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BY HENEY G^^ LIDDELL, D.D., DEAN OP CHKIBT CHURCn, OXFORD. ILLUSTEATED BY NUMEROUS WOODCUTS. NEW YOEK: HARPER & BROTHERS, FRANKLIN SQUARE. 1868. (o ,ui THE STUDENT'S HISTORIES, UNIFORM WITH THIS WORK. THE STUDENT'S FEANCE : A Histoky of France, from the Eakhebt Times to the Establishment of the Second Empire in 1S52. Illus- trated by Engravings on Wood. 12mo, 742 pages, Cloth, $2 00. THE STUDENT'S HUME : A History of England from the Ear- liest Times to the Revoltjtion in 1688. By Dayid Hume. Abridged. Incor- porating the Corrections and Researches of Recent Historians, and continued down to the Year 1851. Illustrated by Engravings on Wood. 12mo, 805 pages, Cloth, $2 00. THE STUDENT'S HISTORY OF GREECE : A History of Greece fkom the Earliest Times to the Roman Conquest. With Supplementary Chap- ters on the Historj' of Literature and Art. By William Smith, LL.D., Editor of the "Classical Dictionary," "Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities," &c. Revised, with an Appendix by Prof. Geo. W. Greene, A.M. Illustrated by 100 Engravings on Wood. 12mo, 738 pages. Cloth, $2 00. iiW A SMALLER HISTORY OF GREECE: The above Work Abridged for Younger Students and Common Schools. Engravings. 16mo, 272 pages, Cloth, $1 00. THE STUDENT'S HISTORY OF ROME : A History of Rome from the Earliest Times to the Establishment op the Empire. With Chapters on the History of Literature and Art. By Henry G. Lipdell, D.D., Dean of Christ Church, Oxford. Illustrated by numerous Woodcuts. 12mo, 77S pages. Cloth, $2 00. t®- Dr. SMITH'S SMALLER HISTORY OF ROME from the Earliest Times to the Establishment of the Empire. Continued to the Fall of the Western Empire in the Year 476. By Eugene Lawrence, A.M. Engravings. ICmo, 400 pages, Cloth, $1 00. THE STUDENT'S GIBBON : The History of the Decline and Fall OF THE Roman Empire. By Edward Gibuon. Abridged. Incorporating the Researches of recent Commentators. By William Smith, LL.D., Editor of the " Classical Dictionary," "Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities," &c. Il- lustrated by 100 Engravings on Wood. 12mo, 706 pages. Cloth, $2 00. 48 6555 AU(5 2 7 1942 Coin of Civsar in 4111 Dietatorsliip, p. C9-i. CONTENTS INTRODUCTION. Sect. I. Physical Geography of Italy . . II. Early Population of Italy . . . . 14 FAGB 1 BOOK I ROME UNDER THE KINGS. Chap. I. Origin of Rome : Romulus and Numa n. TuUus HostUius and Anous Martins, the third and fourth kings III. Tarquinius Priscus and Servius Tullius, the fifth and sixth kings IV. Tarquinius Superbus, and the iDeginnings of the Republic . . V. Observations on the history of Rome under the kings . . 21 .'iS 58 70 BOOK . II. ROME UNDER THE PATRICIANS. B.C. Chap. — ' VI. Decline of Roman power after the expulsion of the Tarquins. Geographical sketch of the neighbour- hood of Rome 79 — VII. The Tribunate 87 — VIII. Agrarian law. The election of the Tribunes trans- ferred to the Tribes 95 496-450. IX. "Wars and foreign affairs from the battle of LakeRegil- lus to the Decemvirate 101 470-449. X. Continued struggle between the Orders. The Decem- Tirate Ill — XI. The Code of the Twelve Tables 124 448-406. XIT. Sequel of the Decemvirate. Military Tribunate. Gen- eral liistory to the war with Veil 128 448-391. XIII. Wars since the Decemvirate. Siege of Veii .. .. 136 390. XIV. The Gaiils 143 CONTENTS. u.c. 389-367. Chap. Page XV. Sequel of the Gallic "War. Licinian Laws. Final equalization of the two Orders 152 XVI. Sources of early Roman history 162 BOOK III. ROME CONQUEROR OP ITALY. (b.C, 366—265.) 366-344. XVII. Sequel of the Licinian Laws. Civil History to the first Samnite War 167 389-344. XVIII. Wars from the burnmg of Rome to the first Sam- nite War 172 343-341. XIX. First Samnite War 177 340-338. • XX. Great Latin War. Subjection of Latium . . . . 194 337-326. XXL Events leadhig to the Second Samnite War . . 195 326-304. XXII. The Great Samnite War, commonly called the Second 199 299-290. XXIIL Third Samnite War 209 — XXIV. Civil History during the time of the Samnite Wars 216 289-282. XXV. Events between the Third Samnite War and the landing of Pyrrhus 224 280-275. XXVI. Pyrrhus in Italy 237 274-264. XXVII. Final reduction and settlement of Italy . . . . 248 BOOK IV. ROME AND CARTHAGE. — XXVIIL 263-241. XXIX. — XXX. 218-216. XXXL 215-211. XXXII. 210-207. XXXIII. 206-202. XXXIV. — XXXV. — XXXVL — XXXVTT. Carthage. Events leading to First Punic War . . 259 First Punic War 267 Events between the First and Second Punic Wars 282 Second Punic War. First Period 296 Second Punic War. Second Period 321 Second Punic War. Third Period 336 Second Punic War. Fourth and last Period . . 350 Government and Constitutional Changes up to the close of the Hannibalic War 369 The Provinces and Finances 386 Social and Intellectual Condition of the People. Manners — Rehgion — Literature — Art . . . 394 CONTENTS. BOOK V. KOME AND THE CONQUEST OF THE WORLD. (b.c. 201-132.) B.C. Chap. Page — XXXVIII. Introductory: State of the Eastern World .. .. 412 214r-194 XXXIX. First and Second Macedonian Wars: Settlement of Greece by Flamininus 419 192-188. XL. War with Antiochus, and settlement of Eastern Aifairs 432 200-lT'7. XLI. Wars in the West contemporaneous with the Macedonian and Syrian Wars . . .... . . 441 200-169. XLII. Civil History during the Macedonian and Syrian Wars : Corruption of manners : Senatorial pre- dominance : Scipio and Cato 446 180-168. XLIIL The Third Macedonian War, or War of Perseus. . 456 1G6-150. XLIV. General History between the War with Perseus and the last Wars with Greece and Carthage . . 407 151-146. XLV. The last Wars with Macedon and Greece : Fall of Corinth 476 150-146. XLVL Third Punic War : Fall of Carthage .: .. .. 481 149-133. XLVIL Spanish Wars: Fall of Numantia 491 133-131. XLVIIL Fu-st Slave-War in Sicily 497 — XLTX. The condition of Rome and her People at the close of the Period of Conquest . . , 502 — X. Manners and Morals : Literature and Art . . . . 508 BOOK VI. FIRST PERIOD OF CIVIL WARS. 133. LI. Tiberius Gracchus 518 133-129. LII. Return and death of Scipio the Younger . . . . 527 128-121. LIII. Caius Gracchus and his times 533 120-104. LIV. Jugurtha and his times 545 105-101. LV, The Cimbrians and Teutons K^p 103-101. Second Slave-War in Italy \°^^ 100-91. LVL From the Sixth Consulship of Marius to the death of M. Livius Drusus 565 90, 89. LVn. The Social War 575 88-86. LVHL First Civil War ' . . . . 582 88-84. LIX. First Mithridatic War 593 83,82. LX. Return of Sylla : Second Civil War 601 82-78. LXI. Sylla's Dictatorship and death 610 CONTENTS. BOOK VII. SECOND PERIOD OP CIVIL WAE. B.C. Chap. Page 78-TO. LXII. Eevolutionaiy attempt of Lepidus : Sertorius : Spartacus: Consulship of Pompey and Crassus 620 14^61. LXIII. Third or Great Mithridatic "War : Pompey in the East 620 69-61. LXIV. Prom Consulship of Pompey and Crassus to re- turn of Pompey from the East : Csesar: Cicero: Catiline 639 62-58. LXV. Pompey's return: Pirst Triumvirate: Cesar's Con- sulship: Clodius 651 58-50. LXVI. Cassar in Gaul : breach between Pompey and Csesar 661 50-48. LXVII. Second Civil War death of Pompey GTS 48-44. LXYIII. Absolute rule of Caesar . . GSt 44-42. LXIX. Prom the death of Caesar to the battle of Philippi 103 41-30. LXX. Prom the battle of Philippi to the final establish- ment of Imperial Monarchy '719 — LXXI. State of the Empire : Literature, Art, Manners, and Religious feeling T31 Index . . . . , 152 Coin of Agrippa, with Iicad of Augustus on the reverse. €oin of M. xViitony, with head of Cffisar on the obverse. LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. Rome. — Bird's-eye View of the Forum from the Capitol FrOIsTISPIECE. Page Coin of Cffisar in 4tli Dictator- ship." V Coin of Agrippa, with head of Augustus on the reverse . . viii Coin of M. Antony, with head of Csesar on the obverse . . . . ix Coin with head of Janus . . . . s Medal commemoi'ative of the foundation of Rome . . . . 1 Geological Hap of Italy . . . . 4, 5 Ostia at the present day . . . . 13 Wolf of the Capitol 21 Lake of Alba 33 Cloaca Maxima 38 Map of Rome 52 Plan of the City 54 Cloaca of Marta in Tuscany . . 57 Tomb of the Tarquins . . . . 58 Bust of Niebuhr "70 View of Campagna 19 Geological Map of Country round Rome 85 Lake of Nemi, looking over the Campagna 86 Tarpeian Rock 95 Coin bearing the Dioscuri . . . . 100 Tivoli, looking over the Cam- pagna 101 Castor and Pollux Ill Coin of P. Porcius Laeca, author of the Law of Appeal . . . . 123 Emissary of Alban Lake . . . . 136 Geese of the Capitol (?) . . . . 143 As, with head of Janus . . . . 152 Reverse of As, with Ship's prow 161 Page M. Curtius 167 Etruscan Walling 172 Coin with Samnite Bull goring the Roman Wol^ struck in the Social War 177 Roman soldiers 184 Terracina 195 Beneventum in Samnium . . . . 199 Tomb of Scipio Barbatus . . . . 209 Appian Way 216 The Island of the Tiber . . . . 224 Coin of Epidaurus 236 Coin of Pyrrhus with head of Dodonean Zeus 237 Brundusium 248 Coin of Carthage, with Winged Horse 259 Coin of a Livineius with head of Regulus 267 Coin of Metellus Scipio, referring to Battle of Panormus . . . . 281 Temple of Janus closed, on a Coin of Nero 282 Lake Trasimene 296 Plan illustrating the Battle of Lake Trasimene 306 Head of MarceUus, on a Coin of Marcellinus 321 Coin of an Acilius, with Tri- umphal Car 336 L. Cornelius Scipio Africanus . . 350 Lictors . . 369 Sella Curulis 385 Temple of Saturn 386 Remains of Aqueduct at Rome 394 Coin of Ptolemy Philadelphus . . 412 ILLUSTRATIONS. Coin of Philip V,, King of Mace- don Coin of the Quinctian Gens, bear- ing the head of Plamininus . . Coin of Antiochus the Great . . Tomb of the Scipios, as restored by Canina 446 Coin of Perseus 456 Coin of Lepidus, representing PauUus triumphing over Per- seus and his CliUdren . . Coin of Attalus I Plan of Tyrian Carthage . . Tomb on the Appian 'Way Medallion of Terence Bust of Ennius The Forum from the Capitol Tomb on the Appian Way Walls of Rome, from the inside . Caius Marius Coin of the Eight Itahan Nations, joining in an Oath of Federa- tion, with the Legend Italia. . Coin of the Two AUied Nations who last held out, with the name of Papius in Oscan Cha- racters . , . . 581 419 431 432 466 467 485 502 508 517 518 52'? 533 556 575 Pagb Coin of Mithridates VI 593 Coin. — Temple of Jupiter on Capi- tol, and head of Jupiter . . 601 Tomb near Alba 610 Cn. Pompeius Magnus . . . . 629 Slab from arch of Titus, repre- senting the Spoils of Jerusa- lem borne in triumph . . . . 638 M. TuUius Cicero 639 C. Julius Caesar 651 Coin of Csesar 660 Coin to commemorate Conquest of Gaul , . . . 661 Parthian Coin 672 Coin to commemorate the taking of Egypt 673 M. Junius Brutus 687 Coins struck upon the death of Ca3sar 702 Coins of the Triumvirs . . • . . 703 Fine Coin of Antony, executed at Antioch 718 Antony and Cleopatra . . . . 719 Figure Head of Roman GaUey, dredged up near Actium . . 7,^0 Octavian 731 M. Vipsanius Agrippa . . . . 751 C!oin ivitli head of Janus. HISTORY OF ROME. INTRODUCTION. SECTION I. PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHT OF ITALY. § 1. Relation of Italy to Roman History. § 2. Length of Italian Peninsula^ § 3. Breadth. § 4. Extent of Surface. § 5. Reasons for considering Physical Structure. § 6. Division of Italy into two portions. § t. Physical Structure of upper portion : The Alps, or northern hmits of the valley of the Po. § 8. Upper Apennines, or southern limits of this vaUey. § 9. Plain of the Po itseE § 10. Physical Structure of lower portion of Apennine range. § 11. Its Southern flank. § 12. Northern flank. § 13. Deduction of geographical features of Italy from foregoing description : Pew prominent Headlands and large Gulfs. § 14. Few Islands. § 15. No large Rivers, 'except in the valley of the Po. § 16. No large Plains, except in same valley. § IT. No large Lakes, except in same vaUey. Peculiar character of Lakes in many parts of sub-Apennine districts. § 18. Marshy character of some districts. Methods of reclaiming land in modern times. § 19. Cli- mate. § 20. Productions. § 21. Beauty of scenery. § 1. The History of Rome is properly the history of a City, or rather a Civic Community, which gradually extended its imperial sway, first over all Italy, then over all the countries bordering upon the Mediterranean Sea. It was, according 'to the common reckoning, nearly five centuries before the citizens of Rome became lords of Lower Italy ;* in little more than another cen- * 753—270 3.0. 1 2 HISTORY OP ROME. Inteod. tury they had become the sovereign power of the civilised world.* It is difficult, therefore, in attempting a geographical sketch for the purpose of elucidating Roman History, to deter- mine where Ave ought to begin and Avhere to end. For during a long period w:e are hardly carried out of sight of the Capitol ; and at the close of that period we are hurried with startling rapidity into the heart of every country, from the Atlantic to the mountains of Asia Minor, from the ridges of the Alps to the plains that lie beneath Mount Atlas. But since the origin and composition of the people whom Ave call Romans depends upon the early state and population of Italy at large, and since in course of time all Italians became Romans, it Avill be well to follow the usual custom, and begin with a geographical sketch of the Italian Peninsula. § 2. This Peninsula, the central one of the three which stretch boldly forward from the southern coasts of Europe, lies nearly between the parallels of north latitude 38° and 46°. Its length therefore, measured along a meridian arc, ought to be about 550 miles. But since, unlike the other two Mediterranean Peninsulas, it runs in a direction nearly diagonal to the lines of latitude and longitude, its real length, measured from Mont Blanc to Cape Spartivento, is somewhat more than YOO miles. § 3. To estimate the breadth of this long and singularly- shaped Peninsula, it may conveniently be divided into two parts by a line draAvn across from the mouths of the Po to the northern point of Etruria. Below this line the average breadth of the leg of Italy does not much exceed 100 miles. Above this line, both coasts trend rapidly outwards, so that the upper portion forms an irregularly-shaped figure, which lies across the top of the leg, being bounded on the north and west by the Alpine range from lUyria to the mouth of the Var, on the south by the imaginary line before drawn, and on the east by the head of the Adriatic Sea. The length of this figure from east to west is not less than 350 miles; while from north to south it measures, on the average, about 120 miles. § 4. The SURFACE of the whole Peninsula, including both the leg of Italy and the irregular figure at the top, is estimated at about 90,000 square miles, or an area nearly equal to the surface of Great Britain and Ireland. But a very large proportion of this surface is unproductive, and a great part even incapable of tillage. § 5. The reason of this diff"erence between the actual extent of the Peninsula and its productive surface is to be found in its PHYSICAL STRUCTURE, wliich IS SO remarkable as to invite an * 263—233 B.C. SBcrr. I. PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY OP ITALY. 3 attempt .to describe it in the shortest and simplest manner com- patible Avith clearness. The Physical Geography of a country is indeed the key to a great portion of its History, and explains the very fact of its existence. For example, mountains which lift their heads above the v^^aves and storms form the indestructible core of some countries destined by Providence to play a large part in the history of the world, while others are spread out in broad and swelling plains equally indestructible. The hard lime- stone of the Apennine range has alone enabled the long and slender Italian Peninsula to be the cradle of those political, social, and ecclesiastical institutions which are inseparably attached to the name of Rome. If the masses thrown into that singular shape had been composed of soft or loose materials, they had been swept away by the joint action of wind and water, and the names of Italy and of Rome had been unknown. § 6. For the purpose of description we must again divide Italy into two portions, as before, for the purpose of measure- ment.* The former portion consists of the enormous valley enclosed between the Alps on the north and the upper range of the Apennines on the south ; a valley which may be represented as an irregular triangle, having its base upon the Adriatic, and gradually thinning off towards the Maritime Alps. The latter portion is formed by that lower part of the Apennine range which runs down the whole leg of Italy. § 7. In the former portion a gigantic ridge of Granite rocks has burst through the superincumbent formations, and sweeps in an irregular curve from the Tyrol to the Gulf of Genoa. On the southern flank of this Granite ridge reclines an enormous mass of the most Ancient Limestone, of that kind which has- been called the Jura Formation. Appearing first near the Lago Maggiore, it attains its greatest breadth between Verona and Belluno, and then again thins off towards the Tyrol. This Ancient Limestone dips towards the south, and disappears be- neath a thin and broken edge of the more Recent Limestone rocks, which are analogous to what is called the Chalk Formation in England and France, though in Italy the Chalk itself is nowhere found.f Thus, from the Lago Maggiore eastward, the great valley of the Po is skirted on the north by the two Limestone systems, with the Granite coming from beneath them. But westward, from the Lago Maggiore to the Maritime Alps, the Limestones disappear altogether, and the alluvial plain abuts upon the pri- maeval Granite itself. * In the map over the leaf the division is, by the requirement of the printer, made considerably lower down. f Creta is not chalk, but a tenacious white earth, much the same as argiUa. HISTORY OP ROME. Introd. 10 12 14 hi^^^'S^M^ GEOLOGICAL MAP OF ITALY, § 8. The southern boundary of this great valley now remains to be examined. It is formed, as we have said, by the upper part of the Apennine range, which strikes nearly across Italy from above Genoa to the sources of the Rubicon and the Tiber. From beneath the southern edge of the alluvial plain first appears a band of the Tertiary rocks, which hardly show themselves on its northern edge. From below them again emerges in immense proportions the more Recent Limestone, which here covers the Jura formation, and forms the entire surface of that part of the Apennines. The Granite, unable to burst its way through, has contented itself with upheaving the superincumbent mass of Limestone, while the Tertiary strata have been broken up and almost swept away. § 9, In the vast sweeping hollow or basin embraced by the north- ern and southern elevation of the Limestone mountains, that is, in the space between the Alps and Apennines, lies the great allu- Sect. I. PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY OP ITALY. vial plain formed by the atoms washed down through all time by the thousand streams which descend from the Alps upon the north and Avest, and from the Apennines on the south, all at length combining their waters in the mighty stream of the Eri- danus. These waters, charged with particles of every kind of rock through which they flow, from the Granite to the Tertiary, form a soil hardly equalled in the world for natural richness. Near the mountains, indeed, where the streams descend from the gorges, the whole surface is often covered with barren gravel; especially on the Apennine side, where the mountains are nearer and the descent more rapid. But as we advance into the centre of the plain, the gravel becomes finer and finer, till at length nothing is left but that fine and impalpable garden mould, which appears probably in the greatest perfection in the fertile district between Lodi and Cremona. 55Swt*S: ^M ^ '*1> m. X %v^ § 10. We now turn to the leg of Italy, which consists of the lower range of Apennines, Avith its manifold branches and ofi"shoots. Near the sources of the Rubicon and Tiber the more Recent Limestone has suflfered a violent disruption, and falls off right and left, so as to display a huge mass of the Ancient Limestone. The two formations, the Ancient flanked on both sides by the more Recent, edged by narrow bands of Tertiary remains, continue their courss flowing down the leg of Italy, gradually inclining towards the 6 HISTORY OP ROME. Introd. instep,* till at tlie point where the gulf of Tarentuna threatens to penetrate to the Sicilian sea, the wild country of the Bruttii rises in primaeval Granite, § 11. A line drawn from Ancona to Cape Argentaro gives the greatest breadth of these Limestone formations; and a little lower down, a fragment of the more Recent kind, left like an island upon the uplifted shoulders of the Ancient, presents the loftiest mountain of the Apennine range, Monte Corno or the Gran Sasso d'ltalia, which attains an elevation of nearly 10,000 English feet. On the southern coast, from above the lake of Bolsena in Tuscany to the beautiful bay of Salerno, the regular geological series is broken up by a large tract of comparatively recent Vol- canic country, which is interrupted between Latium and Cam- pania by Ancient Limestone hills. § 12. On the northern flank of the Limestone range appears a belt of Tertiary formation, which spreads out wider, as the Lime- stone inclines towards the south, till it attains its greatest breadth along the western and northern sides of the gulf of Tarentum. But the Limestone formations, after sinking towards the Adriatic, again appear in the isolated eminence of Mount Garganus, the spur of Italy, and along the heel from Canusium to the lapygian headland. § 13. This description of the physical structure of the Italian Peninsula will enable us to comprehend, by a very brief glance, its chief GEOGRAPHICAL fcaturcs. Deep gulfs and inlets are not to be expected; for these are only found when mountain chains jut out into the sea, and maintain themselves as headlands, while the lower land between is eaten and washed away by the cease- less action of the waves. Such phenomena are presented by Greece, and by the western coasts of Scotland, Wales, and Ire- land. But in' Italy there is but one uniform mountain-chain. On the northern or Adriatic • slope of the Apennines, indeed, a number of gorges open to the sea in a direction transverse to the main line of the mountains. But the projecting spurs Avhich form these gorges are not considerable in height ; and on the southern or Mediterranean side the main range sinks towards the sea in subordinate or secondary ranges, more or less parallel to the principal chain, and therefore seldom admitting of abrupt headlands with deep embrasures between. There is, however, one exception which proves the rule. We have above shown that at the foot of Italy, the Limestone range forks oft' into two great branches, one running towards the toe of the Peninsula, the other * There is, however, one complete gap or severance in the chain^ which is nearly marked by a hne drawn from Capua to Venusia Sect. I. . PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY OF ITALY. 7 forming the heel. The softer Tertiary formations between these two ranges have fallen a prey to the devouring waves. Here they have scooped out the great gulf of Tarentum, a vast expanse of sea, measuring from point to point no less than SO miles. But except this great gulf, the coasts of the Peninsula are indented by comparatively gentle curves. On the northern side the single inequality is presented by the projecting mass of Mount Garganus, which forms with the lower coast what is now called the bay of Manfredonia. On the sole of the foot, below the gulf of Tarentum, we find the bay of Squillace (Sinus Scyla- cius). After passing the straits of Messina, first occurs the bay of St. Eufemia (Sinus Vibonensis), which is separated from that of Squillace by a mass of granitic rocks less than twenty miles in breadth. A little higher up we come to a wide sweep in the coast, known by the name of the bay of Policastro. That part of the southern coast which is most irregular deserves particular attention from the student of Eoman History. Be- tween the point where ancient Lucania borders on Campania, and that at which Latium begins, a distance of about 120 miles, the coast-line is broken into three fine bays, the bay of Psestum, or Salerno on the south, the bay of Gaeta on the north, and be- tween them the smallest but most famous and most beautiful of the three — the bay of Cuma or Naples. From Cape Circello (Circeii), which forms the northern horn of the bay of Gaeta, the coast-line runs onward to Genoa, unbroken save by the headlands of Argentaro and Piombino in Tuscany. But these do not project far enough to form any recess worthy to be named. Nor is the little bay of Spezzia, just north of Tuscany, deserving of mention as a geographical feature. § 14. The same circumstance which prevents Italy from abounding in deep bays and bold headlands, also prevents its coasts from being studded with islands, which are but relics of projecting mountain- chains. If we omit Sicily, which is in fact a continuation of the Peninsula separated by a channel of two or three miles broad, and the Lipari islands, which are due to the volcanic action still at work beneath Etna and Vesuvius, the islands of Italy are insignificant. Caprese (Capri) on the one hand, Prochyta (Procida) and Ischia on the other, are but frag- ments of the two headlands that form the bay of Naples. Igilium (Giglio) and Ilva (Elba) stand in a similar relation to the head- lands of Argentaro and Piombino. Besides these may be named Pontise (Ponza), Pandataria, with a few more barren rocks ofi" the bay of Gaeta, and a few even less important on the coast of Tuscany. 8 HISTORY OP ROME. . Inteod, § 15. Except in Northern Italy, whicli abounds in noble rivers, as above described, the narrowness of the Peninsula forbids the existence of really large streams. Yet the Apennine range, which forms on its southern side long parallel valleys, enables numerous torrents and rills which descend towards the south to swell into rivers of not inconsiderable size. Such especially are the Arno and Tiber, which rise nearly at the point where the ancient limestone breaks through the more modern. Their waters are separated by the hills which terminate in the headlands of Argentaro and Piombino, so that the Arno flows northward, and enters the sea on the northern frontier of' Tuscany, after a course of about 120 miles ; while the Tiber runs in a general southerly direction, receiving the waters of the Clanis from the west, and those of the Nar (Nera) and Velinus from the east, till its course is abruptly turned by the Sabine limestone hills. The entire length of its channel is about 180 miles. These two well-known rivers, with their affluents, drain the whole of Etruria, the Sabine country, and the Campagna of Rome. Similar in their course, but on a smaller scale, are the Anio, (Teverone) and the Liris. They both rise in the ^quian hills, the Anio flowing northward to swell the stream of the Tiber a little above Rome : the Liris, joined by the Trerus (Sacco) from the west, running southward so as to drain southern Latium and Northern Campania, till it turns abruptly towards the sea, and enters it about the middle of the bay of Gaeta, after a course of about 80 miles. The Vulturnus and the Calor run down opposite valleys from the north and south of the Samnite territory, till they join their streams on the frontier of Campania, and fall into the bay of Gaeta only a -short distance below the Liris. Each of these streams measure from their sources to their united mouth not less than 100 miles. The only other notable river on the southern coast is the Silarus (Sele), which descends by a channel of about 60 miles from the central Apennines of Lucania into the bay of Passtum or Salerno. After this comes the foot of Italy, in which the mountains come down so close to the sea that from the rnouth of the Silarus down to the lower angle of the gulf of Tarentum, the streams are but short and rapid torrents. Of these it is said that no less than eighty may be enumerated between Psestum and the straits of Messina. The gulf of Tarentum in its middle portion is skirted by a lower tertiary bed, and has some streams of importance. The Bradanus and Casuentus (Basento) enter the gulf within four miles of each other, after a course of about 60 miles. The Aciris Sect. I. PHTSICAL GEOGRAPHY OF ITALY. g (Agri) is to the south of these. The Siris (Siiino) notable as the scene of the first battle between Pyrrhns and the Eomans, is a mere torrent, as is the Galesus upon which Tarentum stands. The northern or Adriatic coast is almost devoid of lateral valleys, such as are found on the other coast, and therefore has few considerable streams. The Aufidus (Ofanto) in Apulia, re- nowned in Roman historj^, from the fact that the fatal battle of CanniB took place upon its banks, rises on the opposite side of the same range as the Calor, and runs a course of about 80 miles. The Sagrus (Sangro) stands in the same relation to the Vulturnus, and conveys the waters of the Fucine lake from the -.^quian hills through Samnium, by a nearly similar length of channel. But the largest river of this side is the Aternus, which finds its way from the Sabine hills into a short valley parallel to the main range, and thus prolongs its course. It is joined by a number of smaller streams, and attains a considerable volume of water before it reaches the sea at the point where the Marru- cinian coast abuts on that of Picenum. The whole coast from Mount Garganus northward is ploughed by numberless torrents which descend in rapid course down steep mountain gorges. Of these we need but name the ^sis between Picenum and Umbria ; the Metaurus, in Umbria, famous for the defeat of Hasdrubal ; the Rubicon, which formed the boundary of Roman Italy on the northern side, as did the Macra (Magra) on the opposite coast. § 16. The limestone mountain track that occupies the whole narrow Peninsula from the great valley of the Po downwards is often too steep, bare, and rugged, to be capable of cultivation. There are, however, many rich plains of limited extent, among which Campania ranks first ; and many narrow but fertile valleys, in which nature rewards the smallest labour with bountiful returns. In the continental dominions of the modern kingdom of Naples, consisting of about half the leg of Italy, it is calcu- lated that little more than one half of the land is at present under cultivation. In the Estates of the Church, and on the sea-coast of Tuscany, the proportion is even less. § 17. In speaking of Lakes, we must resume our twofold divi- sion of the Peninsula. On the Alpine slopes of the great valley of the Po, the Granitic and Ancient Limestone rocks break into vast chasms at right angles to their general direction, in which the waters of the rivers that fiow downwards to join the Po accumulate and form those lakes so well known to all lovers of natural beauty. Such are the lake Benacus (Lago di Garda) formed by the waters of the Mincius, Larius (Lago di Como) by those of the Adda, Verbanus (Lago Maggiore) by those of the 1* 10 HISTORY OF ROME. tnteod. Ticino, not to mention the lakes of Lugano, Orta, and others, smaller, but hardly less beautiful. But Apennine Italy, considering the great extent of its moun- tain districts, does not present many considerable lakes. Nor are these formed by the accumulated waters of rivers flowing through them, like the lakes of northern Italy or Switzerland. For the most part, like the lakes of Greece, they have no visible outlet, but lose their waters partly by evaporation, partly by underground fissures and channels. The Fucine lake in the ^quian hills feeds the Sangro, and lake Bradanus in the south feeds the river of the same name. But the celebrated lake of Trasimene in Etruria, and the numerous lakes of the volcanic district, as the " great Volsinian Mere," the lakes of Alba, Nemi, Amsanctus, and others, have no visible outlet. These, in fact, are the craters of extinct volcanoes. Roman history contains legends which relate to the artificial tapping of some of these caldrons ; and some of the tunnels cut through their rocky basins still remain. § 18. The abundance of water which is poured over the hills^ has a great disposition to accumulate in marshy swamps in the low districts towards the sea. Such is the case along the lower course of the Po, on the coast-lands of Tuscany, and in the lower part of the Campagna of Rome. Mantua, which stands a little above the junction of the Mincio with the Po, is surrounded by marshes ; and the whole coast between Venice and Ravenna is a swamp. To keep the Po and its tributaries within their channel, the Lombards of the Middle Ages raised embankments on either side of the stream. But the rivers being charged with mud are obliged by these embankments to deposit the whole within their chan- nels, and the quantity thus deposited is so great that it is neces- sary to raise these embankments continually; and thus in the course of centuries the bottoms of the rivers have been elevated considerably above the plains ; so that the streams of Lombardy in their lower course are in fact carried along huge earthen aque- ducts. In time, human industry will not be equal to raise these embankments in sufiicient strength, and a deluge will ensue more fearful than those which the poet of Mantua seems to have wit' nessed in his own time.