; by forcing your passage hence, save
yourselves. It becomes your character that,
though few in number, ye afford succour to
multitudes, while ye yourselves need no aid.
The enemy whom ye have to deal with, is the
same who, yesterday, stupidly neglected to make
use of the opportunity, which fortune had put
in their hands, of cutting off our whole army ;
who never saw this hill hanging with such ad-
vantage over their heads, until they found us in
possession of it ; and who, with all the thou-
sands of which their forces consist, neither pre-
vented the ascent of such a small party as ours,
nor, when we became masters of the place, sur-
rounded us with entrenchments, though there
was so much of the day remaining. Those

1 The common method of communicating- the watch-
word, and such orders as required expedition, was, to
write them on a small tablet or ticket, tessera, which
the tribunes sent to the first centurion, by whom it was
sent on to the next ; and thus it passed to all the cen-
turions in order, until it cauie to the last, who returned
it to the tribune.

whom ye baffled in such a manner, while they
were awake, it is your business to elude, when
they are buried in sleep. Nay, there is a neces-
sity for it : for in such a situation are our
affairs, that my part is rather to point out what
necessity enforces, than to offer you counsel.
For whether ye are to stay, or to remove from
this place, admits not of deliberation. Fortune
has left us nothing here, besides our arms and
courage to make use of them, and consequently,
we must perish through hunger and thirst, it'
we fear the sword of the enemy, beyond what
becomes men and Romans. There is, there-
fore, but one way to safety ; and that is, to
sally forth. This we must do either by day, or
by night. But there is another consideration,
that cuts off all hesitation ; which is, that if we
wait for the light, we can have no hope that
the enemy, who, at present, encompass the lull
on all sides, as ye see, with their bodies exposed
at disadvantage, will not hem us in with a con-
tinued rampart and trench. If night then be
favourable to a sally, as it appears to be, this
certainly is the fittest hour of it. Ye assem-
bled here on the signal of the second watch ; a
time in which your foes are sunk in the pro-
foundest sleep. Ye will pass among them,
either in silence, entirely escaping their notice,
or ready, if they should perceive you, to terrify
them with a sudden shout. Only follow me,
whom ye have hitherto followed. The same
fortune, which conducted us hither, will conduct
us home. And now, such of you as are of
opinion, that this is a salutary plan, come over
with me, to the right."

XXXVI. Ever)' man of them went over,
and followed Decius, who bent his way through
the spaces which lay open between the guards.
They had now passed the middle of the camp,
when a soldier, striding over the bodies of the
watchmen, who lay asleep on the ground, by
striking one of their shields, occasioned a noise ;
on which the watchman being roused, stirred
the next to him, and each, as he awoke, called
up the rest, ignorant whether these were friends
or foes, whether the party had sallied from the
hill, or the consul had taken their camp. De-
cius, finding that he was discovered, ordered his
men to raise a shout, and thus disheartened them
with affright before they had shaken off the
heaviness of sleep, perplexing them to such a
degree, that they were incapable of taking arms
briskly, so as to make head against, or to harass
him in pursuit. During this consternation and

i>68

THE HISTORY

TBOOK vi.

confusion of the Samnites, the party of Romans,
killing such of the guards as fell in their way,
made good their passage to the camp of the
consul. There was a considerable part of the
night yet to come, and they now seemed to be
in safety, when Decius said to them, " Roman
soldiers, I honour your bravery : ages to come
shall extol both your enterprise and your return.
But, in order that others may be gratified with
a view of such eminent merit, light is requisite :
nor is it fitting that you be concealed under
darkness and silence, while returning into the
camp with such distinguished glory. Here let
us wait in quiet for the day." His words were
obeyed ; and, as soon as morning appeared, a
messenger being sent forward into the camp,
to the consul, the troops there were roused from
sleep to excessive joy ; and the news being con-
veyed round by ticket, that those men were
returning, in safety, who had exposed themselves
to such imminent danger for the preservation
of them all, they poured out in a body eagerly
to meet them ; praised them, congratulated
them, called them each, and all together, their
preservers ; gave thanks and praises to the
gods, and almost worshipped Decius. Thus
did the tribune enjoy a kind of triumph in the
camp, as he marched through the middle of it,
with his party in arms, all men fixing their eyes
on, and honouring him, in the same manner as
the consul. When they arrived at the general's
tent, the consul summoned an assembly by
sound of trumpet; but which (after having
begun to expatiate on the merits of Decius) he
adjourned, on the interposition of Decius him-
self; who recommended, that every other busi-
ness should be postponed, while it was in their
power to improve the occasion which presented
itself. He then advised the consul to attack
the enemy while they were under consternation,
and scattered round the hill in detached parties :
adding, that he even believed that numbers who
had been sent out in pursuit of him, were strag-
gling through the" forest. The legions were
accordingly ordered to take arms, and marching
out of camp, the forest being now better
known by means of scouts, were led towards
the enemy through a more open tract. By
sudden and unexpected attacks, the soldiers of
the Samnites being dispersed up and down, and
most of them unarmed, as was supposed, they
first drove them in a panic into the camp, and
then, after beating off the guards, took the camp
itself. The shout spread quite round the hill,

and put all the parties to flignt from their se-
veral posts. Thus a great part of them yielded
the victory to an enemy whom they did not see.
Those, whose fears had driven them within the
ramparts, amounting to thirty thousand, were
all put to the sword. The camp was plun-
dered.

XXXVII. The business being thus con-
cluded, the consul again called an assembly,
and pronounced a panegyric on Decius ; repre-
senting his actions, not merely as he had begun
to recite them, but as consummated since, by a
new display of merit ; and, besides other mili-
tary gifts, presented him with a golden crown,
and an hundred oxen, one of them white, of
extraordinary beauty, richly ornamented, and
having gilded horns. To the soldiers, who had
been on the party with him, he assigned a double
portion of corn for ever, with an ox and two vests
to each. Beside the consul's donations, the
legions set on Decius's head a crown of grass,
denoting deliverance from a blockade, accom-
panying the present with a military shout of
approbation. Another crown, expressive of
the same compliment, was put on his head
by his own party. Decorated with these
honourable emblems, he sacrificed the beauti-
ful white ox to Mars, and bestowed the hun-
dred others on the soldiers, who had accom-
panied him in the expedition. To the same
soldiers the legions made a contribution, each
man of a pound of corn, and a pint of wine ;
all this was performed with an extraordinary
degree of cordiality, accompanied with the mi-
litary shout, a token of universal approbation.
The third battle was fought near Suessula,
where the army of the Samnites, which had
been routed by Marcus Valerius, being joined
by all the able young men of their nation,
whom they called from home, determined to
try their fortune in a final contest. From
Suessula hasty messengers came to Capua, and
horsemen from thence at full speed to the con-
sul Valerius, to beg for succour. The troops
were quickly put in motion, and, leaving a
strong guard with the baggage in the camp,
proceeded on their march with rapidity. They
chose for their camp a very narrow spot, at a
small distance from the enemy, as they were not
attended by a crowd of servants, and having no
other battle than horses. The Samnites,
without delay, drew up in order of battle ; and
when they found that no army was sent to
meet them, advanced, in readiness for »ction, to

v. R. 413.]

OF ROME.

2G9

the Romiui camp. When they saw the sol-
diers on the rampart, and when the scouts
brought accounts from every quarter into how
narrow a compass the camp was contracted,
they thence inferred that the number of the
enemy was but small. The whole army began
to exclaim, that they ought to fill up the
trenches, tear down the rampart, and break into
the camp ; and iiUtiat rash manner they would
have proceeded, had not their leaders restrained
their impetuosity. However, as their own
great numbers bore hard on their suppb'es, and
as in consequence of their lying so long at
Suessula, and of the battle being now deferred,
they had a prospect of being shortly in want of
every thing, they resolved, that while the enemy
remained shut up, and in appearance through
fear, their troops should be led out into the
country to forage. They had supposed, too,
that the Romans, having inarched in haste,
could have brought no more corn with them
than they were able to carry on their shoulders,
along with their arms, so that they would, in a
little time, be reduced to actual distress. When
the consul observed, that the enemy were dis-
persed over the country, and that the guards
which they had left were not numerous, after
exhorting his soldiers in few words, he led
them to an attack of their camp, and having
taken it, (a greater number being slain in their
tents than at the gates, or on the rampart,) he
ordered the standards taken from them to be
collected together. Then, leaving two legions
to guard them, with strict injunctions to abstain
from plundering until he should return, he set
out with his troops in regular order ; and send-
ing on the cavalry before him, to drive the
scattered Samnites together, as if with hunting
toils, made great slaughter of them . for in
their fright, they could neither fix on any sig-
nal to collect their troops in a body, nor re-
solve whether they should repair to the camp,
or fly to a greater distance. Such was their
consternation, and such the precipitancy of
their flight, that there were brought to the con-
sul not less than forty thousand shields, though
there was nothing like that number of slain ;
and of military standards, including those
which had been taken within their ranks,
one hundred and seventy. He then return-
ed to the enemy's camp, the entire spoil of
which he gave to the soldiers.

XXXVIII. The event of this engage-
ment obliged the Falisciaris, who \vcic under

the terms of a truce, to petition the senate for
a treaty of alliance ; and induced the La tines,
who had their armies already prepared, to turn
their operations, from the Romans, against the "
Pelignians. Nor was the fame of these suc-
cesses confined within the limits of Italy : the
Carthaginians also sent ambassadors to Rome
with congratulations, and with a present of a
golden crown, weighing twenty-five pounds, to
be placed in Jupiter's shrine in the capitol.
Both the consuls triumphed over the Sam-
nites, while Decius followed them, highly dis-
tinguished by praises and presents ; and, in
the rough jests of the soldiers, the name of the
tribune was heard as frequently as those of the
commanders. The embassies of the Cam-
panians and Suessans were then heard ; and,
in compliance with their petitions, a body of
troops was sent thither into winter-quarters, to
protect them against the incursions of the
Samnites. Capua, even at that time, destruc-
tive of military discipline through the allure-
ments of every kind of pleasures, so debauched
the minds of the soldiers, as to alienate their
affections from their country : and schemes
were formed, in their winter-quarters, to take
Capua from the Campanians by the same
wicked means by which they themselves had
taken it from its ancient possessors. "Nor was
there any injustice," they said, " in turning their
own example on themselves : for why should
the Campanians, who were unable to defend
either their persons or their property, enjoy
the most fertile lands in Italy, and a city pro-
portioned to the goodness of those hinds, rather
than the victorious army, who, at the expense
of their sweat and blood, had driven the Sam-
nites out of it ? Was it reasonable that these
should have the full enjoyment of such a fruit-
ful and delicious country, while they, after being
spent with the fatigues of war, must toil in the
unwholesome and parched soil round their own
city, or, within the city, endure the oppressive
grievance of interest-money daily increasing ?"
These schemes were agitated in secret cabals,
and as yet communicated only to a few, when
the new consul, Caius Marcius Rutilus, came
among them, the province of Campania having
fallen to him by lot, bis colleague Quintus Ser-
vilius being left in the city. He was a man of
good judgment, matured both by age and expe-
rience, for he was then in his fourth consulship,
and had served the offices of dictator and cen-
sor. [Y. R. 413. B. C. 339.] When, theatre,

270

THE HISTORY

[BOOK vii.

he was informed by the tribunes of all the cir-
cumstances of the affair, he concluded, that the
best method of proceeding would be, to frustrate
the violent designs of the soldiery, by prolong-
ing the period during which they might hope to
be able to execute their design whenever they
pleased ; and accordingly, he caused a report to
be spread, that the troops were to have their
winter quarters, for the next year, in the towns
they then occupied : for they had been cantoned
in different places of Campania, and the plot
had spread from Capua through the whole army.
Their eagerness in pursuit of their design be-
ing, by these means, relaxed, the mutiny was
composed for the present.

XXXIX. The consul, on leading out his
troops to the summer campaign, resolved, while
he found the Samnites quiet, to purge the army
by dismissing the turbulent men ; some he dis-
charged, under the pretence of their having
served out their regular time ; others, as being
enfeebled by age, or otherwise debilitated : se-
veral were sent away on furloughs, at first,
singly ; afterwards, even several cohorts, be-
cause they had spent the winter at a great dis-
tance from home, and from their private con-
cerns : others, too, were despatched to different
places, under pretence of the business of the
army, by which means a great part of them were
removed out of the way. All these the other
consul, and the praetor, detained under various
pretences, at Rome. At first, the men, not
suspecting the artifice practised on them, were
not displeased at the thought of revisiting their
homes. But when they perceived, that none
returned to their standards, and that, moreover,
hardly any were dismissed except those who had
wintered in Campania ; and, of these, the fo-
menters of the mutiny in particular ; they at
first began to wonder, and afterwards to fear,
what seemed beyond a doubt, that their designs
had been divulged ; and that they would have
.to undergo trials, discoveries, secret punish-
ments of individuals, and the cruel and unre-
strained tyranny of the consuls and senate.
These were the subjects of secret conferences
among the troops in the camp, when they ob-
served, that those who were the sinews of the
conspiracy had been sent away through the art
of the consul. One cohort, coming near Anxur,
seated themselves at Lautuhc, in a narrow
woody pass, between the sea and the mountains,
in order to intercept those who were daily dis-
missed under various pretexts, as has been men-

tioned. Their body soon grew strong in num-
bers, nor was any thing now wanting of the form
of a regular- army, except a leader. Without
order, however, and plundering the country in
their way, they came into the Alban territory,
and, under the hill of Alba Longa, enclosed
their camp with a rampart ; where, when the
work was finished, they spent the remainder of
the day in discussing different opinions respect-
ing the choice of a commander, having no great
confidence in the abilities of any who were pre-
sent. And " on whom," they said, " could they
prevail to come out from Rome on their invita-
tion ? What man was there, among the patri-
cians or plebeians, who would, with his eyes
open, expose himself to such imminent danger;
or, to whom could the cause of the army, driven
to madness by ill treatment, be properly con-
fided ? Next day, while they were employed
in deliberating on the same subject, some of the
rambling marauders brought intelligence, that
Titus Quintius was cultivating his farm in the
territory of Tusculum, regardless of the city and
of its honours. . He was of patrician race, who,
being obliged to relinquish the military profes-
sion, in which he had acquired great glory, in
consequence of one of his feet being lamed by a
wound, determined to spend his life in the coun-
try, far from ambition and the contentions of the
forum. As soon as his name was heard, they im-
mediately recognized the man ; and, with wishes
of success to the measure, ordered him to be sent
for. But as there was little room to hope that he
would voluntarily appear in the cause, it was
resolved that both menaces and force should be
employed. Accordingly those who were sent
for the purpose, entering his house in the dead
of night, while he lay composed in sleep, and de-
nouncing, as the only alternative, either honour
and command, or, when he made opposition,
death, they brought him by force to their camp.
Immediately on his arrival, he was saluted
General, and while he was terrified at this unac-
countable and sudden transaction, they brought
to him the ensigns of the office, and insisted on
his leading them to the city. Then, with haste
dictated by their own unruliness, taking up
the standards, they came in hostile array to the
eighth stone on the road, which is now the Ap-
pian, and would have proceeded directly to the
city, had they not been told that an army was
coming to meet them ; Marcus Valerius Cor-
vus being nominated dictator, and Lucius .ZEmi-
lius Mamercinu* master of the horse.

y. H. 413.]

OF ROME.

271

XL. As soon as tiie army sent to oppose
them came in sight, and they distinguished the
well-known arms and standards, their regard for
their country instantly reviving, softened the
resentment of every breast. They were not yet
hardy enough to shed the blood of their coun-
trymen : they had never yet known any but
foreign wars; and secession from their fel-
low-citizens was deemed the utmost effort of
rage. Now, therefore, the leaders, and even
the soldiers on both sides, expressed a desire
that there should be a meeting held for a nego-
tiation. Accordingly, on one side, Quintius,
who would not have borne arms, even in favour
of his country, but with extreme reluctance, and
of course with much greater against it ; and on
the other, Corvus, who entertained the warmest
affection for every one of his countrymen, par-
ticularly the soldiery, and above all others, those
who had served under bis own banner, advanced
to a conference. The instant the latter ap-
peared, the same respectful deference was paid
to him by his adversaries, which his own men
manifested by their silence •. he then addressed
them in this manner: " Soldiers, at my depar-
ture from the city, I made it my earnest prayer
to the immortal gods, whom ye, the public, and
myself adore, and humbly implored them of
their goodness, to grant me not a victory over
you, but the happiness of restoring concord.
The time past has afforded, and doubtless the
future will afford, occasions enough for the ac-
quisition of military glory. At the present,
peace should be the object of our wishes. The
request which I urged to the immortal gods,
whilst I offered up my vows, it is in your power
to fulfil for me, if you will allow yourselves to
recollect that your camp stands not in Samnium,
nor in the territory of the Volscians, but on
Roman ground ; that those h ills, which ye
see, are your native soil; that this army is com-
posed of your countrymen ; that I am your own
consul, under whose conduct and auspices ye
last year twice defeated the legions of the Sam-
nites, and twice took their camp by storm.
Soldiers, I am Marcus Valerius Corvus, whose
nobility of birth ye have ever felt to be produc-
tive of benefits to you, not of ill-treatment.
I have been the adviser of no severe law
against your interest, of no cruel decree of the
senate ; in every post of command which I
have held, more strict towards myself than you.
Yet, if any man might presume upon birth,
upon personal merit, upon high dignity, and

upon public honours, I might : for I am de-
scended from ancestors so distinguished, and I
have besides given such proof of my own
qualifications, that I attained the honour of the
consulship when only twenty-three years old :
I might then assume a degree of pride not only
towards the commons but towards the patricians.
But in what instance did ye ever hear that I either
acted or spoke with greater harshness, when
consul, than when only a tribune ? The same
has been the constant tenour of my administra-
tion, in two successive consulships ; the same
shall it be, in this uncontrollable office of dic-
tator. So that I shall be found not more gentle
to these my own soldiers, and the soldiers of my
country, than to you (it shocks me so to call
you) its enemies. Ye shall therefore draw the
sword against me, before I unsheath it against
you •. on your side, if a battle must take place,
the signal shall be sounded ; from your side the
shouts and onset shall begin. You must de-
termine, then, to do what neither your grand-
fathers nor fathers could ; neither those who
seceded to the sacred mount, nor yet those who
afterwards took post on the Aventine. Wait
until your wives and mothers come out from
the city with dishevelled hair, as formerly to
Coriolanus. At that time the legions of the
Volscians, because they had a Roman for their
leader, ceased from hostilities. And will not
ye, an army of Romans, desist from this un-
natural war ? Titus Quintius, under whatever
circumstances you stand on that side, whether
voluntarily, or through compulsion, if the
business must be decided by arms, do you
then retire to the rear. It will be more
honourable for you to turn your back and fly,
than to fight against your country. You will
at present stand with propriety and honour
among the foremost for the promoting of peace-
ful measures, and may you be a salutary agent
in this conference- Let your demands and your
offers be reasonable ; although, indeed, it were
better to admit even unreasonable terms, than
engage in an unnatural combat with each
other."

XLI. Titus Quintius then turning to his
party, his eyes full of tears, said, " In me
too, soldiers, if I am of any use, ye have a
better leader to peace than to war. For he
who has spoken what ye have just now heard,
is not a Volscian nor a Samnite, but a Roman ;
he, soldiers, is your own consul, your own
general ; the influence of whose auspices ye

272

THE HISTORY OF ROME.

[BOOK vii.

have already experienced operating in your
favour. Wish not, then, to try its 'effects
against you. The senate could have employed
other commanders, who would fight against you
with animosity ; but they chose the one who
would be most tender of you, who were his
own soldiers, and in whom, as your own gene-
ral, ye could most thoroughly confide. Even
those who have conquest in their power wish
for peace ; what, then, ought to be our wish?
Why do we not, renouncing both anger and
hope, those fallacious guides, resign ourselves
and all our interests to his well-known honour ?"
All declaring their approbation by a shout,
Titus Quintius advanced before the standards
and said, that " the soldiers would be governed
by the dictator ;" he besought them to " under-
take the cause of those his unfortunate coun-
trymen, and support it, under his patronage,
with the same honour which bad ever marked
his administration of the public affairs. That
with regard to his own particular case, he sti-
pulated no terms, he wished not to found a
hope on aught but innocence. But provision
should be made for the safety of the soldiers,
as had been formerly practised by the senate,
once, in the case of the commons, and a
second time in that of the legions, so that no
one should suffer for the" secession." The
dictator, highly commending Quintius, and
desiring the others to hope for the best, rode
back with speed to the city, and, with the ap-
probation of the senate, proposed to the people
assembled in the Peteline grove, that none of
the soldiers should be punished on account of
the secession ; and even made it his request to
them, which he hoped they would approve,
that no person, either in jest or earnest, should
upbraid any of them with that proceeding. A
military law was also passed, sanctioned with
a devoting clause, that the name of any soldier,
once enrolled, should not be erased without
his own consent ; and it was included in the
law, that no person who had been a tribune of
the soldiers should afterwards be a centurion.
This demand of the conspirators was pointed
against Publius Salonius, who had long been
alternately tribune of the soldiers, and first
centurion, which they now call Primipili. The
soldiers were incensed against him, because he
had always opposed their licentious proceedings,
and, to avoid being concerned therein, had fled
from Lautuke. This was the only proposal
with which the senate refused to comply ; on

which Salonius, earnestly intreating the con-
script fathers not to pay greater regard to his
promotion than to the public concord, pre-
vailed on them to let that also pass. There
was another requisition, equally unreasonable,
that a deduction of one-third should be made
from the pay of the cavalry, because they had
opposed the conspiracy. They at that time
received triple the pay of the foot.

XLII. Besides these regulations, I find in
some writers, that Lucius Genucius, plebeian
tribune, proposed a law to the people, that no
one should lend money at interest Likewise,
that, by other orders of the commons, it was
enacted, that no person should hold the same
public office a second time within ten years, or
enjoy two offices in the same year ; and that it
should be lawful to elect both the consuls from
among the plebeians. If all these concessions
were really made, it is evident that the revolt-
ers possessed no small degree of strength.
According to the accounts of other historians,
Valerius was not nominated dictator, but the
whole business was managed by the consuls ;
nor was it before they came to Rome, but in
the city itself, that the conspirators became so
desperate as to have recourse to arms. That
the attack by night was not at the country-seat
of Titus Quintius, but at the house of Caius
Manlius, on whom they laid violent hands, and
made him their leader ; then, marching out as
far as the fourth stone, they took possession of
a strong post ; also, that no mention of a recon-
ciliation was first made by the commanders,
but that after the troops had marched out to
battle, mutual salutations suddenly took place ;
and that the soldiers mixing together, began to
shake hands, and embrace each other with
tears ; and that the consuls, finding the minds
of the soldiers averse from fighting, were ob-
liged to make the proposition to the senate, of
admitting the revolters to terms. So that in
no circumstance do the ancient writers of the
tu'story agree, except in relating that there was
a mutiny, and that it was composed. The
report of this sedition, and the heavy war, un-
dertaken at the same time against the Sam-
nites, induced several nations to forsake the
alliance of the Romans ; and besides the
Latines, who were known, for a long time
>ast, to be in a disposition to break the treaty,
he Privernians also, by a sudden incursion,
ravaged Norba and Setia, colonies of the Ro-
mans, which lay in their neighbourhood.

THE

HISTORY OF ROME.

BOOK VIII.

The I.ittinr*, in conjunction with the Campauians, revolt : send ambassadors to Rome, to propose, as the condition
of peace, that one of the consuls shall in future he chosen from among them. Their requi-itiun rejected with
disdain. Titus Manilas, the consul, puts his own son to death, for fighting1, although successfully, contrary tc
orders. Decius, the other consul, devotes himself for the army. The Latines surrender, Manilas returning to
the city, none of the young men go out to meet him. Minutia, a vestal, condemned for incest. Several matrons
convicted of poisoning. Laws then first made against that crime. The Auscmiam, Privernians, nnd Palaepoli-
tans subdued. Quintus Publilius the first instance of a person continuing in command, after the expiration of
his office, and of a triumph decreed to any person not a consul. Law against confinement for debt Quintus
Fabiu*, master of the horse, fights the Samnites, with success, contrary to the orders of Lucius Papirius, dicta-
tor; and, with 'difficulty, obtains pnrdon, throng!) the intercession of the people. Successful expedition against
the Samnites.

L [Y. R. lit. B. C. 338.] The new consuls
were now in office, Caius Plautius a second
time, and Lucius .JSmilius Mamercinus, when
messengers from Setia and Norba brought in-
formation to Rome of the revolt of the Pri-
vernians, with complaints of the damages sus-
tained by those colonies. News also arrived
that an army of Volscians, headed by the peo-
ple of Antium, had taken post at Satricum.
Both these wars fell by lot to Plautius, who,
marching first to Priveruum, came to an im-
mediate engagement. The enemy, after a
slight resistance, were entirely defeated, and
their town taken, but this was restored to the
inhabitants, being first secured by a strong gar-
rison, while two-thirds of their lands were taken
from them. From thence the victorious army
was led to Satricum against the Antians : there
a furious battle was fought, with a great effu-
sion of blood on both sides. A storm separat-
ed the combatants, while there was no evident
advantage on either part ; the Romans, how-
ever, nowise disheartened by the fatigue of an
engagement so indecisive, prepared for battle
against the next day. But the Volscians,
when they had reckoned up their loss, found
not in themselves the same degree of resolution
for making a second trial, ami marched off in
I.

the night to Antium, with all the hurry of a
defeat, leaving behind their wounded, and part
of their baggage. A vast quantity of arms
was found, both in the field and in the camp -.
these the consul declared an offering to Mother
Lua, ' and, entering the enemy's country, laid
it all waste as far as the sea-coast. The other
consul, ^Emilius, on marching into the Sabellan
territory, found neither a camp of the Sam-
nites, nor legions to oppose him ; but, while
he was wasting their country with fire and
sword, ambassadors came' to him, suing for
peace. He referred them to the senate ; where,
when they were admitted to an audience, lay-
ing aside their fierceness of spirit, they re--
quested of the Romans that peace might be
restored between the two nations, and that they
might be at liberty to carry on war against the
Sidicinians : these requests, they alleged, they
were the better entitled to make, as " they had
united in friendship with the Roman peo-
ple, at a time when their own affairs were
in a flourishing state, not in a season of dis-
tress, as the Campanians had done ; and be-
cause those against whom they wished to take
arms were the Sidicinians, who had ever been

1 Otherwise called Ops, Rhea, and Terra, the earth.
2 M

274

THE HISTORY

[BOOK viu.

enemies to them, and never friends to the Ro-
mans ; who had neither, as the Samnites, sought
their friendship in time of peace ; nor, as the
Campanians, their assistance in war ; nor were
connected with them in any way, either of al-
liance or subjection."

II. The praetor Tiberius ^Emilius, having
required the opinion of the senate respecting
the demands of the Samnites, and the senate
having voted a renewal of the treaty with them,
gave them this answer, that, " as the Romans
had given no cause to hinder the uninterrupted
continuance of their friendship, so neither did
they now object to its being revived ; since the
Samnites showed an unwillingness to persevere
in a war, which they had brought on themselves
through their own fault. That, as to what
regarded the Sidicim'ans, they did not interfere
with the liberty of the Samnite nation to de-
termine for themselves with respect to peace
and war." The treaty being concluded, and
the ambassadors returning home, the Roman
army was immediately withdrawn from thence,
after receiving a year's pay for the soldiers, and
corn for three months ; which were the condi-
tions stipulated by the consul, on his granting
them a truce until the ambassadors should re-
turn. The Samnites marched against the Si-
dicinians, with the same troops which they had
employed in the Roman war, sanguine in their
expectation of getting immediate possession of
the enemy's capital. On this the Sidicinians
proposed, first to the Romans, to put them-
selves under their dominion ; but the senate re-
jected the proposal, as made too late, and forc-
ed from them merely by extreme necessity;
then the same offer was made to and accepted
by the Latines, who were ready to commence
hostilities on their own account. Nor did even
the Campanians refrain from taking a part in
this quarrel, much stronger impressions being
left on their minds by the ill-treatment received
from the Samnites, than by the kindness of the
Romans. Out of such a number of nations,
one vast army was composed, under the direc-
tion of the Latines, which, entering the terri-
tories of the Samnites, did much greater da-
mage by depredations than by fighting. But
although the Latines had the better in the field,
yet they were well pleased to retire out of the
enemy's country, to avoid the necessity of.too fre-
quent engagements. This respite afforded time
to the Samnites to send ambassadors to Rome,
who, having.obtained an audience of the.senate,

made heavy complaints, that, though now their
confederates, they suffered the same calamities
which they had felt when their enemies ; and,
with the humblest entreaties, requested, that
the Romans would " think it enough to have
deprived the Samnites of conquest over their
enemies, the Campanians and Sidicinians ; and
that they would not, besides, suffer them to be
conquered by such a union of dastardly nations.
That they would, by their sovereign authority,
oblige the Latines and Campanians, if those
people were really under the dominion of the
Romans, to forbear from entering the territory
of the Samnites, and if they refused obedience,
compel them to it by arms." To this the Ro-
mans gave an indeterminate answer, because it
would have been mortifying to acknowledge
that the Latines were not under their power,
and they feared, lest, by charging them with
misbehaviour they might attempt to free them-
selves from all subjection : but considered the
case of the Campanians as very different, they
having come under their protection, not by
treaty, but by surrender. They answered,
therefore, that "the Campanians, whether will-
ing or not, should be quiet ; but, in the treaty
with the Latines, there was no article which
prohibited their waging war against whom they
chose."

III. This answer, as it sent away the Sam-
nites in doubt what opinion to form with re-
spect to the conduct which the Romans intend-
ed to pursue, entirely subverted the allegiance
of the Campanians by the menaces held out to
them ; it also increased the presumption of the
Latines, as the senate seemed now not dispos-
ed, in any respect, to control them. These
last, therefore, under the pretext of preparing
for war against the Samnites, held frequent
meetings, in which their chiefs, concerting mat-
ters among themselves, secretly fomented the
design of a war with Rome. The Campanians
;oo gave their support to this war, though
against their preservers. But, notwithstanding
that they took all possible pains to keep their
iroceedings from being generally known, and
though they wished to get rid of the Volscian
enemy then at their back, before the Romans
should be alarmed ; yet by means of persons con-
nected with the latter in hospitality and other pri-
vate ties, intelligence of the conspiracy was con.
veyed to Rome. There, the consuls being com-
manded to abdicate their office, in order that the
new ones might be the sooner elected, and have

Y. R. 415.]

OF ROME.

275

the more time to prepare for a war of so great
importance, it began to be considered as impro-
per that the election should be held by persons
not vested with full authority ; consequently an

to do than to abandon the Sidicinians, yield
obedience to the commands, not only of the
Romans, but of the Samnites, saying in answer
to the former, that, whenever they intimate

interregnum took place, and continued under ' their pleasure, we are ready to lay down our

two interreges, Marcus Valerius and Marcus
Fabius. [Y. R. 415. B. C. 337.] The latter

arms ? But, on the other hand, if our minds
are at length penetrated by an ardent desire of

elected consuls, Titus Manlius Torquatus a liberty ; if there be a confederacy subsisting ;

third time, and Publius Dedus Mus. It is
agreed on all hands, that, in this year, Alexan-
der, king of Epirus, made a descent with a fleet
on Italy, in which expedition, had his first at-

if alliance be equality of rights ; if the
Romans have now reason to glory in a circum-
stance, of which they were formerly ashamed,
our being of the same blood with them ; if they

tempts been crowned with success, he would, have, in our troops, such an army of allies, that,

without doubt, have carried his arms against by its junction with their own, they double

the Romans. This period was also distinguish- their strength ; such a one, in short, as their

ed by the exploits of Alexander the Great, son consuls, either in commencing, or concluding

to the other's sister, who, in another quarter of [ their own wars, would, very unwillingly, dis-

the globe, after showing himself invincible in unite from their party : why is there not a per-

war, was doomed by fortune to be cut off by feet and settled equalization ? Why is it not

sickness in the prime of life. Now the Ro- permitted, that one of the consuls should be

mans, although they entertained not a doubt of
the revolt of .their allies, and of the Latine na-
tion, yet, as if they acted in behalf of the Sam-
nites, not of themselves, summoned ten of the
chiefs of the Latines to appear at Rome, and
receive their orders. The Latines had, at that
time, two praetors, Lucius Annius, a native of
Sctia, and Lucius Numicius, of Circei, both
Roman colonists ; through whose means, be-
sides Signia and Velitrae, which belonged to
the Romans, the Volscians also had been en-
gaged to join in the war. It was thought pro-
per that these two should be particularly sum-
moned ; every one clearly perceived on what

chosen from among the Latines ? and that they,
who supply an equal share of strength, should
be admitted to an equal share in the govern-
ment ? This, indeed, considered in itself,
would not redound to our honour, in any
extraordinary degree : as we should still ac-
knowledge Rome to be the metropolis of
Latiuni ; but that it may possibly appear to
do so, is owing to our tame resignation for
such a length of time. But, if ye ever wished
to acquire a participation in the government,
the opportunity now presents itself, afforded to
you by the bounty of the gods, and your own
resolution. Ye have tried their patience, by

account they were sent for : the praetors, ] refusing the supply of troops : who can doubt

therefore, before they set out for Rome, called
a general assembly, whom they informed, that
they were called to attend the Roman senate,
and desired their opinion with respect to the
business which they supposed would be the
subject of discussion, and to make known to
them the answers which they chose should be
given on the occasion.

IV. After several different opinions had
been advanced, Annius said, " Although I
myself proposed the question, of what answer
should be made, yet, in my judgment, the
general interest requires that ye determine
how we are to act, rather than how we are to
speak. When your designs shall be clearly
unfolded, it will be easy to adapt words to
the subject -. for if we are still capable of sub-
mitting to slavery, under the shadow of a con-
federacy between equals, what have we more

that they were incensed to the highest degree,
when we broke through a practice of more than
two hundred years' continuance? Yet they
thought proper to smother their resentment.
We waged war with the Pelignians in our own
name : those who formerly would not grant us
liberty to defend our own frontiers, interfered
not then. They heard that we had received the
Sidicinians into our protection ; that the Cam-
panians had revolted from them to us ; that we
were preparing an army to act against the
Samnites, their confederates ; yet they stirred
not a step from their city. What but a know-
ledge of our strength,and of their own,made them
thus moderate ? I am informed,from good author-
ity, that, when the Samnites made their com-
plaints of us, the Roman senate answered them
in such terms, as plainly evinced that they
themselves did not insist on Latium being un-

276

der the dominion of Rome. Urge, then, your
aim, and assume the exercise of that right
which they tacitly concede to you. If fear de-
ters you from making this demand, lo ! here I
pledge myself that 1 will require, in the hear-
ing, not only of the senate, and people of
Home, but of Jove himself, who resides in
the capitol, that, if they wish us to continue in
mfederacy and alliance with them, they re-
ceive from us, one of the consuls, and half of
the senate." On his not only recommending
this measure with boldness, but undertaking
the execution of it, they unanimously, with ac-
clamations of applause, gave him authority to
act, and speak, in such manner, as he should
judge conducive to the interest of the republic
of the Latine nation, and becoming his own

nr»n/Mtt»

THE HISTORY

[BOOK v

honour.

V. When the praetors arrived in Rome, they
had audience of the senate in the capital ; and
the consul, Titus Manlius, having, by the di-
rection of the senate, required of them that
they should not make war on the Samnites, the
confederates of the Romans,— Annius, as if he
were a conqueror, who had taken the capital
by arms, and not an ambassador, who owed his
safety, in speaking, to the law of nations, re-
plied thus : « .Titus Manlius, and ye, con-
script fathers, it is full time for you to cease to
treat us as a people subject to your commands
since ye see the very flourishing state, which,
through the bounty of the gods, Latium enjoys
at present, both with respect to numbers and
strength : the Samnites are conquered by our
arms ; the Sidicinians and Campanians, and
now the Volscians also, are united to us in al-
liance ; and even your own colonies prefer the
government of Latium to that of Rome. But
since ye do not think proper to put an end to
your imperious exertions of arbitrary dominion,
we, although able, by force of arms, to assert
the independency of Latium, will yet pay so

both, have the advantage of being deemed
mother country, and let us all be called
mans." The Romans happened to have a .
sul, ( Titus Manlius,) of a temper as vehen
as that of Annius, who, so far from restraii
his anger, openly declared that if the consc
fathers should be so infatuated, as to rec
laws from a man of Setia, he would come
the senate, with his sword in hand, and put
death every Latine that he should find in t
house ; then turning to the statue of Jupiter
exclaimed, "Jupiter, hear these impious
mands ; hear justice and equity. O Jupiter
you as if overpowered and made captive, to'
hold, in your consecrated temple, a foreign c
sul, and a foreign senate ? Are these, Latin
the treaties which the Roman king, Tull
made with the Albansyour forefathers, or wh
Lucius Tarquinius afterwards concluded w
yourselves ? Does not the fight at the la
Regillus recur to your thoughts ? Are yc
calamities of old, and our recent kindness
towards you, entirely obliterated from yc
memories ?"

VI. These words of the consul were fc
lowed by expressions of indignation from tl
senators ; and it is related, that in reply to tl
frequent addresses to the gods, whom the coi
suls often invoked as witnesses to the treatie
Annius was heard to express contempt of tl)
divinity of the Roman Jupiter. Howevei
being inflamed with wrath, and quitting th
porch of the temple with hasty steps, he feJ
down the stairs, and was dashed against a ston
at the bottom with such violence, that he re
ceived a contusion on his head, which deprivec
him of sense. As all authors do not concur ir
mentioning his death to have ensued, I, for mj
part, must leave that circumstance in doubt ; as
I shall another, of a violent storm, with dread-
ful noise in the air, happening while appeals
were made to the gods, concerning the infrac-

, ' "»•/«* lJiv so were made to the s

much regard to the connection subsisting be- tion of the treaties Fnr

strength of both should be, as it is, completely I «-' - - ' ' eXpreSS' ln a

balanced. One of the consuls must be chosen
out of Latium, the other out of Rome; the

, e; e

senate must consist of an equal number of each
nation • we must become one people, one re-
public; and, in order that both may have
the same seat of government, and the same
name, as one side or the other must make
tbe concession, let this, to the happiness of

ericas, ui a

lively manner, an immediate denunciation of
the wrath of the gods. Torquatus, being
sent by the senate to dismiss the ambas-
sadors, on seeing Annius stretched on the
ground, exclaimed, in a voice so loud as to be
heard both by the senators and the people,
" Ye gods, proceed in so just a war, in which
your own rights are concerned ; there is a
deity in heaven ; thou dost exist, great Jupi-

n- 415.]

OF ROME.

277

not without reason have \ve consecrated
in this mansion, as the father of gods and
Why do ye hesitate, Romans, and ye,
'nipt fathers, to take up arms, when the
, thus lead the way? Thus will I throw
m, in the dust, the legions of the Latines,
ye see their ambassador prostrated." These
rts of the consul were received by the mul-
ido with applause, and excited such a flame
their breasts, that the ambassadors, at their
jarture, owed their safety rather to the care
the magistrates, who escorted them, by the
,8111-9 order, than to the people's regard to
. laws of nations. The senate concurred in
ting for the war ; and the consuls, after rais-
r two armies, marched through the tcrrito-
« of the Marsians and Pelignians ; and, Imv-
, formed a junction with the army of the
imnites, pitched their camp in the neighbour-
ed of Capua, where the Latines and then-
lies had already collected their forces. Here,
it is related, there appeared to both the con-
ils, in their sleep, the same figure of a man,
• (i form larger, and more majestic, than the
•iman, who said to them, that « of the one
wty a general, of the other the army, were
ue as victims to the infernal gods, and to
.other earth ; and that on whichever side a
eneral should devote the legions of his enemy,
nd himself, together with them, to that party
nd nation the victory would fall." The con-
uls having communicated to each other these
isions of the night, determined, that victims
hould be slain to avert the wrath of the gods ;
md also, that if the portents, appearing in their
?ntrails, concurred with what they had seen in
heir sleep, one or other of the consuls should
fulfil the will of the fates. Finding the an-
swers of the auspices to agree with the awful
impressions already made on their minds in pri-
vate, they then called together the lieutenant-
geneivls and tribunes ; and having made known
to them all the decrees of the gods, settled be-
tween themselves, that, lest the voluntary death
of a consul might dishearten the troops in the
field, on whichever side the Roman army should
begin to give ground, the consul commanding
there, should devote himself for the Roman peo-
pie, and for his country. In this consultation,
it was also mentioned, that if ever strictness in
command had been enforced in any war, it was
then, particularly, requisite that military disci-
pline should be brought back to the ancient
trodel. Their attention was the more strongly

directed to this point, by the consideration, that
the enemies, with whom they had to deal, were
the Latines ; people who used the same lan-
guage, and who had the same manners, the
same kind of arms, and, what was more than
all, the same military institutions as themselves :
who had been intermixed with them in the same
armies, after in the same companies, soldiers
with soldiers, centurions with centurions, tri-
bunes with tribunes, as comrades and colleagues.
Lest, in consequence of this, the soldiers might
be betrayed into any mistake, the consuls issued
orders, that no person should fight with any ot
the enemy, except in his post.

VII. It happened that, among the other
commanders of the troops of horsemen which
were despatched to every quarter to procure in-
telligence, Titus Manlius, the consul's son,
came, with his troop, to the back of the ene-
my's camp, so near as to be scarcely distant a
dart's throw from the next post, where some
horsemen of Tusculum were stationed, under
the command of Geminius Metrius, a man
highly distinguished amongst his countrymen,
both by his birth and conduct. On observing
the Roman hoi-semen, and the consul's son,
remarkable above the rest, marching at their
head, (for they were all known to each other,
particularly men of any note,) he called out,
« Romans, do ye intend, with one troop, to
wage war against the Latines and their allies ?
What employment will the two consuls and
their' armies have in the meantime ?" Manlms
answered, " They will come in due season, and
with them will come one whose power and
strength is superior to either, Jupiter himself,
the witness of those treaties which ye have
violated. If, at the lake of RegSllus, we gave
you fighting until ye were weary, I will answer
for it, that we shall, in this place also, give
you such entertainment, that, for the future,
it will not be extremely agreeable to you
to face us in the field." To this, Gemini-
us, advancing a little from his men, replied,
« Do you choose, then, until that day arrives,
when, with such great labour ye move your ar-
mies to enter the lists yourself with me,
that from the event of a combat between us
two it may immediately be seen how much a
Latine horseman surpasses a Roman ?"
anger or shame of declining the contest, or
the irresistible power of destiny, urged on
the daring spirit of the youth, so that, disre-
garding his father's commands, and the ei

278

THE HISTORY

[BOOK via.

the consuls, he rushed precipitately to a contest,
in which, whether he was victorious or van-
quished, was of no great consequence to himself.
The other horsemen removed to some distance,
as if to behold a show ; and then, in the space
of clear ground which lay between, the comba-
tants spurred on their horses against each other,
and, on their meeting in fierce encounter, the
point of Manlius's spear passed over the helmet
of his antagonist, and that of Metrius, across
the neck of the other's horse : they then wheeled
their horses round, and Manlius having, with
the greater quickness, raised himself in his seat,
to repeat his stroke, fixed his javelin between
the ears of his opponent's horse, the pain of
which wound made the animal rear his fore feet
on high, and toss his head with such violence,
that he shook off his rider, whom, as he endea-
voured to raise himself, after the severe fall, by
leaning on bis javelin and buckler, Manlius
pierced through the throat, so that the steel
came out between his ribs, and pinned him to
the earth. Then collecting the spoils, he rode
back to his men, and, together with his troop,
who exulted with joy, proceeded to the camp,
and so on to his father, without ever reflecting
on the nature or the consequences of his con-
duct, or whether he had merited praise or punish-
ment. " Father," (said he,) " that all men may
justly attribute to me the honour of being de-
scended of your blood, having been challenged
to combat, I bring these equestrian spoils taken
from my antagonist, whom I slew." Which,
when the consul heard, turning away instantly
from the youth, in an angry manner, he ordered
an assembly to be called, by Sound of trumpet ;
and, when the troops had come together in full
numbers, he spoke in this manner : " Titus
Manlius, for as much as you, in contempt of
the consular authority, and of the respect due
to a father, have, contrary to our edict, fought
with the enemy, out of your post ; and, as far
as in you lay, subverted the military discipline,
by which the power of Rome has to this day
been supported ; and have brought me under
the hard necessity either of overlooking the in-
terests of the public, or my own, and those of
my nearest connections ; it is fitter that we un-
dergo the penalty of our own transgressions,
than that the commonwealth should expiate
our offences so injurious to it. We shall afford
a melancholy example, but a profitable one, to
the youth of all future ages. For my part, I own,
both the natural affection of a parent, and the

instance which you have shown of bravery, mis-
guided by a false notion of honour, affect me
deeply. But since the authority of a consul's
orders must either be established by your death ;
or, by your escaping with impunity, be annulled
for ever ; I expect that even you yourself, if
you have any of our blood in you, will not re-
fuse to restore, by your punishment, that mili-
tary discipline which has been subverted by
your fault. Go, lictor : bind him to the stake."
Shocked to the last degree at such a cruel or-
der, each looking on the axe as if drawn against
himself, all were quiet, through fear, rather than
discipline. They stood, therefore, for some
time motionless and silent ; but when the blood
spouted from his severed neck, then, their minds
emerging, as it were, from the stupefaction in
which they had been plunged, they all at once
united their voices in free expressions of com-
passion, refraining not either from lamentations
or execrations ; and covering the body of the
youth with the spoils, they burned it on a pile,
erected without the rampart, with every honour
which the warm zeal of the soldiers could be-
stow on a funeral. From thence ' Marlian or-
ders' were not only then considered with hor-
ror, but have been transmitted, as a model of
austerity, to future times. The harshness of
this punishment, however, rendered the sol-
diery more obedient to their commander ; while
the guards and watches, and the regulation of
the several posts, were thenceforth attended to
with greater diligence : this severity was also
found useful, when the troops, for the final de-
cision, went into the field of battle.

VIII. A battle between these two nations
much resembled that of a civil war ; for, except
in point of courage, there was a perfect similar-
ity between the Latines and Romans, in every
particular. The Romans formerly made use
of targets ; afterwards when they came to re-
ceive pay, they made shields for themselves,
instead of the targets ; and their army, which
before was composed of phalanxes, like those
of the Macedonians, began to be formed in a
line of distinct companies. At length a' far-
ther division was made of these, into centuries ;
each century containing sixty-two soldiers, one
centurion, and a standard-bearer. The spear-
men formed the first line in ten companies,
with small intervals between them. A com-
pany had twenty light armed soldiers, the rest
bearing shields ; those were called light, who
carried only a spear and short iron j

v. H. 415.]

OF ROME.

279

Tuis body, which formed the van in the field
of battle, contained the youth in early bloom,
who were advancing to the age of service ;
next to them followed the men of more robust
age, in the same number of companies, whom
they called Principes, all bearing shields, and
distinguished by the completcst armour. This
band of twenty companies they called Antepil-
ani, because there were, at the same time, ten
others placed behind them with the standards.
Of these companies, each was distinguished
into three divisions, and the iirst division of each
they called a Pilus. Each company had three
ensigns, and contained one hundred and eighty-
six men. The first ensign was at the head of
the Triarii, veteran soldiers of approved cour-
age; the second, at the head of the Rorarii,
men whose age, and course of service, afforded
less ability ; the third, at thac of the Accensi,
the body in whom they placed the least confi-
dence of all, for which reason also they were
thrown back to the last line. An army being
marshalled according to this disposition, the
spearmen first began the fijjht : if these were
unable to repulse the enemy, they retreated
leisurely, and the principes received them into
the intervals of their ranks. The fight then
rested on the principes, the spearmen following
in their rear. The veterans continued kneel-
ing behind the ensigns, with their left leg ex-
tended forward, holding their shields resting on
their shoulders, and their spears fixed in the
ground, with the points erect ; so that their
line presented an appearance of strength, like
that of a rampart. If the principes also failed
in making an impression upon the enemy, they
fell back slowly, from the front to the veterans.
Hence came into use the proverbial expression,
denoting a case of difficulty, tliat the affair had
come to the Triarii. These then, rising up,
received the principes arid spearmen into the
intervals of their ranks, and immediately clos-
ing their files, shut up, as it were, every open-
ing, and in one compact body fell upon the
enemy ; after which, there was no other resource
left. This was the most formidable circum-
stance to the enemy, when, after having pur-
sued them as vanquished, they saw a new line
of battle suddenly starting up, with an increase
of strength. The number of legions, generally
raised, was four, each consisting of four thou-
sand foot, and three hundred horse. To these,
an addition, of an equal number, used to be
njade by levies among the Latinos, with whom

the Romans were now to contend as enemies,
and who practised the same method in drawing
up their troops. So that it was well known,
that unless the ranks should be put out of their
order, they would have to engage, not only en-
sign against ensign, a body of every description
against one exactly similar, but even centurion
against centurion. There were among tin-
veterans two first centurions, one in each army ;
the Roman, deficient in bodily strength, but ••
man of courage and experience in service : the
Latine, exceedingly strong, and a first rate
warrior. These were perfectly well known to
each other, because they had always command-
ed centuries in equal rank. The Roman, dif-
fident of his strength, had, before he left Rome,
obtained permission from the consuls, to appoint
any one, whom he thought proper, his sub-ceiu
turion, to defend him against the one who was
destined to be bis antagonist ; and the youth
whom he chose, being opposed to the Latine
centurion in battle, obtained a victory over him.
The armies came to an engagement at a little
distance from the foot of mount Vesuvius,
where the road led to the Veseris.

IX. The Roman consuls, before they led
out their forces to the field, performed sacrifices.
We are told, that the aruspex showed to Decius,
that the head of the liver was wounded on the
side which respected himself, in other respects
the victim was acceptable to the gods : but
Manlius found, in his immolation, omens high-
ly favourable. On which Decius said, " All
is well yet, since my colleague's offering has
been accepted." With their troops, arrayed in
the order already described, they marched forth
to battle. Manlius commanded the right wing ;
Decius the left. At the beginning, the conflict
was maintained with equal strength on both
sides, and with equal courage. Afterwards,
the Roman spearmen, on the left wing, unable
to withstand the violent push made by the La-
tines, retreated to the principes. On this, dis-
order happening, the consul Decius called to
Marcus Valerius, with a loud voice, "Valerius,
we want the aid of the gods : as public pontiff*
of the Roman people, dictate to me the words
in which I may devote myself for the legions."
The pontiff then directed him to take the gown
called Pnetexta, and with his head covered,
and his hand thrust up under the gown to bis
chin, standing upon a spear laid under his feet,
to repeat these words : " O Janus, Jupiler,
father Mars, Quirinus, Bellona, ye Lares, ye

280

THE HISTORY

[BOOK via.

.gods Noveiis'iles,1 ye gods Indigttes, ye divi-
nities, under whose dominion we and our ene-
mies are, and ye gods of the infernal regions,
I beseech you, I adore you, I implore of you,
that ye may propitiously grant strength and
victory to the Roman people, the Quirites ; and
affect the enemies of the Roman people, the
Quirites, with terror, dismay, and death. In
such manner as I have expressed in words, so
do I devote the legions, and the auxiliaries of
our foes, together with myself, to the infernal
gods, and to earth, for the republic of the Ro-
mans, for the army, legions, and auxiliaries of
the Roman people, the Quirites." After he
had uttered these solemn words, he ordered his
lictors to go to Titus Manlius, and to inform
his colleague, without delay, that he had de-
voted himself for the army. Then girding
himself in the Gabine cincture, and taking his
arms, he leaped on his horse, and plunged into
the midst of the enemy. He appeared in the
view of both armies, much more majestic than
one of the human race, as if sent from heaven,
to expiate all the wrath of the gods, to avert
destruction from his friends, and transfer it to ]
the side of their enemies : accordingly, all the !
terror and dismay went along with him ; at [
first, disturbed the battalions of the Latines,
and then spread universally over their whole
line. This appeared most evidently, in that I
wherever he was carried by his horse, there
they were seized with a panic, as if struck by
some pestilent constellation : but where he
fell, overwhelmed with darts, manifest conster-
nation took possession of the cohorts of the
Latines, so that they fled from the spot, leaving
it void to a considerable extent. At the same
time, the Romans, their minds being delivered
from the dread of the gods, exerted themselves
with fresh ardour, as if they were then rushing
to the first onset, on receiving the signal.
Then even the Rorarii pushed forward among
the Antepilani, and added strength to the
spearmen and principes, and the veterans, rest-
ing on their right knee, waited for the consul's
nod to rise up to the fight.

X. Afterwards, in the course of the battle,
the Latines had the advantage in some places,
on account of their superior numbers. The con-
sul Manlius, who had heard the circumstances

1 The Novcnsilcs were nine deities brought to Rome j
by the Sabines : Lara, Vesta, Minerva, Feronia, Con- '
void, Faith, Fortune, Chance, Health.

of his colleague's death, and, as was justly due
to him, expressed his sentiments of the glorious
manner in which he died, both by tears, and by
the praises to which it was entitled, hesitated a
while whether it were yet time for the veterans
to rise : then judging it better to reserve them
fresh for the decisive blow, he ordered the
Accensi to advance from the rear, before the
standards. On their moving forward, the Li»
tines immediately called up their veterans,
thinking their adversaries had done the same ;
and when these by fighting furiously for a con-
siderable time, had fatigued themselves, and
either broken off the points of their spears, or
blunted them, yet continuing to drive back
their opponents, thinking that the fate of the
battle was nearly decided, and that they had
come to the last line, then the consul called to
the veterans, " Now arise, fresh as ye are,
against men who are fatigued, and think on your
country, your parents, your wives, and children;
think on your consul, submitting to death to
ensure your success." The veterans rising,
with their arms glittering, and receiving the
Antepilani into the intervals of their ranks pre-
sented a new face which was not foreseen ;
raising their shout, they broke the first line of
the Latines ; then after slaying those who con-
stituted the principal strength, forced their
way, almost without a wound, through the other
companies, as if through an unarmed crowd :
and, such havoc did they make in their thick-
est bands, that they left alive scarce a fourth
part of the enemy. The Samnites, who stood
in order of battle, at a distance, close to the
foot of the mountain, increased the fears of the
Latines. But of all, whether citizens, or
allies, the principal share of honour was due to
the consuls ; one of whom drew down, upon
his own single person, all the dangers and
threats denounced by the deities either of heav-
en or hell ; while the other displayed such a
degree both of courage and conduct, that it is
universally agreed among all who have trans-
mitted to posterity an account of that battle, both
Latines and Romans, that, on whichever side
Manlius had held the command, victory must
have attended. The Latines fled towards •
Minturnae. The body of Decius was not found
that day, night putting a stop to the search : on
the following, it was discovered pierced with
a multitude of darts, amidst vast heaps of
slaughtered enemies, and his funeral was so-
lemnized, under the direction of his colleague,

v. it. 415.]

OF ROME.

231

in H manner suited to his honourable death. It
seems proper to mention here, that it is allow-
able for a consul, dictator, and praetor, when
they devote the legions of thei r enemies, to de-
vote along with them not themselves in particu-
lar, but any citizen whom they choose, out of
a Roman legion regularly enrolled. " If the
person devoted perishes, the performance is
deemed complete. If he die not, then an im-
age seven feet high, or more, must be buried in
the earth, and a victim sacrificed, as an expia-
tion. Where that image shall be buried, there
it shall be unlawful for a Roman magistrate to
pass." But if he shall choose to devote him-
self, as Decius did, then " if he who devotes
himself, die not, he shall not be capable of per-
forming, with propriety, any act of worship, in
behalf either of himself, or of the public. Let
him have a right to devote his arms to Vulcan,
or to any other god, he shall do it, either by a
victim, or in any other mode. The enemy
should, if possible, be hindered from getting
possession of the weapon, on which the consul
stood when he uttered his imprecation : but if
they chance to attain it, an atonement must be
made to Mars by the sacrifices called Suove-
taurilia." Although the memoiy of every
divine and human rite has been obliterated
through the preference given to what is new and
foreign, above that which is ancient and the
growth of our own country, yet I thought it not
amiss to recite these particulars, as they have
been transmitted to us, and even in the very
words in which they were expressed.

XI. Several authors relate, that the Sam-
nites having waited to see the issue of the fight,
came up, at length, with support to the Ro-
mans, after the battle was ended. In like
manner, a reinforcement from Lavinium, after
wasting time in deliberation, set out to the aid
of the Latines, after they had been vanquished ;
and when the first standards and part of the
army had passed the gates, receiving informa-
tion of the overthrow of the Latines, they faced
about, and returned to the city ; on which their
praetor, named Millionius, is reported to have
said, that "a high price must be paid to the
Romans for so short a journey." Such of the
Latines as survived the fight, after being scat-
tered through different roads, collected them-
selves in a body, and took refuge in the city of
Vescia. There their general Numisius in-
sisted, in their meetings, that " the variable
chances of war had mined both armies, by equal

I.

losses, and that the name only of victory wiw
on the side of the Romans ; and that they were,
in fact, no better than defeated. The two pa-
vilions of their consuls were polluted ; one by
the parricide committed on a son ; the other,
by the death of a devoted consul : every part of
their army had suffered great slaughter : their
spearmen and their first rank were cut to
pieces ; and, both before and behind their stan-
dards, multitudes were slain, until the veterans
at last restored their cause. Now, although
the forces of the Latines were reduced in an
equal proportion, yet still, for the purpose of
procuring reinforcements, either Latium, or
the territory of the Volscians, was nearer than
Rome. Wherefore, if they approved of it, he
would with all speed call out the youth from
the states of the Latines and Volscians ; would
march back to Capua, with an army prepared
for action, and while the Romans thought of
nothing less than a battle, strike them with dis-
may by his unexpected arrival." The misre-
presentations contained in his letters, which he
despatched round Latium and the Volscian
nation, were the more easily credited by the
people, as they had not been present at the
battle, and in consequence, a tumultuary army
levied in haste assembled together from all quar-
ters. This body the consul Torquatus met at
Trisanum, a place between Sinuessa and Min-
turna?. Without waiting to choose ground for
camps, both parties threw down their baggage
in heaps, and immediately began an engage-
ment, which decided the fate of the war : for
the strength of the Latines was so entirely
broken, that, on the consul leading his victor-
ious army to ravage their country, they all
submitted themselves to his mercy, and their
submission was followed by that of the Cam-
panians. A forfeiture of a portion of their
territory was exacted from Latium and Capua.
The Latine lands, to which the Privernian
were added, and also the Falernian, which had
belonged to the people of Campania, as far
as the river Vulturnus, M-ere distributed lo
the Roman commons. Of two acres, the
portion allotted to each, three-fourths were
assigned them in the Latine ground, the
complement to be made up out of the Priver-
nian. In the Falernian, three acres were given
to each, the addition of one being made in con-
sideration of the distance. Of the Latines, the
Laurentians were exempted from punishment,
as were the Campanian horsemen, because they
2N

282

THE HISTORY

vin.

had not joined in the revolt. An order was
made, that the treaty should be renewed with
the Laurentians, and from that time this lias
been annually done, on the tenth day after the
Latine festival. The privileges of citizens
were granted to the Campanian horsemen ; and
as a monument thereof they hung up a tablet
in the temple of Castor at Rome. The peo-
ple of Campania were also enjoined to pay them
a yearly stipend of four hundred and fifty de-
narii ' each ; their number amounted to one
thousand six hundred.

XII. The war being thus brought to a con-
clusion, Titus Manlius, after distributing re-
wards and punishments, according to the me-
rits and demerits of each, returned to Rome.
On his arrival there, it appeared that none but
the aged came out to meet him, and that the
young, both then and during the whole of his
life, detested and cursed him. The Antians,
having made inroads on the territories of Ostia,
Ardea, and Solonia, the consul Manlius, unable
on account of the ill state of his health, to act
against them in person, nominated dictator Lu-
cius Papirius Crassus, who happened at the
time to be praetor, and he constituted Lucius
Papirius Cursor master of the horse. Nothing
worth mention was performed against the An-
tians by the dictator, although he kept his army
in a fixed camp, in the territory of Antium,
during several months. To this year, which
was signalized by conquest over so many, and
such powerful nations, and besides, by the glo-
rious death of one of the consuls, and the other's
unrelenting severity in command, by which he
has been rendered for ever memorable, succeed-
ed, as consuls, Tiberius .^Emilius Mamercinus,
and Quintus Publilius Philo, [Y. R. 416. B.
C. 336.] who found not equal opportunity for
the display of abilities ; and were, besides,
more attentive to their private interests, and
the parties which divided the state, than to the
public good. The Latines taking arms Again,
out of resentment for being deprived of their
lands, were defeated, and driven out of their
camp, in the plains of Ferentinum ; and while
Publilius, under whose conduct and auspices the
battle had been fought, was employed there in
receiving the submissions of the Latine states,
who had lost the greater part of their young
men in the engagement, ^Jmilius led the army
towards Pedum. The people of this city were

1 Fourteen pounds, ten shillings, and seven-pence
halfpenny.

supported by the Tiburtine, Praenestine, and
Veliternian states : auxiliaries also came to
them from Lavinium and Antium. Though
the Romans had here the superidrity in several
engagements, yet the most difficult part of the
business remained still to be attempted at the
city of Pedum itself, and at the camp of the
combined states, which lay close to the walls ;
when the consul, on hearing that a triumph had
been decreed to his colleague, hastily left the
war unfinished, and repaired to Rome to de-
mand a triumph for himself, before he had ob-
tained a victory. The senate, offended at his
ambitious proceeding, refused to grant it, until
Pedum should either surrender or be taken.
This so alienated ^milius from their interests,
that he acted, during the remainder of his con-
sulate, like a seditious tribune ; for, as long as
he continued in office, he never ceased crimi-
nating the patricians in harangues to the people,
which his colleague, who was himself a plebei-
an, took no pains to prevent. The charges he
brought against them were grounded on a scanty
distribution of the Latine and Falernian lands •.
and when the senate, wishing to put an end to
the administration of the consuls, ordered a dic-
tator to be nominated, to conduct the war
against the Latines, who were again in arms,
^Emilius, who was the acting consul at the
time, nominated his colleague dictator, who ap-
pointed Junius Brutus master of the horse.
The dictatorship of Publilius was popular, for
his discourses were replete with invectives
against the patricians. He at the same time
passed three laws, highly advantageous to the
commons, and injurious to the nobility : one,
that the orders of the commons should bind all
the Romans ; another, that the senate should,
previous to the taking of the suffrages, declare
their approbation of all laws which should be
passed in the assemblies of the centuries ; the
third, that one of the censors should, necessa-
rily, be elected out of the commons, as it had
been already established that both the consuls
might be plebeians. In the judgment of the
patricians, the detriment sustained that year, at
home, from the behaviour of the consuls and
dictator, was more than a counterbalance to the
increase of empire, through their conduct und
successes in war.

XIII. At the commencement of the next
year, [Y. R. 417. B. C. 335.] in which
Lucius Furius Camillus, and Cains Mseniiis,
were consuls, the senate, in order to render

v. u. 417.]

OF ROME.

283

itioiv conspicuous the conduct of .Kmiliu-, in
idin<|uishing the business of the campaign,
.varmly urged that men, arms, and every kind
of force, should be employed to take Pedum,
and demolish it- The new consuls were of
course obliged to postpone every other busi-
ness, and to set out thither. In 1 .at inm, the
state of affairs was such, that the people could
ill endure either war or peace ; their strength
was not equal to the support of a war, and
peace they disdained, on the humiliating terms
of losing their lands. They resolved, there-
fore, to steer a middle course ; to keep within
the walls of their towns, so that no provoca-
tion should be offered to the Romans, which
might serve them as a pretext for hostilities ;
and in case they should hear of siege being laid
to any of their possessions, then, that every
one of the estates should be obliged to bring
succour to the besieged. Pedum, however,
received aid from few ; the Tiburtians and
Praenestians, whose territories lay nearest, ar-
rived there ; but the Aricians, Lavinians, and
Veliternians, while forming a junction with
the Volscians of Antium, at the river Astura,
were unexpectedly attacked by Maenius, and
routed. The Tiburtians, who were much the
strongest body, Camillus fought at Pedum ;
and, though he had greater difficulties to sur-
mount, yet the issue was equally successful.
Some confusion happened, occasioned, prin-
cipally, by a sudden eruption of the townsmen,
during the fight : but Camillus, making part of
his troops face about, not only drove them
within the walls, but, after utterly discomfiting
both themselves and their allies, took the city
the same day by scalnde. It was then resolved,
their troops being flushed with victory, that
they should proceed until they had made an
entire conquest of all Latium. This plan they
prosecuted without intermission, making them-
selves masters of some of the towns by force,
and of others by capitulation, reducing the
entire country to subjection. Then leaving
garrisons in the conquered places, they returned
to Rome, to enjoy the triumph, to which all
men allowed they were justly entitled. To a
triumph was added the honour of having eques-
trian statues erected to them in the forum, a
compliment very rare in that age. Before the
assembly for electing consuls was called for the
ensuing year, Camillus moved the senate to
tnke into consideration the conduct to be ob-
served towards the states of Latium, and pro-

ceeded in this manner: •• Conscript father*,
Whatever was to be effected in Latium, by
means of arms and military operations, has
now, through the favour of the gods, and the
valour of your soldiers, been fully accomplished.
The armies of our enemies have been cut to
pieces at Pedum, and the Astura ; all the
towns of Latium, and Antium, in the Vol-
scian territory, either taken by storm, or sur-
rendered, are held by your garrisons. It
remains then to be considered, since the fre-
quent rebellions <>l these people are the cause
of so much trouble, by what means we may
secure their quiet submission, and peaceable
behaviour. The attainment of this end, the
immortal gods have placed within your reach,
insomuch that they have given you the power
of determining whether Latium shall longer
exist, or not. Ye can therefore ensure to
yourselves perpetual peace, as far as regards the
Latines, by the means either of severity, or of
mercy. Do ye choose to adopt cruel measures
against people vanquished, arid submitting to
your authority ? Ye may utterly destroy all
Latium, and make a desart of a country, from
which, in many and difficult wars, ye have oftep
been supplied with a powerful army of allies.
Do ye choose, on the contrary, and in con-
formity to the practice of your ancestors, to
augment the Roman state, by receiving the
vanquished into the number of your citizens ?
Here is a large addition which ye may acquire,
by means which will redound most highly to
your glory. That government, which the sub-
jects feel happy in obeying, stands certainly on
the firmest of all foundations. But whatever
your determination may be, it is necessary that
it be speedy : as all those states are, at present,
suspended between hope and fear. It is there-
fore of importance that ye should be discharged,
as soon as possible, from all solicitude concern-
ing them ; and also, that, either by punishment
or clemency, an immediate impression be made
on their minds, before they recover from the
state of insensibility into which the uncertainty
of their fate has thrown them. It was our
part to bring the business to such an issue, that
your deliberations concerning it should be un
restrained in every particular. It is now yours
to determine what is most advantageous to
yourselves and the commonwealth."

XIV. The principal members of the senate
highly approved of the consul's statement of
the business, on the whole : but said, that ' as

284

THE HISTORY

[BOOK vni.

the states were differently circumstanced, it
would conduce to an easy adjustment of the
plan, so as that their resolutions should be
conformable to the several merits of each, if
he put the question, on the case of each state,
separately." The question was accordingly put,
and a decree past with respect to each singly.
The Lunarians were admitted members of the
state ; the exercise of their public worship was
restored to them, with a provision, that the
grove and temple of Juno Sospita should be in
common, between the burghers ' of Lanuvium,
and the Roman people. On the same terms
with these, the Aricians, Nomentans, and Pe-
dans, were received into the number of citizens.
To the Tusculans, the rights of citizens, of
which they were already in possession, were
continued ; and the guilt of the rebellion,
instead of being imputed to disaffection in the
state, was thrown on a few incendiaries. On
the Veliternians, who were Roman citizens of
an old standing, in resentment of their having
so often arisen in rebellion, severe vengeance
•was inflicted : their walls were razed, and their
senate driven into banishment ; they were also
enjoined to dwell on the farther side of the
Tiber, with a denunciation that if any of them
should be caught on the hither side of that
river, the fine to be paid for his discharge should
be no less than one thousand asses,8 and that
the person apprehending him, should not release
him from confinement, until the money should
be paid. Into the lands, which had belonged
to their senators, colonists were sent, from the
addition of whose numbers Velitrae recovered
the appearance of its former populousness. To
Antium, also, a new colony was sent, permis-

1 Munieipes, from munus, a right, and capere, to pos-
sess. Of the conquered countries the Romans consti-
tuted some, Municipia, where the people retained their
own laws and magistrates, and even honoured with the
title, and, some of them, with all the rights and privi-
leges of Roman citizens. The people of Caere were the
first who were thus indulged with full rights; but,
afterwards, having joined some neighbouring states, in
a war against Rome, all the privileges of citizens were
taken from them, and the title only left. In other coun-
tries they planted colonies of their own citizens; by
which means they disburthened the city of numbers of
useless and poor inhabitants, and, at the same time,
formed barriers against the adjoining states. Colonists
retained all the rights of citizens, chose their own ma-
gistrates, and formed a kind of petty republics, under
that of Rome. Other countries were made prefectures,
deprived of their own laws and magistrates, and govern-
ed by a prcefect sent annually from Rome.
2 3/. 4j. 7*

sion being granted, at the same time, to the
Antians, of having themselves enrolled therein
if they chose it. The ships of war were taken
from them, and the people wholly interdicted
from meddling with maritime affairs ; but the
rights of citizens were granted to them. The
Tiburtians and Praenestians were amerced in a
portion of their lands ; not merely on account
of their recent crime of rebellion, common to
them with the rest of the Latines, but because
they had formerly, in disgust at the Roman
government, associated in arms with the Gauls,
a nation of savages. From the other states
they took away the privileges of intermarriage,
commerce, and holding assemblies. To the
Campanians, in compliment to their horsemen,
who had refused to join in rebellion with the
Latines, as likewise to the Fundans and For-
mians, because the troops had always found a
safe and quiet passage through their territories,
the freedom of the state was granted, without
right of suffrage. The states of Cumae, and
Suessula, it was decreed, should be placed on
the same footing, and enjoy the same privileges,
as Capua. Of the ships of the Antians, some
were' drawn up into the docks at Rome ; the
rest were burned, and with the prows of these
a pulpit, built in the forum, was ordered to be
decorated, hence called Rostra.3

XV. During the succeeding consulate of
Caius Sulpicius Longus, and Publius .Klius
Ptetus, [Y. R. 418. B. C. 334.] whilst all the
neighbouring states were sincerely disposed,
not more through consideration of the power
of the Romans, than grateful sentiments inspir-
ed by their generous conduct, to cultivate peace
with them, a quarrel broke out between the
Sidicinians and the Auruncians. The latter,
having been formerly, on their submission, ad-
mitted into alliance, by Titus Manlius, in his
consulate, had ever since demeaned themselves
peaceably,for which reason they weremore justly
entitled to expect assistance from the Romans.
But, before the consuls led out the army, (for the
senate had ordered the Auruncians to be support-
ed,) intelligence was brought, that these, through
fear, had deserted their city, and, removing
with their wives and children, had fortified
Suessa, which is now called Aurunea, and that
their former dwellings and fortifications were
demolished by the Sidicinians. The senate,
highly displeased with the consuls, in conse-

3 From rostrum, the beak or prow of a ship.

Y. it. 421.]

OF ROME.

qucnce of whose dilatory proceedings their
allies had been disappointed of support, ordered
a dictator to be nominated. Caius Claudius
Regilk'iisis, being accordingly appointed, chose
Cains Claudius Hortator master of the horse.
A scruple afterwards arose concerning the dic-
tator, and the augurs having declared his crea-
tion informal, both he and the master of the
horse abdicated their offices. This year, Mi-
nui-ia. a vestal, falling at first under suspicion
of incontinence, because of her dressing in a
style of elegance beyond what became her situ-
ation, and being afterwards prosecuted before
the pontiffs, on the testimony of a slave, was,
by their decreee, ordered to refrain from med-
dling in sacred rites, and to retain her slaves
under her own power.' Being afterwards
brought to trial, she was buried alive, at the
Colline gate, on the right hand of the causeway
in the field of wickedness, which was so deno-
minated, I suppose, from her crime. The
same year Quintus Publilius Philo was the
first plebeian elected praetor. He was opposed
by the consul Sulpicius, who refused to admit
him as a candidate ; but the senate, having
failed of carrying their point, with respect to
the highest offices, showed the less earnestness
about the praetorship.

XVI. The following year, [Y. R. 419. B.
C. 333.] wherein Lucius Papirius Crassus,
and Casso Duilius were consuls, was distin-
guished by a war with the Ausonians, which
deserves notice, rather as they were a new c-ne-
njy, than on account of its importance. Thk
people inhabited the city Cales : they had
united their arms with their neighbours the
Sidicinians, yet the forces of the two nations
were defeated, in a single battle, without any
great difficulty. Their cities being near at
hand, induced them to quit the field the earlier,
and also afforded them shelter after their flight.
However, the senate did not, on this, desist
from the prosecution of the war, being pro-
voked at the Sidicinians having so often*taken
arms against them, either as principals or aux-
iliaries. They therefore exerted their utmost
endeavours to raise to the consulship, the fourth
time, Marcus Valerius Corvus, the greatest
general of that age. [Y. R. 4.20. B. C. 332.]
The colleague joined with him was Marcus
Atilius Regulus ; and lest chance might frus-
trate their wishes, a request was made to the

I Fur, if she hod made them free, they r.uiUl not hare
b«cn rxuimnril by the torture.

consuls, that, without casting lots, that province
might be assigned to Corvus. Receiving the
victorious army from the former consuls, he
marched directly to Cales, where the 'war had
its rise : and having, at the first onset, routed
the enemy, who were disheartened by the re-
collection of the former engagement, he direct-
ed his operations against the town itself. Such
was the ardour of the soldiers, that they wanted
to proceed directly up to the walls with lad-
ders, asserting, that they would quickly scale
them ; but that being a hazardous attempt,
Corvus chose to effect his purpose by the la-
bour of his men, rather than at the expense of
so much danger to them ; he therefore formed
a rampart, prepared machines, and advanced
towers up to the walls. But an opportunity,
which accidentally presented itself, prevented
his having occasion to use them : for Marcus
Fabius, a Roman, who was prisoner there, hav-
ing broken his chains, while his guards were
inattentive on a festival day, by fastening a rope
to one of the battlements, let himself down
among the Roman works, and persuaded the
general to make an assault on the enemy, while,
in consequence of feasting and drinking, they
were disqualified for action. And thus the
Ausonians, together with their city, were cap-
tured with as little difficulty as they had been
defeated in the field. The booty found there
was immense, and the legions, leaving a garri-
son at Cales, returned to Rome. The consul
triumphed, in pursuance of a decree of the
senate ; and, in order that Atilius should not
be without a share of honour, both the consuls
were ordered to lead the troops against the
Sidicinians. But first, in obedience to the
senate, they nominated dictator, for the pur-
pose of holding the elections, Lucius .Kmiliu>
Hamercinus, who named Quintus Publilius
Philo master of the horse. [Y. R, 421. B. C.
331.] The dictator presiding at the election,
Titus Veturius and Spurius Postumius were
created consuls. Notwithstanding the war
with the Sidicinians remained unfinished, yet
being desirous to prevent, by an act of gener-
osity, the wishes of the commons, they pro-
posed to the senate the sending a colony to
i Cales ; and a decree being passed that two
thousand five hundred men should be enrolled
for that purpose, they constituted Cieso Duilius,
Titus Quintius, and Marcus Fabius, commis-
' sioners for conducting the colony, and distrib-
. uting the lands.

286

THE HISTORY

QBOOK vni.

XVII. The new consuls, receiving from
their predecessors the command of the army,
inarched into the enemy's country, and carried
devastation even to the walls of their capital.
There, because it wsis expected that the Sidi-
cinians, who had collected a vast body of forces,
would make a vigorous struggle in support of
their last hope, and a report also prevailing that
Samnium was preparing for hostilities, the con-
suls, by direction of the senate, nominated dic-
tator, Publius Cornelius Rufinus, who appoint-
ed Marcus Antonius his master of the horse.
A doubt afterwards arose, with respect to the
regularity of their creation, on which they ab-
dicated their offices, and a pestilence ensuing,
recourse was had to an interregnum, as if the
auspices of every office had been infected by
that irregularity. Under Marcus Valerius
Corvus, the fifteenth interrex from the com-
mencement of the interregnum, consuls were
at last elected, Aulus Cornelius a second time,
and Cneius Domitius. [Y. R. 422. B. C.
330.] While things were in a state of tranquil-
lity, a report, which was spread, that the Gauls
were in arms, produced the same effect which
a war with that people usually did, a resolution
to create a dictator : Marcus Papirius Crassus
was nominated to that office, and Publius Val-
erius Publicola to that of master of the horse ;
and while they were busy in levying troops,
with greater diligence than would have been
deemed requisite in the case of war with any
neighbouring state, intelligenc was brought, by
scouts despatched for the purpose, that all was
quiet among the Gauls. Suspicions were also
entertained that Samnium still continued, dur-
ing this year, in a disposition to raise new dis-
turbances ; for which reason, the Roman troops
were not withdrawn from the country of the Si-
dicinians. An attack made by Alexander king
of Epirus, on the Lucanians, drew the Sam-
nites to that quarter where those two nations
fought a pitched battle with the king as he was
making a descent on the side of the country ad-
joining Ptestum. Alexander, having gained
the victory, concluded a treaty of amity with
the Romans ; with what degree of faith he
would have observed it, had the rest of his en-
terprises proved successful, it is hard to say.
The census, or general survey, was performed
this year, and the new citizens rated ; on whose
account, two additional tribes were constituted,
the Miecian and Scaptian, by the censors Quin-
tus Piiblilius Philo, and Spurius Postumius.

The Acerrans were enrolled as Romans, in
pursuance of a law introduced by the pnetor,
Lucius Papirius, which granted them the privi-
leges of citizens, excepting the right of suffrage.
Such were the transactions, foreign and domes-
tic, of this year.

XVIII. The following year [Y. R. 423.
B. C. 329.] exhibited a shocking scene,
whether occasioned by the intemperature of the
air, or by the wickedness of the people. The
consuls were Marcus Claudius Marcellus, and
Caius Valerius, either Flaccus or Potitus, for
I find these different surnames of the consul in
the annals ; it is, however, a matter of little
consequence, which of them be the true one.
There is another account, which I could heartily
wish were false : that those persons, whose
deaths distinguished this year as disastrous, on
account of the extraordinary mortality, were
cut off by poison. Although this particular be
not mentioned by all the historians of this
period, yet, that I may not detract from the
credit of any writer, I shall relate the matter
as it has been handed down to us. While the
principal persons of the state died, by disorders
of the same kind, and which were attended with
the same issue in every case, a certain maid
servant undertook, before Quintus Fabius
Maximus, curule aedile, to discover the cause
of the general malady, provided security were
given her on the public faith, that she should
not be a sufferer in consequence. Fabius im-
mediately reported the affair to the consuls, and
the consuls to the senate, and, by order of that
body, the public faith was pledged to the infor-
mer. She then stated to them, that the
calamity, which afflicted the nation, was caused
by the wicked contrivances of certain women ;
that some matrons were, at the time, pre-
paring drugs for the purpose ; and that,
if they would be pleased to go along with
her without delay, they might detect them in
the fact. Accordingly, they followed the in-
formant, and found several women preparing
drugs, and also quantities of the same laid up,
which being brought into the forum, and the
matrons, in whose custody they were found, to
the number of twenty, being summoned by a
beadle, two of them, Cornelia and Sergia, both
of patrician families, asserted that those dnigs
were wholesome ; while the informant main-
tained the contrary ; and insisted on their
drinking them, in order to convict her of having
invented a falsehood. On this, having taken

v. H. 425.]

OF ROME.

287

time to confer together, and in the open view
of all, a space being cleared for them, they
drank off the preparation, and all perished by
means of their own wicked device. Their at-
tendants., being instantly seized, gave informa-
tion against a great number of matrons, of whom
no less than one hundred and seventy were con-
demned. Until that day, no person had ever
been tried at Rome for poisoning. The affair
WHS deemed a prodigy, and seemed more the
result of madness, than of vicious depravity.
Wherefore, mention being found in the annals,
that formerly, on occasion of the secessions of
the commons, (a disastrous time) the ceremony
of driving the nail had been performed by a die-
tator, and that by that expiation, the minds of
men, which were distracted by discord, had been
restored to their proper state, it was resolved
that a dictator should be nominated for the pur-
pose. Cneius Quintus being accordingly creat-
ed, appointed Lucius Valerius master of the
horse, and, us soon us the nail was driven, they
abdicated their offices. [Y. R. 424.. B. C. 32a]
XIX. Lucius Papirius Crassns, and Lucius
Plautius Venno were the consuls for the next
year; [Y. R, 4-25. B. C. 327.] in the begin-
ning of which, ambassadors came to Rome from
Fabrateria and Polusca, two Volscian states,
praying to be admitted into alliance ; and pro-
mising, that if they were protected against the
arms of the Samnites, they would ever continue
faithful and obedient subjects to the government
of the Roman people. On this, ambassadors
were sent by the senate, to require of the Sam-
nites, that they should offer no violence to the
territories of those states ; and this embassy
produced the desired effect, rather because the
Samnites were not yet prepared for war, than
that they were desirous of peace. This year,
war broke out with the people of Privernum :
these were supported by the inhabitants of Fun-
di, of which country was also the commander-
in-chief, Vitruvius Vaccus, a man of consider-
able note, not only at home, but at Rome also.
He had a house on the Palatine hill, on the
spot which after the buildings were razed, and
the ground thrown open, was called Vaccipra-
t.i.' He was committing great depredations in
the districts of Setia, Norba, and Cora, to op-
pose him, therefore Lucius Papirius began his
march, and took post at a small distance from
his camp. Vitruvius neither took the prudent

I Or tht» field of Varrua, from pratum, a field.

resolution of remaining within his trenches, in
the presence of an enemy, his superior in strength,
nor bad he the courage to fight at any great dis-
tance from them. Without either judgment in
forming, or boldness in executing hJU plan, he
entered on an engagement, while the last of his
troops had scarcely got out of the gate of the
camp, and his men were in a disposition rather
to fly back thither, than to face the enemy.
After some slight efforts, he was compelled to
give up the contest entirely ; but, by reason of
the shortness of the distance, and the ease with
which he could regain his camp, he saved his
army, without much difficulty, from any great
loss, few falling either in the action or in the
retreat. As soon as it grew dark, they removed
in haste and disorder to Privernum, choosing to
entrust their safety to walls, rather than to a
rampart. The other consul, Plautius, after
wasting the country on every side, and driving
off the spoil, led his army from Privernum into
the territory of Fundi. On entering the bor-
ders, he was met by the senate of that state,
who declared, that " they came not to intercede
for Vitruvius, and those who had followed his
faction, but for the people of Fundi, who, in the
judgment of Vitruvius himself, were clear from
all blame of the war, as he showed by repairing
for safety, after his defeat, to Privernum, and
not to Fundi, his native city. At Privernum,
therefore, the enemies of the Roman people
were to be sought, and punished ; who, regard-
less of their duty to both countries, had revolted
at once from Fundi and from Rome. The
Fundians were in a state of peace, their minds
were Roman, and impressed with a grateful re-
membrance of the privilege of citizens imparted
to them : they besought the consul that he
would not treat as enemies an unoffending peo-
ple ; assuring him, that their lands, their city,
and their persons, were, and ever should be, in
the disposal of the Roman people." The con-
sul commended their conduct ; and, despatching
letters to Rome, that the Fundians had pre-
served their allegiance, turned his march to Pri -
vernum. Claudius writes, that he first inflicted
punishment on those who had been the principal
abettors of the conspiracy ; that three hundred
and fifty were sent in chains to Rome ; but that
the senate did not accept their submission, be-
cause they thought that the people of Fundi
meant, by consigning to punishment these men,
who were mean and indigent, to secure impu-
nity to themselves.

288

THE HISTORY

[BOOK vin.

XX. While tbe two consular armies were
employed in the siege of Privernum, one of the
consuls was recalled to Rome, to preside at the
elections. This year gaols were first erected
in the circus. While the attention of the pub-
lic was still occupied by the Privernian war, it
was forcibly attracted by an alarming report of
the Gauls being in arms, a matter at no time
slighted by the senate. The new consuls,
therefore, Lucius ^Kmilius Mamercinus, and
Caius Plautius, on the calends of July, [Y. R.
426. B.C. 326.] the very day on which they
entered into office, received orders to settle the
provinces immediately between themselves.
Mamercinus, to whom the Gallic war fell, was
directed to levy troops, without admitting any
plea of immunity : nay, it is said, that even the
rabble of handicrafts, and those of sedentary
trades, of all the worst qualified for military
service, were called out ; by which means a vast
army was collected at Veii, in readiness to meet
the Gauls. It was not thought proper to pro-
ceed to a greater distance, lest the Gauls might
by some other route, arrive at the city without
being observed. In the course of a few days it
was found, on a careful enquiry, that every thing
on that side was quiet at the time ; and tbe
whole force, which was to have opposed the
Gauls, was then turned against Privernum.
Of the issue of the business, there are two dif-
ferent accounts : some say, that the city was
taken by storm ; and that Vitruvius fell alive
into the hands of the conquerors : others, that
the townsmen to avoid the extremities of a
storm, presented the rod of peace, and surren-
dered to the consul ; and that Vitruvius was
delivered up by his troops. The senate, being
consulted with respect to Vitruvius and the
Privernians, sent directions, that the consul
Plautius should demolish the walls of Priver-
num, and, leaving a strong garrison there, come
home to enjoy the honour of a triumph ; at the
same time ordering that Vitruvius should be
kept in prison, until the return of the consul,
and that he should then be beaten with rods,
and put to death. His house, which stood on
the Palatine hill, they commanded to be razed
to the ground, and his effects to be devoted to
Semo Sancus. With the money produced by
the sale of them, brazen globes were formed,
and placed in the chapel of Sancus, opposite to
the temple of Quirinus. As to the senate of
Privernum, it was commanded, that every per-
son who had continued to act as a senator of

Privernum, after the revolt from the Romans,
should reside on the farther side of the Tiber,
under the same restrictions as those of Velitrae.
After the passing of these decrees, there was
no farther mention of the Privernians, until
Plautius had triumphed. When that ceremony
was over, and Vitruvius, with his accomplices,
had been put to death, the consul thought that the
people's resentment being now fully gratified
by the sufferings of the guilty, he might safely
introduce the business of the Privernian state,
which he did in the following manner : " Con-
script fathers, since the authors of the revolt
have received, both from the immortal gods and
from you, the punishment due to their crime,
what do ye judge proper to be done, with re-
spect to the guiltless multitude ? For my part,
although my duty consists rather in collecting
the opinions of others, than in offering my own,
yet, when I reflect that the Privernians are si-
tuated in the neighbourhood of the Samnites,
with whom it is exceedingly uncertain how long
we shall be at peace, I cannot help wishing, that
as little ground of animosity as possible may be
left between them and us."

XXI. The affair naturally admitted of a
diversity of opinions, while each agreeably to
his particular temper, recommended either se-
verity or lenity; and the debate was still far-
ther perplexed, by the behaviour of one of the
Privernian ambassadors, more conformable to
the prospects to which he had been born, than
to the insuperable exigency of the present junc-
ture : for being asked by one of the advocates
for severity, " What punishment be thought the
Privernians deserved ?" he answered, " Such as
those deserve, who deem themselves worthy of
liberty." The consul observing, that by this
stubborn answer, the adversaries of the cause
of the Privernians were the more exasperated
against them, arid wishing, by a question of fa-
vourable import, to draw from him a more con-
ciliating reply, said to him, " What if we remit
the punishment, in what manner may we expect
that ye xwill observe the peace which shall be
established between us ?" He replied, " If the
peace which ye grant us be a good one, invio-
lably and eternally ; if bad, for no long continu-
ance." On this, several exclaimed, that the Pri-
vernian menaced them, and not in ambiguous
terms ; and that such expressions were calcu-
lated to excite rebellion. But the more reason-
able part of the senate interpreted his answers
more favourably, and said, that " the words

Y. R. 428."!

OF ROME.

289

which they had heard were those of a man,
and of one who knew what it was to be free.
Could it be believed that any people, or even
any individual, would remain, longer than ne-
cessity constrained, in a situation which he felt
painful? That the terms of a peace were
faithfully observed, only when they were volun-
tarily accepted ; but that it was abs'ird to ex-
pect fidelity, when attempts were made to
establish slavery." In this opinion they were
led to concur, principally, by the consul him-
self, who frequently observed to the consulars,
who had proposed the different resolutions, in
such a manner as to be heard by the rest, that
" surely those men who thought of nothing but
liberty, were worthy of being made Romans."
They consequently carried their cause in the
senate : and moreover, by direction of that
body, a proposal was laid before the people,
that the freedom of the state should be granted
to the Privernians. This year a colony of
three hundred was sent to Anxur, and received
two acres of land each.

XXII. The year following, [Y. R 427.
B. C. 325.] in which the consuls were Pub-
lius Plautius Proculus, and Publius Cornelius
Scapula, was remarkable for no one transac-
tion, civil or military, except the sending of a
colony to Fregellae, a district which had be-
longed to the Sidicinians, and afterwards to the
Volscians ; and a distribution of meat to the
people, made by Marcus Flavius, on occasion
of the funeral of his mother. There were
many who represented, that, under the appear-
ance of doing honour to his parent, he was
making recompense to the people, for having
acquitted him, when prosecuted by the aediles
on a charge of having debauched a married
woman. This donative, intended as a return
for favours shown on the trial, proved also the
means of procuring him the honour of a public
office ; for, at the next election of plebeian
tribunes, though absent, he was preferred before
the candidates who solicited in person. The
city Pala>polis was situated at no great distance
from the spot where Neapolis now stands.
The two cities were inhabited by one people :
these came from Cumae, and the Cumans de-
rive their origin from Chalcis in Euboea. By
means of the fleet in which they had been con-
veyed hither, they possessed great power on
flu- coast of the sea, near which they dwelt.
Their first landing was on the islands of jEna •
ria, and the Pithacuse : afterwards they TCII-

1.

tured to transfer their settlement to the con.
tinent. This state, relying on their own
strength, and also on the disposition of the
Samnites, to come to a rupture with the Ro-
mans ; or, encouraged by the report of a pesti-
lence, having attacked the city of Rome, com-
mitted various acts of hostility against the Ro-
mans settled in the Campanian and Falernian
territories. Wherefore, in the succeeding con-
sulate of Lucius Cornelius, and Quintus Pub-
lilius Philo a second time, [Y. R, 428. B. C.
324.] heralds being sent to Palsepolis to de-
mand satisfaction, and a haughty answer being
returned by these Greeks, a race more mag-
nanimous in words than in action, the people,
in pursuance of the direction of the senate,
ordered war to be declared against them. On
settling the provinces between the consuls, the
war against the Greeks fell to Publilius. Cor-
nelius, with another army, was appointed to
watch the motions of the Samnites : and a re-
port prevailing, of an expected revolt in Cam-
pania, in which case they intended to march
their troops thither, that was judged the pro-
perest station for him.

XXIII. The senate received information,
from both the consuls, that there was very
little hope of peace with the Samnites. Pub-
lilius informed them, that two thousand sol-
diers from Nolae, and four thousand of the
Samnites, had been received into Palspolis, a
measure rather forced on the Greeks by the
Nolans, than agreeable to their inclination.
Cornelius wrote, that a levy of troops had been
ordered, that all Samnium was in motion, and
that the neighbouring states of Privcnium,
Fundi, and Formiae, were openly solicited to
join them. It was thought proper, that, before
hostilities were commenced, ambassadors should
be sent to expostulate on these subjects with
the Samnites, who answered in a haughty man-
ner ; they even went so far as to accuse the
Romans of behaving injuriously towards them ;
but, nevertheless, they took pains to acquit
themselves of the charges made against them,
asserting, that " their state had not given
either counsel or aid to the Greeks, nor used
any solicitations, on their behalf, to the Fun-
dians, or Formians : for, if they were dis-
posed to war, they had not the least reason
to be diffident of their own strength. How-
ever, they could not dissemble, that it gave
i!iv;it offence to the state of the Samnites,
that Frcgclla1, a town which they had taken
2 O

290

THE HISTORY

[ROOK virr.

from the Volscians, and demolished, should
have been rebuilt by the Romans ; and that
they should have established a colony within
the territory of the Samnites, to which their
colonists gave the name of Fregellae. This
injury and affront, if not done away by the
authors, they were determined themselves to
remove, by the most effectual means in their
power." One of the Roman ambassadors pro-
posed to discuss the matter, before their com-
mon allies and friends ; on which their magis-
trate said, " Why do we disguise our senti-
ments ? Romans, no conferences of ambassa-
dors, nor arbitration of any person whatever,
can terminate our differences ; but the plains
of Campania, in which we must fight : let our
armies, therefore, meet between Capua and
Suessula ; and there let us decide, whether the
Samnite, or the Roman, shall hold the sove-
reignty of Italy." To this the ambassadors of
the Romans replied, that they would go, not
whither their enemy called, but whither their
commanders should lead." In the meantime,
Publilius, by seizing an advantageous post be-
tween Palaepolis and Neapolis, had cut off the
confederates from that interchange of mutual
aid, which they had hitherto afforded each
other, when either place was pressed. The
day of the elections approached ; and, as it was
highly inexpedient that Publilius should be re-
called, when on the poinf of assailing the ene-
my's walls, and in daily expectation of gaining
possession of their city, application was made
to the tribunes, to recommend to the people
the passing of an order, that Publilius Philo,
when his year of office should expire, might
continue in command, as pro-consul, until the
war with the Greeks should be finished. A
letter was despatched to Lucius Cornelius, with
orders to name a dictator ; for it was not
thought proper that the consul should be re-
called, while he was employed in vigorously
prosecuting the business of the campaign, and
had already carried the war into Samnium. He
nominated Marcus Claudius Marcel! us, who
appointed Spurius Postumius master of^the
horse. The elections, however, were not held
by the dictator, because the regularity of his
appointment was called in question ; and the
augurs being consulted, pronounced that it ap-
peared defective. The tribunes inveighed
against this proceeding, as dangerous and dis-
honourable ; " for it was not probable," they
said, " that a fault in the appointment could

have been discovered, as the consul, rising in
the night, had nominated the dictator in private,
and while every thing was still ;' nor had the
said consul, in any of his letters, either public or
private, made any mention of such a thing ; nor .
did any person whatever appear, who said that
he saw or heard any thing which could vitiate
the auspices. Neither could the augurs, sit-
ting at Rome, divine what inauspicious circum-
stance had occurred to the consul in the camp.
Who did not plainly perceive, that the dicta-
tor's being a plebeian, was the defect which
the augurs had discovered ?" These, and other
arguments, were urged, in vain, by the tribunes:
the affair ended in an interregnum. At last,
after the elections had been adjourned repeated-
ly, on one pretext or another, the fourteenth
interrex, Lucius -<Emilius, elected consuls
Cains Paetelius, and Lucius Papirius Mugilla-
nus, or Cursor, as I find him named in some
annals. [Y. R. 4-29. B. (X 323.]

XXIV. Historians relate, that, in this
year, Alexandria, in Egypt, was founded ; and
that Alexander, king of Epirus, being slain by
a Lucanian exile, verified, in the circumstances
of his death, the prediction of Jupiter of Do-
dona. At the time when he was invited into
Italy by the Tarentines, he received a caution,
from that oracle, to beware of the Acherusian
waters, and the city Pandosia, for there were
fixed the limits of his destiny. For that rea-
son he made the greater haste to pass over to
Italy, in order to be at as great a distance as
possible from the city Pandosia in Epirus,
and the river Acheron, which, after flowing
through Molossis, runs into the lakes called
Infernal, and is received into the Thesprotian
gulf. But, as it frequently happens, that
men, by endeavouring to shun their fate; run
directly upon it, after having often defeated
the armies of Bruttium and Lucania, and taken
Heraclea, a colony of the Tarentines, Potentia,
and Metapontum from the Lucanians, Terina
from the Bruttians, and several other cities of
the Messapians and Lucanians ; and having sent
into Epirus three hundred illustrious families,
whom he intended to keep as hostages, he
posted his troops on three hills, which stood at
a small distance from each other, not far from
the city Pandosia, and close to the frontiers

1 Any noise happening, during the taking iif the aus-
pices, was reckoned inauspicious ; hence silent mm sig-
nified, among the augurs, every circumstouce being
favourable.

v.

OF ROME.

291

of tin- liruttians and Lucanians, in order that
he might thence make incursions into every
part of the enemy's country. A t that time, he
kept about his person two hundred Lucanian
exiles whom he considered as faithful atten-
dant.-, lint whose fidelity, according to the
general disposition of people of that descrip-
tion, was ever ready to follow the changes of
fortune. A continual fall of rain spread such
an inundation over all the plains, as cut off,
from the three separate divisions of the army,
all communication. ^ In this state, the two
parties, in neither of which the king was pre-
sent, were suddenly attacked and overpowered
by the enemy, who, after putting them to the
sword, employed their whole force in blockad-
ing the post, where Alexander commanded in
person. From this place, the Lucanian exiles
sent emissaries to their countrymen, and, stipu-
lating a safe return for themselves, promised to
deliver the king, either alive or dead, into their
power. But he, bravely resolving to make an
extraordinary effort, at the head of a chosen
band, broke through the midst of their forces ;
engaged singly, and slew the general of the
Lucanians, and collecting together his men,
who had been scattered in the retreat, arrived
at a river where the ruins of a bridge which
hud been recently broken by the violence of
the flood, pointed out his road. Here, while
the soldiers were fording the river on a very
uneven bottom, one of them, almost spent with
fatigue and apprehension, cried out, as a reflec-
tion on the odious name of it, — " You are just-
ly named Acheros (dismal) :" which expression
reaching the king's ears, and instantly recalling
to his mind the fate denounced on him, he
halted, hesitating whether he should cross over
or not. Then Sotimus, one of the royal band
of youths which attended him, asked why he
delayed in such a critical moment ; and showed
him, that the Lucanians were watching an op-
portunity to perpetrate some act of treachery :
whereupon the king, looking back, and seeing
them coming towards him in a body, drew his
sword, and pushed on his horse, through the
middle of the river. He had now reached the
shallow, when a Lucanian exile, from a distance,
transfixed him with a javelin : after his fall, the
current carried down his lifeless body, with the
weapon sticking in it, to the posts of the enemy:
there it was mangled, in a manner shocking to
relate ; for dividing it in the middle, they sent
one half to Consentia, and kept the other, as a

subject of mockery, to themselves. While
they were throwing darts and stones at it, u
woman mixing with the crowd, (who expressed
a degree of barbarous rage which could scarce
be conceived to exist in human breasts,) pre-
vailed on them to stdp for a moment. Shu
then told them, with tears in her eyes, that she
had a husband and children, prisoners among
the enemy ; and that she hoped to be able, with
the king's body, (if they would grant it to her,)
however disfigured, to ransom her friends : this
put an end to their outrages. The remnants
of his limbs were buried at Consentia, entirely
through the care of the woman ; and his bones
were sent to Metapontum, to the enemy, from
whence they were conveyed to Epirus, to his
wife Cleopatra, and his sister Olympus; the
latter of whom was the mother, the former the
sister, of Alexander the Great Such was the
melancholy end of Alexander of Epirus ; of
which, although fortune did not allow him to
engage in hostilities with the Romans, yet, as
he waged war in Italy, I have thought it proper
to give this brief account This year, the fifth
time since the building of the city, the Lecti-
sternium, was performed at Rome, for procur-
ing the favour of the same deities, to whom it
was addressed before.

XXV. The new consuls having, by order
of the people, declared war against the Sara-
nites, exerted themselves in more formidable
preparations of every kind, than had been made
against the Greeks ; and, about the same time,
received a new accession of strength, from a
quarter where they had no such expectation.
The Lucanians and Apulians, nations who,
until that time, had no kind of intercourse with
the Roman people, proposed an alliance with
them, promising a supply of men and arms for
the war : a treaty of friendship was according-
ly concluded. At the same time, their affairs
went on successfully in Samnium. Three
towns fell into their hands, Allifie, Callifue,
and Ruffrium ; and the adjoining country, to a
great extent, was on the first arrival of the
consuls, laid entirely waste. As the com-
mencement of their operations, on this side, was
attended with so much success, so the war,
in the other quarter, where the Greeks were
held besieged, now drew towards a conclusion.
For, besides the communication between the
two posts of the enemy being cut off, by the
besiegers having possession of part of the
works through which it had been carried on,

292

THE HISTORY

[BOOK vni.

they now suffered, within the walls, hardships
far more grievous than those with which they
were threatened, being insulted in the persons
of their wives and children, and feeling all the
extremities usual in the sacking of cities.
When, therefore, intelligence arrived, that rein-
forcements were to come from Tarentum, and
from the Samnites, all agreed that there were
more of the latter already within the walls than
they wished j but the young men of Tarentum,
who were Greeks as well as themselves, they
earnestly longed for, as they hoped to be ena-
bled, by their means, to oppose the Samnites
and Nolans, which they deemed no less neces-
sary than resisting their Roman enemies. At
last a surrender to the Romans appeared to be
the lightest evil. Charilaus and Nymphius, the
two principal men in the state, consulting to-
gether on the subject, settled the part which
each was to act ; it was, that one should desert
to the Roman general, and the other stay be-
hind to manage affairs in the city, so as to faci-
litate the execution of their plan. Charilaus
was the person who came to Publilius Philo ;
he told him that " he had taken a resolution,
which he hoped would prove advantageous, for-
tunate, and happy to the Paliepolitans, and to
the Roman people, of delivering the fortifica-
tions into his hands. Whether he should ap-
pear, by that deed, to have betrayed or preserv-
ed his country, depended on the honour of the
Romans. That for himself in particular, he
neither stipulated nor requested any thing ; but,
in behalf of the state, he requested rather than
stipulated, that, in case the design should suc-
ceed, the Roman people would consider more
especially the zeal and hazard with which it
sought a renewal of their friendship, than its
folly and rashness in deviating from its duty."
He was commended by the general, and receiv-
ed a body of three thousand soldiers, with
which he was to seize on that part of the city
which was possessed by the Samnites, which
detachment was commanded by Lucius Quin-
tius, military tribune.

XXVI. In the meantime, Nymphius, on his
part, artfully addressing himself to the comman-
der of the Samnites, prevailed upon him, as all
the troops of the Romans were employed either
about 1 'aU'poli s, or in Samnium, to allow him to
sail round with the fleet to the territory of Rome,
where he undertook to ravage, not only the sea-
coast, but the country adjoining the very city.
13ut, in order to avoid observation, it was

necessary, he told him, to set out by night, and
to launch the ships immediately. To effect this
with the greater despatch, all the young Sam-
nites, except the necessary guards of the city,
were sent to the shore. While Nymphius wast-
ed the time there, giving contradictory orders,
designedly, to create confusion, which \vas in-
creased by the darkness, and by the crowd,
which was so numerous as to obstruct each
other's operations, Cbarilaus, according to the
plan concerted, was admitted by his associates
into the city ; and having filled the higher parts
of it with Roman soldiers, he ordered them to
raise a shout ; on which the Greeks, who had
received previous directions from their leaders,
kept themselves quiet. The Nolans fled through
the opposite part of the town, by the road lead-
ing to Nola. The flight of the Samnites, who
were shut out from the city, was easier, but had
a more disgraceful appearance ; for they return-
ed to their homes without arms, stripped of
their baggage, and destitute of every thing ; all,
in short, belonging to. them being left with their
enemies ; so that they were objects of ridicule,
not only to foreigners, but even to their own
countrymen. I know that there is another ac-
count of this matter, which represents the town
to have been betrayed by the Samnites ; but I
have chosen to follow the writers most worthy
of credit : besides, the treaty of Neapolis, for
to that place the seat of government of the
Greeks was then transferred, renders it more
probable, that the renewal of friendship wa*s
voluntary on their side. Publilius had a tri-
umph decreed him, because people were well
convinced, that it was his conduct of the siege
which reduced the enemy to submission. This
man was distinguished by two extraordinary in-
cidents, of which he afforded the first instance :
a prolongation of command never before grant-
ed to any one 5 and a triumph after the expira-
tion of his office.

XXVII. Another war soon after arose with
the Greeks of the other coast. The Taren-
tines having, for a considerable time, buoyed up
the state of Palaepolis with delusive hopes of
assistance, when they understood that the
Romans had gotten possession of that city, as
if they were the persons who had suffered
the disappointment, and not the authors of
it, they inveighed against the Palspolitans, and
became furious in their anger and malice towards
the Romans ; to which they were farther incit-
ed by receiving information that the Lucamaiia

130.]

OF ROME.

293

\pulians had joined them ; for a treaty of
alliance had been this year concluded with both
these nations. " The business," they observed,
14 was now brought almost to their doors ; and
Mich would soon lie the state of affairs, that they
must deal with the Romans as enemies, or re-
ceive them as masters : that, in fact, their in.
terests were at stake, on the issue of th" war of
the Samnites, the only nation which continued
to make opposition ; and that with power very
inadequate, since they were deserted by the
Lucaniuns : these however might yet be brought
back, and induced to renounce the Roman al-
liance, if proper skill were used in sowing dis-
sension between them." These reasonings
being readily adopted, by people who wished
for a change, they procured, for money, some
young Lucanians of considerable note in their
country, but devoid of honour, to bring about
their design ; these having lacerated each other's
bodies with stripes, came naked into a public
meeting of their countrymen, exclaiming that
because they had ventured to go into the Ro-
man camp, they had been thus beaten with rods,
by order of the consul, and had hardly escaped
the loss of their heads. Circumstances, so
shocking in their nature, carrying strong proof's
of the ill-treatment, none of artifice, the people
were so irritated, that, by their clamours, they
compelled the magistrates to call together the
senate ; and whilst some stood round that as-
sembly, insisting on a declaration of war against
the Romans, others ran different ways to rouse
to arms the multitude residing in the country.
Thus the minds even of rational men being
hurried into imprudence by the general uproar,
n decree was passed, that the alliance with the
Samnites should be renewed, and ambassadors
sent for that purpose. This hasty proceeding
surprised the Samnites, who, however, insisted,
that they should not only give hostages, but
also receive garrisons into their fortified places ;
and they, blinded by resentment, refused no
terms. In a little time after, on the authors of
the imposition removing to Tarentum, the
whole came to light. But as they bad given
all power out of their own hands, nothing was
left them but unavailing repentance.

XXVIII. This year proved, as it were, a
new era of liberty to the Roman commons ; a
stop being put to the practice of confining
debtors. This alteration of the law was effect-
ed in consequence of the behaviour of a usurer,
in \vliich lust and cruelty were equally conspi-

cuous. His name was Lucius Papirius. To
him one Cains Publilius having surrendered his
person to be confined for a debt due by bis
father, his youth and beauty, which ought to
have excited commiseration, operated on the
other's mind as incentives to barbarity. He
first attempted to seduce the young man by
impure discourses ; but finding that his ears
were shocked at their infamous tendency, he
then endeavoured to terrify him by threats, and
reminded him frequently of his situation. At
last, convinced of his resolution to act conform-
ably to his honourable birth, rather than to his
present condition, he ordered him to be stripped
and scourged. With the marks of the rods
imprinted in his flesh, the youth rushed out into
the public street, uttering loud complaints of
the depravedness and inhumanity of the usurer.
On which a vast number of people, moved by
compassion for his early age, and indignation at
his barbarous treatment, reflecting at the same
time what might be the lot of themselves, and
of their children, flocked together into the fo-
rum, and from thence, in a body, to the senate-
house. When the consuls were obliged, by the
sudden tumult, to call a meeting of the senate,
the people, falling at the feet of each of the
senators, as they were going into the senate-
house, presented to their view the back of
Caius torn with stripes. On that day, in con-
sequence of the outrageous conduct of an in-
dividual, one of the strongest bonds of credit
was broken ; and the consuls were commanded
to propose to the people, that no person
should be held in fetters or stocks, except con-
victed of a crime, and in order to punishment ;
but that, for money due, the goods of the debtor,
not his person, should be answerable. Thus
the confined debtors were released ; and pro-
vision made, for the time to come, that they
should not be liable to confinement.

XXIX. In the course of this year, while
the war with the Samnites was sufficient in it-
self to give full employment to the senate, be-
sides the sudden defection of the Lucanians,
and the intrigues of the Tarentines, by which
it had been effected, they found another
source of uneasiness in a union formed by the
state of the Vestinians with the Samnites.
Which event, though it continued, during the
present year, to be the general subject of con-
versation, without coming under any public dis-
cussion, appeared so important to the consuls
of the year following, [Y. R. 430. B. C. 322.}

294

THE HISTORY

[BOOK vin.

Lucius Furius Camillus a second time, and De-
cius Junius, that it was the first business which
they proposed to the consideration of the state.
Notwithstanding it had yet produced no effects,
it threw the senate into great perplexity, as they
dreaded equally the consequences, either of
passing it over, or of taking it up ; lest on the
one hand, if that people's conduct passed with
impunity, wantonness and arrogance might ex-
cite other states in their neighbourhood to fol-
low their example ; and, on the other, if an at-
tempt should be made to punish them by force
of arms, resentment and dread of immediate
danger might produce the same effect. And
the whole body of Vestinians, too, was at least
equal in strength to the Samnites, being com-
posed of the Marsians, the Pelignians, and the
Marrusinians ; against all of whom they would
have to contend, if any steps were taken against
that nation. However, that opinion prevailed,
which might, at the time, seem to have more
spirit than prudence ; but the event afforded a
proof that fortune assists the brave. The peo-
ple, in pursuance of the direction of the senate,
ordered war against the Vestinians, which pro-
vince fell by lot to Junius ; Samnium to Ca-
millus. Armies were led to both places, which,
by carefully guarding the frontiers, prevented a
junction of the forces of their enemies. But
Lucius Furius, on whom the principal weight
of the business rested, was deprived of his share
in the management of it, being seized with a
severe sickness. ' He was, therefore, ordered
to nominate a dictator to conduct the war, and
he nominated Lucius Papirius Cursor, the most
celebrated general, by far, of any in that age,
who appointed Quiritus Fabius Maximus Rul-
lianus master of the horse. These commanders
were remarkable for their exploits in war ; but
more so, for a quarrel which arose between
themselves, and which proceeded almost to vio-
lence. The other consul, in the territory of
the Vestinians, carried on operations of various
kinds ; and, in all, was uniformly successful.
He utterly laid waste their lands, and by spoil-
ing and burning their houses and corn, com-
pelled them to come to an engagement ; when,
in one battle, he reduced the strength of the
Vestinians to such a degree, though not without
loss on his own side, that they not only fled to
their camp, but, fearing even to trust to the
rampart and trench, dispersed from thence into
the several towns, in hopes of finding security
in the situation and fortifications of their cities.

At last he undertook to reduce their towns by
force ; and so ardent were the soldiers, and such
their resentment for the wounds which they had
received, (hardly one of them having come out
of the battle unhurt,) that he took Cutina by
scalade, and afterwards Cingilia. The spoil of
both cities he gave to the soldiers, in considera-
tion of their having bravely surmounted the ob-
struction both of gates and walls.

XXX. The commanders entered Samnium
without having obtained any particularly favour-
able indications in the auspices ; an ominous
circumstance, which pointed, not at the event
of war, for that was prosperous, but at the fu-
rious passions and the quarrels which broke out
between the leaders. For Papirius the dicta-
tor, returning to Rome in order to take the au-
spices anew, in consequence of a caution re-
ceived from the aruspex, left strict orders with
the master of the horse to remain in his post,
and not to engage in battle during his absence.
After the departure of the dictator, Fabius hav-
ing discovered by his scouts, that the enemy
were in as unguarded a state as if there was not
a single Roman in their neighbourhood, the
high-spirited youth, (either conceiving indigna-
tion at the sole authority in every point appear-
ing to be lodged in the hands of the dictator, or
induced by the opportunity of striking an im-
portant blow,) having made the necessary pre-
parations and dispositions, marched to a place
called Imbrinium, and there fought a battle with
the Samnites. His success in the fight was
such, that there was no one circumstance which
could have been improved to more advantage,
if the dictator had been present. The leader
was not wanting to the soldiers, nor the soldiers
to their leader. The cavalry too, (finding, after
repeated charges, that they could not break the
ranks,) by the advice of Lucius Cominhas, a
military tribune, pulled off the bridles from their
i horses and spurred them on so furiously, that
I no power could withstand them ; forcing their
way through the thickest of the enemy, they
bore down every thing before them ; and the
infantry, seconding the charge, the whole body
was thrown into confusion. Of these, twenty
thousand are said to have fallen on that day.
Some accounts say that there were two battles
fought during the dictator's absence, and two
victories obtained ; but the most ancient wri-
ters mention only this one, and in some histo-
ries the whole transaction is omitted. The
master of the horse getting possession of

Y. it. 430.]

OF ROME.

295

abundance of spoils, in consequence of the
great numbers slain, collected the arms into a
huge heup, and burned them ; either in pursu-
ance of a vow to some of the gods, or, if we
choose to credit Fabius, in order to prevent
the dictator from reaping the fruits of that re-
nown, to which he alone was entitled. He
feared, too, that Papirius might inscribe his
name on the spoils, or carry them in triumph.
His letters also, containing an account of the
success, being sent to the senate, showed
plainly that he wished not to impart to the
dictator any share of the honour ; who cer-
tainly viewed the proceeding in this light, for
while others rejoiced at the victory obtained,
he showed only surliness and anger: insomuch
that, immediately dismissing the senate, he
hastened out of the senate-house, and frequent-
ly repeated with warmth, that the legions of
the Samnites were not more effectually van-
quished and overthrown by tire master of the
horse, than were the dictatorial dignity and
military discipline, if such contempt of orders
escaped with impunity. Thus, breathing re-
sentment and menaces, he set out for the
camp ; but, though he travelled with all pos-
sible expedition, intelligence arrived before
him, that the dictator was coming, eager for
vengeance, and in every second sentence ap-
plauding the conduct of Titus Manlius.

XXXI. Fabius instantly called an assem-
bly, and entreated the soldiers, to " show the
same courage in protecting him, under whose
conduct and auspices they had conquered, from
the outrageous cruelty of the dictator, which
they had so lately displayed in defending the
commonwealth from its most inveterate ene-
mies. He was now coming," ho told them,
" frantic with envy ; enraged at another's bra-
very, raving like a madman, because, in his
absence, the business of the public had been
executed with remarkable success ; and if he
could change the fortune of the engagement,
would wish the Samnites in possession of vic-
tory rather than the Romans. He talked much
of contempt of orders ; as if his prohibition of
lighting were not dictated by the same motive,
which caused his vexation at the fight having
taken place. He wished to shackle the valour
of others, and meant to take away the soldiers'
arms when they were most eager for action,
and that no use might be made of them in his
absence : he was farther enniged too, because
Quintus Fabius considered himself as master

of the horse, not as a beadle to the dictator.
How would he have behaved, had the issue of
the fight been unfortunate ; which, through the
chances of war and the uncertainty of military
operations, might have been the case ; since
now, when the enemy has been vanquished, (as
completely, indeed, as if that leader's own
singular talents had been employed in the mat-
ter,) he yet threatens the master of the horse
with punishment ? Nor is his rancour greater
towards the master of the horse, than towards
the military tribunes, towards the centurions,
towards the soldiers. On all, he would vent his
rage ; and because that is not in his power, he
vents it on one. Envy, like name, soars up-
wards ; aims at the summit, and makes its at-
tack on the head of the business, on the leader.
If he could put him out of the way, together
with the glory of the service performed, he
would then triumph, like a conqueror over
vanquished troops ; and, without scruple, prac-
tise against the soldiers, what he had been al-
lowed to act against their commander. It
behoved them, therefore, in his cause, to sup-
port the general liberty of all. If the dictator
perceived among the troops the same unanim-
ity in justifying their victory, that they had
displayed in gaining it, and that all interested
themselves in the safety of one, it would bend
his temper to milder counsels. In fine," he
told them, " that he committed his life, and
all his interests, to their honour and to their
courage."

XXXII. His speech was received with the
loudest acclamations from every part of the as-
sembly, bidding him " have courage ; for while
the Roman legions were in being, no man
should offer him violence. " Not long- after, the
dictator arrived, and instantly summoned an
assembly by sound of trumpet Then silence
being made, a crier cited Quintus Fabius,
master of the horse, and as soon as, on the
lower ground, he had approached the tribunal,
the dictator said, " Quintus Fabius, I demand
of you, when the authority of dictator is ac-
knowledged to be supreme, and is submit-
ted to by the consuls, officers endowed with re-
gal power ; and likewise by the praetors, creat-
ed under the same auspices with consuls ;
whether or no you think it reasonable that it
should not meet obedience from a master of
the horse ? I also ask you whether, when I
knew that I set out from home under uncertain
auspices, it was for me, under that considcra-

296

THE HISTORY

[BOOK vni.

tion, to hazard the safety of the commonwealth,
or whether my duty did not require me to have
the auspices newly taken, so that nothing might
be done while the will of the gods remained
doubtful ? And further, when a religious scru-
ple was of such a nature, as to hinder the dic-
tator from acting, whether the master of the
horse could be exempt from it, and at liberty ?
But why do I ask these questions, when, sup-
posing that I had gone without leaving any or-
ders, your own judgment ought to have been re-
gulated according to what you could discover of
my intention ? Why do you not answer ? Did I
not forbid you to act, in any respect, during my
absence ? Did I not forbid you to engage the
enemy ? Yet, in contempt of these my orders,
while the auspices were uncertain, while the
omens were confused, contrary to the practice of
war, contrary to the discipline of our ancestors,
and contrary to the authority of the gods, you
dared to enter on the fight. Answer to these
questions, proposed to you. On any other mat-
ter utter not a word. Lictor, draw near him."
To each of these particiuars Fabius, finding it
no easy matter to answer, at one time remon-
strated against the same person acting as ac-
cuser and judge, in a cause which affected his
very existence ; at another, he asserted that his
life should sooner be forced from him, than the
glory of his past services ; clearing himself,
and accusing the other by turns, so that the
dictator's anger blazed out with fresh fury;
and he ordered the master of the horse to be
stripped, and the rods and axes to be got ready.
Fabius, imploring the protection of the sol-
diers, while the lictors were tearing his gar-
ments, retired to the quarters of the veterans,
who were already raising a commotion in the
assembly : from them the uproar spread
through the whole body ; in one place the
voice of supplication was heard ; in another,
menaces. Those who happened to stand
.icarest to the tribunal, because, being under
the eyes of the general, they could easily be
known, applied to him with entreaties to spare
the master of the horse, and not in him to con-
demn the whole army. The remoter parts of
the assembly, and the crowd collected round
Fabius, railed at the unrelenting spirit of the
dictator, and were not far from mutiny : nor
was even the tribunal perfectly quiet. The
lieutenants-general standing round the general's
seat besought him to adjourn the business to
the next day, and to allow time to bis anger,

and room for consideration ; representing that
" the indiscretion of Fabius had been sufficient-
ly rebuked ; his victory sufficiently disgraced ;
and they begged him not to proceed to the ex-
treme of severity ; not to brand with ignominy
a youth of extraordinary merit, or his father, a
man of most illustrious character, together with
the whole family of the Fabii." When neither
their prayers nor arguments made any im-
pression, they desired him to observe the
violent ferment of the assembly, and told him
that " while the soldiers' tempers were heated
to such a degree, it became not either his age
or his wisdom to kindle them into a name,
and afford matter for a mutiny : that no one
would lay the blame of such an eveirt on Quin-
tus Fabius, who only deprecated punishment ;
but on the dictator, if, blinded by resentment,
he should, by an ill-judged contest, draw on
himself the fury of the multitude : and lest he
should think that they acted from motives of
regard to Quintus Fabius, they were ready to
make oath that, in their judgment, it was not
for the interest of the commonwealth that
Quintus Fabius should be punished at that
time."

XXXIII. Their expostulations irritating
the dictator against themselves, instead of ap-
peasing his anger against the master of the
horse, the lieutenants-general were ordered to
go down from the tribunal ; and after several
vain attempts were made to procure silence by
means of a crier, the noise and tumult being so
great that neither the voice of the dictator
himself, nor that of his apparitors, could be
heard ; night, as in the case of a battle, put an
end to the contest. The master of the horse
was ordered to attend on the day following;
but, being assured by every one that Papirius.
being agitated and exasperated in the course
of the present contention, would proceed
against him with greater violence, he fled
privately from the camp to Rome : where,
by the advice of his father, Marcus Fabins,
who had been three times consul, and like-
wise dictator, he immediately called a meet-
ing of the senate. While he was laying his
complaints before the fathers, of the rage
and injustice of the dictator, on a sudden was
heard the noise of lictors before the senate-
house, clearing the way, and Papirius himself
arrived, full of resentment, having followed,
with a guard of light horse, as soon as he hoard
that the other had quitted the camp. The

v. H. 430.]

OF ROME.

297

. in. trillion then began anew, and the dictator
ordered Fabius to be seized. As he persisted
in his purpose with inflexible obstinacy, not-
withstanding tin- united intercessions of the
principal patricians, and of the whole senate,
Falnus, the father, then said, " since neither the
authority of the senate has any weight with
you ; nor ray age, which you wish to render
childless ; nor the noble birth and merit of a
master of the horse, nominated by yourself;
nor prayers which have often mitigated the rage
of an enemy, and which appease the wrath of
the gods ; I call upon the tribunes of the com-
mons for support, and appeal to the people •
and since you decline the judgment of your own
army, as well as of the senate, I call you before a
judge who must certainly be allowed, though no
other should, to possess more power and author-
ity than yourself, though dictator. It shall be
seen whether you will submit to an appeal, to
which Tullus Hostilius, a Roman king, sub-
mitted." They proceeded directly from the
senate-house to the assembly ; where, being ar-
rived, the dictator attended by few, the master
of the horse by all the people of the first rank
in a body, Papirius commanded him to be taken
from the rostrum to the lower ground ; on
which, his father, following him, said, " You
do well in ordering us to be brought down to
a place where even as private persons we have
liberty of speech." At first, instead of regular
speeches, nothing but altercation was heard :
at length, the indignation of old Fabius, and
the strength of his voice, got the better of
noise, while he reproached Papirius with arro-
gance and cruelty. " He himself." he said,
•• had been dictator at Rome : and no man, not
even the lowest plebeian, or centurion, or sol-
dier, had suffered in any way through his means.
But Papirius sought for victory and triumph
over a Roman commander with as much zeal
as over the generals of the enemy. What an
immense difference between the moderation of
the ancients, and the oppression of the moderns '
Quintius Cincinnatus, when dictator, showed
no farther mark of resentment to Lucius
Minucius the consul, (although from his ill
conduct he had fallen into the power of the
enemy, and from which he rescued him,) than
leaving him at the head of the army, in the
quality of lieutenant-general, instead of consul.
Marcus Furius Camillus, in the case of Lucius
Furius, who, in contempt of his great age and
authority, had fought a battle, the issue of

which was dishonourable in the last degree not
only restrained lii-- anger at the time, so as to
write no unfavourable representation of his con-
duct to the people or the senate ; but, after re-
turning home, when the patricians gave him a
power of electing from among his colleagues
whoever he might approve as an associate with
himself in the command, chose that very man
in preference to all the other consular tribunes.
Nay, the body of the people themselves, whose
power is supreme in every case, never suffered
their passions to carry them to greater severity,
even towards those, who, through rashness and
ignorance, had occasioned the loss of armies,
than the fining them in a sum of money. Until
that day, a capital prosecution for ill conduct in
war had never been instituted against any com-
mander, but now, generals of the Roman peo-
ple, after gaining the most splendid victories,
and meriting the most honourable triumphs,
are threatened with rods and axes ; a treatment
which would not have been deemed allowable,
even towards those who had been defeated by
an enemy. What degree of punishment would
his son have been liable to, if he had occasion-
ed the loss of the army ? if he had been put to
flight, and driven out of his camp ? Could the
dictator stretch his resentment and violence to
any greater length than to scourge him, and
put him to death ? How was it consistent with
reason, that, through the means of Quintus
Fabius, the state should be filled with joy, ex-
ulting in victory, and occupied in thanks-
givings and congratulations ; while, at the same
time, he who had given occasion to the tem-
ples of the gods being thrown open, their
altars yet smoking with sacrifices, and loaded
with honours and offerings, should be stripped
naked, and torn with stripes in the sight of the
Roman people ; within view of the capitol and
citadel, and of those gods, whose aid he had
so successfully invoked in two different battles ?
With what temper would such proceedings be
borne by the army which had conquered under
his conduct and auspices? What mourning
would there be in the Roman camp ; what joy
among their enemies ?" This speech he ac-
companied with an abundant flow of tears ;
uniting reproaches and complaints, imploring
the aid both of gods and men, and warmly em-
bracing his son.

XXXIV. On his side stood the majesty of
the senate, the favour of the people, the sup-
port of the tribunes, and regard for the absent

298

THE HISTORY

[BOOK VHI.

army. On the other side were urged the in-
violable authority of the Roman government
and military discipline ; the edict of the dicta-
tor, always observed as the mandate of a deity ;
nor was the severity of Manlius forgot, and his
postponing even parental affection to public
utility. " The same also," said the dictator,
" was the conduct of Lucius Brutus, the
founder of Roman liberty, in the case of his
two sons. But now, such is the indulgence of
fathers, and the easiness of temper in the aged,
that in this case of contempt of the dictatorial
authority, they indulge the young in the subver-
sion of military order, as if it were a matter of
trifling consequence. For his part, however,
he would persevere in his purpose, and would
not remit the smallest part of the punishment
justly due to a person who fought contrary to
his orders, while the rites of reb'gion were im-
perfectly executed, and the auspices uncertain.
Whether the majesty of the supreme authority
was to be perpetual, or not, depended not on
him ; but Lucius Papirius would not diminish
aught of its rights. He wished that the tribu-
nitian office, inviolate itself, would not,, by its
interposition, violate the authority of the Ro-
man government ; nor the Roman people, in
his case particularly, annihilate the dictator, and
the rights of the dictatorship, together. But,
if this should be the case, not Lucius Papirius,
but the tribunes and the people, would be
blamed by posterity ; though then too late,
when military discipline being once dissolved,
the soldier would no longer obey the orders of
the centurion, the centurion those of the tribune,
the tribune those of the lieutenant-general, the
b'eutenant-general those of the consul, nor the
master of the horse those of the dictator. No
one would then pay any deference to men, no,
nor even to the gods. Neither edicts of gener-
als, nor auspices, would be observed. The
soldiers, without leave or absence, would strag-
gle at random through the lands of friends and
of foes ; and, regardless o their oath, would
merely to gratify a wanton humour, quit the
service whenever they might choose. The
standards would be forsaken : the men would
neither assemble in pursuance of orders, nor
attend to the difference of fighting by night or
by day, on favourable or unfavourable ground.
In a word, military operations, instead of the
regularity established under the sanction of a
sacred solemnity," would become like those of
free-booters directed by chance and accident.

Render yourselves, then, tribunes of the com-
mons, accountable for all these evils, to all
future ages. Expose your own persons to
these heavy imputations in defence of the licen-
tious conduct of Quintus Fabius."

XXXV. The tribunes stood confounded,
and were now more anxiously concerned at
their own situation than at his who sought their
support, when they were freed from this em-
barrassment by the Roman people unanimously
having recourse to prayers and entreaties, that
the dictator would, for their sakes, remit the
punishment of the master of the horse. The
tribunes likewise, seeing the business take this
turn, followed the example, earnestly beseech-
ing the dictator to pardon human error, to con-
sider the immaturity of the offender's age, who
had suffered sufficiently : and now the youth
himself, now his father, Marcus Fabius, dis-
claiming farther contest, fell at the dictator's
knees, and deprecated his wrath. Then the
dictator, after causing silence, said " Romans,
it is well. Military discipline has prevailed ;
the majesty of government has prevailed ;
both which were in danger of ceasing this day to
exist. Quintus Fabius, who fought contrary to
the order of his commander, is not acquitted
of guilt ; but, after being condemned as guil-
ty, is granted as a boon to the Roman people ;
is granted to the college of tribunes, supporting
him with their prayers, not with the regular
power of their office. Live, Quintus Fabius.
more happy in this union of all parts of the
state for your preservation than in the victory
in which you lately exulted. Live, after hav-
ing ventured on such an act, as your father
himself, had he been in the place of Lucius
Papirius, would not have pardoned. With me
you shall be reconciled, whenever you wish it.
To the Roman people, to whom you owe your
life, you can perform no greater service, than
to let this day teach you the important lesson
of submission to lawful commands, both in
war and peace." He then declared, that the
master of the horse was at liberty to depart :
and, as he retired from the rostrum, the, senate,
being greatly rejoiced, and the people still more
so, gathered round him, and escorted him, on
one hand commending the dictator, on the
other congratulating the master of the horse ;
while all agreed in opinion, that the authority
of military command was confirmed no less
effectually in the instance of Quintus Fabius
than in that of young Manlius. It bo hap-

Y. K.431 ]

OF ROME.

pciicd, tlmt, through the course of that year,
us often as the dictator left the army, the Sum-
nites were in motion : but Marcus Valerius,
tin- lieutenant-general, who <>ommanded in the
camp, had Quintus Faluns In-fore liis eyes for
an example, not to fear any violence of the
enemy, so much as the unrelenting anger of the
dictator. So that when a body of his foragers
tell into an ambuscade, and were cut to pieces
in disadvantageous ground, it was generally be-
lieved that the lieutenant-general could have
given them assistance, if he had not been held
in dread by his rigorous orders. The resent-
ment which this excited helped to alienate the
affections of the soldiery from the dictator;
against whom they had been before incensed
by his implacable behaviour towards Quintus
Fabius, and from having granted him pardon at
the intercession of the Roman people, after he
had refused it to their entreaties.

XXXVI. The dictator prohibited Quintus
Fabius from acting in any case as a magistrate,
conferred the command in the city on Lucius
Papirius Crassus, as master of the horse, and
then returned to the camp ; where his arrival
brought neither any great joy to his country-
men, nor any degree of terror to the enemy :
for, on the day following, either not knowing
the dictator's arrival, or little regarding whether
he were present or absent, they marched out in
order of battle. Of such importance, however,
was that single man, Lucius Papirius, that,
had the zeal of the soldiers seconded the dispo-
sitions of the commander, no doubt was enter-
tained that an end might have been put, that
day, to the war with the Samnites. He chose
the best possible position for his troops, posted
his body of reserve most judiciously, and
strengthened them with every advantage which
military skill could devise : but the soldiers
exerted no vigour; and desfgnedly kept from
conquering, in order to injure the reputation of
their leader. Of the Samnites, however, very
many were slain ; and great numbers of the
Romans wounded. The experienced com-
mander quickly perceived the circumstance
which prevented his success, and that it would
be necessary to moderate his temper, and to
mingle mildness with austerity. Accordingly,
attended by the lieutenants-general, he went
round to the tents of the wounded soldiers, in-
quiring of each the state of his health ; then,
mentioning them by name, he gave them in
charge to the officers, tribunes, and prefects,

recommending them to their particular care.
This behaviour, popular in itself, he maintained
with such dexterity, that by his attention to
their recovery, he gradually gained their affec-
tion ; nor did any thing so much contribute
towards their recovery as the gratitude excited
by this humane condescension. As soon as
the men were restored to health, he came to an
engagement with the enemy ; and both himself
and the troops, being possessed with full con-
fidence of success, he so entirely defeated and
dispersed the Samnites, that they never, after
that day, met the dictator in the field. The
victorious 'army, afterwards, directed its march
wherever a prospect of booty invited, and tra-
versed their territories without a weapon being
raised against them, or any opposition given,
either openly or by stratagem. It added to
their alacrity, that the dictator had, by procla-
mation, given the whole spoil to the soldiers ;
so that they were animated not only by the
public quarrel, but by their private emolument.
Thus reduced, the Samm'tes sued to the dic-
tator for peace, and, after they had engaged
to supply each of his soldiers with a suit of
clothes, and a year's pay, being ordered to apply
to the senate, they answered, that they would fol-
low the dictator, committing their cause wholly
to his integrity and honour. On this the troops
were withdrawn out of Samnium.

XXXVII. [Y.R. 431. B.C. 321.] The
dictator entered the city in triumph ; and,
though desirous of resigning his office immo-
diately, yet, by order of the senate, he held it
until the consuls were elected : these were
Cains Sulpicius Longus, a second time, and
Quintus .ZEmilius Cerretanus. The Samnites,
without finishing the treaty of peace, the terms
being still in negotiation, departed, after con-
cluding a truce for a year. Nor was even that
faithfully observed ; so strongly was their incli-
nation for war excited, on hearing that Papi-
rius was gone out of office. In this consulate
of Cains Sulpicius and Quintus .Kniilins (some
histories have Aulius), to the revolt of the Sam-
nites, was added a new war with the Apulians.
Armies were sent against both. The Samnites
fell by lot to Sulpicius, the Apulians to .Kmi-
lius. Some writers say, that this war was not
waged with the Apulians, but in defence of
the allied states of that nation, against the vio-
lence and injustice of the Samnites. But the
circumstances of the Samnites at that period,
when they were themselves engaged in a war.

300

THE HISTORY

[BOOK viii.

which they could with difficulty support, render
it more probable that they did not make war on
the Apulians, but that both nations were in
arms against the Romans at the same time.
However, no memorable event occurred. The
lands of the Apulians and Samnium were ut-
terly laid waste ; but in neither quarter did the
enemy show themselves. At Rome, an alarm,
which happened in the night, suddenly roused
the people from their sleep, in such a fright,
that the capitol and citadel, the walls and gates,
were all filled with men in arms. But after
they had called all to their posts, and run toge-
ther, in bodies, in every quarter, when day ap-
peared, neither the author nor cause of the
alarm could be discovered. This year, in pur-
suance to the advice of Flavius, a tribune of
the commons, the Tusculans were brought to a
trial before the people. He proposed, that
punishment should be inflicted on those of the
Tusculans, " by whose advice and assistance
the Veliternians and Privernianshad made war
on the Roman people." The Tusculans, with
their wives and children, came to Rome, and in
mourning habits, like persons under accusation,
went round the tribes, throwing themselves at
the feet of the citizens with humble supplica-
tions. This excited a degree of compassion
which operated more effectually towards pro.
curing them pardon, than all the arguments they
could urge, did towards clearing themselves of
guilt. Every one of the tribes, except the Pol-
lian, negatived the proposition. The sentence
of the Pollian tribe was, that the grown-up
males should be beaten, and put to death, and
their wives and children sold by auction, accord-
ing to the rules of war. It appears that the
resentment which arose against the advisers of
so rigorous a measure, was retained in memory
by the Tusculans down to the age of our fa-
thers ; and that hardly any candidate of the
Pollian tribe could, ever since, gain the votes
of the Papirian.

XXXVIII. In the following year, [Y.R.
432. B.C. 320.] which was the consulate of
Quintus Fabius and Lucius Fulvius, Atilus
Cornelius Arvina being made dictator, and
Marcus Fabius Ambustns master of the horse,
troops were levied with greater exertion than
ordinary, under the apprehension of having a
more powerful opposition than usual to encoun-
ter, in the war with the Samnites, who, it was
reported, had procured, from their neighbours,
a number of voung men for hire : an army there-

fore, of extraordinary force, was sent against
them. Although in a hostile country, their
camp was pitched in as careless a manner, as if
the foe were at a great distance ; when, sudden-
ly, the legions of the Samnites approached with
so much boldness as to advance their rampart
close to an out-post of the Romans. Night
coming on, prevented their assaulting the works ;
but they did not conceal their intention of doing
so next day, as soon as the light should appear.
The dictator found that there would be a ne-
cessity for fighting sooner than he had expected,
and lest the situation should be an obstruction
to the bravery of the troops, he led away the
legions in silence, leaving a great number of
fires the better to deceive the enemy. The
camps, however, lay so close together, that he
could not escape their observation •. their caval-
ry instantly pursued, and pressed closely on his
troops, yet refrained from attacking them until
the day appeared. Their infantry did not even
quit their camp before day-light. As soon as
it was dawn, the cavalry ventured to begin skir-
mishing ; and by harassing the Roman rear,
and pressing them in places of difficult passage,
considerably delayed their march. Meanwhile
their infantry .overtook their cavalry ; and now
the Samnites pursued close with their entire
force. The dictator then, finding that he could
no longer go forward without great inconveni-
ence, ordered the spot where he stood to be
measured out for a camp. But it was impos-
sible, while the enemy's horse were spread about
on every side, that palisades could be brought,
and the work be begun : seeing it, therefore,
impracticable, either to march forward, or to
settle himself there, he drew up his troops for
battle, removing the baggage out of the line.
The enemy likewise formed their line opposite
to his ; no wise inferior, either in spirit or in
strength. Their courage was chiefly improved
from not knowing that the motive of the Ro-
mans' retreat was the iricommodiousness of the
ground, so that they imagined themselves ob-
jects of terror, and supposed that they were put
suing men who fled through fear. This kept
the balance of the fight equal for a consider-
able time ; though, of late, it had been unusual
with the Samnites to stand even the shout of a
Roman army. Certain it is, that the contest,
on this day, continued so very doubtful from
the third hour to the eighth, that neither was
the shout repeated, after being raised at the first
onset, nor the standards moved either forward

v. K. 432.]

OF ROME.

301

or backward ; nor any ground lost on either side.
They fought without taking breath, every man
in his post, and pushing against their opponents
with their shields. The noise continuing equal,
and the terror of the fight the same, seemed to
denote, that the decision would be effected
either by fatigue or by the night. The men had
now exhausted their strength, the sword its
power, and the leaders their skill ; when, on a
sudden, the Samnite cavalry, having learned
from a single troop which had advanced beyond
the rest, that the baggage of the Romans lay at
a distance from their army, without any guard
or defence ; eager for booty, they hastened to
attack it •. of which, the dictator being informed
by a hasty messenger, said, " Let them alone,
let them encumber themselves with spoils."
Afterwards came several, one after another,
crying out, that they were plundering and car-
rying off all flie effects of the soldiers : he then
called to him the master of the horse, and said,
" Do you see, Marcus Fabius, that the enemy's
cavalry have forsaken the fight ? They are en-
tangled and encumbered with our baggage.
Attack them : you will find them, as is the
case of every multitude employed in plundering,
scattered about ; few mounted on horseback,
few with swords in their hands ; and, while
they are loading their horses with spoil, and un-
armed, put them to the sword, and make it
bloody spoil for them. I will take care of the
legions, and the fight of the infantry : yours be
the honour which the horse shall acquire."

XXXIX. The body of cavalry, in the most
exact order possible, charging the enemy, who
»vere straggling and embarrassed, filled every
place with slaughter : for the packages which
they hastily threw down, and which lay in the
way of their feet, and of the affrighted horses,
as they endeavoured to escape, made them un-
able either to fight or fly. Then Fabius, after
he had almost entirely cut off the enemy's horse,
led round his squadrons in a small circuit, and
attacked the infantry in the rear. The new
shout, raised in that quarter, terrified the Sain-
nites on the one hand ; and when, on the other,
the dictator saw their troops in the van looking
behind them, their battalions in confusion, and
their line wavering, he earnestly exhorted and
animated his men, calling on the tribunes ard
chief centurions, by name, to join him in renew-
ing the fight. Raising the shout anew, they
pressed forward, and as they advanced, per-
ceived the enemy more and more confused.

The cavalry now could be seen by those in
front, and Cornelius, turning about to the se-
veral companies, made them understand, by
raising his voice and hands, that he saw tin-
standards and bucklers of his own horsemen.
On hearing which, and at the same time seeing
them, they, at once, so far forgot the fatigue
which they had endured, through almost the
whole day, and even their wounds, that they
rushed to the fray with as much vigour and
alacrity, as if they were coming fresh out of
camp on receiving the signal for battle. The
Samnites could no longer sustain the charge of
horse and foot together ; part of them, inclosed
on both sides, were cut off; the rest separated
and fled different ways. The infantry slew
those who were surrounded and made resist-
ance ; and the cavalry made great havoc of the
fugitives, among whom fell their general. This
battle crushed, at length, the power of the Sam-
nites so effectually, that, in all their meetings,
they expressed so much discontent, and said,
" it was not at all to be wondered at, if in an im-
pious war, commenced in violation of a treaty,
when the gods were, with justice, more in-
censed against them than men, none of their
undertakings prospered. They were not to
expect the crime, (for such an infraction of
treaties must be held,) to be expiated and
atoned for without a heavy penalty. The only
alternative they had, was whether the penalty
should be the guilty blood of a few, or the
innocent blood of all." Some now ventured to
name the authors of the war, among whom was
particularly mentioned Brutulus Papius : he
was a man of power and noble birth, and
undoubtedly the cause of the late rupture.
The prsetors being compelled to take the opin-
ion of the assembly concerning him, a decree
was made, " that Brutulus Papius should be
delivered into the hands of the Romans ; and
that, together with him, all the spoil taken from
the Romans, and the prisoners, should be sent
to Rome, and that the restitution demanded by
the heralds, in conformity to treaty, should be
made, as was agreeable to justice and equity."
In pursuance of this determination, heralds
were sent to Rome, and also the dead body of
Brutulus ; for, by a voluntary .death, he avoided
the punishment and ignominy intended for
him. It was thought proper that his goods
also should be delivered up along with the
body. But none of all those things were ac-
cepted, except the prisoners, and such articles

302

THE HISTORY OF ROME. [BOOK MIL

of the spoil as were recognized by the owners.
The dictator obtained a triumph by a decree of'
the senate.

XL. Some writers affirm, that the consuls
had the conduct of this war, and that they tri-
umphed over the Samnites ; and also, that
Fabius advanced into Apulia, and carried off
from thence abundance of spoil. But that
Aulus Cornelius was dictator that year is an
undisputed fact. The question then is, whether
he was appointed for the purpose of conducting
the war, or on occasion of the illness of Lucius
Plautius, the prater ; in order that there might
be a magistrate to give the signal for the start-
ing of the chariots at the Roman games. This
latter is asserted of him ; and that after per-

forming the business, which in truth reflected
no great lustre on his office, he resigned the
dictatorship. It is not easy to determine be-
tween either the facts or the writers, which of
them deserves the preference : I am persuaded
that history has been much corrupted by means
of funeral panegyrics, and false inscriptions on
monuments j each family striving by false repre-
sentations to appropriate to itself the fame ot
warlike exploits, and public honours. From
this cause, certainly, much confusion has taken
place, both in the memoirs of individuals, and
in the public records of events. Nor is there
extant any writer, contemporary with those
events, on whose authority we can with cer-
tainty rely.

THE

HISTORY OF ROME.

BOOK IX.

Titus Vfturius and Spurins Postumius, with their army, surrounded by the Samnites at the Caudine forks ; enter
into « treaty, give six hundred hostages, and are sent under the yoke. The treaty declared invalid ; the two
generals and the other sureties sent back to the Samnites, but are not accepted. Not long after, Papirius Cursor
obliterates this disgrace, by vanquishing the Samnites, sending them under the yoke, and recovering the hostages.
Two tribes added. Appius Claudius, censor, constructs the Claudian aqueduct, and the Appian road ; admits
the sons of freedom into the senate. Successes against the Apulians, Etruscans, Urabrians, Marsians, Pelignians,
JEqu-ins, and Samnites. Mention made of Alexander the Great, who flourished at this time ; a comparative
estimate of his strength, and that of the Roman people, tending to show, that if he had carried his arms into
Italy, he would not have been as successful there as lie had been in the Eastern countries.

I. THE year following [Y. R. 133. B. C. 319.]
was distinguished by the convention of Cau-
dium, so memorable on account of the misfor-
tune of the Romans. The consuls of the year
were Titus Veturius Calvinus, and Spurius
Postumius. The Samnites were that year
commanded by Caius Pontius, son to Heren-
tiius, born of a father most highly renowned
for wisdom, and himself a consummate warriof
and commander. When the ambassadors, who
had been sent to offer restitution, returned,
without concluding a peace, he said, in an as-
sembly, " that ye may not think that no pur-
pose has been effected by this embassy, be as-
sured, that whatever degree of anger the deities
of heaven had conceived against us, on account
of the infraction of the treaty, has been hereby
expiated. I am very confident, that whatever
deities they were, whose will it was, that you
should be reduced to the necessity of making
restitution, it was not agreeable to them, that
our atonement for the breach of treaty should
be so haughtily spurned by the Romans. For
what more could possibly be done towards ap-
peasing the gods, and softening the anger of
men, than we have done ? The effects of the
enemy, taken among the spoils, which appeared
to be our own by the right of war, we restoied :

the authors of the war, as we could not deliver
them up alive, we deli vered to them dead : their
goods we carried to Rome, lest by retaining
them, any degree of guilt should remain among
us. What more, Roman, do I owe to thec ?
what to the treaty? what to the gods, the
guarantees of the treaty ? What umpire shall
I call in to judge of your resentment, and of
my punishment ? I decline none ; neither na-
tion nor private person. But if the weak is
not to find protection against a stronger in hu-
man laws, I will appeal to the gods, the aveng-
ers of intolerable arrogance, and will beseech
them to turn their wrath against those who
are not satisfied by the restoration of their
own, nor by additional heaps of other men's
property ; whose inhuman rage is not satiat-
ed by the death of the guilty, by the sur-
render of their lifeless bodies, and by their
goods accompanying the surrender of the
owner ; who cannot be appeased otherwise
than by giving them our blood to drink, and
our entrails to be torn. Samnites, war is
just, when it becomes necessary, and arms are
clear of impiety, when men have no hope left
but in arms. Wherefore, as the issue of evt- ry
human undertaking depends chiefly on men's
acting either with or without the favour of the

304

THE HISTORY

[BOOK ix.

gods, be assured that the former wars ye waged
in opposition to the gods more than to men ;
in this, which we are now to undertake, ye will
act under the immediate guidance of the gods
themselves."

II. After uttering these predictions, not
more favourable than true, he led out the troops,
and placed his camp about Caudium, as much
out of view as possible. From thence he sent
to Calatia, where he heard that the Roman
consuls were encamped, ten soldiers, in the
habit of shepherds, and ordered them to keep
some cattle feeding in several different places,
at a small distance from the Roman posts ; and
that, when they fell in with any of their fora-
gers, they should all agree in the same story,
that the legions of the Samiiites were then in
Apulia, besieging Luceria with their whole
force, and very near becoming masters of it.
Such a rumour had been industriously spread
before, and had already reached the Romans ;
but these prisoners caused them to give it
greater credit, especially as they all concurred
in the same report. The Romans did not
hesitate to resolve on carrying succour to the
Lucerians, because they were good and faithful
allies ; and for this farther reason, lest all
Apulia, through apprehension of the impending
danger, might go over to the enemy. The only
point which came under deliberation was, by
what road they should go. There were two
roads leading to Luceria, one along the coast of
the upper sea, wide and open • but, as it was
the safer, so it was proportionably longer : the
other, which was shorter, through the Caudine
forks. The nature of the place is this : there
are two deep glens, narrow and covered with
wood, connected together by mountains ranging
on both sides from one to the other j between
these lies a plain of considerable extent, abound-
ing in grass and water, and through the middle
of which the passage runs : but before this is
arrived at, the first defile must be passed, while
the only way back is through the road by which
it was entered ; or if in case of resolving to
proceed forward, it must be by the other glen,
which is still more narrow and difficult. Into
this plain the Romans marched down their
troops, by one of those passes through the cleft
of a rock ; and, when they advanced to the
other defile, found it blocked up by trees thrown
across, with a mound of huge stones. The
stratagem of the enemy now became apparent ;
and at the same time a body of troops was seen

on the eminence over the glen. Hastening
back, then, to the road by which they had
entered, they found that also shut up by such
another fence, and men in arms. Then, with-
out orders they halted ; amazement took pos-
session of their minds, and a strange kind of
numbness of their limbs : they then remained
a long time motionless and silent, with their
eyes fixed on each other, as if each thought the
other more capable of judging and advising than
himself. After some time the consul's pavilions
were erected, and they got ready the implements
for throwing up works, although they were sen-
sible that it must appear ridiculous to attempt
raising a fortification in their present desperate
condition, and when almost every hope was lost.
Yet not to add a fault to their misfortunes, they
all without being advised or ordered by any one,
set earnestly to work, and inclosed a camp
with a rampart, close to the water, while them-
selves, besides enduring the haughty taunts of
their enemies, seemed with melancholy to ac-
knowledge the apparent fruitlessness of their
labour. The lieutenants-general and tribunes,
without being summoned to consultation, (for
there was no room for either consultation or
remedy,) assembled round the dejected consul ;
while the soldiers, crowding to the general's
quarters, demanded from their leaders that suc-
cour, which it was hardly in the power of the
immortal gods themselves to afford them.

III. Night came on while they were employ-
ed in lamenting their situation, all urging, with
warmth, whatever their several tempers prompt-
ed. Some crying out, " Let us go over those
fences which obstruct the roads ;" others,
" over the steeps ; through the woods ; any
way, where arms can be carried. Let us be
but permitted to come to the enemy, whom we
have been used to conquer now near thirty
years. All places will be level and plain to a
Roman, fighting against the perfidious Samnite."
Another would say, " Whither, or by what
way can we go ? Do we expect to remove the
mountains from their foundations ? While these
cliffs hang over us, how can we proceed ? Whe-
ther armed or unarmed, brave or dastardly^ we are
all without distinction, captured and vanquished.
The enemy will not even show us a weapon,
by which we might die with honour. He will
finish the war, without moving from his seat."
In such discourse, thinking of neither food nor
rest, they passed the whole night. Nor could
the Samnites, though in circumstances so ae-

v. R. 433.]

OF ROME.

305

cordant to their wishes, instantly determine how
to uct : it was therefore universally agreed, that
Herennius Pontius, father of the general, should
be consulted by letter. He was now grown
feeble through age, and had withdrawn himself,
not only from all military, but also from all civil
' occupations ; yet, notwithstanding the decline
of his bodily strength, his mind retained its full
vigour. When he was informed that the Ro-
man armies were shut up at the Caudine forks,
between the two glens, and was asked for ad-
vice by his son's messenger, he gave his opinion,
that they should all be immediately dismissed
from thence unhurt. Or. this counsel being
rejected, and the same messenger returning to
advise with him a second time, he recommended
that they should all, to a man, be put to death.
On receiving these answers, so opposite to each
other, like the ambiguous responses of an ora-
cle, his son, although, as well as others, per-
suaded that the powers of his father's mind, to-
gether with those of his body, had been im-
paired by age, was yet prevailed on, by the ge-
neral desire of all, to send for him and consult
him in person. The old man, we are told,
complied without reluctance, and was carried in
a waggon to the camp, where, when he came
to speak, he made no alteration in the opinions
which he had given, only added the reasons on
which he founded them. That " by his first
plan, which he esteemed the best, be meant, by
an act of extraordinary kindness, to establish
perpetual peace and friendship with a most
powerful nation : by the other, to put off the
return of war to the distance of many ages,
during which the Roman state, after the loss of
those two armies, could not easily recover its
strength. A third plan there was not." His
son, and the other chiefs, then asking him if
•• a plan of a middle kind might not be adopted ;
of dismissing them unhurt; and, at the same
time, by the right of war, imposing terms on
them as vanquished ?" " That, indeed," said
he, " is a plan of such a nature, as neither pro-
cures friends nor removes enemies. Only con-
sider who they are, whom ye would irritate by
ignominious treatment. The Romans are a
race who know not how to sit down quiet under
defeat; any scar, which, the present necessity
shall imprint in their breasts, will rankle there
for ever, and will not suffer them to rest, until
f.hey have wreaked manifold vengeance on your
heads." Neither of these plans was approved,
and Herennius was carried home.
L

IV. In the other camp, the Romans, having
tried many fruitless efforts to force a passage,
and being now destitute of every means of sub-
sistence, were reduced by necessity to send am-
bassadors, who were first to ask peace on equal
terms ; which, if they did not obtain, they were
to challenge the enemy to battle. To this Pon-
tius answered, that " the war was at an end ;
and since, even in their present vanquished and
captive state, they were not willing to make ac-
knowledgment of their situation, he would send
them under the yoke unarmed, and only partly
clothed ; that the other conditions of peace
should be such as were just and proper between
the conquerors and the conquered. Their
troops must depart, and their colonies be with-
drawn out of the territories of the Samnites ;
and for the future, the Romans and Samnites.
under a treaty of equality, shall live according
to their own respective laws. On these terms
he was ready to negociate with the consuls : and
if any of these should not be accepted, he for-
bade the ambassadors to come to him again."
When the result of this embassy was made
known, such general lamentation suddenly arose,
and such melancholy took possession of every
mind, that had they been told that all were to
die on the spot, they could not have felt deeper
affliction. Silence continued a long time ; the
consuls not being able to utter a word either in
favour of a treaty so disgraceful, or against a
treaty so necessary ; at length, Lucius Lentu-
lus, who was the first among the lieutenants-
general, both in respect of bravery, and of the
public honours which he had attained, addressed
them thus : " Consuls, I have often heard my
father say, that he was the only person in the
capitol, who did not advise the senate to ran-
som the state from the Gauls with gold ; and this
he would not concur in, because they had not
been inclosed with a trench and rampart by
the enemy, (who were remarkably slothful with
respect to works and raising fortifications,) and
because they might sally forth, if not without
great danger, yet without certain destruction.
Now if, in like manner as they had it in
their power to run down from the capitol
in arms against their foe, as men besieged
have often sallied out on the besiegers, it were
possible for us to come to blows, either on
equal or unequal ground, the advice which I
should give would not be devoid of the sain,1
spirit which animated rny father. I acknow-
ledge, indeed, that death, in defence of our
2Q

THE HISTORY

[BOOK ix.

country, is highly glorious ; and I am ready,
cither to devote myself for the Roman people
and the legions, or to plunge into the midst of
the enemy. But in this spot I behold my
country : in this spot, the whole of the Roman
legions -. and unless these choose to rush on
death for their own gratification, what is there
which can be preserved by their death ? The
houses of the city, some may say, and the walls
of it, and the crowd who dwell in it. But, in
fa.ct, in case of the destruction of this army, all
these are given up to ruin, instead of being
saved from it. For who will protect them ?
An unwarlike and unarmed multitude, shall I
suppose ? Yes, just as they defended them
against the attack of the Gauls. Will they
call to their succour an army from Veii, with
Camillus at its head ? Here, on the spot, I re-
peat, are all our hopes and strength ; by pre-
serving which, we preserve our country ; by
delivering them up to death, we abandon and
betray it. But a surrender is shameful and
ignominious. True : but such ought to be our
affection for our country, that we should save
it by our own disgrace, if necessity required, as
freely as by our death. Let us therefore under-
go that indignity, how great soever, and submit
to that necessity to which even the gods them-
selves are seen to yield. Go, consuls, ransom
the state for arms, which your ancestors ran-
somed with gold."

V. The consuls accordingly went to Pon-
tius to confer with him ; and when he talked,
in the strain of a conqueror, of a treaty, they de-
clared that such could not be concluded with-
out an order of the people, nor without the
ministry of the heralds, and the other custom-
ary rites. So that the Caudine peace was not
ratified by settled treaty, as is commonly be-
lieved, and even asserted by Claudius in his
history, but by convention wherein the parties
became sureties. For what occasion would
there be either for sureties or hostages in the
former case, where the ratification is performed
by the imprecation, " that whichever nation
shall give occasion to the said terms being vio-
lated, may Jupiter strike that nation in like
manner as the swine is struck by the heralds."
The consuls, lieutenants-general, quaestors, and
military tribunes, became sureties ; and the
names of all these are extant in the convention ;
where, had the business been transacted by
treaty, none would have appeared but those of
the two heralds. On account of the necessary

delay, before a peace could be concluded, it
was also insisted on, that six hundred horse-
men should be given as hostages, who were to
suffer death if the compact were not fulfilled ;
a time was then fixed for delivering up the hos-
tages, and sending away the troops disarmed.
The return of the consuls renewed the gene-
ral grief in the camp, insomuch that the
men hardly refrained from offering violence
to them, " by whose rashness," they said, " they
had been brought into such a situation ; and
through whose cowardice they were likely to
depart with greater disgrace than they came.
They had employed no guide, who knew the
country, nor scouts to explore it ; but went on
blindly, like beasts into a pitfall." They cast
looks of distraction on each other, viewed ear-
nestly the arms which they must presently sur-
render ; while their persons would be subject
to the will of the enemy : figured to themselves
the hostile yoke, the scoffs of the conquerors,
their haughty looks, and, finally, thus disarmed,
their march through the midst of an armed foe.
In a word, they saw with horror the miserable
journey of their dishonoured band, through the
cities of the allies ; and their return into their
own country, to their parents, whither them-
selves, and their ancestors, had so often come
in triumph. Observing, that " they alone had
been conquered without a fight, without a wea-
pon thrown, without a wound ; that they had
not been permitted to draw their swords against
the enemy. In vain had arms, in vain had
strength, in vain had courage, been given them."
While they were giving vent to such grievous
reflections, the fatal hour of their disgrace ar-
rived, which was to render every circumstance
still more shocking in fact, than they had pre-
conceived it, in their imaginations. First, they
were ordered to go out, beyond the rampart,
unarmed, and with single garments ; then the
hostages were surrendered, and carried into cus-
tody. The lictors were next commanded to
depart from the consuls, and the robes of the
latter were stripped off. This excited such
a degree of commiseration, in the breasts of
those very men, who a little before were pour-
ing execrations upon them, that every one, for-
getting his own condition, turned away his
eyes from that disgraceful insult on so high a
dignity, as from a spectacle too horrid to be-
hold.

VI. First, the consuls, nearly half naked,
were sent under the yoke ; then each officer,

Y. n. 433.]

OF ROME.

307

! HI: to his rank, was exposed to disgrace,
and the same of the legions successively. The
enemy stood on each side under arras, reviling
and mot-king them ; swords were pointed at
iiio-.r of them, several were wounded and some
even slain, when their looks, rendered too
fierce hy the indignity to which they were
sulijeeteJ, gave offence to the corquerors.
Thus were they led under the yoke ; and what
wits still more intolerable, under the eyes of
the enemy. When they had got clear of the
detile, they seemed as if they had been drawn
up from the infernal regions, and then for the
first time beheld the light ; yet, when they
viewed the ignominious appearance, to which
the army was reduced, the light itself was
more painful to them, than any kind of death
could have been ; so that although they might
have arrived at Capua before night, yet, doubt-
ing the fidelity of the allies, and embarrassed
by shame, they halted at a small distance from
that city. They stood in need of every kind
of refreshment, yet threw themselves care-
lessly on the ground, on each side of the road :
which being told at Capua, compassion for
the situation of their allies took place of the
arrogance natural to the Campanians. They
immediately sent to the consuls their ensigns
of office, the fasces and lictors ; to the soldiers,
arms, horses, clothes, and provisions in abun-
dance : and, on their approach, the whole
senate and people went out to meet them, and
performed every proper office of hospitality,
both public and private. Hut the looks and
address of the allies, joined with all their kind-
ness, could not draw a word from them ; nor
even prevail on them to raise their eyes : so
deeply were they affected by shame and grief,
that they shunned the conversation of these
their friends. Next day, when some young
nobles, who had been sent from Capua, to
escort them on their road to the frontiers of
Campania, returned, they were called into the
senate-house, and, in answer to the inquiries
of the elder members, said, that " to them
they seemed deeply sunk in melancholy and
dejection ; that the whole body moved on in
silence, almost as if they were dumb ; the
former genius of the Romans was struck
mute, and that their spirit had been taken
from them, together with their arms. Not \
one gave answer to those who saluted them ; ;
as if, through fear, they were unable to utter a !
word ; and that their necks still carried the j

yoke under which they had been sent. That
the Samnites had obtained a victory, not only
glorious, but lasting ; for they had subdued,
not Rome, merely, as the Gauls had fonnerly
done, but what was a much more warlike
achievement, the Roman courage." These
discourses were attentively listened to, and
lamentations made in this assembly of faithful
allies, as if the Roman name were almost
extinct. We are told that Ofilius Calavius,
son of Ovius, a man highly distinguished,
both by his birth and conduct, and at thi»
time farther respectable on account of his age,
declared that he entertained a very different
opinion in the case. " This obstinate silence,"
said he, " those eyes fixed on the earth, — those
ears deaf to all comfort, — with the shame of
beholding the light, — are indications of a mind
calling forth, from its inmost recesses, the
utmost exertions of resentment. Either he
was ignorant of the temper of the Romans,
or that silence would shortly excite, among
the Samnites, lamentable cries and groans ;
for that the remembrance of the Caudine peace
would be much more sorrowful to the Sam-
nites than to the Romans. Each side would
have their own native spirit, wherever they
should happen to engage, but the Samnites
would not, every where, have the glens of
Caudium.''

VII. People at Rome were, by this time,
informed of the disaster which had befallen
them. At first, they heard that the troops
were shut up ; afterwards the news of the
ignominious peace arrived ; and this caused
greater affliction than had been felt for their
danger. On the report of their being sur-
rounded, a levy of men was begun ; but when
it was understood that the army had surren-
dered in so disgraceful a manner, the prepara-
tions were laid aside ; and immediately, without
any public directions, a general mourning took
place, with all the various demonstrations of
grief. The shops were shut ; and all business
ceased in the forum, by common consent,
without any order for that purpose being issued.
Ornamented dresses' were laid aside . and the
public were in greater tribulation, if possible,

1 In the original, lati clam. The latus clavus wai a
tunic, or vest, ornamented with a broad stripe of purple,
on the fore part, worn by the senators ; the knights wore
a similar one, only ornamented with a narrower stripe.
Gold ring* were also used as badges of distinction, the
common people wore iron ones.

308

THE HISTORY

[[BOOK ix.

than the vanquished themselves ; they were not
only enraged against the commanders, the ad-
visers and sureties of the peace, but were filled
with detestation, even of the unoffending sol-
diers, and asserted, that they ought not to be
admitted into the city. But these transports
of passion were allayed by the arrival of the
troops, in a state so deplorable, as was sufficient
to convert even anger into compassion ; for
they came into the city, not like men, returning
into their country with unexpected safety, but
in the habit, and with the looks of captives,
late in the evening ; and they hid themselves so
closely in their houses, that, for the next, and
several following days, not one of them could
bear to come in sight of the forum, or of the
public. The consuls, shut up in private, trans-
acted no official business, except, that they were
compelled, by a decree of the senate, to nomi-
nate a dictator to preside at the elections. They
nominated Quintus Fabius Ambustus, and as
master of the horse Publius ^lius Paetus. But
some irregularity being discovered in their ap-
pointment, there was substituted in their room,
Marcus JEmilius Papus dictator, and Lucius
Valerius Flaccus master of the horse. But nei-
ther did these hold the elections : and the peo-
ple being dissatisfied with all the magistrates of
that year, an interregnum ensued. The office
of interrex was held by Quintus Fabius Maxi- j
mus ; afterwards by Marcus Valerius Corvus, j
who elected consuls Quintus Publilius Philo,
and Lucius Papirius Cursor a second time ;
[Y. R. 434. B. C. 318.] a choice universally
approved, for there were no commanders at that
time of higher reputation.

VIII. They entered into office immediately
on being elected, for so it had been determined
by the fathers. When the customary decrees
of the senate were passed, they proposed the
consideration of the Caudine peace ; and Pub-
lilius, whose duty it was to open the business,
said, " Spurius Postumius, speak : " he arose
with just the same countenance with which he
had passed under the yoke, and delivered him-
self to this effect : " Consuls, doubtless I am
to be called up first with marked ignominy, not
with honour ; and am ordered to speak, not as
being a senator, but as a person who has to
answer for an unsuccessful war, and disgraceful
peace. However, the question propounded by
you is not concerning our guilt, or our punish-
ment ; waving, therefore, a defence, which
would not be very difficult, before men who are

not unacquainted with the casualties to which
mankind are subject, I shall briefly state my
opinion on the matter in question ; which opin-
ion will testify, whether I was actuated by
tenderness to myself, or to your legions, when
I engaged as surety to the convention, be it of
what kind it may, whether dishonourable or
necessary : by which, however, the Roman
people are not bound, inasmuch as it was con-
cluded without their order ; nor is any thing
liable to be forfeited to the Samnites, in conse-
quence of it, except our persons. Let us then
be delivered up to them by the heralds, naked,
and in chains. Let us free the people of the
religious obligation, if we have bound them un-
der any such ; so that there may be no restric-
tion, divine or human, to prevent your entering
on the war anew, without violating the maxims
of religion and justice. I am also of opinion,
that the consuls, in the meantime, enlist, arm,
and lead out an army ; but that they should
not enter the enemy's territories, before every
particular, respecting the surrender of us, be
regularly executed. And, O immortal gods !
I pray and beseech you, that, although it has not
been your will that Spurius Postumius, and
Titus Veturius, in the office of consuls, should
wage war with success against the Samnites,
ye may yet deem it sufficient to have seen us
sent under the yoke ; to have seen us bound
under an infamous convention ; to have seen
us shackled, and delivered into the hands of our
foes, taking on our own heads the whole weight
of the enemy's resentment. And grant, that
the consuls and legions of Rome may meet the
same fortune in war, against the Samnites,
which has attended them in every war before
we became consuls. " On his concluding this
speech, men's minds were so impressed with
admiration and compassion, that they could
scarce believe him to be the same Spurius
Postumius, who had been the author of so
shameful a peace ; lamenting, at the same
time, that such a man was likely to undergo,
among the enemy, a punishment even be-
yond that of others, through the desire of
annulling the peace. All the members,
showing tenderness towards him, expressed
their approbation of his sentiments, when
Lucius Livius and Quintus Mtelius, being tri-
bunes of the commons, attempted for a time,
to stop the proceeding by a protest ; insisting,
that " the people could not be acquitted of the
religious obligation, from the consuls being

v. u. 404. J

OF ROME.

309

given up, unless all things were restored to the
same state in which they had been at Caudium ;
nor had they themselves deserved any punish,
mem, tor having, by becoming sureties to the
peace, preserved the army of the Roman peo-
ple ; nor, finally, could they, being sacred and
inviolable, be surrendered to the enemy, or
treated with violence."

IX. To this Postiunius replied. " In the
meantime surrender us as unsanctified per-
sons, which ye may do, without offence to reli-
gion ; those sacred and inviolable personages,
the tribunes, ye will deliver up as soon as they
go out of office : but, if ye listen to me, they
will be first scourged with rods, here in the
Comitium, by way of interest for their punish-
ment, on account of the delay of payment.
For, as to their denying that the people are ac-
quitted of the religious obligation, by our being
given up, who is there, so ignorant of the laws
of the heralds, as not to know, that those men
speak in that manner, to prevent themselves
from being surrendered, rather than because the
case is really so ? Still I do not deny, con-
script fathers, that compacts, on sureties given,
are as sacred as treaties, in the eyes of all who
regard faith, between men, with the same
reverence which is paid to duties respecting
the gods : but I insist, that without the order
of the people, nothing can be ratified, that is
to bind the people. Suppose that, out of the
same arrogance, with which the Samnites
forced from us the convention in question, they
had compelled us to repeat the established form
of words for the surrendering of cities, would
ye, tribunes, say, that the Roman people was
surrendered ? and, that this city, these temples,
ar.d consecrated grounds, these lands and
waters, were become the property of the Sam-
nites ? I say no more of the surrender, because
our having become sureties is the point insisted
on. Now, suppose we had become sureties
that the Roman people should quit this city ;
that they should set it on fire ; that they should
have no magistrates, no senate, no laws ; that
they should, in future, be ruled by kings : the
gods forbid, you say. But, the enormity of
the articles lessens not the obligation of a com-
pact. If the people can be bound, in any one
instance, it can, in all. Nor is there any im-
portance in another circumstance, which weighs,
perhaps, with some : whether a consul, a dic-
tator, or a prsetor, be the surety. And this,
indeed, was the judgment, even of the Sam-

nites themselves, who were not satisfied with
the security of the consuls, but compelled the
lieutenant-generals, quaestors, and military tri-
bunes to join them. Let it not then be de-
manded of me, why I entered into such a
compact, when no such power was lodged in a
consul, and when I could not, either to them,
insure a peace, of which I could not command
the ratification ; or in behalf of you, who had
given me no powers. Conscript fathers, none
of the transactions at Caudium were directed
by human wisdom. The immortal gods de-
prived of understanding both your generals and
those of the enemy. On the one side, we
acted not with sufficient caution ; on the other,
they threw away a victory, which through our
folly they had obtained, while they hardly con-
fided in the places, by means of which, they
had conquered ; but were in haste, on any terms,
to take arms out of the hands of men who
were born to arms. Had their reason been
sound, would it have been difficult, during the
time which they spent in sending for old men
from home to give them advice, to send ambas-
sadors to Rome, and to negotiate a peace and
treaty with the senate, and with the people ?
It would have been a journey of only three
days to expeditious travellers. In the interim,
matters might have rested under a truce, that
is, until their ambassadors should have brought
from Rome, either certain victory, or peace.
That would have been really a compact, on the
faith of sureties, for we should have become
sureties by order of the people. But, neither
would ye have passed such an order, nor should
we have pledged our faith ; nor was it the will
of fate, that the affair should have any other
issue, than, that they should be vainly mocked
with a dream, as it were, of greater prosperity
than their minds were capable of comprehending,
and that the same fortune, which had entangled
our army, should effectuate its deliverence ; that
an ineffectual victory should be succeeded by
a more ineffectual peace ; and that a conven •
tion, on the faith of a surety, should be intro-
duced, which bound no other person beside
the surety. For what part had ye, conscript
fathers; what part had the people, in this
affair ? Who can call upon you ? Who can say,
that he has been deceived by you ? Can the
enemy ? Can a citizen ? To the enemy ye
engaged nothing. Ye ordered no citizen to en-
gage on your behalf. Ye are therefore no way
concerned either with us, to whom ye gave no

810

THE HISTORY

[BOOK ix.

commission ; nor with the Samnites, with
whom ye . transacted no business. We are
sureties to the Samnites ; debtors, whose abili-
ties are sufficiently extensive over that which
is our own, over that which we can offer — our
bodies and our minds. On these, let them
exercise their cruelty ; against these, let them
whet their resentment and their swords. As
to what relates to the tribunes, you will consider
whether the delivering them up can be imme-
diately effected, or if it must be deferred to
another day. Meanwhile let us, Titus Veturius,
and the rest concerned, offer our worthless per-
sons, as atonements, for the non-performance of
our engagements, and, by our sufferings, liberate
the Roman armies."

X. These arguments, and, still more, the
person by whom they were delivered, power-
fully affected the senators ; as they did like-
wise every one, not excepting even the tribunes
of the commons, who declared, that they would
be directed by the senate. They then instant-
ly resigned their office, and were delivered, to-
gether with the rest, to the heralds, to be con-
ducted to Caudium. On passing this decree
of senate, it seemed as if some new light had
shone upon the state : Postumius was in every
mouth : they extolled him to heaven ; and pro-
nounced him to have equalled in glory even the
consul Publius Decius, who devoted himself.
" Through his counsel, and exertions," they
said, " the republic had raised up its head,
after being sunk in an ignominious peace. He
now offered himself to the enemy's rage, and
to torments ; and was suffering, in atonement
for the Roman people." All turned their
thoughts towards arms and war, and the gen-
eral cry was, " When shall we be permitted
with arms in our hands, to meet the Sam-
nites?" While the state glowed with resent-
ment and rancour, the levies were composed
almost entirely of volunteers. Legions, com-
posed of the former soldiers, were quickly
formed, and an army marched to Caudium.
The heralds, who went before, on coming to the
gate, ordered the sureties of the peace to be
stripped of their clothes, and their hands to be
tied behind their backs. As the apparitor, out of
respect to his dignity, was binding Postumius
in a loose manner, " Nay," said he, " draw the
cord tight, that the surrender may be regularly
performed." Then, when they came into the
assembly of the Samnites, and to the tribunal
of Pontius, Aulus Cornelius Arvina, a herald,

pronounced these words : " Forasmuch as these
men, here present, without orders from the
Roman people, the Quirites, entered into sure-
ty, that a treaty should be made, whereby they
have rendered themselves criminal ; now, in
order that the Roman people may be freed
from the crime of impiety, I here surrender
these men into your hands." On the herald
saying thus, Postumius gave him a stroke on
the thigh with his knee, as forcibly as he could,
and said with a loud voice, that " he was now
a citizen of Samnium, the other a Roman am-
bassador ; that the herald had been, by him,
violently ill-treated, contrary to the law of
nations ; and that the people he represented
would therefore have the more justice on their
side, in the war which they were about to
wage."

XL Pontius then said, " Neither will I ac-
cept such a surrender, nor will the Samnites
deem it valid. Spurius Postumius, if you be-
lieve that there are gods, why do ye not undo
all that has been done, or fulfil your agree-
ment ? The Samnite nation is entitled, either
to all the men whom it had in its power, or,
instead of them, to a peace. But why do I
make a demand on you, who, with as much re~
gard to faith, as you are able to show, return
yourself a prisoner into the hands of the con-
queror? I make the demand on the Roman
people. If they are dissatisfied with the con-
vention, made at the Caudine forks, let them
replace the legions within the defile where
they were pent up. Let there be no deception
on either side. Let all that has been done pass
as nothing. Let them receive again the arms
which they surrendered by the convention ; let
them return into their camp. Whatever they
were in possession of, the day before the confer-
ence, let them possess again. Then let war and
resolute counsels be adopted. Then let the con-
vention, and peace, be rejected. Let us carry
on the war in the same circumstances, and situ-
ations, in which we were, before peace was men-
tioned. Let neither the Roman people blame
the convention of the consuls, nor us the faith o
the Roman people. Will ye never want an ex-
cuse for violating the compacts which ye make
on being defeated ? Ye gave hostages to Por-
sena : ye clandestinely got them back. Ye
ransomed your state from the Gauls, for gold :
while they were receiving the gold, they were
put to the sword. Ye concluded a peace with
us, on condition of our restoring your captured

Y. n. 434.]

OF ROME.

311

legions : tlutt peace ye now iinnul ; in n'm>, ye
ul \\ays spread over your fraudulent conduct
some show of right. Do the Roman people
disapprove of their legions being saved by an
ignominious peace ? Let them take back their
peace, and return the captured legions to the
cimijueror. This would be conduct consist-
ent with faith, with treaties, and with the laws
of the heralds. But that you should, in con-
sequence of the convention, obtain what you
tl< -i ivil. the safety of so many of your country-
men, while I obtain not, what I stipulated for,
on sending you buck those men, a peace ; is
this the law which you, Aulus Cornelius,
which ye, heralds, prescribe to nations ? But
for my part, I neither accept those men whom
ye pretend to surrender, nor consider them as
surrendered ; nor do I hinder them from re-
turning into their own country, which stands
bound under an actual convention, carrying with
them the wrath of all the gods, whose authority
is thus despised. Wage war, since Spurius
Postumius has just now struck with his knee
the herald, in character of ambassador. The
gods are to believe that Postumius is a citizen
of Samnium, not of Rome ; and that a Roman
ambassador has been violated by a Samnite;
and that therefore ye have just grounds for a
war against us. That men of years, and of con-
sular dignity, should not be ashamed to exhibit
such mockery of religion in the face of day !
And should have recourse to such shallow ar-
tifices to palliate their breach of faith, as not
even children would allow themselves ! Go,-
lictor, take off the bonds from those Romans.
Let no one hinder them to depart, when they
think proper." Accordingly they returned un-
hurt, from Caudium, to the Roman camp,
having acquitted, certainly, their own faith, and,
perhaps, that of the public.

XII. The Samnites finding that instead of
a peace which flattered their pride, tie war was
revived, and with the utmost inveteracy, not
only felt, in their minds, a foreboding of all the
consequences which ensued, but saw them, in
a manner, before their eyes. They now, too
late, and in vain, applauded the plans of old
Pontius, by blundering between which, they
had exchanged a certainty of victory for an un-
certain peace ; and were now to fight against
men, whom they might have either put out of
the way, for ever, as enemies; or engaged, for
ever, as friends. And such was the change
\\ liich had taken place in men's minds, since

the Caudine peace, even before any trial of
strength had shown an advantage on either side,
that Postumius, by surrendering himself, had
acquired greater renown among the Romans,
than Pontius among the Samnites, by his
bloodless victory. The Romans considered
their being at liberty to make war, as certain
victory ; while the Samnites supposed the Ro-
mans victorious, the moment they resumed
their arms. Meanwhile, the Satricans revolted
to the Samnites, who attacked the colony of
Fregellse, by a sudden surprise in the night, ac-
companied, as it appears, by the Satricans.
From that time until day, their mutual fears
kept both parties quiet : the daylight was the
signal for battle, which the Fregellans contriv-
ed to maintain, for a considerable time, without
loss of ground ; for they fought for their
religion and liberty ; and the multitude, who
were unfit to bear arms, assisted them, from the
tops of the houses. At length, a stratagem
gave the advantage to the assailants ; a crier
was heard proclaiming, that " whoever laid
down his arms might retire in safety." This
relaxed their eagerness in the fight, and they
began almost every where to avail themselves
of it. A part, more determined, however,
retaining their arms, rushed out by the opj>osite
gate, and found greater safety in their boldness,
than the others from the credulity inspired by
their fears : for the Samnites surrounded the
latter with fires and burned them all to death,
while they made vain appeals to the faith of
gods and men. The consuls having settled the
provinces between them, Papirius proceeded
into Apulia to Luceria, where the Roman
horsemen, given as hostages to Caudium, were
kept in custody : Publilius remained in Sam-
nium, to oppose the Caudine legions. This
proceeding perplexed the minds of the Sam-
nites : they could not safely determine either
to go to Luceria, lest the enemy should press on
their rear ; or to remain where they were, lest
in the meantime Luceria should be lost. They
concluded, therefore, that it would be most
adviseable, to trust to the decision of fortune,
and to try the issue of a battle with Publilius :
accordingly they drew out their forces into the
field.

XIII. When Publilius was about to en-
gage, be thought it proper to address his sol-
diers ; and accordingly he ordered an assembly
to be summoned. But, though they ran to-
gether to the general's quarters with the greatest

312

THE HISTORY

[BOOK

alacrity, yet so loud were their clamours, de-
manding the fight, that none of the general's
exhortations were heard : each man's own re-
flections on the late disgrace were sufficient to
determine them. They advanced therefore to
battle, urging the standard-bearers to hasten ;
and, lest in beginning the conflict, there should
be any delay, by reason that javelins were less
easily wielded than swords, they threw away
the former, as if a signal to that purpose had
been given, and, drawing the latter, rushed in
full speed upon the foe. The general had
little opportunity of showing his skill in form-
ing ranks or reserves ; the ungoverned troops
performed all, with a degree of fury little infe-
rior to madness. The enemy, therefore, were
completely routed, not even daring to retreat
to their camp, but dispersing, made the best of
their way towards Apidia : afterwards, how-
ever, they collected their forces into one body,
and came to Luceria, The same exaspera-
tion, which had carried the Romans through
the midst of the enemy's line, carried them
forward also into their camp, where greater car-
nage was made, and more blood spilt, than even
in the field, while the greater part of the spoil
was destroyed in their rage. The other army,
with the consul Papirius, had now arrived at
Arpi, on the sea-coast, having passed without
molestation through all the countries in their
way ; which was owing to the ill treatment re-
ceived by those people from the Samnites, and
their hatred towards them, rather than to any
favour received from the Roman people. For
such of the Samnites as dwelt on the moun-
tains used to ravage the low lands, and the
places on the coast ; and being savage them-
selves, despised the husbandmen who were of
a gentler kind. Now the people of this tract,
had they been favourably affected towards the
Samnites, could either have prevented the Ro-
man army from coming to Arpi ; or, as they
lay between Rome and Arpi, could, by inter-
cepting the convoys of provisions, have caused
such scarcity of every necessary, as would have
been fatal. Even as it was, when they went
from thence to Luceria, both the besiegers and
the besieged were distressed equally by want.
Every kind of supplies was brought to the
Romans from Arpi ; but in a very scanty pro-
portion, the horsemen carrying corn from thence
to the camp, in little bags, for the foot, who
were employed in the outposts, watches, and
works, and these sometimes falling in with

parties of the enemy, when they were obliged
to throw the corn from off their horses, in
order to fight. With respect to the Samnites,
before the arrival of the other consul and his
victorious army, provisions and reinforcements
had been brought in to them from the moun-
tains ; but the coming of Publilius strength-
ened the Romans in every part ; for, commit-
ting the siege to the care of his colleague, and
keeping himself disengaged, he threw every
difficulty in the way of the enemy's convoys.
There being therefore little hope for the be-
sieged, or that they would be able much longer
to endure want, the Samnites, encamped at
Luceria, were obliged to collect their forces
from every side, and come to an engagement
with Papirius.

XIV. At this juncture, while both parties
were preparing for an action, ambassadors from
the Tarentines interposed, requiring both Sam-
nites and Romans to desist from war; with
menaces, that " if either refused to agree to a
cessation of hostilities, they would join their
arms with the other party, against them/' Pa-
pirius, on hearing the purport of their embassy,
as if their words had made some impression on
him, answered, that he would consult his col.
league : he then sent for him, employing the
intermediate time in the necessary prepara-
tions ; and when he had conferred with him on
a matter, on which they were at no loss how
to determine, he made the signal for battle.
While the consuls were employed in perform-
ing the religious rites, and the other usual
business preparatory to an engagement, the
Tarentine ambassadors put themselves in their
way, expecting an answer : to whom Papirius
said, " Tarentines, the priest reports that the
auspices are favourable, and that omr sacrifices
have been attended with excellent omens :
under the direction of the gods, we are pro-
ceeding, as you see, to action." He then
ordered the standards to move, and led out the
troops ; thus rebuking the exorbitant arrogance
of that nation, which at a time when, through
intestine discord and sedition, it was 'unequal
to the management of its own affairs, yet pre-
sumed to prescribe the bounds of peace and war
to others. On the other side, the Samnites,
who had neglected every preparation for fight-
ing, either because they were really desirous of
peace, or found it their interest to pretend to
be so, in order to -conciliate the favour of the
Tarentines, when they saw, on a sudden, the

Y. R. 434.]

OF ROME.

313

I;. •mans drawn up for battle, cried out, that
" they would continue to be directed by the
Tarentines, and would neither march out, nor
carry their arms beyond the rampart. That
they would rather endure any consequence
which might ensue, than show contempt to the
recommendation of the Tarentines." The
consuls said, that " they embraced tbe omen,
and prayed that the enemy might continue in
the resolution of not even defending their
rampart." Then, dividing the forces between
them, they advanced to the works ; and, making
an assault on every side at once, while some
filled up the trenches, others tore down the
rampart, and tumbled it into the trench. All
were stimulated, not only by their native cou-
rage, but by the resentment, which, since their
disgrace, had been festering in their breasts.
They made their way into the camp ; where,
every one repeating, that here was not Cau-
dium, nor the forks, nor the impassable glens,
where dinning haughtily triumphed over error ;
but Roman valour, which no rampart nor trench
could ward off; — they slew, without distinc-
tion, those who resisted, and those who fled,
the armed and unarmed, freemen and slaves,
young and old, men and cattle. Nor would
any one have escaped, had not the consuls given
the signal for retreat ; and, partly by commands,
partly by threats, forced the soldiers out of the
camp, where they were greedily indulging
themselves in slaughter. As they were highly
incensed at being thus interrupted, a speech
was immediately addressed to them, assuring
the soldiers, that " the consuls neither did,
nor would fall shoit of any one of the soldiers,
in hatred toward the enemy ; on the contrary,
as they led the way in battle, so would they
have done the same in executing unbounded
vengeance, had not their inclinations been re-
strained by the consideration of the six hundred
horsemen, who were confined, as hostages, in
Luceria ; for it was feared that the Samnites,
tbrough despair, might be hurried on blindly to
take cruel revenge on them, before they per-
ished themselves." The soldiers highly ap-
plauded the consul's conduct, rejoiced that their
resentment had been checked, and acknow-
ledged, that every thing ought to be endured,
rather than that so many Roman youths of the
first distinction should be brought into danger.

XV. The assembly being then dismissed, a
consultation was held, whether they should
press forward the siege of Luceria, with all

I.

their forces ; or, whether one of the comman-
ders, and his army should make trial of the
dispositions of the rest of the A pulians, which
were still doubtful. The consul Publilius set
out to make a circuit through Apulia, and in
the one expedition either reduced by force, or
received into alliance, on conditions, a consi-
derable number of the states. Papirius like-
wise, who had remained to prosecute the siege
of Luceria, soon found the event agreeable to
his hopes -. for all the roads being blocked up,
through which provisions used to be conveyed
from Samnium, the Samnites in garrisons were
reduced so low by famine, that they sent am-
bassadors to the Roman consul, proposing that
he should raise the siege, on receiving the
horsemen who were the cause of the war. To
whom Papirius returned this answer, that
" they ought to have consulted Pontius, son
of Herennius, by whose advice they had sent
the Romans under the yoke, what treatment
he though fitting for the conquered to undergo.
But since, instead of offering fair terms them-
selves, they chose rather that they should be
imposed on them by their enemies, he desired
them to carry back orders to the troops in
Luceria, that they should leave within the walls
their arms, baggage, beasts of burthen, and
all persons unfit for war. The soldiers he
would send under the yoke with single gar-
ments, retaliating the disgrace formerly inflict-
ed, not setting the example." All this they
submitted to. Seven thousand soldiers were
sent under the yoke, and an immense booty
was seized in the town, where the Romans
retook all the standards and arms which they
had lost at Caudium ; and, what greatly in-
creased their joy, recovered the horsemen
whom the Samnites had sent to Luceria to
be kept as pledges of the peace. Hardly
ever did the Romans gain a victory more re-
markable for the sudden reverse produced in the
state of their affairs : especially if it be true,
as I find in some annals, that Pontius, son of
Herennius, the Sa:nnite general, \\;is sent un-
der the yoke along with the rest, to atone for
the disgrace of the consuls. I think it indeed
less strange to find uncertainty, with respect to
the treatment of the Samnite general, than that
there should I , a doubt whether it was Lucius
Cornelius, in quality of dictator, (Lucius Pa-
pirius Cursor being master of the horse, who
acted at Caudium, and afterwards at Luceria,
as the single avenger of the disgrace of the
2 R

314

THE HISTORY

[[BOOK ix.

Romans, enjoying the best deserved triumph,
perhaps next to that of Furius Camillus, which
had ever yet been obtained ;) or whether that
honour belongs to the consuls, and particularly
to Papirius. This uncertainty is followed by
another, whether, at the next election, [Y. R.
435. B. C. 317.] Papirius Cursor was chosen
consul a third time, with Quintus Aulus Cer-
retanus a second time, being re-elected in re-
quital of his services at Luceria ; or whether it
was Lucius Papirius Mugillarms, the surname
being mistaken.

XVI. From henceforth, the accounts are
clear, that the other wars were conducted to a
conclusion by the consuls. Aulius, by one suc-
cessful battle, entirely conquered the Feren-
tans. The city, to which their army had re-
treated after its defeat, surrendered on terms,
and was ordered to give hostages. Similar for-
tune attended the other consul, in his opera-
tions against the Satricans ; who, though Ro-
man citizens, had, after the misfortune at Cau-
dium, revolted to the Samnites, and received a
garrison into their city. The Satricans, how-
ever, when the Roman army approached their
walls, sent deputies to sue for peace, with hum-
ble entreaties, to whom the consul answered
harshly, that " they must not come again to
him, unless they either put to death, or deli-
vered up, the Samnite garrison : " which words
struck greater terror into the colonists than the
arms with which they were threatened. The
deputies, on this, several times asking the con-
sul, how lie thought that they, who were few
and weak, could attempt to use force against a
garrison so strong and well armed, he desired
them to " seek counsel from those, by whose
advice they had received that garrison into the
city." They then departed, and returned to
their countrymen, having obtained from the
consul, with much difficulty, permission to con-
sult their senate, and bring back their answer
to him. Two factions divided the senate ; the
leaders of one had been the authors of the de-
fection from the Roman people, the other con-
sisted of the citizens who retained their loy-
alty ; both, however, showed an earnest desire,
that every means should be used towards ef-
fecting an accommodation with the consul for
the restoration of peace. As the Samnite gar-
rison, being in no respect prepared for holding
out a siege, intended to retire the next night out
of the town, one party thought it sufficient to
discover to the consul, at what hour, through

what gate, and by what road, his enemy was to
march out. The other, who had opposed the
going over to the Samnites, went farther, and
opened one of the gates for the consul in the
night, secretly admitting him into the town. In
consequence of this twofold treachery, the
Samnite garrison was surprised and overpower-
ed by an ambush, placed in the woody places,
near the road ; and, at the same time, a shout
was raised in the city, which was now filled
with the besiegers. Thus, in the short space
of one hour, the Samnites were put to the
sword, the Satricans made prisoners, and all
things reduced under the power of the consul ;
who, taking proper measures to discover who
were the instigators of the revolt, scourged
with rods and beheaded such as he found to be
guilty ; and then, disarming the Satricans, he
placed a strong garrison in the place. On this,
Papirius Cursor proceeded to Rome to cele-
brate his triumph, according to the relation of
those authors, who say, that he was the gene-
ral who retook Luceria, and sent the Samnite?
under the yoke. Undoubtedly, as a warrior, he
was deserving of every praise, excelling not only
in vigour of mind, but likewise in strength of
body. He possessed extraordinary swiftness of
foot, surpassing every one of his age in running,
from whence came the surname into his family;
and he is said, either from the robustness of his
frame, or from much practice, to have been able
to digest a very large quantity of food and
wine. Never did either the foot soldier or
horseman feel military service more laborious,
under any general, because he was of a consti-
tution not to be overcome by fatigue. The
cavalry, on some occasion, venturing to request
that, in consideration of their good behaviour, he
would excuse them some part of their business,
he told them, " ye should not say, that no indul-
gence has been granted you, — I excuse you from
rubbing your horses' backs when ye dismount."
He supported also the authority of command,
in all its vigour, both among the allies and his
countrymen. The praetor of Praeneste, through
fear, had been tardy in bringing forward his men
from the reserve to the front : the general walk-
ing before his tent, ordered him to be called,
and then bade the lictor to make ready his axe,
on which the Praenestine, standing frightened
almost to death, he said, " here, lictor, cut away
this stump, it is troublesome to people as they
walk ;" and, after thus alarming him with the
dread of the severest punishment, fined and

y. it. 435.]

OF ROME.

315

dismissed him. It is beyond doubt, that dur-
ing that age, than which none \\ a- ever more
productive of virtuous characters, there was no
man in whom the Roman affairs found a more
effectual support : nay, people even marked him
out, in their minds, as a match for Alexander
the Great, in case, that having completed the
conquest of Asia, he should have turned his
arms on .Europe.

XVII. Nothing has ever been farther from
my intention, since the commencement of this
histury, than to digress, more than necessity
required, from the course of narration ; and, by
embellishing my work with variety, to seek
pleasing resting-places, as it were, for my
readers, and relaxation for my own mind .- ne-
vertheless, the mention of so great a king and
commander, as it has often set my thoughts at
work, in silent disquisitions, now calls forth a
few reflections to public view, and disposes me
to inquire, what would have been the conse-
quence, respecting the affairs of the Romans, if
they had happened to have been engaged in a
war with Alexander. The circumstances of
greatest moment seem to be, the number and
bravery of the soldiers, the abilities of the
commanders, and fortune, which exerts a power-
ful sway over all human concerns, and especial-
ly over those of war. Now these particulars,
considered both separately and collectively,
must clearly convince an observer, that not only
other kings and nations, but that even Alexan-
der himself, would have found the Roman em-
pire invincible. And first, to begin with coin
paring the commanders. I do not, indeed, deny
that Alexander was a captain of consummate
merit ; but still his fame owes part of its lustre
to his having been single in command, and to
his dying young, while his affairs were advanc-
ing in improvement, and while he had not yet
experienced a reverse of fortune. For, to pass
by other illustrious kings and leaders, who af-
ford exemplary instances of the decline of hu-
man greatness, what was it, but length of life,
which subjected Cyrus, (whom the Greeks, in
their panegyrics, exalt so far beyond all others,)
to the caprice of fortune ? And the same was,
lately, the case of Pompey the Great. I shall
enumerate the Roman chiefs : not every one of
every age, but those only with whom, either as
consuls or dictators, Alexander might have been
engaged. Marcus Valerius Corvus, Caius
Marcius Rutilus, Caius Sulpicius, Titus Man-
lius Torquatus, Qaintus Publilius Philo, Lucius

Papirius Cursor, Quintus Fabius Maximus, the
two Decii, Lucius Volumnius, Manius Curius.
Then follow a number of very extraordinary
men, had it so happened, that he had first en-
gaged in war with Carthage, and had come into
Italy at a more advanced period of life. Every
one of these possessed powers of mind and a
capacity equal with Alexander ; add to this, that
a regular system of military discipline had been
transmitted from one to another, from the first
rise of the city of Rome ; a system now re-
duced into the form of an art, completely di-
gested in a train of fixed and settled principles,
deduced from the practice of the kings ; and
afterwards, of the expellers of those kings, the
Junii and Valerii ; with all the improvements
made in it by the Fabii, the Quintii, the Cor-
nelii, and particularly Furius Camillas who was
an old man in the earlier years of those with
whom Alexander must have fought. Manilas
Torquatus might, perhaps, have yielded to
Alexander, had he met him in the field ; and so
might Valerius Corvus ; men who were dis-
tinguished soldiers, before they became com-
manders. The same, too, might have been the
case with the Decii, who, after devoting their
persons, rushed upon the enemy ; or of Papirius
Cursor, though possessed of such powers, both
of body and mind. The counsels of one youth,
it is possible, might have baffled the wisdom of a
whole senate, composed of such members, that
he alone, who said it was an assembly of kings,
conceived a just idea of it. But then there was
little probability that he should, with more judg-
ment than any one of those whom I have named,
choose ground for an encampment, provide sup-
plies, guard against stratagems, distinguish the
season for fighting, form his line of battle, or
strengthen it properly with reserves. He would
have owned, that he was not dealing with Darius,
who drew after him a train of women and eu-
nuchs ; saw nothing about him but gold and
purple ; was encumbered with the burthensome
trappings of his state, and should be called bis
prey, rather than his antagonist ; whom there-
fore he vanquished without loss of blood, and
had no other merit, on the occasion, than that
of showing a proper spirit in despising empty
show. Italy would have appeared, to him, a
country of a quite different nature from Asia,
which he traveresd in the guise of « reveller,
at the head of a crew of drunkards, if he had
seen the forests of Apulia, and the mountains
of Lucania, with the vestiges of the disasters

816

THE HISTORY

[BOOK ix.

of his bouse, and where his uncle Alexander
king of Epirus, had been lately cut off,

XVIII. I am here speaking of Alexander,
not yet intoxicated by prosperity, the seduc-
tions of which no man was less capable ol
withstanding. But, if a judgment is to be
formed of him, from the tenor of bis conduct,
in the new state of his fortune, and from the
new disposition, as I may say, which he put
on after his successes, he would have entered
Italy more like Darius, than Alexander ; and
would have brought thither an army who had
forgotten Macedonia, and were degenerating
into the manners of the Persians. It is painful
in speaking of so great a king, to recite his os-
tentatious pride in the frequent changes of his
dress ; his requiring that people should address
him with adulation, prostrating themselves on
the ground ; a practice insupportable to the
Macedonians, had they even been conquered,
much more so when they were victorious ; the
shocking cruelty of his punishments ; his mur-
dering his friends in the midst of feasting and
wine ; with the folly of his fiction respecting
his birth. What must have been the conse-
quence, if his love of wine had daily increased ?
If his fierce and uncontrollable anger ? and as
I mention not any one circumstance of which
there is a doubt among writers, do we consider
these as no disparagements to the qualifications
of a commander ? But then, as is frequently
repeated by the silliest of the Greeks, who are
fond of exalting the reputation, even of the Par-
thians, at the expense of the Roman name, it
was to be apprehended that the Roman people
would not have had resolution to face the
splendour of Alexander's name, who, however,
in my opinion, was not known to them even by
common fame ; and while, in Athens, a state
reduced to weakness by the Macedonian arms,
which at the very time saw the ruins of Thebes
smoking in its neighbourhood, men had spirit
enough to declaim with freedom against him,
as is manifest from the copies of their speeches,
which have been preserved ; is it to be sup-
posed that out of such a number of Roman
chiefs, no one would have freely uttered his
sentiments ? How large soever the scale may
be, on which our idea of this man's greatness
is formed, still it is the greatness of an indivi-
dual, constituted by the successes of a little
more than ten years ; and those who give it
pre-eminence on account, that the Roman peo-
ple have been defeated, though not in any en-

tire war, yet in several battles, whereas Alex-
ander was never once unsuccessful in fight, do
not consider that they are comparing the actions
of one man, and that a young man, with the
course of action of a nation, which has been
waging wars, now eight hundred years. Can
we wonder then, if fortune has varied more in
such a long space, than in the short term of
thirteen years ? But why not compare the
success of one man, with that of another ?
How many Roman commanders might I name,
who never were beaten ? In the annals of the
magistrates, and the records, we may run over
whole pages of consuls, and dictators, with
whose bravery, and successes also, the Roman
people never once had reason to be dissatisfied.
And what renders them more deserving of ad-
miration than Alexander, or any king, is, that
some of these acted in the office of dictator,
which lasted only ten, or it might be twenty
days ; none, in a charge of longer duration, than
the consulship of a year ; their levies obstruct-
ed by plebeian tribunes ; often late in taking
the field ; recalled, before the time, to attend
elections ; amidst the very busiest efforts of the
campaign, overtaken by the close of their offi-
cial year : sometimes by the rashness, some-
times the perverseness of a colleague, involved
in difficulties or losses ; and finally succeeding
to the unfortunate administration of a predeces-
sor, with an army of raw or ill disciplined men.
But, on the other hand, kings, being not only
free from every kind of impediment, but mas-
ters of circumstances and seasons, control all
things in subserviency to their designs, them-
selves uncontrolled by any. So that Alexan-
der, unconquered, would have encountered un-
conquered commanders; and would have had
takes of equal consequence pledged on the
issue. Nay, the hazard had been greater on
his side : because the Macedonians would have
iiad but one Alexander, who was not only liable,
iut fond of exposing himself to casualties ; the
Romans would have had many equal to Alexan-
der, both in renown, and in the greatness of their
exploits ; the life, or death, of any of whom,
would have affected only his own concerns,
without any material consequence to the public.
XIX. It remains to compare the forces
together, with respect to their numbers, the
different kinds of troops, and their resources
'or procuring auxiliaries. Now, in the general
surveys of that age, there were rated two hun-
dred and fifty thousand men : so that, on every

v. R. 43G.J

OF ROME.

317

revolt of the Latine confederates, ten legions
wriv inlisted almost entirely in the city. It
<>lt i -n happened during those years, that four or
live nrmies were employed at a time, in Etru-
ria, in Urabria, the Gauls also being at war, in
Samnium, in Lucania. Then as to all Latium,
with the Sabines, and Volscians, the .Kqu.m-,
and ;:ll Campania ; half of Umbria, Etruria,
and the Picentians, the Marsians, Pelignians,
Vestinians, and Apulians ; to whom, we may
add, the whole coast of the lower sea, possessed
by the Greeks from Thurii, to Neapolis and
Cuma- ; and the Samnites from thence as far
as Antiuni and Ostia : all these he would have
found either powerful allies to the Romans, or
deprived of power by their arms. He would
have crossed the sea with his veteran Macedo-
nians, amounting to no more than thirty thou-
sand infantry, and four thousand horse, these
mostly Thessalians. This was the whole of
his strength. Had he brought with him Per-
sians and Indians, and those other nations, it
would be dragging after him an incumbrance,
rather than a support. Add to this, that the
Romans being at home, would have had re-
cruits at hand : Alexander waging war in a
foreign country, would have found his army
worn out with long sen-ice, as happened after-
wards to Hannibal. As to arms, theirs were
a buckler and long spears : those of the Ro-
mans, a shield, which covered the body more
effectually, and a javelin, a much more forcible
weapon than the spear, either in throwing or
striking. The soldiers, on both sides, were
used to steady combat, and to preserve their
ranks. But the Macedonian phalanx was un-
apt for motion, and composed of similar parts
throughout : the Roman line less compact,
consisting of several various parts, was easily
divided, as occasion required, and as easily con-
joined. Then what soldier is comparable to
the Roman, in the throwing up of works ? who
better calculated to endure fatigue? Alexander,
if overcome in one battle, could make no other
effort. The Roman, whom Caudium, whom
Cannas did not crush, what fight could crush ?
In truth, even should events have been favour-
able to hi MI at first, he would have often wished
for the Persians, the Indians, and the effemin-
ate tribes of Asia, as opponents ; and would
have acknowledged, that his wars had been
waged with women, as we are told was said by
Alexander, king of Epirus, after receiving his
mortal wound, in relation to the battles fought

in Asia by this very youth, and when compared
with those in which himself had been engaged.
Indeed, when I reflect, that, in the first Punic
war, a contest was maintained by the Romans
with the Carthaginians, at sea, for twenty-four
years, I can scarcely suppose that the life of
Alexander would have been long enough for
the finishing of one war with either of those
nations. And perhaps, as the Punic state was
united to the Roman, by ancient treaties, and
as similar apprehensions might arm against a
common foe those two nations the most potent
of the time, he might have been overwhelmed
in a Punic, and a Roman war, at once. The
Romans have had experience of the boasted
prowess of the Macedonians in arms, not in-
deed when they were led by Alexander, or
when their power was at the height, but in the
wars against Antiochus, Philip, and Perses ;
and so far were they from sustaining any losses,
that they incurred not even danger. Let not
the truth give offence to any, nor our civil
wars be brought into mention ; never were we
worsted by an enemy's cavalry, never by their
infantry, never in open fight, never on equal
ground, much less, when the ground was fa-
vourable. Our soldiers, heavy laden with
arms, may reasonably fear a body of cavalry, or
arrows ; defiles of difficult passage, and places
impassable to convoys, But they have defeat-
ed, and will defeat a thousand armies, more
formidable than those of Alexander, and the
Macedonians, provided that the same love of
peace and zeal to promote domestic harmony,
which at present subsist among us, shall con •
tin in- to prevail.

XX. Marcus Foslius Flaccinator and Lu-
cius Plautius Venno were the next raised to
the consulship. [Y. R. 436. B. C. 316.] In
this year ambassadors came from most of the
states of the Samnites to procure a renewal of
the treaty ; and, having moved the compassion
of the senate, by the humility with which they
prostrated themselves before them, were referr-
ed to the people, with whom they found not
their prayers so efficacious. Their petition,
therefore, with regard to the treaty, was reject-
ed ; but after a supplication of several days, they
obtained a truce for two years. The Teaneans
likewise, and Canusians of Apulia, worn out by
the devastations of their country, surrendered
themselves to the consul, Lucius Plautius, and
gave hostages. This year pra-fects first began to
be created for Capua, and a code of laws was

318

THE HISTORY

[BOOK ix.

given to that nation, by Lucius Furius the prae-
tor ; both in compliance with their own request,
as a remedy for the disorder of their affairs,
occasioned by intestine dissensions. At Rome,
two additional tribes were constituted, the
Ufentine and Falerine. On the affairs of
Apulia falling into decline, the Teatians of that
country came to the new consuls, Caius Junius
Bubulcus, and Quintus ^milius Barbula, su-
ing for an alliance; [Y. R. 437. B. C. 315.]
and engaging, that peace should be observed
towards the Romans through every part of
Apulia. By pledging themselves boldly for
this, they obtained the grant of an alliance,
not however on terms of equality, but of their
submitting to the dominion of the Roman peo-
ple. Apulia being entirely reduced, (for Ju-
nius had also gained possession of Forentum, a
town of great strength,) the consuls advanced
into Lucania ; there Nerulum was surprised and
stormed by the consul .ZEmilius. When fame
had spread abroad among the allies, how firmly
the affairs of Capua were settled by the intro-
duction of the Roman institutions, the Antians,
imitating the example, presented a complaint of
their being without laws, and without magis-
trates j on which the patrons of the colony
itself were appointed by the senate to form a
body of laws for it. Thus not only the arms,
but the laws, of Rome, widely extended their
sway.

XXI. The consuls, Caius Junius Bubulcus
and Quintus ^Emilius Barbula, at the conclu-
sion of the year, delivered over the legions, not
to the consuls elected by themselves, who were
Spurius Nautius, and Marcus Popillius, but to
a dictator Lucius JSmilius. [Y. R. 438. B. C.
314.] Pie, with Lucius Fulvius, master of the
horse, laying siege to Saticula, gave occasion to
the Samnites of reviving hostilities, and this
produced a twofold alarm to the Roman army.
On one side, the Samnites having collected a
numerous force with intent to relieve their allies
from the siege, pitched their camp at a small
distance from that of the Romans : on the other
side, the Santiculans, opening suddenly their
gates, ran up with violent tumult to their posts.
Afterwards, each party, relying on support from
the other, more than on its own strength,
formed a regular attack, and pressed on the
Romans. The dictator, on his part, though
obliged to oppose two enemies at once, yet had
his line secure on both sides ; for he chose a
position in which he could not easily be sur-

rounded, and also formed two different fronts.
However, he directed his first efforts against
those who had sallied from the town, and, with-
out meeting much resistance, drove them back
within the walls. He then turned his whole
force against the Samnites : there he found
greater difficulty. But the victory, though long
delayed, was neither doubtful nor alloyed by
losses. The Samnites, being forced to fly into
their camp, extinguished their tires at night, and
marched away in silence ; and renouncing all
hopes of relieving Saticula, sat themselves down
before Plistia, which was in alliance with the
Romans, that they might, if possible, retort
equal vexation on their enemy.

XXII. The year coming to a conclusion, the
war was thenceforward conducted by a dictator,
Quintus Fabius. [Y. R. 439. B. C. 313.]
The new consuls, Lucius Papirius Cursor and
Quintus Publilius Philo, both a fourth time, as
the former had done, remained at Rome. Fa-
bius came with a reinforcement to Saticula, to
receive the command of the army from ^Bmilius.
The Samnites had not continued before Plistia ;
but having sent for a new supply of men from
home, and relying on their numbers, had en-
camped in the same spot as before ; and, by
provoking the Romans to battle, endeavoured
to divert them from the siege. The dictator,
so much the more intently, pushed forward his
operations against the fortifications of the ene-
my ; considering the taking of the city as the
only object of the war, and showing an indiffer-
ence with respect to the Samnites, except that
he placed guards in proper places, to prevent
any attempt on his camp. This encouraged
the Samnites, so that they rode up to the ram-
part, and allowed him no quiet. These now
coming up close to the gates of the camp.
Quintus Aulius Cerretanus, master of the
horse, without consulting the dictator, sallied
out furiously at the head of all the troops of
cavalry, and drove them back. In this desul-
tory kind of fight, fortune exerted her power in
such a manner, as to occasion an extraordinary
loss on both sides, and the remarkable deaths
of the commanders themselves. First, the
general of the Samnites, filled with indignation
at being repulsed, and compelled to fly from a
place to which he had advanced with such con-
fidence, prevailed on his horsemen, by intrea-
tiesand exhortations, to renew the battle. As he
was easily distinguished among the horsemen,
while he urged on the fight, the Roman master

Y. R. 439.]

OF ROME.

319

of the horse galloped up against him in such
a furious career, that, with one stroke of his
spear, he tumbled him lifeless from his horse.
The multitude, however, were not, as is gener-
ally the case, dismayed by the fall of their
leader, but rather roused to fury. All who
were within reach, darted their weapons at
Aulius, who incautiously pushed forward among
the enemy's troops ; but the chief share of the
honour of revenging the death of the Samnite
general was reserved for his brother, who, urged
by rage and grief, dragged down the victorious
master of the horse from his seat, and slew
him. As he fell in the midst of their troops,
the Samnites were also near keeping possession
of his body . but the Romans instantly dis-
mounting, the Samnites were obliged to do the
same ; and thus were lines formed suddenly,
and a battle began on foot, round the bodies
of the generals, in which the Romans had
manifestly the advantage ; and recovering the
body of Aulius, carried it back in triumph to
the camp, with hearts filled with a mixture of
joy and grief. The Samnites having lost their
commander, and made a trial of their strength
in this contest between the cavalry, left Sati-
cula, which they despaired of relieving, and
returned to the siege of Plistia : within a few
days after which, the Romans got possession
of Saticula by capitulation, and the Samnites
of Plistia by force.

XXIII. The seat of the war was then
changed. The legions were led away from
Samnium and Apulia to Sora, This city had
revolted to the Samnites, and put to death the
Roman colonists. The Roman army having
arrived here first, by forced marches, with the
purpose of revenging the murder of their coun -
trymen, and recovering possession of the colo-
ny, and the scouts who were scattered about
the roads bringing intelligence, one after ano-
ther, that the Samnites were following at no
great distance, they marched to meet the ene-
my, and at Lautulae fought them with doubtful
success. Neither loss nor flight on either
side, but the night, separated the combatants,
uncertain whether they were victorious or de-
feated. I find in some historians, that the
Romans were worsted in this battle, and that
here Quintus Aulius, the master of the horse,
fell. Caius Fabius, substituted master of the
horse in the room of Quintus Aulius, came
hither with a new army from Rome ; and hav-
ing, by messengers whom he sent forward,

consulted the dictator, where he should halt, at
what time, and on what side, he should fall
upon the enemy, and, being sufficiently ap-
prized of his designs in every particular, he
rested in a place where he was safe from ob-
servation. The dictator, after having kept bis
men within the rampart for several days after
the engagement, like one besieged, rather than
a besieger, suddenly displayed the signal for
battle ; and judging it the more efficacious
method of inflaming the courage of brave men,
to let none have any room for hope but in
himself, he kept secret from the troops the
arrival of the master of the horse, and the new
army ; and, as if there were no safety but in
forcing their way thence, he said, " Soldiers,
caught as we are in a confined situation, we
have no passage through which we can extri-
cate ourselves, unless we open one by a victory.
Our post is sufficiently secured by works ; but,
at the same time, untenable through scarcity
of necessaries : for all the country round, from
which provisions could be supplied, has re-
volted ; and besides, even were the inhabitants
disposed to aid us, the nature of the ground is
unfavourable. I will not therefore mislead
you by leaving a camp here, into which ye may
retreat, as on a former day, without complet-
ing the victory. Works ought to be secured
by arms, not arms by works. Let those keep
a camp, and repair to it, whose interest it is to
protract the war ; but let us cut off from our-
selves every other prospect but that of con-
quering. Advance the standards against the
enemy; as soon as the troops shall have marched
beyond the rampart, let those who have it in
orders burn the camp. Your losses, soldiers,
shall be compensated with the spoil of all the
nations round who have revolted." The sol-
diers advanced against the enemy with spirits
inflamed by the dictator's discourse, which
seemed to indicate an extreme necessity ; and,
at the same time, the very sight of the camp
burning behind them, though the nearest part
only was set on fire, (for so the dictator had
ordered,) was no' small incitement : rushing on
therefore like madmen, they disordered the ene-
my's battalions at the very first onset ; and the
master of the horse, when he saw at a distance
the fire of the camp, which was a signal agreed
on, made a seasonable attack on their rear.
The Samnites, thus assailed on every side, fled
different ways. A vast number, who had
gathered into a body through fear, yet from

320

THE HISTORY

[BOOK rx.

confusion incapable of acting, were surrounded
and cut to pieces. The enemy's camp was
taken and plundered ; and the soldiers being
laden with the spoil, the dictator led them
back to the Roman camp, highly rejoiced at
the success, but still more at finding, contrary
to their expectation, every thing there safe,
except a small part only, which was injured or
destroyed by the fire.

XXIV. They then marched back to Sora;
(Y. R. 440. B. C. 312.] and the new consuls,
Marcus Poetelius and Caius Sulpicius, receiv-
ing the army from the dictator Fabius, dis-
charged a great part of the veteran soldiers,
having brought with them new cohorts to sup-
ply their place. Now while, on account of the
difficulties presented by the situation of the city,
no mode of attack could be devised which pro-
mised any certaint)' of success, and the taking
of it must either be done at the expense of a great
deal of time, or at a desperate risk ; a towns-
man deserting, came out of the town privately
by night, and when he had got as far as the Ro-
man watches, desired to be conducted instantly
to the consuls : which being complied with, he
made them an offer of delivering the place in-
to their hands. From his answers to their
questions, respecting the means by which he
intended to accomplish his design, it appeared
to be not ill formed ; and he persuaded them
to remove the Roman camp, which was almost
close to the walls, to the distance of six miles,
alleging, that this would render the guards by
day, and the watches by night, the less vigilant.
He then desired that some cohorts should post
themselves the following night in the woody
places under the town, and took with himself
ten chosen soldiers, through steep and almost
impassable ways, into the citadel, where a quan-
tity of missive weapons had been collected,
larger than bore proportion to the number of
men. There were stones besides, some lying
at random, as in all craggy places, and others
heaped up by the townsmen, to add to the se-
curity of the place. Having posted the Ro-
mans here, and shown them a steep and narrow
path leading up from the town to the citadel —
" From this ascent,1' said he, " even three arm-
ed men would keep off any multitude whatever.
Now ye are ten in number ; and, what is more,
Romans, and the bravest among the Romans.
The night is in your favour, which, by conceal-
ing the real state of things, magnifies every ob-
ject to people when once alarmed. I will im-

mediately fill every place with terror : be ye
alert in defending the citadel. " He then ran
down in haste, crying aloud, " To anns, citi-
zens, we are undone, the citadel is taken by the
enemy ; run, defend it." This he repeated, as
he passed the doors of the principal men, the
same to all whom he met, and also to those who
ran out in a fright into the streets. The alarm,
communicated first by one, was soon spread by
numbers through all the city. The magistrates,
dismayed on hearing from scouts that the cita-
del was full of arms and armed men, whose
number they multiplied, laid aside all hopes of
recovering it. Flight began on every side, and
the townsmen, half asleep, and for the most
part unarmed, broke open the gates, through
one of which the body of Roman troops, rous-
ed by the noise, burst in, and slew the terrified
inhabitants who attempted to skirmish in the
streets. Sora was now taken, when, at the first
light, the consuls arrived, and accepted the sur-
render of those whom fortune had left remain-
ing after the flight and slaughter of the night.
Of these, they conveyed in chains to Rome
two hundred and twenty-five, whom all men
agreed in pointing out as the authors, both of
the revolt, and also of the horrid massacre of
the colonists. The rest were left in safety at
Sora, where they placed a garrison. All those
who were brought to Rome were beaten with
rods in the forum, and beheaded, to the great
joy of the commons, whose interest it most
highly concerned, that the multitudes, sent
to various places in colonies, should be in
safety.

XXV. The consuls leaving Sora, turned
their operations against the lands and cities of
the Ausonians ; for all places had been set in
commotion by the coming of the Samnites,
when the battle was fought at Lautulae : con-
spiracies likewise had been formed in several
parts of Campania ; nor was Capua itself clear
of the charge : nay, the business spread even
to Rome, and occasioned inquiries to be insti-
tuted respecting some of the principal men
there. However, the Ausonian nation fell in-
to the Roman power, in the same manner as
Sora, by their cities being betrayed : these were
Ausona, Minturna?, and Vescia. Certain young
men of the principal families, twelve in num-
ber, having conspired to betray their respective
cities, came to the consuls, and informed them
that their countrymen, who had for a long time
before, earnestly wished for the coming of the

v. ii. 440.1

OF ROME.

321

Samnites, on hearing of the battle at Lautulie,
had looked on the Romans as defeated, and had
assisted the Samnites with supplies of men and
arms ; but that, since the Samnites had been
beeten out of the country, they were wavering
between peace and war, not shutting their gates
against the Romans, lest they should thereby
invite an attack ; yet determined to shut them if
any troops should approach, and that, while their
minds were in that fluctuating state, they might
easily be overpowered by surprise. By these men's
advice the camp was moved nearer ; and soldiers
were sent, at the same time, to each of the
three towns ; some armed, who were to lie
concealed in places near the walls ; others, in
the garb of peace, with swords hidden under
their clothes, who, on the opening of the gates
at the approach of day, were to enter into the
cities. These latter began with killing the
guards, and, at the same time, made the signal
to the men in arms, to hasten up from the
ambuscades. Thus the gates were seized, and
the three towns taken in the same hour and by
the same device. But as the generals were not
present when the attacks were made, there were
no bounds to the carnage which ensued ; and
the nation of the Ausonians, when there was
scarcely any clear proof of the charge of its
having revolted, was utterly destroyed, as if it
had supported a contest through a deadly war.

XXVI. During this year, Luceria fell into
the hands of the Samnites, the Roman garri-
son being betrayed to them. The actors in
this treachery did not long go unpunished : the
Roman army was not far off, by whom the city,
which lay in a plain, was taken at the first
onset. The Lucerians and Samnites were to
a man put to the sword ; and to such a length
was resentment carried, that at Rome, on the
senate being consulted about sending a colony
to Luceria, many voted for the demolition of
it. Their hatred was of the bitterest kind,
against a people whom they had been obliged
twice to subdue by arms ; the great distance,
also, made them averse from sending their citi-
zens as colonists among nations so ill-affected
towards them. However the resolution was
carried, that such should be sent; and according-
ly two thousand five hundred were transported
thither. This year, disaffection to the Romans
becoming general, conspiracies were formed
among the leading men at Capua, as well as
at other places ; which being reported to the
senate, they deemed it an affair by no means

I.

to be neglected. They decreed that inquiries
should be made, and resolved that a dictates
should be appointed to enforce these inqui-
ries. Caius Mtenius was accordingly nominat-
ed, and he appointed Marcus Foslius master
of the hone. People's dread of that office was
very great, insomuch that the Calavii, Ovius,
and Novius, who were the heads of the con-
spiracy, either through fear of the dictator's
power, or the consciousness of guilt, previous
to the charge against them being laid in form
before him, chose, as appeared beyond doubt,
to avoid trial by a voluntary death. As the
subject of the inquiry in Campania was thus
removed, the proceedings were then directed
towards Rome : by construing the order of the
senate to have meant, that inquiry should be
made, not specially who at Capua, but gener-
ally, who at any place had formed cabals or
conspiracies ; for that cabals, for the attaining
of honours, were contrary to the edicts of the
state. The inquiry was extended to a greater
latitude, with respect both to the matter, and
to the kind of persons concerned. The dic-
tator scrupled not to avow, that his power of
research was unlimited : in consequence, some
of the nobility were called to account ; and
though they applied to the tribunes for protec-
tion, no one interposed in their behalf, or to
prevent the charges from being received. On
this the nobles, not those only against whom
the charge was levelled, but the whole body
jointly insisted that such an imputation lay not
against themselves, or their order, to whom
the way to honours lay open if not obstructed
by fraud, but against the new men : so that
even the dictator and master of the horse,
with respect to that question, would appear
more properly as culprits than inquisitors ; and
this they should know as soon as they went out
of office. This so deeply affected Maenius,
who was more solicitous about his character
than his office, that he advanced into the as-
sembly and spoke to this effect : " Romans,
of my past life ye are all witnesses ; and this
honourable office, which ye conferred on me.
is, in itself, a testimony of my innocence.
For the dictator, proper to be chosen for hold-
ing these inquiries, was not, as on many other
occasions, where the exigencies of the state so
required, the man who was most renowned in
war ; but him whose course of life was
most remote from such cabals. But certain
of the nobility (for what reason it is more
8 S

822

THE HISTORY

[BOOK ix.

proper that ye should judge, than that I, as a
magistrate, should, without proof, insinuate)
have laboured to stifle entirely the inquiries ;
and then, finding their strength unequal to
it, rather than stand a trial, have fled for
refuge to the stronghold of their adversaries,
an appeal, and the support of the tribunes ; and
on being there also repulsed, (so fully were
they persuaded that every other measure was
safer than the attempt to clear themselves,)
have made an attack upon us ; and, though in
private characters have not been restrained by a
sense of decency from instituting a criminal
process against a dictator. Now, that gods and
men may perceive, that they, to avoid a scrutiny
as to their own conduct, attempt even impos-
sibilities ; and that I willingly meet the charge,
.andfaee the accusations of my enemies, I divest
myself of the dictatorship. And, consuls, I
beseech you, that, if this business is put into
your hands by the senate, ye will make me and
Marcus Foslius the first objects of your exami-
nations ; it shall be manifested, that we owe
our safety from such imputations to our own
innocence, not to the dignity of office." He
then abdicated the dictatorship, as did Mar-
cus Foslius, immediately after, his office of
master of the horse ; and being the first brought
to trial before the consuls, for to them the se-
nate had committed the business, they were
most honourably acquitted of all the charges
brought by the nobles. Even Publilius Philo,
who bad so often been invested with the high-
est honours, and had performed so many emi-
nent services, both at home and abroad, being
disagreeable to the nobility, was brought to trial,
and acqukted. Nor did the inquiry continue
respectable on account of the illustrious names
of the accused, longer than while it was new,
which is usually the case : it then began to de-
scend to persons of inferior rank ; and at length
was suppressed, by means of those factions and
cabals, against which it had been instituted.

XXVII. The accounts received of these
matters, but more especially the hope of a re-
volt in Campania, for which a conspiracy had
been formed, recalled the Samnites from their
intended march towards Apulia, back to Cau-
dium ; where, being near, they might, if any
commotion should open them an opportunity,
snatch Capua out of the hands of the Romans.
To the same place the consuls repaired with a
powerful army. They both held back for
some time, on the different sides of the

defiles, the roads being dangerous to either par-
ty. Then the Samnites making a short circuit
through an open tract, marched down their
troops into level ground in the Campanian
plains, and there the hostile camps first came
within view of each other. Both armies then
made trial of their strength in slight skirmishes,
more frequently between the horse than the
foot ; and the Romans were no way displeased
either at the issue of these, or at the protrac-
tion of the war. The Samnite generals, on the
contrary, were uneasy that their battalions
should be weakened daily by small losses, and
the general vigour abated by inaction. They
therefore marched into the field, disposing their
cavalry on both wings, with orders to give more
heedful attention to the camp behind, than to
the battle ; for that the line of infantry would
be able to provide for their own safety. The
consuls took post, Sulpicius on the right wing,
Postelius in the left. The right wing was
stretched out wider than usual ; the Samnites
also on that side being formed in thin ranks,
either with design of turning the flank of the
enemy, or to avoid being themselves surround-
ed. On the left, besides that they were formed
in more compact order, an addition was made
to their strength, by a sudden act of the consul
Po2telius : for the subsidiary cohorts, which
were usually reserved for the exigencies of a
tedious fight, he brought up immediately to the
front, and, in the first onset, pushed the enemy
with the whole of his force. The Samnite line
of infantry giving way, their cavalry advanced
to support them ; and, as they were charging in
an oblique direction between the two lines, the
Roman horse coming up at full speed, disor-
dered their battalions and ranks of infantry and
cavalry, so as to oblige the whole line on that
side to give ground. The left wing had not
only the presence of Pretelius to animate them,
but that of Sulpicius likewise ; who, on the
shout being first raised in that quarter, rode
thither from his own division, which had not
yet engaged. When he saw victory no longer
doubtful there, he returned to his own post with
twelve hundred men, but found affairs on that
side- in a very different posture; the Romans
driven from their ground, and the victorious
enemy pressing on their disordered battalions.
However, the arrival of the consul effected a
speedy change in every particular ; for, on the
sight of their leader, the spirit of the soldiers
was revived, and the bravery of the men, who

v. R. 442.]

OF ROME.

came with him, rendered them a more powerful
reinforcement than even their number ; while
the news of success in the other wing, of which
they soon had visible proof, restored the vigour
of the fight. From this time, the Romans be-
came victorious through the whole extent of the
line, and the Samnites, giving up the contest,
were slain or taken prisoners, except such as
made their escape to Maleventum, the town
which is now called Beneventum. Thirty
thousand of the Samnites were slain or taken,
according to accounts of historians.

XXVIII. The consuls, after this important
victory, led forward the legions to lay siege to
Bovianum ; and there they continued, during
part of the winter, until Caius IVti-lws being
nominated dictator, with Marcus Foslius mas-
ter of the horse, received the command of the
army from the new consuls, Lucius Papirius
Cursor a fifth, and Caius Junius Bubulcus a
second time. [Y. R. 441. B. C. 311.] On
hearing that the citadel of Fregellae was taken
by the Samnites, he left Bovianum, and pro-
ceeded to that city, of which he recovered pos-
session without any contest, the Samnites aban-
doning it in the night : he then placed a strong
garrison there, and returned to Campania, di-
recting his operations principally to the recovery
of Nola. Within the walls of this place, the
whole multitude of the Samnites, and the inha-
bitants of the country about Nola, shut them-
selves up, on the approach of the dictator.
Having taken a view of the situation of the
city, in order to open the approach to the forti-
fications, he set fire to all the buildings which
stood round the walls, which were very nume-
rous ; and, in a short time after, Nola was
taken, either by the dictator Poetelius, or the con-
sul Caius Junius, but by which of them is un-
certain. Those who attribute to the consul the
honour of taking Nola, add, that he also took
Antina and Calatia, and that Pcetelius was
created dictator in consequence of a pestilence
breaking out, merely for the purpose of driving
the nail. The colonies of Suessa and Pontiae
were established in this year. Suessa had been
the property of the Auruncians -. the Volscians
had occupied Pontia;, an island lying within
sight of their shore. A decree of the senate
was also passed for conducting colonies to In-
teramna and Cassinum. [Y R. 442. B. C.
310.] But the commissioners were appointed,
and the colonists, to the number of four thou-
sand, sent by the succeeding consuls, Marcus
Valerius and Publius Decius.

XXIX. The Samnites were now nearly
disabled from continuing the war ; but, before
the Roman senate was freed from all concern
on that side, a report arose of the Etrurians
intending to commence hostilities ; and there
was not, in those times, any nation, excepting
the Gauls, whose arms were more dreaded, by
reason both of the vicinity of their country, and
of the multitude of their men. While there-
fore one of the consuls prosecuted the remains
of the war in Samnium, Publius Decius, who,
being attacked by a severe illness, remained at
Komi-, by direction of the senate, nominated
Caius Junius Bubulcus dictator. He, as the
magnitude of the affair demanded, compelled all
the younger citizens to enlist, and with the ut-
most diligence, prepared all requisite matters.
Yet he was not so elated by the power he
had collected, as to think of commencing offen-
sive operations, but prudently determined to
remain quiet, unless the Etrurians should be-
come aggressors. The plans of the Etrurians
were exactly similar, with respect to preparing
for, and abstaining from, war : neither party
went beyond their own frontiers. The censor-
ship of Appius Claudius and Caius Plautius,
for this year, was remarkable ; but the name of
Appius has been handed down with more cele-
brity to posterity on account of his having made
the road, called after him, the Appian, and for
having conveyed water into the city. These
works he performed alone ; for his colleague,
overwhelmed with shame by reason of the in-
famous and unworthy choice made of senators,
had abdicated his office. Appius possessing
that inflexibility of temper, which, from the
earliest times, had been the characteristic of his
family, held on the censorship by himself. By
direction of the same Appius, the Potitian fa,
mil y, in which the office of priests attendant on
the great altar of Hercules, was hereditJiry, in-
structed some of the public servants in the rites
of that solemnity, with the intention, to delegate
the same to them. The consequence, as re-
lated, is wonderful to be told, and sufficient to
make people scrupulous of disturbing the esta-
blished modes of religious solemnities : for
though there were, at that time, twelve branches
of the Potitian family, all grown-up persons,
and not fewer than thirty, yet they were every
one, together with their offspring, cut off within
the year ; so that the name of the Potitii be-
came extinct, while the censor Appius also was
pursued by the wrath of the gods j and, some
years after, deprived of sight.

324

THE HISTORY

[[BOOK ix.

XXX. The consuls of the succeeding year,
[Y. R. 443. B. C. 309.] were Caius Junius
Bubulcus a third time, and Quintus vl-'.milius
Barbula a second. In the commencement of
their office, they complained before the people,
that, by the improper choice which had been
made of members of the senate, that body had
been disgraced, several having been passed
over who were preferable to the persons chosen
in ; and they declared, that they would pay
no regard to such election, made, without dis-
tinction of right or wrong, merely to gratify
interest or humour : they then immediately
called over the list of the senate, in the same
order which had taken place before the censor-
ship of Appius Claudius and Caius Plautius.
Two public employments, both relating to
military affairs, came this year into the disposal
of the people ; one being an order, that sixteen
of the tribunes, for four legions, should be ap-
pointed by the people ; whereas hitherto they
had been generally bestowed by the dictators
and consuls, and very few of the places were
left to be filled by vote. This order was pro-
posed by Lucius Atilius and Caius Marcius,
plebeian tribunes. Another was, that the peo-
ple likewise should constitute two naval com-
missioners, for the equipping and refitting of
the fleet. The person who introduced this
order of the people, was Marcus Decius, ple-
beian tribune. Another transaction of this
year I should pass over as trifling, were it not
for the relation which it bears to religion. The
flute-players, taking offence because they had
been prohibited, by the last censors, from hold-
ing their repasts in the temple of Jupiter,
which had been customary from very early
times, went off in a body to Tibur ; so that
there was not one left in the city to play at the
sacrifices. This affair gave uneasiness to the
senate, on account of its consequences to re-
ligion ; and they sent envoys to Tibur with
instructions, to endeavour that these men
might be sent back to Rome. The Tiburtines
readily promised compliance, and first calling
them into the senate-house, warmly recom-
mended to them to return thither ; and then,
finding that they could not be prevailed on,
practised an artifice not ill adapted to the dis-
positions of that description of people : on a
festival day, they invited them separately to
their several houses, apparently with the inten-
tion of heightening the pleasure of their feasts
with music, and there plied them with wine, of

which such people are always fend, until they
laid them asleep. In this state of insensibility
they threw them into waggons, and carried them
away to Rome : nor did they know any thing
of the matter, until, the waggons having been
left in the forum, the light surprised them, still
heavily sick from the debauch. The people
then crowded about them, and, on their con-
senting at length to stay, privilege was granted
them to ramble about the city in full dress,
with music, during three days in every year.
And that licence, which we see practised at
present, and the right of being fed in the tem-
ple, was restored to those who played at the
sacrifices. These incidents occurred while the
public attention was deeply engaged by two
most important wars.

XXXI. The consuls adjusting the provin-
ces between them, the Samnites fell by lot to
Junius, the new war of Etruria to ^Emilius.
In the country of the former, the Samnites,
finding themselves unable to take Cluvia, a
Roman garrison, by force, had formed a block-
ade, and reduced it, by famine, to capitulate :
and, after torturing with stripes, in a shocking
manner, the townsmen who surrendered, had
put them to death. Enraged at this cruelty,
Junius determined to postpone every thing
else to the attacking of Cluvia ; and, on the
first day that he assaulted the walls, took it by
storm, and slew all who were grown to man's
estate. The victorious troops were led from
thence to Bovianum ; this was the capital of
the Pentrian Samnites, by far the most opulent
of their cities, and the most powerful both in
men and arms. The soldiers, stimulated by
the hope of plunder, soon made themselves
masters of the town : where, their resentment
being less violent, there was less severity exer-
cised on the enemy ; but a quantity of spoil was
carried off, greater almost than had ever been
collected out of all Sarhnium, and the whole
was liberally bestowed on the assailers. The
Samnites now perceiving that the Romans
possessed such a superiority in arms, 'that no
force in the field, no camp, no cities, could
withstand them, bent their whole attention to
find out an opportunity of acting by stratagem.
They conceived that the enemy, proceeding
with incautious eagerness in pursuit of plunder,
might, on such occasion, be caught in a snare
and overpowered. Some peasants who de-
serted, and some prisoners who were taken,
(part of them being purposely thrown in the

Y. u. 443.]

OF ROME.

325

way, while' others were met by accident,) con-
curred in their report to the consul, which at
the -;mic time was true, that a vast quantity of
cattle had been driven together into a certain
defile of difficult access, and by which he was
induced to lead thither the legions lightly ac-
coutred, in order to seize the prey. Here, a
very numerous army of the enemy haii posted
themselves, secretly, at all the passes ; and, as
soon as they saw that the Romans had got into
the defile, they rose up suddenly, with great
clamour and tumult, and attacked them una-
wares. At first, an event so unexpected, caused
some confusion, while they were taking their
anus, and throwing the baggage into the centre ;
but, as fast as each had freed himself from his
burden, and fitted himself with arms, they as-
sembled about the standards, from every side ;
and all, from the long course of their service,
knowing their particular ranks, they formed the
line without any directions. The consul, rid-
ing up to the place where the fight was most
warm, leaped from his horse, and called " Ju-
piter, Mars, and the other gods to witness, that
he had come into that place, not in pursuit of
any glory to himself, but of booty for his sol-
diers ; nor could any other fault be charged on
him, than too great a solicitude to enrich them
at the expense of the enemy. From the im-
pending disgrace nothing could extricate him
but the valour of the troops : let them only
join unanimously in a vigorous attack against a
foe, whom they had already vanquished in the
field, beaten out of their camps, and stripped
of their towns, and who were now trying their
last resource, in an attempt to overreach them,
by the contrivance of an ambuscade, placing
their reliance on the ground they occupied, not
on their arms. But what ground, what station,
was now unsurmountable to Roman valour ?"
The citadel of Fregellae, and that of Sora,
were called to their remembrance, with many
other places where difficulties from situation
had been surmounted. Animated by these
exhortations, the soldiers, regardless of all ob-
stacles, advanced against the enemy, posted
above them ; and here they underwent a good
deal of fatigue in climbing the steep. But as
soon as the first battalions got footing in the
plain, on the summit, and the troops perceived
that they now stood on equal ground, the dis-
may was instantly turned on the plotters ; who,
dispersing and casting away their arms, at-
tempted, by flight, to recover the same lurking

places, in which they had lately concealed
themselves. But the difficulties of the ground,
which had been their inducement to make
choice of it, now entangled them in the snares
of their own contrivance : very few found
means to escape ; twenty thousand men were
slain, and the victorious Romans hastened in
several parties to secure the booty of cattle,
which the enemy had so unwisely thrown in
their way.

XXXII. While such was the situation of
affairs in Samnium, all the states of Etruria,
except the Arretians, had taken arms, and
vigorously commenced hostilities, by laying
siege to Sutrium ; which city, being in alliance
with the Romans, served as a barrier against
Etruria. Thither the other consul, ^milius,
came with an army to deliver the allies from
the siege. The Romans, on their arrival, were
plentifully supplied, by the Sutrians, with pro-
visions carried into their camp, which was
pitched before the city. The Etrurians spent
the first day in deliberating, whether they
should expedite, or protract the war. On the
day following, their leaders, having determined
on the speedier plan in preference to the safer,
as soon as the sun rose, displayed the signal for
battle, and the troops marched out to the field :
which being reported to the consul, he instantly
commanded notice to be given, that they should
take refreshment, and then appear under arms.
The order was obeyed : and the consul, seeing
them armed and in readiness, ordered the stan-
dards to be carried forth beyond the rampart,
and drew up his men at a small distance from
the enemy. Both parties stood a long time
with fixed attention, each waiting for the shout
and fight to begin on the opposite side ; and the
sun had passed the meridian before a weapon
was thrown by either. At length, rather than
leave the place without something being done,
the shout was given by the Etrurians, the
trumpets sounded, and the battalions advanced.
Nor were the Romans less alert : both rushed
to the fight with violent animosity, the Etru-
rians superior in numbers, the Romans in
valour. The battle continued a long time
doubtful, and great numbers fell on both sides,
particularly the men of greatest courage ; nor
did victory declare itself, until the second line
of the Romans came up fresh to the front, in
the place of the first, who were much fatigued.
The Etrurian line not being supported by any
fresh reserves, all before and round the stan-

326

THE HISTORY

[BOOK ix.

dards were slain, and in no battle whatever
would have been seen a nobler stand, or a
greater effusion of human blood, had not the
night sheltered the Etrurians, who were reso-
lutely determined to resist to death ; so that
the victors, not the vanquished, were the first
who desisted from fighting. After sunset the
signal for retreat was given, and both parties
retired in the night to their camps. During
the remainder of the year, nothing memorable
was effected at Sutrium ; for, of the enemy's
army, the whole first line had been cut off, the
reserves only being left, who were scarce suf-
ficient to guard the camp ; and, among the
Romans, a greater number died of their wounds
than had fallen in the field.

XXXIII. Quintus Fabius, consul for the
ensuing year, [Y. R. 444. B. C. 308.] suc-
ceeded to the command of the army at Su-
trium : the colleague given to him was Caius
Marcius Rutilus. On the one side, Fabius
brought with him a reinforcement from Rome,
and on the other, a new army had been sent
for, and came from home, to the Etrurians.
Many years had now passed without any dis-
putes between the patrician magistrates and
plebeian tribunes, when a contest took its rise
from that family, which seemed raised by fate
as antagonists to the tribunes and commons of
those times ; Appius Claudius, being censor,
when the eighteen months had expired, which
was the time limited by the ^milian law for
the duration of the censorship, although his
colleague Caius Plautius had already resigned
his office, could not be prevailed on, by any
means, to give up his. There was a tribune
of the commons, Publius Sempronius, who
undertook to enforce the termination of the
censorship, within the lawful time, by means
of a legal process, which was not more popular
than just, nor more pleasing to the people gen-
erally, than to every man of character in the
city. After frequently appealing to the JEmil-
ian law, and bestowing commendations on
Mamercus ^Emilius, who, in his dictatorship,
had been the author of it, for having contracted,
within the space of a year and six months, the
censorship, which formerly had lasted five
years, and was a power which, in consequence
of its long continuance, often became tyranni-
cal, he proceeded thus : " Tell me, Appius
Claudius, in what manner you would have
acted, had you been censor, at the time, when
Caius Furius, and Marcus Geganius, were in

that office ?" Appius insisted, that " the tri-
bune's question was irrelevant to his case.
For, although the /Kmilmn law might bind
those censors, during whose magistracy it was
passed, — because the people made that law
after they had become censors ; and whatever
order is the last passed by the people that is
held to be the law, and valid : — yet neither he,
nor any of those, who had been created censors
subsequent to the passing of that law, could be
bound by it."

XXXIV. While Appius urged such frivo-
lous arguments as these, which carried no con-
viction whatever, the other said, " Behold,
Romans, the offspring of that Appius, who.
being created decemvir for one year, created
himself for a second ; and who, during a third,
without being created even by himself or by
any other, held on the fasces and the govern-
ment ; nor ceased to continue in office, until the
government itself, ill acquired, ill administered,
and ill retained, overwhelmed him in ruin.
This is the same family, citizens, by whose
violence and injustice ye were compelled to
banish yourselves from your native city, and
seize on the sacred mount ; the same, against
which ye provided for yourselves the protection
of tribunes ; the same, which occasioned you
to form two armies, and to take post on the
Aventine ; the same, which violently opposed
the laws against usury, and always the agrarian
laws ; the same, which broke through the right
of intermarriage between the patricians and the
commons ; the same, which shut up the road
to curule offices against the latter : this is a
name, more hostile to your liberty by far, than
that of the Tarquinii. I pray you, Appius
Claudius, this being now the hundredth year
since the dictatorship of Mamercus ^Emilius,
during which period so many men of the high •
est characters and abilities have filled that
office ; did none of these ever read the twelve
tables ? None of them know, that, whatever
was the last order of the people, that was law ?
Nay, certainly they all knew it ; and they
therefore obeyed the jEmilian law, rather
than the old one, under which the censors had
been at first created ; because it was the last
order ; and because, when two laws are contra-
dictory, the new always repeals the old. Do
you mean to say, Appius, that the people are
not bound by the ^Emilian law ? Or, that the
people are bound, and you alone exempted ?
The ^milian law bound those violent cen-

v. K. 444. i

OF ROME.

•on, Cuius Furius and Murcus (reganius, who
showed what mischief that office :ntght do in
the state ; when, out of resentment for the
limitation of their power, they disfranchised
Mamercus .Kmilitis, the first man of the age,
either in war or peace. It bound all the cen-
sors thenceforward, during the space of a hun-
dred years. It binds Caius Plautius your
colleague, created under the same auspices,
with the same privileges. Did not the people
create him with the fullest privileges with
which any censor ever was created? Or is
yours an excepted case, in which this singular-
ity peculiarly takes place ? Shall the person,
w horn you create king of the sacrifices, laying
hold of the style of sovereignty, say, that he
was created, with the fullest privileges, with
which any king was ever created at Rome ?
Who then, do you think, would be content
with a dictatorship of six months ? Who, with
the office of interrex for five days ? Whom
would you, with confidence, create dictator, for
the purpose of driving the nail, or of exhibiting
games ? How foolish, how stupid, do ye think,
those must appear in this man's eyes, who, af-
ter performing most important sen-ices, abdi-
cated the dictatorship within the twentieth
day ; or who, being irregularly created, resign-
ed their office ? Why should I bring instances
from antiquity ? Lately, within these last ten
years, Caius Mxnius, dictator, having enforced
inquiries, with more strictness than consisted
with the safety of some powerful men, a charge
was thrown out by his enemies, that he himself
was infected with the very crime against which
his inquiries were directed ; — now Maenius, I
say, in order that he might, in a private capaci-
ty, meet the imputation, abdicated the dictator-
ship. I expect not such moderation in you ;
you will not degenerate from your family, of
all others the most imperious and assuming ;
nor resign your office a day, nor even an hour,
before you are forced to it Be it so : but
tnen let no one exceed the time b'mited. It is
enough to add a day, or a month, to the cen-
sorship. But Appius says, I will hold the
censorship, and hold it alone, three years and
six months longer than is allowed by the
jEmilian law. Surely this is like absolute
power. Or will you fill up the vacancy with
another colleague, a proceeding not allowable,
even in the case of the death of a censor ? You
are not satisfied with having, as if you were a
religious censor, hindered the most ancient so-

lemnity, and the only one instituted by the very
deity, to whom it is performed, from being at-
tended by priests of the highest rank, but
degraded it to the ministration of servants.
You are not satisfied that a family, more an-
cient than the origin of this city, and sanctified
by an intercourse of hospitality with the im-
mortal gods, has, by means of you and your
censorship, been utterly extirpated, with all its
branches, within the space of a year, but would
involve the whole commonwealth in guilt so
horrid that I dread even to mention it. This
city was taken in that lustrum in which Caius
Julius and Lucius Papirius were censors. On
the death of Julius, Papirius, rather than resign
his office, substituted Marcus Cornelius Malu-
ginensis as his colleague. Yet how much
more moderate was his ambition, Appius, than
yours ? Lucius Papirius neither held the cen-
sorship alone, nor beyond the time prescribed
by law. But still no one has since been found
who would follow his example ; all censors
having, in case of the death of a colleague, ab-
dicated the office. As for you, neither the
expiration of the time of your censorship, nor
the resignation of your colleague, nor law, nor
shame restrains you. Your fortitude is arro-
gance ; your boldness, is a contempt of gods
and men. Appius Claudius, in consideration
of the dignity of that office, which you have
borne, and of the respect due to it. T should be
sorry, not only to offer you personal violence,
but even to address you in language too severe.
With respect to what I have hitherto said, your
pride and obstinacy forced me to speak. And
now, unless you pay obedience to the . Kmi 1 ian
law, I shall order you to be led to prison. Nor,
since a rule has been established by our ances-
tors, that in the election of censors, unless two
shall obtain the legal number of suffrages, nei-
ther shall be returned, but the election defer-
red,— will I suffer you, who could not singly be
created censor, to hold the censorship without
a colleague." Having spoken to this effect, he
ordered the censor to be seized, and borne to
prison. But, although six of the tribunes ap-
proved of the proceeding of their colleague,
three gave their support to Appius, on his ap-
pealing to them, and he held the censorship
alone, to the great disgust of all ranks of men.
XXXV. While such was the state of af-
fairs at Rome, the Etrurians had laid siege to
Sutrium, and the consul Fabius, as he WHS
marching along the foot of the mountains, with

3-2$

THE HISTORY

[BOOK ix.

a design to succour the allies, and attempt the
enemy's works, if he should see it practicable,
was met by their army prepared for battle.
The wide extended plain below, showing the
greatness of their force, the consul, in order to
remedy his deficiency in point of number, by
advantage of the ground, changed the direction
of his route a little towards the hills, where the
way was rugged and covered with stones, and
then formed his troops, facing the enemy.
The Etrurians, thinking of nothing but the
multitude of their men, on which alone
they depended, advanced with such haste and
eagerness, that, in order to come the sooner to
a close engagement, they threw away their ja-
velins, drew their swords, and rushed on. On
the other side, the Romans poured down on
them, sometimes javelins, and sometimes stones,
which the place abundantly supplied ; so that
the blows on their shields and helmets, confus
ing even those whom they did not wound, kept
them from closing with their foe ; and they had
no missive weapons with which to act at a dis-
tance. While they stood still exposed to blows
against which they had no sufficient defence,
some even giving way, and the line growing un-
steady and wavering, the Roman spearmen, and
the first rank, renewing the shout, poured down
on them with drawn swords. This attack the
Etrurians could not withstand, but, facing
about, fled precipitately towards their camp ;
when the Roman cavalry getting before them
by galloping obliquely across the plain, threw
themselves in the way of their flight, on which
they quitted the road, and bent their course to
the mountains. From thence, in a body, almost
without arms, and debilitated with wounds, they
made their way into the Ciminian forest. The
Romans, having slain many thousands of the
Etrurians, and taken thirty-eight military stan-
dards, took also possession of their camp, to-
gether with a vast quantity of spoil. They
then began to consider of pursuing the enemy.
XXXVI. The Ciminian forest was in those
days deemed as impassable and frightful as the
German forests have been in latter times ; not
even any trader having ever attempted to pass
it. Hardly any, besides the general himself,
showed boldness enough to enter it ; so fresh
was the remembrance of the disaster at Cau-
dium in every one's mind. On this, Marcus
Fabius, the consul's brother, (some say Cseso,
others Caius Claudius, born of the same mo-
ther with the consul,) undertook to explore the

country, and to bring them in a short time an
account of every particular. Being educated
at Caere, where he had friends, he was perfect
ly acquainted with the Etrurian language. I
have seen it affirmed, that, in those times, the
Roman youth were commonly instructed in the
Etrurian learning, as they are now in the
Greek : but it is more probable, that there was
something very extraordinary in the person who
acted so daringly a counterfeit part, and mixed
among the enemy. It is said that his only at-
tendant was a slave, who had been bred up with
him, and who was therefore not ignorant of the
same language. They received no further in-
structions at their departure, than a summary
description of the country through which they
were to pass ; to this was added the names of
the principal men in the several states, to pre-
vent their being at a loss in conversation, and
from being discovered by making some mistake.
They set out in the dress of shepherds, armed
with rustic weapons, bills, and two short jave-
lins each. But though their speaking the lan-
guage of the country, with the fashion of their
dress and arms, be supposed to have concealed
them, it was more effectually done by the in-
credible circumstance of a stranger's passing the
Ciminian forest. They are said to have pene-
trated as far as the Camertian district of the
Umbrians : there the Romans ventured to own
who they were, and being introduced to the
senate, treated with them, in the name of the
consul, about an alliance and friendship ; and
after being entertained with courteous hospita-
lity, were desired to acquaint the Romans, that
if they came into those countries, there should
be provisions in readiness for the troops suffi-
cient for thirty days, and that they should find
the youth of the Camertian Umbrians prepared
in arms to obey their commands. When this
information was brought to the consul, he sent
forward the baggage at the first watch, ordering
the legions to march in the rear of it He him-
self staid behind with the cavalry, and next
day, as soon as light appeared, rode' up in a
threatening manner to the posts of the enemy,
which had been stationed on the outside of the
forest ; and, when he had detained them there
for a sufficient length of time, he retired to his
camp, and marching out by the opposite gate,
overtook the main body of the army before
night. At the first light, on the following day,
he had gained the summit of Mount Ciminius,
from whence having a view of the opulent

y. R.444.]

OF ROME.

329

plains of Etruria, he let loose his soldiers up-
on them. When a vast body had been driven
<inc tumultuary cohorts of Etrurian pea-
sants, hastily collected by the principal inhabi-
tants of the district, met the Romans ; but in
Mich disorderly array, that these rescuers of the
prey were near becoming wholly a prey them-
selves. These being slain or put to flight, and
the country laid waste to a great extent, the
Romans returned to their camp victorious,
and enriched with plenty of every kind. It
happened, that, in the mean time, five deputies,
with two plebeian tribunes, had come hither,
to charge Fabius, in the name of the senate,
not to attempt to pass the Ciminian forest.
These, rejoicing that they had arrived too late
to prevent the expedition, returned to Rome
with the news of its success.

XXXVII. The consul, by this expedition,
instead of bringing the war nearer to a conclu-
sion, only spread it to a wider extent : for all
the tract adjacent to the foot of Mount Cimi-
nius, had felt his devastations ; and, out of the
indignation conceived thereat, had roused to
arms, not only the states of Etruria, but the
neighbouring parts of Umbria. They came
therefore to Sutrium, with such a numerous
army as they had never befbre brought into the
field j and not only ventured to encamp on the
outside of the wood, but earnestly desirous of
coming to an engagement as soon as possible,
marched down to the plains to offer battle. The
troops, being marshalled, stood, at first for
some time, on their own ground, having left a
space sufficient for the Romans to draw up,
opposite to them ; but perceiving that these
declined fighting, they advanced to the ram-
part ; where, observing that even the advanced
guards had retired within the works, they at
once began to insist clamorously on their gene-
ral's ordering provisions for that day to be
brought down to them : " for they were re-
solved to remain there under arms ; and either
in the night, or, at all events, at the dawn of
day, to attack the enemy's camp." The Roman
troops, though not less eager for action, were
restrained by the commands of the general.
About the tenth hour, the consul ordered his
men a repast ; and gave directions that they5
should be ready in arms, at whatever time of
the day or night he should give the signal.
He then addressed a few words to them ; spoke
in high terms of the wars of the Samnites,
and contemptuously of the Etrurians, who

I.

" were not," he said, " to be compared with
other nations, either in respect of abilities as
soldiers, or in point of numbers. Besides, he
had an engine at work, as they should find in
due time : at present it was of importance to
keep it secret." This he intimated, in order
to raise the courage of his men, damped by
the superiority of the enemy's force ; and, from
their not having fortified the post where they
lay, the insinuation of a stratagem formed
against them seemed the more credible. After
refreshing themselves, they went to rest, and
being roused without noise, about the fourth
watch, took arms. The servants following the
army, had axes put into their hands, to tear
down the rampart and fill up the trench. The
line was formed within the works, and some
chosen cohorts posted close to the gates. Then,
a little before day, which in summer nights is
the time of the profoundest sleep, the signal
being given, the rampart was levelled, and the
troops rushing forth, fell upon the enemy, who
were every where stretched at their length.
Some were put to death before they could stir ;
others half asleep, in their beds ; the greatest
part, while they ran in confusion to arms ; few,
in short, had time to defend themselves ; and
these, who followed no particular leader, nor
orders, were quickly routed and pursued by the
Roman horse. They fled different ways ; to
the camp and to the woods. The latter afford-
ed the safer refuge ; for the former, being situ-
ated in a plain, was taken the same day. The
gold and silver was ordered to be brought to the
consul ; the rest of the spoil was given to the
soldiers. On that day, sixty thousand of the
enenty were slain or taken. Some affirm, that
this famous battle was fought on the farther
side of the Ciminian forest, at Perusia ; and
that the public had been under great dread,
lest the army might be inclosed in such a dan-
gerous pass, and overpowered by a general
combination of the Etrurians and Umbrians.
But on whatever spot it was fought, it is cer-
tain that the Roman power prevailed ; and, in
consequence thereof, ambassadors came from
Perusia, Cortona, and Arretium, which were
then among the principal states of Etruria, to
solicit a peace and alliance with the Romans ;
and they obtained a truce for thirty years.

XXXVIII. During these transactions in
Etruria, the other consul, Caius Marcius Ru-
tilus, took Allifte by storm from the Samnites ;
and many of their forts, and smaller towns-,
2 T

330

THE HISTORY

[BOOK ix.

were either destroyed by his arms, or surren-
dered entire. About the same time also, the
Roman fleet, having sailed to Campania, under
Publius Cornelius, to whom the senate bad
given the command on the sea-coast, put into
Pompeii. Immediately on landing, the marine
soldiers set out to ravage the country about
Nuceria : and after they had quickly laid
waste the parts which lay nearest, and whence
they could have returned to the ships with
safety, they were allured by the temptation of
plunder, as it often happens, to advance too
far, and thereby roused the enemy against them.
While they rambled about the country, they met
no opposition, though they might have been
cut off to a man ; but as they were returning,
in a careless manner, the peasants overtook
them, not far from the ships, stripped them of
the booty, and even slew a great part of them.
Those who escaped were driven in confusion
to the ships. As the news of Fabius having
marched through the Ciminian forest had oc-
casioned violent apprehensions at Rome, so it
had excited joy in proportion among the enemy
in Samnium : they talked of the Roman army
being pent up, and surrounded ; and of the
Caudine forks, as a model of what they were
to undergo. " Those people," they said, " ever
greedy after further acquisitions, were now
brought into inextricable difficulties, hemmed
in, not more effectually by the arms of their
enemy, than by the disadvantage of the ground."
Their joy was even mingled with a degree of
envy, because fortune, as they thought, had
transferred the glory of finishing the Roman
war, from the Samnites to the Etrurians -. they
hastened therefore, with their whole collected
force, to crush the consul Caius Marcius ; re-
solving, if he did not give them an opportunity
of fighting, to proceed, through the territories
of the Marsians and Sabines, into Etruria.
The consul met them, and a battle was fought
with great fury on both sides, but without a
decisive issue. Although both parties suffered
severely, yet the discredit of losing the day fell
on the Romans, because several of equestrian
rank, some military tribunes, with one lieuten-
ant-general, had fallen ; and, what was more
remarkable than all, the consul himself was
wounded. This event, exaggerated by report
as is usual, greatly alarmed the senate, so that
they resolved on having a dictator nominated.
No one entertained a doubt that the nomina-
tion would light on Papirius Cursor, who was

then universally deemed to possess the greatest
abilities as a commander : but they could not
be certain, either that a message might be con-
veyed with safety into Samnium, where all
was in a state of hostility, or that the consul
Marcius was alive. The other consul, Fabius,
was at enmity with Papirius, on his own ac-
count ; and lest this resentment might prove
an obstacle to the public good, the senate voted
that deputies of consular rank should be sent
to him, who, uniting their own influence to
that of government, might prevail on him to
drop, for the sake of his country, all remem-
brance of private animosities. When the de-
puties came to Fabius, and delivered to him
the decree of the senate, adding such arguments
as were suitable to their instructions, the con-
sul, casting his eyes towards the ground, retir-
ed in silence, leaving them in uncertainty what
part he intended to act. Then, in the silent
time of the night, according to the established
custom, he nominated Lucius Papirius dicta-
tor. When the deputies returned him thanks,
for so very meritoriously subduing his passion,
he still persevered in obstinate silence, and dis-
missed them without any answer, or mention
of what he had done : a proof that he felt an,
extraordinary degree of resentment, which it
cost him a violent struggle to suppress. Pa-
pirius appointed Caius Junius Bubulcus master
of the horse ; and, as he was proceeding in an
assembly of the Curiae,' to get an order passed,
respecting the command of the army, an un-
lucky omen obliged him to adjourn it ; for the
Curia, which was to vote first, happened to be
the Faucian, remarkably distinguished by two
disasters, the taking of the city, and the Cau-
dine peace ; the same Curia having voted first
in those years in which the said events are
found. Licinius Macer supposes this Curia
ominous, also, on account of a third misfortune,
that which was experienced at the Cremera.

XXXIX. Next day the dictator taking the
auspices anew, obtained the order, and, march-
ing out at the head of the legions, lately raised
on the alarm occasioned by the army passing
the Ciminian forest, came to Longula ; where
having received the troops of the consul

1 The comitia curiata, or assemblies of the curiae,
alone had the power of conferring military command ;
no magistrate therefore could assume the command
without the previous order of their assembly. In time,
this came to be a mere matter of form ; yi t the practire
always continued to be observed.

v. R. 444.]

OF ROME.

331

Marrius, he led on his forces to battle ; nor
did the enemy seem to decline the combat.
However, they stood under arms, until night
came on ; neither side choosing to begin the
fray. After this, they continued a con-
siderable rime encamped near each other,
without coming to action ; neither diflident
of their own strength, nor despising the ad-
versary. Meanwhile the army in Etruriii was
fully employed : lor a decisive battle was fought
with the Umbriana, in which the enemy was
routed, but lost not many men, for they did not
maintain the fight with the vigour with which
they began it. Besides this the Etrurians
having made a levy of troops, enforced by
the sanctions of the devoting law, each man
choosing another, came to an engagement at the
Cape of Vadimon, with more numerous forces,
and, at the same time, with greater spirit than
they had ever shown before. The battle* was
fought with such animosity that no javelins
were thrown by either party : swords alone
were made use of ; and the fury of the comba-
tants was still higher inflamed by the long con-
tinued contest ; so that it appeared to the
Romans as if they were disputing, not with
Etrurians, whom they had so often conquered,
but with a new race. Not the least intention
of giving ground appeared in any part ; the
first lines fell ; and lest the standards should
be exposed, without defence, the second lines
were formed in their place. At length, even
the last reserves were called into action ; and,
such was the extremity of the difficulty and
danger, that the Roman cavalry dismounted,
and pressed forward, through heaps of arms and
bodies, to the front ranks of the infantry. A
new army, as it were, thus starting up, disor-
dered the battalions of the Etrurians ; and the
rest, weak as their condition was, seconding
this attack, broke at last through the enemy's
ranks. Their obstinacy then began to give
•vay : some companies quitted their posts, and,
as soon as they once turned their backs, betook
themselves to open flight. That day first broke
the strength of the Etrurians, now grown ex-
uberant through a long course of prosperity ;
all the flower of their men were cut off", and
the Romans, without halting, seized and sacked
their camp.

XL. Equal danger, and an issue equally
glorious, soon after attended the war with the
Samnites ; who, besides their many preparations
for the field, made no little glitter with new

decorations of their armour. Their troops
were in two divisions, one of which had their
shields embossed with gold, the other with
silver. The shape of the shield was this ;
broad at the middle to cover the breast and
shoulders, and Hat at top, sloping off gradually
so as to become pointed below, that it might
be wielded with ease ; a loose coat of mail also
helped to defend the breast, and the left leg
was covered with a greave ; their helmets were
adorned with plumes, to add to the appearance
of their stature. The golden-armed soldiers
wore tunics of various colours ; the silver-
armed, of white linen. To the latter, the
right wing was assigned ; the former took post
on the left. The Romans had been apprized
of these splendid accoutrements, and had been
taught by their commanders, that " a soldier
ought to be rough ; not decorated with gold
and silver, but placing his confidence in his
sword. That matters of this kind were in
reality spoil rather than armour ; glittering
before action, but soon losing their brilliancy
when besmeared with blood. That the bright-
est ornament of a soldier was valour ; that all
those trinkets would follow victory, and that
those rich enemies would be valuable prizes to the
poorer conquerors. " Cursor, having animated
his men with these observations, led them on
to battle. He took post himself on the right
wing, giving the command of the lef't-to the
master of the horse. At the first onset, the
conflict between the two armies became des-
perate, while the dictator and the master of the
horse were eagerly contending on which wing
victory should first show itself. It happened
that Junius first, with the left wing, made the
right of the enemy give way ; this consisted of
men devoted after the custom of Samnites, and
on that account distinguished by white garments
and armour of equal whiteness. Junius, saying,
" he would sacrifice these to Pluto," pressed
forward, disordered their ranks, and made an
evident impression : which being perceived by
the dictator, he exclaimed, " Shall the battle
begin on the left wing, and shall the right, the
dictator's own troops, only second the arms of
others, and not claim the greatest share of the
victory ?" This spurred on the soldiers : nor
did the cavalry yield to the infantry in bravery,
nor the ardour of lieutenant-generals to that of
the commanders. Marcius Volerius from the
right wing, and Publius Decius from the left,
both men of consular rank, rode off to the cav-

332

THE HISTORY

[BOOK ix

airy, posted on the extremities of the line, and,
exhorting them to join in putting in for a share
of the honour, charged the enemy on the flanks.
The Roman legions, on observing the confusion
of the Samnites, by being thus assailed on both
sides, renewed the shout, and rushing forcibly
on them, they began to fly. And now the plains
were quickly filled with heaps of bodies and
splendid armour. At first, their camp received
the dismayed Samnites ; but they did not long
retain even the possession of that : before night
it was taken, plundered, and burnt. The dic-
tator triumphed, in pursuance of a decree of the
senate ; and the most splendid spectacle by far,
of any in his procession, was the captured arms :
so magnificent were they deemed, that the
shields, adorned with gold, were distributed
among the owners of the silver shops, to serve
as embellishments to the forum. Hence, it is
said, arose the custom of the forum being de-
corated by the sediles, when the grand proces-
sions are made, on occasion of the great games.
The Romans, indeed, converted these extraor-
dinary arms to the honour of the gods : but the
Campanians, out of pride, and in hatred of the
foe, gave them as ornaments to their gladiators,
who used to be exhibited as a show at their
feasts, and whom they distinguished by the
name of Samnites. During this year, the con-
sul Fabius fought with the remnants of the
Etrurians at Perusia, which city also had vio-
lated the truce, and gained an easy and decisive
victory. After this, he marched up to the
walls of the town, and would have taken it, had
not deputies come out and capitulated. Hav-
ing placed a garrison at Perusia, and sent on
before him to the Roman senate, the embassies
of Etruria, who solicited friendship, the consul
rode into the city in triumph, for successes more
important than those of the dictator. Besides,
a great share of the honour of reducing the
Samnites was attributed to the lieutenant-gene-
rals, Publius Decius and Marcius Valerius :
whom, at the next election, the people, with
universal consent, declared the one consul, the
other praetor.

XL I. Fabius, in consideration of his extra-
ordinary merit in the conquest of Etruria, was
re-elected into the consulship. [Y. R. 445. B.
C. 307.] Decius was appointed his colleague.
Valerius was created praetor a fourth time. The
consuls divided the provinces between them.
Etruria fell to Decius, Samnium to Fabius.
The latter, having marched to Nuceria, rejected

the application of the people of Alfaterna, who
then sued for peace, because they had not ac-
cepted it when offered, and by force of arms
compelled them to surrender. A battle was
fought with the Samnites, who were overcome
without much difficulty : nor would the memo-
ry of that engagement have been preserved, ex-
cept that in it the Marsians first appeared in
arms against the Romans. The defection of
the Marsians was followed by that of the Pelig-
nians, who met the same fate. The other con-
sul, Decius, was likewise very successful in his
operations : through the terror with which he
inspired the Tarquinians, he compelled them to
supply his army with corn, and to sue for a
truce for- forty years. He took several forts
from the Volsinians by assault, some of which
he demolished, that they might not serve as re-
ceptacles to the enemy, and, by extending his
operations through every quarter, diffused such a
dread of his arms, that the whole Etrurian nation
sued to him for an alliance: this they did not
obtain ; but a truce for a year was granted them.
The pay of the Roman army for that year was
furnished by the enemy ; and two tunics for
each soldier were exacted from them : this was
the purchase of the truce. The tranquillity
now established in Etruria was interrupted by
a sudden insurrection of the Umbrians, a nation
which had suffered no injury from the war, ex-
cept what inconvenience the country had felt in
the passing of the army. These, by calling in-
to the field all their own young men, and forc-
ing a great part of the Etrurians to resume
their arms, made up such a numerous force,
that speaking of themselves with ostentatious
vanity, and of the Romans with contempt, they
boasted that they would leave Decius behind in
Etruria, and march away to besiege Rome ;
which design of theirs being reported to the
consul Decius, he removed by long marches
from Etruria towards their city, and sat down
in the district of Pupinia, in readiness to act
according to the intelligence which he might
receive of the enemy's motions. Nor was the
insurrection of the Umbrians slighted at Rome :
their very threats excited 'ears among the peo-
ple, who had experienced, in the calamities suf-
fered from the Gauls, the insecurity of the city
wherein they resided. Deputies were there-
fore despatched to the consul Fabius with di-
rections, that, if he had any respite from the wnr
of the Samnites, he should with all haste lead
his army into Umbria. The consul obeyed

v. it. 440."]

OF ROME.

033

the order, and by forced inarches, proceeded to
Mevania, where the forces of the Umbrians
then lay. The unexpected arrival of the con-
sul, whom they had believed to be sufficiently
employed in Samnium, far distant from their
country, so thoroughly affrighted the Umbrians,
that several advised retiring to their fortified
towns ; others, the layingasidc theirarms. How-
ever, one district, called by themselves Materina,
prevailed on the rest not only to retain their
arms, but to come to an immediate engagement.
They fell upon Fabius while he was fortifying
his camp. When the consul saw them rush-
ing impetuously towards his rampart, he call-
ed off his men from the work, and drew them
up in the best manner which the nature of
the place, and the time allowed ; encouraged
them by displaying, in honourable and just
terms, the glory which they had acquired, as
well in Etruria as in Samnium, and bade them
finish this insignificant appendage to the Etru-
rian war, and take vengeance for the impious
expressions in which these people had threat-
ened to attack the city of Rome. Such was
the alacrity of the soldiers on hearing this,
that, raising the shout spontaneously, they in-
terrupted the general's discourse, and, without
waiting for orders, advanced, with the sound of
all the trumpets and comets, in full speed
against the enemy. They made their attack
not as on men, or at least men in arms, but,
what must appear wonderful in the relation,
began by snatching the standards out of the*
hands which held them ; and then, the stand-
ard-bearers themselves were dragged to the
consul, and the armed soldiers hauled from
the one line to the other ; little resistance
was any where made, and the business was
performed, not so much with swords, as
with their shields, with the bosses of which,
and thrusts of their elbows, they bore down
the foe. The prisoners were more numerous
than the slain, and through the whole line the
Umbrians called on each other, with one voice,
to lay down their arms. Thus a surrender was
made in the midst of action, by the first pro-
moters of the war ; and on the next and fol-
lowing days, the other states of this people
also surrendered. The Ocriculans were ad-
mitted to a treaty of friendship on giving se-
curity.

XLII. Fabius, after reaping laurels in a
war allotted to another, led back his army into
Lis own province. And as, in the preceding

year, the people had, in consideration of his
services so successfully performed, re-elected
him to the consulship, so now the senate, from
the same motive, notwithstanding a warm op-
position made by Appius, prolonged his com-
mand for the year following, [ Y. R. 446. B.
C. 306.] in which Appius Claudius and Lu-
cius Volumnius were consuls. In some an-
nals I find, that Appius, still holding the office
of censor, declared himself a candidate for the
consulship, and that his election was stopped
by a protest of Lucius Furius, plebeian tri-
bune, until he resigned the censorship. After
his election to the . consulship, the new war
with the Sallentines, who had taken arms,
being decreed to his colleague, he remained at
Rome, with design to increase his interest by
popular intrigues, since the means of procuring
honour in war were placed in the hands of
others. Volumnius had no reason to be dis-
satisfied with his province : he fought many
battles with good success, and took several
cities by assault. He was liberal in his dona-
tions of the spoil ; and this munificence, en-
gaging in itself, he enhanced by his courteous
demeanour, by which conduct he inspired his
soldiers with ardour to meet both toil and
danger. Quintus Fabius, proconsul, fought a
pitched battle with the armies of the Samnites,
near the city of Allifae. The victory was
complete. The enemy were driven from the
field, and pursued to their camp ; nor would
they have kept possession of that, had not the
day been almost spent. It was invested, how-
ever, before night, and gifarded until day, lest
any should slip away. Next morning, while it
was scarcely clear day, they proposed to capi-
tulate, and it was agreed, that such as were
natives of Samnium should be dismissed with
single garments. All these were sent under
the yoke. No precaution was taken in favour
of the allies of the Samnites : they were sold
by auction, to the number of seven thousand.
Those who declared themselves subjects of the
Hernicians, were kept by themselves under a
guard. All these Fabius sent to Rome to the
senate ; and, after being examined, whether it
was in consequence of a public order, or as
volunteers, that they had carried arms on the
side of the Samnites against the Romans, they
were distributed among the states of the La-
tines to be held in custody ; and it was ordered,
that the new consuls, Publius Cornelius Arvi-
na and Quintus Marcius Tremulus, who by

$34

THE HISTORY

[BOOK ix.

this time had been elected, should lay that
affair entire before the senate : [Y. R. 447.
B. C. 305.] this gave such offence to the Her-
nicians, that, at a meeting of all the states, as-
sembled by the Anagnians, in the circus called
the Maritime, the whole nation of the Herni-
cians, excepting the Alatrians, Ferentines, and
Verulans, declared war against the Roman
people.

XL I II. In Samnium also, in consequence
of the departure of Fabius, new commotions
arose. Calatia and Sora, and the Roman
garrisons stationed there, were taken, and the
prisoners treated with extreme cruelty : Pub-
lius Cornelius was therefore sent thither with
an army. The command against the new ene-
my (for by this time an order had passed for
declaring war against the Anagnians, and the
rest of the Hernicians) was decreed to Marcius.
These, in the beginning, secured all the passes
between the camps of the consul,'in such a man-
ner, that no messenger, however expert, could
make his way from one to the other ; and each
consul spent several days in absolute uncertainty
and in anxious suspense concerning the state of
the other. Apprehensions for their safety spread
even to Rome ; so that all the younger citizens
were compelled to enlist, and two regular armies
were raised, to answer sudden emergencies.
The conduct of the Hemicians during the pro-
gress of the war afterwards, showed nothing
suitable to the present alarm, or to the ancient
renown of that nation. Without ever making
any effort worth mentioning, being beaten out
of three different camps within a few days, they
stipulated for a truce of thirty days, during
which they might send to Rome, to the senate,
on the terms of furnishing two months' pay,
and corn, and a tunic to eveiy soldier. The
senate referred them back to Marcius, whom
they empowered to determine on the affair, and
he accepted their submission. Meanwhile, in
Samnium, the other consul, though superior in
strength, was very much embarrassed by the
nature of his situation : the enemy had blocked
up all the roads, and seized on the passable de-
files, so as to stop all supplies of provisions ;
nor could the consul, though he daily drew out
his troops and offered battle, allure them to an
engagement. It was evident, that neither could
the Samnites support an immediate contest,
nor the Romans a delay of action. The ap-
proach of Marcius, who, after he had subdued
the Hernicians, hastened to the succour of his

colleague, put it out of the enemy's power any
longer to avoid fighting : for they, who had not
deemed themselves a match in the field, even
for one of the armies, could surely not suppose
that if they should allow the two consular
armies to unite, they could have any hope re-
maining -. they made an attack therefore on
Marcius, as he was approaching in the irregular
order of march. The baggage was hastily
thrown together in the centre, arid the line
formed as well as the time permitted. The
shout which reached the post of Cornelius, with
the dust observed at a distance, excited a bustle
and hurry in his camp. Ordering his men in-
stantly to arms, and leading them out to the
field with the utmost haste, he charged the flank
of the enemy's line, which had enough to do in
the other dispute, at the same time exclaiming,
that " it would be the height of infamy, if they
suffered Marcius's army to monopolize the
honour of both victories, and did not assert
their claim to the glory of their own war." He
bore down all before him, and pushed forward,
through the midst of the enemy's line, to their
camp, which, being left without a guard, lit-
took and set on fire ; and the flames of it being
seen by the soldiers of Marcius, and likewise
by the enemy on their looking about, a general
flight immediately took place among the Sam-
nites. But they could not effect an escape in
any direction ; in every quarter they met death.
After a slaughter of thirty thousand men, the
consuls had now given the signal for retreat j
and were collecting, into one body, their several
forces, who were employed in mutual congratu-
lations, when some new cohorts of the enemy,
which had been levied for a reinforcement, being
seen at a distance, occasioned a renewal of the
carnage. On these the conquerors rushed, with-
out any order of the consuls, or signal received,
crying out, that they would give these Samnites
an introduction to service, which they would
not like. The consuls indulged the ardour of
the legions, well knowing that raw, troops
mixed with veterans dispirited by defeat, would
be incapable even of attempting a contest. Nor
were they wrong in their judgment : all the
forces of the Samnites, old and new, fled to the
nearest mountains. These the Roman army
also ascended, so that no situation afforded
safety to the vanquished ; they were beaten off,
even from the summits which they had seized.
And now, they all, with one voice, supplicated
for a suspension of arms. On which, being

v. R. 440.]

OF ROME.

335

ordered to furnish corn for three months, pay
for a year, and a tunic to each of the soldiers,
they M-nt deputies to the senate to sue for peace.
Cornelius was left in Samnium. Marcius re-
turned into the city, in triumph over the Her-
nicians ; and a decree was passed for erecting
to him, in the forum, an equestrian statue,
which was placed before the temple of Castor.
To three states of the Hernicians, (the Alatri-
ans, Verulans, and Ferentines,) their own laws
were restored, because they preferred these, to
the being made citizens of Rome ; and they
were permitted to intermarry with each other,
a privilege which they alone of the Hernicihos,
for a long time after, enjoyed. To the Anag-
nians, and the others, who had made war on the
Romans, was granted the freedom of the state,
without the right of voting ; public assemblies,
and intermarriages, were not allowed them,
and their magistrates were prohibited from
acting except in the ministration of public wor-
ship. During this year, Cains Junius Bubul-
cus, censor, contracted for the building of a
temple to Health, which he had vowed during
his consulate in the war with the Samnites.
By the same person, and his colleague, Mar-
cus Valerius Maximus, roads were made
through the fields at the public expense. Dur-
ing the same year the treaty with the Carthagi-
nians was renewed a third time, and ample pre-
sents made to their ambassadors who came on
that business.

XLIV. This year had a dictator in office?
Publius Cornelius Scipio, with Publius Decius
Mus, master of the horse. By these the elec-
tion of consuls was held, being the purpose for
whirh they had been created, because neither of
the consuls could be absent from the armies.
The consuls elected were Lucius Postumius
and Titus Minucius ; [Y. R 448. B. C. 304.]
whom Piso places next after Quintus Fabius
and Publius Decius, omitting the two years in
which I have set down Claudius with Volum-
IUUH, and Cornelius with Marcius, as consuls.
Whether this happened through a lapse of me-
mory in digesting his annals, or whether he
purposely passed over those two consulates as
deeming the accounts of them false, cannot be
ascertained. During this year the Samnites
made incursions into the district of Stella- in
the Campanian territory. Both the consuls
were therefore sent into Samnium, and pro-
ceeded to different regions, Postumius to Ti-
fcriium, Minucius to Bovianum. The first

engagement happened at Tifernum, where
Postumius commanded. Some say, that the
Samnites were completely defeated, and twenty
thousand of them made prisoners. Others,
that the army separated without victory on
either side ; and that Postumius, counterfeiting
fear, withdrew his forces privately by night, and
marched away to the mountains ; whither the
enemy also followed, and took possession of a
strong hold two miles distant. The consul,
having created a belief that he had come thither
for the sake of a safe post, and a fruitful spot,
(and such it really was,) secured his camp with
strong works. Furnishing it with magazines
of every thing Useful, he left a strong guard to
defend it ; and at the third watch, led away the
legions lightly accoutred, by the shortest road
which he could take, to join his colleague, who
lay opposite to his foe. There, by advice of
Postumius, Minucius came to an engagement ;
and when the fight had continued doubtful
through a great part of the day, Postumius,
with his fresh legions, made an unexpected at-
tack on the enemy's line, spent by this time
with fatigue : thus, weariness and wounds hav-
ing rendered them incapable even of flying, they
were cut off to a man, and twenty-one standards
taken. The Romans then proceeded to Pos-
tumius's station, where the two victorious ar-
mies falling upon the enemy, already dismayed
by the news of what had passed, routed and
dispersed them : twenty-six military standards
were taken here, and the Samnite general, Sta-
tins Gellius, with a great number of other
prisoners, and both the camps, fell into the
hands of the conquerors. Next day Bovianum
was besieged, and soon after taken. Both the
consuls were honoured with a triumph, and with
high applause of their excellent conduct. Some
writers say, that the consul Minucius was
brought back to the camp grievously wounded,
and that he died there ; that Marcus Fulvius
was substituted consul in his place, and that it
was he, who, being sent to command Minucius's
army, took Bovianum. During the same year,
Sora, Arpinum, and Censennia were recovered
from the Samnites. The statue of Hercules the
great was erected in the capital, and dedicated.
XL V. In the succeeding consulate of Pub-
lius Sulpicius Saverrio and Publius Sempronius
Sophus, [Y. R. 449. B. C. 303.] the Samnites,
desirous either of a termination or a cessation
of hostilities, sent ambassadors to Rome to
treat of peace; to whose submissive solicit*-

336

THE HISTORY

QBOOK ix.

tions this answer was returned, that, " had no
the Samnites frequently solicited peace, at times
when they were actually preparing for war, thei
present application might, perhaps, in thecoursi
of negotiating, have produced the desired effect
But now, since words had hitherto proved vain
people's conduct might be guided by facts
that Publius Sempronius the consul woul<
shortly be in Samnium with an army : that h
could not be deceived in judging whether their
dispositions inclined to peace or war. Hi
would bring the senate certain information re
specting every particular, and their ambassadors
might follow the consul on his return from
Samnium.'' The Roman accordingly march-
ed through all parts of Samnium, founc
every thing in a state of peace, and was li-
berally supplied with provisions ; on which
a renewal of the old treaty was, this year,
granted to the Samnites. The Roman
arms were then turned against the ^qua
their old enemies, but who had, for many years
past, remained quiet, under a fallacious ap-
pearance of friendship. The reason of making
war on them was, that while the Hernicians were
in a state of prosperity, these had, in conjunc-
tion with them, frequently sent aid to the Sam-
nites ; and after the Hernicians were subdued,
almost the whole nation, without dissembling
that they acted by public authority, had revolted
to the enemy ; and when, after the conclusion
of the treaty with the Samnites at Rome, am-
bassadors were sent to demand satisfaction, they
said, that " this was only a trial made of them,
on the expectation that they would through fear
suffer themselves to be made Roman citizens.
But how much that condition was to be wished
for, they had been taught by the Hernicians ;
who, when they had the option, preferred their
own laws to the freedom of the Roman state.
To people who wished for liberty to choose
what they judged preferable, the necessity of
becoming Roman citizens would have the na-
ture of a punishment." In resentment of these
declarations, uttered publicly in their assemblies,
the Roman people ordered war to be made on
the ^Equans ; and, in prosecution of this new
undertaking, both the consuls marched from
the city, and sat down at the distance of four
miles from the camp of the enemy. The troops
of the ^Equans, like tumultuary recruits, in
consequence of their having passed such a num-
ber of years without waging war on their own
account, were all in disorder and confusion,

without established officers and without com-
mand. Some advised to give battle, others to
defend the camp j the greater part were influ-
enced by concern for the devastation of their
lands, likely to take place, and the consequent
destruction of their cities, left with weak gar-
risons. Among a variety of propositions, they
however heard one which tended to transfer
every man's attention from the public interests
to the care of his private concerns. It recom-
mended that, at the first watch, they should
depart from the camp by different roads, and
carry all their effects into the cities, where they
might be secured by the strength of the fortifi-
cations ; this they all approved and warmly ce-
lebrated. When the enemy were now dis-
persed through the country, the Romans, at the
h'rst dawn, marched out to the field, and drew
up in order of battle, but no one coming to op-
pose them, they advanced in a brisk pace to the
camp. Perceiving neither guards before the
gates, nor soldiers on the ramparts, nor the
usual bustle of a camp, — surprised at the extra-
ordinary silence, they halted in apprehension of
some stratagem. At length, passing over the
rampart, and rinding the whole deserted, they
proceeded to search out the tracts of the enemy.
But these, as they scattered themselves to every
quarter, occasioned perplexity at first. After-
wards discovering their design by means of
scouts, they attacked their cities, one after ano-
ther, and within the space of fifty days, took,
entirely by force, forty-one towns, most of
which were razed and burnt, and the race of the
qiums almost extirpated. A triumph was
granted over(the ^quans. The Marrucinians,
Marsians, Pelignians, and Ferentans, warned
by the example of their disasters, sent deputies
to Rome to solicit peace and friendship • and
these states, on their submissive applications,
were admitted into alliance.

XLVL In the same year, Caius Flavius,
son of Cneius, grandson of a freed man, a nota-
ry, in low circumstances originally, but artful
and eloquent, was appointed curule a'dile. I
ind in some annals, that, being in attendance
on the sediles, and seeing that he was voted
aedile by the prerogative tribe, but that his name
.vould not be received, because he acted as a
lotary, he threw down his tablet, and took an
oath, that he would not, for the future, follow
hat business. But Licinius Macer contends,
;hat he had dropped the employment of nota-
ry a considerable time before, having already

Y. it. 449.]

OF ROME.

337

been a tribune, and twice a triumvir, once for
regulating the nightly watch, and another time
for conducting a colony. However, of this
there is no dispute, that to the contempt thrown
by the nobles on the meanness of bis condition,
he opposed much firmness. He made public
the rules of proceeding in judicial causes, hi-
therto shut up in the closets of the pontiffs ;
and hung up to public view, round the forum,
the calendar on white tablets, that all might
know when business could be transacted in the
courts. To the great displeasure of the nobles,
he performed the dedication of the temple of
Concord, in the area of Vulcan's temple ; and
the chief pontiff, Cornelius Barbatus, was com-
pelled by the united instances of the people, to
dictate to him the form of words, although he
affirmed, that, consistently with the prac-
tice of antiquity, no other than a consul,
or commander-in-chief, could dedicate a tem-
ple. This occasioned a law to be proposed
to the people, by direction of the senate,
that no person should dedicate a temple, or
an altar, without an order from the senate, or
from a majority of the plebeian tribunes. The
incident which I am about to mention would
be trivial in itself, were it not an instance of
the freedom assumed by plebeians in opposi-
tion to the pride of the nobles : Flavins com-
ing to make a visit to his colleague, who was
sick, some young nobles who were sitting there
agreed among themselves not to pay him the
compliment of rising at his entrance ; on wbish
he ordered his curule chair to be brought
thither, and from his honourable seat of office
enjoyed the sight of his enemies tortured with
I.

envy. However, Flavius owed his appoint-
ment to the sedileship to a faction composed of
the lowest class of people, which had gathered
strength during the censorship of Appius Clau-
dius : for he was the first who degraded the
senate, by electing into it the immediate de-
scendants of freed men ; and when he found
that no one allowed that election as valid, and
that his conduct in the senate-house, had not
procured him the influence in the city which it
had been his principal object to attain, he dis-
; tributed men of the meanest order among all
the several tribes, and thus corrupted the as-
sembb'es both of the forum and of the field of
Mars. With respect to the election of Fla-
vius, it excited great indignation in the breasts
of most of the nobles, who laid aside their gold
rings and bracelets in consequence of it From
that time the state was split into two parties.
The uncorrupted part of the people, who fa-
voured and supported the good, held one side ;
the faction of the rabble, the other. Quintus
Fabius and Publius Decius were then made
censors ; and Fabius, both for the sake of con-
cord, and at the same time to prevent the elec-
tions remaining in the hands of the lowest of
the people, purged the rest of the tribes of all
the rabble of the forum, and threw it into four,
which he ordered to be called city tribes. And
this procedure, we are told, gave such universal
satisfaction, that, by this regulation in the or-
ders of the state, he obtained the surname of
Maximus, which he had not been honoured
with by his many victories. The annual review
of the knights, on the ides of July, is also said
to have been projected and instituted by him.
2 U

THE

HISTORY OF ROME.

BOOK X.

Submission of the Man-inns accepted. The college of Augurs augmented from four to nine. The law of appeal to
tho people carried by Valerius the consul. Two more tribes added. War declared against the Sammies.
Several SUCCOR- ful actiom. In an engagement against the combined forces of the Etruscan*, Umbrian§, Sam-
nites. and Gauls, Publius Decius, after the example of hi* father, devotes himself for the army. Dies, and, by
his death, procures the victory to the Romans. Defeat of the Samnites by Papirius Cursor. The censns held.
The lustrum closed. The- number of the citizens two hundred and sixty-two thousand three hundred and
twenty, two.

I. UNDER the succeeding consuls, Lucius
Genucius, and Servius Cornelius, [Y. R. 450.
B. C. 302.] the state enjoyed almost uninter-
rupted rest from foreign wars. Colonies were
led out to Sora and Alba. For the latter,
situated in the country of the .£quan§, six
thousand colonists were enrolled. Sora had
formerly belonged to the Volscian territory,
but had fallen into the possession of the Sam-
nites : tliither were sent four thousand settlers.
This year the freedom of the state was granted
to the Arpinians and Trebulans. The Frusi-
nonians were fined a third part of their lands,
because it was discovered, that they had endea-
voured to stir up the Hernicians to rebellion ;
and the heads of that conspiracy, after a trial
before the consuls, held in pursuance of a de-
cree of the senate, were beaten with roads and
beheaded. However, that the Romans might
not pass the year entirely exempt from war, a
little expedition was made into Umbria ; intel-
ligence being received from thence, that num-
bers of men, in arms, had, from a certain cave,
made excursions into the adjacent country.
Into this cave the troops penetrated with their
standards, and, the place being dark, they re-
ceived many wounds, chiefly from stones
thrown. At length the other mouth of the
cave being found, for it was pervious, both the

openings were filled up with wood, which being
set on fire, there perished by means of the
smoke and heat, no less than two thousand
men ; many of whom, at the last, in attempt-
ing to make their way out, rushed into the
very flames. [Y. R. 451. B. C. 301.] The
two Marci, Livius Denter and yEmilius, suc-
ceeding to the consulship, war broke out again
with the .Kc|ii;ui- ; who, being highly displeas-
ed at the colony established within their terri-
tory, as if it were a fortress to keep them in
awe, made an attempt, with their whole force,
to seize it, but were repulsed by the colonists
themselves. They caused, however, such an
alarm at Rome, that, to quell this insurrection,
Cain- Janius Bubulcus was nominated dicta-
tor : for it was scarcely credible that the
.•F.i 1 1 ia i IN after being reduced to such a degree
of weakness, should by themselves alone have
ventured to engage in a war. The dictator,
taking the field, with Marcus Titinius, master
of the horse, in the first engagement, reduced
the .Kalian- to submission ; and returning into
the city in triumph, on the eighth day, dedi-
cated, in the character of dictator, the temple of
Health, which he had vowed when consul, and
contracted for when censor.

II. During this year a fleet of Grecians,
under the command of Clconymus, a Laceda,1-

340

THE HISTORY

[BOOK

monian, arrived on the coast of Italy, and
took Thuriae, a city in the territory of the
Sallentines. Against this enemy, the consul
JEmilius was sent, who, in one battle, com-
pletely defeated them, and without farther
opposition drove them on board their ships.
Thuriae was then restored to its old inhabitants,
and peace re-established in the country of the
Sallentines. In some annals, I find that Jun-
ius Bubulcus was sent dictator into that coun-
try, and that Cleonymus, without hazarding an
engagement with the Romans, retired out of
Italy. He then sailed round the promontory
of Brundusium, and, steering down the middle
of the Adriatic gulf, because he dreaded, on
the left hand, the coasts of Italy destitute of
harbours, and, on the right, the Ulyrians, Li-
burnians, and Istrians, nations of savages, and
noted in general for piracy, he passed on to the
coasts of the Venetians. Here, having landed
a small party to explore the country, and, be-
ing informed that a narrow beach stretched
along the shore, beyond which were marshes,
overflowed by the tides ; that dry land was seen
at no great distance, level in the nearest part,
and rising behind into hills, beyond which was
the mouth of a very deep river, into which they
had seen ships brought round and moored in
safety, (this was the river Meduacus,) he or-
dered his fleet to sail into it and go up against
the stream. As the channel would not admit
the heavy ships, the troops, removing into the
lighter vessels, arrived at a part of the country,
occupied by three maritime cantons of the Pa-
tavians, settled on that coast. Here they made
a descent, leaving a small guard with the ships,
made themselves masters of these cantons, set
fire to the houses, drove off a considerable
booty of men and cattle, and, allured by the
sweets of plunder, proceeded still farther from
the shore. When news of this was brought to
Patavium, where the contiguity of the Gauls
kept the inhabitants constantly in arms, they
divided their young men into two bands, one
of which was led towards the quarter where
the marauders were said to be busy ; the other
by a different route, to avoid meeting any of
the pirates, towards the station of the ships,
fifteen miles distant from the town. These
attacked the small craft, and, killing the guards,
compelled the affrighted mariners to remove
their ships to the other bank of the river. By
land also, the attack on the dispersed plunder-
ers was equally successful ; and the Grecians,

flying back towards their ships, were opposed
in their way by the Venetians. Thus inclos-
ed, on both sides, they were cut to pieces ; and
some, who were made prisoners, gave informa-
tion that the fleet, with their king Cleonymus,
was but three miles distant. Sending the cap-
tives into the nearest canton, to be kept under
a guard, some soldiers got on board the flat-
bottomed vessels, so constructed for the pur-
pose of passing the shoals with ease ; others
threw themselves into those which had been
lately taken from the enemy, and proceeding
down the river, surrounded their unwieldy
ships, which dreaded the unknown sands arid
flats, more than they did the Romans, and
which showed a greater eagerness to escape into
the deep, than to make resistance. The sol-
diers pursued them as far as the mouth of the
river ; and having taken and burned a part of
the fleet, which, in the hurry and confusion,
had been stranded, returned victorious. Cleo-
nymus, having met success in no part of the
Adriatic sea, departed with scarce a fifth part
of his navy remaining. Many, now alive, have
seen the beaks of his ships, and the spoils of
the Lacedaemonians, hanging in the old temple
of Juno. In commemoration of this event,
there is exhibited at Patavium, every year, on
its anniversary day, a naval combat on the river
in the middle of the town.

III. A treaty was this year concluded at
Rome with the Vestinians, who solicited
friendship. Various causes of apprehension
afterwards sprung up. News arrived, that
Etruria was in rebelb'on ; the insurrection hav-
ing arisen from the dissentions of the Arre-
tians ; for the Cilnian family having grown ex-
orbitantly powerful, a party, out of envy of
their wealth, had attempted to expel them by
force of arms. Accounts were also received
that the Marsians held forcible possession of
the lands to which the colony of Carseoli,
consisting of four thousand men, had been sent.
By reason, therefore, of these commotions,
Marcus Valerius Maximus was nominated dic-
tator, and chose for his master of the horse,
Marcus .^Emilius Paullus. This I am inclined
to believe, rather than that Quintus Fabius, at
such an age as he then was, and after enjoying
many honours, was placed in a station subordi-
nate to Valerius : but I think it not unlikely
that the mistake arose from the surname Maxi-
mus. The dictator, taking the field at the
head of an army, in one battle utterly defeated

Y.R.451.]

OF ROME.

341

the Marsians, drove them into their fortified
'owns, and afterwards, in the course of a few
days, took Milionia, Plestina, and Fresilia ;
and then fining this people in a part of their
lands, granted them a renewal of the treaty.
The force of the war was then directed against
the Etrurians ; and the dictator having gone
to Rome, for the purpose of renewing the
auspices, the master of the horse, going out to
forage, was taken at disadvantage, by means of
an amhuscade, and obliged to fly shamefully
into his camp, after losing several standards,
and many of his men. Now, that such a dis-
comfiture happened to Fabius is exceedingly
improbable ; not only because, if in any parti-
cular, certainly above all, in the qualifications
of a commander, he fully merited his surname ;
but besides, impressed with the recollection of
Papirius's severity, he never could have been
tempted to fight, without the dictator's orders.
IV. The news of this disaster excited at
Rome an alarm greater than the importance of
the affair should seem to justify ; for, as if the
army had been destroyed, the courts were
ordered to be shut, guards mounted at the
gates, and watches set in every street : and
armour and weapons were heaped on the walls.
All the younger citizens were compelled to
enlist, and the dictator was ordered to join the
army. There he found every thing in a more
tranquil state than he expected, and regularity
established, through the care of the master of
the horse; the camp removed to a place ol
greater safety ; the cohorts, which had lost their"
standards, left without tents on the outside
of the ramparts ; and the troops ardently im-
patient for battle, that their disgrace might be
the sooner obliterated. He therefore imme-
diately decamped, and advanced into the terri-
tory of Ruse) la. Thither the enemy also fol-
lowed ; and although, since their late success,
they entertained the most sanguine hopes from
an open trial of strength, yet they endeavoured
to gain also an advantage by a stratagem which
they had before practised with success. There
were, at a small distance from the Roman
camp, the half-ruined houses of a town which
had been burnt in the devastation of the coun-
try. Among these they concealed a body ol
troops, and then drove on some cattle, within
\ iew of a Roman post, commanded by a lieu-
tenant-general, Cneius Fulvius. This tempta-
tion not inducing any one to stir from hi- sta-
tion, one of the herdsmen, advancing close to

he works, called out, tliat others were driving
out those cattle at their leisure from the ruins
of the town, why did they remain idle, when
hey might safely drive them through the mid-
dle of the Roman camp ? This being inter-
reted to the lieutenant-general, by some natives
of Caere, and great impatience prevailing
through every company of the soldiers, who,
nevertheless, dared not to move without orders,
he commanded some who were skilled in the
language to observe attentively, whether the
dialect of the herdsmen resembled that of rus-
tics or of citizens : these reported, that their
accent in speaking, their manner and appear-
ance, were all of a more polished cast than
suited such description of persons. " Go
then," said he, " tell them that they may un-
cover the ambush which they vainly conceal ;
that the Romans understand all their devices,
and can now be no more token by stratagem
than they can be conquered by arms." When
these words were heard, and carried to those
who lay in ambush, they immediately arose
from their lurking place, and marched out in
order into the plain which was open to view
on every side. The lieutenant-general, think-
ing their force too powerful for his small band
to cope with, sent, in haste, to Valerius for
support, and in the meantime, by himself,
sustained the enemy's onset.

V. On receiving his message, the dictator
ordered the standards to move, and the troops
to follow in arms. But every thing was exe-
cuted more quickly, almost, than ordered. The
men in an instant snatched up their standards,
and were with difficulty restrained from running
impetuously on, being stimulated both by in-
dignation at their late defeat, and by the -limits
striking their ears with increasing vehemence,
as the contest grew hotter. They therefore
urged each other, and pressed the standard
bearers to quicken their pace. The dictator,
the more eagerly he saw them push forward,
took the more pains to repress their haste, and
ordered them to march at a slower rate. On
the other side, the Etrurians, putting them-
selves in motion, on the first beginning of the
fray, had come up with their whole force; and
several expresses came to the dictator, one after
another, that all the legions of the Etrurians
had joined in the fight, and that his men could
not any longer withstand them : at the same
time, he himself saw, from the higher ground,
the perilous situation of the party. Confident,

342

THE HISTORY

[BOOK x.

however, that the lieutenant-general was able,
even yet, to support the dispute, and con-
sidering that he himself was at hand to
rescue him from defeat, he wished to let the
enemy be fatigued, as much as might be, in
order that, when in that state, he might fall
on them with his fresh troops. Slowly as these
marched, the distance was now just sufficient
tor the cavalry to begin their career for a charge.
The battalions of the legions marched in front,
lest the enemy might suspect any secret or sud-
den movement, but intervals had been left in
the ranks of the infantry, affording room for
the horses to gallop through. At the same in-
stant the line raised the shout, and the cavalry,
charging at full speed, poured on the enemy,
and spread at once a general panic. After this,
as succour had arrived, almost too late, to the
party surrounded, so now they were allowed
entire rest, the fresh troops taking on them-
selves the whole business of the light. Nor
was that either long or dubious. The enemy
were routed, and fled to their camp, which the
Romans advancing to attack, they crowded all
together in the remotest part of it. Their
flight being obstructed by the narrowness of the
gates, the greater number climbed up on the
mounds and ramparts, to try if they could either
defend themselves with the aid of the advan-
tageous ground, or get over, by any means, and
escape. One part of the rampart happening
to be badly compacted, sunk under the weight
of the multitude who stood on it, and fell into
the trench. On which, crying out that the
gods had opened that pass to give them safety,
they made their way out, most of them leaving
their arms behind. By this battle the power of
the Etrurians was, a second time, effectually
crushed, so that, engaging to furnish a year's
pay, and corn for two months, with the dicta-
tor's permission, they sent ambassadors to Rome
to treat of peace. This was refused, but a
truce for two years was granted to them. The
dictator returned into the city in triumph. I
have seen it asserted, that tranquillity >jras re-
stored in Etruria by the dictator, without any
memorable battle, only by composing the dis-
sensions of the Arretians, and effecting a re-
conciliation between the Cilnian family and the
commons. Marcus Valerius was elected con-
sul, before the expiration of his dictatorship,
many have believed, without his soliciting the
office, and even while he was absent ; and that
the election was held by an interrex. In one

point all agree, that he held the consulship with
Quintus Appuleius Pansa.

VI. During this consulate of Marcus Vale-
rius and Quintus Appuleius, affairs abroad wore
a very peaceable aspect. Their losses sustain-
ed in war, together with the truce, kept the
Etrurians quiet. The Samnites, depressed by
the misfortunes of many years, had not yet be-
come dissatisfied with their new alliance. At
Rome also, the carrying away of such multi-
tudes to colonies, rendered the commons tran-
quil, and lightened their burthens. But, that
all things might not stagnate in a dead calm, a
contention was excited between the principal
persons in the commonwealth, patricians on
one hand, and plebeians on the other, by the
two Ogulnii, Quintus and Cneius, plebeian
tribunes, who, seeking every where occasions
of criminating the patricians in the hearing of
the people, and having found other attempts
fruitless, engaged in a scheme calculated to. in-
flame, not the lowest class of the commons, but
their chief men, the plebeians of consular and
triumphal rank, to the completion of whose
honours nothing was now wanting but the offi-
ces of the priesthood, which were not yet laid
open to them. [Y. R. 452. B. C. 300.] They
therefore published a proposal for a law, that,
whereas there were then four augurs and four
pontiffs, and it had been determined that the
number of priests should be augmented, the
four additional pontiffs and five augurs should
all be chosen out of the commons. How the
college of augurs could be reduted to the num-
ber of four, except by the death of two, I do
not understand : for it is a rule among the au-
gurs, that their number should be composed of
threes, so that the three ancient tribes, the
Ramnes, Titienses, and Luceres, should have
each its own augur ; or, in case there should be
occasion for more, that each should increase its
number of augurs, in equal proportion with the
rest, in like manner as when, by the addition of
five to four, they made up the number nine, so
that there were three to each tribe. However,
as it was proposed that they should be chosen
out of the commons, the patricians were as
highly offended at the proceeding, as when they
saw the consulship made common ; yet they pre-
tended that the business concerned not them so
much as it did the gods, who would " take care
that their own worship should not be contami-
nated ; that, for their parts, they only wished
that no misfortune might ensue to the common-

Y. H. 452.]

OF ROME.

343

wealth." But the true reason of their not mak-
ing a vigorous opposition, was, that they were
now accustomed to suffer defeat in such kind
of disputes; and they saw their adversaries,
not as formerly, grasping at objects which
they could scarcely hope to reach, the higher
honours ; but already in possession of all those
advantages, on the uncertain prospect of which,
they had maintained the contest, manifold con-
sulships, censorships, and triumphs.

VII. There was, however, a struggle be-
tween the supporters and the opponents of the
law, maintained principally by Appius Clau-
dius and Publius Decius Mus. After these
had urged nearly the same topics, respecting
the privileges of patricians and plebeians,
which had been formerly employed for and
against the Licinian law, when the proposition
was brought forward, of opening the consul-
ship to plebeians, Decius is said to have drawn
a lively description of his own father, such as
many then present in the assembly had seen
him, girt in the Gabine dress, standing on a
spear, in the attitude in which he had devoted
himself for the people and the legions, and to
have added, that " the consul Publius Decius
\vn> then deemed by the immortal gods an
offering equally pure and pious, as if his col-
league, Titus Manlius, had been devoted.
And might not the same Publius Decius have
been, with propriety, chosen to perform the
public worship of the Roman people ? Was
there any reason to apprehend that the gods
would give less attention to his prayers than to
those of Appius Claudius ? Did the latter
perform his private acts of adoration with a
purer mind, or worship the gods more religi-
ously than he ? Who had any reason to com-
plain of the vows offered in behalf of the
commonwealth, by so many plebeian consuls
and dictators, either on the commencement of
their campaigns, or in the heat of battle ?
Were the numbers of Commanders reckoned,
during those years, since business began to be
transacted under the conduct and auspices of
plebeians, the same number of triumphs might
be found. The commons had now no reason
to be dissatisfied with the behaviour of such of
their body as had attained nobility. On the
contrary, they were fully convinced, that, in
case of a sudden war breaking out, the senate
and people of Rome would not repose greater
confidence in patrician than in plebeian com-
manders. Which being the case," said he,

" what god or man can deem it an impropriety,
if those whom ye have honoured with curule
chairs, with the purple bordered gown, with
the palm-vest, and embroidered robe, with
the triumphal crown and laurel -, whose houses
ye have rendered conspicuous above others, by
affixing to them the spoils of conquered ene-
mies, should add to these the badges of augurs
or pontiffs ? If a person, who has rode through
the city in a gilt chariot ; and, decorated with
the ensigns of Jupiter, supremely good and
great, has mounted the capitol, should be seen
with a chalice and wand ; what impropriety, I
say, that he should, with his head veiled, slay
a victim, or take an augury in the citadel ?
When, in the inscription on a person's statue,
the consulship, censorship, and triumph shall
be read with patience, will the eyes of readers
be unable to endure the addition of the office of
augur or pontiff? In truth (with deference to
the gods I say it) I trust that we are, through
the kindness of the Roman people, qualified
in such a manner, that we should, by the dig-
nity of our characters, reflect back, on the
priesthood, as much lustre as we should re-
ceive ; and may demand, rather on behalf of
the gods, than for our own sakcs, that those,
whom we worship in our private, we may also
worship in a public capacity.

VIII. " But why do I argue thus, as if the
cause of the patricians, respecting the priest-
hood, stood on untouched ground ? and as if
we were not already in possession of one sacer-
dotal office, of the highest class ? We see
plebeian decemvirs, for performing sacrifices,
interpreters of the Sibylline prophecies, and
of the fates of the nation ; we also see them
presidents of Apollo's festival, and of other
religious performances. Neither was any in-
justice done to the patricians, when, to the two
commissioners for performing sacrifices, an
additional number was joined, in favour of the
plebeians ; nor is there now, when a tribune,
a man of courage and activity, wishes to add
five places of augurs, and four of pontiffs, to
which plebeians may be nominated : not, Ap-
pius, with intent to expel you from your places ;
but, that men of plebeian rank may assist you,
in the management of divine affairs, with the
same zeal with which they assist you in matters
of human concernment Blush not, Appius,
at having a man, your colleague in the priest-
hood, whom you might have a colleague in the
censorship or consulship, whose master of the

344

THE HISTORY

[BOOK x.

horse you yourself may be, when he is dictator,
as well as dictator wtiin he is master of the
horse. A Sabine adventurer, the first origin
of your nobility, either Attus Clausus, or Ap-
pius Claudius, which you will, was admitted,
by the ancient patricians of those days, into
their number : do not then, on your part, dis-
dain to admit us- into the number of priests.
We bring with us numerous honours ; all those
honours, indeed, which have rendered your
party so proud. Lucius Sextius was the first
consul, chosen out of the plebeians ; Caius
Licinius Stolo the first master of the horse ;
Caius Marcius Rutilus, the first dictator,
and likewise censor ; Quintus Publilius Philo,
the first praetor. On every one of these oc-
casions was heard a repetition of the same
arguments ; that the right of auspices was
vested in you ; that ye alone had the rights of
ancestry ; that ye alone were legally entitled to
the supreme command, and the auspices both
in peace and war. The supreme command
has hitherto been, and will continue to be,
equally prosperous in plebeian hands, as in pa-
trician. Have ye never heard it said, that the
first created patricians were not men sent down
from heaven, but such as could cite their fa-
thers, that is, nothing more than free born. I
can now cite my father, a consul ; and my son
will be able to cite a grandfather. Citizens,
their opposition means nothing else, than that
we should never obtain any thing, without a
previous refusal. The patricians wish only
for a dispute ; nor do they care what issue
their disputes may have. For my part, be it
advantageous, happy, and prosperous to you
and to the commonwealth, I am of opinion
that this law should receive your sanction."

IX. The people ordered that the tribes
should be instantly called ; and there was every
appearance that the law would be accepted.
It was deferred, however, for that day, by a
protest, from which on the day following the
tribunes were deterred ; and it passed with the
approbation of a vast majority. The pontiffs
created were Publius Decius Mus, the advo-
cate for the law ; Publius Sempronius Sophus,
Caius Marcius Rutilus, and Marcus Livius
Denter. The five augurs, who were also ple-
beians, were, Caius Genucius, Publius jElius
Paetus, Marcus Minucius Fessus, Caius Mar-
cius, and Titus Publilius. Thus the number
of the pontiffs was made eight ; that of the
augurs nine. In the same year Marcus Vale-

rius, consul, procured a law to be passed con-
cerning appeals ; more carefully enforcing the
observance of it, by additional sanctions. This
was the third time, since the expulsion of the
kings, of this law being introduced, and always
by the same family. The reason for renewing
it so often, was, I believe, no other, than that
the influence of a few was apt to prove too
powerful for the liberty of the commons.
However, the Porcian law seems intended,
solely, for the security of the persons of the
citizens ; a severe penalty being thereby enact-
ed against beating with stripes, or putting to
death, a Roman citizen. The Valerian law,
after forbidding a person, who had appealed, to
be beaten with rods and beheaded, added, in case
of any one acting contrary thereto, that it shall
yet be only deemed a wicked act. This, I
suppose, was judged of sufficient strength to
enforce obedience to the law in those days ;
so powerful was then men's sense of shame :
at present one would scarcely make use of
such a threat seriously, even on any ordinary
occasion. The ^Equans rebelling, the same
consul conducted the war against them ; in
which no memorable event occurred ; for, ex-
cept ferocity, they retained nothing of their
ancient condition. The other consul, Appu-
leius, invested the town of Nequinum in Um-
bria. The ground, the same whereon Narnia
now stands, was so steep, (on one side even
aerpendicular,) as to render the town impreg-
nable either by assault, or works. [ Y. R. 453.
B. C. 299.] That business, therefore, came un-
finished, into the hands of the succeeding con-
suls, Marcus Fulvius Paetinus, and Titus
Manlius Torquatus. We are told by Licinius
Macer and Tubero, that all the centuries named
Quintus Fabius, though not a candidate, con-
sul for that year ; but that he himself recom-
mended to them, to postpone the conferring the
consulship on him until a year wherein there
might be more employment for their arms ;
adding, that, during the present year, he might
>e more useful in the management of a city
magistracy ; and thus, neither dissembling
what he aimed at, nor yet making direct appli-
cation for it, he was appointed curule aedile
with Lucius Papirius Cursor. This I cannot
aver as certain ; because Piso, a more ancient
writer of annals, asserts, that the curule aediles
of that year were Caius Domitius Calvinus,
son of Cneius, and Spurius Carvilius Maxi-
mus, son of Caius. I am of opinion, that this

Y. R. 453.]

OF RONfE.

345

latin surname caused n mistake, concerning
the lediles ; and that thence followed a story,
runic. rmalile to tiii- mistake, patched up, out
of the two elections, of the lediles, and of the
• •on-uls. The general survey was performed,
this year, by Publius Sempronius Sophus, and
1'uliliiis Sulpicius Saverio, censors ; and two
tribe- were added, the A men-inn and Tcren-
titie. Sneli were the occurrences at Rome.

X. Meanwhile, after much time had been
lost in the tedious siege of Ncquinum, two of
the townsmen, whose houses were contiguous
to the wall, having formed a subterraneous
passage, came by that private way to the
Etonian advuneed guard* ; and l>eing conducted
thence to tin- consul, offered to give admittance
to a body of armed men within the works and
walls. The proposal was thought to be such
as ought neither to be rejected, nor yet assented
to without caution. With one of these men,
the other being detained as an hostage, two
spies were sent through the mine, and certain
information being received from them of the
practicability of the design, three hundred men
in arms, guided by the deserter, entered the
city, and seized by night the nearest gate,
which being broke open, the Roman consul
and his army took possession of the city with-
out any opposition. In this manner came
Nequinum under the dominion of the Roman
people. A colony was sent thither as a barrier
against the Umbrians, and called Narnia, from
the river Nar. The troops returned to Rome
with abundance of spoil. This year the Etru-
rians made preparations fojr war in violation of
the truce. But a vast army of the Gauls,
making an irruption into their territories, while
their attention was directed to another quarter,
suspended for a time the execution of their
design. They then relying on the abundance
of money which they possessed, laid themselves
out to make friends of the Gauls, instead of
enemies; in order that, with their armies com-
bined, they might attack the Romans. The
barbarians made no objection to the alliance,
and a negotiation was opened for settling the
price ; which being adjusted and paid, the
Etrurians, having every thing else in readiness
for commencing their operations, desired them
to accompany them in their march. But this
they refused, alleging that " they had stipulated
a price for their assistance against the Romans :
that the payment already made, they had re-
ceived in consideration of their not wasting the

I.

Etrurian territory, or using their arms against
the inhabitants. That notwithstanding, if it
was the wish of the Etrurians, they \\ere
still willing to engage in the war, but on no
other condition than that of being allowed a
share of their hinds, and obtaining at length
some i ic n i mine nt settlement." Many assem-
blies of the states of Etruria were held on this
subject, without being able to come to any
conclusion ; not so much by reason of their
aversion from the dismemberment of their ter-
ritory, as of the dread which every one felt of
the consequences, if they should fix in so close
vicinity to themselves people of such a savage
race. The Gauls were therefore dismissed,
and can-.'d home an immense sum of money,
acquired without toil or danger. The report
of a Gallic tumult, in addition to an Etrurian
war, had caused serious apprehensions at Rome ;
and, with the less hesitation on that account,
an alliance was concluded with the state of the
Picentians.

XL The province of Etruria fell by lot to
the consul Titus Manlius ; who, when he had
but just entered the enemy's country, as he
was exercising the cavalry, in wheeling about
at full speed, was thrown from his horse, and
almost killed on the spot ; three days after, he
died. The Etrurians, embracing this omen,
as it were, of the future progress of the war,
and observing that the gods had commenced
hostilities on their behalf, assumed new cou -
rage. At Rome the news caused great afflic-
tion, on account both of the loss of such a man
and of the unseasonableness of the juncture ;
insomuch that the senate would have proceeded
to order a dictator to be created, but that an
assembly, held for the purpose of substituting
a new consul, was conducted agreeably to the
wishes of people of the first consequence. All
the votes and centuries concurred unanimously
in appointing Marcus Valerius consul, the same
whom the senate would have ordered to be made
dictator. They then commanded him to pro-
ceed immediately into Etruria, to the legions.
His coming gave such a check to the Etru-
rians, that not one of them dared thencefor-
ward to appear on the outside of their trenches ;
their own fears operating as a blockade. Nor
could the new consul, by wasting their hinds, and
burning their houses, draw them out to an en
gagement ; for not only country-houses, but num-
bers of their towns, were seen smoking and in
ashes, on every side. While this war proceeded
2 X

346

THE HISTORY

[BOOK x.

more slowly than had been expected, an account
was received of the breaking out of another ;
which was, not without reason, regarded as ter-
rible, in consequence of the heavy losses for-
merly sustained by both parties. This account,
given by their new allies, the Picentians, was,
that the Samnites were taking measures for a re-
newal of hostilities, and that they themselves
had been solicited to join therein. The Picen-
tians received the thanks of the state ; and a
large share of the attention of the senate was
turned from Etruria towards Samnium. The
public suffered also much distress from the
dearness of provisions, and would have felt the
extremity of want, according to the relation of
those who make Fabius Maximus curjile sedile
that year, had not the vigilant activity of that
man, such as he had on many occasions dis-
played in the field, been exerted now with
equal zeal at home, in the management of the
market, and in procuring and forming maga-
zines of corn. An interregnum took place
this year, the reason of which is not mentioned.
Appius Claudius, and, after him, Publius
Sulpicius, were interreges. [Y. R. 4-54. B. C.
298.] The latter held an election of consuls, and
chose Lucius Cornelius Scipio and Cneius Ful-
vius. In the beginning of this year, ambassa-
dors came from the Lucanians to the new con-
suls with complaints that " the Samnites, find-
ing that they could not, by any offers, tempt
them to take part in the war, had marched an
army in a hostile manner into their country,
which they were now laying waste ; intending,
by these violent measures, to force them into a
compliance. They declared, that the nation of
the Lucanians thought their former errors too
many, and were so firmly fixed in their resolu-
tion, that they would rather undergo every
kind of suffering and hardship than ever again
violate the reverence due to the Roman name -.
besought the senate to take the people of Lu-
cania into their protection, and defend them
from the injustice and outrage of the Sam-
nites ; and that, on their part, though the un-
dertaking a war with the Samnites imposed
on them a necessity of being faithful to the
Romans, they were, nevertheless, willing to
give hostages."

XII. The deliberation of the senate was
short. They all, to a man, concurred in opi-
nion, that a compact should be entered into
with the Lucanians, and satisfaction demanded
from the Samnites -. accordingly, a favourable

answer was returned to the Lucanians, and the
alliance concluded. Heralds were then sent, to
require of the Samnites, that they should depart
from the country of the allies, and withdraw
their troops from the Lucanian territory. These
were met by persons despatched for the purpose
by the Samnites, who gave them warning, that
if they appeared at any assembly in Samnium,
they must not expect to depart in safety." As
soon as this was heard at Rome, the senate
voted, and the people ordered, that war should
be declared against the Samnites. The consuls,
then, dividing the provinces between them,
Etruria fell to Scipio, the Samnites to Ful-
vius ; and they set out by different routes, each
against the enemy allotted to him. Scipio,
while he expected a tedious campaign, like that
of the preceding year, was met near Volaterra
by the Etrurians, in order of battle. The fight
lasted through the greater part of the day, while
very many fell on both sides, and night came on
before it could be discovered to which side vic-
tory inclined. But the following dawn showed
the conqueror and the vanquished ; for the Etru-
rians had decamped in the dead of the night.
The Romans, marching out with intent to re-
new the engagement, and seeing their superio-
rity acknowledged by the departure of the ene-
my, advanced to their camp ; and, finding even
this fortified post deserted, took possession of
it, together with a vast quantity of spoil. The
consul then, leading back his forces into the
Faliscian territory, and leaving his baggage with
a small guard at Falerii, set out with his troops,
lightly accoutred, to ravage the enemy's coun-
try -. and not only was the ground laid waste,
but their forts also and smaller towns were de-
stroyed by fire. He did not, however, lay
siege to the cities, into which the Etrurians had
been hurried by their fears. The other consul,
Fulvius, fought the Samnites at Bovianum,
where he gained great honour, and a complete
victory. Then attacking the town, and soon
after Aufidena, he took both by assault. This
year a colony was carried out to Carseoli, in
the territory of the ^Equicolae. The consul
Fulvius triumphed on his defeat of the Sam-
nites.

XIII. Shortly before the election of consuls,
a report prevailed, that the Etrurians and Sam-
nites were raising vast armies ; that the leaders
of the Etrurians were, in all their assemblies,
openly censured for not having procured the aid
of the Gauls on any terms ; and the magistrates

T. R. 455.]

OF ROME.

347

of the Samnites arraigned, for having opposed
to the Humans an army destined to act against
the Lucanians. That, in consequence, the
people were rising up in arms, with all their
own strength and that of their allies combined ;
and that this affair seemed not likely to be ter-
minated without a contest of much greater dif-
ficulty than the former. Although the candi-
dates for the consulship were men of illustrious
characters, yet this alarming intelligence turned
the thoughts of all on Quintus Fabius Maxi-
mus, who sought not the employment at first,
and afterwards, when he discovered their wishes,
even declined it. " Why," said he, " should
they impose such a difficult task on him, who
was now in the decline of life, and had passed
through a full course of labours, and of the re-
wards of labour ? Neither the vigour of his
body, nor of his mind, remained the same ; and
he dreaded fortune herself, lest some god should
think her too bountiful to him, and more con-
stant than the course of human affairs allowed.
He had himself succeeded, in gradual succes-
sion, to the dignities of his predecessors ; and
he beheld, with great satisfaction, others rising
up to succeed to his. There was no scarcity
at Rome, either of honours suited to men of
the highest merit, or of men of eminent merit
suited to the highest honours." This disinte-
rested conduct, instead of repressing, increased,
while in fact it justified, their zeal. But think-
ing that this ought to be checked by respect for
the laws, he ordered that clause to be read aloud
by which it is forbidden that the same person
shall be re-elected consul within ten years. Such
a clamour now arose, that the law was scarcely
heard ; and the tribunes of the commons declar-
ed, that this " decree should be no impediment ;
for they would propose an order to the people,
that he should be exempted from the obligation
of the laws." Still he persisted in his opposi-
tion, asking, " To what purpose were laws en-
acted, if they were eluded by the very persons
who procured them ? The laws now," he
said, " instead of being rulers, were over-
ruled." The people, nevertheless, proceeded to
vote ; and, as soon as each century was called
in, it immediately named Fabiu- ron-nl. Then
at length, overcome by the universal wish of
the state, he said, " Romans, may the gods ap-
prove your present, and all your future proceed-
ings. But since, with respect to me, ye in-
tt-nd to act according to your own wills, let my
interest find room with you, with respect to

my colleague. I earnestly request, that ye
will place in the consulship with me, Publius
1 irriu- ; a man with whom I have already ex-
perienced the utmost harmony in our joint ad-
ministration of that office ; a man worthy of
you, worthy of his father." The recommenda-
tion was deemed well founded, and all the re-
maining centuries voted Quintus Fabius and
Publius Decius consuls. This year, great
numbers were prosecuted by the fediles, for
having in possession larger quantities of land
than the state allowed : and hardly any were ac-
quitted : by which means, a very great restraint
was laid on exorbitant covetousneas.

XIV. Whilst the new consuls, [Y. R. 455.
B. C. 297.] Quintus Fabius Maximus, a fourth,
and Publius Decius Mus, a third time, were
settling between themselves as to which should
command against the Samnites, and which
against the Etrurians ; and what number of
forces would be sufficient for this, and for that
province ; and which would be the fitter com-
mander in each war ; ambassadors arrived from
Sutrium, Nepete, and Falerii, with intelligence,
that the states of Etruria were holding assem-
blies on the subject of suing for peace. In
consequence of this information, the whole force
of their arms was directed against Samnium.
The consuls took different routes, in order to
secure the more ready supply of provisions, and
to leave the enemy in the greater uncertainty
on what quarter the war would fall. Fabius
led his legions towards Samnium through the
territory of Sora, and Decius his through that
of Sidicinum. As soon as they arrived at the
frontiers, both advanced briskly, spreading de-
vastation wherever they came ; but still took
care to explore the country, to a distance be-
yond where the troops were employed in plun-
dering. The enemy had posted themselves in
readiness for battle, in a retired valley near
Tifemum ; intending, as soon as the Romans
should enter it, to fall upon them with advan-
tage of the ground, but they escaped the
snare. Fabius sending away his baggage to
a place of safety, and setting a small guard
over it. gave notice to his soldiers, that a bat-
tle was at hand, and advanced to the place
where he had been told the enemy lay in
ambush. The Samnites, disappointed in
the hope of making an unexpected attack,
determined on a regular engagement. They
therefore marched out into the plain ; and,
with a greater share of spirit than of hopes.

348

THE H ISTORY

[BOOK x.

committed themselves to the disposal of for
tune. However, whether in consequence o
their having drawn together, from every state
the whole of the force which it possessed, 01
that the consideration of their all being at stake
heightened their courage, they maintained, even
in open fight, a formidable struggle. Fabius
when he saw that the enemy in no place gave
way, ordered his son Maximus, and Marcu
Valerius, military tribunes, with whom he has-
tened to the front, to seek the cavalry, and to
exhort them, that " if they remembered any in-
stance wherein the public had received advan-
tage from the service of the horsemen, they
would, on that day, exert themselves to preserve
inviolate the renown of that body ; telling
them that the enemy stood immoveable
against the efforts of the infantry, and the only
hope remaining was in the charge of horse.'
He addressed particularly both these youths,
and with the same cordiality, loading them
with praises and promises. At the same time,
considering that, in case that effort should also
fail, it would be necessary to accomplish by
stratagem what his strength could not effect ;
he ordered Scipio, one of his lieutenants -gene-
ral to draw off the spearmen of the first legion
out of the line ; to lead them round as secretly as
possible to the nearest mountains ; and, in such
direction as he could ascend without being seen,
to gain the heights, and show himself suddenly
on the rear of the enemy, while their attention
should be employed on the front. The cavalry,
led on by the tribunes, rushing forward unex-
pectedly before the van, caused scarcely more
confusion among the enemy than among their
friends. The line of the Samnites stood firm
against the furious onset of the squadrons j it
neither could be driven from its ground, nor
broken in any part. The cavalry, finding
their attempts fruitless, withdrew from the
fight, and retired behind the line of in-
fantry. On this the enemy assumed new
spirits, with increasing confidence in their
own prowess : so that the Roman troops in the
van would not have been able to support the
contest, had not the second line, by the con-
sul's order, come up into the place of the first.
These fresh troops checked the progress of the
Samnites, who had now began to gain ground ;
and, at this seasonable juncture, their comrades
appearing suddenly on the mountains, and rais-
ing a shout, occasioned in the Samnites a fear
of greater danger than really threatened them •.

Fabius called out aloud that his colleague De-
cius was approaching ; on which all the sol-
diers, elated with joy, repeated eageny, that the
other consul was come, the legions were arrived !
This artifice, while it produced a happy effect
on the Romans, filled the Samnites with such
dismay, that they thought of nothing but flight ;
for they dreaded above all things, lest fatigued
as they were, they should be overpowered by
another army fresh and unhurt. As they dis-
persed themselves on every side, there was less
effusion of blood than might have been expect-
ed, considering the completeness of the victory.
There were three thousand four hundred slain :
about three hundred and thirty made prisoners,
and twenty three military standards taken.

XV. The Apulians would have joined their
forces to the Samnites before this battle, had
not the consul, Publius Decius, encamped in
their neighbourhood at Maleventum : and,
finding means to bring them to an engagement,
put them to the rout Here, likewise, there
was more of night than of bloodshed. Two
thousand of the Apulians were slain ; but
Decius, despising such an enemy led his legions
into Samnium. There the two consular ar-
mies, overrunning every part of the country
during the space of five months, laid it entirely
\vaste. There were in Samnium, forty-five
places where Decius, and eighty-six where the
other consul, encamped. Nor did they leave
traces only of having been there, as ramparts
and trenches, but other dreadful mementos of
it — general desolation and regions depopulated.
Fabius also took the city of Cimetre, where he
made prisoners two thousand four hundred
soldiers ; and there were slain in the assault
about four hundred and thirty. Going thence
to Rome to preside at the elections, he used all
expedition in despatching that business. All
the first-called centuries voted Quintus Fabius
consul. Appius Claudius was a candidate, a
man of consular rank, daring and ambitious ;
and as he wished not more ardently for the at-
tainment of that honour for himself, than he
did that the patricians might recover the pos-
session of both places in the consulship, he
aboured, with all his own power, supported by
hat of the whole body of the nobility, to pre-
•ail on them to appoint him consul along with
Quintus Fabius. To this Fabius objected,
jiving, at first, the same reasons which he had
advanced the year before. The nobles then all
gathered round his seat, atid besought him to

Y. R. 456.]

OF ROME.

349

raise up the consulship out of the plebeian mire,
and to restore both to the office itself, and to the
patrician rank, their original dignity. Fabius
tin MI. procuring silence, allayed their wannth, by
a qualifying speech, declaring, that "' he would
have so managed, as to have received the names
of two patricians, if he had seen an intention of
appointing any other than hiirself to the con-
sulship. As things now stood, he would not
set so bad a precedent as to admit bis own
name among the candidates ; such a proceed-
ing being contrary to the laws." [ Y. R. 456.
li. C. 296.] Whereupon Appius Claudius, and
Lucius Volumnius, a plebeian, who had like-
wise been colleagues in that office before, were
elected consuls. The nobility reproached Fa-
bius for declining to act in conjunction \\ ith Ap-
pius Claudius, because he evidently excelled
him in eloquence and political abilities.

XVL When the election was finished, the
former consuls were continued in command for
six months, and ordered to prosecute the war
in Samnium. Accordingly, during this next
year, in the consulate of Lucius Volumnius
and Appius Claudius, Publius Decius, who
had been left consul in Samnium by his col-
league, continued in the character of proconsul,
to spread devastation, in b°ke manner as in the
preceding year, through all parts of that coun-
try ; until, at last, he drove the army of the
Samnites, which never dared to face him in the
field, entirely out of the country. Thus ex-
pelled from home, they bent their route to
Etruria ; and, supposing that the business,
which they had often in vain endeavoured to
accomplish by embassies, might now be nego-
tiated with more effect, when they were backed
by such a powerful armed force, and could in-
termix terror with their entreaties, they de-
manded a meeting of the chiefs of Etruria :
which being assembled, they set forth the great
number of years, during which they had waged
war with the Romans, in the cause of liberty ;
" they had," they said, " endeavoured, with
their own strength, to sustain the weight of so
great a war : they had also made trial of the
support of the adjoining nations, which proved
of little avail. Unable longer to maintain the
conflict, they had sued to the Roman people
for peace ; and had again taken up arms, be-
cause they felt peace, attended with servitude,
more grievous than war with liberty. They
had one only hope remaining, which was the
support which they expected from the Etru-

rians. They knew that nation to be the mo»t
powerful in Italy, in respect of arms, men, and
money ; to have the Gauls their closest neigh-
bours, born in the midst of war and arms, of
furious courage, both from their natural tem-
per, and particularly against the people of
Rome, whom they boasted, without infringing
the truth, of having made their prisoners, and
of having ransomed for gold. If the Etruri-
ans possessed the same spirit which formerly
animated Porsena and their ancestors, there
was nothing to prevent their expelling the Ro-
mans from all the lands on this side of the Ti-
ber, and compelling them to fight for their own
existence, and not for the intolerable dominion
which they assumed over Italy. The Samnite
army had come to them, in readiness for ac-
tion, furnished with arms and subsistence, and
were willing to follow that instant, even should
they lead to the attack of the city of Rome
itself."

XVII. While they were engaged in these
representations, and intriguing at Etruria, the
operations of the Romans in their own terri-
tories distressed them severely. For Publius
Decius, when informed by his scouts of the
departure of the Samnite army, called a coun-
cil, and there said, " Why do we ramble through
the country, carrying the war from one village
to another ? Why not attack the cities and for-
tified places ? No army now guards Samnium.
They have fled : they are gone into voluntary
exile." The proposal being universally approv-
ed, he marched to attack Murgantia, a city of
considerable strength ; and so great was the ar-
dour of the soldiers, resulting from their affec-
tion to their commander, and from their hopes
of richer treasure than could be found in pil-
laging the country places, that in one day they
took it by assault Here, two thousand one
hundred of the Samnites, making resistance,
were surrounded and taken prisoners ; and
abundance of other spoil fell into the hands of
the victors. Decius, not choosing that the
troops should be encumbered in their march
with such heavy baggage, ordered them to be
called together, and said to them, " Do ye in-
tend to rest satisfied with this single victory,
and this booty? or do ye choose to cherish hopes
proportioned to your bravery ? All the cities
of the Samnites, and the property left in them,
are your own ; since, after so often defeating
their legions, ye have finally driven them out of
the country. Sell those effects in your bands ;

350

THE HISTORY

[BOOK x.

and allure traders, by a prospect of profit, to
follow you on your march. . I will, from time
to time, supply you with goods for sale. Let
us go hence to the city of Romulea, where no
great labour, but greater gain, awaits you."
They accordingly sold off the spoil; and, warm-
ly adopting the general's plan, proceeded to
Romulea. This town likewise was taken with-
out works or engines, and plundered : for, as
soon as the battalions approached it, nothing
could hinder the soldiers from mounting the
walls ; but, hastily applying ladders, they forced
their way over the fortifications. Two thou-
sand three hundred men were slain, six thou-
sand taken prisoners, and abundance of spoil
fell into the hands of the soldiers. This they
were obliged to sell in like manner as the for-
mer; and, though no rest was allowed them,
they proceeded, nevertheless, with the utmost
alacrity to Ferentinum. But here they met a
greater share both of difficulty and danger : the
garrison made a vigorous defence, and the place
was strongly fortified both by nature and art.
However, the soldiers, now inured to plunder,
overcame every obstacle. Three thousand of
the enemy were killed round the walls, and the
spoil was given to the troops. In some an-
nals, the principal share of the honour of tak-
ing these cities is attributed to Maximus. They
say that Murgantia was taken by Decius ; Ro-
mulea and Ferentinum by Fabius. Some
ascribe this honour to the new consuls : others
not to both, but to one of these ; Lucius Vo-
lumnius, whose province, they say, Samnium
was.

XVIII. While things went on thus in Sam-
nium, and whoever it was that had the command
and auspices, another powerful combination,
composed of many states, was formed in Etmria
against the Romans, the chief promoter of which
was Gellius Egnatius, a Samnite. Almost all
the Etrurians had united in this hostile design.
The neighbouring states of Umbria were
drawn in, as it were, by contagion ; and auxi-
liaries were procured from the Gauls for hire :
all their several numbers assembled at the camp
of the Samnites. When intelligence of this
sudden commotion was received at Rome, the
consul, Lucius Volumnius, had already set out
for Samnium, with the second and third legions,
and fifteen thousand of the allies ; it was there-
fore resolved, that Appius Claudius should,
without loss of time, go into Etruria. He
took with him two Roman legions, the first

and fourth, and twelve thousand allies, and en-
camped at a small distance from the enemy.
However, his early arrival, though productive
of one good effect, the restraining, by dread of
the Roman name, several states of Etruria
who were inclined to war, yet was not followed
by any very judicious or successful enterprise.
Several battles were fought, at times and places
unfavourable, and increasing confidence ren-
dered the enemy daily more formidable; so
that matters came nearly to such a state, as
that neither could the soldiers rely much on
their leader, nor the leader on his soldiers. It
appears in three several histories, that a letter
was sent by the consul to call his colleague
from Samnium. But I will not affirm what
requires stronger proof, that point having been
disputed between these two consuls, a second
time associated in the same office ; Appius de-
nying that he sent any such, and Volumnius
affirming that he was called thither by a letter
from him. Volumnius had, by this time, taken
three forts in Samnium, in which three thou-
sand of the enemy had been slain, and about
half that number made prisoners ; and, a sedi-
tion having been raised among the Lucanians
by the plebeians, and the more indigent of the
people, he had, to the great satisfaction of the
nobles, quelled it by sending thither Quintus
Fabius, proconsul, with his own veteran army.
He left to Decius the ravaging of the country ;
and proceeded with his troops into Etruria to
his colleague ; where, on bis arrival, the army
in general received him with joy. Appius, if
he did not write the letter, being conscious of
this, had, in my opinion; just ground of dis-
pleasure : but if he had actually sent for as-
sistance, his disowning it, as he did, arose from
an illiberal and ungrateful mind. For, on going
out to receive him, when they had scarcely ex-
changed salutations, he said, " Is all well, Lu-
cius Volumnius ? How stand affairs in Sam-
nium ? What motive induced you to remove
out of your province ?" Volumnius answered,
that " affairs in Samnium were in a prosperous
state ; and that he had come thither in com-
pliance with the request in his letter. But, if
that were a forged letter, and that there was no
occasion for him in Etruria, he would instantly
face about, and depart." " You may depart,"
replied the other ; " no one detains you : for it
is a perfect inconsistency, that when, perhaps
you are scarcely equal to the management of
the war allotted to yourself, you should vaunt

V. It. •

OF ROME.

of < -oiiiing hither to succour others." To this
Yoliiinnius rejoined, " May Hercules direct all
for the hot ; for his port, he was better pleased
that he had taken useless trouble, than that any
con) tincture should have arisen which had made
one consular army insufficient for Etruria."

XIX. As the <-<>n Mil- were parting, the
lieutenants-general and tribunes of Appius's
M my gathered round them. Some entreated
their own general that he would not reject the
voluntary offer of his colleague's assistance,
which lu- ought to have solicited: the greater
number UMM! their endeavours to stop Volum-
nins, Lcsfivhing him " not, through a peevish
dispute with his colleague, to abandon the
intiTi'st of the commonwealth ; and represented
to him, that in case any misfortune should
happen, the blame would fall on the person
who forsook the other, not on the one forsaken ;
that the state of affairs was such, that the credit
and discredit of every success and failure in
Etruria, would be attributed to Lucius Volum-
nius : for no one would inquire, what were the
words of Appius, but what the situation of
the army. Appius indeed had dismissed him,
but the commonwealth, and the army, required
his stay. Let him only make trial of the in-
clinations of the soldiers." By such admoni-
tions and entreaties they, in a manner, dragged
the consuls to an assembly. There, longer
discourses were made to the same purport, as
had passed before in the presence of a few. As
Volumnius had the advantage of the argument,
so did he show himself not deficient in oratory*,
in despite of the extraordinary eloquence of
his colleague. On which Appius observed
with a sneer, that " they ought to acknow-
ledge themselves indebted to him, in having a
consul, who, among his other qualifications,
possessed eloquence also, instead of being
dumb and speechless, as he was in their former
consulate ; when, particularly during the first
months, he was not able so much as to open
his lips ; but now, in his harangues, even aspir-
ed after popularity." Volumnius replied,
" How much more earnestly do I wish, that
you had learned from me to act with spirit ;
than I from you to speak with elegance : I now
make you a final proposal, which will demon-
strate, not which is the better orator, for that is
not what the public wants, but which is the
better commander. The provinces are Etru-
ria and Samnium : make your choice ; I, with
my own army, will undertake to manage the

msiness of either." The soldiers then, with
oud clamours, requested that they would, in
conjunction, carry on the war in Etruria ; when
Volumnius perceiving that it was the general
wish, said, " Since I have been mistaken in ap-
>rehei>ding my colleague's meaning, I will take
care that there shall be no room for mistake with
respect to the purport of your wishes. Signify
)>• a shout, whether you choose that I should
stay or depart." On this, a shout was raised,
so loud, that it brought the enemy out of their
camp : they snatched up their arms, and march-
ed forward in order of battle. Volumnius
likewise ordered the signal to be sounded, and
his troops to take the field It is said that
Appius hesitated, perceiving that, whether he
fought or remained inactive, his colleague would
enjoy the honour of the victory ; and that, af-
terwards, dreading lest his own legions should
follow Volumnius with the rest, he gave the
signal, at the earnest desire of bis men. On
neither side were the forces drawn up to advan-
tage : for, on the one, Gellius Egnatius, the
Samnite general, had gone out to forage with a
few cohorts, and his men entered on the fight,
as the violence of their passions prompted,
rather than under any directions, or orders. On
the other, the Roman armies, neither marched
out together, nor had time sufficient to form :
Volumnius began to engage, before Appius
came up, consequently their front in the battle
was uneven ; and by some accidental inter-
change of their usual opponents, the Etrurians
fought against Volumnius ; and the Samnites,
after delaying some time on account of the ab-
sence of their general, against Appius. We
are told that Appius, during the heat of the
fight, raising his hands towards heaven, so as to
be seen in the foremost ranks, prayed thus,
" Bcllona, if thou grantest us the victory this
day, I vow to thee a temple." And that after
this vow, as if inspirited by the goddess, be
displayed a degree of courage equal to that of
his colleague, and of the troops. The generals
performed every duty, and each of their armies
exerted, with emulation, its utmost vigour, lest
the other should be first victorious. They
therefore quickly broke and defeated the enemy,
who were ill able to withstand a force so much
superior to any with which they had been ac-
customed to contend : then pressing them as
they gave ground, and pursuing them closely as
they fled, they drove them into their camp.
There Gellius and his Samnite cohorts, inter-

352

THE HISTORY

QBOOK x.

posing, the fight was renewed for a time with
some warmth. But these being likewise soon
dispersed, the conquerors advanced to storm the
camp ; and Volumnius, in person, leading his
troops against one of the gates, while Appius,
frequently invoking Bellona the victorious, in-
flamed the courage of his men, neither rampart
nor trenches could prevent their breaking in.
The camp was taken and plundered, and the
spoil, of which great abundance was found,
was given up to the soldiers. Of the enemy
seven thousand three hundred were slain ; and
two thousand one hundred and twenty taken.

XX. While both the consuls, with the whole
force of the Romans, pointed their exertions
principally against their enemies in Etruria, a
new army was set on foot in Samnium ; and,
with design to ravage the frontiers of the Ro-
man empire, passed over through the country of
the Vescians, into the Campanian and Faler-
nian territories, where they committed great
depredations. Volumnius, as he was hasten-
ing back to Samnium, by forced marches, be-
cause the term for which Fabius and Decius
had been continued in command was nearly ex-
pired, heard of this army of Samnites, and of
the mischief which they had done in Campania ;
determining, therefore, to afford protection to
the allies, he altered his route towards that quar-
ter. When he arrived in the district of Gales,
he found marks of their recent ravages ; and
the people of that town informed him that the
enemy carried with them such a quantity of
spoil, that they could scarcely observe any order
in their march : and that the commanders
then directed publicly, that the troops should
go immediately to Samnium, deposit the
booty there, and return to the business of
the expedition, as an engagement must not
be hazarded while they were so heavily laden.
Notwithstanding that this account carried every
appearance of truth, he yet thought it necessary
to obtain more certain information ; accordingly
he despatched some horsemen, to seize on some
of the straggling marauders ; from these -he
learned, on inquiry, that the enemy lay at the
river Vulturnus ; that they intended to remove
thence at the third watch ; and that their route
was towards Samnium. On receiving this intel-
ligence, which could be depended upon, he put
his troops in motion, and sat down at such a
distance from the enemy, as was sufficient to
prevent their discovering his approach, and, at
the same time, left it in his power to surprise

them, as they should be coming out of tnei?
camp. A long time before day, he drew nigh
to their post, and sent persons, who understood
the Oscan language, to discover how they were
employed : these, mixing with the enemy, which
they could easily do during the confusion in the
night, found that the standards had gone out
thinly attended ; that the booty, and those ap-
pointed to guard it, were then setting out, a
contemptible train : each busied about his own
affairs, without any concert with the rest, or
much regard to orders. This the consul judg-
ed the fittest time for the attack ; and, day-light
now approaching, he gave orders to sound the
charge, and fell on the enemy as they were
marching out. The Samnites being embarras-
sed with the spoil, and very few armed, were
at a loss how to act. Some quickened their
pace, and drove the prey before them ; others
halted, deliberating whether it would be safer
to advance, or to return again to the camp ;
and while they hesitated, they were overtaken
and cut off. The Romans had by this time
passed over the rampart, and filled the camp
with slaughter and confusion : the Samnite
army had their disorder increased by a sudden
insurrection of their prisoners ; some of whom,
getting loose, set the rest at liberty, while others
snatched the arms which were tied up among
the baggage, and, being intermixed with the
troops, raised a tumult more terrible than the
battle itself. They then performed a memor-
able exploit : for making an attack on Statius
Minacius, the general, as he was passing be-
tween the ranks and encouraging his men, they
dispersed the horsemen who attended him,
gathered round himself, and dragged him, sitting
on his horse, a prisoner to the Roman consul.
This brought back the foremost battalions of
the Samnites, and the battle, which seemed to
have been already decided, was renewed : but
they could not support it long. Six thousand
of them were slain, and two thousand five hun-
dred taken, among whom were four military
tribunes, together with thirty standards, and,
what gave the conquerors greater joy than all,
seven thousand four hundred prisoners were
recovered. The spoil which had been taken
from the allies was immense, and the owners
were summoned by a proclamation, to claim
and receive their property. On the day ap-
pointed, all the effects, the owners of which
did not appear, were given to the soldiers, who
were obliged to sell them, in order that they

Y. R. 456.]

OF ROME.

353

might have nothing to think of but their
duty.

XXI. The depredations, committed on the
lands of Campania, had occasioned a violent
alarm at Rome ; and it happened, that about
the lame time, intelligence was brought from
Etruria, that, after the departure of Voiumnius's
army, all that country had risen up in arms,
together with Gellius Egnatius, the leader of
the Samnites ; that the Umbrians were invited
to join in the insurrection, and the Uauls tempt-
ed with high offers. Terrified at this news, the
senate ordered the courts of justice to be shut,
and a levy to be made of men of every descrip-
tion. Accordingly not only freeborn men, and
the younger sort were obliged to enlist, but co-
horts were formed of the elder citizens, and the
sons of freed men were incorporated in the cen-
turies. Plans were formed for the defence of
the city, and the chief command committed to
the pni'tor, Publius Sempronius. However, the
senate was exonerated of one half of their anx-
iety, by a letter from the consul, Lucius Vol-
umnius, informing them that the army, which
had ravaged Campania, had been defeated and
dispersed : whereupon, they decreed a public
thanksgiving for this success, in the name of
the victors. The courts were opened, after
having been shut eighteen days, and the thanks-
giving was performed with much joy. They
then turned their thoughts to devising measures
for the future security of the country, depopu-
lated by the Samnites ; and, with this view,
resolved that two colonies should be settled
on the frontiers of the Vescian and Faler-
nian territories ; one at the mouth of the
river Liris which has received the name
of Minturnae ; the other in the Vescian forest,
which borders on the Falemian territory ;
where, it is said, stood Sinope, a city of
Grecians, called thenceforth by the Roman
colonists Sinuessa. The plebeian tribunes
were charged to procure an order of the com-
mons, enjoining Publius Sempronius, the prae-
tor, to create triumvirs for conducting the colo-
nies to those places. But it was not easy to
And people to give in their names ; because, a
settlement in those places was considered,
nearly, as a perpetual advanced guard in a
hostile country, not as a provision of land.
From these employments, the attention of the
senate was drawn away, by the Etrurian war
growing daily more formidable ; and by fre.
quent letters from Appius, warning them not

to neglect the disturbances in that quarter.
Four nations, he told them, were uniting their
arms ; the Etrurians, the Samnites, the Um-
brians, and the Gauls ; and they had 'already
formed two separate camps, one spot being
insufficient to contain so great a multitude. In
consequence, the time of the elections drawing
nigh, the consul, Lucius Volumnius, was re-
called to Home, to hold them. Having sum-
moned an assembly of the people before the
centuries were called to give their votes, he
spoke at length on the great importance of the
Etrurian war, and said, that " even at the
time, when he himself acted there, in conjunc-
tion with his colleague, the war was too
weighty to be managed by one general or one
army ; and that it was now reported, that the
enemy had, since that time, gained an accession
of the Umbrians, and a numerous body of
Gauls." He desired them to " bear in mind,
that they were, on that day, to choose consuls,
who were to command in a war against four
nations. For his own part, were he not con-
fident, that the Roman people would concur,
in appointing to the consulship, the man who
was allowed, beyond dispute, to be the first
commander at present in the world, he would
have immediately nominated a dictator."

XXII. No doubt was entertained but that
the universal choice would light on Quintus
Fabius ; and accordingly, the prerogative, and
all the first called centuries, named him consul
with Lucius Volumnius. Fabius spoke to the
same purpose as he had done two years before ;
but, afterwards, yielding to the general wish,
he applied himself to procure Decius to be ap-
pointed his confederate: " that," he said,
" would be a prop to his declining age. In the
censorship, and two consulships, in which they
had -been associated, he had experienced that
there could be no firmer support, in promoting
the interest of the commonwealth, than harmony
with a colleague. At his advanced stage of
life, his mind could hardly conform itself to a
new associate in command ; and he could more
easily act in concert with a temper to which
he had been familiarized." Volumnius sub-
scribed to these sentiments, bestowing due
praises on Publius Decius, and enumerating,
" the advantages resulting from concord be.
tween consuls, and the evils arising from their
disagreement in the conduct of military affairs ;"
at the same time remarking, " how near the
extremity of danger matters had been brought,
2 Y

354

THE HISTORY

[BOOK x.

by the late dispute between Appius and him-
self." He warmly recommended to Decius
and Fabius to " live together with one mind
and one spirit." Observed that " they were
men qualified by nature for military command :
great in action, but unpractised in the strife of
words, their talents were such as eminently be-
came consuls. As to the artful and the in-
genious lawyers and orators, such as Appius
Claudius, they ought to be kept at home to
preside in the city and the forum ; and to be
appointed praetors for the administration of
justice." In these proceedings that day was
spent, and, on the following, the elections both
of consuls and pnetor were held, and were
guided by the recommendations suggested by
the consul. Quintus Fabius and Publius
Decius were chosen consuls ; Appius Claudius,
praetor ; all of them absent ; and, by a decree
of the senate, followed by an order of the com-
mons, Lucius Volumnius was continued in
the command for another year.

XXIII. During that year many prodigies hap-
pened. To avert the evils which they might
portend, the senate decreed a supplication for
two days : the wine and frankincense for the
sacrifices were furnished at the expense of the
public ; and numerous crowds of men and women
attended the performance. This supplication
was rendered remarkable by a quarrel, which
broke out among the matrons in the chapel of pa-
trician chastity, which stands in the cattle market,
near the round temple of Hercules. Virginia,
daughter of Aulus, a patrician, but married to
Volumnius the consul, a plebeian, was on that
account excluded by the matrons from sharing
in the sacred rites : a short altercation ensued,
which was afterwards, through the intemperance
of passion incident to' the sex, kindled into a
flame of contention. Virginia boasted with truth
that she had a right to enter the temple of patri-
cian chastity, as being of patrician birth, and
chaste in her character, and, besides, the wife of'
one, to whom she was betrothed a virgin, and had
no reason to be ashamed either of her husband, or
of his exploits or honours : to her high-spirited
words, she added importance by an extraordi-
nary act. In the long street, where she resided,
she inclosed with a partition a part of the house,
of a size sufficient for a small chapel, and there
erected an altar. Then, calling together the
plebeian matrons, and complaining of the inju-
rious behaviour of the patricians, she said,
•' This altar I dedicate to plebeian chastity, and

exhort you, that the same degree of emulation
which prevails among the men of this state, on
the point of valour, may be maintained by the
women on the point of chastity ; and that you
contribute your best care, that this altar may
have the credit of being attended with a greater
degree of sanctity, and by chaster women than
the other." Solemn rites were performed at
this altar under the same regulations, nearly,
with those at the more ancient one ; no person
being allowed the privilege of taking part in the
sacrifices, except a woman of approved chastity,
and who was the wife of one husband. This
institution, being afterwards debased by the
admission of vicious characters, and not on-
ly by matrons, but women of every description,
sunk at last into oblivion. During this year the
Ogulnii, Cneius and Quintus, being curule
jediles, carried on prosecutions against seve-
ral usurers ; and these being condemned to
pay fines out of the 'produce and for the use of
the public, the sediles made brazen thresholds
in the capitol ; utensils of plate for three tables,
which were deposited in the chapel of Jupiter ;
a statue of Jupiter in a chariot, drawn by
four horses placed on the roof; and images
of the founders of the city, in their infant
state under the teats of the wolf, at the Ru-
minal tig-tree. They also paved with square
stones, the roads from the Capuan gate to the
temple of Mars. The plebeian oediles likewise,
Lucius .ZElius Paetus, and Caius Fulvius Cor-
vus, out of money levied as fines on farmers of
the public pastures, whom they had convicted of
malepractices, exhibited games, and consecrated
golden bowls in the temple of Ceres.

XXIV. Then came into the consulship
Quintus Fabius, a fifth time, and Publiu* De-
cius, a fourth. [ Y. R. 457. 13. C. 29.5. J They
had been colleagues in the censorship, and twice
in the consulship, and were celebrated not more
for theirglorious achievements, splendid as these
were, than for the unanimity which had ever
subsisted between them. The interruption,
which this afterwards suffered, was, in my opin-
ion, owing to a jarring between the opposite
parties rather than between themselves; the
patricians endeavouring that Fabius should have
Etruria for his province, without casting lots,
and the plebeians insisting that Decius should
bring the matter to the decision of lots. There
was certainly a contention in the senate, and
the interest of Fabius, being superior there, the
business was brought before the people. Hero,

v. R. 450.]

OF ROME.

355

bct\\«-en military men who laid greater stress
on (hods than on \\ords, the debate was short.
Katuus said, " that it was unreasonable, that
after he hud planted a tree, another should
gather the fruit of it. He had opened the Ci-
ininian forest, and made a way for the Roman
arms through passes until then impracticable.
Why had they disturbed his repose, at that time of
his life, if they intended to give the management
of the war to another ?" Then, in the way of a
gentle reproof, he observed, that " instead of an
associate in command, he had chosen an adver-
sary ; and that Decius thought it too much that
their unanimity should last through three con-
sulates." Declaring, in fine, that " he desired
nothing farther, than that, if they thought him
qualified for the command in the province, they
should send him thither. He had submitted to
the judgment of the senate, and would now be
governed by the authority of the people." Pub-
lius Decius complained of injustice in the se-
nate ; and asserted, that " the patricians had
laboured, as long as possible, to exclude the
plebeians from all access to the higher honours ;
and since merit, by its own intrinsic power,
had prevailed so far, as that it should not, in
any rank of men, be precluded from the attain-
ment of them, they sought every expedient to
render ineffectual, not only the suffrages of the
people, but even the decisions of fortune ; con-
verting all things to the aggrandizement of a
few. Former consuls had disposed of the
provinces by lots ; now, the senate bestowed
a province on Fabius at their pleasure. If this
was meant as a mark of honour, the merits
of Fabius were so great towards the common-
wealth, and towards himself in particular, that
he would gladly contribute to the advancement
of his reputation, in ever)' instance, where its
splendour could be increased without reflecting
dishonour on himself. But who did not see,
that, whi-n a war of difficulty and danger, and
out of the ordinary course, was committed to
only that one consul, the other would be con-
Mdcred as useless and insignificant. Fabius
gloried in his exploits performed in Etruria :
Publius Decius wished for a like subject of
glory, and perhaps would utterly extinguish
that fire, which the other left smothered, in
such a manner that it often broke out miew, in
sudden conflagrations. In fine, honours and
rewards, he would concede to his <•<>!'
out of respect to his age and dignified charac-
ter : but when danger, when a vigorous strug-

gle \vith an enemy was before them, he never
did, nor ever would, willingly, give place.
With respect to the present dispute, this much
he \\ould gain at all events, that a business, ap-
pertaining to the jurisdiction of the people,
should be determined by an order of that peo-
ple, and not complimented away by the senate.
He pr.iycd Jupiter, supremely good and great,
and all the immortal gods, not to grant him
an equal chance with his colleague, unless they
intended to grant him equal ability and success,
in the management of the war. It was cer-
tainly in its nature reasonable, in the example
salutary, and concerned the reputation of the
Roman people, that the consuls should be men
of such -abilities, that either of them was fully
equal to the command in a war with Etruria."
Fabius, after just requesting of the people, that
before the tribes were called in to give their
votes, they would hear the letters of the pra?tor
Appius Claudius, written from Etruria, with-
drew from the Comitium, and the people, not
less unanimously than the senate, decreed to
him the province of Etruria, without having
recourse to lots.

XXV. Immediately almost all the younger
citizens flocked together to the consul, and
cheerfully gave in their names, earnestly de-
sirous of serving under such a commander.
Seeing so great a multitude collected round
him, he said, " My intention is to enlist only
four thousand foot, and six hundred horse :
such of you as give in your names to-day and
to-morrow, I will carry with me. I am more
solicitous to bring home all my soldiers rich,
than to employ a great multitude." Accord-
ingly, with a competent number of men, who
possessed greater hopes and confidence, because
a numerous army had not been required, he
marched to the town of Aharna, from which
the enemy were not far distant, and proceeded
to the camp of the pnrtor Appius. When he-
came within a few miles of it, he was met by
some soldiers, sent to cut wood, attended by a
guard. Observing the lictors preceding him,
and learning that he was Fabius the consul,
they were filled with joy ; and expressed warm
thanks to the gods, and to the Roman people,
for having sent them such a commander. Then,
as they gathered round, to pay their respects,
Fabius inquired whither they were going, and
on their answering they were going to provide
wood, " What do you tell me," said he ; " have
you not a rampart, raised about your camp ?"

356

THE HISTORY

[BOOK x.

" They had," they replied, " a double rampart,
and a trench ; and, notwithstanding, were in
great apprehension." " Well then," said he,
" you have abundance of wood, go back and
le vel the rampart. " They accordingly returned
to the camp, and there levelling the rampart,
thr ew the soldiers who had remained in it, and
A. ppius himself, into the greatest fright, until
ivith eager joy each called out to the rest, that,
" they acted by order of the consul, Quintus
Fabius." Next day, they decamped, and the
praetor Appius was dismissed to Rome. From
that time, the Romans had no fixed post ; the
consul affirming, that it was prejudicial to an
army to lie in one spot ; and that by frequent
marches, and changing places, it was rendered
more healthy, and more capable of brisk exer-
tions : and this he practised as long as the sea-
son permitted, the winter being not yet ended.
Then, in the beginning of spring, leaving the
second legion near Clusium, which they for-
merly called the Camertian, and giving the
command of the camp to Lucius Scipio, as
propraetor, he returned to Rome, in order to
adjust measures for carrying on the war ; either
led thereto by his own judgment, on finding
it attended with greater difficulty than he had
believed, from report ; or, being summoned
by a decree of senate ; for both accounts
are given. Some choose to have it believed,
that he was forced to return by the practices
of the praetor, Appius Claudius ; who, both
in the senate, and before the people, exag-
gerated, as he was wont in all his letters,
the danger of the Etrurian war, contending,
that "one general, or one army, would not
be sufficient to oppose four nations. That
whether these directed the whole of their com-
bined force against him alone, or acted separ-
ately in different parts, there was reason to
fear, that he would be unable to provide, effec-
tually, against every emergency. That he had
left there but two Roman legions ; and that
the foot and horse, who came with Fabius, did
not amount to five thousand. It was therefore
his opinion, that the consul Publius Decius
should, without delay, join his colleague in
Etruria; and that the province of Samnium
should be given to Lucius Volumnius. But,
if the consul preferred going to his own pro-
vince, that then Volumnius should march a full
consular army into Etruria, to join the other
commander." The advice of the praetor was

approved by a great part of the members ; but
Publius Decius recommended that every thing
should be kept undetermined, and open for
Quintus Fabius ; until he should either come
to Rome, if he could do so without prejudice
to the public, or send some of his lieutenants,
from whom the senate might learn the real
state of the war in Etruria ; and what number
of troops, and how many generals, would be re-
quisite for carrying it on.

XXVI. Fabius on his return to Rome,
qualified his discourses, both in the senate and
before the people, in such a manner as to ap-
pear neither to exaggerate, or lessen, any par-
ticular relating to the war ; and to show, that,
in agreeing to another general being joined
with him, he rather indulged the apprehensions
of others, than guarded against any danger to
himself, or the public. " But if they chose,"
he said, " to give him an assistant, and associate
in command, how could he overlook Publius
Decius the consul ; with whom he was perfect-
ly acquainted, as a colleague, on so many occa-
sions? There was no man living whom he
would rather wish to be joined in commission
with him : with Publius Decius he should
have forces sufficient, and never too many ene-
mies. If, however, his colleague preferred any
other employment, let them then give him Lu-
cius Volumnius as an assistant." The dis-
posal of every particular was left entirely to
Fabius by the people and the senate, and even
by his colleague ; while Decius, having declared
that he was ready to go either to Etruria, or
Samnium, such general congratulation and sa-
tisfaction took place, that all men anticipated
victory, and felt as if a triumph, not a war, had
been decreed to the consuls. I find in some
writers, that Fabius and Decius, immediately on
their entering into office, set out together for
Etruria ; and no mention is made of the casting
of lots, or of the disputes which I have related.
Others, not satisfied with relating those disputes,
have added charges of misconduct, hud by Appius
before the people against Fabius, when absent ;
and a stubborn opposition, maintained by the
praetor against the consul, when present ; and
also another contention between the colleagues,
Decius insisting that each consul should attend
to the care of his own separate province.
Certainty however begins to appear from the
time when both consuls set out for the cam-
paign. Now, before these arrived in Etruria,.