* * " Non sic aggeribus ruptis, quum spumeus amnis Exiit, oppositasque evicit gurgite moles, Fertur in arvafurens cumulo, camposque per omnes Gum stabulis armenta tulit." ViRG-., Aen. ii. 496; cf. Georg. i. 322, sq. While this unskilful mode of preventing the overflowing of the Po was Sect. I. PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY OF ITALY. 11 § 19. The Climate of Italy, like its physical structure, is ex- tremely different in the northern and in the southern part of the Peninsula. In the valley of the Po the winters are often extremely severe, so that towards the close of the last century all the olive- trees in that district were killed by the frost. On the south of the Apennines the climate is much milder in the winter, though in spring the winds are often very cold. Snow is rarely seen in the Campagna di Roma, or in the neighbourhood of Naples at the present day; though in the times of the ancients it seems to have been not uncommon. Italy is in general a healthy country. The men are active, vigorous, and well-grown ; the women, in their youth, handsome. Some parts, however, are afflicted by pestilential air (malaria), especially the lower part of Tuscany, and the Campagna di Roma, of which countries a more particular account will be found in a later page. Parts of Calabria also are extremely unhealthy, and all the southern side of the Apennines suffers from the south wind, called the Sirocco, which comes charged with suffocating heat from the plains of Africa. § 20. The productions are those of the temperate zone in their highest perfection. Wherever there is a sufficiency of soil and water, as in the valleys leading to the .plain of Lombardy, or descending to the sea from either side of the Apennines, grain of all kinds is produced in great abundance. In ancient days, the plain of Lombardy, now so highly cultivated, was thickly covered with oak forests, that furnished food to countless herds of swine. Many parts of the Apennines are still well clothed with chestnut trees, and the inhabitants of the upland valleys live on their fruit during the winter. But modern ingenuity and industry have reclaimed many of these districts by the help of artificial irrigation.* On the southern slopes of followed in the nortb, a most mgenious method has been pursued in redeeming from the Arno those marshes in whicla Hannibal was attacked by ophthalmia, and lost part of his army. Tlie pliUosoplier Torricelli (about 1550 a.d.) suggested tliat the stream sliould be allowed freely to flood tlie surface within certain hmits, and to deposit witliin these limits its fertOizing mud. This experiment has been tried with signal success. Strong embankments are formed, with sluices and flood-gates, to admit the river at will over a conflned surface. Here all its deposit is spread ; and afl;er a number of years the pestilent marshes of the Upper Arno (the Val Chiana) have been raised by a depth of not less than eight feet of fertUe alluvial sod. "When one district had been raised, the same process was repeated with that next adjoining, and so the whole surface of the marshes has been raised. The same plan is now being pursued with the marshes formed by the Ombrone in the Maremma of Tuscany. * " The woods have been cleared, and a skUful system of irrigation imparts fertihty to the district. Not less than one-fifth of the whole productive area 12 HISTOEY OF ROME. Inteod. the Apennines olives flourish ; and the vine is cultivated largely in all parts of the Peninsula, For this last purpose the sunny terraces of the limestone mountains are especially suited. But want of care in the treatment of the plant, or rather in the manufacture of the wine, makes the wines of Italy very inferior in quality to those of France or the Spanish Peninsula, though in ancient times the vineyards of northern- Campania enjoyed a high reputation. Every schoolboy knows the names of the Massic and Falernian hills, of the Calene and Formian vineyards. In the southern parts the date-palm is found in gardens, though this and other tropical plants are not natural to the climate, as they are in the south of the Spanish Peninsula, which lies about two degrees nearer to the region of the vertical sun. The plains of Apulia, where the tertiary strata sink to- Avards the gulf of Tarentum, were chiefly given up to pasturage — a custom which continues to the present day. This is connected with historical facts, to which we shall have to call attention hereafter. § 21. The natural beauty of Italy is too well known to need many words here. The lovers of the sublime will find no more magnificent mountain-passes than those . which descend through the Alps to the plains of Lombardy. In the valley of the-Dctra Baltea, from its source under Mont Blanc to Aosta and Ivrea, all the grandeur of Switzerland is to be found, enriched by the colours and warmth of a southern sky; the cold green and gray of the central chain here passes into gold and purple. In the same district is found the most charming lake scenery in the world, where the sunny hills and warm hues of Italy are backed by the snowy range of the towering Alps. Those who jirefer rich culture may gratify their utmost desires in the lower vale of the of Lombardy is irrigated at the present day. But nearer the mountains, nearly all the land is watered; between the Ticino and the Adda not less than 9-lOths; between the Adda and the Oglio, about 2-lOths; between the Oglio and the Adige, about l-Tth or l-8th." — Capt. Baird Smith's Irrig. of Italy, i. p. 205. This irrigation is almost entirely modern. The practice was known to antiquity, as appears from Virgil's well-knovni line (Eel. iii. 11): — " Claudite jam rivos, pueri, sat prata biberunt." But that it was rude appears from the beautiful description in Georg. i. 106, sqq. ;— " Deinde satis fiuvium inducit, rivosque sequentes : Et quum exustus ager morientibus ffistuat herbis, Ecce supercilio clivosi tramitis undam Elicit : Ula cadens raucum per levia murmur Saxa ciet, scatebrisque arentia temperat arva." It may, indeed, be observed, that this description is partly borrowed from Iliad *. 257, sqq. Sect. I. PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY OP ITALY. 13 Po about Lodi and Cremona, or across tlic Apennines in the valley of the Arno and in Campania. If we follow the southern coast, probably the world presents no lovelier passages than meet the traveller's eye as he skirts the Maritime Alps where they overhang the sea cornice-like, between Nice and Genoa; or below Campania, Avhere the limestone of the Apennines, broken by volcanic eruptions, strikes out into the sea between the bays of Naples and Salerno. The Romans, who became lords of all Italy and of the civilised world, sprung up in one of the least enviable portions of the whole Peninsula. The attractions of Modern Rome are less of nature than of associa- tion. The traveller would little care to linger on the banks of the Tiber, if it were stripped of its buildings and its history. Ostia at the present day. SECTION II. EARLY POPULATION OF ITALY." § 1. Constant invasions of Italy, notwithstanding Alpine barrier. § 2. Its subdivision among numerous tribes. § 3. Signification of the name Italy in Roman times. § 4. Roman Italy occupied by at least six distinct races. § 5. Pelasgians. § 6. Opicans or Oscans. § 7. Umbrians. § 8. Sabel- lians. § 9. Etruscans. § 10. Greeks. § 11. Romans a compound race. § 12. Evidence of Tradition. § 13. Evidence of Language : — Roman language akin to the Greek in structure, being probably Pelagian, mixed with Oscan, with Sabine vocabulary added. § 14. Comparison between Romans and Enghsh in respect to origia. § 15. Sources of early Roman History. § 1. It is a common remark, that mountains are the chief boundaries of countries, and that races of men are found in their purest state when they are separated by these barriers from ad- mixture with other tribes. Italy forms an exception to this rule. It was not so much the " fatal gift of beauty," of which the poet speaks,* as the richness of its northern plain, that attracted suc- cessive tribes of invaders over the Alps. From the earliest dawn of historic knowledge, we hear of one tribe after another sweep- ing like waves over the Peninsula, each forcing its predecessor on- ward, till there arose a power strong enough to drive back the current, and bar aggression for many an age. This power was the Roman Empire, which forced the Gauls to remain on the northern side of the Apennines, and preserved Italy untouched by the foot of the foreigner for centuries. No sooner was this power weakened, than the incursions again began ; and at the present day the fairest provinces of the Peninsula are subject to foreign rule. § 2. But if the northern barriers of the Peninsula- failed to check the lust of invaders, its long straggling shape intersected by mountains from top to bottom, materially assisted in break- ing it up into a number of different nations. Except during the strength of the Eoman Empire Italy has always been parcelled out into a number of small states." In the earliest times it was shared among a number of tribes differing in race and language. Great pains have been taken to investigate the origin and character of these primaeval nations. But the success has not been great, and it is not our purpose to dwell • on intricate ques- * The stanzas of Filicaja are well known from their version in Childe Harold, "Italia, oh Italia! would thou wert less lovely, or more powerful," &c. Sect. IL EARLY POPULATION OF ITALY. 15 tions of this kind. We will liere only give results so far as they seem to be established. § 3. It is "well known that it was not till the close of the Re- public, or rather the beginning of the Empire, that the name of Italy was employed, as we now employ it, to designate the whole Peninsula, from the Alps to the straits of Messina. The term Italia, borrowed from the name of a primaeval tribe who occupied the southern portion of the land, was gradually adopted as a generic title in the same obscure manner in which most of the countries of Europe, or (we might say) the Continents of the world have received their appellations. In the remotest times the name only included Lower Calabria :* from these narrow limits it grad- ually spread upwards, till about the time of the Punic Wars, its northern boundary ascended the little river Rubicon (between Umbria and Cisalpine Gaul), then followed the ridge of the Apen- nines westward to the source of the Macra, and was carried down the bed of that small stream to the Gulf of Genoa. When we speak of Italy, therefore, in the Roman sense of the word, we must dismiss from our thoughts all that fertile country which was at Rome entitled the provincial district of Gallia Cis- alpina and Liguria, and which was nearly equivalent to the terri- tory now subject to the crowns of Sardinia and Austria, with the Duchies of Parma and Modena, and the upper portion of the States of the Church. It will be seen that this political division nearly coincides with the physical divisions noticed in the fore- going chapter. § 4. But under Roman rule even this narrower Italy wanted that unity of race and language which, in spite of political sever- ance, we are accustomed to attribute to the name. Within the boundaries just indicated there were at least six distinct races, some no doubt more widely separated, but all marked by strong national characteristics. These were the Pelasgians, the Oscans, the Sabellians, the Umbrians, the Etrurians, and the Greeks, § 5. It is certain that in primitive times the coasts and lower valleys of Italy were peopled by tribes that had crossed over from the opposite shores of Greece and Epirus. These tribes belonged to that ancient stock called the Pelasgian, of which so much has been written and so little is known. The names that remained in Southern Italy were all of a Pelasgian or half-Hellenic character. Such were, in the heel of Italy, the Daunians and Peucetians (reputed to be of Arcadian origin), the Messapians and Sallentines ; to the south of the Gulf of Tarentum, the Chaonians (who are also found in Epirus) ; and in the toe the GEnotrians, who * Properly only the toe of Italy, from the Bay of Squillace to that of S. Eufemia (the Sinus Scylacius to the S. Lameticus), Arist. Polit vii. 10- 16 HISTORY OF EOME. Inteod. once gave name to all Southern Italy.* Such also were the Siculians and other tribes along the coast from Etruria to Cam" pania, who were driven out by the invading Oscan and Sabellian nations.! § 6. The Oscan or Opican race was at one time very widely spread over the south. The Auruncans of Lower Latium belonged to this race, as also the Ausonians, who once gave name to Cen- tral Italy,! and probably also the Volscians and the -^quians. In Campania the Oscan language was preserved to a late period in Roman History, and inscriptions still remain which can be inter- preted by those familiar with Latin. § 7. The Umbrians at one time possessed dominion over great part of Central Italy. Inscriptions in their language also remain, and manifestly show that they spoke a tongue not alien to the Latin. The irruption of the Sabellian and of the Etruscan nations was probably the cause which broke the power of the Umbrians, and drove them back to a scanty territory between the -^sis, the Rubicon, and the Tiber. § 8. The greatest of the Italian nations was the Sabellian. Un- der this name we include the Sabines, who are said by tradition to have been the progenitors of the whole race, the Samnites, the Picenians, Vestinians, Marsians, Marrucinians, Pelignians, and Frentanians. This race seems to have been naturally given to a pastoral life, and therefore fixed their early settlements in the upland valleys of the Apennines. Pushing gradually along this central range, they penetrated downwards towards the Gulf of Tarentum ; and as their population became too dense to find support in their native hills, bands of Avarrior youths issued forth to settle in the richer plains below. Thus they mingled with the Opican and Pelasgian races of the south, and formed new tribes, known by the names of Apulians, Lucanians, and Campanians. These more recent tribes, in turn, threatened the great Greek colonies on the coast, of which we shall speak presently. § 9. We now come to the Etruscans, the most singular people .of the Peninsula. This people called themselves Rasena, or Rasenna — a name that reminds us of the Etruscan surnames Porsenna, Vibenna, Sisenna. At one time they possessed not * " Terra antiqua, potens armis atque ubere glebse ; CEnotri coluere viri : nunc fama minores Italiam dixisse ducis de nomine gentem." — ^ViRG., Aen. i. 532. f For a clear and intelligible account of the Pelasgians, see Dr. Smith's Hist, of Greece, p. 14. X Virgil, &c. Aristotle (Politic, vii. 10) says that the Opicans were for- merly called Ausonea. Sect. II. EARLY POPULATIOISr OP ITALY. lY only the country known to tlic Romans as Eti'uria (that is, the country bounded by the Macra, the central Apennine ridge, and the Tiber), but also occupied a large portion of Liguria and Cis- alpine Gaul ;* and perhaps they had settlements in Campania.f In early times they possessed a powerful navy, and in the ptimi- tive Greek legends they are represented as infesting the Mediter- ranean with their piratical galleys.| They seem to have been driven out of their Trans-Apennine possession by early invasions of the Gauls ; and their naval power never recovered the blow which it received in the year 480 B.C., when Gelo King of Syra- cuse defeated their navy, combined with that of Carthage, on the same day on which the battle of Salamis crippled the power of Persia. But who this people were, or whence they came, baffles con- jecture. It may be assumed as certain, that the Pelasgic settlers came in by sea from the western coasts of Epirus, which are distant from Italy less than fifty miles ; and that the Opican, Um- brian, and Sabellian • races came in from the north by land. But with respect to the Etruscans all is doubtful. One well-known legend represents them as Lydians, who fled by sea from Asia Minor to avoid the terrible presence of famine. Another indi- cates that they came down over the Alps, and the origin of their name Rasena is traced in Raetia. On the former supposition, Etruria was their earliest settlement, and, pushing northward, they conquered the plain of the Po ; on the latter, they first took possession of this fertile plain, and then spread southward over the Apennines. Their language, if it could be interpreted, might help to solve the riddle. But though we have numerous inscriptions in their tombs, though the characters in which these inscriptions are writ- ten bear close affinity to the letters of the Greek and Roman alpha- bets, the tongue of this remarkable people has as yet baffled the deftest eff"orts of philology. § 10. Of the Greek settlements that studded the coast of Lower Italy, and gave to that district the name of Magna * AUusion is made to this in Virgil (Aen. x. 198-206) wliere tlie Etruscan chief Ocnus, the son of Manto, is said to have founded Mantua ("muros ma- trisque dedit tibi, Mantua, nomen"), and to have brought his troops from the Lago di G-arda : — " Quos patre Benaco velatus arundine glauca ilincius infesta ducebat in sequora pinu." ■}• Capua, according to tradition, was named from Capjs, an Etruscan chief. X See the pretty Hymn to Dionysos, attributed to Homer, in which Etruscan pirates take the god prisoner, and are punished in a strange fashion for their audacity. 18 HISTORY OP EOME. Introd-, Graecia, little need here be said. They were not planted till after the foundation of Rome. Many of them, indeed, attained to great power and splendour ; and the native Osco-Pelasgian popu- lation of the south became their subjects or their serfs. Sybaris alon^ in the course of two centuries, is said to have become mis- tress of four nations and twenty-five towns, and to have been able to raise a civic force of 300,000 men. Croton, her rival, was even larger.* Greek cities appear as far .north as Campania, where Naples still preserves in a corrupt form her Hellenic name, Neapolis. The Greek remains' discovered at Canusium (Canosi) in the heart of Apulia, attest the extent of Hellenic dominion. But the Greeks seem to have held aloof from mixture with the native Italians, whom they considered as barbarians. Rome is not mentioned by any Greek writer before the time of Aristotle (about 340 B.C.) § 11. From the foregoing sketch it will appear that Latium formed a kind of focus, in which all the different races that in past centuries had been thronging into Italy converged. The Etrus- cans bordered on Latium to the west ; the Sabines, with the Um- brians behind them, to the north ; the ^quians and Volscians, Oscan tribes, to the north-east and east ; while Pelasgian com- munities are to be traced upon the coast-lands. We should then expect beforehand to meet with a people formed by a commixture of divers tribes ; and this expectation is confirmed both by ancient Tradition and by the investigations of modern scholars into the construction of the Latin Language. § 12. Tradition tells us that the Aborigines of Latium mingled in early times with a people calling themselves Siculians ; that these Siculians, being conquered and partly expelled from Italy, took refuge in the island, which was afterwards called Sicily from them, but was at that time peopled by a tribe named Sicanians ; that the conquering people were named Sacranians, and had them- selves been forced down from the Sabine valleys in the neighbour- hood of Reate by Sabellian invaders ; and that from this mixture of Aborigines, Siculians, and Sacranians arose the people known afterwards by the name of Latins. Where all is uncertain, conjecture is easy. It might be alleged that the Aborigines and Siculians, both of them, or at least the latter, were Pelasgians, and that the Sacranians were Oscan. All such conjectures must remain unproved. But they all bear wit- ness to the compound nature of the Latin nation. § 13. An examination of Language leads us a little further. (1.) The Latin language contains a very large number of words * See more in Dr. Smith's History of Greece, pp. 120-123. Sect. II. EARLY POPULATION OP ITALY. 19 closely resembling tlie Greek ; and, what is particularly to be observed, the grammatical inflexion of the nouns and verbs, Avith all that may be called the framework of the language, closely resembles that ancient dialect of the Hellenic called ^olic. But it is not to be supposed that these roots and forms were borrowed from the Greek ; for these same roots and fomis are found in Sanscrit, the ancient language of India. In many of its forms, indeed, Latin more nearly resembles Sanscrit than Greek. It must be inferred, then, that these languages all branched oif from one stock. And it may be affirmed that the form under which this original language first appeared in Latium was Pelasgian or half-Hellenic. (2.) Though the framework and a large portion of the vocabu- lary resembles the Greek, there is also a large portion which is totally foreign to the Greek. This foreign element Avas certainly not Etruscan ; for if so, we should find many Avords in the Etruscan inscriptions agreeing with words in Latin ; whereas, in fact, we find hardly any. But in the Oscan inscriptions we find words much resembling the Greek; and it maybe inferred that the Oscan races had so largely blended with the Pelasgian, that the original Latin tongue Avas a mixture of the two. (3.) It is certain that the nation we call Roman was more than half Sabellian. Traditional history, as we shall see, attributes the conquest of Rome to a Sabine tribe. Some of her kings were Sabine ; the name borne by her citizens Avas Sabine ; her religion was Sabine ; most of her institutions in war and peace Avere Sabine ; and therefore it may be concluded that the language of the Roman people diff"ered from that of Latium Proper by its Sabine elements, though this difference died out again as the Latin communities were gradually absorbed into the territory of Rome. § 14. This, then, is the summary of Avhat we know. Tradition represents Italy as peopled by a number of diff"erent races, and Rome as partaking more or less of the peculiarities of each race. Philology confirms this representation, and attempts to establish some definite relations betAveen these races. The result is meagre, because the materials for a judgment are meagre. But it is at least certain, that the Roman people and its language were formed by a composition almost as manifold and heterogeneous as the people and language of England. The original Celtic population of our island gave Avay before the mixed Saxon, Anglian, and Danish tribes, which poured into it from the north. Anglo-Saxon, not without a dash of Celtic, became the common language of the people. Norman conquerors, Danes by origin, and Frenchmen by habit, gradually adopted the language of the con- 20 HISTORY OP ROME. Introd. quered people, infusing into it a large vocabulary of French or rather Latin terms ; but still the grammatical structure, the bone and sinew of the language, remained and remains Anglo-Saxon. So in Latium, it may be assumed, that the original inhabitants, a mixture of Pelasgians and Oscans, spoke a tongue which was the parent of the later Latin ; that the Sabine conquerors of Rome gradually adopted this Latin language, infusing into it a large vocabulary of their own. Other infusions may have occurred, both before and after ; but the organic structure still remained the same, and is identified with the structure of the Greek and its kindred tongues. § 15. W&will now pass on to the Legends, in which is preserved the early History of Rome, reserving for a later page all attempts to estimate how far these Legends are mere fictions, and how far they may be regarded as actual events. It may be observed that no people is so rich in legendary history as the Romans. Their patriotic pride preserved the stories of their ancestors from gene- ration to generation, till they were, so to say, embalmed by poets who lived in the times of the Punic wars. These poems, indeed, have, with the exception of a few fragments, perished ; but we learn from Cicero how highly they were esteemed in his day, and in the epic poem of Virgil, with the scarcely less poetic prose of Livy's early history, they still live. From these great writers chiefly are derived those famous Legends, which are now to be recounted for the hundredth time. Wolf of the Capitol. BOOK I. HOME UNDER THE KINGS. CHAPTER I. ORIGIN OF ROME : ROMULUS AND NUMA. § 1. Belief of the Eomans that they were sprung from the East. § 2. Legend of ^neas. § 3. Legend of Ascanius. §. 4. Legend of Rea Silvia, and birth of the Twins. § 5. Legend of recognition of Twins by Numitor. § 6. Legend of the quarrel of Romulus and Remus. Variations in Legends. § 7. Romulus founds Rome. Uncertainty of dates. § 8. Asylum. Rape of Sabines. § 9. "War with Sabmes. Legends of Tarpeia, of Janus, of Sabine women. § 10. Peace between Romans and Sabines. Romultjs AND Titus Tatius joint Kings. § 11. Legend of Cseles Vibenna and Etruscan settlers at Rome. Eour of Seven HiUs now occupied. § 12. Death of Titus Tatius, Reign and death of Romulus. § 13. Institutions attributed to Romulus: (1) Social; (2) PoHtical; (3) Military. § 14. Interregnum : Numa Pompilius, a Sabine, second king of Rome. § 15. Rehgious institutions attributed to Numa. § 16. His love of agriculture. § It. Other institutions. § 1. It was the pride of the Eomans to believe that they were descended from the ancient nations to the East of the Mediter- 22 "EOME UNDER THE KINGS. Book L ranean Sea. All their early legends point to Greece and Troy. How far the Pelasgian origin of tlie nation may account for this belief may be conjectured, but cannot be determined. It may, however, be assumed that the Arcadian Evander and his followers, whom the legends represent as the first settlers on the Palatine Hill, were Pelasgians ; and it is more than probable that the Trojan ^neas and his followers, who are believed to have coalesced with the Arcadians of the Palatine, were likewise Pelasgians, With this preface we proceed to the Legends themselves. § 2. Virgil has told the tale of the flight of ^neas, and every one knows how he escaped from the flames of Troy bearing his father Anchises on his shoulders, and leading his boy Ascanius by the hand to seek a new home in Hesperia, the Land of Promise in the West. His piety or reverential affection* was not confined to his own family. He rescued also the gods of his father's house- hold from the flames, and he was rewarded by the favour of Hea- ven. Mercury or Hermes guided his steps from the burning city ; the star of his mother Venus led him safely to the shores of the western land. Nor did the protection of the gods desert him when he had reached the long-sought shores of Italy. Omens and signs told him that he had reached the promised land, and that Latium was to be the cradle of the new people which was to spring from the loins of the Trojan settlers. A white sow farrowed on the coast, and gave birth to the prodigious number of thirty young. But before the Trojans could obtain a fixed settlement, it was needful to come to terms with the people of the country. These were the Aborigines or children of the soil.f Their King's name was Latinus, and their chief city Laurentum. They treated the new comers kindly, and Latinus gave his daughter Lavinia in marriage to ^neas, who therefore gave to the town which he built on the spot where the white sow had farrowed the name of Lavinium. This agreement, however, had not come to pass without blood- shed. Lavinia had been betrothed to Turnus, the young chief of the Rutulians of Ardea. He, wrathful with disappointment, made war upon the strangers. -i^Cneas sought the aid of Evander the Arcadian, who had founded a city on the Palatine Hill, which afterwards became Rome ; he was also befriended by the Etruscans of Csere, who had revolted against their barbarous chief Mezen- tius, " the despiser of the gods." The Trojans prevailed, and * Lat. pieias, a feeling of reverence and love towards parents and gods. f Some authors spell the word Aberrigines, as if from dberro, to wander away. Chap. I. EOMULUS. 23 Turnus fell. But tliree years after a new war arose ;* and JEneas disappeared amid the waters of tlie Numicius, a small river be- tween Lavinimn and Ardea. It was said that the gods had taken him, and a temple was raised to him on the spot, in which he was worshipped under the name of Jupiter Indiges, or the " God of the countr)^"f § 3. Ascanius, who was also called liilus, from the youthful down "l upon his cheeks, was warned by signs from Heaven that Lavinium was not to be the abiding place of the new people. After thirfy years, therefore, as foretokened by the sign of the thirty young swine, he removed to the ridge of a hill about fifteen miles to the south-east of Eome, and here he built a new city, which was afterwards famous under the name of Alba Longa, or "the Long White City."|| In time this city became the capital of Latium, and all the Latin tribes came up to worship at the Tem- ple of Jupiter Latiaris on the top of the Alban Mount. Their chiefs also used to meet for the discussion of matters of state in the sacred grove by the spring of Ferentina on the side of the same mount. Ascanius was succeeded by a son of JEneas and Lavinia, named Silvius,^ and the eleven Kings of Alba who succeeded all bore the surname of Silvius. § 4. The last of these Kings, named Procas, left two sons, Nu- mitor and Amulius. Amulius, the younger, seized the inheritance of his elder brother Numitor, who coveted not the crown. But he had a son and a daughter, who might hereafter be troublesome to the usurper. The son was put to death by Amulius; the daughter, Rea Silvia by name,** was dedicated to the service of * " Bellum ingens geret Italia, populosque feroces Contundet, moresque viris et moenia ponet, Tertia dum Latio regnantem viderit «stas, TernaquQ transierint Rutulis hiberna subactis." — ^Yirg., Aen. i. 263. •)• Hence VirgQ {Aen. vii. 242) speaks of vada sacra Numici, although he ends his poem with the death of Turnus. :|: lovXo^. Here, as in many other of the Eoman legends, Greek influence 03 discernible. II "At puer Ascanius, cut nunc cognomen Itilo, Triginta magnos volvendis mensibus orbes Imperio explebit, regnumque ab sede Lavini Transferet, et Longam multa vi muniet Albam." — VrnG., Aen. i. 271. If " Primus ad auras -^therias Halo commixtus sanguine surgit Silvius, Albanum nomen, tua postuma proles." — Aen. vi. TGI. * * She is commonly confounded with Ilia. But Iha was a daughter of JEneas ; and here we recognise a double legend, — one in which the vestal priestess was sister of Itilus, one in which she was twelve generations in descent from him- 24 ROME UNDER THE KINGS. Book I. Vesta, which compelled lier to live and die unwedded. But destiny is stronger than the will of man. The sacred Virgin of Vesta was found to be with child by the god Mars, and she bore two boys at a birth. The punishment of a vestal virgin for incon- tinence was dreadful : the law ordained that she should be buried alive. Amulius spared not his niece. The Twins he ordered to be thrown into the Tiber. It chanced that at that time the river had overflowed his banks, and spread shallow pools over the ground afterwards famous as the Roman Forum. The shoal water shrank before the fated founder of Rome, and the Twins were 'left on dry ground near a wild fig-tree, which was long preserved with care- ful reverence under the name of the Ficus Ruminalis. Here they grew to boyhood, being suckled by a wolf and fed by the care of a woodpecker, creatures held sacred among the Latins.* Thus marvellously preserved, they were found by Faustulus, the herdsman of Amulius, who took them home to his wife Acca Laurentia. So the Twins grew up with the herdsman's children in his cot upon the Palatine, and were known by the names of Romulus and Remus. § 5. The Twins were distinguished among the young shepherds by their nobler form and bolder spirit. It chanced that the herdsmen of Amulius, who dwelt on the Palatine Hill, were at fend with the herdsmen of Numitor, who fed their flocks upon the Aventine. The latter took Remus prisoner by an ambush, and brought him before Numitor, their master, who admired the stately figure of the youth, and recognised in his features that which called back to his mind the memory of his unhappy daughter. Soon after Romulus came up to ransom his brother, and his appearance confirmed Numitor in his suspicions. The accounts given of them by their foster-father Faustulus revealed to the youths their true descent. With prompt energy they attacked Amulius in his palace at Alba and slew him there. Numitor, their good grandsire, was restored to the throne of the Silvii, his fathers. § 6. Three hundred years had now passed since the foundation of Alba ; and the Twins, led by omens and auguries, determined to quit the city of Ascanius and build a new town on the bank of the Tiber where they had been bred.f Now as they knew * " Lacte quia Infantes nescit crevisse Perino, Et Picum expositis ssepe tulisse cibum?" Ovid, Fasti, iii. 54. — Picus (the Woodpecker) was a Latin god, being father of Turnus, and grandsire of Latinus, Yirg., Aen. vii. 45-49. \ " Hie jam tercenium totos regnabitur annos Gente sub Hectorea, donee regina sacerdos Marte gravis geminam partu dabit Iha prolem. Chap. I. llOMULUS. 25 not which of the two was the elder, a dispute arose with respect to the place and name of the projected city. Romulus wished to build upon the Palatine, Remus on the Aventine. To settle this question, they resolved to appeal to the gods. They were to watch, each on their chosen hill, from sunrise to sunset, and from sunset again to sunrise, and whoever was favoured by an ominous flight of birds was to be the founder. Remus first saw six vultures on his left. But at the moment that his mes- senger announced this success to Romulus, there appeared to Romulus a flight of twelve. Which, then, had the advantage, — Remus who saw first, or Romulus who saw most ? The quarrel was renewed, and in the fray Remus was slain by a chance blow. Another legend says that Romulus began to build the city on the Palatine, when Remus scornfully leapt over the narrow trench, and Romulus in wrath slew him. Another attributes the fatal act not to the brother, but to Celer, the friend of Romulus. And lastly, according to another legend still, there were two cities, — Rome, built by Romulus on the Palatine, and Remuria by Remus, not on the Aventine, but on a hill three miles south of Rome.* § 7. Young Romulus was now left alone to build his city on the Palatine. He carried a wall along the edge of the hill all round, and ordained that a space should be left inside and out- side the walls clear of all buildings. This space was accounted holy ground, and was called the Pomoerium ; and the beginning of the great city of the Tiber, was called Roma Quadrata, or Square Rome, to distinguish it from that which inclosed all the seven hills within the circuit of its walls.f The common date for the foundation of Rome is 753 before the Christian era.J Inde lup3s fulvo nutricis tegmine Isetus Eomulus excipiet gentem, et Mavortia condet Moenia, Romanosque suo de nomine dicet." — ViRG., Aen. i. 2 '7 2. ^neas therefore reigned 3 years ; Ascanius 3 X 10 = 30 ; the Silvii 3X100=300. See above, §§ 2 and 3. The number 3 was also the number which guided Romulus in framing his institutions. See below, note on Chapt. iii. § 3. * Remus himself is often caUed the founder of Rome. — Propert., ii. 1, 23 ; iv. 1, 9, &c. It will be observed that aU these Legends are ignorant of the Legend of Evander's city upon the Palatine, whicli is adopted by Virgil. f There was, however, according to ancient authors, a Septiraontiwfn even in this primseval Rome. X This is the date of Yarro, which is followed by most authors. Cato placed it 332 years after the fall of Troy, i. e. in 752 B.C. Polybius and others in 750 B.C. Cincius Alimentus, a Roman annahst contemporary with Hannibal, as late as 729 B.C. 2 26 EOMB UNDER THE KINGS. BOOK I. § 8. The walls were built and the city ready, but men were wanting to people it. To supply this want Eomulus set apart a place within the walls as a sanctuary or refuge for those who had shed blood, for slaves who had run away from their masters, and the like. Hence the city of Romulus was called by the Greek name of the Asylum. But though by this means men were supplied in plenty, they lacked wives, and the neighbouring cities held them unworthy to receive their daughters in marriage. Romulus therefore deter- mined to compass by foul means what he could not obtain by fair. He invited the people of the Sabines and neighbouring Latin towns to witness the Consualia, or games to be celebrated in honour of the god Consus ; and when they were intent upon the show, a number of Roman youths rushed in and seized all the marriageable maidens on whom they could lay hands. This was the famous Rape of the Sabine Women. § 9, The kindness of their Roman husbands soon reconciled the women thus strangely wedded to their lot : but their parents and kinsfolk took up arms to avenge the insult they had received. First came the men of Csenina, Crustumerium, and A-ntemnse ; but Romulus defeated them all, and slew Acron, chief of the men of Csenina, in single combat, and offered up his arms as a trophy to Jupiter Feretrius. Trophies thus won by the leader of one army from the leader of another were called spolia opima, and were only gained on two other occasions in the whole course of Roman history. The war with the Sabines of Cures was more serious. They came with a large force under their chief, Titus Tatius by name, and advanced to the foot of what was then called the Saturnian Hill, the same that afterwards became famous under the name of the Capitoline. The southern portion of this hill was called the Tarpeian,'* and here Romulus had made a cita- del, which he committed to the care of his faithful follower Tarpeius. But Tarpeius had a daughter, the fair Tarpeia, less faithful than her sire, and she promised to admit the Sabines into the citadel " if they would give her what they wore upon their left arms," by which she meant their golden armlets. She opened the gates ; but the Sabine soldiers threw upon her the heavy shields which they also " wore upon their left arms," and was crushed to death, — a meet reward for treachery. The Romans and Sabines now lay over against each other, the former on the Palatine, the latter on the Saturnian Hill, with a * The lower part was the Tarpeian Hill or Capitol, and the upper was the Arx. The depression between these two eminences was called Inter- montium. Chap. I. EOMULUS. 27 swampy valley between them, tlie same in wliich the Twins had been exposed, the same which afterwards became so famous as the Forum of Rome. Here they fought many battles. Once the Sabines had forced their way up to the very Pomoerium of the Palatine, when, behold ! the gates burst open, and the god Janus poured forth a flood of water and swept away the foe. Another time, Mettus Curtius, a brave Sabine, forced his horse through the swamp and pressed the Romans hard. Romulus invoked the aid of Jupiter Stator, or the Stayer of Flight, and rallied his Romans. Still the battle raged fiercely, when the Sabine women, who were the cause of the war, rushed down from the Palatine with dishevelled hair and threw themselves between their Roman husbands and their Sabine kinsmen. Then a peace was made ; and in memory of the service done by the Sabine matrons, a festival called the Matronalia was celebrated on the Calends of March, which was at that time the first day of the new year.* § 10. By the peace then made it was agreed that the people of Rome and Cures should be united into one community. Ro- mulus and his Romans were to continue in the possession of the Palatine Hill, while Titus and his Sabines were to occupy the Quirinal.f The Saturnian Hill or Citadel was left in possession of the Sabines. The two kings were to retain joint authority, and to debate on matters concerning the Avhole community, the Burgesses of both nations were to assemble at the upper end of the valley which afterwards became the Forum, ■whence this place was called the Comitium or Meeting-place. More- over it is to be noted that Romulus assumed the Sabme name of Quirinus,J and all the Burgesses or Citizens were cabed by the Sabine title of Quirites or Men of the Spear,|| fatts which * Therefore Horace amuses himself with the wonder whiclj his frienda would feel at seeing him, a bachelor^ preparing for festivities on the day of the matroTCs feast : — " Martiis cmlebs quid agam Kalendis," &c. — Od. iii. 8, 1. Compare Ovid, Fasti, iii. ItO, sqq. f " Hunc igitur .... veteres dona.rant sede Sabini, Inque Quirinali constitu^re jugo." — Ovm, JFasti^ d. 217. X " narravit Tatium fortemque Quirinum, Binaque cum popuhs regna coisse suis." — Ibid. 93. I From Quiris, Sabine for a- spear. Others derived these names from the town of Cures. Ovid {Fasti, ii. 475) notes both derivations :— " Siva quod hasta Quiris priscis est dicta Sabinis, Seu quia Romanis junxerat ille Cures." See below, Chapt. iv. § 8. 28 EOiiuS UNDER THE KINGS. . Book I. plainly proved tliat in tlie union the Sabines had the lion's share of the spoil. § 11. At this time the Etruscans were powerful by land and sea. They had, as the legend relates, taken part in the wars be- tween ^Eneas and the Rutulians ; and another legend mentions that Cseles Vibenna, one of their chiefs, had settled on the hill which lies to the south-east of the Palatine, and that from him this hill received the name of Cselian. This Cseles is said to have assisted Romiilus in his war againt the Sabines, and when peace was made, his followers were allowed to become members of the new community. Thus four of the seven hills were com- bined into one city, the Palatine, Quirinal, and Cselian, with the Saturnian for the Citadel. § 12. Not long after the union, Titus Tatius, the Sabine king, was killed while sacrificing at Lavinium by the Latins, in revenge for some injuries Avhich they had received from some of his Sa- bine compatriots. Romulus now resumed the sole sovereignty, and ruled without a colleague. He is said to have reigned in all seven and thirty years, when he came to a sudden and unexpected end. It chanced, says the Legend, that he was reviewing his army on the Field of Mars by the Goat's Pool, when there arose a fearful storm, and the darkness was so thick that no man could see his neighbour. When it cleared off, the king had disap- peared. But it was revealed that he had been carried away in the chariot of his father Mars ;* and shortly after one Julius Proculus related that as he was returning from Alba, Romulus the King had appeared to him in celestial form, and told him that hereafter the people of Rome were to regard him as their guard- ian god jointly with Mars, and were to worship him by his Sabine name of Quirinus. But in later days this Legend seemed too marvellous, and a new one was adopted. It was said that the chief men — the Sabine nobles we may presume — had murdered hiin in the con- fusion of the storm, had carried away his body piecemeal under their gowns, and then had invented the miraculous story to conceal their crime. § 13. To Romulus are attributed all the early institutions of Rome, Social, Political, and Military. (1.) To begin with the Social regulations. The whole popula- tion were divided into two classes, the Burgesses or citizens on the one hand, and on the other their Clients or dependents.! * " Quirinus Martis equis Acheronta fugit." — Horat., Od. I The common derivation of diesis is from icMecv, to hear or obey, with which is compared tlie Latin old diiere, to be called [so and so]. Chap. I. ROMULUS. 29 The Burgesses were*called Patrons in relation to tlieir Clients. These Patrons were expected, by law or custom, to defend tlieir Clients from all Avrong or oppression on tlie part of others, while the Clients were bound to render certain services to their Patrons ; so that the relation of Patron and Client in some de- gree resembled that of Lord and Vassal in the feudal times, or that of Chief and Clansman in the highlands of Scotland, or per- haps even that of Proprietor and Serf in Russia. The Burgesses alone engrossed all political rights, and they alone made up what was at this time the Populus Romanus or Body Politic of Rome. The Clients were at the mercy of their Patrons, and had as yet no place in the State. (2.) The Political institutions of Romulus could only affect the Burgessess or Patrons. Among these the old national dis- tinctions gave the rule of division. They were formed into three Tribes* or nations, — the Ramnes or Romans of Romulus, the Titles or Sabines of Titus, the Luceres or Etruscans of Cseles, who Avas a Lucumo or nobleman in his own Etruscan city. Then he subdivided each Tribe into ten Curiae, and each Curia had a chief oflBcer called its Curio. In all, therefore, there were thirty Curiae, and they received names after thirty of the Sabine women who had brought about the union of the nations. The Burgesses used to meet according to their Curiae in the Comitium to vote on all matters of state, which the King was bound to lay before them, and their assembly was called the Comitia Curiata, or Assembly of the Curies, and all matters were decided by the majority of Curiae that voted for or against it. No law could be made except with their consent. Nor was the sovereign power of the king considered legally established till it had been con- ferred by a curiate law. By the sovereign power (Imperium) so conferred the King held chief command in war, and was supreme judge in all matters of life and death, and in token thereof he was attended by twelve lictors bearing bundles of rods with sharp axes projecting from the middle of them (fasces). Besides this large assembly, in which all Burgesses were enti- tled to vote, each in his own curia, there was a select body for advising the King, called the Senate or Council of Elders. This consisted at first of 100 members ; but when the Sabines were joined to the Romans, 100 more were added, so that the whole number consisted of 200, being 10 from each of the 20 Ramnian and Titian Curies : for the Luceres or Third Tribe, though they also had 10 Curiae, were not as yet allowed to send any members to the Senate, * The word tribiis itself originally meant a third pari. See § 6, Note. 80 ROME UNDER THE KINGS. Book I. (3.) For military purposes each Tribe wa^ ordered to furnish 1000 men on foot and 100 on horseback, so that the army of the united burgesses consisted of 3000 foot and 300 horse, and was called by the name of Legion. The 300 horsemen were the no- blest young men of the military age, and also served as a body- guard to the king. The horsemen of each Tribe were called a Century, and the three Centuries were known by the same name as their Tribes — Ramnes, Titles, and Luceres. The whole squadron was called by the joint name of Celeres, and the Cap- tain or Prefect of the Celeres bore the first rank in the state after the King.* § 14. Romulus had left the earth, and there was no King at Rome. The Senators took the government into their own hands. For this purpose the whole Senate was divided into tens : each ten was called a Decuria, and the chief of each Decuria a Decu- rion. Every Decurion with his nine compeers held the sovereign power for five days. The Decurions therefore were called Inter- reges or Between-kings, and the time during which they ruled was an Interregnum. When this state of things had continued for a year, the Bur- gesses imperiously demanded that they should have a King. The Senate yielded, and a Sabine named Numa Pompilius was chosen, known as a just and holy man, famous for his wisdom in all mat- ters of right and religion. He was elected by the Curies in their assembly, and himself proposed the law whereby he was invested with sovereign power. His peaceful reign lasted for nine and thirty years, after which he was buried with the books of his laws on Mount Janiculum. § 15. As Romulus the Roman Avas held to be the framer of all regulations Social, Political, and Military, so Numa the Sabine is the reputed author of all the Religious and Ecclesiastical institutions of Rome. According to the Legend, he was instructed in all these things by Egeria, a Muse or (as the Latins called her) a Camena. To her sacred grove he was admitted, and even became her spouse. By her counsel he surprised the gods Picus and Faunus in their retreat under the Aventine, and kept them in duress till they had taught him how to draw forth Jupiter, the Father of the gods, from heaven. Jupiter appeared in the form of lightning, and promised him a public sign of his favour. Accordingly, next day, in the presence of the assembled Burgesses, the ancile * It will be remembered that according to one form of the legend, it was Celer who killed Remus, § 6. Chap. I. NUMA. 31 or sacred shield of Mars Gradivus, the father of Quirinus, fell from, heaven amid lightning and thunder. To prevent this pre- cious gift from being stolen, Numa ordered eleven others to be made of exactly the same substance, size, and shape, so that no man miffht know which was the true ancile : and to take charge of these shields, twelve Salii, or dancing priests of Mars, were appointed, who also officiated at the public thanksgiving which in after times the Romans used to offer after great victories.* Further, for the regulation of the worship of the gods, and to decide all questions of religion, he created four pontiffs, with a superior named the Pontifex Maximus. These acted as a kind of ecclesiastical council ; and the offices were usually held by the most distinguished men at Rome, for there Avere no clergy or class set apart from other classes for religious purposes. For the special service of the two guardian gods of Rome, Mars Gra- divus and Quirinus, he appointed two Flamens, called respec- tively the Flamens of Gradivus and Quirinus. With these was associated a third, devoted to the service of supreme Jupiter, who bore the name of the Flamen Dialis. To consult the will of the gods by auguries and divinations he created four Augurs. And to keep " alive the sacred fire of Vesta, which had been brought from the shrine of the goddess at Alba, the mother city of Rome, he ordained that there should be four Vestal Virgins. In honour of Vesta he built a temple on the north side of the Palatine, abutting on the Forum, and adjoining it a dwelling for the vestals. His own palace also, the Regia, he placed next to the temple of the goddess. To distinguish time of war from time of peace, he is said to have built a temple to the god Janus, or the Double God, whose two faces looked different ways.f During the whole of his reign the door of the temple was closed in sign of peace ; but from his time to the time of the Emperor Augustus it remained open in sign of war, except during a brief period after the first Punic * Hence Horace (Od. i. 38), on receiving the news of the victory of Augustus at Actium, breaks out : — " Nunc est bibendum, nunc pede libero Pulsanda tellus ; nunc Saliaribvs Omare pulvinar Deorum Tempus erat dapibus, sodales." Such thanksgivings were called supplicationes. f His name Janus (i. e. Djanus), corresponding to the feminine Diana (Djana), is derived from the root dis (tSif) or his, implying double. It may here be observed that tlae divinities of ancient Latium went in pairs, as, besides Janus and Diana, Saturnus and Ops, Vulcanus and Vesta. 32 EOMB UNDER THE KINGS. Book I. § 16. Yet Numa willed not that the Eomans should offer costly- sacrifices to the gods, but ordained that they should present corn and the fruits of the earth, and not any living thing ; for he was a lover of husbandry, and was anxious that this peaceful art should flourish. Therefore he took pains to secure each man in possession of his land, and fixed the bounds of each farm by landmarks or termini, which it was sacrilege to remove, for they were under the protection of the god Terminus ; and in honour of this god he established the yearly festival of the Terminalia. Moreover he distributed all the lands of Rome into pagi or dis- tricts, and' ordered the memory of this act to be kept alive by the feast of the Paganalia.* § 17. Some other matters are attributed to Numa which might here be mentioned. Ke is said to have divided the people into guilds or companies, according to their trades and professions. He built a temple to Good Faith ; he determined the dies fasti and nefasti, or common days and holidays ; and lastly, he is said to have added to the year of Eomulus (which consisted of 10 months only, some of them but 20 days long) the months of January and February, and to have ordained that the year should consist of twelve lunar months and one day over, or in all of 355 days.f * The city land was similarly (it is not said by whom) divided into vici or wards, with a corresponding festival called Compitaha. This festival is attributed to Servius TuUius. ■}• The Eomans continued to reckon by this short year till the calendar was reformed by the dictator Csesar; and in order to make the lunar year of 355 days square to some extent with the solar year of 365|- days, Numa is said to have ordained that a supplementary month should be intercalated every third year between the 23rd and the 25th of February, whicli was considered to be the last month of the year. This business of intercalation, however, was left to the Pontiffs, who executed it in a very arbitrary and uncertain manner. "When, therefore, we hear of events taking place in any Roman month, it seldom happens that this month coincides with our own month of the same name : and this makes it extremely difficult to decide the exact time of most events in Roman History before the Julian era. Lake of Alba. CHAPTER II. TULLUS HOSTILIUS AND ANCUS MARTIUS, THE THIRD AND FOURTH KINGS. § 1. Increase of Eome in next two reigns. § 2. Choice of Tullus HosTrLius. § 3. "War with Alba. Legend of Horatii and Curiatii. § 4. War with Etruscans. Punishment of Mettus Fuffetius. § 5. Forced migration of Albans to Eome. § 6. "War with Sabines. § T. Curia Hostilia. § 8. Death of Tullus. § 9, 10. Election of Angus Martius: his institutions. § 11. Subjugation of Southern Latium: increase of Eoman citizens. § 12. Pons SubUcius : Janiculum: Ostia. §13. Death of Ancus. § 1. From the reigns of Romulus and Nuraa, the reputed foun- ders of Rome and all her early institutions, we pass to that of two Kings, also a Roman and a Sabine, who swelled the numbers of the Roman people by the addition of large bodies of Latins, many of whom were transferred from their own cities by force or persuasion. These Kings prepared the way for the more ex- tensive political changes attributed to their successors. § 2. An Interregnum again ensued after the death of Numa. 2* 34 KOMB UNDER THE KINGS. Book I. But in no long time tlie Burgesses met, and chose to be their king TuLLUs HosTiLius, a Roman, whose grandsire had been a captain in the army of Romulus. His reign of two-and-thirty years was as bloody and warlike as that of Numa had been calm and peaceful. The acts attributed to him are, first, the esta- blishment of the Latins of Alba in Rome, and secondly, the crea- tion of judges to try matters of life and death in place of the king, called Qusestores Parricidii. The famous Legends which follow give the reasons for both these matters. § 3. The chief war of Tullus was against the Albans. It broke out thus. The lands of Rome and Alba marched together, that is, they bordered one upon the other, and the borderers of both nations had frequent quarrels and plundered one another. King Tullus took up the cause of his people, and demanded restitu- tion of the booty taken by the Albans from Cluilius, the Dictator of Alba, who replied that his people had suffered to the full as much from the Romans as they of Rome from the Albans. Since, then, neither party would make satisfaction, war was de- clared. Cluilius first led out his army and encamped within five miles of Rome, at a place afterwards called the Fossa Cluilia, where he died, and the Albans chose Mettus Fuffetius to be Dictator in his stead. Meanwhile Tullus, on his part, had marched into the territory of the Albans, and Mettus returned to give him battle. But when the two armies were drawn up ready to fight, Mettus proposed that the quarrel should be de- cided by the combat of champions chosen from each army, and Tullus agreed to the proposal. Now it chanced that there were three brothers in each army, equal in age, strength, and valour. Horatii was the name of the three Roman brethren, Curiatii of the Alban.* These were chosen to be the champions, and an agreement was made, with solemn rites, that victory should be adjudged to that people whose champions should conquer in the strife. Then the two armies sate down opposite one another as spectators of the combat, but not like common spectators, for each man felt that the question at issue was whether Rome was to be mistress of Alba or Alba of Rome. Long and bravely fought all the champions. At length all the Curiatii were grievously wounded ; but of the Horatii two lay dead upon the plain, while the third was yet untouched. So the surviving Ho- ratius, seeing that, single-handed, he could not prevail, pretended to flee before his three opponents. They pursued him, each as he was able ; the most vigorous was foremost ; he that had lost * In another form of the legend, the names are reversed. It may be pre- sumed that this is the Latin version, whUe the received form is the Roman. Each nation would wish to claim the conqueror. Chap. II TULLUS HOSTILIUS. 35 most blood lagged behind. And when Horatius saw that they were far separate one from another, he turned about and smote the first pursuer ; so likewise the second ; and lastly he slew the third. Then the Romans were adjudged victorious. But a sad event followed to damp their joy. Horatius was returning home with the spoils of the slaughtered three borne in triumph before him, when, outside the Capuan gate,* he met his sister. Alas ! she had been betrothed to one of the Alban brethren, and noAV she beheld his bloody vestments adorning the triumph of her brother, and she wept aloud before all the army. But when Horatius saw this, he was so angered that he took his sword and stabbed her where she stood. Now all, both Senate and People, were shocked at this unnatural deed ; and though they owed so much to Horatius, they ordered him to be tried before two Judges appointed by the King. These Judges found Horatius guilty, and condemned him to be " hanged Avith a rope," according to the law; nor had they power to lighten his punishment. But Horatius appealed to the People, and they pardoned him, because he had fought so well for them, and be- cause old Horatius, the father, entreated for him, and said that his daughter had been rightly slain, and that he would himself have slain her, as he had a right to do, because he was her father; for by the old Roman law the father had this terrible power over his children. But to atone for the bloodshed, the father was ordered to make certain sacrifices at the public expense ; and the heads of the Horatian Gens continued to offer these sacri- fices ever afterwards. § 4. Thus it was that the Albans became subjects of King TuUus, and they were bound to assist him in war against his enemies; and he soon called upon them to follow him against the Etruscans of Veii and Fidense. So Mettus Fufi"etius came to his aid with a brave army ; but in the battle Mettus stood aloof upon a hill with his army, waiting to see which party should prevail. The Romans were so hard pressed that the king to stay the alarm, vowed temples in case of victory to Pale- ness and Panic-fear (Pallor et Pavor). At length the battle Avas won, and then the Alban Dictator came down and pretended to be on their side. But Tullus took no notice, and summoned all the Albans to come next day to consult on public afiairs. So they came, as to a peaceful assembly, with no arms in their hands, when suddenly the Roman, legion closed around them, and they could neither fight or flee. Then Tullus rebuked the Albans, but said that he would only punish their chief, for that * It may be noted that there was no Capuan Gate (Porta Capena) tiU after the building of the walls of Servius TuUius. 36 EOME UNDER THE KINGS. Book L he was the most guilty. And he took Mettus and bound him by the arms and legs to two four-horsed chariots ; and the cha- riots, being drawn different ways, tore the unhappy wretch asunder. § 5. Then Tullus gave orders that the city of Alba should be dismantled, and that all its burgesses with their clients should migrate to Rome. It was sad to leave their fathers' homes and the temples of their fathers' gods. Yet was their new abode no strange city. Had not Rome been founded by Alban princes ? and did not the Quirites keep up the eternal fire of Vesta and worship the Latin Jupiter ? Nor did Tullus treat them as ene- mies, but gave them the Cselian Hill for their quarter ; and he built a palace for himself on the same hill and dwelt in the midst of them : he also made the heads of chief Alban families bur- gesses of Rome, and placed some of their chief men in the Senate. § 6. After this he also made war against the Sabines ; and in fulfilment of a vow which he made in the stress of battle, he celebrated his victory by establishing the games of the Saturnalia and Opalia in honour of the Latin god Saturnus and the god- dess Ops. § 7. To Tullus Hostilius likewise is attributed the building of the Senate-house, called from him the Curia Hostilia. It stood on the edge of the Comitium facing the Palatine ; and in a building erected on the same spot at a later time, and bearing the same name, the Senate continued to hold their ordinary meetings till the days of Julius Caesar. § 8. But amid his triumphs and successes Tullus rendered not meet reverence to the gods. The people of Rome were smitten by a plague, and the King himself fell ill of a lingering disease. Then he bethought him to seek counsel of Jupiter, after the manner of King Numa. But when he took his station upon the Aventine, and endeavoured to draw forth the father of the gods from heaven, lightnings descended, as to Numa, but Avith de- stroying force, so that he himself was smitten and his house burnt down. His reign had lasted two-and-thirty years. § 9. After a short interregnum, the Burgesses chose Aureus Martius to be King, a Sabine noble, son of a daughter of King Numa. His reputation was worthy of his descent ; and his first act was to order the laws of his venerated grandsire to be written out fair on a white board and set up for all to read in the Forum. He also made a prison for criminals in the rock beneath that side of the Saturnian Hill which overhangs the Forum, — the same which was afterwards enlarged by King Servius TuUius, and called after him the Tullianum. Chap. II. ANGUS MARTIUS. 