Y. n. 457.]

OF ROME.

357

the Senoriian Gauls came in a vast body to
( lu-iiim, to attack the Roman legion encamp-
ed there. Sri])io, who commanded in that
post, wishing to remedy the deficiency of his
immliiTs, by an advantage in the ground, led
his men up a hill, which stood between the
camp and the city : but having, in his haste,
neglected to examine the place, when he came
near the summit, he found it already possessed
by the enemy, who had ascended on the other
side. The legion was consequently attacked
on the rear, and surrounded by several batta-
lions, who pressed it on all sides. Some writers
say, that the whole were cut off, so that not one
survived to give an account of the disaster ;
and that no information of the misfortune
reached the consuls, who were, at the time,
not far from Clusium, until the Gallic horse-
men came within sight, carrying the heads of
the slain, some hanging before their horses'
breasts, others on the points of their spears,
and expressing their triumph in songs according
to their custom. Others affirm, that the defeat
was by Umbrians, not Gauls, and that the loss
sustained was not so great That a party of
foragers, under Lucius Manlius Torquatus,
lieutenant-general, being surrounded, Scipio, the
propraetor, brought up relief from the camp, and,
renewing the battle, defeated the Umbrians
lately victorious, and retook the prisoners and
spoil. But it is more probable, that this blow
was suffered from a Gallic, than an Umbriau,
enemy ; because during that year, as was often
the case at other times, the danger principally
apprehended by the pubh'c, was that of a Gal-
lic tumult ; for which reason, notwithstanding
that both the consuls had marched against the
enemy, with four legions, and a large body of
Roman cavalry, joined by a thousand chosen
horsemen of Campania, supplied on the occa-
sion, and a body of the allies and Latine confe-
derates, superior in number to the Romans,
two other armies were posted near the city, on
the side facing Etruria ; one in the Faliscian,
the other in the Vatican territory, Cneius Ful-
vius and Lucius Postumius Megellus, both pro-
pnetors, being ordered to keep the troops sta-
tioned in those places.

XXVII. The consuls, having crossed the
Apennines, came up with the combined forces
in the territory of Sentinum, and pitched their
camp, distant from them about four miles. Se-
veral councils were then held by the enemy, and
their pliin dt' operations was thus settled . tint

they should not encamp together, nor go out to-
gether to battle ; the Gauls were united to the
Samnites, the Umbrians to the Etrurians. The
day of battle was fixed. The part of maintain-
ing the fight was committed to the Samnites
and Gauls ; and the Etrurians and Umbrians
were ordered to attack the Roman camp during
the heat of the engagement. This plan was
frustrated by three Clusian deserters, who came
over by night to Fabius, and after disclosing the
above designs, were sent back with presents, in
order that they might discover, and bring ititel-
b'gence of, any new scheme which should be
formed. The consuls then wrote to Flaviua
and Postumius to move their armies, the one
from the Faliscian, the other from the Vatican
country, towards Clusium ; and to ruin the ene-
my's territory by every means in their power.
The news of these depredations drew the Etru-
rians from Sentinum to protect their own re-
gion. The consuls, in their absence, practised
every means to bring on an engagement. For
two days they endeavoured, by several attacks,
to provoke the enemy to fight ; in which time,
however, nothing worth mention was perform-
ed. A few fell on each side, but still the
minds of the Romans were so irritated as to
wish tor a general engagement, yet nothing de-
cisive was hazarded. On the third day, both
parties marched out their whole force to the
field : here, while the armies stood in order of
battle, a hind, chased by a wolf from the moun-
tains, ran through the plain between the two
lines : there the animals turned their courses to
different sides ; the hind towards the Gauls, the
wolf towards the Romans : way was made be-
tween the ranks for the wolf, the Gauls slew
the hind with their javelins ; on which one of
the Roman soldiers in the van said, " To that
side, where you see an animal, sacred to Diana,
lying prostrate, flight and slaughter are direct-
ed ; on this side the victorious wolf of Mars,
safe and untouched, reminds us of our founder,
and of our descent from that deity." The
Gauls were posted on the right wing, the Sam-
nites on the left : against the latter, Fabius
drew up, as his right wing, the first and third
legions : against the Gauls, Decius formed the
left wing of the fifth and sixth. The second
and fourth were employed in the war in Sam-
iiiinn, under the proconsul, Lucius Volumnius.
The first encounter was supported with strength
so equal on both sides, that had the Etrurians
and Umbrians been present at the action, either

358

THE HISTORY

[BOOK x.

hi the field or at tlie camp, in whichever place
they might have employed their force, the Ro-
mans must have been defeated.

XXVIII. However, although the victory
was still undecided, fortune not having declared
in favour of either party, yet the course of the
fight was by no means similar on both right and
left wings. The Romans, under Fabius, rather
repelled than offered assault ; and the contest
was protracted until very late in the day : for
their general knew very well, that both Sam-
nites and Gauls were furious in the first onset ;
so that, to prevent their progress, was as much
as could well be effected. It was known, too,
that in a longer dispute, the spirits of the Sam-
nites gradually nagged, and even the bodies of
the Gauls, remarkably ill able to bear labour
and heat, became quite relaxed ; and although,
in their first efforts, they were more than men,
yet in their last they were less than women. He,
therefore, reserved the strength of his men for
the aforesaid reasons, until the time when the
enemy were the more likely to be worsted.
Decius, more impetuous, as being in the
prime of life, and full flow of spirits, exerted
his whole force to the utmost in the first
encounter; and thinking the infantry not
sufficiently powerful, brought up the cavalry
to their aid. Putting himself at the head
of a troop of young horsemen, of distin-
guished bravery, he besought those youths,
the flower of the army, to follow him, and
charge the enemy ; telling them, " they
would reap a double share of glory, if the victory
should commence on the left wing, and through
their means." Twice they compelled the Gal-
lic cavalry to give way. At the second charge
they advanced nearer, and were briskly engaged
in the midst of the enemy's squadrons, when,
by a method of fighting, to which they were
utter strangers, they were thrown into dismay.
A number of the enemy, mounted on chariot:
and cars made towards them with such a pro-
digious clatter from the trampling of the cattle
and rolling of wheels, as affrighted the horses
of the Romans, unaccustomed to such tumul-
tuous operations. By this means the victorious
cavalry were dispersed, through a panic, anc
men and horses, in their headlong flight, were
tumbled promiscuously on the ground. The
same cause produced disorder even in the bat-
talions of the legions : through the impetuosity
of the horses, and of the carriages which the]
dragged through the ranks, many of the soldiers

n the van were trodden or bruised to death ;
,vhile the Gallic line, as soon as they saw their
tiemy in confusion, pursued the advantage, nor
allowed them time to take breath. Decius,
calling aloud, " Whither were they flying, or
what hope could they have in running away ?"
itrove to stop them as they turned their backs,
)ut finding that he could not, by any efforts,
jrevail on them to keep their posts, so
;horoughly were they dismayed, he called on the
lame of his father Publius Decius, and said,
;< Why do I any longer defer the fate entailed
on my family ? It is the appointment of destiny
to our race, that we should serve as expiatory
victims to avert the public danger. I will now
offer the legions of the enemy, together with
myself, a bloody sacrifice to Earth, and the in-
fernal gods." Having thus said, he commanded
Marcus Livius, a pontiff, whom, at his coming
out to the field, he had charged not to stir from
him, to dictate the form of words in which he
was to devote himself, and the legions of the
enemy, for the army of the Roman people, the
Quirites. He was accordingly devoted with
the same imprecations, and in the same habit,
in which his father Publius Decius had ordered
himself to be devoted at the Veseris in the
Latine war. After this, he added, that " he
carried along with him dismay and flight,
slaughter and blood, and the wrath of the gods
celestial and infernal ; that, with the contagious
influence of the furies, the ministers of death,
whose victim he ' was, he would infect the
standards, the weapons, and the armour of the
enemy ; and on the same spot, should be ac-
complished his perdition, arid that of the Gauls
and Samnites." After uttering these execra-
tions on himself and the foe, he spurred for-
ward his horse, where he saw the line of the
Gauls thickest, and, rushing upon the enemy's
weapons, met his death.

XXIX. Thenceforward the battle seemed
to be fought with a degree of force which could
scarcely be deemed human. The Romans, on
the loss of their general, a circumstance which,
on other occasions, is wont to inspire terror,
stopped then- flight, and re-assumed spirit to
begin the combat afresh. The Gauls, and es-
pecially those who encircled the consul's body,
as if deprived of reason, cast their javelins at
random without execution ; some became so
stupid as not to think of either fighting or fly-
ing : while on the other side, Livius the pontiff,
to whom Decius had transferred his lictors, with

v. n. 457.]

OF ROME.

.359

- to act as proprietor, cried out aloud, that
" tin- Homans were victorious, being exempted
from misfortune by the death of their consul.
That the Gauls and SamuitcH were now the
victims of mother Earth, and the infernal gods.
That Deciu.s was summoning and dragging to
himself the nrmy devoted along with him : and
that, among the. enemy, all was full of dismay,
and the vengeance of all the furies." While the
soldiers were husy in restoring the fight, they
were joined by Lucius Cornelius Scipio and
Cains Marcius, with some reserved troops from
the reur, who had Ix-en sent by Quintus Fabius,
the consul, to the support of his colleague.
These, on being made acquainted with the fate
of Decius, were powerfully excited to brave
every danger in the cause of the pubb'c ; but, as
the Gauls stood in close order, with their shields
formed into a fence before them, b'ttle prospect
of success appeared from a close fight. The
javelins, which lay scattered between the two
lines were, therefore, by order of the lieuten-
ants-general, gathered up from the ground, and
thrown against the enemy's shields, and as most
of them pierced the fence, the long-pointed ones
even into their bodies, their compact band was
overthrown in such a manner, that a great many,
who were unhurt, yet fell as if thunderstnick.
Such were the changes of fortune on the left
wing of the Romans : on the right, Fabius had
at first protracted the time, as we mentioned
above, in slow operations ; then, as soon us
he perceived that neither the shout, nor the
efforts of the enemy, nor the weapons which
they threw, retained their former force, order-
ed the commanders of the cavalry to lead round
their squadrons to the wing of the Samnites,
and, on receiving the signal, to charge them in
flank, with all possible violence, he command-
ing, at the same time, Ids infantry to advance
leisurely, and drive the enemy from their
ground. When he saw that they were unable
to maintain their posts, and manifestly spent
with fatigue, drawing together all his reserves,
whom he had kept fresh for that occasion, he
made a brisk ]>u>h with the legions, giving the
cavalry the signal to charge. The Samnites
could not support the shock, but fled precipi-
tately to their camp, passing by the line of the
Gauls, and leaving their allies to fight by them-
M 1\ .•-:. These stood in ch»e order under cover
of their shields : Fabius, therefore, having
heard of the death of his colleague, ordered the
squadron of Campanian cavalry, in number

about five hundred, to fall back from the ranks,
ride round, and attack the rear of the Gallic
line, sending the chief strength of the third le-
gion after these, with directions that wher-
ever they should see the enemy's troops disor-
dered by the charge, to follow the blow, and
cut them to pieces, before they recovered from
their consternation. After vowing a temple,
and the spoils which might fall into his hands,
to Jupiter the Victorious, he proceeded to the
camp of the Samnites, whither all their forces
were hurrying in confusion. The gates not
affording entrance to such very great numbers,
those who were necessarily excluded, attempt-
ed resistance just at the foot of the rampart,
and here fell Gellius Egnatius the Samnite
general. These, however, were soon driven
within the rampart ; the camp was taken after
a slight dispute ; and at the same time the
Gauls were attacked on the rear, and over-
powered. There were slain of the enemy on
that day twenty-five thousand ; eight thousand
were taken prisoners. Nor was the victory
gained without loss of blood ; for, of the army
of Publius Decius, the killed amounted to seven
thousand ; of the army of Fabius, to one thou-
sand two hundred. Fabius, after sending per-
sons to search for the body of his colleague,
had the spoils of the enemy collected into a
heap, and burned them as an offering to Jupiter
the Victorious. The consul's body could not
be found that day, being hid under a heap of
slaughtered Gauls : on the following, it was
discovered and brought to the camp, amidst
abundance of tears shed by the soldiers. Fa-
bius, discarding all concern about any other
business, solemnized the obsequies of his col-
league in the most honourable manner, passing
on him the high encomiums which he had justly
merited.

XXX. During the same period, Cneiua
Fulvius, propraetor, made a progress in Etru-
ria equal to his wishes ; having, besides the im-
mense losses occasioned to the enemy by the
devastation of their lands, fought a battle with
extraordinary success, in which there were
above three thousand of the Pemsians and
Clusians slain, and twenty military standards
taken. The Samnites, in their flight, passing
through the Pelignian territory, were attacked
on all sides by the Pelignians ; and, out of five
thousand, one thousand were killed. The
glory of the day in the affair at Sentinum was
great, when represented with a strict adherence

860

THE HISTORY

QBOOK x.

to truth : but some have carried their exaggera-
tions of it beyond the bounds of credibility,
asserting in their writings, that there were in
the army of the enemy forty thousand three
hundred and thirty foot, six thousand horse, and
one thousand chariots, that is, including the
Etrurians and Umbrians, who they affirm were
present in the engagement : and, to magnify
likewise the number of Roman forces, they add
to the consuls another general, Lucius Volum-
nius, proconsul, and his army to their legions.
In the greater number of annals, that victory is
ascribed entirely to the two consuls ; and it is
mentioned that Volumnius was employed at
the time in Samnium ; that he compelled the
army of the Samnites to retreat to mount Ti-
fernus, and not retarded by the difficulty of the
ground, routed and dispersed them. Quintus
Fabius, leaving Decius's army in Etruria, and
leading off his own legions to the city, triumph-
ed over the Gauls, Etrurians, and Samnites ;
the soldiers attending his triumph. These, in
their coarse military verses, celebrated not more
highly the conduct of Quintus Fabius, than the
illustrious death of Publius Decius ; recalling
to memory his self-immolated father, of whom
the son might be considered as a glorious coun-
terpart, in respect of the issue which resulted
both to himself and to the public. Out of the
spoil, donations were made to the soldiers of
eighty-two asses l to each, with cloaks and
vests ; rewards for service, which in that age
were far from contemptible.

XXXI. Notwithstanding these successes,
peace was not yet established, either among
the Samnites or Etrurians : for the latter, at
the instigation of the Perusians, resumed their
arms, as soon as the consul had withdrawn his
troops ; and the Samnites made predatory in-
cursions on the territories of Vescia and For-
miae ; and also on the other side, on those of
jEsernia, and the parts adjacent to the river
Vulturnus. Against these was sent the praetor
Appius Claudius, with the army formerly
commanded by Decius. In Etruria, Fabius,
on the revival of hostilities, slew four thousand
five hundred of the Perusians, and took prison-
ers one thousand seven hundred and forty, who
were ransomed at the rate of three hundred
and ten asses * each. All the rest of the spoil
\vas bestowed on the soldiers. The legions of
the Samnites, though pursued, some by the

praetor Appius Claudius, the others by Lucius
Volumnius, proconsul, formed a junction in
the country of the Stellatians. Here sat
down, on one side, the whole body of the Sam-
nites ; and on the other, Appius and Volum-
nius, with their forces united in one camp. A
battle ensued, fought with the most rancorous
animosity, one party being spurred on by rage
against men who had so often renewed their
attacks on them, and the other, now fighting in
support of their last remaining hope. The
consequence was, that there were slain, of the
Samnites, sixteen thousand three hundred, and
two thousand and seven hundred made prison-
ers : of the Roman army fell two thousand and
seven hundred. This year, so successful in
the operations of war, was filled with distress
at home, arising from a pestilence , and with
anxiety, occasioned by prodigies : for accounts
were received that, in many places, showers of
earth had fallen ; and that very many persons,
in the army of Appius Claudius, had been
struck by lightning ; in consequence of which,
the books were consulted. At this time,
Quintus Fabius Gurges, the consul's son, hav-
ing prosecuted some matrons before the people
on a charge of adultery, built, with the money
accruing from the fines which they were con-
demned to pay, the temple of Venus, which
stands near the circus. Still we have the
wars of the Samnites on our hands, notwith-
standing that the relation of them has already
extended, in one continued course, through
four volumes of our history, and through a pe-
riod of forty-six years, from the consulate of
Marcus Valerius and Aulus Cornelius, who
first carried the Roman arms into Samnium.
And, not to recite the long train of disasters
sustained by both nations, and the toils which
they underwent, which, however, were not suf-
ficient to subdue their stubborn fortitude ; even
in the course of the last year, the Samnites,
with their own forces separately, and also in
conjunction with those of other nations', had
been defeated by four several armies, and four
generals of the Romans, in the territory of
Sentinum, in that of the Pelignians, at Tifer-
num, and in the plains of the Stellatians ; had
lost the general of the highest character in their
nation ; and, now, saw their allies in the war,
the Etrurians, the Umbrians, and the Gauls, in
the same situation with themselves ; but,
although destitute of support, either in their
own or in foreign resources, yet did tiu'y not

v. n. 458.]

OF ROME.

361

ircin the prosecution of hostilities. So
iiidi-liitigi»bly, though unsuccessfully, did they
struggle in defence of liberty ; and, rather than
|)ire after victory, chose to subject them-
selves to repeated defeats. Who does not find
his patience tired, either in writing, or reading,
of wars of such continuance ; and which yet
exhausted not the resolution of the parties
concerned ?

XXXII. Quintus Fabius and Publius De-
cius were succeeded in the consulship by Lu-
cius Postumius Megellus and Marcus Atilius
Regulus. [Y. R. 438. B. C. 294.] The pro-
vince of Samnium was decreed to both in con-
junction ; because intelligence had been received
that the enemy had embodied three armies j
one for the recovery of Etruria ; another, to
repeat their ravages in Campania; and the
third, intended for the defence of their fron-
tiers. Sickness detained Postumius at Rome,
but Atilius set out immediately, with design
to surprise the enemy in Samnium, before they
should have advanced beyond their own bor-
ders ; for such had been the directions of the
senate. The Romans met the enemy, as if by
mutual appointment, at a spot, where, while
they could be hindered, not only from ravag-
ing, but even from entering the Samnite terri-
tory, they could likewise hinder the Samnites
from continuing their progress into the coun-
tries which were quiet, and the lands of the
allies of the Roman people. While they lay
opposite to each other, the Samnites attempted
an enterprise, which the Romans, so often their
conquerors, would scarcely have ventured to un-
dertake ; such is the rashness inspired by extreme
despair : this was an assault on the Roman
camp. And although this attempt, so daring,
succeeded not in its full extent, yet it was not
without considerable effect. There was a fog,
which continued through a great part of the
day, so thick as to exclude the light of the sun,
and to prevent not only the view of any thing
beyond the rampart, but scarcely the sight of
each other, when they should meet. Depend-
ing on this, as a covering to the design, when
the sun was but just risen, and the light which
he did afford was obscured by the fog, the Sam-
nites came up to an advanced guard of the Ro-
mans at one of the gates, who were standing
carelessly on their post. In the sudden sur-
prise, these had neither courage nor strength to
make resistance : an assault was then made,
through the Decuman gate, in the rear of the

I.

camp : the quarter's quarters in consequence
fell into the hands of the enemy, and the quaes-
tor, Lucius Opimius Pansa, was there shun, on
which a general alarm was given.

XXXIII. The consul, being roused by the
tumult, ordered two cohorts of the allies, a Lu-
canian and Suessanian, which happened to be
nearest, to defend the head-quarters, and led
the companies of the legions down the princi-
pal street. These ran into the ranks, scarcely
taking time to furnish themselves with arms ;
and, as they distinguished the enemy by their
shout rather than by sight, could form no judg-
ment how great their number might be : thus,
ignorant of the circumstances of their situation,
they at first drew back, and suffered them to
penetrate into the heart of the camp. The
consul asking them aloud, whether they intend-
ed to let themselves be beaten out beyond the
rampart, and then to return again to storm their
own camp, they raised the shout, and uniting
their efforts, stood their ground ; then made ad-
vances, pushed closely on the enemy, and hav-
ing forced them to give way, drove them back,
without suffering their first terror to abate.
They soon beat them out beyond the gate and
the rampart, but not daring to pursue them,
because the darkness of the weather made them
apprehend an ambush, and content with hav-
ing cleared the camp, they retired within the
rampart, having killed about three hundred of
the enemy. Of the Romans, including the
first advanced guard and the watchmen, and
those who were surprised at the quaestor's quar-
ters, two hundred and thirty perished. This
not unsuccessful piece of boldness raised the
spirits of the Samnites so high, that they not
only prevented the Romans from marching for-
ward into their country, but even from procur-
ing forage from their lands ; and the foragers
were obliged to go back into the quiet country
of Sora. News of these events being convey-
ed to Rome, with circumstances of alarm mag-
nified beyond the truth, Lucius Postumius, the
consul, though scarcely recovered from his ill-
ness, was obliged to set out for the army. How-
ever, before his departure, having issued a pro-
clamation that his troops should assemble at
Sora, he dedicated the temple of Victory, for
the building of which he had provided, when
curule aedile, out of the money arising from
fines ; and, joining the army, he advanced from
Sora towards Samnium, to the camp of his col-
league. The Samnites, despairing of being
2 Z

862

THE HISTORY

X.

able to make head against the two armies, re-
treated from thence, on which the consuls, se-
parating, proceeded by different routes to lay
waste the enemy's lands, and besiege their
towns.

XXXIV. Postumius attempted to make
himself master of Milionia by storm ; but not
succeeding with regular works, he carried his
approaches to the walls, and thus gained an en-
trance into the place. The fight was continued
in all parts of the city from the fourth hour
until near the eighth, and for a great part of the
time without any decisive advantage : the Ro-
mans at last gained possession of it. Three
thousand two hundred of the Samnites were
killed, four thousand two hundred taken, be-
sides the other booty. From thence, the le-
gions were conducted to Ferentinum, out of*
which the inhabitants had, during the night,
retired in silence through the opposite gate,
with all their effects which could be either car-
ried or driven. The consul, on his arrival,
approached the walls with the same order and
circumspection, as if he were to meet an oppo-
sition here, equal to what he had experienced at
Milionia. The troops, perceiving a dead si-
lence in the city, and neither arms nor men
on the towers and ramparts, were eager to
mount the deserted fortifications ; but he
restrained them, lest they might fall into a
snare. He ordered two divisions of the
confederate Latine horse to tide round the
walls, and explore every particular. These
horsemen observed one gate, and, at a little
distance, another on the same side, standing
wide open, and on the roads leading from
these, every mark of the enemy having fled
by night. They then rode up leisurely to
the gates, from whence, with perfect safety,
they took a clear view through strait streets
quite across the city. Returning to the consul,
they told him that the city was abandoned by
the enemy, as was plain from the solitude, the
tracks on their retreat, and the things which,
in the confusion of the night, they had left
scattered up and down. On hearing this, the
consul led round the army to that side of the
city which had been examined, and making the
troops halt, at a little distance from the gate,
gave orders that five horsemen should ride into
the city ; and, when they should have advanced
a good way into it, then, if they saw all things
safe, three should remain there, and the other
two return to him with intelligence. These

returned and said, that they had proceeded to
a part of the town from which they had a view
on every side, and that nothing but silence and
solitude reigned through the whole extent of
it. The consul immediately led some light-
armed cohorts into the city ; ordering the rest
to fortify a camp in the mean time. The sol-
diers who entered the town, breaking open the
doors, found only a few persons, disabled by
age or sickness ; and such effects remaining
as .could not, without difficulty, be removed.
These were seized as plunder : and it was dis-
covered from the prisoners, that several cities
in that quarter had, in pursuance of a concerted
plan, resolved on flight; that their towns-
people had gone off at the first watch, and they
believed that the same solitude would be found
in the other places. The accounts of the
prisoners proved well-founded, and the consul
took possession of the forsaken towns.

XXXV. The other consul, Marcus Atilius,
met much greater difficulties in the war where-
in he was engaged. As he was marching his
legions towards Luceria, to which he was in-
formed that the Samnites had laid siege, the
enemy met him on the border of the Lucerian
territory. Rage supplied them, on this occa-
sion, with strength to equal his : the battle was
stubbornly contested, and the victory doubtful :
the issue, however, proved more calamitous on
the side of the Romans, both because they
were unaccustomed to defeat, and that, on
leaving the field, they felt more sensibly, than
during the heat of the action, the number of
their wounds, and the loss of men which they
had sustained. In consequence of this, such
dismay spread through the camp, as, had it
seized them during the engagement, must have
occasioned their overthrow. Even as the mat-
ter stood, they spent the night in great anxiety ;
expecting, every instant, that the camp would
be assaulted by the Samnites ; or that, at the
first light, they should be obliged to stand a
battle with an apparently powerful foe. On
the side of the enemy, however, although there
was less loss, yet there was not greater courage.
As soon as day appeared, they wished to retire
without any more fighting ; but there was only
one road, and that leading close by the post oi
their enemy; so that, on their march, it sconii'd
as if they were advancing directly to attack the
camp. The consul, therefore, ordered his men
to take arms, and to follow him to die field,
giving directions to the Ik'utonnnts. generals tii-

Y. R.

OF ROME.

luines, ami tin- prj-frrts of the Mies, in \vliat
manner lie would have cadi of them act. They
all assured him th.ir •• they would do every
in their power, but that the soldiers were
dejected; that, from their own wounds,
and tin- groans of the dying, they had passed
I lie whole night without sleep; that if the
enemy had approached the camp before day, so
great were the fears of the troops, that they
would certainly liave deserted their standards.
" Even at present they were restrained from
flight merely by shame ; and, in other respects,
v. en- little better than vanquished men." This
account made the consul judge it necessary to
go himself among the soldiers, and speak to
tin-ill ; and, an he came up to each, he rebuked
them for their backwardness in taking arms,
asking, " Why they loitered, and declined the
fight ? If they did not choose to go out of the
camp, the enemy would come into it ; and they
must fight in defence of their tents, if they
would not in defence of the rampart. Men
who have arms in their hands, and contend
with their foe, have always a chance for vic-
tory ; but th>- man who waits naked and un-
armed for his enemy, must suffer either death
or shivery." To these reprimands and re-
bukes they answered, that " they were ex-
hausted by the fatigue of the battle of yes-
terday ; and had no strength, nor even blood
remaining ; and besides, the enemy appeared
more numerous than they were the day be-
fore." The hostile array, in the meantime,
drew near : so that, seeing every thing more
distinctly as the distance grew less, they as-
serted that the Sumnites carried with them
pallisades for a rampart, and evidently intended
to draw lines of circumvallation round the
camp. On this the consul exclaimed, with
great earnestness, against submitting to such
an ignominious insult, and from so dastardly a
foe. " Shall we even be blockaded," said he,
" in our camp, and die, like cowards, by famine,
rather than like men, if death must be our lot
by the sword ? May the gods be propitious !
and let every one act in the manner which he
thinks becomes him. The consul Marcus
Atilius, should no other accompany him, will
go out, even alone, to face the enemy ; and
will tall in the middle of the Samnite bat-
talions, rather than see the Roman cump en-
closed by their trenches." The lieutenants-
general, tribunes, every troop of the cavalry,
and the principal centurions, expressed their

I approbation of what the consul said . and the
soldiers, at length, overcome by shame, took
up their arms, but in a spiritless manner : and
in the same spiritless manner, marched out of
the camp. In a long train, and that not every
where connected, melancholy, and seemingly
subdued, they proceeded towards the enemy,
whose hopes and courage were not more steady
than theirs. As soon therefore as these beheld
t he Roman standards, a murmur spread from
front to rear of the Samnites, that, as they
had feared, " the Romans were coming out to
oppose their march ; that there was no road
open, tlirough which they could even fly thence :
in that spot they must full, or else cut down
the enemy's ranks, and make their way over
their bodies."

XXXVI. They then threw the baggage in
a heap in the centre, and, with their arms pre-
pared for battle, formed their line, each falling
into his post. There was now but a small in-
terval between the two armies, and both stood,
waiting, until the shout and onset should be
begun by their adversary. Neither party had
any inclination to fight, and they would have
separated, arid taken different roads, without
coming to action, but that each had a dread of
being harassed, in retreat, by the other. Not-
withstanding this reluctance, an engagement
unavoidably began, but without any vigour,
and with a shout, which discovered neither
resolution, nor steadiness ; nor did any move a
foot from his post. The Roman consul, then,
in order to infuse lite into the action, ordered a
few troops of cavalry to advance out of the
line and charge : most of whom being thrown
from their horses and the rest put in disorder,
several jwrties ran forward, both from the
Samnite line, to cut off those who hod fallen,
and from the Roman, to protect their friends :
this roused some little spirit in the combatants ;
but the Samnites had come forward, with more
briskness, and also in greater numbers, and the
disordered cavalry, with their affrighted horses,
trod down their own party who came to their
relief. These were, consequently, the first
who fled ; and their example was followed by
the whole Roman line. And now the Sam-
nites' had no employment for their arms but
against the rear of a flying enemy, when tin-
consul galloping on before his men, to the gate
of the camp, posted there a body of cavalry,
with orders to treat as an enemy any person
who should make towards the rampart, whether

THE HISTORY

[BOOK x.

Roman or Samnite ; and, placing himself in
the way of his men, as they pressed in disorder
towards the camp, denounced threats to the
same purport : " Whither are you going, sol-
diers ?" said he ; " here also you will find both
men and arms ; nor while your consul lives,
shall you pass the rampart, unless you bring vic-
tory along with you. Choose therefore which
you will prefer, fighting against your own coun-
trymen, or the enemy." While the consul was
thus speaking the cavalry gathered round, with
the points of their spears presented, and ordered
the infantry to return to the fight. Not only his
own brave spirit, but fortune likewise aided the
consul, for the Samnites did not push their ad-
vantage ; so that he had time to wheel round his
battalions, and to change his front from the camp,
towards the enemy. The men then began to en-
courage each other to return to the battle, while
the centurions snatched the ensigns from the
standard-bearers and bore them forward, point-
ing out to the soldiers the enemy, coming on in
a hurry, few in number, and with their ranks
disordered. At the same time the consul,
with his hands lifted up towards heaven, and
raising his voice so as to be heard at a distance,
vowed a temple to Jupiter Stator, if the Ro-
man army should rally from flight, and renew-
ing the battle, defeat the Samnites. All divi-
sions of the army, now, united their efforts to
restore the fight ; officers, soldiers, in short the
whole force, both of cavalry and infantry ; even
the gods seemed to have looked, with favour, on
the Roman cause ; so speedily was a thorough
change effected in the fortune of the day, the
enemy being repulsed from the camp, and, in a
short time, driven back to the spot where the
battle had commenced. Here they stopped,
being obstructed by the heap of baggage, lying
in their way, where they had thrown it together ;
and then to prevent the plundering of their
effects, formed round them a circle of troops.
On this, the infantry assailed them vigorously
in front, while the cavalry, wheeling, fell on
their rear : and, being thus inclosed between
the two, they were all either slain, or taken pri-
soners. The number of the prisoners was
seven thousand three hundred, who were all
sent under the yoke ; the killed amounted to
four thousand eight hundred. The victory was
not obtained without loss of blood, on the side
of the Romans : when the consul took an ac-
count of the loss sustained in the two days, the
number returned, of soldiers lost, was seven
thousand three hundred. During these trans-

actions in Apulia, the Samnites attempted to
seize on Interamna, a Roman colony situated
on the Latine road, but, being disappointed in
their design on the town, employed their troops
in ravaging the country ; whence, as they were
driving off spoil, consisting of men and cattle,
together with the colonists, who fell into their
hands, they met the consul returning victorious
from Luceria, and not only lost their booty,
but marching in disorder, in a long train, and
heavily encumbered, were themselves cut to
pieces. The consul, by proclamation sum-
moned the owners to Interamna, to claim, and
receive again their property, and leaving his
army there, went to Rome to hold the elections.
On his applying for a triumph, that honour
was refused him, because he had last so many
thousands of his soldiers ; and also, because he
had sent the prisoners under the yoke, without
imposing any conditions.

XXXVII. The other consul, Postumius,
finding no employment for his arms in Sam-
nium, led over his forces into Etruria, where
he, first, laid waste the lands of the Volsinians :
and afterwards, on their marching out to pro-
tect their country, gained a decisive victory
over them, at a small distance from their own
walls. Two thousand two hundred of the
Etrurians were slain ; the rest owed their
safety to the city being so near. The army
was then led into the territory of Rusella, and
there, not only were the lands wasted, but the
town itself taken. More than two thousand
men were made prisoners, and somewhat less
than that number killed on the walls. But a
peace, effected that year iti Etruria, was still
more important and honourable than the war
had been. Three very powerful cities of
Etruria, (Volsinii, Perusia, and Arretium.)
made overtures of peace ; and having stipulated
with the consul to furnish clothing and corn
for his army, on condition of being permitted
to send deputies to Rome, they obtained a truce
for forty years, and a fine was imposed on each
state of five hundred thousand asses,1 to be im-
mediately paid. Postumius having demanded
a triumph from the senate, in consideration of
these services, rather in compliance with the
general practice, than in hope of succeeding ;
and finding a strong opposition made to his re-
quest ; by one party, out of enmity to himself;-
by another, out of friendship to his colleague,
whose disappointment they wished to console

1 1614'. 11*. 8d.

v. n. 459.]

OF ROME.

365

by a similar refusal : some objecting that he
had been too dilatory in setting out from the
city, others, that he had removed from Snm-
niiiin into Etruria without orders from the
senate ; he addressed them thus : " Conscript
fathers, I shall not carry my deference to your
high dignity to such a length, as to forget that
I am consul. The same authority of my office,
by which I carried on those wars, shall now,
when the wars have been brought to a happy
conclusion, Samnium and Etruria being sub-
dued, and victory and peace procured, give me
the recompense of a triumph." With these
words, he left the senate. On this arose a
contention between the plebeian tribunes j some
<>t' tin1 in declaring that they would protest
against his assuming a triumph, in a method un-
precedented ; others, that they would support
his pretensions, in opposition to their colleagues.
The affair came at length to be discussed before
the people, and the consul being summoned to
attend, he first represented, that Marcus Ho-
ratius and Lucius Valerius, when consuls, and
lately Caius Marcus Rutilus, father of the pre-
sent censor, had triumphed, not by direction of
the senate, but by that of the people ; and then
added, that " he would in like manner have
laid his request before the public, had he not
known that some plebeian tribunes, the abject
slaves of the nobles, would have obstructed
their passing an order on it. But he did, and
ever should consider the universal approbation,
and will of the people, as equivalent to any
order whatsoever. " Accordingly, on the day fol-
lowing, being supported by three plebeian tri-
bunes, in opposition to the protest of the
other seven, and the declared judgment of the
senate, he triumphed ; and the people paid
every honour to the day. In the historical ac-
counts which have been transmitted to us, of
this year, there is some confusion ; Claudius
asserts, that Postumius, after having taken
several cities in Samnium, was defeated and
put to flight in Apulia ; and that, being wound-
ed himself, he was obliged to take refuge with
a few attendants in Luceria. That the war in
Etruria was conducted by Allius, and that it
was be who triumphed. Fabius writes, that
the two consuls acted in conjunction, both in
Samnium and at Luceria ; that an army was
led over into Etniria, but by which of the con-
suls, he has not mentioned ; that at Luceria,
great numbers were slain on both sides : and
that in that battle, the temple of Jupiter Staler

was vowed, the same vow having been former-
ly made by Romulus, but the fane only, that
is, the area appropriated for the temple, had
been yet consecrated. However, in this year,
the state having been twice bound by the same
vow, the senate, to avoid the guilt of neglect in
die case of a religious obligation, ordered the
fane to be erected.

XXXVIII. In the next year, [Y. R. 459.
B. C. 293.] we find a consul; of a character
eminently illustrious, distinguished by the unit-
ed splendour of his own and1 his father's glory,
Lucius Papirius Cursor. We find likewise a
war of the utmost importance, and a victory of
such consequence, as no man, excepting Lucius
Papirius, the consul's father, had ever before
obtained over the Samnites. It happened too
that these bad, with the same care and pains as
on the former occasion, decorated their soldiers
with the richest suits of splendid armour ; and
they had, likewise, called in to their aid the
power of the gods, having, as it were, initiated
the soldiers, by administering the military oath,
with the solemn ceremonies practised in ancient
times, and levied troops in every part of Sam-
nium, under an ordinance entirely new, that
'• if any of the younger inhabitants should not
attend the meeting, according to the general's
proclamation, or shall depart without permis-
sion, his head should be devoted to Jupiter."
Orders being then issued, for all to assemble
at Aquilonia, the whole strength of Samnium
came together, amounting to forty thousand
men. There a piece of ground, in the middle
of the camp, was enclosed with hurdles and
boards, and covered overhead with linen cloth,
the sides being all of an equal length, about
two hundred feet. In this place sacrifices were
performed, according to directions read out of
an old linen book, the function of priest being
discharged by a very old man, called Ovius
Paccius, who affirmed, that he took these cere-
monials from the ancient ritual of the Sam-
nites, being the same which their ancestors
used, when they had formed the secret design
of wresting Capua from the Etrurians. When
the sacrifices were finished, the general ordered
a beadle to summons every one of those who
were most highly distinguished by their birth,
or conduct : these were introduced singly.
Besides the other exhibitions of the solemnity,
calculated to impress the mind with religious
awe, there were, in the middle of the covered
enclosure, altars erected, about which lay the

366

THE HISTORY

[HOOK x.

victims slain, and the centurions stood around
with their swords drawn. The soldier was led
up to the altars, rather like a victim, than a
performer in the ceremony, and was bound by
an oath not to divulge what he should see and
hear in that place. He was then compelled to
swear, in a dreadful kind of form, containing
execrations on his own person, on his family
and race, if he did not go to battle, whitherso-
ever the commanders should lead ; and, U
either he himself fled from the field, or, in case
he should see any other flying, did not imme-
diately kill him. At first some, refusing to
take the oath, were put to death round the
altars, and lying among the carcasses of the vic-
tims, served afterwards as a warning to others
not to refuse it. When those of the first rank
in the Samnite nation had been bound under
these solemnities, the general nominated ten,
whom he desired to choose each a man, and so
to proceed until they should have filled up the
number of sixteen thousand. This body, from
the covering of the inclosure wherein the no-
bility had been thus devoted, was called the
linen legion. They were furnished with splen-
did armour, and plumed helmets, to distinguish
them above the rest. They had another body
of forces, amounting to somewhat more than
twenty thousand, not inferior to the linen
legion, either in personal appearance, or renown
in war, or their equipment for service. This
number, composing the main strength of the
nation, sat down at Aquilonia.

XXXIX. On the other side, the consuls
set out from the city. First, Spurius Carvi-
lius, to whom had been decreed the veteran
legions, which Marcus Atilius, the consul of
the preceding year, had left in the territory of
Interamna, marched at their head into Sam-
n i in n ; and, while the enemy were busied in
their superstitious rites, and holding their secret
meeting, he took by storm the town of Ami-
tcrnum. Here were slain about two thousand
eight hundred men; and four thousand two
hundred and seventy were made prisoners.
Papirius, with a new army, which he raised in
pursuance of a decree of the senate, made him-
self master of the city of Duronia, He took
fewer prisoners than his colleague ; but slew
much greater numbers. Rich booty was ac-
quired in both places. The consuls then,
overrunning Samnium, and wasting the pro-
vince of Atinum with particular severity,
arrived, Carvilius at Cominium, and Papirius

at Aquilonia, where the main force of the
Samnites was posted. Here, for some time,
there was neither a cessation of action, nor any
vigorous effort. The day was generally spent
in provoking the enemy when quiet, and retir-
ing when they offered resistance ; in menacing,
rather than making an attack. By which
practice of beginning, and then desisting, even
those trifling skirmishes were continually left
without a decision. The other Roman camp
was twenty miles distant, and Papirius con-
stantly consulted his absent colleague, on every
thing which he undertook, while Carvilius, on
his part, directed a greater share of his attention
to Aquilonia, where the state of affairs was
more critical and important, than to Cominium,
which he himself was besieging. When Papi-
rius had fully adjusted every measure, prepara-
tory to an engagement, he despatched a message
to his colleague, that " he intended, if the
auspices permitted, to fight the enemy on the
day following ; and that it would be necessary
that he (Carvilius) should at the same time
make an assault on Cominium, with his utmost
force, that the Samnites there might have no
leisure to send any succour to A quilonia. " The
messenger had the day for the performance of
his journey, and he returned in the night, with
an answer to the consul, that bis colleague ap-
proved of the plan. Papirius, on sending off
the messenger, had instantly called an assembly,
where he descanted, at large, on the nature of
the war in general, and on the mode at present
adopted by the enemy, in the equipment of their
troops, which certainly "served for empty parade,
but could have no kind of efficacy towards en-
suring success ; for " plumes," he said, " made
no wounds ; that a Roman javelin would make
its way through shields, however painted and
gilt ; and that the dazzling whiteness of their
tunics would soon be besmeared with blood,
when the sword began its work. His father
had formerly cut off, to a man, a gold and silver
army of the Samnites ; and such accoutrements
had made a more respectable figure, as spoils,
in the hands of the conquering foe, than as arms
in those of the wearers. Perhaps it was allot-
ted, by destiny, to his name and family, that
they should be opposed in command against the
most powerful efforts of the Samnites j and
should bring home spoils, of such beauty, as to
serve for ornaments to the public places. The
immortal gods were certainly on his side, on
account of the leagues so often solicited and so

v. n. 452.]

OF ROME.

367

often broken. Besides, it' a judgment might be
formed of the sentiments of the deities, they
never were more hostile to any army, than to
tli.it, which, in its abominable sacrifice, was pol-
luted with human blood, mingled with that of
cattle ; which was in all events devoted to the
wrath of the gods, dreading, on the one hand,
Hie deities, who were witnesses to the treaties
concluded with the Romans ; on the other, the
imprecations comprised in the oath which they
took, in contradiction to those treaties, which,
they had before sworn to observe ; an oath which,
taken through compulsion, they no doubt ab-
horred ; while they as certainly feared, at once
tin- uods, their countrymen, and their enemies."
X L. The rage of the soldiers was inflamed
to a high degree before ; but, when the consul
bad recounted to them all these circumstances,
which he had learned from deserters, they then,
filled with confidence in both divine and human
aid, with one universal shout, demanded the
battle ; were vexed at the action being deferred ;
impatient under the intended delay of a day and
a night. Papirius, at the third watch, having
received his colleague's letter, arose in silence,
and sent the keeper of the chickens to take the
auspices. There was no one description of
men in the camp who felt not earnest wishes for
the fight : the highest, and the lowest, were
equally eager ; the general watching the ardour
of the soldiers, and the soldiers that of the ge-
neral. This universal zeal spread even to those
employed in taking the auspices ; for the chick-
ens having refused to feed, the auspex ven-
tured to misrepresent the omen, and reported to
the consul that they had fed voraciously.1 The
consul, highly pleased, and giving notice that
the auspices were excellent, and that they were
to act under the direction of the gods, displayed
the signal for battle. Just as he was going
out to the field, he happened to receive intelli-
gence from a deserter, that twenty cohorts of
Saninites, consisting of about four hundred each,
had marched towards Cominium. Lest his col-

I \Vhen the auspice* were to be taken from the chick.
HI*, tlio kct-pcr threw some of their food upon the
ground, in their sight, and opened the door of their coop.
If they did not come out ; if they came out slowly ; if
they refused to feed, or eat in a careless manner, the
omen was considered as bad. On the contrary, if they
rushed out hastily and eat greedily, so that Rome of the
f.-.i't fell fnim their mouths on the ground, this wascon-
: :is nn omen of the l>e«t import ; It WM called
triinnlium *,,ti»tiniH>n, orijfinally, t,,-' i/iii'iui/i, from
::.! jinriii'. to -.trike.

league should be ignorant of this, he instantly
despatched a messenger to him, and then order-
ed the troops to advance with speed, having al-
ready assigned to each division of the army its
proper post, and appointed general officers to
command them. The command of the right
wing he gave to Lucius Volumnius, that of the
left to Lucius Scipio, that of the cavalry to the
other lieutenant-generals, Caius Caedicius and
Caius Trebonius. He ordered Spurius Nau-
tius to take off the panniers from the mules, and
to lead them round quickly ; together with his
auxiliary cohorts, to a rising ground in view ;
and there to show himself during the heat of
the engagement, and to raise as much dust as
possible. While the general was employed in
making these dispositions, a dispute arose
among the keepers of the chickens, about the
auspices of the day, which was overheard by
some Roman horsemen, who, deeming it a
matter too important to be slighted, informed
Spurius Papirius, the consul's nephew, that
there was a doubt about the auspices. The
youth born in an age when that sort of learn-
ing, which inculcates contempt of the gods
was yet unknown, examined into the affair,
that he might not carry an uncertain report to
the consul ; and then acquainted him with it.
His answer was, " I very much applaud your
conduct and zeal. However, the person who
officiates, in taking the auspices, if he makes a
false report, draws on his own head the evQ
portended ; but to the Roman people and their
army, the favourable omen reported to me is an
excellent auspice." He then commanded the
centurions to place the keepers of the chickens
in the front of the line. The Samnites likewise
brought forward their standards followed by
their main body, armed and decorated in such
a manner as to afford a magnificent show. Be-
fore the shout was raised, or the battle begun,
the auspex, wounded by a random cast of a
javelin, fell before the standards ; which being
told to the consul, he said, " The gods are pre-
sent in the battle ; the guilty has met his
punishment." While the consul uttered these
words, a crow, in front of him, cawed with ;i
clear voice ; at which augury, the consul being
rejoiced, and affirming, that never had the gods
displayed more evident demonstrations of their
interposition in human affairs, ordered the
charge to be sounded and the shout to be
raised.

XLI. A furious conflict now ensued, but

THE HISTORY

[BOOK x.

with very unequal spirit in the combatants.
The Romans, actuated by anger, hope, and
ardour for conquest, rushed to battle, like men
thirsting for their enemy's blood ; while the
Samnites, for the most part reluctantly, as if
compelled by necessity and religious dread,
rather stood on their defence, than made an
attack. Nor would they, familiarized as they
Were to defeats, through a course of so many
years, have withstood the first shout and shock
of the Romans, had not another fear, operat-
ing still more powerfully in their breasts, re-
strained them from flying. For they had
before their eyes the whole scene exhibited
at the secret sacrifice, the armed priests, the
promiscuous carnage of men and cattle, the
altars besmeared with blood of victims, and
of their murdered countrymen, the dreadful
curses, and the direful form of imprecation, in
which they had called down perdition on their
family and race. Thus shackled, they stood
in their posts, more afraid of their countrymen,
than of the enemy. The Romans pushing the
attack with vigour on both the wings, and in
the centre, made great havoc among them,
deprived, as they were, of the use of their fa-
culties, through their fears of the gods and of
men, and making but a faint opposition. The
slaughter had now almost reached to their
standards, when, on one side, appeared a cloud
of dust, as if raised by the marching of a nu-
merous army : this was caused by Spurius
Nautius, (some say Octavius Metius,) com-
mander of the auxiliary cohorts : for these took
pains to raise a great quantity of dust, the ser-
vants of the camp mounted on the mules, drag-
ging boughs of trees, full of leaves, along the
ground. Through this obscuration, arms and
standards were seen in front, with cavalry clos-
ing the rear. This effectually deceived, not
only the Samnites, but the Romans- them-
selves : and the consul confirmed the mistake,
by calling out among the foremost battalions,
so that his voice reached also the enemy, that
" Cominium was taken -. and that his victorious
colleague was approaching ;" bidding his men
" now make haste to complete the defeat of the
enemy, before the other army should come in
for a share of the glory." Tlu's he said as he
sat on horseback, and then ordered the tribunes
and centurions to open passages for the horse.
He h;id given previous directions to Trebonius
End Ciedicius, that, when they should see him
waving the point of his spear aloft, they

should cause the cavalry to charge the enemy
with all possible violence. Every particular,
as previously concerted, was executed with the
utmost exactness. The passages were opened
between the ranks, the cavalry darted through,
and, with the points of their spears presented,
rushed into the midst of the enemy's batta-
lions breaking down the ranks wherever they
charged. Volumnius and Scipio seconded
the blow, and taking advantage of the enemy's
disorder, made a terrible slaughter. Thus
attacked, the cohorts called linteatce, regard-
less of all restraints from either gods or men,
quitted their posts in confusion ; the sworn, and
the unsworn all fled alike, no longer dreading
aught but the Romans. The remains of their
infantry were driven into the camp at Aqui-
lonia. The nobility and cavalry directed their
flight to Bovianum. The horse were pursued
by the Roman horse, the infantry by their in-
fantry, while the wings proceeded by different
roads ; the right, to the camp of the Samnites ;
the left, to the city. Volumnius succeeded
first in gaining possession of the camp. At the
city, Scipio met a stouter resistance ; not be-
cause the conquered troops there had gained
courage, but because walls were a better de-
fence against armed men than a rampart. From
these, they repelled the enemy with stones.
Scipio considering, that unless the business
were effected during their first panic, and be-
fore they could recover their spirits, the attack
of so strong a town would be very tedious, asked
his soldiers " if they could endure, without
shame, that the other wing should already have
taken the camp, and that they, after all their
success, should be repulsed from the gates of
the city ? Then, all of them loudly declaring
their determination to the contrary, he himself
advanced, the foremost, to the gate, with his
shield raised over his head : the rest, following
under the like cover of their shields conjoined,
burst into the city, and dispersing the Samnites,
who were near the gate, took possession of the
•walls, but were deterred from pushing forward,
by the smallness of their number.

XLII. Of these transactions, the consul was
for some time ignorant; and was busily em-
ployed in calling home his troops, for the sun
was now hastening to set, and the approach of
night rendered every place suspicious and dan-
gerous, even to victorious troops. Having rode
forward a considerable way, he saw on the right,
the camp taken, and heard on the left, a shout-

Y. ii. 459.]

OF ROME.

3r,{»

ing in the city, with a confused noise of fighting,
and cries of terror. This happened while the
fight was going on at the gate. When, on rid-
ing up nearer, he saw his own men on the walls,
and so much progress already made in the busi-
ness, pleased at having gained, through the pre-
cipitate conduct of a few, an opportunity of
striking an important blow, he ordered the
troops, whom he had sent back to the camp, to
be called out, and to march to the attack of the
city : these, having made good their entrance,
on the nearest side, proceeded no farther, be-
cause night approached. Before morning, how-
ever, the town was abandoned by the enemy.
There were slain of the Samnites on that day,
at Aquilonia, thirty thousand three hundred
and forty ; taken, three thousand eight hundred
and seventy, with ninety-seven military stan-
dards. One circumstance, respecting Papirius,
is particularly mentioned by historians : that,
hardly ever was any general seen in the field
with a more cheerful countenance ; whether this
was owing to his natural temper or to his con-
fidence of success. From the same firmness
of mind it proceeded, that he did not suffer
himself to be diverted from the war by the dis-
pute about the auspices ; and that, in the heat
of the battle, when it was customary to vow
temples to the immortal gods, he vowed to
Jupiter the victorious, that if he should defeat
the legions of the enemy, he would, before he
tasted of any generous liquor, make a libation
to him of a cup of wine and honey. This kind
of vow proved acceptable to the gods, and they
conducted the auspices to a fortunate issue.

XLIII. Like success attended the opera-
tions of the other consul at Cominium : leading
up his forces to the walls, at the first dawn, he
invested the city on every side, and posted
strong guards opposite to the gates to prevent
any sally being made. Just as he was giving
the signal, the alarming message from his col-
league, touching the march of the twenty Sam-
nite cohorts, not only caused him to delay the
assault, but obliged him to call off a part of his
troops, when they were formed and ready to
begin the attack. He ordered Decius Brutus
Scaeva, a lieutenant-general, with the first le-
gion, twenty auxiliary cohorts, and the cavalry,
to go and oppose the said detachment ; and in
whatever place he should meet the foe, there
to stop and detain them, and even to engage in
battle, should opportunity offer for it ; at all
events not to suffer those troops to approach

I.

Cominium. He then commanded the scaling
ladders to be brought up to the walls, on every
side of the city ; and, under a fence of closed
shields, advanced to the gates. Thus, at the
same moment, the gates were broken open, and
the assault made on every part of the rampart.
Though the Samnites, before they saw the as-
sailants on the works, had possessed courage
enough to oppose their approaches to the city,
yet now, when the action was no longer carried
on at a distance, nor with missile weapons, but
in close fight; and when those, who had
with difficulty gained the walls, the most
formidable obstruction in their way, fought
with ease on equal ground, against an ene-
my inferior in strength, they all forsook the
towers, and strong holds, and were driven to
the forum. There for a short time they tried,
as a last effort, to retrieve the fortune of the
fight ; but soon throwing down their arms, sur-
rendered to the consul, to the number of fif-
teen thousand four hundred ; four thousand
three hundred and eighty being slain. Such
was the course of events at Cominium, such at
Aquilonia. In the middle space between the
two cities, where a third battle had been ex-
pected, the enemy were not found ; for, when
they were within seven miles of Cominium,
they were recalled by their countrymen, and
had no part in either battle. At night-fall,
when they were now within sight of their
camp, and also of Aquilonia, shouts from both
places reaching them with equal violence in-
duced them to halt ; then, on the side of the
camp, which had been set on fire by the Ro-
mans, the wide-spreading flames discovered
with more certainty the disaster which had
happened, and prevented their proceeding any
farther. In that same spot, stretched on the
ground at random under their arms, they passed
the whole .night in great inquietude, at one
time wishing for, at another dreading the light.
At the first dawn, while they were still undeter-
mined to what quarter they should direct their
march, they were obliged, (unprotected as they
were, either by a rampart or advanced guard,) to
betake themselves hastily to flight, being de-
scried by the cavalry, who had gone in pursuit of
the Samnites that left the town in the night
These had likewise been perceived from the
walls of Aquilonia, and the legionary cohorts
now joined in the pursuit The foot were un-
able to overtake them, but the cavalry cut off
about two hundred and eighty of their rear
3 A

870

THE HISTORY

[BOOK x.

guard. The rest, with less loss than might
have been expected in such a disorderly rout,
effected their escape to Bovianum, leaving be-
hind, in their consternation, a great quantity of
arms, and eighteen military standards.

XLIV. The joy of one Roman army was
enhanced by the success of the other. Each
consul, with the approbation of his colleague,
gave to his soldiers the plunder of the town
which he had taken ; and, when the houses
were cleared, set them on fire. Thus, on the
same day, Aquilonia and Cominium were both
reduced to ashes. The consuls then united
their camps, where mutual congratulations took
place between them, and between their soldiers.
Here, in the view of the two armies, Carvilius
bestowed on his men commendations and pre-
sents according to the desert of each ; and Pa-
pirius likewise, whose troops had been engaged
in a variety of actions, in the field, in the as-
sault of the camp, and in that of the city, pre-
sented Spurius Nautius, Spurius Papirius, his
nephew, four centurions, and a company of the
spearmen, with bracelets and crowns of gold —
to Nautius, on account of his behaviour at the
head of his detachment, when he had terrified
the enemy with the appearance as of a numer-
ous army ; to young Papirius, on account of
his zealous exertions with the cavalry, both in
the battle and in harassing the Samnites in their
flight by night, when they withdrew privately
from Aquilonia ; and to the centurions and
company of soldiers, because they were the
first who gained possession of the gate and
wall of that town. All the horsemen he pre-
sented with gorgets and bracelets of silver, on
account of their distinguished conduct on many
occasions. A council was then held to consi-
der of the propriety either of removing both
armies, or one at least, out of Samnium ; in
which it was concluded, that the lower the
strength of the Samnites was reduced, the
greater perseverance and vigour ought to be
used in prosecuting the war, until they should
; be effectually crushed, that Samnium might be
given up to the succeeding consuls in a state
of perfect subjection. As there was now no
army of the enemy which could be supposed
capable of disputing the field, they had only
one mode of operations to pursue, the besieging
of the cities ; by the destruction of which, they
might be enabled to enrich their soldiers with
the spoil ; and, at the same time utterly to de-
stroy the enemy, reduced to the necessity of

fighting, their all being at stake. The consuls,
therefore, after despatching letters to the senate
and people of Rome, containing accounts ot
the services which they had performed, led
away their legions to different quarters ; Pa-
pirius going to attack Sepinum, Carvilius to
Volana.

XLV. The letters of the consuls were
heard with extraordinary exultation, both in
the senate-house and in the assembly of
the people; and, in a public thanksgiving of
four days' continuance, individuals concurred
with hearty zeal in celebrating the public
rejoicings. These successes were not only
important in themselves, but peculiarly sea-
sonable; for it happened, that at the same
time, intelligence was brought of the Etru-
rians being again in arms. The reflection
naturally occurred, how it would have been
possible, in case any misfortune had happened
in Samnium, to have withstood the power of
Etruria ; which, being encouraged by the con-
spiracy of the Samnites, and seeing both the
consuls, and the whole force of the Romans,
employed against them, had made use of that
juncture, in which the Romans had so much
business on their hands, for reviving hostilities.
Ambassadors from the allies being introduced
to the senate by the. praetor Marcus Atilius,
complained that their countries were wasted
with fire and sword by the neighbouring Etru-
rians, because they had refused to revolt from
the Romans ; and they besought the cons':ript
fathers to protect them from the violence and
injustice of their common enemy. The am
bassadors were answered, that " the senate
would take care that the allies should not re-
pent their fidelity." That the " Etrurians
should shortly be in the same situation with
the Samnites." Notwithstanding which, the
business respecting Etruria would have been
prosecuted with less vigour, had not informa-
tion been received, that the Faliscians likewise,
who had for many years lived in friendship
with Rome, had united their arms with those
of the Etrurians. The consideration of the
near vicinity of that nation quickened the at-
tention of the senate ; insomuch that they
passed a decree that heralds should be sent to
demand satisfaction : which being refused, \v;ir
was declared against the Faliscians by direction
of the senate, and order of the people ; and the
consuls were desired to determine, by lots,
which of them should lead an army from Sam-

Y. R. 459.]

OF ROME.

371

nium into Etruria. Carvilius had, in the
inr.-mtime, taken from the Samnites Volana,
Palumbinum, and Herculaneum : Volana after
a siege of a few days, Palumbinum the same
day on which he approached the walls. At
Herculaneum, it is true, the consul had two
regular engagements without any decisive ad-
vantage on either side, and with greater loss
than was suffered by the enemy : but after-
wards, encamping on the spot, he shut them up
within their works, besieged and took the
town. In these three towns were taken or
slain ten thousand men, of whom the prisoners
composed somewhat the greater part. On the
consuls casting lots for the provinces, Etruria
fell to Carvilius, to the great satisfaction of the
soldiers, who now found the cold too severe in
Samnium. Papirius was opposed at Sepinum
with a more powerful force -. he was obliged
to fight often in pitched battles ; often, on a
march ; and often, under the walls of the city,
against the irruptions of the enemy ; and could
neither besiege, nor engage them on equal
terms : for the Samnites had not only the ad-
vantage of walls, but likewise of numbers of
men and arms to protect their walls. At
length, after a great deal of fighting, he forced
them to submit to a regular siege. This he
carried on with vigour, and made himself mas-
ter of the city by means of his works, and by
storm. The rage of the soldiers on this occa-
sion caused the greatest slaughter in the taking
of the town ; seven thousand four hundred fell
by the sword ; the number of the prisoners did
not amount to three thousand. The spoil, of
which the quantity was very great, the whole
substance of the Samnites being collected in a
few cities, was given up to the soldiers.

XL VI. The snow had now entirely cover-
ed the face of the country, and rendered the
shelter of houses absolutely necessary: the
consul therefore led home his troops from
Samnium. While he was on his way to Rojne,
a triumph was decreed him with universal con-
sent : and accordingly he triumphed while in
office, and with extraordinary splendour, con-
sidering the circumstances of those times. The
cavalry and infantry marched in the procession,
adorned with the honourable presents which
they had received. Great numbers of crowns
were seen, which had been bestowed as marks
of honour, for having saved the lives of citi-
/riiS or for having first mounted walls or ram-
parts. People's curiosity was highly gratified

in viewing the spoils of the Samnites, and
comparing them, in respect of magnificence
and beauty, with those taken by his father,
which were well known, from being frequently
exhibited as ornaments of the public places.
Several prisoners of distinction, renowned for
their own exploits, and those of their ancestors,
were led in the cavalcade. There were carried
in the train two millions and thirty-three thou-
sand asses in weight,1 said to be produced by
the sale of the prisoners ; and of silver, taken in
the cities, one thousand three hundred and thirty
pounds. All the silver and brass were lodged in
the treasury, no sliare of this part of the spoil be-
ing given to the soldiers. The ill humour which
this excited in the commons, was farther exas-
perated by their being obliged to contribute, by
a tax, to the payment of the army ; whereas,
said they, if the vain parade of conveying the
produce of the spoil to the treasury had been
disregarded, donations might have been made
to the soldiers, and the pay of the army also sup-
plied out of that fund. The temple of Quiri-
nus, vowed by his father when dictator, (for
that he himself had vowed it in the heat of
battle, I do not find in any ancient writer, nor
indeed could he in so short a time have finished
the building of it,) the son, in the office of con.
sul, dedicated and adorned with military spoils.
And of these, so great was the abundance, that
not only that temple and the forum were de-
corated with them, but quantities were also
distributed among the allies and colonies in the
neighbourhood, to serve as ornaments to their
temples and public places. Immediately after
his triumph, he led his army into winter quar-
ters in the territory of Vescia ; that country
being exposed to the inroads of the Samnites.
Meanwhile, in Etruria, the consul Carvilius
first laid siege to Troilium, when four hundred
and seventy of the richest inhabitants, offering
a large sum of money for permission to leave
the place, he suffered them to depart : the town,
with the remaining multitude, he took by
storm. He afterwards reduced, by force, five
forts strongly situated, wherein were slain two
thousand four hundred of the enemy, and not
quite two thousand made prisoners. To the
Faliscians, who sued for peace, he granted a
truce for a year, on condition of their furnishing
an hundred thousand asses in weight,* and a
year's pay for his army. This business com-

1 4,9 llU 13*. 6rf. 2 3&L I8» 4rf.

372

THE HISTORY

[BOOK xi

pleted, he returned home to a triumph, which,
though it was less illustrious than that of his
colleague, in respect of his share in the defeat
of the Samnites, was yet raised to an equality
with it ; the whole honour of the campaign in
Etruria belonging solely to him. He carried
into the treasury three hundred and ninety
thousand asses in weight.1 Out of the remain-
der of the money accruing to the public from
the spoils, he contracted for the building of a
temple to Fors Fortuna, near to that dedicated
to the same goddess by king Servius Tullius ;
and gave to the soldiers, out of the spoil, one
hundred and two asses* each, and double that
sum to the centurions and horsemen : this don-
ative was received the more gratefully, on ac-
count of the parsimony of his colleague.

XL VII. The favour of the consul saved
from a trial, before the people, Postumius ;
who on a prosecution being commenced against
him by Marcus Scantius, plebeian tribune,
evaded, as was said, the jurisdiction of the peo-
ple, by procuring the commission of lieutenant-
general, so that he could only be threatened
with it. The year having now elapsed, new
plebeian tribunes had come into office ; and
even these, in consequence of some irregularity
in their appointments, had, within five days
after, others substituted in their room. The
lustrum was closed this year by the censors
Publius Cornelius Arvina and Caius Marcius
Rutilus. The number of citizens rated was

two hundred and sixty-two thousand three
hundred and twenty-two. These were the
twenty-sixth pair of censors since the first in-
stitution of that office ; and this the nineteenth
lustrum. In this year, persons who had been
presented with crowns, in consideration of mer-
itorious behaviour in war, first began to wear
them at the exhibition of the Roman games.
At the same time was first introduced from
Greece, the practice of bestowing palms on the
victors in the games. In the same year the
curule aediles, who exhibited those games, com-
pleted the paving of the road from the temple
of Mars to Bovillae, out of fines levied on the
farmers of the public pastures. Lucius Papi-
rius presided at the consular election, and re-
turned consuls Quintus Fabius Gurges, son of
Maximus, and Decius Junius Brutus Scaeva.
Papirius himself was made praetor. The many
prosperous events of this year were scarcely
sufficient to afford consolation for one calamity,
a pestilence, which afflicted both the city and
country, and caused a prodigious mortality. To
discover what end, or what remedy, was ap-
pointed by the gods for that calamity, the books
were consulted, and there it was found that
^Esculapius must be brought to Rome from
Epidaurus. However, as the consuls had full
employment in the wars, no farther steps were
taken in that business during this year, except
the performing a supplication to JEsculaj ius,
of one day's continuance.

HERE ten books of the original are lost, making a chasm of seventy-five years. The
translator's object being to publish the work of Livy only, he has not thought it
his duty to attempt to supply this deficiency, either by a compilation of his own,
or by transcribing or translating those of others. The reader, however, who may
be desirous of knowing the events which took place during tliis interval, will find
as complete a detail of them as can now be given, in Hooke's or Rollin's Roman
History.

The contents of the lost books have been preserved, and are as follows : —

BOOK XI.

[ Y. R. 460. B. C. 292.] Fabius Gurges, con-
sul, having fought an unsuccessful battle with
the Samnites, the senate deliberate about dis-
missing him from the command of the army ;
are prevailed upon not to inflict that disgrace
upon him, principally by the entreaties of his
father, Fabius Maximus, and by his promising

1 1,259?. It. Gd. 2 ft>. ~<l.

to join the army, and serve, in quality of lieu-
tenant-general, under his son : which promise
he performs, and the consul, aided by his coun-
sel and co-operation, obtains a victory over the
Samnites, and a triumph in consequence. C.
Pontius, the general of the Samnites, led in
triumph before the victor's carriage, and after-
wards beheaded. A plague at Rome. [Y.
R. 461. B. C. 291.] Ambassadors sent to Epi-
daurus, to bring from thence to Rome the

OF ROME.

373

statue of ..Esculapius -. a serpent, of itself, goes
on board tbeir ship ; supposing it to be the
abode of the deity, they bring it with them ;
and, upon its quitting their vessel, and swim-
ming to the island in the Tyber, they consecrate
there a temple to ^sculapius. I .. Postumius,
a man of consular rank, condemned for employ-
ing the soldiers under his command in working
upon his farm. [ Y. R. 462. B. C. 290.] Curius
Dentatus, consul, having subdued the Samnites,
and the rebellious Sabines, triumphs twice dur-
ing his year of office. [ Y. R. 4433. B. C. 289.]
The colonies of Castrum, Sena, and Adria,
established. Three judges of capital crimes
now first appointed. A census and lustrum :
the number of citizens found to be two hundred
and seventy-three thousand. After a long-con-
tinued sedition, on account of debts, the com-
mons secede to the Janiculum : [Y. R. 466. B.
C. 286.] are brought back by Q. Hortensius,
dictator, who dies in office. Successful opera-
tions against the Volsinians and Lucanians,
[Y. R. 4/68. B. C. 284s] against whom it was
thought expedient to send succour to the
Thuringians.

BOOK XII.

[Y. R. 469. B. C. 283.] The Senonian Gauls
having skin the Roman ambassadors, war is
declared against them : they cut off L. C«ci-
lius, praetor, with the legions under his com-
mand, [Y. R. 470. B. C. 2«2.] The Roman
fleet plundered by the Tarentines, and the com-
mander slain : ambassadors, sent to complain
of this outrage, are ill-treated and sent back ;
whereupon war is declared against them. The
Samnites revolt ; against whom, together with
the Lucanians, Bruttians, and Etruscans, sev-
eral unsuccessful battles are fought by different
generals. [Y. R.471. B. C.281.] Pyrrhus.king
of Epirus, comes into Italy, to succour the Tar-
entines. A Campanian legion sent, under the
command of Decius Jubellius, to garrison Rheg-
ium, murder the inhabitants, and seize the city.

BOOK XIII.

[Y. R. 472. B. C. 280.] Valerius Laevinus,
consul, engages with Pyrrhus, and is beaten,
his soldiers being terrified at the unusual ap-
pearance of elephants. After the battle, Pyr-
rhus, viewing the bodies of the Romans who

were slain, remarks, that they all of them lay
with their faces turned towards their enemy.
He proceeds towards Rome, ravaging the coun-
try as he goes along. C. Fabricius is sent by
the senate to treat for the redemption of the
prisoners : the king, in vain, attempts to bribe
him to desert his country. The prisoners re-
stored without ransom. Cineas, ambassador
from Pyrrhus to the senate, demands, as a con-
dition of peace, that the king be admitted into
the city of Rome : the consideration of which
being deferred to a fuller meeting, Appius
Claudius, who, on account of a disorder in bis
eyes, had not, for a long time, attended in the
senate, comes there ; moves, and carries his
motion, that the demand of the king be refused.
Cneius Domitius, the first plebeian censor,
holds a lustrum ; the number of the citizens
found to be two hundred and seventy-eight
thousand two hundred and twenty- two. A
second, but undecided battle with Pyrrhus.
[Y. R. 473. B. C. 279.] The treaty with the
Carthaginians renewed a fourth time. An
offer made to Fabricius, the consul, by a traitor
to poison Pyrrhus; [Y. R, 474. B. C. 278.]
he sends him to the king, and discovers to him
the treasonable offer. Successful operations
against the Etruscans, Lucanians, Bruttians.
and Samnites.

BOOK XIV.

Pyrrhus crosses over into Sicily. [Y. R.
475. B. C. 277.] Many prodigies, among which,
the statue of Jupiter in the capitol is struck by
lightning, and thrown down. [Y. R. 476.
B. C. 276.] The head of it afterwards found
by the priests. Curius Dentatus, holding a
levy, puts up to sale the goods of a person who
refuses to answer to his name when called upon.
[Y. R. 477. B. C. 275.] Pyrrhus, after his
return from Sicily, is defeated, and compelled
to quit Italy. The censors-hold a lustrum, and
find the number of the citizens to be two hun-
dred and seventy-one thousand two hundred
and twenty-four. [Y. R. 479. B. C. 273.] A
treaty of alliance formed with Ptolemy, king
of Egypt Sextilia, a vestal, found guilty of
incest, and buried alive. Two colonies sent
forth, to Posidonium and Cossa. [Y. R, 480.
B. C. 272.] A Carthaginian fleet sails, in aid
of the Tarentines, by which act the treaty is
violated. Successful operations against the

374

THE HISTORY

huciinians, amnites, and Bmttians. Death
ct" king Pyrrhus.

BOOK XV.

The Tarentines overcome : peace and free-
dom granted to them. [ Y. R. 481. B. C. 271.]
The Campanian legion, which had forcibly
taken possession of Rhegium, besieged there ;
lay down their arms, and are punished with
death. Some young men, who had ill-treated
the ambassadors from the Apollonians to the
senate of Rome, are delivered up to them.
Peace granted to the Picentians. [Y. R. 484.
B. C. 268.] Two colonies established; one at
Ariminum in Picenum, another at Beneventum
in Samnium. Silver coin now, for the first
time, used by the Roman people. [Y. R. 4-85.
B. C. 267.] The Umbrians and Sallentines
subdued. The number of quaestors increased
to eight.

BOOK XVI.

[Y. R. 488. B. C. 264.] Origin and pro-
gress of the Carthaginian state. After much
debate, the senate resolves to succour the
Mammertines against the Carthaginians, and
against Hiero, king of Syracuse. Roman
cavalry, then, for the first time, cross the sea,
and engage, successfully, in battle with Hiero ;
who solicits and obtains peace. [Y. R. 489.
B. C. 263.] A lustrum : the number of the
citizens amounts to two hundred and ninety-
two thousand two hundred and twenty-four.
D. Junius Brutus exhibits the first show oi
gladiators, in honour of his deceased, father.
[Y. R. 490. B. C. 262.] The uEsern
colony established. Successful operations
against the Carthaginians and Vulsinians.
[Y. R. 491. B. C. 261.]

BOOK XVII.

[Y. R. 492. B. C. 260.] Cneius Cornelius
consul, surrounded by the Carthaginian fleet
and, being drawn into a conference by a strata
gem, is taken. [Y. R. 493. B. C. 259.] C
Duilius, consul, engages with, and vanquishe
the Carthaginian fleet ; is the first commando
to whom a triumph was decreed for a nava
victory ; in honour of which, he is allowec

vhen returning to his habitation at night,
o be attended with torches and music. L.
Cornelius, consul, fights and subdues the Sar-
inians and Corsicans, together with Hanno,
tie Carthaginian general, in the island of Sar-
inia. [Y. R, 494. B. C. 258.] Atilius Cala-
inus, consul, drawn into an ambuscade by the
Carthaginians, is rescued by the skill and valour
f M. Calpurnius, a military tribune, who mak-
ng a sudden attack upon the enemy, with a
>ody of only three hundred men, turns their
vhole force against himself. [Y. R. 495. B.
3. 257.] Hannibal, the commander of the Car-
haginiaii fleet which was beaten, is put to
death by his soldiers.

BOOK XVIII.

[Y. R. 496. B. C. 256.] Attilius Regulus.
consul, having overcome the Carthaginians in a
sea-fight, passes over into Africa : kills a serpent
of prodigious magnitude, with great loss of his
own men. [Y. R. 497. B. C. 255.] The
senate, on account of his successful conduct of
the war, not appointing him a successor, he
writes to them, complaining ; and, among other
reasons for desiring to be recalled, alleges,
that his little farm, being all bis subsistence,
was going to ruin, owing to the mismanage-
ment of hired stewards. [Y. R. 498. B. C. 254.]
A memorable instance of the instability of for-
tune exhibited in the person of Regulus, who
is overcome in battle, and taken prisoner by
Xanthippus, a Lacedaemonian general. [Y. R.
499. B. C. 253.] The Roman fleet shipwreck-
de ; which disaster entirely reverses the good for-
tune which had hitherto attended their affairs,
Titus Corucanius, the first high priest chosen
from among the commons. [Y. R. 500. B. C.
252.] P. Sempronius Sophus, and M. Valerius
Maximus, censors, examine into the state of the
senate, and expel thirteen of the members of
that body. [Y. R. 501. B. C. 251.] They
hold a lustrum, and find the number of citi-
zens to be two hundred and ninety-seven thou-
sand seven hundred and ninety-seven. [Y.
R. 502. B. C. 250.] Regulus being sent by
the Carthaginians to Rome to treat for peace,
and an exchange of prisoners, binds himself by
oath to return if these objects be not attained ;
dissuades the senate from agreeing to the pro-
positions : and then, in observance of his oath,
returning to Carthage, is put to death by tor-
ture.

OF ROME.

875

BOOK XIX.

[Y. R. 502. B. C. 250.] C. Caecilius
Metellus. having been successful in several
engagements with the Carthaginians, triumphs
with more splendour than had ever yet been
seen ; thirteen generals of the enemy, and one
hundred and twenty elephants, being exhibited
in the procession. [Y. R. 503. B. C. 249.]
( 'laudius Pulcher, consul, obstinately persist-
ing, notwithstanding the omens were inauspi-
cious, engages the enemy's fleet, and is beaten ;
drowns the sacred chickens which would not
feed : recalled by the senate, and ordered to
nominate a dictator; he appoints Claudius
Glicia, one of the lowest of the people, who,
notwithstanding his being ordered to abdicate,
the office, yet attends the celebration of the
public games in his dictator's robe. [Y. R.
504. B. C. 248.] Atilius Calatinus, the first
dictator who marches with an army out of Italy.
An exchange of prisoners with the Carthagini-
ans. Two colonies established at Fregenoe
and Brundusium in the Sallentine territories.
[Y. R. 505. B. C. 247.] A lustrum ; the
citizens numbered amount to two hundred and
fifty-one thousand two hundred and twenty-two.
[Y. R. 506. B. C. 246.] Claudia, the sister of
Claudius, who had fought unsuccessfully, in
contempt of the auspices, being pressed by the
crowd, as she was returning from the game,
cries out, / wish my brother were alive and had
again the command of the fleet : for which offence
she is tried and fined. [Y. R. 507. B. C. 245.]
Two praetors now first created. Aulus Postu-
mius, consul, being priest of Mars, forcibly de-
tained in the city by Caecilius Metellus, the
high-priest, and not suffered to go forth to war,
being obliged by law to attend to the sacred
duties of his office. [Y. R, 508. B. C. 244]
After several successful engagements with the
Carthaginians, Cains Lutatius, consul, puts an
end to the war, [Y. R. 509. B. C. 243 ] by

gaining a complete victory over their fleet, at
the island of ^gate. The Carthaginians sue
for peace, which is granted to them. [Y. R.
510. B. C. 242.] The temple of Vesta being
on fire, the high priest, Caecilius Metellus,
saves the sacred utensils from the flames. [Y.
R. 511. B. C. 241.] Two new tribes added,
the Veline and Quirine. The Falisci rebel ;
are subdued in six days.

BOOK XX.

A colony settled at Spoletum. [Y. R. 512.

B. C. 240.] An army sent against the Lignri-
ans ; being the first war with that state. The
Sardinians and Corsicans rebel, and are subdued.
[Y. R- 514. B. C. 238.] Tuccia, a vestal,
found guilty of incest War declared against
the Illyrians, who had slain an ambassador;
they are subdued and brought to submission.
[Y. R. 515. B. C. 237.] The number of prae-
tors increased to four. The Transalpine Gauls
make an irruption into Italy : are conquered
and put to the sword. [Y. R. 516. B. C.
236.] The Roman army, in conjunction, with
the Latines, is said to have amounted to no less
than three hundred thousand men. [Y. R.
517. B. C. 235.] The Roman army for the
first time crosses the Po ; fights with and sub-
dues the Insubrian Gauls. [Y. R. 530. B.

C. 222.] Claudius Marcellus, consul, having
slain Viridomams, the general of the Insubrian
Gauls, carries off the spolia opima. [Y. R,
531. B. C. 221.] The Istrians subdued; also
the Illyrians, who had rebelled. [Y. R, 532.

B. C. 220.] The censors hold a lustrum, in
which the number of the citizens is found to be
two hundred and seventy thousand two hun-
dred and thirteen. The sons of freedmen
formed into four tribes ; the Esquiline, Pala-
tine, Suburran, and Colline. [Y. R. 533. B.

C. 219.] Cains Flaminius, censor, constructs
tlie Flaminian road, and builds the Flaminian

THE

HISTORY OF ROME.

BOOK XXI.

Rise of the second Punic war. Hannibal, contrary to treaty, passes the Iberus : besieges and, after eight months
hikes Sag un turn. The Humans send an embassy to Carthage ; declare war. Hannibal crosses the Pyrennees ;
makes his way through Gaul ; with great fatigue passes the Alps ; defeats the Romans at the river Ticinus, in
a fight between the cavalry, in which P. Cornelius Scipio, being wounded, is saved by his son, afterwards Afri-
canus. The Romans again defeated at the Trebia. Cnuius Cornelius Scipio defeaU the Carthaginian army in
Spain, and makes Hanuo, their general, prisoner.

I. To this division of my work, I may be al-
lowed to prefix a remark, which most writers of
history make in the beginning of their perfor-
mance : that I am going to write of a war, the
most memorable of all that were ever waged ; that
which the Carthaginians, under the conduct "of
Hannibal, maintained with the Roman people.
For never did any other states and nations of
more potent strength and resources, engage in a
contest of arms : nor did these same nations at
any other period, possess so great a degree of
power and strength. The arts of war also,
practised by each party, were not unknown to
the other; for they had already gained experi-
ence of them in the first Punic war ; and so
various was the fortune of this war, so great
its vicissitudes, that the party, which proved in
the end victorious, was, at times, brought the
nearest to the brink of ruin. Besides, they
exerted, in the dispute, almost a greater degree
of rancour than of strength ; the Romans being
fired with indignation at a vanquished people
presuming to take up arms against their con-
querors : the Carthaginians, at the haughti-
ness and avarice, which they thought the others
showed in their imperious exercise of the supe-
riority which they had acquired. We are told
1.

that, when Hamlicar was about to march at the
head of an army into Spain, after the conclu-
sion of the war in Africa, and was offering sa-
crifices on the occasion, his son Hannibal, then
about nine years of age, solicited him with boy-
ish fondness, to take him with him, whereupon
he brought him up to the altars, and compelled
him to lay his hand on the consecrated victims,
and swear, that as soon as it should be in his
power, he would show himself an enemy to the
Roman people. Being a man of high spirit, he
was deeply chagrined at the loss of Sicily and
Sardinia: for he considered Sicily as given up
by his countrymen through too hasty despair
of their affairs ; and Sardinia as fraudulently
snatched out of their hands by the Romans,
during the commotions in Africa, with the ad-
ditional insult of a farther tribute imposed on
them.

II. His mind was filled with these vexatious
reflections ; and during the fire years that he
was employed in Africa, which followed soon
after the late pacification with Rome ; and
likewise during nine years which he spent in
extending the Carthaginian empire in Spain ;
his conduct was such as afforded a demonstra-
tion that he meditated a more important war
3B

378

THE HISTORY

[BOOK xxi.

than any in which he was then engaged ; and
that, if he had lived some time longer, the Car-
thaginians would have carried their arms into
Italy under the command of Hamilcar, instead
of under that of Hannibal. The death of Ha-
milcar, which happened most seasonably for
Rome, and the unripe age of Hannibal, occa-
sioned the delay. During an interval of about
eight years, between the demise of the father,
and the succession of the son, the command
was held by Hasdrubal ; whom, it was said,
Hamilcar had first chosen as a favourite, on
account of his youthful beauty, and afterwards
made him his son-in-law, on account of his
eminent abilities ; in consequence of which con-
nection, being supported by the interest of the
Barcine faction, which among the army and
the commons was exceedingly powerful, he was
invested with the command in chief, in opposi-
tion to the wishes of the nobles. He prose-
cuted his designs more frequently by means of
policy than of force ; and augmented the Car-
thaginian power considerably, by forming con-
nections with the petty princes ; and through
the friendship of their leaders, conciliating the
regard of nations hitherto strangers. But peace
proved no security to himself. One of the bar-
barians, in resentment of his master having been
put to death, openly assassinated him, and be-
ing seized by the persons present, showed no
kind of concern ; nay, even while racked with
tortures, as if his exultation, at having effected
his purpose, had got the better of the pains, the
expression of his countenance was such as car-
ried the appearance of a smile. With this Has-
drubal, who possessed a surprising degree of
skill in negotiation, and in attaching foreign na-
tions to his government, the Romans renewed
the treaty, on the terms, that the river Iberus
should be the boundary of the two empires, and
that the Saguntines, who lay between them,
should retain their liberty.

III. There was no room to doubt that the
suffrages of the commons, in appointing a suc-
cessor to Hasdrubal, would follow the direc-
tion pointed out by the leading voice of the
army, who had instantly carried young Hanni-
bal to the head-quarters, and with one consent,
and universal acclamations, saluted him general.
This youth, when scarcely arrived at the age of
manhood, Hasdrubal had invited by letter to
come to him ; and that affair had even been
taken into deliberation in the senate, where the
Barcine faction showed a desire that Hannibal

should be accustomed to military service, and
succeed to the power of his father. Hanno,
the leader of the other faction, said, " Although
what Hasdrubal demands, seems reasonable
nevertheless, I do not think that his request
ought to be granted ;" and, when all turned
their eyes on him, with surprise at this ambi-
guous declaration, he proceeded, " Hasdrubal
thinks that he is justly entitled to demand, from
the son, the bloom of youth, which he himself
dedicated to the pleasures of Hannibal's father.
It would however be exceedingly improper in
us, instead of a military education, to initiate
our young men in the lewd practices of gene-
rals. Are we afraid lest too much time should
pass, before the son of Hamilcar acquires no-
tions of the unlimited authority, and the parade
of his father's sovereignty : or that after he had,
like a king, bequeathed our armies, as heredi-
tary property to his son-in-law, we should not
soon enough become slaves to his son ? I am
of opinion that this youth should be kept at
home, where he will be amenable to the laws
and to the magistrates ; and that he should be
taught to live on an equal footing with the rest
of his countrymen ; otherwise this spark, small
as it is, may hereafter kindle a terrible confla-
gration."

IV. A few, particularly those of the best
understanding, concurred in opinion with Han-
no ; but, as it generally happens, the more nu-
merous party prevailed over the more judicious.
Hannibal was sent into Spain, and on his first
arrival attracted the notice of the whole army.
The veteran soldiers imagined that Hamilcar
was restored to them from the dead, observing
in him the same animated look and penetrating
eye ; the same expression of countenance, and
the same features. Then, such was his beha-
viour, and so conciliating, that, in a short time,
the memory of his father was the least among
their inducements to esteem him. Never man
possessed a genius so admirably fitted to the
discharge of offices so very opposite in their
nature as obeying and commanding : so that it
was not easy to discern whether he were more
beloved by the general or by the soldiers.
There was none to whom Hasdrubal rather
wished to entrust the command in any case
where courage and activity were required ; nor
did the soldiers ever feel a greater degree of
confidence and boldness under any other com-
mander. With perfect intrepidity in facing dan-
ger, he possessed, in the midst of the greatest,

Y. H. 534.]

OF ROME.

379

perfect presence of mind. No degree of labour
could either fatigue his body or break his spirit :
heat and cold he endured with equal firmness : the
quantity of his food and drink was limited by na-
tural appetite, not by the pleasure of the palate.
:wons for sleeping and waking were not
distinguished by the day, or by the night ; what-
ever time he had to spare, after business was fin-
is-lied, that he gave to repose, which, however, he
never courted, either byasoft bed or quiet retire-
ment : he was often seen, covered with a cloak,
lying on the ground in the midst of the soldiers
on guard, and on the advanced posts. His
dress had nothing particular in it, beyond that
of others of the same rank ; his horses, and his
armour, he was always remarkably attentive to :
and whether he acted among the horsemen, or
the infantry, he was eminently the first of
either, the foremost in advancing to the fight,
the last who quitted the field of battle. These
great virtues were counterbalanced in him by
vices of equal magnitude; inhuman cruelty;
perfidy beyond that of a Carthaginian ; a total
disregard of truth, and of every obligation
deemed sacred ; utterly devoid of all reverence
for the gods, he paid no regard to an oath, no
respect to religion. Endowed with such a dis-
position, a compound of virtues and vices, he
served under the command of Hasdrubal for
three years, during which he omitted no oppor-
tunity of improving himself in every particular,
both of theory and practice, that could contri-
bute to the forming of an accomplished gen-
eral.

V. But, from the day on which he was de-
clared chief, he acted as if Italy had been de-
creed to him as his province, and he had been
commissioned to wage war with Rome. Think-
ing every kind of delay imprudent ; lest, while
he procrastinated, some unforeseen event might
disconcert his design, as had been the case of
his father Hamilcar, and afterwards of Hasdru-
bal, he determined to make war on the Sagun-
tines. And, as an attack on them would cer-
tainly call forth the Roman arms, he first led
iiis army into the territorjrof the Olcadians, a
nation beyond the Iberus, which, though with-
in the boundaries of the Carthaginians, was not
under their dominion, in order that he might
not seem to have aimed directly at the Sagun-
tiiu-N, but to be drawn on into a war with them
by a series of events, and by advancing pro-
gre^ively, after the conquest of the adjoining;
nations, from one place to the next contiguous.

Here he took and plundered Althca, the capi-
tal of the nation, abounding in wealth ; and
this struck such terror into the smaller cities,
that they submitted to his authority, and to the
imposition of a tribute. He then led his ar-
my, flushed with a victory, and enriched with
spoil, into winter-quarters, at New Carthage.
Here, by a liberal distribution of the booty,
and by discharging punctually the arrears of
pay, he firmly secured the attachment both of
his own countrymen and of the allies ; and, at
the opening of the spring, carried forward his
arms against the Vaccaeans, from whom he
took, by storm, the cities Hermandica and Ar-
bacala. Arbacalo, by the bravery and number
of its inhabitants, was enabled to make a long
defence. Those who escaped from Herman-
dica, joining the exiles of the Olcadians, the
nation subdued in the preceding summer, rous-
ed up the Carpetuns to arms, and attacking
Hannibal, as he was returning from the coun-
try of the Vaccseans, not far from the river
Tagus, caused a good deal of disorder among
his troops, encumbered, as they were, with
spoil. Hannibal avoided fighting, and en-
camped on the bank ; then, as soon as the ene-
my afforded him an opportunity, he crossed the
river by a ford, and carried bis rampart to such
a distance from its edge, as to leave room for
the enemy to pass over, resolving to attack
them in their passage. He gave orders to his
cavalry, that as soon as they should see the
troops advance into the water, they should fall
upon them : his infantry he formed on the
bank, with forty elephants in their front.
The Carpetans, with the addition of the Olca-
dians and Vaccteans, were one hundred thou-
sand in number, an army not to be overcome,
if a fight were to take place in an bpen plain.
These being naturally of an impetuous temper,
and confiding in their numbers, believing also
that the enemy's retreat was owing to fear, and
thinking that there was no obstruction to their
gaining an immediate victory, but the river ly-
ing in their way, they raised the shout, and with-
out orders, rushed from all parts into it, every
one by the shortest way. At the same time
a vast body of cavalry pushed from the oppo-
site bonk into the river, and the conflict began
in the middle of the channel, where they fought
upon very unequal terms : for in such a situa-
tion the infantry, not being secure of footing,
and scarcely able to bear up against the stream,
were liable to be borne down by any shock

380

THE HISTORY

[BOOK xxr.

from the horse, though the rider were unarm
ed, and took no trouble ; whereas a horseman
having his limbs at liberty, and his horse mov
ing steadily, even through the midst of th<
eddies, could act either in close fight, or a
a distance. Great numbers were swallow,
ed up in the current ; while several, whom
the eddies of the river carried to the Carthagin-
ians' side, were trodden to dea*th by the ele-
phants. The hindmost, who could more safely
retreat to their own bank, attempting to colleci
themselves into one body, from the various
parts to which their terror and confusion hac
dispersed them, Hannibal, not to give them
time to recover from their consternation, march-
ed into the river with his infantry in close
order, and obliged them to fly from the bank.
Then, by ravaging their country, he reduced
the Carpetans also, in a few days, to submission.
And now, all parts of the country beyond the
Iberus, except the territory of Saguntum, was
under subjection to the Carthaginians.

VI. [Y. R. 534-. B. C. 218.] As yet there
was no war with the Saguntines ; but disputes,
which seemed likely to be productive of war,
were industriously fomented between them and
their neighbours, particularly the Turdetans :
and the cause of these latter being espoused by
the same person, who first sowed the seeds of
the contention, and plain proofs appearing, that
not an amicable discussion of rights, but open
force was the means intended to be used, the
Saguntines despatched ambassadors to Rome,
to implore assistance in the war, which evident-
ly threatened them with immediate danger.
The consuls at Rome, at that time, were Pub-
litis Cornelius Scipio and Tiberius Sempro-
nius Longus ; who, after having introduced the
ambassadors to the senate, proposed, that the
state of the public affairs should be taken into
consideration. It was resolved, that ambassa-
dors should be sent into Spain, to inspect the
affairs of the allies ; instructed, if they saw suf-
ficient reason, to warn Hannibal not to mo-
lest the Saguntines, the confederates of the
Roman people ; and also to pass over into
Africa, to represent, at Carthage, the com-
plaints of these to the Romans. After this
embassy had been decreed, and before it was
despatched, news arrived, which no one had
expected so soon, that Saguntum was besieged.
The business was then laid entire before the
senate, as if no resolution had yet passed.
Some were of opinion, that the affair should be

prosecuted with vigorous exertions, both by sea
and land, and proposed, that Spain and Africa
should be decreed as the provinces of the con-
suls : others wished to direct the whole force
of their arms against Spain and Hannibal;
while many thought that it would be imprudent
to engage hastily in a matter of so great impor-
tance, and that they ought to wait for the re-
turn of the ambassadors from Spain. This
opinion being deemed the safest, was adopted ;
and the ambassadors, Publius Valerius Flaccus
and Quintus Baebius Tamphilus, were on that
account despatched, with the greater speed, to
Saguntum, to Hannibal ; and, in case of his re-
fusing to desist from hostilities, from thence to
Carthage, to insist on that general being deli-
vered up, to atone for the infraction of the
treaty.

VII. While the Romans were employed in
these deliberations and preparatory measures,
the siege of Saguntum was prosecuted with the
utmost vigour. This city, by far the most
wealthy of any beyond the Iberus, stood at the
distance of about a mile from the sea : the
inhabitants are said to have come originally
from the island Zacynthus, and to have been
joined by some of the Rutulian race from Ar-
dea. They had grown up, in a very short time,
to this high degree of opulence, by means of a
profitable commerce, both by sea and land, aid-
ed by the increase of their numbers, and their
religious observance of compacts, which they
carried so far as to maintain the faith of all en-
gagements inviolate, even should they tend to
their own destruction. Hannibal marched in-
;o their territory in a hostile manner, and, after
.aying all the country waste, attacked their city
on three different sides. There was an angle of
:he wall which stretched down into a vale,
more level and open than the rest of the ground
round the place : against this he resolved to
carry on his approaches, by means of which the
mttering ram might be advanced up to the
vails. But although the ground, at some dis-
.ance, was commodious enough for the manage-
ment of his machines, yet, when the works
:ame to be applied to the purpose intended, it
vas found to be no way favourable to the de-
ign ; for it was overlooked by a very large
ower ; and, as in that part danger was appre-
ended, the wall had been raised to a height
>eyond that of the rest. Besides, as the givat-
st share of fatigue and danger was exnet-ttd
here, it was defended with the greater vigour,

v. R. 533.]

OF ROME.

381

by a band of chosen young men. These, at
first with mi^ile weapons, kept the enemy
at a distance, nor suffered them to carry on
any of their works in safety. In a little time,
tlu-y not only annoyed them from the tower
and the walls, but had the courage to sally
out on the works and posts of the enemy ; in
which tumultuary engagements the ^Saguntines
generally suffered not a greater loss of men
than the Carthaginians. But Hannibal him-
self happening, as he approached the wall with
too little caution, to be wounded severely in
the forepart of the thigh with a heavy javelin,
and falling in consequence of it, such conster-
nation and dismay spread through all the troops
around him, that they were very near deserting
their posts.

VIII. For some days following, while the
general's wound was under cure, there was
rather a blockade than a siege. But although,
during this time, there was a cessation of arms,
there was no intermission of the preparations,
either for attack or defence. Hostilities there-
fore commenced anew, with a greater degree of
fury, and the machines began to be advanced,
and the battering rams to be brought up, in a
greater number of places, so that in some parts
there was scarcely room for the works. The
Carthaginian had great abundance of men, for
it is credibly asserted that the number of his
troops was not less than one hundred and fifty
thousand : the townsmen were obb'ged to have
recourse to various shifts, in order, with their
small numbers, to execute every necessary
measure, and to make defence in so many dif-
ferent places ; nor were they equal to the task :
for now the walls began to be battered with the
rams ; many parts of them were shattered ; in
one place, a large breach left the city quite ex-
posed : three towers, in one range, together
with the whole extent of wall between them,
tumbled down with a prodigious crash, and so
great was the breach, that the Carthaginians
looked on the town as already taken. On
which, as if the wall had served equally for a
covering to both parties, the two armies rushed
to battle. Here was nothing like the disor-
derly kind of fight, which usually happens in
the assault of towns, each party acting as op-
portunity offers advantage, but regular lines
were formed, as if in the open plain, on the
ground between the ruins of the walls and the
buildings of the city, which stood at no great
distance. Their courage was animated to the

greatest height ; on one side by hope, on the
other by despair; the Carthaginian believing,
that only a few more efforts were necessary to
render him master of the place ; the Sagun-
tines forming, with their bodies, a bulwark to
their native city, instead of its wall, of which
it had been stripped ; not one of them giving
ground, lest he should make room for the ene-
my to enter by the space. The greater there-
fore the eagerness of the combatants, and the
closer their ranks, the more wounds conse-
quently were received, no weapon falling with-
out taking place, either in their bodies or ar-
mour.

IX. The Saguntines had a missile weapon
called Falarica, with a shaft of fir, round, ex
cept towards the end, to which the iron was
fastened : this part, which was square, aa in a
javelin, they bound about with tow and daubed
with pitch; it had an iron head three feet
long, so that it could pierce both armour and
body together : but what rendered it most for-
midable, was, that being discharged with the
middle part on fire, and the motion itself in-
creasing greatly the violence of the flame,
though it struck in the shield without penetra-
ting to the body, it compelled the soldier to
throw away his arms, and left him, without de-
fence, against succeeding blows. Thus the
contest .long continued doubtful, and the Sa-
guntines, finding that they succeeded in their
defence beyond expectation, assumed new cour-
age; while the Carthaginian, because he had
not obtained the victory, deemed himself van-
quished. On this, the townsmen suddenly
raised a shout, pushed back the enemy among
the ruins of the wall, drove them off from that
ground, where they were embarrassed and con-
fused, and, in fine, compelled them to fly in
disorder to their camp.

X. In the mean time, an account was re-
ceived, that ambassadors had arrived from
Rome; on which Hannibal sent messenger*
to the sea-shore, to meet them, and to acquaint
them, that it would not be safe for them to
come to him, through the armed bands of so
many savage nations ; and besides, that in the
present critical state of affairs, he had not lei-
sure to listen to embassies. He saw -clearly,
that on being refused audience, they would pro-
ceed immediately to Carthage : he then-fore
despatched messengers and letters beforehand,
to the leaders of the Barcinc faction, charging
them to prepare their friends to act with spirit,

382

THE HISTORY

[BOOK xxi-

so that the other party should not be able to
cany any point in favour of the Romans. Thus
the embassy there proved equally vain and fruit-
less, excepting that the ambassadors were re-
ceived and admitted to audience. Hanno alone
in opposition to the sentiments of the senate,
argued for their complying with, the terms
of the treaty, and was heard with great atten-
tion, rather out of the respect paid to the dig-
nity of his character, than from the approbation
of the hearers. He said, that " he had form-
erly charged and forewarned them, as they
regarded the gods, who were guarantees and
witnesses of the treaties, not to send the son
of Hamilcar to the army. That man's shade,"
said he, " cannot be quiet, nor any one de-
scended from him ; nor will treaties with Rome
subsist, as long as one person of the Barcine
blood and name exists. As if with intent to
supply fuel to fire, ye sent to your armies a
young man, burning with ambition for absolute
power, to which he could see but one road, the
exciting of wars, one after another, in order
that he might live surrounded with arms and
legions. You yourselves therefore have kin-
dled this fire, with which you are now scorched :
your armies now invest aguntum, a place
which they are bound by treaty not to molest.
In a short time, the Roman legions will invest
Carthage, under the guidance of those same
deities, who enabled them, in the former war,
to take vengeance for the breach of treaties.
Are you strangers to that enemy, or to your-
selves, or to the fortune attending both nations ?
When ambassadors came from allies, in favour
of allies, your worthy genera/, disregarding the
law of nations, refused them admittance into
his camp. Nevertheless, aicer meeting a re-
pulse, where ambassadors, even from enemies,
are not refused access, they nave come to you,
requiring satisfaction in conformity to treaty.
They charge no crime on the public, but de-
mand the author of the transgression, the per-
son answerable for the offence. The more
moderation there appears in their proceedings,
and the slower they are in beginning a warfare,
so much the more unrelenting, I fear, will
prove the fury of their resentment, when they
do begin. Place before your eyes the islands
^Egates and Eryx, the calamities which you
underwent, on land and sea, during the space
of twenty-four years ; nor were your troops
then led by this boy, but by his father Hamil-
car, another Mars, as those men choose to call

him. But at that time we had not, as we were
bound by treaty, avoided interfering with Ta-
rentum in Italy, as, at present, we do not avoid
interfering with Saguntum. Wherefore gods
and men united to conquer us, and the question
which words could not determine, ' Which of
the nations had infringed the treaty ?' the issue
of the war made known, as an equitable judge,
giving victory to that side on which justice
stood. Hannibal is now raising works and
towers against Carthage ; with his battering
rams he is shaking the walls of Carthage.
The ruins of Saguntum (oh ! that I may prove
a false prophet ! ) will fall on our heads : and
the war commenced against the Saguntines
must be maintained against the Romans. Some
will say, Shall we then deliver up Hannibal ?
I am sensible that, with respect to him, my
authority is of little weight, on account of the
enmity between me and his father. But as I
rejoiced at the death of Hamilcar, for this rea-
son, that had he lived, we should now have
been embroiled in a war with the Romans, so
do I hate and detest this youth as a fury and a
firebrand kindling the like troubles at present.
Nor is it my opinion, merely, that he ought to
be delivered up, as an expiation for the infrac-
tion of the treaty, but that, if no one demanded
him, he ought to be conveyed away to the re-
motest coasts, whence no accounts of him, nor
even his name, should ever reach us, and where
he would not be able to disturb the tranquil-
lity of our state. I therefore move you to
resolve, that ambassadors be sent instantly to
Rome, to make apologies to the senate ; others,
to order Hannibal to withdraw the troops
from Saguntum, and to deliver up Hannibal
himself to the Romans, in conformity to the
treaty; and that a third embassy be sent, to
make restitution to the Saguntines." When
Hanno had ended his discourse, there was no
occasion for any one to enter into a debate with
him, so entirely were almost the whole body
of the senate in the interest of Hannibal, and
they blamed him as having spoked with greater
acrimony than even Valerius Flaccus, the Ro-
man ambassador. They then answered the
Roman ambassadors, that " the war had been
begun by the Saguntines, not by Hannibal;
and that the Roman people acted unjustly and
unwisely, if they preferred the interest of the
Saguntines to that of the Carthaginians, their
earliest allies."

XI. While the Romans wasted time in send-

y.B.534.]

OF ROME.

388

ing embassies, Hannibal finding liis soldiers fa-
ti.Micd with fighting and labour, gave them a
lew days to rest, appointing parties to guard
the machines and works. This interval he
employed in re-animating his men, stimulating
them at one time with resentment against the
enemy, at another, with hope of rewards ; but
a declaration which he made in open assembly,
that, on the capture of the city, the spoil
should be given to the soldiers, inflamed
them with such ardour, that, to all appear-
rjicc, if the signal had been given im-
mediately, no force could have withstood
them. The Saguntines, as they had for some
days enjoyed a respite from fighting, neither
offering nor sustaining an attack, so they bad
never ceased, either by day or night, to labour
hard in raising a new wall, in that part where
the city had been left exposed by the tall of the
old one. After this, the operations of the be-
siegers were carried on with much greater
briskness than before ; nor could the besieged
well judge, whilst all places resounded with
clamours of various kinds, to what side they
should first send succour, or where it was most
necessary. Hannibal attended in person, to
encourage a party of his men who were bring-
ing forward a moveable tower, which exceeded
in height all the fortifications of the city. As
soon as this had reached the proper distance,
and had, by means of the engines for throwing
darts and stones,1 disposed in all its stories,
cleared the ramparts of all who were to defend
it, then Hannibal, seizing the opportunity,
sent about five hundred Africans, with pick-
axes, to undermine the wall at the bottom ;
which was not a difficult work, because the
cement was not strengthened with lime, but
the interstices filled up with clay, according to
the ancient method of building : other parts of
it therefore fell down, together with those to
which the strokes were applied, and through
these breaches several bands of soldiers made
their way into the city. They likewise there
took possession of an eminence, and collecting
thither a number of engines for throwing darts
and stones, surrounded it with a wall, in order
that they might have a fortress within the city
itself, a citadel, as it were, to command it.
The Saguntines on their part raised an inner

1 The balliita was an engine for throning large stone* ;
catapuita, a smaller one for throwing the Ju&irieo, and
..th.-r large kinds of javelins; the tcorpio was a still
smaller one, for throwing darts of lesser size.

wall between that and the division of the city
not yet taken. Both sides exerted themselves
to the utmost, as well in forming their works
as in fighting. But the Saguntines, while they
raised defences for the inner parts, contracted
daily the dimensions of the city. At the same
time the scarcity of all things increased, in con-
sequence of the long continuance of the siege,
while their expectations of foreign aid diminish-
ed ; the Romans, their only hope, being at so
great a distance, and all the countries round
being in the hands of the enemy. However,
their sinking spirits were for a short time re-
vived, by Hannibal setting out suddenly on an
expedition against the Cretans and Carpetans.
For these two nations, being exasperated by
the severity used in levying soldiers, had, by
detaining the commissaries, afforded room to
apprehend a revolt ; but receiving an unexpect-
ed check, from the quick exertions of Hanni-
bal, they laid aside the design of insurrection.

XII. In the mean time the vigour of the
proceedings against Saguntum was not lessen-
ed ; Maharbal, son of Himilco, whom Han-
nibal had left in the command, pushing for-
ward the operations with such activity, that
neither his countrymen, nor the enemy, per-
ceived that the general was absent. He not
only engaged the Saguntines several times with
success, but, with three battering rams, demo-
lished a considerable extent of the wall ; and
when Hannibal arrived, he showed him the
whole ground covered with fresh ruins. The
troops were therefore led instantly against the
citadel, and after a furious engagement, in
which great loss was suffered on both sides,
part of the citadel was taken. Small as were
the hopes of an accommodation, attempts were
now made to bring it about by two persons,
Alcon a Saguntine, and Alorcus a Spaniard.
Alcon, thinking that he might effect something
by submissive entreaties, went over to Hanni-
bal by night, without the knowledge of the
Saguntines ; but, bis piteous supplications
making no impression, and the terms offered
by his enemy being full of rigour, and such as
might be expected from an em-aged and not
unsuccessful assailant, instead of an advocate,
he became a deserter, affirming, that if any
man were to mention to the Saguntines an ac-
commodation on such conditions, it would cost
him his life ; — for it was required that they
should make restitution to the Turdetans ;
should deliver up all their gold and silver ; and,

384

THE HISTORY

[BOOK xxi.

departing from the city with single garments,
should fix their residence in whatever place the
Carthaginian should order. When Alcon de-
clared that his countrymen would never accept
these conditions of peace, Alorcus, insisting,
that when men's bodily powers are subdued,
their spirits are subdued along with them, un-
dertook the office of mediator in the negotia-
tion. Now he was at this time a soldier in the
service of Hannibal, but connected with the
state of Saguntum in friendship and hospita-
lity. Delivering up his sword to the enemy's
guards, he passed openly through the fortifica-
tions, and was conducted at his own desire to
the praetor. A concourse of people of every
kind having immediately assembled about the
place, the senate, ordering the rest of the
multitude to retire, gave audience to Alorcus,
who addressed them in this manner :

XIII. " If your countryman Alcon, after
coming to the general to sue for peace, had re-
turned to you with the offered terms, it would
have been needless for me to have presented
myself before you, as I would not appear in
the character either of a deputy from Hanni-
bal, or of a deserter. But since he has re-
mained with your enemy, either through his
own fault, or yours : through his own, if he
counterfeited fear ; through yours, if he who
tells you truth, is to be punished : I have come
to you, out of my regard to the ties of hospi-
tality so long subsisting between us, in order
that you should not be ignorant that there are
certain conditions on which you may obtain
both peace and safety. Now, that what I say
is merely out of regard to your interest, and
not from any other motive, this alone is suffi-
cient proof : that, so long as you were able to
maintain a defence by your own strength, or so
long as you had hopes of succour from the
Romans, I never once mentioned peace to you.
Now, when you neither have any hopes from
the Romans, nor can rely for defence either on
your arms or walls, I bring you terms of peace,
rather unavoidable than favourable. And there
may be some chance of carrying these into ef-
fect, on this condition, that, as Hannibal dic-
tates them, in the spirit of a conqueror, so you
should listen to them with the spirit of men
conquered; that you consider not what you
part with as loss, for all things are the proper-
ty of the victor, but whatever is left to you as
a gift. The city, a great part of which is al-
ready demolished, and almost the whole of

which he has in his possession, he takes from
you : your lands he leaves to you, intending to
assign a place where you may build a new
town : all your gold and silver, both public and
private property, he orders to be brought to
him : your persons, with those of your wives
and children, he preserves inviolate, provided
you are satisfied to quit Saguntum, without
arms, and with single garments. These are
the terms, which, as a victorious enemy, he en-
joins : with these, grievous and afflicting as
they are, your present circumstances counsel
you to comply. I do not indeed despair but
that, when the entire disposal of every thing is
given up to him, he may remit somewhat of the
severity of these articles. But even these, I
think it advisable to endure, rather than to suf-
fer yourselves to be slaughtered, and your
wives and children seized and dragged into
slavery before your eyes, according to the prac-
tice of war."

XIV. The surrounding crowd, gradually
approaching to hear this discourse, had formed
an assembly of the people conjoined with the
senate, when the men of principal distinction,
withdrawing suddenly before any answer was
given, collected all the gold and silver both
from their private and public stores, into the
forum, threw it into a fire hastily kindled for
the purpose, and then most of them cast
themselves headlong in after it. ' While the dis-
may and confusion, which this occasioned,
filled every part of the city, another uproar
was heard from the citadel. A tower, after
being battered for a long time, had fallen down,
and a cohort of the Carthaginians having forced
their way through the breach, gave notice to
their general, that the place was destitute of
the usual guards and watches. Hannibal,
judging that such an opportunity admitted no
delay, assaulted the city with his whole force, .
and, instantly, making himself master of it,
gave orders that every person of adult age
should be put to the sword : which cruel prder
was proved, however, by the event, to have
been in a IP •inner induced by the conduct of
the people : for how could mercy have been
extended to any of those who, shutting them-
selves up with their wives and children, burned
their houses over their heads ; or who, being
in arms, continued fighting until stopped by
death ?

XV. In the town was found a vast quantity
of spoil, notwithstanding that the greater part

Y. R. 534.]

OF ROME.

085

of the effects had been purposely injured by
the owners ; and that, during the carnage, the
rage of the assailants had made hardly any dis-
tinctiun of age, although the prisoners were the
l>ri«|>iTty of the soldiers. Nevertheless, it ap-
pears, that a large sum of money was brought
into the treasury, out of the price of goods ex-
posed to sale, and likewise that a great deal of
valuable furniture and apparel was sent to Car-
thage. Some writers have asserted, that
Suguntum was taken in the eighth month from
the beginning of the siege ; that Hannibal then
'1 into winter quarters to New Carthage ;
and that, in the fifth month, after leaving
t'arthage, he arrived again in Italy. But if
thoe accounts were true, it is impossible that
Publius Cornelius, and Tiberius Sempronius
could have been the consuls, to whom, in the be-
ginning of the siege, the ambassadors were sent
from Saguntum ; and who, during their office,
fought with Hannibal; the one at the river Tici-
nus, and both, a considerable time after, at the
Trebia. Either all these matters must have been
transacted in loss time, or Saguntum must have
been taken, not first invested, in the beginning
of that year wherein Publius Cornelius and
Tiberius Sempronius were consuls. For the
hat t le at the Trebia could not have happened so
late as the year of Cn. Servilius and Caius
Flaminius ; because Caius Flaminius entered
on the office of consul at Ariminum, having
been elected thereto by Tiberius Sempronius,
who, after the engagement at the Trebia, had
gone home to Rome for the purpose of electing
consuls ; and, when the election was finished,
returned into winter quarters to the army.

XVI. The ambassadors returning from Car-
thage, brought information to Rome, that every
thing tended to war ; and, nearly at the same
time, news was received of the destruction of
Saguntum. Grief seized the senate, for the
deplorable catastrophe of their allies; and shame
for not having afforded them succour; rage
against the Carthaginians, and such apprehen-
sions for the public safety, as if the enemy were
already at their gates ; so that their minds be-
ing agitated by so many passions at once, their
meetings were scenes of confusion and disorder,
rather than of deliberation. For " never," they
observed, " had an enemy, more enterprising
and warlike, entered the field with them ; and,
at no other period had the Roman power been
MI unfit for great exertions, or so deficient in
practice. As to the Sardinians. Corsicans,

I.

Istrians, and 111 yrians, they had only roused the
Roman arms, without affording them ex-.-i
and with the Gauls the affair was really a tu-
mult, rather than a war. The Carthaginians,
another kind of foe, were crossing the Ibcrus ;
trained to arms during twenty-three years, in
the most laborious service, among the nations
of Spain ; accustomed to conquer on every oc-
casion ; habituated to the command of a most
able general ; flushed with their late conquest
of a very opulent city, and bringing with them
many Spanish states; while the Gauls, ever
glad of an opportunity of fighting, would doubt-
less be engaged in the expedition. War must
then be waged against all the world, in the heart
of Italy, and under the walls of Rome.

XVII. The provinces had been already
named for the consuls, but now they were or-
dered to cast lots. Spain fell to Cornelius ;
Africa, with Sicily, to Sempronius. For the
service of the year, six legions were decreed,
with such a number of the troops of the allies
as the consuls should deem requisite, and a fleet
as great as could be fitted out. Of Romans
were enlisted twenty-four thousand foot, and
one thousand eight hundred horse ; of the allies,
forty thousand foot, and four thousand four
hundred horse. The fleet consisted of two
hundred and twenty ships of five banks of oars,
and twenty light galleys. The question was
then proposed to the people, whether " they
chose and ordered, that war should be declared
against the people of Carthage ?" This being
determined on, a general supplication was per-
formed in the city, and prayers offered to the
gods, that the war which the Roman people had
ordered might have a prosperous and a happy
issue. The forces were divided between the
consuls in this manner : to Sempronius were
assigned two legions, containing each four
thousand foot and three hundred horse, and of
the allies sixteen thousand foot and one thou-
sand eight hundred horse, with one hundred and
sixty ships of war, and twelve b'ght galleys.
With these land and sea forces, Tiberius em-
pronius was sent to Sicily, with intention that
he should cross over to Africa, in case the other
consul should be able to prevent the Carthagi-
nians from entering Italy. The army assigned
to Cornelius was less numerous, because Lu-
cius Manlius, a praetor, was also sent into Gaul
with a considerable force. Of ships, particu-
larly, Cornelius's share was small : sixty quin-
queremes only were given him, for it was not
3 C

366

THE HISTORY

[ROOK xxi.

supposed either that the enemy would come by
sea, or that he would exert himself on that ele-
ment. Two Roman legions, with their regular
proportion of cavalry, and, of the allies, fourteen
thousand foot, and sixteen hundred horse, were
resigned to him. In this year, the province oi
Gaul, though not yet threatened with a Car-
thaginian war, had posted in it two Roman
legions, and ten thousand confederate infantry,
with one thousand confederate horsemen and
six hundred Roman.

XVIII. These adjustments beingmade, they
yet determined, previous to the taking up arms,
to send Quintus Fabius, Marcus Livius, Lucius
Amilius, Gains Licinius, and Quintus Biebius,
men venerable on account of their age, into
Africa, as ambassadors, to require an explana-
tion from the Carthaginians, whether Hanni-
bal's attack on Sagnntum had been authorised
by the state ; and, in case they should acknow-
ledge it, as it was expected they would, and
defend that proceeding, then to declare war
against the people of Carthage. When the
Romans arrived at Carthage, and were intro-
duced to an audience of the senate, Quintus
Fabius, without enlarging on the subject, sim-
ply proposed the question, as stated in their in-
structions ; on which one of the Carthaginians
replied, " Romans, in your former embassy, ye
were too precipitate, when you demanded that
Hannibal should be delivered up, as attacking
Saguntum of his own authority. But your
present proceeding, though hitherto milder in
words, is, in effect, more unreasonably severe.
A charge was made against Hannibal, only
when you required him to be delivered up :
now, you endeavour to extort from us a confes-
sion of wrong committed, and at the same in-
stant, as if we had already pleaded guilty, in-
sist on reparation. For myself, I am of opin-
ion that the question proper to be asked is,
not whether Saguntum was attacked by public
authority, or private, but whether justly or un-
justly ? For with respect to a subject of our
government, whether acting under direction of'
the public, or not, the right of inquiry, and of
punishing, is exclusively our own. The only
point, then, that comes into discussion with
you, is, whether the act was allowable accord-
ing to treaty? Wherefore, since you chose
that a distinction should be made, between what
commanders do by public authority, and what
of their own will, there is a treaty subsisting
between us, concluded by your consul Lutatius,

in which provision is made for the interest of
the allies of both nations. But there is no
clause in favour of the Saguntines ; for they
were not at the time in alliance with you. But
then, in the treaty entered into with Hasdru-
bal, the Saguntines are expressly exempted
from hostilities. In answer to which, I shall
urge nothing but what I have learned from
yourselves. For you asserted, that the treaty
which your consul Cains Lutatius at first con-
cluded with us, inasmuch as it had been con-
cluded without either the approbation of the
senate, or an order of the people, was not bind-
ing on you ; and that, for that reason, another
treaty was ratified anew, under the sanction of
public authority. Now, if your treaties do not
bind you, unless sanctioned by your approba-
tion and order, surely the treaty of Hasdrnba),
under the same circumstances, cannot be bind-
ing on us. Cease therefore to talk of Sagun-
tum, and the Iberus ; and let your minds at
length give birth to the burden of which they
are long in labour." The Roman then, folding
up a corner of his robe, said, " Here we bring
you peace, and war ; take which you choose."
Which proposal they answered with an equal
degree of peremptory heat, calling out, that
" he should give whichever he chose." He
then threw open the fold again, and said that
"he gave war j" they with one voice replied,
that " they accepted it ; and, with the same
spirit with which they accepted it, would pro-
secute it."

XIX. This mode of a direct demand, and
declaration of war, was deemed suitable to the
dignity of the Roman people, even before this
time, but more particularly after the destruc-
tion of Saguntum, than to enter into a verbal
disquisition concerning the construction of
treaties. For, if the business were to be de-
cided by argument, what similitude was there
between the treaty of Hasdrubal, and the for-
mer treaty of Lutatius, which was altered?
Since in the latter, there was an express clause
inserted, that " it should be valid, provided the
people should ratify it ;" but in that of Has-
dnibal, there was no such provision. Besides,
this treaty was confirmed, in such a manner, by
the silent approbation of so many years, during
the remainder of his life, that even after the
death of its author, no alteration was made in
t ; although, even were the former treaty ad-
lered to, there was sufficient security provided
'or the Saguntines, by the exempting from hos-

Y. R. 534.]

OF ROME.

tilities the allies of both nations ; there being
no distinction made of those who then were,
or of those who should afterwards become such.
And, as it was evidently allowable to form
nr\v alliani-cx, who could think it reasonable,
cither that jwrsons should not be received into
friendship on account of any degree of merit
whatever ; or, that people, once taken under
protection, should not be defended ? The only
restriction implied was, that the allies of
the Carthaginians should not be solicited to
revolt, nor, revolting of their own accord,
should be received. The Roman ambassadors,
in pursuance of their instructions received at
Rome, passed over from Carthage into Spain,
in order to make application to the several
states of that country, and either to engage
their alliance, or at least dissuade them from
joining the Carthaginians. They came, first,
to the Bargusian, by whom being favourably
received, because that people were dissatisfied
with the Carthaginian government, they roused
the spirits of many powers on the farther side
of the Iberus, by the flattering prospect of a
change in their circumstances. Thence they
came to the Volscians, whose answer, which
was reported with applause through every part
of Spain, deterred the other states from joining
in alliance with Rome. For thus the oldest
member of their assembly replied, " Where is
your sense of shame, Romans, when you re-
quire of us, that we should prefer your friend-
ship to that of the Carthaginians? The Sa-
guntines, who embraced it, have been aban-
doned by you : in which abandonment you,
their allies, have shown greater cruelty, than
the Carthaginians, their enemy, showed in de-
stroying them. What I recommend is, that
you seek connections where the fatal disaster
of Saguntum is unknown. To the states of
Spain, the ruins of that city will be both a me-
lancholy, and a forcible warning, not to confide
MI i he faith or alliance of Rome." They were
then ordered to depart immediately from the
territories of the Volscians ; nor did they after-
wards meet, from any assembly in Spain, a
more favourable reception; therefore, after
niiiking a circuit through all parts of that coun-
try, without effecting any thing, they passed
over into Gaul.

XX. At Ruscino they encountered a new
and terrifying spectacle ; the people coming in
arms to the assembly, for such is the custom of
tliat country. After displaying, in magnificent

tcrntv, the renown and the valour of the Ro-
man people, and the greatness of their empire,
they requested that the Gauls would not grant
a passage through their cities and territories to
the Carthaginian, who was preparing to invade
Italy. On which, we are told, such a laugti
was raised, accompanied by a general outcry of
displeasure, that the magistrates and the elder
members of the assembly could, with difficulty
bring the younger men into order, so unreason-
able, and so absurd did it appear, to require that
the Gauls should not suffer the war to pass
into Italy, but should draw it on themselves,
and expose their own lands to devastation, in-
stead of those of strangers. When the uproar
was at length appeased, an answer was given to
the ambassadors, that •• the Gauls had never
received either any kindness from the Romans,
or ill treatment from the Carthaginians, that
should induce them to take arms either in favour
of the former, or in opposition to the hitter.
On the contrary, they had been informed, that
their countrymen were expelled by the Roman
.people from the lands, and out of the limits of
Italy, compelled to pay tribute, and subjected
to indignities of every kind." To the same
application, they received the same answer,
from the other assemblies in Gaul; nor did
they meet any very friendly or peaceable recep-
tion until they arrived at Marseilles. There,
in consequence of the diligent inquiries made
by those faithful allies, they learned, that " the
minds of the Gauls had been already prepos-
sessed in favour of Hannibal. But that even
lie would find that nation not very tractable, so
ferocious and ungovernable were their tempers,
unless he frequently revived the attachment ot
their chiefs with gold, of which that people
were remarkably greedy." Having thus finish-
ed their progress through the states of Spain
and Gaul, the ambassadors returned to Rome,
shortly after the consuls had set out for their
provinces, and found the passions of every man
warmly excited by the prospect of the approach,
ing war, for all accounts now agreed, that the
Carthaginians had passed the Iberus.

XXL Hannibal, after taking Saguntum,
had retired into winter-quarters, at New Car-
thage ; where, receiving information of all the
transactions and resolutions which had passed
at Rome, and at Carthage, and that he was not
only the leader, but likewise the cause of the
war, he determined no longer to defer his mco-
MIIV-, and having distributed and sold off the

368

THE HISTORY

[BOOK xxi.

remains of the plunder, he called together his
Spanish troops, and spoke to this effect -. " Fel-
low soldiers, as we have already established
peace through all the states of Spain, we must
either lay aside our arms, and disband our
forces, or transfer the seat of war to other
countries. For the way to make these nations
flourish, with the blessings not only of peace,
but of victory, is, for us to seek glory and
spoil from others. Wherefore as we shall
soon be called to service, at a distance from
home, and as it is uncertain when you may
see your families, and whatever is dear to you,
if any choose to visit your friends, I now give
you leave of absence. At the beginning of
spring, I charge you to attend here, in order
that, with the aid of the gods, we may enter on
a war, from which we shall reap abundance,
both of honour and riches." This voluntary
offer, of leave to revisit their homes, was highly
pleasing to almost every one of them ; for they
already longed to see their friends, and foresaw
a longer absence from them likely to happen.
This interval of rest renewed the powers of
their minds and bodies, enabling them to en-
counter' every hardship anew ; for the fatigues
they had already sustained, and those they were
soon to undergo, appeared to be little thought
of. At the beginning of spring they therefore
assembled according to orders. Hannibal, after
reviewing the auxiliaries of the several nations,
went to Gades, where he fulfilled his vows to
Hercules, and bound himself in new ones, in
case his future operations should be crowned
with success. Then dividing his attention,
between the measures requisite for annoying
the enemy, and those necessary for defence,
lest, while he should be making his way to Italy
by land, through Spain and Gaul, Africa should
be naked and open to an attack of the Romans
from Sicily, he resolved to provide for its secu-
rity by sending thither a strong body of forces.
In the room of these, he required a reinforce-
ment to be sent to him from Africa, consisting
chiefly of light armed spearmen. This he did
with the view, that the Africans serving in
Spain, and the Spaniards in Africa, where each
would be better soldiers at a distance from
home, they might be, as it were, mutual host-
ages for the good behaviour of each other. He
sent into Africa, of Infantry, thirteen thousand
eight hundred and fifty targeteers, with eight
hundred and seventy Balearic slingers ; of ca-
valry, collected from many nations, one thou-

sand two hundred. Part of these forces he
ordered to garrison Carthage, the rest to be dis-
tributed through Africa. At the same time he
ordered four thousand chosen young men, whom
he had enlisted by means of commissaries sent
among the several states, to be conducted to
Carthage, both as an addition of strength and
as hostages.

XXII. Judging also, that Spain ought not
to be neglected, in which opinion he was not
the less confirmed by having been acquainted
with the tour made through it by the Roman
ambassadors, for the purpose of engaging the :
friendship of the chiefs, he allotted that pro-
vince to Hasdrubal his brother, a man of ta-
lents and activity ; and he formed his strength
mostly of the troops from Africa, giving him
eleven thousand eight hundred and fifty African
foot, with three hundred Ligurians, and five
hundred Balearians. To these bodies of in-
fantry, were added four hundred and fifty horse-
men, of the Liby-Phrenicians, a race composed
of a mixture of Phoenicians with Africans ; of
Numidians and Mauritanians, who inhabit the
coast of the ocean, to the number of one thou-
sand eight hundred ; a small band of the Iler-
getans, a Spanish nation, amounting to two
hundred horsemen ; and, that he might not be
destitute of any kind of force, which might be
useful in operations on land, fourteen elephants.
Also for the defence of the sea-coast, because,
as the Romans had been formerly victorious at
sea, it was probable that they would now like-
wise exert themselves in the same line, a fleet
was assigned him of fifty quinqueremes, two
quadriremes, and five triremes ; but, of these,
only thirty-two quinqueremes, and the five tri-
remes, were fully equipped and manned with
rowers. From Gades he returned to Carthage,
the winter-quarters of the army. Then putting
his troops in motion, he led them by the city of
Etovissa to the Iberus, and the sea-coast. Here,
as is said, he saw in his sleep a youth of divine
figure, who told him that he was sent by Jupi-
ter to guide him into Italy, and bade him there-
fore to follow, and not turn his eyes to any side.
Filled with terror, he followed at first without
looking to either side, or behind ; but afterwards,
out of the curiosity natural to mankind, consider-
ing what that could be at which he was forbidden
to look back, he could no longer restrain his eyes :
he then saw behind him a serpent of immense
size, moving along and felling all the bushes and
trees in its way : and after it, followed a dark

v. K. 534-3

OF ROME.

389

cloud with loud thundering in the air. On
which, asking what was the nature of this great
commotion, or what it portended, he was told,
that it meant the devastation of Italy : he was
then ordered to proceed in his course, and not
to inquire farther, but let the decrees of the des-
tinies remain in obscurity.

XXIII. Overjoyed at this vision, he led
his forces in three divisions over the Iberus,
having sent forward emissaries to conciliate,
by presents, ^ the friendship of the Gauls,
through whose country the army was to pass,
and to explore the passes of the Alps. The
number of forces, which he brought across the
Iberus, was ninety thousand foot, and twelve
thousand horse. He then reduced the Derge-
tans, the Bargusians, the Ausetanians, and the
province of Lacetania, which lay at the foot ot
the Pyrenean mountains. The. government of
all this tract .he gave to Hanno, with intention
to retain the command of the narrow passes,
which lead from Spain into Gaul : and, to en-
able him to secure the possession of it, assign-
ed him a body of forces, consisting of ten thou-
sand foot and one thousand horse. When the
army began to pass the defiles of the Pyrenees,
and a rumour spread with greater certainty
among the barbarians, that the war was intend-
ed against the Romans, three thousand of the
Carpetan foot left him, and marched away, ac-
tuated, as clearly appeared, not so much by
dread of the enemy, as of the great length of
the march, and the i insuperable difficulty' of
crossing^the Alps. Hannibal, considering that
to recall or detain them by force, might be at-
tended with dangerous consequences, and wish-
ing to avoid every thing that might irritate the
ferocious tempers of the rest, sent home above
ten thousand men, in whom he had discovered
an equal aversion from the service, pretending
that he had in like manner dismissed the Car-
petans.

XXIV. Then, lest delay and idleness should
inspire them with improper notions, he crossed
the Pyrenees, with the rest of his forces, and
pitched his camp near the town of Uliberis.
The Gauls had been told that his operations
were directed against Italy ; nevertheless, hav-
ing been informed, that the Spaniards on the
other side of the Pyrenees had been reduced by
force, and that a powerful guard was stationed
in their country, they were so much alarmed
for their liberty, that they hastily took arms,
and several states formed a general meeting at

Ruscino. When Ihnnilial was informed of
this, dreading delay more than the power of the
enemy, he despatched envoys to their petty
princes, acquainting them, that he wished to
confer with them in person, and proposing,
that either they should come nearer to Hliberis,
or that he would advance to Ruscino ; that he
would with great pleasure, receive them in his
camp, or without hesitation go himself to
theirs : for he came into Gaul as a friend, not
as an enemy ; and meant not to draw a sword,
if the Gauls would allow him to hold his reso-
lution, until he arrived in Italy. This passed
through messengers : but the Gauls immediate-
ly removed their camp to Dliberis, came with-
out reluctance to the Carthaginian, and were
so highly captivated by his presents, that, with
great cheerfulness, they conducted his army, by
the town of Ruscino, through their territories.
XXV. In' Italy, at this time, nothing far-
ther was known, than that Hannibal had passed
the Iberus, intelligence of which had been
brought to Rome by ambassadors from Mar-
seilles ; yet, as if he had already passed the Alps,
the Boians engaging the concurrence of the
Insubrians began a revolt, their motive for
which, was not their ancient enmity towards
the Roman people, but the offence which they
lately conceived, at the establishment of the
colonies on the Po, at Cremona, and Placentia,
within the limits of the Gallic territories. For
this reason, they hastily took arms, and making
an irruption into those very soils, caused such
terror and confusion, that not only the country
people, but even the Roman commissioners,
who had come thither to distribute the lands,
doubting their safety within the walls of Pla-
centia, fled to Mutina. These were Caius
Lutatius, Caius Servilius, and Titus Annius.
There is no doubt about the name of Lutatius ;
but some annals, instead of Caius Servilius and
Titus Annius, have Quintus Acilius and
Caius Herrcnius : others, Publius Cornelius
Asiua, and Caius Papirius Maso. There is al-
so an uncertainty, whether ambassadors, sent to
expostulate with the Boians, suffered violence,
or whether the ill treatment was offered to the
commissioners, who were measuring out the
lands. While they were shut up in Mutina,
and the besiegers, a people quite unskilled in
the arts of attacking towns, and remarkably
lazy with respect to all military operations, lay
inactive round the walls, which they could not
injure, a pretended treaty for an accommodation

390

THE HISTORY

[BOOK xxi.

was set on foot, and the ambassadors being in-
vited out to a conference by the chiefs of the
Gauls, were, in violation not only of the laws
of nations, but of the faith pledged on the occa-
sion, seized and put into confinement, the Gauls
declaring, that they would not set them at li-
berty, unless their own hostages were returned
to them. On hearing of this treatment of
the ambassadors, and the danger which threat-
ened Mutina and the garrison, Lucius Manlius
the praetor, inflamed with resentment, led his
army in a rapid march towards that city. The
ground, on both sides of the road, was, at that
time, covered with woods, and mostly unin-
habited. Advancing into these places, with-
out having examined the country, he fell into
an ambush, and with much difficulty, after los-
ing a great number of men, made his way
into the open plains. Here he fortified a
camp, which the Gauls not having resolution
to attack, the soldiers recovered their spirits,
though it was evident that their strength was
greatly diminished : they then began their
march anew, and, as long as their road lay
through open grounds, the enemy never ap-
peared; but falling on their rear, when the
Romans again entered the woods, they threw
all into fright and disorder, slew eight hundred
soldiers, and carried off" six standards. As
soon as the troops had got clear of that difficult
and troublesome pass, the Gauls ceased from
their attempts, and the Romans from their
fears, and the latter afterwards, easily securing
the safety of their march through the open
country, proceeded to Tanetum, a small town
on the Po. Here, by means of a temporary
fortification, which they raised, the supply of
provisions conveyed by the river, and the aid
of the Brescian Gauls, they maintained their
ground against the numerous forces of the
enemy, though daily augmented.

XXVI. When news of this sudden insur-
rection arrived at Rome, and the senate under-
stood, that, besides the Carthaginian war, they
had another to maintain with the Gauls, ^they
ordered Caius Atilius, a praetor, to march
to the relief of Manlius with one Roman legion,
and five thousand allied troops, enlisted by the
consul in the late levy ; with these he arrived
at Tanetum without any interruption, for the
enemy, through fear, had retired at his ap-
proach. At the same time Publius Cornelius,
having raised a new legion, in the room of that
which had been sent with the praetor, set out

from the city with sixty ships of war ; and
coasting along Etruria, Liguria, and the Salyan
mountains, he arrived at Marseilles, and pitch-
ed his camp on the nearest mouth of the Rhone,
for that river, dividing itself, flows into the
sea through several channels ; scarcely believing,
yet, that Hannibal had passed the Pyrenean
mountains. But when he learned that he was,
even then, employed in preparations for passing
the Rhone, being unable to determine in what
place he might meet him, and his men being not
yet sufficiently recovered from the fatigue of
the voyage, he despatched three hundred chosen
horsemen, guided by some Massilians and
auxiliary Gauls, to gain information of every
particular, and to take a view of the enemy,
without danger. Hannibal procuring, either
by threats or presents, an unmolested passage
through the other provinces, had arrived at the
country of the Volcae, a powerful state. These
possessed territories on both sides of the Rhone,
but, doubting their ability to repel the Cartha-
ginian from the country on the hither side, in
order to avail themselves of the river as a de-
fence, they had transported almost all their
effects beyond it, and were ready in arms to
defend the opposite bank. Hannibal, by means
of presents, prevailed on the inhabitants of the
other districts contiguous to the river, and even
on those of that very state, who staid in their
own habitations, to collect ships from every
quarter, and to build others ; themselves being
desirous that his army should be transported,
and their country freed, as speedily as might
be, from the burthen of such a multitude of
men. A vast number of vessels therefore were
brought together, and of boats rudely construct-
ed for the purpose of short passages. Others
were formed by hollowing single trees, the
Gauls first showing the way ; and afterwards
the soldiers themselves, encouraged by the
plenty of timber, and likewise by the easiness
of the work, hastily formed clumsy hulks to
transport themselves and their effects, regard-
less of every other circumstance, provided they
would but float, and contain a burthen.

XXVII. And now, when all preparatory
measures for effecting their passage were com-
pleted, the enemy, on the farther side, threat-
ened them with a violent opposition, covering
the whole bank with horse and foot. But in
order to remove these out of his way, Hanni-
bal ordered Hanno, son of Bomilcar, to set
out by night, at the first watch, with a body of

Y. K. 534.]

OF ROME.

391

forces composed mostly of Spaniards, to inarch
up the river to the distance of one day's
journey, and then crossing it, as secretly as
possible, to lead round liis detachment with
all expedition, that he might fall on the rear
of the enemy when so required. The Gauls,
who were given him as guides on the occasion,
informed him that, at the distance of about
twenty-five miles above that place, the river,
spreading round a small island, showed the
passage, where it divided itself, broader, and
the channel consequently shallower. At this
place, felling timber with the utmost haste, they
formed rafts for carrying over the men, horses,
and other weighty matters. As to the Span-
iard.-, they took no trouble about any means of
conveyance, but thrusting their clothes into
leathern bugs, and resting their bodies on their
bucklers placed under them, swam over the
river. The rest of the troops, having also
passed over on the rafts joined together, they
encamped near the river, and being fatigued by
the march during the night, and by the labour
of the work, refreshed themselves with rest for
one day, while their leader was earnestly study-
ing how to execute the design in proper season.
Next day, having marched from thence, they
made a signal, by raising a smoke, that they had
effected their passage, and were not far distant ;
which being perceived-by Hannibal, he gave the
signal for his troops to pass the river. The in-
fantry had the boats equipped and in readiness,
and a line of larger vessels, with the horsemen,
most of whom had their horses swimming near
them, crossed higher up the river, in order to
break the force of the current, and thereby
render the water smooth for the boats passing
below. The horses for the most part were
led after the sterns by collars, those only ex-
cepted which had been put on board the ships
bridled and accoutred, in order that the riders,
on their landing, might have them ready for
instant use.

XXVIII. The Gauls ran down to the bank
to meet them, with various kinds of cries and
songs, according to their custom, tossing their
shields above their heads, and with their right
hands brandishing their javelins, notwithstand-
ing the terrible appearance of such a vast num-
ber of ships, together with the loud roaring of
the river, and the confused clamours of the
mariners and soldiers, both of those who were
struggling to force their way through the violent
current, ami of those who, from the oopositc

bonk, encouraged their friends on their pnmage.
While they saw sufficient cause of terror on
their front, a more terrifying shout assailed them
from behind, where their camp was taken by
Hanno. Presently he came up ; BO that they
were encompassed by dangers ; such a vast
number of soldiers being brought by the ships,
and another army quite unexpected pressing on
their rear. The Gauls finding that, instead of
being the assailants as they had intended, they
were even driven from their own ground, made
off hastily through the clearest opening that
they could find, and in the utmost confusion
dispersed to their several towns. Hannibal
now looked with contempt on the boisterous
menaces of this people, and bringing over the
rest of his forces at leisure, encamped on the
spot. Various plans, I should suppose, were
projected for conveying the elephants across the
river, at least the accounts transmitted of the
manner in which it was performed are various.
Some relate, that being brought all together to
the river side, the fiercest among them was pro-
voked to anger by his keeper, who pursued him
by swimming as he fled into the water : that
this drew down the rest of the herd ; and that
each, as soon as he lost the bottom, was by the
mere force of the stream hurried to the opposite
bank. But it is more generally agreed, that
they were carried over on rafts ; and as this must
have appeared the safer method, it is now more
easy to believe, that the business was so effect-
ed. One raft, of two hundred feet in length
and fifty in breadth, was extended from the
bank into the river, the upper part of it being
firmly fastened to the shore with several strong
cables, to prevent its being carried down with
the stream, and this was covered with a layer
of earth, like a bridge, in order that the beasts
might, without fear, walk on it as on solid
ground. Another raft of equal breadth, and
one hundred feet long, was fastened to this,
and when the elephants, being driven over the
fixed raft as on a road, the females going fore-
most, passed over to the smaller one which
was joined to it, then the ropes with which this
latter had been slightly tied were instanly loos-
ed, and it was towed away by several li^ht
vessels to the other bank. When the first were
thus landed, it was brought back for the rest.
As long as they were driven, as it were, on a
bridge connected with the bind, they showed no
signs of fear -. they first be; an to be frightened
when, the raft being set loose, they were sepa-

392

THE HISTORY

[BOOK xxi.

rated from the rest, and dragged into the deep :
then pressing close on one another, as those on
the outside drew back from the water, they oc-
casioned a good deal of disorder ; but terrified
by seeing the water on every side of them, they
soon became quiet. Some indeed, becoming
outrageous, tumbled into the river, but their
own weight rendering them steady,'_though their
riders were thrown off, they cautiously" search-
ed out the shallow parts, and came safe to land.
XXIX. While thus employed in transport-
ing the elephants, Hannibal had despatched five
hundred Numidian horsemen towards the camp
of the Romans, to discover where they lay,
what were their numbers, and, if possible, what
their designs. This detachment of cavalry was
met by the three hundred Roman horse, sent,
as mentioned above, from the mouth of the
Rhone. A battle ensued, more furious than
common, between such small numbers : for,
besides many wounds, there was a great loss of
lives, nearly equal on both sides, and it was. not
until the Romans were thoroughly fatigued,
that the dismay and flight of the Numidians
yielded them the victory. On the side of the
conquerors fell one hundred and sixty, not all
Romans however, some of them being Gauls ;
and of the vanquished more than two hundred.
As this prelude, and omen likewise of the war,
portended to the Romans a favourable issue on
the whole, so did it a victory not unbloody, nor
to be purchased without a. dangerous struggle.
After this action, the parties returned to their
respective commanders. On the one hand,
Scipio could form no determination, farther
than to regulate his measures by the designs
and proceedings of the enemy ; and, on the
other, Hannibal was in doubt, whether he
should continue his march into Italy without
intermission, or come to an engagement with
the first Roman army that threw itself in his
way. However, from the thoughts of an im-
mediate engagement he was diverted by the
arrival of ambassadors from the Boians, and of
a chieftain called Magalus, who, assuring him
that they would be his guides on the march, and
companions in the dangers, recommended him
to reserve the first essay of his entire force for
the attack of Italy, and not previously, to
hazard any diminution of his strength. His
troops feared indeed the enemy, for the
memory of the former war was not" yet obliter-
ated ; but much more did they dread the ex-
treme difficulty of the march, and the passage

of the Alps, a matter exceedingly formidable,
at least by report, and to people unacquainted
with those mountains.

XXX. Hannibal, therefore, as soon as he
had determined to proceed forward, and direct
his operations against Italy, called an assembly
of the soldiers, and endeavoured, by the differ-
ent methods of reproof and exhortation, to
mould their minds to his purpose. " He won-
dered," he said, " what sudden terror could have
taken possession of breasts hitherto always un-
daunted. During such a number of years in
which they carried arms, they were constantly
victorious ; nor had left Spain until all the na-
tions and countries comprehended between the
two opposite seas were under subjection to
Carthage. Then, seized with indignation at
the Roman people demanding that every per-
son, concerned in the siege of Saguntum, should
be delivered into their hands as criminals, they
had passed the Iberus, resolved to exterminate
the Roman race, and to set the world at liberty.
No one, at that time, thought the march too
long, though they were to continue it from the
setting place of the sun to that of its rising.
Now, when they saw by far the greater part of
the journey accomplished, after conquering the
obstructions of the Pyrenean forests, in the
midst of the fiercest nations ; after effecting
their passage over so great a river as the Rhone,
in the face of so many thousands of Gauls op-
posing them ; nay, when they had the Alps
within view, the other side of which was a part
of Italy, just in the gates of their enemy's
country, they grew weary and halted — Was it
that they conceived the Alps to be any thing
more than high mountains ? Suppose them
higher than the summits of the Pyrenees :
surely no part of the earth reached to the
heaven, nor was of a height insuperable by man-
kind. These eminences in reality were inhabit-
ed, cultivated, produced and supported animals.
Were they passable by small parties, and im-
passable by armies ? Those very ambassadors,
before their eyes, had not been carried aloft on
wings over the Alps. Neither had their an-
cestors been natives of the soil, but settlers,
who came from other countries into Italy, and
who crossed with safety those same hills, often
in vast bodies, with their wives and children,
as other colonies emigrate. To a soldier
carrying nothing with him but the implements
of war, what could be impassable or insuper -
able ? In order to gain possession of Sagun-

v. it. ;»:)4.]

OF ROME.

tuin, what toils, what dangers did they not
undergo, for the space of eight months ? Now,
when tlirir object was Rome, the capital of the
world, what difficulty or danger should be
deemed capable of retarding the enterprise?
The Gauls formerly made themselves masters
of those very places which the Carthaginians
despaired of approaching. Either, therefore,
they must yield the superiority in spirit and
courage to that nation, which, during a short
time past, they had so frequently overcome ; or
they must look for the termination of their
inarch, in the field lying between the Tiber
and the walls of Rome."

XXXI. When by these exhortations he had
re-aniniuted their courage, he ordered them to
take refreshment, and prepare for a march.
On the following day, he proceeded upwards
along the bank of the Rhone, directing his route
towards the interior parts of Gaul ; not because
that was the more direct road to the Alps, but
because he thought that the farther he with-
drew from the sea, the less probability there
would be of bis meeting with the Romans, with
whom he did not intend to come to battle, until
he should have arrived in Italy. After a march
of four days, he came to the Island. Here the
rivers Isara and Rhone, which run down from
different parts of the Alps, after encompassing
a pretty large tract of ground, unite their
streams, and the plain enclosed between them
is called the Island. The adjacent country is
inhabited by the Allobroges, a nation, even in*
those times, inferior to none in Gaul in power
and reputation, but at that juncture weakened
by discord. Two brothers disputed the sove-
reignty. The elder, who had been invested
with the government, by name Brancus, was
dispossessed by the younger brother, and a com-
bination of the younger men ; on which side,
though there was less justice, there was more
strength. Most opportunely, the parties in this
dimension referred their pretensions to the
judgment of Hannibal, who being appointed
arbitrator of the disputed sovereignty, gave a
decision agreeable to the sense of the senate,
and of the principal men in the state : that the
government should be restored to the elder.
In requital of which favour, he was assisted
with a supply of provisions, and plenty of all
kind of necessaries, particularly of clothing,
which the terrible accounts of the cold of the
lusher regions made it necessary to provide.
After settling the disputes of the Allobroges,

though now bent on proceeding to the Alpt,
he took not the direct road thither, but turned
to the left into the country of the TricaMines ;
thence, through the extreme boundaries of the
Vocontian territory, he advanced into that of
the Tricorians, meeting no obstruction until he
came to the river Druentia. This also, deriv-
ing its source from the Alps, is, of all the rivers
in Gaul, the most difficult to pass ; for, though
conveying a vast body of water, it admits not
the use of ships ; because, being confined by no
banks, it flows in several, and not always the
same channels, continually forming new shal-
lows, and new whirlpools, so that a person is
in danger of missing his way ; and besides, roll-
ing down loose gritty stones, the footing is
unsteady. Happening too, at that time, to be
swelled by rains, it caused the utmost disorder
among the troops on their passage, and which
was much increased by their own hurry and
confused clamours.

XXXII. In about three days after Hanni-
bal's moving from the bank of the Rhone, the
consul Publius Cornelius had come with his
forces, in order of battle, to the camp of the
enemy, intending to fight them without delay.
But finding the fortifications abandoned, and
concluding that, as they had got the start of him
so far, it would be difficult to overtake them,
be marched back to the sea, where his slu'ps
lay; for he judged that he might thus with
greater ease and safety meet Hannibal on his
descent from the Alps. However, not to leave
Spain, the province which the lots had assigned
to his care, destitute of the aid of Roman troops,
he sent his brother Cneius Scipio, with the
greater part of his forces, against Hasdrubal,
with the expectation not merely of protecting
old allies, and acquiring new, but of driving him
out of Spain. He himself, with a very small
force, repaired to Genoa, proposing, with the
army which was stationed on the Po, to provide
for the security of Italy. From the Druentia,
Hannibal, passing through a tract in general
level, without any molestation from the Gaula
inhabiting those regions, arrived at the Alps.
And now, notwithstanding that the men had
already conceived notions of the scene from re-
port, which, in cases capable of misrepresenta-
tion, generally goes beyond the truth, yt>t the
present view exhibited such objects as renewed
all their terrors ; the height of the mountains,
the snows almost touching the sky, the wn tehed
huts standing on the cliffs, the cattle and
3 D

394

THE HISTORY

[BOOK xxi.

beasts shivering with the cold, the people
squalid and in uncouth dress-, all things, in
short, animate and inanimate, stiffened with
frost, besides other circumstances more shock-
ing to the sight than can be represented
in words. As they marched up the first
acclivities, they beheld the eminences which
hung over them covered with parties of the
mountaineers, who, if they had posted them-
selves in the valleys out of view, and, rushing out
suddenly, had made an unexpected attack, must
have occasioned the most terrible havoc and
dismay. Hannibal commanded the troops to
halt, and having discovered from some Gauls,
whom he sent forward to examine the ground,
that there was no passage on that side, encamp-
ed in the widest valley which he could find,
where the whole circuit around consisted of
rocks and precipices. Then, having gained
intelligence by means of the same Gauls, (who
differed not much from the others in language
or manners, and who had entered into conver-
sation with them,) that the pass was blocked
up only by day, and that, at night, they separat-
ed to their several dwellings, he advanced at the
first dawn to the eminences, as if with the de-
sign of forcing his way through the pass. This
feint he carried on through the whole day, his
men at the same time fortifying a camp in the
spot where they were drawn up. As soon
as he understood that the mountaineers had re-
tired from the heights, and withdrawn their
guards, he made, for a show, a greater number
of fires than was proportioned to the troops who
remained in the camp, and, leaving behind the
baggage, with the cavalry and the greatest part
of the infantry, he himself, with a light-armed
band, composed of the most daring men in the
army, pushed rapidly through the pass, and took
post on those very eminences of which the
enemy had been in possession.

XXXIII. At the first dawn of the next
day, the rest of the army began to march for-
ward. By this time the mountaineers, on a
signal given, were coming together out of their
fortresses to their usual station ; when, on a
sudden, they perceived a part of the enemy
over their heads in possession of their own
strong post, and the rest passing along the road.
Both these circumstances striking them at once,
they were for some time incapable of thought,
or of turning their eyes to any other object.
Afterwards, when they observed the confusion
in the pass, and that the body of the enemy

was disordered on their march, by the hurry
among themselves, and particularly by the un-
ruliness of the affrighted horses, it was imagin-
ed that, to augment in any degree the terror
under which they already laboured, were effec-
tually to destroy them : they therefore ran
down the rocks in an oblique direction through
pathless and circuitous ways, which habitual
practice rendered easy to them : and now the
Carthaginians had to contend at once, with the
Gauls and the disadvantage of the ground ; and
there was a greater struggle among themselves
than with the enemy, for every one strove to
get first out of danger. But the greatest dis-
order was occasioned by the horses, which af-
frighted at the dissonant clamours, multiplied
by the echoes from the woods and valleys, be-
came nearly unmanageable ; and when they
happened to receive a stroke or a wound, grew
so unruly as to overthrow numbers of men, and
heaps of baggage of all sorts ; and as there
were abrupt precipices on each side of the pass,
their violence cast down many to an immense
depth, so that the fall of such great masses pro-
duced a dreadful effect. Although these were
shocking sights to Hannibal, yet he kept his
place for a while, and restrained the troops that
were with him, lest he should increase the tu-
mult and confusion. Afterwards, seeing the
line of the army broken, and that there was
danger of their being wholly deprived of their
baggage, in which case the effecting of their
passage would answer no purpose, he hastened
down from the higher ground ; and while, by
the mere rapidity of his motion, he dispersed
the forces of the enemy, he at the same time
increased the confusion among his own. But
this, when the roads were cleared by the flight
of the mountaineers, was instantly remedied,
and the whole army was soon brought through
the pass not only without disturbance, but al-
most without noise. He then seized a fort,
which was the capital of that district, and seve-
ral villages that lay round it, and fed his army
for three days with cattle taken from the fugi-
tives. During these three days, as he was not
incommoded by the mountaineers, nor much
by the nature of the ground, he made a consi-
derable progress in his march.

XXXIV. He then reached the territory of
another state, which was thickly inhabited for
a mountainous country : there, he was very
near suffering a defeat, not by open force, but
by his own arts, treachery, and ambush. Some

Y. n. 534-1

OF ROME.

395

men of advanced age, governors of their forts,
came to the Carthaginian as umlrnssadors, with
humble representations, that •• as the calami-
ties of others had afforded them a profitable
lesson, they wished to make trial of the
friendship, rather than of the strength of
the Carthaginians. That they were, there-
fore, resolved to yield obedience to all his
commands, and requested him to accept of
provisions and guides on his march, and
hostages to insure the performance of their
engagements." Hannibal neither hastily cre-
diting, nor yet slighting their offers, lest, if
rejected, they might declare openly against him,
after returning a favourable answer, accepted
the hostages, and made use of the provisions
which they had, of their own accord, brought to
the road; but followed the guides, not as
through a friendly country, but with the strict-
est order in his march. The elephants and
cavalry composed the van, and he himself fol-
lowed with the main body of the infantry,
carefully inspecting every particular. On their
coming into a road narrower than the rest, con-
fined, on one side, by an impending hill, the
barbarians rising up on all sides from places
where they had lain concealed, assailed them in
front and rear, in close and in distant fight,
rolling ddwn also huge rocks on the troops.
The most numerous body pressed on the rear.
There, the main force of infantry was ready to
oppose them ; but had not that been very,
strong, it must undoubtedly, in such a difficult
pass, have suffered very great loss ; even as the
case stood, it was brought to the extremity of
danger, and almost to destniction. For whilst
Hannibal hesitated to lead down his horsemen
into the narrow road, though he had left no
kind of support at the back of the infantry, the
mountaineers, rushing across and breaking
through between the two divisions of the army,
took possession of the pass, and Hannibal
spent one night separated from his cavalry and
baggage.

XXXV. Next day, the barbarians having
relaxed the violence of their attacks in the cen-
tre, the troops were re-united, and carried
through the defile, but not without loss ; the
destruction, however, was greater among the
beasts of burthen than among the men. Thence-
forward, the mountaineers made their attacks
in smaller parties, more like robbers than an
army ; at one time, on the van ; at another, on
the rear ; just as the ground happened to afford

them an advantage, or as stragglers advancing
before the rest, or staying behind, gave them an
opportunity. As the driving the elephants
through the narrow roads, even with all the
haste that could be made, occasioned much loss
of time, so wherever they went, they effectually
secured the troops from the enemy, who being
unaccustomed to such creatures, dared not to
come near them. On the ninth day the army
completed the ascent to the summit of the Alps,
mostly through pathless tracts and wrong roads,
into which they had been led, either by the
treachery of their guides, or, when these were
not trusted, rashly, on the strength of their own
conjectures, following the courses of the valleys.
On the summit they remained encamped two
days, in order to refresh the soldiers, who were
spent with toil and fighting ; and, in this time,
several of the beasts, which had fallen among
the rocks, following the tracts of the army,
came into the camp. Tired as the troops were,
of struggling so long with hardships, they found
their terrors very much increased by a fall of
snow, this being the season of the setting of
the constellation of the Pleiades. ' The troops
were put in motion with the first light ; and as
they marched slowly over ground which was
entirely covered with snow, dejection and de-
spair being strongly marked in every face,
Hannibal went forward before the standards,
and ordering the soldiers to halt on a projecting
eminence, from which there was a wide extend-
ed prospect, made them take a view of Italy,
and of the plains about the Po, stretching
along the foot of the mountains ; then told
them, that " they were now scaling the walls,
not only of Italy, but of the city of Rome.
That all the rest would be plain and smooth,
and after one, or, at most, a second battle, they
would have the bulwark and capital of Italy in
their power and disposal." The army then be-
gan to advance, the enemy now desisting
from any farther attempts on them, except by
trifling parties for pillaging, as opportunity of-
fered. But the way was much more difficult
than it had been in the ascent ; the declivity, on
the Italian side of the Alps, being, in most pla-
ces, shorter, and consequently more perpendicu-
lar ; while the whole way was narrow and slip-
pery, so that the soldiers could not prevent their
feet from sliding, nor, if they made the least false
step, could they, on falling, stop themselves in

1 The bt'giuuijig ol" Xovoiniir,.

396

THE HISTORY

EBOOK xxi.

the place ; and thus men and beasts tumbled
promiscuously over one another.

XXXVI. They then came to a ridge much
narrower than the others, and composed of rock
so upright, that a light-armed soldier, making
the trial, could with much difficulty, by lay-
ing hold of bushes and roots, which appeared
here and there, accomplish the descent. In
this place the precipice, originally great,
had by a late falling away of the earth,
been increased to the depth of at least one
thousand feet. Here the cavalry stopped,
as if at the end of their journey, and Hannibal,
wondering what could be the cause of the troops
halting, was told that the cliff was impassable.
Then going up himself to view the place, it
seemed clear to him that he must lead his army
m a circuit, though ever so great, and through
tracts never trodden before. That way, how-
ever, was found to be impracticable. The old
snow, indeed, had become hard, and being
covered with the new of a moderate depth, the
men found good footing as they walked through
it ; but when that was dissolved by the treading
of so many men and beasts, they then trod on
the naked ice below. Here they were much
impeded, because the foot could take no hold
on the smooth ice, and was besides the more
apt to slip, on account of the declivity of the
ground ; and whenever they attempted to rise,
either by aid of the hands or knees, these slip-
ping, they fell again ; add to this, that there
were neither stumps nor roots within reach, on
which, they could lean for support ; so that they
wallowed in the melted snow on one entire
surface of slippery ice. This the cattle some-
times penetrated as soon as their feet reached
the lower bed, and sometimes, when they lost
their footing, by striking more strongly with
their hoofs in striving to keep themselves up,
they broke it entirely through ; so that the
greatest part of them, as if caught in traps, stuck
fast in the hard and deep ice.

XXXVII. At length, after men and beasts
were heartily fatigued to no purpose, they fixed
a camp on the summit, having with very great
difficulty cleared even the ground which that re-
quired, so great was the quantity of snow to be
dug and carried off. The soldiers were then
employed to make a way down the steep,
through which alone it was possible to effect a
passage ; and, as it was necessary to break the
m;iss, they felled and lopped a number of huge
trees which stood near ; which they raised into

a vast pile, and as soon as a smart wind arose,
to fonvard the kindling of it, set it on fire, and
then, when the stone was violently heated,
made it crumble to pieces by pouring on vine-
gar. When the rock \vas thus disjointed, by
the power of the heat, they opened a way
through it with iron instruments, and inclined
the descents in such a manner, that not only
the beasts of burthen, but even the elephants,
could be brought down. Four days were spent
about this rock, during which the cattle were
nearly destroyed by hunger ; for the summit?
are, for the most part, bare, and whatever b'ttle
pasture there might have been was covered by
the snow. In the lower parts are valleys and
some hills, which, enjoying the benefit of the
sun, with rivulets at the side of the woods, are
better suited to become the residence of human
beings. There the horses were sent out to
pasture, and the men, fatigued with their labour
on the road, allowed to rest for three days.
They then descended into the plains, where
the climate, and likewise the temper of the in-
habitants, were of a still milder cast.

XXXVIII. In this manner, as nearly as
can be ascertained, they accomplished their
passage into Italy, in the fifth month, according
to some authors, after leaving New Carthage,
having spent fifteen days in crossing the Alps,
As to what number of forces Hannibal had
when he arrived in Italy, writers by no means
agree. Those who state them at the highest
make them amount to one hundred thousand
foot, and twenty thousand horse ; while those
who state them at the lowest say twenty thou-
sand foot, and six of horse. The authority of
Lucius Cincius Alimentus, who writes that he
was taken prisoner by Hannibal, would have
the greatest weight with me, did he not con-
found the number, by adding the Gauls and
Ligurians. He says that, including these,
(who it is more probable, however, flocked to
him afterwards, and so some waiters assert,)
there were brought into Italy eighty thousand
foot, and ten thousand horse; and that he
heard from Hannibal himself, that from the
time of his passing the Rhone, he had lost
thirty-six thousand men, together with a vast
number of horses, and other beasts of burthen,
before he left the country of the Tauriniiins,
the next nation to the Gauls, as he went down
nto Italy. That he came through this state,
s agreed on by all. I am therefore the more
surprised at its remaining doubtful by what

y. K. 140.]

OF ROME.

59 7

road he crossed the Alps ; and that the opinion
bhould commonly prevail, that he passed over
the Pennine hill, and that from thence that
summit of these mountains got its name.
Cu'lius says, that he passed over the hill of
Cremo. Either of these passes would have
led him, not into the territory of the Tauri-
nians, but through that of the mountaineers,
called Salassians, to the Libuan Gauls. Nor
is it probable that those roads into hither
Gaul should, ;.t that time, have been open :
those, especially, which lead to the Pennine
hill would have been blocked up by nations
half German. And besides, if the asser-
tions of the inhabitants be admitted as an
argument of any weight, it must be allowed,
that the Veragrians, the inhabitants of that
very hill, deny that the name was given to
these mountains from any passage of the Car-
thaginians, and allege that it was so named
from a person, called by the mountaineers Pen-
ninus, worshipped as a divinity on the highest
top.

XXXIX. Hannibal had now a favourable
opportunity for commencing his operations ;
the Taurinians, the nation lying nearest in his
way, being at war with the Insubrians. But
he could not put his forces under arms to assist
either party, because they now felt most sensibly,
while endeavouring to remedy them, the mala-
dies which they had before contracted. For rest
after toil, plenty after scarcity, and care of their
persons after a course of filth and nastiness, pro-
duced little effect in the various disorders of those
whose bodies were grown squalid and filthy to
a degree of brutality. This consideration in-
duced the consul Publius Cornelius, as soon
as he arrived with the fieet at Piste, though the
army which he received from Manlius and
Atilius was composed of raw troops, and dis-
pirited by their late disgraces, to hasten to the
Po, in order that he might engage the enemy
before he should recover bis vigour. But by
the time the consul came to Placentia, Hanni-
bal had moved from his post, and had taken by
storm a city of the Taurinians, the metropolis
of the nation, because it had refused an offer of
his friendship ; and he would have drawn over
to his side, either by their fears or inclinations,
nil the Gauls dwelling near the Po, had not the
sudden arrival of Cornelius, whcu they were
watching for an occasion of revolting, put a
ftiop to their measures. Hannibal likewise ad-
vanced towards them from the country of the

Taurinians, in expectation that, as they had not
yet resolved what party they would join, his
presence might determine them in his favour.
The armies were now almost within view of each
other, and the leaders, though not yet thorough,
ly acquainted, brought with them a degree of
mutual admiration : for the name of Hannibal,
even before the destruction of Saguntum, was
highly famed among the Romans ; and the
very circumstance of Scipio having been par-
ticularly chosen for the command, supposed
him a person of extraordinary merit. They
were exalted still higher in each other's opinion :
Scipio, by the celerity with which, though left
behind in Gaul, he had met Hannibal at his
coming down into Italy : Hannibal, by having
not only formed but executed the daring design
of passing over the Alps. Scipio, however,
first crossed the Po, and removed his camp to
the river Ticinus ; where, wishing to encourage
his soldiers before he led them out to battle, he
addressed them in a speech to this effect.

XL. " Soldiers, if I were marching to bat-
tle at the head of the army which I had \vitb
me in Gaul, I should have thought it needless
to use any words to you . for why exhort either
those horsemen, who, without difficulty defeated
the enemy's cavalry at the river Rhone ; or
those legions, with wliom I pursued this same
enemy, and obtained, by their refusing to fight,
and actually flying before us, an acknowledg-
ment of victory? In the present state of
things, as that army, which was enlisted for
the province of Spain, is employed with my
brother Cneius Scipio, under my auspices, in
the place where it was the will of the senate,
and people of Rome, that it should be employ-
ed : and that I, in order that you might have a
consul to lead you against Hannibal and the
Carthaginians, have taken a voluntary part in
this contest : as a new commander, I think it
requisite to speak a few words to soldiers who
are new to me. Now that you should not
be unacquainted either with the nature of the
war, or with the enemy ; know/ soldiers, that
you are to fight against men whom, in the for-
mer war, you conquered both on land and
sea ; from whom you have exacted tribute for
twenty years past ; from whom you took,
and still hold, Sicily and Sardinia, the prices
of your victory. In the present dispute, con*
sequently, the spirit of the parties will be —
yours, that of conquerors ; theirs, that of men
conquered. Nor is it confidence, but necessity,

398

THE HISTORY

[BOOK xxi.

which now prompts them to fight : unless you
suppose, that those, who avoided fighting, when
their force was entire, have acquired greater con-
fidence, after the loss of two-thirds of their in-
fantry and cavalry, in the passage over the Alps ;
after greater numbers have perished than survive.
But it may be said, they are few indeed, but
vigorous in mind and body, having a power
and strength no force can withstand. On the
contrary, they are but the resemblance, mere
shadows of men, rendered lifeless by hunger,
cold, filth, and nastiness : battered and disabled
among the rocks and precipices. Add to this,
their joints benumbed, their sinews stiffened,
their limbs, shrivelled by the frost, their armour
shattered and broken, their horses lamed and
enfeebled. Such is the infantry, such the cav-
alry, with whom you are to fight. You will
have to deal, not with enemies, but the remains
of enemies. And nothing do I fear more,
than lest, before you come to a battle, the Alps
may appear to have conquered Hannibal. But
perhaps it was right that it should be so ; that,
against a nation and commander, guilty of a
breach of treaties, the gods themselves should
commence the war, and break the force of the
enemy ; and that we who, next to the gods,
were the party injured, should then take it up,
and carry it on to a conclusion.

XL I. " In what I say on this head, I am
not afraid of being suspected of ostentatious
boasting, for the purpose of encouraging you,
while my real sentiments are different. I
might have proceeded with my army into Spain,
my own province, to which I had gone part of
the way ; where I should have had my brother
to assist me in council, and to share the danger ;
and, instead of Hannibal, I should have had
Hasdrubal to contend with; and, certainly, a
less difficult war to manage. Nevertheless, as
I sailed along the coast of Gaul, having heard
of the approach of this enemy, I landed, sent
forward my cavalry, and moved my camp to the
Rhone. In a battle, fought by the cavalry, the
only part of my forces which had an opportun-
ity of fighting, the enemy was routed ; and be-
cause I could not, on land, overtake their body
of infantry, which was carried away with all
the rapidity of flight, I returned to my ships,
and with the utmost expedition that I could
make, through such a long circuit by sea and
land, I have met him at the foot of the Alps.
Now, whether do I appeal- to have fallen in
unawares with this formidable foe, while I

wished to decline a contest with him, or to
have designedly thrown myself in the way of
his route, to challenge and force him to a trial
of strength ? I feel a strong desire to try whe-
ther, in these twenty years past, the earth has
all at once produced a new breed of Carthagin-
ians ; or whether they are the same with those
who fought at the islands JEgates, whom you
ransomed at Eryx at a valuation of eighteen
denarii ' a-head ; and whether this Hannibal be,
as he represents himself, another Hercules,
equally renowned for his expeditions ; or one
left by his father, a subject, a tributaiy, and
slave to the Roman people ; who, if he were
not struck with madness, as a punishment for
the guilt of his behaviour at Saguntum, would
reflect, if not on the conquest of his country, at
least on the acts of his own family; on his
father, on the treaties written by the hand of
Hamilcar ; who, in obedience to the commands
of our consul, withdrew his forces from Eryx ;
who, agitated with extreme sorrow, accepted
the burthensome conditions imposed on the
conquered Carthaginians, and signed an en-
gagement to evacuate Sicily, and to pay tribute
to the Roman people. Wherefore, soldiers, I
wish that you may fight, not only with the same
spirit which you usually show against other
foes, but with a degree of resentment and indig-
nation, as if you saw your own slaves suddenly
taking arms against you. We might have kept
them shut up at Eryx, until they perished with
hunger, the severest suffering that man can un-
dergo ; we might have carried over our victor-
ious fleet to Africa ; and in the space of a few
days, without opposition, have demolished
Carthage. At their supplications, we granted
pardon : we gave them liberty to depart from
the place where we held them confined ; after
conquering them, we made peace with them ;
afterwards, when they were distressed by a war
in Africa, we considered them as entitled to
our protection. In return for these favours,
they follow the lead of a.hot-brained youth, and
come to invade our country. I wish, that on
our side, this contest was merely for glory, and
not for safety. We are not to fight about the
possession of Sicily and Sardinia, the subjects of
the former dispute, but in defence of Italy ;
neither is there another army behind us, which,
if we fail to conquer, might withstand the
enemy ; nor are there other Alps, during his

1 11s. 7d.

Y. R. 534.]

OF ROME.

3! 19

passage over which new forces might be pro-
cured. Here, soldiers, we must make a stand,
as if we were fighting under the walls of Rome.
Let every one persuade himself, that he is pro-
tecting with his arms, not only his own person,
but his wife, and his infant children. Nor let
him consider, solely, his own domestic con-
cerns, but frequently reflect, that the senate and
people of Rome look for safety at our hands ;
that our strength, and our courage, are now
to determine, what will henceforth be the con-
dition of that city and of the Roman empire."

XL1I. Thus, on the side of the Romans,
was the consul employed. Hannibal, choosing
to rouse the courage of his soldiers by the ex-
hibition of facts before he made use of words,
formed his troops in a circle, and then placed
in the middle the prisoners taken on the moun-
tains, bound in fetters ; when, such arms as
are used by the Gauls being thrown at their
feet, he ordered an interpreter to ask, whether
any of them were willing, on the condition of
being released from bonds, — and, in case of
proving victorious, of receiving each a horse
and armour,— to hazard his life in a combat ;
they all, to a man, called for arms and the combat,
and when lots were cast, to single out the par-
ties, every one wished himself to be the for-
tunate person who should be chosen for the
trial : while he on whom it had fallen, dancing
according to their custom, eagerly snatched up
the arms, full of spirit, and exulting with joy,
his companions congratulating him on his good
fortune. While they were fighting, such were
the sensations excited in the breasts, not only
of their comrades, but of the spectators in
general, that the fate of those who died brave-
ly, was deemed not less happy than that of the
successful combatants.

XLIII. The minds of his men being thus
affected by the sight of several pairs of com-
batants, he dismissed the remainder ; and then,
summoning an assembly, addressed them, it is
said, in the following manner : " If, soldiers,
you form a judgment of your own circumstan-
ces, on the same principles which actuated you
just now, on the exhibition of a case wherein
others were concerned, we are conquerors.
For that spectacle was not intended as a gra-
tification to you, but a picture in some sort of
your own situation. Indeed, I know not
whether fortune has not imposed on you still
stronger bonds, and a more powerful necessity,
for using arms than on your prisoners. You

are inclosed, on the right and left, by two seas,
without so much as even a single ship to aid
an escape : hemmed in on the front by the Po,
a river larger and more violent than the Rhone ;
and behind by the Alps, which, in your full
strength and vigour, you passed not without
the utmost difficulty. Here, soldiers, where
you have first met the enemy, you must con-
quer or die : and the same fortune which com-
pels you to fight, holds out to you prizes of
victory ; greater than which, men seldom wish
for at the bands of the immortal gods. Were
we, by our bravery, to recover only Sicily and
Sardinia, ravished from our fathers, these
would be a very ample recompence. But
whatever the Romans have acquired and amas-
sed, in consequence of their numerous tri-
umphs, the whole of this, together with the
owners, is to become your property. Ani-
mated, then, by the prospect of so rich a spoil,
take arms, with the favour of the gods. You
have been, hitherto, employed in the pursuit
of cattle through the waste mountains of Lusi-
tania and Celtiberia, without any prospect of
emolument from so many toils and dangers.
It is now time to make profitable and rich
campaigns ; and that, after measuring such a
length of way, through so many mountains and
rivers, and so many armed nations, you be at last
abundantly rewarded for your labour. Here for-
tune has fixed the period of your toils ; here, on
your finishing yourcourse of service, will she give
you ample retribution. And do not imagine the
victory to be as difficult, as the character of
the war is important. Often has a despised
enemy maintained a bloody contest, and re-
nowned nations and kings been vanquished by
exertions of very moderate force. For, setting
aside singly the present splendour of the Ro-
man name, in what one particular are they to
be compared with you ? Not to mention your
service, for the last twenty years, performed
with so great bravery and so great success, you
have effected a march to this place from the
pillars of Hercules, from the ocean, and the re-
motest limits of the world ; opening your way,
with your victorious arms, through so many of
the fiercest nations of Spain and Gaul. You
will now fight with an army of raw troops, who,
during this very summer, were beaten, routed,
and besieged by the Gauls ; who, as yet, nei-
ther know nor are known by their commanders.
Ought I, if not born, at least educated, in the
very tent of that most illustrious general my fa-

400

THE HISTORY

QHOOK xxi.

ther ; I, who have subdued both Spain and
Gaul j the conqueror, likewise, not only of the
Alpine tribes, but what is much more, of the
Alps themselves ; ought I to put myself in
comparison with such a commander as theirs :
a general of six months' standing, who ran away
from his own army ; to whom, if any one, tak-
ing away the ensigns from both, should show
this day the Carthaginians, and the Romans, I
am confident that he would not know of which
army he was consul. On my part, soldiers, I
esteem it a circumstance of no trivial import,
that there is not one of you who has not often
been an eye-witness of my performing some
military exploit ; and to whom, on the other
hand, I cannot, as having been a spectator and
witness of his bravery, recount his own honour-
able acts, with the marks of time and place.
At the head of troops whom I have a thousand
times honoured with praises and presents, I,
who have been a pupil to you all, before I be-
came your commander, shall enter the field
against men unknowing and unknown to each
other.

XLI V. " On whatever side I turn my eyes
I see spirit and firmness ; a veteran body of in-
fantry, cavalry composed of the most gallant
nations : you, our most brave and faithful allies,
and you, Carthaginians, ready to fight in the
cause of your country, and at the same time
with the justest resentment We are the assai-
lants in the war, and are carrying an invasion
into Italy ; we shall fight, therefore, with so
much the greater boldness and courage, as he
who makes the attack, has ever more confidence
and spirit than he who stands on the defensive.
Besides, we are inflamed and stimulated by
reflections on past sufferings, by injuries and in-
dignities : for, first, they insisted, that I, your
leader, should be delivered up to punishment,
with every one concerned in the siege of Sa-
guntum. Had we been put into their hands,
there is no degree of torture which they would
not have made us suffer. That nation, so un-
bounded are its cruelty and arrogance, would
have the whole world at its disposal ; thinks it
has a right to impose regulations on us, and to
prescribe with whom we are to have peace, with
whom war ; circumscribes and shuts us up with-
in boundaries of mountains and rivers, which
we must not pass ; yet observes not itself the
limits which it establishes. You must not pass
the Jberus ; you must not meddle with the Sa-
guntines ; Suguntum is on our side of the Iberus ;

you must not stir a foot. Is it not enough
that you take Sicily and Sardinia, provinces
which have been mine from the earliest times ?
Will you take Spain also ? when I shall have
retired thence, you will pass over into Africa.
Will pass, did I say ! of the two consuls of the
present year they have sent one to Africa, the
other to Spain. There is nothing left to us
any where, unless we make good our claim by
arms. They may be timid and dastardly, who
can look for refuge behind them, who can fly
through safe and quiet roads, and be received
into their own territories and their own lands.
For your part, necessity obliges you to be brave ;
and, since every mean between victory and
death is sunk out of reach; you must resolve to
conquer, or should fortune be unfavourable, to
meet death in battle rather than in flight. If
this determination be firmly fixed in every one
of your breasts, I affirm again, you are con-
querors. The immortal gods never gave to
man a more invigorating incentive to conquest."
XLV. The courage of the soldiers on both
sides being animated to the contest by these
exhortations, the Romans threw a bridge over
the Ticinus, and erected a fort on it for its
security. While they were employed in this
work, the Carthaginian sent Maharbal, with a
squadron of five hundred Numidian horse, to
ravage the lands of the allies of the Roman
people. He ordered him to spare the Gauls,
as much as possible, and to endeavonr, by
persuasion, to bring over their chiefs to his side.
When the bridge was finished, the Roman ar-
my marched over into the country of the Insu-
brians, and sat down at the distance of five
miles from Victumviie. At this place lay Han-
nibal's camp, who, perceiving the approach of a
battle, hastily recalled Mabarbal, and the horse-
men, and thinking that he could never apply too
many arguments and encouragements to inspirit
his soldiers, called them to an assembly, with
promises of several kinds of rewards to be con-
ferred on them, that the certain hope of these
might animate their exertions in the fight. " He
would give them land," he told them, " in Italy,
Africa, or Spain, wherever they should choose ;
exempt from all charges, to the person who
should receive it, and to his children. Should
any prefer money to land, he would give him an
equivalent in silver. To such of the allies as
wished to become citizens of Carthage, that
privilege should be granted. With regard to
those who chose rather to return to their native

^

OF ROME.

401

homes, he would take care that they should not
have cause to wish for an exchange of situation
with uny one of their countrymen." To the
slaves also who attended their masters he pro-
mised liberty, engaging to give the owners two
slaves, in the room of each of these. Then, to
give them full security for the performance of
all this, holding in his left hand a lamb, and in
his right hand a flint stone, he prayed to Jupi-
ter and the rest of the gods, that if he did not
fulfil these engagements, they would slay him,
in like manner as he slew that lamb ; and after
this imprecation, he broke the animal's head
with the stone. This had such an effect, that
all the soldiers, as if they bad now received the
surety of the gods for the ratification of their
hopes, and thinking that nothing delayed the
enjoyment of their wishes, but the battle not
being begun, with one mind, and one voice, de-
manded the fight.

XL VI- Nothing like the same alacrity ap-
peared among the Romans, who, besides other
matter, were dispirited by some late prodigies.
A wolf had entered the camp, and after tearing
such as he met, made his escape unhurt. A
swarm of bees also had pitched on a tree, which
hung over the general's tent. After expiating
these prodigies, Scipio, at the head of his caval-
ry and light spearmen, set out towards the camp
of the enemy, in order to discover, by a near
view of their forces, how great and of what kind
they were ; and was met by Hannibal, who had
likewise advanced with his cavalry to recon-
noitre the adjacent grounds. For some time nei-
ther party descried the other. Afterwards the
dust being raised in thicker clouds by the moving
of so many men and horses, gave notice of ap-
proaching enemies : both detachments halted,
and made ready for battle. Scipio placed his
spearmen and Gallic cavalry in front, keeping
the Romans and the body of allies which ac-
companied him as a reserve. Hannibal drew
the bridled cavalry into the centre, strengthen-
ing his wings with the Numidians. The shout
was scarcely raised before the spearmen fled to
the second line ; then the battle was maintained
by the cavalry, for a considerable time with
doubtful success ; but afterwards, in conse-
quence of the confusion caused among the hor-
ses by the footmen being intermixed with them,
many of the riders fell from their seats, and
others, on seeing their friends surrounded and
distressed, dismounted to assist them ; so that
the fight was now carried on mostly on foot, un-

I.

til the Numidians, posted on the wings, taking
a small compass, showed themselves on the rear.
This terrified and dismayed the Romans, whose
fears were augmented by a wound received by
the consul, who was rescued from farther dan-
ger by the speedy intervention of his son, just
arrived at the age of maturity. This is the
same youth, who is afterwards to enjoy the re-
nown of terminating this war, and to receive
the title of Africanus, on account of his glo-
rious victory over Hannibal and the Carthagin-
ians. However, very few fled precipitately,
except the spearmen, on whom the Numidians
made the first charge. The rest formed a com-
pact body of cavalry ; who, taking the consul
into their centre, and covering him, not only
with their arms, but with their bodies, without
any disorder or precipitation in their retreat,
brought him back to the camp. Coclius attri-
butes the honour of saving the consul to a slave,
by nation a Ligurian : but I rather wish the
account to be true which gives it to his son j
and so the fact is represented by most authors,
and generally believed.

XL VII. Such was the first battle with Han-
nibal, in which it manifestly appeared that the
Carthaginian was superior in cavalry ; and, con-
sequently, that open plains, such as those be-
tween the Po and the Alps, were unfavourable
to the Romans in their operations. Where-
fore the consul, on the night following, or-
dering his men to prepare in silence for a
march, decamped from the Ticinus, and has-
tened to the Po, in order that, before the rafts
should be loosened, of which he had formed
the bridge over that river, he might carry over
his forces without tumult or interruption from
the enemy's pursuit They got as far as Pla-
centia, before Hannibal received any certain
information of their departure from the Tici-
nus. Nevertheless, he made prisoners six hun-
dred men, who delayed on the hither bank,
spending too much time in unbinding the raft.
He could not pass over the bridge, because, as
soon as the extremities were untied, the whole
collection of rafts floated down with the cur
rent. Ccelius relates, that Mago, with the ca-
valry and the Spanish infantry, immediately
swam over the river ; and that Hannibal him-
self led over the rest of the army, through fords
somewhat higher up, forming the elephants in
a line above them, to break the force of the
current. These accounts can hardly gain credit
with people acquainted with the river Po : for
3£

402

THE HISTORY

[BOOK xxi.

it is not credible, that the cavalry could stem
such a violent current, without losing their arms
and horses, even allowing that all the Spaniards
were conveyed over on leathern bags inflated ;
besides, that it would have cost a circuit of
many days' march to find fords in the Po,
through which an army, heavily encumbered
with baggage, could make a passage. Those
authors seem to me more worthy of credit, who
relate, that, with difficulty, after two days'
search, a place was found where a bridge of
rafts could be constructed ; and that over this
the cavalry and light-armed Spaniards were sent
forwards under Mago. While Hannibal, who
waited on the same side of the river to give
audience to embassies from the Gauls, was
bringing over the heavy troops, Mago and his
horsemen, in one day's march after passing the
river, came up with the enemy at Placentia.
In a few days after, Hannibal fortified a camp
within six miles of Placentia ; and next day,
drawing up his forces in the enemy's view, of-
fered them battle.

XL VIII. On the night following, there was
a violent outrage committed in the Roman
camp by the auxiliary Gauls ; which, however,
was attended with greater tumult than loss of
lives. A number of them, amounting to two
thousand foot and two hundred horse, killing
the guards at the gates, deserted to Hannibal.
The Carthaginian received them with expres-
sions of much kindness ; and after animating
their zeal by prospects of vast rewards, dismiss-
ed them to their respective states, to engage
the rest of their countrymen in his interest.
Scipio, apprehending that this outrage was a
signal for a general revolt of the Gauls ; and
that, infected with the same treacherous spirit,
they would run like madmen to arms, though
still very ill of his wound, marched away in si-
lence, at the fourth watch of the following
night, toward the river Trebia, and removed
his camp to higher grounds, and hills less ad-
vantageous to the operations of cavalry. His
departure was not so secret as at the Ticinus ;
Hannibal, therefore, sending on first the Nu-
midians, afterwards all his cavalry, would have
caused great disorder, at least in the rear of the
army, had not the Numidians, out of their
greediness for plunder, turned aside into the
forsaken camp of the Romans. While search-
ing narrowly every part of it, without finding
any prize to compensate for the loss of time,
they let the enemy slip out of their bands. Af-

terwards, coming within sight of the Romans,
when they had already passed the Trebia, and
were pitching their camp, they cut off a few,
who loitered behind the rest on that side of the
river. Scipio, unable to endure any longer the
pain of his wound, which was exasperated by
the rough motion in travelling, and at the same
time judging it prudent to wait for his col.
league, (for he had by this time heard that he
was recalled from Sicily,) chose a spot near
the river, which seemed the safest for a fixed
station, and there fortified his camp. Hannibal
took post at a small distance ; and though he
felt much joy at the success of his cavalry, yet
finding no less cause of anxiety in the scarcity
of necessaries, daily increasing as he marched
through an enemy's country without magazines
prepared, he sent a detachment to the small
town of Clastidium, where the Romans had
collected a large store of corn. Here, while
the troops were preparing for an assault, a pros-
pect offered of the town being betrayed to them,
and accordingly the commander of the garrison,
one Dasius, a Brundusian, for a bribe of no
great amount, only four hundred pieces of gold,1
surrendered Clastidium to Hannibal. This
served the Carthaginians as a granary, while
they lay encamped on the Trebia. The prison-
ers, who fell into his hands on the surrender of
the garrison, he treated without severity, being
desirous that, at the commencement of his pro-
ceedings, a good opinion should be conceived
of his clemency.

XLIX. While the operations of the land
forces on the Trebia were at a stand, much was
effected by land and sea, in and round Sicily,
and the other islands adjacent to Italy, both by
Sempronius the consul, and before his arrival.
Of twenty quinqueremes, sent by the Cartha-
ginians with one thousand soldiers, to ravage
the coast of Italy, nine arrived at Liparse, eight
at the island of Vulcan, and three were driven
by the current into the streight. As soon as
these were seen from Messana, twelve ships
were despatched by Hiero, king of Syracuse,
who happened to be then in that city waiting
for the Roman consul, and these took them
without opposition, and brought them into port
to Messana. From the prisoners it was dis-
covered that, besides the fleet of twenty ships
to which they belonged, and which had been
sent against Italy, another of thirty-five quin-

1 JE25 Ifo. 8rf.

v. R. 534.]

OF ROME.

403

queremes was on its way to Sicily, to rouse
their ancient allies in their cause ; that their
principal object was the getting possession of
Lilyhieum, and it was the opinion of the prison-
ers that the same storm by which they had been
dispersed, had driven the other fleet to the is-
lands Agates. This intelligence, just as he
received it, the king despatched in a letter to
Marcus jEmilius, the praetor, whose province
Sicily was, and cautioned him to secure Lily-
baeuin with a strong garrison. Immediately
the lieutenants-general and tribunes, who were
with the pnetor, were sent off to the several
states, with orders to keep their men attentive
and alert in guarding their posts ; and that,
above all things, Lilybaeum should be effectual-
ly secured. A proclamation was also publish-
ed, that, besides every warlike preparation, the
mariners' should bring on board the ships pro-
visions for ten days ready dressed, so that no
one should have any delay to prevent his em-
barking the moment the signal should be given ;
and that, through the whole extent of the coast,
those stationed at the watch-towers should be
vigilant in looking out for the approach of the
enemy's fleet. In consequence of these precau-
tions, notwithstanding that the Carthaginians
purposely slackened the course of their ships,
designing to reach Lilybaeum a little before day,
they were observed on their approach ; for the
moon shone through the whole night, and they
came with their sails aloft ; in the same instant
the signal was made on the watch-towers, the
alarm given in the town, and the men embark-
ed in the ships ; one half of the soldiers
mounted guard on the walls and at the gates,
the other were on board the fleet. On the
other hand, the Carthaginians, perceiving that
preparations were made for their reception, re-
mained until day-break at the mouth of their
harbour, employing the intermediate time in
taking down their rigging, and fitting their ships
for action. When day appeared, they drew
back their fleet into the open sea, in order that
they might have room for fighting, and give the
enemy's ships free egress from the harbour.
Nor did the Romans decline an engagement,
being emboldened by the recollection of their

1 Socii navolet. These words sometimes, as here,
mean merely the mariners, such as the rowers, and
other* whose business it is to navigate the ship : at other
times, they mean the soldiers, who served regularly on
board the fleet, as those corps who, with us, are distin-
guished by the name of ' Marines.'

former successes near that very spot, and by
confidence in the number and bravery of their
men.

L. When they got into the open sea, the
Romans showed a desire of coming up with
the enemy, and trying their strength with them
in close fight. The Carthaginians, on the
contrary, wished to elude their attacks, to ef-
fect the business by skill, not by force, and to
make it a contest of ships, not of men or arms :
for there was on board their fleet an abundance
of mariners, but a scarcity of soldiers, and
when a ship was grappled, their number ot
fighting men to defend it was by no means
equal to that of the enemy. This circumstance
being discovered, the Romans assumed addi-
tional courage from the fulness of their numbers ;
and while the others were dispirited by their
deficiency in that respect, seven Carthaginian
ships were quickly surrounded, and the rest
betook themselves to flight. In the captured
ships, there were of soldiers and mariners
one thousand seven hundred, among whom
were three Carthaginian nobles. The Ro-
man fleet without loss returned into the
harbour, one ship only being bulged, and eveu
that brought into port. Very soon after this
battle, before those who were at Messana had
heard of it, Tiberius Sempromus, the consul,
came to that city. On his entering the streight,
king Hiero, with a fleet completely equip-
ped, sailed to meet him, and going from the
royal galley on board that of the consul, con-
gratulated him on his safe arrival with his ships
and army. After praying for a successful and
happy issue to his expedition into Sicily, he
represented to him the state of the island and
the attempt lately made by the Carthaginians,
assuring him, that, as he had, in the early part
of his life, supported the Roman people in the
former war, so would he now, advanced as he
was in years, support them still with the same
degree of spirit ; that he would, at his own ex-
pense, furnish the consul's legions, and the
crews of his ships, with corn and clothing ; and
then, acquainting him that Lilybaeum and all
the maritime states were exposed to imminent
danger, he informed him that there were many
to whom a revolution would be highly agree-
able. For these reasons the consul judged that
he ought without making any delay, to sail on
directly to Lilybaeum, whither he was accom-
panied by the king and his fleet. On their
passage, they received the news of the fight of

404

THE HISTORY

[BOOK xxi.

Lilybaeum, of the discomfiture of the enemy,
and the capture of their ships.

LI. From Lilybaeum, the consul, after dis-
missing king Hiero with his fleet, and leaving
the prater to defend the coast of Sicily, sailed
over to the island of Melita, which was in the
possession of the Carthaginians. Immediately
on his arrival, Hamilcar, son of Gisgo, com-
mander of the garrison, and somewhat less
, than two thousand soldiers, together with the
town and the island, were surrendered into his
hands. From thence he returned in a few
days to Lilybaeum, where all the prisoners taken
by the consul, and by the praetor, except those
who were of distinguished birth, were sold by
public auction. When the consul thought that
side of Sicily sufficiently secured, he sailed
over to the islands of Vulcan, because there
was a report that the Carthaginian fleet lay
there ; but he met with none at those islands,
for it happened that they had already passed
over to ravage the coast of Italy, and, after
laying waste the territory of Vibo, were now
threatening that city. When he was on his
return to Sicily, he was informed of the descent
made by the enemy on the territory of Vibo.
Letters were at the same time delivered to him
from the senate, containing an account of Han-
nibal's having entered Italy, and also orders to
come to the support of his colleague with all
possible expedition. So many objects demand-
ing his attention at once, he instantly embarked
his troops, and sent them by the upper sea to
Ariminum ; appointed Sextus Pomponius, lieu-
tenant-general, with twenty ships of war, to
defend the territory of Vibo and the sea-coast
of Italy ; made up a fleet of fifty sail for the
praetor Marcus TEmilius ; and, after settling
the affairs of Sicily, sailed himself with ten
ships along the coast of Italy to Ariminum, from
whence he marched his army to the river Tre-
bia, and formed a junction with his colleague.

LII. And now, both the consuls and the
whole of the Roman strength being opposed
to Hannibal, afforded sufficient reason to sup-
pose either that the Roman empire would be
effectually protected by thai force, or that there
would be no room for any farther hopes.
Nevertheless, Scipio, dispirited by the event of
the battle between the cavalry, and by his own
wound, wished to defer coming to action;
while Sempronius, whose spirit had yet met no
check, and who therefore possessed the greater
confidence, was impatient of any delay. The

lands between the Trebia and the Po were at
that time inhabited by Gauls, who during this
struggle between two such potent nations,
showed no partiality to either party, evidently
intending to court the favour of the conqueror.
With this conduct the Romans were well sa-
tisfied, provided they kept themselves entirely
quiet ; but the Carthaginian was highly dis-
pleased, giving out that he had come thither on
an invitation from the Gauls, to set them at li-
berty. In order to gratify his resentment on that
account, and at the same time to maintain his
troops with plunder, he ordered two thousand
foot and one thousand horse, mostly Numidi-
dians, with some Gauls intermixed, to ravage
the whole country, from thence onward to the
banks of the Po. The Gauls, destitute of
support, though they had hitherto kept their
inclinations doubtful, being now compelled by
necessity, declared against the authors of their
sufferings in favour of those who were to
avenge them ; and sent ambassadors to the con-
sul to implore the aid of the Romans for a
country which was suffering severely, in conse-
quence of the too faithful attachment of its in-
habitants to the people of Rome. Scipio ap-
proved not either of the cause or of the season
for undertaking it ; for he doubted the sincer-
ity of that people, both on account of many in-
stances of treacherous behaviour, and parti-
cularly, though the others through length of
time might have been forgotten, on account
of the recent perfidy of the Boians. Sempronius,
on the contrary, was of opinion, that it would be
the strongest tie on the fidelity of the allies, to
let them see that the first who stood in need of
aid had found protection. He then, while
his colleague hesitated, despatched his own
cavalry, joined by one thousand foot, mostly
b'ght spearmen, over the Trebia, to protect the
lands of the Gauls. These falling unexpectedly
on the enemy, while they were straggling in
disorder, and most of them loaded with spoil,
caused great consternation, slew many, and
drove the rest flying before them to their camp.
Though repulsed by the multitude which sal-
lied out, yet, as soon as the rest of their party
came up, they again renewed the fight Suc-
cess afterwards remained doubtful ; sometimes
they retreated, sometimes pursued ; but though,
at last, the advantages were equal on both sides,
yet the honour of the victory was more gener-
ally attributed to the Romans.

LIU. But to no one did it appear more

Y. n. 534.]

OF ROME.

405

important and complete, than to the consul
himself. Hi' was transported with joy, at
having obtained a victory with that part of the
troops, which, iimirr his associate, had been
defeated. " The spirits of the soldiers," he
said, " were now revived ; nor was there any
one, except his colleague, who wished a delay
of action. He, more disordered in mind than
in body, and reflecting on his wound, shuddered
at tlie thoughts of fighting and of arms. But
others ought not to sink into feebleness along
with a sick man. For to what purpose was
farther delay, or waste of time? What third
consul or wluit other army was to be waited
for? The Carthaginians were encamped in
Italy, almost within sight of the city. Their
designs did not aim at Sicily and Sardinia,
which were taken from them, nor at the parts
of Spain on this side of the Iberus, but at the
expulsion of the Romans from the land of their
fathers, from the soil in which they were born.
What sighs would it draw from these," said he,
" who were accustomed to carry war to the
very walls of Carthage, if they were to see us,
their offspring, at the head of consular armies,
skulking within our camp in the heart of Italy ;
and a Carthaginian possessed of the dominion
over the whole extent of country between the
Alps and the Apennine ?" In this manner did
he argue, sitting with his colleague, and also at
the head quarters, as if he were haranguing an
assembly. He was, besides, incited to expedi-
tious measures by the approach of the time of
the elections, for he feared lest the war should
be protracted until the new consuls came into
office ; wishing, likewise, to secure the present
opportunity, and while his colleague was indis-
posed, of engrossing to himself the whole of
the glory. For these reasons, while Scipio
remonstrated in vain, he issued orders to the
soldiers to be ready for battle at a short warn-
ing. Hannibal, plainly perceiving what line
jf conduct would be more advantageous to the
enemy, scarcely entertained any distant hope
that the consuls would enter on any action
without caution and foresight : but understand-
ing, first from report, and afterwards from ex-
perience, that the temper of one of them was
fiery and presumptuous, and supposing his
presumption augmented by the success of the
battle with the plundering party, he then made
little doubt but that he should soon have an
opportunity of coming to action — an occasion
which he was earnestly solicitous to improve,

while the troops of the enemy were raw, while
the more able of their commanders w;is, liy his
wound, rendered incapable of exertion, and
while the Gauls were disposed to act with
vigour; for he well knew that these, whose
number was very great, would follow him with
the less zeal, in proportion as they were drawn
away to a greater distance from home. Thus
wishing for a speedy engagement, he intended,
should any delay be given, to use every means
to bring it about. The Gauls, whom he em-
ployed as spies, (because they were the better
fitted for it, especially as men of that nation
served in both camps,) brought intelligence
that the Romans were prepared for battle ; on
which the Carthaginian began to look about
for a place where he might form an ambuscade,
LIV. In the middle, between the camps,
ran a rivulet, whose banks were uncommonly
steep ; the adjacent ground was covered with
such herbs as grew in marshes, with bushes
and brambles, which usually overspread uncul-
tivated ground. On exambiing the place him-
self, and finding it to be capable of concealing
even horsemen, he said to Mago his brother,
" This is the spot which you must occupy.
Choose out from the whole number of horse
and foot an hundred men of each, and come
with them to me at the first watch. It is now
time to take refreshment." Thus, the attend-
ing officers were dismissed. In some little
time Mago came with his chosen band, and
Hannibal said, " I see you are very able men ;
but that you may be strong, not only in spirit,
but in number, let each of you choose nine like
yourselves out of the troops and companies ;
Mago will show you the pliice where you
are to lie in wait. You will have to deal
with an enemy who is blind with respect to
these stratagems of war." Having thus sent
off this detachment of one thousand horse
and one thousand foot under Mago, Hannibal
ordered the Numidian cavalry to cross the
river Trebia at the first light ; to ride up to the
enemy's gates, and, discharging their weapons
against their men on guard, to draw them out
to battle, and then, as soon as the fight should
be commenced, to retreat leisurely, and by that
means draw them on to the other side of the
river. These were his orders to the Numi-
dians. To the other officers, both of cavalry
and infantry, he gave directions to cause their
men to take refreshment ; and then, under arms,
and with their horses accoutred, to wait the

406

T HE HISTORY

[BOOK xxi.

signal. On the alarm first given by the Nu-
midians, Sempronius, eager for action, led out,
first, all the cavalry, being full of confidence
in that part of his force ; then six thousand
foot, and at last the whole body of infantry, to
the ground previously fixed upon in the plan
which he had adopted. It was then winter,
and the weather snowy, in those places which
lie between the Alps and the Apennine, and
the cold was rendered exceedingly intense by
the proximity of rivers and marshes. Besides
this, both men and horses being drawn out in
a hurry, without having first taken food, or
used any precaution to guard against the intem-
perature of the air, were quite chilled, and as
they approached the river, the more piercing
were the blasts which assailed them. But hav-
ing, in pursuit of the flying Numidians, en-
tered the river, which by rain in the night was
swelled so high as to reach their breasts, their
bodies, on coming out, were all so perfectly
benumbed, that they were scarcely capable of
holding their arms, and, as the day advanced,
they also grew faint through hunger.

LV. Meanwhile Hannibal's soldiers had
fires made before their tents ; oil was distri-
buted to every company to lubricate their joints,
and they had at leisure refreshed themselves
with food. As soon, therefore, as intelligence
was brought, that the enemy had passed the
river, they took arms with sprightly vigour both
of mind and body, and thus advanced to battle.
Hannibal placed in the van the Balearians and
light-armed troops, amounting to about eight
thousand ; and, in a second line, his heavier-
armed infantry, the main power and strength
of his army. The flanks he covered with ten
thousand cavalry ; and, dividing the elephants,
placed half of them on the extremity of each
wing. The consul seeing his cavalry, who press-
ed the pursuit with disorderly haste, taken at a
disadvantage by the Numidians suddenly turn-
ing upon them, recalled them by the signal
for retreat, and posted them on the flanks of
the foot. His army consisted of eighteen thou-
sand Romans, twenty thousand of the allies and
Latine confederates, besides the auxiliary
troops of the Cenomanians, the only Gallic
state that continued faithful to their cause.
This was the force employed in that engage-
ment. The battle was begun by the Balear-
ians, who being too powerfully opposed by the
legions, the light-armed troops were hastily
drawn off to the wings ; which circumstance

proved the cause of the Roman cavalry being
quickly overpowered : for being in number but
four thousand, they had before been hardly able
to maintain their ground against ten thousand ;
especially as they were fatigued, and the others
mostly fresh ; but now they were overwhelm-
ed under a cloud as it were of javelins thrown
by the Balearians. Besides this, the elephants,
advancing in the extremities of the wings, so ter-
rified the horses, as to occasion a general rout.
The fight between infantry was maintained by
an equality of spirit rather than of strength : for
with respect to the latter, the Carthaginians
had brought theirs fresh into the battle, invi-
gorated by food ; the Romans, on the contrary
were enfeebled by fasting and fatigue, and their
limbs stiffened and benumbed with cold. They
would, notwithstanding, have maintained their
ground by dint of courage, had the conflict
rested solely between them and the infantry.
But the Balearians, after the discomfiture of
the cavalry, poured darts on their flanks, and
the elephants had now made their way to the
centre of the line of the infantry ; while Mago,
with his Numidians, as soon as the army had
passed by their lurking place without observing
them, started up at once, and caused dreadful
confusion and terror in the rear.

L VI. Encompassed by so many perils, the
line, notwithstanding, stood for a long time un-
broken, even (which was most surprising to all)
by the attack of the elephants. The light infan-
try, stationed for that purpose, plying these brisk.
ly with iron javelins, made them turn back ; and
then, following them behind, darted their wea-
pons into them, under the tails, in which part,
the skin being softest, it is easy to wound them.
When they were by these means put into dis-
order, and ready to vent their fury on their
own party, Hannibal ordered them to be dri-
ven away from the centre towards the ex-
tremity of the left wing against the auxil-
iary Gauls. These they instantly put to open
flight, which spread new terror amqng the
Romans. They were now obliged to fight in
the form of a circle ; when about ten thousand
of them, having no other means of escape,
forced their way, with great slaughter, through
the centre of the African line, which was com-
posed of the Gallic auxiliaries ; and, as they
could neither return to their camp, from which
they were shut out by the river, nor, by reason
of the heavy rain, discover in what part they
coidd assist their friends, they proceeded

Y. R. 534.]

OF ROME.

407

straight to Placentia. After tliis, si-voral simi-
lar irruptions were made from all quarters, and
those who pushed towards the river were either
drowned in the eddies, or hesitating to enter
the water, were cut off. Some, who, in their
flight, dispersed themselves over the country,
falling in with the tracks of the body of troops
which had retreated, followed them to Placen-
tia ; others, from their fears of the enemy, as-
sumed boldness to attempt the stream, and,
accomplishing their passage, arrived at the
<-ani]>. The rain, mixed with snow, and the
intolerable severity of the cold, destroyed great
numbers of men and horses, and almost all
the elephants. The Carthaginians continued
the pursuit no farther than the river Trebia,
and returned to their camp so benumbed with
the cold, as to be scarcely capable of feeling
joy for the victory ; insomuch that though,
during the following night, the guard of the
Roman camp, and a great part at least of their
soldiers, passed the Trebia on rafts, the Car-
thaginians either perceived nothing of the
matter through the noise made by the rain, or
being, by weariness and wounds, disabled to
move, pretended that they did not perceive it ;
and the enemy lying quiet, the consul Scipio
led the troops in silence to Placentia, and
thence across the Po to Cremona, lest the two
armies, wintering in one colony, should be too
great a burden.

LVII. The news of this disaster caused
such consternation in Rome, that people sup-
posed the enemy would come directly to attack
the city ; and they could see no hope nor aid to
enable them to repel an assault from the walls
and gates. One consul had been defeated at
the Ticinus, the other recalled from Sicily ;
and now that both the consuls, and two consu-
lar armies had been defeated, what other com-
manders, what other legions were there whom
they could call to their support ? While they
were possessed by such desponding fears, the
consul Sempronius arrived; for though the
enemy's cavalry were scattered over the whole
face of the country in search of plunder, yet he
had passed through the midst of them with the
utmost hazard, and with a greater degree of
boldness than of prudence, or of hope either of
escaping notice, or of being able to make resis-
tance in case he were discovered. After hold-
ing the election of consuls, the only business
\\liidi rendered his presence particularly neces-
sary at the time, he returned to his winter-quar-

ters. The consuls elected were Cneius Ser-
vilius and Cains Flaminius. Even in their
winter-quarters the Romans were not allowed
to rest, the Numidian cavalry spreading them-
selves round on every side ; the Celtiberians
and Lusitanians doing the same, where the
ground was too difficult for the horse ; so that
no provisions of any kind could be brought in,
except what were conveyed on the Po in ships.
There was, near Placentia, a magazine fortified
with strong works, and supplied with a numer-
ous garrison. In hopes of gaining possession
of this stronghold, Hannibal marched at the
head of his cavalry and light infantry ; and
judging that the success of the enterprise would
depend, principally, on the design being kept
secret, made the attack by night ; but he did
not escape the vigilance of the guards, as a
shout was instantly raised so loud that it was
heard even at Placentia. In consequence of
this, the consul came to the spot before day
with his cavalry, having ordered the legions to
follow in order of battle.1 Meanwhile the ac-
tion began between the cavalry, in which Han-
nibal being wounded, and retiring from the
fight, his men became dispirited ; and the de-
fence of the fortress was effectually maintained.
After this, taking but a few days to rest, and
scarcely allowing time for his wound to be
thoroughly healed, he set out to lay siege to
Victumviae. This had been fortified by the
Romans for a magazine, in the time of the
Gallic war. Afterward, numbers of people,
from all the neighbouring states, fixing their
residence round it, made it a populous place,
and at this juncture, fear of the enemy's
depredations had driven into it the greater
part of the country people. The multitude,
thus composed, being excited to a warmth of
courage by the report of the gallant defence
made by the garrison near Placentia, snatched
up arms, and marched out to meet Hannibal.
The parties engaged on the road, in the order of
march, rather than of battle, and as there was,
on one side, nothing more than a disorderly
crowd, on the other a leader confident of his
soldiers, and a soldiery confident of their leader,
a number, not less than thirty five thousand,
was routed by a small party. Next day they

1 Agmen quadratum signifies not a regular line of
battle, lint the troops marching in the same order in
whirh they were formed in the field of battle, the t'elitei
in front, and then the Uastati, I'rincijtft, and TVtam,
in their order.

THE HISTORY

[BOOK xxi.

capitulated, and received a garrison within their
walls. They were then ordered to deliver up
their arms, with which they had no sooner com-
plied, than a signal was suddenly given to the
conquerors to sack the city, as if taken by storm.
Nor have writers, in cases of the like nature,
mentioned any one calamity which was not suf-
fered on this occasion : every outrage, which
lust, cruelty, and inhuman insolence could dic-
tate, being practised on those wretched people.
Such were Hannibal's enterprises during the
winter.

L VIII. After this he gave rest to his troops,
but riot for any great length of time, only while
the cold was intolerable. Upon the first and
even uncertain appearances of spring, he left
his winter quarters, and marched towards Etru-
ria, determined, either by force or persua-
sion, to prevail on that nation to join him, as
he had already managed the Gauls and Ligu-
rians. As he was attempting to cross the
Apennine, he was encountered by a storm so
furious, that its effects almost equalled in seve-
rity the disasters of the Alps. The rain, which
was attended with a high wind, being driven
directly into the men's faces, they at first halt-
ed, because they must either have cast away
their arms, or, if they persisted to struggle for-
ward, would be whirled round by the hurricane,
and thrown on the ground. Afterwards, scarce-
ly able to respire, they turned their backs to
the wind, and for awhile sat down. But now
the whole atmosphere resounded with loud
thunder, and lightnings flashed between the
tremendous peals, by which all were stunned,
and reduced, by terror, nearly to a state of in-
sensibility. At length the violence of the rain
abating, and the fury of the wind increasing,
the more necessary it was judged to pitch their
camp on the very spot, where they had been
surprised by the tempest. But this was, in a
manner, beginning their toils anew. For neither
could they well spread their canvass, nor fix the
poles ; and such tents as they did get raised,
they could not keep standing, the wind tearing
and sweeping off every thing in its way. And
soon after, the water being raised aloft by the
force of the wind, and congealed by the cold
which prevailed above the summits of the
mountains, came down in such a torrent of
snowy hail', that the men, giving over all their
endeavours, threw themselves flat on their faces,
buried under, rathtr than protected by, their
coverings. This was followed by cold so in-

tense, that when they wished to rise from
among the wretched crowd of prostrated men
and cattle, they were for a long time unable to
effect it, their sinews being so stiffly frozen
that they were scarcely able to bend their joints.
In some time, when, after many efforts, they at
length regained the power of motion, and re-
covered some degree of spirits, and when fires
began to be kindled in a few places, every one
who was unable to assist himself had recourse
to the aid of others. Two days they remained
in that spot, as if pent up by an enemy. Great
numbers of men and cattle perished, and like-
wise seven of the elephants, which had surviv-
ed the battle at the Trebia.

LIX. Descending therefore from the Apen-
nine, he directed his route back towards Pla-
centia ; and, having marched ten miles, pitch-
ed his camp. Next day be led out against the
enemy twelve thousand foot, and five thousand
horse. Nor did the consul Sempronius (for
he had by this time returned from Rome) de-
cline a battle ^ and, during that day, the armies
lay encamped within three miles of each other.
On the following, they fought with the greatest
bravery, and with variable success. At the
first onset, the superiority was so great on the
side of the Romans, that they not only had the
better in the fight, but drove the enemy from
their ground, pursued them to their camp, and
presently attacked the camp itself. Hannibal,
after posting a few to defend the rampart and
gates, collected the rest in close order, in the
middle of the camp, ordering them to watch
attentively the signal for sallying forth. It
was now near the ninth hour of the day,
when the Roman, having fatigued his troops
without effect, and seeing no prospect of
success, gave the signal for retreat. As soon
as Hannibal perceived that they slackened
their efforts, and were retiring from the camp,
he instantly sent out his cavalry against them,
on the right and left ; and he himself, at the
head of the main body of infantry, rushed
out in the middle. Seldom has there been
a fight more desperate, and never perhaps, one
more remarkable for the loss on both sides than
this would have been, had the day-light al-
lowed it to continue ; but night put a stop to
the battle, while its fury was at the highest.
The numbers slain, therefore, were not great,
in proportion to the violence of the conflict ;
and as both parties had met nearly equal suc-
cess, so they separated with equal loss. On

y. R. 534.]

OF ROME

409

neither side fell more than six hundred foot,
and half that number of horse. But the loss
of the Romans was more considerable in re-
gard of the quality, than of the number of their
slain ; for among the killed were several of
equestrian rank, five military tribunes, and
three prefects of the allies. Immediately
after this battle, Hannibal removed into Ligu-
ria ; Sempronius, to Lura. On Hannibal's
arrival among the Ligurians, that people, in
order to convince him of their sincerity in the
treaty of peace and alliance which they had
concluded, delivered into his hands two Roman
quaestors, Caius Fulvius and Lucius Lucretius,
with two military tribunes, and five persons of
equestrian rank, mostly the sons of senators,
all of whom they had seized in a treacherous
manner.

LX. While these transactions passed in
Italy, Cneius Cornelius Scipio, who was sent
with the fleet and army into Spain, after his
departure from the mouth of the Rhone, sail-
ing round the Pyrenean mountains, put into
Emporiae, where he disembarked his army ;
and beginning with the Lacetans, partly by re-
newing old treaties, partly by forming new
ones, be brought under the dominion of the
Romans the whole coast, as far as the river
Iberus. The reputation of clemency, which
he acquired by these means, had the most
powerful effect, not only on the maritime
states, but on the more barbarous nations in
the interior and mountainous parts ; insomuch
t.hat, besides agreeing to terms of peace, they
concluded also an alliance with him, and several
ftrong cohorts of auxiliaries were raised among
them. The country on this side the Iberus
was the province of Hanno, whom Hannibal
had left behind for the defence of that tract.
Seeing, therefore, a necessity, before the whole
country should join the enemy, of exerting
himself to obviate that evil, he encamped his
forces within sight of them, and offered them
battle ; this offer the Roman did not hesitate
to accept ; for, knowing that he must fight
Hanno and Hasdrubal, he was better pleased
to engage each of them separately, than to have
to deal with both together. Nor was the dis-
pute very strongly contested. Six thousand of
the enemy were slain and two thousand taken,
besides the guard of the camp, for that also
was stormed, and the general himself,' and
many principal officers made prisoners. The
town of Scissis too, which stood not far from

I.

the camp, fell into the hands of the conquerors.
The ftpoil of this town consisted of articles of
trifling value ; the furniture was mean, suiting
barbarians, and the slaves of little price. But
the camp amply enriched the soldiers with the
effects, not only of the army just now conquer-
ors, but likewise with those of the army serv-
ing under Hannibal, who, to avoid being en-
cumbered on their march with heavy baggage,
had left almost all their valuable substance on
that side of the Pyrenees.

LXI. Hasdrubal, before any certain account
of this disaster reached him, had crossed the
Iberus with eight thousand foot and one thou-
sand horse, intending to meet the Romans at
their first arrival ; as soon as he was informed
of the ruin of affairs at Scissis, and the loss of
the camp, he turned his route towards the sea.
Not far from Tarraco, meeting the soldiers be-
longing to the fleet, and the mariners scattered
and straggling through the country, among
whom success, as is usual, had begotten negli-
gence, he detached his cavalry in several par-
ties against them, and with great slaughter and
greater affright drove them to their ships. But
not daring to continue longer in that quarter,
lest he might be surprised by Scipio, he with-
drew to the other side of the Iberus. On the
other hand Scipio, on hearing of this new
enemy, hastened to the spot with all expedi-
tion, and after punishing a few of the com-
.manders of ships, and leaving a small garrison
at Tarraco, returned with the fleet to Empo-
riae. Scarcely had he departed, when Hasdnibal
arrived, and having prevailed on the state of
the Illergetans, which had given hostages to
Scipio to change sides, he, with the young men
of that state, ravaged the lands of those who
adhered with fidelity to their alliance with the
Romans. Afterwards, on finding that Scipio
was roused thereby from his winter-quarters,
he again entirely evacuated the country on this
side of the Iberus. Scipio, leading his army to
take vengeance on the Illergetans, thus aban-
doned by the author of their revolt, and driving
them all into Athanagia, invested the city, which
was the capital of the state. In the space of a
few days he reduced them to entire submission
and obedience, compelled them to give a greater
number of hostages than before, and also to pay
a sum of money as a fine. From thence he pro-
ceeded against the Ausetanians near the Iber-
us, who had likewise joined in a league with
the Carthaginians. After he had invested their
3 F

410

THE HISTORY

QBOOK xxi.

city, the Lacetans attempted by night to bring ]
succour to their neighbours ; but he surprised
them by an ambuscade, when they were close
to the city and just about to enter; twelve
thousand of them were slain, and the rest,
mostly without their arms, dispersing up and
down through the country, fled to their homes
by different ways. Neither would the besieged
have been able to make a defence, but for the
severity of the winter, which obstructed the
operations of the besiegers. The siege lasted
thirty days, during which the snow lay seldom
less than four feet deep, and it had covered
over the machines and engines of the Romans,
in such a manner, as that of itself alone it proved
a sufficient defence against the fires which were
often thrown on them by the enemy. At last,
Hamusitus their chieftain, having fled away to
Hasdrubal, they capitulated on the terms of
paying twenty talents of silver.1 The army
then returned into winter-quarters at Tarraco.
LXIJ. During this winter, at Rome, and in
its vicinity, many prodigies either happened, or,
as is not unusual when people's minds have
once taken a turn towards superstition, many
were reported and credulously admitted.
Among others, it was said, that an infant of
a reputable family, and only six months old,
had, in the herb-market, called out, " lo, Tri-
umphe ;" that, in the cattle-market, an ox had,
of his own accord, mounted up to the third
story of a house, whence, being affrighted by
the noise and bustle of the inhabitants, he threw
himself down ; that a light had appeared in the
sky in the form of ships ; that the temple of
Hope, in the herb-market, was struck by light-
ning ; that, at Lanuvium the spear of Juno had
shaken of itself ; and that a crow had flown in-
to the temple of Juno and pitched on the very
couch ; that, in the district of Amiternum, in
many places, apparitions of men in white gar-
ments had been seen at a distance, but had not
come close to any body ; that in Picenum, a
shower of stones had fallen j at Caere, the di-
vining tickets were diminished in size ; in Gaul,
a wolf snatched the sword of a soldier on guard
out of the scabbard, and ran away with it.
With respect to the other prodigies, the de-
cemvirs were commanded to consult the books :
but on account of the shower of stones in Pi-
ctnum, the nine days' festival was ordered to be
celebrated, and the expiating of the rest, one

l 3, 97 j/.

after another, was almost the sole occupation ot
the state. 4 In the first place was performed a
purification of the city ; victims, of the greater
kinds, were offered to such gods as were pointed
out by directions. An offering of forty pounds
weight of gold was carried to the temple of Juno
at Lanuvium, and the matrons dedicated a bra-
zen statue to Juno on the Aventine. A lec-
tisternium was ordered at Caere, where the
divining tickets were diminished ; also a sup-
plication to Fortune at Algidum. At Rome,
likewise, a lectisternium was ordered in hon-
our of the goddess Youth, and a supplication
to be performed, by individuals, at the tem-
ple of Hercules, and then, by the whole body
of the people, at all the several shrines. To
Genius five of the greater victims were offered ;
and the praetor Caius Atilius Seranus was or-
dered to vow certain performances, in case the
commonwealth should continue for ten years
in its present state. These expiations and
vows being performed, in conformity to the di-
rections of the Sibylline books, people's minds
were, in a good measure, relieved from the bur-
then of religious apprehensions.

LXIII. Flaminius, one of the consuls elect,
to whom had fallen by lot the legions which
wintered at Placentia, sent an edict and letter
to the consul, desiring that those troops should
be ready in camp at Ariminum on the ides of
March. His design was to enter on the office
of consul in his province ; for he remembered
his old disputes with the patricians, the contests
in which he had engaged with them when tri-
bune of the commons, and afterwards, when
consul, first about the consulship, his election
to which they wanted to annul, and then about
a triumph. He was besides hated by the
patricians on account of a new law, prejudicial
to the senators, introduced by Caius Claudius,
a plebeian tribune, to which Caius Flaminius
alone, of all the patricians, had given his
support, that no senator, or son of a sena-
tor, should be owner of a ship fit for sea-
voyages, which contained more than three
hundred amphoras." This size v/as thought
sufficient for conveying the produce of their
farms, and every kind of traffic was deemed
unbecoming a senator. This business had been
contested with the utmost degree of heat, and
had procured to Flaminius, the advocate for the
law, great hatred among the nobility, but as

2 About ton tons

y. R. 534.]

OF ROME.

411

great popularity among the commons, and, in
consequence of this, a second consulship. For
these reasons, suspecting that they would, by
falsifying the auspices, by the delay of cele-
brating the Latine festival, and other impedi-
ments to which a consul was liable, detain him
in the city, he pretended a journey, and, while
yet in a private capacity, wer.t secretly into
the province. This step, wken it became
known, added fresh resentment to the animo-
sity which, before this, possessed the breasts
of the senators ; they exclaimed, that " Caius
Flaminius now waged war, not only with the
senate, but with the immortal gods. That for-
merly having been made consul under propi-
tious auspices, though gods and men united in
recalling him when ready to give battle, he had
refused obedience ; and now, conscious of hav-
ing treated them with disrespect, had fled to
avoid the capitol, and the customary offering
of vows ; unwilling, on the day of his entering
into office, to approach the temple of Jupiter
supremely good and great ; to see and consult
the senate, to whom he knew that he was odi-
ous ; and that he was the only person by whom
they were hated ; that he had failed to proclaim
the Latine festival, and to perform on the
Alban mount the customary sacrifices to Jupi-
ter Latiaris, to go up to the capitol, under the
direction of auspices, in order to offer vows,
and thence to proceed to his province in the
habit of a commander, and attended by lictors.
Instead of which, he had gone off, without

badges of authority, without lictors, like a sol-
dier's servant, privately and by stealth : just as
if he were quitting his country to go into
exile ; supposing, no doubt, that he might as-
sume his office in a manner more suitable to
the dignity of supreme magistrate at Ariminum,
than at Rome, and put on the consular robe in
a public inn better than in his own dwelling."
They resolved unanimously, that he should be
recalled; that his return should be insisted
upon, and that he should be compelled to per-
form, in person, all duties both to gods and
men, before he went to his province. On
this embassy (for it was resolved that ambas-
sadors should be sent) went Quintus Teren-
tius and Marcus Antistius, whose arguments
had no more weight with him than had the
letter sent to him by the senate in his former
consulate. In a few days after, he entered on
his office, and as he was offering a sacrifice on
the occasion, a calf, after receiving a stroke,
made its escape out of the hands of those who
officiated at the sacrifice, and sprinkled many
of the by-standers with its blood. The con-
fusion and disorder was great, but still greater
among those at a distance, who knew not the
cause of the disturbance. This was generally
interpreted as an omen of dreadful import.
Then, after receiving two legions from Sem-
pronius, the consul' of the former year, and
two from the praetor, Caius Atilius began his
march towards Etruria through the passes of
•the Apennines.

THE

HISTORY OF ROME.

BOOK XXII.

Hannibal, after a laborious march of four days and three nights, without repose, through the marshes, in which
be lost an eye, arrives in Etruria. Caius Fluiniuius, consul, a man of raoh and inconsiderate conduct, is in-
volved, by the artifice of Hannibal, in a dangerous defile, and cut off, with the greatest part of bis army. Fabius
Mnximus created dictator, and sent against Hannibal ; avoids fighting, and baffles Hannibal's efforts. The
master of the horse, Marcus Miuucius, excites general dissatisfaction against the dictator's dilatory conduct ; U
made equal to him in authority ; engages the enemy with his half of the forces, and is saved from utter destruc-
tion by Fabius coming opportunely to his relief, with the other half of the Roman army; acknowledges bis
misconduct, and puts himself again under the command of the dictator. Hannibal, shut up by Fabius in a
valley at Cassilinum, extricates himself by a stratagem of tying fire-brands to the horns of oxen. JErailius
Paullus and Terontius Varro utterly defeated at Cannae, the former being slain, with forty-five thousand men,
of whom were eighty senators, and thirty who had served the office of consul, praetor, or aedile. A project of
abandoning Italy quashed by Publius Cornelius Scipio, a military tribune, who afterwards acquired the surname
of Africanus. Prosperous events in Spain. The Romans enlist slaves ; refuse to ransom the prisoners ; go
out in a body to meet Varro, and thank him for not despairing of the commonwealth.

I. AT the first approach of spring, Hannibal
quitted his winter station. [Y. R. 333. B.C.
217.] He had been foiled before, in his at-
tempt to pass over the Apennine, by the into-
lerable severity of the cold ; for he would gladly
have effected it, exposed as he was, during his
stay in quarters, to the utmost degree of appre-
hension and danger. For, when the Gauls,
whom the hopes of spoil and pillage had allur-
ed to his standard, perceived, that, instead of
carrying off booty from the lands of others,
their own had become the seat of war, and that
they were burthened with the winter residence
of both the contending armies, they turned up-
on Hannibal the enmity which they had har-
boured against the Romans. Many plots were
formed against him, by their chiefs, from the
effects of which he was preserved, by their trea-
cherously betraying one another, and discover-
ing their designs, through the same inconstancy
which led them to conspire against him. But
still he was careful to guard himself against
their plots, by frequent disguises; changing
sometimes his dress, sometimes the covering of

his head. Howerer, his fears on this account
were his principal motives for leaving his win-
ter quarters earlier than usual. In the mean
time at Rome, Cneius Servilius entered on the
office of consul on the ides of March. He
proposed to the senate to take under considera-
tion the state of the commonwealth ; whereup-
on the clamour against Caius Flaminius was
renewed. " They created," they said, " two
consuls, yet had but one. For what legal au-
thority, what auspices did the other possess ?
These the magistrates carried with them from
home, from their own tutelar gods ; and also
those of the public, the Latine festival 'being
celebrated, the sacrifices on the Alban mount
performed, and vows duly offered in the capitol.
Setting out in a private capacity, he could not
carry the auspices with him, neither could he
take them new, and, for the first time, in a fo-
reign soil." Their apprehensions were in-
creased by reports of prodigies, brought from
various places at once. In Sicily, a number
of arrows, and in Sardinia, the truncheon of
a horseman, as he was going the rounds of

414

THE HISTORY

[BOOK xxn.

the watch on the walls of Sulci, took fire,
as was said ; many fires were seen blazing
on the shore ; two shields sweated blood ; seve-
ral soldiers were struck by lightning ; and the
sun's orb appeared to be contracted. At Prae-
neste, red-hot stones fell from the sky. At
Arpi, bucklers were seen in the air, and the
sun fighting with the moon. At Capena, two
moons appeared in the day-time. At Caere,
the streams of water were mixed with blood ;
and even the fountain of Hercules was tinged
with bloody spots. In the district of Antium,
while people were reaping, bloody ears of corn
fell into a basket. At Falerii, the sky seemed
to be rent asunder with a very wide cleft, and
through the opening a strong light burst forth ;
the divining tickets, without any apparent cause,
were diminished in size, and one fell out, which
had this inscription, ' Mars brandishes his
spear." About the same time, at Rome, the
statue of Mars, on the Appian road, and the
images of the wolves, sweated. At Capua,
the sky appeared as if on fire, and the moon as
falling amongst rain. Afterwards, prodigies of
lesser note were heard of: some asserted that
goats were converted into sheep ; that a hen was
turned into a male, and a cock into a female.
The consul, laying before the senate all these
matters, as reported, and bringing the authors
of the reports into the senate-house, proposed
to their consideration the affairs of religion.
They decreed, that" those prodigies should be
expiated, some with the greater, some with the
lesser victims ; and that a supplication for three
days should be performed at all the shrines ;
that, when the decemvirs should have inspected
the books, all other particulars should be con-
ducted in such manner as the gods should
declare, in their oracles, to be agreeable to
them. By the direction of the decemvirs, it
was decreed, that, first, a golden thunderbolt, of
fifty pounds' weight, should be made as an
offering to Jupiter ; and that offerings of silver
should be presented to Juno and Minerva;
that sacrifices of the greater victims should be
offered to Juno Regina, on the Aventine, and
to Juno Sospita, at Lanuvium ; that the ma-
trons contributing such sums of money as might
be convenient to each, should carry an offering
to Juno Regina, to the Aventine, and celebrate
a lectisternium to her: and that even the
descendants of freed women should make a
contribution, in proportion to their abilities,
out of which an offering should be made to

Feronia. When these orders were' fulfilled, the
decemvirs sacrificed, with the greater victims,
in the forum at Ardea : and, lastly, so late as
the month of December, sacrifices were offered
at the temple of Saturn in Rome, and a lecti-
sternium was ordered : on which occasion the
couches were laid out by senators, and also a
public banquet. Proclamation was likewise
made through the city, of a feast of Saturn, to
be celebrated during a day and a night, and the
people were commanded to keep that day as a
festival, and to observe it for ever.

II. While the consul was employed at Rome
in endeavouring to procure the favour of the
gods, and in levying troops, Hannibal set out
from his winter quarters, and hearing that the
consul Flaminius had already arrived at Arre-
tium, he chose — notwithstanding that another
road, less difficult, but longer, was pointed out
to him, — the shorter one through marshes,
which, at that time, were overflowed by the
river Arnus, to an unusual height. He ordered
the Spaniards and Africans, the main strength
of his veteran troops, to march in the van, with
their baggage between their divisions ; that, in
case they should be obliged to halt, they might
not be at a loss for a supply of necessaries ;
then the Gauls to follow, so that they should
compose the centre of the line, the cavalry in
the rear ; and after them Mago, with the light-
armed Numidians, as a rear guard, to prevent
the troops from straggling ; particularly to hin-
der the Gauls, if weary of the labour, or of the
length of the journey, from attempting either
to slip away, or to stay behind : for that peo-
ple, it had been found, want firmness to support
fatigue. The troops in the van, though almost
swallowed in mud, and frequently plunging en-
tirely under water, yet followed the standards
wherever their guides led the way, but the
Gauls could neither keep their feet, nor, when
they fell, raise themselves out of the gulfs,
which were formed by the river from the
steepness of its banks. They were destitute
of spirits and almost hope ; and while sqme,
with difficulty, dragged on their enfeebled
limbs, others, exhausted by the length of way,
having once fallen, lay there, and died among
the cattle, of which great numbers also perish-
ed. But what utterly overpowered them* was
the want of sleep, which they had now endured
for four days and three nights ; for no dry spot
could be found on which they might stretch
their wearied limbs, so that they could only

Y. R. 535.]

OP ROME.

415

throw their baggage into the water in heaps, on
the top of which they luid themselves down.
Even the cattle, which lay dead in abundance
along the whole course of their march afforded
them a temporary bed, as they looked for no
further accommodation for sleeping, than some-
thing raised above the water. Hannibal him-
self, having a complaint in his eyes, occasioned,
at first, by the unwholesome air of the spring,
when changes are frequent from heat to cold,
rode on the only elephant which he had remain-
ing, in order to keep himself as high as possi-
ble above the water ; but at length, the want
of sleep, the damps of the night, with those of
the marshes, so disordered bis head, that, as he
had neither place nor time to make use of
remedies, he lost one of his eyes.

III. At length, after great numbers of men
and cattle had perished miserably, he got clear
of the marshes ; and, on the first dry ground at
which he arrived, pitched his camp. Here,
from scouts, whom he had sent forward, he
learned with certainty, that the Roman army
lay round the walls of Arrctium. He then
employed the utmost diligence in inquiring in-
to the disposition and designs of the consul,
the nature of the several parts of the country,
the roads, and the sources from which pro-
visions might be procured, with every other
circumstance requisite to be known. As to
the country, it was one of the most fertile in
Italy : the Etrurian plains, which lie between
Faesulse and Arretium, abounding with corn
and cattle, and plenty of every thing useful.
The consul was inflated with presumption
since his former consulate, and too regardless,
not only of the laws and the dignity of the senate,
but even of the gods. This headstrong self-
sufficiency, natural to his disposition, fortune
had cherished, by the prosperous course of suc-
cess which she had granted him, in his admin-
istration of affairs, both civil and military.
There was, therefore, sufficient reason to
suppose, that without regarding the sentiments
of gods or men, he would act on all occasions
with presumption and precipitancy; and the
Carthaginian, in order the more effectually to
dispose .him to follow the bias of his natural
imperfections, resolved to irritate and exasper-
ate him. With this view, leaving the enemy
on his left, and pointing his route towards
Faesulsp, he marched through the heart of
Ktmria, ravaging the country, and exhibiting
to the consul, at a distance, a view of the great •

est devastations* that could bo effected by fire
and sword. Flaminius, even had the enemy
bun quiet, would not have been content to re-
main inactive ; but now, seeing the property of
the allies plundered and destroyed before bia
eyes, he thought that on him must fall the dis-
grace of Hannibal's overrunning the middle of
Italy, and even marching, without opposition
to attack the very walls of Rome. Notwith-
standing that every member of bis council
recommended safe, rather than specious mea-
sures ; that he should wait the arrival of his
colleague, when they might enter on the
business with joint forces, and with united
spirit and judgment ; and that, in the meantime,
the enemy should be restrained from bis un-
bounded license in plundering, by means of the
cavalry and light auxiliaries ; he burst away in
a rage, and displayed, at once, the signals both
for marching and fighting. " We must lie,
then," said he, " under the walls of Arretium,
because here is our native city, and our house-
hold gods ; let Hannibal slip out of our hands,
ravage Italy, and, after wasting and burning
all the rest, sit down before Rome ; not stir
from hence, in short, until the senate summons
Caius Flaminius from Arretium, as formerly
Camillus from Veii." While he upbraided
them in this manner, he ordered the standards
to be raised with speed ; and having mounted
on horseback, the animal, by a sudden plunge,
displaced him from his seat, and threw him
over his head, All present were greatly dis-
mayed by such an inauspicious omen, at the
opening of the campaign ; and, to add to their
uneasiness, an account was brought, that one
of the standards could not be pulled out of the
ground, though the standard-bearer endeavoured
it with his utmost strength. The consul,
turning to the messenger, said, " Do you also
bring a letter from the senate, forbidding me
to act ? Go, bid them dig up the standard, if
fear has so benumbed their hands, that they
cannot pull it out." The army then began to
march, while the principal officers, besides
being averse from the design, were terrified at
the two prodigies ; but the generality of the
soldiers rejoiced at the presumptuous conduct
of the general ; for they looked no farther
than the confidence which he displayed, and
never examined the grounds on which it was
founded.

IV. Hannibal, the more to exasperate the
enemy and provoke him to seek revenge for the

416

THE H ISTORY

[BOOK xxii.

sufferings of his allies, desolated, with every ca-
lamity of war, the whole tract of country be-
tween the city of Cortona and the lake Thrasi-
menus. And now the army had arrived at a
spot, formed by nature for an ambuscade, where
the Thrasimenus approaches closest to the Cro-
tonian mountains. Between them is only a
very narrow road, as if room had been designed-
ly left for that purpose ; farther on, the ground
opens to somewhat a greater width, and, beyond
that, rises a range of hills. On these, he formed
a camp in open view, where himself, with the
African and Spanish infantry only, was to take
post. The Balearians, and other light-armed
troops, he drew round behind the mountains,
and posted the cavalry near the entrance of the
defile, where they were effectually concealed by
some rising grounds ; with design, that as soon
as the Romans entered the pass, the cavalry
should take possession of the road, and thus the
whole space be shut up, between the lake and
the mountains. Flaminius, though he arrived
at the lake about sunset, took no care to ex-
amine the ground, but next morning, before it
was clear day, passed through the narrow way,
and when the troops began to spread into the
wider ground, they saw only that party of the
enemy which fronted them; those in ambush
on their rear, and over their heads, quite escaped
their notice. The Carthaginian, having now
gained the point at which he aimed, the Roman
being pent up between the mountains and the
lake, and surrounded by his troops, immediately
gave the signal for the whole to charge at once.
They accordingly poured down, every one by the
shortest way he could find, and the surprise was
the more sudden and alarming, because a mist,
rising from the lake, lay thicker on the low
grounds than on the mountains ; while the par-
ties of the enemy, seeing each other distinctly
enough from the several eminences, were the
better able to run down together. The Ro-
mans, before they could discover their foe,
learned, from the shouts raised on all sides, that
they were surrounded ; and the attack began on
their front and flank, before they could properly
form a line, or get ready their arms, and draw
their swords.

V. In the midst of the general consternation}
the consul, perilous as the conjuncture was,
showed abundance of intrepidity ; he restored,
as well as the time and place would allow, the
ranks, which were disordered by the men turn-
ing themselves about at all the various shouts,

and wherever he could come or be heard, en.
couraged, and charged them to stand steady,
and to fight ; telling them, that " they must not
expect to get clear of their present situation by
vows and prayers to the gods, but by strength
and courage. By the sword men opened a way
through the midst of embattled foes ; and, in
general, the less fear the less danger." But such
was the noise and tumult, that neither his coun-
sel nor commands could be heard with distinct-
ness ; and so far were the soldiers from know-
ing each his own standard, his rank, and post,
that scarcely had they sufficient presence of
mind to take up their arms, and get ready for
fighting, so that many, while they were rather
encumbered than defended by them, were over-
powered by the enemy. Besides, the darkness
was so great, that they had more use of their
ears than of their eyes. The groans of the
wounded, the sound of blows on the men's bo-
dies or armour, with the confused cries of
threatening and terror, drew" attention from one
side to another. Some attempting to fly, were
stopped by running against the party engaged in
fight ; others, returning to the fight, were driven
back by a body of runaways. At length, after
they had made many fruitless essays in every
quarter, and enclosed, as they were, by the
mountains and lake on the sides, by the enemy's
forces on the front and rear, they evidently per-
ceived that there was no hope of safety but in
their valour and their weapons. Every one's
own thoughts then supplied the place of com-
mand and exhortation to exertion, and the ac-
tion began anew, with fresh vigour ; but the
troops were not marshalled according to the
distinct bodies of the different orders of soldiers,
nor so disposed, that the van-guard should fight
before the standards, and the rest of the
troops behind them ; or that each soldier was
in his own legion, or cohort, or company:
chance formed their bands, and every man's
post in the battle, either before or behind the
standards, was fixed by his own choice. So in-
tense was the ardour of the engagement, so
eagerly was their attention occupied by the
fight, that not one of the combatants perceived
a great earthquake, which, at the time, over-
threw large portions of many of the cities
of Italy, turned rapid rivers out of their
courses, carried up the sea into the rivers, and
by the violence of the convulsion, levelled
mountains.

VI. They fought for near three hours, and.

v. R. 585.] OF ROME.

furiously in every part: but round the consul
the buttle xvos particularly hot imd bloody.
The ablest nl' the men attended him, and he \v;i>
himself surprisingly active in supporting his
troops, wherever he saw them pressed, or in
need of assistance ; and, as he was distinguished
above others by his armour, the enemy pointed
their utmost efforts against him, while his own
men defended him with equal vigour. At
length, an Insubrian horseman, (his name De-
cario) knowing his face, called out to his coun-
trymen, " Behold, this is the consul, who cut to
pieces our legions, and depopulated our country
and city. I will now offer this victim to the
shades of my countrymen, who lost their lives
in that miserable manner ;" then, giving spurs
to his horse, he darted through the thickest of
the enemy ; and, after first killing his armour-
bearer, who threw himself in the way of the
attack, ran the consul through with his lance.
He then attempted to spoil him of his arms,
but the veterans, covering the body with their
shields, drove hnn back. This event first caused
a great number of the troops to fly ; and now,
so great was their panic, that neither lake nor
mountain stopped them ; through every place,
however narrow or steep, they ran with blind
haste, and arms and men were tumbled together
in promiscuous disorder. Great numbers, find-
ing no room for farther flight, pushed into the
hake, and plunged themselves in such a manner,
that only their heads and shoulders were above
water. The violence of their fears impelled-
some to make the desperate attempt of escaping
by swimming ; but this proving impracticable,
on account of the great extent of the lake, they
either exhausted their strength, and were
drowned in the deep, or, after fatiguing them-
selves to no purpose, made their way bock, with
the utmost difficulty, to the shallows, and were
there slain, wherever they appeared, by the
enemy's horsemen wading into the same. About
six thousand of the van-guard, bravely forcing
their way through the opposite enemy, got clear
of the defile, and knowing nothing of what was
passing behind them, halted on a rising ground,
where they could only hear the shouting, and
the din of arms, but could not see, by reason
of the darkness, nor judge, with any certainty,
as to the fortune of the day. At length, after
the victory was decided, the increasing heat of
the sun dispelling the mist, the prospect was
opened. The mountains and plains showed
operate condition of their affairs, and the
I.

417

carnage of the Roman army : where-
fnri1. lr-,t on their being seen at a distance, the
cavalry should be sent against them, they has-
tily raised their standards, and hurried away
with all possible speed. Next day, when, be-
sides their other distresses, they were threatened
with the extremity of hunger, Maharbal, who,
with the whole body of cavalry, had overtaken
them during the night, pledging his faith, that
if they surrendered their arms, he would suffer
them to depart with single garments, they deli-
vered themselves into his hands. But this ca-
pitulation Hannibal observed with Punic sin-
cerity, and threw them into chains.

VII. Such was the memorable fight at the
Thrasimenus, and the severe blow there re-
ceived by the Romans, remarkable among the
few disasters of the kind which the nation has
ever undergone. Of the Romans, fifteen thou-
sand were slain in the field ; ten thousand, who
fled, and dispersed themselves through every
part of Etruria, made their way afterwards, by
different roads, home to the city. Of the ene-
my, one thousand five hundred perished in the
fight, and a great many afterwards of their
wounds. By some writers, the loss of men on
both sides is represented as vastly greater : for
my part, besides that I wish to avoid the mag-
nifying any particular whatever, an error to
which writers are in general too prone, I think
it reasonable to give the preference to the au-
thority of Fabius, who lived in the very time
of this war. Hannibal dismissed, without ran-
som, such of the prisoners as were natives of
Latium, the Romans he loaded with chains.
He then ordered that the bodies of his own
men should be collected from among the
heaps of the enemy, and buried ; directing,
at the same time, that the body of Flaminius
should be sought for, with intention to ho-
nour him with a funeral ; but after a most
diligent search, it could not be found. As
soon as the first news of this disaster arrived
at Rome, the people, in great terror and
tumult, crowded together into the forum.
The matrons, running up and down the
streets, asked every one who came in then
way, what sudden calamity was said to have
happened; in what state \\.i- the army? At
length, after a crowd, not less numerous than
that of a full assembly of the people, had col-
lected in the comitium, and about the senate-
house, calling on the magistrates for informa-
tion, a little before sun-set, Marcus Pompo-
3 G

418

THE HISTORY

[BOOK xxir.

nius, the praetor, told them, " We have been
defeated in a great battle." Though nothing
more particular was heard from him, yet the
people, catching up rumours, one from another,
returned to their houses with accounts, that,
" the consul was slain, together with a great
part of his army ; that few survived, and that
these were either dispersed through Etruria, or
taken by the enemy," Every kind of misfor-
tune, which had ever befallen vanquished troops,
was now pictured in the anxious minds of those,
whose relations had served under the consul
Caius Flaminius, having no positive informa-
tion on which they could found either hope or
fear. During the next, and several succeeding
days, a multitude, composed of rather more
women than men, stood round the gates, watch-
ing for the arrival, either of their friends, or of
some who might give intelligence concerning
them ; and whenever any person came up, they
crowded about him with eager inquiries ; nor
could they be prevailed on to retire, especially
from such as were of their acquaintance, until
they had examined minutely into every particu-
lar. Then, when they did separate from about
the informants, might be seen their counten-
ances expressive of various emotions, according
as the intelligence, which each received, was
pleasing or unfavourable ; and numbers, sur-
rounding them, returned to their houses, offer-
ing either congratulations or comfort. Among
the women, particularly, the effects both of joy'
and grief were very conspicuous : one, as we
are told, meeting, unexpectedly, at the very
gate, her son returning safe, expired at the sight
of him : another, who sat in her house, over-
whelmed with grief, in consequence of a false
report of her son's death, on seeing that son
returning, died immediately, through excess of
joy. The praetors, during several days, kept
the senate assembled in their house, from the
rising to the setting of the sun, deliberating by
what commander, or with what forces, opposi-
tion could be made to the victorious Carthagi-
nians.

VIII. Before they had fully determined on
the plans to be pursued, they received an ac-
count of another unexpected disaster : four
thousand horsemen, who had been sent by Ser-
vilius, the consul, to the aid of his colleague,
under the command of Caius Centenius, pro-
praetor, were cut off by Hannibal in Umbria,
whither, on hearing of the right at the Thrasi-
mcnus, they had marched to avoid him. The

news of this event affected people differently :
some, having their minds occupied by grief, for
misfortunes of a momentous kind, certainly
deemed the loss of the cavalry light, in compari-
son : others judged not of the accident by its
own intrinsic importance ; but considered, that
as in a sickly constitution, a slight cause is at-
tended with more sensible effects, than a more
powerful one in a constitution possessed of
vigour ; so any kind of misfortune, happening
to the commonwealth in its present debilitated
condition, ought to be estimated, not by the
magnitude of the affair itself, but by the en-
feebled state of the same, which could not en-
dure any degree of aggravation to its distresses.
Accordingly, the state had recourse to a re-
medy, which for a long time past had neither
been used nor wanted, the nomination of a dic-
tator : and because the consul, who alone was
supposed to possess the power of nominating
that officer, was abroad, and it was difficult
to send either messenger or letter, through
those parts of Italy, occupied, as they were, by
the Carthaginian arms ; and as the people could
not create a dictator, no precedent having yet
existed for it, they therefore, in an assembly,
created a pro -dictator, Quintus Fabius Maxi-
mus, and a master of the horse, Marcus Minu-
cius Rufus. These received a charge from the
senate, to strengthen the walls and towers of
the city ; to post troops in proper places, and
to break down the bridges on the rivers ; since,
having proved unequal to the defence of Italy,
they must fight at their own doors in defence
of the city.

IX. Hannibal marched straight forward,
through Umbria, as far as Spoletum ; which
town, after he had utterly wasted all the adjoin-
ing country, he attempted to take by storm ;
but, being repulsed, with the loss of a great
number of men, and judging, from the strength
of that single colony, his attempt on which had
ended so little to his advantage, what great
difficulties he had to surmount, before he could
master the city of Rome, he changed the di-
rection of his route toward the territory of Pi-
cenum, which not only abounded with provi-
sions of all sorts, but was, besides, well stored
with booty, which his needy and rapacious sol-
diers greedily seized. There he remained during
several days, in one fixed post, and refreshed his
men, who had been severely fatigued by their
long marches in the winter season, and through
the marshes, as well as by the battle, which

Y. n. 585.]

OF ROME.

419

though favourable in the issue, \vns not gained
without danger and fatigue. After allowing
sufficient rest to his troops, who, however, de-
lighted more in plundering and ravaging, than
:n ease and repose, he put them in motion, and
spread devastation through the territories of
Pratulia and Adria. the country of the Mar-
sians, Manucinians, and Pelignians, and the
neighbouring tract of Apulia, round Arpi and
Luceria. The consul, Cneius Servilius, had
fought some slight battles with the Gauls, and

Lentulus, being advised with by the college of
pnetors, gave his opinion, that before any other
steps were taken, the people should be consulted
with respect to the sacred spring ; for that a
vow of that import could not be made without
their order. Accordingly, the question was
proposed to the people in these words : " Do
ye choose and order, that what I am going to
propose shall be performed in this manner :
that in case the commonwealth of the Roman
people, the Quirites, shall, (as I wish it may)

taken one town of no great consequence ; when, I be preserved in safety, during the next five
hearing of the disaster of his colleague, and thej years, from these wars, namely, the war which

troops under his command, and being filled with
apprehensions for the capital of his country, he
resolved not to be out of the way, in a conjunc-
ture of such extreme danger ; he therefore
marched directly towards Rome. Quintus
Fabius Maximus, dictator, a second time, on
the day wherein he entered into office, assem-
bled the senate, when he commenced his
administration with attention to the gods.
Having proved, to the conviction of the assem-
bly, that the faults committed by Cains Flam-
inius, the consul, through his neglect of the
established sacred rites, and the auspices, were
even greater than those which arose from his
rashness and want of judgment ; and that it was
necessary to learn, from the gods themselves,
what atonements would appease their wrath,
he prevailed on them to pass an order, which
was not usual, except when some terrible pro-
digies were announced, that the decemvirs
should consult the Sibylline leaves. These,
after inspecting those books of the fates, re-
ported to the senate, that, " the vow made to
Mars, on occasion of the present war, had not
been duly fulfilled ; that it must be performed
anew, and that in a more ample manner ; that
the great games must be vowed to Jupiter ;
and temples to Venus Erycina and Mens ;
that a supplication and lectisternium must be
performed, and a sacred spring vowed, in case
success attended their arms, and that the com-
monwealth remained in the same state in which
it had been when the war began." The senate,
considering that Fabius would have full em-
ployment in the management of the war, order-
ed that Marcus ./Kmilius, the praetor, should
take care, that all these matters might be per-
formed in due time, according to the directions
of the college of pontiffs.

X. On the passing of these decrees of the
senate, the chief pontiff, Lucius Cornelius

subsists between the Roman people and the
Carthaginians ; and the wars subsisting with
the Gauls, who dwell on this side of the Alps ;
then the Roman people, the Quirites, shall pre-
sent, as an offering, whatever the spring shall
produce, from the herds of swine, sheep, goats,
or oxen ; of which produce, accruing from the
day when the senate and people shall appoint,
whatever shall not have been appropriated by
consecration, shall be sacrificed to Jupiter.
Let him who makes the offering, make it at
what time, and in what form he shall choose :
in whatsoever manner he does it, let the offer-
ing be deemed proper : if that which ought to be
sacrificed die, let it be deemed as unconsecrat-
ed ; and let no guilt ensue. If any person un-
designedly shall break, or kill it, let him incur
no penalty. If any shall steal it, let not
guilt be imputed to the people, nor to him
from whom it is stolen. If any, unknowingly,
offer the sacrifice on a forbidden day, let the
offering be deemed good. Whether the offer-
ing shall be made by night or by day, whether
by a freeman or a slave, let it be deemed good.
If the senate and people shall order it to be
made on an earlier day than a person shall
make it, let the people be acquitted and free
from the guilt thereof. " On the same account,
a vow was made to celebrate the great games,
at the expense of three hundred and thirty-three
thousand three hundred and thirty-three asset
and one third ;' besides three hundred oxen to
be offered to Jupiter; and white oxen, and
other victims, to many other deities. The vows
being duly made, a proclamation was issued, for
a supplication, in the performance of which
joined not only the inhabitants of the city, with
their wives and children, but also those of the
country, who, having any property of their own,

I I.076/. 1*. 6d.

420

THE HISTORY

[BOOK xxn.

were interested in the welfare of the public.
Then was performed the lectisternium, during
the space of three days, under the direction of
the decemvirs of religious rites. There were
six couches exhibited to view, one for Jupiter
and Juno, another for Neptune and Minerva,
a third for Mars and Venus, a fourth for
Apollo and Diana, a fifth for Vulcan and
Vesta, and the sixth for Mercury and Ceres.
The temples were then vowed ; that to Venus
Erycina, by Quintus Fabius Maximus, dicta-
tor ; for such was the direction found in the
books of the fates, that the person who held
the highest authority in the state should vow it
Titus Otacilius, the praetor, vowed the temple
to Mens.

XI. The business relating to religion being
thus concluded, the dictator then proposed to
the senate, to take into consideration the state
of the commonwealth and the war ; and to de-
termine how many, and what legions should be
employed to stop the progress of the victorious
enemy. They passed a decree, that "he
should receive the army from the consul, Cnei-
us Servilius ; in addition to which, he should
levy among the citizens and allies, such num-
bers of horse and foot as he should judge re-
quisite ; and in every other particular, should
act and manage in such a manner as he should
see conducive to the public good." Fabius de-
clared his intention to make an addition of two
legions to the army of Servilius ; these he or-
dered to be levied by the master of the horse,
and appointed a day on which they were to as-
semble at Tibur. Then, having published a
proclamation that those who dwelt in towns or
forts which were incapable of defence, should
remove into places of safety ; and that all the
inhabitants of that tract, through which Han-
nibal was to march, should likewise remove
out of the country, after first burning the
houses, and destroying the fruits of the earth,
to prevent his meeting any kind of supply ; he
himself set out, by the Flaminian road, to meet
the consul and the army. Coming within sight
of the troops, on their march on the bank
of the Tiber, near Ocriculum, and observing the
consul, with some horsemen, advancing, he sent
a beadle to acquaint him, that he must ap-
proach the dictator without lictors. This
order he obeyed; and their meeting raised
an exalted idea of the dictatorship in the
minds both of citizens and allies; who had
now, in consequence of the long disuse, al-

most forgotten that office. Here he received
a letter from the city, with intelligence, that
the transport, carrying ships supplies from
Ostia to the army in Spain, had been cap-
tured by a fleet of the enemy near the
port of Cossa : in consequence of which, the
consul was ordered to proceed immediately
to Ostia, to man all the ships which were at
the city of Rome, or at Ostia, with soldiers
and mariners, to pursue the enemy, and guard
the coasts of Italy. Great numbers of men
had been levied at Rome; even the sons of
freedmen, who had children, and were of mili-
tary age, had enlisted. Of these troops, such
as were under thirty-five years of age were put
on board the ships ; the rest were left to guard
the city.

XIL The dictator, receiving the consul's
army from Ftilvius Flaccus, his lieutenant-
general, came through the Sabine territory to
Tibur, on the day which he had appointed for
the assembling of the new-raised troops ; thence
he went back to Praeneste, and, crossing the
country to the Latine road, led forward his
army; examining, with the utmost care, the
country through which he was to pass, being
determined, in no case, to subject himself to
the disposal of fortune, except so far as neces-
sity might constrain him. When he first
pitched his camp within the enemy's view, not
far from Arpi, the Carthaginian on the same
day, without delaying an hour, led out his
forces, and offered battle ; but, seeing every
thing quiet, and no hurry or bustle in the Ro-
man camp, he returned within his lines, observ-
ing, with a sneer, that the spirit which the
Romans boasted to have inherited from Mars,
was at length subdued ; that they had given
over fighting, and made open acknowledgment
of their abatement in courage and love of glory.
His mind, however, was sensibly affected, on
finding that he had now to deal with a com-
mander very unlike Flaminius and Sempronius ;
and that the Romans, instructed by misfortunes,
had at length chosen a leader which was a
match for Hannibal : and he quickly perceived
that, in the dictator, he had to dread provident
skill more than vigorous exertion. Having
however not yet fully experienced his steadiness,
he attempted to rouse and provoke his temper
by frequently removing his camp, and ravaging
under his eyes the lands of the allies ; at one time
withdrawing out of sight by a hasty march ; at
another, halting in a place of concealment at a

Y. ii. 535.]

OF ROME.

4-21

turn of the road, in hopes of taking him at a dis-
advantage on his coming down in«> the plain.
Fabius led his forces along the high grounds at
a moderate distance from the enemy : so as not
to let him be out of reach, nor yet to come to
an engagement. His men were confined with-
in their camp, except when called forth by some
necessary occasion ; and his parties, sent for
forage and wood, were neither small in number,
nor were they allowed to ramble. An advanc-
ed guard of cavalry and light infantry, properly
equipped, and formed for the purpose of re-
pressing sudden alarms, rendered every place
safe to those of their own side, and dangerous
to such of the enemy as straggled in search of
plunder. Thus, a decisive trial in a general
engagement was avoided. At the same time
slight skirmishes of no great importance com-
menced on safe ground, and where a place of
retreat was at hand, which accustomed the sol-
diers, dispirited by former misfortunes, to place
more confidence both in their own courage and
their fortune. But he found not Hannibal
more inclined to disconcert such wise plans
than his own master of the horse, whom no-
thing but being subordinate in command pre-
vented from plunging the commonwealth into
ruin. Confident and precipitate in his mea-
sures, and allowing his tongue an exorbitant li-
cense, he used, at first in small circles, after-
wards openly in public, to call the dictator slug-
gish instead of cool ; timid instead of cautious ;
imputing to him as faults what had the nearest
affinity to virtues. Thus, by the practice of*
depressing the merit of his superior, — a prac-
tice of the basest nature, and which has become
too general, in consequence of the favourable
success so often attending it, — he exalted him-
self.

XIII. Hannibal led away his forces from
the territory of Arpi into Samnium, ravaged
the lands of Beneventum, took the city of Tele-
sia, and used every means to irritate the Roman
general ; in hopes that by so many indignities,
and the sufferings of his allies, he might be
provoked to hazard an engagement on equal
ground. Among the multitude of the allies
of Italian birth, who had been made prisoners
by the Carthaginian at Thrasimenus, and set at
liberty, were three Campanian horsemen. Han-
nibal on that occasion, by many presents and
promises, engaged them to conciliate the affec-
tions of their countrymen in his favour. These
now informed him, that if he brought his army

into Campania, he would have an opportunity
of getting possession of Capua. The affair
was of much moment, and seemed to demand
more weighty authority. Hannibal hesitated,
inclining at one time to confide in their assur-
ances, at another to distrust them, yet they
brought him to a resolution of marching from
Samnium into Campania ; and he dismissed
them, with repeated charges to fulfil their pro-
mises by deeds, and with orders to return to
him with a greater number and with some of
their principal men. He then commanded his
guide to conduct him into the territory of Ca-
sinum ; having learned from persons acquaint-
ed with the country, that if he seized on the
pass there, the Romans would be shut out, KO
as to prevent their bringing succour to their
allies. But speaking with the Carthaginian
accent, and mispronouncing the Latin words,
the guide misapprehended him as having said
Casilinum instead of Casinum ; so that, turn-
ing from the right road, he led him through the
territories of Allifae, Calatia, and Gales, down
into the plain of Stella. Here Hannibal look-
ing round, and perceiving the place inclosed
between mountains and rivers, called the guide,
and asked him where he was ; and the other
answering, that he would lodge that night at
Casilinum, he at last discovered the mistake,
and that Casinum lay at a very great distance,
in a quite different direction. On this, having
scourged and crucified the guide, in order to
strike terror into others, he pitched and forti-
fied his camp, and despatched Maharbal, with
the cavalry, to ravage the territory of Falerii.
Here the depredations were carried as far as the
waters of Sinuessa, the Numidians committing
dreadful devastations, and spreading fear and
consternation to a still wider extent. Yet did
not this terror, great as it was, and though their
whole country was involved in the flames of
war, induce the allies to swerve from their alle-
giance. They had no desire to change their
rulers, for they lived under a mild and equita-
ble government ; and there is no bond of loyal-
ty so strong.

XIV. The Carthaginians encamped at the
river Vulturnus, and the most delightful tract in
Italy was seen wasted with fire, the country-
seats on every side smoking in ruins. While Fa-
bius led his army along the tops of the Massic
mountains, the discontent in it was inflamed
anew, and to such a degree, as to fall little short
of a mutiny. During a few days past, as their

422

THE HISTORY

[BOOK xxn.

march had been conducted with more expedition
than usual, they had been in good temper, because
they had supposed that this haste was owing to
an intention to protect Campania from further
ravages. But when they had gained the heights,
and the enemy appeared under their eyes, set-
ting fire to the houses of the Falernian district,
with the colony of Sinuessa, and that still no
mention was made of fighting, Minucius ex-
claimed, " Are we come hither to view the
burning and slaughter of our allies, as to a spec-
tacle grateful to the sight ? If no other circum-
stance strikes us with shame, do we feel none
with regard to these our countrymen, whom
our fathers sent as colonists to Sinuessa, to
secure this frontier from the inroads of the
Sammies? And now the frontier is wasted
with fire, not by the Samnites, a neighbouring
state, but by Carthaginians, a foreign race, who,
from the remotest limits of the world, have
effected their progress hither, in consequence
of our dilatory and slothful proceedings. Shame-
fully are we degenerated from our ancestors,
who considered it as an affront to their govern-
ment, if a Carthaginian fleet happened to sail
along this coast ; for we now behold the same
coast filled with the enemy's troops, and posses-
sed by Moors and Numidians. We, who
lately felt such indignation at siege being laid
to Saguntum that we appealed, not only to
mankind, but to treaties and to the gods, now
look on without emotion, while Hannibal is
scaling the walls of a Roman colony. The
smoke from the burning houses and lands is
carried into our eyes and mouths ; our ears
ring with the cries and lamentations of our
allies, invoking our aid oftener than that of the
immortal gods ; yet, hiding ourselves here in
woods and clouds, we lead about our army like
a herd of cattle, through shady forests and des-
ert paths. If Marcus Furius had adopted the
design of rescuing the city from the Gauls, by
the same means by which this new Camillus,
this dictator of such singular abilities, selected
for us in our distresses, intends to recover
Italy from Hannibal, (that is, by traversing
mountains and forests,) Rome would now be
the property of the Gauls ; and great reason do
I see to dread, if we persevere in this dilatory
mode of acting, that our ancestors have so
often preserved it for Hannibal and the Car-
thaginians. But he, who had the spirit of a
man, and of a true Roman, during the very day
on which the account was brought to Veii, of his

being nominated dictator, by direction of the
senate, and order of the people, though the
Janiculum was of sufficient height, where he
might sit and take a prospect of the enemy,
came down to the plain : and, on that same day,
in the middle of the city, where now are the
Gallic piles, and on the day following, on the
road to Gabii, cut to pieces the legions of the
Gauls. What ! when many years after this,
at the Caudine forks, we were sent under the
yoke by the Samnites ; was it by traversing the
mountains of Samnium, or was it by pressing
briskly the siege of Luceria, and compelling
the enemy to fight, that Lucius Papirius Cur-
sor removed the yoke from the necks of the Ro-
mans, and imposed it on the haughty Samnites ?
In a late case, what but quick despatch gave
victory to Cains Lutatius? For on the next
day after he came in view of the enemy, he
overpowered their fleet, heavily laden with pro-
visions, and encumbered with their own imple-
ments and cargoes. To imagine that, by sit-
ting still, and offering up prayers, the war can
be brought to a conclusion, is folly in the ex-
treme. Forces must be armed, must be led out
to the open field, that you may encounter, man
with man. By boldness and activity, the Ro-
man power has been raised to its present height,
and not by these sluggish measures, which
cowards term cautious." While Minucius
harangued in this manner, as if to a general
assembly, he was surrounded by a multitude of
tribunes and Roman horsemen ; aud his pre-
sumptuous expressions reached even the ears of
the common men, who gave evident demonstra-
tions, that if the matter were submitted to the
votes of the soldiery, they would prefer Minu-
cius, as a commander, to Fabius.

XV. Fabius watched the conduct of his
own men with no less attention than that of
the enemy ; determined to show, with respect
to them, in the first place, that his resolution
was unalterable by any thing which they could
say or do. He well knew that his dilatory
measures were severely censured, not only in
his own camp, but likewise at Rome, yet he
persisted, with inflexible steadiness, in the same
mode of conduct during the remainder of the
summer ; in consequence of which, Hannibal,
finding himself disappointed in his hopes of an
engagement, after having tried his utmost en-
deavours to bring it about, began to look round
for a convenient place for his winter-quarters :
for the country where he then was, though it

Y. 11. 5

OF R O M E.

4-23

afforded plenty for the present, was incapable
of furnishing a lasting supply, because it
abounded in trees and vineyards, and other
plantations of such kinds as minister rather to
pleasure than to men's necessary demands. Of
this his intention, Fabius received information
from scouts ; and knowing, with a degree of
certainty, that he would return through the
same pass by which he had entered the Faler-
nian territory, he detached parties of moderate
force to take possession of Mount Caliculo,
and Casilinum, which city, being intersected
by the river Vulturnus, is the boundary be-
tween the Falernian and Campanian territor-
ies. He himself led back his army along the
same eminences over which he had come, send-
ing out Lucius Hostilius Maudlins, with four
hundred horsemen of the allies, to procure in-
telligence. This young man, who had often
made one of the crowd of listeners to the pre-
sumptuous harangues of the master of the
horse, proceeded at first, as the commander of
a party of observation ought, watching, from
safe ground, the motions of the enemy : after-
wards, seeing the Numidians scattered about
through the villages, and having, on an oppor-
tunity that offered, slain some of them, his
whole mind was instantly occupied by the
thoughts of fighting, and he lost all recollection
of the orders of the dictator, who had charged
him to advance only so far as he might with
safety, and to retreat before he should come
within the enemy's sight. Several different
parties of the Numidians, by skirmishing and
retreating, drew him on almost to their camp,
by which time both his men and horses were
greatly fatigued. Here Cartalo, commander-
in-chicf of the cavalry, advancing in full career,
jbliged his party to fly before he came within
A dart's throw, and, almost without relaxing in
speed, pursued them in their flight through the
'ength of five miles. Manrinus, when he saw
that the enemy did not desist from their pur-
suit, and that there was no prospect of escap-
ing, exhorted his men to act with courage, and
faced about on the foe, though superior to him
in every particular. The consequence was,
that he, and the bravest of his party, were sur-
rounded, and cut to pieces : the rest, betaking
themselves to a precipitate flight, made their
escape, first to Gales, and thence, by ways al-
inu-t impassable, to the dictator. It happened
that, on the same day, Minucius rejoined Fa-
bius, having been sent to secure, by a body of

troops, a woody hill, which above Tarrarina,
forms a narrow defile, and hangs over the sea ;
because it was apprehended, that, if that Iwr-
rier of the Appian way were left unguarded,
the Carthaginian might penetrate into the ter-
ritory of Rome. The dictator and master of
the horse, having re-united their forces, march-
ed down into the road, through which Hanni-
bal was to pass. At this time the enemy were
two miles distant.

XVI. Next day the Carthaginians, march-
ing forward, filled the whole road which lay
between the two camps ; and though the Ro-
mans had taken post close to their own ram-
part, with an evident advantage of situation,
yet the Carthaginian advanced with his light-
horsemen, and, in order to provoke the enemy,
made several skirmishing attacks, charging, and
then retreating The Romans kept their posi-
tion, and the fight proceeded without vigour,
more agreeably to the wish of the dictator than
to that of Hannibal. Two hundred Romans,
and eight hundred of the enemy, fell. There
was now reason to think, that by the road to
Casilinum being thus blockaded, Hannibal was
effectually pent up ; and that while Capua and
Samnium, and such a number of wealthy allies
at their back, should furnish the Romans with
supplies, the Carthaginian, on the other hand,
would be obliged to winter between the rocks
of Formise, the sands of Linternum, and horrid
stagnated marshes. Nor was Hannibal insen-
sible that his own arts were now played off
against himself. Wherefore, seeing it imprac-
ticable to make his way through Casilinum, and
that he must direct his course to the moun-
tains, and climb over the summit of the Cali-
cula, lest the Romans should fall on his troops
in their march, when entangled in the valleys,
he devised a stratagem for baffling the enemy
by a deception calculated to inspire terror, re-
solving to set out secretly in the beginning of
the night, and proceed toward the mountains.
The means which he contrived for the execution
of his plan were these : collecting combustible
matters from all the country round, he caused
bundles of rods and dry twigs to be tied fast
on the horns of oxen, great numbers of which,
trained and untrained, he drove along with him,
among the other spoil taken in the country,
and he made up the number of almost two
thousand. He then gave in charge to Hasdru •
bal, that as soon as the darkness of the night
came on, he should drive this numerous herd,

424

THE HISTORY

[BOOK xxn.

after first setting fire to their horns, up the
mountains, and particularly, if he found it
practicable, over the passes where the enemy
kept guard.

XVII. As soon as it grew dark the army
decamped in silence, driving the oxen at some
distance before the van. When they arrived at
the foot of the mountains and the narrow roads,
the signal was instantly given that fire should
be set to the horns of the oxen, and that they
should be driven violently up the mountains in
front; when their own fright, occasioned by
the flame blazing on their heads, together with
the heat, which soon penetrated to the quick
and to the roots of their horns, drove them on
as if goaded by madness. By their spreading
about in this manner all the bushes were
quickly in a blaze, just as if fire had been set
to the woods and mountains, and the fruitless
tossing of their heads serving to increase the
flames, they afforded an appearance as of men
running up and down on every side. The
troops stationed to guard the passage of the
defiles, seeing several fires on the tops of the
mountains, concluded they were surrounded,
and quitted their post, taking the way, as the
safest course, towards the summits, where they
saw fewest fires blazing. Here they fell in
with several of the oxen, which had scattered
from the herds to which they belonged. At
first, when they saw them at a distance, ima-
gining that they breathed out flames, they
halted in utter astonishment at the miraculous
appearance ; but afterwards, when they discov-
ered that it was an imposition of human con-
trivance, and believing that they were in danger
of being ensnared, they hastily, and with re-
doubled terror, betook themselves to flight.
They met also the enemy's light infantry, but
night inspiring equal fears, prevented either
from beginning a fight until day-light. In the
meantime Hannibal led his whole army through
the defile, where he surprised some Romans in
the very pass, and pitched his camp in the terri-
tory of Allife.

XVIII. Fabius perceived the tumult ; but,
suspecting some snare, and being utterly averse
from fighting, in the night particularly, he kept
his men within their trenches. As soon as
day appeared, a fight commenced near the sum-
mit of the mountain, in which the Romans,
who had considerably the advantage in num-
bers, would have easily overpowered the light
infantry of the enemy, separated as they were

from their friends, had not a cohort of Spaniards,
sent back by Hannibal for the purpose, come
up to the spot. These, both by reason of the
agility of their limbs, and the nature of their
arms, being lighter and better qualified for
skirmishing among rocks and cliffs (to which
they were accustomed), by their manner of
fighting, easily baffled the enemy, who were used
to act on plain ground in steady fight, and who
carried weighty arms. After a contest, there-
fore, by no means equal, they both withdrew to
their respective camps ; the Spaniards with al-
most all their men safe, the Romans with the
loss of many. Fabius likewise decamped, and
passing through the defile, seated himself in a
high and strong post above Allifae. Hannibal,
now counterfeiting an intention to proceed to
Rome through Samnium, marched back as far
as the country of the Pelignians, spreading
devastation every where as he went. Fahius
led his army along the heights, between the
route of the enemy and the city of Rome, con-
stantly attending his motions, but never giving
him a meeting. From the territory of Pelig.
num, Hannibal altered his route ; and, direct-
ing his march back towards Apulia, came to
Gemnium, a city whose inhabitants had aban-
doned it, being terrified by a part of the walls
having fallen in ruins. The dictator formed
a strong camp in the territory of Larinum ;
and, being recalled thence to Rome, on account
of some religious ceremonies, he pressed the
master of the horse not only with orders, but
with earnest advice, and almost with prayers,
to " confide more in prudence than in fortune ;
and to imitate his conduct in command rather
than that of Sempronius and Flaminius. Not
to think there had been no advantage gained,
in having foiled the designs of the Carthagi-
nian through almost the whole length of the
summer ; observing, that even physicians some-
times effect their purpose better by rest than by
motion and action ; that it was a matter of no
small importance to have ceased to be 'defeated
by an enemy so inured to victory ; and, after a
long course of disasters, to have gained time
to breathe." After urging these cautions, which
were thrown away on the master of the horse,
he set out for Rome.

XIX. In the beginning of the summer
wherein these transactions passed, the opera-
tions of the war commenced in Spain also, both
by land and sea. Hasdrubal, to the number
of ships which he had received from his bro.

Y. n. 535.]

OF ROM Iv

I •_»:,

ther, manned and in rcadine.-* tor sen i<v, added
ten; and giving the ciiiiimaiul of this lleet of
fnrty -hips to Hamilco, set out from N'ew
( .ivthage, marching his army along the shore,
while the fleet sailed on, at a small distance
from the land ; so that he was prepared to
fight on either element, as the foe should come
In his way. Cneius Scipio, on hearing that
the enomy had moved from their winter-quar-
ters, at first designed to pursue the same plan
of operations ; but, afterwards, on hearing that
they had been joined by vast numbers of new
auxiliaries, he judged it not so prudent to meet
them on land ; sending, therefore, on board his
ships, nn additional number of chosen soldiers,
he put to sea, with a fleet of thirty-five sail
On the next day after his leaving Tarraco, he
arrived at a harbour within ten miles of the
mouth of the river Iberus, and despatching
thence two Alassilian scout-boats, learned from
them, that the Carthaginian fleet lay in the
mouth of that river, and that their camp was
pitched on the bank. Intending, therefore, by
a general attack with his whole force, at once
to overpower the enemy, while unprovided and
off their guard, he weighed anchor, and advanced
towards them. They have, in Spam, a great
many towers built in lofty situations, which
are used both as watch-towers, and as places
of defence against pirates. From these the
Roman fleet was first descried, and notice given
of it to Hasdnibal. This caused much confu-
sion in the camp on land, and somewhat earlier
than the alarm reached the ships, where they
hud not heard the dashing of oars, nor any
other noise usually accompanying a fleet. The
capes, likewise, shut out the enemy from their
view, when on a sudden, while they were ram-
Miiii,' about the shore, or sitting quietly in their
expecting nothing less than the approach
of an enemy, or a fight on that day, several
Inn-. men, despatched by Hasdnibal, came one
after another, with orders for them to go on
board instantly, and get ready their arms, for
that the Roman fleet was just at the mouth of
the harbour. These orders the horsemen, sent
for the purpose, conveyed to every part ; and
presently Hasdnibal himself arrived with the
main body of the army. Every place was now
filled with noi.se and tumult . the rower* and
soldiers hurrying to their ships, like men mak-
ing their escape from land rather than going to
b.ittle. Scarcely liail all tjot Oil board when
-ome nt die M ueb haviiu' untied the hawsers
L

at the sterns, were carried foul of their nnchon.
Every thing was done with too much hurry
and precipitation, so that the business of the
mariners was impeded by the preparations of
the soldiers, and the soldiers were prevented
from taking and preparing their arms by the
bustle and confusion of the mariners. The
Romans, by this time, were not only drawing
nigh, but had already formed their ships in
order of battle. The Carthaginians, therefore,
falling into the utmost disorder, to which the
enemy's attack contributed not more than the
confusion prevailing among themselves, tacked
about, and fled ; and as the mouth of the river,
to which they steered their course, did not
afford an entrance to such an extensive line,
and as such numbers crowded in together, their
ships were driven on shore ; many striking on
banks, others on the dry strand. The soldiers
made their escape, some with their arms, others
without them, to their friends, who were drawn
up on the shore. However, in the first en-
counter, two Carthaginian ships were taken,
and four sunk.

XX. The Romans, without hesitation, pur-
sued their dismayed fleet, notwithstanding that
the land was possessed by the enemy, and that
they saw a line of their troops underarms,
stretched along the whole shore ; and all the
ships which had either shattered their prows by
striking against the shore, or stuck their keels
fast in the sand banks, they tied to their sterns
and towed out into the deep. Out of the forty-
ships they took twenty -five. The most bril-
liant circumstance attending their victory was,
that by this one battle, which cost them so lit-
tle, they were rendered masters of the sea
along the whole extent of that coast. Sailing
forward, therefore, to Honosca, they there
made a descent, took the city by storm, and
sacked it. Thence they proceeded to ( 'ar-
thage, and, after wasting all the country round,
at last set fire to the houses contiguous to
the very walls and gates. The ships, now
heavily laden with booty, went on to Longun-
lica, where a great quantity of okum, ' for
cordage, had been collected by llasdruhal for
the use of the fleet. Of this they carried off
as much as they had occasion for, and burned
the rest. Nor did they carry their operations
along the open coasts of the continent only,
hut passed over to the island of Ebusa, where

1 A kind of liniiiin

426

THE HISTORY

[BOOK XXH.

they in vain attempted, during two days, and
with their utmost efforts, to gain possession of
the capital city. Perceiving, however, that
they were wasting time to no purpose, and in
pursuit of a hopeless design, they applied them-
selves to the ravaging of the country ; and after
plundering and burning several towns, and col-
lecting a greater quantity of booty than they
had acquired on the continent, they retired on
board their ships ; at which time ambassadors
came to Scipio, from the Balearic Isles, suing
for peace. From this place the fleet sailed
back, and returned to the hither parts of the
province, whither ambassadors hastily flocked
from all the nations adjacent to the Iberus,
and from many even of the remotest parts of
Spain. The whole number of states, which
submitted to the dominion and government of
Rome, and gave hostages, amounted to more
than one hundred and twenty. Wherefore the
Roman general, relying now with sufficient
confidence on his land forces also, advanced as
far as the pass of Castulo : on which Hasdru-
bal withdrew toward the ocean into Lusitania.
XXL It was now supposed that the re-
mainder of the summer would pass without
farther action j and this would have been the
case, had it depended on the Carthaginians ;
but, besides that the native Spaniards are in
their temper restless and fond of change, Man-
donius and Indibilis, (the latter of whom had
formerly been chieftain of the Dergetans,) as
soon as the Romans retired from the pass to-
wards the sea-coast, roused their countrymen
to arms, and made predatory irruptions into
the peaceful territories of the Roman allies.
Against these Scipio sent some military tri-
bunes, with a body of light-armed auxiliaries ;
and these, without much difficulty, routed all
their tumultuary bands, slaying and taking
many, and disarming the greater part of them.
This commotion, however, drew back Has-
drubal, from his march towards the ocean, to
the hither side of the Iberus, for the purpose
of supporting his confederates. The Cartha-
ginians lay encamped in the territory of Iler-
cao, the Romans at a place called Newfleet,
when a sudden piece of intelligence diverted
the war to another quarter ; the Celtiberians,
who of all the states in that tract were the first
who sent ambassadors, and gave hostages to
the Romans, had, in consequence of instruc-
tions sent by Scipio, taken up arms, and in-
vaded the province of the Carthaginians with

a powerful army, had reduced three towns by
assault, and had afterwards fought two battles
against Hasdrubal himself with excellent suc-
cess, killing fifteen thousand of his men, and
taking four thousand, with many military en-
signs.

XXII. While affairs in Spain were in this
state, Publius Scipio, having been, on the ex-
piration of his consulate, continued in com-
mand, and sent thither by the senate, arrived
in the province with thirty ships of war, eight
thousand soldiers, and a large supply of pro-
visions. His fleet, which, when seen at a dis-
tance, made a grand appearance, by reason of
the long train of transport vessels, put into the
harbour of Tarraco, causing great joy among
his countrymen and allies. Here Scipio dis-
embarked his troops, and then marched to join
his brother ; and they thenceforth conducted
the war jointly, with perfect harmony of tem-
per, and unanimity in their counsels. The
Carthaginians were now busily employed in
making head against the Celtiberians ; they
therefore without delay passed the Iberus, and
not seeing any enemy, proceeded to Saguntum,
having received information that the hostages
from every part of Spain had been placed there,
under custody, by Hannibal, and were guarded
in the citadel by a small garrison. This pledge
was the only thing which hindered all the states
from manifesting their inclinations to an alliance
with Rome ; as they dreaded lest, in case of
their defection, the blood of their children
should be made the expiation of their offence.
From this restraint, one man, by a device
more artful than honourable, set Spain at
liberty. There was at Saguntum, a Spaniard
of noble birth, called Abelox, who had hitherto
behaved with fidelity to the Carthaginians, but
had now, out of a disposition very general
among barbarians on a change of fortune,
altered his attachment. But considering that
a deserter coming to an enemy, without bring-
ing into their hands any advantage of conse-
quence, is no more than an infamous and con-
temptible individual, he studied how he might
procure the most important emolument to his
new allies. Wherefore, after reviewing every
expedient within the reach of his power to
effect, he determined upon a plan of deliver-
ing up the hostages into their hands ; judging
that this alone would prove of all means
the most effectual tovrards conciliating to the
Romans the friendship of the Spanish chief-

Y. it. 535.]

OF ROME.

427

tains. Hut as he well knew tlut, without
mi order from Bostar the commander, the
piards of the hostages would do nothing, he
artfully "addressed Uostar himself ; the latter
lying at the time encamped at some distance
from the city, on the very shore, with intention
to hinder the approach of the Ramans from the
harbour. Here the other, taking him aside to
a place of secrecy, represented, as if it were un-
known to him, the present state of affairs ; that
" fear had hitherto restrained the inclinations of
the Spaniards, because the Romans had been
at a great distance ; at present the Roman camp
v\ UM on their side of the Iberus, serving as a
fortress and place of refuge to all who wished
a change ; wherefore it was necessary that those
who could no longer be bound by fear, should
be bound by kindness and favour." Bostar
showing surprise, and asking what was this
uathought-of kindness of such great moment,
he answered, " Send home the hostages to their
respective provinces : this will engage the gra-
titude of their parents in particular, who are
men of the first consequence in their several
states, and b'kewise of the communities in gene-
ral. Every man wishes to find trust reposed
in him, and trust reposed generally proves a
bond of fidelity. The office of restoring the
hostages to their families I demand for myself ;
that, sis I have been the proposer of the plan,
I may likewise be its promoter, by the pains
which I shall take in the execution of it ; and
may, as far as lies in my power, render a pro-
ceeding, which is acceptable in its own nature,
still more acceptable." Having gained the ap-
probation of Bostar, who possessed not the
same degree of crafty sagacity as other Cartha-
ginians, he went out secretly by night to the
advanced guards of the enemy, where, meeting
MIMIC of the Spanish auxiliaries, and being by
them conducted to Scipio, he disclosed the
business on which he came. Then mutual
engagements being entered into, and time and
place appointed for delivering up the hostages,
he returned to Saguntum. The next day he
spent with Bostar, in receiving instructions for
the execution of his commission ; and, before
he left him, settled the plan so, tkat he was to
go by night, in order to escape the observation
of the enemy's watch. At an hour concerted,
In- called ii]> the guards of the boys ; and setting
out, he led them, as if unknowingly, into the
snare prepared by liis own treachery. They
then conducted into the Roman camp.

In every other respect the restoration of the
hostages was performed as had been settled
with Bostar, and in the same mode of pro-
cedure, as jf the affair were transacted in the
name of the Carthaginians. But, though the
act was the same, the Romans acquired a much
higher degree of reputation from it than it would
have produced to the Carthaginians ; because
the latter, having shown themselves oppressive
and haughty in prosperity, it might be supposed,
that the abatement of their rigour was owing to
the change in their fortune, and to their fears ;
whereas the Roman, on his first arrival, while
his character was yet unknown, commenced his
administration with an act of clemency and
libcrah'ty; and it was believed that Abelox
would hardly have voluntarily changed sides
without some good reason for such a proceed-
ing. All the states, therefore, with general
consent, began to meditate a revolt ; and they
would have proceeded instantly to hostilities,
had they not been prevented by the winter,
which obliged even the Romans and Cartha-
ginians, to take shelter in houses.

XXIII. These were the occurrences of the
second campaign of the Punic war on the side
of Spain ; while, in Italy, the wise delays of
Fabius had afforded the Romans some respite
from calamities. However, though his conduct
kept Hannibal in a constant state of no little
anxiety, (since he perceived that the Romans
had at length chosen such a master of the mili-
tary science, who made war to depend on wis-
dom, not on fortune,) yet it excited in the
minds of his countrymen, both in the camp and
in the city, only sentiments of contempt ; es-
pecially when, during his absence, the master
of the horse had been rash enough to hazard a
battle, the issue of which (though it afforded
matter for some present rejoicing) was produc-
tive of no real advantage. Two incidents oc-
curred which served to increase the general
disapprobation of the dictator's conduct j one
was, an artful contrivance employed by Hanni-
bal to mislead the public opinion ; for, on the
dictator's farm being shown to him by desert-
ers, he gave orders, that, while every other
place in the neighbourhood was levelled to the
ground, that alone should be left safe from fire
and sword, and every kind of hostile violence ;
in order that this might be construed^as a favour
shown to him, in consideration of some secret
compact. The other was an act of his own, re-
specting the ransoming of the prisoners; the meri t

428

THE HISTORY

xxn.

of which was, at first, perhaps doubtful, because
he had not waited for the direction of the senate
in that case ; but in the end, it evidently redound-
ed to his honour in the highest degree. For, as
had been practised Ui the first Punic war, a regu-
lation was established between the Roman and
Carthaginian generals, that whichever party
should receive a greater number than he return-
ed, should pay for the surplus, at the rate of two
pounds and a half of silver1 for each soldier. Now
the Roman had received a greater number than
the Carthaginian, by two hundred and forty,
seven ; and, though the business was frequently
agitated in the senate, yet because he had not
consulted that body on the regulation, the issu-
ing of the money due on this account was too
long delayed. Sending, therefore, his son
Quintus to Rome for the purpose, he sold off
the farm which had been spared by the enemy,
and, at his own private expense, acquitted the
public faith. Hannibal lay in an established
post under the walls of Geronium, in which
city, when he took and burned it, he had left
a few houses to serve as granaries. From
hence he generally detached two-thirds of his
army to forage, and the other part he kept with
himself on guard and in readiness for action,
providing for the security of the camp, and, at
the same time, watching on all sides, lest any
attack might be made on the foragers.

XXIV. The Roman army was, at that time,
in the territory of Larinum, and the command
was held by Minuciug the master of the horse,
in consequence, as mentioned before, of the
dictator's departure to the city. But the camp,
which had been pitched on a high mountain in
a secure post, was now brought down to the
plains ; and more spirited designs, conformable
to the genius of the commander, were medi-
tated : either an attack on the dispersed fora-
gers, or on their camp when left with a slight
guard. It did not escape Hannibal's observa-
tion that the plan of conduct was changed, to-
gether, with the commander, and that the ene-
my were likely to act with more boldness than
prudence. He sent (which would have been
scarcely expected, as the foe was so near,) a
third part of his troops to forage, retaining the
other two ; and afterwards removed his camp
to a hill about two miles from Geronium, and
within view of that of the enemy, to show that
he was in readiness to protect his foragers,

1 81. is.

should any attempt be made on them. From
hence he saw a hill nearer to and overhanging
the Roman works, and knowing that, if he
went openly in the day to seize on this, the
enemy would certainly get before him by a
shorter road, he despatched secretly in the
night, a body of Numidians, who took posses-
sion of it: next day, however, the Romans,
despising their small number, dislodged them,
and removed their own camp thither. There
was now, therefore, but a small space between
the ramparts of the two camps, and this the
Romans almost entirely filled with their troops
in order of battle. At the same time, their
cavalry and light infantry, sent out from the
rear against the foragers, caused great slaughter
and consternation among the scattered troops
of the enemy. Yet Hannibal dared not to
hazard a general engagement, for with his small
number (one third of his army being absent)
he was scarcely able to defend his camp, if it
were attacked. And now he conducted his
measures almost on the plans of Fabius, lying
still and avoiding action, while he drew back
his troops to his former situation under the
walls of Geronium. According to some writ-
ers, they fought a regular pitched battle : in the
first encounter the Carthaginian was repidsed,
and driven to his camp ; from which a sally being
suddenly made, the Romans were worsted in
turn, and the fight was afterwards restored by
the coming up of Numerius Decimius, a Sum.
nite. This man, the first, with respect both
to family and fortune, not only at Bovianum,
of which he was a native, but in all Samnium,
was conducting to the army, by order of the
dictator, a body of eight thousand foot and five
hundred horse, which, appearing on Hannibal's
rear, was supposed, by both parties, to be a
new reinforcement coming from Rome with
Fabius. On which Hannibal, dreading like-
wise some stratagem, retired within his works.
The Romans pursued, and, with the assistance
of the Samnite, took two forts by storm before
night. Six thousand of the enemy were slain,
and about five thousand of the Romans. Yet
though the losses were so equal, an account
was sent to Rome as of a most important vic-
tory, and letters, from the master of the horse,
still more ostentatious.

XXV. These matters were very often can-
vassed, both in the senate and in assemblies of
the people. The dictator alone, amidst the
general joy, gave no credit either to the news

Y. 11. 535.]

OF ROME.

429

<:r (lie letters; and declared, that though all
won- tnu1, lie should yet apprehend more evil
- access than from disappointment ; where-
ii|'(in Marcus Metilius, a plebeian tribune, in.
aisled, that " such behaviour was not to be en.
dured ; the dictator, not only when present with
the army, obstructed its acting with success, but
•d«>, at this distance, when it had performed good
Ken-ice, impeded the good consequences likely
to ensue ; protracting the war, in order that he
might continue the longer in office, and hold
the sole command both at Rome and in the
army. One of the consuls had fallen in the
field, and the other, under pretext of pursuing
a Carthaginian fleet, had been sent away far
from Italy : the two praetors were employed in
Sicily and Sardinia, neither of which provinces
had, at that time, any occasion for the presence
of a pnetor. Marcus Minucius, the master of
the horse, was kept, as it were, in custody, lest
he should come within sight of the enemy, or
perform any military service. So that, in fact,
not only Samnium, the possession of which had
been yielded up to the Carthaginians, as well
as that of the country beyond the Iberus, but
also the Campanian, Calenian, and Falernian
territories had been ravaged and destroyed ;
while the dictator remained inactive at Casili-
num, and, with the Roman legions, protected
his own estate. The army and the master of
the horse, who were eager to fight, had been
kept, in a manner, shut up within the trenches,
and deprived of arms, like captured forces : but
when, at last, the dictator left them, when they
were freed from their confinement, they passed
the trenches, defeated the enemy, and put him
to flight. For all which reasons, if the Roman
commons were possessed of their ancient spirit,
he would have boldly proposed to depose Quin-
tus Fabius from his office : as matters stood at
the present, however, he would offer a mode-
rate proposition, that the master of the horse
should be invested with authority equal to that
of the dictator ; and still, when that should be
done, that Quintus Fabius should not be sent
to the army, until he should first substitute a
consul in the room of Caius Flaminius." The
dictator shunned the assemblies, knowing the
people's prejudices against any thing he could
«ay ; nor even in the senate was he very
favourably heard, particularly when he spoke
in high terms of the enemy, and imputed to
the rashness and unskilfulricss of the command-
ers the disasters of the two preceding years, and

declared, that " the master of the horse should
be called to account for having fought contrary
to his orders. If the entire command and
direction were in him, he would soon give people
reason to be convinced, that to a good command-
er fortune is a matter of slight consideration ;
and that wisdom and prudence control and
govern all things. For his part, he deemed it
more glorious to have saved the army at a
critical juncture, and without suffering dis-
grace, than to have slain many thousands of
the enemy."

XXVI. Having frequently discoursed in
this manner without effect, and having created
Marcus Atilius Regulus consul, the dictator,
unwilling to be present at a contest concerning
the authority of his office, set out, during the
night preceding the day on which the affair of
the proposition was to be decided, and went to
the army. As soon as day arose, the commons
met in assembly, their minds filled with tacit
displeasure against the dictator, and favour
towards the master of the horse ; yet were not
people very forward to stand forth in praise of
the measure, however generally agreeable ; so
that while the proposition had an abundant
majority, still it wanted support. The only
person found to second it was Caius Terentius
Varro, who had been pnetor the year before ;
a man not only of humble, but of sordid birth.
We are told that his father was a butcher, who
attended in person the sale of his meat, and that
he employed this very son in the servile offices
of that trade. This young man having, by the
money thus acquired and left to him by his
father, conceived hopes of attaining a more
respectable situation in life, turned his thoughts
to the bar and the forum, where, by the vehe-
mence of his harangues in favour of men and
causes of the basest sort, in opposition to the
worthy citizens of fortune and character, he at
first attracted the notice of the people, and
afterwards obtained honourable employments.
Having passed through the quaestorship, two
;rdileships, the plebeian and curule, and lastly,
the praetorship, he now raised his views to the
consulship ; and artfully contriving to make
the general displeasure against the dictator
the means of procuring popularity to him-
self, he alone gained the whole credit of the
order passed by the commons. Excepting the
dictator himself, all men, whether his friends
or foes, in the city or in the camp, con
sidered that order as parsed with the inten-

430

THE HISTORY

[BOOK xxn.

tion of affronting him. But he, with the same
steadiness of mind which he had displayed
in bearing the charges made against him by his
enemies before the multitude, bore likewise
this ill-treatment thrown on him by the people
in the violence of passion ; and though he re-
ceived on his journey, a letter containing a de-
cree of the senate, giving equal authority to
the master of the horse ; yet, being fully con-
fident that, together with the authority in com-
mand, the skill of the commanders had not
oeen made equal, he proceeded to the army,
with a spirit unsubdued either by his country-
men or the enemy.

XXVII. But Minucius, whose arrogance
was scarcely tolerable before, on this flow of
success and of favour with the populate, threw
off all restraints of modesty and moderation,
and openly boasted no less of his victory over
Quintus Fabius than of that over Hannibal :
" He was the only commander," he said, " who,
in the desperate situation of their affairs, had
been found a match for Hannibal ; and he was
now, by order of the people, set on a level
with Fabius. A superior magistrate, with an
inferior; a dictator, with the master of the
horse ; of which, no instance was to be found
in the records of history ; and this in a state
where the masters of the horse used to dread
and tremble at the rods and axes of dictators ;
with such a high degree of lustre had his good
fortune and successful bravery shone forth.
He was resolved, therefore, to pursue his own
good fortune, should his colleague persist in
dilatory and slothful plans, condemned by the
judgment both of gods and men." According-
ly, on the first day of his meeting Fabius, he
told him, that " they ought, in the first place,
to determine in what manner they should ex-
ercise the command, with which they were
now equally invested ; that, in his judgment,
the best method would be, that each should
hold the supreme authority and command al-
ternately, either for a day, or for some longer
fixed portion of time, if that were more agree-
able ; to the end, that if he should meet any
favourable opportunity of acting, he might be
a match for the enemy, not only in conduct,
but likewise in strength." This Quintus
Fabius by no means approved ; for " fortune,"
he said, "would have the disposal of every
thing which should be done under the direction
of his colleague's rashness. The command
had been shared between them, not taken away

from him : he would never, therefore, volun-
tarily divest himself of the power of keeping
such part of the business as he could, under
the guidance of prudence. He would not di-
vide times, nor days of command, with him ;
but he would divide the troops, and, by his
own counsels, would preserve as much as he
could, since he was not allowed to preserve the
whole." He accordingly prevailed to have the
legions divided between them, as was the prac-
tice with consuls. The first and fourth fell
to Minucius, the second and third to Fabius.
They likewise divided, in equal numbers, the
cavalry, and the allied and Latine auxiliaries.
The master of the horse chose also that they
should encamp separately.

XXVIII. Hannibal was not ignorant of
any thing that passed among the enemy ; for,
besides the intelligence procured through his
spies, he derived ample information from de-
serters. In these proceedings he found a two-
fold cause of rejoicing; for the temerity of
Minucius, now free from control, he could en-
trap at his will; and the wisdom of Fabius
was reduced to act with but half his former
strength. Between the camp of Minucius,
and that of the Carthaginians, stood a hill, of
which, whoever took possession, would evi-
dently render the other's situation more incon-
venient. This Hannibal wished to seize ; but
he was not so desirous of gaining it without a
dispute, (even though it were worth his while,)
as of bringing on, thereby, an engagement with
Minucius; who, he well knew, would be al-
ways ready to meet him in order to thwart
his designs. The whole intervening ground
seemed, at first view, incapable of admitting
any stratagem, having on it no kind of wood
nor being even covered with brambles ; but, in
reality, it was by nature formed most commo-
diously for an ambush, especially as, in a naked
vale, no snare of that sort could be apprehend-
ed ; and there were, besides, at the skirts of it,
hollow rocks, several of which were capable of
containing two hundred armed men. In these
concealments were lodged five thousand horse
and foot, distributed in such numbers as could
find convenient room in each place. Never-
theless, lest the motion of any of them, com-
ing out inconsiderately, or the glittering of
their arms, might betray the stratagem in
such an open valley, he diverted the enemy's
attention to another quarter, by sending, at
the first dawn, a small detachment to seize

v. n. 535.]

OF ROME.

on the liill above-mentioned. Immediately on
tlif ;i|>|iciiRiiice of tlu-sf. tht« Romans, despis-
ing the smallness of their numbers, demanded,
each for himself, the task of dislodging them,
and securing the hill ; while the general him-
self, among the most foolish and presumptuous,
called to arms, and with vain parade aid empty
menaces expressed his contempt of the enemy.
First, he sent out his light infantry ; then the
cavalry in close order ; at last, seeing reinforce-
ments sent by the Carthaginian, he advanced
with the legions in order of battle. On the
other side, Hannibal, by sending up, as the
< ontt-st grew hotter, several bodies of troops,
one after another, to the support of his men
when distressed, had now almost completed a
regular line ; and the contest was maintained
with the whole force of both parties. The
Roman light infantry in the van, marching up
from the lower ground to the hill already occu-
pied by the enemy, were repulsed ; and, being
forced to retreat, carried terror among the ca-
valry, who were advancing in their rear, and
fled back to the front of the legions. The line
of infantry alone remained undismayed, amidst
the general panic of the rest ; and there was
reason to think, that in a fair and regular battle
they would have proved themselves not inferior
to their antagonists, so great spirits had they
assumed from their late success. But the troops
in ambush rising on a sudden, and making
brisk attacks both on their flank and their roar,
caused such dread and confusion, that no one
retained either courage to fight, or hope of es-
cape.

XXIX. Fabius, who had first heard their
cries of dismay, and afterwards saw, at a dis-
tance, their line in disorder, then said, " Is it
so; fortune has found out rashness, but not
sooner than I feared. He, who was made in
command equal to Fabius, sees Hannibal his
superior both in bravery and success. But
there will be time enough for reproof and re-
sentment ; march now out of your trenches.
Let us extort the victory from the enemy, and
from our countrymen an acknowledgment of
their error. When a great number were now
slain, and others looking about for a way to es-
cape, on a sudden Fabius's army showed itself, as
if sent down from heaven to their relief, and by
its appearance, before the troops came within
a weapon's throw, or struck a stroke, put a stop
both to the precipitate flight of their friends,
and the extravagant fury of the enemy. Those

who had broken their ranks, and dispersed
tlirnist'lves different ways, flocked together,
from all sides, to the fresh army ; such as had
fled in great numbers together, faced about, and
forming in lines, now retreated leisurely ; then,
several bodies uniting, stood on their defence.
And now the two armies, the vanquished and
the fresh, had almost formed one front, and
were advancing against the foe, when the Car-
thaginians sounded a retreat ; Hannibal openly
acknowledging, that as he had defeated Minu-
cius, so he had been himself defeated by Fabius.
The greatest part of the day being spent in
these various changes of fortune, when the
troops returned into their camps, Minucius
calling his men together, said, " Soldiers, I have
often heard, that he is the first man, in point of
abilities, who, of himself, forms good counsels ;
that the next, is he who submits to good ad-
vice ; and that he who neither can himself form
good counsels, nor knows how to comply with
those of another, is of the very lowest capacity.
Now, since our lot has denied us the first rank
in genius and capacity, let us maintain the se-
cond, the middle one ; and, until we learn to
command, be satisfied to be ruled by the skil-
ful. Let us join camps with Fabius ; and,
when we shall have carried our standards to his
quarters ; when I shall have saluted him by the
title of father ; for nothing less has his kindness
towards us, as well as his high dignity deserved ;
then, soldiers, ye will salute, as your patrons,
those men, whose arms and whose prowess
have just now protected you ; and then this
day will have procured for us, if nothing else,
at least the honour of possessing grateful
minds."

XXX. The signal was displayed, and notice
given to get ready to march. They then set
out ; and, as they proceeded in a body to the
camp of the dictator, they threw him, and all
around, into great surprise. When they had
planted their standards before his tribunal, the
master of the horse, advancing before the rest,
saluted him by the title of father; and the
whole body of his men, with one voice, saluted
those who stood round as their patrons. ."Mi-
nucius then expressed himself thus : " Dicta-
tor, to my parents, to whom I have just now
compared you, in the most respectful appel-
lation by which I could address myself, I am
indebted for life only ; to you, both for
my own preservation, and that of all these
present. That order of the people, therefore,

432

THE HISTORY

[BOOK xxn.

by which I have been oppressed rather than
honoured, I am the first to cancel and annul ;
and, so may it be happy to you, to me, and
to these your armies, the preserved and the
preserver, I replace myself and them, these
standards, and these legions, under your com-
mand and auspices ; and entreat you, that, re-
admitting us to your favour, you will order me
to bold the post of master of the horse, and
these their several ranks." On this they cor-
dially embraced ; and, on the meeting being
dismissed, the soldiers accompanying Minucius
were hospitably and kindly invited to refresh-
ment, both by their acquaintances and those to
whom they were unknown. Thus was con-
verted into a day of rejoicing, from a day of
sorrow, one which but a little before had nearly
proved fatal. When an account of these events
arrived at Rome, and was afterwards confirmed
by letters, not only from the generals them-
selves, but from great numbers of the soldiers,
in both the armies, all men warmly praised
Maximus, and extolled him to the sky. Nor
were the sentiments felt by the Carthaginians,
his enemies, and by Hannibal, less honourable
to him. They then at length perceived, that
they were waging war against Romans and in
Italy. For during the two preceding years,
they had entertained such contemptuous notions
both of the Roman generals and soldiers, as
scarcely to believe that they were fighting
against the same nation, of which they had
received from their fathers such a terrible
character. We are told likewise, that Hanni-
bal, as he returned from the field, observed,
that " the cloud which hung over the moun-
tains, had at last discharged its rain in a storm. "
XXXI. During the course of these trans-
actions in Italy, Cneius Servilius Geminus,
consul, with a fleet of one hundred and twenty
ships, sailed round the coast of Sardinia and
Corsica. Having received hostages in both
places, he steered his course towards Africa,
and, before he made any descent on the conti-
nent, ravaged the island of Meninx, and re-
ceived from the inhabitants of Cercina ten
talents of silver' as a contribution to prevent
the like devastation and burning of their coun-
try : he then drew near the coast of Africa,
and disembarked his forces. Here the soldiers
and mariners were led out to ravage the coun-
try, in as careless a manner as if they were

1 1, 937/. 10...

plundering the islands where there were very
few inhabitants ; in consequence of which rash-
ness, they fell unawares into a snare. Being
assailed on all sides, and while they were in
loose disorder, by compact bodies of men ac-
quainted with the country of which themselves
were utterly ignorant, they were driven back
to their ships in a disgraceful llight, and
with severe loss. There fell no less- than a
thousand men, among whom was Sempro"
nius Blaesus, the quaestor. The fleet, hastily
setting sail from the shore which was covered
with the enemy, passed over to Sicily, and at
Lilybaeum was delivered to the prcetor Titus
Otacilius, to be conducted home to Rome, by
his lieutenant-general, Publius Sura. The
consul himself, travelling by land through
Sicily, crossed the streight into Italy, having
been summoned, as was likewise his colleague,
Marcus Atilius, by a letter from Quintus
Fabius, in order that they might receive the
command of the army from him, as the six
months, the term of his office, were nearly ex-
pired. Almost all the historians affirm, that
Fabius acted against Hannibal in the capacity
of dictator. Ccelius even remarks, that he was
the first dictator created by the people. But
it escaped the notice of Ccelius and the rest,
that the privilege of nominating that officer
belonged solely to Cneius Servilius, the only
consul in being, who was at that time, far dis-
tant from home, in the province of Gaul ; and
so much time must necessarily elapse before it
could be done by him, that the state, terrified
by the late disaster, could not endure the de-
lay, and therefore had recourse to the expedient
of creating, by a vote of the people, a prodicta-
tor ; and that the services which he afterwards
performed, his distinguished renown as a com-
mander, and the exaggerations of his descen-
dants, in the inscription of his statue, may
easily account for his being called dictator in-
stead of prodictator.

XXXII. The consuls having taken the
command of the armies, Marcus Atilius of
that of Fabius, and Geminus Scrvilius of that
of Minucius, and having erected huts for the
winter, as the season required (for it was now
near the close of autumn), conducted their
operations conformably to the plan of Fabius,
and with the utmost harmony between them-
selves. Whenever Hannibal went out to fo-
rage, they came upon him in different places,
as opportunity served, harassirg him on hw

v. R. 535.]

OF ROM K.

433

march, and cutting olF stragglers ; but never
hazarded a general engagement, which the
enemy endeavoured to bring on by every means
he could contrive : so that Hannibal was re-
duced, by scarcity, to such distress, that had he
not feared that a retreat would have carried the
appearance of flight, he would have returned back
into Gaul ; not having the least hope of sup-
porting his army in those places, if the succeed-
ing consuls should adopt the same plan of opera-
tions with these. While, in the neighbourhood
of Geranium, hostilities were suspended by the
coming on of winter, ambassadors came to Rome
from Neapolis, who brought into the senate-
house forty golden bowls of great weight, and
spoke to this effect : " They knew that the
treasury of the Roman people was exhausted
by the present war, which was carried on no
less in defence of the cities and lands of the
allies, than the empire and city of Rome, the
metropolis and bulwark of Italy ; that the Nea-
politans had therefore thought it reasonable,
that whatever gold had been left to them by
their ancestors for the decoration of their tem-
ples, or support in time of need, should now
be applied to the aid of the Roman people.
That if they had thought their personal service
of any use, they would with the same zeal have
offered it. That the Roman senate and people
would act in a manner highly grateful to them,
if they would reckon every thing in possession
of the Neapolitans as their own, and vouchsafe
to accept from them a present, of which the
principal value and importance consisted in the
disposition and wishes of those who cheerfully
offered it rather than in its own intrinsic worth."
Thanks were given to the ambassadors for their
attention and generosity, and one bowl, which
was the least in weight, was accepted.

XXXIII. About the same time a Cartha-
ginian spy, who had lurked undiscovered for
two years, was detected at Rome : his hands
were cut off, and he was sent away. Twenty-
five slaves, for having formed a conspiracy in
(lie fit-Id of Mars, were crucified, and the in-
former was rewarded with his freedom, and
twenty thousand asses in weight* Ambassa-

2 ."Ei-it grarii, 6\l. }\*.M. About this time, in conse-
quence of tin- scarcity of money, the comparative value
of brass to silver was changed, and a denarius made to
pass for twelve and afterward* for sixteen /;•<... The
word* mi grurr were I henceforward employed to signify
not uny particular pieca, or weight, of money, but the
did comparative standard of ten onset, as we say jmunrl*
sterling.

L

dors were sent to Philip king of Macedonia,
to insist on his delivering up Demetrius of
Pharia, who, being defeated in war, had fled to
him ; others also were sent at the same time,
to the Ligurians, to expostulate on their having
assisted the Carthaginian with men and sup-
plies, and to observe what was doing in the
neighbourhood among the Boians and Insu-
brians. Delegates were also sent to Illyrium,
to Pineus the king, to demand the tribute, of
which the day of payment had elapsed ; or to
receive hostages, if he wished to be allowed
longer time. Thus the Romans, though press-
ed at home by a war immensely grievous, yet
relaxed not their attention to the business of
the state in any part of the world, however dis-
tant. Their care was also excited by a matter
of religious concernment. The temple of Con-
cord, vowed two years before by the praetor
Lucius Manlius, on occasion of the mutiny of
the soldiers in Gaul, not having been yet set
about, Marcus 2Eniilius, praetor of the city,
constituted duumvirs for that purpose, Cneius
Pupius and Cieso Quintius Flamininus, who
contracted for the building of it in the citadel.
By the same pnetor, in pursuance of a decree
of the senate, a letter was sent to the consuls,
that if they thought proper, one of them should
come to Rome to elect successors, and that a
proclamation should be issued for holding the
election, on whatever day they might name. In
answer to this the consuls wrote back, that,
" without detriment to the business of the pub-
lic, they could not go to any distance from the
enemy. That it would be better, therefore,
that the election should be held by an interrex,
than that either of them should be called away
from the war." The senate judged it more ad-
visable tliut a dictator should be nominated by
a consul, for the purpose of holding the elec-
tion, and Lucius Veturius Philo being accord-
ingly nominated, appointed Manius Pomponius
Matho master of the horse. But some defect
being discovered in their appointment, they
were ordered, on the fourteenth day to abdicate
their offices, and an interregnum took place.

XXXIV. The consuls were continued in
command for another year. [ Y. R, 536. B. C.
216.] The patricians declared interrex Cains
Claudius Centho, son of Appius, and after-
wards Publius Cornelius Asina, under whose
direction the election was held ; which was at
tended with a warm contention between the
patricians and plebeians. The populace strng-
3 I

434

THE HISTORY

[BOOK xxii.

gled hard to raise to the consulship, Caius
Terentius Varro, a person of their own rank,
who, as before observed, by railing against the
patricians, and by other popular arts, had ac-
quired their affection ; and who by undermin-
ing the interest of Fabius and the dictatorial
authority, had made the public displeasure against
him the means of adding a lustre to his own cha-
racter. The patricians opposed him with their
utmost efforts, lest a power should be given to
those men of raising themselves to the level of
nobles, by means of malignant aspersions on
their characters. Quintus Baebius Herennius,
a plebeian tribune, a relation of Caius Teren.
tius, censured not only the senate, but likewise
the augurs, for having hindered the dictator
from holding the election, and thought by ren-
dering them odious, to increase the popularity
of his favourite candidate. He asserted, that,
" by certain of the nobility, who, for many
years, had been wishing for a war, Hannibal
was induced to enter Italy ; that by the same
men the war was treacherously prolonged,
though it might have been brought to a conclu-
sion ; further, that an army, consisting of four
entire legions, was sufficiently able to cope with
the enemy, was evident from this, that Marcus
Minucius, in the absence of Fabius, had fought
with success. That two legions had been ex-
posed in the field, with intent that they should
be defeated, and then were rescued from the
brink of destruction in order that the man should
be saluted as father and patron, who had hind-
ered the Romans from conquering, though he
had afterwards prevented their defeat. That
the consuls had, on the plan of Fabius, pro-
tracted the war, when they had it in their power
to bring it to an end. That a confederacy to
this purpose had been entered into by all the
nobles, nor would the people know peace, until
they elected to the consulship a real plebeian, a
new man : for as to the plebeians, who had at-
tained nobility, they were now initiated into
the mysteries of their order; and, from the
moment when they ceased to be despised by the
patricians, looked with contempt on the com-
mons. Who did not see, that the end and in-
tention of appointing an interregnum was to
put the election into the power of the patrici-
ans ? It was with a view to this that both the
consuls had remained with the army ; with the
same view afterwards, when, contrary to their
wishes, a dictator had been nominated to hold
the election, they arbitrarily carried the point,

that the appointment should be pronounced de-
fective by the augurs. They had in their hands,
therefore, the office of interrex ; but certainly
one consul's place was the right of the Roman
commons, which the people would dispose of
with impartiality, and would bestow on such a
person as rather wished to conquer effectually,
than to continue long in command."

XXXV. These inflammatory speeches had
such an effect on the commons, that though
there stood candidates three patricians, Publius
Cornelius Merenda, Lucius Manlius Volso,
and Marcus ./Emilius Lepidus, and two of
plebeian extraction, whose families were now
ennobled, Caius Atilius Serranus, and Quintus
^lius Psetus, one of whom was pontiff, the
other augur; yet Caius Terentius Varro, alone,
was elected consul, in order that he might have
the direction of the assembly for choosing his
colleague. On which the nobles, having found
that his competitors possessed not sufficient
strength, prevailed, by violent importunity, on
a new candidate to stand forth, after he had
long and earnestly refused ; this was Lucius
^Emilius Paullus, a determined enemy of the
commons, who had been consul before with
Marcus Livius, and had very narrowly escaped
being sentenced to punishment, as was his col-
league. On the next day of assembly all those
who had opposed Varro, having declined the
contest, he was appointed rather as an antago-
nist than as a colleague. The election of
praetors ' was then held, and Manius Pompo-
nius Matho, and Publius Furius Philus were
chosen. The lot of administering justice to
the citizens of Rome fell to Pomponius, that of
deciding causes between Roman citizens and

1 At first the name of praetor, derived trom preeire to
preside, was applied to any magistrate who was the
chief in any line, whether civil, military, or religious ;
as dictator, consul, commander of an army, &c. But it
was afterwards appropriated to a magistrate, appointed
to relieve the consuls from the burthen of superintending
the administration of justice. His proper office, there,
fore, was the direction of judicial proceedings ; but, in
the absence of the consuls, he acted in their stead, with
power nearly equal to theirs. The great influx of fo.
reigners soon made it necessary to create a second praetor,
who was called praetor peregrinus, the foreign praetor,
because his business was to decide controversies between
citizens and foreigners, while the city praetor, prator
urbanus, who was superior in dignity, took cognizance
of suits between citizens. When the Romans gained
possession of foreign provinces, they appointed a praetor
to the government of each, and his power within his
province was almost unlimited, for he was accountable
to none but the people of Rome.

v. R. 536.]

OF ROME.

435

foreigners, to Publius Furiiis Philus. Two
additional pnetors were appointed, Marcus
Claudius Marcellus for Sicily, Lucius Postu-
inius Albiuus for Gaul. All these were ap-
pointed in their absence ; nor, excepting the
consul Terentius, was any of them invested
with an office which he had 'not administered
before ; several men of bravery and activity
being passed by, because, at such a juncture, it
was not judged expedient to intrust any person
with a new employment.

XXXVI. Augmentations were also made
to the armies ; but as to the number of addi-
tional forces of foot and horse which were raised,
writers vary so much, as well as in the kind of
troops, that I can scarcely venture to affirm any
thing certain on that head. Some authors as-
sert, that ten thousand new soldiers were levied,
others four new legions ; so that there were
eight legions employed : and that the legions
were also augmented, both horse and foot ; one
thousand foot and one hundred horse being ad-
ded to each, so as to make it contain five thou-
sand foot and four hundred horse ; and that the
allies furnished an equal number of foot, and
double the number of horse. Some writers af-
firm, that, at the time of the battle of Cannae,
there were in the Roman camp, eighty-seven
thousand two hundred soldiers. All agree in
this, that greater force, and more vigorous ef-
forts, were now employed, than in the former
years, in consequence of the dictator having
afforded them room to hope that the enemy
might be vanquished. However, before the
new legions began their march from the city,
the decemvirs were ordered to go and inspect
the books, because people in general were ter-
rified by prodigies of extraordinary kinds ; for
accounts were received, that, at Rome, on the
Aventine, and, at the same time, at Alicia, a
shower of stones had fallen ; that in the coun-
try of the Sabines, statues had sweated alum-
dance of blood, and that the warm waters at
Caere had flowed bloody from the spring ; and
this circumstance, having happened frequently,
excited therefore the greater terror. In a street,
near the field of Mars, several persons had been
struck with lightning, and killed. These por-
tents were expiated according to the directions
of the books. Ambassadors from Paestum
brought some golden vessels to Rome, and to
these, as to the Neapolitans, thanks were re-
turned, but the gold was not accepted.

XXXVII. About the same time arrived at

Ostia a fleet, sent by Hiero, with a large sup-
ply of provisions. The Syracusan ambassadors,
being introduced to the senate, acquainted them,
that " King Hiero had been as sincerely afflict-
ed, on hearing of the loss of the consul Cains
Flaminius, and his army, as he could have been
by any disaster happening to himself or his
own kingdom. Wherefore, though he was fully
sensible that the grandeur of the Roman people
had shone forth, in times of adversity, with a
still more admirable degree of lustre than even
in prosperity, yet he had sent such supplies of
every sort, for the support of the war, as are
usually furnished by good and faithful allies ;
and he earnestly besought the conscript fa-
thers not to refuse them. That, in the first
place, for the sake of the omen, they had
brought a golden statue of Victory, of three
hundred and twenty pounds weight, which they
prayed them to accept, hold, and possess, as ap-
propriated to them for ever. That they had
likewise, in order to guard against any want of
provisions, brought three hundred thousand
pecks of wheat, and two hundred thousand of
barley : and that whatever further supplies
might be necessary, should be conveyed to such
places as the senate should order. That he
knew that the Roman people employed not in
the main body of their army, or in the cavalry,
any other than Roman citizens, or Latine con-
federates ; yet as he had seen, in a Roman
camp, foreign bands of light-armed auxiliaries,
he had therefore sent a thousand archers and
slingers, a body well qualified to oppose the
Balearians, Moors, and other nations remark-
able for fighting with missile weapons." To
these presents he added likewise advice : that
" the prifitor, to whose lot the province of Sicily
might fall, should cross over with a fleet to
Africa, in order to give the enemy employment
for their arms in their own country, and to allow
them the less leisure to supply Hannibal with
reinforcements." The senate returned an an-
swer to the king in these terms ; that " Hiero
had ever acted as a man of honour, and an ex-
cellent ally ; that from the time, when he first
united in friendship with the Roman people, he
had, through the whole course of his conduct,
manifested an invariable fidelity in his attach-
ment to them ; and in all times, and in all pla-
ces, had, with great liberality, supported the
interest of Rome. Of this the Roman people
entertained, as they ought, a grateful sense.
That gold had likewise been offered by some

436

THE HISTORY

[BOOK xxn.

other states, which, though thankful for the
intention, the Roman people had not accepted :
the statue of Victory, however, and the omen,
they accepted, and had offered, and dedicated to
that divinity, a mansion in the capitol, in the
temple of Jupiter supremely good and great ;
hoping that, consecrated in that fortress of the
city of Rome, she would be pleased to remain
firm and immoveable,kind and propitious to the
Roman people." The slingers, archers, and the
corn were delivered to the consuls. To the
fleet of ships already in Sicily with the praetor
Titus Otacilius, were added twenty-five quin-
queremes, and he received permission, if he
judged it conducive to the public good, to pass
over to Africa.

XXXVIII. After the levies were complet-
ed, the consuls waited a few days for the arri-
val of the confederates from Latium. At this
time the soldiers were obliged to take an oath
dictated by the tribunes, which had never before
been practised. For, until now, there had been
no public oath taken, only that they would as-
semble on the orders of the consuls, and, with-
out their orders, would not depart ; and then,
when they joined their decury or century, the
horsemen, on being placed in their decuries, and
the footmen on being placed in their centuries,
used to swear voluntarily, among themselves,
that they would not depart through fear or in
flight ; nor quit their ranks, except for the pur-
pose of taking up or bringing a weapon, of
striking an enemy, or saving a countryman.
This, from having been a voluntary compact
between themselves, was now put under the
jurisdiction of the tribunes, who were invested
with legal authority to administer this oath.
Before the troops began their march from the
city, the harangues of the consul Varro were
frequent, and full of presumption ; in these he
openly asserted, that the war had been purposely
drawn into Italy by the nobles, and would con-
tinue fixed in the very centre of the common-
wealth, if men like Fabius were to have the
command ; but that he, on the very first day,
wherein he should get sight of the enemy
would bring it to a conclusion. The only
speech made by his colleague Paullus, on the
day before that on which they set out from the
city, contained more truth than flattery, addres-
sed to the people ; nevertheless he used no
harsh expressions against Varro, excepting thus
much ; that "it was a matter of surprise to him,
how any man, before he was acquainted with

either his own or the enemy's forces, the situa-
tion of posts, or the nature of the country, while
he remained in the city, in short, and in the
garb of peace, could yet know what he should
have to do when he came to take the field ; and
could even foretell the day on which he was to
come to a general engagement. For his part,
as men's plans must be regulated by circumstan-
ces, and not circumstances by their plans, he
would not be in haste to adopt prematurely any
one, before the season showed its expediency.
He wished that even those measures, which
had been taken under the guidance of caution
and prudence, might be attended with prosper-
ous issue ; since rashness, besides the folly
which it involved, had been hitherto constantly
unsuccessful." Without any farther declara-
tion, it was hence apparent, that he preferred
safe to hasty counsels ; and, to induce him to
adhere the more firmly to this resolution, Quin-
tus Fabius Maximus is said to have addressed
him, just before his departure, in this man-
ner : —

XXXIX. " If, Lucius ^Emilius, you had
a colleague like yourself, (which I earnestly
wish,) or, if yourself were like your colleague,
any address from me would be superfluous ; be-
cause, in the first place, two good consuls would,
without advice from me, out of their own hon-
ourable zeal, act, in every particular, to the ad-
vantage of the public ; and, in the other, two
bad ones would neither admit my words into
their ears, nor my counsels into their breasts.
At present, when I consider, on the one hand,
your colleague, and, on the other, yourself and
your character, I address myself solely to you,
whose endeavours, as a worthy man and citizen,
I perceive will be without effect, if the adminis-
tration be defective on the other side. Evil
counsels will have equal privilege and authority
with good. For Lucius Paullus, you are much
mistaken if you suppose that you will have a
less difficult struggle to maintain with Gains
Terentius than with Hannibal. I kn6w not
whether the former may not prove more dan-
gerous than the latter. With the one, you will
contend in the field only ; with the other, in all
places and times ; against Hannibal and bis
legions, you will be supported in fight, by your
troops of infantry and cavalry ; Varro will op-
pose you at the head of your own soldiers.
May the mention of Cains Flaminius not prove
ominous to you ! But he became mad, after
he became consul, when in his province, and at

Y. n. 536.]

OF ROME.

437

the head of the army : in a word, this man,
before he professed himself a candidate for the
consulship, afterwards, while he canvassed for
it, and now, since his appointment, before he
has seen the camp or the enemy, has proceeded,
all along, in one continued paroxysm of insanity.
And when, by raving of fights and fields of bat-
tle, he now excites such storms among the
peaceful citizens in their gowns, what do you
suppose he will do among the young men, who
have arms in their hands, and with whom acts
in: tantly follow words ? If he shall im-
mediately fight the enemy, as he boasts that he
will, either I am ignorant of military affairs, of
the nature of the present war, and of the ene-
my with whom we have to deal, or some other
place will be rendered still more remarkable by
our disasters, than was the Thrasimenus. -ft is
no time for me to boast, talking as I am to a
single man ; and if I have gone too far on either
side, it was in contemning, not in seeking ap-
plause : but the truth is this ; the only rational
method of conducting the war against Hanni-
bal, is that in which I conducted it ; nor does
the event alone confirm this, (for fools only
judge by events,) but the reasons which did
and must subsist, as long as circumstances shall
remain the same and unchangeable. We are
carrying on war in Italy, in our own country,
and on our own soil, where all the places round
are full of our countrymen and allies, who do,
and will assist us with men, arms, horses, and
provisions. That we may so far rely on their
faithful attachment, they have given sufficient
proofs in the times of our distress. Time will
daily improve us, will render us more prudent,
more steady. Hannibal, on the contrary, is in
a foreign, a hostile territory, surrounded on
all sides by enemies and dangers, far from
home, far from his native country ; both land
and sea are possessed by his foes : no cities re-
ceive him within their walls ; he nowhere sees
aught which he can call his own ; he lives on
the plunder of the day ; he has scarcely a third
part, of that army which he brought over the
river Iberus ; nor has he a supply of food for
the few who remain. Do you doubt then, that
by avoiding action we shall overcome him,
whose strength is of itself declining every day,
who has no resource of provisions, no reinforce-
ments, no money ? How long under the walls
of Geronium, a wretched fort of Apulia, as if
under those of Carthage, did I — but I will not
vaunt even before you. See how the last con-

suls, Cneius Servilius and Marcus Atilius,
baffled him. Believe me, Lucius Paullus, this
is the only way of safety; yet this will be
thwarted by your countrymen, rather than by
the enemy. For the same thing will be desired
by both parties ; the wish of Varro, the Roman
consul, will be the same with that of Hannibal,
the Carthaginian. You alone will have two
generals to withstand. However you will with-
stand them, provided you maintain a proper
degree of firmness ; so as not to be shaken by
common fame, or by the rumours which will
be spread among the people ; by neither the
empty applause bestowed on your colleague,
nor the false imputations thrown on yourself.
It is commonly said that truth is often eclipsed,
but never extinguished. He who slights fame,
shall enjoy it in its purity. Let them call you
timid, instead of cautious ; dilatory instead of
considerate ; an unenterprising instead of a con-
summate commander. I rather wish that a
wise enemy may fear, than that the foolish part
of your own countrymen should applaud you.
Attempting every thing, you will be despised
by Hannibal ; doing nothing rashly, you will
be feared by him. Yet I by no means recom-
mend that nothing should be done, but that in
all your proceedings you be guided by reason,
not by fortune ; that you keep every matter
always within your own power, and under your
own direction ; that you be always armed and
on your guard ; and that you neither fail to im-
prove a favourable opportunity, nor afford such
an opportunity to the foe. Acting with deli-
beration, you will see every thing clearly and
distinctly ; haste is improvident and blind."

XL. The consul answered rather in a des -
ponding style : he acknowledged the truth of
what had been said, but showed little hope of
being able to put the advice into execution.
" If Fabius," he said, " when dictator, had been
unable to withstand the arrogance of his master
of the horse, what power or influence could a
consul have, to oppose a seditious and hot-
headed colleague ? As to himself, he had, in
his former consulate, escaped the fames of
popular rage, not without being scorched. He
wished that all might end happily : but should
any misfortune occur, he would expose his life
to the weapons of the enemy, rather than to the
votes of his incensed countrymen." Imme-
diately after tin's conversation, as we are told,
Paullus set out, escorted by the principal pa-
tricians, while the plebeians attended their own

438

THE HISTORY

xxii.

consul in a crowd more numerous than respect-
able. When they came into the field, and the
old arid new troops were intermixed, they form-
ed two separate camps ; the new one, which was
likewise the smaller, was nearer to Hannibal ;
the old one contained the greater number, and
the main strength of the army. Then Marcus
Atilius, one of the consuls of the former year,
wishing to be dismissed, on account of the state
of his health, was sent to Rome ; and the other,
Geminus Servilius, was charged with the com-
mand of a Roman legion, and two thousand of
the confederate infantry and cavalry, stationed
in the smaller camp. Hannibal, though he
saw the force of the enemy doubled, yet re-
joiced exceedingly at the arrival of the consuls.
For, besides that he had no part remaining of
the provisions acquired by plunder from day to
day, there was nothing now left within his
reach, of which he could make prey : all the
corn in every quarter, when it was found un-
safe to keep it in the country, having been col-
lected together into the fortified towns ; so
that, as was afterwards discovered, he had
scarcely a quantity sufficient for ten days ; and,
in consequence of the scarcity, a design had
been formed, among the Spaniards, of going
over to the enemy, had time been allowed them
to bring it to maturity.

XLI. But fortune herself concurred in ad-
ministering fuel to the impatient temper and
rashness of the consul ; for, an attack having
been made on their plundering parties, and a
tumultuary kind of engagement ensuing, occa-
sioned rather by the voluntary exertions of the
soldiers running up to the spot, than by any
preconcerted design, or order, of the command-
ers, the Carthaginians were considerably worst-
ed, losing a thousand seven hundred men, while
there fell, of the Romans and their con-
federates, not more than a hundred. How-
ever, while the victors pursued with eagerness,
the consul Paullus, who held the command on
that day, (for they commanded alternately,)
dreading an ambuscade, obliged them to halt,
though Varro expressed great indignation at
it, exclaiming, that the enemy had been allowed
to slip out of their hands ; and that the war
might have been finished, had not a stop been
put to the action. Hannibal grieved not much
for this loss ; on the contrary, he rather believ-
ed that it would serve as a bait to ensnare the
more presumptuous consul, and the soldiers,
particularly the raw ones. All the circum-

stances of the enemy were as well known to
him as his own ; that the commanders were of
dissimilar characters, and disunited in opinion ;
and that almost two-thirds of their army were
raw recruits. Thinking, therefore, that he had
now found both time and place convenient for
a stratagem, on the following night, he led
away his men, with no other encumbrance than
their arms, the camp being full of their effects
of all kinds, public and private : then, making
them halt out of sight, behind the nearest
mountains, he formed the foot in order of
battle on the left, and the cavalry on the right,
and conducted the baggage, as a centre line,
through the interjacent valley ; intending, while
the enemy should be busy and encumbered in
the pillaging of the camp, as if deserted by the
owners, to fall upon them by surprise. Nu-
merous fires were left in the camp, to create a
belief that his intention was, by such appear-
ances, to detain the consuls in their posts, while
he should gain the advantage of time, to retreat
to the greater distance, in like manner as he
had deceived Fabius the year before.

XLII. When day arrived, the Romans, on
observing, first, that the advanced guards had
been withdrawn, and afterwards, on a nearer
approach, the extraordinary silence, were filled
with surprise. Then, when they discovered
plainly that the camp was deserted, they ran
together in crowds to the pavilions of the con-
suls, informing them that the enemy had fled
in such haste, as to leave the tents standing ;
and in order to conceal their flight, had left
also a number of fires. They then, with loud
clamours, demanded that orders should be given
for the troops to march in pursuit ; and, that
they should plunder the camp in their way.
Varro acted the same part as the common sol-
diers. Paullus repeatedly represented, that
they ought to proceed with care and circum-
spection ; and, at last, when he could no other-
wise restrain their mutinous proceedings, or
the leader of them, he despatched Marius Sta-
tilius, a prefect of the allies, with a troop of
Lucanian horse, to procure intelligence. He
rode up to the gates, and, ordering the rest to
halt at the outside of the trenches, he went
himself with two horsemen into the camp ;
and, having carefully examined every circum-
stance, returned and reported, that there was
without doubt an ambush intended ; for the
fires were left in that quarter which faced the
enemy, the tents were open, and every thing of

v. n. 536.]

OF ROME.

439

value left in view ; and that be had seen silver j
thrown at random in the passages, as if to in-
vite a pillage. The very circumstances, men-
tioned with the intent of repressing their ardour
for booty, served to inflame it; and the sol-
diers, shouting aloud, that if the signal were not
given, they would proceed without their leaders, ;
they did not long want one, for Varro instantly
gave the signal for marching. Paullus was de-
sirous of checking this precipitancy, and being
informed that the chickens had not given a
favourable auspice, ordered that the ill omen
should be reported to his colleague when he
was just leading the troops out of the gate ;
whereupon Varro, though heartily vexed at this,
yet from the recollection of the recent disaster
of Flaminius, and of the memorable overthrow
of the consul Claudius at sea, in the first Punic
war, was sensibly struck with religious scruples.
The gods themselves on that day postponed, in
a manner, rather than* averted, the calamity
which hung over the Romans : for it luckily
happened, that, while the troops refused to obey
the consul's orders to return into the camp, two
slaves, one belonging to a horseman of Formiae,
the other to one of Sidicinum, who had been
taken prisoners by the Numidians, among a
party of foragers, in the consulate of Servilius
and Atilius, made their escape on that very day
to their owners ; and, being brought before the
consuls, informed them, that Hannibal's whole
army lay in ambush behind the nearest moun-
tains. The seasonable arrival of these men
procured obedience to the authority of the con-
suls, when one of them, by his immoderate
pursuit of popular applause, had, through im-
proper indulgence, forfeited people's respect
for their dignity, particularly with regard to
himself.

XLIII. When Hannibal perceived that the
Romans, though they took some inconsiderate
steps, had not carried their rashness to the full
extent, the stratagem being now discovered, he
returned with disappointment to his camp. In
this place he could not remain, many days, by
reason of the scarcity of corn, and new mea-
sures were daily in contemplation, not only
among the soldiery, a multitude compounded of
the refuse of all nations, but even in the mind
of the general himself; for the men began to
murmur, and afterwards proceeded with open
clamours to demand the arrears of their pay,
and to complain at first of the dearness of pro-
visions, at last of famine. A report too prevail-

ed, that the mercenary soldiers, particularly
those from Spain, had formed a scheme of go-
ing over to the enemy, so that Hannibal him-
self is said to have sometimes entertained
thoughts of flying into Gaul ; intending to have
left all the infantry behind, and, with the cav-
alry to have made a hasty retreat. While these
matters were in agitation, and this the disposi-
tion in the camp, he formed a resolution of
removing into Apulia, where the weather was
warmer, and consequently more favourable to
the ripening of the harvest ; and where, in pro-
portion as he was placed at a greater distance
from the enemy, the discontented would find de-
sertion the more difficult. Accordingly he set
out by night, after kindling fires as before, and
leaving a few tents to keep up the appearance
of a camp, in the expectation that fears of an
ambush, as on the former occasion, would keep
the Romans within their works. But Statilius,
the Lucanian, having examined all the ground
beyond the camp, and on the other side of the
mountains, and bringing back an account that
he had seen the enemy marching at a great dis-
tance, a consultation was held about pursuing
him. Here each consul maintained the same
opinion which he had ever held ; but almost all
the officers siding with Varro, and no one ex-
cept Servilius, the consul of the former year,
with Paullus, they, pursuant to the determin-
ation of the majority, set forward, under the
impulse of unhappy fate, to render Cannae for
ever memorable, as a scene of disaster to the
Romans. Near that town Hannibal had pitch-
ed his camp, turning the rear towards the wind
called Vulturnus, which, in those plains, parch-
ed with heat, carries along with it clouds of
dust. As this choice of situation was highly
commodious to the men, while in camp, so was
it particularly advantageous, when they were
drawn up for battle ; because, while the wind
only blew on their backs, it would nearly blind
the enemy with whom they were to fight, by
carrying great quantities of dust into their
faces.

XLJV. The consuls pursued the Cartha-
ginians, taking proper care to examine the
roads ; when they arrived near Cannae, and had
the foe in sight, they divided their forces, as
before, and fortified two camps at nearly the
same distance from each other as they had been
at Geronium. As the river Aufidus ran by
the camps of both, the watering parties of both
had access to it, as opportunity served, but not

440

THE HISTORY

LBOOK xxn.

without encountering opposition. The Ro-
mans, however, in the smaller camp, which was
pitched on the other side of the Aufidus, had
greater liberty of supplying themselves with
water, because there were none of the enemy
posted on the farther bank. Hannibal, now,
conceiving hopes that the consuls might be
brought to an engagement in this tract, where
the nature of the ground was advantageous to
cavalry, in which kind of forces he had a
manifest superiority, drew out his army in
order of battle, and endeavoured to provoke
them by skirmishes of the Numidians. On
this the Roman camp was again thrown into
disturbance, by mutinous behaviour in the sol-
diers, and dissention between the consuls ;
Paullus representing to Varro the fatal rash-
ness of Sempronius and Flaminius ; and Varro
to him the example of Fabius as a specious
precedent for timid and inactive commanders,
The one calling gods and men to witness, that
none of the blame was to be imputed to him,
of Hannibal's now holding Italy as if by pre-
scriptive right of possession ; for that he was
chained down by his colleague, while the sol-
diers, full of rage and ardour for the fight, were
kept unarmed. To which the other replied,
that, if any misfortune should happen to the le-
gions, from their being hurried into an inconsi-
derate and rash, engagement, he himself, al-
though entirely free from all reproach, must yet
bear a share of the consequences, be they what
they might. Let him take care, that those,
whose tongues were now so ready and impetu-
ous, showed the same alertness during the
fight.

XLV. While, instead of deliberating on pro-
per measures, they thus wasted time in alter-
cation, Hannibal, who had kept his forces
drawn up in order of battle during a great part
of the day, led back the rest towards the camp,
and despatched the Numidian horse to the other
side of the river, to attack a watering party,
which had come from the smaller camp of the
Romans. They had scarcely reached the op-
posite bank, when, merely by their shout, and
the rapidity of their motions, they dispersed this
disorderly crowd ; and then pushed forward
against an advanced guard, stationed before the
rampart, and almost up to the very gates. The
Romans, in having their camp threatened by a
band of irregular auxiliaries, felt an intolerable
affront, so that nothing could have restrained
them from drawing out their forces and passing

the river, but from the chief command being
then in the hands of Paullus. On the next
day, therefore, Varro, whose turn it was to
command, without conferring with his col-
league, displayed the signal for battle,1 and mar-
shalling his forces, led them over the river,
while Paullus followed ; because, though he
did not approve of his design, yet he could not
avoid giving him his support. Having crossed
the river, they were joined by the troops from
the smaller camp, and formed their line in this
manner : in the right wing, next the river, they
placed the Roman cavalry, and adjoining them
the Roman infantry ; the extremity of the left
wing was composed of the confederate cavalry ;
and, enclosed by these, the confederate infantry
stretched to the centre, so as to unite with the
Roman legions. The archers, and other light-
armed auxiliaries, formed the van. The con-
suls commanded the wings, Terentius the left,
-iEmilius the right j the charge of the centre
was committed to Gemirius Servilius.

XL VI. Hannibal, at the first light, sending
before him the Balearians, and the other light-
armed troops, crossed the river, and posted eacn
company in his line of battle, in the same order
in which he had led them over. The Gallic
and Spanish cavalry occupied the left wing,
near the bank, opposite the Roman cavalry,
and the Numidian horse the right ; the infantry
forming the centre in such a manner, that both
ends of their line were composed of Africans,
and between these were placed the Gauls and
Spaniards. The Africans, for the most part,
resembled a body of Roman troops, being fur-
nished, in great abundance, with the arms taken
partly at the Trebia, but the greater part at the
Thrasimenus. The shields of the Gauls and
Spaniards were nearly of the same make ; their
swords were different, both in length and form ;
those of the Gauls being very long, and with-
out points j those of the Spaniards, whose
practice was rather to thrust at their enemy,
than to strike, light and handy, and sha'rp at the
point. The troops of these nations made a
more terrible appearance than any of the rest,
on account of the size of their bodies, and also
of their figure. The Gauls were naked from
their middle upward; the Spaniards clad in liner,
vests, of a surprising and dazzling whiteness,
and bordered with purple. The whole num-
ber of infantry, drawn up in the field on this

1 A purple cloak raised on a spear over Praetorium.

Y. R. 536.] OF ROME.

occasion, was forty thousand, of cavalry ten
thousand. The generals who commanded the
wings were, Hasdrubal on the left, and Mahar-
bal on the right Hannibal himself, with his
brother Mago, took the command of the centre.
The sun, very conveniently for both parties,
shone on their flanks, whether this position was
chosen designedly, or that it fell out by acci-
dent ; for the Romans faced the south, the Car-
thaginians the north. The wind, which the
natives of the country call Vulturnus, blew
briskly against the Romans, and by driving
great quantities of sand into their faces, pre-
vented them from seeing clearly.

XL VI I. The shout being raised, the auxil-
iaries advanced, and the fight commenced, first,
between the light-armed troops ; then the left
wing, consisting of Gallic and Spanish cavalry,
engaged with the right wing of the Romans ;
but not in the usual method of fighting between
horsemen, for they were obliged to engage front
to front, no room having been left for any
evolutions, the river on one side, and the line
of infantry on the other, confining them, so
that they could only push directly forward ; at
last the horses being pressed together in a
crowd, and stopped from advancing, the riders,
grappling man to man, dragged each other to
the ground. The contest was now maintained
chiefly on foot, but was more furious than last-
ing ; for the Roman horsemen, unable to keep
their stand, turned their backs. When the*
fight between the cavalry was almost decided,
the infantry began to engage. At first, the
Gaids and Spaniards maintained their ranks,
without betraying any inferiority either in
strength or courage. At length the Romans,
by frequent and persevering efforts, with their
front regular and in compact order, drove back
» body which projected before the rest of their
jine in form of a wedge, and which being too
thin, consequently wanted strength ; as these
gave ground, and retreated hastily and in dis-
order, they pursued, and, without slackening
their charge, broke through their dismayed and
flying l»attalions ; at first, to their centre line ;
<md, at length, meeting with no resistance, they
Arrived at the reserved troops of the Africans,
which latter had been posted on both flanks
of the others, inclining backwards towards the
rear, while the centre, composed of the Gauls
and Spaniards, jutted considerably forward.
By the retreat of this prominent part, the front
\vii- iirst rendered even ; then, by their pro-

I.

. 441

ceeding still in the same direction, a bending
inward was at length formed in the middle, on*
each side of which the Africans now formed
wings ; and the Romans, incautiously rushing
into the centre, these flanked them on each
side, and, by extending themselves from the
extremities, surrounded them on the rear also
In consequence of this, the Romans who had
already finished one battle, quitting the Gauls
and Spaniards, whom they had pursued with
much slaughter, entered now on a new one
against the Africans, in which they had not
only the disadvantage of being hemmed in, and,
in that position, obliged to fight, but, also, that
of being fatigued, while their antagonists were
fresh and vigorous.

XLVIII. By this time, the battle had be-
gun on the left wing also of the Romans, where
the confederate cavalry had been posted against
the Numidians : it was languid at first, and
commenced with a piece of Carthaginian treach-
ery. About five hundred Numidians, carrying,
besides their usual armour and weapons, swords
concealed under their coats of mail, rode up
under the appearance of deserters, with their
bucklers behind their backs, and having hastily
alighted from their horses, and thrown their
bucklers and javelins at the feet of their ene-
mies, were received into the centre line, and
conducted thence to the hindmost ranks, where
they were ordered to sit down in the rear.
There they remained quiet, until the fight was
begun in every quarter: when, however, the
thoughts and eyes of all were deeply intent on
the dispute, snatching up the shields which lay
in great numbers among the heaps of the slain,
they fell on the rear of the Romans, and stab-
bing the men in the backs, and cutting their
hams, made great slaughter, and caused still
greater terror and confusion. While^ in one
part, prevailed dismay . and flight, in another,
obstinate fighting in spite of despair. Hasdru-
bal who commanded on the left wing, after entire-
ly routing the Roman cavalry, went off" to the
right, and, joining the Numidians, put to flight
the cavalry of the allies. Then, leaving the
Numidians to pursue them, with his Gallic and
Spanish horse, he made a charge on the rear
of the Roman infantry, while they were busily
engaged with the Africans. *

XLIX. On the other side of the field,

1 Here the text of the original is go corrupted, as to
be absolutely unintelligible. The fart, as represented in
the supplemental lines, Is so related by Polybius.
3K

442

THE HISTORY

[BOOK xxir.

Paullus had, in the very beginning of the ac-
tion, received a grievous wound from a sling ;
nevertheless, at the head of a compact band, he
frequently opposed himself in Hannibal's way ;
and, in several places, he restored the fight,
being protected by the Roman horsemen, who,
in the end, dismounted, because the consul's
strength declined so far, that he was not able
even to manage his horse. Some person on
this, telling Hannibal that the consul had order-
ed the cavalry to dismount, he answered, as we
are told, " I should have been much better
pleased if he delivered them to me in chains."
The fight maintained by the dismounted caval-
ry was such as might be expected, when the
enemy had gained undoubted possession of the
victory : and as the vanquished chose to die on
the spot, rather than fly, the victors, enraged at
them for retarding their success, put to death
those whom they could not drive from their
ground. They did, however, at length oblige
them to quit the field, their numbers being re-
duced to a few, and those quite spent with toil
and wounds. They were all entirely dispersed,
and such as were able repaired to their horses,
in order to make their escape. Cneius Lentu-
lus, a military tribune, seeing, as he rode by,
the consul sitting on a stone, and covered with
blood, said to him, " Lucius .ZEmilius, whom
the gods ought to favour, as the only person
free from the blame of this day's disaster, take
this horse, while you have any remains of
strength ; I will accompany you, and am able
to raise you up and protect you. Add not to
the fatality of the fight the death of a consul :
without that, there will be abundant cause of
tears and mourning." The consul replied,
" Your spirit, Cneius Cornelius, I commend ;
but do not waste, in unavailing commiseration,
the short time allowed you for escaping out of
the hands of the enemy. Go, carry a public
message from me to the senate, that they for-
tify the city of Rome ; and before the victorious
Carthaginian arrives, secure it with a powerful
garrison. Carry also a private message to
Quintus Fabius ; tell him that Lucius JEmi-
lius has lived, and now dies, in a careful
observance of his directions. As to myself, let
me expire here, in the midst of my slaughtered
soldiers, that I may not either be brought, a
second time, to a trial on the expiration of my
consulship, or stand forth an accuser of my col-
league ; or as if my own innocence were to be
proved by the impeachment of another. " While

they were thus discoursing, -first, a crowd of
their flying countrymen, and afterwards the
enemy came upon them ; and these, not know-
ing the consul, overwhelmed him with their
weapons. Lentulus, during the confusion, es-
caped through the swiftness of his horse. A
general rout now took place ; seven thousand
men fled into the smaller camp, ten thousand
into the greater, and about two thousand into
the village of Cannas ; but the town not being
defended by any fortifications, these were inr
stantly surrounded by Carthalo and the cavalry.
The other consul, without joining any party of
his routed troops, gained Venusia, with about
seventy horsemen. The number of the slain
is computed at forty thousand foot, and two
thousand seven hundred horse ; the loss of na-
•tives and of the confederates being nearly equal.
Among these were the quaestors belonging to
both consuls, Lucius Atilius, and Lucius ~Fu-
rius Bibaculus ; twenty-one military tribunes ;
several who had passed through the offices of
consul, prsetor, or sedile, among whom are
reckoned Cneius Servilius Geminus, and Mar-
cus Minucius, who had been master of the horse
in the preceding year, and consul some years
before ; likewise eighty who were members of
the senate, or had borne those offices which
qualified them to be chosen into that body, and
who had voluntarily enlisted as soldiers in the
legions. The prisoners taken in this battle are
reckoned at three thousand foot, and three hun-
dred horse.

L. Such was the battle of Cannae ; equally
memorable with the defeat at the Allia : but
as it was less fatal in its consequences, because
the enemy were remiss in pursuing the blow, so
with respect to the destruction of the troops,
it was more grievous and lamentable. For the
flight at the Allia, while it proved the ruin of
the city, preserved the men ; but at Cannae,
scarcely seventy accompanied the consul who
fled ; almost the whole army perished with the
other. Those who had collected together in
the two camps, were a half-armed multitude,
without leaders : from the larger was sent a
message to the others, that while the enemy
were sunk, during the night, in profound sleep,
in consequence of their fatigue in the battle,
and of their feasting for joy, they should come
over to them, and they would go off in one
body to Canusium. This advice some totally
rejected ; for they said, " Why did not these
men come to them, when a junction might

v. R. 536.]

OF ROMK.

443

as well have been effected by that means.
Why, but because the ground between them
was full of the enemy's troops, and that they
chose to expose to such danger the persons
of others rather than their own ?" The re-
mainder, though they did not disapprove of
the advice, were yet afraid to follow it.
On this, Publius Sempronius Tuditanus,
a military tribune, addressed them thus :
" Do ye choose, then, to be taken priso-
ners by a most rapacious and cruel enemy,
to have a price set upon your heads, by
men who will examine, whether you are a citi-
zen of Rome, or a Latine confederate, in order
to pay a compliment to others, by heaping in-
dignity and misery upon yourselves ? Surely
not, if ye be really fellow-citizens of the con-
sul yKmilius, who preferred an honourable
death to a life of dishonour, and of such a num-
ber of brave men, who lie in heaps around him.
But, before the light overtakes us, and more
numerous bodies of the enemy stop up the
way, let us sally forth through those, who,
without any order or regularity make this noise
before our gates ; courage and the sword find a
passage through the closest battalions ; this
open and loose band we will penetrate in the
form of a wedge. Come on, then, ye who
wish the preservation of yourselves and the
commonwealth, follow me." So saying, he
drew his sword, and, with the troops who
chose to follow him, formed as he had propotf-
ed, made his way through the midst of the
enemy. Here the Numidian javelins being
thrown against their right sides, which were
uncovered, they removed their shields to their
right hands, and thus, to the number of six
hundred, effected a passage into the larger
camp ; proceeding thence, in conjunction with
the other greater body, they arrived safe at
Canusium. Such were the proceedings of the
vanquished, dictated rather by accident, or each
man's particular feeling, than by deliberation
among themselves, or the orders of any.

LI. When the Carthaginians, flocking round
Hannibal, congratulated him on the victory,
and recommended,' that, after going through
the fatiguing business of so great a battle, he
should take himself, and allow the wearied sol-
diers, repose during the remainder of that day
and the ensuing night ; Maharbal, general of
cavalry, who was of opinion that no time should
be lost, said to him, " that you may be con-

vinced how much has been accomplished by
tliis engagement, on the fifth day following you
shall feast, victorious, in the capitol. Follow
me : I will advance with the horse, that the
enemy may see me arrived, before they are
apprised of my being on the way." To Han-
nibal these hopes appeared too sanguine, and
the prospect too vast for his mind to compre-
hend at first view. He therefore replied, that
" he applauded Maharbal's zeal ; but the affair
required time for consideration." On which
Maharbal observed, " I perceive that the gods
do not bestow on the same person all kinds of
talents. You, Hannibal, know how to acquire
victory, but you know not how to use it."
There is good reason to believe that the delay
of that day proved the preservation of the city,
and of the empire. On the day following,
as soon as light appeared, his troops applied
themselves to the collecting of the spoils, and
in viewing the carnage made, which was such
as shocked even enemies ; so many thousand
Romans, horsemen and footmen, lay promiscu-
ously on the field, as chance had thrown them
together, either in the battle, or flight Some,
whom their wounds, being pinched by the
morning cold, had roused from their posture,
were put to death, by the enemy, as they were
rising up, covered with blood, from the midst
of the heaps of carcasses. Some they found
lying alive, with their thighs and hams cut,
who, stripping their necks and throats, desired
them to spill what remained of their blood.
Some were found, with their heads buried in
the earth, in holes which it appeared they had
made for themselves, and covering their faces
with earth thrown over them, had thus been
suffocated. The attention of all was particu-
larly attracted by a living Numidian with his
nose and ears strangely mangled, stretched un-
der a dead Roman ; and who, when his hands
had been rendered unable to hold a weapon,
being exasperated to madness, had expired in
the act of tearing his antagonist with his teeth.
LI I. After a great part of the day had been
spent in gathering the spoils, Hannibal led his
troops to attack the smaller camp ; and first,
by drawing a trench across, excluded the garri-
son from the river : but the men, being spent
with labour, watching, and wounds, capitulat-
ed sooner tlian he had expected. It was
agreed, that, besides surrendering their arms
and horses, there should be paid for each Ro-

444

THE HISTORY

[BOOK xxn.

man citizen three hundred denarii1, for an ally
two hundred", for a slave a hundred3 ; and that,
on laying down this ransom, they should depart
with single garments. On this, they received
the enemy into the camp, and were all put into
custody, but separately; that is, the citizens
and allies each by themselves. During the time
spent here, such part of the troops, in the greater
camp, as had sufficient strength and courage,
amounting to four thousand footmen and two
hundred horse, had made their escape to Canu-
sium ; some in bodies, others, straggling differ-
ent ways, through the country, a method equally
safe. The camp was surrendered to the enemy
by the wounded, and those who had stayed
through want of courage, and on the same
terms as for the others. Abundance of spoil
was found ; and the whole, (except the men
and horses, and whatever silver there was, most
of which was on the trappings of the latter, for
there was then very little used at the table,
particularly in the field,) was given up to be
plundered. Hannibal then ordered the bodies
of his men to be collected and buried : they are
said to have amounted to eight thousand of the
bravest of his troops. Some writers say, that
he also searched for, and interred the Roman
consul. Those who escaped to Canusium,
and who received, from the inhabitants) no far-"
ther relief than admittance within their walls
and houses, were supplied with corn, clothes,
and subsistence, by a woman of Apulia, named
Busa, eminent for her birth and riches ; in re-
quital of which munificence, high honours
were afterwards paid to her, by the senate, at
the conclusion of the war.

LI II. Now, although there were four mili-
tary tribunes present at Canusium ; of the first
legion, Fabius Maxitnus, whose father had been
dictator the year before ; of the second, Lu-
cius Publicius Bibulus, and Publius Cornelius
Scipio; and, of the third, Appius Claudius
Pulcher, who had been gedile the last year ; yet
the command in chief was, with universal con-
sent, conferred on Publius Scipio ; then very
young, in conjunction with Appius Claudius.
While these, with a few others, were consult-
ing on the measures requisite in this emergen-
cy, they were told by Publius Furius Philus,
son to a man of consular dignity, that " it was
vain for them to cherish hopes in a case past
retrieving ; for the commonwealth was despair-

ed of, and lamented as lost. That several
young men of the nobility, at whose head was
Lucius Caecilius Metellus, were meditating a
scheme of putting to sea, with intent to aban-
don Italy, and go over to the king of some
other country." This distressing incident, be-
sides having in itself the most fatal tendency,
coming unexpectedly, and immediately after so
many disasters, surprised and astonished them
to such a degree, that they lost for a time all
thought and motion ; those who were present
then, advising that a council should be called
on the subject ; Scipio, a youth destined by
fate to conduct the war to a conclusion, said,
that " this was not a subject for council ; the
business required not deliberation, but fortitude
and action. He bade those come with him,
that moment, in arms, who wished the preser-
vation of the commonwealth ; for no place,"
said he, " can you more truly call an enemy's
camp, than that wherein such designs are agi-
tated." Immediately he proceeded, attended
by a few, to the lodging of Metellus ; and find-
ing there the youths, who had been mentioned,
assembled in consultation, he held his drawn
sword over their heads as they sat, and said,
" with sincerity of heart I swear, that I will
not desert the commonwealth of the Roman
people ; neither will I suffer any other Roman
citizen to desert it. If, knowingly, I break
this oath, then do thou, Jupiter, supremely
good and great, overwhelm, in the severest
ruin, myself, my house, my family, and my for-
tune. Lucius Csecilius, and the rest of you
here present, I insist upon your taking the same
oath : he that will not swear, be it known, that
against him this sword is drawn." Terrified
no less "than if they had seen the victorious
Hannibal, they all took the oath, and surren-
dered themselves to Scipio, to be kept in cus-
tody.

LI V. While these things passed at Canu-
sium, about four thousand horse and foot, who,
in the flight, had been dispersed through the
country, came to the consul at Venusia. These
were all distributed by the Venusians through
their several families, where they were received
and treated with kindness. They also gave
to each horseman a gown and tunic, and twen-
ty-five denarii ; 4 and to each footman ten
denarii, s and such arms as were wanted ; and
every other hospitable attention was shown

1 9/. It. Id. 2 61. 5s. 2d.

3 3?. '2s. 7rf.

4 Ife \\d.

*. bid.

v.

536.~|

OF ROME.

445

them, both by the public and by private per-
sons ; all exerting themselves, that the Venu-
sian state might not be outdone, in kindness,
by a woman of Canusium. However, the
great number of her guests, which amounted
now to ten thousand, made the burthen heavier
on Busa. Appius and Scipio, as soon as they
learned that one of the consuls was alive, in-
stantly despatched to him an account of the
number of horse and foot which were with them ;
at the same time desiring his orders, whether
the troops should be brought to him in Venusia,
or remain at Cunusium. Varro led over his
forces to Canusium. And now there was some
appearance of a consular army, and they seemed
capable of defending themselves, though not with
their arms alone, yet certainly with the help of
walls. At Rome accounts were received, that
not even these relics of the citizens and allies
had survived, but that both armies, with the
consuls, were utterly cut off. Never, while the
city itself was in safety, did such a degree of
dismay and confusion prevail within the walls
of Rome. I therefore shrink from the task ;
and will not undertake to describe a scene, of
which any representation that I could give
would fall short of the reality. The report
was, not of such another wound being received,
as when a consul and an army were lost, the
year before, at the Thrasimenus, but of a mul-
tiplicity of disasters ; of both armies, together
with both consuls, being lost ; that the Romans
had now neither camp, nor general, nor soldier
existing; that Hannibal was in possession of
Apulia, Samnium, and of almost all Italy.
Certainly we know no other nation whose spi-
rit would not have been wholly crushed under
such an immense load of misfortunes. Can 1
compare with it the disaster, suffered by the
Carthaginians, in the sea-fight at the ^gat
islands, by which they were so dispirited thai
they gave up Sicily and Sardinia, and were con-
tent thenceforth to pay tribute and taxes ? Or,
the loss of the battle in Africa, under which
this same Hannibal afterwards sunk ? In no
particular are they to be compared, except in
this, that the latter, under their calamities,
displayed nothing like an equal degree of mag-
nanimity,

LV. The prcetors, Publius Furius Philus
and Marcus Pomponius, convened the senate
in the Curia Ilostilia, to consult on the means
of providing for the security of the city. Tbei
took it for granted that, the armies being de-

stroyed, the enemy would come directly to at-
tack Rome, the only object which remained to
je accomplished in order to finish the war. As,
in a case of such extreme danger, the extent of
which was not thoroughly known, they found it
difficult to resolve on any plan, and were at the
same time stunned with the cries and lamenta-
tions of the women ; for no positive informa-
tion being yet received, the living and dead
were, all together, lamented as lost, in almost
every house. Quintus Fabius Maximus gave
his opinion, that " swift horsemen should be
sent along the Appian and I .at im roads, who,
inquiring from any whom they should meet,
straggling in their flight from the field, might
perhaps bring back information as to the real
situation of the consuls and the armies ; and, if
the immortal gods, in compassion to the empire,
had left any remnant of the Roman name ;
where these forces were ; to what quarter Han-
nibal directed his route after the battle ; what
were his intentions ; what he was doing and
preparing to do. These particulars ought to
be inquired into, and ascertained, by active
young men ; and the senators themselves, as
there was not a sufficient number of magis-
trates, ought to undertake the part of quieting
the tumult and disorder of the city ; to remove
the women from the public places, and oblige
them to confine themselves within their own
doors ; to restrain the lamentations of the se-
veral families ; to cause silence in the city ; to
take care that expresses arriving with any intel-
ligence be conducted to the praetors ; and to
make every person wait, in his own house, for
information respecting his own concerns. That
they should moreover place guards at the gates,
to hinder any from going out, and force men to
place their only hope of preservation in the
strength of their walls and works. That when
the tumult should be appeased, then the sena-
tors might properly be called back into the
house to deliberate on measures for the defence
of the city."

LVI. This opinion being unanimously ap-
proved, and the crowd being removed out of
the forum by the magistrates, the senators dis-
persed themselves on all sides to quiet the com-
motions ; and then, at length, a letter was
brought from the consul Terentius, informing
them, that " the consul Lucius JEmilius, and
the army, were cut off ; that he himself was at
Canusium, collecting, as from a shipwreck, the
relics of such a dreadful misfortune ; that there

446

THE HISTORY

[BOOK xxir.

were with him about ten thousand men, belong-
ing to many different corps, and not yet formed
into regular bodies. That the Carthaginian,
showing neither the spirit of a conqueror, nor
the conduct of a great general, lay still at Can-
nae, bargaining about the prisoners and other
booty." Then the losses of private families also
were made known through their several houses ;
and so entirely was the whole city filled with
grief, that the anniversary festival of Ceres was
omitted, because it is not allowable for persons in
mourning to celebrate it, and there was not, at the
time, one matron who was not so habited.
Lest, therefore, for the same reason, other
festivals, public or private, might be left un-
celebrated, the wearing of that dress was, by a
decree of senate, limited to thirty days. Now,
when the tumult in the city was composed,
and the senators re-assembled in their house,
another letter was brought from Sicily, from
the pro-praetor Titus Otacilius, stating, that " a
Carthaginian fleet was ravaging the dominions
of Hiero ; and that, when he was preparing to
carry assistance to him, in compliance with
his earnest request, he had received intelligence
that another fleet lay at the ^gatian islands,
prepared for battle, and intending, as soon as
they learned that he had gone away to guard
the coast of Syracuse, to fall immediately on
Lilybseum, and other parts of the Roman pro-
vince. If, therefore, they wished to protect
Sicily, and the king their ally, a reinforcement
of ships must be sent."