37 § 10. Ancus was a lover of peace ; but he did not shrink from war, when Avar was necessary to protect the honour of the Roman name. But even in matters of war he showed that reverence for law and order, Avhich was his ruling characteristic. For he created a college of sacred Heralds, called Fetiales, whose business it was to demand reparation for injuries in a regular and formal manner,'* and in case of refusal to declare war by hurling a spear into the enemy's land. § 11. His chief wars were with the Latin cities of the neigh- bourhood. He took Politorium, and destroyed it; and reduced to subjection all the Latin shore, or that part of Latium which lies between Rome and the sea. The heads of families in these Latin cities, after the example set by Tullus Hostilius, were made Roman citizens ; and to such as chose to settle in Rome Ancus assigned Mount Aventine for a dwelling-place, so that thus a fifth hill was added to the other four. In this way the city of Rome was greatly increased, and large numbers added to its citizens ; while by the wars of Tullus and Ancus the power of the Latins proportionably diminished. But the Latins whom Ancus made citizens of Rome, were not, like the Albans in the time of Tullus, put on an equality with the old Burgesses. Most of them continued to reside in their own small cities, subject to Roman authority. They formed a new element in the state — being neither Patrons nor Clients — of which we shall speak more at length in our account of Tarquinius Pris- ons. It is probably this encouragement of a free people, who were not bound by the ties of Clientship to any Patron, that leads Virgil to speak of Ancus as " too much rejoicing in popular favour." f § 12. Other works of utility are attributed to Ancus Martins. He is said to have made the first bridge over the Tiber. It was built of wooden piles (sublicse), and hence was called the Pons Sublicius. In order to prevent it being broken down by the Etruscans who lived on the other side of the Tiber, he fortified Janiculum, where his grandsire Numa lay buried. He also built the town of Ostia at the mouth of the river, which long continued to be the principal haven of the Roman people. § 13. He died in peace after a prosperous reign of four-and- twenty years. * "We find, however, that the same formality was observed by Tullus Hos- tilius in declaring war against Alba: see § 3. f " Quern juxta sequitur jactantior Ancus, Nunc quoque jam nimium gaudens popularibus auris." ViRG., Aen. vi. 816. Cloaca Maxima. CHAPTER III. TARQUINIUS PRISCUS AND SERVIUS TULLIUS, THE FIFTH AND SIXTH KINGS. § 1. Sons of Ancus set aside. § 2. Early history of Taequinius Peiscus. § 3. How he came to be chosen King. § 4. Addition to numbers of Senate, § 5. Social state before reforms of Tarquin. Patricians or Patrons, Clients, Plebeians. § 6. Origin of Plebs. § 1. Tarquin's plan of reform. § 8. Opposition of Patricians. Legend of Attus Navius. § 9. Plan modified. Augmentation of Patrician Gentes and of Knights. § 10. Wars of Tarquin. § 11. Public works: Cloaca Maxima, etc. § 12. Legend of death of Tarquin. § 13. Servius Tullius. § 14. Wish to give political power to aU Plebeians. § 15. Plan of reform. Comitia Centuriata. § 16. Census. Preponderating influence of property. § 17. Plebs made part of Populus, or Body Politic. § 18. Eoman territory divided into Tribes. § 19. Pour of city. § 20. Sixteen of country. § 21. Only Plebeians originally members of Tribes. § 22. Assembly of curias finally superseded by that of Tribes. § 23. Walls of Rome built by Servius. § 24. Principal places in early Rome. § 25. Alliance with Latins. § 26. Legend of death of Servius. § 1. The first trace of hereditary succession in the Roman monarchy appears with Ancus. He was grandson to Numa, and Chap. III. TARQUINIUS PRISCUS. 39 according to one legend conspired to take away the life of his pre- decessor Tullus. But the legends, after the death of Ancus, all make the notion of hereditary right an essential element in the succession. Ancus had left two sons, as yet boys. But when they grew up, and found the throne occupied by a stranger, they took measures for asserting their right. It is of this stranger that we must noAv speak. He is known to all by the name of Tar- QuiNius Priscus. § 2. Tarquinius had been a citizen of Tarquinii, a city of Etruria. But it was said that his father was a Greek nobleman of Corinth, Demaratus by name, who had fled from his native land, because the power had fallen into the hands of a tyrannical oligarchy.'* The son had become a Lucumo or Chief at Tarquinii, had gained great wealth, and married a noble Etruscan lady, Tanaquil by name. Both himself and his wife were eager for power and honour ; and, as they could not satisfy their desires at home, they determined to try their fortune in the new city on the Tiber, where their countryman Cseles Vibenna and his foUoMcis had already settled.f Therefore they set out for Eome; and when they had reached the Mount Janiculum, in full view of the city, an eagle came down with gentle swoop and took the cap from ofi" the head of Tarquin, and then, wheeling round him, replaced it. His wife Tanaquil, skilled in augury, like all the Etruscans, inter- preted this to be an omen of good-. " The eagle," she said, " was a messenger from heaven ; it had restored the cap as a gift of the gods ; her husband would surely rise to honour and power." Thus it was that he came to settle in Rome, probably among his coun- trymen on the Cselian Hill. He took the Latin name of Lucius Tarquinius Priscus ; J and by his riches and his cleverness and goodwill he gained the favour of King Ancus, and was made guar- dian of his children. But he used the power so gotten in his own favour ; and the people chose him to be their king. § 3. It needs some explanation to show how Tarquin, being an Etruscan stranger, came to be chosen king of Rome : for in all likelihood he belonged to the tribe of the Luceres ; and this Tribe had hitherto been held subordinate. The Ramnians of the Palatine and Titians of the Quirinal had kept power in their own hands ; and the Kings had been chosen by turns from these two Tribes. Romulus and Tullus were Ramnians ; Numa and Ancus * Indentified by the Romans with the Bacehiades mentioned by Herodotus. \ Chapt. i. § 11. Another legend makes Cseles younger than Tarquin. Compare § 12, and Chapt. v. § 11. X Another form of the legend takes no notice of his Etruscan origin, and gives him to wife a person bearing the undeniably Latin name of Caia CEecilia. 40 ROME UNDER THE KINGS. Book I. were Titians. Also, Eomulus had chosen only 200 elders into the Senate ; of whom 100 were first chosen from the Romans or Ramnians of the Palatine, and 100 afterwards from the Sabines or Titians of the Quirinal ; and there were no Lucerians in the Senate, except perhaps some few that King Tullus had added from the Alban families, which he settled in the Caslian Hill. Moreover, Numa did not admit the Burgesses of the Lucerian Tribe into the sacred offices which he made. For, under the Chief Pontifex, there were but four other Pontifices, two for the Eamnians, and two for the Titians. So, under the Chief Flamen of Jove, there were but two Flamens, one belonging to the Roman or Ramnian god Mars, the other to him who had become a god by the Sabine name of Quirinus. Likewise, he had made but four Augurs, and four Vestal Virgins ; two for the Ramnians, and two for the Titians ; * and Tullus Hostilius had appointed but two Judges to represent him in deciding cases of life and death. The Luceres, therefore, were held in small account ; and no doubt in the Comitia Curiata they were always outvoted by the other two Tribes ; for they had but 10 Curiae to the 20 of the other two. But of late the Luceres had been waxing in power. The Albans had been added to their ranks ; and no doubt this addi- tion had made them more Latin, more like the other Romans, and less like the Etruscans. It might well be, therefore, that Tarquin was able by their means to raise himself to the kingly power. At all events, we may be sure that the four first Kings appear as representatives of the two elder Tribes ; and that the three last belonged to the Luceres. § 4. Tarquin soon began to use his power to raise those by Avhom he had risen ; for he made the Luceres almost equal in dig- nity to the two old Tribes. First he chose 100 fresh members into the Senate, who (we cannot doubt) were all of the Lucerian Tribe ; so that now the Senate consisted of 300. Then, he in- creased the number of Vestal Virgins to six ; the two new ones being (it is presumed) Lucerian. But the influence of the old Tribes in the colleges of Pontifices, Augurs, and Flamens appears to have been too strong to allow him to make similar alterations here. These remained according to the numbers fixed by Numa for a great many years. * It has been already noticed that the number 3 frequently recurs in the early history of Rome (c. i. § 6 and § 13). But this number is suddenly interrupted, and (as appears from the text) 2 became the ruling unit of com- bination. The latter number seems to have been the favourite of the Latins : see Chapt. i. § 15, Note. Probably this change must be attributed to the dominant influence of the two elder tribes. Chap. III. TARQUINIUS PRISCUS, 41 § 5. Tarquin, liowever, was not satisfied witli simply raising liis Lucerian friends to an equality witli the Burgesses of the old Tribes. He designed to make other alterations in the state, larger and more important. To explain these we must go back to the institutions attributed to Romulus. The whole body of the people had been divided (as we saw) into two great classes, Patrons and Clients. The Clients or vassals being wholly dependent upon their Patrons, had no part in the Body Politic, nor had they the right of connuhium (as it was called), that is, the right of inter- marrying with their Patrons. The Patrons, alone, therefore (we repeat), made up the Populus or Body Politic of Rome : these only Avere members of the Three Tribes ; these only voted in the Comitium by their Curiae, when they chose their Kings or made laws. At first, then, there were only two classes of freemen at Rome, Patrons and Clients ; and all the power was in the hands of the Patrons. These Patrons or Lords also took the name oipatres ov patricii, Fathers or Patricians. In after times the name of Patres was con- fined to the senators, and the descendants of the old patrons or patres were called Patricians. The Patricians were at this time the same as the Burgesses. The Patricians were divided into certain private associations, called Gentes, which we may translate Houses or Clans. All the members of each Gens were called gentiles ; and they bore the same name, which always ended in -ius ; as for instance, every member of the Julian Gens was a Julius ; every member of the Cornelian Gens was a Cornelius, and so on. Now in every Gens there were a number of Families^ which were distinguished by a name added to the name of the Gens. Thus the Scipios, Sullas, Cinnas, Cethegi, Lentuli were all Families of the Cornelian Gens. Lastly, every person of every Family was denoted by a name pre- fixed to the name of the Gens. The name of the person was, in Latin, prcenomen ; that of the Gens or House, nomen; that of the Family, cognomen. Thus Caius Julius Caesar was a person of the Caesar Family in the Julian Gens ; Lucius Cornelius Scipio was a person of the Scipio Family in the Cornelian Gens ; and so forth. Their praenomen, or fore-name, was Caius or Lucius, etc.; their nomen or name Julius, Cornelius, etc. ; their cognomen or sur- name Caesar, Scipio, etc. These Gentes may be compared to the Scottish Clans, in which there are many Families, as in the Clan Campbell there are the great Families of Argyle and Breadalbane and others. Whether the Gentes were originally connected by blood or not, is hard to say.* But whether it was so or no, it is certain * See the discussion in Niebuhr, i. p. 33, &c. 42 EOMB UNDER THE KINGS. Book I. that they ceased to be so, just as in the Scottish Clans. But they were bound together by certain private sacred rites, called sacra ffentilicia, of which we have seen one example in the case of the Horatian Gens.* The Patrons or Patricians, then, alone belonged to Gentes, and these only might intermarry with each other. If a Patrician mar- ried a Client, their issue could not take the Patrician rank, or become a member of his parent's house ; because the Clients had not the connubium, or right of marriage with their Patrons. But as time went on, there arose a third class of freemen at Eome, who were neither Patrons nor Clients — neither lords over vassals, nor vassals dependent upon lords. These were called Plebeians, and their general name was Plebs, or the Commonalty. They were like the Clients, in that they had no part in the government, in that they were excluded from the patrician houses, and could not intermarry with the Patricians. But they were unlike the Clients, in that they were quite free and independent, subject to no lord, except to the King and the laws. § 6. Now comes the question — How did this Plebs or Com- mons come into being ? How came there to. be Plebeians in the time of Tarquinius Priscus, whereas they were at all events but few in the time of Romulus ? It is probable that at the first settlement of the city there were a number of people previously dwelling about the Seven Hills, who were made subject without becoming Clients. These were the original Plebeians, that is, free men, without political rights. Their numbers were afterwards" much increased in various ways. First, a Patron might marry a Client's daughter, or a Client might marry a Patrician lady, and then the children would be neither Patricians nor Clients. Again, a Patron might die and leave no heirs, and then all his Clients would become independent, having no lord. But the third class was mainly formed by the addition of Latins, who were not powerful enough to gain admittance into the Patrician Gentes and Tribes. Tullus, we remember, brought the Albans to Rome, and admitted their chief families into the patrician order. But there were many families that were not so admitted. However, the great increase of this kind took place when King Ancus peopled the Aventine with Latins, and conquered all the country between Rome and the Sea. All new settlers who were not, like the Albans, admitted into the ranks of the Burgesses, and all the burgesses of conquered towns who continued to dwell at home, swelled the number of the Plebeians or Commons of Rome.f * Chapt. ii. § 3. f In the middle ages, tlie free towns of Italy and Germany had a population Chap. III. TARQUINIUS PRISCUS. 43 And as the great addition is reputed to have taken place in the reign of Ancus, he was held to be the father of the Plebs, and is (as we have before noted) represented by Virgil as exulting in popular applause. But yet he gave them no part in the State ; they lived like strangers at Rome, subject to no lord, as the Clients were, and yet, like them, without any rights or power as citizens. § 7. Now Tarquinius Priscus saw that, sooner or later, these families of the Commons must gain power in the State. Many of them Avere rich; many of them had been noble in the old Latin cities from which they had been brought to Rome, or in those which had become subject to Rome, Tarquin therefore determined to raise a certain number of these plebeian families to patrician rank, just as Tullus had raised many of the Alban families. He proposed to do this by doubling the number of the Patrician Tribes, so that they should be six instead of three. The three new Tribes were to be made up of Plebeian Gentes, and were to be called after himself and his chief friends. § 8. But the citizens of the two old Patrician Tribes, the Ramnes and Titles, already angry at seeing the Luceres raised nearly to an equality with themselves, opposed this new plan most fiercely. There was a famous Titian augur, called Attus Navius, who came forward and plainly forbade the whole thing in the name of the gods. The story goes that Tarquin laughed at the augur, and bade him tell by his auguries whether what he then had in his mind was possible to be done. And when the augur said it was possible, then said the king, "I was thinking that • thou should' st cut this whetstone asunder with a razor : now let me see whether thy auguries will help thee." Whereupon Attus took the razor and cut the whetstone asunder. At this the king greatly marvelled, and promised that he would not disobey the gods. § 9. But though Tarquin no longer thought of making new Patrician Tribes with new names, he did what in reality came to the same thing; for he added his favourite Plebeian Gentes to each of the three Tribes, so that each Tribe consisted of two parts — the Old Ramnes and the New, the Old Titles and the or privileged Cittadini or Burgesses, corresponding to tlie Roman Patricians These had their Vassals or Clients. And besides these two classes, there was always a numerous class who were neither Burgesses nor Dependents. In Germany these Plebeians were called Pfahlbtirger, or Burgesses of the Pale, because they were allowed to live within the pale of the city, but not lo enjoy any civic rights. They very much corresponded to the Proselytes of the Gate among the Jews. See Niebuhr. 44 ROME UNDEE THE KINGS. . Book I. New, the Old Luceres and tlie New,* and there were in reality six Patrician Tribes, though they bore only three names as before ; and the new Patricians were called the Fathers of the Younger Clans, Patres Minorum Oentium.\ Thus the chief Plebeians were numbered among the Patrician families, and became part and parcel of the Populus or Body Politic of Rome ; and were entitled to vote in the Comitia Curiata. But the mass of the Plebeians remained, as of old, excluded from all share in the State. Tarquinius also doubled the centuries of Knights. Once they had been doubled by Tullus, so they were two hundred in each century or squadron, and six hundred in all. After the addition made by Tarquinius they amounted to twelve hundred The new Centuries retained the old names, just as in the Tribes the Old and New Ramnes, and so on ; and no doubt they were enrolled from the New Tribes. § 10. When Tarquin had thus attached the Plebeians to the state, by raising some and giving hopes to all, he led forth his army against the Sabines. He conquered them, and took their town Collatia, which he gave in charge to his nephew Egerius (the Needy), who was so called because he was left destitute to the charge of his uncle Tarquin. The son of Egerius took the name of Collatinus. He also made war against the cities of Latium, which had not been conquered by Ancus Martins. And he was so successful in his wars and treaties, that all the old Latin communities sub- mitted to Rome as their sovereign state. His authority was also recognised by many of his Etruscan compatriots; and he is said first to have introduced at Rome the Etruscan ensigns of royal dignity, the golden crown and sceptre, the ivory chair, and the robe striped with violet colour. § 11. But what made the reign of Tarquinius Priscus most famous were the great works by which he improved the city. The bounds of the Roman Forum had already been fixed in part by the buildings of Numa and Tullus Hostilius. But Tarquin completed them for ever by building booths or shops along the northern and southern sides.J And in the valley between the * "Eanrnes primi et secundi," etc. ■j- Livy and others tell us that Tarquin only doubled the Centuries of Knights. But this (no doubt) is an error arising from the three Centuries of Knights bearing the same name with the three patrician Tribes. Festus (p. 169) says: " Gum Tarquinius Priscus institutas Tribus a Eomulo mutare vellet" etc.; and p. 344, "civitas Romana in sex est distrihuta partes, irir primos secundosque Titienses, Ramnes, Luceresy Cf also Dionys. (iii. 71, 72), who speaks of (pvlal iKmuv, thus confounding the two accounts. :j: Those on the northern side were rebuilt first, and hence were called Chap. III. TARQUINIUS PRISCUS. 45 Palatine and Aventine lie formed the Circus Maximus, or great race-course for the celebration of the Roman or Great Games. He. also vowed a temple to Jupiter on the Saturuian Hill, and began to level the ground at the lower extremity, where it bore the name of the Tarpeian Hill. But this great building was re- served for another to complete. One remarkable work remains to be mentioned, which even to the present day preserves the memory of Tarquin. This was the Cloaca Maxima, or great drain, which ran from the valley of the Circus Maximus, and joined the Tiber below the island. The purpose of this great work was to . carry off the waters which collected in stagnant pools in the ground to the west of the Palatine Hill, which was known by the name of the Yelabrum. But its size and execution bear witness to the power and greatness of the monarch who planned it. It is formed in a semicircular vault, measuring nearly fourteen feet in diameter, and consists of three concentric arches, each com- posed of hewn blocks of hard volcanic stone.* Where it enters the river, the quay is formed by a wall of the same kind of masonry.f So admirable is the workmanship, that at the present day, though the stones are kept in their place simply by their own weight, without mortar or cement, not one block has been displaced in the part of it which has been explored, and a knife-blade can hardly be inserted between the joints.;]; Similar works are found among the ruined cities of ancient Etruria ; and from that country doubtless came the artificers capable of execut- ing such a work.JI § 12. The legend of Tarquin's death is one of the most famous in the early Eoman annals. It runs thus. He had a favourite called Servius Tullius, a young man whom some said Avas born of a female Latin slave taken at Corniculum ; whereas others said Tabemse Novae, while those on the south side retained the name of Tabernsa Yeteres, even to Cicero's time. Academ. iv. 22: " Ut ii qui sub Nbvis [sc. Tabernis] solem non ferunt . . ., Veterum . . . umbram secutus est." * A kind of tophus or tufa, found near Rome, according to Brocchi (quoted by Dr. Arnold). •j- This wall is almost concealed by a facing of later brick-work, as is shown in the woodcut at the head of this chapter. X Another Cloaca from the great Cloaca under the Forum was discovered by excavations in the year 1'742. This is probably the drain ahuded to by Juvenal (Sat. v. 104), when he speaks of a fish " pinguis torrente cloaca, Et sohtus medise cryptam penetrare Suburae." But it appears to be built of travertine, a soft limestone from the neighbour- hood of Tivoli, which was not used till a late period in Roman buildings. — Niebuhr, vol. i. p. 392. I See the woodcut at the close of the chapter. 46 EOME UNDER THE KINGS. Book I. lie was no Latin but an Etruscan called Mastarna, who had come to Rome, like Tarquin himself, and assumed a Latin name.* Servius had the same plans as Tarquin himself, and , afterwards (as we shall see) executed much Avhich that King was unable to perform, whence we may conclude that he was either a Lucerian or a member of one of the Latin houses which had lately been raised to Patrician rank. Now it was thought that this young man would most likely be chosen King, when Tarquinius was dead. Whereupon the sons of Ancus Martins, who had borne patiently the reign of Tarquin, resolved that they would seize the crown ; and probably they were urged on by their brethren the Titles and others of the older Gentes, who could not bear that another upstart should be King. So they procured two countrymen, who pretended- to have a quarrel, and came before the King as if to seek for judgment ; and while one of them was speaking, the other smote the King on the head with an axe, so that he fell dead. But the lictors seized the murderers; and Tanaquil the Queen shut up the palace, and gave out that the King was not dead, but only wounded. Then she sent for Servius Tullius, and exhorted him to assume the royal robe, and go forth with the lictors in kingly state to judge ca,uses in the King's name. Thus Tarquinius Priscus died after a reign of eight- and-thirty years. And after a time his death was made known, and Servius Tullius became King in his place, without being regu- larly chosen by the Assembly of the Curise. § 13. Servius Tullius was the best and wisest of all the Kings, and his reign is a history of the greatest changes that took place among the Roman people during the whole time of the kingly government. His wars were few, though we hear that he overcame the people of Veil and other Etruscan cities. His chief glory came from his new institutions for the good government of the people, which in a manner completed what Tarquinius Priscus had begun. § 14. We have already spoken of the growth of the Plebs or Commons, a third class, belonging neither to the Patricians nor the Clients : and shown how Tarquinius raised the richest and most powerful houses of this class to be members of the Patrician Tribes. But still the mass of the Plebs continued to live as before upon the Aventine, without having art or part in the affairs of the Roman People. The Populus or Body Politic still consisted * The Etruscan legend, which makes Mastarna or Servius a comrade of Cables Vibenna, rests on tlie authority of a speech of the Emperor Claudius, whicli was inscribed on a brass tablet, and is now preserved (though so placed that no one can read it) in the Museum at Lyons. Chap. III. . SERVIUS TULLIUS. 47 only of Patricians ; bnt the Plebeians were every clay increasing in numbers and wealth, and it was to be feared that if they were much longer shut out from all part in public affairs, they might rise against the Patricians and take by force what they could not get as a free gift, and so the Aventine would become the chief place of Rome instead of the Palatine, Servius took measures to guard against this danger by admitting the Plebeians into full citizenship, and made them in great mea- sure equal to their Patrician brethren. The way he took was this. § 15. It was not proposed to raise the plebeian families to patrician rank and make them members of the Curiae, but to create a new popular Assembly which was to include all the citi- zens, Patricians and Plebeians alike. The whole form, divisions, and nature of this assembly was military. It was called the Exercitus ; it met in the field of Mars outside the city ; the members of it appeared in the arms of their respective divisions, and gave their votes in the same manner. Of this we shall find full proof as we go on. But it was not all free Romans who were admitted even into this Assembly. A great division was made between those who had independent means of living (locupletes or assidui *), and those who had no sufiicient property (proletarii). The former were required to have at least 11,000 ases' worth of land or house property, and these alone were included in the new Assembly of Servius. The locupletes appeared in the Assembly in five great Classes, or armed bodies, which were distinguished by their Census or amount of rateable property in land ; the richest formed the First Class, the next richest the Second Class, and so on. Then each of the five Classes were subdivided into a number of Cen- turies or companies, of which one half consisted of juniors, or men within the age of military service (17 to 45), the other half of seniors, or men between 45 and 60.f The First Class ap- peared in full armour, offensive and defensive ; the Second Class was less completely armed, and so on till we come to the Fifth Class, which wore no defensive armour, and served as light troops, slingers, archers, and the like. At the head of the five Classes stood the Horsemen or Knights * Assiduus is said to be derived ah asse dando, because all who were included in the Classes had to pay the tax. f Occasional service might be required of the Seniors. After 60 they were superannuated. And, as they could not serve, neither could they vote in the Centuriate Assembly; a strange provision, that was in force in Cicero's time. See his oration pro Sext. Roscio Amerino, c. 35. Such old men (sexagenarii) were therefore called depontani, because they could not pass the gangway (^pons) which led into the voting-booth {omle\ 48 ROME UNDER THE KINGS. Book L (equites). Servius found six Centuries already existing, each con- taining 200 men, as they had been left by Tarquinius Priscus, and all these six Centuries were Patricians, as has been shown. To these Servius added twelve Centuries more, the members of which were chosen from the best Plebeian families. These were the horsemen of the army, amounting in all to 3600 men. They were allowed a horse at the public expense, with a certain yearly sum for maintaining it. Besides these there were two Centuries of carpenters and smiths (fabri tignarii et serarii) for engineering purposes, with three of .trumpeters and horn-blowers. The former, being skil- ful workmen", were thought worthy of being associated with the first Class; the latter belonged to the fifth. The Proletarians also were thrown into a single century and added to the fifth Class.* Such was the celebrated assembly known by the name of the CoMiTiA Centuriata, or General Assembly of the Centuries. § 16. The Census or assessment of property in the above mili- tary classification was made solely with regard to land and all that we call real property. No account was taken of slaves, cattle, pre- cious metals, furniture, and all that we call personalty, till a much later period. The purpose of this Census was twofold : first, to raise a tri- * The subjoined table will make it easy to perceive these arrangements at a glance, as they are given by Livy: Sec'd Clasa Third Class Fo'rth Class fifth Class Census, or Rateable Property in Land. Equites All haTing 100,000) ases and upwards 3 Fabri 75,000 ases and up- ? wards ■ ■ - ) 50,000 ases and up- ) wards 5 25,000 ases and up-) wards 5 11,000 ases and up-"! wards (more pro- ! bably 12,500, as f Dionysius says) -J Trumpeters Capite Censi, or Pro- ) letarii S 6 Patrician-f 12 Plebeian=18 40 Seniores-f40 Juniores=80 } 100 2 10 Seniores-flO Juniores= 20 10 Seniores-flO Jumores= 20 10 Seniores-1-10 Jumores' •I 15 Seniores4-15 Juniores=30 U Defensive. Offensive. Helmet (?; i Sword and i Sword and ; spear. ; Sword and I spear. I Spear and 1 javelin. Slings, etc. The whole number of Centuries, therefore, was 194; and in the First Class alone there are more than half The Centuries of cornicines, tubicines, &c., were called accensi, because they were added to the list of censi. The single century of proletarii were called capite censi, because they were counted by the head, and not rated by their property. Later, however, the proletarii and capite censi were distinguished, the former being those who possessed appreciable property of less amount than 11,000 ases. Ckap. III. SERVIUS TULLIUS. 