LVII. When the letters of the consul and
pro-prsetor were read, it was resolved that
Marcus Claudius, who commanded the fleet
lying at Ostia, should be sent to take the com-
mand of the forces at Canusium ; and that a
letter should be written to the consul, direct-
ing, that as soon as he had delivered the army
to the praetor, he should, with all the expedi-
tion consisting with the public good, come to
Rome. In addition to all their misfortunes,
people were also terrified by several prodigies ;
and, particularly, by two vestals, Opimia and
Floronia, being, in that year, convicted of in-
continence; one of them was, according to
custom, buried alive, near the Colline gate;
the other voluntarily put an end to her own
life. Lucius Cantilius, secretary to one of
those, whom we now call the lesser pontiffs,
who had debauched Floronia, was, by order of
the chief pontiff, scourged in the forum, with
such severity, that he expired under the pun-
ishment. This enormity, happening in the

midst of BO many calamities, was, as is usual in
such cases, converted into a prodigy, and the
decemvirs were ordered to consult the books.
Quintus Fabius Pictor was sent also to Delphi,
to consult the oracle, and discover by what
lupplications, and worship, they might be able
to appease the gods ; and by what means a
stop might be put to such a heavy train of mis-
fortunes. Meanwhile, according to the di-
rections of the books of the fates, several ex-
traordinary sacrifices were performed; among
which a male and female Gaul, and a male and
female Greek, were buried alive in the cattle
market, in a vault built round with stone ; a
place which had already, by a practice abhor-
rent from the temper of the religion of Rome,
been polluted with human victims. When it
was thought that sufficient atonement had been
made to the wrath of the gods, Marcus Clau-
dius Marcellus despatched from Ostia to
Rome, for the security of the city, one thou-
sand five hundred men, whom he had there,
and who had been raised for the service of the
fleet. He also sent on before him the marine
legion, which was the third under command of
the military tribunes, to Teanum in the terri-
tory of Sidicinium ; and then, having delivered
the command of the fleet to his colleague,
Publius Furius Philus, he repaired himself, in
a few days, by forced marches, to Canusium.
Pursuant to directions of the senate, Marcus
Junius was nominated dictator, and Tiberius
Sempromus master of the horse. They pro-
claimed a levy, and enlisted all the youth of
seventeen years and upwards, and even some
under that age, of whom they completed four
legions, and a thousand horse. Envoys were
also sent to the allies, and Latine confederates,
with a requisition of their contingents of troops,
as specified by treaty. Orders were issued for
preparing armour, weapons, and other neces-
saries; and they even took down from the
temples and porticoes the old spoils taken
from enemies. The urgent necessity, and the
scarcity of men of free condition, occasioned
their adopting a new mode of raising soldiers,
and in an extraordinary manner. They pur-
chased, with the public money, eight thousand
stout young slaves; asking each, whether he
was wiling to serve in the wars ; and then
gave them arms. They preferred employing
this kind of soldiers, though they had it in
their power to have ransomed the prisoners at
a less expense.

L VI II. Hannibal, intoxicated with his great

Y. n. 536.]

OF ROME.

447

success at Cannie, conducted himself as if, in-
stead of having a war to prosecute, he had al-
ready brought it to a conclusion. Ordering
the prisoners to be brought forth, he separated
the allies from the rest ; and, with expres-
sions of kindness, dismissed them without
ransom, as he had done formerly at the Trebia,
and the lake Thrasimenus. Even the Ro-
mans he called before him ; and, contrary
to his former practice, addressed them in very
mild terms, telling them, that " he meant
not to carry the war to the extinction of the
Romans, but fought for glory and empire.
That, as his predecessors had yielded to the
Roman bravery, so he, on his part, was now
endeavouring to make others yield, in turn, to
his valour and good fortune. Wherefore he
would give them permission to ransom them-
selves ; and the terms should be, five hundred
denarii ' for each horseman, three hundred * for
a footman, and a hundred for a slave." s Though
the ransom of the horseman was hereby raised
beyond the rate stipulated on their surrendering,
yet they joyfully embraced any terms. It was
determined, that they should choose, by their
own suffrages, ten of their number, who should
go to Rome to the senate ; and of their faith,
no other security was required than their oath,
that they would return. With these was sent
Carthalo, a noble Carthaginian, who, if he
perceived an inclination towards peace, was to
propose the terms. After they had set out
from the camp, one of them, a man devoid of
Roman principles, pretending to liave forgotten
something, with a view of evading his oath,
returned into the camp, and afterwards, before
night, overtook his companions. When it was
reported at Rome, that they were coming, a
lictor was sent to meet Carthalo, with orders,
in the name of the dictator, that he should quit
the Roman territories before night.

LIX. The deputies of the prisoners, being
by the dictator admitted to an audience of the
senate, the principal of them, Marcus Junius,
spoke to this effect : " Conscript fathers,
none of us is ignorant, that no other state ever
considers prisoners in a lower light than ours
does. However, unless we are too partial to
our own cause, none, who ever fell into the
power of an enemy, less deserved to be ne-
glected than we do. For we did not, through
cowardice, surrender our arms in the field ; but,

1 /,.10. 2i.

8 L.9. 13*. 9rf.

3 L.5. 1*. 7A

after having protracted the battle until near
night, standing on the heaped bodies of the
slain, we retreated within our works. During
the remainder of that day, and the ensuing
night, spent as we were with toil and wounds,
we yet defended our camp. Next day, being
entirely surrounded by the army of the con-
querors, and debarred from access to water,
having no hope of forcing a way through their
numerous bands, and not conceiving it criminal,
that, after the slaughter of fifty thousand of our
army, any Roman soldier should survive the
battle of Cannae, we, at length, agreed to terms
of ransom, on which our liberty should be pur-
chased; and we delivered to the enemy our
weapons, when they could no longer serve to
defend us. We had heard that our ancestors
ransomed themselves with gold from the Gauls ;
and that our fathers, notwithstanding their utter
dislike to the acceptance of the terms of peace,
yet sent ambassadors to Tarentum, for the
purpose of ransoming prisoners. Yet, both
the fight at the Allia with the Gauls, and that
at Heraclea with Pyrrhus, may be called dis-
graceful, on account of the panic and flight.
Whereas the plains of Cannae are overspread
with heaps of slaughtered Romans ; and, that
we survive, is owing to no other cause, than
from the enemy having, in killing, exhausted
their strength. There are, besides, some of
our number who are not even chargeable with
flying the field : having been left to guard the
camp, when that was surrendered, they fell into
the hands of the enemy. I envy not the good
fortirne, or the situation, of any fellow-citizen
or fellow-soldier, nor do I wish, by depressing
another, to exalt myself; but surely, unless
there is some prize due to swiftness of foot,
those men who fled, leaving most of their arms
behind, and never halted until they came to
Venusia, or Canusium, cannot justly claim a
preference before us, or boast of themselves as
more capable of affording defence to the com-
monwealth. However, ye will find them on
trial good and valiant soldiers, and will find us
also the more heartily zealous in our country's
cause, from the consideration of having been,
in kindness, redeemed and reinstated by you.
Ye are enlisting men of every age and condi-
tion. I hear that eight thousand slaves arc to
be armed. Our number is not inferior to that,
and we may be ransomed at less expense than
they are purchased. A comparison between
ourselves and them would be an insult on the

448

THE HISTORY

[BOOK xxii.

name of Roman. I think, conscript fathers,
that, in such a case, this circumstance also
deserves consideration, (if ye choose to act
towards us with a degree of rigour, which we
have, by no means, merited,) the nature of
the enemy, in whose hands ye would leave
us, whether he is such as Pyrrhus, who treated
us, when his prisoners, as if we were his
guests ; or a barbarian, and a Carthaginian ; of
whom it can scarcely be determined, whether
his avarice or cruelty be greater. If ye were
to behold the chains, the squalid dress, and
the miserable looks of your countrymen, the
sight, I am convinced, would affect you not
less deeply, than if ye saw your legions pros-
trate on the plains of Cannae. Ye can here
observe the solitude, and the tears of our
relations, who stand in the porch of your
senate house, waiting for your determination :
when they suffer such suspense and anxiety
for us, and for those who are absent, what do
ye suppose must be the state of those men's
minds whose liberty and life are at stake ? Be-
lieve me, that, even should Hannibal, contrary
to his nature, behave with lenity towards us,
yet life would be no gratification, after having
been adjudged by you unworthy of being ran-
somed. Formerly, prisoners, dismissed by
Pyrrhus without ransom, returned home to
Rome. But they returned with ambassadors,
the principal men in the state, who had been
sent for the purpose of ransoming them. Should
I return to my cour.try, whom my fellow citi-
zens have not valued, as worth three hundred
denarii ; conscript fathers, every man has his
own way of thinking ; I know that my person
and life are in hazard : but I am more deeply
affected by the danger to our reputation, lest
we should appear to be rejected and condemned
by you. For the world will never believe that ye
were actuated by the motive of saving money."
LX. When he ceased speaking, the multi-
tude who stood in the comitium, instantly
raised a lamentable cry, and stretching their
hands toward the senate house, besought the
members to restore to them their children, their
brethren, and relations. Their fears, and the
urgency of the case, had brought a number of
women also among the crowd of men in the
forum. The senate, as soon as the house was
cleared, took the matter into consideration.
Opinions were different ; some recommended
that the prisoners should be ransomed at the
expense of the public ; others, that the public

money should not be expended, but that they
should not be hindered from ransoming them-
selves, with their own private property ; and
that, to such as wanted money at present, it
should be lent out of the treasury, on their in-
demnifying the nation by sureties and mortga-
ges. Titus Manlius Torquatus, a man who
carried primitive strictness, as many thought,
to too great a degree of rigour, on being asked
his opinion, spoke to this effect : " Had the
demands of the deputies, in favour of those
who are in the hands of the enemy, gone no
farther than to their being ransomed, I should
without offering censure on any of them, have
delivered my judgment in few words ; for what
else would be requisite than to admonish you,
to maintain the practice transmitted from your
forefathers, and to adhere to a precedent essen-
tial to military discipline ? But now, since
they have, in a manner, made a merit of having
surrendered themselves to the foe, and claimed
a preference, not only over those who were
made prisoners in the field, but even over those
who made their way to Venusia and Canusium,
and over the consid Cains Terentius himself,
I will not let you remain ignorant, conscript
fathers, of any of the circumstances which oc-
curred on the occasion. And I wish that the
representations, which I am going to lay before
you, were made in the presence of the troops
themselves at Canusium, the most competent
witnesses of every man's cowardice and bra-
very; or, at least, that one particular person
were present here, Publius Sempronins, the
counsel and example of which officer, had those
soldiers thought proper to follow, they would
to-day be Romans in their own camp, not pri-
soners in that of the enemy. But as the Car-
thaginians were fatigued with fighting, or to-
tally occupied in rejoicing for their success, in
which state indeed most of them had even re.
tired into their camp, — they had it in their
power during the whole night to extricate them-
selves by sallying forth ; and though seven
thousand soldiers had been able to force their
way, even through close battalions, yet they,
neither of themselves offered to attempt the
same, nor were willing to follow the lead of
another. Publius Sempronius Tuditanus
never ceased advising and exhorting them, that
while the numbers of the enemy round the
camp were few, while quiet and silence pre-
vailed, while the night covered their design,
they would follow where he should lead ; assur-

Y. R. 536.]

OF ROME.

449

ing them that, before day light, they might ar-
rive in places of safety in the cities of their al-
lies. If he had said in like manner, as in the
time of our grandfathers, Publius Deems mi-
litary tribune in Samnium, spoke, or, as in our
own time, and in the former Punic war, Cal-
jilmniius Flamma said to the three hundred
volunteers, when he was leading them to seize
on an eminence situated in the midst of the ene-
my, SOLDIERS, LET us DIE, AND BY OUR

DEATHS EXTRICATE THE 81'RROUNDED LEGIONS

FROM THE AMBUSCADE. — If Publius Sempro-
nius had spoken thus, I say, he could not
surely deem you either Romans or men, if no
one appeared ready to accompany him in so
brave an enterprise. But still he points
out the way which leads not to glory only
but to safety. He shows how ye may return
to your country, your parents, wives, and chil-
dren. Do ye want spirit for your own preser-
vation? What would ye do if the cause ot
your country required your death ? Fifty thou-
sand of your countrymen and allies lie around
you slain on that same day. If so many exam-
ples of bravery do not rouse you, nothing will
ever rouse you ; if such a carnage has not in-
spired contempt of life, no other will. While
in freedom and safety, wish for your country :
do this as long as it is your country. It is now
too late for you to w,ish for it, when ye are
divested of its privileges, disfranchised of the
rights of citizens, and become slaves of the Car-
thaginians. Will ye return, on terms of pur-
chase, to that condition, which ye relinquished
through pusillanimity and cowardice ? To
Publius Sempronius, your countryman, order-
ing you to take arms arid follow him, ye would
not listen ; ye listened soon after to Hannibal,
ordering you to betray your camp to him, and
surrender your arms. Why do I charge them
with cowardice, when I may charge them with
actions highly criminal ? for they not only re-
fused to follow the person who gave them the
best advice, but attempted to hinder and to
stop him, had not his gallant companions with
their drawn swords cleared the way of those
dastards. I affirm, that Publius Sempronius
was obliged to force his passage through a body
of his countrymen, before he broke through
that of the enemy. Has our country any rea-
son to wish for such citizens as these ; to
whom, if the rest had been like, we should
not have had this day one citizen of those who
fought at Cannae ? Out of seven thousand
J.

men, six hundred were found, who had spirit
to force their way, who returned home with
freedom and their arms, forty thousand of the
enemy not being able to stop them. How
safely then do ye .suppose might a band of near
two legions have passed ? In that case, con-
script fathers, ye would have had this day, at
Canusium, twenty thousand soldiers, brave and
faithful. Hut how can these men be good and
faithful citizens, (for to bravery they do not
themselves lay claim,) after having attempted
to stop the sally of those that wished to trust
all to their swords ? Or who can suppose,
that they do not look with envy on the safety
and glory, which the others have acquired by
their valour, while they see themselves reduced
by their fear and cowardice, to ignominious
slavery. The entire band chose to remain in
their tents, and wait the approach of day, and
of the enemy, at the same time ; though during
the silence of the night they had a fair oppor-
tunity of effecting their escape. But though
they wanted confidence to sally out of the
camp, they had courage valiantly to defend it.
Being besieged for several days and nights, they
protected their rampart by arms : at length,
after the utmost efforts and sufferings, when
every support of life failed, when their strength
was wasted through hunger, and they could no
longer bear up under their arms, they were
overcome by necessities too powerful for human
nature to sustain, and a part with Sempronius
gained the greater camp. Now, at sun rise,
the enemy approached the rampart, and before
the second hour these men who had refused to
accompany him without trying the issue of any
dispute, surrendered their arms and themselves.
Here, then, is the amount of their martial
performances during two days ; when they
ought to have stood in their posts in the bat-
tle, and fought, they then fled to their camp ;
which, instead of defending, they surrendered ;
showing themselves equally useless there, and
in the field. Shall I then ransom such as you ?
When ye ought to sally forth from your camp,
ye hesitate and stay there ; and when staying,
there is a necessity for defending it, ye make
surrender of your arms, and yourselves. Con-
script fathers, I would no more vote for ran-
soming those men, than I would for delivering
up to Hannibal the others, who forced their
way out of the camp, through the midst of
the enemy, and by the highest exertions of
valour restored themselves to their country."
3 L

450

THE HISTORY OF ROME.

[BOOK xxn.

LXI. After this discourse of Manilas, riot-
withstanding that most of the senators had
relations among the prisoners, yet, besides the
maxim generally observed by the state, which,
from the earliest times had ever showed very
little tenderness towards such, the considera-
tion of the money requisite for the ransom
operated with them as a powerful argument ;
indeed they were unwilling either that the
treasury should be exhausted, from which
a great sum had already been issued for pur-
chasing and arming the slaves for service,
or that Hannibal should receive so consider-
ble a supply, and of which he was said to
stand in the greatest need. A harsh -answer
then being given, that the prisoners should not
be ransomed, and this new cause of grief, in
the loss of so many citizens, being added to the
former, the people escorted the deputies to the
gate with abundance of tears and lamentations.
One of the deputies left the rest, and went
home, as if he had fulfilled his oath, by falla-
ciously returning into the camp. But, as soon
as this became known, and was reported to the
senate, they unanimously voted, that he should
be seized and conveyed to Hannibal, under a
guard appointed by the government. This
affair of the prisoners is related in another man-
ner : that ten deputies came at first ; and that
the senate were for some time in doubt whether
they should be admitted into the city or not ;
but that at length permission was granted them
to enter it ; but still they were refused an audi-
ence of the senate ; and that afterwards, on
their staying longer than the rest expected, three
others were sent, Lucius Scribonius, Caius
Calpurnius, and Lucius Manlius. Then, at
last, the business of ransoming the prisoners
was proposed to the senate by a plebeian tri-
bune, a relation of Scribonius, and their deter-
mination was, that they should not be ransomed.
On this the three deputies, who came last, re-
turned to Hannibal, but the ten former remain-
ed at Rome ; as if, by having returned to Han-
nibal, after setting out on their journey, under

pretext of getting a complete list of the priso-
ners, they had fulfilled their oath. The ques-
tion, whether they should be delivered up to
the enemy, was warmly debated in the senate,
and the party who voted in the affirmative were
overcome by a small majority. However, they
were by the next censors so severely branded
with every mark of ignominy, that some of them
laid violent hands on themselves, and the rest,
during all the remainder of their lives, shunned
not only the forum, but almost the public street,
and the light. While such difference, in the
representations given by historians, may be
wondered at, still there are no means of distin-
guishing the truth. The greatness of the pre-
sent misfortune, beyond any hitherto sustained,
is demonstrated by this circumstance : that the
allies, who, until this time, had stood firm in
their attachment, now began to waver ; for no
other reason, certaii Jy, than that they despaired
of the commonwealth. The following states
actually revolted to the Carthaginians, during
the war : the Atellans, the Calatians, the Hir-
pinians, a part of the Apulians, the Samnites,
excepting the Pentrians, all the Bruttians, the
Lucanians, and, besides these, the Surrenti-
nians ; almost the whole coast possessed by the
Greeks, the Taren tines, Metapon tines, Croto-
nians, Locrians, and all the Cisalpine Gauls.
Yet did not all these losses and revolts of their
allies shake the firmness of the Romans so far
as to induce them ever once to make mention
of peace, either before the consul's return to
Rome, or when his arrival renewed the memo-
ry of their misfortune. But at that very time,
such magnanimity was shown by the state, that
on the consul's approaching the city, after such
a heavy disaster, of which he, in particular, had
been the principal cause, all ranks of people
not only went out in crowds to meet him, but
even returned him thanks for not having de-
spaired of the commonwealth ; whereas, had he
been a general of the Carthaginians, there is no
degree of punishment beyond what he must
have suffered.

THE

HISTORY OF ROME.

BOOK XXIII,

The Campnnians revolt to Hanuibal. Hanno moves in Hie senate of Carthage to propose terms of peace to the
Romans ; his proposition strenuously opposed, and over-ruled, by the Barcine faction. Marcellus defeats Han-
nibal, In a battle at Nola. Hannibal's army enervated by luxurious living at Capua. Cassilinum besieged by
the Carthaginians, ia reduced to such extremity by famine, that the people eat the leathern covers of their
shields, and even mice. One hundred and ninety-seven new members, from the equestrian order, added to the
senate. Lucius Postumius, prsetor, with his army, defeated by the Gauls, and slain. Cneius Sciplo, and Pub-
lios, overcome Hasdrubal in Spain, and conquer that country. The remaining troops of the army vanquished
at Cannse, sent .to Sicily, there to remain during the continuance of the war. An alliance formed between
Philip, king of Macedonia, and Hannibal. Sempronius Gracchus, consul, defeats the Catnpanians. Successes
of Titus Manlius in Sardinia ; he takes prisoners, Hasdrubal, the general, Mago, and Hanno. Claudius Mar.
cellus gives Hannibal's army a second defeat at Kola ; and, at length, 'gives the Romans hopes of a favourable
termination of the war.

I. AFTER the battle of Cannae, Hannibal, as
soon as he had taken and sacked the Roman
camps, removed hastily from Apulia into Sam-
nium, being invited into the territory of Arpi
by Statius Trebius, who promised to deliver
the city of Compsa into his hand. Trebius
was a native of Compsa, of considerable note
among his countrymen, but thwarted in his
ambitious views by a faction of the Mopsian
family, which, through the favour of the Ro-
mans, had acquired the principal direction of
affairs. When an account was received of the
battle of Cannae, and Trebius openly announced
the approach of Hannibal, the Mopsian party
withdrew from the city ; on which it was, with-
out a contest, surrendered to the Carthaginian,
and a garrison of his troops received into it.
Hannibal, leaving here all the booty, together
with his baggage, and dividing his army into
two parts, ordered Mago, with one division, to
receive such cities of that country as were
willing to revolt from the Romans, and if any
should refuse, to compel them by force ; while
he himself, at the head of the other, marched
through the country of Campania, towards the

lower sea, intending to lay siege to Neapob's,
in order to gain possession of a sea-port town.
On entering the frontiers of the Neapolitans,
he placed one half of his Numidians in ambush,
in places suited to the purpose ; and, in general,
the roads run through deep valleys, and form
windings commodious for concealment : the
rest he ordered to drive before them, in open
view of the enemy, the prey collected in the
country ; and to ride up, in a menacing manner,
to the gates. Against this party, which ap-
peared to be neither regular nor numerous, a
sally was made by a squadron of horse, which
by the others retreating on purpose, was drawn
into the ambuscade, surrounded and cut to
pieces. Nor would one of them have escaped,
had not the sea been so near, and some vessels,
mostly fishing smacks, which were in view at
a small distance from shore, afforded shelter to
such as were able to swim. Several young
men of distinction, however, were slain and
taken in this action, among whom fell Ht-geas.
the general of the cavalry, too eagerly pursuing
the enemy in their retreat. The Carthaginian
was deterred from undertaking the siege of the

452

THE HISTORY

[BOOK XXHI.

city, by the sight of the fortifications, which
showed that the enterprise would be attended
with considerable difficulty

IL From hence he marched to Capua ;
where, in consequence of a long course of pros-
perity, and the kind indulgence of fortune, the
manners of the people were become extremely
dissolute and licentious ; and amidst the uni-
versal corruption, the commons particularly
distinguished themselves, by the extravagancy
of their conduct, carrying their notions of liber-
ty to the most unbounded excess. A person,
named Pacuvius Calavius, of noble birth, and,
at the same time, a great favourite of the ple-
beians, but indebted for his popularity to in-
trigues of no very honourable kind, had ren-
dered the senate dependent on his will, and that
of the commons. He happened to be invested
with the chief magistracy during that year,
wherein the Romans were defeated at the Thra-
simenus ; and suspected that, on an opportunity
so favourable for effecting a revolution, the
commons, who had so long harboured a bitter
animosity against the senate, would attempt
some important enterprise ; and that, if Han-
nibal should come into those parts with his
victorious army, they would even go so far
as to murder the senate, and deliver Capua
into the hands of the Carthaginians. Though
a man of profligate manners, yet, not being ut-
terly abandoned, he preferred ruling the com-
monwealth in its present settled state to any
power which he could hope for, in case of its
subversion ; and knowing the impossibility of
any state remaining settled if destitute of coun-
sel to direct its affairs, he set about the execu-
tion of a plan whereby he might preserve the
senate, and, at the same time, keep it in awe of
himself and his party. Having convened that
body, he began, by telling them, " that the de-
sign of revolting from the Romans, unless such
a measure should be found absolutely necessary,
could not by any means be agreeable to him,
who had children by the daughter of Appius
Claudius, and had disposed of a daughter of his
own in marriage, at Rome, to Livius j but that,
however, an affair of much greater moment, and
more alarming tendency, required their atten-
tion : for, the purpose of the commons was not,
by changing sides, to abolish the authority ot
the senate ; but, by massacring the members to
leave the commonwealth without a head, and in
that state to deliver it up to Hannibal and the
Carthaginians. From this imminent danger, it

was In his power, (he said,) to deliver them, if
they would entrust themselves to his manage-
ment, and forgetting party animosities, place
entire confidence in him." Overcome by the
violence of their fears, they all consented to be
directed by him ; on which he said, " I wili
shut you up in the senate-house, appearing as
an accomplice in their wicked plot, and while I
seem to approve of designs which I should in
vain oppose, I will find out a way for your safe-
ty. For the performance of this I am willing
to give you any security which you may de-
mand." Having solemnly pledged his faith, he
went out, and ordered the senate-house to be
shut, leaving a guard in the porch, with orders,
that no one should go in or out without his di-
rections.

III. He then convened the people, to whom
he said, " Campanians, the opportunity for
which you have so often prayed, of taking ven-
geance on a wicked and detestable senate, now
presents itself in such a manner, that you may
accomplish your wishes, without any hazard of
danger to yourselves, in storming, by force of
arms, their several houses which they keep se-
cured by garrisons of their dependents and
slaves. I am ready to deliver into your hands,
the whole body of them shut up together in the
senate-house, unattended, unarmed. Nor need
you do any thing in a hurry, or without consi-
deration. I will take care that you shall have
full power of passing sentence of lite or death
on every one of them : so that each may suffer
the punishment which he has deserved. Above
all things, however, it behoves you, while you
indulge the gratification of your resentment, to
make even that give place to the care of your
own interest and welfare. For, the object of
your hatred is, as I apprehend, the present body
of senators : you do not wish that the common-
wealth should be entirely without a senate ; for
you must have either a king, an office univer-
sally detested ; or a senate, the only kifid of go-
vernment compatible with freedom in a state.
You must therefore do two things at the same
time, remove the old senate and elect a new
one. I will order each of the senators to
be summoned before you ; concerning whose
life or death I will require your judgment :
whatever your sentence is, it shall be exe-
cuted. But first, before punishment is in-
flicted on the guilty, you will elect into his
place, as a new senator, some person of ability
and spirit." He then took his seat ; and the

Y. R. 536.]

OF ROME.

453

names of tfle senators being thrown together
into an urn, he ordered the first that happened
to come out, on shaking the lots, to be pro-
claimed, and the person himself to be brought
out from the senate-house. On hearing the
name, every one eagerly cried or.t that he was
a worthless character, and a wicked man ; and
that he deserved punishment. Pacuvius then
said, " I perceive what judgment has been
passed on this man. He is expelled. In the
room of this worthless and wicked senator,
elect one endowed with probity and justice."
A general silence at first took place, from the
difficulty of finding a better substitute in his
room ; and afterwards, some one breaking
through reserve, and proposing a certain per-
son, a clamour was instantly raised louder than
against the other; some declaring, that they
did not know him ; others exclaiming, at one
time, against his scandalous behaviour, at
another, against his meanness, his sordid po-
verty, and the disreputable trade or occupa-
tion which he followed. The same conse-
quences ensued, and the difficulty still increas-
ed, on the second and third senator being sum-
moned ; all which clearly proved that the
people disliked the men in question, but were
totally at a loss for one whom they could set
in his place ; for it would answer no purpose
to propose the same persons a second time,
whose nomination had produced nothing but a
recital of their disgraces, and the rest were still
more mean and obscure than those who first
occurred to people's thoughts. The conse-
quence was, that the people withdrew from the
assembly, affirming, that the evil with which
men were best acquainted was the most toler-
able, and ordering the senate to be discharged
from custody.

IV. Pacuvius, by this obligation conferred
on the senate, in thus preserving their lives,
so effectually gained their affections that they
were much more earnestly disposed to support
his interest, than that of the commons; and
now, all ranks yielding a ready compliance with
his designs, without having recourse to force
of arms, he ruled with unlimited authority.
Henceforward the senators, casting off all re-
gard to their independence and their dignity,
paid court to the commons, and saluted them
in courteous terms ; invited them, with every
expression of kindness, to their houses, and
then entertained them sumptuously ; always
undertook that side of a controversy, sup-

ported that cause, and appointed judges agree-
able to that party, which was most popular, and
seemed best calculated to conciliate the favour
of the populace. No business was transacted
in the senate in any other manner, than just as
if it had consisted of a set of plebeians. The
people had ever been prone to luxurious extra-
vagance ; not only from an evil propensity in
their nature, but likewise through the profu-
sion of voluptuous enjoyments that lay within
their reach, and the temptations to which they
were exposed in the midst of every means of
gratification which land or sea could afford.
But now, in consequence of the condescension
and indulgence shown by persons of the first
consequence, they ran into such exorbitant ex-
cess as set no limits either to their desires or
expenses. They had long cast off all respect
for their own magistrates, senate, and laws ;
and now, since the unfortunate battle of Cannae,
they began to look with contempt on the
government of Rome also, which alone they
had, until then, regarded with some degree of
awe. The only considerations that withheld
them from an immediate revolt, were, that by
means of intermarriages contracted in a long
course of time, many of their most illustrious
and powerful families were connected with the
Romans ; and, besides that many of their coun-
trymen served in the Roman armies, their
-strongest motive for restraining their inclina-
tion, was, concern for three hundred horsemen
of the noblest families in Campania, who had
been selected by the Romans, and sent into
several garrisons in the cities of Sicily.

V. The parents and relations of these, with
great difficulty, prevailed on the people to send
ambassadors to the Roman consul. They
found him at Venusia, attended by a very
small number of half-armed troops, and in such
a condition as could not fail to excite compas-
sion in good and faithful allies, and contempt
in the faithless and proud, such as were the
Campanians. And this contempt of him-
self, and of his situation, the consul also
increased by too unguardedly exposing and
displaying the disastrous state of his affairs.
For, on the ambassador's telling him that the
senate and people of Campania were much
grieved that any misfortune should have hap-
pened to the Romans, and promising supplies
of every kind, towards carrying on the war, he
answered, '• Campanians, in desiring us to call
on you for supplies towards maintaining the

454

THE HISTORY

[BOOK xxm.

war, you have observed the usual manner of
speaking practised between allies, rather than
accommodated your discourse to the present
state of our fortune. For what has been left
us at Cannae, that, as if we had something of
our own, we should wish to have its deficien-
cies made up by our allies ? Should we call on
you for infantry, as if we had cavalry ? Should
we tell you that we want money, as if that were
the only thing wanted ? Fortune has left us
nothing ; not so much as a remnant to which
additions might be made. Our legions, our
cavalry, "arms, standards, men and horses, money,
provisions, have all perished, either in the field,
or in the loss of the two camps, on the follow-
ing day. Wherefore, Campanians, your part is,
not to aid us in the war, but, in a manner, to
undertake the war in our stead. Call to mind
how, formerly, when your forefathers were
driven, in dismay, within the walls, terrified at
the approach of the armies of their enemies,
both Samnites and Sidicinians, we took them
under our protection, stood up in their defence
at Saticula ; and this war against the Samnites,
undertaken on your account, we maintained,
through various vicissitudes of fortune, during
a space of near one hundred years. Add to
this that, though we possessed the right of sove-
reignty over you, we granted you an alliance on
terms of equality ; allowed you your own laws,
and, in fine, what was to be considered (at least
before the defeat at Cannae) as the highest hon-
our in our power to confer, we admitted a great
number among you to the freedom of our city,
and shared its privileges with you. For these
reasons, Campanians, you ought to consider
our late defeat as a common misfortune, and to
deem it your duty to defend our common
country. The dispute is not with the Etru-
rian, or the Samnite ; in which case the sove-
reignty, though taken from us, would still
remain in Italy ; a Carthaginian foe draws
after him, from the remotest limits of the world,
from the straits of the ocean and the pillars of
Hercules, a host of men who are not even na-
tives of Africa, and who are utter strangers to
all laws, to all the rules and rights of society, and
almost to the language of men. This horde,
cruel and savage from nature and habit, their
leader has taken pains to render still more sav-
age ; making them form bridges and ramparts of
human bodies heaped together, and, what is
shocking even to mention, teaching them to feed
on human flesh. Who, that was but born in any

part of Italy, could think, without horror and
detestation, of seeing, and acknowledging as
sovereigns, such creatures as these, who live on
such abominable food, whose very touch would
convey pollution ; of receiving laws from Africa
and Carthage, and of suffering Italy to become
a province to Moors and Numidians ? It will
be highly honourable to you, Campanians, that
the Roman empire, tottering under so severe a
blow, should be upheld and restored by your
faithful zeal and strength. I suppose that there
may be raised in Campania thirty thousand foot,
and four thousand horse. Of money and corn
you already have abundance. If your zeal in our
favour be but equal to your abilities, neither
shall Hannibal perceive that he has been victo-
rious, nor the Romans that they have been de-
feated.

VI. After the consul had spoken thus, the
ambassadors were dismissed ; and, as they were
returning home, one of them, whose name was
Vibius Virius, observed to the rest, that " the
time had now arrived, when the Campanians
might not only recover from the Romans the
lands of which they had been unjustly deprived,
but also gain possession of the sovereignty of
Italy. For they might form an alliance with
Hannibal, on whatever terms they themselves
should choose ; and when Hannibal, after com-
pleting his success, and putting an end to the
war, should depart into Africa, and withdraw
his army, the sovereign power over Italy, with-
out any dispute, would be left in the possession
of the Campanians." In these sentiments of
Vibius all the rest concurred, and they accord-
ingly made such a report of the issue of their
embassy, as persuaded every one that the
Roman power was utterly annihilated. The
plebeians, and the greater part of the senate,
began instantly to take measures for a revolt.
However, by the earnest persuasions of the
elder citizens, their proceedings were defer-
red for a few days ; but, at last the opinion of
the majority prevailed, that the same ambassa-
dors, who had gone to the Roman consul, should
be sent to Hannibal. In some histories I have
read, that, before this embassy was despatched,
or the design of revolting finally determined up-
on,ambassadors were sent by the Campanians,to
Rome,requiring that,if the Roman people expect-
ed succours from them, they should elect one of
the consuls out of Campania; that this excited
so great indignation, that they were ordered to
be turned out of the senate-house ; and that a

v. B. 539.]

OF ROME.

455

lirtor \viis sent to conduct them out of the city,
and to warn them to retire, before night, out of
the Roman territory. But this, bearing too
great a similarity to the demand formerly made
by the Latines, and C»'lius and other writers
-, not without reason, omitted the men-
tion of it, I cannot take upon me to affirm the
truth of the account.

VII. The ambassadors came to Hannibal,
and concluded with him an alliance, on condi-
tions, that ''no general, or magistrate of the
Carthaginians, should have any authority over
a citizen of Campania ; nor should any native
of Campania be compelled to serve in the
army, or to act in any other employment.
That Capua should retain its own laws and
magistrates. That the Carthaginian should
deliver into the hands of the Campanians,
three hundred of the Roman prisoners, whom
they should pitch on, in order that they might
make an exchange of these for the Campanian
horsemen serving in Sicily." Such were the
articles stipulated ; but, to the performances to
which they were bound by treaty, the Cam-
panians added deeds of a heinous nature ; for
the praefects of the allies,1 and other Roman
citizens, part engaged in some military employ-
ment, others busied in their private^concerns,
the plebeians suddenly seized, and ordered them
to be shut up in the baths, as if with intent to
keep them there in custody ; instead of which,
suffocated with heat and vapour, they died in a
shocking manner. These proceedings, and
likewise the sending of an embassy to the
Carthaginian, had been most strenuously
opposed by Decius Magius ; a man who
wanted no qualifications that could entitle
him to the chief direction of affairs, which,
had not his countrymen wanted sound judg-
ment, would certainly have been placed in
his hands. When he heard that a body of
troops was sent by Hannibal to garrison the
city, he at first, openly and loudly protested
against giving them admittance, urging as a
caution, the haughty tyranny of Pyrrhus, and
the wretched slavery of the Tarentines ; and
afterwards, when they had been admitted,
laboured to persuade the people either to expel
them ; or, if they wished to atone, by a brave
and memorable act, for the baseness of their

1 Human officers appointed to command the troops
furnished by the allies with the same rank and authority
v.-hirli the tribunes held in the Human legions.

behaviour, in revolting from their oldest
confederates and near relations, to put to
death the Carthaginian garrison, and re-unite
themselves to the Romans. These his pro-
ceedings being reported to Hannibal, (for all
passed in public,) he first sent to summon
Magius to attend him in bis camp ; then, on
his positively refusing to come, and insisting
that Hannibal had no authority over a citizen
of Campania, the Carthaginian, provoked to
a high degree of passion, ordered his person
to be seized and dragged to him into the camp
in chains ; but afterwards, apprehending lest,
in case of force being used, some tumult, and
then, people's minds being irritated, some
imprudent scuffle might ensue, he sent forward
a message to Marius Blosius, prator of Capua,
that he would come himself to that city on the
next day ; and accordingly, he set out, with a
small body of troops. Marius, calling the
people together, published orders that they
should all, in a body, with their wives and
children, go out to meet Hannibal : these
orders vrere universally obeyed, not only with-
out reluctance, but with cheerful readiness ;
being agreeable to the inclinations of the popu-
lace, who were impatient to behold a general,
who was now renowned for so many victories.
Decius Magius neither went out to meet him,
nor did he confine himself within doors, lest he
should betray some apprehension from con-
sciousness of misbehaviour : but, while the
whole city was in hurry and confusion, through
an eagerness to see and to compliment the
Carthaginian, he walked carelessly in the
forum with his son, and a few of his atten-
dants. Hannibal, immediately on entering
the city, demanded an audience of the senate ;
but the principal Campanians then besought
him not, at that time, to attend to any seri-
ous business, but, with cheerfulness and free-
dom, to celebrate a day which his arrival
had consecrated to festivity. Although furi-
ously passionate, yet, unwilling to refuse them
any thing on the commencement of their con-
nection, he spent a great part of that day,
in taking a view of the city. He was lodged
at the house of the two Minii Celeres,
Su-nius and Pacuvius, men highly distinguish-
ed by the nobility of their birth, and the great-
ness of their wealth. Hither Pacuvius Cala-
vius, whom we mentioned before, the leader of
that faction, whose violence had effected the
present union, brought his son, a young man,

456

THE HISTORY

QBOOK xxiir.

after having, with difficulty, drawn him away
from the side of Decius Magius ; for the youth
had joined him, with the warmest zeal, in sup-
porting the Roman alliance, and opposing the
treaty with the Carthaginians ; nor had the
public determination, on the other side, or his
respect for his father, been able to produce a
change in his sentiments. Calavius, by en-
treaties rather than excuses, procured a pardon
for him, from Hannibal, who overcome by the
father's prayers and tears, even desired that he
should be invited, together with his father, to
supper, though he intended to admit no Cam-
panian to the entertainment, except his hosts,
and Jubellius Taurea, a man celebrated for his
abilities in war. The entertainment began
early in the day, and the feast, as might be
expected in a city remarkable for luxury, and
in a house particularly so, was not conformable
to the Carthaginian customs, or to military dis-
cipline, but furnished with every incentive to
convivial enjoyment Calavius's son, Perolla,
alone maintained a degree of reserve, which
neither the attentions of the masters of the
house, nor those sometimes added by Hannibal
himself, could overcome. For this he apologiz-
ed by imputing it to indisposition, and his
father alleged also the disturbed state of his
mind, which could not then be wondered at.
About sunset, the elder Calavius, going out of
the room, was followed by his son, who, when
they came into a private place (a garden at the
rear of the house), said to him ; " Father, I
have a plan to mention to you, by which we
may not only procure from the Romans pardon
of our misconduct, in going over to Hannibal,
but also acquire to the people of Campania, a
much larger share of their esteem and favour
than we have ever yet enjoyed." The father,
with surprise, inquiring what sort of a plan this
was, he threw back his gown from his shoulder,
and showed him a sword girt to his side, then
said, " I will presently, with Hannibal's blood,
ratify our alliance with Rome. Of this I
thought it proper to apprise you, because you
may, perhaps, wish to be absent, when the deed
is performed."

IX. On this sight, and hearing these words,
the old man, distracted with apprehension, as
if he were then present at the perpetrating of
the act which had been mentioned, exclaimed ;
" By all the ties, my son, which unite children
to their parents, I intreat, I beseech you, do
not, before the eyes of your father, commit a

deed of such transcendant horror, and draw on
yourself extremity of ruin. But few hours
have elapsed, since, swearing by all the gods
existing, and joining our right hands to his, we
bound ourselves to be faithful to him ; was it
that immediately, on quitting the conference,
we should arm against him those very hands,
which we had given as sacred pledges of our
faith ? You are just risen from an hospitable
table, to which, of only three Campanians fa-
voured with an invitation by Hannibal, you
were one ; was it that you should stain that
very table with the blood of your host ? My
entreaties, as a father, have prevailed over
Hannibal's resentment in favour of my son ;
shall they have less power with my son in fa-
vour of Hannibal ? But suppose there were no
sacred obligation in the case, no faith, no reli-
gion, no filial duty, let the most abominable
deeds be perpetrated, if they do not, along with
the guilt, bring ruin on ourselves. Do you
mean to assault Hannibal with your single
arm ? What will that numerous crowd, both
of freemen and slaves, be doing ? What the
eyes of all, intent on him alone ? What so
many right hands ? Will they all be benumb-
ed, during such a mad attempt? How will
you be able to support the looks of Hannibal
himself, which armed hosts are unable to with-
stand ; which the Roman people behold with
horror? Besides, will you be hardy enough
to strike me, when, should other assistance be
wanting, I shall oppose my person to the danger
in defence of Hannibal's ? Now, be assured,
that, if you strike and pierce his body, it must
be through my breast. Suffer yourself, then,'
to be dissuaded here, rather than overpowered
there. Let my prayers have as much weight
with you, as they had to-day with him in
your behalf." Observing the youth now soften-
ed into tears, he threw his arms round him, and,
embracing him, with kisses, persevered in his
entreaties, until he prevailed on hiin to lay
aside the sword, and give him his honour that
he would make no such attempt. The son then
said, " I, for my part, will pay to my father
the debt of duty which I owe to my country.
But I am grieved at the circumstances in which
you stand, who have to answer for the crime of
having thrice betrayed your country ; once,
when you advised the revolt from the Romans ;
a second time, when you promoted an alliance
with Hannibal ; and a third time, .this day,
when you obstruct and prevent the re-union of

Y. R. 5S6.]

OF ROME.

457

Capua with Rome. Do thou, my country, re-
rrivi- rhi< weapon, which I wished to use with
effort, inilctfiu-u of this thy capital ; and which
I resign, not through any tenderness to the
enemy, but because my father extorts it from
me." So saying, he threw the sword ever the
garden wall into the street, and, to avoid suspi-
cion, returned to the company.

X. Next day, Hannibal had audience in a full
meeting of the senate, where the first part of his
discourse contained nothing but expressions of
affection and kindness; thanking the Campanians
for having preferred his friendship to their former
alliance ; and among other magnificent promis-
es, assuring them, that Capua should, in a
short time, be the metropolis of Italy ; and
that the Romans, as well as the other nations,
should receive laws from it. He then took
notice, that " there was one person who had
no title to a share in the friendship of the
Carthaginians, and in the terms of the treaty
now concluded ; who ought not to be consider-
ed, or even named, as a Campanian : this was
Decius Magius. Him he demanded to be de-
livered into his custody, and required that the
senate should, in his presence, take Magius's
conduct into consideration, and determine con-
cerning him." This proposition wus unani-
mously assented to, notwithstanding that a
great part of the senate thought that he had not
deserved such severe treatment ; and, likewise,
that this first step was no small encroachment
on their independence. He then, leaving the
senate-bouse, placed himself on the judgment-
seat of the chief magistrate, and gave orders
that Decius Magius should be seized, brought
to his feet, and there, unsupported, stand his
trial. The other, retaining his undaunted
spirit, insisted that, according to the terms of
the treaty, he was not liable to such compul-
sion ; on which he was loaded with chains, and
ordered to be led by a lictor into the camp.
As long as he was conducted with his head
uncovered, he continually harangued the multi-
tude, which every where gathered round him,
calling out to them — " You have now, Cam-
panians, the independence that you aimed at
In the middle of your forum, in the light of day,
before your eyes, I, who am inferior to no one
of the Campanians, am chained and dragged to
execution. What more violent outrage could
have happened, were Capua taken by storm ?
Go out, then, to meet Hannibal, decorate the
city, consecrate the day of his arrival, that you

I.

may behold such a triumph as this over one
of your own countrymen." While he was ex-
claiming in this manner, the populace appearing
to be moved by his remonstrances, his head was
covered, and an order given, that he should be
dragged more speedily out of the gate. Being
brought in this manner to the camp, he was in-
stantly put on board a ship, and sent away for
Carthage : for Hannibal was apprehensive lest,
in consequence of the harsh treatment shown
him, some commotion might arise in the city,
that even the senate might repent of having
given up one of their principal members,
and that, should an embassy be sent to reclaim
him, he must either, by refusing their first re-
quest, give offence to his new allies, or, if he
complied, must expect to find him a constant
fomenter of sedition and disturbance in Capua.
A storm drove the ship to Cyrene, which was
at that time under the dominion of the Egyp-
tian kings. Here Magius, having fled to the
statue of king Ptolemy as a sanctuary, was car-
ried under a guard to Alexandria, to Ptolemy ;
and having represented to him, that he had
been put in chains by Hannibal, contrary to
the terms of the treaty, he was set at liberty,
and received permission to return either to
Rome or Capua, whichever he pleased. Ma-
gius answered, that " at Capua he could not
expect safety ; that his residence at Rome,
at that time, when war subsisted between the
Romans and Campanians, would give him the
appearance of a deserter, rather than of a guest ;
and that there was no place where he so much
wished to live, as in the territory of the king, in
whom he had found a protector and deliverer
from bondage."

XI. During these transactions, Quintus
Fabius Pictor, who had been sent ambassador
to Delphi, returned to Rome, and read, from
a written copy, the answer which he had receiv-
ed. This contained instructions to what
deities, and in what manner, supplications
should be made ; and then proceeded thus :
« Romans, if you follow these directions, your
affairs will improve and prosper ; the business of
your state will advance more agreeably to your
wishes, and the Roman people will be finally
victorious in the war : when your common-
wealth shall be settled in safety and prosperity,
then, out of the acquisitions made by your
arms, send an offering to the Pythian Apollo,
and dedicate to his honour a part of the booty,
of the captives, and of the spoils. Banish li-
3M

458

THE HISTORY

[BOOK XXIH.

centiousness from among you." After repeat-
ing these words, translated from the Greek
verses, he added, that " when he retired from
the oracle, he immediately performed worship
to all these divinities, with offerings of wine
and incense ; and was ordered by the chief
priest of the temple, that as he had approached
the oracle, and had performed worship with a
crown of laurel on his head, so he should go
on board his ship, wearing the same crown,
and not lay it aside until he should arrive at
Rome. That he had, with the utmost dili-
gence and reverence, executed all the commands
given him, and had deposited the crown on the
altar of Apollo at Rome." The senate then
decreed that those supplications and other acts
of worship, should be performed as soon as
possible.

XII. While these things were passing in
Rome and Italy, Mago, son of Hamilcar, had
arrived at Carthage with the news of the
victory at Cannae. He. had not been des-
patched by his brother immediately after the
battle, but delayed for several days, in re-
ceiving the submissions of the cities of Brutti-
um which revolted. Being introduced to an
audience of the senate, he gave a full account
of his brother's exploits in Italy ; that " he had
fought pitched battles with six consular armies,
and six several commmanders ; of whom four
were consuls, one dictator, and the other mas-
ter of the horse ; had slain above two hundred
thousand of the enemy, and had taken above
fifty thousand. Of the four consuls, he had
slain two ; one had escaped wounded : and the
other, with scarce fifty of his men, after having
lost the rest of his army. The master of the
horse, an officer of equal power with a con-
sul, had been defeated and driven off the
field ; and the dictator, because he always
cautiously avoided an engagement, was esteem-
ed as a commander of singular abilities. The
Bruttiaus and Apulians, with part of the
Saniiiit.es and Lucaniaris, had come over to
the Carthaginians. Capua, which was the
metropolis not only of Campania, but, since
the ruin of the Roman power in the battle of
Cannae, of Italy, had been surrendered to him.
For these so great and so numerous successes,
it was proper that the public should be grateful,
and should offer thanksgivings to the immortal
gods." He then, in confirmation of this joyful
intelligence, ordered the gold rings taken from
tut Romans to be poured down in the porch

of the senate-house ; and of these there was so
great a heap, that, according to some writers,
on being measured, they tilled three pecks and
a half; but the more general account, and
likewise the more probable is, that they
amounted to no more than one peck. He
also explained to them, in order to show the
greater extent of the slaughter, that none but
those of equestrian rank, and of these only the
principal, wore this ornament. The main pur-
port of his discourse was, that " the nearer their
prospect was of finishing the war, the more
vigorous support, of every kind, ought to be
afforded to Hannibal ; for that it was carried
on at a great distance from home, in the heart
of the enemy's country. The consumption of
money and corn was great ; and so many en-
gagements, while they ruined the Roman
armies, had diminished, in some degree, those
of the conqueror. It was therefore necessary
to send a reinforcement, and likewise to send
money for the pay, and corn for the mainten-
ance of the troops, who had merited so highly
of the Carthaginian nation."

XIII. At the conclusion of Mago's dis-
course, while all were filled with joy, Himilco,
one of the Barcine faction, thinking this a fav-
ourable opportunity for sarcastic reflections on
Hanno, said to him, " Hanno, what is your
opinion now ? Are you still sorry for our en-
tering into the war against the Romans ?
Advise now the delivering up Hannibal, oppose
the offering thanks to the immortal gods, on
occasion of these happy events. Let us hear a
Roman senator in the senate-house of the Car-
thaginians. " To this Hanno replied ; " Con-
script fathers, I should have remained silent
this day, lest, in a time of general joy, I might
utter some expression tending to damp it.
But now, called upon, as I am, by a member
of this body, to declare whether I am still sorry
for our having entered into the war against the
Romans, if I refuse to answer, I ,may in-
cur the imputation either of superciliousness
or servility ; the former indicating a want
of due regard to the independent rights of
others, the latter to a man's own. Let
me, therefore, answer Himilco, that I have
not ceased to lament the war ; nor will I cease
to censure that invincible commander of yours,
until I shall see the war concluded on some
tolerable terms ; nor will any thing, except a
new treaty of peace, put an end to my regret
for the loss of the old. Those matters, then,

v. R. 536.]

OF ROME.

459

\\ liirh Mago just now so pompously blazoned < throw at the vEgatian islands. Now, if, in the

out, afford present joy to Himilco, and the

course of fortune, our affairs should undergo

ntliiT partisans of Hannibal. To me, too, they any such alteration, (may the gods avert the
in:iv<-\entiwlly provematterofjoy;becausesuc- i omen !) do you hope, that, after we shall l>e
rr>- in war, if we are willing to make the proper . vanquished, we may obtain peace; whereas
ii-ii- of fortune's favours, will gain us u peace | now, when we are victorious, there is no one
on the more honourable terms. For should i disposed to offer it ? For my part, were it pro-
we neglect to improve the present season, when . posed, either to offer terms of peace to the ene-

\vc run possibly dictate, instead of receiving
propositions for the same, even now our exul-
tation may lead us into delusive expectations,
and prove, in the end, destitute of solid advan-
tage. For, let us see on what footing it stands
at this moment. I have cut off the armies of
the enemy : send me soldiers. What else
would you ask, if you had been defeated ? I
have taken two camps, full, doubtless, of booty
and provisions : give me money and corn.
What other demand could you make, if your
stores had been plundered, if you were beaten
out of your camp ? But that I may not be
the only person to perceive the unaccountable-
ness of those proceedings, I wish that either
Himilco or Mago would inform me (for since
I have answered Himilco, it is but reasonable
and fair that I likewise, in turn, should ask a
question,) as the fight at Cannae has completed
the ruin of the Roman empire, and all Italy is
evidently coming over to our side ; in the first
place, has any state of the Latino nation re-
volted to us ? And next, has any one man,
out of the thirty-five tribes, deserted?" To'
both these questions, Mago answering in the
negative; " We have still, then," said he,
" more than enough of enemies remaining.
But, be their number what it may, I should be
glad to know what degree of spirit or of hope
they possess?" The other declaring that he
knew not that : " Nothing," said he, " is easier
to be known. Have the Romans sent any
ambassadors to Hannibal to treat of peace?
Have you even received any intelligence of any
mention of it being made at Rome ?" Both
being denied, he proceeded: " Since that is
the case, we have not brought the war any
nearer to a conclusion than it was on the day
when Hannibal first entered Italy. Most of
us are old enough to remember how often vic-
tory changed sides in the former Punic war.
At no time did our affairs wear a more pros-
perous aspect, both by land and sea, than just
before the consulship of Caius Lutatius and
Aulus Postumius. In the consulship of Luta-
tius and Postumius, we suffered a total over-

my, or to receive overtures from them, I know
what vote I should give. But if the question
before you be concerning the supplies demanded
by Mago, I do not see any necessity of send-
ing them to troops already victorious : much
less can I vote for their being sent to men who
delude us with false and groundless hopes."
But few were affected by this discourse of
Hanno ; for his known enmity to the Barcine
family detracted from the weight of his argu-
ments : and besides, men's minds were so fully
occupied by joy for the present success, that
they were unwilling to listen to any thing
which tended to invalidate the grounds of their
triumph ; and firmly believed, that, by a little
farther exertion, the war would be speedily ter-
minated. A decree of the senate was there-
fore passed, by a very great majority, that a re-
inforcement should be sent to Hannibal of four
thousand Numidians, and forty elephants, with
many talents of silver. At the same time the
dictator was sent with Mago into Spain, to hire
twenty thousand foot and four thousand horse,
which were to complete the numbers of the
armies both in Spain and Italy. However,
this business, as is often the case, in a time of
prosperity, was not executed either with spirit
or despatch.

XIV. The Romans, prompted by their
natural activity of spirit, and also by the present
situation of their affairs, omitted no kind of
exertion. The consul applied, with diligence, to
every business which lay within his department ;
and the dictator, Marcus Junius Pera, after fin-
ishing all matters respecting religion, demanded,
as usual, the leave of the people to mount his
horse; and then, in addition to the two city
legions, levied by the consuls in the beginning
of the year, and a body of slaves whom he had
enlisted, and the cohorts collected out of the
Picenian and Gallic territories, he had recourse
to an expedient used only in times of extreme
danger, when propriety gives place to utility :
he published a proclamation, that " such per-
sons as had been guilty of capital crimes, or
had been ordered into confinement on account

460

THE HISTORY

[BOOK xxin.

of debt, should be discharged from prosecution,
and from their debts, provided they enlisted
with him as soldiers :" these, amounting to
six thousand men, he armed with the spoils .of
the Gauls, which had been carried in triumph
by Cains Flaminius. By these means he was
enabled to set out from the city at the head of
twenty-five thousand effective men. Hannibal,
after gaining possession of Capua, made a se-
cond trial of the temper of the Neapolitans, by
applications both to their hopes and fears ; but,
being disappointed therein, he removed his
army into the territory of Nola : where, though
he did not immediately commence hostilities,
because he did not despair of the people's vol-
untary submission, yet he showed a determina-
tion, in case of their delaying compliance with
his expectations, to make them feel every kind
of evil. The senate, and especially the lead-
ing members of it, faithfully adhered to the al-
liance with Rome ; while the commons were,
as usual, universally inclined to the party of
Hannibal ; so great were their fears of the de-
vastation of their lands, and on the heavy suf-
ferings and indignities to be endured in a siege ;
nor were leaders wanting to urge them to re-
volt. The senate, dreading" lest, if they made
open profession of their intentions, they should
find it impossible to withstand the violent tem-
per of the populace, concealed them under a
counterfeit appearance, and thereby found
means to defer the evil. They pretended that
they approved the design of revolting to Han-
nibal ; but that they could not immediately de-
termine on the conditions, on which it might
be proper to contract this new alliance. Hav-
ing thus gained time, they hastily despatched
ambassadors to Claudius Marcellus, the Ro-
man praetor, then at Casilinum with his army,
informing him of the precarious situation of
the state of Nola j that the country was alrea-
dy possessed by Hannibal, as the city would
shortly be, unless it received succour ; that the
senate, by pretending, in compliance with the
humour of the commons, that they were rea-
dy to change sides whenever the latter chose,
had hitherto allayed their violent haste to re-
volt. Marcellus, after applauding the conduct
of the Nolans, charged them to protract the
business under the same pretexts, until he
should arrive j and to conceal in the meantime
what had passed between him and them, and
every expectation of an assistance from the Ro-
mans, He himself advanced from Casilinum

to Calatia ; and from thence, after crossing the
river Vulturnus, he proceeded through the ter-
ritories of Saticula and Trebia, and passing
above Suessula, came through the mountains
to Nola.

XV. On the approach of the Roman prae-
tor, the Carthaginian retired out of the terri-
tory of Nola, and marched down to the sea-
coast adjacent to Neapolis, being earnestly de-
sirous to get possession of a sea-port town to
which ships might come over with safety from
Africa. But having learned that Neapolis
was held by a Roman general, Marcus Junius
Silanus, who had been invited thither by the
Neapolitans, he gave up all hopes of Neapolis,
as well as of Nola, and directed his route to
Nuceria. After carrying on the siege of this
town for a considerable time, and making fre-
quent attempts to reduce it by force, and also
endeavouring in vain to gain over, sometimes
the commons, at others the nobility, he at length
starved it into a surrender ; when he allowed
the garrison no other terms than to retire with-
out arms, and with single garments. After-
wards, as he had, from the beginning, wished
to appear inclined to act with clemency towards
all the Italians, except the Romans, he offered
rewards and honours to such of the garrison as
should stay and enlist with him : but he did
not by these prospects prevail on one man to
join him. They all departed, by different
roads, to the several cities of Campania, wher-
ever each man's connections, or casual impulse
of inclination, dii-ected him ; but most of them
to Nola and Neapolis. About thirty of the
principal senators, having directed their course
to Capua, and being refused admittance there,
on account of their having shut their gates
against Hannibal, retired to Cumse. The
plunder of Nuceria was given to the soldiers,
and the city, after being sacked, was burned.
Marcellus held possession of Nola ; for the
continuance of which he relied not more
on his own troops, than on the favourable
disposition of the principal inhabitants. But
strong apprehensions were entertained of the
commons, and above all of Lucius Ban tins :
being conscious of having fomented the de-
sign of a revolt, and dreading the resentment
of the Roman praetor, he was stimulated, first,
to betray his native city, and then, should that
attempt miscarry, to go over to the enemy.
He was a young man of an active spirit, and
distinguished among the cavalry of the allies

v. K. 536.]

OF ROME.

461

almost beyond every other : he had been found
at ( 'anna', half dead, among a heap of lifeless
bodies, and Hannibal had, with much kindness,
taken cure of him, until he recovered, and even
sent him home, loaded with presents. Out of
gratitude for these favours, he now wished to
bring tlu> state of Nola under the power and
dominion of the Carthaginians. It did not
esr.me the observation of the praetor, that he
was perplexed in mind, and anxiously employed
in devising the means of effecting a revolution.
However, as it was necessary either to check
him by punishment, or to conciliate his good
will by kind treatment, he judged it more pru-
dent to attach to himself a brave and vigorous
ite, than merely to deprive the enemy of
him -. sending, therefore, for him, he observed,
in a kind manner, that, he " must certainly be
envied by many .of his countrymen, as was
easily known from this circumstance, that no
citizen of Nola ever informed him of his many
extraordinary exploits in war ; but when any
man served in a Roman camp, his merit could
not continue in obscurity. That many of those
who had acted with him, however, had report-
ed well of his conduct : how often, and to what
great dangers, he had exposed himself, in de-
fence of the welfare and dignity of the Roman
people ; particularly that, in the battle of Can-
nae, he had not ceased fighting, until, being
almost entirely exhausted, he was buried under
a heap of men, horses, and arms. Proceed,
therefore," said he, " in your meritorious
course ; from me you shall meet with every
distinction, every reward ; in fine, and that you
may give me your company the oftener, you
shall find that such conduct, as it will redound
to your honour, so shall it to your emolument
too." While the young man was overjoyed at
such promises, he presented him with a horse
of uncommon beauty, ordered the quaestor to
give him five hundred silver denarii,1 and com-
manded his lictors to admit him to his presence,
whenever he chose to come. By this court-
eous behaviour of Marecllus, the violent tem-
per of the youth was soothed to such a degree,
that, from that time forward, no one among the
allies exerted more bravery and zeal in support
of the Roman cause.

XVI. As Hannibal was now at the gates,
(for he had led his forces back from Nnceriu
to Nola,) and as the commons of the latter be-

l NV. 23. iirf.

gan anew to meditate a revolt, Marcellus re-
tired within the walls ; not that he was uu,der
any apprehension for the safety of his camp,
but that he might not allow an opportunity of
betraying the city, for which too many impa-
tiently wished. From this time, it was the
practice to draw up the forces on both sides in
order of battle ; the Romans, under the walls
of Nola ; the Carthaginians, before their own
camp ; in consequence of which, many skir-
mishes happened between the camp and the
city, with various success ; the generals being
unwilling either to restrain the small parties,
who inconsiderately challenged the foe, or to
give the signal for a general engagement.
While the two armies continued to post them-
selves in this manner, the men of the first rank
in Nola gave information daily to Marcellus,
that '• conferences were held by night between
the commons and the Carthagimans ; wherein
it had been determined, that, when the Roman
army went out of the gates on its march, the
populace should make plunder of their bag-
gage and packages ; then shut the gates, and
possess themselves of the walls ; with intent,
that, having thus taken into their own hands
the disposal of their own affairs, and of the
city, they should give admittance to the Car-
thaginians instead of the Romans." On re-
ceiving this intelligence, Marcellus, highly
commending the Nolan senators, resolved to
try the fortune of a battle before any commo-
tion should arise within. He then formed his
forces in three divisions, at the three gates
which faced the enemy, ordering the baggage
to follow in the rear, and the invalids, servants,
and sutlers' boys, to carry palisades. At the
gate in the centre, he placed the chief strength,
of the legions and the Roman cavalry ; at the
other two gates, on the right and left, the new-
raised soldiers, light infantry, and the cavalry
of the allies. The Nolans were forbidden to
come near the walls or gates ; and the troops,
intended as a reserve, were appointed to
guard the baggage, lest any attack might be
made on it, while the legions should be en-
gaged. Marshalled in this manner, they stood
within the gates. Hannibal, after standing as
he had done for several days past, with his
troops under arms and in order of battle, until
the day was far advanced, began to wonder, that
neither the Roman army came out of the gates,
nor one of their soldiers was to be seen on the
walls. Concluding that the conferences had

462

THE HISTORY

[BOOK XXHI.

been discovered, and that fear had rendered the
Romans unwilling to stir, he sent back part of
his soldiers to the camp, with orders to bring
up to the front with haste every thing requisite
for assaulting the city ; for he was persuaded,
that if he pressed them vigorously, while they
declined action, the populace would rise in his
favour. While his men in the van ran up and
down, each intent upon the business assigned
him, and the line drew nigh to the walls, Mar-
cellus, on a sudden, throwing open the gate,
ordered the charge to be sounded, the shout to
be raised, and the infantry first, then the ca-
valry, to rush forth with all possible fury.
These had now spread abundance of terror and
confusion through the centre of the enemy's
line, when from the two gates, on the right and
left, the lieutenant-general Publius Valerius
Flaccus, and Caius Aurelius, burst out against
the wings. The servants, sutlers' boys, and
the whole of those who were left to guard the
baggage, joined to increase the shout ; so that
to the Carthaginians, who had been led to de-
spise them, chiefly by an opinion of the small-
ness of their numbers, they suddenly exhibited
an appearance of a very considerable army. I
can scarcely indeed take upon me to assert, as
some writers have done, that two thousand
three hundred of the enemy were slain, and
that the loss of the Romans was no more than
five hundred : but, whether the advantage was
so great or not, the success of that day was
highly important ; I know not, whether it was
not the most so of any obtained during that
war : for, to avoid being conquered by Hanni-
bal was, to the troops who were victorious on
that day, a matter of greater difficulty than to
conquer him afterwards.

XVII. Hannibal, thus precluded from all
hope of getting possession of Nola, marched
away to Acerrae ; and then Marcellus, imme-
diately shutting the gates, and posting guards to
prevent any person from going out of the city,
held a judicial inquiry in the forum concerning
those who had entered into a private corres-
pondence with the enemy. Above seventy
were convicted of treasonable practices. These
he beheaded, and adjudged their effects to be
confiscated to the use of the Roman people ;
and then, having lodged the government in the
hands of the senate, he marched thence with
all his forces, and taking post above Suessula,
pitched nis camp there. The Carthaginian first
endeavoured to entice the people of Acerrse to

a voluntary surrender, and afterwards, on find-
ing them obstinate, prepared to invest and as-
sault the town. However, the Acerrans pos
sessed more courage than strength. When,
therefore, they perceived the enemy drawing
lines of circumvallation round their walls, de-
spairing of being able to defend the city, they
seized the opportunity before the works were
drawn completely round, and stealing away in
the dead of night, through the space unoccupi-
ed by the lines, which was negligently guarded,
effected their escape, some through the roads,
others through pathless ways, as each was led
by design or mistake, into those cities of Cam-
pania, which they knew had not deserted the
alliance with Rome. Hannibal, having sacked
and burned Acerrae, and bearing that the Ro-
man dictator, with his legions, were seen from
Casilinum at some distance, began to appre-
hend, lest, in consequence of the enemy being
encamped in the neighbourhood, some distur-
bance might arise even at Capua, and therefore
led his forces to Casilinum. That town was
held at this time by five hundred Praenestines,
with a small number of Romans and Latines,
whom the news of the disaster at Cannae had
brought thither. The former, because the le-
vies at Praeneste were not completed at the ap-
pointed day, had set out from home too late ;
and, having arrived at Casilinum before the ac-
count of the defeat, and being there joined by
several others, both Romans and allies, were
marching forwards in a very considerable body,
when the news of the fight at Cannae induced
them to turn back. Here being feared by, and
fearing the Campanians, they spent several days
in guarding against plots, and forming them in
turn ; when, receiving certain information of
the revolt intended at Capua, and of Hannibal's
being received into tho town, they put to death
the obnoxious inhabitants by night, and seized
on that part of the city which stands on this
side of the Vulturnus, for it is divided by that
river. And this was all the garrison the Ro-
mans had at Casilinum. To these was added
a cohort of Perusians, consisting of four hun-
dred and sixty men, driven hither by the same
bad news which had brought the Praenestines a
few days before. The number of soldiers was
now nearly sufficient for the defence of a place
of such small extent, and which had one side
enclosed by the river. A scarcity of corn made
them even think the number of men too great.
XVIII. When Hannibal came within a

v. n. .530.]

OF ROME.

463

.•.(null distance of the place, he sent forward a
body ol Gu'tulians, under an officer named Is-
alca, with orders, that if an opportunity could
be found of conferring with the garrison, he
should first endeavour to allure them, by ex-
pressions of kindness, to open the gates, and
receive his troops ; but, if they persisted in ob-
stinate opposition, that he should then put his
forces in action, and try if he could on any side
break into the city. When they came near the
wall-, all being silent, it was believed that the
town was evacuated, and the barbarian, suppos-
ing that the garrison had retired through fear,
was preparing to break down the gates ; but
these flying suddenly open, two cohorts drawn
up within for the purpose, rushed out with
great impetuosity, and made a considerable
slaughter. The first body of assailants being
thus repulsed, Maharbal was sent up with a
more powerful force ; but neither could he
withstand the sally of the cohorts. At last
Hannibal, pitching his camp close under the
walls, prepared to assault this small town and
garrison with the whole of his troops ; com-
pletely encompassing it, and while urging on
the attack with briskness in every part at
once, he lost a great number of his soldiers,
particularly of those who were most forward
in action, by weapons thrown from the walls
and towers. At one time, the besieged hav-
ing had the courage to sally out, Hannibal, by
placing a line of elephants in their way, was
near cutting oft" their retreat. He drove them,
however, in confusion into the town, after they
had lost a great many men in proportion to
the smallness of their number ; and more would
have fallen, had not night put an end to the
engagement. On the following day the be-
siegers were animated with extraordinary ardour
to carry on the assault, especially as a mural
crown of gold was proposed as a prize, and as
the general himself upbraided the conquerors
of Saguntum with their tardy advances in the
siege of a trifling fortress, situate on level
ground ; reminding each in particular, as well
as the whole army in general, of Trebia, Thra-
simenus, and Cannre. They then began to
work their machines, and to sink mines ; nor
were those allies of the Romans deficient either
in vigour or skill, to counteract the attempts of
the enemy. Against the machines they erected
bulwarks, by countermines intercepted the
mines, baffling all the efforts of the Cartha-
ginians both open and concealed, until even

shame compelled him to abandon the enterprise:
but, lest he should appear to have entirely
given up the design, he fortified a camp, where
he posted a small body of troopa, and then
withdrew into winter-quarters at Capua. Here,
during the greater part of the winter, he kept
his forces lodged in houses, men who had fre-
quently and long endured with firmness every
hardship to which human nature is liable ; and
had never been accustomed to, nor ever had
experienced the comforts of prosperity. These
men, therefore, whom no power of adversity
had been able to subdue, were ruined by an ex-
cess of good fortune and by immoderate plea-
sures. These produced effects the more per-
nicious ; because, being hitherto unaccustomed,
as I have said, to such indulgences, they plung-
ed into them with the greater avidity. Sleep,
and wine, and feasting, and harlots, and baths,
and idleness, with which, through habit, they
became daily more and more delighted, ener-
vated both their minds and bodies to such a
degree, that they owed their preservation, ra-
ther to the name they had acquired by their
past victories, than to their present strength.
In the opinion of persons skilled in the art of
war, the general was guilty of a greater fault
in this instance, than in not leading forward
his army directly to the city of Rome, after the
battle of Cannse : for that dilatory conduct
might be supposed only to have deferred the
conquest for a time, whereas this latter error
left him destitute of the strength to effect it.
Accordingly, he marched out of Capua as if
with a different army, for it retained not, in any
particular, the least remains of the former dis-
cipline. Most of the men returned to the
field encumbered with harlots ; and, as soon as
they began to live in tents, and were obliged
to undergo the fatigue of marches, and other
military labours ; like raw recruits, their
strength both of body and mind failed them :
and from that time, during the whole course of
the summer campaign, great numbers used to
steal away from their standards, without leave,
and the only lurking place of all these desert-
ers was Capua.

XIX. However, when the rigour of the sea-
son began to abate, he drew his troops out of
their winter- quarters, and returned to Casili-
num ; where, notwithstanding there had been a
ct ssation from attacks, yet the continued block-
ade had reduced the townsmen and garrison to
the extremity of want. The Roman camp wa»

464

THE HISTORY

[BOOK xxin.

commanded by Titus Sempronius, the dictator
having gone to Rome to take the auspices anew.
Marcellus, who, on his part, earnestly wished
to bring relief to the besieged, was prevented
by the overflowing of the river Vulturnus, and
by the earnest entreaties of the people of Nola
and Acerrae, who dreaded the Campanians, in
case of the departure of the Roman troops.
Gracchus, having received injunctions from the
dictator not to engage in any enterprise during
his absence, but to maintain his post near Casi-
linum, did not venture to stir, although he re-
ceived such accounts from that town, as were
sufficient to overcome every degree of patience.
It appeared that several, unable longer to en-
dure hunger, had thrown themselves down pre-
cipices, and that others stood unarmed on the
walls, exposing their naked bodies to the
blows of the missive weapons. Gracchus felt
great concern for their distress ; but he neither
dared to engage in fight, contrary to the dic-
tator's order, (and fight he plainly must, if he
attempted only to throw in provisions,) nor
had he any hope of getting them conveyed in
clandestinely by his men. He therefore col-
lected corn from all parts of the country round ;
and having filled therewith a great number of
casks, sent a messenger to Casilinum to the
magistrate, desiring that the people should catch
the casks which the river would bring down.
The following night was passed in attentively
watching for the completion of the hopes raised
by the Roman messenger, when the casks, be-
ing sent along the middle of the stream, floated
down to the town, and the corn was divided
equally among them all. The same stratagem
was practised with success on the following
night, and on the third. The casks were put
into the river, and conveyed to the place of
their destination in the course of the same night,
by which means they escaped the notice of the
enemy's guards : but the river being afterwards
rendered more rapid by the continued rains, a
whirling eddy drove them across to the side
where the enemy's guards were posted, and
there they were discovered sticking among osiers
which grew on the banks. This being report-
ed to Hannibal, care was taken for the future
to guard the Vulturnus with greater vigilance,
so that no supply, sent down by it to the city,
should pass without discovery. Notwithstand-
ing which, quantities of nuts being poured into
the river at the Roman camp, and floating down
in the middle of the stream to Casilinum, were

stopped there with hurdles. The scarcity
however, at last became so excessive, that
tearing oflf the straps and the leathern covers of
their shields, and softening them in boiling wa-
ter, they endeavoured to chew them, nor did
they abstain from mice or any other kind of
animal. They even dug up every sort of herb
and root that grew at the foot of the ramparts
of the town, and when the enemy had plough*
ed up all the ground round the wall, that pro-
duced any herbs, they sowed it with turnip
seed, which made Hannibal exclaim, " Am I
to sit here before Casilinum until these grow?"
Although he had hitherto refused to listen to
any terms of capitulation, yet he now allowed
overtures to be made to him, respecting the re-
deeming of the men of free condition. An agree-
ment was made, that for each of these a ransom
should be paid of seven ounces of gold ; and
then, having received the ratification of the
same, the garrison surrendered. They were
detained in custody until all the gold was paid,
and afterwards honourably escorted to Cumae.
This is a more probable account than that which
relates that they were slain by a body of caval-
ry, ordered to attack them on their departure.
The greatest part of them were Prsenestines ;
out of five hundred and seventy of these, (the
number who were in the garrison,) almost one
half perished by the sword or by famine, the
rest returned in safety to Praeneste with their
commander Manicius, who had formerly been
a notary there. The truth of this relation is
attested by a statue of him erected in the forum
at Praeneste, clad in a coat of mail, and dressed
in a gown, with the head covered ; and by three
images, with an inscription engraved on a plate
of brass, importing that " Manicius vowed these
in behalf of the soldiers, who were in the garri-
son at Casilinum." The same inscription was
placed under the three images in the temple of
Fortune.

XX. The town of Casilinum was restored
to the Campanians, and strengthened by a re-
inforcement of seven hundred men from Han-
nibal's army, lest, on the departure of the Car-
thaginian, the Romans should attack it. To
the Pnenestine soldiers, the Roman senate de-
creed two years' pay, and immunity from mili-
tary service for five years. Being offered the
rights of Roman citizens, in consideration of
their bravery, they chose to remain in tlieir
own community. With regard to the fate of the
Perusians, our information is not so clear ; for

Y. n. 536.]

OF ROM K.

4G5

we receive no light either from any monument
of their own, or any decree of the Romans.
About the same time, the Petellians, who alone
of all the Bruttians had persevered in maintain-
ing friendship with Rome, were attacked not
only by the Carthaginians, who were in pos-
session of the adjacent country, but also by the
other Bruttians, who resented their following
separate counsels. Unable to withstand such
n multitude of foes, the Petellians sent ambas-
sadors to Rome to solicit succour. The ut-
most compassion was excited in the breasts
both of the senate and people by these men's
prayers and tears ; for on being told that they
must depend on themselves for safety, they
burst out into piteous lamentations in the
porch of the senate-house. The affair being
proposed a second time to the consideration of
tin- senators, by Manius Pomponius the praetor,
after examining into the resources of the com-
monwealth in every quarter, they were obliged
to acknowledge that they were not now in a
rapacity of assisting their distant allies ; they
therefore desired the ambassadors to return
home, and after doing their utmost to fulfil
the duty of faithful confederates, to provide for
their own safety in the best manner the pre-
sent circumstances would permit. When the
result of this embassy was reported to the Pe-
tellians, their senate was suddenly seized with
such grief and terror, that many of them advised
to abandon the city, and seek refuge wherever
each could find it ; others, that since they were
forsaken by their old connections, they should
unite with the rest of the Bruttians, and
through their mediation surrender themselves
to Hannibal. However, the majority were of
opinion that no step should be taken rashly, or
in a hurry ; but that the matter should be con-
sidered anew. Accordingly, it was taken un-
der deliberation on the following day, when
their fears had in some measure subsided, the
more considerable persons prevailing on them
to briit£ in all their effects from the country,
and to fortify the walls and the city.

XXI. About this time letters were brought
to Rome from Sicily and Sardinia. Those
written from Sicily by TitUs Otacilius, pro-
praetor, were first read in the senate ; the con-
tent- were, that " Publius Furius, the praetor,
had come from Africa to Lilybaeum with his
fleet, and that he himself was grievon-.lv
wounded, so that his life was in imminent dan-
ger ; that neither pay nor com was furnished

I.

to the soldiers and marines at the regular times,
nor were there any funds from which they
could be obtained ; that he earnestly recom-
mended that supplies of these articles might
be sent as soon as possible, and also, that, if it
seemed proper, one of the new praetors might
be appointed to succeed bim in his employ-
ment." The letters of Aulus Cornelius
Mammula, propraetor from Sardinia, were
nearly of the same purport respecting hay and
corn. To both the same answer was given,
that there were no means of forwarding sup-
plies, and that they themselves must take mea-
sures for providing for their fleets and armies.
Titus Otacilius, however, sending ambassadors
to Hiero, the only resource of the Roman
people in^that quarter, received from him as
much money as was necessary for the pay of
the troops, and corn sufficient for six months.
In Sardinia, the allied states gave a liberal con-
tribution to Cornelius, j At Rome there was
such a scarcity of money, that it was judged
requisite, on a proposal made to that purpose,
by Marcus Minucius, plebeian tribune, to con-
stitute three public bankers ; these were Lu-
cius JEmilius Papus, who had been consul and
censor, Marcus Atilius Regulus, who had
been twice consul, and Lucius Scribonius Libo,
who was then plebeian tribune. Two Atilii,
Marcus and Caius, being appointed commis-
sioners for the purpose, dedicated the temple
bf Concord, which Lucius Manlius had vowed
in his praetorsbip. Three pontiffs were also
elected, Quintus Ccecilius Metellus, Quintus
Fabius Maximus, and Quintus Fulvius Flac-
cus, ^n the room of Publius Scantinius, de-
ceased, and of Lucius JEmilius Paullus, the
consul, and Quintus yKlius Paetus, who had
fallen in the battle of Cannae.

XXII. When the senate had repaired, as
far as could be effected by human wisdom, the
losses sustained by other parts of the state,
through the uninterrupted course of disasters
in which fortune had involved' them, they at
length turned their thoughts on themselves, on
the solitude that appeared in the senate-house,
and the small number of those who assembled
in the great council of the nation : lor the
council had not been tilled up since the cen-
sorship of Lucius .rKmilius and Caius Fla-
niiiiius, although, during these five years, the
unfortunate battles, besides the casualties ro
which every man is subject, had swept off
such a number of its members. As the dicta.
3 N

466

THE HISTORY

[BOOK xxiir.

tor was now gone, after the loss of Casilinum,
to join the army, this business was, at the
earnest request of all, proposed to the consid-
eration of the senate by Manius Pomponius, a
praetor. On which Spurius Carvilius, after
having, in a long speech lamented not only the
fewness, but even the total want of citizens,
who might be chosen into their body, said, that
" for the purpose of filling up the senate, and
of forming a closer connection with the Latine
nation, he recommended, with all the earnest-
ness which a matter of that importance de-
manded, that, if the Roman fathers thought
proper so to order, two senators out of each of
the Latine states should be invested with the
rights of citizens, and adopted in the room of
the members deceased." This proposition the
senators heard with no less disgust than had
been excited by a demand of the same purport,
formerly made by the Latines themselves. A
murmur of indignation, indeed, spread through
every part of the assembly. Titus Manlius in
particular, saying, that " there still existed one
of the same race with that consul, who former-
ly declared in the capitol, that he would with
his own hand put to death any Latine whom
he should see in the senate-house." Quin-
tus Fabius Maximus said, that "never was
mention of any business in that house more
perfectly unseasonable than was (when the
minds of the allies were in suspense, and their
fidelity doubtful,) the touching on a subject
which might create farther disquiet among
them. That all present were bound to bury
in universal forgetfulness those inconsiderate
words of one individual ; for that if ever any
matter occurred in that house that demanded
secrecy, and induced a solemn obligation to si-
lence, it was this proposition, which, beyond
every other, ought to be covered, concealed,
and consigned to oblivion, and to pass as if it
never had been uttered." This prevented any
farther discussion. They then came to a reso-
lution, that a dictator should be created, to elect
members into the senate ; and that he should
be a person who had formerly been censor, and
was the first in seniority living, of those who
had held that office. They likewise ordered,
that the consul Caius Terentius should be sent
for, in order to nominate the dictator. Leav-
ing his troops in Apulia, he came thence by
long journeys to Rome, and, pursuant to the
decree of the senate, on the following night,
according to the custom, nominated Marcus

Fabius Buteo dictator for six months, without
a master of the horse.

XXIII. Buteo mounted the rostrum, at-
tended by his lictors, and declared, that "he
did not approve of two dictators at one time,
of which there had hitherto been no precedent ;
neither was he content with his own appoint-
ment to the dictatorship, without a master of
the horse ; nor of the censorial power being in-
trusted to a single person, and to that person a
second time : nor yet of authority being granted
to a dictator for six months, unless he were to
command in war. But those particulars, in
which accident, the exigencies of the times, and
necessity, had caused such irregularities, he
would reduce into regular order. For, in the
first place, he would not displace any of those
senators whom Caius Flaminius and Lucius
^Emilius had elected, in their censorship ; he
would only order the list of them to be tran
scribed, and read over ; for no single person
ought to have authority to judge and determine
on the character and morals of a senator j and
that, in substituting others in the room of those
deceased, he would regulate his choice in such
a manner, that the preference should be seen
to lie between one rank and another, not be-
tween one man and another." When the list
of the old senate had been read, he then elected,
first, in room of the deceased members, those
who, since the censorship of Lucius .53milius
and Caius Flaminius, had obtained any curulc
magistracy, and had not yet been elected sena-
tors, and these in order, according to the prior-
ity of their appointments to office. Next, he
made choice of those who had been aediles,
plebeian tribunes, or quaestors. Then, out of
such as had never held a public office, he se-
lected those who had spoils taken from an ene-
my hanging in their houses, or bad received the
prize of a civic crown. Having, in this man-
ner, and with the entire approbation of all
ranks of men, elected into the senate one hun-
dred and seventy- seven members, he instantly
abdicated his office, ordered the lictors to de-
part, and came down from the rostrum a private
citizen. He then mixed with the crowd em-
ployed in their private concerns, or who were
loitering in the forum, and this he did to pre-
vent them from quitting the place to escort
iiim. However, the warmth of their zeal was
not cooled by that delay, and they conducted
liim home in vast numbers.
XXIV. On the following night, the consul

y. n.536.]

OF ROME.

467

set out on his return to the army, without ac- i
quainting the senate, lest he should be detained
in the city on account of the elections •. who
iu u (lay, on the business being proposed by
the pnetor Manius Pomponius, decreed that a
letter should be written to the dictator, .vith di-
rections that, if lie judged it consistent with the
public good, he should come home to hold the
election of consuls, and should bring the master
of the horse, and the praetor Marcus Marccl-
lus, in order that government might learn from
them in person, the state of thepublic'affairs, and
adopt such measures as circumstances required.
All those came whose presence was desired,
leaving lieutenant-generals to command the
legions. The dictator speaking briefly and
modestly of his own services, attributed a great
share of the honour acquired to the master of
the horse, Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus.
He then published a proclamation for an as-
sembly of election, in which were created con-
suls, Lucius Postumius, the third time, being
absent, employed in the government of the
province of Gaul ; and Tiberius Sempronius
Gracchus, then master of the horse, and curule
sedile. Then followed the choosing of pnetors :
these were Marcus Valerius Laevinus, Appius
Claudius Pulcher, Quintus Fulvius Flaccus,
and Quintus Mucius Scaivola. As soon as
the appointment of magistrates was finished,
the dictator returned to Teanum, the winter-
quarters of his army, leaving the master of the
horse at Rome : in order tliat, as he was to
enter into office in a few days, he might take
the judgment of the senate concerning the
levying and procuring troops for the service of
the year. While the public attention was em-
ployed principally on this business, an account
was brought of a new disaster, fortune crowd-
ing into this year events of that nature in con-
stant succession ; this was, that Lucius Postu-
inius, consul elect, together with his army, had
been cut off in Gaul. On the road through
which he was to lead his army, there was a
wood of vast extent, the Gauls called it Litana :
the trees of this wood, adjoining the road on
the right and left, the Gauls had cut in such a
manner, that as long as they were untouched
they stood, but on being pushed, even with tin-
slightest force, they fell. Postumius had with
him two Roman legions, and had enlisted such
numbers from among the allies on the coa>t of
the upper sea, that he led an army of twenty-
/ivi- thousand men into the enemy's country.

The Gauls posted themselves round the outer
skirts of the wood, and, when the army on its
march entered the pass, they then pushed the
outermost trees of those which they had cut ;
these fell against the next, and those likewise
against others unsteady before, until, over-
whelming the Romans on all sides, they crush-
ed in one universal ruin, men, horses, and arms ;
so that scarcely ten of them made their escape ;
the greater part were bruised to death by the
trunks of the trees, or entangled in the frag-
ments of branches, while the remainder, dis-
mayed by this sudden and strange disaster,
were slain by the Gauls, who, in arms, enclos-
ed every part of the wood. Out of so great a
number, a very few were taken prisoners ; these
pushing for a bridge which lay over a river,
were intercepted by the enemy, who had taken
possession of it before. Here Postumius fell,
fighting with the utmost bravery to avoid being
taken. This general's head the Eoians cut off,
and, together with the spoils taken from his
body, carried it in triumph into a temple, which
they held in the highest reverence. After-
wards emptying the head, as their custom is,
they encased the skull with gold, and this they
used as a consecrated vessel, out of which they
made libations on high festivals ; and as a cup
to be drank out of by the officiating priest, and
the other priests of the place. The booty also,
which fell into the hands of the Gauls, was as
abundant, as their victory was complete : for
although hardly any escaped destruction from
the falling of the wood, yet every thing else
was found spread regularly along the b'ne of
the lifeless troops ; because there had been no
flight, and consequently no removal of any
thing.

XXV. On the news of this calamity, such
dismay possessed the pubb'c during several days,
that the shops were shut, and solitude, like that
of midnight, prevailed through the whole city,
until the government charged the lediles to go
round through all the streets, to order the shops
to be opened, and this appearance of public
mourning to be bu'd aside. Then Tiberius Sem-
pronius, assembling the senate, endeavoured to
console them by saying, that, " they who had
not sunk under the ruinous disaster at Cannae,
should not let their courage be depressed by
misfortunes of less moment." He observed, that
'•provided their operations against Hannibal, and
their Carthaginian enemies, were attended with
, (iw he hoped they would,) the proseeii-

468

THE HISTORY

[BOOK xxiir.

tion of the war against the Gauls might without
danger, be suspended ; and that it would be al-
vrays in the power of the gods and of the Ro-
man people to take ample vengeance for their
treachery. It was their business, therefore, to
consult and deliberate on the measures to be
taken against the Carthaginian, and on the
strength with which that war was to be con-
ducted. " He gave them a detail of the num.
bers of infantry and cavalry, of Romans, and of
allies, in the dictator's army : then Marcellus
laid before them the amount of his own troops,
while inquiry was made as to the force in
Apulia, with the consul Caius Terentius. But
no plan could be devised of forming consular
armies sufficiently powerful to cope with such
formidable enemies. Wherefore, though strong-
ly stimulated by just resentment, they deter-
mined to suspend all proceedings against Gaul
for that year. The dictator's army was decreed
to the consul. It was resolved that those sol-
diers in Marcellus's army, who had fled from
Cannae, should be transported into Sicily, and
serve there as long as the war should continue
in Italy ; and that to the same place should be
sent the least able in the dictator's legions, but
there was no order that these should be detained
during any particular term, but only for the
number of campaigns directed by law. The
two city legions were assigned to the other con-
sul, who should be substituted in the room of
Lucius Postumius ; who, it was determined,
should be elected as soon as it could be done
with permission of the auspices : that two le-
gions should be brought home, with all expedi-
tion, from Sicily ; out of which, the consul
appointed to the charge of those of the city,
should take as many soldiers as should be ne-
cessary ; that the consul Caius Terentius should
be continued in command for a year, and that
no diminution should be made in the force em-
ployed under him for the defence of Apulia.

XXVI. During the period in which those
events took place, and these preparations were
making in Italy, the war was prosecuted with
no less vigour in Spain, but success had hither-
to inclined to the Romans. The two Scipios,
Publius and Cneius, divided the forces between
them, that Cneius might conduct the operations
on land, and Publius those at sea ; while Has-
drubal, who commanded the Carthaginians, hav-
ing little confidence in any strength that he could
muster against either, kept aloof, relying for
safety on the distance and on the nature of the

ground, until, after long and frequent solicita-
tions, a reinforcement was sent him from Africa,
of four thousand foot and five hundred horse.
At length resuming hopes, he removed his
camp nearer to the enemy, and gave orders, in
person, for preparing and fitting out a fleet, for
the protection of the islands, and the sea-coast
In the midst of the hurry of his preparations
for recommencing the war anew, be was greatly
alarmed by the desertion of the commanders of
his ships, who, having been severely reprimand-
ed for abandoning the fleet at the Iberus, in a
cowardly manner, had never since been very
faithfully disposed, either to the general, or the
interest of the Carthaginians. These deserters
'had excited an insurrection in the country of the
Tartessians, where, at their instigation, several
cities had revolted, and one they had even taken
by storm. Instead, therefore, of directing his
operations against the Romans, he turned them
against his own nation ; and, having entered
their territory in a hostile manner, resolved to
attack Galbus, a general of high reputation,
commander of that people, who, with a power-
ful force, kept close within his camp, under the
walls of the city, which had been taken a few
clays before. Accordingly, sending forward his
light-armed troops to draw out the revolters to
battle, he despatched part of his infantry to ra-
vage the lands, on all sides, and pick up strag-
glers : thus, at the same time, the camp was
alarmed, and the country filled with flight and
slaughter. At length, when, by different roads,
the fugitives had escaped within their works,
they so entirely got rid of their panic, that they
had courage sufficient, not only to defend them,
but even to challenge Hasdrubal to battle.
They sallied out therefore in a body from the
camp, dancing according tb their custom : and
their unexpected boldness struck terror into
those who, a little before, took pains to provoke
them. Hasdrubal, therefore, drew back his
forces to an eminence of considerable height,
and farther secured by a river running at the
foot of it, ordering the advanced party of light
troops, and the scattered horsemen, to retreat to
the same place ; but still not thinking himself
sufficiently secured by the hill or the river, he
fortified his camp completely with a rampart.
While they thus terrified each other alternately,
several skirmishes took place, in which the Nu-
midiiin cavalry proved not a match for the
Spanish, nor the Mauritanian javelin bearer for
tin' targeteer ; the latter possessing, together

f. ». 536.]

OF ROME.

469

with equal activity, much greater strength and
much more courage.

XXVII. The Tartessians, finding that they
could not, by advancing to his camp, entice the
Carthaginian to an engagement ; and that, on
the other hand, an assault on it would be at-
tended with much difficulty, stormed the city of
Asena, where Hasdrubal, on entering their ter-
ritory, had stored up his corn and other provi-
sions : and this gave them the command of all
the adjacent country. And now they could no
longer, either on a march or in a camp, be kept
in order by any command. As soon, therefore,
as Hasdrubal perceived that success had, as
iLsual, begotten such disorder, he exhorted his
men to attack them while they straggled with-
out their standards ; and descending from the
hill, proceeded in order of battle towards their
camp. His approach being announced by mes-
Bengers, flying back in consternation from the
watch posts and advanced guards, the general
alarm was given ; on which, as fast as each could
take up his arms, without command, without
signal, without regard to any regular disposi-
tion, or even to ranks, they rushed out to bat-
tle. The foremost had already engaged in
fight, while some ran up, in small parties, and
others had not yet come out of the camp.
However, at the beginning, merely through
their daring boldness, they struck terror into
the Carthagimans ; but afterwards, as their thin
ranks closed with the compact band of these,
the danger, from the smallness of their num-
bers, becoming apparent, each began to look
about for support, and, being repulsed in all
parts, they collected themselves in a circle.
Here, crowded together, they were driven into
such a narrow compass, that they had scarcely
room to move their arms, and, in this situation,
were entirely surrounded, so that the slaughter
of them continued through the greater part of
the day. A small number, having forced a
passage, made off to the woods and mountains ;
with like consternation, the camp was aban-
doned, and the whole nation, the day following,
submitted to the conqueror. But it did not
continue long in a state of peace : for orders
were brought at several times from Carthage
that Hasdnibal should, with all speed, lead his
iirmy into Italy. The report of this intended
procedure, spreading through Spain, wrought a
change in the disposition of almost every state,
in favour of the Romans. Hasdrubal, there-
fore, immediately despatched a letter to Car-

thage, representing what mischief the said re-
port of his departure had occasioned. That
" if he were really to remove thence, the Ro-
mans would be masters of Spain, before he
should cross the Iberus. For, besides that he had
neither forces nor commander, whom he could
leave in bis place, the Roman generals were
such, that, with strength equal to theirs, it was
scarcely possible to withstand them j where-
fore, if they had any regard for the country in
question, they ought to send a successor in his
room, with a powerful army ; who, though all
events should prove prosperous, would find in
the province but little time for repose."

XXVIII. Although this letter made a con-
siderable impression on the senate, yet, deem-
ing Italy of superior importance, and entitled
to the first attention, they made no change in
the orders respecting Hasdrubal and his forces.
Himilco was sent with a complete army and an
extraordinary number of ships, in order to
maintain a superiority in Spain, both by land
and sea, and to defend it from all attacks.
After transporting his land and sea forces, he
fortified a camp, drew up the ships on land,
and surrounded them with a rampart ; and then,
attended by a body of chosen horsemen, with
all possible expedition, and with the same pre-
cautions in passing through nations whose at-
tachment was doubtful, as through those who
were professed enemies, he came to Hasdrubal.
As soon as he had communicated to him the
decrees and orders of the senate, and learned
from him, in turn, the method in which the
war in Spain was to be conducted, he returned
without delay to his own camp, being indebted
for safety to the celerity of his motions ; for,
before a plot oould be concerted any where
against him, he bad always left the place. Has-
drubal, previously to his march, imposed con-
tributions on all the states under his authority ;
for he well knew that Hannibal had, on several
occasions, purchased a passage ; that no consi-
deration, but that of pay, made his Gallic auxi-
liaries remain with him ; and that, if he had
undertaken such an expedition, unprovided
with money, he could scarcely have penetrated
so far as to the Alps. Having therefore, with
violent haste, exacted the same, he marched
down to the Iberus. When the Romans were
informed of the decrees of the Carthaginians,
and of Hasdrubal's movement, the two com-
manders, renouncing every other business, deter-
mined with their united forces to obstruct and

470

THE HISTORY

[BOOK xxni.

put a stop to his enterprise. For they con-
sidered, that, if Hannibal, whose single force
Italy could hardly withstand, should be joined
by the Spanish army with Hasdrubal at its
head, there would be an end of the Roman
empire. Anxiously intent on effecting this
purpose, they made a junction of their forces
on the bank of the Iberus, and, crossing the
river, held a long consultation whether they
should directly face the enemy, or be content
with detaining him, by attacking his alh'es. The
result was, that they determined to lay siege to
the city called Ibera, from the river near which
it stood, at that time the most opulent in all
that part of the country. When Hasdrubal
understood this, instead of bringing succour to
his allies, he likewise proceeded to besiege a
town, lately put under the protection of the
Romans : in consequence of which, the siege
already formed by the latter was raised, and
their force directed against Hasdrubal him-
self.

XXIX. For a few days, they remained en-
camped at the distance, from each other, of
five miles, not without skirmishes, but neither
party offering battle. At length, on one and
the same day, both, as if by concert, displayed
the signal for fighting, and brought their whole
force into the field. The Romans were formed
in three lines ; one half of the light troops were
posted among the battalions in front, the other
half were sent back to the rear ; the cavalry
covered the wings. Hasdrubal composed the
centre of his line of Spaniards : on the right
wing, he posted his Carthaginians ; on the left,
the Africans and hired auxiliaries ; his cavalry
he placed on the wings, annexing the Numi--
dians to the Carthaginian infantry, the others
to the Africans. However, all the Numidians
were not placed on the right wing, but those
only, whose practice it was, to bring two horses
each into the field, and often in the very hottest
of the fight to spring, notwithstanding the
weight of their armour, from the wearied horse
upon the fresh one, like those who exhibit feats
of activity as a show ; so great is the agility of
the men, and so docile their breed of horses.
While they stood, ranged in this manner, the
hopes entertained by the commanders were
pretty nearly equal on both sides ; for neither
one party nor the other had any great advan-
tage, either in the number, or qualifications of
their men. But the sentiments of the soldiery
were widely different : for the Romans had

been easily brought by their commanders to be-
lieve, that though they fought at a great dis-
tance from their country, yet their efforts were
to decide the fate of Italy, and of the city of
Rome. Therefore, as their return to their
native soil depended on the issue of that battle,
they had come to a determined resolution, either
to conquer or die. The men who composed
the opposite army were not possessed of such
inflexible firmness; for the greatest part of
them were Spaniards, who wished rather to be
defeated in Spain, than, after gaining the vic-
tory, to be dragged into Italy. No sooner
therefore was the first onset made, than almost,
before the javelins were thrown, the centre of
their line began to give way ; and, on being
vigorously pressed by the Romans, turned their
backs. On the wings, however, the fight was
maintained with spirit; the Carthaginians on
the one, and the Africans on the other, charg-
ing with briskness, and, as they had their ene-
my in a manner inclosed between them, attack-
ing them on both sides. But as soon as the
whole of the Roman troops had once come
together into the centre, its strength was suffi-
cient to compel the wings to retire in opposite
directions. Thus there were two distinct
battles ; and, in both, the Romans, who, after
the defeat of the enemy's centre, had the supe-
riority both in the number and strength of their
men, were completely victorious. In this en-
gagement, vast numbers of the enemy were
slain ; and, had not the Spaniards fled so pre-
cipitately before the battle was well begun,
very few of their whole army would have sur-
vived. The cavalry had no share in the en-
gagement : for, as soon as the Moors and Nu-
midians saw the centre giving way, they in-
stantly betook themselves to a precipitate
flight, leaving the wings uncovered, and driving
the elephants before them. Hasdrubal, after
staying until the fortune of the day was finally
decided, made his escape from the /midst of
the carnage, accompanied by a few. His camp
was taken and plundered by the Romans. If
the inclinations of any people in Spain were
hitherto doubtful, this battle fixed them in the
interest of the Romans, and deprived Hasdru-
bal of every hope, not only of leading an army
into Italy, but even of remaining in Spain with
any degree of safety. These events being made
known at Rome, by letters from the Scipios,
caused universal rejoicing, not so much in con-
sideration of the victory itself, as of 1 lasdru-

v. n. 537.]

OF ROME.

471

bal's being tii<>rchy prevented from bringing his
army into Italy.

XXX. While affairs in Spain proceeded in
this manner, the city of Fetellia in Bruttium
was, after a siege of several months, taken by
Himilco, an officer of Hannibal's. This con-
quest cost the Carthaginians abundance of
blood ; but it was not force so much as famine,
that overcame the besieged : for, after having
consumed all kinds of eatable fruits, and the
flesh of every kind of four-footed beast, they
lived at last on the leather of their shields, on
herbs and roots, and the tender bark of trees,
with berries gathered from the brambles. Nor
were they prevailed on to surrender, until their
strength was so entirely exhausted, that they
were unable to stand on the walls, or to carry
their arms. After getting possession of Pe-
tellia, the Carthaginian led his forces against
Consentia, which was not defended with equal
obstinacy, but capitulated in a few days. About
the same time, an army of Bruttians invested
Croton, a Greek city, formerly powerful in
men and arms, but now reduced so low, by
many and heavy misfortunes, that the number
of its citizens of every age amounted to not
quite twenty thousand. The place, therefore,
being destitute of men for its defence, was
easily mastered. The citadel alone held out,
into which, during the confusion consequent to
the storming of the city, and while the other
inhabitants were put to the sword, some had
made their escape. The Locrians too revolted
to the Bruttians and Carthaginians, through the
treachery of the nobles, who betrayed the po-
pulace. The Rbegians alone, in all that tract,
maintained to the last their alliance with Rome,
and their own independence. The same dis-
position to change spread also into Sicily, and
even the family of Hiero was not entirely un-
infected with the spirit of revolt : for Gelo his
eldest son having conceived a contempt of his
father's declining age, and also, since the defeat
at Cannae, of the Roman connection, joined the
Carthaginians, and would have caused much
disturbance in Sicily, had not a death so sea-
sonable, that it threw some stain of suspicion
even on his father, carried him off, while he was
busy in arming the populace, and courting alli-
ances. Such were the transactions of this year,
prosperous and otherwise, in Italy, Africa, Sicily,
and Spain. Towards the close of the year,
Quintus Fabius Maximus, demanded of the
senate that he might be allowed to dedicate

the temple of Venus Erycina, which he had
vowed in his dictatorship ; and the senate de-
creed, that Tiberius Sempronius, consid elect,
should, as soon as he entered into office, pro-
pose to the people the creation of Quintus
Fabius, duumvir, for performing the dedication
of that temple. In honour of Marcus JEmi .
lius Lepidus, who had been twice consul, and
an augur, his three sons, Lucius, Marcus, and
Quintus, celebrated funeral games, which lasted
three days ; in the course of which, they ex-
hibited in the forum, twenty-two pairs of gla
diators. The curule tcdiles, Caius Laetorius
and Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus, consul
elect, who, during his aedileship, had likewise
been master of the horse, performed the
Roman games, which were also repeated
during three days. The plebeian games of
the a-dilcs, Marcus Aurelius Cotta, and
Marcus Claudius Marcellus, were thrice re-
peated. [Y. R. 537. B. C. 215.] At the
conclusion of this third year of the Punic war,
Tiberius Sempronius, consul, assumed the
administration of his office on the ides of
March. Of the praetors, Quintus Fulvius
Flaccus, who had formerly been twice consul,
and likewise censor, held the city jurisdiction,
and Marcus Valerius Laevinus that respecting
foreigners. The lots gave to Appius Claudius
Pulcher the province of Sicily ; to Quintus
Mucius Scaevola that of Sardinia. The peo-
ple ordained, that Marcus Marcellus should
hare authority as proconsul, in consideration of
his being the only one of the Roman command-
ers, who, since the disaster at Canna?, had
fought with success.

XXXI. The senate, on the first day of
their meeting upon business in the capitol,
passed a decree, that double taxes should be
imposed for that year, of which one half should
be .levied without delay, for the purpose of
giving immediate pay to all the troops, excepting
those who had been at Cannae. With respect
to the several armies they ordered, that the
consul Tiberius Sempronius should appoint
a day for the two city legions to repair to Cale,
from whence these legions should be conducted
to the Claudian camp, above Suessula. As
to the legions which were there, consisting
mostly of the troops who had been at Cannae,
it was ordered, that Appius Claudius Pulcher
the praetor, should transport them into Sicily,
and that those then in Sicily should be brought
home to Rome. To the army appointed

472

THE HISTORY

[BOOK xxiii.

to assemble at Gale. Marcus Claudius Mar-
cellus was sent with orders, to lead off those
oity legions to the Claudian camp. Appius
Claudius sent Titus Metillius Croto, lieute-
nant-general, to take the command of the old
army, and transport it into Sicily. People had
at first expected in silence, that the consul
would call an assembly for the election of a
colleague in his office : afterwards, when they
saw that Marcus Marcelltis, whom above all
others they wished to be appointed consul for
that year, on account of his extraordinary suc-
cessful conduct in his prsetorship, was, as it
were purposely, sent out of the way, a murmur
arose in the senate-house ; on observing which,
the consul said, " Conscript fathers, the pub-
lic service required, that Marcus Claudius
should go into Campania to make the exchange
of the armies ; and that a day of election should
not be proclaimed until his return, after finish-
ing the business given him in charge, that you
may have the consul whom the exigencies of
the state require, and who is most agreeable to
your wishes." After this, there was no men-
tion of an election until Marcellus returned.
In the meantime, Quintus Fabius Maximus,
and Titus Otac.lius Crassus, were created
duumvirs for the dedication of temples, the
latter to dedicate one to Mens, the former,
that to Venus Erycina. Both stand in the
capitol, separated by a channel running between
them. A proposition was then offered to the
people respecting the three hundred Campanian
horsemen, who, after faithfully serving out the
legal. term in Sicily, had returned to Rome,
that they should be admitted Roman citizens ;
and moreover, that they should be deemed to
have been citizens of Cumee from the day pre-
ceding that on which the people of Campania
revolted from the Roman. The passing of
this law was expedited by the representation of
the men themselves, that they knew not to
what people they belonged, having renounced
their original country, and being not yet adopt-
ed into that to which they had returned from
abroad. As soon as Marcellus came home
from the army, an assembly was summoned for
the choice of a consul, in the room of Lucius
Postumius. Marcellus was unanimously elect-
ed, and ordered to enter immediately into office ;
but just as he was about to assume the admin-
istration, thunder was heard, and the augurs
being called, pronounced, that there must have
been a defect in the election j whereupon the

patricians openly asserted that the appointment
of two plebeians to the consulship, of which
there had never before been an instance, was
what gave displeasure to the gods. On this,
Marcellus abdicated the office, in the place of
whom was substituted Fabius Maximus, who
had twice before been honoured with it. This
year the sea appeared on fire ; a cow at Sinuessa
brought forth a foal ; the statues in the temple
of Juno Sospita at Lanuvium sweated blood ;
and a shower of stones fell round the same
temple. On account of this shower, the nine
days' worship, usual on like occasions, was per-
formed,and the prodigies were carefully expiated.
XX XII. The consuls then made division
of the forces assigned them. The army which
had been with Marcus Junius, the dictator,
fell to the share of Fabius ; and that which
had been composed of volunteer ' slaves, to-
gether with twenty-five thousand of the allies,
was given to Sempronius. The legions, to be
brought home from Sicily, were decreed to
Marcus Valerius, the praetor ; and Marcus
Claudius, proconsul, was sent to command the
army, encamped above Suessula, for the protec
tion of Nola. The praetors set out for Sicily and
Sardinia. The consuls gave public orders, that
whenever they should summon a meeting of the
senate, the senators and persons entitled to the
privilege of speaking in council,8 should assem-
ble at the Capuan gate. The praetors, presiding
in the courts of justice, fixed their tribunals in
the public fish-market ; where they ordered all
parties concerned to attend, and there justice
was administered during that year. In the
meantime, when Mago, Hannibal's brother,
was just ready at Carthage to carry over
into Italy twelve thousand foot, and one
thousand five hundred horse, twenty ele-
phants, and one thousand talents of silver,3
under the convoy of sixty ships of war,
news arrived, that the army in Spain had
been defeated, and that almost every state
of that province had gone over to the
Romans. Several were now of opinion that
they ought, for the present, to lay aside

1 Called volones from volo, I am willing, the answer
given by each when he was asked whether he was will-
ing to enlist.

2 All those who had held curule offices had a right to
a seat in the senate, and to give their opinion?, but they
could not vote until they were regularly admitted by the
censori, and registered.

3 /, 193,750.

Y. R. 537.]

OF ROME.

473

all concern for Italy, and send Mago, with the
fleet and army under his command, into Spain.
And at this very juncture, a flattering prospect
suddenly presented itself, of recovering the
possession of Sardinia : for they were told,
that " the Roman army there was small, and
that Aldus Cornelius, the present praetor, who
was well acquainted with the province, was
preparing to leave it, and that a new one was
expected. They were informed also that the
minds of the Sardinians were become dissatis-
fied, under the burden of a foreign govern-
ment of so long continuance ; which had,
duiing the last year, been marked with cruelty
and avarice ; that the people were oppressed
with grievous taxes, and an unreasonable con-
tribution of corn, and that nothing was want-
ing, but a head, to whom they might transfer
their allegiance." This intelligence was con-
veyed by a secret embassy from the principal
inhabitants, at the instigation chiefly of Hamp-
sicora, who at that time possessed a share of
interest and influence, far exceeding that of
any other man in the island. These accounts
arriving together almost at the same mo-
ment, stunned and revived them. They sent
Mago with his fleet and army into Spain, and
appointed Hasdrubal, surnamed the Bald, their
general for Sardinia, assigning him a number
of forces, nearly equal to what they had given
Mago. At Rome, the consuls, after finishing
every business that was to be performed in the
city, were now actively employed in prepara-
tions for the campaign. Tiberius Sempronius
published a proclamation, that his soldiers
should assemble at Sinuessa on an appointed
day ; and Quintus Fabius, with the approba-
tion of the seriate, issued another, that all per-
sons should carry in their corn, of all kinds,
from the fields to the fortified towns before the
calends of June next ensuing ; and that if any
disobeyed this order, his farm should be laid
waste, his slaves sold by auction, and his farm-
houses burnt. Even the praetors appointed to
preside in the courts of justice were not al-
lowed an exemption from military employ-
ments : it was determined that the praetor
Valerius should go into Apulia, to receive the
command of the army from Terentius, and
that, when the legions from Sicily should
arrive, he should employ them principally in
the defence of the country, and send in their
stead Terentius's army under some lieutenant-
general. Twenty-five ships were also put
L

under the command of Publius Valerius, the
city praetor, that with them he might protect
the sea-coast between Brundusium and Taren-
tum. An equal number were assigned to
Quintus Fulvius, for securing the coast nearest
to the city. Caius Terentius, proconsul, was
ordered to press soldiers in the territory of
Picenum, and to provide for the security of
that part of the country ; and Titus Otaci-
liu? Crassus, when he had dedicated the tem-
ple of Mens, was sent into Sicily, and invested
with the command of the fleet.

XXXIII. On this contest, between the
two most powerful nations in the world, all
kings and nations kept their attention earnestly
fixed ; but more particularly, Philip, king of
Macedonia, because he was nearer to Italy
than any other, being separated from it only
by the Ionian sea. When he first received
information of Hannibal having passed the
Alps, as he was overjoyed at the breaking
out of war between the Romans and Car-
thaginians, so, as long as there was no impor-
tant trial of their strength, his judgment re-
mained equally balanced between the parties,
uncertain to which he should wish success.
But, when he saw that the Carthaginians had
fought three battles, and in each of the three
had proved victorious, the scale turned to the
side favoured by fortune, and he despatched
ambassadors to Hannibal. These, shunning
the harbours of Brundusium and Tarentum,
because they were guarded by the Roman
squadrons, landed at the temple of Juno
Lacinia-; taking their way thence through
Apulia, towards Capua, they fell in with the
Roman posts, and were by them conducted
to the praetor, Marcus Valerius Laevinus, then
encamped near Luceria. Here Xenophanes,
who was at the head of the embassy, with
perfect composure declared, that he had been
sent by king Philip to conclude a treaty of
alliance and friendship with the Roman peo-
ple, and was charged with despatches for the
consuls, and for the senate an si people of
Rome. Valerius, highly delighted with the
prospect of a new alliance with a king of such
distinguished reputation, at a time when the
defection of the old allies had become so
general, received these enemies with every
degree of courtesy as guests, and gave them
an escort, who were ordered to point out
carefully the roads and what places, and what
passes were held by the Romans, or by the
3O

474

THE HISTORY

[BOOK xxin.

en emy. Xenophanes, after passing through the
Roman posts into Campania, came thence, by
the shortest road, into the camp of Hannibal,
and concluded a treaty of alliance and friendship
with him on these terms : That " King Philip,
with the largest fleet that he could fit out, (and
it was supposed that he would be able to make
up the number of two hundred ships,) should
come over into Italy, lay waste the sea-coast,
and annoy the enemy by sea and land, as far
as lay in his power. On the conclusion of the
war, all Italy, with the city of Rome itself,
should be the property of Hannibal and the
Carthaginians, and all the booty should be at
the disposal of Hannibal. As soon as the con-
quest of Italy should be completed, the Cartha-
ginians should sail into Greece, and wage war
against such nations as the king should direct,
and all conquests to be made on the continent,
and all the islands on the coast of Macedonia,
should be the property of Philip, and united to
his dominions."

XXXIV. On these conditions, principally,
was a treaty concluded between the Carthagi-
nian general and the Macedonian ambassadors ;
and with the latter were sent Gisgo, Bostar,
and Mago, in quality of ambassadors to receive
the ratification of it from the king in person.
They arrived at the same spot near the temple
of Juno Lacinia, where a ship lay waiting for
them in a secret creek. Having set sail from
thence, and got into the open sea, they were
descried by the Roman fleet which guarded the
coasts of Calabria : and Publius Valerius Flac-
cus despatched some Corcyran fly-boats to pur-
sue and bring back the ship. On which the
king's party endeavoured, at first, to escape :
but, afterwards, finding that they were inferior
in swiftness of sail, they surrendered them-
selves to the Romans, and were brought to the
commander of the fleet. When he inquired
who they were, whence, and whither they were
bound, Xenophanes, at first, repeated the
feigned story, which had once already succeed-
ed very well, " that he had been sent by Philip
to the Romans, and had proceeded as far as the
quarters of Marcus Valerius, but could go no
farther with safety, as it was not in his power
to make his way through Campania, every pass
there being guarded by the enemy." After-
wards, the Carthaginian dress and manners
raised some suspicion of Hannibal's ambassa-
dors ; and, some questions being put to them,
their language betrayed them ; on which, their

attendants were removed into separate places,
and terrified with menaces, by which means
Hannibal's letter to Philip was discovered, and
also the articles of the convention between the
Macedonian king and the Carthaginian general.
Their designs being thus fully detected, it was
judged most advisable, that the prisoners, and
their accompaniers, should with all speed be
conveyed to the senate at Rome ; or to the
consuls, wherever they were. For this service
five of the quickest sailing vessels were chosen,
and the command of them given to Lucius Va-
lerius Antias, who received orders to distribute
the ambassadors through all the ships, to be
kept separate under guards, and to take care
that there should be no conversation or com-
munication between them. About this time,
Aulus Cornelius Mammilla, returning from the
province of Sardinia to Rome, gave a represen-
tation of the state of affairs in that island ; that
all the people were inclined to revolt ; that
Quintus Mucius, his successor in the govern-
ment, had on his coming been so affected by the
grossness and moisture of the air, that he fell
into a disorder, not so dangerous as tedious, and
consequently would, for a long time, be incap-
able of military service j and that the army
there, though strong enough for the mainten-
ance of order in the province, during a time of
peace, was yet very unequal to the support of
the war, which appeared ready to break out.
On this the senate decreed, that Quintus Ful-
vius Flaccus should enlist five thousand foot,
and four hundred horse ; that he should take
care to have this legion conveyed to Sardinia
without any delay ; and that he should send
some proper person, commissioned to conduct
the business of the war, until Mucius's health
should be re-established. In this employment
was sent Titus Manlius Torquatus, who had
been twice consul, and likewise censor, and
who had, in one of his consulates, subdued
Sardinia. About the same time the fleet from
Carthage for Sardinia,.underHasdrubal, surnam-
ed the Bald, after suffering severely in a violent
storm, was driven out of its course to the Ba-
learic isles, where a great deal of time was
lost in docking and repairing the ships, for not
only their rigging, but even their hulls had been
damaged.

XXXV. On the side of Italy, the prosecu-
tion of the war, since the battle of Cannae, had
been less vigorous than usual, the strength of
one party being broken, and the courage of the

Y. R. 537.]

OF ROME.

475

other enervated. The Campanians, therefore,
undertook to bring the state of Cumae into
subjection to themselves. At first, they tried
to prevail on that people to renounce the alli-
ance of Rome ; but not succeeding in that me-
thod, contrived a stratagem to circumvent them.
There was a stated festival at Hamae, at which
all the Campanians used to attend. They told the
Cumans, that the Campanian senate would come
thither, and requested that the' senate of Cumae
might likewise come, in order that they might
consult together, and, with common consent,
adopt such measures as that both states might
have the same friends and the same foes ; they
themselves, they said, would bring an armed
force for their protection, so that there would
be no danger either from the Romans or Car-
thaginians. The Cumans, though they suspect-
ed treachery, yet offered no objection, thinking
this the best way to cover the deception, which
they meditated. In the meantime Tiberius
Sempronius, the Roman consul, after perform-
ing the purification of his army at Sinuessa,
where he had appointed them to assemble,
crossed the river Vulturnus, and encamped at
Liternum. As he had in this post no employ-
ment for his arms, he obliged the soldiers fre-
quently to go through their exercise, that the
recruits, of whom the greatest part were volun-
teer-slaves, might learn from practice to follow
the standards, and to know their own centuries
in the field. In the midst of these employ-
ments, the general's principal care was, and he
accordingly gave charges to the lieutenants-
general and tribunes, that no reproach, cast on
any one on account of his former condition,
should sow discord among the troops ; that the
veteran soldier should be satisfied at being'-put
on a level with the recruit, the freeman with
the volunteer-slave ; that they should account
every one sufficiently honourable and well-born,
to whom the Roman people intrusted their arms
and standards ; observing that, whatever mea-
sures fortune made it necessary to adopt, it was
equally necessary to support these when adopt-
ed. " These directions were not more carefully
inculcated by the officers than observed by the
soldiers ; insomuch that, in a short time, they
all became united in such a perfect harmony of
sentiment, that it was almost forgotten what
each man had been before he became a soldier.
While Gracchus was thus employed, ambassa-
dors from Cumae brought him information of
the embassy which had come to them, a few

day's before, from the Campanians, and the
answer which they had returned, and told him,
that the festival would begin on the third day
following, and that not only the whole senate,
but the camp and army of the Campanians,
would be present. Having ordered the Cumans
to convey all their effects out of the fields into
the city, and to keep close within the walls,
Gracchus himself removed to Cumae, on the
day previous to that which the Campanians had
fixed for the commencement of their sacrifices.
From hence I hi um • was three miles distant.
The Campanians, as had been concerted, had
assembled here in great numbers, and at a small
distance, Marius Alfius, who was Medixtuticus,
that is, the chief magistrate of the Campanians,
with fourteen thousand soldiers, was secretly
encamped, and was much more busily employed
in preparations for the festival, and in the
measures requisite for the execution of the
treacherous project, than in fortifying his camp,
or any other military work. The festival at
llama) was to last three days, and the rites
began after night-fall, so as to be finished at
midnight This hour Gracchus judged the
most proper for a surprise, and, accordingly,
posting guards at the gates to prevent any one
carrying intelligence of his design, he obliged
the soldiers to spend the time from the tenth
hour in taking refreshment and getting some
sleep, that they might assemble on a signal as
soon as it grew dark ; then, about the first
watch, he ordered the standards to be raised,
and marching out in silence arrived at Hama;
at midnight. Here, finding the Campanian
camp in a neglected state, as might be expected
from the soldiers having spent the night with-
out sleep, he assaulted it through all the gates
at once, and put the men to the sword, some as
they lay stretched on the ground, others as they
returned unarmed after finishing the sacrifices.
In the tumultuous action of this night there
were more than two thousand men slain, to-
gether with their general Marius Alfius, and
thirty-four military standards taken.

XXXVI. Gracchus, after making himself
master of the enemy's camp with the loss of
less than one hundred men, retunied quickly
to Cumaj, being afraid of Hannibal, who had
his camp on the Tifata over Capua. Nor was
his judgment mistaken in dictating this provi
dent step ; for no sooner had the news of tin.
overthrow reached Hannibal, then he marched
by Capua with the utmost rapidity, expecting

476

THE HISTORY

[BOOK xxiii.

to find at Hamae an army, which consisted for
the most part of raw recruits and slaves, indulg-
ing extravagant joy in consequence of success,
and employed in gathering the spoils of the van-
quished, and driving off their booty. He or-
dered such of the Campanians as he met in their
flight, to be conducted to Capua, under an escort,
and the wounded to be con veyed in carriages. At
Hamae he found nothing but the traces of the
recent carnage, and the ground covered with
the bodies of his allies. Several now advised
him to proceed directly to Cumae, and attack
that city: but, though it accorded with his
anxious wishes to have Cumae at least as a sea-
port, since he could not get possession of Nea-
polis, nevertheless, as his soldiers, on their
hasty march, had brought nothing but their
arms, he retired back to his camp on the Tifata.
Being afterwards earnestly urged to the attack
by the Campanians, he returned next day to
Cumae with every thing requisite for a siege,
and after utterly wasting the country, pitched
his camp at the distance of a mile from the city,
in which Gracchus had determined to stay,
rather through the shame of abandoning, at
such a perilous juncture, allies imploring pro-
tection from him and the Roman people, than
from any great confidence in his troops. Nei-
ther could the other consul, Fabius, who had
his camp at Cales, venture to cross the river
Vulturnus, being engaged at first in taking new
auspices, afterwards in attending to prodigies,
which were reported one after another j besides,
while expiating these, he was told by the aus-
pices, that it would not be easy to obtain favour
of the gods.

XXXVII. While Fabius was prevented
from stirring by these causes, Sempronius was
held besieged, and now was even exposed to
the attacks of machines. Against a huge
wooden tower, which was brought up near to
the town, the Roman consul raised another
tower, much more elevated, by fixing strong
piles contiguous to the wall, which in itself
was very high. This the besieged formed into
a platform, whence, throwing stones, javelins,
and other missile weapons, they maintained
the defence of their works and city. At last,
when the machine had approached close to the
wall, and with blazing firebrands, they threw
on it all at once an immense quantity of com-
bustibles; while the soldiers within, terrified
by the flames, cast themselves down headlong
from -the same. The garrison, sallying out

from two gates at the very time, overthrew the
enemy's advanced guards, and drove them back
to their camp ; so that the Carthaginian was,
on that day, more like a person besieged than
besieging. One thousand three hundred of
the Carthaginians were slain, and fifty-nine
taken prisoners, who, standing careless and
negligently near the walls, and on the advanced
posts, and fearing nothing less than a sally,
were surprised unawares. Gracchus sounded
a retreat before the enemy should recover from
their sudden fright, and drew back his men
within the walls. Next day Hannibal, suppos
ing that the consul, elated with success, would
be willing to try the issue of a regular engage-
ment, drew up his forces in order of battle be-
tween his camp and the city : but when he saw
that not a man stirred, except in the customary
guard of the town, and that nothing would be
hazarded on inconsiderate hopes, he returned
with disappointment to the Tifata. At the
very time of raising the siege of Cumae, Tibe-
rius Sempronius, surnamed Longus, fought
with success against Hanno at Grumentum in
Lucania, killed above two thousand of the
enemy, and took forty-one military standards,
losing two hundred and eighty of his own men.
Hanno, expelled from the Lucanian territories,
retreated backward into Bruttium. In another
quarter, three towns of the Hirpinians, which
had revolted from the Roman people, were
attacked and retaken by the praetor, Marcus
Valerius. Vercellius and Sicilius, the insti-
gators of the revolt, were beheaded, and above
one thousand of the prisoners exposed to sale :
the rest of the booty was bestowed on the sol-
diers, and then the troops were led back to
Luceria.

XXXVIII. While affairs proceeded thus
in Lucania and Hirpinia, the five ships carrying
the captive ambassadors of the Macedonians
and Carthaginians to Rome, after making a
circuit from the upper sea to the lower, round
the greater part of the coast of Italy, were sail-
ing by Cumae, when they were observed by
Gracchus, who, not knowing whether they
belonged to friends or enemies, sent a part of
his fleet to meet them. Here mutual inquiries
discovering that the consul was at Cumae, the
ships put into that harbour, the prisoners were
conducted to the consul, and the packet they
had in charge delivered to him. Having read
the letters of Philip and Hannibal, he inclosed,
and sent them to the senate by land, ordering

R. 537.]

OF ROME.

477

the ambassadors to be conveyed thither by sea.
These, with the inclosures, arrived at Home
on the same day, or nearly ; and the answers of
the former on their examination being conforma-
ble to the contents of the letters, the senate were
at first grievously perplexed at the prospect of
such a formidable war impending from Macedo-
nia, when they .were scarcely able to support
that with the Carthaginians. Yet, so far were
they from suffering their courage to be depressed,
that they instantly began to deliberate how they
might, by offensive operations, divert the ene-
my from Italy. After ordering the prisoners
to be kept in close confinement, and their at-
tendants to be exposed to public sale, they
decreed, that, besides the twenty ships, under
the command of Publius Valerius Flaccus,
twenty-five others should be got ready for sea.
These being equipped and launched, and join-
ed by the five which had brought the captive
ambassadors, Bet sail from Ostia for Tarentum,
and orders were sent to Publius Valerius to
take on board them the soldiers, formerly
commanded by Varro, and who were then at
Tarentum under Lucius Apustius, lieutenant-
general : and, with his fleet, which would then
consist of fifty ships, not only to protect the
coast of Italy, but to procure intelligence con-
cerning the hostile designs of the Macedonians.
If Philip's intentions were found to correspond
with the letters, and the informations of the
ambassadors, he was then to forward intelli-
gence of this to the preetor, Marcus Valerius,
who, leaving the command of the army to his
lieutenant-general, Lucius Apustius, and has-
tening to Tarentum to the fleet, was to cross
over into Macedonia with all expedition, and
use his best endeavours to detain Philip in his
own dominions. For the maintenance of the
fleet, and the support of the war with Mace-
donia, that money was ordered to be applied,
which hadj been sent into Sicily to Appius
Claudius to be returned to king Hiero, and
this was conveyed to Tarentum by the lieuten-
ant-general, Lucius Apustius. Together with
it, were sent by Hiero two hundred thousand
pecks of wheat, and one hundred thousand of
barley.

XXXIX. While the * Romans were em-
ployed in this manner, and making such
preparations, the captured ship, which had been
sent with the others to Rome, made its escape
on the voyage, and returned to Philip ; by
which means he learned, that his ambassadors,

with the letters, had fallen into the bands of
the Romans. Wherefore, as he knew not
what terms of agreement had been settled be-
tween them and Hannibal, nor what accounts
they would have brought him, he despatched
another embassy with the same instructions.
The persons employed in this commission to
Hannibal were Heraclitus, surnamed Scotinus,
Crito Berrseus, and Sositheus Magnes : these
effected the business with which they were
charged, without meeting any obstruction, either
in going or returning, But the summer had
passed away before Philip could put himself in
motion, or enter on any enterprise : so im-
portant were the consequences attending the
capture of that single vessel with the ambassa-
dors, as to defer the war with which the Ro-
mans were threatened. With regard to the
campaign in the neighbourhood of Capua,
Fabius, after expiating the prodigies, passed
the Vulturous, and then both the consuls
entered on action. Fabius took by assault
Corabulteria, Trebula, and Saticula, (cities
which had revolted to the Carthaginian,) and
in them were made prisoners Hannibal's garri-
sons, and vast numbers of Campanians. At
Nola, as was the case the year before, the
senate being inclined to the side of the Romans,
and the populace to that of the Carthaginians,
the latter held secret cabals, in which schemes
were formed for massacring the nobility and
delivering up the city : but to prevent their
designs taking effect, Fabius, marching his
army across between Capua and Hannibal's
camp on the Tifata, took post over Suessula
in the Claudian camp, and thence detached
Marcus Marcellus, proconsul, with the troops
under his command, to secure the possession of
Nola.

XL. In Sardinia the business of the cam-
paign, which had been suspended ever since
the praetor Quintus Mucius had been seized
with a severe disorder, began to be prosecuted
by Titus Manb'us, who, drawing the ships of
war into dock at Carale, and arming the
marines to act on land, made up, with the army
which he received from Mucius, the number of
twenty-two thousand foot, and twelve hundred
horse. With this force he marched into the
enemy's country, and pitched his camp at a
small distance from that of Hampsicora. It
happened that at this time the latter had gone
into the country of those Sardinians called Pel-
liti, with design to procure a reinforcement to

478

THE HISTORY

[BOOK xxiii.

his array by enlisting their young men : his
son, named Hiostus, commanded in the camp,
and he, with the presumption of youth, incon-
siderately hazarding an engagement, was
defeated, and put to flight ; three thousand of
the Sardinians being slain in the battle, and
about eight hundred taken. The rest of the
troops, at first, ran straggling through the fields
and woods ; but, afterwards, all directed their
flight to Cornus, the principal city in that
country, into which they heard that their com-
mander had fled. This battle would have put
an end to the war in Sardinia, had not the
Carthaginian fleet under Hasdrubal, which had
been driven out of its course to the Balearic
isles, arrived just in time to revive the hopes of
the revolters. Manlius, on hearing of the ar-
rival of the Carthaginian fleet, marched back
to Carale ; and this afforded an opportunity to
Hampsicora of effecting a junction with the
Carthaginian. Hasdrubal, when he had disem-
barked his troops, sent back the fleet to Car-
thage ; and then, using Hampsicora as a guide,
he marched, with fire and sword, into the lands
belonging to the allies of the Roman people,
and would have proceeded even to Carale, had
not Manlius, by throwing his army in the way,
checked the violence of his depredations. For
some time, they lay encamped opposite to each
other, at a small distance ; then followed skir-
mishes and encounters between small parties,
in which success was various. At last they
marched out to battle, and, meeting in regular
array, maintained a general engagement for the
space of four hours. That the victory remain-
ed so long in suspense was owing to the Car-
thaginians, for the Sardinians had now been ac-
customed to yield an easy conquest. At last,
when nothing was to be seen on any side of
them but the flight and slaughter of the Sar-
dinians, they also gave way. But just as they
were turning their backs, the Roman general,
wheeling round with that wing of his army
which had beaten the Sardinians, enclosed their
rear, and then followed a carnage rather than a
fight Of the Sardinians and Carthaginians
together, there fell twelve thousand ; about
three thousand six hundred, with twenty-seven
military standards, were taken.

XLI. But what contributed, above all, to
render this success brilliant and memorable,
was, the taking of the general Hasdrubal, and
two other Carthaginians of high distinction,
Hanno and Mago ; Mago being of the Barcine

family, and nearly related to Hannibal, and
Hanno the person who instigated the Sardini-
ans to a revolt, and unquestionably the author
of the present war. Nor was the fortune of
the Sardinian commanders, on this occasion,
less remarkable ; for Hiostus, son of Hampsi
cora, fell in the fight ; and the father, after
having fled with a few horsemen, when, in ad-
dition to his other misfortunes, he heard also of
his son's death, put an end to his own life in
the night-time, lest some interruption might
prevent his design : to the rest, the city of Cor-
nus, as on the former occasion, afforded a re-
fuge ; but Manlius, attacking it with his victo-
rious troops, made himself master of it in a few
days. On this, the rest of those states, which
had joined Hampsicora and the Carthaginians,
made their submission, and gave hostages.
Having imposed on these, in proportion to the
power or delinquency of each, contributions of
corn, and pay for the troops, he led back his
army to Carale ; and there, launching the ships
of war, and embarking the troops which he had
brought to the island, he sailed to Rome, and
informed the senate of the total reduction of
Sardinia, delivered the money raised by the con-
tributions to the quaestors, the corn to the
aediles, and the prisoners to the praetor Quintus
Fulvius. About the same time Titus Otaci-
lius, propraetor, sailing over from Lilybaeum to
Africa with a fleet of fifty ships, ravaged the
Carthaginian territories. As he was returning
to Sardinia, on hearing that Hasdrubal had
lately crossed over thither from the Baleares,
he met his fleet on its way from Africa ; and,
after a slight engagement in the open sea, took
seven of the ships, with their crews. Their
fears dispersed the rest not less effectually than
a storm would have done. It happened that,
at the same time, Bomilcar, with supplies of
men and provisions, and forty elephants sent
from Carthage, put into the harbour of Locri.
On which Appius Claudius, intending to sur-
prise him, drew all his forces hastily to Mes-
sana, under a pretext of making a circuit rx)und
the island, and with the favour of the tide cross-
ed over to Locri; but Bomilcar had already
left the place, and gone to join Hanno in Brut-
tium, and the Locrians shut their gates against
the Romans. Without effecting any thing by
such a powerful effort, Appius returned to Mes-
sana.

XLII. During this summer Marcellus made
frequent excursions from Nola, where he was

y. R. 537.]

OF ROME.

479

stationed in garrison, into the lands of the Hir-
pinians and Caudine Samnites, and with fire
and sword caused such utter devastation through
every part of the country, as renewed in 8am-
niiiin the memory of those calamities which
they had suffered of old. Both nations there-
fore immediately joined in sending ambassa-
dors to Hannibal, who addressed him in this
manner : " Hannibal, we, by ourselves, waged
war against the Roman people, as long as our
own arms and our own strength were sufficient
for our defence : when we found that we could
no longer trust to these, we united ourselves to
king Pyrrhus ; by whom being^desertedjWe sub-
mitted to a peace, which our circumstances
imulo necessary, and which we continued to ob-
serve, through a space of almost sixty years,
to the time when you came into Italy. Your
kind demeanour and singular generosity to our
countrymen, whom, when prisoners in your
hands, you restored to us, as well as your
bravery and success, inspired us with such es-
teem and admiration, that having you in health
and safety to befriend us, we feared not the re-
sentment of the Roman people, nor (if it is
allowable so to speak) even that of the gods.
But now, indeed, while you are not only in
safety, and possessed of victory, but while you
arc present, and can, in a manner, hear the
lamentations of our wives and children, and see
our houses in flames ; still, we say, we have
experienced, in the course of this summer, such
depredations, that it seems as if Marcus Mar-
cellus, not Hannibal, were the conqueror .at
Cannae; the Romans boasting, that you had
just vigour enough for that one stroke, and
having as it were lost your sting, are now be-
come a drone. For near one hundred years,
we maintained a war against the Roman peo-
ple, without the assistance of any foreign leader
or army, since in the two years that Pyrrhus
was joined with us, he rather augmented his
own forces with our strength, than defended
us with his. I shall not make a display of our
successes, except in sending under the yoke
two consuls and two consular armies ; though
it is certain that other events have contributed
to our glory. As to the difficulties and mis-
fortunes which we then underwent, we can re-
count them with less indignation, than those
which fall upon us this day. Renowned dic-
tators, with their masters of horse ; two con-
suls, with two consular armies at a time, were
used to enter our territories ; and, with every

precaution of first exploring the country, and
posting rear guards, proceeded in order of bat-
tle to commit depredations ; at present we are
in a manner the prey of one little garrison,
which is scarcely sufficient to man the walls of
Nola. They scour every quarter of our country ;
not in companies, but like common robbers,
with less precaution than they would use in ram-
bling through the province of Rome. Now the
cause of this is, that you do not afford us protec-
tion, and that at the same time our youth, who,
if at home, would defend us, are all employed
under your standards. As we are not unac-
quainted with you or your forces ; as we know
that you have defeated and cut off so many
armies of Romans ; surely we must judge it an
easy matter for you to overpower those marau-
ders amongst us, who straggle about without or-
der, and ramble wherever allured by the slight-
est hope of gain. They may be instantly subdu-
ed by a handful of Numidians ; and while you
send supporters to us, you will, by the same
means, strip the Nolans of theirs. In fine,
it is hoped that after having taken us under
your protection, and deemed us worthy of alli-
ance, you do not now judge us undeserving
your interference in our defence."

XL II I. To this Hannibal answered, that
"the Hirpinians and Samnites did too many
things at once ; they represented their suffer-
ings, petitioned for protection, and at the same
time complained of being undefended and ne-
glected. Whereas, they ought first to make
the representation ; then to request protection ;
and, in the last place, if their request was not
complied with, then, and not before, to com-
plain of having implored aid in vain. That he
would lead his army not into the territories of
the Hirpinians or Samnites, lest he should
prove an additional burthen, but into the near-
est places belonging to the allies of the Roman
people ; by the plunder of which, he would en-
rich his soldiers, and, at the same time, by the
terror of his arms, drive far away the enemy
from them. As to what concerned the war
between him and Rome, if the fight at the
Thrasimenus was more honourable than that
at the Trebia, and the one at Cannae than that
at the Thrasimenus, he was resolved, by a still
more complete and more splendid victory, to
eclipse the lustre of the battle of Cannae."
With this answer, and with ample presents, he
dismissed the ambassadors; and leaving a
small body of troops on the Tifuta, began his

480

THE HISTORY

[BOOK xxiu.

march with the rest of his army, and proceed-
ed to Nola. Thither also came Hanno from
Bruttium, with the supplies and the elephants
brought from Carthage. Having encamped at no
great distance from the town, he found, on inqui-
ry, every circumstance widely different from the
representations made by the ambassadors of his
allies. For no part of Marcellus's conduct was
such, as could be said to leave an unguarded open-
ing either to fortune or to an enemy. When going
to a plundering expedition, his practice had
been to procure a knowledge of the country ;
to provide strong supports and a safe retreat ;
and to use every care and caution just as if
Hannibal were present. At this time, when
he perceived the Carthaginian approaching, he
kept his troops within the walls, and ordered
the senators of Nola to walk round on the
ramparts, and take a view on every side of
what passed among the enemy. From the
other side, Hanno, coming up to the wall, in-
vited Herennius Bassus and Herius Pettius to
a conference ; and when, with the permission
of Marcellus, they came out, he addressed
them by an interpreter, extolled Hannibal's
courage and success, and in the, most contemp-
tuous terms vilified the majesty of the Roman
people, as mouldering into decay, together
with their strength. " But," said he, " sup-
posing all matters were on the same footing as
before, yet it is found by experience how bur-
thensome the government of Rome is to its
confederates, and how great the generosity of
Hannibal has been, even to every one of his
prisoners, who bore the name of an Italian, an
alliance of friendship with the Carthaginians
was surely to be wished in preference to one
with the Romans. If both the consuls, with
their armies, were at Nola, they would no more
be able to cope with Hannibal, than they had
been at Cannae ; much less would a single prae-
tor, with a handful of men, and these raw re-
cruits, be equal to the defence of Nola.
Whether Hannibal was to gain possession of
that town by storm, or by capitulation, was a
matter which concerned themselves, more than
him, for gain it he would, as he had gained
Capua and Nuceria; and how different the
fate of Capua was from that of Nuceria, the
Nolans themselves, situated about midway be-
tween the two places, could not but know.
He refrained from mentioning the consequen-
ces which necessarily followed the taking of a
city by assault ; and with more pleasure took

upon him to engage, that, if they would delive^
up Nola, together with Marcellus and the gar-
rison, they should themselves dictate the terms
on which they were to be received into friend-
ship and alliance with Hannibal."

XLIV. To this Herennius Bassus replied,
that, "for many years past, a friendship had
subsisted between the states of Rome and
Nola, with which neither party had, to that
day, seen reason to be dissatisfied; and that
though people's attachments were to follow the
changes of fortune, it was now too late for
them to change theirs. Men who were after-
wards to surrender to Hannibal ought not to
have sent for a Roman garrison. Their des-
tiny was now, and would continue to be, to the
last, connected, in every particular, with that
of the person who came to their support."
This conference took away from Hannibal all
hope of gaining Nola by treachery; he there-
fore invested the city quite round, intending to
attack the walls in all parts at once. When
Marcellus saw him approach the works, having
formed his troops within the gate, he sallied
forth with great impetuosity. At the first
push, several were beaten down and slain ; then
others running up to those who were engaged,
and their power being brought- to an equality,
the battle became furious, and would have been
memorable among the few which are most
celebrated, had not violent rain, attended by a
desperate storm, separated the combatants.
After this small trial of strength, which served
only to irritate their passions, they retired for
that day, the Romans into the city, the Car-
thaginians into their camp. However on the
first irruption, some of the Carthaginians, not
above thirty, fell under the shock, and not one
of the Romans. The rain continued without
intermission through the whole night, and last-
ed until the third hour of the following day.
Wherefore, notwithstanding that bpth parties
eagerly longed for battle, yet they remained
during that day within their works. On the
third day, Hannibal sent a part of his forces to
ravage the lands of the Nolans ; which, 'when
Marcellus observed, he instantly drew out his
forces and offered battle, nor did Hannibal
decline the challenge. The distance between
the city and the camp was about a mile : in
this space, which was level, as is all the ground
about Nola, the armies met. The shout rais-
ed, on both sides, called back the nearest of
those cohorts which had gone into the country

Y. R. 537-1

OF ROME.

481

for plunder, to the battle, which had begun
when they arrived. The Nolans joined them-
selves to the Roman forces ; and Marccllus,
after commending their zeal ordered them to
take post in reserve, and to carry off the wound-
ed from the line ; but, by no means to engage
in the fight, unless they received a signal from
him.

XLV. The battle was long doubtful, every
one exerting himself to the utmost, the officers
in encouraging the men, and the men in fight-
ing. Marcellus urged his soldiers to press
briskly on those whom they had defeated but
three days before ; who had been put to flight
from Cumae not many days since, and who, in
the last year, had been repulsed from Nola by
himself, then likewise in command, though
with other troops. " All the enemy's forces,"
he told them, " were not in the field ; some of
them were rambling through the country in
search of prey ; and those who were in the fight
were debilitated by Campanian luxury, having
exhausted their vigour in the practice of every
kind of intemperance and debauchery, through
the whole course of the winter. Their former
strength was gone ; they were no longer pos-
sessed of that firmness, either of body or mind,
which had enabled them to surmount the Py-
renean and the Alpine heights. Those they
had now to engage with, might be called the
shadows of those armies : men scarcely able to
support their limbs and armour. Capua to
Hannibal had not proved a Cannae. There,
warlike courage j there, military discipline;
there, the glory of the past, and the hope of
future times, were all extinguished." While
Marcellus raised the courage of his men by
such contemptuous representations of the ene-
my, Hannibal upbraided his in terms of re-
proach far more bitter : " He knew these," he
said, " to be the same arms and standards which
he had seen and used at the Trebia, at the
Thrasimenus, and at Cannae ; but as to the men,
he had certainly led one army into winter-quar-
ters to Capua, and brought out thence another
of a different kind. Do you, whom two con-
sular armies united have never withstood, find
it difficult, with all your efforts, to stand against
a Roman lieutenant-general, against the exer-
* tions of one legion, and a band of auxiliaries ?
Does Marcellus, with his raw recruits and No-
lan auxiliaries, attack us a second time with
impunity ! Where is that soldier of mine who
dragged the consul Gains Flaminius from his
I.

horse and took off his head ? Where is he who
slew Lucius Paul 1 us at Cannae ? Has the sword
lost its edge ? Are your right hands benumbed ;
or what other prodigy is this ? You> who used
to conquer, when the advantage in number
was against you, now, when that advan-
tage is in your favour, scarcely maintain your
ground. With great bravery in your tongues,
you were used to declare, that you would take
Rome if any one would lead you to it ; the
present is a much less difficult business. I
wish to have a trial of your strength and cou-
rage here. Take Nola, a town standing in a
plain, and not fenced by either sea or river ;
and then, when you are laden with the plunder
and spoils of that opulent city, I will either lead
or follow you whithersoever you choose."

XL VI. Neither soothing nor reproaches
wrought any effect towards confirming their
courage. They lost ground in every quarter,
while the Romans assumed fresh spirits, not
only from the exhortations of their commander,
but from the animating shouts raised by the
Nolans, in testimony of their good wishes.
The Carthaginians, at length, gave up the con-
test, and were Mriven into their camp ; and
even this the Roman soldiers were eager to at-
tack ; but Marcellus drew them back into
Nola, where they were received with great joy,
and congratulations, even by the populace, who
till then had been more inclined to the Cartha-
ginians. On that day were slain more than
five thousand of the enemy ; taken, six hun-
dred, with nineteen military standards, and two
elephants ; four of the hitter were killed in the
battle. Of the Romans there fell not quite
one thousand. Both, as if by tacit convention,
spent the next day in burying their dead, and
Marcellus, in pursuance of a vow to Vulcan,
burned the spoils. On the third day after, one
thousand two hundred and seventy-two horse-
men, partly Numidians, and partly Spaniards,
through some resentment, I suppose, or hopes
of better treatment, deserted to Marcellus ;
and these, during the remainder of the war
served the Romans, on many occasions, with
much bravery and fidelity. After the conclu-
sion of it, ample portions of hind were assigned
to them in acknowledgment of their valour ;
to the Spaniards, in Spain, and to the Numi-
dians, in Africa. Hannibal sending back
Hanno from Nola to Bruttium, with the forces
which he had brought thence, went himself in-
to winter-quarters in Apulia, and cantoned
3P

482

THE HISTORY

[BOOK xxui.

his troops in the neighbourhood of Arpi.
When Quintus Fabius heard that the foe was
gone into Apulia, he collected stores of corn from
Nola, and Neapolis, in the camp above Suessula,
the fortifications of which he strengthened ; and,
leavingthere a garrison, sufficient for the security
of the post, during the winter, removed nearer
to Capua, laying waste the country of Campania,
with fire and sword, to such a degree, that the
people were compelled, though with no great
confidence in their own strength, to go out of
their gates, and fortify a camp near the city in
the open plain. Their force amounted to six
thousand men. The infantry being very indif-
ferent soldiers, their principal reliance was on
the cavalry : these, therefore, they employed in
annoying the enemy.

XL VII. Among a great number of Cam-
panian horsemen, of high reputation, was Cer-
rinus Jubellius, surnamed Taurea. He was a
native there, and celebrated for his abilities as
a horseman far beyond all the others of that
country, insomuch that while he acted in the
service of Rome, there was but one Roman,
Claudius Asellus, who had an equal reputation
in that line. For this man, Taurea long searched
as he rode before the squadrons of the enemy.
At last, demanding attention, he inquired where
was Claudius Asellus, and why, since he had
been accustomed to assert himself to be his
equal, did he not decide the point with the
sword ; and either by suffering a defeat give
glorious spoils, or by victory acquire them ?
When this was reported, in the camp, to Asel-
lus, he only waited to ask the consul's leave to
engage, though out of rule, with the challenger.
Having obtained permission, he instantly armed
himself, and riding out beyond the advanced
guards, called on Taurea by name, and dared
him to the field. The Romans had now come
in crowds to behold the fight j and the Cam-
panians, to gain a view of it, had filled not only
the rampart of the camp, but likewise the walls
of the city. After a prelude of furious expres-
sions, ta give the business an air of the greater
consequence, they spurred on their horses, with
their spears prepared for action. Having free
space wherein they parried each other's assaults,
the right lasted for some time without a wound
on either side. At length the Campanian said to
the Roman, " This will be but a trial of skill
between our horses, not between their riders, un-
less we descend into yon hollow way. There,
«s there will be no room for wheeling to one

side or another, we may meet hand to hand."
Scarcely were the words uttered, when Clau-
dius leaped his horse down into the road, on
which Taurea, more daring in words than in
action, said, " Never be an ass in a dyke,"
which expression became afterwards proverbial
among rustics. Claudius, riding up again into
the plain, traversed the ground to a considerable
distance from the road, without meeting any
antagonist ; and then exclaiming against the
cowardice of his foe, returned victorious to the
camp, amidst general rejoicing and congratula-
tions. To this encounter, some histories add a
wonderful circumstance, (how far worthy of
belief, the reader may judge for himself,) that
Claudius, pursuing Taurea, as he fled back to
the city, rode in at one of the enemy's gates
which stood open, and escaped unhurt through
another, while the soldiers stood motionless
through astonishment.

XLVIII. From this time the troops re-
mained without employment, and the consul
even drew back his camp to a distance, that the
Campanians might till their grounds ; nor did
he offer any injury to the lands, until the blades
in the corn fields were sufficiently grown to
serve as forage. He then conveyed the corn in
this state into the Claudian camp over Snes-
sula, where he erected huts agianst the winter.
He gave order to Marcus Claudius proconsul,
that, retaining at Nola, a garrison sufficient for
the defence of the place, he should send the
rest of his force to Rome, lest they should be a
burden to the allies, and an expense to tlie
state. In another quarter, Tiberius Gracchus
having led his legions from Cumae to Luceria
in Apulia, detached thence the praetor, Marcus
Valerius, to Brundusium, with the troops which
he had commanded at Luceria, ordering him
to guard the coast of the Sallentine territoiy,
and carefully pursue all such measures as should
be found requisite with respect to Philip, aruJ
the Macedonian war. Towards the close of
that summer, in which happened those events
which we have related, letters arrived from the
Scipios, Publius and Cneius, setting forth the
great importance and successful issue of their
operations in Spain ; but that they were in-
want of every thing, pay, clothing, and corn for
the army, and the crews of the ships. With
regard to the pay, they observed, that, if the
treasury were low, they would themselves devise
some method of procuring it from the Spaniards ;
but that the other articles must, at all events, be

v. n. 537.]

OF ROME.

483

sent from Rome, otherwise, neither the army,
nor the province could be preserved. When the
letters were read, both the truth of the facts re-
presented and the reasonableness of the demands
were universally acknowledged ; but they
were struck by the following considerations :
" What numerous forces on land and sea they
were obliged to maintain ; and, wiiat a large
additional fleet must soon be provided, in case
of a war with Macedonia breaking out. That
Sicily and Sardinia, which, before, had yielded
a revenue, now scarcely maintained the troops
employed in their own defence. That the
public expenses were supplied by a tax ; but
as the number of those who contributed to
this tax, had been diminished by the great
slaughter of the troops at the Thrasimenus,
and at Cannae ; so the surviving few, if loaded
with multiplied impositions, must perish like-
wise, only by a different malady. It was
therefore concluded, that, if the state did not
find support in credit, it could find none in
money ; and it was judged proper, that the
praetor Fulvius, should go out to the assembly
of the commons, and lay before the people
the necessitous situation of the country ; ex-
horting them, that such as had increased their
estates by farming the public revenues should
now assist that government, to which they
owed their prosperity, with indulgence in re-
spect of time ; and that they should engage to
furnish, by contract, the supplies necessary
for the army in Spain, on condition, when
money should come into the treasury, of being
the first paid." These matters the praetor ex-
plained in the assembly, and gave public notice
of the day on which he would contract for the
supplying of clothing, and corn, for the army
in Spain, and such other things as were neces-
sary for the men on board the fleet.

XLIX. When the time came, three com-
panies consisting of nineteen men, attended in
order to engage in the contract. Their de-
mands were twofold : first, that they should
be exempted from military service as long as
they might be concerned in this business of the
state ; the other, that when they had sent
goods on ship-board, any damage afterwards
sustained, either through the means of storms,
or of the enemy, should be at the public loss.
Both being complied with, they concluded the
contract, and with the money of private per-

sons : such were the habits of thinking, such
the love of their country, which, with uniform
influence, pervaded all ranks of men. As all
engagements were entered into with great
spirit, so were they fulfilled with the mosl
faithful punctuality, and exactly in the same
manner, as if the supplies were drawn, as
formerly, out of an opulent treasury. At this
time, the town of Illiturgi, having revolted
to the Romans, was besieged by Hasdrubal,
Mago, and Hamilcar son of Bomilcar. Be-
tween these three camps, the Scipios, after a
difficult struggle, and a great slaughter of
their opponents, forced their way into the
place, introducing a quantity of corn, of which
there had been a scarcity. Then, after ex-
horting the townsmen to defend their walls
with the same courage with which they had
seen the Roman troops fight in their behalf, they
marched to attack the largest of the camps,
where Hasdrubal had the command. Thither
also came up the two other Carthaginian gene-
rals, with their two armies, who perceived that
on the issue of that attack the fate of all
depended : the troops in camp therefore sallied
out to the fight. There were in the engage-
ment, of the enemy, sixty thousand ; of the
Romans about sixteen thousand ; yet so far
was the victory from being doubtful, that the
Romans slew a greater number of the Cartha-
ginians than they themselves had in the field ;
took above three thousand prisoners ; some-
what less than one thousand horses; fifty- nine
military standards ; killed five elephants in the
battle ; and took possession of the three camps
on one and the same day. When the siege of
Illiturgi was thus raised, the Carthaginian
armies marched to lay siege to Intibili ; recruit-
ing their forces out of that province, which
was, above all others, fond of war, provided
either plunder or hire was in view, and which,
at that time, abounded with young men. A
second general engagement took place, attended
with the same event on both sides : upwards of
thirteen thousand of the enemy were killed,
and more than two thousand taken, with forty-
two standards and nine elephants. On this,
almost every state in Spain joined the party of
the Romans; and, during this campaign, the
events of the ar there were much more im-
portant than those in Italy.

THE

HISTORY OF ROME.

BOOK XXIV.

Hieronymus, king of Syracuse, takes part with the Carthaginians ; Is put to death by his subjects, on account
of his tyranny and cruelty. Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus, proconsul, with an array composed mostly of
slaves, defeats the Carthaginian army under Hanno, at Beneventum ; gives the slaves liberty. Most of the
states in Sicily go over to the side of the Carthaginians. Claudius Marcellus, consul, besieges Syracuse.
War declared against Philip king of Macedonia, who is surprised by night, and routed at Apollonia. Opera.
lions of the Scipios, against the Carthaginians, in Spain. Treaty of friendship with Syphax king of Numidia ;
he is defeated by Massinissa king of the Maesylians. 'Die Celtiberians join the Romans, and their troops are
taken into pay : the first instance of mercenaries serving in a Roman army.

ON his return from Campania into Bruttium,
Hanno, assisted by the Bruttians, who served
him also as guides, endeavoured to gain posses-
sion of the Greek cities, which were the more
inclined to adhere to their alliance with Rome,
for the very reason that they saw the Bruttians
whom they both hated and feared, taking part
with the Carthaginians. The first attempt
was made on Rhegium, and several days were
spent there to no 'purpose. Meanwhile the
Loorians hastily conveyed from the country
into the city, corn, timber, and other necessa-
ries, for which they might have occasion, wish-
ing at the same time to leave nothing which
the enemy could seize ; while the multitude,
which poured out of the gates, became every
day more and more numerous. At last, those
only were left in the place, who were obliged
to repair the works, and to carry weapons to
the posts of defence. Against this mixed mul-
titude, consisting of persons of all ages and
ranks, and straggling through the fields, mostly
unarmed, Hamilcar, the Carthaginian, sent out
his cavalry, who having received orders not to
hurt any of them, only threw their squadrons
in the way to cut off their retreat to the city,
towards which they directed their scattered

flight. The general himself, having taken his
station on an eminence, which commanded a
view both of that and the adjacent country,
ordered a cohort of Bruttians to approach the
walls, and invite the leaders of the Locrians to
a conference, and with assurances of Hannibal's
friendship, to persuade them to a surrender.
At the beginning of the conference, the Brut-
tians had no credit given to any ot their repre-
sentations. Afterwards, when the Carthagi-
nians appeared on the hills, and the few citizens,
who had effected an escape, had informed the
townsmen that the rest of the multitude were
in the enemy's power, then, overcome by fear,
they answered, that they would consult the
people. Accordingly, they instantly summoned
an assembly, in which appeared all of the
most unsettled who wished for a change of
measures and of allies, with those, whose
relations had been intercepted by the ene-
my, and who had their judgments influenced
by those pledges, as if so many hostages
had been given for their conduct ; while a few
rather approving in silence, than venturing
openly to maintain the cause which they would
have espoused, it was concluded, with every
appearance of perfect unanimity, to surrender

486

THE HISTORY

[BOOK xxiv-

to the Carthaginians. Lucius Atilius, the
commander of the garrison, and the Roman
soldiers who were with him, were privately
conveyed to the harbour, and put on board
ships, to be carried off to Rhegium, and then
the townsmen received Hasdrubal and his Car-
thaginians into the city, on the condition of
an alliance being immediately entered into on
terms of equality. When they had surren-
dered, they were very near losing the benefit of
this stipulation ; for the Carthaginian general
accused them of having covertly sent away the
Roman commander, while they alleged that he
had escaped without their privity. A body of
cavalry was now sent in pursuit, in case, by
any accident, the current might detain him in
the strait, or drive the ships to land : these did
not overtake him ; but they saw other ships
crossing from Messana to Rhegium, which
carried Roman soldiers, sent by the praetor,
Claudius, as a garrison for the security of that
city : in consequence of this, the enemy with-
drew immediately from Rhegium. In pursu-
ance of orders from Hannibal, a treaty of
peace was concluded with the Locrians, on
these terms, that " they should live in freedom
under their own laws ; that the city should be
open always to the Carthaginians, but that the
harbour should remain in their possession, as
at first ; and that, as the fundamental principle
of the treaty, the Carthaginians should, on all
occasions, assist the Locrians, and the Locrians
the Carthaginians."

II. The Carthaginians, after this, marched
back from the strait, while the Bruttians ex-
pressed great dissatisfaction at their having
left Rhegium and Locri in safety, for they had
destined to themselves the plunder of those
places. Wherefore, having formed into bodies,
and armed fifteen thousand of their own young
men, they set out to lay siege to Croto, another
Grecian city and a sea-port ; thinking that it
would prove a very great accession to their
power, if they should gain possession of a
harbour on the coast, and of a strongly forti-
fied town. They were embarrassed by the
considerations, that they could not well ven-
ture to proceed without calling in the Cartha-
ginians to their assistance, lest they should
appear to conduct themselves, in any case, in-
consistently with the character of confederates ;
and that, on the contrary, should the Cartha-
ginian general again act rather as an umpire of
peace, than an auxiliary in war, the attack on

the independence of Croto, like the former one
on Locri, would be productive, to them, of no
advantage. For these reasons it was judged
most adviseable to send ambassadors to Hanni-
bal, to procure from him beforehand an engage-
ment, that Croto, when reduced, should be the
1 property of the Bruttians. Hannibal, remark-
ing that persons on the spot were the fittest to
! determine in such a case, referred them to
Hanno, from whom they could obtain no de-
cisive answer : for these commanders did not
wish that a city, so celebrated and so opulent,
should be plundered ; and, at the same time,
I they entertained hopes, that, as the Bruttians
were to be the assailants, the Carthaginians not
, appearing either to countenance or aid the
attack, the inhabitants might, the more readily,
come over to their side. But the Crotonians
were not united in their designs, or in their
wishes. The same distemper, as it were, had
seized every one of the states of Italy; the
nobility and commons embracing opposite
parties, the former favouring the Romans, the
latter violently endeavouring to bring about a
union with the Carthaginians. A deserter in-
formed the Bruttians, that a dissension of this
sort prevailed in Croto, that one Aristomachus
headed the party of the commons, and pressed
them to surrender to the Carthaginians ; that
the city, being very extensive, and the works
stretching to a great extent on all sides, the
watches were divided separately between the
senators and commons ; and that, in every
quarter, where the latter had the guard, the
assailants would find a ready entrance. Under
the direction and guidance of this deserter, the
Bruttians encircled the town, and being re-
ceived into it by the plebeians, carried, at the
first assault, every post except the citadel ; of
this the nobles held the possession, having
beforehand secured a refuge there, in case of
such an event as now happened. Aristoma-
chus also fled thither, pretending that he had
advised surrendering the city to the Cartha-
ginians, not to the Bruttians.

III. Before the coming of Pyrrhus into
Italy, the wall encompassing Croto was twelve
miles in circumference ; since the devastation
caused by the war which then took place,
scarcely one-half of the enclosed space was in-
habited; the river which formerly flowed through
the middle of the town, now ran on the out-
side of the part occupied by buildings, and
the citadel was at a great distance from

Y. n. 537.]

OF ROME.

487

these. Six miles from the city stood the
famous temple of Juno Lacinia, more univer-
sally celebrated than the city itself, and held in
high veneration by all the surrounding nations.
Here, a consecrated grove, encompassed on the
extremities by close-ranged trees and tall firs,
comprehended in the middle a tract of rich
pasture ground, in which cattle of every kind,
sacred to the goddess, fed, without any keeper,
the herds of each particular kind going out se-
parately, and returning at night to their stalls,
without ever receiving injury, either from wild
beasts or men. The profits, therefore, accru-
ing from these cattle were great, out of which,
a pillar of solid gold was erected and conse-
crated, so that the fane became as remarkable
for riches as for sanctity. Several miracles are
also attributed to it, as they generally are to
such remarkable places : it is said that there is
an altar in the porch of the temple, the ashes
on which are never moved by any wind. The
citadel of Croto, hanging over the sea on one
side, and on the other facing the country, had
originally no other defence than its natural si-
tuation ; afterwards a wall was added, inclosing
a place, through which Dionysius, tyrant of
Sicily, effecting a passage over some rocks, at
the back part, had taken it by surprise. The
fort thus situate, and deemed sufficiently secure,
was held by the nobles, while the plebeians of
Croto, in conjunction with the Bruttians, car-
ried on the siege against them. After a consi-
derable time, perceiving that the place was toe
strong to be reduced by their own force, they !
yielded to necessity, and implored the assistance ;
of Hanno. Hanno endeavoured to prevail on
the Crotonians to surrender, allowing a colony
of Bruttians to be settled among them ; so that
their city, wasted and depopulated by wars,
might recover its former populous state ; but
not one of the whole number, excepting Aris-
tomachus, would listen to the proposal ; they
declared warmly, that " they would rather die,
than, by admitting Bmttians into their society,
be obliged to adopt foreign rites, manners, laws,
and, in time, even a foreign language." Aris-
t < niii.rli us, unable by persuasions to bring about
a surrender, and finding no opportunity of be-
traying the citadel, as he had betrayed the
town, left the place and went over to Hanno.
Soon after this, ambassadors from Locri gmnir,
with Hanno's permission, into the citadel, used
many arguments to prevail on them to suffer
themselves to be removed to Locri, and not to

resolve on hazarding the last extremities. This
design they had already got leave to execute
from Hannibal himself, having sent deputies to
treat with him in person. Accordingly Croto
was evacuated, and the inhabitants, being con-
ducted to the sea, went on board ships. The
whole body of the people removed to Locri.
In Apulia, even the winter did not produce a
suspension of hostilities between the Romans
and Hannibal. The consul Sempronius had
his winter-quarters at Luceria ; Hannibal his
near Arpi. Several slight engagements passed
between their troops, in consequence of oppor-
tunities offering, or of one or the other party
gaining an occasional advantage ; and by these,
the Roman soldiery were improved, and ren-
dered daily more cautious and guarded against
the enemy's stratagems.

IV. In Sicily, the whole course of affairs
took a turn unfavourable to the Romans, in
consequence of the death of Hiero, and of the
kingdom devolving to his grandson Hierony-
mus, a boy, in whom there was originally no
room to expect moderation of conduct, much
less, on his being invested with absolute power.
His guardians and friends were happy in finding
him of such a disposition, as they could hurry,
at once, into every kind of vice. It is said that
Hiero, foreseeing that this would be the case,
had, in the last stage of his life, formed an in-
tention of leaving Syracuse free, lest the sove-
reignty, which had been acquired and established
by honourable means, should, under the tyran-
nical administration of a boy, be destroyed
through folly and extravagance. This design
his daughters opposed strenuously, because
they expected that, while Hieronymus enjoyed
the title of king, the whole administration of
affairs would rest in them and their husbands,
Andranodorus and Zoippus, for these were left
the principal among his guardians. It was no
easy matter for a man, now in his ninetieth
year, and beset night and day by the insinuat-
ing wiles of women, to keep his judgment
at liberty, and to regulate his domestic con-
cerns by the standard of public utility. He,
therefore, only took the precaution of setting
fifteen guardians over his grandson ; and these
he entreated, in his dying moments, to main-
tain inviolate the alliance with the Roman
people, which he had religiously observed
through a course of fifty years ; to direct their
endeavours principally to the making the boy
tread in his steps, and pursue the maxims in-

488

THE HISTORY

[BOOK xxiv.

culcated in his education : after giving these
charges, he expired, and the governors quitted
him. The will was then produced, and the
prince, now about fifteen years old, was brought
before the people in assembly, on which a few,
who had been placed in different parts of the
crowd for the purpose of raising acclamations,
signified their approbation of the will ; while
the rest affected as if they had lost their parent,
dreaded all things, in a state thus bereft of its
protector. The king's funeral was next per-
formed, and, more through the love and affec-
tion of his subjects than any care of his rela-
tions, was numerously attended. In a little
time after, Andranodorus displaced the other
guardians, asserting that Hieronymus had at-
tained to the years of manhood, and was capa-
ble of holding the government ; and by thus
resigning the guardianship, which he held in
common with many, he collected in himself
singly the power of them all.

V. Scarcely would even a good and mode-
rate prince, succeeding one so highly beloved
as Hiero, have found it easy to acquire the
affections of the Syracusans. But Hieronymus,
as if he meant, by his own faults, to excite
grief for the loss of his grandfather, demon-
strated, immediately on his first appearance,
how great an alteration had taken place in every
particular. For the people, who had for so
many years seen Hiero, and his son Gilon, no
way differing from the rest of the citizens,
either in the fashion of their dress or any other
mark of distinction, now beheld purple and a
diadem ; armed guards, and the king sometimes
issuing from his palace, as the tyrant Dionysius
used to do, in a chariot drawn by four white
horses. This assuming pride in equipage and
show naturally exposed him to universal con-
tempt ; besides which he showed a disdainful
carriage when addressed, and rudeness in an -
swering ; generally refused access, not only to
strangers, but even to his guardians, and debas-
ed himself by lusts of uncommon kinds and
inhuman cruelty. Such great terror, therefore,
possessed all men, that, of his household, some
had recourse to flight, others to a voluntary
death, to avoid the sufferings which they appre-
"hended. Two of the former, Andranodorus
and Zoippus, the sons-in-law of Hiero, and a
man named Thraso, were the only persons per-
mitted to enter his house with any degree of
familiarity ; and though not much listened to
on other subjects, yet when they argued, An-

dranodorus and Zoippus for taking part with
the Carthaginians, and Thraso for maintaining
the alliance with the Romans, they sometimes,
by the warmth and earnestness of their disputes,
attracted the young man's attention. While
matters were in this situation, a servant who
was of the same age with Hieronymus, and had,
from childhood, enjoyed the privileges of per-
fect familiarity with him, brought information
of a plot formed against his life. The informer
could name only one of the conspirators. Theo-
dotus, by whom himself had been sounded on
the subject. ' This man being instantly seised,
and delivered to Andranodorus to be put to the
torture, without hesitation confessed himself
guilty, but still concealed his accomplices. At
last, being racked, beyond what human patience
could endure, he pretended to be overcome by
bis sufferings ; but, instead of making discovery
of the plotters, he pointed his informations
against persons who had no concern in the
business, telling a feigned story, that Thraso
was the author of the conspiracy, and that the
others would never have entered on any at-
tempt of such importance, had they not been
induced to it by their trust in so powerful a
leader ; naming, at the same time, those who,
while he framed his account in the intervals
between his agonies and groans, occurred to
him as the most worthless among Hierony-
mus's intimates. The mention of Thraso, be-
yond every other circumstance, made the tyrant
think the information deserving of belief. He
was therefore instantly consigned to punish-
ment, and the rest, who had been named equally
guiltless of the crime, underwent the like fate.
Not one of the conspirators, though their as-
sociate in the plot was kept for a long time
under the torture, either concealed himself or
fled : so great was their confidence in the for-
titude and fidelity of Theodotus ; and which,
indeed, were fully approved in him.

VI. The only bond which preserved the con-
nexion with Rome being now dissolved by the
removal of Thraso, immediately there appeared
a manifest intention of siding with the oppo-
site party. Ambassadors were despatched to
Hannibal, who sent back a young man of noble
birth, called Hannibal, and with him Hippo-
crates and Epicydes, who were born at Car-
thage,but derived their extraction originally from
Syracuse, whence their grandfather had been
banished ; by the mother's side they were Car-
thaginians. By their means, a treaty was fonn-

v. R. 537.]

OF ROME.

489

ed between Hannibal and the tyrant of Syra-
cuse ; and, with the approbation of the Cartha-
ginian, they remained with the latter. The
praetor, Appius Claudius, whose province
Sicily was, on being acquainted with these
transactions, sent, immediately, ambassadors to
Hieronymus, who, telling him that they were
come to renew the alb'ance which had subsisted
with his grandfather, were heard and dismissed
with derision ; Hieronymus asking them with
a sneer, " What had been the event of the bat-
tle of Cannae? For Hannibal's ambassadors
told tilings scarcely credible. He wished," he
said, " to know the truth, that he might thereby
determine which side offered the fairest pros-
pect to his choice." The Romans told him,
that, when he began to listen to embassies with
seriousness, they would return to Syracuse ;
and, after admonishing, rather than requesting
him, not to violate faith rashly, they departed.
Hieronymus despatched commissioners to Car-
thage, to conclude an alliance conformable to
the treaty with Hannibal ; and it was finally
agreed, that when they should have expelled
the Romans from Sicily, which, he said, would
speedily be effected if they sent ships and an
army, the river Himera, which nearly divides
the island into two parts, should be the boun-
dary between the dominions of Syracuse and
those of Carthage. Afterwards, puffed up by
the flatteries of people who desired him to
remember, not only Hiero, but also his grand-
father by his mother's side, king Pyrrhus, he
sent another embassy, representing that he
thought it reasonable that Sicily should be
entirely ceded to him, and that the dominion
of Italy should be acquired for the people of
Carthage, as an empire of their own. This
fickleness and unsteadiness of mind they, con-
sidering him as a hot-brained youth, did not
wonder at ; nor did they enter into any dispute
on it, content with detaching him from the
party of the Romans.

VII. But, on his side, every circumstance
concurred to precipitate his ruin ; for, after
sending before him Hippocrates and Epicydes
with two thousand soldiers, to endeavour to
get possession of those cities which were held
by Roman garrisons, he himself, with all the
rest of his forces, amounting to fifteen thou-
sand horse and foot, marched to Leontini.
I lere the conspirators, every one of whom
happened to be in the army, posted themselves
in an uninhabited house, standing in a narrow

lane, through which Hieronymus used to pass
to the forum. While the rest stood here,
armed and prepared for action, waiting for his
coming up, one of their number, whose name
was Dinomenes, and being one of the body-
guards, had it in charge, that, as soon as the
king drew near the door, he should, on some
pretence, in the narrow pass, stop the crowd
behind from advancing. All was executed as
had been concerted. Dinomenes, by stretch-
ing out his foot, as if to loosen a knot which
was too tight, arrested the people, and occa-
sioned such an opening, that the king, being
attacked as he was passing by without his
armed followers, was pierced with several
wounds, before assistance could be given him.
Some, on hearing the shout and tumult, dis-
charged their weapons at Dinomenes, who
now openly opposed their passing ; notwith-
standing which he escaped with only two
wounds. However, seeing the king stretched
on the ground, they betook themselves to
flight. Of the conspirators, some repaired to
the forum to the populace, who were over-
joyed at the recovery of liberty ; others pro-
ceeded to Syracuse, to take the requisite pre-
cautions against the purposes of Andranadorus
and other partisans of the king. Affairs being
in this unsettled state, Appius Claudius, when
he observed the storm gathering in his neigh-
bourhood, informed the senate by letter, that
all Sicily favoured the people of Carthage and
Hannibal. On his part, in order to counteract
the designs of the Syracusans, he drew all his
troops to the frontiers between that kingdom
and his own province. Towards the close of
this year, Quintus Fabius, by direction of the
senate, fortified Puteoli, which, during the war,
began to be much frequented as a place of
trade, and placed a garrison in it. Going
thence to Rome to hold the elections, he
issued a proclamation for the assembly, on the
first day on which it could properly meet ; and,
passing by the city without stopping, went
down to the field of Mars. On this day, the
lot of giving the first vote fell to a younger
century of the Anien tribe, and this having
nominated Titus Otacilius and Marcus J-imil-
ius Regillus consuls, Quintus Fabius com-
manded silence, and spoke to this effect :

VIII. " If either we had peace in Italy, or

had to deal with such an enemy as would allow

of any remissness on our side, I should deem

that man deficient in proper respect to your in-

3 Q

490

THE HISTORY

[[BOOK xxiv.

dependent rights, who attempted to throw any
obstacle in the way of those inclinations, which
you bring with you into the field of election,
with the purpose of conferring the high offices of
the state on persons of your own choice. But
when you consider that the present war is of
such a nature, and the conduct of our present
enemy such that none of our commanders has
ever committed an error which has not been
followed by most disastrous consequences, it
behoves you to come hither to give your suf-
frages with the same careful circumspection
with which you go out in arms to the field of
battle ; and every one ought thus to say to him-
self: ' I am to nominate a consul qualified to
vie with Hannibal in the art of war.' In the
present year, at Capua, on the challenge of Ju-
bellius Taurea, the completes! horseman among
the Campanians, we sent against him Claudius
Asellus, the completest horseman among the
Romans. Against a Gaul, who at a former
time pronounced a challenge on the bridge of
the Anio, our ancestors sent Titus Manlius,
a man abundantly furnished both with strength
and courage. I cannot deny that there was the
same reason for placing every degree of confi-
dence, a few years after, in Marcus Valerius,
when he took arms for the combat against a
Gaul who gave a similar defiance. Now, as,
in selecting foot soldiers and horsemen, we en-
deavour to find such as are superior, or, if that
cannot be effected, equal in strength to their
antagonists ; let us, in like manner, look out
for a commander equal to the general of the
enemy. When we shall have chosen the man
of the most consummate abilities in the nation,
yet still, being elected at the moment, and ap-
pointed but for one year, he will be matched
against another invested with a command of
long and uninterrupted continuance, not con-
fined by any narrow limitations either of time
or of authority, or which might hinder him to
conduct and execute every measure according
to the exigencies of the war ; whereas with us,
before we have well completed our preparatory
operations, and when we are just entering on
business, our year expires. I need say no
more concerning the qualifications of the per-
sons whom you ought to elect consuls ; I shall
therefore only add a few observations respect-
ing those whom the prerogative century has
made the objects of its favour. Marcus JEmi-
lius Regillus is flamen of Quirinus, consequent-
ly we could neither send him abroad from his

sacred employment, nor keep him at home,
without neglecting, in one case, the business of
the war, or in the other, that of religion. Ota-
cilius is married to a daughter of my sister, and
has children by her. Nevertheless, I am too
sensible of the obligations which I and my an-
cestors owe to your kindness, not to prefer the
interest of the public to that of any private
connexions. In a calm sea, any mariner, even
a passenger, can steer the vessel ; but when a
furious storm arises, putting the sea into vio-
lent agitation, and the ship is hurried away by
the tempest, then a pilot of skill arid resolution
becomes necessary. We sail not in a calm,
but have already been very near foundering in
several storms j you must, therefore, be careful
to use the utmost prudence and caution with
respect to the person whom you place at the
helm. Titus Otacilius, we have had a trial of
you in a less important business : you gave us
no proof that we ought to confide in you for
the' management of affairs of greater moment.
We fitted out, this year, a fleet, of which you
had the command, for three purposes ; to ra-
vage the coast of Africa, to secure our own
coasts of Italy, and, principally, to prevent re-
inforcements with money and provisions being
transmitted from Carthage to Hannibal. If he
has performed for the public, I do not say all,
but any one of these services, create Titus
Otacilius consul. But if, on the contrary,
while you held the command of the fleet, every
thing came to Hannibal safe and untouched, as
if he had no enemy on the sea ; if the coast of
Italy has been more infested this year than that
of Africa ; what reason can you offer, why
people should pitch on you in particular to op-
pose such a commander as Hannibal ? If you
were consul, we should judge it requisite to
have a dictator nominated according to the prac-
tice of our forefathers. Nor could you take
offence at its being thought that there was, in
the Roman nation, some one superior to you in
the art of war. It concerns no man's interest
more than your own, Titus Otacilius, that there
be not laid on your shoulders a burthen, under
which you would sink. I earnestly recommend,
then, Romans, that, guided by the same senti-
ments which would influence you, if while you
stood armed for battle you were suddenly call-
ed on to choose two commanders, under whose
conduct and auspices you were to fight, you
would proceed this day in the election of
consuls, to whom your children are to swear

y. R. 538.]

OF ROME.

491

obedience, at whose order they are to join the
colours, and under whose care and direction
they are to wage war. The lake Thrasimenus
and Cannae, examples melancholy in the recol-
Irrtion, are, nevertheless, useful warnings to
guard against the like. Crier, call back the
younger Amen century to vote."

IX. Otacilius, now exclaiming with great
heat that the design of Fabius was to be con-
tinued in the consulship, and becoming very
obstreperous, the consul ordered his lictors to
advance to him ; and, as he had not entered the
city, but had gone directly, without halting, in-
to the field of Mars, he put him in mind that
the axes were carried in his fasces. The
prerogative century proceeded a second time
to vote, and chose consuls, Quintus Fabius
Maximus, a fourth time, and Marcus Marcel-
lus, a third time. The other centuries, with-
out any variation, named the same. One prae-
tor was likewise re-elected, Quintus Fulvius
Flaccus. The other three chosen were new
ones, Titus Otacilius Crassus, a second time,
Quintus Fabius, the consul's son, who was at
the time curule aedile, and Publius Cornelius
Lentulus. The election of praetors being over,
a decree of the senate was passed, that " Rome
should, out of course, be the province of Quin-
tus Fulvius ; and that he in particular should
hold the command in the city, when the con-
suls should go abroad to the campaign." Twice
in this year happened great floods, and the
Tiber overflowed the country, with great de-
molition of houses and destruction of men and
cattle. In the fifth year of the second Punic
war, [Y. R. 538. B. C. 214.] Quintus Fabius
Alaximus, a fourth, and Marcus Marcellus, a
third time, entering together into the consul-
ship, attracted the notice of the public in an
unusual degree ; for, during many years, there
had not been two such consuls. The old men
observed, that thus had Maximus Rullus and
Publius Decius been declared consuls, in the
time of the Gallic war ; and thus, afterwards,
Papirius and Carvilius, against the Samnites,
Bruttians, Lucanians, and Tarentines. Mar-
cellus was chosen consul in his absence, being
at the time with the army, and the office was
continued to Fabius, who was on the spot, and
presided in person at the election. The state
of the times, the exigencies of the war, and the
danger threatening the very being of the state,
hindered the people from examining the prece-
dent strictly, neither did they suspect the con-

sul of ambition for command ; on the contrary,
they rather applauded his greatness of soul,
because, knowing that the state stood in need
of a general of the highest abilities, and that
he himself was unquestionably the person so
qualified, he had made light of any public cen-
sure which he might incur on the occasion, in
comparison with the interest of the common-
wealth.

X. On the day of the consuls' entering on
their office, a meeting of the senate was held
in the capitol, in which it was decreed, first,
that the consuls should cast lots, or settle be-
tween themselves, which of them should, be-
fore his setting out for the army, hold the as-
sembly for the appointment of censors. Then
all those who were at the bead of armies were
continued in authority, and ordered to remain
in the provinces : Tiberius Gracchus at Lu-
ceria, where he was with an army of volunteer
slaves : Cains Terentius Varro in the Picen-
ian, and Manius Pomponius in the Gallic ter-
ritories. Of the praetors of the preceding year,
Quintus Mucius was ordered in quality of pro-
praetor, to hold the government of Sardinia,
and Marcus Valerius to command on the sea-
cost near Brundusium, watching attentively,
and guarding against any motion which might
be made by Philip king of Macedonia. To
Publius Cornelius Lentulus, the province of
Sicily was decreed, and to Titus Otacilius the
same fleet which he had commanded the year
before against the Carthaginians. Numerous
prodigies were reported to have happened this
year ; and the more these were credited by
simple and superstitious people, the more such
stories multiplied : that at Lanuvium crows had
built their nest in the inside of the temple of
Juno Sospita; in Apulia, a green palm-tree
took fire ; at Mantua, a stagnating piece of wa-
ter, caused by the overflowing of the river
Mincius, appeared as of blood ; at Cales, a
shower of chalk ; and, in the cattle-market at
Rome, one of blood fell in the Istrian street ;
a fountain under ground burst out in such an
impetuous stream, as to roll and cany off jars
and casks which were in the place, like a vio-
lent flood ; lightning fell on the public court-
house, in the capitol, the temple of Vulcan in
the field of Mars, a nut-tree in the country of
the Sabines, and a public road, a will and a
gate at Gabii. Other stories of miracles were
already spread about ; that the spear of Mars
at Praeneste moved forward of its own accord ;

THE HISTORY

[BOOK xxiv.

that an ox spoke in Sicily ; that an infant in
the mother's womb, in the country of the Ma.
rucinians, had called out " lo, Triumphe !" at
Spoletum a woman was transferred into a man,
and at Adria an altar was seen in the sky, and
round it figures of men in white garments.
Nay, even in the city of Rome itself, besides a
swarm of bees being seen in the forum, several
persons, affirming that they saw armed legions
on the Janiculum, roused the citizens to arms ;
when those who were at the time on the Jani-
culum asserted, that no person had appeared
there except the usual inhabitants of that hill.
These prodigies were expiated, conformably to
the answers of the aruspices, by victims of the
greater kinds, and supplication was ordered to
be performed to all the deities who had shrines
at Rome.

XI. Having finished the ceremonies enjoin-
ed for conciliating the favour of the gods,
the consuls proposed to the senate, to take
into consideration the -state of the nation,
the management of the war, the number of
forces to be employed, and the places where
the several divisions were to act. It was re-
solved that eighteen legions should be employed
against the enemy; that each of the consuls
take two to himself ; two should be employed
in the defence of the provinces of Gaul, Si-
cily, and Sardinia; that Quintus Fabius, prae-
tor, should have two under his command in
Apulia, and Tiberius Gracchus two of volun-
teer slaves in the country about Luceria ;
that one should be left to Caius Terentins,
proconsul for Picenum, one to Marcus Va-
lerius for the fleet at Brundusium, and that
two should garrison the city. In order to
fill up this number of legions, it was necessary
to levy six new ones, which the consuls were
ordered to raise as soon as possible ; and, at
the same time, to fit out an additional number
of ships ; so that, including those which were
stationed on the coasts of Calabria, the fleet
should, this year, consist of an hundred and fifty
ships of war. The levy being finished, and
the new vessels launched, Quintus Fabius held
an assembly for the appointment of censors,
when Marcus Atilius Regulus and Publius
Furius Philus were elected. A rumour spread-
ing, that war had broke out in Sicily, Titus
Otacilius was ordered to proceed thither with
his fleet ; and there being a scarcity of seamen,
the consuls, in pursuance of a decree of the
senate, published a proclamation that every

person, who in the censorship of Lucius -<Emi-
lius and Caius Flaminius had been rated, or
whose father had been rated at fifty thousand
asses of brass, ' or, Jfrom that sum, up to one
hundred thousand, * or had since acquired such
a property, should furnish one seaman with
pay for six months ; every one rated from an
hundred thousand, up to three hundred thou-
sand, 3 three seamen, with pay for a year ; every
one rated from three hundred thousand, up to
one million, 4 five seamen ; every one rated
higher, seven ; and that senators should provide
eight seamen each, with pay for a year. The
seamen furnished in obedience to this ordinance,
being armed and equipped by their owners,
went on board the ships, with provisions ready
dressed for thirty days. This was the first in-
stance of a Roman fleet being manned at the
expense of private persons.

XII. These preparations, so unusally great,
raised fears among the Campanians in particu-
lar, lest the Romans should begin the campaign
with the siege of Capua. They sent ambassa-
dors, therefore, to Hannibal, entreating him to
march his army to that place : acquainting him,
that " the Romans were raising new armies
for the purpose of laying siege to it, for there
was no city against which they were more
highly incensed, for having deserted their party."
As this message, and the manner in which it
was delivered, intimated such strong apprehen-
sions, Hannibal thought it advisable to proceed
with despatch, lest the Romans might be be-
forehand with him ; whereupon, leaving Arpi,
he took possession of his old camp on the
Tifata over Capua. Then leaving the Numi-
dians and Spaniards for the defence both of the
camp and the city, he marched away with the
rest of his forces to the lake of Avernus, under
the pretence of performing sacrifice, but in
reality with a design to make an attempt on
Puteoli and the garrison there. As soon as
Maximus received intelligence that Hannibal
had departed from Arpi and was returning into
Campania, he hastened back to his army, with-
out halting either night or day, sending orders
to Tiberius Gracchus, to bring forward his
forces from Luceria to Beneventum, and to
the praetor Quintus Fabius, son to the consul,
to hasten to Luceria, in the place of Gracchus.
At the same time, the two praetors set out for

1 L.lBl. 9s. 2rf. 2 L.322. 18». W.

3 L.186C. Us. i £.32*9. 3*. 4<f.

V. R.

OF ROME.

493

Sicily, Publius Cornelius to command the
army, Otacilius the lleet on the sea coast
The rest also departed to their respective pro-
i inn s, and those who were continued in com-
mand remained in the same districts where they
had been in the former year.

XIII. While Hannibal was at the lake
Avernus, there came to him, from Tarentum,
five young men of quality, who had been made
prisoners, some at the lake Thrasimenus, some
at Cannae, and who had been sent home with
that generosity which the Carthaginian showed
towards all the allies of the Romans : these
told him, that " out of gratitude for his kind
treatment, they had persuaded a great number
of the Tarentine youth to prefer his alliance
and friendship to that of the Romans ; and
that they had been sent as deputies by their
countrymen, to request that Hannibal would
draw his army nearer to Tarentum ; that if his
standards and his camp were once seen from
that place, the city would, without any delay,
be delivered into his hands ; for the commons
were under the influence of the younger men,
and the management of public affairs was with
the commons." Hannibal, after highly com-
mending and loading them with a profusion of
promises, desired them to return home in order
to bring the scheme to maturity, saying, that
he would be there in due time. With these
hopes the Tarentines were dismissed. Hanni-
bal had, before their application, conceived an
ardent wish to gain possession of Tarentum-;
he saw that it was a city not only opulent and
of great note, but likewise a seaport, commo-
diously situated, opposite Macedonia ; and that
king Philip, should he pass over into Italy,
would steer his course to that harbour, because
the Romans were in possession of Brundusi-
um. Having performed the sacrifice which he
had proposed at his coming, and having, during
his >tay, utterly laid waste^the lands of Cumae,
as far as to the promontory of Misenum, he
changed his route suddenly to Puteoli, with
design to surprise the Roman garrison. This
consisted of six thousand men, and the place was
secured, not only by the nature of its situation,
but by strong works. Here Hannibal delayed
three days, and attempted the garrison on
every quarter ; but, finding no prospect of sue.
cess, he marched forward to ravage the territory
of Neapolis, rather for the sake of gratifying
his resentment, than with any hope of becom-
ing master of the town. By his arrival in the

neighbourhood, the commons of Nola were
encouraged to stir, having for a long time been
disaffected to the cause of the Romans, and
harbouring, at the same time, resentment against
their own senate. Deputies therefore came to
invite Hannibal, with a positive promise to de-
liver the city into his hands : but the consul
Marcellus, whom the nobles solicited, by his
expeditious measures prevented the design from
taking place. In one day he made a march
from Cales to Suessula, though he met with
some delay in passing the river Vidturnus ;
and from thence, on the ensuing night, intro-
duced into Nola six thousand foot and three
hundred horse, to support the senate. While
every precaution requisite for securing the pos-
session of Nola was thus used by the consul
with vigorous despatch, Hannibal, on the other
side, was dilatory in his proceedings ; for, after
having twice before been baffled in a project of
the same kind, he was now the less inclined to
credit the professions of the Nolans.

XIV. Meanwhile the consul, Quintus Fa-
bius, set out to attempt the recovery of Casilu
num, which was held by a Carthaginian garri-
son : and, at the same time, as if by concert,
there arrived at Beneventum, on one side,
Hanno from Bruttium, with a large body of
infantry and cavalry ; and on another, Tiber-
ius Gracchus, from Luceria. The latter came
first into the town ; then hearing that Hanno
was encamped at the river Calor, about three
miles distant, and that by detachments from
thence, devastations were committed on the
country, he marched out his troops, pitched his
camp about a mile from the enemy, and there
held an assembly of his soldiers. The legions
which he had with him consisted mostly of
volunteer slaves, who had chosen rather to
merit their liberty in silence, by the service
of a second year, than to request it openly.
He had observed, however, as he was leav-
ing his winter quarters, that the troops, on
their march, began to murmur, asking, whether
" they were ever to serve as free citizens ?"
He had, however, written to the senate insist-
ing, not so much on their wishes, as on their
merits; declaring that "he had ever found
them faithful and brave in the service; and that,
excepting a free condition, they wanted no
qualification of complete soldiers." Authority
was given liim to act in that business, as he
himself should judge conducive to the good of
the public. Before he resolved upon coming

494

THE HISTORY

xxv.

to an engagement, therefore, be gave public
notice, that " the time was now come, when
they might obtain the liberty which they had
BO long wished for. That he intended, next
day, to engage the enemy in regular battle, in
a clear and open plain, where, without any fear
of stratagems, the business might be decided
by the mere dint of valour. Every man, then,
who should bring home the head of an enemy
he would, instantly, by his own authority, set
free ; and every one who should retreat from
his post, he would punish in the same manner
as a slave. Every man's lot now depended on
his own exertion ;~and, as security for their ob-
taining their freedom, not only he himself
stood pledged, but the consul Marcellus, and
even the whole senate, who, having been con-
sulted by him on the subject of their freedom,
had authorized him to determine in the case."
He then read the consul's letter and the decree
of the senate, on which a universal shout of joy
was raised. They eagerly demanded the fight,
and ardently pressed him to give the signal in-
stantly. Gracchus gave notice t that they
should be gratified on the following day, and
then dismissed the assembly. The soldiers,
exulting with joy, especially those who were to
receive liberty as the price of their active ef-
forts for one day, spent the rest of their time
until night in getting their arms in readiness.

XV. Next day, as soon as the trumpets be-
gan to sound to battle, the above-mentioned
men, the first of all, assembled round the gene-
ral's quarters, ready and marshalled for the fight.
At sunrise Gracchus led out his troops to the
field, nor did the enemy hesitate to meet him.
Their force consisted of seventeen thousand
foot, mostly Bruttians and Lucanians, and
twelve thousand horse, among whom were
very few Italians, almost all the rest were Nu-
midians and Moors. The conflict was fierce
and long ; during four hours neither side gained
any advantage, and no circumstance proved a
greater impediment to the success of the
Romans, than from the heads of the enemy
being made the price of liberty; for when any
had valiantly slain an opponent, he lost time,
first, in cutting off the head, which could not be
readily effected in the midst of the crowd and
tumult, and then his right hand being employed
in securing it, the bravest ceased to take a part
in the fight, and the contest devolved on the
inactive and dastardly. The military tribunes
now represented to Gracchus, that the soldiers

were not employed in wounding any of the
enemy who stood on their legs, but in maiming
those who had fallen, and instead of their own
swords in their right hands, they carried the
heads of the slain. On which he commanded
them to give orders with all haste, that " they
should throw away the heads, and attack the
enemy : that their courage was sufficiently evi-
dent and conspicuous, and that such brave men
need not doubt of liberty." The fight was
then revived, and the cavalry also were ordered
to charge : these were briskly encountered by
the Numidians, and the battle of the horse was
maintained with no less vigour than that of the
foot ; so that the event of the day again became
doubtful, while the commanders, on both sides, .
vilified their adversaries in the most contempt-
uous terms, the Roman speaking to his soldiers
of the Lucanians and Bruttians, as men so of-
ten defeated and subdued by their ancestors ;
and the Carthaginian, of the Romans as slaves,
soldiers taken out of the workhouse. At last
Gracchus proclaimed, that his men had no room
to hope for liberty, unless the enemy were
routed that day, and driven off the field.

XVI. These words so effectually inflamed
their courage, that, as if they had been sudden-
ly transformed into other men, they renewed
the shout, and bore down on the enemy with an
impetuosity, which it was impossible longer to
withstand. First the Carthaginian van-guard,
then the battalions were thrown into confusion ;
at last the whole line was forced to give way ;
then they plainly turned their backs, and fled
precipatately into their camp, in such terror and
dismay, that none of them made a stand, even
at the gates or on the rampart j and the Ro-
mans following close, so as to form almost one
body with them, began anew a second battle
within their works. Here, as the fight was
more impeded by the narrowness of the place
so was the slaughter more dreadful, the prison
ers also lending assistance, who, during the con
fusion, snatched up weapons, and forming in a
body, cut off numbers in the rear. So great there-
fore, was the carnage, that out of so large an ar-
my, scarcely two thousand men, most of whom
were horsemen, escaped with their commander :
all the rest were either slain or made prisoners ;
thirty-eight standards were taken. Of the
victorious party, there fell about two thousand.
All the booty was given up to the soldiers,
except the prisoners, and such cattle as should
be claimed by the owners within thirty days.

y. R. 538.]

OF ROME.

495

When they returned into the camp, laden with
spoil, about four thousand of .the volunteer
soldiers, who had fought with less spirit than
the rest, and had not broken into the Cartha-
K'tii.m camp along with them, dreading punish-
ment, withdrew to an eminence at a small dis-
tance. Next clay they were brought down from
thence by a military tribune, and arrived just
as Gracchus was holding an assembly, which
he had summoned. Here the proconsul, hav-
ing, in the first place, honoured with military
presents the veteran soldiers, according to the
degree of courage and activity shown by each
in the fight, said, that " as to what concerned
the volunteers, he rather wished that all in
general, worthy and unworthy, should receive
commendations from him, than that any should
be reprimanded on such a day as that ;" and
then, praying that " it might prove advantage-
ous, happy, and fortunate to the commonwealth
and to themselves ;" he pronounced them all
free. On which declaration, in transports of
joy, they raised a general shout, and while they
now embraced and congratulated each other,
raising their hands towards heaven, and pray-
ing for every blessing on the Roman people,
and on Gracchus in particular, the proconsul
addressed them thus : " Before I had set all
on an equal footing of freedom, I was unwill-
ing to distinguish any by a mark, either of
bravery or of cowardice. But now, since I
have acquitted the honour of government, lest
every distinction between them be lost, I wilr
order the names of those who, conscious of
being remiss in the action, have lately made a
secession, to be laid before me ; and, summon-
ing each, will bind them by an oath, that, as
long as they shall serve me in the army, they
will never, except obliged by sickness, take
food or drink in any other posture? than
standing. This penalty you will undergo
with patience, if you consider, that your
cowardice could not be more slightly brand-
ed." He then gave the signal of prepara-
tion for a march, and the soldiers, carrying
and driving on their booty, returned to
Beneventum so cheerful and so gay, that
they seemed to have come home from a feast,
given on some remarkable occasion, rather than
from a field of battle. All the Beneventans
poured out in crowds to meet them at the gates,
embraced the soldiers, congratulated them, and
pressed them to come to their houses. They
had already prepared entertainments in their

inner courts, and entreated Gracchus to permit
his soldiers to partake of the same. Gracchus
gave them leave, on condition that they should
all dine in the public street ; every thing was
accordingly brought out before each person's
door, where the volunteers dined with the caps
of liberty, or white woollen fillets in their hands,
some reclining, others standing, who, at the
same time, attended the rest. This afforded a
sight so pleasing, that Gracchus, on his return
to Rome, ordered a representation of that day's
festival to be painted in the Temple of Liberty,
which his father caused to be built on the
Aventine, out of money accruing from fines,
and which he afterwards dedicated.

XVII. While these transactions passed at
Beneventum, Hannibal, after ravaging the lands
of Neapolis, marched his army to Nola. The
consul, as soon as he was apprised of his
approach, sent for the propraetor Pomponius,
and the army which lay in the camp over Sues-
sula : being determined to go out, and not to
decline an engagement with him. He sent
Cains Claudius Nero with the main strength
of the cavalry in the dead of the night, through
the gate which was most distant from the
enemy, ordering him to ride round so as not to
be observed, until he came behind their army,
to follow them leisurely as they moved, and as
soon as he should perceive that the battle was
begun, to advance on their rear. What prevent-
ed Nero from executing these orders, whether
mistake of the road, or the shortness of the
time, is uncertain. Although the battle was
fought while he was absent, yet the Romans
had evidently the advantage ; but by the cavalry
not coming up in time, the plan of operations
was disconcerted. Marcellus, not daring to
follow the retiring foe, gave the signal for re-
treat, while his men were pursuing their suc-
cess. However, more than two thousand of
the enemy are said to have fallen that day ; of
the Romans less than four hundred. About
sunset, Nero returned, after having to no pur-
pose fatigued the men and horses through
the whole day and night, without even getting
a sight of the Carthaginian ; he was very
severely reprimanded by the consul, who went
so far as to affirm, that he was the cause
of their not having retorted on the enemy
the disaster suffered at Cannae. Next day the
Roman army marched out to the field, but
Hannibal, tacitly acknowledging his defeat,
kept within his trenches. In the dead of the

496

THE HISTORY

[BOOK xxiv.

night of the third day, giving up all hope of
getting possession of Nola, a project never at-
tempted without loss, he marched away towards
Tarentum, where he had a greater prospect of
success.

XVIII. Nor did less spirit appear in the
administration of the Roman affairs at home,
than in the field. The censors being, by the
emptiness of the treasury, discharged from the
care of erecting public works, turned their at-
tention to the regulating of men's morals, and
checking the growth of vices, which, like
distempered bodies, ever apt to generate other
maladies, had sprung up during the war. First
they summoned before them those, who, after
the battle of Cannae, were said to have formed
the design of deserting the commonwealth, and
abandoning Italy. At the head of these was
Lucius Csecilius Metellus, who happened to
be quaestor at the time. They then ordered
him, and the others accused of the same crimi-
nal conduct, to plead to the charge ; and as
these could not clear themselves, they pronoun-
ced judgment, that those persons had made use
of words and discourses, tending to the
detriment of the commonwealth, inasmuch as
they purported the forming of a conspiracy for
the purpose of abandoning Italy, Next to'
these were summoned the over ingenious
casuists with respect to the means of dissolving
the obligation of an oath, who supposed, that
by returning privately into Hannibal's camp,
after having begun their journey with the rest
of the prisoners, they should fulfil the oath
which they had taken. Of these, and the
others above-mentioned, such as had horses at
the public expense, were deprived of them, and
they were all degraded from their tribes and
disfranchised. Nor was the care of the censors
confined merely to the regulating of the senate
and the equestrian order. They erased from
the lists of the younger centuries, the names of
all those who had not served as soldiers during
the last four years, not having been^regularly ex-
empted from service, or prevented by sickness.
These, in number above two thousand, were dis-
franchised, and all were degraded from their
tribes. To this simple censorial sentence was
added a severe decree of the senate, that all those
whom the censors had degraded should serve
as foot soldiers, and be sent into Sicily, to join
the remains of the army of Cannae ; the time
limited for the service of soldiers of this de-
scription being, until the enemy should be driven

out of Italy. While the censors now, on ac-
count of the impoverished treasury, declined
contracting for the repairs of the sacred edifices,
the furnishing of horses to the curule magis-
trates, and other matters of like nature, a great
number of those, who had been accustomed to
engage in contracts of the kind, waited on
them, and recommended that they " transact
every kind of business, and engage in contracts,
in the same manner as if there were money in
the coffers ; assuring them, that no one would
call on the treasury for payment, until the con-
clusion of the war." Afterwards came the
former owners of those whom Tiberius Sem-
pronius had made free at Beneventum : who
said, that they had been sent for by the public
bankers, in order that they might receive the
price of their slaves ; but that they did not
desire it until the war should be at an end.
When this disposition to support the credit of
the treasury appeared among the plebeian class,
the property belonging to minors, and of wi-
dows, began to be brought in ; the people be-
lieving that they could not deposit it any where
in greater security, or with more religious re-
gard to their trust, than under the public faith :
and when any thing was bought, or laid in for
the use of the said minors or widows, a bill
was given for it on the quaestor. This gener-
ous zeal of the private ranks spread from the
city into the camp, where no horseman, no cen-
turion, would take his pay; and should any
have received it, the others would have cen-
sured them as mercenary.

XIX. The consul, Quintus Fabius, lay
encamped before Casilinum, which was de-
fended by a garrison of two thousand Campa-
nians, and seven hundred of Hannibal's soldiers.
The commander was Statius Metius, sent
thither by Cneius Magius Atellanus, who was
chief magistrate that year, and was now em-
ployed in arming the populace and the slaves
promiscuously, intending to attack the Roman
camp while the consul was laying siege to the
place. None of his designs escaped the know-
ledge of Fabius, who therefore sent a message
to his colleague at Nola, that, " while
the siege of Casilinum was carried on, there
was a necessity for another army to op-
pose the Campanians ; that either he him-
self should come, leaving a moderate gar-
rison at Nola, or, if affairs there required his
stay, from not yet being in a state cf security
against the attempts of Hannibal, he should in

Y. R. 538.]

OF ROME.

497

that case send for the proconsul, Tiberius
Gracchus, from Beneventum." On receiving
this message, Marcellus, leaving two thousand
men to garrison Nola, came with the rest of
his army to Casilinuni, and, by his arrival, the
Campanians, who were on the point of break-
ing out into action, were kept quiet And
now the two consuls, with united forces,
pushed on the siege. But the Roman sol-
diers, in their rash approaches to the walls,
receiving many wounds, and meeting little
success in any of their attempts, Quintus Fa-
bius gave his opinion, that they ought to aban-
don an enterprise which, though of slight
importance, was attended with as much diffi-
culty as one of great consequence ; and that
they should retire from the place, especially as
more momentous business called for their
attention. Marcellus prevented their'-quitting
the siege with disappointment, urging, that
there were many enterprises of such a nature,
that, as they ought not to be undertaken by
great generals, so when once engaged in they
ought not to be relinquished, because the repu-
tation either of success or of failure, must be
productive of weighty consequences. All
kinds of works were then constructed, and
machines of every description pushed forward
to the walls. On this, the Campanians re-
quested of Fabius that they might be allowed
to retire in safety to Capua, when, a few hav-
ing come out of the town, Marcellus seized
on the pass by which they came, and imme-
diately a promiscuous slaughter began near the
gate, and soon after, on the troops rushing in,
it spread through the city. About fifty of
the Campanians, who first left the place, ran
for refuge to Fabius, and under his protection
escaped to Capua. Thus was Casilinum taken
by surprise, during the conferences and delays
of those who went to negotiate terms of capi-
tulation. The prisoners, both Campanians
and Hannibal's soldiers, were sent to Rome,
and there shut up in prison, and the multitude
of the towns-people were dispersed among the
neighbouring states, to be kept in custody.

XX. At the same time, when the army,
after effecting their purpose, removed from
Casilinum, Gracchus, who was in Lucania, de-
tached, under a praefect of the allies, several co-
horts, which had been raised in that country, to
ravage the lands of the enemy. These Hanno at-
tacked while they straggled in a careless manner,
and retaliated a blow almost as severe as that

I

which he bad received at Beneventum , then,
to avoid being overtaken by Gracchus, he re-
tired with the utmost speed into Bruttium.
As to the consuls, Marcellus returned to Nola,
whence he had come ; Fabius proceeded into
Samnium, in order to overrun the country, and
recover, by force, the cities which had revolted.
The Samnites of Caudium suffered the most
grievous devastations ; their territory was laid
waste with fire to a great extent, and men and
cattle were carried off as spoil. The following
towns were taken from them by assault : Com-
bulteria, Telesia, Compsa, Mela?, Fulfube, and
Orbitanium ; from the Lucanians, Blandie ;
.Km-, belonging to the Apulians, was taken
after a siege. In these towns twenty-five thou-
sand were taken or slain, and three hundred and
seventy deserters retaken ; these, being sent by
the consul to Rome, were all beaten with rods
in the comitium, and cast down from the rock.
All this was performed by Fabius in the course
of a few fiays. Bad health confined Marcellus
at Nola, and prevented his taking the field. At
the same time the praetor, Quintus Fabius,
whose province was the country round Luceria,
took by storm a town called Accua, and forti-
fied a strong camp near Ardonea. While the
Romans were thus employed in various places,
Hannibal had arrived at Tarentum, after utter-
ly destroying every thing in his way. At last,
when he entered the territory of Tarentum, his
troops began to march in a peaceable manner :
nothing was injured there, nor did any ever go
out of the road ; this proceeding flowed mani-
festly not from the moderation either of the sol-
diers or their commander, but from a wish to
acquire the esteem of the Tarentines. How .
ever, after he had advanced almost close to the
walls, finding no commotion raised in his fa-
vour, an event which he expected to happen on
the sight of his vanguard, he encamped about
the distance of a mile from the town. Three
days before Hannibal's approach, Marcus Li-
vius being sent by the propraetor, Marcus Va-
lerius, commander of the fleet at Brundtisium,
had formed the young nobility of Tarentum
into bodies ; and, posting guards at every gate,
and along the walls, wherever there was occa-
sipn, by his unremitting vigilance, both by day,
and more particularly by night, left no room for
any attempt, either of the enemy or of the waver-
ing allies. Wherefore, after many days had been
spent there to no purpose, Hannibal, finding that
none of those who had attended him at the hike
3 R

498

THE HISTORY

XXIV.

Avernus, either came themselves, or sent any
message or letter, and perceiving that he incon-
siderately suffered himself to be led by delusive
promises, decamped and withdrew. He did
not even then do any injury to their country,
for though his counterfeited tenderness had
brought Wm no advantage, yet he still enter-
tained hopes of prevailing on them to renounce
their present engagements. When he came to
Salapia he collected there stores of corn from
the lands of Metapontum and Heraclea, for
midsummer was now past, and the place ap-
peared commodious for winter-quarters. From
hence he sent out the Moors and Numidians to
plunder the territory of Sallentum, and the
nearest woody parts of Apulia, where not
much booty was found of any other kind than
horses, several studs of which made the princi-
pal part of their acquisitions ; of these, four
thousand were distributed among the horsemen
to be trained.

XXI. The Romans, seeing that a war of no
slight moment was ready to break out in Sicily,
and that the death of the tyrant had only given
the Syracusans enterprising leaders, without
working any change in their principles or tem-
pers, decreed that province to the consul Mar-
cus Marcellus. Immediately after the murder
of Hieronymus, the soldiers in Leontini had
raised a tumult, furiously exclaiming, that the
death of the king should be expiated by the
blood of the conspirators. Afterwards, the
words LIBERTY RESTORED, a sound
ever delightful to the ear, being frequently re-
peated, and hopes being held out of largesses
from the royal treasure, of serving under better
generals, mention at the same time being made
of the tyrant's shocking crimes, and more
shocking lusts ; all these together produced
such an alteration in their sentiments, that they
suffered the body of the king, whom just now
they had so violently lamented, to lie without
burial. The rest of the conspirators remained
in the place in order to secure the army on
their side ; bat Theodotus and Sosis, getting
on horseback, gallopped with all possible speed
to Syracuse, wishing to surprise the king's
party, while ignorant of every thing that had
happened. But not only report, than which
nothing is quicker on such occasions, but like-
wise an express, by one of Hieronymus's ser-
vants, had arrived before them. Wherefore
Andranodorus had strengthened with garrisons

both the island ' and the citadel, and also every
other post which was convenient for his pur-
pose. After sunset, in the dusk of the even-
ing, Theodotus and Sosis rode into the Hexa-
pylum, and having shown the king's garments
dyed with blood, and the ornament which he
wore on his head, passed on through the Tycha,
calling the people at once to liberty and to arms,
and desiring them to come all together into the
Achradina. As to the populace, some ran out
into the street, some stood in the porches of
their houses, some looked on from the roofs and
windows, all inquiring into the cause of the
commotion. Every place blazed with lights,
and was filled with various confused noises.
Such as had arms assembled in the open places ;
such as had none pulled down from the temple
of Olympian Jove the spoils of the Gauls and
Blyrians, presented to Hiero by the Roman
people, and hung up there by him ; beseeching
the god to lend, with good will, those conse-
crated weapons to. men taking them up in de-
fence of their country, of the temples of the
deities, and of their liberty. • This multitude
was also joined to the watch, stationed in the
several principal quarters of the city. In the
island Andranodorus had, among other places,
occupied the public granary with a guard ; this
place, which was enclosed with hewn stone, and
built up to a great height, like a citadel, was
seized by the band of youths appointed by An-
dranodorus to garrison it, and they despatched a

1 Syracuse was founded by a colony of Athenians, and
rose gradually to the very first rank of greatness and
splendour. At the time of these transactions it consist-
ed of four parts, each of which deserved the name of a
city. 1. The island, called also Ortygia, was joined to
the main land by a bridge, and, stretching out into the
bay, formed two harbours, a large one to the south-east,
and a smaller one on the north-west. Here stood the
royal palace and the treasury, and, at the remotest point,
the fountain Arethusa arises. 2. The Achradina. This
was the largest and strongest division of the city; it
stretched along the bottom of the lesser harbour, whose
waters washed it, and was divided from the other parts
by a strong wall, a The Tycha, so named from a re-
markable temple of Fortune, TU^JJ, formed the south-
eastern part of the city. 4. Neapolis, or the New Town :
this was the latest built, and lay westward of the Tycha.
The principal entrance into this part was guarded by a
fort called Hexapylum, from its having six gates. To
this part belonged Kpipoke, an eminence commanding •
view of the whole city.

Of this once famous city the only part now inhabited
is the island. The ruins of the rest are about twenty-
two miles in circumference, and are covered with vine-
yards, orchards, and corn fields.

v. H. 536.]

OF ROME.

499

message to the Achradina, that the corn there-
in \vus at the disposal of the senate.

XXII. At the first dawn the whole body of
the people, armed and unarmed, came together
into the Achradina to the senate-house ; and
there, from an altar of Concord, which stood in
the place, one of the principal nobles, by name
Polyaenus, made a speech fraught wiih senti-
ments both of liberty and moderation. He
said that " Men who had experienced the hard-
ships of servitude and insult, knew the extent
of the evil against which they vented their re-
sentment ; but what calamities civil discord in-
troduces, the Syracusans could have learned
only from the relations of their fathers, not from
their own experience. He applauded them for
the readiness with which they had taken arms,
and would applaud them yet more if they did
not make use of them unless constrained by the
last necessity. At present he thought it ad vis-
able that they should send deputies to Andra-
nodorus, to require of him to be amenable to
the direction of the senate and people, to open
the gates of the island, and withdraw the garri-
son. If be meant, under the pretext of being
guardian of the sovereignty for another, to usurp
it into his own hands, he recommended it to
them to recover their liberty by much keener
exertions than had been shown against Iliero-
nymus." Accordingly, on the breaking up of
the assembly, deputies were sent. The meet-
ings of the senate were now revived ; for,
though it had, during the reign of Hiero, conr
tinned to act as the public council of the state,
yet since his death, until now, it had never been
convened, or consulted on any business. When
the commissioners came to Andranodorus, he
was much moved by the united voice of his
countrymen, by their being in possession of the
other quarters of the city, and moreover by that
division of the island, which was the strongest,
being lost to him, and in the hands of the other
party. But bis wife, Demarata, daughter of
Hiero, still swelling with royal arrogance and
female pride, reminded him of an expression
frequently uttered by Dionysius the Tyrant, who
used to say, that " a man ought to relinquish
sovereign power when he was dragged by the
feet, not while he sat on horseback. It was
easy," she said, " at any moment to resign the
possession of a high station ; to arrive at, and
acquire it, was difficult and arduous." Desired
him to " ask from the ambassadors a little time
for consideration, and to employ it in sending

for the soldiers from Leontini, to whom, if
he promised some of the royal treasure, he
might dispose of every thing at his pleasure."
These counsels, suited to the character of the
woman, Andranodorus neither totally rejected
nor immediately adopted ; judging it the safer
way to the acquisition of power, to yield to the
times for the present. He therefore desired
the deputies to carry back for answer, that " he
would be obedient to the directions of senate
and people." Next day, at the first light, he
opened the gates of the island, and went into
the forum in the Achradina. There he ascended
the altar of Concord, from whence Polynaeus
had addressed the people the day before, and
first, at the beginning of his discourse, spent
some time in entreating their pardon for the
delay which he had made, for, " he had kept
the gates shut," he said, " not with intention
to separate his own interest from that of the
public, but through fearful uncertainty, the
sword being once drawn, when, and in what
way an end might be put to the shedding of
blood; whether they would be content with
the death of the tyrant, which was all that the
cause of liberty required, or whether all who
had any connection with the court, either by
consanguinity, affinity, or employments of any
kind, were to be put to death, as accomplices
in another's guilt. As soon as he perceived
that those who had freed their country, meant
also, together with liberty, to grant it safety,
and that the designs of all aimed at the promo-
tion of the public happiness, he had not hesi-
tated to replace, under the direction of the peo-
ple, both his own person, and every thing else
committed to his charge and guardianship, since
the prince who had entrusted him therewith
had perished through his own madness." Then
turning to those who had killed the tyrant, and
addressing Theodotus and Sosis by name,
" You have performed," said he, " a memorable
exploit : but believe me, the career of your
glory is only begun, not finished ; and there yet
subsists the utmost danger, that unless you
exert yourselves immediately to secure peace
and harmony, the nation may carry liberty to
licentiousness."

XXIII. After this discourse he laid the
keys of the gates and of the royal treasure at
their feet. Being dismissed, full of joy, the
people, with their wives and children, spent
that day in offering thanksgivings in all the
temples of the gods, and on the day following

500

THE HISTORY

[BOOK xxiv.

an assembly was held for the election of prae-
tors. Among the first was chosen Andrano-
dorus ; the greater number of the rest were
elected from the band of conspirators against
the king. Two of these were absent at the
time, Sopater and Dinomenes ; who, on hear-
ing what bad passed at Syracuse, conveyed
thither the money belonging to the king, which
was at Leontini, and delivered it to quaestors
appointed for the purpose : to whom was also
delivered the treasure which was in the island
and in the Achradina. That part of the wall,
which formed too strong a fence between the
island and the city, was, with universal appro-
bation, demolished. The other events which
took place corresponded with the general zeal
for liberty, which now actuated men's minds :
Hippocrates and Epicydes, when intelligence
was received of the tyrant's death, which the
former had wished to conceal even by'the mur-
der of the messenger, were deserted by the
soldiers ; and, as the safest step in their pre-
sent circumstances, returned to Syracuse.
Lest their stay there should subject them to
suspicion, as if they were watching some op-
portunity for effecting a revolution, they address-
ed first the praetors, and afterwards, through
them, the senate ; represented, that " being
sent by Hannibal to Hieronymus, as to a friend
and ally, they had obeyed his orders in confor-
mity to the will of their own commander.
That they wished to return to Hannibal, but
as they could not travel with safety while every
part of Sicily was overspread with the Roman
arms, they requested that a guard might be
granted to escort them to Locri in Italy, and
that thus, with very little trouble, the senate
would confer a great obligation on Hannibal."
The request was easily obtained, for the senate
wished the departure of those generals of the
late king, men well skilled in war, and at the
same time needy and daring. But this mea-
sure, so agreeable to their wishes, they did not
execute with the care and expedition requisite.
Meanwhile those young men, accustomed to a
military life, employed themselves sometimes
among the soldiery ; at others, among the de-
serters, the greatest number of whom were
Roman seamen; at others, among the very
lowest class of plebeians, in propagating insin-
uations against the senate and nobility j hinting
to them, that " in the appearance of reviving
the former alliance, they were secretly forming
and preparing to execute a scheme of bringing

Syracuse under the dominion of the Romans ;
and that then their faction, and the few advo-
cates for the renewal of the treaty, would do-
mineer without control."

XXIV. Crowds of people, disposed to lis-
ten to and believe such reports, flocked into
Syracuse in great numbers every day, and, af-
forded, not only to Epicydes, but to Andrano-
dorus likewise, some hopes of effecting a re-
volution. The latter, wearied by the .impor-
tunities of his wife, who urged that, " now was
the time to possess himself of the sovereignty,
while all was in a state of disorder, in conse-
quence of liberty being lately recovered, but
not yet established on a regular footing ; while
the soldiers, who owed their livelihood to the
pay received from the late king, were yet at
hand, and while the commanders sent by Han-
nibal, who were well acquainted with those
soldiers, could aid the enterprise," took, as an
associate in his design, Themistus, to whom
Gelon's daughter was married; and in a few
days after, incautiously disclosed the affair to
one Ariston, an actor on the stage, whom he
was accustomed to entrust with other secrets ;
a man whose birth and circumstances were
both reputable ; nor did his employment dis-
grace them, because, among the Greeks, that
profession is not considered as dishonourable.
This man, resolving to be guided by the duty
which he owed to his country, discovered the
matter to the praetors ; who, having learned by
unquestionable proofs that the information was
well-founded, first consulted the elder senators,
by whose advice he placed a guard at the door
of the senate-house, and, as soon as Themistus
and Andranodorus entered, put them to death.
This fact, in appearance uncommonly atro-
cious, the cause of which was unknown to the
rest, occasioned a violent uproar ; but, having
at length procured silence, they brought the in-
former into the senate-house. He then gave a
regular detail of every circumstance, showing
that the conspiracy owed its origin to the mar-
riage of Gelon's daughter Harmonia, with The-
mistus ; that the auxiliary troops of Africans
and Spaniards had been engaged for the pur-
pose of massacring the praetors and others of
the nobility, whose property, according to or-
ders given, was to be the booty of their mur-
derers ; that a band of mercenaries, accustomed
to the command of Andranodorus, had been
procured, with the design of seizing again on
the Island. He afterwards laid before them

v. R. 538.]

OF ROME.

501

every particular ; what things were to be done,
and by whom, together with the whole plan of
the conspiracy, supported by men with arms,
i cM<ly to execute it. On which the senate gave
judgment, that they had suffered death as justly
as Hieronymus. The crowd round the senate-
house being variously disposed, and unacquaint-
ed with the real state of the case, became cla-
morous : but, while they were uttering furious
threats, the sight of the conspirators' bodies in
the porch of the senate-house impressed them
with such terror, that they silently followed
the well-judging part of the plebeians to an as-
sembly which was summoned. Sopater was
commissioned by the senate and his colleagues
to explain the matter to the people.

XXV. He brought his charges against the
deceased as if they were then on trial : after
taking a review of their former lives, he insist-
ed that whatever wicked and impious acts had
been perpetrated since the death of Hiero,
Andranodorus and Themistus were the authors
of them. " For what," said he, " did the boy
Hieronymus ever do by the direction of his
own will ? What, indeed, could he do who had
scarcely exceeded the years of childhood ? His
guardians and teachers exercised the sovereign
power, screened from the public hatred which
fell on him ; and therefore ought to have died
either before Hieronymus or with him. Never-
theless, those men who had merited and been
doomed to die, have since the death of the ty
rant, attempted new crimes ; at first openly
when Andranodorus, shutting the gates of the
Island, assumed the throne as his by inheri-
tance, and kept as proprietor what he had held
as trustee : afterwards being abandoned by those
who were in the Island, and blockaded by all
the rest of the citizens who held the Achra-
dina, and finding his open and avowed attempts
on the crown ineffectual, he endeavoured to
attain it by secret machinations and treachery :
nor could he be induced to alter his measures
even by kindness and the honour conferred on
him ; for it should be remembered that among
the deliverers of their country, this treacherous
conspirator against its liberty was chosen a
praetor. But the spirit of royalty has been
infused into these men by their royal consorts,
Hiero's daughter married to one, Gelon's to
the other." At these words a shout was heard
from every part of the assembly, that " none
of the race of the tyrants ought to live."
Such is the nature of the populace; they

are either abject slaves or tyrannic masters.
Liberty, which consists in a mean between
these, they either undervalue, or know not
how to enjoy with moderation ; and, in general,
there are not wanting agents disposed to fo-
ment their passions, who, working on minds
which delight in cruelty, and know no restraint
in the practice of it, exasperate them to acts of
blood and slaughter. Thus, on the present
occasion, the praetors instantly proposed the
passing of an order, and it was hardly proposed
before it was passed, that all the royal family
should be put to death; whereupon persons
sent by these magistrates executed the sentence
on Demarata, daughter of Hiero, and Harmo-
nia, daughter of Gelon, the wives of Andrano-
dorus and Themistus.

XXVI. There was another daughter of
Hiero, called Heraclea, wife to Zoippus ; who
having been sent by Hieronymus ambassador
to king Ptolemy, had continued abroad in vol-
untary exile. On getting notice that the exe-
cutioners were coming to her also, she fled for
refuge into the chapel of her household gods,
taking with her two maiden daughters, with
their hair dishevelled, and their appearance in
every other particular calculated to excite com-
passion : to this she added prayers, beseeching
the executioners, " by the memory of her father
Hiero, and of her brother Gelon, not to suffer
her, an innocent woman, to be involved in ruin
under the hatred incurred by Hieronymus. To
her nothing had accrued, from his being on the
throne, but the exile of her husband ; neither,
during the life of Hieronymus, was her situation
the same with that of her sister, nor since his
death was her cause the same. Must it not be
allowed, that if Andranodorus had succeeded in
his projects, her sister would have reigned with
him, whereas she must have been in servitude
with the rest ? If any one should tell Zoippus,
that Hieronymus was killed and Syracuse free,
who could doubt but he would instantly get
on board a ship and return to his country?
How deceitful were the hopes of men ! Could
he imagine, that in his native soil, restored to
liberty, his wife and children were struggling
to preserve their lives ; and in what respect
did they obstnict the cause of liberty or the
laws ? What danger could arise from them, a
solitary, and, in a manner, widowed woman.
and her poor orphan children ? But, though
no danger was apprehended from them, yet the
whole royal race was detested. Let herself

502

THE HISTORY

[BOOK xxvi.

and children be banished far from Syracuse and
from Sicily ; let them be conveyed to Alexan-
dria ; a wife to her husband, the daught ers to
their father." Finding them still inexorable,
and wishing to make the best use of the time,
(for she saw some even drawing their swords,)
she desisted from farther entreaties for herself,
and continued to beseech them to " spare, at
least, her daughters, who were children of an
age which even enraged enemies would refrain
from injuring ; and not, while they pursued
their revenge against tyrants, to imitate them-
selves the crimes which had raised their-hatred."
While she was speaking, they dragged her from
the sanctuary, and slew her ; and then turned
their weapons against the children, who were
sprinkled with the blood of their mother. But
they, deprived of reason by grief and fear toge-
ther, rushed out of the chapel with such quick-
ness, that, had a'passage been open to the pub-
lic street, they would have filled the whole city
with tumult : even as it was, though the extent
of the house was not great, they several times
made their way through the midst of many
armed men, without receiving a wound, and
extricated themselves from those that took
hold of them, notwithstanding the number and
strength of the hands with which they had to
struggle : but at length, being reduced to the
last weakness by wounds, after covering every
place with their blood, they fell and expired.
This scene, piteous in itself, was rendered yet
more so by an incident that ensued ; for short-
ly' after, arrived a message, countermanding
their execution, the sentiments of the people
having suddenly turned to the side of compas-
sion : and this compassion was soon converted
into anger, on account of the precipitancy with
which the sentence had been hurried on, so as
to leave no time for re-consideration or the
subsiding of passion. The populace, therefore,
expressed much discontent, and insisted on an
assembly of election to fill up the places of
Andranodorus and Themistus, for both had
been praetors ; and this election was not at all
likely to terminate in a manner agreeable to
the present praetors.

XX VII. A day was appointed for the elec-
tion, when, to the surprise of all, some person
in the remotest part of the crowd named Epi-
cydes ; then another, in the same quarter, Hip-
pocrates ; which names were afterwards the
most frequently repeated, with the manifest ap-
probation of the multitude. The assembly itself

was an irregular one; for, not the commons
alone, but also great numbers of the soldiery, and
even of deserters, who wished to overturn every
present establishment, composed the disorderly
crowd. The magistrates, at first, pretended
ignorance of what was going forward, thinking to
protract the business ; but, at last, overcome by
the united voice of so very many, and dreading
an insurrection, they declared those men praetors :
who, however, did not immediately unveil their
sentiments, though greatly chagrined, — first, at
ambassadors having gone to Appius Claudius
to conclude a truce of ten days, and then, when
that was obtained, omrthers being sent to nego-
tiate a renewal of the old alliance. At this
time the Romans had a fleet of a hundred sail
at Murgantia, watching what might be the re-
sult of the commotions of Syracuse, in conse-
quence of the death of the tyrants, and to
what points the view of the people might be
directed by the late acquisition of liberty, to
which they had so long been strangers. Mean-
while, the Syracusan ambassadors had been sent
by Appius to Marcellus on his arriving in Si-
cily ; who, when he heard the terms on which
they proposed the alliance, conceiving expecta-
tions that the business might be adjusted to
mutual satisfaction, sent ambassadors on his
part to Syracuse, to treat with the praetors in
person. Here was no longer the same quiet
and tranquillity : on news being received that a
Carthaginian fleet had arrived at Pachynum,
Hippocrates and Epicydes, freed from appre-
hension, now began, sometimes among the
mercenaiy soldiers, at others among the deser-
ters, to spread insinuations, that there was a
design of betraying Syracuse to the Romans.
And when Appius came and kept his fleet sta-
tioned at the mouth of the harbour, with inten-
tion to raise the spirits of the other party, this
gave the utmost appearance of credibility to their
ill-grounded suggestions, insomuch that the
populace at first ran down in a tumultuous
manner, to oppose the landing of his men, if
such an attempt should be made.

XXVIIL In this troubled state of affairs
it was judged necessary to call a general assem-
bly. Here, while opposite panics drew con-
trary ways, and a civil war was on the point of
breaking out, one of the leading nobles, named
Apollonides, addressed them in a discourse of
very salutary tendency at such a juncture ; tell-
ing them that " no state ever had a nearer pro-
spect either of safety or of ruin. If all would

y. R. 538.]

OF ROME.

503

unanimously incline either on the side of the
Romans, or to that of the Carthaginians, their
prosperity and happiness would equal that of
any other nation whatever. If separate parties
laboured to counteract each other, the war be-
tween the Carthaginians and the Romans was
not more furious, than would be tl-at which
must follow between the Syracusans themselves,
when each party should have its own troops,
its own arms, its own leaders within the same
walls. The most effectual endeavours ought
to be used to bring all to unanimity in opinion.
Which of the alliances might be the more pro-
fitable, was a question of a very inferior nature,
and of much less moment. Nevertheless, on
the choice of allies, they ought rather to follow
tbe judgment of Hiero than that of Hierony-
mus, and give the preference to a friendship, of
which they had a happy experience for fifty
years, before one which would be at the present
new to them, and was formerly found deceitful.
Another consideration ought to be allowed some
weight in their resolves ; that it was in their
power to decline a treaty of friendship with the
Carthaginians, and yet not to enter, immediate-
ly at least, into a war with them ; whereas with
the Romans, they must instantly have either
peace or war." The less of party spirit and
warmth this speech contained, the greater was
its influence on the hearers. To the praetors,
and a seltct number of senators, a military
council was joined, and even the commanders
of companies, and the protects of the allies,
were ordered to share in their consultations.
After the affair had been frequently debated
with great heat, they at last resolved, because
they could discover no plan on which war
could be maintained against the Romans, that
a treaty of peace should be formed with them,
and that ambassadors should be sent with those
of that nation, then in Syracuse, to ratify it.

XXIX. Not many days had passed, when
deputies from the Leontines arrived, requesting
aid for the defence of their country ; and this
application was considered as coming most
seasonably for ridding the city of a disorderly
turbulent rabble, and removing their leaders
out of the way. Tbe praetor, Hippocrates,
was ordered to conduct the deserters thither ;
and these were accompanied by great numbers
of mercenary auxiliaries, so that the whole
amounting to four thousand soldiers. This
expedition was highly pleasing, both to the
persons employed, and to their employer* ; tin-

former gaining, what they had long wished for,
an opportunity for disturbing the government ;
the latter rejoicing at such a nuisance being
removed; the sink, as it were, of the city.
However this proved only like giving a sick
person present ease, that he might relapse with
an aggravation of his disorder. For Hippo-
crates began at first, by secret excursions, to
ravage the nearest parts of the Roman province ;
but afterwards, when Appius had sent a body
of troops to protect the territories of the allies,
he attacked, with his entire force, a detachment
posted in his way, and killed a great number.
When Marcellus was informed of these tran-
sactions, he instantly despatched ambassadors
to Syracuse, to complain of this infraction of
the treaty, and to represent, that occasions ot
quarrel would never be wanting, unless Hippo-
crates and Epicydes were banished, not only
from Syracuse, but far from every part of Si-
cily. Epicydes not choosing, by remaining
where he was, either to face the charge of being
a confederate in his absent brother's crime, or
to omit contributing his share towards effecting
a rupture, went off to his seceding countrymen
at Leonti, where finding the inhabitants filled
with a sufficient degree of animosity against the
Roman people, he undertook to detach them
from the Syracusans also. For " the latter,"
he said, " had stipulated in theJr treaty with
Rome, that every state which had been subject
to their kings, should for the future be subject
to them ; and they were not now content with
liberty, unless they possessed along with it
regal and arbitrary power over other nations.
The proper answer, therefore, to be given to
any requisition from them, was, that the Leon-
tines deemed themselves entitled to freedom
no less than themselves, if it were only because
their city was the spot where the tyrant fell ;
that there liberty was first proclaimed, where
the troops had abandoned the king's generals,
and flocked to Syracuse. Wherefore that arti-
cle must be expunged from the treaty, or a
treaty containing such an article should not be
admitted." The multitude were easily per-
suaded ; and when ambassadors from Syracuse
complained of their cutting off the Roman de-
tachment, and delivered an order, that Hippo-
crates and Epicydes should depart either to
Locri, or to any other place which they chose,
provided they retired out of Sicily, the Leon-
tines roughly answered, that " they had not
commissioned the Syracusans to make a treaty

504

THE HISTORY

[BOOK xxiv.

of peace with the Romans for them, neither
were they bound by other people's treaties."
This answer the Syracusans laid before the
Romans, declaring that " the Leontines were
not under their direction ; that, therefore, the
Romans might make war on that people with-
out any violation of the treaty with Syracuse,
and that they would not fail to give their assist-
ance in it, on condition that the others, when
reduced to submission, should be again sub-
jected to their government."

XXX. Marcellus marched against Leontini
with his whole force, sending also for Appius,
that he might attack it on another quarter ; and
so great was the ardour of the soldiers on that
occasion, inspired by their resentment for the
detachment being cut off while a treaty of peace
was depending, that, at the first assault, they
carried the town. Hippocrates and Epicydes,
when they saw the enemy in possession of the
walls, and breaking open the gates, retired,
with a few others, into the citadel, from whence
they made their escape secretly, during the
night, to Herbessus. The Syracusans having
marched from home in a body, eight thousand
in number, were met at the river Myla by a
messenger, who acquainted them, that Leontini
was taken, and who mixed several falsehoods
with the truth, saying, that both soldiers and
townsmen had been put to the sword without
distinction} nor did he believe that any one,
above the age of childhood, was left alive ; that
the city was sacked, and the effects of the
wealthy bestowed on the soldiers. On hearing
such a shocking account, the army halted ; and,
every one being highly exasperated, the com-
manders, who were Sosis and Dinomenes, en-
tered into consultation how they should act.
The false report had received a colour of truth
sufficient to justify apprehension, from the
circumstance of a number of deserters, amount-
ing to two thousand, having been beaten with
rods and beheaded. But not one of the Leon-
tines, or the other soldiers, had been hurt, after
the capture of the city was completed; and
every kind of property had been restored to the
owners, except what was destroyed in the first
confusion of the assault. The troops, who
complained grievously of their fellow-soldiers
being treacherously put to death, could not
be prevailed on, either to proceed to Leontini,
or to wait in their present post for more certain
intelligence. On which the praetors, perceiv-
ing that they were inclined to mutiny, but that

this ferment would not be of long duration if
their ringleaders in this foolish conduct were
removed, led the army to Megara, whence they
themselves, with a small body of horse, pro-
ceeded to Herbessus, with hopes that, in con-
sequence of the general consternation, the city
might be surrendered into their hands ; but being
disappointed in their expectations, they next
day decamped from Megara, in order to lay
siege to it with the whole of their force. Hip-
pocrates and Epicydes now adopted a plan,
which, though at first sight not free from dan-
ger, yet, every hope being cut off, was the only
one which they could pursue ; this was to put
themselves into the hands of the soldiery, of
whom a great part were well acquainted with
them, and all were incensed on account of the
supposed slaughter of their fellow-soldiers ; and
they accordingly went out to meet the army on
its approach. It happened that the corps which
led the van was a battalion of six hundred Cre-
tans, who, in the reign of Hieronymus, had
served under their command, and were also un-
der an obligation to Hannibal, having been taken
prisoners at the Thrasimenus, with other auxi-
liaries to the Romans, and dismissed. Hippo-
crates and Epicydes knowing them by their
standards, and the fashion of their armour, ad-
vanced to them, holding out olive branches, and
other emblems of suppliants, and besought them
to receive them into their ranks, to protect them
there, and not to betray them into the hands of
the Syracusans, by whom they themselves would
soon be delivered up to the Romans to be
murdered. The Cretans immediately, with
one voice, bade them keep up their courage,
for they should share every fortune with them.
XXXI. During this conversation the stan-
dards had halted, nor had the cause of the delay
yet reached the general. But soon a rumour
spread, that it was occasioned by Hippocrates
and Epicydes, and a murmur ran along the
whole line, evidently demonstrating that the
troops were pleased at their coming. On this,
the praetors instantly rode forward, at full speed,
to the van, asking, " What sort of behaviour
was this ? What did the Cretans mean by such
disorderly conduct, maintaining conversation
with an enemy, and allowing them to mix in
their ranks ?" They then ordered Hippocrates
to be seized, and put in chains. On which
words such a clamour ensued, begun by the
Cretans, and continued by the rest, as clearly
showed that if they proceeded farther in the

Y. R. 538.]

OF ROME.

matter, they would have cause to be apprehen-
sive for their own safety. Alarmed and per-
plexed by their situation, they ordered the army
to march back to Megara, and sent expresses to
Syracuse, with accounts of their present state.
While the men were disposed to entertain every
kind of suspicion, Hippocrates, to increase their
apprehensions, employed an artifice: having sent
out some of the Cretans to watch the roads, he af-
terwards read publiclya letter composed by him.
self, but which he pretended had been intercept-
ed. The address was " The pnetors of Syracuse
to the consul Marcellus." After the usual
salutations, it mentioned, that " he had acted
rightly and properly in not sparing any in Leon-
tini. That all the mercenary soldiers were to
be considered in the same light, and never
would Syracuse enjoy tranquillity as long as
one of the foreign auxiliaries remained, either
in the city, or in their army : they therefore re-
quested him to use his endeavours to reduce un-
der his power those who were encamped with
their pnetors at Megara, and, by putting them
to death, effectuate, at length, the delivery of
Syracuse." As soon as this was read to the
soldiers, they ran on all sides to arms with
such clamours, that the praetors, in a fright, rode
away, during the confusion, to Syracuse. But
even their flight did not serve to quell the mu-
tiny, and several attacks were made on the Sy-
racusan troops : nor would one of them have
found mercy, had not Epicydes and Hippocrates
opposed the rage of the multitude, not through
compassion or any humane intention, but
through fear of forfeiting all hope of ever re-
turning to the city ; and from this further consi-
deration, that, while they should find these men,
themselves both faithful soldiers and hostages,
they would, at the same time, engage also the fa-
vour of their relations and friends ; in the first
place, by so great an obligation conferred, and
then, by having such a pledge in their hands. As
they knew, too, from experience, how slight and
insignificant an impulse is sufficient to set the
populace in motion, they procured a soldier, who
had been one of the number besieged in Leon-
titii, and suborned him to carry to Syracuse, a
story corresponding with the feigned tale told
at Myla ; and, by avowing himself the author,
and asserting as facts, of which he had been an
eye-witness, those particulars, of which doubts
were harboured, to irritate the passions of the
people.

XXXII. This man not only gained credit

L

with the populace, but, being brought before
the senate, had address enough to influence even
their judgment ; and several, not apt to be over
credulous, openly observed, that " it was happy
that the avarice and cruelty of the Romans bad
been unmasked at Leontini. Had they come
into Syracuse, their behaviour would have been
the same, or probably more barbarous, as the
incitements to avarice were greater there."
Wherefore all agreed in opinion, that the gates
ought to be shut, and guards posted for the de-
fence of the city. But they did not so generally
agree in the object either of their fears or their
aversions. Among the military of all descrip-
tions, and a great part of the plebeians, their
hatred fell on the Roman nation ; while the
praetors, and a few of the nobility, notwith-
standing that their judgment had been infected
by the false intelligence, yet took more pains to
guard against a nearer and more immediate
danger : for Hippocrates and Epicydes were al-
ready at the Hexapylum; and the relations of the
native soldiers then in the army, were using
many arguments to persuade the people to open
the gates, and to let their common country be
defended against the Romans. And now one
of the gates of the Hexapylum had been opened,
and the troops had begun to march in, when the
praetors arrived at the spot ; they endeavoured,
at first by commands and menaces, then by
counsel and advice, to deter the inhabitants
from their purpose ; and, at last, finding all
these ineffectual, they descended from their dig-
nity, and had recourse to entreaties, beseeching
them not to betray their country to men, who
were lately instruments of a tyrant, and who
now imprisoned the soldiers' minds. But, in
the heat of the present ferment, the ears of the
multitude were deaf to all such arguments, and
efforts were made to break open the gates on
the inside, no less violent than those from with-
out. They were all soon forced, and the whole
army received into the Hexapylum. The prae-
tors, with the youth of the city, fled for safety
into the Achradina The mercenaries, de-
serters, and all the soldiers of the late king,
then in Syracuse, augmented the force of
the enemy. In consequence, the Achradina
was taken at the first assault, and the praetors,
except such as could make their escape in the
confusion, were all put to death. Night put
an end to the shedding of blood. Next day the
slaves were invited to freedom ; all the prisoners
were discharged from confinement, and the
3 S

506

THE HISTORY

[BOOK xxiv.

motley rabble, composed of all these different
sorts, elected Hippocrates and Epicydes prae-
tors : thus Syracuse, after a short enjoyment
of the sunshine of liberty, sunk back into its
former state of servitude.

XXXIII. As soon as the Romans were
informed of these events, they immediately de-
camped from Leontini, and marched to Syra-
cuse. At the same time it happened that am-
bassadors, sent by Appius, and who were
approaching the place in a quinquereme, with
difficulty escaped being taken : which, however,
was the fate of a quadrireme, ordered to ad-
vance some distance before their galley, on its
entering the harbour. And now not only the
laws of peace, but even those of war, had been
all thrown aside, when the Roman army pitch-
ed their camp at Olympium, a temple of Jupiter
so called, distant a mile and a half from the city.
From hence also it was judged proper to send
ambassadors, who were prevented entering the
city by Hippocrates and Epicydes, with their
adherents coming out from the gate to meet
them. The Roman, whose part it was to
speak, said, that " the Romans came not with
the intention of making war on the Syracusans,
but of giving succour and support both to such
as, after extricating themselves from the midst
of carnage, fled to them for refuge ; and also to
those, who, overpowered by fear, endured a
bondage more shocking, not only than exile,
but even than death. Nor would the Romans
suffer such an abominable massacre of their
allies to pass unpunished. Wherefore if those,
who had taken refuge with them, were allowed
to return to their country with safety, and the
authors of the massacre were delivered up, and
liberty and their laws restored to the Syracu-
sans, there would be no occasion for quarrel.
If these requisitions were not complied with,
whoever was the cause of the refusal should
undergo the severest vengeance which their
arms could inflict." To this Epicydes replied,
that " if they had been charged with any message
to him, and his friends, they would have return-
ed an answer. That when the government of
Syracuse should be in the hands of those to
whom they came, they might then return to
Sicily. If they began hostilities, they should
learn, on trial, that the siege of Syracuse was a
very different kind of business from that of
Leontini." So saying, he turned his back on
the ambassadors, and shut the gates. The
Romans then, immediately, began to form the

siege ot Syracuse, both by land and sea ; by
land, on the side of the Hexapylum ; by sea, on
that of the Achradina, the wall of which is
washed by its waves. Having mastered Leon-
tini by the terror which their assault inspired,
and that at the first attack, they doubted not
but they should be able, in some quarter or
other, to make their way into a city of such wide
extent, and whose defended parts lay at such a
distance from each other ; they pushed forward
therefore to the walls every kind of machine
used in sieges.

XXXIV. This enterprise, from the spirit
and vigour with which it was undertaken, must
have met the expected success, had it not been
for one single person then in Syracuse : this
was Archimedes, a man singularly skilled in
the science of astronomy, and a great geometri-
cian, eminently distinguished in the invention
and construction of warlike engines, by means
of which, with very slight exertions, he baffled
the efforts of the enemy, made with immense
labour. The wall, which, being drawn along
unequal eminences, was in some parts high and
difficult of access, in others low and liable to be
approached through the level vales, he furnished
with machines of all kinds, adapted to the na-
ture of each particular place. That of the
A chradina, which, as before observed, is wash-
ed by the sea, Marcellus attacked from his
largest ships ; while from the small vessels the
archers, slingers, and light-infantry, (whose
weapon is of such a kind that it cannot well be
thrown back, except by experienced hands,)
wounded almost every one defending the works.
These requiring room for the discharge of their
missiles, kept at a distance ; but the other and
larger ships, eight in number, were fastened
together in pairs, by the removal of one tier of
oars ; while those on the exterior sides moved
them both as if a single ship. These carried
turrets, of severel stories in height, with instru-
ments for demolishing the rampart. Against
this naval armament, Archimedes disposed, on
the walls, engines of various sizes. On the ships,
which lay at a distance, he discharged rocks oi
immense weight ; and those which lay nearer,
lighter, and therefore more numerous annoy-
ances. And lastly, he opened in the wall from
top to bottom a great number of spike-holes, a
cubit in diameter, through which, without being
seen, or in danger of being hurt, they poured
arrows and darts from scorpions. Some ships
having come up closer, in order that the wea-

v. H. 538.]

OF ROME.

507

pons from the engines might fly over them, be
used an engine called Tolleno, composed of a
long lever supported at the middle, and fixed in
such a manner that one arm of it projected be-
yond the wall ; from the extremity of this hung,
by a strong chain, an iron grapple, which, taking
hold of the fore part of the ship, while the
otlier extremity of the lever was weighed down
to the ground by a heavy counterpoise of lead,
lifted up the prow and set the vessel on its
stern ; the grapple then was suddenly disengag-
ed, and the ship was, to the utter consternation
of the seamen, dashed into the water with such
force, that even if it had fallen in an erect posi-
tion, it would have taken in a great deal of
water. By these means the assailants were foil-
ed in eveiy attempt by sea ; abandoning there-
fore that part of the plan, they bent all their
efforts to the pushing forward the operations by
land, and with their whole force. But on this
side, too, the place was furnished with a similar
train of engines of every description, procured
in a course of many years by the direction and
at the expense of Hiero, and through the sin-
gular skill of Archimedes. The nature of the
ground also was favourable to the defendants,
because the rock on which the foundations of
the wall were laid, is in most places so steep,
that not only bodies thrown from an engine,
but such as rolled down by their own weight,
fell with great power on the enemy : the same
cause rendered the ascent difficult to be climbed,
and the footing unsteady. Wherefore, a coun-
cil being held, it was resolved, since every
attempt ended in disappointment and disgrace,
to desist from farther attacks, and only to
blockade the place so closely as to cut off all
supplies of provisions, either by land or sea.

XXXV. Meanwhile Marcellus marched,
with about a third part of the forces, to recover
those cities which, during the general disturban-
ces, had revolted to the Carthaginians. Helo-
rus and Herbessus he received by voluntary
surrender. Having taken Megara by storm, he
sacked and demolished it, in order to strike ter-
ror into others, particularly the Syracusans.
About the same time Himilco, who had for a
long time kept his fluet at the promontory of
Pachynum, landed at Heraclea, which is also
called Minoa, twenty-five thousand infantry,
three thousand horses, and twelve elephants ; a
much greater force than he had before on board
his ships at Pachynum. When Syracuse was
seized by Hippocrates, he had gone to Carthage,

and there, being encouraged by ambassadors
from him as chief, and by letters from Hanni-
bal, who affirmed that the time was now come
for recovering possession of Sicily with the
highest honour ; and as his own advice given
on the spot bad no small degree of influence,
he easily procured an order, that the greatest
force possible of infantry and cavalry should be
transported into that island. Immediately on
his arrival he reduced Heraclea, and within a
few days after, Agrigentum ; raising at the
same time in all the other states, who sided
with the Carthaginians, such warm hopes of
expelling the Romans from Sicily, that at last
even the Syracusans, besieged as they were,
assumed new courage. Judging that a part of
their forces would be sufficient for defence alone,
they divided the business in such a manner,
that Epicydes should command the troops so
appointed for guarding the city, and Hippo-
crates, in conjunction with Himilco, conduct the
war against the Roman consul. The latter
accordingly, with ten thousand foot and five
hundred horse, having passed by night through
some intervals between the Roman posts, began
to pitch his camp near the city Acrillae ; while
they were raising their fortifications, Marcellus
came upon them, for he was now returning
from Agrigentum, to which place he had in
vain hastened by quick marches, in hope of
reaching it before the enemy, but he found it
already in their possession, and expected nothing
less at that time than to meet a Syracusan army
in his way. However, through fear of Himilco
and the Carthaginians, for whom he was by no
means a match with the force which he then
had, he was marching with all possible cau-
tion, and -with his troops prepared for every
occurrence.

XXXVL This precaution adopted against
the Carthaginians, happened to prove use-
ful in respect of the Syracusans. Finding
them scattered, separately employed in form-
ing their camp, and mostly unarmed, he
surrounded and cut off the whole of their
infantry; the cavalry, after a slight oppo-
sition, fled with Hippocrates to Acne, This
stroke having effectually checked the designs
of those states, which were disposed to revolt
from the Romans, Marcellus returned to Syra-
cuse ; and, after a few days, Himilco, being
joined by Hippocrates, came and encamped at
the river Anapus, about eight miles distant.
About the same time fifty-five Carthaginian

508

THE HISTORY

[BOOK xxiv.

ships of battle, commanded by Bomilcar, as
admiral, put into the great harbour at Syracuse,
and a Roman fleet of thirty quinqucremes land-
ed the first legion at Panormus ; it seemed,
indeed, as if the theatre of war was removed
hither from Italy, so intent were both nations
on the affairs of Sicily. Himilco expected
that the Roman legion, landed at Panonnus,
would fall a prey to him on its way to Syra-
cuse ; but he missed it by taking the road which
led through the inland parts of the country,
while the legion, keeping close to the sea-coast,
and being attended by the fleet, effected a
junction with Appius Claudius, who, with a
part of his forces, came as far as Pachynum to
meet it. Nor did the Carthaginians delay
longer at Syracuse. On the one hand, Bomilcar
was diffident of his own strength at sea, as the
Romans had a fleet of at least double his num-
ber ; and, at the same time, as he perceived that
the only effect of his forces remaining there,
where they could do no service, would be, the
aggravating the distress of his allies in the
article of provisions, he sailed out into the
main, and passed over to Africa. On the
other hand, Himilco had in vain followed
Marcellus to Syracuse, in hopes of finding an op -
portunity of engaging him before he should join
the larger division of his army ; but being dis-
appointed in this, and seeing likewise that the
enemy's post at Syracuse was secured from
every attempt, both by the fortifications and
the number of their forces, he did not choose
to waste time to no purpose in sitting there as
a spectator of the siege carried on against his
allies, and therefore decamped and marched
away his army, with intention to carry it where-
ever a prospect of a revolt from the Romans
should invite him, that he might invigorate by
his presence the resolution of those who
favoured his interest. And first, through the
treachery of the inhabitants, who betrayed the
Roman garrison, he got possession of Murgan-
tia, where the Romans had large magazines of
corn and every kind of provisions.

XXXVII. By this revolt, other states were
encouraged to imitate the example ; and the
Roman garrisons were either driven out of the
fortresses, or betrayed and overpowered. Enna,
standing on a lofty eminence, which was steep
and craggy on every side, was not only impreg-
nable by reason of its situation, but had more-
over a strong force in its citadel, with a gover-
nor who could not be easily overreached by

treachery. This was Lucius Pinarius, a man
of spirit and activity, who relied more on his
own precaution, to render every scheme of per-
fidy impracticable, than on the fidelity of the
Sicilians ; and his solicitude to be prepared for
every emergency was now increased by the in-
telligence he had received of so many cities
revolting, or being betrayed, and the garrisons
put to death. Wherefore, every thing was
kept in a state of readiness, with guards and
watches constantly on duty, as well by night as
by day, nor did the soldier ever quit his arms
or his post. When the leading men in Enna,
who had already bargained with Himilco for
the betraying of the garrison, understood that
the Roman commander had left no room for
the practice of any deception, they resolved to
act openly, and represented to him, that the
city and the citadel ought to be under their
care, since they had been connected with " the
Romans as free men in alliance, not as slaves
in custody." They therefore required that the
keys of the gates should be returned to them,
observing, that on good allies honour was the
strongest tie, and that then only would the se-
nate and people of Rome think them deserv-
ing of thanks, when they should continue in
friendship out of their own free will, not through
compulsion." To this the Roman answered,
that " he was placed there by his general, and
from him had received the keys of the gates
and the custody of the citadel, which he held
not at his own disposal, or that of the inhabi-
tants of Enna, but at his who had committed
them to his charge. That to relinquish a man's
post in a garrison, was, among the Romans, a
capital crime, and that parents had confirmed
that law even by the death of their own chil-
dren. That the consul Marcellus was not far
distant ; let them send ambassadors to him,
who had the right and authority to determine."
They declared positively, that they would
not send, and gave him notice, that, since
words were of no avail, they would, seek
some other means of asserting their liberty.
Pinarius then desired, " that if they did not
choose to take the trouble of sending to the
consul, they would, at least, allow him to meet
the people in assembly, that it might be known
whether these were the denunciations of a
party only, or of the whole state :" which being
agreed to, an assembly was proclaimed for the
following day.

XXXVIII. After this conversation, he

Y. R. 538.]

OF ROME.

509

went back immediately into the citadel, and
calling the troops together, spoke thus : " Sol-
diers, you must have heard in what manner the
Roman garrisons have, of late, bt-en betrayed
and cut off by the Sicilians. The same treach-
ery you have escaped, principally through the
kindness of the gods, and next through your
own resolution, in keeping continual guard and
Watch under arms without intermission by day
or by night. I wish it were in our power to
pass the rest of our time without enduring or
offering cruel treatment. But this caution
which we have hitherto used, guards oidy
against their secret machinations ; which, nol
having succeeded to their wish, they now openly
and plainly demand the keys of the gates. The
moment these are delivered to them, Kmiu will
be made over to the Carthaginians, and we
shall be massacred here in a more shocking
manner than were those of Murgantia. This
one night's time, I have, with difficulty, pro-

cured for consultation, that I might apprise
you of the imminent danger to which you are
exposed. At sunrise they intend to hold an
assembly for the purpose of criminating me,
and incensing the populace against you : before
to-morrow night, therefore, Enna will be de-
luged either with'your blood, or with that of its
inhabitants. If they anticipate your measures,
you will have no resource ; if you anticipate
theirs, you will have no danger : whoever first
draws the sword, his will be the victory. Do,
you therefore, in arms, and with all your at-
tention awake, wait for the signal. I will be
in the assembly, and, by talking and disputing,
will prolong the time until every thing shall be
ready. As soon as I give the signal with my
gown, then let me see that you raise a shout on
every quarter, attack the multitude, and mow
down all with the sword; take care that no
one be left alive from whom either force or
fraud can be feared. O ! Mother Ceres and
Proserpine, and you other gods, whether of
the superior or inferior regions, who patronise
this city and these consecrated lakes and
groves, so prosper us, I beseech you, with your
favour and assistance, as we undertake such an
enterprise with a view of averting, not of in-
flicting injury. I would use more words in
exhorting you, soldiers, if you were to have a
contest with men in arms : that unarmed and
crowd you will kill until you shall

camp is at hand, so that nothing can be feared
from Himilco and the Carthaginians."

XXXIX. Being dismissed with this ex-
hortation, they went to take refreshment.
Next day they posted themselves in different
places, to block up the streets, and shut the
passes against the townsmen going out ; the
greatest part of them, on and round the thea-
tre, as they had been before accustomed to
stand spectators of the assemblies. The Ro-
man commander was conducted by the magis-
trates into the presence of the people, where
he represented, that the power and authority
of determining the business in question lay in
the consul, not in him, urging mostly the same
arguments, which he had used the day before ;
on which a few at first, then greater numbers,
at last all, with one voice, insisted on his de-
livering the keys ; and when he hesitated and
demurred, began to threaten him furiously,
showing evidently that they would no longer

refrain from the utmost violence. The gover-
nor then gave the concerted signal with his
gown. The soldiers were prepared, having a
long time expected it with earnest attention ;
and now, while some of them, with loud shouts,
ran down from the higher places against the
rear of the assembly, others, in close array,
blocked up the passages from the theatres.
Thus, pent up in the inclosure, the inhabitants
of Enna were put to the sword. Yet did they
perish not only by the weapons of their enemy,
but by their own hasty flight, for many tum-
bled over the others, and the whole falling
on the wounded, the living on the dead were
all promiscuously heaped together. From
thence, the soldiers spread themselves over
the city, and, as if it had been taken by storm,
illed every part of it with terror and carnage,
their rage venting itself with no less fury on the
unarmed crowd, than if their passions had been
exasperated by an equality of danger in the heat
of battle. Thus, by an act either wholly un-
ustifiable, or excusable only on the ground of
necessity, the possession of Enna was retained.
Vlarcellus showed no disapprobation of the
leed; on the contrary, he granted the plunder of
hat place to the soldiers ; thinking that the Si-
41ians, deterred by fear of like treatment, would
desist from the practice of betraying the Roman
fortresses. The history of the sad catastrophe
of this city, which stood in the middle of Sicily,
be satisfied with killing : besides, the consul's j and was so conspicuous, both on account of

510

THE HISTORY

[BOOK xxiv.

the extraordinary natural strength of its situa-
tion, as also on account of every part of it being
rendered sacred by the monuments of the rape
of Proserpine of old, reached every part of the
island almost in one day. People considered
that horrid carnage as a violation of the man-
sions of the gods, as well as of those of men ;
and now even those who had hesitated until
this time, openly declared in favour of the
Carthaginians. Hippocrates then retired to
Murgantia, and Himilco to Agrigentum ; for
they had, on an invitation from the treacher-
ous inhabitants, brought their armies to Enna
to no purpose. Marcellus returned into the
territory of Leontini, where, having stored his
camp with magazines of corn and other provi-
sions, and left a small body of troops to defend
it, he went to carry on the siege of Syracuse.
Appius Claudius having obtained his leave to
go to Rome to canvass for the consulship, he
appointed in his room Titus Quintus Crispi-
nus to the command of the fleet and of the old
camp. He fortified a camp for himself, in
which he erected huts for the winter, at a place
called Leon, five miles distant from the Hexa-
pylum. These were the transactions in Sicily
previous to the commencement of winter.

XL. During that summer, the war with
king Philip, which had been apprehended for
some time, broke out into action. Deputies
came from Oricum to the proprietor Marcus
Valerius, who commanded the fleet at Brun-
dusium and on the neighbouring coasts of
Calabria, informing him, that Philip had first
attempted Appollonia, sailing up the river with
a hundred and twenty barks of two banks of
oars ; and, not succeeding there as speedily as
he expected, had afterwards marched his army
secretly by night to Oricum, which city, being
situated in a plain, and being but wea~kly de-
fended, either by fortifications or by men and
arms, was overpowered at the first assault.
To this information they joined entreaties,
that he would bring them succour, and repel
the attacks of that avowed enemy to the Ro-
mans from the maritime cities, which were
assailed for no other reason, than because they
lay contiguous to Italy. Marcus Valerius,
leaving a lieutenant-general, Titus Valerius,
to maintain his present post, and putting on
board the ships of burden a number of soldiers,
for whom there was not room in the ships of
war, set sail with his fleet, fully equipped and

prepared, and arrived on the second day at
Oricum, and without much difficulty retook
that city, which had for its defence but a weak
garrison, left by Philip at his departure. Hither
came deputies from the Appollonians, with in-
formation, that they were besieged, because
they refused to take part against the Romans,
and that they were unable longer to withstand
the force of the Macedonians, unless a Roman
garrison were sent to their aid. Valerius pro-
mised to comply with their wishes, and sent
two thousand chosen men in ships of war to
the mouth of the river, under the command of
Quintus Ntevius Crista, praefect of the allies, a
man of an enterprising spirit and experienced
in service. He, as soon as his men were
landed, sent back the ships to join the rest of
the fleet at Oricum, whence he came ; and
leading his troops at a distance from the river,
through a road where he was least likely to
meet any of the king's party, got into town by
night, without being discovered by them. Du-
ring the following day all remained quiet, while
the prefect reviewed the forces of the Appol-
lonians, their arms, and the defences of the
city. On examining all those matters, he found
sufficient ground for confidence ; at the same
time learning from scouts, that a great degree
of negligence and inattention prevailed among
the enemy. In consequence of this intelli-
gence, he marched out of the city in the dead
of the night, without any noise, and, on enter-
ing their camp, found it so neglected and ex-
posed, that a thousand of his men had gotten
within the rampart, as we are well assured, be-
fore any one perceived them, and had they
refrained from killing the soldiers, might have
reached the pavilion of the king. The destroy-
ing of those who were nearest to the gate roused
the others from sleep : and immediately such
terror and dismay took possession of all, that not
one of them offered to take arms, or to attempt
expelling the assailants : nay, instead of that, even
the king himself fled in the same condition as he
had started out of bed ; half naked in a manner,
and in a dress which would scarcely be de-
cent for a private soldier, much less a monarch,
he effected his escape to his ships in the river.
Thither also the rest of the multitude directed
their precipitate flight. Somewhat less than
three thousand men were either killed or taken,
but the number of prisoners considerably ex-
ceeded that of the killed. The camp was then

Y. n. 538.]

OF ROME.

511

sacked, and the Appollonians carried into their
city, for the defence of their walls on any fu-
• tmv occasion, the catapultas, balistas, and other
engines, which had been provided for the pur-
pose of demolishing them ; all the rest of the
booty found in the camp was consigned to the
Romans. As soon as the news of this event
reached Oricum, Marcus Valerius instantly
drew his fleet to the mouth of the river, lest
the king should attempt to escape by water.
Philip, therefore, despairing of being able to
cope with his adversaries, either by land or sea,
drew up some of his ships into dock, burned
the rest, and with his troops, mostly unarmed
and despoiled of their baggage, returned.by land
into Macedonia. Marcus Valerius, with the
Roman fleet, wintered at Oricurn.

XL I. In Spain the contending parties met
with various success during this campaign. For,
before the Romans passed the river Iberus,
Mago and Hasdrubal defeated a very numerous
army of Spaniards, and all farther Spain would
have revolted from the Romans, had not Pub-
lius Cornelius, by a rapid march, arrived in time
to confirm the wavering resolutions of his al-
lies. The Romans encamped first at a place
called the High Fort, remarkable for the death
of the great Hamilcar. The fortress was
strong, and they had already provided a store of
corn. Nevertheless, because all the country
round was full of the enemy's troops, and as
the Roman army, on its march, had been ha-
rassed by their cavalry, without being able to
take revenge, and had lost two thousand men,
who either loitered behind or straggled through
the country, they removed thence to the neigh-
bourhood of a friendly people, and fortified a
ramp at the mount of Victory. Hither came
Cneius Scipio with all his forces ; while on the
other side, Hasdrubal, son of Gisgo, with a
complete army, joined the other two Carthagi-
nian generals, and their whole combined forces
sat down opposite to the Roman with a river
between them. Publius Scipio, going out pri-
vately with some light-armed troops to take a
view of the adjacent country, passed not unob-
served by the enemy, who would have cut him
off in an open plain, had he not seized an emi-
nence which was nigh. Even there he was
closely invested, but his brother coming up, re-
lieved him from that dangerous situation. Cas-
tulo, a strong city, reckoned among the most
remarkable in Spain, and so closely connected
with the Carthaginians, that Hannibal had mar.

ried a native of it, revolted to the Romans.
The Carthaginians laid siege to Illiturgi, be-
cause it was held by a Roman garrison, and
they had reason to expect that it would soon
fall into their hands, chiefly in consequence of
a scarcity of provisions. Cneius Scipio, with
a legion lightly equipped, marched to the relief
of the allies and the garrison, and forced his
way into the city, between the two ramps of
the enemy, with great slaughter of their men.
On the day following he made a sally, and
fought with the same success. In the two
battles, he killed above twelve thousand men,
and took more than ten thousand, with thirty-
six military standards : in consequence of which
losses, the Carthaginians raised the siege.
They then sat down before the city of Bigerra,
which also was in alliance with the Romans
but on the approach of Cneius Scipio raised the
siege without a battle.

XL II. The Carthaginians then removed
their camp to Munda, whither the Romans
quickly followed them. Here a general en-
gagement took place, which lasted near four
hours : the Romans had decidedly the advan-
tage ; but, while they were pursuing the victory
with the utmost ardour, the signal of retreat
was given, in consequence of Cneius Scipio's
thigh being pierced through with a javelin ; the
soldiers round him being seized with a panic,
in the supposition that the wound was mortal.
There was no doubt, but that, if they had not
been thus stopped, they would, on that day,
have taken the enemy's camp. Not only their
soldiers, but elephants also, had already been
driven up to the rampart, and, on the top of
it, thirty-nine elephants had been killed with
spears. Twelve thousand men are said to
have fallen in this battle, and near three thou-
sand to have been taken, with fifty-seven mili-
tary ensigns. From thence the Carthaginians
retreated to the city of Aurinae, and the Ro-
mans, not to allow them time to recover from
their defeat, followed them closely. Here Scipio,
though carried into the field in a litter, engaged
them again, and obtained a decided victory :
though fewer of the enemy, by half, were
slain in this battle than in the former ; because,
after their loss on that occasion, they could
only bring a smaller number into the field.
But as they are a race fitted by nature for the
reviving of wars and the recruiting of armies,
they soon, through the diligence of Mago, who
was sent by his brother to levy soldiers, tille«l

512

THE HISTORY

[BOOK xxiv.

up their complement of their troops, and re-
sumed courage to risk afresh the issue of a
battle. Though their battalions were now
composed mostly of foreign soldiers, yet fight-
ing on a side which had suffered so many dis-
comfitures within a few days, they showed the
same spirit as before, and the same consequence
ensued. More than eight thousand men were
slain, not many short of a thousand taken pri-
soners, together with fifty-eight military stan-
dards. The greater part of the spoils had be-
longed to the Gauls, among which were golden
chains and bracelets in great numbers ; there
were also two remarkable chieftains of the
Gauls killed in that battle, Mcenicaptus and
Civismarus : eight elephants were taken, and
three killed. During this current of success in
Spain, the Romans began to feel ashamed of
having suffered the town of Saguntum, the
original object of dispute, to continue five years
in the possession of the enemy. Wherefore,
dislodging the Carthaginian garrison, they re-
took possession of the town, and restored it to
such of the inhabitants as had survived the
violence of the conflict. As to the Turde-
tanians, who had been the instigators of the
war between the Carthaginians and the people,
they totally subdued them, sold them as slaves,
and rased their city to the ground. Such
were the occurrences in Spain during the con-
sulate of Quintus Fabius and Marcus Claudius.
XLIII. At Rome, no sooner had the new
plebeian tribunes entered into office, than one
of them, Lucius Metellus, summoned the
censors, Publius Furius and Marcus ^Etilius,
to trial before the people. In the preceding
year, when he was quzestor, they had degraded
him from the equestrian rank and from his
tribe, and had disfranchised him on account of
his having formed a conspiracy at Cannse to
abandon Italy : but they were supported by
the other nine tribunes, who protested against
their being brought to trial, and were conse-
quently discharged. The death of Publius
Furius prevented their closing the lustrum ;
and Marcus uEtilius abdicated his office. The
election of consuls was held by the consul
Quintus Fabius Maximus, and two were
chosen who were both absent at the time,
Quintus Fabius Maximus, the present consul's
son, and Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus, a
second time. The praetors appointed were
Marcus Atilius and two who were then curule
wdiles, Publius Sempronius Tuditanus and

Cneius Fulvius Centumalus, and lastly, Mar-
cus JEmilius Lepidus. It is recorded that
stage plays were now, for the first time, ex-
hibited four days successively, by direction of
the curule aediles. This Tuditanus, now
aedile, was the person who, at Cannae, while
the rest were stupified by fear, in consequence
of such a dreadful disaster, made his way
through the middle of the enemy.

XL IV. As soon as the elections were
finished, [Y. R. 539. B. C. 213.] the consuls
elect were called home to Rome, by the advice
of the present consul Quintus Fabius, and as-
sumed the administration. They then called a
meeting of the senate, to determine concerning
their own provinces and those of the praetors,
the armies to be. employed, and the comman-
ders to whom each was to be allotted. These
were distributed in the following manner : To
the consuls was assigned the province of making
head against Hannibal ; and of the armies, the
one which Sempronius himself had already
under his command, and another commanded
by the late consul Fabius. These consisted
of two legions each. Marcus JEmilius, the
praetor, to whose lot the foreign jurisdiction
had fallen, (his share in the administration of
justice being consigned to his colleague,) Mar-
cus Atilius, city praetor, was to hold the pro-
vince of Luceria and the two legions which
Quintus Fabius, the present consul, had com-
manded as praetor ; to Publius Sempronius
fell the province of Ariminum; to Cneius
Fulvius, Suessula, with two legions likewise
to each ; Fulvius to take with him the city
legions ; Tuditanus to receive his from Marcus
Pomponius. The following commanders and
provinces were continued : to Marcus Clau-
dius, Sicily, so far as the limits of Hiero's
dominions had extended ; to Lentulus, pro-
praetor, the old Roman province in that island;
to Titus Otacilius, the fleet. No additions
were made to their armies. Greece and
Macedonia were allotted to Marcus Valerius,
with the legion and fleet which he had there ;
to Quintus Mucius, Sardinia, with his old
army, which consisted of two legions, and to
Caius Terentius, Picenum, with the one legion
at the present under his command. It was
ordered, that, besides those mentioned, two
city legions should be levied, and twenty thou-
sand troops of the allies. These were the
leaders, these the forces provided for the de-
fence of the Roman empire, against a multi-

Y. n. 539.]

OF ROME.

513

tude of enemies, either declared or suspected.
The consuls, after raising the two city legions,
and filling up the numbers of the others, before
they quitted Rome, expiated several prodigies,
which had been reported. A wall and a gate
had been struck by lightning, and also the tem-
ple of Jupiter at Aricia. Besides which sev-
eral deceptions of the eyes and ears were cre-
dited as facts ; that the figures of ships of war
had appeared in the river at Tarracini, where
no such ships were ; that in the temple of Ju-
piter, at Vicilinum in the district of Compsa, a
clashing of arms was heard, and that the river
at Amiternum flowed in streams of blood.
When the expiation of these was performed,
according to the direction of the pontiffs, the
consuls set out, Sempronius to^Lucania, Fabius
to Apulia. The father of the latter coming
into the camp at Suessula, as lieutenant-general
under his son, the son went out to meet him,
and the lictors, out of reverence to his dignity,
went on in silence, until the old man rode past
eleven of the fasces, when the consul ordering
his next lictor to take care, he called to him
to dismount, and the father then, at length,
alighting, said, " I bad a mind, my son, to try
whether you were properly sensible of being
consul."

XLV. Into this camp Darius Altinius of
Arpi came privately by night, with three slaves,
promising that if he were properly rewarded,
he would betray Arpi to them. Fabius held a
council to consider of the matter, when some
were of opinion, that he ought to be scourged
and put to death as a deserter, being a common
foe to both parties, ever ready to change sides ;
who, after the misfortune at Cannae, as if faith
ought to follow the changes of fortune, bad
gone over to the Carthaginians, and drawn
Arpi into a revolt ; and now, when the Roman
affairs were, contrary to his hopes and wishes,
recovering from that disaster, it must appear
1 duubly base to offer to serve, by an act of treach-
ery, the party on whom he had practised his
treachery before. Such a wretch, who always
appeared to act on one side, while his wishes
were on the other, such a perfidious ally and
fickle enemy, ought to be made a third lesson
to deserters along with the Falerian and Pyr-
rhus's traitors." On the other hand Fabius,
the consul's father, said, that " people did not
attend to the state of the times, but, in the
very heat of war, as in a time of tranquillity,
pronounced their decisions on every case with-
I.

out any allowance for circumstances. Thus,
at a time when they should rather contrive and
labour to prevent, if possible, any of the allies
revolting from the Roman cause, or become
wavering in their inclinations, they were of
opinion, that a person who repented and show-
ed an inclination to return to his former con-
nections,"ought to be punished for an example.
But if those who had once forsaken the part of
the Romans, were at no time allowed to re-
turn to it, who could doubt, but that their na-
tion would be deserted by its allies, and that
they would shortly see every state in Italy com-
bined under Carthaginian treaties ? Neverthe-
less he was not disposed to think that any
confidence should be reposed in Altinius : but
he would strike out a middle way of proceed-
ing, and recommend that, at present, he should
not be treated either as an enemy or an ally,
but should, during the continuance of the war,
be kept in custody, at a small distance from
the camp, in some city whose fidelity could be
relied on ; and that, on the event of peace, it
should be considered whether his former defec-
tion pleaded stronger for punishment, or his
present return for pardon." This advice of
Fabius was adopted. Altinius was bound in
chains, and, together with his attendants, de-
livered into custody.; and a large quantity of gold
which he had brought with him was ordered to
be kept for his use. He was sent to Cales,
where he was allowed to go out by day attended
by guards, who confined and watched him by
night. When he was missed at his house in
Arpi, search was made for him at first, then
the report of what had happened spreading
through the city, occasioned a tumult among
the citizens, as if they had lost their leader ;
so that, dreading an alteration of their present
system, they despatched, instantly, to Hannibal
an account of the affair. This was not at all
displeasing to the Carthaginian, because be had
long harboured suspicions of him, knowing the
duplicity of his character ; and besides, he had
now gained an excuse for seizing and confiscat-
ing1 his great property. However, in order to
make people believe that be was actuated rather
by anger than rapaciousness, he exhibited a
scene of uncommon barbarity ; for having or-
dered his'wifebnd children to be brought into the
camp, he made a strict inquiry concerning tha
flight of Altinius, and likewise concerning the
quantities of gold and silver which he had left
at home ; and, when he had got sufficient in •
3T

514

THE HISTORY

[HOOK xxiv.

formation of every particular, be burned them
alive.

XL VI. Fabius set out from Suessula, in-
tending to open the campaign with the siege of
Arpi ; and having pitched his camp about half
a mile from the place, and taken a near view
of the situation and fortifications of the town,
he resolved to make his principal attack on a
quarter where the works were the strongest,
and the guard the most negligently kept. After
providing every thing requisite for an assault,
he selected out of the whole army the ablest
centurions, and placed over them tribunes of
known bravery, giving them six hundred sol-
diers, which number was deemed sufficient, with
orders, that, on the sounding of the signal of
the fourth watch, they should advance with
scaling ladders to the chosen spot. The gate
on that side was low and narrow, the corres-
ponding street being little frequented, as lead-
ing through a deserted part of the town. He
ordered them, after first scaling the wall, to
proceed to this gate, and break down the bars
on the inside ; then, as soon as they had got
possession of that quarter of the city, to give
the signal with a coronet, that the rest of the
forces might join them, saying, that he would
have every thing in readiness. His orders
were executed with vigour and spirit ; while a
circumstance, which seemed likely to obstruct
the undertaking, proved the most favourable
for concealing their operations. A heavy rain
at midnight obliged the guards and watches in
the town to slip away from their posts, and
run for shelter into the houses, while the loud-
ness of the storm, which was most violent at
the beginning, prevented their hearing the noise
made by those who were breaking the postern,
and the sound, becoming afterwards more soft
and regular, lulled most of the men to sleep.
As soon as the assailants had secured posses-
sion of the gate, they placed the coronet-players
in the street, at equal distances, and ordered
them to sound as a summons to the consul j
who, finding this part of the plan executed, im-
mediately ordered his troops to march, and, a
little before day, entered the city through the
broken gate.

XL VII. At length the enemy were roused,
the rain too abating with the approach of day.
There was in the city a garrison of Hannibal's
troops, amounting to five thousand effective
men, and the armed people of Arpi themselves
were three thousand more. These latter, the

Carthaginians, to guard npainst any treachery
on their rear, opposed in front to the enemy.
The fight was maintained for some time in the
dark, and in narrow streets, the Romans hav-
ing seized not only all the passes, but the
houses likewise next to the gate, lest they
might be struck or wounded by any thing
thrown down from them. Some of the Arpi-
ans arid Romans recognising each other, began
to enter into conversation . the latter asking what
had been the demerit of their countrymen, or
what the merit of the Carthaginians, that could
induce Italians to wage war in their favour,
— in favour of foreigners and barbarians ; in
fine, against their ancient allies, and striving to
reduce Italy to a state of vassalage, and to
make it a tributary province to Africa? The
Arpians, in excuse for themselves, declared,
that, without knowing any thing of the matter,
they had been sold to the Carthaginians by
those who had the management of their affairs,
and that they were kept in a state of subjection
and oppression by a faction of a few. In con-
sequence of this declaration, greater numbers
on both sides joined in the conversation. At
last the praetor of Arpi was brought by his
countrymen to the consul, and mutual assur-
ances being given, in the midst of the standards
and troops, the Arpians on a sudden turned
their arms against the Carthaginians in favour
of the Romans. A body of Spaniards also,
nearly a thousand in number, came over to the
consul, without stipulating any other condition
than that the Carthaginian garrison should be
allowed to depart unhurt ; which article was
punctually fulfilled : the gates were thrown
open : they were dismissed in safety, and join-
ed Hannibal at Salapia. Thus was Arpi re-
stored to the Romans, without any other loss
than that of the life of one man, long since
branded with treason, and lately with desertion.
To the Spaniards a double allowance of pro-
visions was ordered; and, on very many
occasions afterwards, the government found
them brave and faithful soldiers. Wliile one
of the consuls was in Apulia, and the other
in Lucania, a hundred and twelve Campaniaii
horsemen, all men of noble birth, having, under
pretence of ravaging the enemy's country, ob-
tained leave from the magistrates to go out
of Capua, came to the Roman camp above
Suessula, told the advance guard who they
were, and that they wished to spe'Jc \vith ttiu
pra-tor. Cneius Fulvius, who commanded there,

Y. It.

OF ROM I-..

515

on receiving theii nu-.>-.ii,v, ordered ten of tbeir
number, unarmed, to ho conducted into his pre-

; and having heard their demands, which
amounted to no more than that, on Capua be-
ing recovered, their property might be restored
to them, he received them all into protection.
At the same time the other praetor, Sempronius
Tuditanus, reduced, by force, the town of Ater-
num, took above seven thousand prisoiiers, and
a considerable quantity of brass and silver coin.
At Rome a dreadful fire raged during two
nights and one day : every thing between the
Salimi- and the Carmental gate was levelled to
(lie ground, us were the jEquimmlium and the
Jugarian street. The fire, catching the temples
of Fortune, of Mother Matuta, and of Hope,
on the outside of the gate, and spreading to a
vast extent, consumed a great number of build-
ings, both religious and private.

XLVIII. During this year, the two Cor-
nclii, Publius and Cneius, by the prosperous
course of affairs in Spain, and from their hav-
ing recovered many old, and acquired many new
.tllies, were encouraged to extend their views to
Africa itself. Syphax, at this time king of a
port of Numidia, had suddenly commenced a
war with the Carthaginians : to him they sent
throe centurions as ambassadors, to form a
treaty of friendship and alliance, and to assure
him, that, if he continued to prosecute the war
;i£ainst the Carthaginians, the Roman senate
and people would be thankful for the service,
and would use their best endeavours to repay
the kindness afterwards to his entire satisfac-
tion. This embassy was very acceptable to the
barbarian : he entered into conversation with
the ambassadors on the art of war ; and when
he heard the discourses of those experienced
veterans, and compared his own practice with
such a regular system of discipline, he became
sensible of his ignorance in many particulars.
Then he requested, as the first instance of that
favour, which he might expect from good and
faithful allies, that " two of them might carry
I. irk to their commanders the result of their
embassy, and the other remain with him as his
instructor in military knowledge; adding, that
the people of Numidia were quite unacquaint-
ed with the method of fighting on foot, and
were useful only on horseback : that this

i lie mode practised by their ancestors
MIICC their first existence as a nation, and
to the same had the present generation been
Miiee their childhood. Thai lie

...1 n> deal with an enemy whose chief con-
liilenee lay in the power of their infantry ; and
that, therefore, if he expected to put himself
on an -equality with them in point of firm
strength, he must procure a body of foot soldiers
to oppose theirs. That his dominions abounded
with numbers of men fit for the purpose, but
that he was totally ignorant of the proper
method of arming, training, and marshalling
them ; and they were in every respect awkward
and unmanageable, like a mere mob collected
by chance." The ambassadors answered, that
they would, at the present, comply with his
desire, provided he gave them an assurance
that he would send the person back, in
case their commanders should disapprove of
what they had done. The name of him who
remained with the king was Quint us Statorius.
With the two centurions, the Numidian sent
into Spain ambassadors on his part, to receive
the ratification of the convention from the
Roman generals ; and he charged them, after
they should have executed this commission, to
persuade the Numidians, who acted as auxil-
iaries in the Carthaginian garrisons, to come
over to the other side. Statorius, finding
abundance of young men, raised an army of
infantry for the king, and forming them into
distinct bodies, according to the Roman me-
thod, taught them, in taking their posts and
performing their several evolutions, to follow
their standards and keep their ranks ; and he
so inured them to the practice of military
works, and other^ duties of soldiers, that, in a
short time, the king placed not more con-
fidence in his cavalry than in his infantry, and,
even in a pitched battle, on a level plain, he
defeated an army of Carthaginians. The arri-
val of the king's ambassadors was productive
of great advantages to the Romans in Spain,
for, as soon as it was known, the Numidians
began to come over in great numbers from the
enemy. In this manner did friendship com-
mence between the Romans and Syphax. Of
which transaction, as soon as the Carthagi-
nians got notice, they instantly despatched
ambassadors to Gala, who reigned in the oth«ur
part of Numidia, over the nation called Masy-
lians.

XLIX. Ualu had a son named Masinissa,
at that time only seventeen years old, but en -
dowcd with such talents as, even then, afforded
strong presumption that he would leave the
kin., '..(in more extensive and opulent than when

516

THE HISTORY OF ROME. [BOOK xxn.

he received It. The ambassadors represented,
that " since Syphax had united himself with
the Romans, for the purpose of being enabled,
by their assistance, to exert greater force against
the other kings and natives of Africa, it would
be the interest of Gala to enter into alliance,
as soon as possible, with the Carthaginians, on
the other side ; that, before Syphax passed over
into Spain, or the Romans into Africa, it
would be very practicable to overpower the
former, who had, as yet, gained no advantage
from his connection with Rome, except the
name of it. " Gala was easily persuaded to take
part in the war, especially as his son earnestly
solicited the command of the armies ; and, in
conjunction with the legions of the Carthagi-
nians, he totally defeated Syphax in a great
battle, in which, as we are told, thirty thousand
men were slain. Syphax fled from the field
with a few horsemen, and took refuge among
the Maurusian Numidians, who inhabit the re-
motest coast of the ocean, opposite to Gades.
Here the barbarians, attracted by his fame,

flocked to him from all sides, In sucn numbers,
that he was soon at the head of a very great
army. In order to prevent his carrying this
force into Spain, from which he was separated
only by a narrow strait, Masinissa, with bis
victorious troops, came up with him ; and there,
by his own strength, without any aid from the
Carthaginians, he maintained the war against
Syphax with great glory. In Spain nothing
memorable was performed, except that the Ro-
man generals brought over to their side the
youth of Celtiberia, granting them the same
pay which they had stipulated with the Car-
thaginians, and sending above three hundred
Spaniards of the highest distinction into Italy
to endeavour to draw off their countrymen, who
served as auxiliaries in Hannibal's army. The
only incident which occurred in Spain remark-
able enough to deserve being recorded, was,
that the Celtiberians, in this year, were the first
mercenary troops ever entertained in the Roman

THE

HISTORY OF ROME,

BOOK XXV.

Ptibliue Cornelius Scipio, afterwards called Afriranus, clortod sedile before IIP had attained ihe age required by the
law. The citadel of Tarentum, in which the Homan garrison had taken refuge, betrayed to Hannibal. Gani*s
instituted in honour of Apollo, called Apollinarian. Quintus Fulvius and Appiut Claudius, consuls, defeat
Hanao the Carthaginian general. Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus betrayed by a Lucauian to Mago, and slain-
Centenius IVnulii, who had been a centurion, asks the senate for the command of an army, promising to engage
and vanquish Hannibal ; is cut oft with eight thousand men. Cneiua Fulvius engages Hannibal, and is beaten,
with the loss of sixteen thousand men slain ; he himself escapes with only two hundred horsemen, {juintus
Fulvius and Appius Claudius, consuls, lay siege to Capua. Syracuse taken by Claudius Marcellus, after aiiege
of three years. In the tumult occasioned by taking the city, Archimedes is killed, while intently occupied upon
some figures which he had drawn in the sand. Publius and Cornelius Scipio, after having performed many emi-
nent services in Spain, are slain, together with nearly the whole of their armies, eight years after their arrival
in that country ; and the possession of that province would have been entirely lost, but for the valour and activity
of Lucius Marcius, a Roman knight, who, collecting the scattered remains of the vanquished armies, utterly de-
feats the enemy, storming their two camps, killing thirty-seven thousand of them, and taking eighteen hundred,
together with an immense booty.

HANNIBAL passed the summer, during which
these events took place in Africa and Spain,
in the territory of Tarentum, in continual ex-
pectation of having that city betrayed into his
hands. Meanwhile some inconsiderable towns
of that district, with others belonging to the
Sallentines, revolted to him. At the 'same
time, of the twelve Bruttian states which had,
a year or two before gone over to the Cartha-
ginians, the Consentians and Thurians put
themselves again under the protection of the
Roman people, and more of them would have
done the same, had not Lucius Pomponius
Veientanus, pnefect of the allies, who, in con-
sequence of several predatory expeditions in
the territory of Bruttium, had acquired an ap-
pearance of a regular commander, assembled a
tumultuary army, and fought a battle with
Hanno. A vast number of his men were kill-
ed or taken on the occasion, but they were
only .in undisciplined rubble of peasants and
slaves ; and the least part of the loss was the

prefect himself being taken among the rest :
for, besides his inconsiderate rashness in
bringing on this engagement, having been for-
merly a farmer of the revenue, he had, by every
iniquitous practice, proved faithless and detri-
mental, both to the state and to the companies
concerned in that business. The consul Sera,
pronius had many slight skirmishes in Lucania,
none worthy of mention, but reducing several
inconsiderable towns. In proportion as the
war was protracted to a greater length, and
successes and disappointments produced various
alterations, not only in the situations, but in
the sentiments of men, superstitious observan-
ces, and these mostly introduced from abroad,
gained such ground among the people in gene-
ral, that it seemed as if either mankind or the
deities had undergone a sudden change. And
now the customed rites were disused, not only
in private, and within doors, but even in the
public streets, the forum, and the capitol. These
were frequented by crowds of women sacrificing,

518

THE HISTORY

[BOOK. xxv.

and offering prayers to their gods, in modes
hitherto unknown at Rome. A low sort of sa-
orificers, and soothsayers, had enslaved the
people's understandings, and the number of
these were increased in consequence of the
great influx of the peasantry from the country,
who, as their lands lay long untilled by reason
of the continuance of the war, and the inroads
of the enemy, were driven into the city through
want and fear. These found an easy means of
profit, in working on the deluded minds of the
multitude, which practice they carried on as if
it were a lawful occupation. At first, every
well-judging person expressed indignation at
such proceedings ; afterwards, the matter came
to be noticed by the senators, and attracted
public censure from the government. The
oediles, and the judges of criminal causes,1 were
sharply rebuked by the senate, for not having
prevented these practices, although, when they
had attempted to disperse from the forum the
crowd assembled on such an occasion, and to
remove the implements of their rites, they were
in imminent danger of personal injury. The
evil now appearing too powerful to be checked
by the efforts of the inferior magistrates, the
senate gave a charge to Marcus Atilius, praetor
of the city, to free the public from those super-
stitious nuisances. For this purpose, he read
their decree in a general assembly ; and, at the
same time, gave notice, that " whosoever had
any books of divination, and forms of prayer
used on such occasions, or the art of sacrificing
in writing, should bring all such books and
writings to him before the calends of April,
and that no person should in any place, either
public or consecrated, perform sacrifice in any
new or foreign mode."

II. Several of the priests established by law
died this year, Lucius Cornelius Lentulus, chief
pontiff, Caius Papirius Maso, son of Caius, a
pontiff, Publius Furius Philus, an augur, and
Caius Papirius Maso, son of Furius, a decem-
vir for the direction of religious rites. In the
room of Lentulus was subtituted, in the college
of pontiffs, Marcus Cornelius Cethegus; in
that of Papirius, Cneius Servilius Ccepio :
Lucius Quintius Flaminius was created augur,
and Lucius Cornelius Lentulus decemvir for
the direction of religious rites. The time of
the consular election now drew nigh ; but, as

1 These were throe. They were elected by the peo-
ple to judge in criminal causes, superintend the prisons,
and the execution of the condemned.

it was not judged expedient to call away the
consuls from the war, which they were prose-
cuting with vigour, Tiberius Sempronius, con-
sul, nominated Caius Claudius Centho dictator,
to hold the elections, and he appointed Quintus
Fulvfus Flaccus his master of the horse. The
dictator, on the first day whereon the assembly
could meet, elected consuls Quintus Fulvius
Flaccus the master of the horse, and Appius
Claudius Pulcher, who had held the govern-
ment of Sicily, as praetor. Then were elected
praetors, Cneius Fulvius Flaccus, Caius Clau-
dius Nero, Marcus Junius Silanus, Publius
Cornelius Sulla. As soon as the elections
were finished, the dictator resigned his office.
This year, with Marcus Cornelius Cethegus,
Publius Cornelius Scipio, aftenvards surnamed
Africanus, was cumle aedile. The plebeian
tribunes opposed the pretensions of the latter
to the sedileship, and insisted that he ought not
to be admitted as a candidate, because lie was
not of the age required by law, s on which he
answered, " If it is the will of all the citizens
to make me aedile, I am old enough ;" on this,
the people hastened into their respective tribes,
to give their votes in his favour, and with such
a degree of zeal, that the tribunes at once re-
linquished their design. The compliments
paid to the public by those aediles were these :
the Roman games were exhibited with magni-
ficence, considering the circumstances of the
times, and repeated during one day ; with a
donation of a gallon of oil to each street. The
plebeian aidiles, Lucius Villius Tappulus, and
Marcus Fundanius Fundulus, brought before
the people a charge of incontinency against a
considerable number of matrons, and several
who were convicted were driven into exile.
The plebeian games were repeated during two
days ; and, on occasion of these games, a ban-
quet in honour of Jupiter was celebrated.

III. Quintus Fulvius Flaccus a third time,
and Appius Claudius, entered upon the admin-
istration of the consulship. [Y. R. 540. 'B. C.
212. ] The provinces were assigned to the pros-
tors by lot ; the admistration of justice, both to

2 No person could obtain a curule office until he had

served ten campaigns ; and, as the military age cunt.

menced at seventeen, a man must be at least twenty.

seven before he \vaa qualified to sue for the quaestoi ship.

It seems that by this law the requisite ages were settled

th»w :

For the qusestorship ... 31 years,
curule nedileship . . 37 —
pnetors-hip ... 40 —
consulship . . '. .13 —

V. R. ilO.J

OF ROME.

519

citizens and foreigners, fonnerly divided between
two. now fell to Publius Cornelius Sulla ; Apulia
wa-s allotted to Cneius Fulvius Flaccus, Sues-
sulu to Cains Claudius Nero, and Etruria to
Marcus Junius Silanus. It was decreed, that
the consuls should conduct the war against
Iliiiinibul, and that each should receive two
legions, one from Quintus Fabius, consul of
the former year, the other from Fulvius Cen-
tumulus ; that of the pnetors, Fulvius Flaccus
should command those legions which were at
Luceria, under the prtctor /Emilius, and Clau-
dius Nero those which were in Picenum under
Caius Terentius, and that they themselves
should raise recruits to fill up the numbers of
their respective armies. To Marcus Junius,
for the service in Etruria. were given the two
city legions of the preceding year. Tiberius
Sempronius Gracchus and Publius Sempronius
Tuditanus were continued in command of their
provinces, Lucania and Gaul, with the same
forces as before ; as was Publius Lentulus in
the old Roman province in ^Sicily ; Marcus
Marcellus in Syracuse, and the late dominions
of Hiero ; Titus Otacilius in the command of
the fleet, Marcus Valerius in that of Greece,
Quintus Mucius Soievola in that of Sardinia,
uud the two Cornelii, Publius and Cneius, in
that of Spain. In addition to the troops al-
ro.uly on foot, two city legions were levied by
the consuls, the number of these this year
being raised to twenty-three. The behaviour
of Marcus Postumius Pyrgensis impeded these
levies of the consuls, and went very near ex-
citing a great and general commotion. This
man was a farmer of the revenue, and for
many years had not, in the whole empire, any
equal in fraud and avarice, excepting Lucius
Pomponius Ycientaiius, who was made pri-
soner by the Carthaginians under Hun no.
while he was inconsiderately ravaging the
lands of Lucania. As the public were to un-
dergo any loss of tlte supplies sent for the use
of the armies, which should be occasioned by
storm, these two had fabricated accounts of
pretended shipwreck ; and even such as they
reported with a degree of truth, had happened
through their own fraudulent contrivance, not
th rough accident. Having put a few goods, of
little worth, on board of old shattered vessels,
they sunk these in the deep, after taking out
the sailors into boats prepared for the purpose,
and then made a false return of the cargoes, as
of much more considerable value than they

really were. A discovery of this fraud had
been made the year before to Marcus Atilius
the pnetor, and by him communicated to the
senate ; but still no vote of censure bad passed
on it, because the senators were unwilling to
disoblige, at such a time as that, the body of
revenue farmers. The assembly of the people,
however, proved a more strict avenger of it ;
and two plebeian tribunes, Spurius and Lucius
Carvilius, exerting themselves at last, when
they saw that such conduct was become gener-
ally odious and scandalous, proposed a fine on
Marcus Postumius of two hundred th^fl-uid
asses in weight.' When the day arrived on
which the cause was to be argued, such vast
numbers of the commons attended the assem-
bly that the area of the capitol could scarcely
contain them ; and when the pleadings were
finished the only hope which the defendant
seemed to have, was, that Caius Servilius
Casca, a plebeian tribune, his near relation
and intimate friend, should interpose a pro-
test, before the tribes were called on for their
opinions. After the witnesses had been ex-
amined, the tribunes desired the people to
withdraw, and the urn was brought, in order
that the tribes should draw lots, and then pro-
ceed to determine the matter. Meanwhile the
I revenue-farmers urged Casca to stop the pro-
' ceedings for that day, at which the commons
loudly declared their displeasure, and Casca
happening to sit foremost at a front corner of
the rostrum, bis mind was highly agitated at
once by fear and shame. Finding no support
in him, the revenue-farmers, for the purpose
of obstructing the business, rushed, in a com-
pact body, into the space which had been
cleared by the withdrawing of some, wrang-
ling at the same time with the remaining peo-
ple and with the tribunes. The dispute now
seemed likely to proceed to violence, when the
consul Fulvius said to the tribunes, " Do you
not see that your authority is annihilated, and
that an insurrection will probably be the con-
sequence, unless you quickly dismiss the as-
sembly of the commons ?"

IV- The commons were accordingly dismis-
sed ; and the consuls, having assembled the
senate, required their judgment concerning
the interruption given to the assembly of the
people, and the audacious violence of the reve-
nue-farmers, representing, at the same time,

1 CMl. IGI.-W.

520

THE HISTORY

XXV.

that," Marcus Furius Camillas, whose banish-
ment was followed by the downfall of the city
had submitted to a sentence of condemna-
tion, passed on him by bis angry countrymen.
That, before him, the decemvirs, whose laws
were the public rule of conduct to the present
day, and, afterwards, many of the most distin-
guishedj personages in the state, had yielded
themselves to the public judgment. But Pos-
tumius, an obscure individual of Pyrgi, had
wrested from the Roman people their right
of suffrage ; had dissolved an assembly of the
conu£pns, annihilated the authority of the tri-
bunes, arrayed a band of men, and seized on a
post, with design to cut off all communica-
tion between the commons and their tribunes,
and to prevent the tribes being called to vote.
That nothing had restrained the people from
riot and bloodshed, but the calmness and mo-
deration of the magistrates, in giving way for
the time to the desperate audaciousness of a
few, in suffering themselves and the Roman
people to be overcome, and rather than an oc-
casion should be given to those, who wished
for a riot, dissolving, according to the defen-
dant's desire, the assembly, whose proceedings
he intended to hinder by. force of, arms.'
Every man of character reprobated such con-
duct as its heinousness deserved, and a decree
of the senate was passed, declaring such vio-
lent outrage treason against the state, and of
pernicious example j on which the Carvilii,
plebeian tribunes, desisting from the prosecu-
tion of the fine, immediately brought forward
a capital accusation against Postumius, and
ordered, that unless he gave bail, he should be
taken into custody by the beadle, and carried
to prison. Postumius, after giving bail, did
not appear. The tribunes then proposed to
the commons, 'and the commons passed this
order, that " if Marcus Postumius did not ap-
pear before the calends of May, and, being
summoned on that day, did not answer to the
charge, ror show sufficient cause for his non-
appearance, he should be adjudged an exile,
his goods should be confiscated, and him-
self interdicted from fire and water.'" They
then proceeded to prosecute on capital charges,

1 There was no law which authorized the sentencing
a Roman citizen, directly, to banishment: but by the
interdiction above-mentioned, the criminal was depriv-
ed of every right of a citizen ; and, it being declared
unlawful to supply him with any necessary, he was
compelled to go into exile.

and compelled to give bail, each of those
who had fomented the tumult and disorder.
At first, they threw into prison such as could
not find security, and afterwards, even such aa
could ; to avoid the danger of which treatment,
most of those concerned went into exile. Such
were the consequences of the fraud of the reve-
nue-farmers, and of their daring attempt to
screen themselves from punishment.

V. An assembly was then held for the elec-
tion of a chief pontiff, at which Marcus Cor-
neb'us Cethegus, the new pontiff, presided.
Three candidates maintained a very obstinate
contest, Quintus Fulvius Flaccus, now a third
time consul, who had formerly served the office
of censor ; Titus Manlius Torquatus, distin-
guished like wise; by two consulships and the
censorship ; and Publius Licinius Crassus,
who was also to solicit for the office of curule
sedile. The latter, young as he was, gained a
complete victory over his competitors in this
dispute, notwithstanding their advantages in
respect of years, and the honours with which
they were decorated. Before him there had
not occurred, in the course of a hundred and
twenty years, an instance of any person, who
had not sat in a curule chair, being created
chief pontiff, excepting Publius Cornelius
Calussa. Although the consuls found it very
difficult to complete the levies of young men
for the purposes of filling up vacancies in the
old legions and raising new ones for the city,
yet the senate forbade them to cease their en-
deavours, and ordered two sets of triumvirs to
be appointed, one of which within, and the
other beyond, the distance of fifty miles/should
inspect into the number of free-born men in
all the market-towns and villages, and enlist
such for soldiers as had strength enough to carry
arms, though they should not yet have attained
the regular age for service; and that "the
plebeian tribunes would be pleased to propose
to the people the passing of an order, that all
persons under the age of seventeen years, who
should take the military oath, should be al-
lowed their years of service, in like manner as
if they had been of the age of seventeen, or
older, when enlisted." In pursuance of this
decree of the senate, two sets of triumvirs were
appointed, who enlisted free-born youths in
every part of the country.

VI. At this time a letter was read in the
senate, written from Sicily by Marcus M;ir-
cellus, relative to a request of the troops seiv-

T. R. 540.]

OF ROME.

521

ing under Publius Lcntulua. This army con-
sisted of those who had been in the battle of
Cannae ; they had been sent abroad into Sicily,
as mentioned before, under a rule, that they
should not be brought home to Italy before the
conclusion of the Carthaginian war. With the
permission of Lentulus, they sent the most
respectable among the horsemen and centurions,
and a chosen number of the legionary infantry,
as deputies to Marcus Marcellus, to his win-
ter-quarters ; and, when they were admitted to
an audience, one of them addressed him in this
manner : " Marcus Marcellus, we would have
carried our remonstrances into Italy to you,
while you were consul, immediately after the
passing of that severe, if we may not call it un-
just, decree of the senate concerning us, had
we not entertained the hope, that being sent
into a province full of disturbance, in conse-
quence of the death of their kings, to maintain
a war of difficulty against the united forces of'
the Sicilians and Carthaginians, we might, by
our wounds and blood, have made satisfaction
to the anger of the senate, as, in the memory
of our fathers, our countrymen, taken by Pyr-
rhus at Heraclea, made atonement by their
exertions in arms against the same Pyrrhus.
Yet, conscript fathers, for what demerit on our
part did you then conceive, or do you now re-
tain, displeasure against us ? Addressing you,
Marcus Marcellus, I consider myself as ad-
dressing both the consuls and the whole senate ;
for had you been our consul at Cannae, both
our affairs and those of the public would have
been in a happier state. Suffer me, then, I
beseech you, before I complain of the hardship
of our situation, to clear ourselves of the guilt
which is laid to our charge. If the cause
of our ruin at Cannae was not the wrath of
the gods, nor the decree of fate, under whose
laws the immutable series of human events is
carried on in a regular chain, but misconduct
in some, to whom, I pray you, is that miscon-
duct to be imputed ? To the soldiers, or to
the commanders ? As a soldier, I shall cer-
tainly never say any thing of my commander,
especially since I know that thanks have been
given him by the senate, for not having de-
spaired of the Commonwealth, and that, since
his flight from Cannae, he has been continued
in command through every succeeding year.
We have heard, moreover, that others who
saved their lives on that melancholy occasion,
and who were then our military tribunes, sue
I.

for, and administer offices of honour, and hold
the command of provinces : is it, conscript fa-
thers, that you easily grant pardon to your-
selves, and to your offspring, while you inexor-
ably pour vengeance on our worthless heads ?
Was it no disgrace for a consul, and other
chiefs of the state, to fly, when no other hope
was left ; and did you send your soldiers into
the field, under a particular obligation to die
there ? At the Allia, almost the whole army
fled ; at the Caudine forks, the troops, without
even attempting opposition, surrendered to the
enemy ; not to mention other and shameful de-
feats. Nevertheless, so far were those armies
from having any mark of ignominy contrived
for them, that the city of Rome was recovered
by means of those very troops who bad fled
from the Allia to Veii ; and the Caudine le-
gions, who had returned without arms to Rome,
being sent back armed into Samnium, sent
under the yoke that very enemy who had so
lately exulted in their disgrace. But can any
one make a charge of cowardice, or running
away, on the troops who fought in the battle
of Cannae, in which more than fifty thousand
men fell ; from which the consul made his
escape with only seventy horsemen ; and from
which no one brought away his life, who does
not owe it to the enemy's being fatigued with
killing? At the time when the proposal
of ransoming the prisoners was rejected,
people, in general, bestowed praises on
us, for having reserved ourselves for the
use of the commonwealth, for having gone
back to the consul to Venusia, and formed
an appearance of a regular army. Now
we are in a worse condition than were
those taken by an enemy in the time of our
fathers : for, in their case, there was only an
alteration made in their arms, in their station
in the army, and in the place where they were
to pitch their tents in camp ; all which, how-
ever, they reversed, at once, by a strenuous
exertion in the service of the public, by one
successful battle. None of them were sent
into banishment ; not one was precluded from
the hope of serving out his legal term, and
gaining a discharge ; in short, they were brought
face to face with an enemy, in fighting whom
they might at once put an end either to their
life or their dishonour. We, to whom nothing
can be imputed, except that our conduct was
the cause that any one Roman soldier survived
the battle of Cannae, are driven away to a dis-
3 U

522

THE H ISTORY

[HOOK xxvr.

tance, not only from our native country, and
from Italy, but even from an enemy, to a place
where we may grow old in exile, shut out from
all hope, all opportunity of obliterating our dis-
grace, or of appeasing the wrath of our coun-
trymen, or, in fine, of dying with honour.
However, we seek not either an end of our ig-
nominy, or the rewards of valour ; we desire
only permission to give a proof of our spirit,
and to exercise our courage ; we seek labour
and danger, that we may discharge the duties of J
men, and of soldiers. This is now the second
year, during which war is maintained in Sicily
with great vigour on both sides; the Cartha-
ginians conquer some cities, the Romans others ;
armies of infantry, and of cavalry, engage in
battle ; the operations are carried on at Syra-
cuse by land and by sea ; we plainly hear the
shouts of the combatants, and the din of their
arms, while we lie inactive and torpid, as if we
had neither hands nor armour. With legions
composed of slaves, the consul Tiberius Sem-
pronius fought many pitched battles : they en-
joy the fruits of their labour, freedom, and the
rights of citizens. Let us be considered at
least as slaves, purchased for the purpose of
the present war. Let us be allowed to face
the enemy, and to acquire freedom in battle.
Do you choose to try our courage on sea, or on
land ; in the field, or in assaultirtg towns ? Our
petition is for the most arduous'enterprises, the
greatest labour, and the utmost danger : that
what ought to have happened at Cannae, may
happen as soon as possible, since the whole
remainder of our lives, from that day, has been
doomed to shame."

VII. At the conclusion of this speech they
prostrated themselves at Marcellus's feet.
Marcellus told them, that a business of that
sort lay not within his authority, or his power ;
that he would write to the senate, and govern
himself, in every particular, by the judgment of
that body. His letter on the subject was
brought to the new consuls, and read by them
in the senate, when the matter being taken into
consideration, a decree was passed to this pur-
pose, that " the senate sawno reason why the in-
terests of the commonwealth should be intrusted
to men who had deserted their fellow-soldiers
in battle at Cannae. That if Marcus Claudius,
the proconsul, was of a different opinion, he
should act as he might judge consistent with
the public good and his own honour ; provided

that none of those persons should be excused
from labour, or receive any military present iti
reward of courage, or be brought home to Italy
while the enemy had any footing there." Af-
ter this, in pursuance of a decree of the senate,
and an order of the people, an assembly of elec-
tion was held by the city praetor, in which were
created five commissioners for repairing the
walls and towers, and two sets of triumvirs ;
one, to search for the effects belonging to the
temples, and register the offerings ; the other,
to repair the temples of Fortune, and mother
Matuta, within the Carmental gate, and like-
wise that of Hope, on the outside of the gate,
which had been consumed by fire the year be-
fore. There were dreadful storms at this time :
on the Alban mount, a shower of stones lasted,
without intermission, for two days ;• many pla-
ces were struck with lightning ; two buildings
in the capitol, the rampart of the camp above
Suessula, in many places, and two of the men
on guard were killed. A wall and some towers
at Cumae were not only struck, but demolished
by lightning. At Reate, a huge rock was seen
to fly about, and the sun appeared more red
than usual, and of a colour like blood. On
account of these prodigies there was a supplica-
tion for one day, the consuls employing them-
selves, for several others, in the performance ot
religious rites ; at the same time solemn wor-
ship was performed, during nine days. The
revolt of the Tarentines, after having been long
hoped for by Hannibal, and apprehended by the
Romans, happened to be accelerated by a cause
which originated at a distance : a Tarentine,
named Phileas, had been a long time at Rome
under the pretext of political business. Being
a man of restless disposition, and conceiving
that he was losing his active powers during his
stay in that city, he contrived to gain access to
the hostages from Tarentum, who were kept in
the court of the temple of liberty, and guarded
Tvith the less care, because it was not the in-
terest either of themselves or of their state to
impose upon the Romans. Having, after fre-
quent conversations, procured their concurrence
in his scheme, and bribed two of their keepers,
he brought them out of their confinement in
the beginning of the night, and fled hi company
with them. As soon as day arrived, the news
of their escape spread through the city, and a
party, sent in pursuit of them, seized them all
at Tarracina and brought them back. They

v. R. 540.]

OF ROME.

523

were led into the comitium, and with the ap-
l>ri ili.itioii of the people scourged with rods, and
thrown down from the rock.

VIII. The cruelty of this punishment exas-
perated the inhabitants of the two most consi-
derable (Jrecian cities in Italy, both as com-
munities, and as individuals connected in rela-
tion, or friendship, with the persons thus put to
death. A conspiracy was formed in conse-
quence, by about thirteen of the young nobility
at Tarentum, at the head of whom were Nico
and Philemenus. Judging it necessary, before
they took any step, to confer with Hannibal,
they went out of the city by night, under pre-
tence of hunting, and repaired to the place
where he lay. When they came within a small
distance of his camp, the rest concealed them-
selves in a wood near the road, while Nico and
Phileuicnus, proceeding to the advanced guard,
were taken into custody, and, at their own re-
quest, conducted into the presence of Hannibal.
When they had laid before him the reasons for
their undertaking, and what they intended to
perform, they received high commendations,
and a profusion of promises ; and were desired,
in order to make their countrymen believe that
they came out of the city in search of plunder,
to drive home before them some cattle belong-
ing to the Carthaginians, which had been turned
into pasture : at the same time, assurance was
given them, that they might do it with safety,
and without a dispute. Such a booty acquired
by the young men was much noticed, and peo-
ple wondered the less at their frequently re-
peating the same kind of enterprise. At ano-
ther meeting with Hannibal, a covenant was
solemnly ratified, that the Tarentines should,
together with freedom, retain their own laws,
and all their rights ; that they should neither
pay any kind of tribute to the Carthaginians,
nor, without their own consent, receive a gar-
rison from them ; but that the present garri-
sons, when overpowered, should be put into
the hands of the Carthaginians. After the
terms were thus settled, Philemenus continued
his practice of going out, and returning into the
city, by night, with still greater frequency, at-
tended by dogs and other requisites for hunt-
ing, of \\ hich he was remarkably fond ; then,
bringing home something, which he either took
himself in the chase, or carried off from the
enemy, who laid it purposely in his way, he
generally presented it to the commander, or to
the watchmen at the gates, who supposed that

he chose to pass particularly by night, through
fear of surprise. When this practice had now
become so customary, that, at whatever time of
night he gave the signal by a whistle, the gate
would be opened, Hannibal thought it was time
to put their design into execution. He lay at
the distance of three days' journey, and, in or-
der that his keeping his camp fixed in one and
the same spot, for such a length of time, might
create the less wonder, feigned himself sick.
Even the Romans in garrison at Tarentum had
now ceased to look with suspicion on his re-
maining so long inactive.

IX. But when he determined to go on to
Tarentum, choosing out of the infantry and
cavalry ten thousand men, who, in activity of
body, and lightness of their armour, seemed
best qualified for expedition, he began his march
at the fourth watch of the night ; having first
detached about eighty Numidian horsemen,
with orders to scour the country on each side
of the road, examining every place carefully,
lest any of the people who might observe his
approach from a distance should escape : to
bring back such ns were before them on the
way, and to kill all whom they met, in order
that the neighbouring inhabitants might have
reason to suppose it a plundering party, rather
than an army. Hannibal, after marching with
rapid speed, pitched his camp at the distance of
about fifteen jniles from Tarentum : nor did he,
even there, discover to the soldiers their desti-
nation, only giving it in charge not to suffer any
one to turn aside, or quit the line ; and, above
all, to keep their attention alert to receive or-
ders, and to do nothing without the command
of their officers ; adding, that in due time he
would let them know what he wished to be done.
About the same hour, a report had reached
Tarentum, that a small number of Numidian
horsemen were ravaging the lands, and had
spread terror among the inhabitants through a
great part of the country : but the Roman com-
mander paid no farther regard to this intelli-
gence, than to order a party of cavalry to go out
very early next morning, to stop these depreda-
tions ; and, so far was he from increasing his
vigil ance in other respects, that, on the contrary,
he c onsidered this inroad of the Numidians as a
proof, that Hannibal and his army had not stirred
from their camp. Early in the night, the Car-
thaginian put his troops in motion, and Phile-
menus, witli his usual burthen, taken in hunt-
ing, served him as a guide, while the rest uf

524

THE HISTORY

[[BOOK xxv.

the conspirators waited for the concerted sig-
nals. It had been settled among them, that
Philemenus, bringing in his game through the
gate where he was accustomed to pass, should
introduce some men in arms, while Hannibal
should, on another side, approach the gate cal-
led Temenis, which, being about the middle of
the land side, faced towards the east, and near
which, within the walls, stood some tombs,
where Nico waited his arrival. On approach-
ing the place, Hannibal, according to agree-
ment, raised up a fire, and made it blaze. The
same signal was returned by Nico, and then the
fires were extinguished on both sides. Han-
nibal led on his men in silence to the gate.
Nico, falling suddenly on the guards, who were
fast asleep, slew them in their beds, and threw
the gate open. Hannibal then entered with his
infantry, but ordered the cavalry to halt without,
in order that if occasion should require, they
might have open ground to act in. At the
same time, Philemenus, on the other side, drew
nigh the postern through which he had usually
passed, and his signal, which had now become
familiar, with his well known voice, saying that
he was hardly able to bear the weight of a huge
beast he had killed, soon brought out a watch-
man, and the gate was opened. While two
young men carried in a boar, he himself fol-
lowed with a huntsman unencumbered, and
while the watchman, astonished at the size of
the animal, turned incautiously to those who
carried it, he ran him through with a hunting
spear. About thirty armed men then pushed
in, slew the rest of the watchmen, and broke
open the next gate, through which a band of
soldiers in array immediately burst in. These
were conducted thence in silence, to the forum,
and there joined Hannibal. The Carthaginian
now sent the Taren tines of his party, with two
thousand Gauls, formed in three divisions,
through the several parts of the city with or-
ders to take possession of the most frequented
streets, and, on a tumult arising, to kill the
Romans every where, and spare the townsmen.
But to render this practicable, he gave direc-
tion to the young Tarentines, that whenever
they saw any of their countrymen at a distance,
they should bid them be quiet and silent, and
fear nothing.

X. Now all was tumult and uproar as usual
in a city newly taken, but how occasioned, no
one knew with certainty. The Tarentines
supposed that the Romans had risen in arms to

sack the city ; the Romans, that an insurrec-
tion, with some treacherous intent, had taken
place among the townsmen. The commander
being roused at the beginning of the disturb-
ance, fled away to the port, and getting into a
boat was carried round to the citadel. The
consternation was increased by the sound of a
trumpet heard from the theatre : it was a Ro-
man one, procured before hand by the conspi-
rators for this purpose, and being unskilfully
blown by a Greek, it was impossible to discover
who gave that signal, or to whom it was given.
When day appeared, the sight of the Cartha-
ginian and Gallic arms removed all doubt from
the minds of the Romans ; and, on the other
side, the Greeks, seeing these lie slaughtered in
every quarter, perceived that the city was taken
by Hannibal. When the light became more
clear, and the Romans, who survived the car-
nage, had fled into the citadel, the tumult began
gradually to subside, then Hannibal ordered the
Tarentines to be called together without their
arms. They all attended, some few excepted,
who had accompanied the Romans in their
retreat into the citadel, resolved to share every
fortune with them. Here Hannibal addressed
the Tarentines in terms of much kindness ; re-
minded them of his behaviour to their country-
men, whom he had taken at the Thrasimenus or
Cannae, inveighing, at the same time, against the
overbearing tyranny of the Romans. He then
ordered each to retire to his own house, and to
write his name on the door ; because, on a sig-
nal shortly to be given, he would order every
house, not so inscribed, to be plundered ; ad-
ding, that if any should write his name on the
habitation of a citizen of Rome, (for the Ro-
mans lived in houses of their own,) he should
be treated as an enemy. The assembly was
then dismissed, and as soon as the doors were
marked with inscriptions, so as to distinguish
the houses of friends from those of enemies,
the signal was given, and the troops spread
themselves through all parts of the town to plun-
der the quarters of the Romans, in which a
considerable booty was found.

XI. On the following day he led on his for-
ces to attack the citadel ; but found, that on
the side towards the sea, which flows almost
round it, forming it into a peninsula, it was
defended by very high rocks, and, on the
side towards the town, by a wall, and a very
large ditch ; and that consequently it was
impregnable, either in the way of assault, or

Y. n. 540.]

OF ROME.

525

by regular approaches. Not choosing either
to bo detained from more important business,
by taking on himself the care of defending the
Tarentines, or in case he left them without a
strong garrison, to put it in the power of the
Romans to attack them from the citadel when-
ever they pleased, he determined to cut off the
communication between the citadel and the
city by a rampart. Besides, he entertained
some hopes, that the Romans, attempting to
hinder this, might be brought to an engage-
ment, and that, should they sally forth with
more than ordinary eagerness, great numbers of
them might be cut off, and the strength of the
garrison, thereby reduced to such a degree, that
the Tarentines could alone defend the city
against them. As soon as the work was be-
gun, the garrison, suddenly throwing open one
of the gates, made an attack on the workmen.
The guards there stationed suffered themselves
to be beaten off, in order that the others might
grow bolder on success, and that great numbers
of them might join the pursuit, and advance to
a greater distance. This they did : when on a
signal given, the Carthaginians, whom Hanni-
bal had kept in readiness for this purpose,
rushed forward on all sides. The Romans
were unable to withstand their onset ; while
the narrowness of the ground, and the difficul-
ties caused by the part of the work already
begun, and the implements collected for carry-
ing it on, obstructed their hasty flight, so that
most of them tumbled headlong into the ditch,
and more lives were thus lost than in the battle.
The work was then carried on without any
farther obstruction. A ditch of vast dimen-
sions was dug, and on the inner side of
that a rampart thrown up. It was resolved
likewise to add, at a small distance behind,
and in the same direction, a wall, so that even
without a garrison the townsmen might be able
to secure themselves against any attack of the
Romans. Hannibal, however, left a company
to serve as such, and at the same time to assist
in completing the wall ; and then, marching out
with the rest of his forces, he encamped at the
river Galesus, about five miles distant from the
city. From this post he returned to inspect
the work, and finding that it had advanced
much more briskly than he had expected, con-
ceived hopes of being able even to make him-
self master of the citadel, which is not secured,
like other fortresses of the kind, by height of
situation, but built on level ground, and divided

from the city only by a wall and a trench.
The approaches were now pushed forward
with every kind of machinery, when a rein-
forcement, sent from Metapontum, inspired
the Romans with courage to assail the works
of the enemy, by surprise, in the night. Some
of them they levelled, others they destroyed by
fire, and this put an end to Hannibal's attacks
on the citadel in that quarter. His only pros-
pect of success was now in a blockade, and
that not very flattering, because the citadel
being seated on a peninsula, commanded the
entrance of the harbour, and had the sea open ;
while the city was of course debarred from the
importation of provisions, and the besiegers
were in more danger of want than the besieged.
Hannibal, colling together the chiefs of the
Tarentines, enumerated all the present diffi-
culties, and added, that " he could neither see
any way of storming so strong a fortress, nor
place any hope in a blockade, as long as the
enemy had the command of the sea. But if he
were possessed of ships, by means of which he
could prevent the introduction of supplies, the
garrison would speedily either abandon the
place, or surrender." In this the Tarentines
agreed with him ; but they were of opinion,
that " he who offered the counsel ought like-
wise to offer aid to put it in execution : for,
if the Carthaginian ships were called over from
Sicily, they would be able to effect the pur-
pose ; as to their own, which were shut up in
a narrow creek, how could they, while the ene-
my commanded the harbour's mouth, ever
make their way into the open sea ?" — " They
shall make their way," said Hannibal : " many
things, difficult in their nature, are mode easy
by good management. Your city lies in a
plain ; very wide and level roods stretch out to
every side ; by that which runs across the mid-
dle of the city, from the harbour to the sea, I
will, without much labour, cany over your
ships on waggons. The sea, now in possession
of the foe, will then be ours ; we will invest the
citadel on that side, and on this by hind ; or ra-
ther, we will shortly take possession of it, for
the garrison will either abandon it, or surrender
themselves with it." This discourse excited
not only hopes of the design being accomplish-
ed, but the highest admiration of the general's
skill. Immediately waggons were collected
from all parts, and fastened together ; machines
were applied to haul up the ships, and the
road was repaired, in order that the vehicles

526

THE HI STORY

[BOOK xxv

might meet the less obstruction in passing.
Beasts for drawing, with a number of men, were
then procured ; the work was commenced with
briskness, so that, in a few days, the fleet,
equipped and manned, sailed round the citadel,
and cast anchor just before the mouth of the
harbour. In this state Hannibal left affairs at
Tarentum, and returned to his winter quarters.
Whether the defection of the Tarentines took
place in this, or the preceding year, authors
are not agreed : the greater number, and those
who lived nearest to the time of these transac-
tions, represent it as having happened as here
stated.

XII. At Rome, the Latine festival detained
the consuls and praetors until the fifth of the
calends of May : on that day, having completed
the solemnities on the mount, they set out for
their respective provinces. A new perplexity,
respecting religious matters, afterwards occur-
red, arising from the divinations of Marcius.
This Marcius had been a celebrated soothsayer,
and when, in the preceding year, an inquiry
after such books as regarded them was made,
according to the decree of the senate, his had
come into the hands of Marcus Atilius, the city
praetor, who was employed in that business, and
he had handed them over to the new praetor
Sulla. Of two predictions of this Marcius,
one, on account of its verity, for it was actually
fulfilled, procured credit to the other, the time
of whose completion had not yet arrived. In
the former of these, the defeat at Cannae was
foretold, nearly in these words : " Roman of
Trojan race, fly the river Canna?, lest foreigners
compel thee to fight in the plain of Diomede.
But thou wilt not believe me until thou fillest
the plain with blood, and the river carry many
of thy thousands slain from the fruitful land
into the great sea. To fishes, and birds, and
beasts of prey inhabiting the earth, to these,
thy flesh be food. For so has Jupiter said to
me." Those who had served in the army in
those parts recollected the plains of the Argive
Diomede and the river Cannae, as well as the
defeat itself. The other prophecy was then
read -. it was more obscure ; and the expression
more perplexed : — " Romans, if you wish to
expel the enemy, and the ulcer which has come
from afar, I direct, that games be vowed to
Apollo, and that they be performed in honour
of that deity, every year, with cheerfulness.
When the people shall have granted a particular
sum out of the public fund, let private persons

contribute, each according to his ability. At the
performance of these games, that prtetor will
preside who shall hold the supreme administra-
tion of justice in respect to the people and com-
mons. Let the decemvirs sacrifice victims after
the Grecian mode. If you do these things
properly you shall ever rejoice, and your state
will improve ; for Apollo will extirpate your
foes who quietly feed on your plains." They
took one day to explain this prophecy, and on
the following, a decree of the senate was passed,
that the decemvirs should examine the books
concerning the performance of games and sac-
rifices to Apollo. When the examination was
made, and the result reported to the senate,
they voted, that games should be vowed to
Apollo, and that when these should be finished,
ten thousand asses in weight1 should be given
to the praetor to defray the expences of the pub-
lic worship, and also two victims of the larger
sort." By another decree they ordered, " that
the decemvirs should sacrifice according to the
Grecian rites, and with the following victims :
to Apollo, with a gilded steer ; to Diana, with
two white gilded goats ; and to Latona, with a
gilded heifer." The praetor, when about to
exhibit the games in the great circus, published
a proclamation, that the people should, during
those games, pay in their contributions, pro-
portioned to their ability, for the service of
Apollo. This was the origin of the Apollin-
arian games, which were vowed and performed
for the attaining of success, and not of health,
as is generally supposed. At the exhibition ot
the games all wore garlands, the matrons made
supplications, and people in general feasted in
the courts of their houses, with their doors
open ; and the day was solemnized with every
kind of religious ceremony.

XIII. While Hannibal was in the neighbour-
hood of Tarentum, both the consuls continued
in Samnium, showing every appearance of an
intention to besiege Capua. The inhabitants
of that city began already to feel a Calamity,
usually attendant on long sieges, a famine, the
consequence of their having been hindered by
the Roman armies from tilling their lands.
They therefore sent deputies to Hannibal,
entreating that, before the consuls should march
the legions into their country, and all the
roads should be occupied by their parties,
he would order corn to be conveyed into

1 32L 5*. lOrf.

Y. H. .vi o. ;

OF ROME.

527

Cnpim from the neighbouring plat-en. On tliis,
Hannibal immediately commanded Hantiu to
march away with his army from Hnittmm into
( ampania, and to take care that the Capuans
should be well supplied with corn. Hanno,
on leaving Bruttium, was careful to avoid the
camps of the enemy, and the consuls who were
in Samnium : and coming near Beneventum,
encamped on an elevated spot, three miles from
that town. From thence he issued orders that
the com collected in the summer should be
brought in from the states of that country, who
were of his party, to his camp, and appointed
troops to escort the convoys. He then sent
an express to the Capuans, fixing a day on
which they should attend, to receive the corn,
with the carriages of all kinds, and beasts of
burthen, which they could collect. This busi-
ness the Campanians conducted with their
usual carelessness and indolence ; little more
than forty carriages were sent, and with them
a few beasts of burthen : for which they were
sharply rebuked by Hanno, who observed, that
even hunger, which kindled a spirit in dumb
beasts, could not stimulate those people to ac-
tive diligence ; however, he appointed another
day, when they were to come for the corn with
more sufficient means of conveyance. The
people of Beneventum being informed of every
particular of these transactions, instantly des-
patched ten deputies to the consuls encamped
near Bovianum, who, as soon as they heard
what was going on at Capua, agreed between,
themselves, that one of them should lead his
army into Campania ; and accordingly, Ful vi-
us, to whose lot that province had fallen, set-
ting out by night, marched into the town of
Beneventum. Here, the distance being short,
he quickly learned, that Hanno had gone out
with a division of his army to forage ; that the
business of delivering the corn to the Capuans
was managed by a quaestor ; that two thousand
-arts had arrived, attended by a disorderly un-
armed rabble ; that every thing was done with
hurry and confusion, and that the regularity of
acamp, and military subordination were entirely
banished by the intermixture of such a number
of peasants. This intelligence being sufficiently
authenticated, the consul issued orders that the
soldiers should get in readiness, against the
next night, their standards and arms, as he in-
tended to attack the Carthaginian camp. Leav-
ing all their knapsacks and baggage at Benevcn-
lain, they began their march at the fourth

watch ; and arriving, a little before day, at the
camp, struck such terror there, that if it had
stood on level ground, they might undoubtedly
have taken it at the first assault : it was pro-
tcctcd by the height of its situation, and its
fortifications, which could not be approached
on any side, except by a steep and difficult
ascent.

XIV. At the dawn of day a furious battle
commenced : the Carthaginians not only main-
tained their rampart, but, having the advantage
of the ground, tumbled down the enemy as
they climbed up the steeps ; nevertheless, the
obstinate courage of the latter overcame all
obstacles, and they made their way in several
parts at once up to the rampart and trenches,
but at the expense of many wounds, and a
great loss of men. The consul, therefore, call-
ing together the military tribunes, told them,
that " this inconsiderate attempt must be given
up, and that he judged it the safer course to
carry back the army, immediately, to Beneven-
tum, and then on the day following, to pitch
bis camp so close to that of the enemy, as to
put it out of the power, either of the Campa-
nians to go out, or of Hanno to return into it ;
and that, in order to effect this with the greater
ease, he should send for his colleague, and the
army tinder his command ; and that they should
direct their whole force to that point." This
plan of the general was disconcerted, after the
retreat began to sound, by the shouts of the
soldiers, expressing their scorn of such pusil-
lanimous orders. Close to one of the enemy's
gates was a Pelignian cohort, whose command-
er, Vibius Accuaeus, snatched the standard, and
threw it over the rampart ; uttering impreca-
tions on himself and the cohort, if they left
their ensign in the bands of the enemy. He
then rushed forwards, across the ditch and
rampart, into the camp. The Pelignians now
fought within the rampart, when Valerius
Flaccus, a military tribune of the third legion,
began upbraiding the Romans with dastardly
behaviour, in yielding up to the allies the hon-
our of taking the camp. On this, Titus
Pedanius, first centurion, and who command-
ed the first century, snatching the ensign from
the standard-bearer, cried out, " This stan-
dard, too, .and I your centurion, will instantly
be within the rampart ; let those follow who
wish to save the same from falling into the ene-
my's hands." Then crossing the ditch, he was
followed, first, by the men of his own ee Uury,

628

THE HISTORY

EBOOK xxv.

and, afterwards, by the whole legion. The
consul now, seeing them mount the rampart,
altered his design, and instead of calling off the
troops, exerted himself to incite and animate
them; representing the imminent hazard and
danger to which that very gallant cohort of their
allies, and a legion of their own countrymen,
were exposed. On which they one and all,
with the utmost ardour, regardless whether the
ground was easy or difficult, pushed onwards
through every obstacle ; and, in spite of the
showers of weapons, which fell on every side,
and of all the opposition which the enemy with
their arms and bodies could give them, forced
their way in. Many even of the wounded,
and of those whose blood and strength began
to fail them, struggled forward, that they might
fall in the camp of the enemy. It was en-
tered therefore in as short a space as if it had
stood in a plain, and had no fortification to
protect it. Both armies being now shut up
together within the rampart, the sequel was a
carnage, not a fight ; upwards of six thousand
of the enemy were slain, and above seven thou-
sand taken, together with the Campanians who
came for the corn, and all their train of wag-
gons and beasts of burthen. There was also
great abundance of other booty, which Hanno
and nis plunderers had collected out of the
lands of the states in alliance with the Roman
people. After demolishing the enemy's camp,
the army returned to Beneventum, and there
the consuls (for Appius Claudius came thither
in a few days after), divided and sold the spoil.
Those who were chiefly instrumental in this
affair, particularly Accuaeus the Pelignian, and
Titus Pedanius first centurion of the third
legion, received honorary presents. Hanno,
who was then at Caminium, in the territory of
Caeres, on being informed of the loss of his
camp, returned with the small party of foragers
which he had with him, into Bruttium, in a
manner more like a flight than a march.

XV. The Campanians, when informed of
the disaster which had fallen on them and their
allies, despatched deputies to Hannibal, to ac-
quaint him, that "the two consuls were at
Beneventum, within one day's march of Capua ;
so that the war might almost be said to be close
to their gates and walls. That unjess he af-
forded them speedy succour, Capua would fall
into the enemy's power in a shorter time than
Arpi had done. That even Tarentum, taken
in its whole extent, not to speak of its citadel,

ought not to be deemed of such consequence,
as to induce him to neglect the defence of
Capua, (a city which he used to compare to
Carthage,) and to throw it into the hands ot
the Roman people." Hannibal promised to
pay due attention to the affairs of the Cam-
panians ; and, for the present, sent with their
deputies a body of two thousand horsemen, to
assist them in protecting their lands from de-
predations. Meanwhile, the Romans, among
the variety of their other concerns, were not
disregardful of the citadel of Tarentum, and
the garrison besieged in it. By direction of
the senate, Caius Servilius, lieutenant-general,
was sent by Publius Cornelius, praetor, into
Etruria, to purchase corn ; with which having
loaded several vessels, he passed through the
guard ships of the enemy, and arrived in the
port of Tarentum. His coming produced such
a change in their disposition, that they who, a
little before, when their hopes of relief were
small, had frequently, in conferences, been so-
licited by the Carthaginian to desert the Ro-
man cause, began now to solicit him to come
over to them. The garrison was abundantly
strong, for the troops stationed at Metapontum
had been brought hither for the defence of the
citadel. The Metapontines being hereby freed
from the restraint under which they had been
held, instantly revolted to Hannibal ; as did
the Thurians, on the same coast, induced, not
only by the example of the Tarentines and
Metapontines, with whom they were connect •
ed by consanguinity, being originally descended
from natives of the same country of Achaia,
but principally by resentment against the Ro-
mans, for the late execution of the hostages.
The friends and relations of these sent letters
and messages to Hanno and Mago, who were
at no great distance in Bruttium, that if they
brought their army near the walls, they would
deliver the city into their hands. There was a
small garrison at Thurium commanded by Mar-
cus Atinius, and they supposed that he might
be easily tempted to engage rashly in a battle ;
not from any confidence in his own troops,
(for they were very few,) but from relying on
the support of the young men of the place,
whom he had purposely formed into companies
and armed, that he might have them ready to
aid him in exigencies of the kind. The Car-
thaginian commanders, dividing their forces, en-
tered the territory of Thurium ; and then Han-
no, at the head of the infantry, in hostile array,

v. R. 540.]

OF ROME.

5L>9

advanced towards the city ; while Mago, with \
the cavalry, halted under the cover of some !
hills, which stood conveniently for concealing
the stratagem. Atim'us learning nothing from
his scouts but the march of the infantry, and
ignorant both of the treachery within the city, j
and of the enemy's ambush, led out his forces
to battle. The infantry engaged without any '
degree of vigour, the only exertions being made
by the few Romans in front, the Thurians
rather waiting for the issue, than taking any
part in the action, while the Carthaginian line
retreated on purpose to draw the incautious
enemy to the back of the hill, where their horse
was posted. No sooner did they arrive here,
than the cavalry, rushing on with loud shouts,
inatbitly put to flight the crowd of Thurians,
who were almost ignorant of discipline, and
not very faithfully attached to the party on
whose side they appeared. The Romans, not-
withstanding their being surrounded, and hard
pressed, by the infantry on one side, and the
cavalry on the other, maintained the fight for
a considerable time : at last, they also turned
their backs, and fled towards the city. Here
the conspirators were collected together in a
body, and received with open gates the multi-
tude of their countrymen j but when they saw
the routed Romans making towards them, they
cried out, that the Carthaginians were close at
hand, and if the gates were not speedily closed,
the enemy, and all together, would pour in.
In this manner they shut out the Romans, and
left them to perish by the sword. Atinius,
however, with a few others, gained admittance.
A dispute now arose, and lasted for some time,
one party maintained that they ought to defend
the city, another, that they ought to yield to
fortune, and surrender it to the conquerors.
But, as is too often the case, bad counsels pre-
vailed. They conveyed Atinius, with a few
attendants, to the ships near the shore, which
they did out of 'personal regard to liimself, and
on account of the justice and mildness of his
conduct in command, rather than out of good-
will to the Romans, and then opened their
gates to the Carthaginians. The consuls led
their legions from Beneventum into the terri-
tory of Campania, with the intention not only
of destroying the corn, which was now in the ;
blade, but of laying siege to Capua ; hoping to
signalize their consulate by the destruction of
so opulent a city, and, at the same time, to
tree their government from the great shame of
I.

suffering a revolt so near home to pass unpun-
ished during the space of three years. But,
that Beneventum should not be without a gar-
rison, and that, in case of sudden emergencies,
if Hannibal should come to Capua to succour
his allies, as they had no doubt but he would,
there might be a body of cavalry to oppose his,
they ordered Tiberius Gracchus to come from
Lucania to Beneventum, with his horse and
light infantry, and to appoint some officer to
command the legions in camp, in order to pre-
serve peace in Lucania.

XVI. While Gracchus was performing sa-
crifices, preparatory to his departure from Lu-
cania, a prodigy of disastrous import occurred :
when a victim was killed, two snakes, creeping
up from some hiding-place to the entrails, eat
the liver, and, after being seen by all present,
suddenly vanished. It is even said, that when,
by advice of the aruspices, the same sacrifice
was repeated, and the pots containing the en-
trails were more carefully watched, the snakes
came a second, and a third time, and after eat-
ing the liver, went away unhurt. Though the
diviners gave warning, that this portent con-
cerned the general, and that he ought to be on
his guard against secret enemies, and plots, yet
his impending fate could not be averted by any
effort of prudence. Thcre^was a Lucanian,
called Flavins, the head of that division of his
countrymen who adhered to the Romans when
the other went over to Hannibal ; and he was,
in that year, in the chief magistracy, having
been elected praetor by his party. This man
changing his mind on a sudden, and seeking some
means of ingratiating himself with the Cartha-
ginian, did not think it enough to draw his coun-
trymen into a revolt, unless he ratified the league
between him and the enemy with the head and
blood of his commander, to whom he was also
bound by ties of hospitality, and whom, not-
withstanding, he determined to betray. He
held a private conference with Mago, who
commanded in Bruttium, and having received
from him a solemn promise, that if he would
deliver the Roman general into the hands of
the Carthaginians, the Lucanians should be
received into friendship, and retain their own
laws and their liberty, he conducted tli<
thaginian to a spot, whither, he said, he would
bring Gracchus with a few attendants. He
then desired Mago to arm both horsemen and
footmen, and to take possession of that retired
place, where a very large number might be con-
3X

530

THE HISTORY

[BOOK xxr.

cealed. After thoroughly examining the same
on all sides, they appointed a day for the exe-
cution of the plan. Flavius then went to the
Roman general, and told him, that " he had
made some progress in an affair of great con-
sequence, to the completion of which the
assistance of Gracchus himself was necessary.
That he had persuaded all the praetors of those
states in Lucania, who, during the general de-
fection in Italy, had revolted to the Carthagi-
nians, to return into friendship with the
Romans, alleging that the power of Rome,
which, by the defeat at Cannae, had been brought
to the brink of ruin, was every day improving
and increasing, while Hannibal's strength was
declining, and had sunk almost to nothing.
That, with regard to their former transgression,
the Romans would not be implacable ; for never
was there a nation more easily appeased, and
more ready to grant pardon ; and asking, how
often had their own ancestors received pardon
of rebellion ? These things," he said, " he had
represented to them ; but that it would be more
pleasing to them to hear the same from Grac-
chus himself : to be admitted into his presence,
and to touch his right hand, that they might
carry with them that pledge of faith. , He had
fixed a place," he said, " for the parties to meet
remote from observation, and at a small dis-
tance from the Roman camp ; there the busi-
ness might be finished in a few words, and the
alliance and obedience of the whole nation of
Lucania secured to the Romans." Gracchus,
not perceiving, either in this discourse, or in
the proposition itself, any reason to suspect
perfidy, and being imposed on by the plausi-
bility of the tale, left the camp with his lictors
and one troop of horse, and, following the
guidance of his guest, fell precipitately into the
snare. The enemy at once rose from their
ambush, and, what removed all doubt of
treachery, Flavius joined himself to them.
Weapons were now poured from all sides on
Gracchus and his horsemen. He immediately
leaped down from his horse, ordered the rest to
do the same, and exhorted them, " as fortune
had left them but one part to act, to dignify
that part by their bravery. To a handful of
men, surrounded by a multitude in a valley
hemmed in by woods and mountains, what else
was left than to die? The only alternative
they had was, either tamely waiting their blows,
to be massacred, like cattle, without the plea-
sure of revenge or with minds totally abstract-

ed from the thoughts of pain or of what the
issue might be, and actuated solely by resent-
ment and rage, to exert every vigorous and
daring effort, and to fall covered with the blood
of their expiring foes. " He desired that " all
should aim at the Lucanian traitor and deserter ;"
adding, that " whoever should send that vic-
tim before him to the infernal regions, would
acquire distinguished glory, and the greatest
consolation for his own loss of life." While
he spoke thus, he wrapped his robe about his
left arm, (for they had not even brought buck-
lers with them,) and then rushed on the mur-
derers. The fight was maintained with greater
vigour than could have been expected, consider-
ing the smallness of the number. The Ro-
mans, whose bodies were uncovered and expos-
ed, on all sides, to weapons thrown from the
higher grounds into a deep valley, were mostly
pierced through with javelins. Gracchus, be-
ing now left without support, the Carthagini-
ans endeavoured to take him alive ; but, observ-
ing his Lucanian guest among them, he rushed
with such fury into the thickest of the band,
that they could not seize him without the loss
of many lives. Mago immediately sent his
body to Hannibal, desiring that it should be
laid, with the fasces taken at the same time,
before the general's tribunal. This is the true
account of the matter : Gracchus was cut
off in Lucania, near the place called the Old
Plains.

XVII. Some lay the scene of this disaster
in the territory of Beneventum, at the river
Calor, where, they say, he went from the camp
to bathe, attended by his lictors and three ser-
vants; that he was slain by a party of the
enemy, who happened to be lurking in the
oziers which grew on the bank, while he was
naked and unarmed, attempting, however, to
defend himself with the stones brought down
by the river. Others write, that, by direction
of the aruspices, he went out half a mile from
the camp, that he might expiate the prodigies
before-mentioned in a place free from 'defile-
ment, and that he was surrounded by two troops
of Numidians, who were lying in wait there.
So far are writers from agreeing with regard
either to the place or the manner of the death
of a man so renowned and illustrious. There are
also various accounts of his funeral : some say
that he was buried by his own men in the Ro-
man camp ; others, whose account is more
generally received, that a funeral pile was

>. R. 540.1

OF ROME.

531

erected for him by Hannibal, at the entrance of
the Carthaginian camp, and that the troops un-
der arms inarched in procession round it, with
the dances of the Spaniards, and the several
motions of their arms and bodies peculiar to
«-arh nation ; while Hannibal himself joined in
solemnizing his obsequies with every mark of
respect, both in the terms in which he spoke
of him, and in the manner of performing the
rites. Such is the relation of those who state
the affair as having happened in Lucania, If
those are to be believed who affirm that he was
killed at the river Calor, the enemy kept pos-
SOMOII of Gracchus's head only, which being
brought to Hannibal, he immediately sent Car-
thalo to convey it into the Roman camp to
Cneius Cornelius, the quaestor; solemnizing
the funeral of the general in his camp, in the
performance of which the Beneventans joined
with the soldiers.

XVIII. The consuls, having entered the
Campanian territories, spread devastation on
all sides, but were soon alarmed by the towns-
men, in conjunction with Mago and his caval-
ry, marching hastily out against them. They
called in the troops to their standards, from the
several parts where they were dispersed ; but,
before they had completed the forming of their
line of battle, they were put to the rout, and
lost above fifteen hundred men. On this suc-
cess, that people, naturally disposed to arro-
gance, assumed the highest degree of confi-
dence, and endeavoured to provoke the Romans
by frequent skirmishes : but the battle, into
which they had been incautiously drawn, had
rendered the consuls more circumspect. How-
ev«T, the spirit of their party was revived, and
the boldness of the other diminished, by an oc-
currence, in itself, of a trivial nature, but that,
in war, scarcely any incident is so insignificant,
that it may not, on some occasion, give cause
to an event of much importance. A Campa-
nian, called Badius, had been a guest of Titus
Quintius Crispinus, and lived on terms of the
closest friendship and hospitality with him, and
their intimacy had increased in consequence of
Crispinus having, in his own house at Rome,
given very kind and affectionate attendance to
Badius in a fit of sickness which he had there
before the defection of Campania. This Ba-
dius, now, advancing in front of the guards
posted before one of the gates, desired that
Crispinus might be called : on being told of it,
Crispinus, retaining a sense of private duties

even after the dissolution of the public treaties,
imagined that his old acquaintance wished for
an amicable interview, and went out to some
distance. As soon as they came within sight
of each other, Badius cried out, " Crispinus, I
challenge you to combat : let us mount our
horses, and, making the rest keep back, deter-
mine which of us is superior in arms." To
which Crispinus answered, that " they were
neither of them at a loss for enemies, on whom
they might display their valour ; that, for his
part, should he even meet him in the field of
battle, he would turn aside, to avoid imbruing
his hands in the blood of a guest ;" he then at-
tempted to go away. Whereupon, the Campa-
nian, with greater passion, upbraided him as a
coward ; casting on him undeserved reproaches,
which might with greater propriety have been
applied to himself, at the same time charging
him as being an enemy to the laws of hospi-
tality, and as pretending to be moved by con-
cern for a person to whom he knew himself
unequal ; he said, that " if not sufficiently con-
vinced, that, by tha rupture of the pubb'c trea-
ties, private obligations were at the same time
dissolved, Badius the Campanian, now, in pre-
sence of all, in the hearing of the two armies,
renounced all connections of hospitality with
Titus Quintius Crispinus, the Roman. He
was under no bond of society with him ; an
enemy had no claim of alliance on an enemy,
whose country, and whose tutelary deities, both
public and private, he had come to invade : if
he were a man, he would meet him." Crispi-
nus hesitated long ; but at last, the men of his
troop persuaded him not to suffer the Campa-
nian to insult him with impunity. Wherefore,
waiting only to ask leave of the generals to
fight, out of rule, with one who gave him a
challenge, with their permission he took arms,
mounted his horse, and calling Badius by name,
summoned him to the combat. The Campa-
nian made no delay, and they encountered in
full career: Crispinus passing his spear over
Badius's buckler, ran it through his left shoulder,
and, on his falling in consequence of the wound,
dismounted in order to despatch him as he lay,
but Badius, to avoid impending death, left his
horse and his buckler, and ran off to his own par-
ty. Crispinus seized the horse and arms, and
with these glorious badges of victory, and
with his Woody weapon held up to view, waa
conducted by the soldiers, amidst praises and
congratulations, to the consuls, from whom be

532

THE HISTORY

EBOOK xxv.

received ample commendations and honourable
presents.

XIX. Hannibal marched from the territory
of Beneventum to Capua, and, on the third day
after his arrival there, drew out his forces to
face the enemy, confident that after the Cam-
panians had a few days before, without his as-
sistance, fought them with success, the Romans
would be much less able to withstand him and
his army, which had so often defeated them.
When the battle began, the Roman army was
in danger of being worsted, in consequence,
principally, of a charge made by the enemy's
cavalry, who overwhelmed them with darts,
until the signal was given to their own cavalry
to charge ; and now the contest lay between the
horse, when Sempronius's army, commanded
by the quaestor Cneius Cornelius, being descried
at a distance, gave an equal alarm, each party
fearing that it was a reinforcement coming to
his antagonist. The signal of retreat was there-
fore given on both sides, as if by concert ; and
quitting the field on almost equal terms, they
retired to their several camps : the Romans,
however, had lost the greater number of men
by the first onset of the horse. Next night the
consuls, in order to draw Hannibal from Capua,
marched away by different routes, Fulvius to
the territory of Cumae, Appius Claudius into
Lucania. On the day following, when Han-
nibal was informed that the Romans had for-
saken their camp, and gone off in two divisions,
by different roads, he hesitated at first, consi-
dering which of them he should pursue ; and
at length determined to follow Appius, who,
after leading him about through whatever track
he chose, returned by another road to Capua.
Hannibal met, in that part of the country, an
unlooked for opportunity of striking an impor-
tant blow : there was one Marcus Centenius,
surnamed Penula, distinguished among the cen-
turions of the first rank both by the size of his
body, and by his courage : this raan, who had
served his time in the army, being introduced
to the senate by the praetor, Publius Cornelius
Sulla, requested of the senators to grant him
the command of five thousand men, assuring
them, that " being thoroughly acquainted both
with the enemy and the country, he would
speedily perform something that should give
them satisfaction ; and that the same wiles, by
which hitherto the Roman commanders used
to be entrapped, he would practise against the
inventor of them." The folly of this proposal

was equalled by the folly with which it was as-
sented to ; as if the qualifications of a centu-
rion and a general were the same. Instead of
five, eight thousand men were granted him, half
citizens and half allies ; besides these, he col-
lected in his march through the country a con-
siderable number of volunteers ; and, having
almost doubled the number of his army, he ar-
rived in Lucania, where Hannibal, after a vain
pursuit of Appius, had halted. There was no
room for doubt about the result of a contest
between such a captain as Hannibal, and a
subaltern ; in short, between armies, of which
one was become veteran in a course of con-
quest, the other entirely new raised, for the
most part undisciplined and but half armed.
As soon as the parties came within view of each
other, neither declining an engagement, the
lines were instantly formed. Notwithstanding
the disparity of the forces, the battle was main-
tained in a manner unprecedented under such
circumstances, the Roman soldiers, for more
than two hours, making the most strenuous ef-
forts, as long as their commanders stood : but
he, anxious to support his former reputation,
and dreading moreover the disgrace which would
afterwards fall on him if he survived a defeat
occasioned by his own temerity, exposed him-
self rashly to the weapons of the enemy, and
was slain ; on which the Roman line immediately
fell into confusion, and gave way. But even
flight was now out of their power, for so effec-
tually had the enemy's cavalry shut up every
pass, that out of so great a multitude, scarcely
a thousand made their escape ; the rest, meet-
ing destruction on every side, were all cut off in
various ways.

XX. The consuls resumed the siege of Ca.
pua with the utmost vigour, and took measures
for procuring and collecting every thing requi-
site for carrying it on. A magazine of corn
was formed at Casilinum j a strong post was
fortified at the mouth of the Vulturnus, where
now stands a city ; and a garrison was put into
Puteoli, formerly fortified by Fabius Maximus,
in order to secure the command both of the
river, and of the sea adjoining. The corn lately
sent from Sardinia, and that which the prater
Marcus Junius, had bought up in Etruria, was
conveyed from Ostia into these two maritime
fortresses, to supply the army during the win-
ter. Meanwhile, in addition to the misfortune
sustained in Lucania, the army of volunteer
slaves, who, during the life of Gracchus, had

Y. n. 540.]

OF ROM E.

performed their duty with the strictest fidelity,
supposing themselves at liberty by the death
of tlu'ir commander, forsook their standards,
dud disbanded. Hannibal, though not inclined
to neglect Capua, or to abandon his allies at
such a dangerous crisis, yet, having reaped
such signal advantage from the inconsiderate
conduct of one Roman commander, was induc-
ed to turn his attention to an opportunity which
offered of crushing another. Some deputies
from Apulia informed him, that Cneius Ful-
vius the prcetor, had at first, while engaged in
the sieges of several cities of that country,
which had revolted to Hannibal, acted with
care and circumspection ; but that afterwards,
in consequence of an overflow of success, both
himself and his men being glutted with booty,
had so entirely given themselves up to licen-
tiousness, that they neglected all military disci
pline. Wherefore, having on many other occa-
sions, and particularly a few days before, learned
from experience how little formidable an army
was when under an unskilful commander, he
inarched away into Apulia.

XXI. Fulvius and the Roman legions lay
near Herdonia, where intelligence no sooner ar-
rived that the enemy was approaching, than the
troops were very near snatching up their stan -
dards, and marching »ut tobattle without the prae-
tor's orders ; and the suffering themselves to be
restrained was owing to the opinion entertained
by them, that they might act as they chose.
During the following night, Hannibal, who had
learned the disorder in their camp, and that
most of them, calling the whole to arms, had
presumptuously insisted on their commander's
giving the signal, concluded with certainty,
that he should now have an opportunity of
fighting with advantage. He posted in the
houses all around, and in the woods and
thickets, three thousand light-armed soldiers,
who, on notice given, were suddenly to quit
their concealments ; at the same time ordering
Mago, with about two thousand horsemen, to
secure all the passes on that side, to which he
supposed the enemy would direct their flight.
Having made these preparatory dispositions
during the night, at the first dawn of day he
led out his forces to the field : nor did Fulvius
decline the challenge, though not so much led
by any hope conceived by himself, as forcibly
drawn by the blind impetuosity of his men.
The line was therefore formed with the same
inconsiderate hurry with which they came out

of the camp, just as the humour of the soldiers
directed ; for each, as he happened to come up,
took whatever post he liked, and afterwards,
either as whim or fear directed, forsook that
post The first legion, and the left wing,
were drawn up in front, extending the line in
length ; and, notwithstanding the loud remon-
strances of the tribunes, that it was not deep
enough to have any strength or firmness, and
that the enemy would break through wherever
they attacked, so far were they from paying
attention, that they would not even listen to
any wholesome advice. Hannibal now came
up, a commander of a very different character,
and with an army neither of a like kind, nor
marshalled in like manner. The Romans con-
sequently withstood not their first attack.
Their commander, in folly and rashness equal
to Centenius, but far his inferior in spirit, as
soon as he saw the matter going against him,
and his men in confusion, hasily mounted his
horse, and fled with about two hundred horse-
men. The rest of the troops, vanquished in
front, and surrounded on the flanks and rear,
were put to the sword, in such a manner, that
out of eighteen thousand men, not more than
two thousand escaped. The camp fell into
the enemy's hands.

XXII. The news of these defeats, happen-
ing so quickly after one another, being brought
to Rome, filled the minds of the public with
much grief and consternation. However, as
the consuls were hitherto successful in their
operations in the quarter where the principal
stress of the war lay, the alarm occasioned by
these misfortunes was the less. The senate
despatched Caius Lsetorius and Marcus Meti-
lius deputies to the consuls, with directions,
that they should carefully collect the remains of
the two armies, and use their endeavours to
prevent them from surrendering to the enemy,
through fear and despair, as bad been the case
after the defeat at Canine ; and that they
should make search for the deserters from the
army of the volunteer slaves. The same
charge was given to Publius Cornelius, who
was also employed to raise recruits; and he
caused proclamation to be made at all the fairs
and markets, that the slaves in question should
be searched for, and brought back to their stan-
dards. All this was executed with the strictest
care. Appius Claudius, the consul, after fixing
Decius Junius in the command at the mouth of
the Vulturnus, and Marcus Aurelius Cotta at

534

THE HISTORY

[BOOK xxv

Puteoli, with orders that when any ships should
arrive from Etruria and Sardinia, to send ofl
the corn directly to the camp, went back him-
self to Capua, where he found his colleague
Quintus Fulvius busy in bringing in supplies
of all kinds from Casilinum, and making every
preparation for prosecuting the siege of Capua.
They then joined in forming the siege, and
also sent for Claudius Nero, the praetor, from
the Claudian camp at Suessula ; who, leaving
behind a small garrison to keep possession ot
the post, marched down with all the rest of his
forces to Capua. Thus there were three prae-
torian pavilions erected round that city, and the
three armies, commencing their operations in
different quarters, proceeded to inclose it with
a rampart and trench, erecting forts at mode-
rate distances ; so that when the Campanians
attempted to obstruct their works, they fought
them, in several places at once, with such suc-
cess, that, at last, the besieged confined them-
selves within their walls and gates. However,
before these works were carried quite round,
the towsmen sent deputies to Hannibal, to
complain of his abandoning Capua, and deli-
vering it, in a manner, into the hands of the
Romans ; and to beseech him, now at least,
when they were not only invested, but even
pent up, to bring them relief. The consuls
received a letter from Publius Cornelius the
praetor, that " before they completed the cir-
cumvallation of Capua, they should give leave
to such of the Campanians as chose it, to re-
tire from the town and carry away their effects
with them. That as many as withdrew before
the Ides of March should enjoy their liberty
and their property entire : but that both those
who withdrew after that day, and those who
remained in the place, should be treated as
enemies." This notice was accordingly given
to the Campanians, who received it with such
scorn, that they answered with reproaches, and
even menaces. Hannibal had led his legions
from Herdonia to Tarentum, in hopes that,
either by force or stratagem, he might gain
possession of the citadel of that town ; but,
being disappointed therein, he turned his route
toward Brundusium, which he expected would
be betrayed to him. While he was wasting
lime here, also to no purpose, the deputies
from Capua came to him, bringing at the same
time their complaints, and intreaties for suc-
cour. To these Hannibal answered in an ar-
rogant style, that he had before raised the siege

of their town ; and that the consuls would not
now wait his coming. With this encouragement
the deputies were dismissed, and with difficulty
made their way back into the city, which was
by this time surrounded with a double trench
and a rampart.

XXIII. At the very time when the cir-
cumvallation of Capua was going on, the siege
of Syracuse came to a conclusion, having been
forwarded not only by the vigour and spirit of
the besieging general and his army, but also by
treachery within. For in the beginning of the
spring, Marcellus had deliberated some time,
whether he should turn his arms against Himil-
co and Hippocrates, who were at Agrigentum,
or stay and press forward the siege of Syracuse,
though he saw that the city could neither be
reduced by force, as being from its situation
impregnable by land or sea, nor by famine, as
supplies from Carthage had almost open access.
Nevertheless, that he might leave no expedient
untried, he had enjoined some deserters from
Syracuse, — many of whom of the highest rank
were then in the Roman camp, having been
banished when the defection from the Romans
took place, on account of their disapprobation
of the design of changing sides, — to confer
with persons of their own way of thinking,
to sound the temper of the people, and to give
them solemn assurances, that if the city were
delivered into his hands, they should live free
under their own laws. There was no oppor-
tunity of conversing on the subject, because
the great number of persons suspected of dis-
affection had made every one attentive and
vigilant to prevent any such attempt passing
unobserved. A single slave belonging to some
of the exiles, was sent as a deserter into the
city, and he, communicating the business to a
e\v, opened a way for negotiation of the kind.
After this, some few getting into a fishing boat,
and concealing themselves under the nets, were
carried round in this manner to the Roman
camp, where they held conferences with the
deserters ; and the same was done frequently,
n the same manner, by several other parties :
at last, the number amounted to. eighty, and
;heir plot was now ripe for execution, when a
)erson called Attalus, offended that some part
of the business had been concealed from him,
discovered their design to Epicydes, and they
were all put to death with torture. This pro-
ect, thus rendered abortive, was soon succeeded
i>y another •, one Damippus, a Lacedaemonian,

y. H. 540.]

OF ROME.

being sent from Syracuse to king Philip, had
been taken prisoner by the Roman fleet; Epicy-
des earnestly wished to ransom him in particular,
and from this Marcellus was not averse; for the
Romans, even at that time, were desirous of
procuring the friendship of the ./Etolians, with
which nation the Lacedaemonians were in alli-
ance. Some persons were accordingly deputed
to treat for his release, and the place judged
the most central and convenient to both parties
was at the Trogilian port, adjoining the tower
called Galeagra. As they came several times
to this spot, one of the Romans, having a near
view of the wall, by reckoning the stones, and
estimating, as far as he was able, the measure
of each in the face of the work, conjectured
nearly as to its height, and finding it consider-
ably lower than he or any of the rest had hitherto
supposed, so that it might be scaled with ladders
of even a moderate length, he represented the
matter to Marcellus. The information was
deemed not unworthy of attention, but as that
spot could not be openly approached, being, for
the very reason mentioned, guarded with par-i
ticular care, it was determined to watch for a
favourable opportunity : this was soon found,
through the means of a deserter, who brought
intelligence that the besieged were celebrating
the festival of Diana, which was to last three
days ; and as, in consequence of the siege, most
kinds of provisions were scarce, they indulged
themselves in greater quantities of wine, which
Epicydes supplied to the whole body of the
plebeians, and which was distributed among
the tribes by the people of distinction. Mar-
cellus, on hearing this, communicated his design
to a few military tribunes ; and having, by
their means, selected centurions and soldiers
properly qualified for an enterprise at once im-
portant and daring, he privately procured scaling
ladders, and ordered directions to be conveyed
to the rest of the troops, that they should take
their suppers early, and go to rest, because they
were to be employed on an expedition in the
night. Then, at the hour when he judged that
the people, who had begun to feast early in the
day, would be surfeited with wine, and begin
to sleep, he ordered the men of one company
to proceed with their ladders, while about a
thousand men in arms were with silence con-
ducted in a slender column to the spot. The
foremost having, without noise or tumult,
mounted the wall, the rest followed in order.

the boldness of the former giving courage even
to the timorous.

XXIV. This body of a thousand men had
now gained possession of a part of the city,
when the rest, bringing up greater numbers of
ladders, scaled the wall ; the first party having
given them a signal from the Hexapylos, to
which they had penetrated without meeting a
single person in the streets : for the greater
part of the townsmen, having feasted together
in the towers, were now either overpowered by
wine, and sunk in sleep, or, being half inebriat-
ed, still continued their debauch. A few of
them, however, who were surprised in their
beds, were put to death. Vigorous efforts
were then made to force open a postern gate
near the Hexapylos, and, at the same time, the
signal agreed on was returned from the wall by
a trumpet And now the attack was carried
on in all quarters, not secretly, but with open
force ; for they had reached the Epipolae, where
there were great numbers of the guards station,
ed, and it became requisite not to elude the
notice of the enemy, but to terrify them ; and
terrified they \vere -. for, as soon as the sound
of the trumpet was heard, and the shouts of the
troops who had mastered part of the city, the
guards thought that the whole was taken, and
some of them fled along the wall, others leaped
down from the ramparts, and crowds, flying in
dismay, were tumbled headlong. A great part
of the townsmen, however, were still ignorant
of the misfortune which had befallen them,
being all of them overpowered with wine and
sleep ; and in a city of such vast extent, what
happened in any one quarter, could not be very
readily known in all the rest. A little before
day, a gate of the Hexapylos being forced,
Marcellus, with all his troops, entered the city.
This roused the townsmen, who betook them-
selves to arms, endeavouring, if possible, to
preserve the place. Epicydes hastily led out
some troops ftom the island called Nasos, not
doubting but he should be able to drive out
what he conjectured to be a small party, and
which he supposed bad found entrance through
the negligence of the guards, telling the affright-
ed fugitives whom he met, that they were add-
ing to the tumult, and that they represented
matters greater and more terrible than they
were. But when he saw every place round
the Epipohc filled with armed men, he waited
only to discharge a few missive weapons, and

THE HISTORY

[BOOK xxv.

marched back into the Achradina dreading not
so much the number and strength of the enemy,
as that some treachery might, on such an oppor-
tunity, take place within, and that he might
find the gates of the Achradina and the island
shut against him. When Marcellus entered
the gate, and had from the high grounds
a full view of the city, the most beau-
tiful perhaps of any in those times, be is
said to have shed tears, partly out of joy at
having accomplished an enterprise of such im-
portance, and partly from the sensations excited
by reflecting on the high degree of renown
which the place had enjoyed through a long
series of years. Memory represented to him
the Athenian fleet sunk there ; two vast armies
cut off with two generals of the highest reputa-
tion ; the many wars maintained against the
Carthaginians with such equality of success ;
the great number of powerful tyrants and kings,
especially Hiero, whom all remembered very
lately reigning, and who, besides all the distinc-
tions which his own merit and good fortune
conferred on him, was highly remarkable foi
his zealous friendship to the Roman people :
when all these reflections occurred to his mind,
and were followed by the consideration, that
every object then under his view would quickly
be in flames, and reduced to ashes, — thus re-
flecting, before he advanced to attack the Ach-
radina, he sent forward some Syracusans, who,
as has been mentioned, were within the Ro-
man quarters, to try if they could, by mild
persuasions, prevail on the Syracusans to sur-
render the town.