49 butum or tax for military expenses, of which we shall speak in a future page ; and secondly, to serve certain political ends, of which we will speak here. It is manifest that Servius, when he admitted the Plebeians to political power, did not contem- plate anything like the equality of a democracy. He intended that all the citizens of the Classes should have votes, but that their votes should avail only in proportion to their landed pro- perty. The wealthy were sure to have the preponderance ; for if the Centuries of the Knights and the other centuries of the first Class, even without the Fabri, agreed together, they could outvote the centuries of all the other Classes put together. More- over, great weight was given to age. It is certain that in each Class the seniores, or those between the age of 45 and 60, must have been far less numerous than the juniors ; yet in each Class they formed an equal number of centuries. The number of seniors in each of the 40 Centuries of the first Class, thinned alike by age and rate of property, must have been comparatively very few. § 17. But though safeguards so many and so great were pro- vided in favour of property, the new assembly of Servius con- ferred a great and positive boon on the Plebeians. It must be remembered that before his time they Avere outside the Populus or Body Politic altogether. They were still excluded from the Curiae or Assembly of the Patricians ; and so far as this involved political rights, the name of Populus was still confined to the old Burgesses. But in reality the Plebs became members of the Populus ; for the new Centuriate Assembly slowly but surely assumed to itself all the political rights which had formerly be- longed to the Curiate Assembly alone ; and though it is probable that all laws proposed in the former must receive the sanction of the latter (as bills brought forward in the House of Commons must pass through the House of Lords), and also must be autho- rised by the Senate, which was at this time exclusively patrician, in time these powers were cancelled, and the Centuriate Assembly became the supreme legislative body of the state.* § 18. But Servius was not satisfied with merely giving the Plebeians a place in the Body Politic. He also made regulations which related to the well-being of the Plebeians alone, without reference to the Patricians. By the conquests of the preceding Kings Eome had gained large acquisitions of territory in Latium, and some probably on the Etruscan side of the Tiber. Numa had divided the original * The intention of the change was somewhat the same as that wrought by Solon at Athens, who is said to have changed an okiyaoxia into a TifioKparla. See Dr. Smith's Hist, of Greece, p. 9*7. 3 50 ROME UNDER THE KINGS. Book I. lands of tlie state into pagi. But tliese had become quite unequal to the altered condition of things ; and Servius now distributed the whole Roman territory, as he found it, into a number of Tribes. These Tribes of Servius, then, were divisions of the soil, like our parishes or townships, and we must take especial care not to confound them with the Tribes of Romulus. It is indeed unfortunate that things so difierent should be called by the same name. The Tribes of Romulus were three in number : those of Servius were at least twenty. The Tribes of Romulus included the Patrician Burgesses only ; in the Tribes of Servius none were enrolled but Plebeians. The members of the Tribes of Romulus held their place in virtue of their Patrician birth, independently of their place of habitation ; those who belonged to the Tribes of Servius belonged to it because they had what we might call their " settlement" in some particular place. In one point only they were alike. A person who once belonged either to a Romulian Tribe of birth or a Servian Tribe of place, always remained a member of that Tribe, to whatever place he might remove his dwelling. It is probable, indeed, that there were means by which the members of the Servian Tribes might change their " settle-, ment," but nothing is known upon this subject. In each Tribe there were Presidents,* whose business it was to keep the list of the Tribe ; but they were not empowered to remove the name of any person on the list simply because he had ceased to reside in the district belonging to the Tribe. § 19. Of these Tribes four were in the city and the rest outside the limits of the city. The four city Tribes were 1. the Palatine ; 2. the CoUine, answering to the Quirinal Hill ; 3. the Suburran, answering to the Cselian with its neighbouring valleys ; 4. the Esquiline, which shows that the Equiline Hill, together with the Viminal or seventh Hill, must have been already added to the city. It will be observed that neither the Saturnian Hill or Capitoline, nor the Aventine, were included within these Tribes. The former was omitted because it was, as it were, consecrated to military and religious purposes ; the latter because it never was included within the sacred limits of the Pomoerium, as will appear presently. § 20. The Country Tribes were all named after patrician Gentes. The names of sixteen are preserved as existing at the time of the expulsion of the kings.f The first Tribe which bore a name * Galled sTTi/ueTiTiTal (j)v?iCJv by Dionysius. They were probably the same as the Tribuni aerarii, of whom we shall have to speak hereafter. \ These were, 1. Aemilia; 2. Cornelia; 3. Fabia; 4. Horatia; 5. Menenia;. •6. Papiria; 7. Sergia; 8. Yeturia; 9. Claudia; 10. *Camilia; 11. *Galeria; 12. *Lemonia; 13. *Pollia; 14. *Pupima ; 15. *Romilia; 16. *Voltinia. The Chap. III. SERYIUS TULLIUS. 51 not derived from a noble house was the Crustumine, Avhich was added under the Republic, and made the twenty-first Tribe. No doubt the noble House which bore the same name Avith these Ti'ibes consisted of the chief persons in these respective districts, just as in England great noblemen took their names from those counties in which their families once possessed almost sovereign power. § 21. It is probable that at first none save the Plebeians were entered upon the lists of their respective Tribes ; and the Ple- beians, having thus received a kind of constitution of their own, used to meet in the Forum on market-days {nundince) to settle their own affairs. These meetings were called the Comitia Tri- BUTA, because the Commons gave their votes according to their Tribes, as at the Comitia Curiata votes were given according to Curiae, and at the Comitia Centuriata according to Centuries ; for it was an established custom at Rome not to vote in a mass and by the head ; but, first, the voters were distributed into smaller bodies, and then, in all cases, questions were determined by the majority of those bodies which voted for or against it. § 22. Thus, then, the outline of the future Roman constitution was marked out. The Patricians met in their Curise in the Co- mitium at the high or narrow end of the Forum ; the Plebeians met in their Tribes in the low or broad end of the same famous piece of land ; the whole People, Patricians and Plebeians alike, met in the Field of Mars according to their Classes and Centuries. One of the chief tasks of Roman history is to trace the work- ing and development of those Assemblies under the control and direction of the Senate. We shall find the Patrician Assembly of the Curies, now supreme, gradually wane and become an empty name ; while the despised Assembly of the Plebeian- Tribes gra- dually engrosses power to itself, till at length it becomes the great legislative body of the State. Meanwhile the great Assem- bly of the Classes and Centuries undergoes changes and transmu- tations which much alter its character, and bring it into close neighbourhood with the popular assembly. But of this hereafter. names of most of these Tribes are familiar as the names of Patrician Gentes ; and it may be presumed that the seven unknown names (marked witli aster- isks) represent Gentes that liad become extinct. It has been generally assumed that Servius created Thirty Tribes in all, on the authority of Dionysius, iv. 14* 6ce11e 61 koI tijv x'^P^'" uiraaav, uq fisv ^djiLoq (pTjaiv, eig juoipag [i. e. pagos] i^ kol scKoatv, ug Kal avruQ KaT^eZ (/iv/ldf \i. e. tribus], kol tuc ugtikuc TzpoaTideig avralg TsTTapug, TpiuKovra (pvAug dfi(t>oTepov ettI TvAAiou Tug irdaag jevsadai 7^h/u. — But in the learned aud ingenious work by Mommsen, On the Roman Tribes (Altona, 1844), so much uncertainty is shown to prevail on this subject, that it is thought better to leave the question open. B2 ROME UNDER THE KINGS. Book I. § 23. To Servius Tullius also is attributed the great work of enlarging the Pomcerium of Eomulus. But while the original Pomoerium of the Palatine or Roman Quadrata was the same as its wall or line of defence, this rule was not observed by Servius. His new Pomoerium, which surrounded the four Tribes of the city, included only five of the seven hills ; for the Capitoline and Aventine were not admitted within the sacred inclosure : but his wall or line of fortification ran round all the Seven Hills. ROMA, 1 ROMAN MILE. This will be a convenient opportunity to give some account of the city of Rome with its hills, walls, and gates. Ancient Rome stood on the left bank of the Tiber. A little to the north of _ the ancient city the river makes a sudden bend westward, till it is stopped and turned to the south-east again by the high ground sloping downwards from the Vatican Hill. Between these two Chap. III. SERVIUS TULLIUS. 53 reaches of tlie river is inclosed a plain, anciently called the Campus Martins, on wliich stands the greater part of modern Rome. At the lower extremity of this plain, where the stream forms an island, called the Insula Tiberina, its course is again arrested and turned towards the south-west. This turn is caused by the abrupt rise of the eminence called in old times the Saturnian Hill, and still renowned under its later name of " the Capitol ;" and this shall be taken as the point from which we will survey the ancient city. The City, as bounded by the wall of Servius, may be likened to a fan, of which the Capitol forms the pivot. To this point con- verge, on the north, the Quirinal, Viminal, and Esquiline ; then the Palatine and Cajlian, lying* in the same line, nearly south- west ; and due south, abutting upon the river, the Aventine. The Quirinal, Viminal, and Esquiline run out like so many pro- montories towards the Capitol ; but they soon unite and sink gradually into the plain towards the west. Across the slope thus formed a great earth-bank and trench were carried, of which traces still remain. In its original state this embankment of Servius TuUius is said to have been 60 feet high and its base 50 feet broad, while the foss outside it was 100 feet wide and 30 deep. From either end of this mound walls were built on all the low ground and across the valleys; but when these walls reached the edges or escarpments of the hills, which in those days were steep and high, no wall was needed. Thus from the northern end of the embankment the wall was carried to the steep edge of the Quirinal, where it ceased, and appeared again in the narrow valley between this hill and the Capitoline, and then was continued from the south- western corner of the Capitoline to the edge of the river. In like manner the wall was carried from the southern edge of the Esquiline across the valley which divides that hill from the Cselian ; then across the Cselian to its lower verge ; then across a second valley, and so quite round the Aventine to the river's edge, which it joined at a distance of little more than a quarter of an English mile from the point at which it started. This short space was faced by a quay, but was not considered to need a wall for its defence. The whole circuit thus inclosed measures about seven miles, and it remained without alteration for many centuries. Great suburbs grew up, and as Rome needed no fortifications till the times of the later emperors, the walls of Servius were suffered to decay, and no new line of fortification was formed till the days of Aurelian and Probus (a.d. 2Y0-282). The principal gates in the Avail of Servius were the Flumentane 54 EOME UNDER THE KINGS. BookL and the Carmental, between the river and the Capitol ; the Col- line, at the northern extremity of the Agger of Servius, and the Esquiline at its southern extremity ; the Cselimontane upon the Caelian ; the Capene or Capuan, where this hill slopes to- wards the Aventine ; and the Trigemina, between the Aventine and the river. The Sublician Bridge, which Ancus built to con- nect the city with the Janiculum, was just outside this gate, if the piles still remaining in the bed of the Tiber indicate its true position. But as it is little likely that the only bridge then ex- isting would be outside the walls, it may be assumed that the real position of the Pons Sublicius was between the points where the wall abuts upon the river. § 24. We may here also notice a few of the places of chief im- portance in Roman history, which were inclosed within the wall of Servius. The low ground along the river, below the Capitoline, Palatine, and Aventine, drained by the Cloaca Maxima and protected by its quay, was the Forum Boarium or cattle market, the part im- mediately beneath the Palatine being the Velabrum. From the upper end of the Velabrum the Nova Via led over the Palatine to the Forum, while from its lower part the Vicus Tuscus ran in a parallel direction to the same quarter. A. Clivus Capitolinus. D. Prison, called TulUanum. G. Tribunal. B. Temple of Saturn. E. Rostra. H. Arch of Fabius. C. Temple of Concord. F. Senate-House. K. Temple of Vesta. L. Temple of Castor and Pollux. This is the quarter on which principal attention must be fixed. As you stand upon the Capitol and look eastward, beneath you Ch-\p. hi. SERYIUS TULLIUS. 55 lies a piece of land of irregular shape, having its broader end beneath the Capitol itself, while its two sides converge towards the ridge called the Velia, Avhich connects the Palatine with the Esquiline, and was in after ages marked by the triumphal arch of Titus. The broader end, of Avhich we speak, measures about 190 feet, the narrower 100; the lower side about 630 feet, and the upper somewhat less. These measurements include both the Forum proper and the Comitium ; but the line of de- marcation between the meeting-places of the Plebeians and Patri- cians ran across at about 200 feet distance from the narrow end, and here stood the rostra, or place occupied by those who ad- dressed the people assembled beneath them. The Sacra Via, the most famous street of Rome, entered the Forum or Comi- tium at its south-eastern corner, passed along the narrow end, and then ran along the northern side, by the Curia Hostilia and the Tabernae Novse, till it reached the foot of the Capitoline. Here it met the famous Clivus Capitolinus, which led up by a steep ascent to the summit of the Capitol. When a general went up to offer thanksgiving to Jupiter, he descended from the Yelian ridge into the Forum, and then mounted by this ascent to the great temple on the Tarpeian, or lower height of the Capi- toline Hill. On the southern side of the Forum ran a street past the Temple of Vesta and the Regia of Numa, connecting the Nova Via with the Sacra Via. From the Forum to the Esquiline ran the Vicus Cyprius, the upper part of which was called the Vicus Sceleratus, in memory of the murder of King Servius, of which we are to speak presently. This street probably led through the Subura or populous quarter, which lay in the low ground between the Esqui- line, Viminal, and Quirinal Hills, to the Carinee, which was after- wards the most fashionable part of Rome, and lay on the edge of the Esquiline next the Velia. § 25. Besides enlarging and strengthening the city, Servius &lso endeavoured to form an enduring alliance with the whole Latin nation, who had been so much weakened by the wars of the former kings. He built a temple to the great Latin goddess Diana upon the Aventine, and here were to be held sacrifices and festivals common both to Rome and Latium. The Sabines also, as it seems, desired to share in this alliance, but not on equal terms. There was, so runs the legend, a cow of noble form and surpassing beauty, which belonged to a Sabine householder : whoever, said the soothsayers, first sacrificed this animal in the new-built temple of Diana, should hold sway over Rome. The Sabine owner brought his cow to ofi"er her on the Aventine. But the Roman sacrificing priest bade him first purify himself by 56 ROME UNDER THE KINGS. Book I. bathing in the Tiber, and then cunningly himself completed the sacrifice. § 20. It remains only to add the famous legend of the death of Ihe good King Servius. He had assumed kingly power without the consent of the patri- cian Curiae, and he had afterwards sought confirmation of his title, not from this proud assembly, but the new assembly of the Classes and Centuries which he had created. It is said, moreover, that when he had finished his reforms he had it in his mind to resign the kingly power altogether, and leave his great Assembly to elect two chief magistrates to govern in his stead. But this purpose was not accomplished. He continued to reign till he was mur- dered, like King Tarquinius before him. From the two sons of King Ancus there was nothing to fear. But Tarquinius Priscus had also two sons, Lucius and Aruns, and Servius had two daughters. So he married these two daughters to the two young Tarquins, that they might become his succes- sors, and might not be jealous of a stranger sitting in their father's seat. Now Lucius Tarquinius was a proud and violent youth, but his brother Aruns was mild and good. So also the eldest daughter of King Servius was gentle, but her sister was ambitious and cruel. Servius therefore took care that Lucius, the violent brother, should be married to the good sister, aiid Aruns, the good brother, to the bad sister ; for he hoped that the good might prevail over the evil and subdue it. But the event proved otherwise. The lamb will not lie down with the wolf, nor the hawk couple with the dove. Therefore Lucius and the younger Tullia conspired together ; and Lucius murdered his wife, and Tullia murdered her husband ; and then they married together, so that the two wicked ones were free to work their will. Lucius Tarquin soon resolved to make an end of King Servius. So he conspired with the Patricians, and chiefly with those of the new Gentes, whom his father had raised ; and when he thought he was strong enough, he came into the Comitium and took his seat upon the throne in front of the senate-house, and summoned the Patricians to attend on " King Tarquinius." But when King Ser- vius heard of it he came forth and asked how any one dared sit on the throne while he was alive. But Lucius said it was his father's throne, and that now it was his own by right. Then he seized the old man by the waist and cast him down the steps of the throne, and he himself entered into the senate-house. Servius, when he saw that all were against him, endeavoured to escape homewards; but certain men, sent by Lucius, overtook him and slew him, and left his body lying in the way. And when Tullia heard what was done, she mounted her chariot Chap. III. SERVIUS TULLIUS. and drove to the Forum and saluted lier husband king. But lie bade ber go borne, for sucb scenes were not fit for women. And sbe came to tbe foot of the Esquiline Hill, to the place wbere tbe body of ber father lay in the way. And when the charioteer saw it be was shocked, and pulled in his horses that be might not drive over the body. But his wicked mistress chid him angrily and bade liim drive on. So she went home " with her father's blood upon ber chariot-wheels ;" and that place was called the Wicked Street ever after. So King Servius died when be had reigned four and forty years, and Lucius Tarquinius the Proud reigned in his stead. Cloaca of Marta in Tuscany. Tomb of the Tarquins. CHAPTEE IV. TABQUINIUS SUPERBUS, AND THE BEGINNING OF THE REPUBLIC. § 1. Despotism of second Tarquin. § 2. Alliance with Etruscans and Latins. § 3. Temple on Capitoline. § 4. Legend of Sibyl. § 5. Stratagem by ■wHcli Gabii was taken. § 6. King's sons, "with Binatus, sent to consult ' the Delphic Oracle. § T. Legend of Lucretia. Expulsion of Tarquins. § 8. Consuls. § 9. Patres Conscripti. § 10. Hex. Sacrorum. § 11. First attempt to restore Tarquin. Judgment of Brutus. § 12. Second attempt by Etruscans of Tarquinii and Veii. Death of Brutus. § 13. P. Valerius Poplicola. §14. Consecration of Capitoline Temple by M. Horatius. §15. Third attempt to restore Tarquin. Porsenna. Legends of Horatius Codes, Mucins ScEevola, Cloeha. § 16. Tarquin at Tusculum. § 17. First Dictator. § 18. Fourth attempt to restore Tarquin by Latins. Battle of Lake Eegil- lus. § 19. Death of Tarquin at Cumae. § 1. Tarquin had made liimself king by the aid of the Patricians, and chiefly by means of the third or Lucerian tribe, to which his family belonged. The Burgesses of the Gentes were indignant at the cm'tailment of their privileges by the popular reforms of Ser- vius, and were glad to lend themselves to any overthrow of his power. But Tarquin soon kicked away the ladder by which he had risen. He abrogated, it is true, the hated Assembly of Chap. IV. TARQUmiUS SUPERBUS. 59 tlie Centuries; but neitlier did lie pay any heed to the Curiatc Assembly, nor did he allow any new members to be chosen into the Senate in place of those who were removed by death or other causes ; so that even those who had helped him to the throne re- pented them of their deed. The name of Superbus, or the Proud, testifies to the general feeling against the despotic rule of the second Tarquin. § 2. It was by foreign alliances that he calculated on supporting his despotism at home. The Etruscans of Tarquinii, and all its associate cities Avere his friends ; and among the Latins also he sought to raise a power which might counterbalance the senate and people of Rome. The wisdom of Tarquinius Priscus and Servius had vmited all the Latin name to Rome, so that Rome had become the sovereign city of Latium. The last Tarquin drew those ties still closer. He gave his daughter in marriage to Octavius Mamilius, Chief of Tus- culum, and favoured the Latins in all things. But at a general assembly of the Latins at the Ferentinc Grove, beneath the Alban Mount, where they had been accustomed to meet of olden time to settle their national affairs, Turnus Herdonius of Aricia rose and spoke against him. Then Tarquinius accused him of high treason, and brought false Avitnesses against him ; and so powerful with the Latins was the King that they condemned their countryman to be drowned in the Ferentine Avater, and obeyed Tarquinius in all things. § 3. With them he made war upon the Volscians and took the city of Suessa, wherein was a great booty. This booty he applied to the execution of great Avorks in the city, in emulation of his father and King Servius. The elder Tarquin had built up the side of the Tarpeian rock and levelled the summit, to be the founda- tion of a temple of Jupiter, but he had not completed the work. Tarquinius Supei'bus noAv removed all the temples and shrines of the old Sabine gods Avhich had been there since the time of Titus Tatius; but the goddess of Youth and the god Terminus kept their place, Avhereby was signified that the Roman people should enjoy undecaying vigour, and that the boundaries of their empire should never be draAvn in. And on the Tarpeian height he built a magnificent temple, to be dedicated jointly to the three great gods of the Latins and Etruscans, Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva ; and this part of the Saturnian Hill Avas ever after called the Capitol or the Chief Place, Avhile the upper part was called the Arx or Citadel* He brought architects from Etruria to plan the temple, but he forced the Roman people to work for him Avithout hire. * See Chapt. i. § 7. 4- 60 ROME UNDER THE KINGS. Book I. § 4. One day a strange woman appeared before the King and offered liiui uine books to buy ; and when lie refused them she went away and burnt three of the nine books, and brought back the remaining six and offered to sell them at the same price that she had asked for the nine ; and when he laughed at her and again refused, she went as before and burnt three more books, and came back and asked still the same price for the three that \Tere left. Then the King was struck by her pertinacity, and he consulted his augurs Avhat this might be ; and they bade him by all means buy the three, and said he had done wrong not to buy the nine, for these were the books of the Sibyl and contained great secrets. So the books were kept underground in the Ca- pitol in a stone chest, and two men (duumviri) were appointed to take charge of them, and consult them when the state was in danger. § 5. The only Latin town that defied Tarquin's power was Gabii ; and Sextus, the king's youngest son, promised to win this place also for his father. So he fled from Rome and pre- sented himself at Gabii ; and there he made complaints of his father's tyranny and prayed for protection. The Gabians be- lieved him, and took him into their city, and they trusted him, so that in time he was made commander of their army. Now his father suffered him to conquer in many small battles, and the Gabians trusted him more and more. Then he sent pri- vately to his father, and asked Avhat he should do to make the Gabians submit. Then King Tarquin gave no answer to the messenger, but, as he walked up and down his garden, he kept cutting off the heads of the tallest poppies with his staff. At last the messenger was tired, and went back to Sextus and told him what had passed, But Sextus understood what his father meant, and he began to accuse falsely all the chief men, and some of them he put to death and some he banished. So at last the city of Gabii was left defenceless, and Sextus delivered it up to his father,* § 6. While Tarquin was building his temple on the Capitol, a strange portent offered itself; for a snake came forth and de- voured the sacrifices on the altar. The king, not content with the interpretation of his Etruscan soothsayers, sent persons to consult the famous oracle of the Greeks at Delphi, and the per- sons he sent were his own sons Titus and Aruns, and his sister's son, L. Junius, a young man who, to avoid his uncle's jealousy, feigned to be without common sense, wherefore he was called Brutus or the Dullard. The answer given by the oracle was, * It is well known that this Legend occurs in Herodotus, who relates that Babylon was betrayed to Darius Hystaspes in a similar manner, iii. 154, sqq. Chap. IY. TARQUINIUS SUPBRBUS. 61 that the chief power of Rome should belong to him of the three who should first kiss his mother ; and the two sons of King Tar- quin agreed to draw lots which of them should do this as soon as they returned home. But Brutus perceived that the oracle had another sense ; so as soon as they landed in Italy he fell down on the ground as if he had stumbled, and kissed the earth, for she (he thought) was the true mother of all mortal things. § Y. When the sons of Tarquin returned with their cousin, L. Junius Brutus, they found the king at war with the Rutulians of Ardea. Being unable to take the place by storm, he was forced to blockade it ; and while the Roman army was encamped before the town the young men used to amuse themselves at night with wine and wassail. One night there was a feast, at which Sextus, the king's third son, was present, as also CoUatinus, the son of Egerius, the king's uncle, who had been made governor of Col- • latia. So they soon began to dispute about the worthiness of their < wives ; and when each maintained that his own wife was worthiest, " Come, gentlemen," said Collatinus, " let us take horse and see what our wives are doing ; they expect us not, and so we shall know the truth." All agreed, and th^y galloped to Rome, and there they found the wives of all the others feasting and revelling : but Avheu they came to CoUatia they found Lucretia, the wife of Collatinus, not making merry like the rest, but sitting in the midst of her handmaids carding wool and spinning ; so they all allowed that Lucretia was the worthiest. Now Lucretia was the daughter of a noble Roman, Spurius Lu- cretius, who was at this time Prefect of the city ; for it was the custom, when the kings went out to war, that they left a chief man at home to administer all things in the king's name, and he was called Prefect of the City. But it chanced that Sextus, the king's son, when he saw the fair Lucretia, was smitten with lustful passion ; and a few days after he came again to CoUatia, and Lucretia entertained him hospitably as her husband's cousin and friend. But at midnight he arose and came with stealthy steps to her bedside : and hold- ing a sword in his right hand, and laying his left hand upon her breast, he bade her yield to his wicked desires; for if not, he would slay her and lay one of her slaves beside her, and would declare that he had taken them in adultery. So for shame she consented to that which no fear would have wrung from her : and Sextus, having Avrought this deed of shame, returned to the camp. Then Lucretia sent to Rome for her father, and to the camp at Ardea for her husband. They came in haste. Lucretius brought with him P. Valerius, and Collatinus brought L. Junius 62 ROME UNDER THE KINGS. Book I; Brutus, his cousin. And they came in and asked if all was well. Then she told them what was done : " but," she said, " my body only has suffered the shame, for my will consented not to the deed. Therefore," she cried, " avenge me on the wretch Sextus. As for me, though my heart has not sinned, I can live no longer. No one shall say that Lucretia set an example of living in un- chastity." So she drew forth a knife and stabbed herself to the heart. When they saw that, her father and her husband cried aloud ; but Brutus drew the knife from the wound, and holding it up, spoke thus : " By this pure blood I swear before the gods that I will pursue L. Tarquinius the Proud and all his bloody house with fire, sword, or in whatsoever way I may, and that neither they nor any other shall hereafter be King in Rome." Then he gave the knife to CoUatinus and Lucretius and Valerius, and they all swore likewise, much marvelling to hear such words from L. Junius the Dullard. And they took up the body of Lucretia, and carried it into the Forum, and called on the men of CoUatia to rise against the tyrant. So they set a guard at the gates of the town, to prevent any news of the matter being carried to King Tarquin : and they themselves, followed by the youth of Collatia, went to Rome. Here Brutus, who was Chief Captain of the Knights,* called the people together , and he told them what had been done, and called on them by the deed of shame wrought against Lucretius and CoUatinus — by all that they had suffered from the tyrants — by the abominable murder of good King Servius — to assist them in taking vengeance on the Tar- quins. So it was hastily agreed to banish Tarquinius and his family. The youth declared themselves ready to follow Brutus against the King's army, and the seniors put themselves under the rule of Lucretius, the Prefect of the City. In this tumult, the wicked Tullia fled from her house, pursued by the curses of all men, who prayed that the avengers of her father's blood might be upon her. "When the King heard what had passed, he set off" in all haste for the city. Brutus also set off for the camp at Ardea ; and he turned aside that he might not meet his uncle the King. So he came to the camp at Ardea, and the King came to Rome. And all the Romans at Ardea Avelcomed Brutus, and joined their arms to his, and thrust out all the King's sons from the camp. But the people of Rome shut the gates against the King, so that he could not enter. And King Tarquin, with his sons Titus and Aruns, went into exile and lived at Caere in Etruria. But Sextus * Tribunus Celerura. Chap. IV. EXPULSION OF TARQUIN. 63 fled to Gabii, -where he had before held rule, and the people of Gabii slew him in memory of his former cruelty. So L. Tarquinius Superbus was expelled from Rome, after he had been King tive-and-twenty years. And in memory of this event was instituted a festival called the Regifugium or Fugalia, which was celebrated every year on the 24th day of February.