XXV. The fortifications of the Achradina
were occupied by deserters, who could have no
hope of a pardon in case of a capitulation : these,
therefore, would not suffer the others to come
nigh the walls, nor to hold conversation with
any one. Marcellus, finding that no oppor-
tunity could offer of effecting any thing by per-
suasion, ordered his troops to move back to the
Euryalus. This is an eminence at the verge
of the city, on the side most remote from
the sea, commanding the road which leads
into the country and the interior parts of
the island, and therefore very commodious-
ly situate for securing admittance- to con-
voys of provisions. The commander of this
fortress was Philodemus, an Argive, stationed
here by Epicydes. To him Sosis, one of the
. rigicides, was sent by Marcellus with certain
propositions ; who, after a long conversation,

being put off with evasions, brought back an
account that the Argive required time for deli-
beration. He deferred giving any positive an-
swer from day to day, in expectation that Hip-
pocrates and Himilco, with their legions, would
come up ; and he doubted not that if he could
once receive them into the fortress, the Roman
army, hemmed in as it was within walJs, might
be effectually cut off. MarceHus, therefore,
seeing no probability of the Euryalus being
either surrendered or taken, encamped between
Neapolis and Tycha, parts of the city so named,
and in themselves equal to cities ; for he feared,
lest, if he went into the more populous parts,
the greedy soldiers might not, by any means,
be restrained from pillaging. Hither came de-
puties from the Neapolis and the Tycha, with
fillets and other badges of supplicants, praying
him to spare the lives of the inhabitants, and to
refrain from burning their houses. On the
subject of these petitions, offered in the form
of prayers rather than of demands, Marcellus
held a council ; and, according to the unani-
mous determination of all present, published
orders to the soldiers, to " offer no violence to
any person of free condition, but that they
might seize every thing else as spoil." The
walls of the houses surrounding his camp served
it as a fortification, and, at the gates facing the
wide streets, he posted guards and detachments
of troops, to prevent any attack on it while the
soldiers should be in search of plunder. On a
signal given, the men dispersed themselres for
that purpose ; and, though they broke open
doors, and filled every place with terror and
tumult, yet they refrained from bloodshed, but
put no stop to their ravages, until they had re-
moved all the valuable effects which had been
amassed there in a long course of prosperous
fortune. Meanwhile Philodemus, seeing no
prospect of relief, and receiving assurances that
he might return to Epicydes in safety, with-
drew the garrison, and delivered up the fortress
to the Romans. While the attention of all was
turned to the commotion in that part of the city
which was taken, Bomilcar, taking advantage
of a stormy night, when the violence of the
weather would not allow the Roman fleet to
ride at anchor in the deep, slipped out of the
harbour of Syracuse with thirty-five ships, and
finding the sea open, sailed forth into the main,
leaving fifty -five ships to Epicydes and the Sy-
racusans. After informing the Carthaginians
of the perilous state of affairs in Syracuse, he

v. n. 540.]

OF ROME.

537

returned thither, in a few days with a hundred
ships, when he received, as is said, many valu-
able presents from Epicydes out of the treasure
of Hiero.

XXVI. Marcellus, by gaining possession
of the Euryalus, and putting a garrison into it.
was freed from one cause of anxiety ; fo/ he had
apprehended that a body of the enemy's forces
might get into that fortress on his rear, and thence
annoy his troops, pent up, as they were, and
entangled among walls. He then invested the
Achradina, forming three camps in proper situa-
tions, in hopes, by a close blockade, of reduc-
ing it by a want of necessaries. The out-
guards, on both sides, had been quiet for several
days, when Hippocrates and Himilco suddenly
arrived ; and the consequence was an attack on
the Romans in different quarters at once.
For Hippocrates, having fortified a camp at
the great harbour, and given a signal to the
garrison in the Achradina, fell on the old camp
of the Romans, where Crispinus commanded ;
and, at the same time, Epicydes sallied out
against the ports of Marcellus, while the Car-
thaginian fleet warped in close to the shore,
which lay between the city and the Roman
station, in order to prevent any succour being
sent by Marcellus to Crispinus. Their attacks,
however, caused more alarm than real injury ;
for Crispinus, on his .part, not only repulsed
Hippocrates from his works, but made him fly
with precipitation, and pursued him to some
distance : and, in the other quarter, Marcellus
beat back Epicydes into the town. It was
even supposed that enough was now done to
prevent any danger in future, from their making
sudden sallies. To other evils attendant on
the siege, was added a pestilence ; a calamity
felt by both parties, and fully sufficient to di-
vert their thoughts from plans of military
operations. It was now autumn ; the places,
where they lay, were in their nature unwhole-
some, but much more so on the outside of the
city than within ; and the heat was so intense,
as to impair the health of almost every person
in both the camps. At first, the insalubrity
of the season and the soil produced both sick-
nesses and deaths ; afterwards, the attendance
on the diseased, and the handling of them,
spread the contagion wide ; insomuch, that all
who were seized by it either died neglected and
forsaken, or, also infecting such as ventured to
take care of them, these were carried off also.
Scarcely any thing was seen but funerals ; and,

I.

both day and night, lamentations from every
side rang in their ears. At last, habituated to
these scenes of woe, they contracted such sa-
vageness, that, so far from attending the de-
ceased with tears and sorrowings, they would
not even carry them out and inter them, so that
they lay scattered over the ground in the view
of all, and who were in constant expectation of
a similar fate. Thus the dead contributed to
the destruction of the sick, and the sick to that
of the healthy, both by the apprehensions
which they excited, and by the contagion and
noisome stench of their bodies; while some,
wishing rather to die by the sword, singly as-
sailed the enemy's posts. But the distemper
raged with much greater fury in the Carthagi.
nian camp than in that of the Romans : for the
hitter, by lying so long before Syracuse, wen-
become more hardened against the air and the
rains. Of the enemy's troops, the Sicilians, as
soon as they saw that the spreading of the dis-
temper was owing to an unhealthy situation,
left it, and retired to the several cities in the
neighbourhood, which were of their party : but
the Carthaginians, who had no place of retreat,
perished (together with their commanders,
Hippocrates and Himilco,) to a man. Mar-
cellus, when he perceived the violence of the
disorder increasing, had removed his troops into
the city, where, being comfortably lodged, and
sheltered from the inclemency of the air, their
impaired constitutions were soon restored : ne-
vertheless great numbers of the Roman soldiers
were swept away by this pestilence.

XXVII. The land forces of the Carthagi-
nians being thus entirely destroyed, the Sici-
lians, who had served under Hippocrates, col-
lected from their several states stores of provi-
sions, which they deposited in two towns, of
no great size, but well secured by strong situa-
tions and fortifications ; one three miles distant
from Syracuse, the other five ; and, at the same
time, they solicited succours. Meanwhile Bo-
milcar, going back again to Carthage with his
fleet, gave such a representation of the condi-
tion of the allies, as afforded hopes that it
might be practicable, not only to succour them
in such a manner as would ensure their safety,
but also to make prisoners of the Romans in
the very city which they had, in a manner, re-
duced ; and by this means he prevailed on the
government to send with him as many trans-
port vessels as could be procured, laden with
stores of every kind, and to make an addition
3 Y

538

THE HISTORY

[BOOK xxv.

to his own fleet. Accordingly he set sail with
a hundred and thirty ships of war, and seven
hundred transports, and met with a. wind very
favourable for his passage to Sicily, but the
same wind prevented bis doubling Cape Pa-
ehynum. The news of Bomilcar's arrival
first, and afterwards his unexpected delay,
gave joy and grief alternately both to the Ro-
mans and Syracusans. But Epicydes, dread-
ing lest, if the same easterly wind which then
prevailed should continue to blow for some
days longer, the Carthaginian fleet might sail
back to Africa, delivered the command of
the Achradina to the generals of the merce-
naries, and sailed away to Bomilcar. Him he
found lying to, with the heads of his vessels
turned towards Africa, being fearful of an en-
gagement with the enemy, not on account of
any superiority in their strength or number
of ships (for his own was the greater,) but
because the wind was the more advantage-
ous to the Roman fleet. With difficulty, then,
he prevailed on him to consent to try the issue
of a naval engagement. On the other side,
Marcellus, seeing that an army of Sicilians was
assembling from all quarters of the island, and
that the Carthaginian fleet was approaching
with abundance of supplies, began to fear, lest,
if he should be shut up in a hostile city, and
that every passage being barred both by land
and sea, he should be reduced to great distress.
Although unequal to the enemy in number of
ships, he yet determined to oppose Bomilcar's
passage to Syracuse. The two hostile "fleets
lay off the promontory of Pachynum, ready to
engage as soon as moderate weather should
allow them to sail out into the main. On the
subsiding of the easterly wind, which had blown
furiously for several days, Bomilcar first put
his fleet in motion, and his van seemed to make
out to sea with intent to clear the cape ; but,
when he saw the Roman bearing down on him,
and being suddenly alarmed, from what circum-
stance is not known, he bore away to sea, and
sending messengers to Heraclea, ordering the
transports to return to Africa, he sailed along
the coast of Sicily to Tarentum. Epicydes,
thus disappointed in a measure from which he
had conceived very sanguine hopes, and unwil-
ling to go back into the besieged city, whereof
a great part was already in possession of the
enemy, sailed to Agrigentum, where he pro-
posed rather to wait the issue of affairs than to
attempt any new enterprise.

XXVIIL When the Sicilians in camp were
informed of all these events, (that Epicydes
had withdrawn from Syracuse, that the Cartha-
ginians had abandoned the island, and, in a
manner, surrendered it a second time to the
Romans,) they demanded a conference with
those who were shut up in the town, and loam-
ing their inclinations, they sent deputies to
Marcellus, to treat about terms of capitulation.
There was scarcely any debate about the con-
ditions, which were,— that whatever parts of
the country had been under the dominion of the
kings should be ceded to the Romans ; and the
rest, together with independence, and their own
laws, should be guaranteed to the Sicilians.
Then the deputies invited the persons entrusted
with the command by Epicydes to a meeting,
and told them, that they had been sent by the
Sicilian army to them as well as to Marcel! us,
in order that those within the city, as well as
those without, should all share one fortune, and
that neither should stipulate any article separ-
ately, for themselves. From these they ob-
tained permission to enter the place, and con-
verse with their relations and friends, to whom
they recited the terms which they had already
adjusted with Marcellus j and, by the prospect
of safety which they held out to their view,
prevailed on them to unite in an attack on
Epicydes's generals, Polyclitus, Philistio, and
Epicydes, surnamed Syndos. These they put
to death, and then calling the multitude to an
assembly, and lamenting the famine they had
undergone, insisted, that " notwithstanding
they were pressed by so many calamities, yet
they had no reason to complain of fortune, be-
cause it was in their own power to determine
how long they would endure their sufferings.
The reason which induced the Romans to be-
siege Syracuse was, affection to its inhabitants,
not enmity. For when they heard that the
government was seized on by the partizans of
Hannibal, and afterwards by those of Hierony-
mus, Hippocrates, and Epicydes, they then
took arms, and laid siege to the city, with the
purpose of subduing, not the city itself, but
those who cruelly tyrannized over it. But
after Hippocrates had been carried off, EJJN
cydes excluded from Syracuse, his generals put
to death, and the Carthaginians expelled, and
unable to maintain any kind of footing in Sirily,
cither by fleets or armies, what reason r«>uld
the Romans then have for not wishing the
safety of Syracuse, as much as if Hiero him-

Y. R. 540.]

OF ROME.

<> singularly attached to the Roman inter-
est, were still ulivr? Nfitlu-r the city, there-
fore, nor the inhabitants, stood in any other
d:mircr than what they might bring on them-
sclrcs by neglecting UM opportunity of reeon-
ciliation \vith (lie Romans: but such another
opportunity they never could have, as that
which presented itself at that instant, on its
being once known that they were delivered
from their insolent tyrants."

XXIX. This discourse was listened to
with universal approbation ; but it was resolved
that, before any deputies should be appointed,
praetors should be elected : and then some of
the praetors themselves were sent deputies to
Marcellus. The person at the head of the
commission addressed him to this effect :
" Neither was the revolt, at the beginning, the
act of us Syracusans, but of Hieronymus,
whose conduct towards you was not near so
wicked as his treatment of us ; nor, afterwards,
was it any Syracusan, but Hippocrates and
Epicydcs, two instruments of the lute king,
who, while we were distracted between fear on
one &ide and treachery on the other, broke
through the peace established on the death of
the tyrant ; nor can any period be named, in
which we were at liberty, and were not at the
•ame time in friendship with you. At present
it is manifest, that as soon as ever, by the death
of those who held Syracuse in bondage, we
became our own masters, we have come, with-
out a moment's hesitation, to deliver up our
arms, to surrender ourselves, our city, and for-
tifications, and to refuse no conditions which
you shall think fit to impose. Marcellus, the
gods have given you the glory of taking the
most renowned and most beautiful of all the
Grecian cities ; whatever memorable exploits
we have at any time performed, either on land
or sea, all will go to augment the splendour of
your triumph. Let it not be your wish, that
men shall learn from tradition, how great a city
you have reduced, but rather, that the city it-
self may stand a monument to posterity, ex-
hibiting to the view of every one who shall ap-
proach it, by land or by sea, our trophies over
the Athenians and Carthaginians : then, yours
over us ; and that you may transmit Syracuse,
unimpaired, to your family, to be kept under
the patronage and guardianship of the race of
Marcelli. Let not the memory of Hierony-
mus weigh more with you, than that of Hiero.
The latter was much longer your friend, than

the former your enemy ; and, besides, you have
felt many effects of the kindness of the one,
while the other's madness tended only to bis
own ruin." From the Romans all their re-
quests were easily obtained, and their safety ran
no hazard from that quarter : there was more
danger from a hostile disposition among them-
selves ; for the deserters, apprehending that
they were to be delivered up to the Romans,
brought the auxiliary troops of mercenaries to
entertain the same fears. Hastily taking arms,
they first slew the praetors ; then spreading
themselves over the city, put to death in their
rage every person whom chance threw in their
way, pillaging every thing on which they could
lay hands. Afterwards, that they might not
lie without leaders, they created six pnefects,
three to command in the Achradina, and three
in the island. The tumult at length subsiding,
the mercenaries discovered, on inquiry, the
purport of the articles concluded on with
Marcellus, and then began to see clearly, what
was really the case, that their situation was
widely different from that of the deserters.
Very seasonably the deputies returned at this
time from Marcellus, and assured them, that
the suspicion which had provoked their fury
was groundless, and that the Romans had no
kind of reason to demand their punishment.

XXX. One of the three commanders in
the Achradina was a Spaniard, by name Mer-
icus. To sound him, a Spanish auxiliary in
the camp of the Romans was purposely sent in
the train of the deputies ; who, taking an op-
portunity when he found Mericus alone, first
informed him in what state he had left the
affairs of Spain, from whence he had lately
come ; that " every thing there was under sul>-
jection to the Roman arms :" and added, " that
it was in his power, by some service of impor-
tance, to become distinguished among his
countrymen ; whether it were that he chose to
accept a commission in the Roman army, or to
return to his native country. On the other
hand, if he persisted in attempting to hold out
the siege, what hope could he entertain, when
he was so closely invested both by sea and
hind ?" Mericus was so much affected by
these arguments, that, when it was determined
to send deputies to Marcellus, be appoint^1,
as one of them, his own brother, who being
conducted by the same Spaniard to a secret
interview with Marcellus, and having re-
ceived satisfactory assurances from him, and

540

THE HISTORY

[BOOK xxv.

concerted the method of conducting the busi-
ness they had planned, returned to the Achra-
dina. Then Mericus, with design to prevent
all suspicion of treachery, declared, that " he
did not approve of deputies thus going back-
wards and forwards ; that none such ought to
be received or sent ^ and that the guard might
be kept with the stricter care, the proper posts
ought to be divided among the praefects, so that
each should be answerable for the safety of bis
own quarter." Every one approved of this
division of the posts ; and the tract which fell
to his own lot, was that from the fountain
Arethusa, to the mouth of the great harbour :
of this he apprised the Romans. Marcellus
therefore gave orders, that a transport ship, full
of soldiers, should be towed in the night, by the
barge of a quadrireme, to the Achradina ; and
that they should be landed opposite to the gate
which is near the said fountain. This being
executed at the fourth watch, and Mericus
having, according to concert, admitted the sol-
diers into the gate, Marcellus, at the first light,
assaulted the walls of the Achradina with all
his forces, by which means he not only engaged
the attention of those who guarded it, but
caused several battalions to flock thither from
the island, quitting their own posts to repel the
furious assault of the Romans. While this
alarm was at the height, some light gallies,
prepared beforehand, sailed round, and landed
a body of troops on the island ; and these,
making an unexpected attack on the half-
manned posts, and the open gate, without
much difficulty made themselves masters of the
island ; for it was abandoned to them by the
garrison, who fled in consternation. The de-
serters maintained their ground with no more
steadiness than these ; for, being diffident in
some degree even of each other, they betook
themselves to flight during the heat of the con-
flict. When Marcellus learned that the island
was taken, that one quarter of the Achradina
was in possession of his troops, and that Meri-
cus had joined them with the party under his
command, he sounded a retreat, lest the royal
treasure, which fame represented much larger
than it was, should be rifled by the soldiers.

XXXI. The impetuosity of the soldiers
being restrained, the deserters in the Achra-
dina found time and opportunity to escape.
The Syracusans, at length delivered from their
fears, opened the gates of the fortress, and sent
an humble deputation to Marcellus, asking

nothing more than their own lives, and those
of their children. Marcellus summoned a
council, to which he likewise invited those
Syracusans who, having been driven from
home in consequence of the disturbances in
the city, had remained in the Roman quar-
ters ; and he gave the deputies this answer,
that, " the friendly acts of Hiero, through
a space of fifty years, were not more in
number than the injuries committed against
the Roman people within a few years past,
by those who were in possession of Syra-
cuse. But most of these had recoiled on
the heads where they ought to fall ; and those
people had inflicted on each other much more
severe punishments for their infraction of trea-
ties, than the Romans would have wished.
That he bad, indeed, laid siege to Syracuse,
and prosecuted it through the three last years,
not with design that the Roman people might
keep that state in servitude to themselves, but
that the leaders of the deserters might not hold
it under captivity and oppression. What part
the Syracusans might have acted for the pro-
moting of this design, was manifest from those
of their countrymen who were within the Ro-
man quarters ; from the conduct of the Spanish
general Mericus, who surrendered the quarter
under his command ; and from the late, indeed,
but resolute measure adopted by themselves.
That the advantages accruing to him, from all
the toils and dangers by sea and land, which he
had undergone through such a length of time
under the Syracusan walls, were by no means
equal to what Syracuse might have procured to
itself." The quaestor was then sent with a
guard to the island, to receive and secure the
royal treasure ; and the city was given up to
the troops to be plundered, sentinels being first
placed at the several houses of those who had
staid in the Roman quarters. While number-
less horrid acts of rage and of avarice were
perpetrated, it is related that in the violence of
the tumult, which was as great as greedy sol-
diers ever caused in sacking a captured city,
Archimedes, while intent on some geometrical
figures which he had drawn in the sand, was
slain by a soldier, who knew not who he was ;
that Marcellus lamented his death, and gave
him an honourable funeral ; and that inquiry
also made for his relations, to whom his
name and memory proved a protection and an
honour. In this manner nearly, way Syracuse
taken, and in it such a quantity of booty, aa

Y. R. 540.]

OF ROME.

541

Carthage, which waged an equal contest with
Rome, would scarcely have afforded at that
time. A few days before the conquest of
Syracuse, Titus Otacilius, with eighty quin-
queremes, sailed over from Lilybeum to Utica,
and, entering the harbour before day, seized a
number of transports laden with com ; he then
landed his troops, ravaged a great part of the
country round the city, and brought back
to his fleet much booty of all kinds. On
the third day from his departure, he re-
turned to Lilybanim, with an hundred and
thirty vessels filled with corn and spoil.
He sent off their cargoes immediately to Syra-
cuse, where, if this supply had not arrived so
seasonably, both the conquerors and the van-
quished were threatened alike with a destructive
famine.

XXXII. As to the affairs of Spain, near
two years had passed without any thing very
material being done, and the business of the
war consisted rather in scheming than in acting ;
but now, the Roman generals, quitting their
winter-quarters, united their forces, and a coun-
oil being held, all concurred in opinion that,
since their sole object had hitherto been to de-
tain Hasdrubal from the prosecution of his
intended march into Italy, it was now time to
think of an end to the war in Spain ; and they
trusted that their strength was rendered ade-
quate to the undertaking, by the addition of
thirty thousand Celtiberians, whom they had,
during the preceding winter, engaged to join
their arms. There were three armies of the
enemy : one under Hasdrubal, son of Gisgo,
and another under Mago, were encamped to-
gether at the distance of about five days' march.
The third lay nearer, and was commanded by
Hasdrubal, son of Hamilcar, the oldest general
in Spain, who was posted near a city named
Anitorgis. Him the Roman general wished
to overpower first, and they were confident that
their strength was abundantly sufficient to effect
it : their only concern was, lest Hasdrubal and
Mago, dispirited by his retreat, might retire
into the inaccessible forests and mountains, and
thus protract the war. They therefore conclud-
ed, that it would be most advisable by separating
their forces, to extend the compass of their
operations, so as to comprehend the whole war
at once. Accordingly, they divided them in
such a manner, that Publius Cornelius was to
lead two-thirds of the Romans and allies against
Mago and Hasdrubal ; and C'neius Cornelius,

with the other third of the veteran troops, and
the Celtiberian auxiliaries, was to act against
the Barcine Hasdrubal. The commanders
began their march together, the Celtiberians
advancing before them, and pitched their camp
near the city of Anitorgis, within view of the
enemy, from whom they were separated by a
river. There Cneius Scipio, with the forces
before-mentioned, halted, and Publius Scipio
proceeded, according to bis allotment, to the
scene of action.

XXXIII. When Hasdrubal observed that
there were but few Roman soldiers in the camp,
and that all their dependance was on the Celti-
berian auxiliaries, being well acquainted with
the perfidious disposition of every barbarous
nation, and particularly of these, among whom
he had waged war for so many years, he con-
trived secret conferences with their leaders ;
for as both camps were full of Spaniards, an
intercourse was easy ; and with whom he con-
cluded a bargain, that, for a valuable consider-
ation they should carry away their troops. Nor
did this appear to them a heinous crime ; for it
was not required that they should turn their
arms against the Romans, and the hire given
for not fighting was as great as could be expect-
ed for fighting ; besides, rest from fatigue, the
returning to their homes, and the pleasure of
seeing their friends and families, all these were
matters highly agreeable to them, so that the
chiefs were not more easily persuaded than
were their followers. It was farther considered,
that they need not fear the Romans, whose
number was small, even if they should attempt
to detain them by force. It will ever, indeed,
be incumbent on Roman generals to avoi-J
carefully such kind of mistakes, and to consider
instances like this as powerful warnings, never
to confide so far in foreign auxiliaries, as not
to keep in their camps a superior force of their
native troops, and of their own proper strength.
The Celtiberians, on a sudden, took up their
standards and marched off, giving no other
answer to the Romans (who besought them to
stay,) than that they were called away by a war
at home. When Scipio saw that it was im-
possible to detain the auxiliaries either by in-
treaties or force ; that, without them, he was
unable either to cope with the enemy, or effect
a re-union with his brother ; and that there
was no other resource at hand, from which he
could hope for safety, he resolved to retreat as
far back as possible, avoiding, with the utmost

542

THE HISTORY

[BOOK xxv.

caution, any encounter with the enemy on equal
ground ; — for they had crossed the river, and
followed almost at the heels of his retreating
troops.

XXXIV. At the same time Publius Scipio
was surrounded with equal fears, and greater
danger, occasioned by a new enemy ; this was
young Masinissa, at that time an ally of the
Carthaginians, afterwards rendered illustrious
and powerful by the friendship of the Romans.
He with his Numidian cavalry, met Publius
Scipio as he approached, harassing him inces-
santly night and day. Not only were strag-
glers, who went to a distance from the camp
for wood and forage, intercepted by him, but
he would even ride up to the very intrench-
ments ; and often, charging into the midst of
the advance guards, fill every quarter with the
utmost confusion. In the night-time also, by
sudden attacks, he frequently caused terror-and
alarm at the gates, and on the rampart ; nor did
any place, or any time, afford the Romans re-
spite from fear and anxiety, confined as they
were within their trenches, and debarred from
procuring every kind of necessary, suffering al-
most a regular blockade ; and which they knew
would be still more close, if Indibilis, who was
said to be approaching, with seven thousand
five hundred Suessetanians, should join the
Carthaginians. Impelled by the inextricable
difficulties of his situation, Scipio, heretofore
a commander of known caution and prudence,
adopted the rash resolution of going out by
night to meet Indibilis, and to fight him. Ac-
cordingly, leaving a small guard in the camp,
under the command of Titus Fonteius, lieute-
nant-general, he marched out at midnight, and,
falling in with the enemy, began an engage-
ment. The troops encountered each other in
the order of march rather than of battle j how-
ever, irregular as the manner of fighting was,
the Romans had the advantage. But on a
sudden the Numidian cavalry, whose observa-
tion the general thought he had escaped, falling
on his flanks, struck great terror into the troops,
and, while they had this new contest to main-
tain, a third enemy fell upon them, the Cartha-
ginian generals coming up with their rear during
the heat of the battle. Thus the Romans were
assailed on every side, unable to judge against
which enemy they might besi direct their united
strength, in order to force a passage. While
their commander fought, and encouraged his
men, exposing himself to every danger, he was

run through the right side with a lance. The
party who made the attack on the band col-
lected about the general, when they saw Scipio
fall lifeless from his horse, being elated with
joy, ran shouting up and down through the
whole line, crying out, that the Roman com-
mander was killed ; which words clearly deters
mined the battle in favour of the enemy. The
latter, immediately on losing their general, be-
gan to fly from the field ; but though they
might have found no great difficulty in forcing
their way through the Numidians, and the other
light-armed auxiliaries, yet it was scarcely pos-
sible that they should escape from such a mul-
titude of cavalry, and of footmen who were
nearly equal to the horses in speed. Accord,
ingly, almost as many fell in the flight as in the
battle, nor probably would one have survived,
had not the night stopped the pursuit, it being
by this time late in the evening.

XXXV. The Carthaginian generals were
not remiss in making advantage of their good
fortune : without losing time after the battle,
and scarcely allowing the soldiers necessary
rest, they marched away, with rapid haste, to
Hasdrubal, son of Hamilcar, confidently assur-
ed, that after uniting their forces with his, they
should be able to bring the war to a speedy
conclusion. On their arrival at his camp, the
warmest congratulations passed between the
commanders and the armies, overjoyed at their
late successes, in which so great a general, with
his whole army, had been cut off, and they ex-
pected, as a matter of certainty, another victory
equally important. Not even a rumour of this
great misfortune had yet reached the Romans ;
but there prevailed among them a melancholy
kind of silence, and a tacit foreboding ; such a
presage of impending evil as the mind is apt to
feel when looking forward with anxiety. Cor-
nelius, after the desertion of the auxiliaries, had
nothing to dispirit him except the augmenta-
tion which he observed in the enemy's force,
yet was he led by conjectures and reasoning,
rather to entertain a suspicion of some disaster,
than any favourable hopes. " For how," said
he, "could Hasdrubal and Mago, unless de-
cisively victorious in their own province, bring
hither their army without opposition? And
how could it happen, that Publius had neither
opposed their march, nor followed on their
rear, in order that, if he found it impracticable
to prevent the junction of the enemy's armies,
he might, in any case, unite his forces with

v. it. 540.]

OF ROME.

543

- of liis lirutlitT." Instructed with these
perplexing thoughts, he could sec m> other
I i)l' safety lit piesrnt, than by retreating
us fast as possible. Accordingly, in the night,
and while the enemy, ignorant of his de-
parture, remained quiet, he performed a
march of considerable length. On the re-
turn of day, the enemy, perceiving that his
army had decamped, sent forward the Numi-
dians, and set out on the pursuit with all the
expedition in their power. Before night, the
Niimidians overtook them, and harassed them
with attacks, sometimes on the flanks, some-
times on the rear. They then begun to halt,
and defend themselves : but Scipio earnestly
exhorted them to fight and advance at the same
time, lest the enemy's infantry should overtake
them.

XXXVI. But as by this method of advan-
cing at one time, and halting at another, they
made but little progress on their way, and as
the night now approached, Scipio called in his
men, and collecting them in a body, drew them
off to a rising ground, not very safe indeed,
especially for dispirited troops, yet higher than
any of the surrounding grounds. Here the
infantry, receiving the baggage and the cavalry
into the centre, and forming a circle round
them, at first repelled, without difficulty, the
attacks of the Numidian skirmishers. After-
wards, the three regular armies of the enemy
approached with their entire force ; when the
general saw that without some fortification his.
men would never be able to maintain their post ;
he therefore began to look about, and consider
whether he could by any means raise a rampart
round it. But the hill was so bare, and the
surface so rocky, that not so much as a bush
was to be found which could be cut for palisa-
does, nor earth with which to raise a mound,
nor any means of forming a trench, or any other
work ; nor was any part of it such as to render
it of difficult approach or ascent, every side
arising with a gentle acclivity. However, that
they might place in the way of the enemy some
resemblance of a rampart, they tied the pan-
niers together, and building them as it were on
one another, formed a mound about their post,
throwing on bundles of every kind of baggage
where there was a deficiency of panniers for
raising it. When the Carthaginian armies came
to the place, they mounted the hill with perfect
e.i-is but were at first so surprised at this
strange appearance of a fortification, that they

halted, notwithstanding their officers every
where called out, and asked them, " why did
they stop, and not tear down and scatter about
that ridiculous work, scarcely strong enough to
stop women or children ;" adding, that " they
now had the enemy shut up an prisoners, and
hiding themselves behind their baggage." Such
were their contemptuous reproofs ; but it was
no easy matter either to climb over, or to re-
move, the bulky loads which lay in the way,
or to cut through the panniers so closely com-
pacted and buried under heaps of baggage. The
packages which obstructed them were at length
removed, and a passage opened to the troops ;
and the same being done in several parts, the
camp was forced on all sides, while the Re-
mans, inferior in number, and dejected by mis-
fortunes were every where put to the sword by
the more numerous enemy, elated with victory.
However, a great number of the soldiers fled
into the woods which lay at a small distance
behind, and thence made their escape to the
camp of Publius Scipio, where Titus Fonteius,
his lieutenant-general, commanded. Cneius
Scipio, according to some accounts, was killed
on the hill, in the first assault ; according to
others, he fled into a castle standing near the
camp ; this was surrounded with fire, and the
doors, which were too strong to be forced,
being thus burned, they were taken ; and all
within, together with the general himself, were
put to death. Cneius Scipio perished in the
seventh year after his coming into Spain, the
twenty-ninth day after the fall of his brother.
Their deaths caused not greater grief at Rome,
than in every part of Spain. Nay, among their
countrymen, the loss of the armies, the aliena-
tion of the province, the misfortune of the pub-
lic, challenged a share of their sorrow ; whereas
Spain lamented and mourned for the command-
ers themselves, and for Cneius even more than
for his brother, because he had been longer in
the government of their country, had earlier
engaged their affections, and was the first who
gave them a specimen of the Roman justice and
moderation.

XXXVII. The army was now supposed
to be utterly ruined, and Spain to be entirely
lost, when one man retrieved the Roman affairs
from this desperate condition : this was Lucius
Man-in-, son of Septimus, a Roman knight, a
young man of an enterprising temper, and of a
capacity which would do credit to a rank much
superior to that in which he was born. These

544

THE HISTORY

QBOOK xxv.

very great talents had been improved by the
discipline of Cneius Scipio, under which he
had, in a course of many years, acquired a
thorough knowledge of all the arts of war.
Collecting the soldiers after their dispersion in
the flight, and drafting others out of the garri-
sons, he formed an army far from contemptible,
with which he joined Titus Fonteius, the lieu-
tenant-general of Publius Scipio. Such a supe-
rior ascendancy was possessed by a Roman
knight in the respect and esteem of the soldiery,
that, after fortifying a camp on the hither side of
the Iberus, they determined that a commander
should be chosen for the two armies by the suf-
frages of the soldiers. On this, relieving each
other successively in the guard of the rampart
and other posts, until every one had given his
vote, they all concurred in conferring the chief
command on Lucius Marcius. The remaining
time of their stay there, which was but short,
was employed in strengthening the camp, and
collecting provisions ; the soldiers executing
every order not only with diligence, but with-
out betraying any dejection whatever. But
when intelligence was brought that Hasdrubal,
son of Gisgo, was coming to crush the last re-
mains of opposition ; that he passed the Iberus,
and was drawing near ; and when they saw the
signal of battle displayed by a new commander
— then, recollecting what captains and what
forces had used to support their confidence
when going out to fight, they all on a sudden
burst into tears, and beat their heads. Some
raised their hands towards heaven, taxing the
gods with cruelty; others, prostrate on the
ground, invoked by name each his own former
commander: nor could their lamentations be
restrained by all the efforts of the centurions,
or by the soothings and expostulations of Mar-
cius himself, who asked them, "why they
abandoned themselves to womanly and unavail-
ing tears, and did not rather summon up their
fiercest courage, for the common defence of
themselves and the commonwealth, and for
avenging their slaughtered generals ?" Mean-
while, on a sudden, the shout and the sound of
trumpets were heard, for the enemy were by
this time near the rampart ; and now their grief
being instantly converted into rage, they hasti-
ly snatched up their arms, and, as if instigated
by madness, ran to the gates, and made a furi-
ous attack on the forces, who were advancing
in a careless and irregular manner. This un-
expected reception immediately struck the

Carthaginians with dismay : they wondered
whence such a number of enemies could have
started up, since the almost total extinction of
their force ; whence the vanquished and routed
derived such boldness, such confidence in them-
selves ; what chief had arisen since the death
of the two Scipios ; who should command in
their camp ; who could have given the signal
for battle? Perplexed and astonished at so
many incidents, so unaccountable, they first
gave way ; and then, on being pushed with a
vigorous onset, turned their backs : and now,
either a dreadful havoc would have been made
among the flying party, or the pursuers would
have found their impetuosity turn out incon-
siderate and dangerous to themselves, had not
Marcius quickly sounded a retreat, and by
stopping them in the front, and even holding
back some with his own hands, repressed the
fury of the troops. He then led them into the
camp, with their rage for blood and slaughter
still unabated. The Carthaginians at first re-
treated precipitately from the rampart ; but
when they saw that there was no pursuit, they
imagined that the others had halted through
fear; and then, as if holding them in con-
tempt, they returned to their camp at an
easy pace. Conformable to the same notion
was their careless manner of guarding their
works ; for although the Romans were at hand,
yet they considered them merely as the remains
of the two armies vanquished a few days be-
fore : and, in consequence of this error, negli-
gence prevailed among the Carthaginians in
every particular. Marcius, having discovered
this, resolved on an enterprise, at first view
rather rash than bold ; which was, to go and
attack the enemy's post j for he considered tha
it would be easier to storm the camp of Has-
drubal while he stood single, than to defend his
own, in case the three generals and three armies
should again unite ; and besides, that, on one
hand, should he succeed in his attempt, be
would gain relief from the distresses that en-
compassed him, and, on the other, should he be
repulsed, yet his daring to make the attack
would rescue him from contempt.

XXXVIII. However, lest the suddenness
of the affair, and the apprehensions incident to
men acting by night, might disconcert an un-
dertaking which, at best, seemed but ill suited
to his present condition, he judged it advisable
to communicate his design to the soldiers, and
to animate their spirits. Accordingly, being

v. R. 540.]

OF ROME.

545

assembled, he addressed them in a speech to
this effect : " Soldiers, either my dutiful af-
fection to our late commanders, both during
their lives and since their death, or the pre-
sent situation of us all, might be sufficient to
convince every one of you, that the command
with which I am invested, though highly
honourable, as the gift of your judgment, is
still in reality full of labour and anxiety. For
at the time when (only that fear benumbs
the sense of grief) I should not be so far
master of myself as to be able to find any
consolation for our losses, I am compelled
singly to study the safety of you all ; a task
most difficult to a mind immersed in sorrow ;
so much so, that while I am devising the means
of preserving to our country these remnants of
the two armies, I cannot, even in those mo-
ments, be wholly abstracted from it. For bit-
ter remembrance haunts me ; and the two
Scipios, by day and by night, disquiet me with
anxious cares and dreams, and often awake me
out of sleep. They charge me, not to let them,
or their men (your fellow-soldiers, who for
eight years maintained in this country a supe-
riority in arms), or our commonwealth, remain
unrevenged ; to follow their discipline, and
their maxims ; and that as, during their lives,
no one was more obedient to their commands
than I was, so I should, after their death, ever
deem that conduct the best, which I have most
reason to think that they would have pursued
on any emergency. I could wish, soldiers,
that you, on your part, would not pay them the
tribute of tears and lamentations, as if they
were no longer in existence : they who live and
flourish in the fame of their achievements ; but
that, whenever the memory of them recurs, you
would go into battle as if you saw them encour-
aging you, and giving you the signal. Most
certainly it must have been their image present-
ing itself to your eyes and minds that animated
you yesterday to that memorable action, in
which you gave the enemies a proof that the
Roman race had not become extinct with the
Scipios, and that the strength and valour of that
nation, which was not crushed by the disaster
at Cannre, will ever rise superior to the severest
inflictions of fortune. Now, after you have,
from the suggestions of your own courage,
braved danger with such intrepidity, I wish to
try how much of the same bravery you will
exert under the direction of your commander :
for yesterday, when I gave the signal of retreat,
I.

on seeing you pursue the routed Carthaginians
with precipitation, I did not mean to break
your spirit, but to reserve it for a more glorious
and more advantageous opportunity ; that you
might afterwards, in short, and at a more favour-
able juncture, with full preparation, and well
armed, assail your enemy unprepared, unarmed,
and even buried in sleep. Nor, soldiers, did I
conceive the hope of such an occasion offering,
inconsiderately, and without reason, but found-
ed it on the real state of things. Suppose any
one should ask you, by what means, with your
small numbers, and after suffering a defeat, you
defended your camp against numerous forces
elated with victory ; you would surely give no
other answer than that, being from these very
circumstances apprehensive of danger, you had
strengthened your quarters on every side with
works, and kept yourselves ready and prepared
for action. And this is always the case : men
are least secure on that side, where their situa-
tion removes the apprehension of danger ; be-
cause, wherever they think care unnecessary,
they will be there unguarded and open. There
is no one thing which the enemy at present less
apprehend, than that \\e, so lately blockaded
and assaulted, should have the confidence to
assault their camp. Let us dare then to do
what no one will believe we dare to undertake :
the very persuasion of its difficulty will make it
easy to us. At the third watch of the night I
will lead you thither in silence. I know, cer-
tainly, that they have not a course of watches,
nor regular guards. The noise of our shout at
their gates, and the first attack, will carry the
camp. Then, while they are torpid with sleep,
dismayed by the sudden tumult, and surprised,
unarmed in their beds, let that carnage be made,
from which you were vexed at your being recall-
ed yesterday. I am aware that the enterprise
must appear presumptuous ; but in cases of
difficulty, and when hopes are small, the most
spirited counsels are the safest ; because if, in
the moment of opportunity, which quickly fleets
away, you hesitate, even but a little, you will
in vain wish for it afterwards, when it is no
more. They have one army in our neighbour-
hood, and two others at no great distance.
From an immediate attack we have reason to
expect success ; you have already made trial of
your own strength, and of theirs ; but if we
defer the matter, and they, on being informed
of our behaviour in yesterday's irruption, cease
to look on us with contempt, it is probable that
3 Z

546

THE HISTORY

[BOOK xxv.

all their commanders, and all their forces, will
unite in one body. In that case, can we hope
to be able to withstand the enemy's three gen-
erals, and three armies, whom Cneius Scipk),
with his army entire, could not withstand ? As
our generals were ruined by the dividing of
their forces, so may the enemy, while separated
and divided, be overpowered. There is no
other way in which we can act with effect:
let us therefore wait for nothing beyond the
opportunity which the next night will afford
us. Retire now, with the favour of the
gods ; refresh yourselves with food and rest,
that you may, strong and vigorous, break
into the camp of the enemy with the same
spirit with which you defended your own."
They heard with joy this new plan pro-
posed by their new general, which pleased
them the more, on account of its daring bold-
ness. The remainder of the day was employed
in preparing their arms, and taking their
victuals, and the greater part of the night was
given to rest. At the fourth watch they were
in motion.

XXXIX. At the distance of six miles
beyond the nearest camp lay another body of
Carthaginians. Between the two was a deep
valley, thick set with trees. About the mid.
die of this wood, by a stratagem worthy the
genius of a Carthaginian, a Roman cohort and
some cavalry were placed in concealment. The
communication being thus cut off, the rest of
the troops were led in silence to the nearest
body of the enemy, and finding no advanced
guard before the gates, or watches on the ram-
part, they marched in without meeting an op-
poser, as they would into their own camp.
The charge was then sounded, and the shout
raised : some kill the assailed before they are
quite awake, some throw fire on the huts which
were covered with dry straw, some seize the
gates to cut off their flight. The fire, the
shouting, and the slaughter, altogether, so
stunned and confounded the enemy's senses,
that they neither could hear each other, nor
think of what they should do. Unarmed, they
every where fell in among troops of armed
foes : some hastened to the gates ; others,
finding the passage shut, leaped over the ram-
part : and every one, as soon as he got out,
fled directly towards the other camp. These
were intercepted by the cohort and cavalry
rushing out from their ambush, and were all
slain to a man ; and even had any escaped,

the Romans, having taken the nearer camp,
ran forward to the other with such rapid haste,
that no one could have arrived before them with
the news of the disaster. At this camp, as it
lay at a greater distance from an enemy, and
as many had gone out before day in quest of
forage, wood, and booty, they found every thing
in a still more neglected and careless state ;
the weapons only standing at the out-posts, the
men unarmed, sitting or lying on the ground,
or walking about before the gates and rampart.
In this unguarded situation they were attacked
by the Romans, yet warm from the late fight,
and flushed with victory. No opposition
therefore could be given them at the entrances ;
within, indeed, the first shout and the tumult
having brought many together from all parts of
the camp, a fierce conflict arose, which would
have lasted long, had not the sight of the blood
on the shields of the Romans, discovered to the
Carthaginians the defeat of their other party,
and struck them with dismay. This panic
occasioned a general flight ; every one, except
such as the sword overtook, rushing out wher-
ever a passage could be found. Thus, in one
night and day, through the successful conduct
of Lucius Marcius, were two of the Carthagi-
nian camps taken by storm. Claudius, who
translated the annals of Acilius from the Greek
language into the Latin, affirms, that there were
thirty-seven thousand of the enemy killed, one
thousand eight hundred and thirty taken, and a
vast, booty acquired ; among which was a silver
shield of an hundred and thirty-eight pounds
weight, embossed with the image of the Bar-
cine Hasdrubal. Valerius Antias says, that
Mago's camp only was taken, where seven
thousand were killed ; and that, in the other
battle, when the Romans sallied out and fought
Hasdrubal, ten thousand fell, and that four
thousand three hundred and thirty were taken.
Piso writes, that Mago, having hastily pursued
our troops who were retreating, five thousand
of his men were killed in an ambuscade. All
mention the name of the commander, Marcius,
with great honour ; and to his real glory they
add also miraculous incidents; among others,
that while he was haranguing his men, a flame
was seen at the top of his head, without being
felt by him, to the great fright of the surround-
ing soldiers. It is said, that, as a monument
of his victory over the Carthaginians, the shield
with the image of Hasdrubal, styled the Mar-
cian, remained in the capitol until the burning

Y. K. 540.]

OF ROME.

547

of that temple.1 After this, hostilities were
suspended in Spain for a long time, both parties
being unwilling, after such severe shocks given
and received, to risk an action which might be
wholly destructive to one or both.

XL. During the time of these transactions
in Spain, Mart-dins having, after tho taking
of Syracuse, adjusted the other affairs of
Sicily with such integrity and good faith as
augmented not only his own glory, but like-
wise the majesty of the Roman people, carried
off to Rome the ornaments of the city, the
statues and pictures with which it abounded.
These were no doubt the spoils of enemies,
and acquired by the right of war, yet they first
gave rise to a taste for the works of Grecian
artists, and to the consequent unbounded rapa-
city with which all places, indiscriminately, both
sacred and profane, have been plundered ; and
which, at last, has been exercised even against
the deities of Rome, and that very temple itself,
in the first instance, which was decorated by
Marcellus with peculiar elegance : for formerly,
those which he dedicated near the Capuan gate
were visited by foreigners on account of their
exquisite ornaments, of which a very small
portion remains. Supplicatory embassies came
to Marcellus from almost every state in Sicily :
as their cases were dissimilar, so were the terms
granted them. Such as either had not revolted,
or had returned into amity, before the reduction
of Syracuse, were received as faithful allies, and
treated with kindness ; while such as, after
that event, had submitted through fear, being
considered as conquered, had terms dictated to
them by the victor. Still, however, the Ro-
mans had remaining, at Agrigentum, some ene-
mies far from contemptible — Epicydes and Han-
no, who bad been commanders in the late war,
with a third and new one, sent by Hannibal in the
room of Hippocrates, of a Lybophcenician race,
a native of Hippo, called by his countrymen
jMutines, an enterprising man, and instnicted
under no less a master than Hannibal himself
in all the arts of war. To him Epicydes and
Hanno assigned the auxiliary Numidians ; with
these he overran the lands of their enemies in
such a manner, and was so active in visiting
their allies for the purpose of securing their
fidelity, and of giving them succour as occasion
required, that, in a short time, he filled all Si-
cily with his fame, and was considered as one

1 In the year of Romp CCA

of the principal supports of the Carthaginian
party. The Carthaginian general, thereiore,
and the Syracusan, who had hitherto remained
shut up within the walls of Agrigentum, were
induced, not only by the advice of Mutines,
but by confidence in their strength, to venture
out of the town ; and they pitched their camp
on the bank of the river Himera. When Mar-
cellus was informed of this, he instantly put his
troops in motion ; and sat down, at the distance
of about four miles from them, to observe their
motions and intentions. But Mutines left
him neither room nor time for deliberation, for
he crossed the river, and charged his advanced
guards with such fury as to cause great terror
and disorder. Next day, in a kind of regular
engagement he drove the Romans back into
their fortifications. He was then called away
by a mutiny of the Numidians which broke out
in the camp ; and as about three hundred of
them had retired to a town called Heraclea of
Minos, he went thither, in order to pacify and
bring them back. At his departure he is said
to have recommended earnestly to the other
generals not to come to an engagement with the
enemy during his absence. This gave much
offence to both, particularly to Hanno, who
was already jealous of his reputation : " that
Mutines should dictate to him ; a mongrel
African to a Carthaginian general, commission-
ed by the senate and people." He prevailed
on Epicydes, who was disinclined to the mea-
sure, to consent that they should cross the river,
and offer battle ; alleging, that if they waited
for Mutines, and the issue of the battle should
prove fortunate, the honour would all be ascrib-
ed to him.

XLI. Marcellus fired with indignation at
the thought that he, who had beaten off from
Nola, Hannibal, when elated with his victory
at Cannae, should give way to such adversaries
as these, and whom he had repeatedly defeated
on land and sea, ordered his men to take arms
hastily, and march out to meet them. While
he was arranging his troops, ten Numidians
from the etiemy's line came to him at full gal-
lop, and told him, that their countrymen, influ-
enced first by the same motive which caused
the mutiny, in which three hundred of their
number had retired to Heraclea, and secondly,
by seeing their own commander, at the very
eve of a battle, sent out of the way, by officers
who wished to derogate from his merit, had
resolved to remain inactive during the fight.

548

THE HISTORY OF ROME.

[BOOK xxv.

Contrary to the insidious character of their na-
tion, they fulfilled their promise. This added
new spirits to the Romans, for the intelligence
was quickly conveyed along the ranks, that the
enemy were forsaken by their horse, which had
been considered as the most formidable part of
their force. At the same time, it damped the
courage of the Carthaginians, who besides see-
ing themselves deprived of the support of the
principal part of their strength, became even
apprehensive of being attacked by their own
cavalry. There was therefore no great contest :
the first onset decided the affair. The Numi-
dians sti*od quiet, on the wings, during the action,
and when they saw their confederates turning
their backs, accompanied them only a short way
on their flight ; for, observing that all in con-
fusion made towards Agrigentum, in order to
avoid the hardships of a siege, they withdrew
themselves into several of the neighbouring
cities. Many thousands were killed, and many
taken, together with eight elephants. This
was the last battle fought by Marcellus in Si-

cily, after which he returned in triumph to Syra-
cuse. The year was now near to a close.
The Roman senate therefore decreed that
Publius Cornelius, praetor, should write to the
consuls at Capua, that while Hannibal was at
a great distance, and no business of moment
was going on there, one of them should, if they
thought proper, come to Rome to elect new
magistrates. On receiving the letter, the con-
suls settled between themselves, that Claudius
should hold the elections, and Fulvius remain
at Capua. Claudins elected consuls, Cneius
Fulvius Centumalus, and Publius Sulpicius
Galba, son of Servius, who had not before held
any curule office. Then Lucius Cornelius
Lentulus, Marcus Cornelius Cethegus, Caius
Sulpicius, and Caius Calpurnius Piso were
elected prsetors. The city jurisdiction fell to
Piso, Sicily to Sulpicius, Apulia to Cethegus,
and Sardinia to Lentulus. The present con-
suls were continued in command for the ensu-
ing year.

THE

HISTORY OF ROME.

BOOK XXVI.

Hannit.;il encamps upon the banks of the Anio, within three miles of Rome. Attended by two thousand horn*
men, ho advances close to the Culline gate, to take a view of the walls and situation oY the city. On two tue-
rereive days the hostile armies are hindered from engaging by the severity of the weather. Capua taken by
Oiiintns Fiilvins and Appius Claudius : the chief nobles die, voluntarily, by poison. Qiitntiis Fulvius, having
condemned the principal senators to death, at the moment they are actually tied to the htakei, receives des-
patches from Rome, commanding him to spare their lives, which he postpones reading until the sentence is
executed. Publius Scipio, offering himself for the service, is sent to command in Spain : tak»s New Carthage
in one any. Successes in Sicily. Treaty of friendship with the ^Etolian*. War with Philip, king of Macedonia,
and the Acarnanians

I. THE consuls Cncius Fulvius Centumalus
and Publius Sulpicius Galba, as soon as they
came into office, on the ides of March, [ Y. R.
511. B. C. 211.] convened the senate in the
capitol, and proposed to their consideration the
state of the commonwealth, the method of con-^
ducting the war, and the disposition of the pro-
vinces and armies. Quintus Fulvius and Ap-
pius Claudius, the consuls of the preceding
year, were continued in command ; the legions
which they had at present, were decreed to
them, and an injunction was added, that they
should not quit the siege of Capua, until they
had reduced the place. This was a point on
which the Romans kept their attention fixed
with particular solicitude, not only from resent-
ment, for which no state ever gave juster
cause, but from the consideration, that a city
so eminent and powerful, as it had, by its re-
volt, drawn several states into the same mea-
sure, would probably, if recovered, dispose their
minds to wish for a reconciliation with the go-
vernment under which they had formerly lived.
Two praetors also, of the preceding year, were
continued in command, Marcus Junius in
Etruria, and Publius Sempronius in Gaul, each
with the two legions which he thru had. Mar-
cus Marcellus was also continued, that lie miplit,

in quality of proconsul, finish the remainder of
the war in Sicily, with the army then under his
command. Directions were given him, that
he should take the complement requisite for
completing the numbers of his troops, if that
should be necessary, out of the legions which
Pubb'us Cornelius, propraetor, commanded in
Sicily ; conditionally, however, that he should
not choose any soldier from among those who
had been prohibited by the senate from receiv-
ing a discharge, or returning home before the
conclusion of the war. To Caius Sulpicius,
whose lot was the province of Sicily, were de-
creed the two legions formerly commanded by
Publius Cornelius, and a supply of men from
the army of Cneius Fulvius, which had been
shamefully defeated and put to flight, the year
before, in Apulia. For the soldiers of this
description the senate had fixed the same term
of service as for those concerned at Cannae ;
and, as a farther mark of ignominy to both, it
was ordered, that they should not reside during
the winter in towns, nor build their winter
huts nearer to any town than ten miles. To
Lucius Cornelius, in Sardinia, the two legions
were given which Quintus Murius had com-
manded ; a supply of men, if requisite, the
consuls were ordered to enlist. Titus Otari-

550

THE HISTORY

[HOOK xxvi.

lius and Marcus Valerius were ordered, with
the fleets and legions then under their com-
mand, to guard the coasts of Greece and Sicily.
On the former station were employed fifty
ships and one legion ; on the latter, one hun-
dred ships and two legions. Twenty-three
Roman legions were, this year, employed in
the war on land and sea.

II. In the beginning of the year, on a letter
from Lucius Marcius being laid before the
senate, that assembly declared his services high-
ly meritorious ; but his assuming a title of hon-
our (for, unauthorised either by order of the
people or direction of the senate, he had,
in addressing the senate, styled himself pro-
prietor,) gave general offence. They deem-
ed it "a precedent of pernicious tendency,
that commanders should be chosen by the
troops ; and that the established privileges of
assemblies, held under auspices, should be
transferred to a giddy soldiery, in camps and
provinces 'remote from the magistrates and
laws." Several were of opinion, that the
senate should take the matter into considera-
tion ; but it was judged more expedient to defer
any notice of it until after the departure of the
messengers who brought the letter from Mar-
cius. It was agreed, that an answer should be
sent to him, respecting provisions and clothing
for the army, saying that the senate would take
care of both those matters : but it was resolved
that it should not be addressed to Lucius Mar-
cius, propraetor, lest he should consider, as
determined, a question which they had reserved
for future discussion. After the couriers were
dismissed, the first business proposed by the
consuls, and which was unanimously agreed
upon, was, that application should be made to
the plebeian tribunes, to take the sense of the
commons with all convenient speed, as to what
person they would choose to be sent into Spain
with a commission to command the army lately
under Cneius Scipio. The tribunes were ad-
vised with accordingly, and the question was
published for consideration : but people's
thoughts were wholly engrossed by a contest
on another subject : Caius Sempronius Blaesus,
having instituted a prosecution against Cneius
Fulvius, on account of the loss of the army in
Apulia, inveighed against him continually in
public harangues j affirming that " although
many commanders had, through rashness and
unskilfulness, brought their armies into situa-
tions of extreme danger, yet never had any one,

except, Cneius Fulvius, corrupted his legions
with every kind of vice before he exposed them
to destruction : so that it might be said, with
truth, that_their ruin was effected before they
had even seen an enemy ; and that they were
vanquished, not by Hannibal, but by their own
commander. No elector could too carefully
scrutinize the character of the person to whom
he was entrusting an army. What a difference
between this man and Tiberius Sempronius !
The latter, though the army committed to him
consisted of slaves, yet, by proper discipline
and wise regulations, had quickly improved
them to such a degree, that, in the field of bat-
tle, not one of them evinced by his conduct
either his condition or his birth ; and they be-
came a safeguard to the allies, a terror to the
enemy. They snatched, as it were, out of
Hannibal's grasp, and restored to the Roman
people, the cities of Cumae, Beneventum, and
several others ; whereas Cneius Fulvius, hav-
ing received an army of Roman citizens, hon-
ourably born and [liberally educated, had de-
bauched them by all the low vices of slaves,
and sunk them into such a state of degeneracy,
that they were insolent and turbulent among the
allies, spiritless and dastardly among foes ; and
so far from withstanding the attack of the Car-
thaginians, they withstood not even their shout.
Nor, indeed was it wonderful that the soldiers
did not stand their ground in battle, when their
commander was the first who fled. For his
part, he rather wondered that any of them had
fallen in their posts, and that they did not, one
and all, accompany Cneius Fulvius in his
panic and flight. Caius Flaminius, Lucius
Paullus, Lucius Postumius, Cneius and Pub-
lius Scipio, had chosen rather to fall in fight,
than to abandon their troops in a desperate
situation. But Cneius Fulvius was almost
the only messenger who brought to Rome
the news of his army being cut off. It was
contrary," he said, " to every rule of honour
and equity, that the troops engaged at /Cannae,
because they fled out of the field, should be
transported into Sicily, and prohibited from
returning thence before the termination of
the war in Italy, and that a decree, to the
same purport, should have been lately pass-
ed in the case of the legions under the
command of Cneius Fulvius, while Cneius
Fulvius himself, after running away from
a battle brought on by liis own temerity,
should escape all punishment ; that he should

Y. R.

OF ROME.

551

spend his old age where he had spent his
youth, in the stews and brothels, while his
soldiers, who were no otherwise culpable
than in resembling their commander, were cast
out in a manner, into exile, condemned to
a service of ignominy. So unequal was the
dispensation of liberty at Rome to the rich and
to the poor; to the man who had arrived at
honours, and to those who still continued in
olisrurity."

III. Fulvius endeavoured to transfer the
guilt from himself to the soldiers ; asserting,
that "in consequence of their insisting vio-
lently on fighting, they were led out to the
field, not on the same day on which they de-
aired it, because it was then evening, but on
the day following, when both the time and the
ground were favourable to them ; but that they
were so overawed, either by the reputation or
the strength of the enemy, that they did not
make a stand. That, in the hurry of the ge-
neral flight, he was carried away by the crowd,
as had been the cose of Varro, at the battle of
Canntr, and of many other generals. And
how could he, by this single resistance, serve
the cause of the commonwealth ; unless, in-
deed, his death were considered as a remedy
for the public misfortunes ? He had not been
brought into any dangerous situation by want
of provisions, or by want of caution ; neither
was he, in consequence of marching unguarded-
ly, surprised by an ambuscade, but defeated by
open force, by dint of arms, in a fair engage-
ment ; nor had he the power of determining the
degree of courage to be exerted either by his
own men, or by the enemy : every man's own
deposition supplied either courage or cowar-
dice." The matter came twice to a hearing,
and, at both times, the penalty was laid at a
fine. At the third hearing, witnesses were
produced ; and, besides his being loaded with
charges of the most scandalous nature, great
numbers deposed on oath, that the praetor was
the first who showed any symptoms of fear,
and began the flight ; and that the soldiers, be-
ing abandoned by him, and supposing that the
general's fears were not without grounds, fled
likewise ; on which, the anger of the people
was inflamed to such a pitch, that the whole
assembly cried out that the prosecution ought
to be capital. On this point a new contest
arose : for, as the tribune had, on two former
occasions, prosecuted the offence as fumble,
and at a third, proposed to prosecute it as ca-

pital, an appeal was made to the tribunes of
the commons. They declared, that " they
could not debar their colleague from prosecut-
ing, as,' by the practice of former tunes, he had
a right to do, either on the written laws, or the
general practice, until he should obtain judg-
ment, either of capital punishment, or a fine,
against the defendant a private person." Then
Sempronius gave notice, that he demanded
judgment of treason against Cneius Fulvius ;
and he made a requisition to the city praetor,
Caius Calpurnius, to appoint a day for the as-
sembly. The accused then rested his hopes
on another expedient, the procuring at his trial
the support of his brother, Quintus Fulvius,
who, at this time, stood high in the public
esteem, both on account of the merit of his jwist
services, and the expectation of his speedily
reducing Capua. But Fulvius having sent a
petition to this purpose, couched in terms cal-
culated to excite compassion, as in a case where
a brother's life was concerned, and the senate
answering, that his quitting Capua would be
injurious to the public interest, Cneius Fulvius,
at the approach of the day appointed for the
assembly, withdrew into exile to Tarquinii.
The commons passed an order confirming his
banishment as legal.

IV. In the mean time, the grand operations
of the campaign were directed agauist Capua,
where, however, the siege was carried on, rather
by a close blockade than by vigorous assaults.
This caused so great a famine, that the popu-
lace and the slaves could no longer endure it,
and yet there was no way of sending messen-
gers to Hannibal, the approaches were all so
strictly guarded. At length a Numidian was
found, who, taking a letter, engaged to make
his way with it ; and, going out by night, he
passed through the middle of the Roman camp.
This encouraged the Campanians to try, while
they had any remains of vigour, what might be
done by sallies from all sides of the town. In
many engagements which followed, their cavalry
were generally successful, their infantry worst-
ed : but the besiegers were not nearly so much
pleased by the advantages which they had
gained, as mortified at being overcome, in any
particular, by an enemy besieged, and on the
point of being taken. At last the Romans
adopted a method of supplying by art their de-
ficiency in strength. Out of all the legions
were selected young men, who, from the
power and lightness of their bodies, possessed

552

THE HISTORY

[BOOK xxvr.

the greatest agility : to these were given buck-
lers, shorter than those of the cavalry, and to
each seven javelins four feet long, pointed
with iron, in the same manner as the missile
javelins now used by the light infantry. The
cavalry, each taking one of these behind him on
his horse, taught them, by frequent exercise,
so to ride and dismount quickly, when the sig-
nal was given. As soon as, from daily prac-
tice, they seemed to perform this with sufficient
expertness, they were led out into a plain, be-
tween the camp and the walls, against the ca-
valry of the Campanians, who stood there in
order of battle. When they came within a
weapon's cast, these light footmen dismounted,
and, forming in a moment, instead of cavalry, a
line of infantry, ran forward against the enemy's
horse ; and, as they advanced, discharged their
javelins one after another, with great fury ; by
the vast number of which, thrown against men
and horses indiscriminately, very many were
wounded. But the novelty and unexpectedness
of such a proceeding caused still greater fright ;
and, while they were in this disorder, the caval-
ry made their charge, and drove them back even
to their gates with great slaughter. Hencefor-
ward the Romans had the superiority in the
field in respect to both horse and foot. It was
then made an established regulation, that in all
the legions there should be light infantry of this
sort, who are called velites. We are told, that
the person who advised the mixing of footmen
with the cavalry was Quintus Navius, a centu-
rion ; and that he was, on that account, highly
honoured by the general.

V. While affairs at Capua were in this
state, Hannibal's judgment was long suspended
between his wishes, on one hand, to acquire
possession of the citadel of Tarentum, and, on
the other, to retain Capua. At length, how-
ever, he determined in favour of the latter ; be-
cause on that object he saw that the attention
of all men, both friends and enemies, was fixed ;
as the fate of that city would demonstrate what
kind of consequences were to be expected from
revolting from the Romans. Leaving, there-
fore, in Bruttium, the greatest part of his bag-
gage, and all his heavier armed troops, and
selecting such of the infantry and cavalry as
were best qualified for an expeditious march,
he towk the route to Campania. Notwith-
standing he went with much speed, yet he was
followed by thirty-three elephants. In a re-
tired valley behind Mount Tifata, which over-

hangs Capua, he halted ; and having, at his
coming, taken the fort of Galatia, from which
he dislodged the garrison by force, he prepared
to act against the besiegers. He sent forward
to the besieged information of the time when
he intended to assault the Roman camp, in or-
der that they might be in readiness, and pour
out at once from all the gates. This gave the
besiegers a most violent alarm : for, while he
carried on his attack on one side, all the Cam-
panians, both horse and foot, and with them the
Carthaginian garrison, commanded by Bostar
and Hanno, sallied out on the other. In this
dangerous situation the Romans, lest by run-
ning together to one part they should leave any
other unguarded, divided their forces in this
manner : Appius Claudius was opposed to the
Campanians ; Fulvius to Hannibal ; Cains
Nero, propnetor, with the cavalry of the sixth
legion, took post on the road leading to Sues-
sula, and Caius Fulvius Flaccus, lieutenant-
general, with the cavalry of the confederates, on
the side opposite the river Vulturnus. The
fight began with the usual shouting and tumult.
But, besides the other noises of men, horses,
and weapons, the multitude of Campanians, un-
able to bear arms, being spread along the walls,
raised so loud a shout, accompanied with the
clangour of brazen instruments, such as is com-
monly made in the dead of night on occa-
sion of eclipses of the moon, that it drew the
attention even of the combatants. Appius
easily repulsed the Campanians from the ram-
part. Hannibal and his Carthaginians, a more
powerful force, pressed hard on Fulvius. There
the sixth legion gave way to the enemy, and,
on its being broken, a cohort of Spaniards with
three elephants pushed through to the very
rampart. It had made an effectual breach in
the Roman line ; but while flattered, on the
one hand, with the hope of forcing into the
camp, it was threatened on the other with being
cut off from the main body of the army. When
Fulvius saw the dastardly behaviour of the
legion, and the danger of the camp, he exhorted
Quintus Navius, and the other principal cen-
turions, to fall on that cohort that was fighting
close to the rampart, and to cut it in pieces ; he
observed to them, that " the juncture was cri-
tical in the last degree ; that these men must
either be allowed a passage — and then they
would break into the camp with less labour
than they had exerted in forcing their way
through a thick line of troops, — or they must

*-. n.541.]

OF ROME.

553

t>j despatched at the foot of the rampart.
This would not be a matter of much run-
test ; they were few in number, and shut
out from their friends, and the very breach,
which, while the Romans -were dispirited,
was seen in their line, would, if they faced
about upon the foe, prove the mea.is of in-
closing and attacking them on all sides at once."
Navius, on hearing these words of the general,
took from the standard-bearer, the standard of
the second company of spearmen, and advanced
with it against the enemy, threatening to throw
it into the midst of them if the soldiers did not
instantly follow him, and take a share in the
fight. His person was very large, and the stan-
dard, raised aloft, attracted the eyes of all.
When he came up to the front of the Spaniards,
showers of javelins were poured on him from
all sides, almost the whole body directing their
attacks against him ' alone ; but neither the
multitude of the enemies, nor the force of their
weapons, could repel the onset of this single
combatant.

VI. At the same time, Marcus Atilius, a
Heutenant-gcneral, caused the standard of the
first company of principes belonging to the
same legion to be brought forward against the
enemy. The officers commanding in the camp,
Lucius Porcius Licinus and Titus Popilius,
lieutenants-general, fought with vigour in de-
fence of their trenches, and killed on the very
rampart some elephants in the act of attempt-
ing to cross it. The bodies of these filling up*
the ditch, as by a mound or a bridge, afforded
a passage to the assailants, and a desperate
slaughter was made here, fighting on the bodies
of the dead elephants. On the other side of
the camp, the Campoiuans and the Carthaginian
garrison had been repulsed, and the fight was
now maintained close to the gate of Capua,
which opens toward the city of Vulturnus.
The Romans were hindered from forcing their
way in, not so much by the arms of the soldiers,
as by the ballistx and scorpions with which
the gate was furnished ; and which, by the
mmile weapons they threw, kept the assailants
at a great distance. The ardour of the Romans
was, besides, checked by their commander,
Appius Claudius, being wounded ; for while
he was encouraging his men in the van, tie
received a thrust from a javelin in the upper
part of his breast below the left shoulder.
Nevertheless a vast number of the enemy was
killed before the gate, and the rest were driven

I

in disorder into the city. When Hannibal sawr
that the Spanish cohort was slain to a man, and
that the Romans maintained the defence of
their ramp with the utmost degree of vigour,
he gave over the assault, and began to retreat ;
making his line of infantry face about, and the
cavalry cover their rear against any attack.
The legions were ardently intent on pursuing
the enemy ; but Flaccus ordered a retreat to
be sounded, supposing that enough had been
done to make the Campanian, and Hannibal
himself, sensible, how little able he was to pro-
tect them. Some who have written accounts
of this battle inform us, that there were slain
on that day, of Hannibal's army, eight thou-
sand men, and three thousand of the Campa-
nians ; and that fifteen. standards were taken
from the Carthaginians, eighteen from the
Campanians. In other accounts I find that
the importance of the battle was not by any
means so great, and that there was more of
alarm in the case, than of fighting ; that a party
of Numidians and Spaniards, with some ele-
phants, having, by surprise, broken into the
Roman camp, the elephants going through the
middle of it overthrew the tents with great
noise, so that the beasts of burden broke their
collars and ran about frightened ; that to in-
crease the disorder a stratagem was used, Han-
nibal sending in some persons who could speak
the Latin language, of whom he had many,
giving orders, in the name of the consuls, that,
as the camp was lost, every man should fly, as
he was able, to the nearest mountains ; but
that the imposition was quickly detected, and
its progress stopped by a great slaughter of the
enemy, and that the elephants were driven out
of the camp with firebrands. This battle, in
whatsoever manner begun and ended, was the
last that was fought previous to the surrender
of Capua. The medixtuticua, or chief magis-
trate of the Campanians, for this year, was
Seppius Lesius, a man of obscure birth and
small property. There is a story, that, at »
former time, when his mother was, in his behalf,
(he being underage,) expiating a prodigy which
happened in the family, the aruspex answered
her, that the supreme power at Capua would
come to that boy : on which, knowing no fir •
cumstance that could countenance such an ex*
pectation, she replied, " What you s«y sup-
poses the affairs of the Campanians in a
truly desperate state, when the supreme ma-
gistracy is to come to my son." This ex-
4 A

554

THE HISTORY

[BOOK xxvi.

pression, meant in de/t'sion of a true pre-
diction, proved itself true in the event ; for the
people being distressed by the sword and by
famine, and destitute of every kind of hope,
those who were entitled by birth to expect the
posts of honour, declining to accept them,
Lesius, who exclaimed that Capua was desert-
and betrayed by the nobility, obtained the post
of supreme magistrate, and was the last Cam-
panian who held it.

VII. Hannibal, seeing that he could neither
bring the enemy to another engagement, nor
force a passage through their camp into Capua,
and fearing, lest the new consuls might cut off
his supplies of provisions, determined to drop
a design in which he had no prospect of success,
and to remove from the place. To what quar-
ter he should next direct his route was then to
be resolved ; and, while he was earnestly delib-
erating on this head, he felt his mind strongly
impelled to make an attempt on Rome itself,
the grand source of the war : a measure always
ardently wished for, and the omission of which,
on the favourable occasion after the battle of
Camiffi, was generally censured by others, and
not defended by himself. He thought that he
need not despair of gaining possession of some
part of the city during the panic and tumult
which his unexpected approach would occasion ;
and that when Rome should be in danger,
either both the commanders, or at least one of
them, would leave Capua ; and that, should
they divide their forces, this, by weakening
both, would afford either him or the Campa-
nians a chance of acting with success. One
consideration made him uneasy, that, on his
departure, the Capuans might perhaps im-
mediately surrender. He therefore, by rewards,
engaged a Numidian, who was of a disposition
to undertake any thing for pay, to be the bear-
er of a letter to the people, and, going into the
Roman camp in character of a deserter, to pass
out privately on the other side to Capua. This
letter was full of encouragements to hold out :
"his departure," he told them, "would prove
the means of their safety, as it would draw
away the Roman generals and armies from be-
fore Capua to the defence of Rome." He
exhorted them " not to let their spirits sink ;
for by patient resolution, for a few days, they
would free themselves entirely from the siege."
He then ordered all the vessels on the river
Vulturnus to be seized, and brought up to a fort
which he had before erected for the security of

his camp. As soon as he was informed that a
sufficient number of these had been procured
to carry over his troops, he led them down by
night to the river, provided with victuals for
ten days, and, before morning, they gained the
other side.

VIII. That this step was intended, Fulvius
Flaccus had discovered, from deserters, before
it was put in execution ; and had apprised the
senate of it by a letter sent to Rome, where
men's minds were variously affected by the in-
telligence. At a meeting of the senate, which
was immediately convened on this alarming
emergency, Publius Cornelius, surnamed Asina,
recommended, that all concern about Capua,
with every other matter, should be laid aside,
and all the generals and armies called home,
from every part of Italy, for the defence of the
capital. Fabius Maximus represented it as ut-
terly disgraceful to retire from Capua, and to
let their fears be excited, and their motions
directed, by every nod and menace of Hanni-
bal. " Was it credible," he said, " that he,
who after gaining the victory of Cannae had not
dared to approach the city, should now, after
being repulsed from Capua, conceive an expec-
tation of taking Rome? His purpose in
coming was not to attack Rome, but to raise
the siege of Capua. As to Rome, Jupiter and
the rest of the gods, witnesses of the treaties
broken by Hannibal, would, with the troops
then in the city, defend it." These opposite
opinions were both rejected, and that of Pub-
lius Valerius Flaccus, which pointed out a
middle course, was adopted. He advised, that
due attention should be paid to both the affairs
in question, and that a letter should be sent to
the generals commanding at Capua, informing
them of the force then in that city, mentioning
that " they themselves knew what number of
troops Hannibal brought with him, and how
many were necessary for carrying on the siege
of Capua ;" and directing, that " if one of the
generals and a part of the army could 'be sent
to Rome, and at the same time, the siege be
properly carried on by the remaining troops,
and the other general ; then, that Claudius and
Fulvius should settle between themselves
which should conduct the siege of Capua, and
which should come home to defend their native
city in any attack." A decree of the senate, to
this effect, having been passed and carried to
Capua, Quintus Fulvius, proconsul, whose part
it was to go to Rome, his colleague being in-

Y. R. 541.]

OP ROME.

555

disposed in consequence of his wound, having
selected out of the three armies fifteen thousand
foot and one thousand horse, conveyed them
over the Vultunius. Having learned with
certainty that Hannibal intended to go by the
Latine road, he despatched couriers before him
to the cor]x>ratc towns on and near the Appian
road, Sctia, Cora, and Lanuvium, with ordere
that the people of those places should not only
have provisions prepared for their use, but also
bring them down to the road from the lands
which lay out of the way ; and that they should
draw together bodies of soldiers into their towns,
that ever)- man might stand forth in defence of
his own stati'.

IX. Hannibal, after passing the Vulturous,
encamped for that day at a small distance from
the river. On the day following, he passed by
Cales, and came into the Sidicinian territory,
where he halted one day to lay it waste ; and
then marched along the Latine way through
the territories of Suessa, Allifae, and Casinuin.
Under the walls of Casinum he remained en-
camped two days, ravaging the country round.
Prix-ceding thence by Interamna and Aquinum,
he came into the Fregellan region, to the river
Liris, where he found the bridge broken down
by the people with design to check his progress.
On the other hand, Fulvius had met a delay at
the Vultunius, for Hannibal had burned the
ships, and he found great difficulty, in a place
where timber was exceedingly scarce, to pro^
cure rafts for transporting his army. But this
being at length effected, the rest of his march
was easy and expeditious ; for, not only in the
towns, but on both sides of the road, he was
accommodated with plenty of provisions ; while
the soldiers cheerfully exhorted each other to
quicken their pace, in the consideration that
they were going to defend their native city.
At Rome, a messenger from Fregella, who had,
without stopping, travelled a day and a night,
caused a most violent alarm ; which, being
augmented by people running up and down,
and adding groundless circumstances to what
they had heard, put the whole city into a tu-
multuous ferment. The lamentations of the
women were not only heard from the private
houses ; but the matrons in all quarters, rushing
out into the public streets, ran to all the tern-
pi.--, where they swept the altars with their
dishevelled hair, fell on their knees, and with
hands raised up towards the heavens and the
gods, prayed that they would rescue the city

of Rome from the attempts of its enemies,
and preserve from hostile violence the Roman
mothers, and their little children. The senate
remained assembled at the forum, that the ma-
gistrates there might, on any occasion, consult
them readily. Some accepted commands of
parties, and repaired to the several posts to
execute their duties ; others offered their ser-
vices wherever they might be requisite. Guards
were posted in the citadel, in the capitol, on
the walls, on the outside of the city, and like-
wise on the Alban mount, and in the fort of
. K-ul.i. In the midst of this confusion, news
arrived that Quintus Fulvius, proconsul, bad
set out with an army from Capua ; and lest his
authority should be diminished by his coming
into the city,1 the senate passed a decree that
Quintus Fulvius should have equal power with
the consuls. Hannibal, after ravaging the lands
of Fregella with particular severity, in resent-
ment for the breaking down the bridges, came
through the territories of Frusino, Ferentium,
and Anagnia, into that of Lavici ; thence pur-
suing his route through Algidum to Tusculum,
where, being refused admittance into the town,
he marched towards the right, to Gabii, and
bringing down his army from thence into the
lands of the Pupinian tribe, pitched his camp
eight miles from Rome. In proportion as he
came nearer to the city, the greater was the
number of its fugitives slain by the Numidians,
who advanced before him ; and very many pri-
soners, of all ranks and ages, were taken.

X. During this general commotion, Ful-
vius Flaccus, with his army, entered Rome
through the Capuan gate, and proceeded
along the middle of the city, and through the
Carina?, to the Esquilia? ; where, passing out,
he pitched his tents between the Esquiline and
Colline gates. The plebeian rediles brought
(hit her provisions for the troops : the consuls
and senate came into the camp, and there
held their consultations on the measures requi-
site in the present state of affairs. It was
then resolved, that the consuls should encamp
before the Colline and Esquiline gates ; that
Cains ( 'iilpuniius, city pnetor, should command
in the capitol and citadel ; and that the senate

1 He would hare lott Ml authority on coming Into the
city ; for, within the wall*, a proconsul bad uo jurisdic-
tion. Whenever therefore a proconsul obtained *
triumph or an ovation, it was necessary to procure an
order of the people, inTestinf? dim with the authority
of a magistrate during that day.

556

THE HISTORY

[BOOK xxvi.

should be kept assembled, in full numbers,
in the forum, as sudden exigencies might pro-
bably require their consideration. Meanwhile
Hannibal moved his camp forward to the river
Anio, three miles from the city, and posting
there his troops, he himself, with two thousand
horsemen, proceeded from the Colline gate as
far as the temple of Hercules, riding about, and
taking as near a view as he could of the fortifi-
cations and situation of the city. Flaccus,
ashamed of his being suffered to do this, and so
nmcn at his ease, sent out a party of cavalry
against him, with orders to make those of the
enemy retire into their camp. When the fight
began, the consuls ordered a body of Numidian
deserters, who were then on the Aventine (to
the number of twelve hundred), to march across
the middle of the city to the Esquiliae, judging
that none would be better qualified to act
among the hollows, and garden walls, and
tombs, and inclosed roads in that quarter.
Some persons, seeing from the capitol and
citadel these men filing off on horseback, on
the brow of the Publician hill, cried out, that
the Aventine was taken ; and this incident
caused such confusion and terror, that, if the
Carthaginian camp had not been just at the
outside of the walls, the whole multitude would,
in their consternation, have rushed out there.
As it was, they ran back into the houses, and
up to the roofs, from whence they poured down
stones and weapons on their own soldiers pass-
ing the streets, whom they took for enemies.
Nor could the commotion be suppressed, or the
mistake rectified, so thronged were the streets
with crowds of peasants and cattle, which the
sudden alarm had driven into the city. The
party of Numidian cavalry were successful
against the enemy, and drove them away. As
it was necessary to suppress in various different
places the many disturbances which were con-
tinually arising on every slight occasion, a de-
cree was passed, that all who had been dicta-
tors, consuls, or censors, should have the au-
thority of magistrates, until the foe should re-
tire from the walls. By this means a great
many tumults, which were raised without
foundation, during the remainder of that day,
and the following night, were entirely crushed.
XL Next day, Hannibal, crossing the Anio,
drew up his forces in order of battle ; nor did
Flaccus and the consuls decline the challenge.
When the armies on both sides stood nearly
marshalled for the decision of a contest of such

magnitude, where the city ot Rome was to lie
the prize of the conqueror, a prodigious shower
of rain, mixed with hail, so grievously annoyed
both parties, that, scarcely able to hold their
arms, they retired to their respective camps,
not moved, in the slightest degree, by any fear
of their adversaries. On the next day, like-
wise, when the armies were formed on the
same ground the same kind of storm separated
them ; and as soon as they had retired, the
weather became wonderfully serene and calm.
This was considered by the Carthaginians as
portentous ; and, we are told, that Hannibal
was heard to say that " sometimes the will,
sometimes the power of taking the city of
Rome, was denied him." His hopes were also
damped by two other incidents ; one of some
weight, the other trivial. The more important
was, that, while he lay with his army under
the walls of the city of Rome, he understood
that a reinforcement of soldiers for Spain had
marched out, with standards borne before them.
The one of less importance was, and which he
learned from a prisoner, that, at this very time,
the ground whereon his camp stood, happened
to be sold, and the price was not in the least
lowered on that account. It appeared to him
so great an insult, that a purchaser should be
found at Rome for that ground which he actu-
ally held and possessed by right of conquest,
that he immediately called a crier, and ordered
him to set up to sale the silversmiths' shops,
which at that time stood round the Roman
forum. Discouraged by all these circumstan-
ces, he moved his camp to the river Tutia, six
miles from the city, and proceeded thence to
the grove of Feronia, where was a temple at
that time, much celebrated for its riches ; the
Capenatians and other neighbouring states be-
ing accustomed to bring hither the first fruits
of their lands, and other offerings, according to
their abilities, by which means it was decorated
with abundance of gold and silver : of all these
offerings the temple was then despoiled; After
Hannibal's departure, large heaps of brass were
found in it, the soldiers having, through re-
morse for this impious proceeding, thrown in
pieces of uncoined metal. That this temple
was pillaged, all writers agree. But Ccelius
asserts, that Hannibal, in his march towards
Rome, turned aside thither from Eretum ; and
he traces his route through Amiteruum, Cutilii,
and Reate, alleging, that, from Campania, he
came into Samnium, thence into Pelignia;

v. n. 541.]

OF ROME.

657

tlien, passing near the town of Sulmo, proceed-
ed into the territory of the Marrucinians, tlu-ncc
through the lands of Alba into Marsia, and
-so on to Amiternum, and the village of Foruli.
Nor is this diversity of opinion owing to peo-
ple's having lost, within so short a period, a
distinct remembrance of the traces of so great
an army: for, that he went in that track, is
certain ; the only matter in doubt is, whether
he took this route in advancing towards Rome,
or in his return thence to Campania.

XII. But Hannibal showed not such obsti-
nate perseverance in his endeavours to raise
the siege of Capua, as the Romans did in push-
ing it forward : for, from Lucania, he hastened
away into Bruttimn, and all the way to the
very strait and the city of Rhegium, with such
speed, that in consequence of his sudden arri-
val he was very near taking that place by sur-
prise. Capua, though the vigour of the siege
had not in the meantime been at all relaxed,
yet felt the return of Flaccus ; and it was mat-
ter of great wonder to the besieged, that Han-
nibal had not come back at the same time.
But, in discoursing with some of the besiegers,
they soon learned, that they were left to them-
selves and abandoned ; and that the Carthagin-
ians considered the hope of maintaining posses-
sion of Capua as desperate. This afflicting in-
telligence was followed by an edict of the pro-
consul, published by direction of the senate,
and spread among the enemy, that " any native^
of Campania who should come over before a
certain day should be indemnified for all that
was past." But not one embraced the offer,
though they were not restrained by fidelity to
their associates, so much as by their fears, be-
cause at the time of their revolting they had
committed crimes too enormous, as they sup-
posed, to be forgiven. However, though none
of them were led to desert by a regard Ato pri-
vate interest, yet neither was any proper care
taken to promote the interest of the public.
The nobility had renounced all public business,
and could not be compelled to meet in the
senate ; and he who was in the office of chief
magistrate, was a man who had, not, from
thence, derived any honour on himself, but had,
from his own worthlessness, stripped the office
of its weight and authority. Not one of the
nobles even appeared in the forum, or in any
public place ; but kept themselves shut up in
their houses, in daily expectation of the down-
fall of their city, and the ruin of their country,

together with their own destruction. The ud-
ministration of all business had devolved on
Jin-tar and Hanno, the commanders of the
Carthaginian garrison, the chief object of
\\liosc concern was, their own danger, not that
of their allies. These men wrote to Hannibal
in terms not only free, but harsh, charging him,
that "besides surrendering Capua into the
hands of the enemy, he had abandoned them
and their garrison to the hazard of all kinds of
torture : that he had gone off to Bruttium as if
on'purpose to get out of the way, lest the city
should be taken in his sight. This was not
like the conduct of the 'Romans, whom not
even an attack on the city of Rome could draw
away from the siege of Capua : so much more
steady were Romans in enmity than Carthagin-
ians in friendship." They told him, that "if
he would return to Capua, and bring his whole
force thither, both they and the Campaniana
would be ready to sally forth to his assistance.
They had not crossed the Alps for the purpose
of waging war with the people of Rhegium, or
of Tarentum ; wherever the Roman legions
were, there ought likewise to be the Cartha-
ginian armies. In this manner success had
been obtained at Cannae ; in this manner at the
Thrasimenus ; by uniting, by keeping their
camp close to that of the enemy, by making
trial of fortune." Having written a letter to
this effect, they gave it to some Numidians,
who had before promised their service for a
reward agreed on. After these had come into
the camp to Flaccus as deserters, intending to
watch for an opportunity of proceeding thence,
(the famine which had raged so long in Capua
affording any one a colourable pretence for de-
serting,) a Campanian woman, who had been
mistress to one of these, came unexpectedly
into the camp, and informed the Roman gene-
ral that the Numidians had come over with a
treacherous design, and were carrying a letter
to Hannibal ; and that of this she was ready to
convict one of them, who had disclosed the
matter to her. On being brought to an ex-
amination, he at first maintained firmly that he
did not know the woman ; but afterwards,
yielding reluctantly to the force of truth, on
seeing that the racks were called for and brought
out, he confessed the fact. The letter was
produced, and a farther discovery made of a
matter not hitherto mentioned, that several
other Numidians under the appearance of de-
serters, were strolb'ng about in the Romun

558

THE HISTORY

XXVI.

cainp. These, in number about seventy,
were ipprehended, and, together with the late
deserters, beaten with rods ; their hands were
then cut off, and they were driven back to
Capua.

XIII. The sight of a punishment so grievous
quite broke the spirits of the Campanians.
The populace, crowding about the senate-
house, compelled Lesius to call a meeting of the
senate, and openly threatened the nobles, who,
for a long time past; had absented themselves
from public assemblies, that, if they did not
attend the meeting, they would go round to each
of their houses, and drag them out by force.
The fear of this procured the magistrate a full
senate. At this meeting, while the rest pro-
posed sending ambassadors to the Roman gen-
erals, Vibius Virius, who had been the princi-
pal promoter of the revolt from the Romans,
on being asked his opinion, said, that " Those
who spoke of sending ambassadors, and of
peace, and a surrender, did not consider either
what they themselves would do, if they had the
Romans in their power, or what they must ex-
pect to suffer from them. What !" said he,
"'do you imagine that your surrender now will
be of the same kind with that, whereby, in
order to obtain support against the Samnites,
we delivered ourselves and all belonging to us
into the hands of the Romans ? Have you
already forgotten at what season and in what
circumstances, we revolted from the Romans ?
Have you already forgotten how, at the time of
this revolt, we put to death with indignity and
torture, their garrison, which might have been
dismissed ? How often and with what bitter
animosity, we haye sallied out against them,
since they began the siege ; and even attacked
their camp ? That we invited Hannibal, in
hopes of crushing them ; and that we lately
sent him hence to attack the city of Rome ?
Recollect, on the other hand, the instances of
their animosity against us ; that you may, from
thence, be able to estimate what room there is
for hope. When there was a foreign enemy
in Italy, and that enemy was Hannibal ; when
war blazed in every quarter, they, neglecting
every other concern, neglecting Hannibal him-
self, sent both their consuls with two consular
armies to attack Capua. These two years
they have kept us shut up, surrounded with
trenches, and consuming us by famine ; although
they themselves, together with us, undergo the
extremes! dangers, and the severest labours ;

often losing many at theii rampart ana trenches,
and, at last, being nearly beaten out of their
camp. But I will not enlarge upon these
matters. To endure toils and hardships in
attacking an enemy's city, is no new thing ; it
is usual. What I am going to mention, affords
a proof of resentment and implacable hatred :
Hannibal, with a powerful army of horse and
foot, assaulted their camp, and got possession
of a part of it. The greatness of their danger
did not, in the least, dispose them to drop the
siege. Crossing the Vulturnus, he laid waste
the territory of Cales with fire : such a severe
calamity of their allies called them not away.
He ordered his troops to march in hostile array
to the city of Rome itself : this storm, ready
to burst on their heads, they likewise slighted.
Passing the Anio, he encamped within three
miles of Rome, and at last advanced to the
very walls and gates, showing a determination
to deprive them of their city, unless they quitted
Capua. They did not quit it. Wild beasts,
inflamed with blind fury and rage, you may
draw^away to the assistance of their young, if
you go up to their dens and cubs. As to the
Romans, not the blockade of Rome, nor their
wives and children, whose lamentations might
almost be heard even here, not their altars, their
houses, the temples of their gods, and tne se-
pulchres of their ancestors profaned and vio-
lated, could draw them away from Capua ; so
keen are their wishes to bring us to punish-
ment, so eager their thirst for our blood. And,
perhaps, not without reason ; for we, on our
parts, would have done the same, had fortune
given us the power. Wherefore, since the im-
mortal gods have determined otherwise, and
though I ought not to decline death ; yet while
I am free, while I am master of myself, I can,
by a death both honourable and easy, avoid the
tortures and indignities which the enemy hopes
to inflict on me. Never will I see Appius
Claudius and Quintus Fulvius puffed up with
the insolence of victory ; nor will I be- dragged
in chains through the city of Rome, as a spec-
tacle in their triumph, that I may afterwards,
either in a dungeon or tied to a stake, have
my back mangled with stripes, and submit
my neck to a Roman axe ; never will I
see my native city demolished, and reduced
to ashes, nor the Campanian matrons and
virgins dragged to violation. Alba, from
whence they themselves sprung, they rased
from the foundation, that no monument of

Y. R. 541.]

OF ROME.

559

their extraction or origin might exist. Can
I believe that they will spare Capua, against
whirh they are more violently incensed than
against Carthage? Whosoever of you, then,
are disposed to yield to destiny, before they
become spectators of so many scenes of such
horrid kinds, for these a banquet is pre-
pared and ready, this day, at my hoifte.
When you shall have indulged plentifully in
food and wine, the same cup that will be given
to me shall go round. That cup will save our
bodies from torture, our minds from insult, our
eyes and ears from the sight and hearing of all
the cruelties and indignities that await the con-
quered. There will be persons in readiness to
throw our lifeless bodies on a large pile kindled
in the court-yard of the house. This way
alone conducts us to death with honour and
freedom. Our enemies themselves will admire
our courage, and Hannibal will be convinced,
that the allies, whom he deserted and betrayed,
were men of determined valour."

XIV. More approved of the proposal con-
tained in this speech of Vibius, than had reso-
lution to adopt it. The greater part of the
senate, conceiving hopes that the clemency of
the Roman people, often experienced in former
disputes, might be extended even to their case,
after passing a decree for that purpose, sent
ambassadors to surrender Capua to the Romans.
About twenty-seven senators followed Vibius
Virius to his house ; where, after feasting with
him, and, as far as they could, banishing from
their minds, by wine, all feeling of the impend-
ing evil, they every one took the poison. They
then broke up the meeting, gave their hands,
took the last embrace, condoling with one ano-
ther on their own fall, and that of their country.
Some remained there, in order to be burned
together on one pile, and the rest retired to
their several houses. Their reins were filled
by the victuals and wine ; which circumstance
retarded the efficacy of the poison in hastening
death, so that most of them lingered through
that whole night, and part of the next day ;
however, they all expired before the gates were
opened to the enemy. On the day following,
the gate of Jupiter, which was opposite to the
Roman camp, was opened by order of the pro-
consul, and through it marched in one legion,
and two confederate squadrons, under the com-
mand i)l Caius Fulvius, lieutenant-general.
His first care was, to have all the arms and
weapons in the city brought to him ; then, plac-

ing guards at all the gates, to prevent any one
going or being conveyed out, he secured the
Carthaginian garrison, and ordered the Cam.

' panian senators to go into the camp to the Ro-
man generals. On their arrival there, they
were all immediately thrown into chains, and
ordered to furnish the qiuestors with an account
of what gold and silver they possessed. The
gold amounted to seventy pounds weight, the
silrer to three thousand two hundred. Of the
senators, twenty-five were sent to ( 'ales, and
twenty-eight to Teanum, to be kept in custody.
These were the persons who appeared to have
been chiefly instrumental in bringing about the

* revolt from the Romans.

XV. With respect to the punishment of tho
Campanian senate, Fulvius and Claudius could
by no means agree. Claudius was inclined to
favour their suit for pardon; the opinion of
Fulvius was more severe. Appius, therefore,
proposed, that the entire determination of that
matter should be removed to Rome ; observ-
ing, that it was highly reasonable that the se-
nate should have an opportunity of enquiring,
whether they had brought any of the Latine
confederates, or of the municipal towns, to take
part in their designs, and whether they had
been assisted by them in the war. Fulvius in-
sisted, that " it would be to the last degree impro-
per, that faithful allies should have their minds
disturbed by dubious imputations, and be sub-
jected to informers, who never scruple either
what they say or do. Any inquiry of that kind,
therefore, he was resolved to suppress and stifle."
After this conversation they parted ; and Ap-
pius made no doubt that his colleague, though
he spoke in this determined manner, would yet,
in a case of such importance, wait for letter*
from Rome. But Fulvius, apprehensive that
his intention might be frustrated by that very
means, dismissed the officers attending at his
pavilion, and ordered the military tribunes and
prefects of the allies to give notice to two
thousand chosen horsemen, to be in readiness at
the third trumpet. With this body of horse he
set out in the night for Teanum, and entering
the gate at the first light, proceeded straight to
the forum. The arrival of the horsemen hav-
ing caused immediately a concourse of people,
he ordered the Sidicinian magistrate to be
summoned, and commanded him to bring forth
the Campanians whom he had in his custody.
Accordingly they were all brought forth, boat-
en with rods, and beheaded. From thence, he

5GO

THE HISTORY

[BOOK xxvi.

rode away at full speed to Cales ; where, when
he had taken his seat on the tribunal, and the lie-
tors were binding the Campanians to the stakes,
a courier arriving in haste from Rome, deli-
vered him a letter from Caius Calpurnius, the
praetor, and a decree of the senate in their fa
vour. A murmur immediately spread from the
tribunal through the whole assembly, that the
case of the Campanians was reserved for the
cognizance of the senate. Fulvius, suspecting
this to be so, when he received the letter, thrust
it unopened into his bosom, and commanded
the crier to order the lictor to proceed in his
duty according to law. Thus those also who
were at Cales suffered punishment. He then
read the letter and the decree, when it could
not obstruct the business already finished, and
? which had been hurried on lest it might be ob-
structed. When Fulvius was rising from his
seat, "Taurea Jubellius, a Campanian, making-
his way through the middle of the city and of
the crowd, called on him by name. Fulvius,
wondering what his business with him might be,
resumed his seat; on which the other said,
" Order me also to be put to death, that you
may boast of having killed a braver man than
yourself. " Fulvius said, that " the man had cer-
tainly lost his reason," and observed besides,
that " if he were inclined to comply with his
desire, he was now restrained by a decree of the
senate." Jubellius on this exclaimed ; "Since,
after seeing my country reduced to captivity,
after losing my friends and relations, after hav-
ing killed, with my own hand, my wife and
children, to prevent their suffering any indig-
nity, I am denied even the means of dying in
the same manner with these my countrymen ;
let me seek from my own resolution a deliver-
ance from this detested life ;" and then stabbing
himself through the breast, with a sword which
he had concealed under his garment, he fell
lifeless at the general's feet.

XVI. Because not only the whole business
relative to the punishment of the Campanians,
but, also, most of the other transactions, on
that quarter, were conducted agreeably to the
single judgment of Flaccus, some writers affirm,
that Appius Claudius died before the surrender
of Capua. They say, too, that this same
Taurea neither came voluntarily to Cales, nor
died by his own hand ; but that, while he was,
among the rest, tied to a stake, and because the
expressions which he loudly vociferated could
not be well heard, amidst the noise of the

crowd, Flaccus had ordered silence to be made,
and that then Taurea uttered the words before-
mentioned : that " he, a man of consummate
valour, was to be put to death by one his inferior
in courage !" that, on his saying this, the crier, by
order of the proconsul, pronounced aloud this or-
der, " Lictor, apply the rods to the man of valour,
and on him first execute the law." Some
writers assert also, that he read the decree of
the senate before he beheaded the prisoners ;
but because there was an expression annexed,
that " if he judged proper, he should refer the
business entire to the senate," he interpreted
this as giving him authority to determine what
he judged most conducive to the public good.
From Cales he returned to Capua, and receiv-
ed the submission of Atella and Calatia. In
these towns also, the persons who had been in
the management of affairs, were punished.
Upon the whole, eighty of the principal mem-
bers of the senate were put to death, and about
three hundred Campanian nobles were thrown
into prison. The rest, being sent into several
of the cities of the Latine confederates to be
kept in custody, perished by various means.
The whole remaining multitude of Campanian
citizens were ordered to be sold. How to dis-
pose of the town and its territory remained to
be considered : and here, many were of opinion,
that a city, so hostile in disposition, so near the
Roman borders, and so formidably powerful,
ought to be demolished. However, the con-
sideration of immediate utility prevailed ; and,
on account of the soil, which was well known
to be endued with a fertility qualifying it for
every kind of cultivation, and beyond any other
in Italy, the city was preserved, to be a kind of
settlement of husbandmen. For the purpose
of peopling the same, all those of its former
inhabitants, who had not become citizens, to-
gether with the freedmen, dealers, and trades-
men, were ordered to remain; the land and
public buildings became the property of the
Roman people. It was, however, determined,
that Capua should have no other privilege of a
city, than the being inhabited ; no system of
civil polity, no assembly of a senate or com-
mons, no magistrates. For it was supposed
that a multitude, without a public council,
without a ruling head, participitating in no
common rights, would be incapable of forming
designs in concert. It was further ordained,
that the administration of justice should be con-
ducted by a prefect, to be sent yearly from

v. K. 541.]

OF ROME.

561

Rome. In this manner were the affaire of
Capua adjusted, with a policy in every par-
ticular commendable. Severe and speedy pun-
ishment was inflicted on the most guilty ; the po-
pulace were dispersed beyond all hope of re-
turn ; but no passionate resentment was vented,
in fire and devastation, on the unuffending
hour's and walls. There was impressed on
the minds of all the allies, an advantageous opi-
nion of Roman clemency in the sparing of this
very celebrated and opulent city, the demolition
of which would have deeply afflicted, not only
all Campania, but every state in its neighbour-
hood. This conduct extorted also from the
enemy a full acknowledgment of the power of
the Romans to punish faithless allies ; while
they were convinced how utterly inadequate the
ability of Hannibal was to afford them the pro-
tection engaged for.

XVII. The attention of the senate being
no longer necessary to the business of Capua,
they decreed to Claudius Nero six thousand
foot and three hundred horse, to be chosen by
himself out of those two legions which he had
commanded at that place ; with a like number
of foot, and eight hundred horse of the confe-
derate Latincs. This army he embarked at
Puteoli, and carried over to Spain. When the
fleet arrived at Tarraco, he disembarked the
troops, hauled the ships on shore, and, to aug-
ment his numbers, armed the marines ; then,
marching to the river Iberus, and receiving the
forces then with Titus Fonteius and Lucius*
Marcius, he proceeded towards the enemy.
Hasdmbul, son of Hamilcar, was at this time
encamped in Ausetania, at a place called the
Black Stones, between the towns of Uleturge
and Metissa — a valley surrounded by hills and
woods, the entrances to which were seized by
Nero. In order to extricate himself, Hasdru-
bal sent a messenger with the wand of peace,
engaging that, if he were allowed to depart, he
would entirely evacuate Spain. This proposal
the Roman received with joy. The Carthagi-
nians then requested, that a conference might
be held in order to settle, in writing, the rules
to be observed respecting the surrender of the
citadels of the several towns, and the appoint-
ment of a day whereon the garrisons were to
be withdrawn, removing, without obstruction,
every thing that belonged to them. This re-
quest being complied with, Hasdrubal gave
orders, that as soon as it should begin to grow
dark, the part of his army least calculated for

I.

expeditious movements should get ont of the
defile as they were able : particular care, how-
ever, was taken that great numbers should not
leave it at once, because a few were more likely
both to pass in silence, and unobserved by the
enemy, and also to make their way through the
narrow and difficult paths. Next day the com-
manders of it met ; but the whole of it was
purposely wasted by Hasdrubal in speaking
and writing abundance of things perfectly im-
material ; and, consequently, the conference
was postponed to the next. He thus gained
the space of the following night also, to send
out more of his troops, and even the next day
did not conclude the business. In this manner
several days were passed in openly debating on
the conditions, and the nights in privately send-
ing off the Carthaginians ; so that, when the
greater part of his troops had got clear, his
sincerity decreasing along with his fears, he re-
fused to abide by what he himself had proposed.
And now, almost the whole of the infantry had
made their way out of the defile, when, at the
dawn of day, a thick fog overspread both that
and all the adjacent plains ; which Hasdrubal
perceiving, sent to Nero to defer the conference
until the next morning, alleging, that this was
a day on which the Carthaginians were prohi-
bited by their religion from transacting any se-
rious business. Even this raised no suspicion
of deceit. Hasdrubal, having obtained the in-
dulgence he had demanded, instantly quitted
the camp with his cavalry and elephants ; and,
without causing any alarm, gained a place of
safety. About the fourth hour, the fog being
dispersed by the sun, the day cleared up, and
showed to the Roman's the enemy's deserted
camp. Then, at hist, Nero became acquainted
with Carthaginian perfidy, and was so provoked
at having thus been duped, that he set out di-
rectly in pursuit of the retreating enemy, de-
termined to bring him to an engagement ; but
the other eluded all his endeavours. Some
skirmishes however took place between the rear
of the Carthaginians and the advanced guard o'.
the Romans.

XVIII. Meanwhile those Spanish states,
which, after the late disaster, had abandoned
the cause of the Romans, did not return to their
alliance, but no others had lately deserted them.
At Rome, since the recovery of Capua, the
senate and people gave not more earnest atten-
tion to the affairs of Italy, than to those of
Spain ; they therefore determined to augment
4 B

562

THE HISTORY

[BOOK xxvr.

the army there, and to send a genera] to com-
mand it. But it was not so easy to agree on the
person to be sent, as it was to perceive that ex-
traordinary care ought to be employed in the
choice of one to be commissioned to such a
charge, in which two most eminent commanders
had fallen within the space of thirty days, anc
where he was to supply the place of the two.
Some named one, some another, until the re-
solution was at last adopted of leaving it to the
people in assembly, to elect a proconsul for
Spain ; and the consuls accordingly proclaimed
a day for the election. It had been expected
at first, that those who believed themselves
qualified for such an important command
would become candidates ; and the failure oi
this expectation renewed the affliction of the
public, for the severe blow which they had sus-
tained, and for.the generals whom they had lost.
Under this dejection of mind, almost incapable
of forming a judgment on the state of things,
the people, nevertheless, on the day of election,
repaired to the field of Mars, where they fixed
their eyes on the magistrates, watching the
countenances of the several men of the greatest
eminence, who only cast looks of perplexity
one on another. And now, every one began
with added sorrow to remark, that their affairs
were hopeless, and the cause of the public so
desperate that no one dared to accept the com-
mand in Spain ; when, on a sudden, Publius
Cornelius Scipio, a son of Publius, who was
killed in Spain, being then about the age of
twenty-four, went up to an eminence, from
whence he could be seen, and declared himself
a candidate. The eyes of the whole assembly
were instantly turned on him, and universal ac-
clamations testified hopes and presages of
prosperity and success to his commission. Or-
ders were given, that they should immediately
proceed to give their suffrages, when not only
every century, without exception, but every in-
dividual, voted, that Publius Scipio should
have the command in Spain. When the busi-
ness was finished, and the vehemence and ardour
of their emotions had subsided, a sudden silence
ensued ; and they now began to reflect on the
strange manner in which they had acted, govern-
ing themselves rather by partial inclination,
than by judgment. His early age was the
principal cause of their uneasiness : while some
at the same time conceived terrible apprehen-
sions from the fortune attending his house, and
even from his name. The two families he

belonged to were then in mourning j and he was
to set out for a province where he must carry
on his operations between th£ tombs of his father
and of his uncle.

XIX. When he perceived that, after going
through the business with such alacrity of zeal,
the people were yet impressed with solicitude
and anxiety, he summoned an assembly j and
there enlarged on the subject of his years, on
the command entrusted to him, and the war to
be carried on ; and this he did with such
magnanimity and elevation of sentiment, as to
rekindle and renew the ardour which had
subsided, and to fill the people with greater
confidence than either the faith reposed in any
human professions, or than reason, judging from
the most promising state of affairs, usually
supplies. For Scipio was deserving of admira-
tion, not only for real virtues, but also for a
certain judicious method of displaying them to
advantage, to which he had been trained from
his youth. He generally represented any mat-
ter, which he wished to carry with the
multitude, as recommended either by a vision in
the night, or by an admonition impressed on
his mind by the gods ; whether owing to the
influence of some kind of superstition in him,
or with the design of bringing men to execute
his orders and schemes without hesitation, as
if they were directed by the responses of an
oracle. To prepare their minds for this, he
never transacted any business, public or pri-
vate (from the very moment of assuming the
manly gown), without first going to the capitol,
walking into the temple, and sitting there for
some time ; generally alone and in some retired
spot. This custom, which was observed by
him through the whole course of his life, made
several people give credit to a notion which
was then propagated either by his own contri-
vance or by some unknown author, that he was
of divine extraction ; like to the fable formerly
told of Alexander the Great. The fiction
went, that he was begotten by a huge ^serpent ;
in which form the prodigy, it was said, had
been very often seen in his mother's chamber,
and on people's coming in, glided away sud-
denly and disappeared. These miraculous
stories he himself never discouraged, but rather
artfully countenanced, neither contradicting any
thing of the kind, nor absolutely affirming it
Many other remarkable incidents in respect
of this youth (some real, and others fictitious,)
jad procured for him a degree of admiration

Y. R. 541.]

OF ROM H.

563

surpassing what was due to any human being ;
and these were the motives which then induced
the public to entrust him, at so unripe an
age, with the conduct of BO momentous a
liii.-iiiess as that to which he had aspired.
To the remains of the whole army, still in
Spain, and the forces carried thither fi ,>m Pu-
teoli with Claudius Nero, were added ten
thousand foot, and one thousand horee ; and
Marcus Junius Silanus, propraetor, was sent
with him, to assist in the management of affairs.
Thus setting sail from Ostia, on the Tiber,
with a fleet of thirty ships, which were all quin-
queremes, and coasting along the shore of the
Tuscan sea, the Alps, and the Gallic gulf;
and then doubling the promontory of Pyrene,
he disembarked his forces at Emporium, a city
of Greeks, who came originally from Pbocaea.
Thence, having ordered the fleet to follow, he
inarched by land to Tarraco, and there held a
convention of all the allies ; for, on the news
of his arrival, embassies had poured in from
every state in the province. Here he ordered
the ships to be laid up on shore, after sending
back four triremes of the Massilians, which
had, out of respect, accompanied him from
home. He then applied himself to giving
answers to the embassies of the several states,
whose mind's had been held in suspense by the
succession of so many various events ; and this
hfe performed with much dignity of spirit, re-
sulting from a thorough confidence in his own
abilities ; but at the same time, not one pre-
sumptuous word fell from him, and, in every
thing which he said, there appeared at once the
greatest elevation of sentiment, and the greatest
candour.

XX. Leaving Tarraco, he visited the sever-
al states of the allies, and the winter-quarters
of the army. Here he bestowed much praise
on the soldiers, for having, after all their suffer-
ings, in two such dreadful disasters succeeding
one another, still retained possession of the
province, not allowing the enemy to derive any
advantage from their success, but excluding
them entirely from the country on the hither
side of the Iberus, and honourably securing the
safety of the allies. Marcius he kept near
himself, and treated with him upon terms so
highly honourable as plainly demonstrated, that
he feared nothing less, than that any one might
rclipse his own glory. Silanus then succeeded
in the room of Nero, and the troops lately ar-
rived went into winter quarters. Scipio having,

without loss of time, repaired to the placet
where his presence was requisite, and finished
the business there to be done, returned to
Tarraco. The enemy were, by this time, pos-
sessed with -an opinion of Sdpio not inferior
to that entertained by his own countrymen and
the allies ; and they felt, moreover, a kind of
foreboding of what was to come, which (the
less able they were to account for apprehensions
of which no cause appeared) impressed the
greater dread upon their minds. They had gone
into winter quarters in different parts of the
country : Hasdrubal, son of Gisgo, at Gades,
on the ocean ; Mago in the inland parts, the
greatest part of his troops being stationed above
the pass of Castulo ; and Hasdrubal, son of
Hamilcar, in the neighbourhood of Saguntum,
on the banks of the Iberus. Towards the end
of that summer wherein Capua was taken, and
Scipio came into Spain, a Carthaginian fleet,
which was called over from Sicily to Tarentum
to cut off the supplies of the Roman garrison
in the citadel, shut up, indeed, every access to
it by sea ; but, by lying there too long, caused
a greater scarcity among their friends than
among the enemy : for the quantity of corn
that could be brought into the town along the
coasts, which were kept in awe, and through
the ports, which were kept open by the power
of the Carthaginian fleet, was not equal to the
consumption of the fleet itself, crowded as it was
with a mixed multitude of people of every de-
scription ; and while the garrison of the citadel,
being few in number, could support themselves
out of the magazines previously formed without
any importation, all that could be brought in
was too little to answer the demands of the
Tarentines and the fleet. At last the fleet
was sent away, which gave greater satisfaction
than its coming had done, but produced very
little relief to 4he scarcity ; for when the naval
force was removed, no more corn could be
brought in.

XXI. Towards the close of this summer,
Marcus Marcellus having returned to Rome
from his province of Sicily, the pnrtor, Cains
Calpurnias, assembled the senate in the temple
of JBellona, to give him audience. Here, after
expatiating on the services which he had per-
formed, and complaining in mild terms, not
more on his own account than on that of his
soldiers, that thongh he bad completed all the
business of the province, he had not been
allowed to bring home the army, he request-

564

THE HISTORY

[BOOK xxvi.

cd permission to enter the city in triumph.
This occasioned a long debate, wherein it
was urged on one side, that, after they had
i:n his absence decreed a supplication and a
thanksgiving to the immortal gods in his
behalf, and for services happily accomplished,
the refusing him a triumph when he appeared to
demand it, would imply an inconsistency ; and,
on the other, that, as they had decreed that he
should give up the command of the army to a
successor (which kind of decree was never
passed, unless when war still subsisted in the
province), there would be no less inconsistency
in voting him a triumph, as if the war were
concluded, and while the troops, who could best
testify whether he merited that honour or not,
were in a distant country. The matter was at
length compromised, with a decree that he
should enter the city in ovation. The plebeian
tribunes, by direction of the senate, proposed to
the people the issuing of an order, that Marcus
Marcellus should enjoy the authority of a gene-
ral during the day on which he should pass
through Rome in ovation. On the day preced-
ing that of his entrance, he triumphed on the
Alban mount ; and, in his ovation, had great
abundance of spoils borne before him into the
city. Together with a model, representing the
captured city of Syracuse, were carried in pro-
cession the catapultas, balistas, and every other
kind of engine used in war. Likewise, the
valuable ornaments collected by their kings, at
vast expense, during a long continuance of
peace ; abundance of wrought silver and brass,
furniture of various kinds, precious garments,
and a great number of remarkably line statues,
with which kind of ornaments Syracuse had
abounded as much as any of the Grecian cities.
Eight elephants were also led in his train, as
an emblem of his victory over the Carthagin-
ians ; and what formed not the le,ast attractive
part of the show, he was preceded by Sosis the
Syracusan, and Mericus the Spaniard, with
crowns of gold on their heads ; the former of
whom had guided the Romans into Syracuse
by night, the other had delivered the island and
its garrison into their hands. To both of these
the freedom of the state was granted, and to
each five hundred acres of land. The portion
intended for Sosis was ordered to be given to
him in the territory of Syracuse, out of the es-
tates which had belonged either to the kings
or to the enemies of the Roman people, with
any house that he should choose of those which

had belonged to persons punished according to
the laws of war. Mericus, and the Spaniards
who came over with him, were to have a city
and lands allotted to them, in some of those
parts of Sicily which had revolted from the
Romans : and Marcus Cornelius was commis-
sioned to assign these to them wherever he
should judge proper. Four hundred acres of
land in the same country were decreed to Bel-
ligenes, by whose persuasions Mericus had been
prevailed on to secede from the Carthaginians
over to the Romans. After the departure of
Marcellus^ from Sicily, a Carthaginian fleet
landed eight thousand foot and three thousand
Numidian horse, who were soon joined by the
Murgantians, and their revolt was followed by
that of Hybla, and several other cities of less
note. The Numidians, headed by Mutines,
making excursions through every part of the
island, wasted with fire and sword the lands of
those who were in alliance with Rome. Be-
sides these untoward circumstances, the Roman
troops, being incensed partly because they had
not been carried home with their commander,
and partly because they had been forbidden to
winter in towns, became very remiss in their
duty, and wanted rather a leader than inclina-
tion for a mutiny. In the midst of these diffi-
culties, the praetor, Marcus^Cornelius, by some-
times soothing, sometimes reproving the sol-
diers, brought them to a calmer temper, and alsa
reduced to submission all the states which had
revolted ; out of which he assigned Murgantia
to those Spaniards who were entitled to a city
and lands by the senate's decree.

XXII. As both the consuls were employed
in the one province of Apulia, and as the dan-
ger to be apprehended from Hannibal and the
Carthaginians was not diminished, they were
ordered to cast lots for Apulia and Macedonia
as their provinces. Macedonia fell to Sulpi-
cius, and he succeeded in the room of Laevinus.
Fulvius was called to Rome to preside at the
elections ; and, holding an assembly, the young-
er Veturian century, being the first to vote,
named Titus Manlius Torquatus, and Titus
Otacilius, consuls. Manlius being present, a
crowd gathered around him to offer their con-
gratulations, there being no doubt of the con-
currence of the people. Surrounded as he was
by a vast multitude, he went up to the consul's
tribunal, requesting permission to say a few
words, and that the century which had voted
might be called back. After the assembly had

Y. R. 541.]

OF ROME.

5G5

waited »ome time with impatience, to know what
he intended to require, he excused himself from
accepting the office, on account of the weakness
of his eyes, observing, that " it would be shame-
lr-> presumption in a pilot, or a general, who was
obliged to transact his own proper business
by the help of other people's eyes, to expect
that the lives and fortunes of men should be
committed to^his charge. Wherefore, he re-
quested the consul to order the younger Vetu-
rian century to be called back to vote anew,
and to recollect, while they were electing con-
suls, the war that subsisted in Italy, with the
present exigencies of the commonwealth ; and
that people's earsrwere scarcely yet relieved
from the noise and tumult raised by the enemy,
when a few months ago they lay close to the
walls of Rome." Here he was interrupted by
the century, who one and all cried out that
they would not alter their vote. Torquatus
then replied, " Should I become consul, nei-
ther shall I be able to endure your behaviour,
nor you my government : go back, then, and
vote again, and consider that there is a Cartha-
ginian war subsisting in Italy, and that the
leader of your enemies ia Hannibal." The
century then, moved by the authority of the
man, and the murmurs of admiration expressed
by all around, besought Titus to summon the
elder Veturian century, as they wished to con-
fer with persons older than themselves, and to
be directed by them in their choice of consuls.
The elder Veturian century was accordingly,
summoned, and time was allowed for the others
to confer with them, apart from the crowd, in
the inclosure of the voters. The elders said,
that there were three proper objects for their
consideration, two of whom had already passed
through a full course of public honours, Quin-
tus Fabius, and Marcus Marcellus ; that if
they had a particular wish to elect a consul,
yet untried, against the Carthaginians, there
was Marcus Valerius Lsevinus, who had con-
ducted the war against king Philip, both on
land and sea, with extraordinary success. They
accordingly consulted together respecting those
three, and the elders being dismissed, the young-
er century proceeded to vote. They named
as consuls Marcus Claudius Marcellus, whose
character then shone in full splendour, in conse-
quence of his glorious conquest of Sicily, and
Marcus Valerius, both absent ; — and were fol-
lowed by all the rest of the centuries. Men
may ridicule the admirers of ancient times, but I

shall ever remain persuaded, that even though
there should exist a republic of philosopher*,
such as speculative men are fond of forming in
imagination, but which never was known, yet
there could not be produced either a nobility
of more solid judgment, and of more unambi-
tious tempers, nor a populace guided by sounder
moral principles, than were these of whom I
speak. That a century of young men should
wish to consult their elders on the choice of a
person to whom they were to entrust the go-
vernment by their vote, appears indeed at pre-
sent scarcely credible ; but it is because, in the
fashion of this age, even sons slight and disre-
gard the counsel of their parents.

XXIII. They then proceeded to the elec-
tion of praetors, and Publius Manlius Volso,
Lucius Manilas Acidinus, Caius Ltetorius, and
Lucius Cincius Alimentus, were chosen. It
happened that, just as the elections were finish-
ed, an account arrived that Titus Otacilius,
whom the people would probably have appoint-
ed consul, in his absence, together with Titus
Manlius, if the course of the election had not
been interrupted, had died in Sicily. The
games of Apollo had been celebrated the year
be/ore, and, on the proposal of the praetor
Calpurnius, that they should be performed this
year also, a decree was made by the senate
that they should be celebrated annually for
ever. This year several prodigies were seen
and reported. At the temple of Concord,
a statue of victory, which stood on the sum-
mit of the roof, being struck by lightning,
and shaken at its base, fell and struck among
the ensigns of the goddess which were on the
pediment. From Anagnia and Fregella re-
ports were brought, that a wall and some gates
were by the like means thrown down ; that, in
the forum of Sudertum, streams of blood ran
for a whole day ; that a shower of stones fell
at Eretum, and that at Reate a mule had pro-
duced a foal These prodigies were expiat-
ed with the greater victims ; the people were
ordered to perform a supplication, of one day's
continuance, to avert the wrath of the gods,
and the nine days' festival was solemnized.
Several of the public priests died this year, and
new ones were appointed in their places. In the
room of Marcus JKmilius Numida, decemvir
of religious affairs, was substituted Marcus
.'Emilius Lepidus ; in the room of Marcus
Pomponius Matho, pontiff, Caius Livius ; and
in the room of Spurius (Jurvilius Maxnnus,

566

THE HISTORY

[BOOK xxvi.

augur, Marcus Servilius. Because Titus Ota-
cilius Crassus, who was a pontiff, died after the
conclusion of the year, there was no nomination
of any person to his place. Caius Claudius,
flamen of Jupiter, because he had committed
some irregularity in the distribution of the en-
trails, resigned the office.

XXIV. About this time Marcus Valerius
Lsevinus, after having first sounded the dispo-
sitions of the principal men in secret confer-
ences, came with some light ships to a council
of the JEtolians, which had been previously
summoned for this purpose. Here, to convince
them of the nourishing state of the affairs of
Italy and Sicily, he expatiated in high terms on
the reduction of Capua, and of Syracuse, add-
ing, that " the Romans inherited, even from
ftieir earliest ancestors, a constant disposition
to study the interest of their allies ; some of
whom they had admitted into their state to
equal privileges with themselves, and others
were supported by them in such situations, that
they chose rather to be allies, than fellow-citi-
zens. That the JEtolians would be held by
them in the higher degree of estimation, on
account that they would be the first, of all the
nations separated from them by the sea, who
united with them in friendship. That Philip
and the Macedonians were troublesome neigh-
bours ; but that he had already broken their
strength and spirits, and was determined to re-
duce them so low, that they should not only
evacuate those cities, of which they had forci-
bly deprived the JEtolians, but should find
Macedonia itself an uneasy residence. As to
the Acarnanians, whose dismemberment from
their body gave the JEtolians much concern, he
engaged to replace them under the former
charter of obedience to their authority and ju-
risdiction." These assertions and promises of
the Roman general, Scopas, who was then prae-
tor of the nation, and DorimacHus, a principal
man among the JEtoli&ns, confirmed by their
own authority; and therefore, with the less
reserve, and greater assurance of gaining belief,
extolled the power and exalted reputation of
the Roman people. However, that which had
the greatest influence was the hope of recover-
ing Acarnania. The particulars were accord-
ingly reduced to writing, on which they were
to join in a treaty of alliance and friendship
with the Roman people, and a clause was add-
ed, that " if it was agreeable to their own wish,
the Eleans and Lacedaemonians should be in-

cluded on the same terms of friendship, and
also Attalus, Pleuratus, and Scerdilaedus."
Attains was king of Asia, the others of
Thrace and Blyria. The terms of the treaty
were, that " the ^Etolians should immediately
commence war against Philip on land : that the
Romans should assist them with not less than
twenty ships of five banks of oars . that, of all
the cities that should be taken as far as Cor-
cyra, beginning from JEtolia, the buildings of
every description, together with the lands
thereunto belonging, should be the property of
the .^Etolians ; all other booty of what kind
soever to be given up to the Romans : that the
Romans should use their endeavours to secure
to the JStolians the possession of Acarnania :
that, if the ^tolians should make peace with
Philip, an article should be inserted in the
treaty, declaring it valid, only on condition that
Philip should refrain from committing hostili-
ties on the Romans, their allies, or any under
their dominion : in like manner, if the Roman
people should form an alliance with the king,
that they should take care not to allow lu'm a
right of making war on the jEtolians and their
allies." Such was the purport of the negotia-
tion entered into by the above-named powers,
two copies of which were made two years after,
and deposited, one by the Romans, in the capi-
tol, and the other by the ^tolians, at Olympia,
that these consecrated records .might bear evi-
dence of its contents. This delay arose from
the JEtolian ambassadors having been too long
detained at Rome, which however was no im-
pediment to the business of the war ; for the
JEtolians immediately commenced hostilities
against Philip, while Lffivinus attacked Zacyn-
thus, a small island near the coast of ^Ktolia,
which has one city of the same name with it-
self. This, excepting the citadel, he reduced
by storm, and taking from the Acarnanians
yKiiiad;e and Nasus, put them into the hands
of the ^Etolians. Judging that Philip was now
sufficiently embroiled in war with his neigh-
bours to prevent his thinking of Italy, tiie Car-
thaginians, and his compact with Hannibal, he
retired to Corcyra.

XXV. Philip received the account of the
defection of the JEtolians at Pella, where he
had fixed his residence for the winter. As he
was to move his army into Greece in the be-
ginning of the next spring, he determined to
strike terror into the fllyrians, and the cities in
that quarter, in return for the alarms which they

v. ». 541.]

OF ROME.

567

liail caused to bin, so that they chould leave
Macedonia unmolested during his absence ; ac-
cordingly, he undertook a sudden expedition
against the territories of Oricuin and Apollonia.
The Apollonians who cauie out to meet him
he compelled to fly with dismay into their city ;
then, after ravaging the frontiers of IL'yricum.
lu- pursued his route with the same degree of
c\pt ijition into Pelagonia, where he took Sin-
tia, a town belonging to the Dardauians, and
which would have afforded them a passage into
AJaccdonia, Having finished this business with
all possible speed, he turned his thoughts to
the wai which he had to maintain against the
./Etelians and the Romans in conjunction, and
marched down through Pelagouia, Lyncus, and
Bottiicu into Thessaly, in hopes that many of
these states might be prevailed upon to join
him in support of the war with the JEtolwaa.
Leaving therefore, at the narrow entrance of
Thessaly, one of his generals, named Perseus,
with four thousand soldiers, to secure the pass
against the -32tolians, he went himself at the
head of his army, before he should be engaged
by more important business, into Macedonia,
and thence into Thrace and Mtedica. This
nation had been accustomed, whenever they
saw the king employed in a foreign war, and
the kingdom left unguarded, to make incursions
into -Macedonia : he therefore set about wast-
ing the country about Phragandie, and laid
siege to the city of Jamphorina, the capital and
principal fortress of Maedica. Scopas, when-
he learned that the king had gone into Thrace,
and was employed in carrying on war there,
armed all the young men of the /Ktolians and
prepared to carry hostilities into Acarnania.
This nation, conscious of their inability to op-
pose him, seeing too that the cities of .^Eniadie
and Nasus were already lost, and that they
were besides threatened with an invasion by
the Romans, formed a plan of action dictated
by passion rather than by prudence. Their
wives, children, and all persons above the age
of sixty years, they sent way into the neigh-
bouring states of Epirus : while all from fifteen
to sixty bound themselves to each other by an
oath, to march against the enemy, and not to
return home unless victorious ; framing a
dreadful execration on such of their countrymen
as should receive into their city or house, or
admit to their table or fire-side, any one who
had given way to the foe, or quitted his post
in battle. They addressed also a most solemn

obtestation, of the same purport, to the states
with whom they liad an intercourse ; beseech-
ing, at the same time, the Epirotea to inter in
one common tomb such of their men as should
fall in battle, and to fix this epitaph over their
graves : HERK LIE THE ACARNAMANS, WHO

DIED FIGHTING IN DEFENCE OF THEIR COUNTRY,
AGAINST THE VIOLENCE AND INJUSTICE OF
THE ^KTOJ.IANS. With minds highly inflam-
ed by these and such like means, they en.
camped in the extreme border of their coun-
try, OR the side where they expected tin:
enemy ; and by the despatches which they sent
to Philip, representing the great danger that
threatened them, obliged him to drop the
prosecution of the designs in which he was
engaged, although Jamphorina had already capi-
tulated, and all his affairs were in a prosperous
train. The enterprise intended by the A'.\<>-
lians was postponed, first on their hearing of the
association entered into by the Acarnanianfi ;
and, afterwards, on the news of Philip's ap-
proach, which made them even draw back into
the interior parts of their own country. Philip,
however, though he had hastened by long
marches to prevent the Acarnanians being
overwhelmed, yet did not advance farther than
Dios, whence, on hearing that the .Ktulians
had retired from Acarnania, he also removed
to 1 Vila.

XXVI. Early in the spring Lacvinus set
sail from Corcyra, and, doubling the cape of
Leucate, came to Naupactum, whence be
sent notice, that he was proceeding to Anti-
cyra, in order that Scopas and the /Ktolians
might be there to join him. Anticyra stands
in Locris, on the left hand on entering the
Corinthian gulf, and the march thither by
land is short, as is the passage by sea, from
Naupactum. In about three days after this,
the *iege of that town was commenced by the
combined forces ; but the attack on the side
next the sea was the more difficult to be with-
stood, because there were on board the fleet
engines and machines of every sort ; and, be-
sides, the assailants were Romans. In a few
days, therefore, the city capitulated, and was
given up to the JBtolians. The spoil, accord,
ing to compact, fell to the Romans, Here
Laevinus received a letter, acquainting him that
he had been declared consul in his absence, and
that Publius Sulpidus was coming to suc-
ceed him in the command of the fleet But
he was seized by a tedious sickness, which

568

THE HISTORY

[BOOK xxvi.

delayed his return to Rome longer than any one
wished." Marcus Marcellus, entering on the con-
sulship on the ides of March, [ Y. R. 542. B. C.
210.] held, on the same day, a meeting of the
senate, merely for form's sake, for he declared,
that " he would introduce nothing respecting the
state of the commonwealth, or the distribution
of the provinces, in the absence of his col-
league. That he understood that there were
great numbers of Sicilians in the neighbour-
hood of the city, at the country houses of
persons who wished to depreciate his charac-
ter ; and, so far was he from hindering an open
publication of the charges fabricated and circu-
lated by his enemies, that he would have given
them instantly an opportunity of laying such
charges before the senate, were it not that they
pretended some kind of fear to speak of a con-
sul in the absence of his colleague. That,
however, when Laevinus arrived, he would cer-
tainly suffer no business to be transacted before
the Sicilians were introduced to an audience of
the senate. That Marcus Cornelius had made
a kind of levy through all Sicily, for the pur-
pose of sending to Rome the greater number of
complaints against him ; and that the same per-
son, with a view to injure his reputation, had,
by his letters, filled the city with false repre-
sentations of war still subsisting in Sicily."
The consul's behaviour on that day made peo-
ple conceive a good opinion of the moderation of
his temper. He then adjourned the senate,
and it was expected that there would be almost
a total suspension of every kind of business
until the return of the other consul. Want of
employment, as usual, gave occasion to various
murmurs amongst the populace ; they made
great complaint of " the length of the war ; of
the devastation of the country by Hannibal on
all sides of the city ; of Italy being exhausted
by levies of men, and of the loss of armies hap-
pening almost every year ; of consuls being now
elected, who, both of them, had a passion for
war ; men too enterprising and daring, who, in
a time of profound peace, were capable of ex-
citing quarrels, and therefore there was the less
reason to expect that, during the actual exist-
ence of hostilities, they would allow the public
time to breathe."

XXVII. These discourses were interrupted
by a fire which broke out near the forum, in the
night preceding the festival of Minerva. Seven
shops, where five were afterwards built, and the
banking-houses, which are now called the New

Banks, were in tlames in several places at once.
Next, the private buildings were consumed
(for the public halls were not then there), with
the prison, called the Quarry, and the fish mar-
ket, also the old palace of king Numa. With
difficulty the temple of Vesta was saved, prin-
cipally by the activity of thirteen slaves, who
were afterwards purchased for the public, and
discharged from servitude. The fire raged
during a night and a day. There was no doubt
of its being caused by human means, the flames
blazing out at the same moment, and at con-
siderable distances. The consul, therefore, by
direction of the senate, published a proclama-
tion, that whoever discovered the persons that
had occasioned the same, such discoverer should
receive as a reward, if a freeman, a sum of
money, if a slave, his liberty. Induced by this,
a slave, belonging to the Campanian family of
the Calavii, by name Mannus, gave informa-
tion, that " his masters, and five other young
Campanian noblemen, whose parents had been
beheaded by Quintus Fulvius, were the perpe-
trators of the deed, and that they would effect
the like destruction in various places, if they
were not put into confinement." On this they
were taken into custody, as were also their
slaves. At first, they spoke with scorn of the
informer and his discovery : they said " he had
run away from his masters, in consequence of
having been chastised the day before with a
whipping ; and, in a fit of resentment and folly,
had forged this charge, on the ground of an
event merely accidental." But, when they were
brought face to face with their accuser, and the
instruments of their villany began to be exam-
ined by torture, in the middle of the forum,
they all confessed their guilt ; and the masters,
and their slaves who were privy to the design,
were punished as they deserved. The infor-'-
mer received his liberty and twenty thousand
asses. ' The consul Laevinus, as he passed by
Capua, was surrounded by a multitude of the
Campanians, who besought him, with tears, to
give them permission to go to Rome, there to
entreat the senate to suffer themselves to be
moved, at length with compassion ; and not to
carry resentment so far as to their utter ruin,
nor to let the whole race of Campanians be ex-
tirpated by Quintus Flaccus. Flaccus declared
that " he had no personal quarrel whatsoever
with the Campanians ; a public and hostile en-

J 647. 11*. 8rf.

v. R. 542.]

OF ROME.

569

mily he certainly had, and should retain as lung
as he knew them to harbour the same sentiments
towards the Roman people. There was not
on earth," he said, " any race, or any state that
bore a more inveterate hatred to, the Roman
name. The reason of his keeping them con-
fined within the walls was, that when any of
them contrived to get out, they roamed about
the country like wild beasts, tearing and slay-
ing whatever fell in their wiiy. Some had
fled to join Hannibal, others had gone to
set Rome on fire, and the consul would find,
in the half-burnt forum, the traces of Cam-
panian villany. An attempt had been made
even on the temple of Vesta, on the sacred
fire, and the fatal pledge1 of the Roman em-
pire deposited in her shrine. For his part,
he could by no means think it safe to allow the
Campanians to enter the walls of Rome.
Lu'vinus, however, ordered the Campanians to
follow him thither ; having first made them
bind themselves by an oath to Flaccus, to re-
turn to Capua on the fifth day after receiving
an answer from the senate. Surrounded by
this train, and followed also by the Sicilians and
^tolians, who came out to meet him, he pro-
ceeded to Rome, bringing into the city, as accu-
sers of two men, whose characters hud been
rendered illustrious by the conquest of two very
celebrated cities, the parties whom they had van-
quished in war. However both the consuls pro-
posed, first, to the consideration of the senate,
the state of the commonwealth, and the disposal
of the provinces.

XX VII I. Lsevir.us then made a report of
the state of Macedonia and Greece, of the
yKtolians, Acanmnians, and Locrians ; and of
the services which he himself had performed
there, on land and sea ; acquainting them, that
" Pliilip, who came with an army against the
yKtolians, had been driven back by him into
Macedonia, and had retired into the interior
parts of his kingdom ; and that the legion might
be brought home from thence, the Meet being
sufficient to prevent any attempt of the king
upon Italy." This part of the business which
respected himself, and the province where he

I This was the famous Palladium, said to hare been
brought by .Kiu-as from Troy, and preserved, uithinokt
religious rare, in the temple of Vesta. What it was,
(sotacredly wan it kept from th« public eye,) no one
erer certainly knew ; supposing it, however, to have
retembled the one stolen by Diomede and 1'lyiMt, M
mentioned by Sinon in the £neid, then it muM Inn.'
\t«n an irnag* of Minerva, arrord.

I.

had commanded, he went through atone , the
questions relative to the distribution of the
provinces were put by both consuls jointly.
The senate decreed, that " Italy, and the war
with Hannibal, should be the province of one
of the consuls ; that the other should have the
command of the Meet lately under that of Titus
Otacilius ; and. in conjunction with the pnetor,
Lucius Cincius, the government of Sicily."
1'he two armies decreed to them were those
then in Etruria and Gaul, consisting of four
legions. The two city legions of the former
year were ordered to be sent into Etruria ; the
two lately under the command of the consul
Sulpicius into Gaul ; and Gaul, with these
legions, to be governed by such person us the
consul who had the province of Italy should
appoint. Caius Calpurnius, being continued
in command for a year after the expiration of
his prwtorship, was sent into Etruria. Capua
was appointed the province of Quintus Fulvius,
whose command was also prolonged for a year.
An order was made, that the numbers both of
the native and allied troops should be reduced,
so that out of two legions should be formed
one, containing five thousand foot and three
hundred horse, and that those men should be
discharged who had served the greatest nun.oer
of campaigns ; but that, in each legion of the
allies, there should be left seven thousand foot
and three hundred horse ; and that, in discharg-
ing the old soldiers, the same rule should bv
observed respecting the length of their services.
With regard to Cneius, Fulvius, consul of the
last year, no alteration was made, either in
his province Apulia, or in the army under his
command ; only he was continued another yeai
in authority. Publius Sulpicius, his colleague,
was ordered to disband his whole force, except-
ing the marines : as was Marcus Cornelius, at
soon as the consul should arrive in the province.
To the pnetor, Lucius Cincius, for the defence
of Sicily, were assigned the troops of Cannae,
equivalent to two legions. To the pnetor,
Publius Manlius Volso, were allotted, for the
service of Sardinia, the same number of legions
which Lucius Cornelius had commanded in
the same province the year before. The con-
suls were ordered to raise legions for the city,
but not to oblige any man to enlist who had
served in the armies of Marcus Claudius, Mar-
cus Valerius, or Quintus Fulvius, and the
number of Roman legions to be employed
during that year was fixed at twenty-one.
XXIX. When the senate had passed these
4 C

570

THE HISTORY

[BOOK xxvi.

decrees, the Consuls cast lots for the provinces.
Sicily, and the fleet, fell to Marcellus ; Italy,
with the war against Hannibal, to Laevinus.
This decision, as if Syracuse were now a second
time taken, struck the Sicilians, who stood
within sight of the consuls, waiting till the lots
were drawn, with such dismay, that their bit-
ter lamentations, and mournful expressions of
grief, attracted the eyes of all present, and
afforded afterwards much matter of discourse.
For they went round to each of the senators,
dressed in mourning, and affirming, that " they
were resolved to abandon, not only each his
native state, but all Sicily, if Marcellus should
come thither again as governor. Formerly,
when they had deserved no harsh treatment at
his hands, he had been implacable in his resent-
ment towards them ; to what lengths then,
might not his anger now carry him, when he
knew that they had come to Rome with com-
plaints against him? Better would it be for
that island to be buried under the fires of JEtna,
or sunk in the sea, than to be delivered over as
it were to execution at the will of an enemy."
These complaints of the Sicilians, after being
at first carried about to the houses of the no-
bility, and canvassed in frequent conversations,
which took rise either from compassion to the
Sicilians, or ill-will to Marcellus, made their
way even into the senate. A requisition was
there made to the consuls, that the senate
should be consulted on an exchange of pro-
vinces. To this Marcellus answered, that
" though the Sicilians had been already heard
by the senate, his opinion might still be differ-
ent ; but in order that no one should be able
to say that these people were curbed by fear,
or restrained from uttering their complaints
with freedom against a man to whose power
they were soon to be subject ; in the present
state of things, if his colleague had no objec-
tion, he was ready to change his province.'
He warmly intreated them "not to prejudge
the depending cause by the interposition of any
decree. For since it would be unjust to give hi
colleague his choice of a province without put-
ting it to the lot, how much greater would be
the injustice, nay, the indignity, if that which he
had obtained by lot were transferred to the
other ?" Accordingly the senate, after declaring
what was their wish, without passing a decree,
adjourned, and the consuls between themselves,
made an exchange of provinces. Thus die
fate, impending over Marcellus, drag him, as it

were, within the sphere of Hannibal ; that he
who had been the first Roman commander who
ravished from that general a large portion of
:iis glory, by defeating him in battle, might
t>e the last who contributed, by his fall, to the
aggrandisement of the same man's reputation ;
and this at a time when the events of the war,
in general, were particularly favourable to the
side of the Romans.

XXX. When the provinces were exchang-
ed, the Sicilians were introduced into the
senate, where they expatiated, in many words,
on the unalterable attachment of king Hiero
to the Roman people, assuming merit from
thence to themselves and their nation. "As
to the tyrants, Hieronymus, and, after him,
Hippocrates and Epicydes, they themselves
had ever detested them," they said, " for many
reasons, but particularly for taking part with
Hannibal against the Romans. For this cause
Hieronymus was put to death by the principal
young men of the nation, authorised, in a man-
ner, by the public voice. Seventy of their
youths, of the highest distinction, had conspir-
ed, on the same account, to kill Hippocrates
and Epicydes, but were disappointed of the
support which they expected from Marcellus,
by a delay in the bringing up of his army to
Syracuse at the time agreed on ; so that their
design being discovered, they were all put to
death by the tyrants. Even the tyrannical
usurpation of Hippocrates and Epicydes owed
its beginning to the cruelty practised by Mar-
cellus in the sacking of Leontini. The prin-
cipal Syracusans, alarmed at this, never ceased
afterwards imploring Marcellus, and promising
to deliver the city into his hands, at any time
that he chose to appoint : but his wish was to
take it by assault. Finding, however, after
every effort which could be made on land or
sea, that this was impracticable, he chose to de-
pend on Sosis, a brazier, and Mericus, a Span-
iard, for putting him in possession of Syracuse,
rather than on the first men of the city, who
had so often, to no purpose, voluntarily made
the same offer; in order, no doubt, that he
might have the more plausible excuse for plun-
dering and massacring the oldest allies of the
Roman people. If the defection to Hannibal
had been the act, not of Hieronymus, but or
the senate and people of Syracuse ; if the body
of the Syracusans, and not their tyrants, Hip-
pocrates and Epicydes, who held them in sub-
servience to their will, had shut the gale*

Y. R. 542.]

OF ROME.

57L

against Marcellus; if they had waged war
against the Roman people with the animosity
of Carthaginians, to what greater length could
Marcellus have carried hostilities than he did ;
unless he were to demolish the city? He
certainly left nothing at Syracuse except
the walls and empty houses, while the temples
were broken open and pillaged, and from
which the ornaments of the gods, and even
the gods themselves, had been carried away.
Many were stripped of their whole possessions,
so as not to have remaining, from the wreck of
their fortunes, even the naked soil, out of
which they might support themselves and their
families. Wherefore they besought the con-
script fathers to order restoration to be made to
the owners, if not of all their property, at least
of such part of it as could be found and claim-
ed on proof." When they had uttered their
complaints in this manner, and were ordered
by Laevinns to withdraw from the senate house,
that the members might deliberate on the sub-
ject of their demands ; " No," said Marcellus,
"let them stay, that I may answer in their
hearing, since, conscript fathers, such are the
terms on which we serve in your wars, that the
parties, whom we conquer by our arms, are to
become our prosecutors, and two cities, taken
this year, are to prosecute their captors, Capua,
Fulvius, and Syracuse, Marcellus."

XXXI. The deputies being brought back
into the senate-house, the consul then said ;
" Conscript fathers, I am not so unmindful
of the majesty of the Roman people, and of
the high office with which I am invested, as
that I should, while bearing the dignity of a
consul, appear as a defendant to answer charges
made by Greeks, if the subject of the present
inquiry were merely respecting misconduct on
my part. But the question is, not what I have
done, but rather what those men deserved at
my hands. For, if they were not our enemies,
I should be equally blameable for injuring
Syracuse now, as when Hiero was alive. But,
if they renounced our alliance, attacked our
ambassadors with violence and arms, shut the
gates of their city, and called in an army ol
Carthaginians to defend it against us ; who can
think it unreasonable that men who committed
hostilities should have suffered them in turn ?
I rejected the offers of the principal Syracusans
to give me possession of the city, it is true ; 1
rhose rather to connde, in a case so important
eolt-ly in SUMS, and the Spaniard

You are not the meanest of the Syracusans,
since yon object meanness to others. Now, if
there one among you, who ever promised to
open the gates to me, or to admit my armed
troops into the city ? You execrate and abhor
those who did ; and do not, even here, abstain
from reviling them ; so far is it from being fact,
that yourselves would have done the same.
The low condition of the persons employed,
which these men make a matter of reproach,
shows, conscript fathers, how ready I was to
listen to the offers of any man who was willing
to exert himself in the service of our state.
Before I commenced the siege of Syracuse, I
tried to effect a restoration of tranquillity, at
one time by sending ambassadors, at another
time, by going myself to treat on the subject ;
and, afterwards, when they neither scrupled to
offer violence to my ambassadors, nor would
give any answer to myself in a personal inter-
view with their leaders at the gates, I then,
after surmounting many difficulties on land and
sea, at length took Syracuse by force of arms.
Of the consequences which befell them on the
capture of their city, they might with more pro-
priety complain to Hannibal and the Cartha-
ginians, and to their companions in defeat, than
to the senate of the nation which conquered
them. Conscript fathers, if I had intended to
deny that Syracuse was plundered, I would
never have decorated the city of Rome with its
spoils. As to what I, in capacity of a con-
queror, either took from individuals, or bestow-
ed on any, I am fully confident that I acted, in
those respects, agreeably both to the laws of
war and to the deserts of each. That you
ratify these proceedings, conscript fathers,
concerns the interest of the republic more than
that of mine. My duty has been discharged
with honour ; but it is of importance to the
commonwealth that you do not, by rescinding
my acts, render other commanders in future re-
miss. And now, conscript fathers, as you
have heard both the Sicilians and me face to
face, we will retire together from your house,
that the senators may, in my absence, de-
liberate with the greater freedom." The Sici-
lians were accordingly dismissed, and he went
away to the capitol to enlist soldiers.

XXXII. The other consul then required
the determination of the fathers respecting the
demands of the Sicilians ; on which a long and
warm debate ensued. A great part of the se •
nate, adopting an opinion introdui <*<! i>y Titus

572

THE HISTORY

[BOOK xxvi.

Manilas Torquatus, declared, that " in their
judgment the war ought to have been waged
against the tyrants, who were equal enemies
to the Syracusans and to the Roman people ;
that the city ought to have been recovered by
treaty, not taken by force ; and, when recover-
ed, should have been re-established in free-
dom under its ancient laws, and not subjected
to the calamities of war, after having been
long harassed under a wretched slavery. In the
contests between the tyrants and the Roman
general, the prize proposed to the conqueror had
been utterly destroyed, a city of the greatest
beauty and fame, formerly the granary and trea-
sury of the Roman people ; one by whose ge-
nerosity and munificence the republic had, on
many occasions of difficulty, and lately, in the
present Carthaginian war, been assisted, ho-
noured, and adorned. If king Hiero, that
most faithful friend to the interests of the Ro-
man empire, were to rise from the shades, with
what face could either Syracuse or Rome be
shown to him ? When, after beholding his
native city in its plundered and half-demolished
state, he should, on coming into Rome, see, at
the entrance of it, almost in the very gates, the
spoils of his own country ?" Although these,
and many such warm expressions, tending to
disparage the character of Marcellus, and excite
compassion for the Sicilians, were uttered by
the members, yet the senate, through their re-
gard for Marcellus, pursued a milder course in
forming their decree ; the purport of which was,
that " all acts done by him in his administration
of the war, and after his final success therein,
should be deemed valid. In respect of the
time to come, the senate would take care of the
concerns of Syracuse, and would give a charge
to the consul Lrevinus, to promote the prospe-
rity of that city, as far as could be done without
detriment to the commonwealth." Two se-
nators were sent to the capitol to desire the
consul to come back to the senate-house ; and,
the Sicilians also being called in, the decree was
read. The deputies, after receiving assurances
of kindness, were dismissed ; and they then
threw themselves at the feet of the consul Mar-
cellus, beseeching him to pardon the expressions
which they had used, for the purpose of pro-
curing pity and relief of their misfortunes, and
to receive them and the city of Syracuse into
his protection and patronage. The consul re-
turned a mild answer, and dismissed them.
XXXIII. The senate next gave audience

to the Campanians, who spoke in a more pite-
ous strain, but had a more difficult cause to
plead ; for neither could they deny that they
had deserved the punishments inflicted, nor
were there tyrants in the case, on whom they
could transfer the guilt. They only alleged,
that they had suffered enough of punishment,
in so many senators being taken off by poison,
and so many by the executioner. That, " of
their nobles, only a few remained alive, whom
neither consciousness of crime had driven to
acts of despair, nor the resentment of their
conqueror condemned to death : who, in behalf
of themselves and their families, prayed for
liberty, and some portion of their property ;
being citizens of Rome, and most of them
closely connected there in affinities and near
relationships, in consequence of the frequent
intermarriages which took place during a long
series of years." They were then ordered to
withdraw, and the senators were for some time
in doubt whether Quintus Fulvius should not
be called home from Capua, (for the other pro-
consul, Claudius, had died after the taking of
the place,) in order that the matter might be
discussed in the presence of the commander, as
had been done in the case of Marcellus and the
Sicilians. But afterwards, seeing in the house
Marcus Atilius, and Flaccus's brother, Caius
Fulvius, who had been lieutenant-generals un-
der him ; also Quintus Minucius, and Lucius
Veturius Philo, who had held the same com-
mission under Claudius, — men who had been
present at every transaction ; and being unwill-
ing either to recall Fulvius from Capua, or to
delay the Campanians by an adjournment, they
desired to hear the sentiments of Marcus Ati-
lius Regulus, whom they deemed superior in
judgment to any of the rest who had been at
Capua ; and he spoke to this effect : " I recol-
lect attending the consuls, in council, after the
reduction of Capua, when inquiry was made
whether any of the Campanians had deserved
well of our state ; when it was discovered that
two women had done so, Vestia Oppia, a native
of Atilla, resident in Capua, and Fancula Clu-
via, formerly a courtesan ; the former having
daily offered sacrifice for the safety and success
of the Roman people, the latter having secretly
conveyed food to the starving prisoners. But
it was at the same time found, that the dispo-
sition of all the rest of the Campanians towards
us was precisely that of the Carthaginians ; yet
those beheaded by Fulvius were not the most

y. 11. 542.]

OF ROME.

673

criminal among them, but the most eminent
in rank. How the senate can determine
on the case of the Campanians, who ore
Roman citizens, without an order of the peo-
ple, I do not see. This rule was observed
by our ancestors, in respect of the revolted
Satricans, and measures were taken tint Mar-
CUB Antistius, plebeian tribune, should first
propose, and the commons pass, an order em-
powering the senate to decide finally in the
affair of that people. My opinion therefore is,
that application be made to the tribunes of the
commons, that one or more of them may pro-
pose to the people an order authorising us to
determine concerning the Campanians." By
direction of the senate, Lucius Atilius, a ple-
beian tribune, made the proposition accordingly
in these words : " Concerning all the Campa-
nians, All-Hans, Calatians, Sabatians, who have
surrendered themselves to Fulvius, proconsul,
and submitted to the power and dominion of
the Roman people ; also concerning whatsoever
they may have given up, whether land, city,
divine or human property ; with respect to all
these things, I ask you, Roman citizens, what
you choose should be done ?" The commons
passed this order : — " Whatsoever the senate,
being first sworn, or the majority of its members,
then present, may determine, that \\ e will and
order."

XXXIV. In pursuance of this order of the
people, the senate took the business into con-
sideration ; and, in the first place, restored to*
Oppia and Cluvia their liberty and effects, with
directions, that " if they wished to ask any
other reward from the senate, they should come
to Rome." Separate decrees were passed re-
specting the several families of the Campanians,
all of which it would be useless to enumerate.
The properties of some were ordered to be
confiscated ; themselves, their wives, and chil-
dren to be sold, excepting such of their daugh-
ters as had been placed in marriage before they
came into the power of the Roman people.
Others were ordered to be kept in close con-
finement, and their cases to be considered at a
future time. They also made distinct estimates
of the possessions of others, in order to deter-
mine whether they should be forfeited or not.
They voted, that all the cattle seized, except
the horses ; all the slaves, except grown-up
males ; and every thing which did not appertain
to the soil, should be restored to the owners.
They ordered, that all the Campanians, Atel-

luns, Calatiana, and Sabatians, exclusive of
those who, themselves or their parents, were
then among the enemy, should be free ; with
the restriction, that none of them should be
capable of becoming a Roman citizen, 01 a
Latine confederate ; and that none of those
who bad been in Capua while the gates were
shut, should remain beyond a certain day in the
city or territory thereof. They voted, that a
place of habitation should be assigned to those
people beyond the Tiber, and not contiguous
to it : that such as had neither been in Ca-
pua during the war, nor in any Campanian
city which had revolted from the Roman peo-
ple, should be removed to the other side of
the river Liris, next to Rome ; and those who
had come over to the Romans before Hanni-
bal came to Capua, to the hither side of the
Vulturous : that none of them should have
land or house nearer to the sea than fifteen
miles : that, as to those who should be trans-
planted to the farther side of the Tiber, nei-
ther themselves nor their posterity should pur-
chase or possess property in any other place than
in the Veientian, Sutrian, or Nepetian territo-
ries ; nor should any possess a greater extent of
ground than fifty acres : that the property of
ull the senators, and of those who had held
public employments at Capua, Atella, or Cala-
tia, should be sold at Capua ; but that the men
of free condition, who according to the order
passed were likewise to be set up to sale, should
be sent to Rome. The images and brazen
statues, which were said to have been taken
from the enemy, whether they were sacred or
private property, they left to the disposal of the
college of pontiffs. They then dismissed the
Campanians, whose distress and affliction were
increased by these determinations beyond what
they had felt at their coming to Rome, and who
exclaimed no longer against l-'nlvius's cruelty
towards them, but against the rigorous severity
of the gods, and their own accursed fortune.

XXXV. After the Sicilians and Campa.
nians were dismissed, a levy of troops was made ;
and, as soon as that was finished, the business
of procuring a supply of rowers for the fleet
came under consideration. As there was nei-
ther a sufficiency of men for this purpose, nor
any money, at that time, in the treasury to pur-
chase or pay them, the consuls published an
edict, that private persons should, as on former
occasions, in proportion to their fortunes and
stations, supply rowers with pay and subsist-

574

THE HISTORY

[BOOK xxvi.

for thirty days. This edict caused such
load murmurs and such ill-humour among the
pteple, that a leader, rather than matter, was
wanting to produce an open insurrection. It
was said, that " the consuls, after they had done
with the Sicilians and Campanians, bad taken
die Roman commons in hand, to harass and
rain then : that, after being exhausted by pay-
ing taxes for so many years, they had nothing
left but land, and that naked and waste. Their
bowses die enemy had burned ; the slaves, who
oagbt to till the ground, the state had taken
away, sometimes purchasing them for soldiers
at a trifling price, at others ordering them to
serve as rowers. If any one had a little silver
or brass, be was obliged to part with it to pay
rowers and the yearly duties. As to themselves,
no authority, no force, could compel them to
give what they bad not. The consuls might
sell their goods, and vent their cruelty on their
persons, which were all that remained : nor
bad they any thing wherewith they could even
redeem or save themselves from such treat-
MEM." These discontented expressions were
uttered not in private, but openly in the forum,
and in die presence of the consuls themselves,
by immense muldtBdes that stood around them ;
nor were die consols able, either by reproof or
consolation, to pacify diem. It was at length
determined to give diem three days, to consider
of these matters ; and this time they themselves
employed in procuring information, and con-
triving die best mode of proceeding. On the
following day, diey held a meeting of die se-
nate on die subject of a supply of rowers, and
after using many arguments to show that die
remonstrances of die commons were but resom
able, they changed die tenor of their discourse
M> far as to say, that « dus burthen, whether

on die private citizens. How could die fleets
be otherwise manned, a* there was i

same duty on yourseu ana your connections,
you will find those inferiors die more ready to
obey. Nor is an expense deemed heavy,
when people see those of die highest ranks take
on themselves more than their proportion of it.
Do we wish, then, that die Roman people should
have a fleet, and die means of equipping it?
That private citizens should, without murmur-
ing, supply rowers? Let us enforce die edict first
on ourselves. Let us, senators, lodge to-morrow
in die public treasury all our gold, silver, and
coined brass ; each reserving of die gold, rings
for himself, his wife, and children, and a bulla
for his son ; and he who has a wife and daugh-
ters, an ounce weight for each, out of die silver ;
and for those who have sat in a curule chair,
let diem have die ornaments of a horse, and a
pound weight of silver, that they may not be
without a salt-cellar and a dish to be used in
die worship of die gods. To the other senators,
only a pound of silver and five thousand asses'
of brass coin should be allowed, that is, for
every father of a family. All die rest of our
gold, silver, and coined brass, let us at once
convey to die receivers of die public money,
before we pass any decree, that our voluntary
contribution, and die ardour of our seal in
aiding die republic, may excite .t spirit of
emulation in die equestrian order first, and
then in die people in general. This is die
only equitable way which my colleague and
myself, after much conversation on the sub-
ject, have been able to discover ; adopt it, then,
and may die gods be propitious to you. The
safety of die commonw eath effectually ensures
die safety of private property ; if you abandon
die interest of die republic, you will in vain
«^1»T^ to preserve your own." This scheme
was received w ith warm aiid unanimous appro-
bation, insomuch that die rt**"^* of die body
were returned to die consuls. The senate was

in the treasury ; and, without fleets, how could
Sicily be kept in obedience, Philip be kept out
of Italy, or die coasts of Italy protected f

XXXVI. Tn i in inn HIM n of HIM hi iluim
perplexity deliberation was of litde avail, and
a kind of torpor possessed men's faculties, un-
til dw consul Levoras addressed diem dins :
" As the magistrates in point of dignity precede
tite senate, and die senate die people, so ought
they to take die lead in undergoing every dung
ad figrait When you wish to
: <M inferior* ; if you impose die

then adjourned, and all die members immedi-
ately hastened to bring in their gold, silver, and
brass to die treasury, and this with such ardour
«f emulation, that while each pressed to have
his name among die first in die public registers,
die commissioners were not able to receive, nor
the clerks to enter, die contributions. The
zeal and unanimity displayed by die senate
were copied by die equestrian order, and, after
diem, by die commons. Thus, wttbout any
edict, without any authoritative act of

l«i at IU.

y. R. 542.]

OF R O M K.

tnej, the lUte was prorided with a sufficient
supply of rowers, and also with a fund for their
support ; and every preparation for the cam-
paign being finished, the consuls set out for
their respective provinces.

XXX VIL At no period of the war did both
the Romans and the Carthaginians feel a greater
vicissitude of hopes and fears ; such an inter-
mixture of events, of opposite natures, taking
place alike on both sides. For on that of the
Romans, with regard to the provinces, the
misfortunes in Spain on the one hand, and the
successes in Sicily on the other, produced a
mixture of sorrow and rejoicing ; and in Italy,
as the loss of Tarentum was injurious and
grievous, so the citadel and garrison being pre-
served, beyond expectation, was matter of joy :
while in like manner, the sudden terror and
panic, caused by the investiture and attack of
the city of Rome, were in a few days convert-
ed into triumph by the reduction of Capua.
Affairs beyond sea were, also, balanced in a
kind of counterpoise. Philip became their
enemy at a juncture very far from season-
able ; but then they acquired new allies in
the 2Etolian?, and in Altai us, king of Asia;
fortune thus early pledging her promise, as it
were, to the Romans, for the empire of ihe
east. On the side of the Carthaginians, like-
wise, the loss of Capua was counterbalanced by
the acquisition of Tarentum ; and, as they
valued themselves highly on the honour of
having advanced to the walls of ihe city of
Rome without opposition, so they were griev-
ed at the failure of their design, and felt asham-
ed at being slighted to such a degree, as that,
while they lay under the walls of Rome, a Ro-
man army should have marched out, from ano-
ther quarter of the city, for Spain. With re-
gard also to Spain itself, as they thought they
had good reason to hope, that, in consequence
of the destruction of two renowned generals
and powerful armies, the war there would be at
an end, and the Romans expelled the country,
so their mortification was the greater in pro-
portion, on finding that Lucius Marcius, a
leader who owed his post to the irregular voice
of the multitude, had rendered their victory in-
significant and fruitless. Thus, Fortune bold-
ing the scales even, every thing on both sides
Lung in suspense, and the parties retained their
hopes unabated, and their fears unallayed, just
M if they were now first commencing the war.
XXXVIII. One circumstance, above all,

filled Hannibal's mind with the most painful
reflections ; it was, that in consequence of the
Romans having prosecuted the siege of Capua
with so much more determined resolution than
be Had exerted for its relief, many of the Mates
of Italy bad conceived sentiments very unfa-
vourable to bis cause. He found it impossible
to maintain his authority over all of these by
force, unless he were to break down hit army
into a great number of small detachments,
which would very ill suit his condition at the
time ; nor could be leave the fidelity of allies
open to the solicitations of hope, or the threat-
enings of fear. Wherefore, as his mind bad
from nature a strong bias to avarice and cruel-
ty, be determined to plunder the places which
he could not keep, and so leave them to the
enemy in a state of desolation. This scheme,
so dishonourable in its purpose, proved equally
so in its consequences : for it alienated from
him the affections not only of the persons M
greatly aggrieved, but likewise of all the rest ;
this specimen of his character extending its in-
fluence far beyond the numbers involved in the
calamity. The Roman consul at the same
time was not remiss in making trials of the
disposition of every city where any prospect of
success appeared. In Salapia there were two
leading men, Dasius and Blasius : the former
was a friend to Hannibal ; the latter, as far
as he could with safety, favoured the interest
of the Romans, and, by means of secret emis-
saries, had gives Marcellus hopes of having the
place betrayed to him ; but this was a measure,
which, without the concurrence of Daaus,
could not be effected. After long and inrioaa
deliberation, and then, rather from want of
a more promising plan, than hope of succeed-
ing, he opened the proposition to Darius. Hot
he, being both averse from the design, and glad
also of an opportunity of injuring his competi-
tor for power, disclosed the affair to Hannibal,
who summoned them both before him ; and,
while he was employed on his tribunal in des-
patching some other business, intending pre-
sently to attend to that of Blasins, the ntcmu
and accused both standing together in a spot
cleared for them by the people,
to urge Dasius on the sut
the town. On which the latter, as if the mat
ter now proved itself, exclaimed, that the other
was attempting to seduce him to treachery,
even in Hannibal's immediate presence. To
Hannibal, and to those who were prevent, the

576

THE HISTORY

[HOOK xxvi.

more audacious the fact charged on Blasius
was, the less credible it appeared. They knew
that there was an emulation and hatred sub-
sisting between the two, and supposed that
an imputation of this kind was alleged, be-
cause, as from its nature, it could not be sup-
ported by the testimony of witnesses, it was
the more likely to be false. The parties
were therefore dismissed ; but Blasius, notwith-
standing what had passed, never desisted from
this bold undertaking, until by incessant teasing
on the same subject, and proving how advan-
tageous such a measure would be to themselves
and their country, he extorted the other's con-
sent that Salapia, and the Carthaginian garrison,
which consisted of five hundred Numidians,
should be delivered up to Marcellus. This,
however, could not be effected without con-
siderable bloodshed ; for these Numidians were
much the bravest body of cavalry in the whole
Carthaginian army, and this was an occurrence
which it was impossible for them to foresee.
But though they could not, in the city, make
use of their horses, yet, on the tumult arising,
they hastily took arms, and attempted to make
their way out; when, finding an escape im-
practicable, they sold their lives dear, fighting
to the last ; nor did more than fifty of their
whole number fall alive into the hands of the
Salapians. The loss of this body of cavalry
was a much severer blow to Hannibal than that
of the place, for thenceforward the Carthagini-
ans were never superior in cavalry, which they
had, hitherto, always been.

XXXIX. At this time the scarcity in the
citadel of Tarentum became almost intolerable.
Marcus Livius, commander of the Roman gar-
rison there, relied entirely, for supplies, on
Sicily ; and to secure to these a safe passage
along the coast of Italy, a fleet of twenty ships
had been stationed at Rhegium. The charge
of the fleet and provisions was intrusted to
Decius Quintius, a man of obscure birth, but
who, by many brave actions, had acquired a
large share of military fame. At first, he had
only five ships, the largest of which were two
triremes, given him by Marcellus ; afterwards,
when he was known to have behaved, on many
occasions, with much spirit and bravery, he re-
ceived a reinforcement of three quinqueremes ;
at last, he himself, by exacting from the con-
federate states of Rhegium, Velia, and Pses-
tum, the ships due by treaty, had made up a
fleet of twenty sail, as above mentioned. Hav-

ing, with this fleet, set sail from Rhegium, he
was met at Sacriportus, about fifteen miles
from the city, by Democrates, with an equal
number of Tarentine ships. 1'he Roman was
coming to the relief of the garrison, not sup-
posing it probable that he should meet an en-
emy ; from Croton and Sybaris, however, he
had furnished his ships with their full comple-
ment of rowers, and besides, considering the
size of his vessels, they were exceedingly well
equipped and armed. It so happened, that,
just when the Tarentine came in sight the
wind entirely died away, a circumstance which
gave him full time to adjust the rigging, and
put the rowers and soldiers in readiness for the
battle that was to follow. They engaged with a
degree of ardour seldom shown by complete
fleets, because the objects for which they con-
tended were of more importance than the fleets
themselves. The Tarentines, having recovered
their city from the Romans, at the end of
almost one hundred years, struggled now to
deliver the citadel also from subjection ; know-
ing that if, by the exertions of their fleet, they
should take from the enemy the dominion of
the sea, they would be thereby effectually ex-
cluded from even a distant hope of provisions :
the Romans, on the other hand, laboured, by
retaining possession of the citadel, to show the
world, that the loss of the city was owing, not
to the strength or valour of assailants, but to
artifice and treachery. The signal, then, being
given on both sides, they charged each other
with the beaks of their vessels, and none, durinj'
the conflict, either drew back his own ship, or
suffered his adversary to get clear of him, but
held it by throwing in an iron grapple ; and thus
the engagement became so close, that they
fought, not only with missile weapons, but with
swords, and almost hand to hand. The prows,
being lashed together, remained unmoved, while
the sterns were turned round by the force of
their adversaries' oars. The ships were crowded
so close together, and within so narrow a place,
that scarcely any weapon fell without effect
into the sea. They pressed front against front,
like lines of land forces, and the combatants
could pass from one ship to another. But
there was one conflict remarkable above the
rest, between two which engaged in the van :
in the Roman ship was Quintius himself ; in
the Tarentine, Nico, surnamed Perco, who
bitterly hated, and was hated, by the Romans,
not only in consequence of the public quarrel,

v. K. 542.]

OF ROME.

577

but also of personal resentment, for he was on
of that faction which had betrayed Tarentun
to Hannibal. This man, while Quintitis was
encouraging his men, and, at the same dine
fighting, and off his guard, darted a spear
through his body, and he fell headlong, with
his armour, into the sea : then the victorious
Tarentine boldly leaped into the ship, where
the loss of the commander had thrown all into
confusion, and they quickly retired before him.
The forepart of the ship was now in possession
of the Tarentines, while the Romans, in a com-
pact body, with difficulty defended the poop ;
when another trireme of the enemy suddenly
appeared at the stern, and the Roman ship,
thus inclosed between the two, was taken.
The rest, on seeing this, were struck with dis-
may, and fled in different directions. Some
were sunk in the deep, and others, being run
aground by the rowers, soon became a prey to
the Thurians and Metapontines. Of the store-
ships, which followed with the provisions, a
few fell into the enemy's hands ; the remainder
stood nway into the main, and escaped by
shifting their sails with every change of the
wind. In the mean time, the fortune of affairs
at Tarentum was not at all the same : for a
party, amounting to four thousand men, having
gone out to forage, spreading themselves up
and down the country, Livius, the commander
of the Roman garrison, who carefully watched
every opportunity of acting to advantage, sent
out, from the citadel, Cains Persius, an active
and brave officer, with two thousand soldiers.
He fell upon the enemy while they were scat-
tered widely, and in small parties ; and, after
continuing for a long time to cut them off,
drove the small remainder of this large detach-
ment to the city, where they were admitted
through the gates half opened, lest the Romans
should enter along with them, and become mas-
ters of it. Thus the affairs of Tarentum were
equally balanced, the Romans being victorious
on land, the Tarentines by sea. Both were
disappointed alike in their hopes of provisions,
even after they had actually come within their
•ight

XL. About this time, after a great part of
the year had elapsed, and he had been long
wished for by both the old and new allies, the
consul Laevimis arrived in Sicily, where he
judged that the first and most material business
to be done, was the regulating the affairs of
Syracuse, which had not yet been reduced into

I.

order in the short space since the late pacifica-
tion. He then led his legions to Agrigentum,
which was the only place still in arms, and held
by a strong garrison of Carthaginians ; and here
fortune favoured his enteq>rise. The Cartha-
ginians were commanded by Hanno, but placed
their whole dependence on Mutines and the
Numidians. The hitter, making frequent ex.
cursions through every part of Sicily, carried
off spoil from the allies of the Romans, and
neither force nor art could shut him out from
Agrigentum, nor hinder him from sallying forth
whenever he thought proper. The high repu-
tation which he thus acquired, as it obscured
the fame of the commander-in-chief, excited his
envy ; so that even success, because obtained
by his means, afforded but little pleasure to
Hanno, who at last took from him his commis-
sion, and gave it to his own son ; thinking that,
by divesting him of the command, he should
deprive him of his popularity among the Nu -
midians. But the effect was widely different,
for, by this discovery of his jealousy, he in-
creased their attachment to Mutines, who did
not tamely submit to the indignity of this un-
deserved ill-treatment, but quickly despatched
secret emissaries to Laevinus, to treat about the
surrender of the town. Through these, mutual
assurances were given, and the method of ac-
complishing the business concerted j and then
the Numidians, dislodging or killing the guards,
seized a gate which opened towards the sea,
and received a party of Romans sent thither
for the purpose. When these were already
marching into the heart of the city and the
forum, with much noise and tumult, Hanno,
thinking that it was nothing more than such a
disturbance and secession of the Numidians as
lad happened before, came out to quell the
mutiny : but observing, at a distance, that thu
number was greater than that of those forces,
and hearing the Roman shout, with which he
was not unacquainted, he resolved, before he
came within reach of their weapons, to betake
limself to flight. Getting out of the town at
an opposite gate, he took Epicydes with him,
IK! came with a small number to the sea side.
There they luckily found a bark, and abandon-
ng to the enemy the island of Sicily, about
which a contest had been maintained through
10 many years, passed over to Africa, The rest
>f the Carthaginians and Sicilians attempted
o fly with blind precipitation, but the gates
wing closed, they were cut to pieces. Lse-
4 D

578

THE HISTORY

[BOOK xxn.

vinus, on gaining possession of the town,
scourged and beheaded those who had been
in the management of the affairs of Agrigen-
tum : the rest he sold, together with the spoil,
and remitted all the money to Rome. Ac-
counts of the sufferings of the Agrigentines
spreading through all Sicily, produced at
once a general revolution in favour of the
Romans. In a short time, twenty towns were
betrayed to them, six taken by storm, and forty
put themselves under their protection by volun-
tary surrender. To the leading men in these
states the consul dispensed rewards and pu-
nishments according to the merits and demerits
of each ; and having compelled the Sicilians at
length to lay aside arms, and turn their thoughts
to agriculture, that the island might, from its
fertile soil, not only afford plenty of subsist-
ance to the inhabitants, but, as it had done, on
many occasions formerly, contribute supplies
of provisions to Rome, and even to all Italy,
he left Sicily, carrying with him a large multi-
tude from Agathyrna. This was a motley
rabble, four thousand in number, composed of
vagabonds of every description, exiles and
bankrupts, the greater part guilty of capital
crimes, who, even when they lived in their na-
tive countries under the government of laws,
and afterwards, when a similarity of condition,
arising from various causes, had drawn them
together to Agathyrna, always supported them-
selves by robberies and rapines. Such men as
these, so likely to excite new disturbances, the
consul thought it unsafe to leave behind, in an
island which had but just then obtained rest
from intestine wars, and where the people
were but beginning to unite in the terms of
concord established by the late pacification :
besides, they might prove useful to the people
of Rhegium, who wanted a band trained to
robberies, for the purpose of ravaging the ter-
ritories of Bruttium. Thus, so far as concern-
ed Sicily, this year put an end to hostilities.

XLI. In Spain, Publius Scipio, as soon as
the spring appeared, launched his ships ; sum-
moned to Tarraco, by an edict, the auxiliary
troops of the allies, and then directed the fleets
and transports to proceed to the mouth of the
river Iberus. This place he also appointed for
the meeting of the legions whom he ordered
out of winter quarters ; and he himself, attend-
ed by five thousand men of the allied troops,
set out from Tarraco to join the army. When
he arrived at the camp, thinking it proper to

say something encouraging to the soldiers, par-
ticularly those who had been longest in the
province, and had survived so many and so
great disasters, he called them together, and
addressed them in this manner : " Never has
there been a new commander, except myself,
who could with justice and propriety, give
thanks to his soldiers before he had em-
ployed them. Fortune laid me under obli-
gations to you ere I saw your camp, or knew
my province ; first because you showed such
dutiful respect to my father and uncle, during
their lives, and since their deaths ; and next,
because, when the possession of the province
had been lost by a dreadful calamity, you re-
covered it by your bravery, and have preserved
it entire for the Roman people, and for me
who succeed to the command. But as, through
the bounty of the gods, >the design of our pre-
sent proceedings is not to maintain our own
footing in Spain, but to deprive the Carthagi-
nians of all footing in it ; not to stand on the
bank of the Iberus, and hinder the enemy from
passing it, but to pass over ourselves, and carry
the war to the other side, I fear lest, to some
of you, the undertaking may seem too great
and too bold, considering the remembrance of
our late misfortunes, and my early time of life.
There is no person living, from whose memory
the defeats in Spain can less be obliterated
than from mine ; for there my father and uncle
lost their lives within the space of thirty days ;
so that funerals in our family followed one ano-
ther in quick succession. But while the disas-
ter which bereft our house of parents, and left
me almost the only surviving member of it,
depresses my mind with grief, still the fortune
of our nation, and its courageous spirit, forbid
me to despair of the public welfare. It is the
lot assigned to us, by some kind of fatality,
that, in all important wars, we should pass
through defeat to victory. Omitting instances
in ancient times, the case of Porsena, the
Gauls, and the Samnites, I shall begin with
the Punic wars. In the last, how many fleets,
how many generals, how many armies, were
lost? Need I mention the like events during
the present war ? At all the defeats I was ei-
ther present in person, or lamented more
deeply than any other, those from which I was
absent. The Trebia, the Thrasimenus, Can-
nae, what are they but monuments of Roman
consuls and armies slain ? Then the defection
of Italy of the greater part of Sicily, of Sar-

Y. R. 542.]

OF ROME.

579

ilinia ; tin- I'Mivnif terror and affright, when
Hannibal's camp was pitched between the
Amo and the walls of Home, and that victo-
rious commander was seen ut our very gates.
But amidst this general rum of affairs,
the courage of the Roman people alone stood
unshaken and immoveablc. This, when all
our hopes lay prostrate on the ground, raised
and supported them. And, first of all, you
soldiers, under the conduct and auspices of my
father, withstood Hasdrubal, when, after the
defeat at Cannae, he was on his way to the
Alps and to Italy ; where, if he had effect-
ed a junction with his brother, the Roman
name would not now have been in existence :
but the successes obtained here have counter-
balanced the losses sustained in other places.
At present, through the good favour of the
gods, affairs in Italy and Sicily are in a pros-
perous train, daily improving, and wearing a
more favourable aspect. In Sicily, Syracuse
and Agrigentum have been taken ; the enemy
entirely expelled the island, and the province
restored to the dominion of the Roman people.
In Italy, Arpi has been recovered, Capua taken ;
Hannibal, after a disorderly flight, through his
whole route from the city of Rome, has been
obliged to retreat into the remotest corner of
Bruttium, where he prays to the gods for no-
thing more than that he may be permitted to
withdraw in safety, and quit the land of his
enemy. Could there then, soldiers, be a great-
er inconsistency, than that, when disasters were
thus crowded one upon another, and the gods
themselves seemed, in a manner, to take part
with Hannibal, you, with my parents, (for I
will mention both under the same revered
name,) supported here the tottering fortune of
the Roman people ; and that now when, in
other quarters, every event is prosperous and
joyful, you should let your courage sink ? As
to the events which have lately happened, I
wish they had passed without giving me more
cause of mourning than they have given you.
Now, however, the immortal gods, the guard-
ians of the Roman empire, who inspired all
the centuries with the resolution of ordering
the command to be given to me, by their augu-
ries and auspices, and by visions in the night,
portend all prosperity and joy. My own mind,
likewise, which has hitherto been my surest
prophet, presages that Spain is to be ours ; that
the whole Carthaginian race will soon be ba-
ni>l;cd hence, and spread themselves over the

lands and seas in their ignominious flight.
What my mind prognosticates from its own
feelings, the same is suggested by reason, and
supported by arguments of no delusive nature.
Their allies, disgusted by their ill treatment,
send ambassadors to implore our protection ;
their three commanders having quarrelled to such
a degree as almost to come to open hostilities,
have divided their army into three parts, and
drawn these asunder into countries the most
remote from each other. The same fortune
now impends over them which formerly crushed
us ; for they are deserted by their confederates,
as we were formerly by the Celtiberians ; and
they have divided their forces, which was the
cause of destruction to my father and uncle.
Intestine discord will hinder them from acting
together again ; nor will they, separately, be
able to resist us. Only do you, soldiers, pre-
serve your attachment to the name of Scipio,
to the offspring of your own commanders ; a
branch, as it were, shooting forth from the
trunks which have been felled. You, veteran
soldiers, lead your new commander, and your
young associates, over the Iberus ; lead us into
those lands where you have often marked your
route with many deeds of valour. Trust me,
you shall soon find, that the resemblance which
you suppose you see in roe to my father and
uncle, is not confined to figure, countenance,
and features ; but that I inherit no small por-
tion of their capacity, their honour, and their
courage ; these you shall find so faithfully co-
pied from the original, that every man of you
shall say, that his own commander, Scipio, has
either returned to life, or has been born again."
XLII. Having, by this discourse, animated
the courage of his men, and leaving three thou-
sand foot and three hundred horse, under Mar-
cus Silanus, for the defence of the province, he
marched the rest of his forces, which amounted
to twenty-five thousand foot, and two thousand
five hundred horse, over the Iberus. Although
many now advised, that, as the Carthaginian
armies were separated at so great distances, be
should attack the one that lay nearest ; yet, ap-
prehending that such a step would probably
make them all reunite, and that he should not,
alone, be able to cope with the three armies, he
determined, for the present, to employ his
forces in an attack on New Carthage, a city
which possessed great wealth of its own, and
was besides, at that time, filled with the ene-
my's magazines of every kind for the use of the

580

THE HISTORY

[BOOK xxvi.

war ; there were lodged their arms, their money,
and their hostages from all the states of Spain.
It was, also, most conveniently situated for a
passage into Africa, having a harbour sufficient-
ly capacious for any fleet whatever, and, there
is reason to think, the only one in all that tract
of the Spanish coast which joins our sea. No
one in the whole army knew the destination of
its march except Caius Laelius. He was sent
round with the fleet, and ordered so to regulate
the sailing of it, that the army should come
within view, and the ships enter the harbour
at the same point of time. On the seventh
day after leaving the Iberus, the fleet and
army arrived, as had been concerted at Car-
thage ; the camp was pitched on the northern
side of the city, and a rampart was thrown up
on the rear of it, the front being secured by the
nature of the ground. The situation of Car-
thage is this : about the middle of the coast of
Spain is a bay, which is open to the south-west
wind more than to any other, and stretches in-
land two thousand five hundred paces, spread-
ing in breadth to an extent somewhat greater.
In the mouth of this bay lies a small island,
which breaks the force of the sea, and renders
the harbour secure from all winds except the
south-west : from the bottom of the bay there
runs out a peninsula, consisting of high land, on
which the city is built, and this is surrounded
on the east and south by the sea ; on the west
it is inclosed by a morass, which spreads a
little way towards the north, and whose depth
is variable according as the sea overflows
or ebbs. The city is connected with the
continent by an isthmus, about two hundred
and fifty paces broad ; on which, though a for-
tification would have cost but little labour, the
Roman general did not raise any, choosing
either to mortify the enemy by this display of
confidence, or as he would often have occa-
sion to advance to the walls to have a retreat
open.

XLIII. When he had completed his works
in those parts which required defence, he drew
up the ships in the harbour in order of battle,
with intent to dispirit the enemy with the sight
of a marine force also to be employed against
the town ; then going round the fleet in a boat,
he charged the commanders to keep the night-
watches with great care, because an enemy,
when he is first besieged, is apt to make ' every
effort in every quarter. He then went back to
the camp, and wishing to explain to the scA-

diers his reason for preferring this plan of open-
ing the campaign with the siege of a town, and
by exhortations to inspire them with hopes of
reducing it, he called them to an assembly, and
spoke to this effect : " Soldiers, if any man
among you shall suppose that you have been
brought hither for the sole purpose of attack-
ing a single city, he will judge merely from the
work in which you are employed, without tak-
ing into calculation the advantages to accrue
from it. For you will, in fact, attack the walls
of one city : but, Jin that one city, you will cap-
ture all Spain. Here are the hostages of all
her illustrious kings and states ; and, as soon
as these shall be in your power, they will in-
stantly deliver up to our disposal every thing
which is now under subjection to the Cartha-
ginians. Here is deposited the enemy's trea-
sure, without which they cannot proceed in the
war, having mercenary troops to maintain ; and
which, at the same time, will be most service-
able to us, as the means of conciliating the
friendship of the barbarians. Here are their
engines, arms, accoutrements, and all their war-
like stores, which, while they answer our pur-
poses, will leave the enemy destitute. Besides,
we shall gain possession of a city of distin-
guished beauty and opulence, and highly con-
venient to us on account of its excellent har-
bour, by means of which we can have constant
supplies, both from sea and land, of every thing
requisite for the maintenance of the war. And
while we acquire to ourselves these great ad-
vantages, we shall at the same time strip the
enemy of much greater. This is their grand
fortress ; this is their granary, their treasury,
their armoury ; this is the repository of all their
wealth. Hence there is a direct passage into
Africa ; this is the only station for a fleet be-
tween the Pyrenees and Gades, and from hence
Africa spreads its terror over all Spain. But
as I perceive that you are arrayed and mar-
shalled for action, let us pass on, and assault
New Carthage with our whole strength, with
confidence and courage." To this they all re-
plied with a loud voice, " that they would do
so ;" and he immediately led them to the city,
giving orders for the assault both by sea and
land.

XL IV. On the other side Mago, the com-
mander of the Carthaginians, when he saw the
preparations for an assault going forward both
on land and sea, disposed his forces in the fol-
lowing manner : opposite to the Roman camp

V. R. 542.]

OF ROME.

581

he drew up two thousand of the townsmen ;
the citadel he garrisoned with five hundred sol-
diers, and five hundred others he placed on a
high part of the city towards the east ; the rest
of the troops he ordered to watch carefully every
occurrence, and to hasten to whatever spot the
shout, or sudden exigencies, might call them.
Then, opening the gate, he sent out those
whom he had formed in the street leading to-
wards the Roman camp. The Romans, by
direction of the general himself, drew back a
little, that by being near their camp they might
the more easily receive reinforcements during
the engagement. At the beginning, both par-
tics stood their ground, with little advantage
on either side ; but after some time, the rein-
forcements continually sent from the camp
not only drove back the enemy, but pressed
them so close, while they fled in disorder, that
had not a retreat been sounded, they would
probably have rushed into the city intermixed
with the fugitives. Nor was the consternation
greater in the field than in every part of the
city ; in many places the troops in a panic
abandoned their posts and fled, and the walls
were left defenceless, those who ought to
guard them having leaped down wherever they
found a way. Scipio, going up on an eminence
called Mercury's Hill, observed this their state,
on which he ordered all his men to be called
out from the camp, to bring scaling-ladders,
and advance to the assault. He himself, co-«
vered by the shields of three able young men,
because weapons of all kinds were now cast
from the place in vast numbers, came up close
to the works, encouraged his men, and gave
the necessary orders. But what contributed
above all to inflame the courage of the soldiers,
was lu's being thus an immediate spectator and
witness of the bravery or cowardice of every
one of them. They rushed forward, therefore,
regardless of the enemy, or of the wounds in-
flicted by them ; nor could the walls, or the
armed troops with which they were now lined,
deter them from mounting with eager emula-
tion. At the same time an assault commenced
from the ships on that quarter of the town
which is washed by the sea. But here, though
a great alarm was raised, little effectual exer-
tion could be made; because while the men
brought in the boats to the shore, while they
hastily landed the soldiers and scaling-ladders,
and while every one pressed forward to the
land by the speediest way, through their own

hurry and impatience they obstructed one ano-
ther.

XLV. In the meantime the Carthaginian
general had again filled the walls with numer-
ous troops, and great abundance of weapons,
brought out from their immense magazines, lay
in heaps ready for use. But neither men nor
weapons, nor any thing else, proved such an ef-
fectual defence as the walls themselves : for
they were of such a height, that few of the
ladders could reach the summit, and the longer
any of these were, the weaker they were in
proportion : as those, then, who had mounted
to the top, could not advance, and others never-
theless climbed up after them, the ladders were
broken by their weight. In several cases,
where the ladders stood upright, the men, on
rising to so great a height, were seized with
giddiness, and fell to the ground. While men
and ladders were every where falling in this
manner, and the enemy, from success, assumed
more boldness and alacrity, the signal for re-
treat was given. This afforded hopes to the
besieged, not only of present rest after such a
laborious contest, but also of future safety ; as
it made them imagine that their city was im-
pregnable by scalade and assault, and that their
works were so difficult to be surmounted, that
they would always give time to their comman-
ders to bring up forces to their relief. Scarcely
had the noise of the first tumult subsided, when
Scipio ordered other men who were fresh and
unfatigued, to take the ladders from the weary
and wounded, and to renew the assault with
additional vigour. Being told at this juncture
that the tide was ebbing, and having before
learned from some fishermen of Tarraco, (who
used to pass through the morass in light boats,
and, when these ran aground, by wading,) that
footmen might easily find a passage to the
wall, he in person led five hundred soldiers
thither. It was now about mid-day, and be-
sides the water being naturally drawn off into
the sea by the reflux of the tide, a brisk nor-
therly wind arising, carried the water along, in
the same direction with the tide, and had ren-
dered it so shallow, that in some places it
reached only to the navel, in others scarcely to
the knees. This circumstance, discovered in
reality by his own diligence and sagacity, Sci-
pio attributed, as a prodigy, to the interposi-
tion of the gods, who, to give a passage to the
Romans, changed the course of the sea, and
removed morasses, opening ways never before

THE HISTORY

xxvi.

trodden by human foot. Impressing this on
his men, he bade them follow Neptune, who
acted as their guide, and make their way to the
wall through the middle of the swamp.

XL VI. On the land part, the assailants had
a most laborious task. The height of the
walls was not the only obstruction that they
met, for, as the enemy had the Romans below
them, they could aim their blows against ei-
ther of their sides as they came up ; so that,
while they were climbing, these were more
endangered than the fronts of their bodies.
But, in the other quarter, the five hundred
found no difficulty either in crossing the morass,
or mounting the rampart ; for neither was that
side strengthened by any work, being deemed
sufficiently secure by the nature of the ground
and the marsh, nor was there any party of sol-
diers or guard stationed at it, because all were in-
tent on bringing succour to the place where the
danger appeared. Entering the city, therefore,
without opposition, they proceeded with the
utmost speed to the gate, at which the whole
contest was maintained ; and so intent on this
dispute were, not only the minds of all, but
likewise the eyes and ears of the combatants,
and of the people who looked on and encouraged
them, that no one perceived that the enemy had
entered the place, until their weapons came
pouring on their backs, and they found them-
selves between the two forces. The garrison
were so affrighted and confounded, that they
were no longer capable of making a defence.
The walls were seized by the Romans, who,
.both within and without, applied themselves to
the breaking open the gate, and this being soon
cut to pieces, so as to leave a clear passage, the
troops marched in to the attack. By this time,
great numbers had got in by scaling the walls,
and these employed themselves everywhere in
killing the townsmen. Those who had entered
by the opening, composing a regular body, un-
der their officers, and maintaining their ranks,
proceeded through the heart of the city into the
forum. Scipio, perceiving that the enemy fled
hence by two different ways ; some towards the
hill, which lay eastward, and was defended by
a garrison of five hundred men, others to the
citadel, into which Mago himself had retired,
with almost all the soldiers who had been
beaten off from the walls, sent one half of his
forces to storm the hill, and led himself the
other half against the citadel. The hill was
taken at the first attack. Mago attempted at

first to defend the citadel, but soon seeing every
place filled with the enemy, and that no hope
remained, surrendered himself, the citadel, and
garrison. Until the citadel was surrendered,
the soldiers had continued to put the townsmen
to the sword in every quarter, nor did they spare
any adult who fell in their way ; but then, on
a signal given, they desisted from shedding
blood, and, being now completely victorious,
they turned themselves to the collecting of the
plunder, the quantity of which, of all sorts, was
immense.

XLVII. The males of free condition taken
prisoners amounted to ten thousand ; of these,
such as were citizens of New Carthage he dis-
charged, and restored to them the city, and all
their effects, which the war had not consumed.
There were two thousand artisans, whom he
adjudged to be the public property of the Ro-
man people, giving them hopes of speedily re-
gaining their liberty, provided they worked in .
dustriously in the service of the army. Of the
rest of the multitude, all the younger inhabit-
ants, and the able-bodied slaves, he sent to fill
up the numbers of rowers in his fleet, which he
augmented with eight ships captured here.
Besides all these, were found the hostages of
the Spanish states, who were treated with as
much care and attention as if they had been the
children of allies. The quantity of military
stores taken was exceedingly great ; catapultas,
of the larger size, one hundred and twenty, of
the smaller, two hundred and eighty- one ; bal-
listas, large, twenty-three, small, fifty-two ; of
scorpions, large and small, and of arms and
missive weapons, a vast number ; military stan-
dards, seventy-four. Of gold and silver also,
a prodigious mass was brought in to the gene-
ral : there were two hundred and seventy-six
golden bowls, every one of them almost of a
pound weight ; of silver, wrought and coined,
eighteen thousand three hundred pounds weight,
and of silver utensils a prodigious number.
All these articles were weighed and reckoned
to the quaestor Caius Flaminius ; besides forty
thousand pecks of wheat, and two hundred and
seventy thousand of barley. One hundred and
thirteen store-ships were boarded and taken in
the harbour, several of them with their cargoes,
consisting of corn and arms : likewise brass,
iron, canvass, hemp, and other materials proper
for equipping a fleet : so that, among such vast
stores of every thing useful in war, Carthago
itself was the least valuable acquisition.

y. R. 542.]

OF ROME.

XL VII I. Scipio, ordering Caius La>lius,
with the marines, to guard the city, led back
the legions into their camp. A s the soldiers were
much fatigued by having gone through, in one
day, every different kind of light ; for they had
engaged the enemy in the field, had undergone
great labour and danger in storming the city,
and, after it was taken, had fought on disadvan-
tageous ground with those who had taken re-
fuge in the citadel ; he directed them to employ
the remainder of that day in taking refresh-
ment and rest. On the day following, having
called together both the land and the naval
forces, he began with returning praise and
thanks to the immortal gods, who had " not
only, in the space of one day, given him pos-
session of the most opulent city in all Spain,
but had previously amassed in it the greatest
part of the wealth of that country, and of
Africa also, so that no resources were now left
to the enemy, while he and his army bad a
superfluity of all things." He then highly
commended the courageous behaviour of the
soldiers, observing, that " neither the force sent
out against them, nor the height of the walls,
nor the unexplored fords of the morass, nor a
fort seated on a steep hill, nor the citadel,
though most strongly fortified, bad deterred
them from surmounting and breaking through
every obstacle. Wherefore, though he owed
every acknowledgment to them all, nevertheless
the person who first mounted the wall was en-
titled to the peculiar honour of a mural crown ;"
and he desired that he who thought himself
deserving of that present should* claim it. Two
claimants appeared, Quintus Trebellius, a cen-
turion of the fourth legion, and Sextus Digi-
tius, one of the marines : but the warmth with
which they themselves supported their preten-
sions was far inferior to the eager zeal which
each excited in his favour among the corps to
which he belonged. Caius Laelius, commander
of the fleet, favoured the marines, Marcus Sem-
pronius Tuditanus the legionaries. This con-
tention threatening at length to end in a mutiny,
Scipio published notice, that he would appoint
three delegates, who, after examining the merits
of the case, and hearing witnesses, should
determine which had made his way first into
the town. Accordingly, he named Caius
Laclius and Marcus Sempronius advocates for
the contending parties, with Publius Cornelius
Claudinus, a person uninterested in the cause,

as umpire: and ordered these three delegates
to sit and determine in it. But the dispute
was now maintained with greater violence than
ever, in consequence of those men of high rank,
who had acted not as advocates, but as moder-
ators in the rase, being thus excluded. Where-
fore Caius Ljrlius, quitting the court, went up
to the tribunal to Sdpio, and told him, that
" the proceedings of parties surpassed all
bounds of temperance and moderation, inso-
much that they hardly refrained from blows.
But, though no violence should ensue, never
theless such conduct afforded an ill example ;
as, in this case, the honour due to merit was
sought by one or other through the meant of
fraud and falsehood. On this side stood the
legionary soldiers, on that the marines, both
ready to swear, by all the gods, rather what they
wished than what they knew to be true ; and
to involve in the crime of perjury not only
themselves in their own persons, but the mil-
itary standards and eagles, and the sacred word
of a soldier :" he added, that " he brought him
this information at the desire of Publius Cor-
nelius and Marcus Sempronius." Scipio highly
approring of Laelius's conduct, summoned a
general assembly, and there pronounced judg-
ment, that " having received sufficient proof
that Quintus Trebellius and Sextus Digitius
gained the top of the wall at the same time, in
acknowledgment of their bravery he bestowed
mural crowns on both. He then bestowed
gifts on the rest, in proportion to their courage
and merit : above all, he honoured Caius Lae-
lius, commander of the fleet, with every enco-
mium of the highest kind that could have been
paid to himself, and presented him, besides,
with a golden crown and thirty oxen.

XL IX. He then ordered the hostages of
the Spanish states to be called. What the
Dumber of these was, I will not presume to
affirm ; for I find, in some writers, that they
were about three hundred, in others seven hun-
dred and twenty-five. Authors differ as much
in respect of other particulars : the Carthagi-
nian garrison, one writer says, amounted to
ten thousand men ; another to seven, another
to no more than two thousand. In some
accounts ten thousand prisoners are said to
have been taken, in others above twenty five
thousand. I should set down the scorpions,
great and small, that were taken, at sixty, if I
were to follow the Greek historian Silcnus ;

584

THE HISTORY

[BOOK xxvi.

if Valerius Antias, at six thousand greater, and
thirteen thousand smaller ; so contradictory
are the several accounts. Nay, they do nol
even agree as to the commanding officer. The
greater number affirm that Caius Laelius hac
charge of the fleet, while there are some who
assign it to Marcus Junius Silanus. Valerius
Antius tells us, that it was Arines who com-
manded the Carthaginian garrison, and who sur-
rendered to the Romans ; other writers assert
that it was Mago. They vary in the number oi
the ships taken, in the weight of the gold and
silver, and of the money brought into the pub-
lic treasury. If we are not to remain in a
state of doubt, but must believe some or other
of their accounts, those which hold the mean,
between the highest and the lowest, are most
likely to be true. Scipio, however, when the
hostages were called before him, first desired
them not to be dispirited ; for " they had come
into the power of the Roman people, whose
wish it always was to bind all to them by kind-
ness, rather than by fear ; and to have foreign
nations united to them in good faith and ami-
cable alliance, and not in a state of oppression
and gloomy servitude." He then took an
account of the prisoners, distinguishing the
number belonging to the several states, to each
of which he sent expresses, desiring them to
come and receive their respective hostages :
some of whom, however, as their ambassadors
happened to be present, he restored on the
spot; ordering the quaestor, Caius Flaminius,
to take care that the rest should be kindly
treated. There now came forward from among
the crowd of hostages, a woman far advanced
in years, the wife of Mandonius, brother to
Indibilis, the chieftain of the Ulergetians : she
threw herself at the general's feet, and with
tears besought him to give the guards more
strict injunctions respecting the care and
treatment to be shown to the women. Scipio
assuring her that they should not want any kind
of accommodation, she replied, " Those are
not matters about which we are much solici-
tous : for what accommodation can be consider-
ed as insufficient for persons in our situation ?
Anxiety of a very different kind rends my heart,
when I consider the age of these young persons ;
for as to myself, I am now beyond any danger
of those injuries to which our sex is liable."
On each side of her stood the daughters of In-
dibilis, in the bloom of youth and beauty, and

several others of equal distinction, by all of
whom she was revered as a parent. Scipio
answered, — " Out of regard to myself, and out
of regard to the Roman discipline, I should
take care that no right, any where deemed sa-
cred, should suffer violation from us. In the
present case, the virtue and merit of women of
such distinction as you are, who, in the midst
of misfortunes, forget not the delicacy of charac-
ter becoming the most respectable of your
sex, demand from me an extraordinary degree
of attention." He then gave them in charge
to a person on whose strict regularity of conduct
he could entirely rely, and gave him a particu-
lar charge that they should be treated with all
the respect and decency due to the wives and
mothers of guests.

L. The soldiers afterwards brought to him,
as a prisoner, a damsel of such exquisite beauty,
that she attracted the eyes of all. Scipio, on
making inquiries concerning her country and
parents, discovered, among other particulars,
that she was betrothed to a young prince of the
Celtiberians, named Allucius. He therefore
immediately summoned from home her parents,
and affianced husband ; and when the latter
arrived, having, in the meantime, heard that he
was most passionately enamoured of his intend-
ed bride, he addressed his discourse to him
more particularly than to the lady's parents :
'' A young man myself," said he, " I address
myself to a young man, that there may be the
less reserve in our conversation on this occasion.
When your mistress, being taken by our soldiers,
was brought to me, and I was told of the very
great affection you have for her, which indeed
her beauty made me readily believe, I consider-
ed that, in my own case, if my thoughts were
not totally engrossed by the affairs of the public,
and I were at liberty to indulge the pleasurable
pursuits adapted to my time of life, especially
in a lawful and honourable love, I should wish
that my affection for my intended bride, though
warm even to a degree of extravagance, should
yet be viewed with an indulgent eye ; and I
therefore resolved, in your case, where no tie of
duty confines me, to do all in my power in favour
of your passion. Your beloved, while in my
care, has been treated with as respectful an
attention as she could have met with, had she
been in the house of your father and mother-in-
law, her own parents. She has been preserved
in perfect safety, that I might be able to present

Y. ii. 54-2.]

OF II O M E.

her to you, her purity unspotted, a gift worthy
of me to bestow, and of you to receive. The
only return I require for a present of such value,
is, that, you be a friend to the Roman people ;
uiiil that, if you believe me to be a man of
worth, such as these nations have heretofore
known my father and my uncle, you be assured
that there are, in the Roman state, greU num-
bers of men like themselves ; and that no
nation at this day on earth can be named, which
you ought less to choose as an enemy to you
and yours, or whose friend-hip you ought
more, ardently to desire." The youth, over-
whelmed at once with joy and diffidence, and
holding Scipio's right hand invoked all the gods
to recompense, on his behalf, such exalted good,
ness ; since his own ability was utterly dispropor-
tioned, either to his own wishes, or his benefac-
tor's generosity. Scipio then accosted, in
friendly terms, the parents and relations of the
young woman, who, having brought with them
a very large weight of gold to purchase her
liberty, on her being restored to them without
ransom, earnestly besought him to accept it
from them, assuring him, that they should deem
themselves as much obliged by his compliance,
as by the rastoration of their child in safety.
Unwilling to reject such pressing solicita-
tions, he ordered it to be laid at his feet ; then,
calling Allucius to him, he said, " 13esides the
dowry which you are to receive from your
father-in-law, you must take also this marriage-
present from me," bidding him carry away the
gold, and keep it to himself. Overjoyed by
these honours and presents, the young man was
dismissed to his home, where he filled the cars
of his countrymen with the well-merited praises
of Scipio. " A god-like youth," he said,
'• Bad come among them ; subduing all, not
by the power of his arms only, but by his
goodness and magnanimity." Pull of such
sentiments, he made a levy among his de-
pendents, and, within a few days, returned to
Scipio with one thousand four hundred chosen
horsemen.

LI. Scipio kept Lsulius with him to assist
with his advice in disposing of the prisoners,
hostages, and booty ; and when all these mat-
ters were properly adjusted, he gave him a
quinquereme, and, ordering him to take on board
Mago and fifteen senators of Old Carthage,
who had been, made prisoners at the same
time, sent him to Rome with the news of bis

Tlu- few days \vhirh he bad resolved
to pass at Carthage be employed in excreting
both his land and naval forces. On the first
day, the legions made excursions, and evolu-
tions under arms, through a space of four miles ;
on the second, he ordered them to review and
scour their arms before their respective tents ;
on the third, forming opposite parties, they en-
gaged each other, in a manner representing a
regular battle, but with blunted weapons, and
throwing the like kind of darts. On the fourth
they were allowed to rest, and, on the tilth the
rovings commenced again. This regular suc-
cession of labour and rest, they kept up as long
as they remained at Carthage. In calm wea-
ther, the rowers and marines pushing out to sea,
made trial in mock sea-fights, of the activity
of their ships. Such was their employment
on the outside of the walls, and these exercises
on land and sea qualified both their minds and
bodies for real action. Within, all parts of the
city resounded with warlike preparations, work-
men of every kind being collected together in
a public arsenal. The general attended to
every particular with equal care : at one time
he was busy in the fleet and dock-yard ; at
another, he headed the legions in their excur-
sions ; again, he employed bis time in oversee-
ing the works, which were carried on, with
great diligence and emulation, by a multitude
of workmen in the arsenals, armory, and dock-
yards, and great numbers of necessary articles
finished every day. Having thus set on foot
these preparations, repaired the breaches in the
walls, and established posts for the guard of
the city, he set out for Tarraco, and, on his
way thither, received as he went along a great
number of embassies. Some of these he an-
swered on the road, and dismissed ; others
he adjourned to Tarraco, where he had ap-
pointed a general meeting of all the allies both
new and old. Accordingly, this meeting was
attended by almost every state on the hither
side of the Iberus, and also by many from the
farther Spain. The Carthaginian generals, at
first, carefully suppressed the intelligence of
Carthage being taken ; afterwards, when that
event became too notorious to be any longer
concealed or dissembled, they affected to speak
of it with little concent. They said that " by
an unexpected attack, and the efforts of one
day, one city in Spain had been surprised and
taken in a manner by stealth : that an inexpe-
4E

586

THE HISTORY OF ROME. [BOOK xxvi

rienced youth, elated by the acquisition of a
prize of but little consequence, had by his
immoderate joy, imposed on it the appearance
of an important victory; but as soon as he
should hear that three generals, and three
armies of his enemies, all flushed with vie-,
tory, were marching towards him, he would

quickly be struck with the recollection of
the deaths which had happened in his fa-
mily." Such was their language in public,
while they themselves were fully sensible
how great a diminution their strength had
suffered in every particular by the loss of
Carthage.

THE

HISTORY OF ROME.

BOOK XXVII.

Cneius Fulvius, proconsul, defeated by Hannibal, and (lain : the consul, Claudius Marcellos, engage* Mm, with
better success. Hannibal, raising his camp, retires ; Marcellus pursues, and force* him to an engagement They
fight twice : in the first battle Hannibal gains the advantage ; in the second, Marcellus. Tarentum betrayed to
Kabius Maximus, the consul. Scipio engages with Hasdrubal, the son of Hamllcar, at Batata, in Spain, and de-
feats him. Among other prisoners, a youth of royal rare, and exquisite beauty, is taken ; Scipio sets him free,
and sends him, enriched with magnificent presents, to his uncle MasinUsa. Marcellus and Quintui Crispinut,
consuls, drawn into an ambuscade by Hannibal : Marcellus is slain ; Crispinus escapes. Operations by Publius
Sulpicius, praetor, against Philip and the Achseans. A census held : the number of citizens found to amount to
one hundred and thirty-seven thousand one hundred and eight : from which it appear* how great a loss they
had sustained by the number of unsuccessful battles they had of late been engaged in. Hasdrubal, who had cross-
ed the Alps with a reinforcement for Hannibal, defeated by the consuls Marcus livius and Claudius Nero, and
slain; with him fell fifty-six thousand men.

I. SUCH was the state of affairs in Spain. In
Italy, the consul Marcellus, after regaining pos-
session of Salapia, which was betrayed into his
hands, took, by storm, Maronea and Meles,
cities belonging to the Samnites. He made
prisoners three thousand of Hannibal's soldiers,
left in garrison ; the booty, which was consider-
able, was given up to the soldiers : here were
found, also, two hundred and forty thousand
pecks of wheat, and one hundred and ten thou-
sand of barley. But the joy occasioned hereby
was much less than the grief felt for an over-
throw a few days after, near the city of Herdo-
nea. Cneius Fulvius, proconsul, lay there
encamped, in hopes of recovering that city,
which, after the defeat at Cannae, had revolted
from the Romans; but his post was neither
strong by nature, nor secured by proper guards.
The negligence natural to that commander's
disposition was increased by perceiving that the
inhabitants, as soon as they heard that Hanni-
bal, after the loss of Salapia, had withdrawn
from that part of the country into Bruttium,
began to waver in their attachment to the Car-
thaginians. Intelligence of all these particulars
was conveyed to Hannibal by private messen-

gers from Herdonea ; and, while it made him
anxious to preserve an allied city, at the same
time inspired hopes of attacking the enemy un-
prepared. With his troops, therefore, lightly
equipped for expedition, he hastened to Her-
donea by such long marches, that he almost
anticipated the report of his approach ; and, to
strike the greater terror, he advanced in order
of battle. The Roman commander, fully equal
to him in boldness, but inferior in judgment and
strength, hastily led out his forces, and engaged
him. The fifth legion, and the left wing of
allied infantry, commenced the fight with vigour.
But Hannibal gave directions to his cavalry,
that, as soon as the lines of infantry should have
their thoughts and eyes entirely occupied on the
contest between themselves, they should ride
round ; that one half of them should fall on the
enemy's camp, and the other on the rear of
their troops that were engaged. With a sneer on
the name of Fulvius, he assured them, that, as
he had utterly defeated him in the same coun-
try two years before, the present battle would
have a similar issue. Nor was this expectation
ill-grounded : for, after many of the Romans
had fallen, in the close conflict between the

588

THE HISTORY

[BOOK xxvu.

lines of infantry (the companies and battalions
nevertheless still maintaining their ground,) the
tumult raised by the cavalry in the rear, and the
enemy's shout from the camp, which was heard
at the same time, put to flight the sixth legion,
which, being posted in the second line, was
thrown into disorder by the Numidians ; as were
afterwards the fifth, and those in the van. Some
fled in hurry and confusion, the rest were sur-
rounded and slain ; among whom fell Cneius
Fulvius himself, with eleven military tribunes.
How many thousands of the Romans and allies
were slain in that battle, who can positively
affirm, when I find in some historians thirteen
thousand, in others not more than seven ' The
conqueror possessed himself of the camp and
the spoil. Having discovered that Herdonea
was disposed to revolt to the Romans, and
would not continue faithful to him after his de-
parture, he removed the inhabitants to Meta-
pontum and Thurium, and burned the city to
the ground. The leaders of the party who
were found to hare held secret conference with
Fulvius, he put to death. The Romans who
escaped the slaughter of this disastrous day,
fled, half-armed, by different roads into Sam-
nium, to the consul Marcellus.

II. Marcellus, not too much dismayed by so
great a disaster, wrote to Rome to the senate
an account of the general and army being lost
zt Herdonea ; adding, that notwithstanding this
misfortune, " he, who had quelled the haughty
spirit of Hannibal, when his confidence was at
the highest, in consequence of his victory at
Cannae, was now going against him, with the
same degree of resolution, and would take ef-
fectual care that his present joy and exultation
should be short." At Rome, as people's grief
for the past was great, so wrere their fears of
the future. The consul, passing over from
Samnium into Lucania, pitched his camp at
Numistro, on level ground, within view of
Hannibal, who was posted on a hill. He gave,
besides, another proof of confidence in his own
strength, for he was the first to offer battle.
Nor did Hannibal, on seeing the standards ad-
vance through the gfites, decline the challenge.
However, they drew up their forces in such a
manner, that the right wing of the Carthagi-
nians stretched up the hill, and the left wing of
the Romans was brought close to the town.
From the third hour, the action had lasted un-
til night, and the fatigue of fighting for such a
length of time had overpowered the foremost

lines, consisting, on the side of the Romans, of
the first legion and the right wing of allies ;
on Hannibal's side, of the Spanish infantry,
Balearic slingers, and the elephants, which,
at the beginning of the engagement, had been
brought into the field. And now the fight
flagged for a considerate time, neither party
having gained any advantage, when the third
legion advanced into the place of the first, and
the left wing of the allies into that of the right ;
on the side of the enemy, likewise, the wearied
were relieved by fresh troops. On this, both
parties being in full spirits and vigour, instead
of the former languid efforts, a furious conflict
at once arose ; but night separated the comba-
tants before the victory could be decided.
Next morning, the Romans stood, in order of
battle, from sunrise, during a great part of the
day, and none of the enemy coming out to face
them, gathered the spoils at their leisure, and
collecting the bodies of their slain into one'spot,
burned them on a funeral pile. In the follow-
ing night, Hannibal decamped in silence, and
marched off towards Apuli& ; but, as soon as
day-light discovered the enemy's flight, Marcel-
lus, leaving his wounded at Numistro, with a
small garrison, the command of which he gave
to Lucius Furius Purpureo, a military tribune,
set out immediately in close pursuit, and over-
took him at Venusia. Here, during several
days, many skirmishes happened between
parties sallying from the outposts, in v/hich in-
fantry and cavalry were intermixed, and which
produced more noise and tumult than real ad-
vantage to either side ; but which, in general,
terminated in favour of the Romans. From
thence the two armies marched through Apulia
without any engagement of consequence ; for
Hannibal, seeking opportunities for stratagems,
removed always by night, Marcellus never fol-
lowing but in clear day-light, and after having
carefully examined the country through which
he was to pass.

III. Meanwhile, as Flaccus was spending
much time at Capua, in selling the property
of the nobility, and setting to farm the for-
feited estates, all of which he let for a rent of
corn, he was furnished with a fresh occasion
for practising severity on the Campanians ;
for he received certain information of a wicked
scheme, of an extraordinary nature, which had
for some time been hatching in secret. Having
removed the soldiers out of the houses, for two
reasons, first, because he chose that the houses

Y.

OF ROME.

589

of the city should be held along with the lands ;
and next, because he feared lest excessive luxu-
ry might enervate his army, as it had that of
Hannibal, he had made them build huts for
tlicm>. 1\( >, in the military manner, near the
gates and walls. Now most of these were
formed of hurdles or boards, some of reeds in-
terwoven, and all of them covered with straw,
as if purposely intended for combustion. One
hundred and seventy Campanions, at the head
of whom were two brothers, of the name of
Blosius, had conspired to set fire to all these, at
one hour of the night. But the design was dis-
covered by some slaves belonging to the Blosii,
whereupon, the gates being instantly shut by
order of the proconsul, and the soldiers having,
on the signal being given, assembled under
arms, all who were concerned in the conspiracy
were seized, and after undergoing a severe exa-
mination by torture, condemned and put to
death. The informers were rewarded with
their freedom, and ten thousand asses' each.
The Nucerians and Acerrans, having com-
plained that they had no place of habitation, as
Acerra was partly burned, and Nuceria demo-
lished, Fulvius sent them to Rome to the se-
nate. Permission was granted to the Acerrans
to rebuild what had been thus destroyed ; and
the Nucerians, agreeably to their own choice,
were transplanted to Atella, the inhabitants of
the latter being ordered to remove to Calatia.
Among the multiplicity of important affairs,
(some prosperous, others adverse,) which occu-
pied the thoughts of the public, even the cita-
del of Tarentum was not forgotten : Marcus
Ogulnius and Publius Aquilius being commis-
sioned for the purpose, went into Etruria to
purchase corn, which was to be conveyed to
Tarentum ; and, together with the corn, were
sent thither, as a reinforcement to the garrison,
one thousand men out of the city troops, con-
sisting of equal numbers of Romans and allies.
I V. The summer was now nearly elapsed,
and the time of the consular election drew
nigh : but a letter received from Marcellus, af-
firming that it would be injurious to the public
interest, if he were to depart a step from Han-
nibal, who was retreating before him, while he,
by a close pursuit, distressed him materially,
threw the senate into some perplexity, as they
were unwilling either to call home the consul,
at a time when he was most actively employed

1 32/. 5«. lOrf.

against the enemy, or to let the year pass with,
out consuls. It was judged most advisable,
though the other consul Valerius was abroad,
that he should rather be recalled, and even fro u
Sicily. Accordingly, in pursuance of an order
of the senate, a letter was sent to him by Lu-
cius Manlius, pnetor of the city, and, together
with it, that of the consul Marcellus, that from
them he might perceive the reason, which in-
duced the senate to recall him from his pro-
vince, rather than his colleague. About this
time ambassadors came to Rome from king
Syphax, with a recital of all the successful bat-
tles which he had fought against the Carthagi-
nians, and assurances that '• their king enter-
tained not a more inveterate enmity to any na-
tion than to the Carthaginian, nor a more warm
friendship for any than for the Roman ;" add-
ing, that •• he had before sent embassies into
Spain, to the Roman generals, Cnei s and
Publius Cornelius ; and that he now wished
to seek, as it were, at the fountain head, the
friendship of the Romans." The senate not
only answered his ambassadors with kindness,
but sent others in return, charged with presents
to the king; these were Lucius Genucius,
Publius Pcetelius, and Publius Popilius. The
presents which they carried were, a purple
gown and vest, an ivory chair, and a golden
bowl of five pounds weight. They received
orders also to proceed to visit other chieftains
of Africa, carrying with them donatives of
gowns with purple borders, and golden bowls
weighing three pounds each. To Alexandria,
also, were sent Marcus Atilius, and Manius
Acilius, in embassy to king Ptolemy Philopater
and queen Cleopatra, to revive and renew the
former treaty of friendship ; bearing with them
a purple gown and vest, with an ivory chair, for
the king ; an embroidered gown and a purple
robe for the queen. During this summer, many
prodigies were reported from the neighbour-
ing cities and country : that at Tusculum, a
lamb was yeaned with its udder full of milk ;
and that the temple of Jupiter was struck on
the roof by lightning, and almost entirely
stripped of its covering; that at Anagnia,
about the same time, the ground before one of
the gates was fired, and without the aid of any
combustible matter continued burning a day
and a night ; that at Compitum, in the district
of Anagnia, the birds forsook their nests on
the trees in the grove of Diana ; that near the
mouth -of the harbour of Turracini, snakes of

690

THE HISTORY

QBOOK xxvu.

wonderful size were seen in the sea, and sport-
ing like fishes ; that at Tarquinii, a pig was
littered which had a human face ; and that, in
the district of Capena, at the grove of Feronia,
four statues sweated blood profusely for a day
and a night. These evil omens were expiated
with victims of the greater kind, in conformity
to the order of the pontiffs ; and a supplication
was ordered to be performed at all the shrines,
one day at Rome, and another in the district of
Capena, at the grove of Feronia.

V. The consul Marcus Valerius, on receipt
of the letters by which he was summoned
home, gave up the command of the province
and the army to the praetor Cincius ; sent Mar-
cus Valerius Messala, commander of the fleet,
with half of the ships to Africa, to plunder the
country, and, at the same time, to gain intelli-
gence of the motions and intentions of the Car-
thaginians : then he set out himself with ten
ships, and arriving at Rome, after'a prosperous
voyage, immediately convened the senate. Here
he recited the services which he had performed ;
that " after hostilities had been carried on in
Sicily, and many severe losses sustained on
land and sea during almost sixty years, he had
brought the war to a final termination. That
there was not one Carthaginian in Sicily, nor
one Sicilian, of those who had been compelled
by fear to fly and live abroad, who was not then
at home ; that all had been reinstated in the
possession of their own cities and estates, and
were employed in ploughing and sowing ; that
the land, after having been long deserted, was
at length filled again with inhabitants, and in a
condition both to afford plenty to its occupiers,
and the most certain supplies of provisions to
the Roman people either in peace or war."
After this, Mutines, and such others as had
deserved well of the Roman people, were in-
troduced to the senate ; who, to fulfil the en-
gagements of the consul, bestowed rewards on
them all. Mutines was even made a Roman
citizen, an order for that purpose being pro-
posed to the commons by a plebeian tribune,
in pursuance of directions from the senate.
While these matters passed at Rome, Marcus
Valerius Messala, with fifty ships, arriving on
the coast of Africa before day, made an unex-
pected descent on the lands of Utica, which
he ravaged to a great extent ; and, after taking
many prisoners, and other booty of every kind,
reimbarked, set sail for Sicily, and returned to
Lilybaeum, on the thirteenth day after he had

left it. On examining the prisoners, the fol-
lowing particulars were discovered, and all, in
order, communicated by letter to the consul
Lsevinus, that he might know the real state of
affairs in Africa. That "there were at Car-
thage five thousand Numidians, commanded by
Massinissa, son of Gala, a young man of a
very enterprising spirit ; and that people were
employed in all parts of Africa, in hiring other
troops, which were to be sent to Spain, to
Hasdrubal, in order that, with the most nu-
merous army which he could muster, and with all
possible [expedition, he might pass over into
Italy and join Hannibal. That on this mea-
sure the Carthaginians placed all their hopes of
success. That, besides this, they were fitting
out a very great fleet for the recovery of Sicily,
and that the prisoners believed it would sail
thither in a very short time." When the letter
containing this information was read, it made
so great an impression on the senate, that they
all concurred in opinion, that the consul ought
not to wait for the elections, but to nominate a
dictator to hold them, and return without delay
to his province. This plan was obstructed by
a dispute which arose ; for the consul declared
that he would nominate dictator Marcus Va-
lerius Messala, who was then in Sicily com-
manding the fleet ; but the senate insisted, that
a dictator could not be nominated who was in
any place out of the Roman territory, which
extended not beyond the limits of Italy. Mar-
cus Lucretius, plebeian tribune, proposing the
question hereupon, the senate decreed thus :
" That the consul, before he left the city,
should consult the people as 'to whom they wish-
ed to be appointed dictator, and should nominate
to that office whomsoever they should order.
That, if he refused this, the praetor should hold
the meeting, and if he also were unwilling to
do it, that then the tribunes should propose
the question." Valerius declared, that he
would not ask the judgment of the people on
a matter properly belonging to his own juris-
diction, and he forbade it in the praetor; on
which the plebeian tribunes proposed the ques-
tion, and the commons ordered, that Quintus
Fulvius, then at Capua, should be created dic-
tator. But in the night preceding the day on
which the assembly of the people was to be held,
the consul went off privately to Sicily; and
the senate, left thus unsupported, took the re-
solution of ordering a letter to be sent to
Marcus Claudius, desiring him to give assist-

y. R. 542.]

OF ROME

591

ance to the commonwealth, which his colleague
had deserted, and to nominate the dictator fixed
on by the people. Accordingly, Quintus Fulvius
was nominated dictator by the consul Claudius ;
and, in compliance with the same order of the
people, the dictator, Quintus Fulvius, named
Publius Licinius Crassus, then chief pontiff,
master of the horse,

VI. The dictator, on coming to Rome, sent
Cneius Sempronius BUesus, who had been a
lieutenant-general under him at Capua, into
the province of Etruria, to take the command
of the army there, in the room of the praetor,
Caius Calpurnius, whom he called away by
letter, to command his own army at Capua.
He appointed for the elections the earliest day
on which they could be held ; but a dispute
arising between the dictator and the tribunes,
they could not be finished on that day. The
younger Galerian century having obtained by
lot the privilege of voting first, named as con-
suls, Quintus Fulvius and Quintus Fabius :
and the centuries, voting in their course, would
have followed them, had not two plebeian tri-
bunes, Caius and Lucius Arennius, interposed.
They asserted that " the re-electing of the same
person to the supreme magistracy was not easily
reconcileable to the principles of a republic ;
and much more pernicious would the precedent
be, if the very person who presided at the elec-
tion were himself to be chosen. If therefore
the dictator admitted his own name in the list
of candidates, they would protest against the
election ; but, if he received on the list any
other except himself, they would give no ob-
struction to the business." The dictator
maintained the propriety of the proceedings of
the assembly, on the grounds of a vote of the
senate, an order of the people, and several pre-
cedents. For " in the consulate of Cneius
Servilius, when the other consul Caius Flamin-
ius had fallen at the Thrasimenus, the question
was, by direction of the senate, proposed to the
people, and the people ordered that, so long as
the war continued in Italy, it should be lawful
for them to re-elect to the consulship, and that
as often as they should see proper, any of
those who had already held that office. As to
precedents in point, he had one of ancient date,
in the case of Lucius Postumius Mcgcllus, who,
while he was interrex, was, in the assembly
where he himself presided, created consul, with
Caius Junius Bubulcus ; and a recent one, in
the case of Quintus Fabius, who certainly

would never have suffered himself to be re-elect-
ed if it were inconsistent with the public good."
After long dispute, maintained by these and
such arguments, an agreement at hist took place
between the dictator and the tribunes to abide
by the determination of the senate. The sena-
tors were of opinion, that the present state of
the commonwealth was such as required that
the administration of its affairs should be in the
hands of experienced commanders, skilled in all
the arts of war ; and they therefore disapproved
of any opposition to the proceedings of the as-
sembly of election. The tribunes then acqui-
esced, and the election proceeded. Quintus
Fabius Maximus a fifth time, and Quintus
Fulvius Flaccus a fourth, were declared consuls.
The following persons were then elected prae-
tors : Lucius Veturius Philo, Titus Quint! us
Crispinus, Caius Hostilius Tubulus, Caius
Arunculeius. As soon as the appointment of
magistrates for the year was finished, Quintus
Fulvius resigned the dictatorship. Towards
the end of this summer, a Carthaginian fleet of
forty ships, under the command of Hamilcar,
sailed over to Sardinia, and committed great
depredations in the district of Olbia. After-
wards, on the praetor, Publius Manlius Vulso,
appearing there with an army, they proceeded
to the other side of the island, and ravaged the
lands of Caralita, from whence they returned
with booty of all kinds to Africa. Several
Roman priests died this year, and others were
substituted in their places. Caius Servilius
was made a pontiff, in the room of Titus Ota-
cilius Crassus ; Tiberius Sempronius Longus,
son of Tiberius, an augur, in the room of
Otacilius Crassus ; and the same Tiberius
Sempronius, a decemvir for directing religious
rites, in the room of Tiberius Sempronius
Longus, son of Caius. Marcus Marcius, king
in religious matters, and Marcus ,£milius I'a-
pus, chief curio, died, but their places were not
filled up during this year. Lucius Veturius
Philo, and Publius Licinius Crassus, chief
pontiff, were created censors for the year. Li-
cinius Crassus had not, before this appointment,
been either consul or praetor, but was advanced,
at one step, from the aedileship to the censor,
ship. However, these censors neither chose a
senate, nor transacted any public business, being
prevented by the death of Lucius Veturius, on
which Licinius abdicated the office. The cu-
rule aediles, Lucius Veturius and Publius Li-
cinius Varus, repeated the exhibition of the

592

THE HISTORY

[BOOK xxvii.

Roman games once. The plebeian aediles,
Quintus Catius and Lucius Porcius Licinius,
out of the money accruing from fines, erected
brazen statues in the temple of Ceres, and ex-
hibited' games with much magnificence and
splendour, considering the circumstances of
those times.

VII. At the end of the year, Caius Laelius,
Scipio's lieutenant-general, on the thirty-fourth
day after he set sail from Tarraco, arrived at
Rome, and passing through the streets, with the
train of prisoners whom he brought, attracted
a vast concourse of people. Next day, being
introduced to the senate, he delivered the ad-
vices with which he was charged, that Carthage,
the metropolis of Spain, had been reduced in
one day, several revolted cities brought back
to obedience, and new alliances formed with
others. From the prisoners, information was
gained, corresponding, in general, with that
contained in the letter of Marcus Valerius
Messala. What gave the greatest uneasiness
to the senate, was Hasdrubal's intended march
into Italy, which was scarcely able to withstand
Hannibal, and the force which he had already
with him. Lselius also, coming out into the
general assembly, gave a similar account. The
senate, in consideration of the services per-
formed by Publius Scipio, decreed a supplica
tion for one day ; and then ordered Caius Lae-
lius to return with all expedition to Spain, with
the ships which he had brought thence. On
the authority of a great many historians, I have
fixed the taking of Carthage in this year, al-
though I am not ignorant that several have
placed it in the year following ; but it appeared
to me very improbable, that Scipio should have
passed a whole year in Spain without doing any
thing. [Y. R. 543. B. C. 209.] The consu-
late of Quintus Fabius Maximus, a fifth time,
and Quintus Fulvius Flaccus, a fourth, com-
mencing on the ides of March, a decree was
passed on the same day, appointing Italy the
province of both, but they were to command
separately in different quarters ; Fabius to
conduct the operations of the war at Taren-
tum, Fulvius in Lucania and Bruttium. Mar-
cus Claudius was continued in command
for a year. The praetors then cast lots foi
their provinces : Caius Hostilius Tibullus ob-
tained the city jurisdiction ; Lucius Veturius
Philo, the foreign, with Gaul; Titus vQuintius
Crispimis, Capua ; and Caius Arunculeius
Sardinia. The troops were distributed among

the provinces in this manner : to Fulvius, were
decreed the two legions which Marcus Valerius
Laevinus had in Sicily ; to Quintus Fabius,
those which Caius Calpurnius had commanded
in Etruria ; the city troops were to replace
those in Etruria, and Caius Calpurnius was
to command the same province, with the army;
Titus Quintius was to have the government of
Capua, with the army which had served there
under Quintus Fulvius ; Lucius Veturius was
to receive from Caius Laetorius, propraetor, the
province of Ariminum, with the army then on
the spot ; to Marcus Marcellus were assigned
the legions with which he had in his consulate
acted successfully ; to Marcus Valerius, in
conjunction with Lucius Cincius, (for they also
were continued in command in Sicily,) the
troops of Cannae were given, with orders to
complete their full complement out of the sur-
viving soldiers of Cneius Fulvius's legions.
These were collected together, and sent by the
consuls into Sicily, being stigmatized by the
same ignominious order under which the troops
of Cannae served, and those of the army of the
praetor Cneius Fulvius, whom the senate,
through resentment at the like cowardice, had
formerly ordered thither. To Caius Aruncu-
leius were assigned, for Sardinia, the same le-
gions which had served in that province under
Publius Manlius Vulso. Publius Sulpicius
was continued in command for a year, to hold
the province of Macedonia, and with the same
legion and the same fleet which he then had.
Thirty quinqueremes were ordered to be sent
from Sicily to Tarentum, to Quintus Fabius
the consul ; and, with the rest of the fleet, Mar-
cus Valerius Laevinus was either to sail over to
Africa himself, to ravage the country, or to send
thither Lucius Cincius, or Marcus Valerius
Messala. With respect to Spain no change
was made, only that Scipio and Silanus were
continued in command, not for a year, but un-
til they should be recalled by the senate. Such
was the distribution made of the provinpes, and
of the commands of the armies for that year.

VIII. Among other business of more serious
importance, the assembly, convened for the pur-
pose of electing to the priesthood a chief curio,
in the room of Marcus JEmilius, revived an old
dispute ; for the patricians insisted that Caius
Mamilius Vitulus, the only plebeian candidate,
ought not to be allowed to stand, because none
but a patrician had ever held that office of the
priesthood. The tribunes, being appealed to,

v. H. 543.]

OF ROME.

593

referred the business to the senate. The sen-
ate voted, that the people might act therein as
they should think proper. Thus Caius Ma-
miliiis Vitulius was elected chief curio, beingthe
first plebeian admitted into that office. Pub-
lius Licinius, chief pontiff, compelled Caius
Valerius Flaccus, against his will, to be inaugu.
rated flanien of Jupiter. Caius Lsetorius was
created decemvir for the performance of religious
rites, in the room of Quint us Mucius Scacvola
deceased. I should willingly pass over in si.
lence the reason of the flamen being forced
into the office, labouring as he then did under a
bad character, had he not afterwards acquired
a very good one. Caius Flaccus had spent
his youth in idleness and debauchery, and his
vicious courses had drawn on him the displea-
sure of his own brother Lucius Flaccus, and
of his other relations : and Publius Licinius was
in hope of reclaiming him. Indeed, when his
thoughts became engaged in the care of the
sacrifices and religious performances, he quickly
made such a complete alteration in his conduct,
from what it had hitherto been, that, among all
the young men of the time, no one was held in
higher esteem, or more entirely approved by
the principal patricians, by his own family, and
by all. This universal good character inspiring
him with a proper sense of his own worth, he
asserted a privilege which had for many years
been laid aside, on account of the unworthi-
ness of former flamens, that of having a seat
in the senate. On his coming into the senate-
house, the praetor, Lucius Licinius, led him
out ; on which he appealed to the tribunes of
the commons, alleging that he only claimed an
ancient privilege of his priesthood, which was
conferred on the office of flamen, together with
the purple-bordered robe and the curule chair.
The praetor argued that such a right depended
not on the copies of annals, rendered obsolete
ty their antiquity, but on the customary prac-
tice of more recent times ; and that in the
memory of their fathers, and even grandfathers,
no flamen of Jupiter had been allowed it. The
tribunes thought it reasonable, that, as the
right had been suffered to fall into disuse through
the inattention of former flamens, the injury
ensuing should affect only themselves, and not
the office ; and accordingly, without any oppo-
sition from the praetor himself, and with the
universal approbation of the senate and com-
mons, they introduced the flamen to a seat in
the senate, though all men were of opinion that
I.

his having attained his object, was owing to
the strict integrity of his conduct rather than to
any privilege of the priesthood. The consuls,
before they departed for their provinces,
raised two city legions, and such a number of
soldiers as was necessary to make up the com-
plement of the other armies. The force which
hitherto had served in the city, the consul
Fulvius gave to his brother Caius Fulvius Flac-
cus, lieutenant-general, with orders to march it
into Etruria, and to bring home to Rome the
legions then in that province. The other consul,
Fabius, having collected the relicts of Fulvius's
army, which amounted to three thousand
three hundred and thirty-six men, ordered his
son Quintus Maximus to conduct them into
Sicily, to the proconsul Marcus Valerius, and
to receive from him the two legions and thirty
quinqueremes. The removal of these legions
out of the island made no diminution, in res-
pect either of strength or appearance, in the
force stationed in that province. For, besides
two veteran legions, completely recruited to
their full complement, the proconsul had a
great multitude of Numidian deserters, both
horse and foot, and he also enlisted in his ser-
vice those Sicilians who had served in the army
of Epicydes, and that of the Carthaginians,
men well experienced in war. By annexing a
part of these foreign auxiliaries to each of the
Roman legions, he preserved the appearance
of two armies ; with one of which he ordered
Lucius Cincius to guard that part of the island
which was formerly the kingdom of Hiero ,
and, with the other, he himself took charge of
the rest of it, separated formerly by the bound-
aries of the Roman and Carthaginian domin-
ions. He likewise made division of the fleet,
which consisted of seventy sail, in order that
they might extend their protection of the coasts
round the whole circumference of the island.
Attended by the cavalry of Mutines, he went
in person through every part of the province,
to view the lands, observe what parts were
cultivated, and what were not, commending or
reproving the owners, accordingly. In conse-
quence of his care in this particular, such an
abundance of com was produced, that, )>esides
sending a quantity to Rome, be conveyed
to Catana a sufficient supply for the army,
which was to be employed during the summer
at Tarentum.

IX. But the transportation of those soldiers
into Sicily, the greater part of whom were LK-
4 F

594

THE HISTORY

QBOOK xxvir.

tines and allies, was very near proving the
cause of formidable disturbances ; so true it
is, that the issues of great affairs often depend
on trivial circumstances. For the Latines and
allies, in their meetings, began to murmur,
that " they had now for ten years been drained
by levies and contributions. That generally
every year, they suffered great losses in the
war. Many were slain in the field, many were
cut off by sickness ; and that every one of
their countrymen, enlisted as a soldier by the
Romans, was more effectually lost to them, than
if he were taken prisoner by the Carthaginians ;
because the latter was sent back, without ran-
som, to his country, whereas the other was
ordered by the Romans out of Italy, into ban-
ishment indeed, rather than to military service.
The troops of Cannae were now growing old
in that situation, having been in it nearly eight
years, and would end their lives before the
enemy, whose strength was at the present in a
state particularly flourishing, would retire out
of Italy. If veteran soldiers were not to re-
turn home, and still new ones to be enlisted,
there would not, in a short time, be one of that
description remaining. Wherefore it was be-
come necessary, before they should be reduced
to the last degree of desolation and want, to
deny to the Romans that which particular cir-
cumstances alone would shortly render it impos-
sible to grant. If that people saw the allies
cordially uniting in such a measure, they cer-
tainly would think of making peace with the
Carthaginians : otherwise, as long as Hannibal
lived, Italy would never be free from war."
Thus did they argue in their assemblies. The
Roman colonies were, at this time, thirty in
number ; all of whom had ambassadors at
Rome ; and twelve of them presented a remon-
strance to the consuls, stating that they had
not the means of furnishing the supplies of
men and money. These were Ardea, Nepete,
Sutrium, Alba, Carseoli, Cora, Suessa, Cir-
ceii, Setia, Cales, Narnia, and Interamna.
The consuls surprised at such an extraordinary
declaration, and wishing to deter them from
the meditated secession, to which end they sup-
posed that censure and reproof would be more
effectual than gentle measures, answered, that
" the expressions which they had dared to use
were such as the consuls could not prevail on
themselves to repeat in the senate. For they
contained not a refusal of military duty, but an
open defection from the Roman people. They

advised them, therefore, to return home instant-
ly to consult with their respective countrymen,
as if no step had yet been taken ; since their
infamous design, though disclosed in words,
had not proceeded to action ; and to remind
them that they were not natives of Campania,
or of Tarentum, but of Rome. That from
thence they derived their origin, and from
thence were sent out into colonies, into lands
taken from enemies, for the purpose of increas-
ing population ; and that, consequently, what-
ever duties children owe to parents, these they
owed to the Romans, if they had any remains
of natural affection, or any regard for their
mother country. They desired them, there-
fore, to confer on the matter anew ; for that, as
to the measures which they had inconsiderately
mentioned, their tendency was to betray the
Roman empire, and to give up the conquest of
it to Hannibal." Though the consuls, one
after the other, reasoned with them in this
manner for a long time, yet the ambassadors
were not in the least moved, but replied, that
" they had nothing new to represent to the
senate at home, neither had that assembly
grounds for new deliberation, when they nei-
ther had men to be enlisted, nor money to pay
them." The consuls finding them inflexible
laid the affair before the senate : and here it
excited such serious apprehensions in every
mind, that great numbers cried out, that " the
ruin of the empire was at hand ; that the other
colonies would act in the same manner; so
would the allies ; that all had conspired to be-
tray the city of Rome to Hannibal."

X. The consuls endeavoured to console and
encourage the senate, telling them, that " the
other colonies would maintain their allegiance
and duty as heretofore; and that even these
which had swerved from their duty, if ambas-
sadors were sent round among them instructed
to apply reproofs, and not intreaties, would be
impressed with respect for the sovereign autho-
rity." Having received power from the senate to
act and manage as they should see most condu-
cive to the public good, they began by sounding
the dispositions of the other colonies ; and then,
summoning their ambassadors, demanded ot
them in public, whether they had their contin-
gents of soldiers ready according to the regula-
tion ? To this Marcus Sextilius of Fregellae, in
behalf of the eighteen colonies, made answer, that
" the soldiers were ready according to the re •
gulation ; that if a greater number should be

v. it. 543.]

OF ROME.

595

required, they would bring them ; and, that
whatever else the Koman people should com-
mand or wish, they would perform with zeal
and diligence. That they wanted not suffi-
ciency of means, and had more than a sufficiency
of inclination." On this the consuls, after
premising that all the praises which themselves
could bestow would be inadequate to their
merits, unless they were joined by the thanks
of the whole body of the senate in full assembly,
desired them to accompany them into the
senate-house. The senate complimented them
by a decree conceived in the most honourable
terms possible, and then charged the consuls
to conduct them into an assembly of the people
also, and there, among the many other import-
ant services which those colonies had performed
to them and their ancestors, to make proper
mention of this recent instance of their meri-
torious conduct towards the commonwealth.
Even now, and after so many ages, their names
should not be lost in silence, nor should they
be defrauded of their due praise : they were
these — Signia, Norba, Saticulum, Brundusium,
Fregellie, Luceria, Venusia, Adria, Firma,
Ariminum ; on the coast of the other sea, Pon-
tia, Piestum, and Cosa ; and in the inland
parts, Beneventum, .^Esernia, Spoletum, Pla-
centia, and Cremona. Supported by these, the
Roman empire was enabled to stand ; and they
received every mark of gratitude both in the
senate, and in the assembly of the people. The
former ordered, that no mention should be made
of the other twelve dependencies, which had
refused to furnish their quota for the war, and
that the consuls should neither dismiss nor de-
tain their ambassadors, nor hold any communi-
cation with them •. such a tacit proof of displea-
sure was judged the most suitable to the dig-
nity of the Roman people. While the consuls
were busy in expediting the other necessary
preparations for the campaign, it was resolved
to draw out of the treasury the vicesimary gold,
(that is to say, a fund formed of the twentieth
part of the value of slaves enfranchised,) which
was reserved for exigencies of the utmost ne-
cessity. There was drawn out accordingly, to
the amount of four thousand pounds weight of
gold. Of this were given to the consuls, to
Marcus Marcellus and Publius Sulpicius, pro-
consuls, and to Lucius Veturius, the praetor,
to whom the lots had given the province ot
Gaul, five hundred pounds each ; and besides

this there were given, in particular charge, to
the consul Fabius, one hundred pounds of gold
to be carried into the citadel of Tarentum.
The remainder they employed in making con-
tracts, with ready money, for clothing the army,
who were then serving in Spain, with so much
honour to themselves and to their commander.
XL It was also resolved, that, before the
consuls set out from the city, they should ex-
piate several prodigies which had happened.
On the Alban mount, a statue of Jupiter, and
a tree, standing near the temple ; at Ostia, a
grove ; at Capua, a wall, and the temple of For-
tune, and at Sinuessa, a wall and gate, were
struck by lightning. Farther it was reported,
that the Alban water flowed in a bloody stream ;
that, at Rome, in the cell of the temple of
Furs Fortuna, an image, which was in the
crown of the goddess, fell from her head into
her hands ; that an ox spoke at Privernum ;
that a vulture, while the forum was crowded,
flew down into one of the shops ; and that, at
Sinuessa, an infant was born whose sex was
doubtful, such as are commonly called in Greek
(a language more manageable than ours, parti-
cularly in the compounding of words,) An-
drogynes ; that a shower of milk fell, and that u
boy was bom with the head of an elephant.
These prodigies were expiated with the larger
kinds of victims. Orders were given for a
supplication to be performed at all the shrines,
and prayers to be offered during one day. for
the averting of misfortunes ; and a decree
passed, that the prsetor, Caius Hostilius, should
vow and celebrate the games of Apollo, in like
manner as they had of late years, been vowed
and celebrated. At the same time, the con-
sul Quintus Fulvius, held an assembly for the
election of censors. The censors chosen were
men who had never yet been consuls, Marcus
Cornelius Cethegus, and Publius Sempronius
Tuditanus. By direction of the senate the
question was proposed to the people, and the
people ordered, that these, by their censorial
authority, should let to farm the lands of Cam-
pania. The choosing of the senate was de-
layed by a dispute between the censors about
the nomination of the prince of it : the mak-
ing the choice had fallen, by lot, to Sem-
pronius ; but Cornelius alleged that he ought
to observe the practice banded down from
their ancestors, which was to appoint HH
prince, the person who in the List of ecu-

596

THE HISTORY

[BOOK XXVIT.

sors stood the first of any then living, and this
was Titus Manlius Torquatus. Sempronius
maintained, that when the gods gave a person
the lot of appointing, they gave him at the same
time full freedom of choice : that he would act
in this case agreeably to his own judgment, and
would name to the honour contended for, Quin-
tus Fahius Maximus, whom he could prove to
be the first or the whole Roman state, even in
Hannibal's opinion. After a long dispute, his
colleague gave up the point, and Sempronius
chose the consul, Quintus Fabius Maximus,
prince of the senate. Then the list of the new
senate was read, in which eight were left out,
among whom was Lucius Czecilius Metellus,
infamous for having, after the defeat at Cannae,
advised the abandonment of Italy. In their
review of the equestrian order also, they cen-
sured every one concerned with him ; but the
number disgraced on that account was very
small. From all the cavalry of the legions of
Cannae then in Sicily, and their number was
great, their horses were taken away. To this
they added another punishment in point of time,
ordering that the campaigns which those men
had served on horses given by the public, should
not entitle them to release, but that they should
serve during ten others on horses of their own.
They also searched for, and discovered, a great
number, who ought to be ranked in the cavalry,
and all of these who had been seventeen years
old at the beginning of the war, and had not
served, they disfranchised. They then contract-
ed for the repairs of the buildings round the
forum, which had been destroyed by the fire,
— seven shops, the shambles, and the royal
palace.

XII. Having finished the necessary business
at Rome, the consuls set out for the campaign.
Fulvius, first, went forward to Capua ; in a few
days after, Fabius followed, and he earnestly
intreated his colleague in person, and Marcellus
by letter, to make the most vigorous efforts to
keep Hannibal employed, while he should carry
on the siege of Tarentum ; observing that,
when that city should be taken from the enemy,
who was already repulsed in every quarter, and
would then have no place where he could rest,
or to which he could retreat for safety, he would
not have even a pretence for staying longer in
Italy. He likewise sent an express to Rhegium,
to the commander of the body of troops, which
the consul LJEVUIUS had placed there, to act
against the Bruttians, and which consisted of

eight thousand men, all accustomed to live by
plunder, the greater part of whom had been
brought out of Sicily from Agathyrna, as was
mentioned above. To these were joined many
natives of the country, who deserted from the
Bruttians, equally daring, and under equal ne-
cessity to dare every thing. He ordered this
band to be led, first, to ravage the lands of
Bruttium, and afterwards to besiege the city
of Caulon. These orders they executed, not
only with diligence, but with avidity ; and after
plundering the country, and dispersing the in-
habitants, attacked the city with their utmost
vigour. Marcellus, incited by his colleague's
letter, and also by an opinion which he had
himself conceived, that he was the only Roman
general able to cope with Hannibal, quitted his
winter-quarters as soon as forage could be found,
and met him at Canusium. The Carthaginian
was, at this time, employed in endeavouring to
entice the Canusians to a revolt, but on hearing
of Marcellus's approach, he decamped and re-
tired. The country was open, affording no
cover for an ambuscade, for which reason he
resolved to draw back into more woody tracts.
Marcellus pressed close on his steps, encamped
within view of him, and, as soon as the trenches
were finished, drew out his legions and offered
battle. Hannibal sent out single troops of cav-
alry, and the light spearmen from his infantry,
to skirmish with the enemy, but did not think
it advisable to risk the issue of a general en-
gagement. He was, however, drawn into a
contest of that sort which he wished to avoid :
for although, by marching away in the night, he
gained some ground of the enemy, yet Marcel-
lus overtook him in an open country, and, as
he was forming his camp, put a stop to his
works, by attacking the workmen on all sides.
In consequence of this, a pitched battle ensued,
in which all the forces, on both sides, were en-
gaged ; but night coming on, they separated,
without any advantage being gained on either
side. They then hastily, before it grew dark,
fortified their camps, at a very little distance
from each other. Next day, as soon as light
appeared, Marcellus led out his forces to the
field, nor did Hannibal decline the contest, but
in a long speech exhorted his men to " remem-
ber Tbrasimenus and Cannae, and to crush the
presumption of the foe, who pressed so closely
on their steps ; not suffering them either
to march or encamp in quiet, or even to
breathe, or look about them. Every day. the

Y. R. 543.]

OF ROME.

597

rising sun and the Roman army, appeared toge-
ther on the plains. But if the enemy should
once be compelled to quit the field, especially
with some loss of blood, they would afterwards
conduct their operations with less turbulence
and violence." Irritated by such expressions,
and at tbc same time vexed at being continually
harassed, on quitting their camp they began the
fight with great fury. The battle was main-
tained for more than two hours ; then, on the
Roman side, the right wing and the chosen
band, called extraordinaries, began to give
ground ; on observing which, Marcellus brought
up the eighteenth legion to the front. But,
while the others were retiring in confusion, and
these advancing, with but little alacrity, into
their place, the whole line was disordered and
in a little time totally broken : at last, fear get-
ting the better of their shame, they fairly turned
their backs. In this battle, and the flight which
followed, there fell no less than two thousand
seven hundred of the Romans and allies ;
among these four Roman centurions, and two
military tribunes, Marcus Licinius and Marcus
Fulvius. Four military standards were lost
by the wing which first fled, and two by the le-
gions which advanced in the place of the flying
allies.

XIII. After the army had retired into the
camp, Marcellus reprimanded them in terms so
harsh and bitter, that they felt more from the
discourse of their incensed commander, than
from all they had suffered, in the unsuccessful*
fight, through the whole day. He said to them,
" as matters have turned out, I praise and thank
the immortal gods, that the victorious enemy
did not assault our camp itself, while you were
hurrying into the gates, and over the rampart,
in such utter dismay. You would certainly
have abandoned that, through the same panic
that made you give up the battle. What fright
is this ? What terror, what forgetfulness both
of your own character and that of your adver-
saries, has at once seized your minds ? Surely
they are the same enemies, in defeating and
pursuing of whom you spent the whole of the
last summer ; who, for some days past, have fled
before you night and day, while you pressed on
their rear ; whom, yesterday, you did not allow
either to continue their march, or to form their
camp. I say nothing of the advantages on
which you ought to pride yourselves ; but will
mention what, of itself, ought to fill you with
shuinc and remorse : yesterday you fought it

out to the end on equal terms. What alteration
has last night, what has this day made. Have
your forces been diminished ; have theirs been
augmented ? I cannot persuade myself that I
am speaking to my own army, or to Roman
soldiers. The arms and appearances of the men
are such as usual. But, if you had possessed
the usual spirit, would the enemy have seen
your backs ? Would he have carried off a
standard from any one company or cohort?
Hitherto, he has boasted of putting our legions
to the sword ; you, this day, have been the first
who have conferred on him the glory of putting
a Roman army to flight." On this the troops,
universally, besought him to pardon their beha-
viour of that day ; and entreated him, whenever
he pleased, to make another trial of the courage
of his soldiers. " I will try you, soldiers," said
he, " and to-morrow will lead you into the
field ; that in the character of conquerors, not
of vanquished men, you may obtain the pardon
which you desire." He then ordered, that the
cohorts which had lost their standards should
receive barley for their allowance, and the cen-
turions of the companies whose standards had
been lost, he deprived of their swords ; com-
manding that all, both infantry and cavalry,
should be ready under arms on the following
day. The assembly was now dismissed, all
acknowledging that the reproofs which they
had received were not more severe than they
deserved; for that no person in the Roman
army had, that day, behaved like a man, except
the general alone, to whom they ought to make
atonement, either by their death or by a glorious
victory. On the day following they attended
according to orders, armed and accoutred. The
general then commended them, and said, that
"he would bring forward, into the first line,
those who had fled first the day before, and the
cohorts which had lost their standards ; that
he now gave notice, that it was incumbent on
them to fight and to conquer, and to exert
themselves vigorously, one and all, to prevrnt
the news of yesterday's flight reaching Rome,
before that of the present day's triumph."
They were then ordered to refresh themselves
with food, that, in case the fight should last
longer than usual, they might have strength to
go through it. After every tiling had been said
and done to rouse the courage of the soldiers,
they marched out to the field.

XIV. When this was told to Hannibal, be
said, •• We have to deal with an enemy wLo

598

THE HISTORY

[BOOK xxvir.

can neither bear good fortune nor bad : if he
gets the better, he pursues the vanquished with
presumption and vehemence ; if he is worsted,
he renews the contest with the victors." He
then ordered the signal to be sounded, and led
out his forces. Both parties fought now with
much more vigour than the day before ; the
Carthaginians struggling to maintain the glory
acquired yesterday, the Romans to remove their
disgrace. On the side of the Romans, the left
wing, and the cohorts which had lost their stan-
dards, fought in the front line ; while the
twentieth legion was drawn up on the right
wing. Lucius Cornelius Lentulus, and Caius
Claudius Nero, lieutenant-generals, command-
ed the wings ; Marcellus himself took the
charge of the centre, that he might animate the
men by his presence, and be an immediate wit-
ness of their behaviour, On Hannibal's side,
the front line was composed of the Spanish
troops, who were the main strength of his army.
When the fight had long continued doubtful,
Hannibal ordered the elephants to be brought up
to the van, hoping, by their means to occasion
fear and disorder. At first, they broke the
ranks, and by treading down some, and terrify-
ing others, on either side, so as to put them to
flight, made an opening in the line in one part :
and the alarm would probably have spread far-
ther, had not Caius Decimius Flavus, a mili-
tary tribune, snatching the standard of the first
band of spearmen, ordered that company to fol-
low him. He then led them to the spot where
the elephants were throwing all into confusion,
with directions to discharge their javelins at
them. Every weapon took place, for there
was no difficulty in hitting, at a small distance,
bodies of such huge bulk, especially as they
were crowded close together. But though they
were not all of them wounded, yet those, in
whose flesh the javelins stuck, as they are
creatures whose motions cannot be depended
on, betaking themselves to flight, drove back
even those that were unhurt. And now, not
any particular company alone, but every soldier
who could come up with the retreating ele-
phants, with all his might hurled javelins at
them. Thus attacked, the more violently did
the animals rush upon their owners and made
so much the greater carnage of them, than they
had made of the enemy, as one of them, when
frightened or hurt, is hurried on more forcibly
than he could be driven by the manager sitting
on his back. While the enemy's line was in

this great disorder, in consequence of those
beasts breaking through it, the Romans made
a brisk onset, and without much opposition
from troops so scattered and confused, drove
them off the ground. Marcellus ordered his
cavalry to charge them as they fled, and the
pursuit did not cease, until they were driven,
in consternation, into their camp : for besides
other circumstances which caused terror and
tumult, two elephants had fallen in the very
entrance of the gate, so that the men were
obliged to make their way over the trench and
rampart. Here the slaughter of the enemy was
the greatest. There were killed no less than
eight thousand men, and five elephants. Nor
did the Romans gain the victory without loss
of blood : of the two legions, about one thou-
sand seven hundred were killed, and of the
allies above one thousand three hundred.
Great numbers, both of Romans and allies,
were wounded. In the following night Hanni-
bal decamped, and though Marcellus wished to
pursue him, he was prevented by his wounded,
which were in great number. Scouts, who
were sent to observe his march, brought intelli-
gence next day that Hannibal had taken the
road towards Bmttium.

XV. About the same time, the Hirpinians,
Lucanians, and Volscians, surrendered them-
selves to the consul Quintus Fulvius, deliver-
ing up Hannibal's garrisons which they had in
their cities, and were mildly received by the
consul with only a verbal reproof for their past
errors. Hopes of similar gentle treatment
were held out to the Bruttians also, through
two brothers, Vibius and Pactius, of the most
illustrious family of any in that nation, who
came to request the same terms of capitulation
which were granted to the Lucanians. The
other consul, Quintus Fabius, took by assault,
Manduria, a town in the territory of Sallentum.
Here he made four thousand prisoners, and
gained much booty of other kinds. Proceed-
ing thence to Tarentum, he pitched his camp
at the very mouth of the harbour. Of the
ships, which Livius had kept here for the pur-
pose of protecting convoys, he loaded part with
machines and implements fit for assailing walls ;
the rest he furnished with engines, stones, and
missile weapons of every kind ; the store-
ships also, not confining himself to such
only as were moved by oars, he fitted out in
the same manner, in order that some might
bring out the machines and ladders to the

Y. R. 543.]

OF ROME.

599

walls, while the others, from their ships at some
distance, should annoy with missile weapons,
the men employed in defending them. These
ships were thus fitted up and prepared,
for the purpose of an attack on that side of the
city which is washed by the open sea, which
was now clear of the enemy ; for the Cartha-
ginian fleet had sailed over to Corcyra, ut the
time when Philip was preparing to attack the
2Etoliuns. Meanwhile, the party which car-
ried on the siege of ( 'union in Bruttium, hear-
ing of Hannibal's approach, and fearful of be-
ing overpowered, retired to an eminence,
which, though it secured them from an imme-
diate attack, was destitute of every other con-
venience. In the prosecution of the siege of
Tarentum, Fabius received very great assis-
tance towards the accomplishment of that im -
portant business, from an incident trivial in
appearance ; the Tarentines had in the city a
party of Bruttians, given to them by Hanni-
bal, and the commander of this party was des-
perately in love with a young woman, whose
brother was in the army of the consul Fabius.
This man, being informed by a letter from his
sister, of her new acquaintance with a stranger
of so great wealth, and so highly honoured
among his countrymen, conceived hopes that,
by means of his sister, her lover might be
brought into any scheme ; and this project he
communicated to the consul ; his reasoning ap-
peared not ill founded, and he was ordered to
go as a deserter into Tarentum. Here being
introduced by his sister to the notice of the
commander, he began by artfully sounding his
disposition, and having satisfied himself that
his temper was as fickle as he could wash, by
the aid of female blandishments he prevailed on
him to betray the post, of which he commanded
the guard. When both the method and the time
for the execution of this design were settled,
the soldier was let out of the town privately,
through the intervals between the guards, and
related to the consul what had been done, and
what was furthur intended. At the first
watch, Fabius, after giving proper directions
to the troops in the citadel, and to those who
had the guard of the harbour, went himself
quite round the harbour, and sat down, in con-
cealment, on the side of the city facing the
east. The trumpets then began to sound at
omv, from the citadel, from the port, and from
tin* ships which hud been brought to the
shore on the side next to the open sea. At

the same time a shout was raised, and a pro-
digious tumult purposely made, on every
side where there was very little danger.
Meanwhile the consul kept his men quiet and
silent. Democrates, therefore, who had form-
erly commanded the fleet, and who happened
now to command there, perceiving every thing
near him quiet, while other parts resounded
with tumult and shouting like that of a city
stormed, fearful lest, while he hesitated, the
consul might force a passage, and march in his
troops, carried off his party to the citadel, be-
cause the most alarming noise proceeded from
that quarter. Fabius, from the length of time,
and likewise from the silence which prevailed,
(for where, a little before, there was an uproar
among the men rousing each other, and calling
to arms, now not a word was heard,) imagined
that the guard was withdrawn ; he therefore
ordered the ladders to be brought up to that
part of the wall, where, according to the infor-
mation of the contriver of the plot, the cohort
of Bruttians held the guard. In this place,
favoured and assisted by the Bruttians, the Ro-
mans first gained possession of the wall, over
which they climbed into the city ; and then the
nearest gate was broken open, that the troops
might march through in a body. These enter-
ing the town a little before day, raised a shout,
and, without meeting any one in arms, proceed-
ed to the forum, having drawn on themselves
the attention of the combatants in every quar-
ter, whether at the citidel or the harbour.

XVI. At the entrance of the forum, a vig-
orous opposition was made, but it was not per-
severed in. A Tarentine was no match for a Ro-
man, either in spirit, in arms, in warlike skill,
nor yet in vigour or bodily strength. They
only discharged their javelins, and then, scarce-
ly waiting till the fight began, turned their
backs ; and as they were acquainted with the
streets of the city, ran different ways to their
own houses, or those of their friends. Two
of their commanders, Nico and Democrates,
fell, fighting courageously. Philomenus, who
had been the author of the plot for betraying the
city to Hannibal, rode away from the fight at
full speed ; his horse was not long after seen,
straying through the city without a rider, but
his body was never found, and the general opin-
ion was, that he fell from his horse into an
open well. Carthalo, as he was coming to the
consul unarmed, to remind him of their f'utlu : -
being connected by an intercourse of hospitality,

600

THE HISTORY

[BOOK xxvii.

was slain by a soldier who met him in the way.
The rest were put to the sword without distinc-
tion, armed and unarmed, Carthaginians and
Tarentines alike. Many even of the Bruttian;
were killed, either through mistake, or through
the inveterate hatred borne towards them by
the Romans, or with design to discountenance
the report of the place being betrayed, and that
it might rather appear to have been taken by
force of arms. After this carnage, the victors
proceeded in several parties, to plunder the cky.
We are told that there were taken here thirty
thousand persons in a state of servitude, a vast
quantity of silver wrought and coined, eighty-
seven thousand pounds weight of gold, toge-
ther with statues and pictures in such numbers,
as almost to rival the decorations of Syracuse.
But Fabius, with more greatness of mind than
was shown by Marcellus, refrained from med-
dling with booty of that sort ; and when his
secretary asked him what be would have done
with the statues of their gods, which were of gi-
gantic size, and habited like warriors, he ordered
him to " let the Tarentines keep their angry gods
to themselves." Then the wall, which separated
the citadel from the town, was demolished and
rased. Amid these transactions, Hannibal,
having made prisoners the party employed in
the siege of Caulon, who capitulated, hearing
of the siege of Tarentum, marched night and
day with all expedition to relieve it : but while
he was hastening thither, he received the news
of its being taken. On this he observed, " the
Romans, too, have their Hannibal ; we have
lost Tarentum through the same arts by which
we acquired it." That he might not, how-
ever, seem to have turned back as in flight,
he encamped on the spot where he had halt-
ed, about five miles from the city ; and, after
staying there a few days, retreated to Me.
tapontum. From hence he sent to Tarentum
two Metapontines, with letters from the prin-
cipal men in that state to Fabius, to receive his
promise of impunity for what was past, on con-
dition of their delivering Metapontum and the
Carthaginian garrison into his hands. Fabius,
supposing the offer to be made with sincerity,
appointed a day on which her would come to
Metapontum, and gave letters in answer, which
were delivered to Hannibal, who, overjoyed at
the success of his stratagem, and at finding that
even Fabius was not proof against artifice,
formed an ambuscade at a small distance from
Metapontum. As Fabius was taking the aus-

pices, previous to his departure from Tarentum,
the birds repeatedly refused the favourable
signs ; also, when he consulted the gods by sa-
crifice, the aruspex warned him to beware of
treachery and plots. As he did not come on
the appointed day, the two Metapontines were
sent back, to remove any scruple that retarded
him, but being suddenly seized, and dreading an
examination by torture, they disclosed the whole
plot.

XVII. In Spain, in the beginning of the
summer, there came over to Scipio, who had
spent all the preceding winter in conciliating
the affections of the barbarians, partly by
presents, and partly by sending home their
hostages and prisoners, a person named Edes-
co, a distinguished commander among the
Spaniards. This man's wife and children
were in the hands of the Romans ; but, be-
sides this motive, he was also actuated by
that almost unaccountable propension which
had brought over all Spain from the Carthagin-
ian interest to that of the Romans. Led by
the same motive, Indibilis and Mandonius, un-
questionably the two first men in Spain, with
the whole body of their countrymen, deserted
Hasdrnbal, and withdrew to an eminence over-
looking his camp, from whence along a con-
tinued ridge of hills, they could retire with
safety to the Romans. When Hasdrubal saw
the enemy's strength increasing by such large
accessions, while his own was daily diminished,
and would probably, unless by a bold effort he
effected something, continue to decay, in the
same manner as it had begun, he resolved to
bring on a battle as soon as possible. Scipio
was even more desirous of an engagement ; as
well because his hopes were strong, in conse-
quence of the success which had hitherto at-
tended his affairs, as because he wished to
engage with a single general and his forces,
rather than with all together, which he would
perhaps be forced to do, were they to unite.
However, should he be under a necessity of
fighting more than one army at once, he had tak.
en a judicious method to augment his strength :
for, perceiving that there would be no employ-
ment for his marine, as the coast of Spain was en-
tirely clear of any Carthaginian fleet, he hauled
up the ships on Jand at Tarraco, and joined
the marines to his land forces. As to arms for
them, he had abundance, between those taken
at Carthage, and those which had been af-
terwards made by the great number of work-

Y. R. 543.]

OF ROME.

601

men whom he employed. With this force, Sci-
pio, in the beginning of spring, by which time
he was rejoined by Lu>lius, who had returned
from Rome, and without whom he undertook
no enterprise of any extraordinary moment,
set out from Tarraco, and advanced towards
the enemy. On his march, during which he
found every place well affected, the allies show-
ing him all respect, and escorting him as he
pii^vd through each of their states, he was met
by Indibilis and Mandonius, with their armies.
Indibilis spoke for both, not with the ignorance
and temerity of a barbarian, but with a modest
gravity, appearing rather to apologize for their
changing sides, as a measure of necessity, than
to boast of it, as if it had been greedily embrac-
ed on the first opportunity ; for " he knew," he
•aid, " that the term deserter was deemed dis-
honourable by a man's old associates, and held
in suspicion by the new. Nor did he blame
men for this manner of thinking ; provided on-
ly, that the merits of the case, and not the mere
name, were made the grounds of this double
aversion." He then enumerated his sen-ices to
the Carthaginian generals ; and, on the other
hand, their avarice, tyranny, and ill-treatment
of every kind heaped on him and his country-
men. " For these reasons," he said, " his body
only had, hitherto, been on their side ; his mind
bad long been on that side where, he believed,
that respect was paid to laws divine and human.
To the gods themselves, people have recourse
with supplications for redress, when they can*
no longer endure the violence and injustice of
men. He entreated Scipio not to consider their
conduct as deserving either punishment or re-
ward ; but to form his judgment on a trial of
them from that day forward ; and by that stan-
dard to estimate the recompense which they
might hereafter be thought to deserve.1' The
Roman answered that he would comply with
their desire in every particular ; and would not
consider them in the light of deserters, because
they had not thought themselves bound to ad-
here to such an alliance, when the other party
scrupled not to violate every obligation divine
and human. Then their wives and children,
being brought into the assembly, were restored
to them, and received with tears of joy. That
day they were entertained in lodgings prepared
for them ; and, on the next, the terms of asso-
ciation were ratified, and they were dismissed
to bring up their forces ; afterwards they en-
camped in conjunction with the Romans, until
I.

they conducted them to the ipot where the ene-
my lay.

XVIII. The nearest army of the Cartha-
ginians was that commanded by Hasdrubal,
which lay near the city of Btecula. In the
front of this camp be bad pouted advanced
guards of cavalry. On these, the Roman light
infantry, the front rank, and those who compos-
ed the van guard, instantly, as they arrived, and
without waiting to choose ground for a camp,
made an attack, and with such apparent con-
tempt, as plainly demonstrated what degree of
spirit each party possessed. The cavalry were
driven within their works, whither they fled in
confusion, pressed almost to the very gates.
The action of that day having only whetted
their ardour for a contest, the Romans pitched
their camp. Hasdrubal, during the night, drew
back his army to a hill, the summit of which
was spread out into a level plain ; on the rear
of the hill was a river, and on the front and on
either side it was encircled by a kind of steep
bank : at some distance below this, lay another
plain, sloping downwards, the circumference of
which was likewise bounded by another bank of
equally difficult ascent. Into this lower plain,
Hasdrubal, next day, on seeing the enemy's line
formed in front of their camp, sent down his
Numidian cavalry, and the light-armed Balea-
rians and Africans, Scipio, riding round the
companies and battalions, desired them to ob-
serve, that " the enemy, renouncing at once all
hopes of being able to oppose them on plain
ground, endeavoured to secure themselves on
hills ; waiting within sight, and confiding in
the strength of their posts, not in their valour
and their arms. But Roman soldiers had
mounted the higher defences of Carthage. Nei-
ther hills, noi a citadel, nor the sea itself bad
stopped the progress of their arms. Those
heights which the enemy had seized, would
answer no other purpose than that of compelling
them, in their flight, to leap down crags and
precipices : but he would prevent their escap-
ing, even in that way." Accordingly, he gave
orders to two cohorts, that one of them should
secure the entrance of the valley, through which
the river ran ; and that the other should block
up the road, which led from the city into the
country, across the declivity of the hill. He
then put himself at the head of the light
troops, which had, the day before, beaten the
enemy's advanced guards, and led them against
the light-armed forces posted on the brink of
40

602

THE HISTORY

QBOOK xxvi r.

ilie lower descent. For some time tbey pro-
ceeded over rough ground, without meeting
any other obstacle than the difficulty of the
way ; afterwards, when they came within
reach, vast quantities of weapons of every sort
were poured down upon them ; while, on their
side, not only the soldiers, but a multitude of
servants mixed among the troops, assailed the
enemy with stones, which they found every
where scattered, and which, in general, were of
such a size as that they could be thrown by the
hand. But, though the ascent was difficult,
and they were almost overwhelmed with darts
and stones, yet, through the skill which they
had acquired by practice in climbing walls, and
the obstinacy of their courage, the foremost
gained the summit. When they got upon
ground that was any way level, and where they
could stand with firm footing, they soon beat
back the enemy ; who, though light and fit for
skirmishing, and able enough to defend them-
selves at a distance, while an uncertain kind of
fight was waged with missive weapons, yet,
when the matter came to close fighting, were
quite deficient in steadiness ; so that they were
driven with great slaughter into the line of
troops posted on the higher eminence. On
this, Scipio, ordering the conquerors to press
forward against their centre, divided the rest
of the forces with Lselius, whom he ordered to
go round the hill to the right, until he should
find a gentler ascent, while he himself, making
a small circuit to the left, charged the enemy
in flank. This, at once, threw their line into
disorder, though they attempted to change the
position of their wings, and to face about their
ranks towards the several shouts, which assailed
their ears from every quarter. During this con-
fusion, Laelius also came up, and the enemy by
retreating, through fear of being wounded from
behind, broke their front line, and left an open-
ing for the Roman centre, who never could
have made their way up against ground so dis-
advantageous, had the ranks remained entire,
and the elephants kept their posts in the front
of the battalions. While numbers were slain
in every quarter, Scipio, who with his left
wing had charged the right of the enemy, con-
tinued the attack with the greatest fury against
their naked flank. And now the Carthaginians
had not even a passage open for flight ; for the
Roman detachments had taken possession of
the roads both on the right and left ; add to
this, that their commander and principal officers,

in endeavouring to make their escape, filled up
the gate of the camp, while the disorderly rout
of the frightened elephants were as terrible to
them as were the enemy. There were slain
therefore not less than eight thousand men.

XIX. Hasdrubal had, before the battle,
hastily sent off his treasure ; and now, forward-
ing the elephants, he collected the flying troops,
directing his course along the river Tagus, to-
ward the Pyrenees. Scipio took possession of
the Carthaginian camp, and having bestowed
on the soldiers all the booty, except the persons
of free condition, he found, on taking an ac-
count of the prisoners, ten thousand foot, and
two thousand horse. Of these, he sent home
all the Spaniards without ransom, the Africans
he ordered the quaestor to sell. On this the
multitude of Spaniards who stood around, both
those who had formerly surrendered, and those
taken the day before, unanimously saluted him
by the title of king. But Scipio, ordering the
crier to command silence, told them, that " to
him the highest title was that of general, which
his soldiers had conferred upon him. That
the title of king, in other places highly respected,
was, at Rome, deemed odious. They might,
indeed, within their own breasts, judge of him
as possessing the spirit of a king, if they deem-
ed that the most honourable perfection in a
human mind, but they must refrain from the
application of the name." Even these barba-
rians were sensibly affected by the greatness of
his mind, that could look down contemptuously
on a title, which from the rest of mankind at-
tracts wonder and admiration. He then dis-
tributed presents among the petty princes and
chieftains of the Spaniards, desiring Indibilis to
choose, out of the great number of horses taken,
three hundred, such as he liked. While the
quaestor, in pursuance of the general's order,
was selling off the Africans, he observed among
them a boy of extraordinary beauty ; and, hear-
ing that he was of royal blood, he sent him to
Scipio. Scipio, asking him, " who/ and ot
what country he was ; and why, at that early
age, he had been found in a camp ?" He told
him, that " he was a Numidian, called by his
countrymen Massiva ; that being left an orphan,
by the death of his father, he was educated in
the family of his maternal grandfather, Gala,
king of Numidia. That he had come over into
Spain with his uncle Masinissa, who had lately
brought a body of cavalry to the assistance of the
Carthaginians. That he had never before been

y. B. 543.]

OF ROME.

on:)

in a battle, having been prohibited by Masinissa
on account of his youth ; but that, on the day of
the engagement with the Romans, he had
privately taken a horse and arms, and, un-
known to his uncle, gone out into the lield,
whereby his horse falling he was thrown to
the ground, and made a prisoner by the Ro-
mans." Scipio, ordering the boy to be taken
care of, finished what business was to be done
at the tribunal ; then, retiring into his pavilion,
he culled the youth, and asked him, whether he
wished to return to Masinissa ? To \vliicli
the other, his eyes suffused with tears of joy,
replied, that above all things it was what he
wished. He then gave as presents to him, a
gold ring, a vest with a broad purple border, a
Spanish cloak with a golden clasp, likewise a
horse fully accoutred ; and, ordering a party of
horsemen to escort him as far as he chose, sent
him away.

XX. He then held a council, to settle a
plan of operations ; when many advised him,
without delay, to go in pursuit of Hasdrubal :
but such a step he thought too hazardous, lest
Hasdrubal, son of Gisgo, and Mago should
unite their forces with those of that command-
er. Contenting himself, therefore, with send-
ing some troops to occupy the passes of the
Pyrenees, he passed the remainder of the
summer in receiving the submissions of the
Spanish states. Not many days after the
battle fought at Baecula, when Scipio, on his
return to Tarraco, had just got clear of the-
pass of Castulo, the two generals, from
the Farther Spain, Hasdrubal, son of Gisgo,
and Mago, joined Hasdrubal — a reinforce •
ment too late, the battle being lost ; but their
coming was very seasonable in another respect,
as it gave him the assistance of their counsel,
respecting the measures to be taken for the
farther prosecution of the war. On this occa-
sion, when they compared accounts of the dis-
positions of the Spaniards in each of their
several provinces, Hasdrubal, son of Gisgo,
alone, made a favourable report ; giving his
opinion, that the remote track of Spain, which
lies on the ocean and about Gades, was, as yet,
unacquainted with the Romans, and therefore
sufficiently well affected to the Carthaginians.
The other Hasdrubal and Mago agreed in pro-
nouncing, that «' the affections of all, both in
their public and private capacities, were at-
tached to Scipio by the kind treatment which
he gave them ; and that there would be no end

of desertions, until all the Spanish loldien
were either removed into the remotest partu of
Spain, or curried away into Gaul. Therefore,
though the Carthaginian senate had passed no
order for the purpose, yet it was necessary that
Hasdrubal should go into Italy, where the
principal stress of the war lay, and where the
final decision of it must be expected ; in order,
at the same time, to carry away all the Spanish
soldiers out of Spain, and out .of the way of
hearing the name of Scipio : that the Cartha-
ginian army, being greatly reduced, as well by
desertions as by the late unfortunate buttle,
should be filled up with Spanish recruits : that
Mago, giving up his forces to Hasdrubal, son of
Gisgo, should go over in person to the Balearic
islands, with a large sum of money, to hire auxi-
liaries : that Hasdrubal, son of Gisgo, should,
with the remainder, retire into Lusitania, and by
no means come to an engagement with the
Romans : that out of all their effective horse-
men a body of three thousand cavalry should
be made up for Masinissa, to make excursions
through what they called Hither Spain, suc-
cour their allies, and carry depredations through
the towns and lands of the enemy.'* Having
determined on these measures, the commanders
separated, to put their resolves in execution.
Such were the transactions of this year in Spain.
At Rome, the reputation of Scipio rose higher
every day. The taking of Tarentum, though
effected by artifice rather than by courage, yet
gave some degree of glory to Fabius. The
lustre of Fulvius's character began to fade.
Marcellus was even spoken of with displeasure,
because, besides the failure in his first battle,
he had in the middle of summer, while 1 Ian.
nibal was carrying bis excursions through
various parts of Italy, drawn off his army to
Venusia, to lodge them in houses. He had
a bitter enemy in Caius Publius Bibulus, a ple-
beian tribune : this man, ever since the battle
which proved unfortunate, had, in frequent
harangues, represented Claudius in a dishon-
ourable light, endeavouring to render him odious
to the commons ; and he now proposed to de-
prive him of the command. The friends of
Claudius nevertheless procured an order", that
Marcellus, leaving at Venusia a lieutenant-
general, should come home to Rome, to clear
himself of those charges, on which his enemies
founded the resolutions which they pro-
posed ; and that, during his absence, no step
should be taken towards divesting him of the

604

THE HISTORY

[BOOK xxvn.

command. It so happened that Marcellus
came to Rome, to rescue his character from
disgrace, and the consul Quintus Fulvius to
hold the elections, at the same time.

XXI. The business respecting Marcellus's
commission was debated in the Flaminian
circus, amidst a vast concourse of plebeians,
and people of all ranks. The tribune of the
commons brought forward heavy charges, not
only against Marcellus, but against the whole
body of the nobles. " To their treacherous
and dilatory conduct," he said, " it was owing,
that Hannibal now held possession of Italy, as
bis province, for the tenth year, and passed
more of his life there than in Carthage. The
Roman people now enjoyed the fruits of con-
tinuing Marcellus in command : his army, after
being twice routed, was spending the summer
at Venusia, and dwelling in houses instead of
the camp." These, and such like invectives of
the tribune, Marcellus so thoroughly refuted,
by a recital of the services which he had per-
formed, that not only the question concerning
the annulling of his commission was negatived,
but, on the day following, every one of the cen-
turies, with the greatest unanimity, concurred
in electing him consul. The colleague joined
with him was Titus Quintius Crispinus, then
a pnetor. Next day were elected praetors,
Publius Licinius Crassus Dives, then chief
pontiff, Publius Licinius Varus, Sextus Julius
Caesar, Quintus Claudius, flamen. During the
very time of the elections, the public were
much disturbed with apprehensions of a revolt
in Etruria. That some scheme of that kind
had been set on foot by the Arretians was as-
serted in a letter of Caius Calpurnius, who, in
the character of propraetor, held the government
of that province. Wherefore Marcellus, con-
sul elect, was immediately despatched thither,
with orders to inquire into the affair, and, if
he should see occasion, to send for his army,
and remove the war from Apulia to Etruria.
The fear of this gave the Etrurians such a
check, as kept them quiet. Ambassadors from
the Tarentines came to solicit a treaty of peace,
requesting that they might be allowed to live
in freedom under their own laws ; but the senate
desired them to come again, when the consul
Fabius would have returned to Rome. Both
the Roman and plebeian games were this year
repeated for one day. The curule aediles were
Lucius Cornelius Caudinus, and Servius Sul-
picius Galba ; the plebeian, Cains Servilius and

Quintus Caecilius Metellus. Many people in-
sisted that Servilius could not legally have held
the office of tribune, nor could now hold that
of sedile, because it was well known that his
father, who, for ten years, was supposed to
have been killed by the Boians near Mutina,
when triumvir for the distribution of lands, was
still living, and in the hands of the enemy.

XXII. In the eleventh year of the Punic
war, commenced the consulate of Marcus Mar-
cellus, a fifth time, (reckoning the consulship,
which, because of an irregularity in the election,
he did not hold,) and Titus Quintius Crispinus.
It was decreed, that both the consuls should
be employed in Italy, as their province ; and
that out of the two consular armies of the pre-
ceding year, with a third, which was at Venusia,
and had been under the command of Marcel-
lus, the consuls were to choose whatever two
they liked ; and the third was to be assigned to
the commander, to whose lot the province of
Tarentum and Salentum should fall. The
other provinces were distributed in this man-
ner : with regard to the praetors, the city juris-
diction was assigned to Publius Licinius Va-
rus ; the foreign, with such other employment
as the senate should direct, to Publius Licinius
Crassus, chief pontiff; Sicily to Sextus Julius
Caesar, and Tarentum to Quintus Claudius,
flamen. Quintus Fulvius Flaccus was conti-
nued in command for the year, and ordered
with one legion, to hold the government of the
province of Capua, which had been held by
Titus Quintius, when praetor. Caius Hostilius
Tubulus was likewise continued, that, as pro-
prietor, he might succeed Caius Calpurnius in
the command of the two legions in Etruria;
and Lucius Veturius Philo was continued, that
he might, in quality of propraetor, retain the
government of his present province of Gaul,
with the same two legions which he had there
when praetor. With regard to Caius Aurun-
culeius, who, in his praetorship, had, with two
legions, held the government of the province of
Sardinia, the senate passed a decree in the same
terms with that respecting Lucius Veturius,
but, for the defence of that province, an addi •
tional force was assigned him of fifty ships of
war, which Scipio was to send from Spain.
The business of continuing all these officers in
command was laid before an assembly of the
people. To Publius Scipio and Marcus Sila-
nus, their present province of Spain, and the
armies at present with them, were decreed for

v. ii. 544.]

OF ROME.

605

the year. An order WHS sent to Scipio, that,
out of eighty ships which he then had— some
bnuiL'ht with him from Italy, some taken at
( 'arthage— he should send fifty over to Sardi-
nia ; because a report prevailed that great naval
preparations were going on at Carthage, where
the intention was to overspread the whole coasts
of Italy, Sicily, and Sardinia with a fleet of
two hundred sail. The business of Sicily was
divided thus : the troops of Cannie were given
to Sextus Csesar ; Marcus Valerius Laevinus
(for he also was continued in authority) was to
have the fleet of seventy ships, which lay on
the coast of that island. To these were joined
the thirty ships which had been at Tarentum
the year before; and with this fleet of one
hundred sail, if he thought proper, he was to
pass over and make depredations on Africa.
Publius Sulpicius, also, was continued in com-
mand for the year, that he might hold the pro-
vince of Macedonia and Greece, with the same
fleet which he had before. With respect to
the two legions which remained in the city of
Rome, no alteration was made. Leave was
^ivii for the consuls to raise recruits, to com-
plete the troops wherein there was any defi-
ciency of numbers. Twenty-one legions were
employed this year in the service of the Roman
empire. A charge was given to Publius Lici-
nius Varus, city pnetor, to repair thirty old
ships of war, which lay at Ostia, and to furnish
twenty new ones, with their full complement
of men, that he might have a fleet of fifty sail
to guard the sea coasts in the neighbourhood of
Rome. Caius Calpurnius was forbidden to
remove his 'army from Arretium, before the
arrival of his successor. Both he and Tubero
were ordered to l>e particularly watchful on that
side, lest any new schemes might be formed.

XXIII. The praetors went to the provinces,
but the consuls were detained by business re-
specting religion ; for they could not readily
effect the expiation of several prodigies which
had been reported. From Campania, accounts
were brought, that two temples at Capua,
those of Fortune and Mars, and several tombs,
were struck by lightning ; and at Cum:e, mice
gnawed some gold in the temple of Jupiter, so
apt is superstitious weakness to introduce the
deities into the most trivial occurrences ; that
at Casinum, a very large swarm of bees settled
in the forum ; at Ostia, a wall and gate
were struck by lightning j at Caere, a vulture
flew into the temple of Jupiter ; and that at

Vulsinii blood flowed from a lake. On account of
these portent^, there wasa supplication perform-
ed of one day's continuance. During many suc-
ressive ones, sacrifices were offered of victims
of the larger kinds, and yet no favourable omens
appeared, nor, for a long time, was there any
indication of the gods becoming propitious.
The baneful events, thus foreboded, affected not
immediately the safety of the state, but tell on
the persons of the consuls. The Apollinarian
games had been first celebrated by the city
praetor, Cornelius Sulla, in the consulate of
Quintus Fulvius, and Appius Claudius ; and,
thenceforward,all the city praetors, in succession,
had performed them ; but they vowed them
only for one year, and fixed no particular day
for their observance. This year, a grievous
epidemic disorder fell both on the city and
country ; however, the sickness was rather te-
dious than moital. On account of this malady,
a supplication was performed in all the street*
of Rome, the city pnetor, Publius Licinius
Vafus, being at the same time ordered to pro-
pose to the people to enact a law, that a vow
should be made for the perpetual celebration of
those games on a stated day. Accordingly he
himself first engaged for it, holding the games
on the third day of the nones of July, which
day has ever since been observed as an anni-
versary festival.

XXIV. The rumours concerning the Ar-
retians grew every day more and more alarming,
and greatly increased the anxiety of the senate ;
wherefore orders were despatched to Caius
Hostilius, not to defer taking hostages from
that people ; and Caius Terentius Varro was
sent with a commission to receive them from
him, and conduct them to Rome. On his ar-
rival, Hostilius immediately ordered one legion,
which was encamped before the gates, to march
into the city ; and then, having posted guards
in proper places, he summoned the senate to
attend him in the forum, and make a demand of
hostages. The senate requested two days' time
to consider the matter ; but he insisted that
they should give them instantly, or he would,
next day, take all the children of the senators.
He then directed all the military tribune*,
prefects of the allies, and centurions, to guard
the gates carefully, that no one might go out of
the city in the night. This was not performed
with proper care and diligence ; for, before the
guards were posted at the gates, or night came
on, seven principal senators made their escape

606

THE HISTORY

[BOOK xxvu.

with their children. A t the first light, on the day
following, the senate being summoned into the
forum, they were missed, and their property was
sold. From the rest of the senators, one hun-
dred and twenty hostages were received, who
were their own children, and they were deli-
vered to Caius Terentius to be conducted to
Rome. He represented every thing to the
senate, in such a light as greatly increased their
suspicions : wherefore, as if the hostile inten-
tions of the Etrurians were no longer to be
doubted, an order was given to Caius Teren-
tius himself, to lead one of the city legions to
Arretium, and to keep it there, as a garrison
to the city. It was at the same time deter-
mined that Caius Hostilius, with the rest of
the troops, should make a circuit through the
whole province ; that those who wished to ex-
cite disturbances might have no opportunity of
putting their designs in execution. When
Caius Terentius, with the legion, arrived at
Arretium, and demanded from the magistrates
the keys of the gates, they told him that they
were not to be found ; but he believing rather
that they had been put out of the way through
some evil design, than lost through negligence,
put on new locks, making use of every precau-
tion to keep all things fully under his own
power. He earnestly cautioned Hostilius not
to expect to retain the Etrurians in quiet by
any other means than by putting it out of their
power to stir.

XXV. About this time, the business of the
Tarentines occasioned a warm debate in the
senate, where Fabius was present, exerting him-
self in favour of those whom he had subdued
by arms, while others spoke of them with much
asperity, charging them as equal in guilt and
deserving equal punishment with the Campan-
ians. The senate resolved, conformably to the
opinion of Manius Acilius, that the town
should be secured by a garrison, and all the
Tarentines confined within the walls, and that
the business should be taken under considera-
tion at a future time, and when Italy should
be in a state of greater tranquillity. The case
of Marcus Livius, governor of the citadel of
Tarentum, was also debated with no less
warmth : some advised to pass a vote of cen-
sure on him, because that, in consequence of
his indolence, Tarentum had been betrayed to
the enemy ; while others thought him deserv-
ing of reward, for having defended the citadel
for five years, and for havinir. sinjrlv, been the

principal cause of the recovery of Tarentum.
Moderate people affirmed, that the cognizance
of his conduct belonged to the censors, not to
the senate ; and of this opinion was Fabius ;
nevertheless adding — " Livius was, no doubt,
the cause of Tarentum being recovered, as his
friends have so often boasted in the senate ;
but it should be borne in mind that it could
not have been recovered, if it had not been
lost.'1 The consul, Titus Quintius Crispinus,
marched with a reinforcement into Lucania, to
join the army formerly commanded by Quintus
Fulvius Flaccus. Marcellus was detained by
several obstacles respecting religion which occur,
red, in quick succession, to disturb his mind : one
of which was, that, having in the battle with the
Gauls at Clastidium vowed a temple to Honour
and Virtue, he had been hindered, by the pon-
tiffs, from dedicating it, for they insisted, that
one shrine could not, with propriety, be conse-
crated to more than one deity ; because, if it
should be struck with lightning, or any kind of
prodigy happen in it, the expiation would be
difficult, as it could not be determined to which
of the deities sacrifice ought to be made ; for
one victim could not, properly, be offered to
two divinities, unless they were known to be
two to whom such victim must be accepta-
ble. Wherefore a separate temple was erected
to Virtue, and the work pushed forward with
haste ; nevertheless these temples were not
dedicated by him. At length he set out, with
a number of recruits, to join the army, which
he had left the year before at Venusia. Cris-
pinus, observing the great degree of fume which
the taking of Tarentum had procured to Mar-
cellus, prepared to lay siege to Locri in Brut-
tium, sending to Sicily for engines and machines
of all sorts, and calling over a fleet from thence,
to attack that quarter of the city which stretch-
ed down to the sea. But he laid aside his de-
sign of the siege, because Hannibal had
advanced to Licinium ; he heard, too, that his
colleague had led out his army from Venusia,
which made him wish to unite their forces.
Crispinus therefore withdrew from Bruttium
into Apulia, and the two consuls sat down in
separate camps, distant from each other less
than three miles, between Venusia and Bantia.
Hannibal also returned into the same country,
as soon as he had saved Locri from a siege.
And now the consuls, being both impatient for
action, offered battle almost every day ; not
doubting but that, if the enemy would hazard

v. n. :>44.]

OF ROME.

G07

an enpigement with the two consular armies
united, they might effectually put an end to the
war.

XXVI. As Hannibal, of the two battles
which he hud fought with Marcellus the year
before, had gained one and lost the other, he
might now, in case of an engagement with the
same antagonist, find reasonable grounds both
of hope and fear ; but he could, by no means,
believe himself equal to a contest with the two
consuls together. Applying himself, therefore,
wholly to his old artifices, he watched an op-
portunity for an ambuscade. However, several
skirmishes were fought between the ramps
with various success, and the consuls began to
think that the summer might be spun out in
this manner. They were of opinion, however,
that the siege of Locri might, nevertheless, be
prosecuted ; and they wrote to Lucius Cincius
to come over, with the fleet, from Sicily to that
place ; and, to carry on the siege on the land
side, they ordered half the troops in garrison
at Tarentum to march thither. Hannibal, hav-
ing received previous intimation from some
Thurians of these intended measures, sent a
party to lie in ambush on the road from Taren-
turn. There, under the hill of Petellia, three
thousand horsemen and two thousand foot were
placed in concealment ; and the Romans march-
ing carelessly, without having examined the
load, fell into the snare, where no less than
two thousand soldiers were killed, and about
twelve hundred taken prisoners : the rest-
flying different ways, through the fields and
woods, returned to Tarentum. Between the
Roman and Carthaginian camps, stood • hill,
interspersed with trees, which neither party at
first had occupied, because the Romans knew
not the nature of the ground on the side which
faced the camp of the enemy, and Hannibal had
judged it to be better fitted for an ambush than
for a camp : accordingly he sent thither, for
the purpose, a strong detachment of^Numidians,
whom he concealed in the middle of a thicket :
not one of whom stirred from his post in the
day, lest either their arms or themselves might
be observed from a distance. There ran a
general murmur through the Roman camp,
that this hill ought to be seized, and secured
by a fort, lest, if Hannibal should get possession
of it, they should have the enemy, as it were,
over their heads. The observation struck
Mareellus, and lie said to his colleague, " Why
not go ourselves with a few horsemen, and take

a view of the place ? After examining the mat.
NT with our own eyes, we shall be able to judge
\Mili more certainty." Crispinus assenting,
they proceeded to the spot, attended by two
hundred and twenty horsemen, of whom forty
were Fregellans, the rest Etrurians : they
were accompanied by two military tribunes,
Marcus Marcellus, the consul's son, and Aulus
Manlius, and by two prefects of the allies,
Lucius A mini us and Marcus Aulius. Some
writers have recorded, that the consul Marcel-
lus offered sacrifice on that day, and that, on
the first victim being slain, the liver was found
without its head ; in the second, all the usual
parts appeared, but there was a swelling ob-
served on the bead of the liver ; the aruspex
also observing, that, in the second case, the
entrails, being imperfect and foul, afforded no
very happy presages.

XXVII. But the consul Marcellus was
possessed with such a passionate desire fora trial
of strength with Hannibal, that he never
thought his own camp close enough to his ;
and on this occasion, as he was passing the
rampart, he left directions that every soldier
should be ready in his place, in order that, if
the hill which they were going to examine,
should be approved of, the whole might strike
their tents, and follow them thither. In front
of the camp was a small plain, and the road,
leading thence to the hill, was open on all sides,
and exposed to view. A watchman whom the
Numidians had posted, not in expectation of
an opportunity so important as this, but with
the hope of cutting off any party that might
straggle too far in search of wood or forage,
gave them the signal to rise at once from their
concealments. Those who were to come forth
from the summit and meet the enemy in front
did not show themselves, until the others, who
were to inclose them on the rear, had got
round. Then all sprung forward from every
side, and, raising a shout, made a furious onset.
Though the consuls were so situated in
the valley that they could neither force their
way up the hill, which was occupied by the
enemy, nor, surrounded as they were, effect a
retreat, the dispute might nevertheless have
been protracted for a longer time, had not the
Etrurians begun to fly, and thereby filled the
rest with dismay. However, the Fregellans,
though abandoned by the Etrurians, did not
give up the contest, as long as the consuls re-
mained unhurt ; who, by their exhortations,

608

THE HISTORY

[BOOK xxvn.

and their own personal exertions, supported
the spirit of the fight; but, afterwards, see-
ing both the consuls wounded, and Marcellus
pierced through with a lance, and falling life-
less from his horse, then the few betook
themselves to flight, carrying with them
Crispinus, who had received two wounds from
javelins, and young Marcellus, who was also
hurt. One of the military tribunes, Aulus
Manlius, was slain ; of the two prefects of the
allies, Marcus Aulius was killed, and Lucius
Arennius taken : of the lictors of the consuls
five fell alive into the enemy's hands ; of the
rest, some were slain, the others fled with the
consul. Forty-three horsemen fell in the
fight and pursuit, and eighteen were made pri-
soners. The troops in camp had taken the
alarm, and were going to succour the consuls
when they saw one consul, and the other con-
sul's son, both wounded, and the small remains
of the unfortunate party on their return. The
death of Marcellus, unhappy in other respects,
was no less so in this, that by conduct, ill-
becoming either his age (for he was now above
sixty years old), or the prudence of a veteran
commander, he had so improvidently precipi-
tated himself, his colleague, and, in some mea-
sure, the whole commonwealth into such des-
perate hazard. I should engage in too many
and too long discussions on a single event, if I
were to recite all the various relations given by
different writers of the death of Marcellus. To
omit other authors, Lucius Cselius presents us
with three different narratives of that occur-
rence ; one received by tradition : another writ-
ten, and contained in the funeral panegyric,
delivered by his son, who was present in the
action ; and a third, which he produces as the
real state of the fact, discovered by his own
inquiries. But how much soever reports vary,
most of them, notwithstanding, concur in
stating, that he went out of his camp to view
the ground, and all, that he was slain in an
ambuscade.

XXVIII. Hannibal, supposing that the en-
emy must be greatly dismayed by the death o
one of their consuls, and the wounds of the
other, and wishing not to lose any advantage
which a juncture so favourable might afford, re-
moved his camp immediately to the hill on
which the battle had been fought. Here h
found the body of Marcellus, and interred it
Crispinus, disheartened by his calleague'
death and his own wounds, decamped in

he silence of the following night, and on th«
earest mountains that he could reach, pitched
is camp in an elevated spot, secure on all
ides. On this occasion, the two commanders
displayed great sagacity in their proceedings,

le one endeavoured to effect, the other to
£uard against deception. Hannibal had, with
Vlarcellus's body, gotten possesion of his ring,
ind Crispinus, fearing lest mistakes occasion-
•& by means of this signet might give room to
:he Carthaginian for practising some of his
iviles, sent expresses round to all the neigh-
>ouring states to inform them, that his col-
eague had been slain, that the enemy was in
>ossession of his ring, and that they should,
therefore, give no credit to any letters written

the name of Marcellus." This message
"rom the consul had but just arrived at Salapia,
when a letter was brought thither from Hanni -
jal, written in the name of Marcellus, intimat-
ng, that " he would come to Salapia on the
night which was to follow that day; and di-
recting that the soldiers of the garrison should
be ready in case he should have occasion to
employ them." The Salapians were aware of
the fraud ; and judging that Hannibal, whom
they had incensed, not only by their defection
from his party, but by killing his horsemen,
was seeking an opportunity for revenge, sent
back his messenger, who was a Roman de-
serter, in order that the soldiers might act, as
should be thought proper, without being
watched by him ; they then placed parties of
the townsmen on guard along the walls, and in
the convenient parts of the city, forming the
guard's and watches for that night with more
than ordinary care. On each side of the gate
through which they expected the enemy to
come they placed the main strength of the gar-
rison. About the fourth watch Hannibal ap-
proached the city : his van-guard was composed
of Roman deserters, armed also in the Roman
fashion. These, when they came to the gate,
as they all spoke the Latine language, called
up the watchmen, and ordered them to open
the gate, for the consul was at hand. The
watchmen, as if awaked by their call, were
all in a hurry and bustle, striving to open the
gate which had been shut by letting down the
portcullis ; some raised this with levers, others
pulled it with ropes to such a height, that
men might come in without stooping. Scarce-
ly was the passage sufficiently opened, when
the deserters rushed in eagerly through the gate;

Y. H. 544.]

OF ROME.

(•09

and, when iilxnit six liiiinlivl had filtered, tin-
rope by which it was kept suspended, be-
ing loosened, the portcullis fell down with a
great noise. Part of the Salapians now attack-
ed the deserters, who, as if among friends,
carried their arms carelessly on their shoulders,
as on a march ; while the rest, from the tower
adjoining the gate and from the walls, beat off
the enemy with stones, and pikes, and jave-
lins. Thus Hanuibul, ensnared by an artifice
worthy of himself, was obliged to retire, and
went thence to raise the siege of Locri,
which Cincius was pushing forward with
the utmost vigour, having constructed va-
rious works, and being supplied with en-
gines of every kind from Sicily. Mago, who
almost despaired of being able to hold out and
maintain the defence of the city, received the
first gleam of returning hope from the news of
Marcellus's death. This was soon followed
by an express, acquainting him that Hannibal,
having sent forward the Numidian cavalry, was
hastening after, at the bead of the main body
of infantry, with all the speed he could make.
As soon, therefore, as be understood, by signals
made from the watch-towers, that the Numi-
dianswere drawing nigh, he with his own forces,
suddenly throwing open a gate, rushed out fu-
riously on the besiegers. The suddenness of
his attack, rather than inequality of strength, at
first made the dispute doubtful ; but afterwards,
when the Numidians came up, the Romans
v.-ere struck with such dismay, that they fled in'
confusion towards the sea and their ships, leav-
ing behind their works and machines which
they used in battering the walls. In this man-
ner did the approach of Hannibal raise the siege
of Locri.

XXIX. When Crispinus learned that Han-
nibal had gone into Bruttium, he ordered Mar-
cus Marcellus, military tribune, to lead away to
Venusia the army which had been under the
command of his colleague ; and he himself,
with his own legions, set out for Capua, being
scarcely able to endure the motion of a litter,
his wounds were so very painful. But he first
despatched a letter to Rome, with an account
of Marcellus's death, and of his own dangerous
situation. " It was not in his power," he said,
"to go to Rome to attend the elections, because
he was sure he should not be able to bear the
fatigue of the journey ; and besides, that he
was uneasy about Tarentum, lest Hannibal
might march thither from Bruttium. It was

I.

therefore necessary that some persons should
be commissioned to come to him in his quartern,
men of prudence, to whom he could with free-
dom speak his thoughts on the present state of
affairs." The reading of this letter caused
great sorrow for the death of one consul, and
apprehensions for the safety of the other. The
senate, therefore, sent Quintus Fabius the
younger, to Venusia, to take the command of
the army there ; and deputed three persons to
wait on the consul, Sextus Julius Caesar, Lu-
cius Licinius Pollio, and Lucius Cincius Ali-
mcntus, who had a few days before come home
from Sicily. These were ordered to deliver •
message to the consul, that if he could not
come himself to Rome, to hold the elections, be
would, within the Roman territories, nominate
a dictator for that purpose ; and directions were
given, that in case the consul should have gone
to Tarentum, then Quintus Claudius, the pnr-
tor, should lead the army from its present quar-
ters into that part of the country where he
could afford protection to the greatest number
of the cities of the allies. In the course of
this summer Marcus Valerius passed from
Sicily to Africa with a fleet of one hundred
sail, and making a descent near the city of Clu-
pea, ravaged the country to a great extent,
meeting scarcely any one in arms. After
which, the troops employed in these depreda-
tions made a hasty retreat to their ships, in con-
sequence of a sudden report that the Carthagin-
ian fleet was approaching. This fleet consisted
of eighty-three ships, with which the Roman
commander came to an engagement not far
from Clupea, and gained a complete victory.
After taking eighteen ships, and dispersing the
rest, be returned to Lilybseum with abundance
of booty acquired both on land and sea.

XXX. Philip, during this summer, brought
assistance to the Acha-ans, in compliance with
their earnest entreaties; for, on one side,
Machanidas, tyrant of the Lacedaemonians,
harassed them continually by irruptions from
his territories, which lay contiguous to theirs
and on another, the ^Ktolians, transporting an
army, in ships, through the strait which runs
between Naupactus and Patne, called by the
neighbouring inhabitants Rhios, had spread
devastations through the country. A report
also prevailed, that At talus, king of Asia, in-
tended to come over into Europe, because the
JEtoli&ns, in their last general council, had con.
stituted him chief magistrate of their state.
4 H

610

THE HISTORY

[BOOK .xxvii.

While Philip was, for all these reasons, march-
ing down into Greece, he was met at the city
of Lamia by the ^Etolians, under the command
of Pyrrhias, who had been created praetor for
that year, conjointly with Attalus, on account
of the latter's absence. Besides their own
forces, they had a body of auxiliaries sent
by Attalus, and about one thousand men
from the Roman fleet of Publius Sulpicius.
Against this commander, and these forces,
Philip fought twice with success ; and, in each
battle, slewat least one thousand. The ^Etolians
being so greatly dismayed, as to keep them-
selves close under the walls of Lamia, Philip
led back his army to Phalara. This place,
being situated on the Malian bay, was formerly
thickly inhabited, on account of its excellent har-
bour, the safe anchorage on either side, with
other commodious circumstances, to which both
the sea and the land contributed. Hither
came ambassadors from Ptolemy, king of
Egypt, the Rhodians, Athenians, and Chians,
with intent to compose the differences between
Philip and the JStolians. The ^Etolians also
invited a mediator from among their neighbours,
Amynander, king of Athamania. But the
concern of aU was engaged, not so much by
their regard for the ^tolians, who were re-
markable for an arrogance unbecoming a
Grecian state, as by their wishes to prevent
Philip from interfering in any of the affairs of
Greece ; an interference which would be high-
ly dangerous to the general liberty. The de-
liberations concerning a pacification were
adjourned to the meeting of the council of the
Achaeans, and a certain time and place were
fixed for that assembly. In the meantime a
truce for thirty days was obtained. The king,
proceeding thence tnrough Thessalyand Bceotia,
came to Chalcis in Eubcea, with design to ex-
clude Attalus from the harbours and coasts, for
intelligence had been received that he intended
to come to Euboea with a fleet. Afterwards,
leaving there a body of troops, to oppose At-
talus, in case he should happen to arrive in the
meantime ; and setting out himself with a few
horsemen and light infantry, he came to Argos.
Here the superintendence of the games of
Haerean Juno and Nemaean Hercules being
conferred on him by the suffrages of the peo-
ple, because the kings of the Macedonians af-
fect to derive the origin of their family from
that city, he performed those in honour
of Juno } and, as soon as they were finished,

went off instantly to ^Egium, to the council
summoned some time before. In this assem-
bly several schemes were proposed for put-
ting an end to the jEtolian war, that neither
the Romans nor Attalus might have any pre-
tence for entering Greece. But every measure
of the kind was defeated at once by the
yKtol ians, when the time of the truce had
scarcely expired, on their hearing that Attalus
was arrived at ./Egina, and that the Roman fleet
lay at Naupactus. For being called into the
council of the Achaeans, where were likewise
present the same ambassadors who had treat-
ed of a pacification at Phalara, they at first
complained of some trifling acts committed
during the truce, contrary to the faith of the
convention, at last declaring that the war could
not be terminated on any other terms than by
the Achaeans giving back Pylus to the Messe-
nians, Atintania to the Romans, and Ardyaea
to Scerdilaedus and Pleuratus. Philip, con-
ceiving the utmost indignation at the vanquish-
ed party presuming to prescribe terms to their
conqueror, said, that " in listening before to
proposals of peace, pr in agreeing to a truce, he
had not been led by any expectation that the
JEtolians would remain quiet, but by his wish
to have all the confederates witnesses that the
object of his pursuits was peace : of theirs,
war. Thus, without any thing being effected
towards an accommodation, he dismissed the
assembly, left five thousand soldiers to protect
the Achseans, receiving from them five ships of
war, with which, added to a fleet lately sent to
him from Carthage, and some vessels then on
their way from Bithynia, sent "by king Prusias,
he had resolved, if he could effect the junction,
to try his strength in a naval engagement
with the Romans, who had long been mas-
ters of the sea in that part of the world.
After dissolving the council he went back to
Argos, because the time of the Nemaean
games was approaching, and he wished to give
them, by his presence, an additional degree of
splendour.

XXXI. While the king was employed in
the celebration of the games, and, during that
season of festivity, indulging his mind in re-
laxation from military operations, Publius Sul-
picius setting sail from Naupactus, arrived on
the coast between Sicyon and Corinth, making
violent depredations on that fine and fertile
country. The news of this event called away
Philip from the exhibition. He marched off

v. R. 544.]

OF ROME.

611

with rapidity at the head of his cavalry, leaving
orders for the infantry to follow ; and, while
the Romans were straggling at random, and
heavily laden with booty, not apprehending any
danger of the kind, he attacked and drove them
to their ships. Thus the Roman fleet returned
to Nuupactus with little cause of triuiiiph for
the booty which they had taken. On the
other side, Philip, by the fame of a victory,
whatever might be its real importance, gain-
ed however over Romans, added greatly to
the lustre of the remaining part of the games ;
and the festival was celebrated with ex-
traordinary rejoicings, to which he contributed
also by his popular behaviour : for, laying
aside his diadem, purple robe, and other royal
apparel, he set himself, with respect to appear-
ance, on a level with the rest ; than which
nothing can be more grateful to the peo-
ple of free states. This conduct would have
afforded very strong hopes of general liberty,
had he not debased and dishonoured all by in-
tolerable debauchery : for, night and day, with
one or two attendants, he ranged through the
houses of married people. He had lowered
his dignity to the common level, consequently
the less conspicuous he appeared, the less re-
straint he was under , and thus the liberty of
which he had given others an empty prospect, he
stretched to the utmost in the gratification of
his own libidinous desires. Money and seduc-
tive discourses were not always sufficient for his
purpo&es ; he even employed violence in aid of'
them, and dangerous was it for husbands and
parents to show inflexible strictness in obstruct-
ing the lustful passions of the king. He took
from Aratus (a man of distinction among the
Achacans) his wife, named Polycratia, and de-
luding her with the hope of being married to a
sovereign prince, carried her into Macedonia.
After spending the time of the celebration
of the games, and several days after they
were finished, in this scandalous manner, he
marched to Dymse, with design to dislodge a
garrison of the yKtolians, who bad been in-
.vited by the K leans, and received into that
city. At Dymae he was joined by the Achteans,
•under Cycliades their chief magistrate, who
were inflamed with hatred against the Eleans,
because they refused to unite with the other
states of Achaia, and highly incensed against
the JStolians, whom they believed to be the
authors of the war carried on against them
by the Romans. Leaving Dvmse, and uniting

their forces, they passed the river Lariani*,
which separates the territory of Elis from that
of I >y in r.

XXXII. The first day on which they en-
tered the enemy's borders, they spent in plun-
dering. On the next, they advanced to the city
in order of battle, having sent forward the ca-
valry, to ride up to the gates, and provoke the
yKtolians, who were ever well inclined to em.
brace an opportunity of sallying out from their
works. They did not know that Sulpicius with
fifteen ships, had come over from Naupactus
to Cyllene, and landing four thousand soldiers,
had, in the dead of night, lest his march should
be observed, thrown himself into Elis. When
therefore they perceived, among the ^tolians
and Eleans, the Roman standards and arms, an
appearance so unexpected filled them with the
greatest terror. At first, the king had a mind
to order a retreat, but the yKtolians being al-
ready engaged with the Trallians, a tribe of
Illyrians so called, and his party appearing to
have the worst of the contest, he himself, at
the head of his cavalry, made a charge on a
Roman cohort. Here the horse of Philip,
being pierced through with a spear, threw him
forward, over his head, to the ground, which
gave rise to a furious conflict between the con-
tending parties ; the Romans pressing hard on
the king, and his own men protecting him.
His own behaviour on the occasion was re-
markably brave, although be was obliged to fight
on foot, among squadrons of cavalry. In a
short time, the dispute becoming unequal, great
numbers being killed and wounded near him,
he was forced away by his soldiers, and, mount-
ing another horse, fled from the field. He
pitched his camp that day at the distance of
five miles from the city of Elis ; and, on the
next, led all his forces to a fort called Pyrgus,
where, as he had heard, a multitude of the
country people with their cattle, had run to-
gether through fear of being plundered. Thi§
irregular and unarmed crowd were so utterly
dismayed at his approach, that he at once made
himself master of the whole, and by this seizure
gained compensation for whatever disgrace he
had sustained at Elis. While he was distribut-
ing the spoil and prisoners, the latter amounting
to four thousand men, and the cattle of all kinds
to twenty thousand, news arrived from Mace-
donia, that a person called Eropus, had, by
bribing the commander of the garrison and ci-
tadel, gained possession of Lychnidus ; ibat he

612

THE HISTORY

[BOOK xxvn.

had also got into his hands some towns of the
Dassaretians, and was, besides, endeavouring to
persuade the Dardanians to take arms. In
consequence of this intelligence, dropping the
prosecution of the war between the Achaeans
and JEtolians, but leaving, however, two thou-
sand five hundred soldiers, of one sort or other,
under the command of Menippus and Poly-
phantas, to assist his allies, he marched away
from Dymae, through Achaia, Bffiotia, and
Eubcea, and on the tenth day arrived at De-
metrias in Thessaly. Here he was met by
other couriers, with accounts of still more dan-
gerous commotions ; that the Dardanians, pour-
ing into Macedonia, had already seized on
Orestis, and marched down into the plain of
Argestse, and that a report prevailed among the
barbarians, that Philip had been slain. This
rumour was occasioned by the following cir-
cumstance. In his expedition against the
plundering parties near Sicyon, being carried by
the impetuosity of his horse against a tree, a
projecting branch broke off one of the side or-
naments of his helmet, which being found by
an JBtolian, and carried into ./Etolia to Scer-
dilaedus, who knew it to be the cognizance of
the king, it was supposed that he was killed.
After Philip's departure from Achaia, Sulpicius,
sailing to ^Egina, joined his fleet to that of
Attalus. The Achseans gained the victory in
a battle with the .ZEtolians and Eleans, fought
near Messene. King Attalus and Publius
Sulpicius wintered at 2Egina.

XXXIII. Towards the close of this year,
the consul Titus Quintius Crispinus, after
having nominated Titus Manlius Torquatus
dictator, to preside at the elections, and so-
lemnize the games, died of his wounds, accord-
ing to some writers, at Tarentum ; according to
Others, in Campania. Thus was there a con-
currence of events, such as had never been ex-
perienced in any former war, while the two
consuls being slain, without having fought any
memorable battle, left the commonwealth, as it
were, fatherless. The dictator Manlius ap-
pointed Caius Servilius, then curule aedile, his
master of the horse. The senate, on the firs:
day of its meeting, ordered the dictator to cele
brate the great games, which Marcus ^Emilius
city praetor, had exhibited in the consulate o
Caius Flaminius and Cneius Servilius, and had
vowed to be repeated at the end of five years.
Accordingly, he not only performed them now,
but vowed them for the next lustrum. But as

he two consular armies, without commanders
,vere so near the enemy, both the senate and
eople, laying aside all other concerns, made it
heir chief and only care to have consuls elected
as soon as possible, and especially that they
ihould be men whose courage was so tempered
>y prudence as to guard them sufficiently against
Carthaginian wiles : for it was considered, that,
as through the whole course of the present war,
the too warm and precipitate tempers of their
generals had been productive of great losses, so,
n that very year, the consuls, through excessive
eagerness to engage the enemy, had fallen un-
guardedly into their snares ; that the gods,
lowever, compassionating the Roman nation,
iiad spared the troops, who were guiltless of
the fault, and had decreed that the penalty in-
urred by the rashness of the commanders
should fall on their own heads. When the
senate looked round for proper persons to be
appointed to the consulship, Caius Claudius
Nero at once met their view as eminently quali-
fied beyond all others. They then sought a
colleague for him. They well knew him to be
a man of extraordinary abilities, but, at the same
time, of a temper more sanguine and enterpris-
ing than was expedient in the present exigencies
of the war, or against such an opponent as
Hannibal ; and, therefore, they thought it ne-
cessary to qualify his disposition by joining with
him a man of moderation and prudence.

XXXIV. Many years before this, Marcus
Livius, on the expiration of his consulship, had
been judged guilty of misconduct by a sentence
of the people ; and he was so deeply affected
by this disgrace, that he retired into the coun-
try, and, for a long time, avoided not only the
city, but all intercourse with mankind. About
eight years afterwards, Marcus Claudius Mar-
cellus, and Marcus Valerius Laevinus, then
consuls, brought him back into Rome ; but still
he appeared in a squalid dress, and suffered
his hair and beard to grow, displaying in his
countenance and garb a more than , ordinary
sensibility of the censure passed on him. When
Lucius Veturius and Publius Licinius were
censors, they compelled him to be shaved, to
lay aside his sordid apparel, to attend the meet-
ings of the senate, and perform other public
duties. But, after all this, he used to give his
vote either by a single word, or by going to the
side of the house which he approved, until t
trial came on in the cause of Marcus Livius
Macatus, a man to whom he was related, and

Y. R. 544.]

OF ROME.

613

whose character was at stoke ; and this obliged
him to deliver his sentiments at large in the
senate. The speech which he made, after so
long an interval of silence, dresv on him all eyes,
and became the subject of much conversation :
it was asserted, that " the people had treated him
with great injustice, and that the consequences
of this undeserved ill-treatment had been high-
ly injurious to that very people ; as, during a
war of such importance and danger, the state
had been deprived both of the services and
counsels of so great a man. With Caius
Nero, neither Quintus Fabius, nor Marcus Va-
lerius Laevinus could be joined in office ; be-
cause the law did not allow the election of two
patricians. The same objection lay against
Titus Manlius, besides that he had before re-
fused the offer of the consulship, and would
again refuse it. But if the election of Marcus
Livius, in conjunction with Caius Nero, could
be effected, then they would have such consuls
as could scarcely be equalled." Nor were the
commons disinclined to the proposal, although
it took its rise from the patricians. One only
person in the state, the person to whom the
honour was offered, objected to the measure ;
charging the people with levity and inconstancy,
he said, that " when he appeared before them
in the situation of a defendant, in a mourning
habit, they refused him their compassion ; yet
now they forced upon him the white gown
against his will, heaping punishments and ho-
nours on the same object. If they deemed him*
an honest man, why had they condemned him
as wicked and guilty ? If they had discovered
proofs of his guilt, after seeing such reason to
repent of having trusted him with the consul-
ship once, why intrust him with it a second
time ?" While he uttered these, and such like
reproaches and complaints, he was checked by
the senators, who bade him recollect, that
" Camillus, though exiled by his country, yet
returned at its call, and re-established it, when
shaken from the very foundations ; that it was
the duty of a man to mollify by patience, and to
bear with resignation, the severity of his coun-
try, like that of a parent." By the united exer .
tions of all, Marcus Livius was elected consul
with Caius Claudius Nero.

XXXV. Three days after, the election of
praetors was held, and there were chosen into
that office, Lucius Porcius Licinus, Caius Ma-
niilius Aulus, and Caius Hostilius Cato. As
Eoon as the elections were concluded, and the

games celebrated, the dictator and master of the
horse resigned their offices. Caius Tereiilius
Varro was sent, as propraetor, into Etruria, in
order that Caius Hostilius might go from that
province of Tarentum, to take the command
of the army which had acted under the late
consul, Titus Quintius ; and that Titus Mun-
lius might go beyond sea, in the character
of ambassador, to observe what business was
going on abroad ;" and also, as during that sum-
mer, the Olympic games were to be exhi-
bited, which were also attended by the greatest
concourse of the people of Greece, that he
might go to that assembly, if not prevented
by the enemy, and inform any Sicilians whom
he should find driven there, and any citizens
of Tarentum, banished by Hannibal, that they
might return to their homes, and might be
assured that the Roman people meant to restore
to them the whole of the property which they
possessed before the war began. As the ap-
proaching year seemed to threaten the greatest
dangers, and there were, as yet, no magistrates
for the administration of pubb'c affairs, all men
directed their attention to the consuls elect, and
wished them, as speedily as possible, to cast
lots for their provinces, that each of them might
know beforehand what province and what anta-
gonist he was to have. Measures were also
taken in the senate, on a motion made by
Quintus Fabius Maximus, to reconcile them to
each other ; for there subsisted between them
an avowed emnity, which, on the side of Livius,
was the more inveterate, as, during his misfor-
tunes, he had felt himself treated with contempt
by the other. He was therefore the more
obstinately implacable, and insisted, that " there
was no need of any reconciliation : for they
would conduct all business with the greater
diligence and activity, while each should be
afraid, lest a colleague, who was his enemy,
might find means of exalting his own character
at the other's expense." Nevertheless, tho in-
fluence of the senate prevailed on them to lay
aside their animosity, and to act with harmony
and unanimity in the administration of the
government. The provinces allotted to them
were not, as in former years, a joint command
in the same districts, but quite separate, in the
remotest extremities of Italy : to one, Bruttium
and Lucania, where he was to act against Han-
nibal ; to the other, Gaul, where he was to
oppose Hasdrubal, who was now said to be
approaching to the Alps. It was ordered that

614

THE HISTORY

(JJOOK xxvn.

the consul to whose lot Gaul fell, should of the
two armies, (one of which was in Gaul, and the
other in Etruria,) choose whichever he thought
proper, and join to it the city legions ; and that
he to whom the province of Bruttium fell,
should, after enlisting new legions for the city,
take his choice of the armies commanded by
the consuls of the preceding year;' and that
the army left by the consul should be given to
Quintus Fulvius, proconsul, and that he should
continue in command for the year. To Caius
Hostilius, to whom they had assigned the pro-
vince of Tarentum, in exchange for Etruria,
they now gave Capua instead. One legion
Was ordered for him, — that which Fulvius had
commanded the year before.

XXXVI. The public anxiety respecting
Hasdrubal's march into Italy increased daily.
At first, envoys from the Massilians brought
information, that he had passed into Gaul, and
that the inhabitants of that country were in
high spirits on the occasion ; because it was
reported that he had brought a vast quantity of
gold for the purpose of hiring auxiliaries. In
company with these envoys, on their return,
were sent from Rome, Sextus Antistius and
Marcus Retius, to inquire into the matter;
who brought back an account, that they had
sent persons with Massilian guides, who, by
means of some Gallic chieftains, connected in
friendship with the Massilians, might procure
exact intelligence of every particular ; and that
they had discovered with certainty, that Has-
drubal, having already collected a very nume-
rous army, intended to pass the Alps in the
following spring, and that nothing prevented his
doing it immediately, but the passes of those
mountains being shut up by the winter. Pub-
lius ./Elius Paetus was elected and inaugurated
into the office of augur, in the room of Marcus
Marcellus ; and Cneius Cornelius Dolahella
into that of king in religious matters, in the
room of Marcus Marcius, who had died two
years before. In this year, the first time since
Hannibal's coming into Italy, the lustrum was
closed by the censors, Publius Sempronius
Tuditanus and Marcus Cornelius Cethegus.
The number of citizens rated was one hundred
and thirty-seven thousand one hundred and
eight, a number much smaller than it had been
before the war. It is recorded that, in this
same year, the comitium was covered, and the
Roman games once repeated by the curule
a'diles, Quintus Metullus and Caius Servilius ;

and the plebeian games twice, by the plebeian
aediles, Quintus Mamilius and Marcus Caecilius
Metellus. These also erected three statues in
the temple of Ceres, and there was a feast of
Jupiter on occasion of the games. [ Y. R. 545.
B. C. 207.] Then entered on the consulship
Caius Claudius Nero and Marcus Livius, a
second time; and as they had already, when
consuls elect, cast lots for their provinces, they
now ordered the pnetors to do the same. To
Caius Hostilius fell the city jurisdiction, to
which the foreign was added, in order that
three praetors might go abroad to the provinces.
To Aulus Hostilius fell Sardinia; to Caius
Mamilius, Sicily ; and to Lucius Porcius, Gaul.
The whole of the legions, amounting to twenty-
three, were distributed in such manner, that
each of the consuls should have two, Spain
four, the three praetors, in Sicily, Sardinia, and
Gaul, two each ; Caius Terentius, in Etruria,
two ; Quintus Fulvius, in Bruttium, two ;
Quintus Claudius, about Tarentum and Sal-
lentum, two ; Caius Hostilius Tubulus, at
Capua, one ; and two were ordered to be raised
for the city. For the first four legions, the
people elected tribunes ; for the rest, they were
appointed by the consuls.

XXX VII. Before the consuls left home,
the nine days' solemnity was performed, on ac-
count of a shower of stones having fallen from
the sky at Veii. The mention of one prodigy
was, as usual, followed by reports of others ;
that the temple of Jupiter at Minturniae, a
grove at Merica, a wall and a gate of Atella,
had been struck by lightning. The people of
Mintuma said, what was still more terrify-
ing, that a stream of blood had flowed in at one
of their gates : at Capua, too, a wolf came into
one of the gates, and tore the sentinel. These
prodigies were expiated with victims of the
greater kinds ; and a supplication, of one day's
continuance, was ordered by the pontiffs. The
nine days' solemnity was afterwards performed
a second time, on account of a shower of stones
seen to fall during the armilustrum. The
people's minds were no sooner freed from reli-
gious apprehensions, than they were again dis-
turbed by an account, that, at Frusino, an infant
was born of a size equal to that of a child four
years old, and wonderful, not only for its bulk,
but for its sex being doubtful ; as had been, the
case of the one born, two years before, at Si-
nuessa. Aruspices, sent from Etruria, de-
nounced this to be a portent particularly homd,

v. R. 545.]

OF ROME.

CIS

that ought to be exterminated from the Roman
territories, and without being suffered to touch
the earth, drowned in the sea. Accordingly,
they shut it up alive in a chest, and threw it
into the deep. The pontiffs likewise issued a
mandate, that thrice nine virgins should go in
procession through the city, singing a hymn.
While they were employed, in the temple of
Jupiter Stator, learning this hymn, which was
composed by the poet Livius, the temple of
Imperial Juno, on the Aventine, was struck by
lightning. The'aruspices, having delivered their
judgment that this prodigy had respect to the
matrons, and that the goddess ought to be ap-
peased by an offering, the curule todiles, by an
edict, summoned together into the capitol all
those matrons who had houses in the city of
Rome, or within ten miles of it ; and from this
number they chose twenty-five, to whom they
paid in a contribution out of their own effects.
With this money a golden basin was made, and
carried to the Aventine, where the matrons,
with every demonstration of purity and sancti-
ty, immolated to the goddess. Immediately
after, the decemvirs, by proclamation, appoint-
ed a day for another sacrifice to the same divi-
nity, which was conducted in the following
order : — from the temple of Apollo, two white
heifers were led into the city, through the
('arnifiit.il gate ; after them were carried two
cypress images of imperial Juno ; then follow-
ed the twenty-seven virgins clad in long robes,
singing the hymn in honour of that deity. This
hymn might perhaps to the uninformed judg-
ments of those times, appear to have merit,
but, if repeated at present, it would seem bar-
barous and uncouth. The train of virgins was
followed by the decemvirs, crowned with lau-
rel, and dressed in purple-bordered robes.
From the gate they proceeded through the Ju-
garian street into the forum : here the proces-
sion halted, and a cord was given to the vir-
gins, of which they all took hold, and then ad-
vanced, beating time with their feet to the
music of their voices. Thus they proceeded
through the Tuscan street, the Velabrum, the
cattle-market, and up the Publician hill, until
they arrived at the temple of Imperial Juno.
There, two victims were offered in sacrifice by
the decemvirs, and the cypress images were
placed in the temple.

XXXVIII. After due expiations were
offered to the gods, the consuls began to enlist
foldiers ; and this business they enforced with

more strictness and severity than had been for-
merly practised within the memory of any then
living ; for the new enemy, advancing toward*
Italy, made the war doubly formidable. As
the number of young men capable of serving,
was considerably diminished, they resolved to
compel even the maritime colonies to furnish
soldiers, although they were said to enjoy, un-
der a solemn grant, an immunity from sen-ire.
At first, they refused compliance; on which
the consuls published orders, that each state
should, on a certain day, produce before the
senate the title on which it churned such ex-
emption. On the day appointed, the following
states appeared before the senate ; Ostia, Al-
sia, Antium, Anxur, Minturnae, Sinuessa;
| and, from the coast of the upper sea, Sena.
These recited their several claims ; but none
of them were allowed, except those of Antium
and Ostia ; and even in these two colonies the
young men were obliged to swear, that, while
the enemy remained in Italy, they would not
lodge out of the walls of their colonies longer
than thirty days. Although it was the opinion
of all, that the consuls ought to open the cam-
paign as early as possible, as it would be neces-
sary to oppose Hasdrubal immediately on his
descent from the Alps, lest he might seduce the
Cisalpine Gauls and Etruria, which latter al-
ready entertained sanguine hopes of effecting a
revolt ; also, that it would be necessary to give
Hannibal full employ in bis own quarters, lest
he might extricate himself from Bruttium, and
advance to meet his brother : yet Livius delay-
ed, not being satisfied with the forces destined
for his provinces, while his colleague had a
choice of two excellent consular armies, and a
third which Quintus Claudius commanded at
Tarentum ; he therefore introduced a proposal
of recalling the volunteer slaves to the stan-
dards. The senate gave the consuls unlimited
power to fill up their companies with any men
whom they approved ; to choose out of all the
armies such as they liked, and to exchange them,
and remove them from one province to ano-
ther, as they should judge best for the public
service. In the management of all these mat-
ters, the greatest harmonyj prevailed between
the consuls ; and the volunteer slaves were en-
rolled in the nineteenth and twentieth legions.
Some writers say, that on this occasion power-
ful reinforcements were also sent from Spain
I' by Publius Scipio to Marcus Livius ; eight
thousand Spaniards and Gauls, two thousand

616

THE HISTORY

[BOOK xxvir.

legionary soldiers, and a body of cavalry com-
posed of Numidians and Spaniards, in number
one thousand eight hundred ; that Marcus Lu-
cretius brought these forces by sea, and that
Caius Mamilius sent from Sicily four thou-
sand archers and slingers.

XXXIX. The disquietude at Rome was in-
creased by a letter brought out of Gaul from
the praetor Lucius Porcius ; the contents of
which were, that " Hasdrubal had moved out
of winter quarters, and was now on his pas-
sage over the Alps ; that eight thousand of
the Ligurians were embodied and armed,
and would join him as soon as he arrived
in Italy, unless an army were sent into
Liguria to attack them beforehand : as to him-
self, he would advance as far as he should think
it safe with his small force." This letter
obliged the consuls to finish the levies with
haste, and to set out for their respective pro-
vinces earlier than they had intended ; for their
purpose was, that each should keep his anta-
gonist employed in his own province, so as not
to suffer the two to combine their forces into
one body. An opinion, formed by Hannibal,
helped to further their design : for though he
believed that his brother would make good his
way into Italy during the course of that sum-
mer, yet, when he reflected on the difficulties
with which he had himself struggled, first in the
passage of the Rhone, then in that of the Alps,
fighting against men, and against the nature of
the places, for five successive months, he had
not the least expectation that the other would
be able to effect his purpose with so much more
ease and expedition ; and, for this reason, he
was the later in quitting his winter-quarters.
But Hasdrubal found every thing to proceed
more easily and expeditiously than either him-
self or others had even ventured to hope : for
the Arvernians, and afterwards the other Gal-
lic and Alpine tribes, not only gave him a
friendly reception, but even accompanied him
to the war. Then, in most parts of the coun-
try through which he marched, roads had been
made by his brother in places until then im
passable ; besides which, as the Alps had, for
twelve years, been a constant route for divers
people, he found the disposition of the inhabi-
tants much improved. For in former times
being never visited by foreigners, or accustomec
to see a stranger in their country, they were
unsociable towards all the human race. Being
ignorant at first of ihe destination of the Car

haginian, they had imagined that his object
was their rocks and forts, and to make prey of
heir men and cattle : but the accounts which
hey heard of the Punic war, and by which
taly had so long been harassed, by this time
ully convinced them, that the Alps were only
used as a passage, and that two overgrown
tates, separated by vast tracts of sea and land,
were contending for power and empire. These
causes opened the Alps to Hasdrubal. But
whatever advantage he gained from the celerity
of his march, he lost it all by delaying at Pla-
centia, where he carried on a fruitless blockade,
rather than an attack. He had supposed that
the reduction of a town, standing in a plain,
would be easily accomplished ; and being a
colony of great note, he was persuaded that, by
destroying this city, he should fill the rest with
terror. That siege, however, not only impeded
lis own progress, but also stopped Hannibal,
when he was just setting out from his winter-
quarters, in consequence of hearing that his
brother had reached Italy so much more quickly
than he had expected. For he considered not
only how tedious the siege of a city is, but also
how ineffectually he himself, going back victo-
rious from the Trebia, had attempted that same
colony.

XL. The consuls, taking different routes,
when setting out to open the campaign, drew
the anxiety of the public in opposite directions,
as if to two distinct wars at once ; for, besides
their recollection of the heavy calamities which
Hannibal's first coming had brought upon Italy,
people were farther distressed by doubts of the
issue. " What gods," said they to themselves,
" would be so propitious to the city, and to the
empire, as to grant success to their arms in both
quarters at the same time ? Hitherto the busi-
ness had been protracted by a counterpoise of
successes and misfortunes. When in Italy, at
the Thrasimenus and Cannae, the Roman power
had been crushed to the earth, a number of
successful efforts in Spain had raised it up fronr
its fallen state : when afterwards, in Spain, a
succession of defeats, in which two excellent
commanders were lost, had, in a great measure,
ruined the two armies, the many advantages
gained by the Roman arms in Italy and Sicily,
had afforded shelter to the shattered vessel of
the state. Besides, even the distance of place,
one war being then carried on in the remotest
extremity of the world, allowed room to breathe :
but now, two wars had penetrated ir.to the very

Y. n. 545.]

OF ROME.

617

heart of Italy ; two commanders, of the most
distinguished reputation, stood on the opposite
sides of the city of Rome ; and the whole mass
of danger, the entire burthen, pressed upon one
spot. \Vliicheverofthese commanders should
first gain a battle, he would, in a few days after,
join his camp with the other." The preceding
year, also, having been saddened by the deaths
of the two consuls, served to augment the gene-
ral apprehensions. Such were the melancholy
forebodings which perplexed the minds of the
people, as they escorted the commanders on
their departure to their provinces. Historians
have mentioned, that Marcus Livius, when set-
ting out for the campaign, being still full of re-
sentment against his countrymen, and warned by
Quintus Fabius " not to come to a battle hastily,
or before he was well acquainted with the kind
of enemy whom he had to encounter ;" answer-
ed that " the first moment that he should get a
eight of that enemy, he would fight him ;" being
asked the reason of such eagerness, he replied,
" I will acquire either extraordinary glory from
the defeat of the foe, or joy from that of my
countrymen ; and though the latter might not
perhaps redound to my honour, yet it is cer-
tainly what they have deserved at my hands."
Before the consul Claudius arrived in his pro-
vince, as Hannibal was leading his army to-
wards Sallentum, through the very borders of
the Larinatian frontiers, Caius Hostilius
Tubulus, with some lightly accoutred cohorts,
attacked him, and caused dreadful confusion
among his unmarshalled troops, killing four
thousand men, and taking nine military stan-
dards. Quintus Claudius, who had his forces
cantoned through the towns in the territory of
Salentum, on being apprised of the enemy's
motions, marched out of his winter-quarters :
wherefore, Hannibal, lest he should be obliged
to encounter the two armies at once, decamped
in the night, and withdrew from the Tarentine
territory into Bruttium. Claudius fell back to
the country adjoining Salentum. Hostilius,
on his march towards Capua, met the consul
Claudius at Venusia ; and here were selected,
out of both armies, forty thousand foot, and
two thousand five hundred horse, with which
the consul was to act against Hannibal. The
rest of the forces, Hostilius was ordered to
ead to Capua, that he might deliver them up to
Quintus Fulvius, proconsul.

XLI. Hannibal, having drawn together his
forces from all quarters, both those which he

L

had hitherto kept in winter quarters, and thone
which were in garrison in the Bruttian terri-
tory, came into Lucania, to Grumentum, in
hope of regaining the towns, which, through
fear, had joined the Romans. To the same
place came the Roman consul, from Venusia,
carefully examining the roads as he went, and
pitched bis camp at the distance of about fifteen
hundred paces from the enemy. From hence
the rampart of the Carthaginians seemed to be
almost close to the wall of Grumentum ; the
actual distance, however, was five hundred
paces. Between the Carthaginian and Roman
camps the ground was level ; and on the left
hand side of the Carthaginians, and right of the
Romans, stood some naked hills, from which
neither party apprehended any mischief because
there were no woods, nor any covering for an
ambuscade. Parties sallying from the advanced
posts, fought several skirmishes of little conse-
quence. It appeared plainly that the Roman
general had no other object in view than to hin-
der the enemy from quitting the place ; while
Hannibal, wishing to get away, frequently drew
out his whole strength, and offered battle. On
this occasion, the consul adopted the crafty
genius of his adversary ; and, as there could be
little apprehension of a surprise, the hills being
open, and having been examined by bis scouts,
he ordered five cohorts, with five additional
companies, to pass over their summit in the
night, and conceal themselves in the valleys en
the other side. The time when they were to
rise from their ambush he settled with Tiberius
Claudius Asellus, military tribune, and Publius
Claudius, praefect of the allies, whom he sent
at their head. He himself, at the dawn of day,
drew out all his forces, both foot and horse,
into the field. In a short time after, Hannibal
also, on his side, displayed the signal for battle,
and a great noise ensued in his camp, while the
men ran hastily to arms. Then all, both horse
and foot, rushed eagerly out of the gates, and
scattering themselves over the plain, advanced
hastily to attack the enemy. The consul,
observing them in this disorder, commanded
Caius Aururiculeius, tribune of the third legion,
to make his cavalry charge them with all pos-
sible fury, remarking, that " they bad spread
themselves like cattle over the plain, and in such
confusion that, before they could be formed,
they might be rode down, and trodden under
foot."

XLIL Hannibal had not yet come out of
4 I

618

THE HISTORY

[BOOK xxvu.

his camp, when he heard the shouts of the
troops engaged : alarmed at this, he led his
forces with all speed towards the enemy. The
charge of the Roman cavalry had already dis-
tressed his van, and, of their infantry, the first
legion and the right wing were coming into
action, while the Carthaginians, without any
regular order, began the fight just as chance
threw each in the way of either horseman or
footman. The combatants, on both sides,
were sustained by reinforcements ; and Han-
nibal, in the midst of the terror and tumult,
would have formed his line while fighting, which
is no easy matter, unless to a veteran command-
er, and in the case of veteran troops, but that
the shout of the cohorts and companies, run-
ning down from the hills, and which was heard
on their rear, struck them with the fear of being
cut off from their camp : and had it not been
near, (seized as they were with a panic, and
flying in every part,) very great numbers would
have been skin : for the cavalry stuck close to
their rear, and the cohorts, running down the
declivity of the hills, over clear and level ground,
assailed them in flank. However, upwards of
eight thousand men were killed, more than
seven hundred men made prisoners, and nine
military standards were taken. Even of the
elephants, which in such a sudden and irregular
action had been of no use, four were killed, and
two taken. Of the Romans, and their allies,
there fell about five hundred. Next day the
Carthaginian kept himself quiet. The Roman
brought his army into the field, and when he
saw that none came out to meet him, he or-
dered the spoils of the slain to be collected,
and the bodies of his own men to be brought
together and buried. After this for several
successive days, he pushed up so close to the
enemy's gates, that he seemed to intend an
assault; but, at length, Hannibal decamped,
at the third watch of the night, and made to-
wards Apulia, leaving a great number of fires
and tents on the side of the camp which faced
the enemy, and a few Numidians, who were to
show themselves on the ramparts and at the
gates. As soon as day appeared, the Roman
army came up to the trenches, the Numidians,
as directed, showing themselves for some time
on the ramparts ; having imposed on the enemy
as long as possible, they rode off at full speed,
until they ^overtook the body of their army.
The consul, perceiving the camp perfectly si-
lent, and no longer seeing any where even the

small number who had paraded in view, at the
dawn of day despatched two horsemen to ex.
amine the state of the works; and when he
learned, with certainty, that all was safe, he
ordered his army to march in. Here he de-
layed no longer than while his men collected
the plunder; then, sounding a retreat, long
before night, he brought back his forces into
their tents. Next day, at the first light, he set
out, and following by long marches the tracks
of the Carthaginians by such intelligence as he
could procure, overtook them not far from
Venusia. Here likewise an irregular kind of
battle was fought, in which above two thousand
of the fugitives fell. From thence, Hannibal,
marching in the night, and taking his way
through mountains, that he might not be forced
to an engagement, proceeded towards Meta-
pontum : from which place Hanno, who com-
manded the garrison of the town, was sent,
with a small party into Bruttium, to raise fresh
forces ; " while Hannibal, with the addition of
the garrison to his own troops, went back to
Venusia by the same roads through which he
had come, and thence to Canusium. Nero had
never quitted the enemy's steps, and when he
was going himself to Metapontum, had sent
orders to Quintus Fulvius to come into Lu-
cania, lest that country should be left without
defence.

XLIII. In the meantime, Hasdrubal, having
raised the siege of Placentia, sent four Gallic
horsemen, and two Numidians, with a letter for
Hannibal; these, after traversing almost the
whole length of Italy, through the midst of
enemies, in order to follow him on his retreat
to Metapontum, mistook the road, and went
towards Tarentum, where they were seized by
some Roman foragers, roving through the
country, and conducted to the propraetor, Quin-
tus Claudius. At first, they eluded his in-
quiries by evasive answers; but, on being
threatened with torture, fear compelled them
to own the truth, and they confessed /that they
were charged with a letter to Hannibal. With
this letter, sealed as it was, the prisoners were
were given in charge to Lucius Virginius,
military tribune, to be conducted to the consul,
Claudius, and two troops of Samnite horse
were sent to escort them. Claudius caused the
letter to be read to him by an interpreter, and
having examined the prisoners, he concluded
that the present conjuncture of affairs was not
of such a nature as to require that the consuls

Y. H. 545. j

OF ROME.

019

should carry on the war according to regular
plans, each \viiliin the limits of his own pro-
vince, by means of his own troops, and against
an antagonist pointed out by the senate ; but
that some extraordinary and daring stroke
should be struck, such as could not be foreseen
or thought of, which at its commencement,
might cause no less dread among their country-
men than among the enemy ; but, when accom-
plished, would convert their great fears into as
great exultation. Wherefore, sending Hasdru-
bal's letter to Rome, to the senate, he at the
rame time acquainted the conscript fathers
with his intentions, advising that, a» Husdnibal
had written to his brother that he would meet
him in Umbria, they should immediately call
home the legion then at Capua, raise new levies,
and post the city army at Narnia, to intercept
the enemy. Such were the contents of his letter
to the senate : for himself, he sent on messen-
gers, through the districts of Lamm, Mamicia,
Frentana, and Pnetutia, along the road which
he intended to take with his army; giving
directions, that all the inhabitants should bring
down from their towns and farms, victuals ready-
dressed for the soldiers, and that they should
furnish horses and other beasts of burthen, so
that the weary might be accommodated with
easy transports. He then selected from the
Romans and allies the flower of their armies,
consisting of six thousand foot and one thou-
sand horse ; and giving out that he meant to
seize on the nearest town in Lucania and the
Carthaginian garrison therein, he ordered them
all to be ready for a remove. Having set out
in the night, he turned off towards Picenum,
and, making the longest possible marches, pro-
ceeded directly towards his colleague, having
left the command of the camp to Quintus Ca-
tius, lieutenant general.

XL IV. At Rome there was no less fright
and consternation than had been felt two years
before, when the Carthaginian camp was
brought close to the walls and gates of the city .
nor could people well determine whether they
should commend or blame the consul for his
boldness in undertaking such an adventurous
march. It was evident that his reputation
would depend upon the issue, though there is
not perhaps a more unfair method of judging.
People considered, with alarming apprehensions,
that " the camp, in the neighbourhood of such
a foe as Hannibal, had been left without a gen-
eral, and under the guard of an army, the strength

of \\liich had been carried away ; that the con.
mil, pretending an expedition into Lucania,
when in fact he was going to Picenum and
( »uu!, had left his camp destitute of any other
means of safety than merely the enemy's want
of information, as to the general and a part of
his army having quitted it. What would be
the consequence if this should be discovered,
and if Hannibal should resolve, either with his
whole army to pursue Nero, whose entire force
was but six thousand men, or to assault the
camp, which was left as a prey, without strength,
without command, without auspices ?" The past
disasters of this war, and the deaths of the two
consuls in the last year, served also to increase
these terrible fears. Besides, they reflected,
that " all those misfortunes had happened while
there was but one general and one army of the
enemy in Italy; whereas, at present, there
were two Punic wars there, two numerous ar-
mies, and, in a manner, two Hannibals. For
Hasdrubal was a son of the same father Ha-
milcar ; was a commander equally enterprising,
trained to making war against the Romans dur-
ing many campaigns in Spain, and rendered fa-
mous by a double victory over them, by the
destruction of two of their armies, and two of
their ablest commanders. With respect to the
speedy accomplishment of his march from Spain,
and his address in rousing the Gallic clans to
arms, he had much more reason to boast than
Hannibal himself; because he had collected
a body of auxiliaries in those very places
where the other had lost the greater part of
his soldiers by hunger and cold, the two most
miserable ways in which men can perish."
To all this, people, acquainted with the tran-
sactions in Spain, added, that " in Nero he
would meet an antagonist with whom he was
not unacquainted, one whom, formerly, when
caught accidentally in a dangerous dHile,
he had baffled, just as he would a child, by
fallacious terms of peace." Seeing every
thing through the medium of fear, which al-
ways represents objects in the worst light,
they judged all the resources of the enemy
greater, and their own less, than they were in
reality.

XLV. When Nero had attained to such a
distance from the enemy that his design might
be disclosed with safety, he addressed his sol-
diers in a few words, telling them, that "no
general had ever formed a design more daring
in appearance, and yet more safe in the execu-

620

THE HISTORY

[BOOK xxvu.

tion than his. That he was leading them to
certain victory. For as his colleague had not
marched against that enemy until the senate
had given him such a force, hoth of infantry
and cavalry, as fully satisfied his utmost wish-
es, and those troops more numerous and better
provided than if he were to go against Han-
nibal himself, the addition thus made to' it,
whatever might be its intrinsic weight, would
certainly turn the scale in favour. As soon
as the foe should hear, in the field of battle,
(and he would take care that they should not hear
sooner,) that another consul, and another army
had arrived, this single circumstance would in-
eure success. A war was, sometimes, happily
concluded by the spreading of a report; and
incidents, of light moment, frequently impel-
led men's minds to hope or fear. That them-
selves would reap almost the whole fruits of the
glory acquired by success j for, in all cases the
last addition made to the acting force is sup-
posed to be most decisive of the business.
That they saw, by the concourse of people
attending, with what admiration, and with what
warm attachment of all ranks, their march was
honoured." And, in fact, all the roads through
which they passed were lined with men and
women, who crowded thither from all parts of
the country, uttering vows and prayers for their
success ; intermixing praises of their glorious
enterprise ; calling them the safeguard of the
commonwealth, the champions of the city, and
of the empire of Rome ; on whose arms, and
on whose valour, were reposed the safety and
liberty of themselves and of their children.
They prayed to all the gods and goddesses to
grant them a prospeious march, a success-
ful battle, and speedy victory : that they them-
selves might be bound by the event, to pay the
vows they offered in their behalf : and that, as
they now, with minds full of solicitude, accom-
panied them on their way, so they* might, in a
few days, go out with hearts overflowing with
joy to meet them in triumph. Every one gave
them warm invitations, offered them every ac-
commodation, and pressed them, with the most
earnest entreaties, to take from him rather than
from another, whatever was requisite for
themselves, or their cattle; in a word, every
thing that was wanted, they with cheerfulness
supplied in abundance. Their kindness was
equalled by the moderation of the soldiers, who
would riot accept of any matter whatever beyond
their necessary occasions. They never halted

on any account, nor quitted their ranks to take
their victuals ; but marched day and night,
scarcely allowing themselves rest enough to
answer the calls of nature. Couriers were sent
forward to the other consul, to give notice of
their coming ; and to know from him, whether
he chose that they should approach secretly or
openly, by night or by day ; whether they
should lodge in the same camp with him, or in
another. It was judged best that they should
join him secretly in the night.

XLVI. Orders were previously given by
the consul Livius, that, on their arrival, each
tribune should be accommodated with a lodging
by a tribune, each centurion by a centurion,
each horseman by a horseman, and each foot-
man by a. footman. He considered that it
would not be prudent to enlarge the camp, lest
the enemy might discover the coming of the
second consul ; while the crowding together of
additional numbers, into lodgings in a narrow
space, would be attended with the less incon-
venience, as the troops of Claudius had brought
with them hardly any thing except their arms.
Claudius had augmented his army with a num-
ber of volunteers -. for many, both veteran
soldiers discharged from'service, and young men,
offered themselves on his march ; and, as they
eagerly pressed to be employed, he enlisted
such of them as, from their personal appearance,
seemed fit for the service. The camp of Li-
vius was near Sena, and Hasdrubal lay about
five hundred paces beyond it. Wherefore,
Nero, to avoid entering it before night, halted
when he came nigh, and where he was conceal-
ed behind mountains. As darkness came on,
his men, marching silently, were conducted
into tents, each by a person of his own rank ;
where they were hospitably entertained, amid
mutual congratulations, and unbounded joy.
Next day a council was held, at which was also
present the praetor, Lucius Porcius Licinus.
At this time his camp was joined to that of
the consuls. It should, however, be noticed,
that before their coming, he had often baffled
and perplexed the enemy, leading his troops
along the high ground ; sometimes seizing nar-
row defiles to arrest his march, sometimes
harassing him by attacks on his rear or flanks ;
and putting in practice, indeed, every art of
war. He now assisted at the council. Many
were of opinion that an engagement should be
deferred until Nero might refresh his men, who
were fatigued by their long march, and want of

Y. n. 545.]

OF ROME.

621

sleep ; and also, that he should take a few days
to himself, to gain some knowledge of the
enemy. Nero, with the utmost earnestness,
entreated them not, " by delays, to render hii
enterprise rash in effect, when despatch would
insure its success. In consequence of a
deception, which could not last long, Han-
nibal lay yet, in a manner, motionless; he
neither assailed his camp, left, as it was, with-
out its commander, nor moved a step in pursuit
of him. Before he should stir, Hasdrubal's
army might be cut off, and he himself might
return into Apulia. Whoever, by procras-
tination, allowed time to the enemy, would
thereby betray the other camp to Hannibal,
and open for him a road into Gaul, so as
to enable him, at his leisure, to effect a junc-
tion with Hasdrubal, and whenever he pleased.
They ought to give the signal instantly ;
inarch out to battle, and to take every ad-
vantage of the delusion under which the
enemy lay ; both the party in their neigh-
bourhood, and the other at a distance, while
the latter knew not that their opponents
were decreased in number, nor the former, that
theirs were become more numerous and power-
ful." Accordingly the council was dismissed,
the signal of battle was displayed, and the troops
immediately marched out to the field.

XLVII. The Carthaginians were already
drawn up in order of battle before their camp.
The only thing that prevented an immediate
engagement was, that Hasdrubal having, with
a few horsemen, advanced before the line, re-
marked among the enemy some old shields,
which he had not seen before, and horses lean-
er than any he had hitherto observed ; their
number also seemed greater than usual. On
which, suspecting what was the case, he hastily
Bounded a retreat ; sent a party to the watering
place at the river, with orders to pick up, if
possible, some prisoners, also to observe atten-
tively, whether there were any whose com-
plexions were more sun-burned than usual, as
from a journey lately made ; at the same time,
ordering another party to ride round the camp,
at a distance, to mark whether the rampart had
Deen extended on any side, and to watch whe-
ther the signal was sounded a second time.
Though he received account of all these par-
ticuliirs. yet the circumstance of the camp's
not being enlarged, led to a false conclusion:
they were two, as before the arrival of the
second consul ; one belonging to Marcus Livius,

the other to Lucius Porcius ; and no addition
had been made to the trenches of either, to
make more room for tents within. One thing
particularly struck that veteran commander,
long accustomed to act against Roman armies ;
which was. that according to the information
of his scouts, the signal was sounded once in
the praetor's camp, and twice in the consuls.
Hence he concluded, that the two consuls must
be there ; but how to account for Nero's having
left Hannibal behind, perplexed him extremely.
Of all things he could the least suspect what
had really happened, that Hannibal could be so
blinded, and in a business of such magnitude,
as not to know where the general was, and
where the army whose camp stood facing his
own. He supposed that some disaster, of no
ordinary kind, must have hindered him from
following ; and he began to fear greatly, that
he himself had come too late with succour,
that his affairs were too desperate to be re-
trieved, and that the same fortune which the
Romans had met in Spain awaited them
now iu Italy. He even conjectured that his
letter had not reached his brother ; and that, in
consequence of its being intercepted, the con-
sul had hastened thither to overpower him.
Distracted by these doubts and fears, he ex-
tinguished all his fires ; and, at the first watch,
ordered his troops to strike their tents in
silence, and to march. In the hurry and con-
fusion of a movement by night, the guides were
not watched with the necessary care and atten-
tion ; one of them, therefore, stopped in a place
of concealment, which he had before fixed upon
in his mind, and the other swain across the
river Metaurus, at a pass with which he was ac-
quainted. The troops, thus left destitute of
conductors, strayed for some time through the
country ; and many overcome by drowsiness and
fatigue, stretched themselves on the ground ir.
various places, leaving the standards thinly at.
tended. Hasdrubal, until day-light should
discover a road, ordered the army to proceed
along the bank of the river ; and as he wander-
ed along the turnings and windings, with which
that river remarkably abounds, he made but
little progress, still intending, however, to cross
it, as soon as the day enabled him to find a con-
venient passage. But the farther he removed
from the sea, the higher did be find the banks ;
BO that not meeting with a ford, and wasting
the day in the search, he gave the enemy time
to overtake him.

629

THE HISTORY

EBOOK xxvri.

XLVIII. First, Nero, with all the cavalry,
came up ; then Porcius, with the light infantry.
While they harassed his wearied army by fre-
quent assaults on every side, and while the
Carthaginian, now stopping his march, or
rather flight, had a mind to encamp on a high
spot of ground, on the hank of the river, Livius
arrived with the main body of infantry armed,
and marshalled for immediate action. When
line Romans had united all their forces, and the
the was drawn out in array, Claudius took the
command of the right wing, Livius of the left ;
that of the centre was given to the praetor.
Hasdrubal, laying aside the design of fortifying
a camp, when he saw the necessity of fighting,
placed his elephants in front, before the batta-
lions, and, beside them, on the left wing, he
opposed the Gauls to Claudius ; not that he had
much confidence in them, but thinking that they
were much dreaded by the enemy. The right
wing, which was to oppose Livius, he took to
himself, together with the Spaniards; on whom,
as being veteran troops, he placed his principal
reliance. The Ligurians were posted in the
centre, behind the elephants ; but the line was
too long in proportion to its depth. A rising
ground, in their front, protected the Gauls ;
and while that part of the line which was com-
posed of the Spaniards engaged the left wing
of the Romans, their right wing stretching out
beyond the extent of the fight, stood idle, for
the eminence between them and the enemy pre-
vented their making an attack, either on their
front or flank. Between Livius and Hasdrubal
a furious conflict began, and dreadful slaughter
was made on both sides : for here were both
the generals ; here the greater part of the Ro-
man infantry and cavalry ; here the Spaniards,
veteran troops, and acquainted with the Roman
manner of fighting ; and the Ligurians, a race
of hardy warriors. To the same part the ele-
phants were driven, which, at the first onset,
disordered the van, and made even the battalions
give ground ; but afterwards, the contest grow-
ing hotter, and the shouts louder, they soon
became disobedient to the directions of their
riders, rambling up and down between the two
lines, without distinguishing their own party,
and ranging to and fro, not unlike ships with-
out rudders. Claudius in vain attempted to
advance up the bill, often calling out thus to
his men, — " To what purpose, then, have we, •
with so much speed, marched over such a length
of way?" However, seeing it impractable to

reach the enemy's line In that quarter, he drew
away some cohorts from his right wing, where
the troops would not be able to act, and led
them round behind the line. Then, to the sur-
prise not only of the enemy, but of his friends
also, he made a brisk attack on their right flank ;
and, so quick were his motions, that almost at
the same instant when his men appeared on th«
flank, they likewise attacked the rear. Thus
the Spaniards and Ligurians were cut to pieces
on all sides, in front, and flank, and rear, and
the havoc in a short time reached the Gauls.
These made very little opposition ; for great
numbers of them were absent from their posts,
having slipped away in the night, and lain down
in the fields ; while those who were present,
being exhausted by fatigue and want of sleep,
and being naturally ill qualified to endure toil,
had scarcely strength remaining sufficient to
support their armour. By this time it was
mid-day ; and while they were panting with
heat and thirst, they were slain or taken at the
will of the Romans.

XL IX. Of the elephants, more were killed
by their guides, than by the enemy. These
carried a knife, like that used by shoemakers,
with a mallet ; and when the animals began to
grow furious, and to rush on their own party,
the manager of each, fixing this instrument be-
tween its ears, on the joint which connects the
head with the neck, drove it in with the strong-
est blow that he could give. This had been
found the speediest method of killing animals
of that great size, when they had become so
unruly as to leave no hope of managing them ;
and it had been first brought into practice by
Hasdrubal, whose conduct in the command of
an army, as on many other occasions, so partic-
ularly in this battle, merited very high enco-
miums. By his exhortations, and by taking an
equal share in the dangers, he supported the
spirits of his men ; and at one time by entrea-
ties, at another by reproofs, he reanimated the
wearied ; when, from the length and labour of
the action, they were disposed to' lay down
their arms. He called back the flying, and re-
stored the battle in many places, where it had
been given up. At last, when fortune evidently
declared for the Romans, unwilling to survive
so great an army, which had followed his stan-
dard on the credit of his reputation, he set spurs
to his horse, and plunged himself into the midst
of a Roman cohort ; where, as became the son
of Hamilcar, and the brother of Hannibal, he

r. H. 545.]

OF ROME.

C23

fell fighting. In no one action, during tba
war, were so great numbers of the en^my slain
so much so, indeed, that the damage retortee
on him was deemed equivalent to that sustainec
at Cannae. Fifty-six thousand of them were
killed, live thousand four hundred taken. The
other booty was great of every kind, as well as
of gold and silver. Besides which, there were
recovered above four thousand Roman citizens,
prisoners, which was some consolation for the
soldiers lost in the battle ; for the victory was
far from a bloodless one, nearly eight thousand
of the Romans and allies being killed. And
so far were even the victors satiated with blood
and slaughter, that next day, when the consul
Livius was told, that the Cisalpine Gauls and
Ligurians, who had either not been present in
the battle, or had made their escape from the
general carnage, were marching off in a body,
without any certain leader, without standards,
without order or subordination, and that they
might all be cut off, if one squadron of horse
were sent against them, he answered, " Let
some be left alive, to carry home accounts of
the enemy's losses, and of our valour."

L. On the night which followed the battle,
Nero set out on bis return ; and, by marches
even speedier than he had made in coming, on
the sixth day after reached his former post, op-
posite the enemy. The crowds of people at-
tending him were less than before, because no
messenger had preceded him ; but these exhi-
bited such demonstrations of joy, as to seem
transported almost beyond their reason. It is
impossible to express or describe the emotions
that agitated the minds of all persons at Rome,
either while waiting in doubtful expectation of
the event, or when they received the news of
the victory. The senators never quitted the
senate-house, nor the magistrates, nor the peo-
ple, the forum, from the rising to the setting
sun, during the whole of Claudius's march ; so
eager were they to greet him. The matrons,
incapable themselves of contributing aid, had
recourse to prayers and supplications ; and go-
ing about from one temple to another, wearied
the gods with their entreaties and their vows.
\Vhile the public were in this painful suspense,
first an unauthenticated rumour spread, that
two Narnian horsemen had come from the field
of battle to the camp which stood on the fron-
tiers of Umbria, with intelligence, that the
enemy were utterly defeated. For some time,
this news, though listened to, was but little

credited, us being too great, and too joyful, for
the people's minds to admit, or readily believe ;
and even the quickness of the conveyance was
urged as an objection to the truth of it ; as the
account said, that the battle was fought only
two days before. Soon after this a letter was
brought from the camp by Lucius Manlius
Acidinus, confirming the arrival of the Narnian
horsemen. This letter being carried through
the forum to the praetor's tribunal, brought out
the senate from their house ; and the people
thronged together with such impatience and
tumult to the door, that the messenger could
not approach, but was dragged about amid a
multitude of questions, and all demanding, with
much vociferation, that the letter should be read
from the rostrum even before it was submitted
to the senate. At length they were reduced
to order by the magistrates, and obliged to make
room, that the joyful tidings might be regularly
imparted to the public, who were unable to
govern their transports. The despatch was
accordingly read, first in the senate, then in the
assembly of the people ; some embracing the
joyful news as certain, while others refused to
credit any thing until they should hear it from
the deputies, or the letters of the Consuls.

LI. After some time an account was brought,
that deputies were really coming, and not far
off. On this, people of all ages ran out eagerly
to meet them, each coveting to receive, from
his own eyes and ears, convincing proofs of the
reality of such a happy event. One continued
train reached all the way to the Mulvian bridge :
the deputies were, Lucius Veturius Philo,
Publius Licinius Varus, and Quintus Cfecilius
Metellus. Surrounded by a vast multitude of
every sort, they went on to the forum, while
some inquired of them, others of their attend-
ants, concerning what had been done ; and as
soon as any one heard that the enemy's general
and army had been cut off, that the Roman le-
gions were safe, and the consuls unhurt, he im-
mediately communicated his own joy to others.
When the deputies had, with much difficulty,
•cached the senate-house, and the crowd was,
with much greater difficulty, obliged to retire,
.hat they might not mix with the senators, the
etters were read in the senate ; and then the
deputies were brought out into the general as-
sembly. Lucius Veturius, after reading the
despatches, gave, in his own words, a fuller de-
ail of all that had passed j which was heard
vith the greatest dc ight, and was nt last fol-

094

THE HISTORY OF ROME. [BOOK xxvii.

lowed by a universal shout from the whole as-
sembly, who were unable to restrain the effu-
sions of their joy. They then separated ; some
hastening to the temples of the gods to return
thanks, some to their own houses, to impart
the happy news to their wives and children.
The senate, in consideration of the consuls,
Marcus Livius and Caius Claudius, having cut
off the general and the legions of the enemy,
decreed a supplication for three days ; which
supplication the praetor, Caius Hostilius, pro-
claimed in the assembly, and it was performed
with great devotion by all, both men and wo-
men. During the whole thcee days, all the
temples were equally filled with crowds, whose
numbers never diminished ; whilst the matrons,
dressed in the most splendid manner, and ac-
companied by their children, being now deliver-
ed from every apprehension, just as if the war
were at an end, offered thanksgivings to the
immortal gods. This victory produced also a
powerful effect on the internal business of the
state, insomuch that people immediately took

courage to hold commerce with each other us
in time of peace, buying, selling, lending, and
paying money due. The consul Claudius, on
returning to his camp, ordered the head of
Hasdrubal, which he had carefully kept and
brought with him, to be thrown before the ad-
vanced guards of the enemy : and the African
prisoners, chained as they were, to be exposed
to their view. Two of these he also unbound,
and sent to Hannibal, with orders to inform
him of what had happened. We are told that
Hannibal, deeply struck by a disaster so fatal
to his country, and his house, said that he felt
now the fortune of Carthage. He then de-
camped, and retired thence, designing to draw
together, into Bruttium, the remotest corner
of Italy, all those confederates, whom, while
scattered at wide distances, he could not pro-
tect ; and he removed from their .own habita-
tions, and carried away into Bruttium, all the
Metapontines, and such of the Lucanians as
acknowledged his authority.

END OF VOL, I.

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HUTCHISON AND BKOOKMAN, PRINlURd.

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