* § 8. To gratify the Plebeians, the Patricians consented to re- store, in some measure at least, the popular institutions of King Servius ; and it was resolved to follow his supposed intention with regard to the supreme government — that is, to have two Magis- trates elected every year, who were to have the same power as the King during the time of their rule. These were in after days known by the name of Consuls ; but in ancient times they were called Praetors or Judges (Judices). They were elected at the great Assembly of the Centuries ; and they had sovereign power (imperium) conferred upon them by the Assembly of the Curies. They wore a robe edged with violet colour, sat in their chairs of state called curule chairs, and Avere attended by twelve lictors each. These lictors carried fasces, or bundles of rods, out of which arose , an axe, in token of the power of life and death possessed by the ~^ Consuls as successors of the Kings. But only one of them at a time had a right to this power ; and in token thereof, his colleague's fasces had no axes in them. Each retained this mark of sovereign power (imperium) for a month at a time. The first Consuls were L. Junius Brutus and L. Tarquinius Col- latinus. § 9. The new Consuls filled up the Senate to the proper num- ber of three hundred ; and the new Senators were called Con- ecripti, while the old members retained their old name of Patres. So after this the whole Senate was addressed by speakers as " Patres, Conscript!" (?'. e. Patres et Conscripti). But in later times it was forgotten that these names belonged to different sorts of persons, and the whole Senate was addressed as by one name, "Patres Conscripti." § 10. The name of King was hateful. But certain sacrifices had always been performed by the King in person ; and there- fore, to keep up the form, a person was still chosen, with the title of Rex Sacrorum or Rex Sacrificulus, to perform these ofter- ings. But even he was placed under the authority of the Chief Pontifex. § 11. After his expulsion. King Tarquin sent messengers to Rome to ask that his property should be given up to him, and the Senate decreed that his prayer should be granted. But the King's ambassadors, while they were in Rome, stirred up the * Ovid, FasH, ii. 286. 64 ROME UNDER THE KINGS. :B00K I. minds of the young men and others who had been favoured by Tarquin, so that a plot was made to bring him back. Among those who plotted were Titus and Tiberius, the sons of the Consul Brutus ; and they gave letters to the messengers of the King. But it chanced that a certain slave hid himself in the place where they met, and overheard them plotting ; and he came and told the thing to the Consuls, who seized the messengers of the King with the letters upon their persons, authenticated by the seals of the. young men. The culprits were immediately arrested ; but the ambassadors were let go, because their persons were regarded as sacred. And the goods of King Tarquin were given up for plun- der to the people. Then the traitors were brought up before the Consuls, and the sight was such as to move all beholders to pity ; for among them were the sons of L. Junius Brutus himself, the First Consul, the liberator of the Roman people. And now all men saw how Brutus loved his country ; for he bade the lictors put all the traitors to death, and his ov/n sons first ; and men could mark in his face the struggle between his duty as a chief magistrate of Rome and his feelings as a father. And while they praised and admired him, they pitied him yet more.* Then a decree of the Senate was made that no one of the blood of the Tarquins should remain in Rome. And since CoUatinus, the Consul, was by descent a Tarquin, even he was obliged to give up his office and return to Collatia. In his room, P. Valerius was chosen Consul by the people. This was the first attempt to restore Tarquin the Proud. § 12. When Tarquin saw that the plot at home had failed, he prevailed on the people of Tarquinii and Veil to make war with him against the Romans. But the Consuls came out against them ; Valerius commanding the main army, and Brutus the cavalry. And it chanced that Aruns, the King's son, led the cavalry of the enemy. When he saw Brutus he spurred his horse against him, and Brutus declined not the combat. So they rode straight at each other with levelled spears ; and so fierce Avas the shock, that they pierced each other through from, breast to back, and both fell dead. Then, also, the armies fought, but the battle was neither won nor lost. But in the night a voice was heard by the Etruscans, saying that the Romans were the conquerors. So the enemy fled by night ; and when the Romans arose in the morning, there was no man to oppose them. Then they took up the body of Brutus, and departed home, and buried him in public with great * "Infelix — utcunque ferunt ea facta minoresi" — Aen. vi. 823 — a punctua- tion which one could wish it possible to maintain. Chap. IV. ATTEMPTS TO RESTORE TARQUIK 65 pomp ; and tlae matrons of Rome mourned him for a whole year, because lie had avenged the injury of Lucretia, And thus the second attempt to restore King Tarquin was frus- trated. § 13. After the death of Brutus, Publius Valerius ruled the people for a while by himself, and he began to build himself a house upon the ridge called Velia, which looks down upon the Forum. So the people thought that he was going to make him- self king ; but when he heard this, he called an Assembly of the People, and appeared before them with his fasces lowered, and with no axes in them, whence the custom remained ever after, that no consular lictors wore axes within the city, and no Consul had power of life and death except when he was in command of his legions abroad. And he pulled down the beginning of his house upon the Velia, and built it below that hill. Also he passed laws that every Roman citizen might appeal to the people against the judgment of the chief magistrates. Wherefore he was greatly honoured among the people, and was called Poplicola, or Friend of the People. After this Valerius called together the great Assembly of the Centuries, and they chose Sp. Lucretius, father of Lucretius, to succeed Brutus. But he was an old man, and in not many days he died. So M. Horatius was chosen in his stead. § 14. The temple on the Capitol which King Tarquin began had never yet been consecrated. Then Valerius and Horatius drew lots which should be the consecrator, and the lot fell on Horatius. But the friends of Valerius murmured, and they wished to prevent Horatius from having the honour ; so when he was now saying the prayer of consecration, with his hand upon the door- post of the temple, there came a messenger, who told him that his son was just dead, and that one mourning for a son could not rightly consecrate the temple. But Horatius kept his hand upon the door-post, and told them to see to the burial of his son, and finished the rites of consecration. Thus did he honour the gods even above his own son, § 15. In the next year Valerius was again made Consul, with T. Lucretius ; and Tarquinius, despairing now of aid from his friends at Veil and Tarquinii, went to Lars Porsenna of Clusium, a city on the river Clanis, which falls into the Tiber. Porsenna was at this time acknowledged as chief of the twelve Etruscan cities ; and he assembled a powerful army and came to Rome. He came so quickly that he reached the Tiber and was near the Sublician Bridge before there was time to destroy it ; and if he had crossed it the city would have been lost. Then a noble Roman, called Horatius Codes, of the Lucerian tribe, with two ■f 66 ROME UNDER THE KINGS. Book I. friends — Sp. Lartius, a Eamnian, and T. Herminius, a Titian — posted themselves at the far end of the bridge, and defended the passage against all the Etruscan host, while the Romans were cutting it off behind them. When it was all but destroyed, his two friends retreated across the bridge, and Horatius was left alone to bear the whole attack of the enemy. Well he kept his ground, standing unmoved amid the darts which were showered upon his shield, till the last beams of the bridge fell crashing into the river. Then he prayed, saying — " Father Tiber, receive me and bear me up, I pray thee." So he plunged in, and reached the other side safely ; and the Romans honoured him greatly : they put up his statue in the Comitium, and gave him as much land as he could plough round in a day, and every man at Rome subscribed the cost of one day's food to reward him. Then Porsenna, disappointed in his attempt to surprise the city, occupied the Hill Janiculum, and besieged the city, so that the people were greatly distressed by hunger. But C. Mucius, a noble youth, resolved to deliver his country by the death of the King. So he armed himself with a dagger, and went to the place where the King was used to sit in judgment. It chanced that the soldiers were receiving their pay from the King's secretary, who sate at his right hand splendidly apparelled ; and as this man seemed to be chief in authority, Mucius thought that this must be the King; so he stabbed him to the heart. Then the guards seized him and dragged him before the King, who was greatly en- raged, and ordered them to burn him alive if he would not confess the whole affair. Then Mucius stood before the King, and said ■ — " See how little thy tortures can avail to make a brave man tell the secrets committed to him ;" and so saying, he thrust his right hand into the fire of the altar, and held it in the flame with unmoved countenance. Then the King marvelled at his cour- age, and ordered him to be spared, and sent away in safety: " for," said he, " thou art a brave man, and hast done more harm to thyself than to me." Then Mucius replied, " Thy generosity, King, prevails more with me than thy threats. Know that three hundred Roman youths have sworn thy death : my lot came first. But all the rest remain, prepared to do and suffer like myself." So he was let go, and returned home, and was called Scsevola, or the Left-handed, because his right hand had been burnt off. King Porsenna was greatly moved by the danger he had escaped ; and perceiving the obstinate determination of the Romans, he offered to make peace. The Romans gladly gave ear to his words, for tjiey Avere hard pressed ; and they con- sented to give back all the land which they had won from the Chap. IV. ATTEMPTS TO RESTORE TARQUIK 67 Etruscans beyond tlie Tiber. And tliey gave hostages to tlie King in pledge that tbey would obey liim as they had pro- mised, ten youths and ten maidens. But one of the maidens, named Cloelia, had a man's heart, and she persuaded all her fellows to escape from the King's camp and swim across the Tiber. At first King Porsenna was wroth ; but then he was much amazed, even more than at the deeds of Horatius and Mucins. So when the Romans sent back Cloelia and her fellow- maidens — for they Avould not break faith with the King — he bade her return home again, and told her she might take whom she pleased of the youths who were hostages ; and she chose those who were yet boys, and restored them to their parents. So the Roman people gave certain lands to young Mucins, and they set up an equestrian statue to the bold Cloelia at the top of the Sacred Way. And King Porsenna returned home ; and thus the third and most formidable attempt to bring back Ta'rquin failed. § 16. When Tarquin now found that he had no hopes of further assistance from Porsenna and his Etruscan friends, he went and dwelt at Tusculum, where Mamilius Octavius, his son- in-law, was still chief. Then the thirty Latin cities combined together, and made this Octavius their Dictator, and bound themselves to restore their old friend and ally King Tarquin to the sovereignty of Rome. § 17. P. Valerius, who was called Poplicola, was now dead, and the Romans looked about for some chief worthy to lead them against the army of the Latins. Poplicola had been made Consul four times, and his compeers acknowledged him as their chief, and all men submitted to him as to a king. But now the two Consuls were jealous of each other; nor had they power of life and death within the city, for Valerius (as we saw) had taken away the axes- from the fasces. Now this was one of the reasons why Brutus and the rest made two Consuls instead of one king : for they said that neither one would allow the other to become tyrant ; and since they only held office for one year at a time, they might be called on to give account of their govern- ment when their year was at an end. Yet though this was a safeguard of liberty in times of peace, it was hurtful in time of war ; for the Consuls chosen by the people in their great assemblies were not always skilful generals ; or if they were so, they were obliged to lay down their com- mand at the year's end. So the Senate determined, in cases of great danger, to call upon one of the Consuls to appoint a single chief, who should be called Dictator, or Master of the People. He had sovereign 68 ROME UNDER THE KINGS. Book I. power (imperium) botli in tlie city and out of tlie city, and the I'asces were always carried before liim with the axes in them, as they had been before the king. He could only be appointed for six months, but at the end of the time he had to give no account. So that he was free to act according to his own judgment, having no colleague to interfere with him at the present, and no accusations to fear at a future time. The Dictator was general-in-chief, and he appointed a chief officer to command the knights under him, who was called Master of the Horse. And now it appeared to be a fit time to appoint such a chief, to take the command of the army against the Latins. So the first Dictator was T. Lartius ; and he made Spurius Cassius his Master of the Horse. This was in the year 499 b.c, eight years after the expulsion of Tarquin. § 18. But the Latins did not declare war for two years after. Then the Senate again ordered the Consul to name a Master of the People, or Dictator ; and he named Aul. Postumius, who appointed T. JEbutius (one of the Consuls of that year) to be his Master of the Horse. So they led out the Eoman army against the Latins, and they met at the Lake Regillus, in the land of the Tusculans; King Tarquin and all his family were in the host of the Latins ; and that day it was to be deter- mined whether Rome should be again subject to the tyrant, and whether or no she was to be chief of the Latin cities. King Tarquin himself, old as he was, rode in front of the Latins in full armour ; and when he descried the Roman Dictator marshalling his men, he rode at him ; but Postumius wounded him in the side, and he was rescued by the Latins. Then also -^butius, the Master of the Horse, and Oct. Mamilius, the Dictator of the Latins, charged one another, and -^butius was pierced through the arm, and Mamilius wounded in the breast. But the Latin chief, nothing daunted, returned to battle, fol- lowed by Titus, the King's son, with his band of exiles. These charged the Romans furiously, so that they gave way ; but when M. Valerius, brother of the great Poplicola, saw this, he spurred his horse against Titus, and rode at him with spear in rest : and when Titus turned away and fled, Valerius rode furiously after him into the midst of the Latin host, and a certain Latin smote him in the side as he was riding past, so that he fell dead, and his horse galloped on without a rider. So the band of exiles pressed still more fiercely upon the Romans, and they began to flee. Then Postumius the Dictator lifted up his voice and vowed a temple to Castor and Pollux, the great twin heroes of the Greeks, if they would aid him ; and behold there appeared on his right two horsemen, taller and fairer than the sons of men, and Chap. IV. ATTEMPTS TO RESTORE TARQUIN. 69 their liorses were as white as snow. And they led the Dictator and his guard against the exiles and the Latins, and the Romans prevailed against them ; and T. Herminius, the Titian, the friend of Horatius Codes, ran Mamilius, the Dictator of the Latins, through the body, so that he died ; but when he was stripping the arms from his foe, another ran him through, and he was carried back to the camp, and he also died. Then also Titus, the King's son, was slain, and the Latins fled, and the Eomans pursued them with great slaughter, and took their camp and all that was in it. Now Postumius had promised great rewards to those who first broke into the camp of the Latins, and the first who broke in Avere the two horsemen on white horses ; but after the battle they were nowhere to be seen or found, nor was there any sign of them left, save on the hard rock there was the mark of a horse's hoof, which men said was made by the horse of one of those horsemen. But at this very time two youths on white horses rode into the Forum at Rome. They were covered with dust and sweat and blood, like men who had fought long and hard, and their horses also were bathed in sweat and foam : and they alighted near the Temple of Vesta, and washed themselves in a spring that gushes out hard by, and told all the people in the Forum how the battle by the Lake Regillus had been fought and won. Then they mounted their horses and rode away, and were seen no more. But Postumius, when he heard it, knew that these were Castor and Pollux, the great twin brethren of the Greeks, and that it was they who fought so well for Rome at the Lake Regillus. So he built them a temple, according to his vow, over the place where they had alighted in the Forum.* And their effigies were displayed on Roman coins to the latest ages of the city.f § 19. This was the fourth and last attempt to restore King Tarquin. After the great defeat of Lake Regillus, the Latin cities made peace with Rome, and agreed to refuse harbourage to the old King. He had lost all his sons, and, accompanied by a few faithful friends, who shared his exile, he sought a last asylum at the Greek city of Cumse in the Bay of Naples, at the court of the tyrant Aristodemus. Here he died in the course of a year, fourteen years after his expulsion. * See the plan of the Forum, Chapt. iii. § 24. \ See the cuts at the end of Chapt, viii. and head of Chapt. x. Bust of Niebuhr. CHAPTER Y. OBSERVATION'S ON THE HISTORY OF ROME UNDER THE KINGS. § 1. Nature of Legendary History. § 2. Among Greeks. § 3. Among Ro- mans. § 4. Religious and Historical Legends. § 5. Tendency to propagate historical legends in aU times. § 6. Detection of incongruities in early Roman history : difBculties explained away by ancient critics. § 1. Modem critics, before and after Niebuhr. § 8. Relation of stories of Kings to actual history. § 9. Romulus and Numa. § 10. Tullus and Ancus. § 11. Tar- quinius Priscus and Servius. § 12. Tarquinius Superbus. § 13. Character of next Book. § 1. Few persons will now be found to dispute the position that the early history of Rome, like that of all nations, begins with legendary tales. Such Legends are not to be regarded as mere Romances, that is, fictions invented by persons of lively imagination for the purpose of giving pleasure and amusement to their hearers or readers. They are older and more genuine than such professed romances. Among all nations in a rude and simple state, tales will be found current which pass from mouth to mouth without suspicion that they are not absolutely true. They are not written, because they date from times when writing is unknown ; and the mere fact of their being repeated Chap. V. NATURE OF EARLY HISTORY. Vl by word of moutli causes a perpetual variation in the narra- tives. The same original story being handed down tradition- ally by two diiferent tribes, Avhich have been separated from each other, or which are animated by hostile feelings, will in a very short time assume extremely dift'erent forms. Names,* circumstances, everything, except some dominant thought, may have been changed, and yet the origin may be the same. No fraud is intended or committed. The alterations arise naturally from the causes which have been indicated. § 2. Among the Greeks such legendary lore is chiefly connected with religious ideas. The Legends or fivdoi of that lively race may mostly be traced to that sort of awe or wonder with which simple and uneducated minds regard the changes and movements of the natural world. The direct and easy way in which the imagination of such persons accounts for marvellous phenomena is to refer them to the operation of Persons. When the atten- tion is excited by the regular movements of sun and moon and stars, by the alternations of day and night, by the recurrence of the seasons, by the rising and falling of the seas, by the ceaseless flow of rivers, by the gathering of clouds, the rolling of thunder, and the flashing of lightning, by the operation of life in the vegetable and animal worlds, in short by any exhibition of an active and motive power, — it is natural for uninstructed minds to consider such changes and movements as the work of divine Persons. In this manner the early Greek Legends associate themselves with personification of the powers of nature. All attempts to account for the marvels which surround us are foregone ; everything is referred to the immediate operation of a god. " Cloud-compelling" Zeus is the author of the pheno- mena of the air; "Earth-shaking" Poseidon of all that happens in the water under the earth ; Nymphs are attached to every spring and tree ; Demeter, or Mother Earth, for six months rejoices in the presence of Proserpine, the green herb, her daughter, and for six months forgets her absence in dark abodes beneath the earth. This tendency to deify the powers of nature is due partly to a clear atmosphere and sunny climate, which inclines a people to live much in the open air in close communion with all that nature offers to charm the senses and excite the imagination, partly to the character of the people, and partly to the poets who in early times have wrought these legendary tales into works, which are read with increased delight in ages when science and method have banished the simple faith which pro- cured acceptance for these legends. Among the Greeks all these * See note on Cliapt. ii. § 3. 72 ROME UNDER THE KINGS. Book I. conditions were found existing. They lived, so to say, out of doors ; their powers of observation were extremely quick, and their imagination singularly vivid; and their ancient poems are the most noble specimens of the old legendary tales that have been preserved in any country,* § 3. But among the Romans all is different. We find few traces of this Religious Legend among them. What may have been the case in the earliest times we know not ; but the Roman poets whose works we possess adopted the mythology of Greece, and transferred to the Sabine and Latin divinities the attributes and actions of the Hellenic gods, so that we are often presented with the strange anomaly of Italian divinities disporting them- selves on the hills and in the valleys of Thessaly or Arcadia. But if there is not much of the native Religious Legend among the Romans, there is found another kind of Legend in greater fulness and beauty than perhaps among any other people. § 4. We are thus brought to a distinction which it is neces- sary to make in the Legends of all nations. One class may be called the Religious Legend, of which we have briefly spoken ; the other is the Heroic or Historical, of which we have now to speak. The Religious Legend pretends to explain the nature of the universe and its history ; the Heroic Legend seeks to determine the early history of the particular people among whom it is found existing. As the poetic fancy of the Greek inclined him to the former kind, so the practical and business-like character of the Roman mind cared little for the mysteries of nature, but loved to dwell upon the origin and early fortunes of their own great city. § 5. This tendency to hero-worship, which is indicated by the prevalence of the Heroic Legend, generally exerts its influence to a very late period in a nation's life, or rather it may be said never to die away entirely. A correcter natural philosophy has * Compare the beautiful passage in the fourth book of the Excwsion: " The lively Grecian, in a land of hills, Rivers, and fertile plains, and sounding shores, Under a cope of variegated sky, Could find commodious place for every god," etc. And again :— " The traveller slaked His thirst from riU or g-ushing fount, and thanked The Naiad. Sunbeams, upon distant hills Gliding apace, with shadows in their train. Might, with small help from fancy, be transformed Into fleet Oreads sporting visibly. The Zeyphers, fanning, as they passed, their wings, Lacked not, for love, fair objects, whom they wooed With gentle whisper," etc. Chap. V. NATURE OF EARLY HISTORY. 73 banislied from most minds this belief in particular divine beings exercising particular influence on streams, and skies, and trees.* But no sooner does a man occupy any space in the public mind, than all kinds of tales concerning his sayings and doings pass current from mouth to mouth, and things are believed of him either for good or evil which have very slender foundation in truth. To children their parents, to young people their masters, to grown men their poets and philosophers, their statesmen and generals, or any one Avho raises himself above the crowd by ex- traordinary actions, good or bad, have an existence more or less mythical ; that is, they are the heroes of many tales, which are unconsciously invented, transmitted, altered, magnified, and be- lieved. Education and the press have done much to diminish this propensity to mythology; the moi'e persons are brought into im- mediate contact with the great, the more are they disabused of imaginative fancies with regard to them. But the spirit can never wholly be eradicated, nor indeed is its eradication produc- tive of unmixed good. It is impossible to conceive a society of men so penetrated by philosophical culture as to have become incapable of inventing and receiving legendary tales in some shape or other. § 6. It is well known that the Legends of Roman history were long repeated and regarded as sober historic truths. Some keen- sighted critics were excited to examine them, and they proved by a long and careful investigation that they had no claim to be so regarded.f Impossibilities were pointed out, discrepancies of time and fact noted, variations of the same story, as told by * See Coleridge's translation of Schiller's Wallenstein, act ii. sc. 4 : — " The intelligible forms of ancient poets, The fair humanities of old reUgion, The power, the beauty, and the majesty, That had their haunts in dale or piny mountain, Or forest by slow stream, or pebbly spring. Or chasms and wat'ry depths ; — all these have vanish'd ; They hve no longer in the faith of reason 1" f The first, and probably the ablest, of these sceptical critics was Perizoniua, a German. But his work (Animadversiones Sistoricoe) was written in Latin, and addressed only to the learned. Gianbattista Vico, an Itahan of exti'aor- dinary genius, mixed up his historical speculations with so much of mysticism and obscurity, that they also produced but little effect. The person who nest shook the credit of the old Roman history was the Frenchman Beaufort, who, with the clear and cool calculation of his nation, made the discrepancies and variations clear to the least attentive, in his essay, Sur V Incertitude de VlSis- toire Romaine. It is characteristic at least, that he was first stimulated to his ■nvestigations by national pique. He was indignant at the tale that the bravo Gauls of Brennus were defeated by CamOlus, and his successful confutation of this legend led him on to more adventurous flights. The immediate results of his work may be seen in the histories of Hook and Ferguson. 4 ^4 ROME UNDER THE KINGS. Book I. different writers, brouglit forward. Even in ancient times the miraculous nature of many of these Legends was a stumbling- block to sober annalists. The course these writers took in ancient times was what we now know by the name of rationalism. They retained all the statements of the legends, but explained them so as to suit common prose. The Golden Fleece was a ship in which Medea and Jason escaped ; the Bull was a ship in which Europa was carried off by Jove, and so forth. In Grecian litera- ture the chief rationalist was named Euhemeros ; in Roman L. Calpurnius Piso played the same part. § v. But the modern critics who showed the discrepancies and variations of the ancient Legends took a different course. It was not the marvellous and supernatural incidents that attracted their notice ; for after all there are not many of such kind in Roman annals. It was the manifest falsehood of many of the early stories, which attracted notice, — the exaltation of indivi- dual heroes, the concealment of defeats and losses on the part of Rome. The most striking among these inventions, as we shall show below, are the stories of Porsenna and Camillus. The im- mediate effect of these discoveries was, that for a time the annals of early Roman history were passed over in almost contemptuous silence. It was then that Niebuhr arose. He acknowledged the sagacity of these critics, and conceded to them that the early history, if regarded as an actual narrative of facts, was wholly unreal ; but he refused to throw it all aside as arbitrary fiction. He showed that the early history of Rome, like that of all nations, was mythical or legendary, containing a poetical account of the first ages of the city, and not a sober historical nar- rative ; but the legendary traditions of the Roman people parti- cularly are, he contended, so rich and so beautiful, that they give an insight into the early genius of the people which would never have been divined from the imitative literature Avhich has been handed down as Roman. Moreover, mingled up with the poetic legends of which we speak, there are accounts of laws and institu- tions which undeniably existed, such as the regulations attributed to Romulus and Numa, and the popular reforms of Avhich the elder Tarquin and Servius TuUius are the reputed authors. There are also great works, in part remaining to the present day, of which these Legends tell — such as the Cloaca Maxima, the Substructions of the Capitol, the Agger of Servius Tullius. Here we have realities which cannot be put aside as children's tales. § 8. At present we have only to estimate the relation which the chronicles of Regal Rome bear to actual historical fact. The reigns of the seven Kings have been thrown into four Sect. V. NATURE OP EARLl- HISTORY. 75 chapters purposely. Eacli of these sections presents a legendary- character of its own. The accounts of Romulus and Numa differ essentially from those of TuUus and Ancus ; and all these differ more widely from the chronicle of the first Tarquin and of Servius ; while the story of the last Tarquin brings us into the atmosphere of romance in which we move during the first century and a half of the Republic. ^ 9. The reigns of Romulus and Numa are in the realm of pure mythology. Romulus, like JEneas, is the son of a god ; Numa, like Anchises, is the favoured lover of a goddess. Romulus is the man of force, for Roma [pcj^irj) signifies strength and vigour. Numa is the man of law, for numus {yonoq) signifies law. Under these typical names is embodied, in beautiful legends, the origin of the social, political, and religious institutions of Rome. How long a period is thus symbolised, or how many generations of kings, it is impossible to guess. But under the mythical story of these reigns we may clearly discern historical truth. We see in them a continual struggle between the original Latin influence and the Sabine. Romulus the Roman founds the city, and is obliged to admit into partner- ship Titus the Sabine, who occupies both the Quirinal and Satur- nian Hills. Then Titus is slain by Latins, and the Roman King regains ascendancy for a time. But he is carried miraculously from the earth, is worshipped under a Sabine name, and a Sabine king succeeds. Here we trace the indisputable symptoms of Sabine conquest. The admission of Sabines into the city at all suggests this ; their occupation of the stronghold on the Saturnian Hill confirms it ; the assumption of a Sabine name by the Roman king, and the appellation of Quirites given to the united citizens, prove it.* It is probable, indeed, that the early institutions of Rome are Sabine rather than Latin. The religious ordinances of Numa are confessedly so. There is reason to think that the same is * Above, Chapt. i. § 10, Quirites has been rendered "Men of the Spear," according to the first derivation thus quoted from Ovid. It is objected that this appellation, which is always used of the Romans in their civil capacity, while as conquerors they are always called Populus Romanus, ill accords with this explanation. In answer, it is suggested that the term Quirites, originally meaning "united warriors," lost its warlike, and retained only its political, sense of union. From the notion of union or brotherhood, it follows (which is the fact) that the singular Quiris was not properly used at all. Niebuhr sup- poses that the common phrase, Populus EoTnanus Quirites, stood for Populus Romanus et Quirites, according to the forms of ancient Latin. But, on the above hypothesis, this cannot be so. Quirites can hardly denote a body dis- tinct from Populus Romanus ; and the phrase must be equivalent to Pop. Rom. Quiritium, which is not unfrequent. See the proof in Becker's Roman Anti- quities, vol. ii, part i. page 21, sqq. 76 HOME UNDER THE KINGS. Book I. true also of the social and political regulations attributed to Romulus. For example, the relations of Patrons and Clients almost neces- sarily imply a conquering and a conquered people. The Clients we may presume to be the Aborigines, a Pelasgian tribe, first re- duced by Oscans, and afterwards by Sabines. On the conquest by the Sabines, it may be supposed that the chief Oscan families were admitted to equality with the conquerors, either at once or in the course of a short time : while the mass of the Osco-Pelasgian population sank into the condition of Russian serfs or of feudal vassals. Something not very dissimilar occurred after the conquest of England by William the Norman. The great Saxon families were not doomed to ruin by the Conqueror till a wide-spread rebellion had convinced him that he could not retain his power but by fear: and even then the French wars soon promoted an equality between the Norman lords and the Saxon chiefs, while the mass of the nation remained in a state of serfdom. It is, in like manner, very probable that the dominion of the Sabines was relaxed, in conse- quence of war with their neighbours the Latins and Etruscans ; and it is very possible that the patriotism of later Roman minstrels may have confounded the Sabines with their own progenitors ; just as the Norman-French of England soon learned to glory in the name of Englishmen. On the whole, then, it seems not unlikely that the reigns of Romulus and Numa represents a period of Sabine supremacy ; during which institutions arose of Sabine origin and character, but so moulded and modified as to suit the genius of the combined people ; and that slowly, but surely, the spirit and genius of the Latin people prevailed over the smaller numbers of their Sabine conquerors, just as the spirit and genius of the Anglo-Saxons gra- dually overpowered the Roman influence. § 10. The reigns of Tullus and Ancus present, in some mea- sure, a repetition of those of Romulus and Numa. The Roman King dies by a strange and sudden death ; the Sabine succeeds. But the miraculous has disappeared. The Kings are ordinary mortals, not the sons and spouses of divinities ; and there is very little even of heroic legend. But there are a few naked facts which are no doubt historical. The destruction of Alba by Tullus, the conquest of Politorium and the Latin shore by Ancus, and the rapid growth of an independent Commonalty by the side of their Patrons and their Clients, are evidently beyond the range of legendary tales. There are few signs here of hostility between Latin and Sabine interest. The reigns of Tullus and Ancus seem to denote a period in Avhich the two Chap. V. NATURE OF EARLY HISTORY. 7Y nations, tliougli still distinct, were going through a rapid process of fusion. § 11. With the elder Tarquin and Servius the scene changes suddenly. The differences between Romans and Sabines have dis- appeared ; the fusion of the Rhamnian and Titian tribes is com- plete. But the third Tribe, the Lucerian, which the Legends (erroneously, no doubt,) represent as coeval with the other two, and which had been hitherto kept in a subordinate position, now starts into political life. It seems originally to have been of a mixed race, partly Etruscan, partly Latin, though gradually the Latin preponderated, and the Etruscan element at length dis- appeared. This mixture is indicated by the varying accounts which are given of the birthplace and family of Tarquin and Ser- vius. The former is commonly represented as an Etruscan emi- grant, but one Legend calls him a Latin ; the latter is generally regarded as a Latin, but one Legend makes him an Etruscan chief, named Mastarna, the comrade of Cseles Vibenna. Yet, so vague and baffling is the language of these Legends, that after all inves- j^ tigations, nothing more can be said than that the bulk of the third Tribe was manifestly Latin, and that whatever there was in Rome "of Etruscan decayed and vanished away. Yet it is certain that, under these kings, Rome became the centre of a considerable monarchy, extending her sway over Lower Etruria and all Latium. This is proved not only by the concur- rent voice of all the Legends, but also most convincingly by the great works which still remain to attest the power and wealth of those who executed them, the Cloacae of Tarquin, the walls of Ser- vius, and the great extent of ground enclosed by them, and the plan of the Capitoline Temple. To this subject we have to recur at the beginning of our next chapter. Further, it is certain that under these kings the old oligar- chical constitution was in great measure superseded. Anciently, the Kings, according to the Sabine rule, had been the chiefs in war ; but in peace their power was almost limited to the duty of presiding in the oligarchical assembly of the Curiae, and in the Council of the Senate. Their power of life and death was limited j by the right of appeal to the Curiate Assembly belonging to every burgess, as is shown in the legend of Horatius. But Tar- quin admitted great numbers of new burgesses to leaven the oligarchy, and Servius remoulded the whole population, in which the independent commonalty now formed the chief part, into a new political frame. It cannot be doubted that with the decrease in the power of the Oligarchy that of the Kings increased. The reigns of Tarquin the Elder and Servius represent a period in which the old Sabino-Roman Oligarchy gave way before the royal •78 EOMB UNDER THE KINGS. BOOK I. power, supported by the Latin Plebs, just as in England the Commons were called into political existence by the Plantagenet kings to counterbalance the overwhelming' power of the feudal aristocracy. § 12. The reign of the last Tarquin represents the consumma- tion of this work. Royalty is now despotic. The Plebeians > having served the purpose of lowering the Oligarchy, are cast aside, and a despotic monarchy overrules both alike. As the reigns of TuUus and Ancus, of the elder Tarquin and Servius, though they present much of real political interest, are almost empty of legendary tales, so the accounts of the last Tarquin are nothing but a series of Heroic Legends, beginning with the death of Servius, and closing with the great battle of Lake Regillus. All that we can collect from these Legends is, that Tarquin the J Despot was really a great and powerful monarch, a man of ability and energy, who acknowledged no political rights except those of the King, and who fell in consequence of one of those sudden bursts of passionate indignation, to which all orders of a nation are sometimes roused by contumelious oppression. No sooner was his fall achieved, than the disunion of the Patrician and Plebeian Orders disclosed itself, just as in England the enmity of Church- men and Puritans, who had combined for a moment against the Stuarts, broke out with double fury after their fall. § 13. In the History of Eome under the Patricians, which forms the subject of our next Book, we have still to deal with legendary narrative. But it is of a different kind to that which meets us in the chronicle of regal Rome. There the legends are mostly na- tional, and here they will be personal. There they refer to dynas- ties and the changes which arose from feuds between cenquerors and conquered ; here they relate chiefly to foreign wavs^ and the prowess of patrician heroes. View of Campagna. BOOK II. HOME UNDER THE PATRICIANS. CHAPTER VI. DECLINE OF ROMAN POWER AFTER THE EXPULSION OF THE TARQUINS. GEOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF THE NEIGHBOURHOOD OF ROME. § 1. Extent of Eoman power at Expulsion of Kings. § 2. It fell with Mo- narchy. § 3. Romans for a time subject to Porsenna. § 4 Rome no longer head of Latium: accession of Attus Clausus and 3000 Clients. Narrow limits of Roman History for next 150 years. § 5. Campagna: pestilential air. § 6. Less unhealthy in ancient times. § 7. Nations bordering on plain of Rome: Tusculum, &c. § 8. Lower Apennines: Prseneste: Vols- cians: ^quians: Hernicans. § 9. Lower Etruria. § 1. It has been incidentally noticed tliat in the first year of the Eepublic, a sort of commercial treaty was made between Rome on the one part, and Carthage on the other. The very fact of a great trading city like Carthage thinking it worth while to enter into such a treaty leads us to look on Rome with very different eyes from those of the early Annalists. It is evident 80 ROME UNDER THE PATRICIANS. Book II. that slie must have occupied an important position in the Medi- terranean. The general impression raised by the mere existence of such a treaty, is much strengthened by its articles, so far as they have been preserved to us. It appears that the Carthagi- nians on their part bound themselves to make no settlement for trading purposes on the coast of Latium and Campania, while the Romans on their part covenanted not to sail along the African coast southward of the Hermsean promontory. This jealousy of maritime interference on the side of Carthage shows that Rome, or her Etruscan sovereign at least, must have been in possession of a considerable naval force. Again, the Latins are in the treaty expressly called the "subjects" of Rome, which confirms the statements of the Roman Annalists that all Latium was reduced under the sovereignty of the later kings, § 2. It is probable, then, on the one hand, that the Tarquins and Servius ruled a considerable kingdom, which certainly included all Latium, and probably also great part of Etruria. It is, on the other hand, certain that this dominion fell with the monarchy. § 3. The war with Porsenna and the Etruscans shows that Etruria, whatever wag the case before, was now certainly not subject to Rome ; nay, there is evidence to prove that the Romans themselves became for a time subject to the Etruscan yoke. We have heard the legend of Porsenna as it ij related by Roman bards. But it is certain that the truth has been much distorted. The tales of Horatius, of Mucins, of Cloelia, are noble poetry, and stir the youthful heart with no ungenerous fire. Yet wo must confess that Porsenna conquered Rome, and held it for a time at least under an iron rule. Tacitus, the greatest of Roman historians, lets drop the fact that "the city itself was surren- dered" to the Etruscan monarch :* another writer tells us, that the war lasted three years :f the legend itself obscurely con- fesses that Rome at this time lost its Trans-Tiberine pagi, and that Porsenna was acknowledged as sovereign by the pre- sent of an ivory throne, a sceptre, a crown of gold, and a robe of state, the very marks of Etruscan monarchy introduced at Rome by the elder Tarquin : and, lastly, Pliny expressly cites the treaty, by which it appears, that Porsenna forbade the Romans to use any iron except for implements of husbandry .J * "Dedit4 Urbe." — Tacit. Histor. iii. 72. f Orosius, ii. 5. :j: " In foedere quod expulsis regibus Populo Romano dedit Porsenna, nomi- natim comprehensum invenimus, ne ferro nisi in agri culturam uterentur." — Plin. Hist. Nat. xxxiv. 39. "With this may be compared the treatment of the Israehtes by the Philistines, 2 Sam. xiii. 19 — 22. There could be no more complete proof of absolute submission. Chap. VI. DECLINE IN POWER. 81 This dominion of tlie Etruscans over Rome did not continue long ; for, soon after, Porsenna was defeated and slain before the Latin city of Aricia ; and then it was, doubtless, that the Romans seized and sold all the goods of the king on Avhich they could lay their hands.* But it was not till long after that they reconquered the Yeientine pagi which they had lost. § 4. So also, notwithstanding the triumph of Lake Regillus, it is certain that Rome no longer was the head of Latium. The Latin cities Tusculum, Lanuvium, Corioli, and others, within ten or twelve miles of the Forum, asserted their independence ; not to speak of Tibur, Prseneste, and others, which Avere more remote. The only accession to her territory, amid all these losses, arose from the voluntary union of some Sabines with their old compatriots at Rome. Most of the Sabine tribes in proximity with Rome supported the Latins in their revolt. But a powerful chief of the name of Attus Clausus, with a following of no less than three thousand clients, joined himself to the Romans, and himself became a Roman. He and his followers were settled in a Sabine district beyond the Anio, which was con- stituted as a local tribe ; — the number of the Tribes being thus raised to Twenty-one.f Rome, then, now appears as mistress only of a small territory on the left bank of the Tiber. The next century and a half of her history is occupied in reconquering that which she had lost : and though still the narrative is much mixed up with legendary tales, yet the people with whom she deals, and the land which she wins, are real and substantial things, and re- main in her possession for ever. Here then it will be convenient and instructive for the student to pause, and take a geographical survey of the Roman territory and its adjacent lands. § 5. The city of Rome stands at the verge of a small island of tertiary formation in the midst of a long tract of volcanic country, which stretches from the Pontine Marshes on the south to Acquapendente, a town of modern Tuscany, about ten miles north of the Volsinian lake. The land along the coast-line of this tract, from Civita Vecchia, the port of modern Rome, to Cape Circello, is flat and low. But the land rises gra- dually inland, till at Rome the general level is considerably above the sea. To one standing upon the Capitol, the view to- wards Tuscany is immediately bounded by a ridge of hills, which * Hence "to sell the goods of King Porsenna" became a proverb at Eome for despoiling an enemy. Livy attempts to explain the phrase in accordance with the legend, which represents Rome as never having yielded to the king. f It probably was the Crustumine or Crustumerian, the first that did not bear the name of a Patrician Gens. See Chapt. iii. § 20, Note, whence it wUI be seen that a Claudian Tribe already existed. 4* 82 KOME UNDER THE PATRICIANS. Book II. skirt the Tiber on the west. The height directly west of the Capitol is Mont Janiculum; northward, and facing the Campus Martins, is the Vatican hill ; while still further north appears the more considerable eminence of Mont Marius. Due north, the view up the valley of the Tiber is closed by the noble mass of Soracte. From this point round to the sea, that is on the north- east, east, and south, the eye ranges over a wide extent of plain, properly called the Campagna di Eoma. Viewed from the heights of Rome, this plain appears level and unbroken. But the traveller who passes over it finds it rising and falling in constant undulations, while in the hollows, here and there, small streams creep sluggishly towards the Tiber or Anio through broken banks fringed with broom and other low-grow- ing plants. He sees but few portions of this plain under cultiva- tion, though it produces a luxuriant herbage. Houses, there are scarcely any, trees almost none, to break the dreary monotony ; and the peasants whom he meets, few and far between, give suffi- cient reason for this desolation in their unhealthy looks and listless bearing. The part of this plain which on the west is bounded by the course of the Tiber, from beyond the Anio to the sea, was the famous Ager Romanus, and formed the narrow district to which we find its limits reduced after the wars which followed the expulsion of the Tarquins. Its eastern boundary cannot be distinctly ascertained; but it was formed by a waving line which ran from below Tivoli to Ardea, at a mean breadth of ten or twelve miles ; its whole area being not larger than the county of Middlesex. On enquiry into its present condition, we learn that this district is distributed into four or five and twenty farms ; that the land in each farm is divided into seven portions, each of which is ploughed up in rotation for a grain crop, and then it is left to resume the natural herbage which soon clothes it again without the help of man ; so that not above one-seventh part of the whole is under tillage at once. We are further in- formed that the country is thus left desolate because of the malaria or pestilential atmosphere which pervades it ; that few or none of the tenant-farmers who occupy the land are hardy enough to reside upon their farms ; that the peasants who reap the crops come down for the express purpose from the upland valleys on the north, and suffer much from low fever and disease during the time that they are thus occupied ; that when the crop is housed, all flee the pestilential soil, except some few who haunt spectre- like the ruinous remains of its ancient towns.* * The foregoing facts are mainly collected from an article in the Edinlwrgh Eeview, vol xxxviii. p. 48 and following. Chap. YI. THE CAMPAaNA. 83 § G. It is a natural and inevitable thought, that, in the Roman times, the j)hysical condition of this country must have been difl'erent ; for every eminence was then crowned with a town or village, and many of the broken cliff-like banks formed citadels, like the Hills of Rome. It is certain, indeed, that in ancient times the country was unhealthy and uninviting ;* but it is not to be doubted that it is more unhealthy now, and that Rome itself was in those days less exposed to the influence of malaria than at present. What is not less striking is, that hitherto the causes of this malaria have baffled the researches of science. It does not arise from marshy exhalations ; for the soil of the Campagna is as dry in the present day as it was when Livy described it. It can hardly be due to the impreg- nation of the volcanic soil with mephitic vapour ; for, though it appears that the volcanic district of Etruria, now called the Maremma, is equally unhealthy, and presents a similar aspect of forlorn desolation, yet no such evil attacks other volcanic soils, as Campania or Sicily ; nor will this hypothesis account for the increase of the plague in modern times. The causes suggested for this increase are : first, the neglected culture of the land ; secondly, the destruction of trees and natural shelter from the sun and wind ; thirdly, the want of all protec- tion to those who brave the climate from the sudden cold that at sunset follows the intense heat of the day. Instances are alleged to show that if good houses are built, if tillage is promoted in their neighbourhood, and trees encouraged around them, and if the inhabitants avoid the air during sunset and at night, life may be enjoyed in the Campagna even at the present day without constant liability to fever in the hot season.f But social mismanagement seems to have combined with nature to desolate this region. Under the Romans themselves of a later day, as we shall see hereafter, it was found more profitable to throw large districts into pastures, and people it with flocks tended by slave-shepherds ; — for it must be noticed as a singular fact, that the air so prejudicial to the health of the human frame is not hurtful to the cattle. This system, introduced of old, still pre- * Cicero {De Republicd, ii. 6) says that Romulus " locum delegit in regione pestilente salubrem." And Livy (vii. 38) represents discontented Romans as declaring that they were wearied of struggling " in pestilente atque arido cir- cum urbem solo." Compare the reasons given against removing to Veil, v. 54. Strabo, a Greek, speaks stiU more disparagingly of the situation of Rome. It was, he says, matter of necessity, rather than of choice. f The reviewer above referred to quotes such cases; and Dr. Arnold, on the authority of Chevaher Bunsen, mentions the great improvements that have been made on the lands of the Duke of Zagarolo (near Palestrina) by promot- ing tillage and permanent occupation. Hist, of Rome, i. p. 50*7. 84 ROME UNDER THE PATRICIANS. Book II. vails. And thougli it is likely that no natural evils would have dispeopled the Campagna, any more than they have dispeopled Vera Cruz or the coasts of the Sea of Azof, yet when the misrule of man seconds the visitation of God, and when once such a coun- try has lost its inhabitants, it is little to be expected that it will again' be reclaimed from its state of desolation.* § Y. We will now notice the different tribes who dwelt on the verges of this celebrated district, and for this purpose we will return to the Capitol. A little to the south of east the plain is interrupted by a beautiful range of hills, which rise abruptly and by themselves from its surface. This is the volcanic range so well known as the Alban Hills. The highest peak, measuring about 3000 feet, was anciently crowned by the temple of Jupiter Latiaris, the common sanctuary of the Latin nation ; and on the ridge, of which it forms the culminating point, once lay the town of Alba Longa. In two hollows, to the south-west, are found the Alban lake and the lake of Nemus (Nemi), being both of them formed by accumulations of water in the craters of extinct volcanoes. On a separate ridge to the north lay Tusculum (Frascati), one of the Latin cities which threw off the Eoman yoke on the expulsion of the Tarquins : Corioli and Lavinium were situated on similar emi- nences to the south. § 8. A line, drawn along the map of Italy from below Narnia down the Tiber, then across the Sabine country to Tibur, and so past Prasneste and Signia to Terracina, marks the edge of a continuous chain of hills which bound the plain of Latium. This is formed by a narrow belt of Ancient Limestone, which rises from under a broad and many -ridged mass of the more Recent system, as shown in the annexed map. These united formations constitute the lower range of Apennines, while on the other side of the more Recent mass again emerge the Ancient Limestone rocks of the main chain. It is the de- scent down the face of this lower ridge which forms the beau- tiful cascade of the Anio at Tibur (Tivoli). At Prseneste, the ridge sinks and lets the eye into the valley of the Trerus (Sacco), Avhich runs eastward to join the Liris. Prseneste (Palestrina) itself stands on a bold projecting eminence, in the gap formed by the sinking of the hills. Now this natural division of the range which Ave call the Lower Apeninnes, corresponds to its political division at the time of which we speak. The range between the right bank of the Trerus and Terracina was the hill country of the Volsci, Avho stretched across the Liris to Sora and * Edinburgh Review, as above, pp. 56, 57 ; Arnold's History of Borne, i. p. 504. Chap. VI. THE COUNTRY ROUND HOME. 85 Arpinum. The upper part from the Anio northwards, was the country of the ^quians, reaching beyond Carseoli and Alba, and including the Fucine lake (lake of Celano)^ the largest piece of water in the Apennine range. Between these two tribes, that is between the Trerus and the Anio, lay, wedged in their upland valley, the Hernicans. The Volscians and the ^quians were probably Opican tribes, of the same race with the Auruncans, Avho lay behind the Volscian hills in the mountainous tract which leads into Campania ; whereas the Hernicans, a brave and inde- pendent tribe, were of Sabine blood. The mountains to the north-east about Eeate up to Amiternum, are the ancient homes of the Sabines ; and from these mountains descended, according to tradition, the first occupants of Rome and Latium. Close above Amiternum rises the wild mass of Monte Corno, and the highest peaks of the Apennine range. For six months of the year the central ridges may easily be distinguished by their snow- capped summits. «. § 9. Beyond the ridge which has been described as barring Ancient Limestone. More Recent Limestona Tertiary Beds. Volcanic. AUuviaL 86 EOME UNDER THE PATRICIANS. Book IL all view towards ancient Etruria on the west and north-west, lay what we may call Lower Etruria, This district, lying between the lower valley of the Tiber and the sea, is separated from Upper Etruria by a range of volcanic hills, which strike across the coun- try at right angles to the Apennine valleys. They formed an un- frequented tract, then called the Ciminian Forest, beyond which no Romans for many years after dared to penetrate. It is from the eastern edg;e of this range, now called the heights of Viterbo, that the traveller from Florence obtains his first view of the Campagna. Below these hills was the country occupied by the Yeientines and the Faliscans. Beyond them again, the places of chief note were Sutrium and Nepete ; and towards the sea lay the low lands of the men of C^ere, a city which plays a considerable part in the history of Rome. Veii was not more than twelve miles distant from the walls of Rome. With this geographical sketch, which should be verified by a comparison with the map annexed,,all the progress of Rome in foreign conquest may readily be followed for the next century and a half. Her arms, in that period, never travelled further than twenty miles from Rome ; generally their action took place in a much more circumscribed sphere. Lake of Nemi, looking over the Campagna. CHAPTER VII. THE TRIBUNATE. § 1. Character of struggle between Orders. § 2. Sufferings of Plebeians in border wars, not shared by Patricians. § 3. All power gradually resumed by Patricians. § 4. Patricians an exclusive Caste : privilege of Connubium. § 5. Plebeians iirst roused by severe Laws of Debtor and Creditor. § 6. Patricians chief Creditors, Plebeians Debtors. § 1. Story of incident which gave rise to Tribunate: Appius Claudius, leader of Patricians, deceives Plebeians. § 8. Secession of Plebeians to Mons Sacer. § 9. Menenius Agrippa : Fable of BeUy and Members. § 10. Peace restored : two Tri- bunes to be chosen as Protectors of Plebeians. § 11. Incompleteness of Protection. § 12. Plebeian ^diles. § 1. In the following chapters of this Book we shall have to record, not only the slow steps by which the Romans recovered dominion over their neighbours, but also the long-continued struggle by which the Plebeians raised themselves to a level with the Patricians, who had again become the dominant caste at Rome. Mixed up with legendary tales as the history still is, enough is nevertheless preserved to excite the admiration of all who love to look upon a brave people pursuing a worthy object with patient but earnest resolution, never flinching, yet seldom injuring their good cause by reckless violence. To an English- man this history ought to be especially dear; for more than any other in the annals of the world does it resemble the long- enduring constancy and sturdy determination, the temperate will and noble self-control, with which the Commons of his own country secured their rights. It was by a struggle of this nature, pursued through a century and a half, that the character of the Roman people was moulded into that form of strength and energy, which threw back Hannibal to the coasts of Africa, and in half a century more made them masters of the Mediterranean shore. § 2. There can be no doubt that the wars that followed the Ex- pulsion of the Tarquins, with the loss of territory that accom- panied them, must have reduced all orders of men at Rome to great distress. But those who most suffered were the Plebeians. The Plebeians at that time consisted entirely of landholders, great and small, and husbandmen ; for in those times the practice of trades and mechanical arts was considered unworthy of a free- born man. Some of the Plebeian families were as wealthy as any 88 ROME UNDER THE PATRICIANS. BOOK 11. among the Patricians ; but tlie mass of tliem were petty yeoman, who lived on the produce of their small farms, and were solely dependent for a living on their own limbs, their own thrift and industry. Most of them lived in the villages and small towns, which in those times were thickly sprinkled over the slopes of the Campagna. The Patricians, on the other hand, resided chiefly within the city. If slaves were few as yet, they had the labour of their Clients available to till their farms ; and through their Clients also they were enabled to derive a profit from the practice of trading and crafts, which personally neither they nor the Plebeians would stoop to pursue. Besides these sources of profit, they had at this time the exclusive use of the Public Land, a subject on which we shall have to speak more at length hereafter. At present, it will be sufficient to say, that the Public Land now spoken of had been the Crown Land or Regal Domain, which on the expulsion of the Kings had been forfeited to the State. The Patricians being in possession of all actual power, engrossed possession of it, and seem to have paid a very small quit-rent to the treasury for this great advantage. Besides this, the necessity of service in the army, or militia (as it might more justly be called), acted very differently on the rich landholder and the small yeoman. The latter, being called out with sword and spear for the summer's campaign, as his turn came round, was obliged to leave his farm uncared for, and his crop could only be reaped by the kind aid of neigh- bours; whereas the rich proprietor, by his Clients or his hired labourers, could render the required military service without robbing his land of his own labour. Moreover, the territory of Rome was so narrow, and the enemy's borders so close at hand, that any night the stout yeoman might find himself reduced to beggary, by seeing his crops destroyed, his cattle driven away, and his homestead burnt in a sudden foray. The Patricians and rich Plebeians were, it is true, exposed to the same contin- gencies. But wealth will always provide some defence ; and it is reasonable to think that the larger proprietors provided places of refuge, into which they could drive their cattle, and secure much of their property, such as the peel-towers common in our own border counties. Thus the Patricians and their Clients might escape the storm which destroyed the isolated yeoman. To this must be added, that the Public Land seems to have been mostly in pasturage, and therefore the property of the Patricians must have chiefly consisted in cattle, which was more easily saved from depredation than the crops of the Ple- beian. Lastly, the profit derived from the trades and business CH-iP. VII. THE TRIBUNATE. 89 of their Clients, being secured by the walls of the city, gave to the Patricians the command of all the capital that could exist in a state of society so simple and rude, and afforded at once a means of repairing their own losses, and also of obtaining a dominion over the poor yeomen. § 3. For some time after the expulsion of the Tarquins, it was necessary for the Patricians to treat the Plebeians Avith liberality. The institutions of " the Commons' King," King Servius, sus- pended by Tarquin, were, partially at least, restored : it is said eveu that one of the first Consuls Avas a Plebeian, and that he chose several of the leading Plebeians into the Senate. But after the death of Porsenna, and when the fear of the Tarquins ceased, all these flattering signs disappeared. The Consuls seem still to have been elected by the Centuriate Assembly, but the Cu- riate Assembly retained in their own hands the right of con- ferring the Imperium, which amounted to a positive veto on the election by the larger body. All the names of the early Consuls, except in the first year of the Republic, are Patrician. But if by chance a Consul displayed popular tendencies, it was in the power of the Senate and Patricians to suspend his power by the appointment of a Dictator. Thus, practically, the Patri- cian Burgesses again became the Populus or Body Politic of Rome. § 4. It must here not be forgotten that this dominant body was an exclusive caste ; that is, it consisted of a limited number of noble families, who allowed none of their members to marry with persons born out of the pale of their own order. The child of a Patrician and a Plebeian, or of a Patrician and a Client, was not considered as born in lawful wedlock ; and however proud the blood which it derived from one parent, the child sank to the condition of the parent of lower rank. This was expressed in Roman language by saying, that there was no Right of Connu- bium between Patricians and any inferior classes of men. Nothing can be more impolitic than such restrictions ; nothing more hurt- ful even to those who count it their privilege. In all exclusive or oligarchical pales, families become extinct, and the breed decays both in bodily strength and mental vigour. Happily for Rome, the Patricians were unable long to maintain themselves as a sepa- rate caste, § 5. Yet the Plebeians might long have submitted to this state of social and political inferiority, had not their personal distress and the severe laws of Rome driven them to seek relief, by claiming to be recognised as members of the body politic. The severe laws of which we speak were those of debtor and 90 EOME UNDER THE PATRICIANS, Book IL creditor. If a Roman borrowed money, lie was ..expected to enter into a contract with his creditor to pay the debt by a cer- tain day ;* and if on that day he was unable to discharge his obligation, he was summoned before the Patrician judge, who was authorised by the law to assign the defaulter as a bondsman to his creditor ; that is, the debtor was obliged to pay by his own labour the debt which he was unable to pay in money. Or if a man incurred a debt without such formal contract, the rule was still more imperious : for in that case the law itself fixed the day of payment ; and if after a lapse of thirty days from that date the debt was not discharged, the creditor was empowered to arrest the person of his debtor, to load him with chains, and feed him on bread and water for another thirty days ; and then, if the money still remained unpaid, he might put him to death, or sell him as a slave to the highest bidder ; or, if there were several creditors, they might hew his body in pieces, and divide it. And in this last case the law provided with scrupulous pro- vidence against the evasion by which the Merchant of Venice escaped the cruelty of the Jew; for the Roman law said, that " whether a man cut more or less [than his due], he should incur no penalty."! These atrocious provisions, however, defeated their own object ; for there was no more unprofitable way in which the body of a debtor could be disposed of. § 6. Such being the law of debtor and creditor, it remains to say that the creditors were chiefly of the Patrician caste, and the debtors almost exclusively of the poorer sort among the Ple- beians. The Patricians were the creditors, because from their occupancy of the Public Land, and from their engrossing the profits to be derived from trade and crafts, they alone had spare capital to lend. The Plebeian yeomen were the debtors, because their independent position made them, at that time, helpless. Vassals, clients, serfs, or by whatever name depen- dents are called, do not suffer from the ravages of a predatory war like free landholders, because the loss falls on their lords or patrons. But when the independent yeoman's crops are destroyed, his cattle "lifted," and his homestead in ashes, he must himself repair the loss. This was, as we have said, the condition of many Roman Plebeians. To rebuild their houses * Contracts were in Roman language called nexa, and persons bound by contract were "tiexi. f The technical word was addixit. Hence persons delivered over as bonds- men were addicti ; and the word addictics came to mean generally bound to do a thing, as in the phrase. "Nullius addictus jurare in verba magistri." Herat. Epist. i. 1, 14. X "Si plus minusve secuerint, se [i. e. sine] fraude esto." This, as well as the other provisions of the law, are given by GeUius, xx. 1, §§ 45-49. Chap. YIL THE TRIBUNATE. 91 and re-stock their farms, tliey borrowed; the Patricians were their creditors; and the law, instead of protecting the small holders, like the law of the Hebrews,'* delivered them over into serfdom or slavery. Thus the free Plebeian population might have been reduced to a state of mere dependency, and the history of Eome might have presented a repetition of monotonous severity, like that of Sparta or of Venice.f But it was ordained otherwise. The distress and oppression of the Plebeians led them to demand, and to obtain political protectors, by whose means they were slowly but surely raised to equality of rights and privileges with their rulers and oppressors. These protectors were the famous Tribunes of the Plebs. We will now repeat the no less famous legends by which their first creation was accounted for. § Y. It was, by the common reckoning, fifteen years after the expulsion of the Tarquins (494 b.c), that the Plebeians were roused to take the first step in the assertion of their rights. After the battle of Lake Kegillus, the Plebeians had reason to ex- pect some relaxation of the law of debt, in consideration of the great services they had rendered in the war. But none was granted. The Patrician creditors began to avail themselves of the severity of the law against their Plebeian debtors. The discon- tent that followed was great : and the Consuls prepared to meet the storm. These were Appius Claudius, the proud Sabine nobleman who had lately become a Eoman, and who now led the high Patrician party with all the unbending energy of a chief- tain Avhose will had never been disputed by his obedient clans- men : and P. Servilius, who represented the milder and more liberal party of the Fathers. It chanced that an aged man rushed into the Forum on a market-day, loaded with chains, clothed with a few scanty rags, his hair and beard long and squalid ; his whole appearance ghastly, as of one oppressed by long want of food and air. He was recognised as a brave soldier, the old comrade of many who thronged the Forum. He told his story, how that in the late wars, the enemy had burnt his house and plundered his little farm; that to replace his losses, he had borrowed money of a Patrician, that his cruel creditor (in default of payment) had thrown him into prison, J and tormented him with chains and scourges. At this sad tale, the passions of the people rose high, * Levit. XXV. 23-31. f A well-known G-erman historian calls the Spartans by tho name of " stunted Romans." There is much resemblance to be traced X Such prisons were called ergastula, and afterwards became the places for keeping slaves in. 92 EOME UNDER THE PATRICIANS. BOOK IL Appius was obliged to conceal himself; while Servilius under- took to plead the cause of the Plebeians with the Senate. Meantime news came to the city that the Roman territory was invaded by. the Volscian foe. The Consuls proclaimed a levy ; but the stout yeomen, one and all, refused to give in their names and take the military oath. Servilius now came forward, and proclaimed by edict, that no citizen should be imprisoned for debt so long as the war lasted, and that at the close of the war he would propose an alteration of the law. The Plebeians trusted him, and the enemy was driven back. But when the popular Consul returned with his victorious soldiers, he was denied a triumph ; and the Senate, led by Appius, refused to make any concession in favour of the debtors. The anger of the Plebeians rose higher and higher; when, again news came that the enemy were ravaging the lands of Rome. The Senate, well knowing that the power of the Consuls would avail nothing, since Appius was regarded as a tyrant, and Servilius would not choose again to become an instrument for deceiving the people, appointed a Dictator to lead the citizens into the field. But to make the act as popular as might be, they named M. Valerius, a descendant of the great Poplicola. The same scene was repeated over again. Valerius protected the Plebeians against their creditors while they were at war, and promised them relief when war was over. But when the danger was gone by, Appius again prevailed; the Senate refused to listen to Valerius ; and the Dictator laid down his office, calling gods and men to witness that he was not responsible for his breach of faith. § 8. The Plebeians whom Valerius had led forth were still under arms, still bound by their military oath ; and Appius, with the violent Patricians, refused to disband them. The army, therefore, having lost Valerius, their proper general, chose two of themselves, L. Junius Brutus and L. Sicinius Bellutus by name, and under their command they marched northwards and occupied the hill which commands the junction of the Tiber and the Anio. Here, at a distance of about two miles from Rome, they determined to settle and form a new city, leaving Rome to the Patricians and their Clients. But the latter were not willing to lose the best of their soldiery, the cultivators of the greater part of the Roman territory, and they sent repeated embassies to persuade the seceders to return. They, however, turned a deaf ear to all promises ; for they had too often been deceived. Appius now urged the Senate and Patricians to leave the Plebeians to themselves ; the Nobles and their Clients, he said, could well maintain themselves in the city without such base aid. Chap. VIL THE TRIBUNATE. * 93 § 9. But wiser sentiments prevailed. T. Lartius, and M. Va- lerius, both of -wliom had been Dictators, with Menenius Agrippa, an old Patrician of popular character, were empowered to treat with the people. Still their leaders were, unwilling to listen, till old Menenius addressed them in the famous fable of the Belly and the Members : — " In times of old," said he, " when every Member of the body could think for itself, and each had a separate will of its own, they all, with one consent, resolved to revolt against the Belly. They knew no reason, they said, why they should toil from morn- ing till night in its service, while the Belly lay at its ease in the midst of all, and indolently grew fat upon their labours. Ac- cordingly, they agreed to support it no more. The feet vowed they would carry it no longer; the hands that they would do no more work; the teeth that they would not chew a morsel of meat, even were it placed between them. Thus resolved, the Members for a time showed their spirit and kept their resolution ; but soon they found, that instead of mortifying the Belly, they only undid themselves : they languished for awhile, and per- ceived too late that it was owing to the Belly that they had strength to work and courage to mutiny." § 10. The moral of this fable was plain. The people readily applied it to the Patricians and themselves ; and their leaders proposed terms of agreement to the Patrician messengers. They required that the debtors who could not pay should have their debts cancelled; and that those who had been given up into slavery (addicti) should be restored to freedom. This for the past. And as a security for the future, they demanded that two of themselves should be appointed for the sole purpose of protecting the Plebeians against the Patrician magistrates, if they acted cruelly or unjustly towards the debtors. The two officers thus to be appointed were called Tribunes of the Plebs. Their persons were to be sacred and inviolable during their year of office, whence their office is called "sacrosancta Potestas." They were never to leave the city during that time ; and their houses were to be open day and night, that all who needed their aid might demand it without delay. § 11. This concession, apparently great, was much modified by the fact that the Patricians insisted on the election of the Tribunes being made at the Comitia of the Centuries, in which they themselves and their wealthy clients could usually com- mand a majority.* In later times, the number of the Tribunes * That the election must have been so conducted' is manifest from Liv. ii. 56, where he says that the object of the Publihan Law was to take away from the Patricians the power of "per clientium suffragia creandi quos vellent Irl 94 * EOME UNDER THE PATRICIANS. Book IL was increased to five, and afterwards to ten. They were elected at the Comitia of the Tribes, as we shall have to notice presently. They had the privilege of attending all sittings of the Senate, though they were not considered members of that famous body. Above all, they acquired the great and perilous power of the Veto, by which any one of their number might stop any law, or annul any decree of the Senate, without cause or reason assigned. This right of Veto was called the right of Inter- cession. On the spot where this treaty was made, an altar was built to Jupiter, the Causer and Banisher of Fear ; for the Plebeians had gone thither in fear and returned from it in safety. The place was called Mons Sacer, or the Sacred Hill,, for ever after, and the laws by which the sanctity of the tribunitian ofiice was secured were called the Leges Sacrata3. § 12. The Tribunes were not properly magistrates or officers, for they had no express functions or official duties to discharge. They were simply Representatives and Protectors of the Plebs. At the same time, however, with the institution of these protective officers, the Plebeians were allowed the right of having two ^diles chosen from their own body, whose business it was to preserve order and decency in the streets, to provide for the repair of all buildings and roads there, with other functions partly belonging to police-officers, and partly to com- missioners of public works. bunos." When, therefore, Ascomus (in Gornelianam, p. "76, ed. Orelli) says "Tribuni Plebis Comitiis Ouriatis creati," and when Dionysius (vi. 89, ix. 41) follows the same notion, there must be some mistake. 5-eSft. Tarpeian Kock. CHAPTER VIII. AGRARIAN LAW. THK ELECTION OF THE TRIBUNES TRANSFERRED TO THE TRIBES. 5 1. Sp. Cassius, Patrician, patron of the Plebeians : proposes an Agrarian Law. § 2. Nature of Agrarian Laws. § 3. The Patricians allow Law to pass. § 4. Sp. Cassius condemned for aiming at kingly power. § 5. His 96 ROME UNDER THE PATRICIANS. BOOK IT. fall increases power of Patricians : seven Consulships of Fabii. § 6. But boldness of Tribunes also increases : a Consul impeached by Tribune Genu- cius, who is murdered. § 1. Volero Publilius refuses to enlist. § 8. Chosen Tribune : Publihan Law, enacting that Tribunes should be chosen by Tribes. § 9. Second Appius Claudius elected Consul to oppose Law : in vain. Five Tribunes henceforth elected at Comitia Tributa^ § 1. The small beginning of political independence whicli the Plebeians had gained by tlie institution of the Tribunate, seemed likely to be mucli farthered by the unexpected appearance of a patron of their order in the ranks of" the Patricians themselves. This was Spurius Cassius, a notable man. He was three times Consul. In his second Consulship he concluded a league with the Latins, and in his third Consulship a similar league with the Hernicans, by which the united people of Rome, Latium, and the Hernicans bound themselves to check the alarming advance lately made by the Volscians. But of this we will speak in the next chapter. At present we have to treat of another remark- able act of the third Consulship of Sp. Cassius, Avhich was the proposal of the first Agrarian Law. § 2. Great mistakes formerly prevailed on the nature of the Roman laws familiarly termed Agrarian. It was supposed that by these laws all land was declared common property, and that at certain intervals of time the state assumed possession,, and made a fresh distribution thereof to all citizens, rich and poor. It is needless to make any remarks on the nature and conse- quences of such a law ; sufficient it will be to say, what is now known to all, that at Rome such laws never existed, never were thought of. The lands which were to be distributed by Agra- rian laws were not private property, but the property of the state. They were, originally, those Public Lands which had been the Domain of the Kings ; and which were increased whenever any city or people was conquered by the Romans, because it was an Italian practice to confiscate the lands of the conquered, in whole or in part, to the use and benefit of the conquering people. Now at this time, as has been shown, the Patrician Burgesses in eff"ect constituted the Populus, and they had occupied the greater part, if not all, of this Public Land. This land, as has also been said, chiefly consisted of pasturage ; and it was ma- nifest that if the Plebeians could add to their small farms, which were mostly in tillage, the right of feeding cattle upon these lands, their means would be much increased, and they were likely to become much less dependent upon the rich Patrician Burgesses. <^HAP. VIIL SP. CASSIUS. 97 § 3. It is said in the Annals that Servius Tullius was author of the first Agrarian regulations. He divided, we are told, part of the domain land among the poorer Plebeians, probably at the rate of seven jugera (about 4^ acres) a man ; for this is the rule that we find adopted at the expulsion of the Kings.* Whether these ancient assignments of land took efi'ect, and whether the pro- posal of Spurius Cassius was merely intended to carry them into execution, or was a further law of the same character, Ave have no means of judging. On either supposition, the relief of the Plebeians would be of the same kind. And as the Patricians en- joyed the use and profit of all Public Lands that had not already been divided, it is not unnatural that they should have resisted any such law with the utmost vehemence and pertinacity. Such indeed was the case. But Sp. Cassius, the proposer of the law, was Consul for the third time (486 b.c). His services to the state had been great ; his ofiicial power was great. The remem- brance of the Secession to the Sacred Mount was yet fresh ; and the law, after passing the Centuriate Comitia, was not re- jected by the Patrician Burgesses in their Curiae. They calculated that it would be more easy to thwart the execution of the law, than to prevent its being passed. And they calculated rightly. § 4. But though the Patricians had yielded thus far, they only waited for an opportunity of seeking vengeance. When Sp. Cassius laid down his Consulship, that opportunity arrived. It Avas said, that in the Leagues formed with the Latins and Her- nicansf he had granted terms too favourable to these people, and was seeking to make himself despotic lord of Rome by means of foreigners, as Tarquin had done. It appears that there was some colour for this last accusation. Indeed, it is not unlikely, that a man such as Spurius Cassius may have contemplated overthrowing the patrician Oligarchy, and making himself a King like Servius Tullius. But whether his views were simply ambi- tious, or whether they were directed to the true interests of the community, the very name of King had become hateful to Roman ears. Sp. Cassius was accused by Ka?so Fabius, then head of one of the most powerful patrician Gentes. He Avas tried, no doubt before a patrician court, found guilty, and condemned to die the death of a traitor. He was scourged and beheaded, and his house razed to the ground. Such was the end of Spurius Cassius, a man little mentioned in the Annals of Rome, and who Avould be forgotten, were it not that the mere record of his acts at home and abroad, the Agra- "ian law, and the treaties concluded by him with the Latins and Hernicans, have worthily preserved his name. His enterprise * Plin, Hist. Nat. xviii. 4. f See Chapt. ix. g 6. 5 98 ROME UNDER THE PATB,IOIANS. Book IL and his end have been aptly compared with those of Agis at Sparta, or of Marino Faliero at Venice, who like him endea- voured to overthrow the power of the close and selfish oligarchy to which they respectively belonged. § 5. It is remarkable that for seven successive years after this event, a Fabius appears as one of the two Consuls ; and we con- stantly find one Consul in the interest of the high patrician party, while the other indicates more popular sentiments. These signs, together with some indistinct notices in two of our ancient authorities, led Niebuhr to conclude that at this time the Patri- cians obtained the power of electing one of the Consuls at their own Curiate Assembly, while in some years they even appointed both. Later inquiries, however, have made it probable that the Consuls were always elected at the great Assembly of the Classes and Centuries. The great influence Avhich the Patricians had in this Assembly, by means of their own wealth and that of their Clients, must have given them at least a great preponderance in all elections ; and it is possible, that for the sake of peace, some arrangement may have been made by which one Consul was ge- nerally returned in the Patrician interest, and the other in the Plebeian. Such compromises are common in all elections. But when party-spirit ran very high, the Patricians might return both of the chief magistrates themselves.* § 6. The same preponderating influence which enabled the Patricians to command the consular elections, gave them power also to control the choice of the Tribunes of the Plebs, except that as both Consuls must be Patricians, so both Tribunes must be Plebeians. It is evident, that in order to make the Tribunes really the representatives and protectors of their order, they must be chosen by that- order. Still, notwithstanding the mode of their election, energetic men had been found to put forth the power with which they were invested by the sanctity of the tri- bunitian ofllice. The Patricians had successfully impeded the execution of the Agrarian law of Cassius. But three years after, a Tribune named Msenius, declared that he would prevent the militia from being called out to take the field against the Volscian and ^quian foe, till this grievance was redressed. He offered, that is, in virtue of his protective powers, to secure any plebeian soldier against the power of the Consul, should he refuse to obey the order to give in his name for active service ; and another Tribune, named Licinius, renewed the same attempt in the next year. These first essays of their newly gained power Avere the origin of that tremendous intercessory force, which in * On this question see Niebular, ii. 119 sqq., with the remarks of Becker, Antiqq. ii. part ii. p. 93. Chap. VIII. SP. CASSIUS. 99 later times was so freely exercised. At present the attempt proved an empty threat. The Consuls held their levy outside the walls of the city, where tliey possessed power of life and death, and where the Tribunes' protective power availed not. The next attempt of the plebeian chiefs was more successful. The Tribunes of the year 476 B.C. publicly indicted the Consul Menenius, son of him who had done good service to the state at the Secession, for suffering the Fabian Gens to be overpoAvered by the Veientines, of which we shall speak presently ; and the Consul was condemned to pay a fine. At length, three years after (473), matters were brought to issue by the Tribune Genu- cius, who impeached the Consuls of the previous year for pre- venting the execution of the Agrarian law. Consternation pre- vailed among the Patricians. The condemnation of Menenius by the Centuries, notwithstanding the votes of the Clients, struck them with dismay ; and they resolved on striking a blow calculated to prevent such attempts in future. On the day of trial the Tribune appeared not. His friends sought him at home. He was found murdered in his chamber. § 7. But the efi'ect produced was contrary to expectation. The flame which the Patricians expected to smother, was fanned to greater violence. The Consuls ordered a levy to take the field, confidently expecting tame submission. But when one Volero Pub- lilius, who had served as a Centurion, was called out as a private soldier, he refused to give his name, and appealed to the Tribunes for protection. They hung back, terrified by the fate of Genu- cius. But Volero threw himself among his compatriots ; a tu- mult arose, and the Consuls were obliged to take refuge in the Senate-house. § 8. Volero Publilius was chosen one of the Tribunes for the en- suing year ; and he straightway proposed a law, by which it was provided that the Tribunes and ^diles of the Plebs should be elected by the Plebeians themselves at the Assembly of the Tribes in the Forum, not at the Assembly of the Centuries in the Field of Mars. This is usually called the Publilian law of Volero. § 9. For a whole year, the Patricians succeeded in putting ofi" the law. But the Plebeians were determined to have it. Volero was re-elected Tribune ; and C. Lsetorius, a man of great resolu- tion, was chosen as his colleague : facts which show that in seasons of excitement the people were able to procure the elec- tion of their own friends even before the passing of the first Pub- lilian law. The more violent among the Patricians now prepared to pre- vent this measure from being accepted by any means. App. Claudjs, son of him whose haughty opposition had provoked 100 ROME UNDER THE PATRICIANS. Book II. the secession to the Sacred Mount, had succeeded his father as the bitterest and most determined foe of the Plebs, and was chosen Consul by his party. The law was again brought forward by the new Tribunes ; and the new Consul, attended by his lictors, appeared at the Comitia of the Tribes to interrupt the proceed- ings. Lsetorius ordered him to withdraw ; and a general riot followed, which was only stopped by the intervention of the other Consul, T. Quinctius. But the Tribunes were resolved to have their law carried, and by a sudden movement they occupied the Capitol itself, and defied all the attacks of the Patricians. Appius proposed, as of old, to reduce them by force, but the milder counsels of his colleague again prevailed, and the Patricians (by the authority of the Senate) passed the Publiiian law. In the next year (470) five Tribunes were elected by the Plebeians themselves, without let or hindrance from the Patrician Burgesses. Thus, no doubt, these officers became real pro- tectors of their brethren. But their powers were too large and unrestricted, and the fruits of the absolute veto which they afterwards learped to exercise will amply appear in the course cf our subsequent narrative. Coin bearing the DioscurL Tivoli, looking over the Campagna. CHAPTER IX. WARS AND FOREIGN AFFAIRS FROM THE BATTLE OF' LAKE REGILLUS TO THE DECEMVIRATE. (496 450 B.C.) § 1. Great decrease of Eoman power. § 2. Vagueness in history of Wars: famous Legends. § 3. Volscian "Wars: Legend of Coriolanus. § 4. ^quian Wars: Legend of Cincinnatus. § 5. Veientine Wars: Legend of Fabian Gens. § 6. Leagues formed by Spurius Cassius with the Latins and Her- nicans the true barriers against ^qui and Volsci. § 7. Importance of these Leagues to Latias as well as to Rome. § 8. Diiration of Latin League. § 1. AVhile the two Orders were thus engaged in struggling for rights and privileges in the city, they were hard pressed upon their frontiers by the advancing power of the Volscians and the ^quians. Nothing can show the decrease of Roman power more than the facts which are incidentally disclosed by this history. It appears that, soon after the Secession, the Volscians, descending from their hills, had taken not only the remote Latin cities of Terra- cina, Circeii, Antium, Satricum, and others ; but also captured 102 ROME UNDER THE PATRICIANS. Book II. Lavinium, Corioli, Lavici, Pedum, and otlier cities within sight of Rome. The Aequians also pressed on from the north-east ; at one time they were in possession of the citadel of Tusculum, and shut up the Roman Consul within the Roman territory. At the same time, the Etruscans of Veii, who had recovered the lands taken from them by Rome under the later Kings, con- tinually appeared in force upon the opposite banks of the Tiber, and threatened the Janiculum, which the Romans still retained. § 2. To the readers of Livy nothing is more wearying than the monotonous iteration, with which he repeats the story of the victories won by Roman Consuls, over enemies who always appear next year unbroken and ready for fresh conflicts. He himself felt the weariness in recording these unsubstantial conflicts, and we shall here not think it necessary to follow him.* But there are some famous legends connected with these three- fold wars, which cannot be omitted by any writer of Roman history. These are the legends of Coriolanus, X)f Cincinnatus, and of the Fabian Gens. The exact time to which they refer is uncertain ; nor is it material to determine. § 3. Legend of Coriolanus and the Yolscians. Caius Marcius was a youth of high patrician family, descended from the Sabine king, Ancus Marcius ; and he was brought up by his mother Volumnia, a true Roman matron, noble and ge- nerous, proud and stern, implacable towards enemies, unfor- giving towards the faults of friends. Caius grew up with all the faults and virtues of his mother, and was soon found among +he chief opponents of the Plebeians. He won a civic crown of oak for saving a fellow-citizen at the battle of Lake Regillus, when he was seventeen years of age. But he gained his chief fame in the Volscian wars. For the Romans, being at war with this people, attacked Corioli, a Latin city which then had fallen into the hands of the Volscians. But the assailants were driven back by the garrison ; when Caius Marcius rallied the fugitives, turned upon his pursuers, and, driving them back in turn, entered the gates along with them ; and the city fell into the hands of the Romans. For this brave conduct he was named after the city which he had taken, Caius Marcius Coriolanus. Now it happened, after this, that the Roman people being much distressed by having their lands ravaged in war, and tillage being neglected, a great dearth ensued. Then Gelon, the Greek king of Syracuse, sent them ships laden with corn to relieve the distress. It was debated in the Senate how this corn should be * " Non dubito" (he says naively), "prseter satietatem, tot jam libria assidua bella . . . legentibus id quoque succursurum (quod mihi miraculo fuit), undo toties victis Volscis et Aequis suflfecerint milites." — ^vi. 12. Chap. IX. CORlOLANUS. 103 distributed. Some were for giving it away to the poorer sort ; some were for selling it at a low jDrice ; but Coriolanus, who was greatly enraged at the concessions that had been made to the Plebeians, and hated to see them protected by the new officers, the Tribunes, spoke vehemently against these proposals, and said : " Why do they ask us for corn ? They have got their Tribunes. Let them go back to the Sacred Hill, and leave us to rule alone. Or let them give up their Tribunes, and then they shall have the corn." This insolent language wrought up the Plebeians to a height of fury against Caius Marcius, and they would have torn him in pieces ; but their Tribunes persuaded them to keep their hands oft'; and then cited him before the Comitia to give account of his conduct. The main body of the Patricians were not inclined to assist X^oriolanus ; so, after some violent struggles, he declined to stand his trial, but left Eome, shaking the dust from his feet against his thank- less countrymen (for so he deemed them), and vowing that they should bitterly repent of having driven Caius Marcius Coriolanus into exile." He went straight to Antium, another Latin city which had become the capital of the Volscians, and going to the house of Attus Tullius, one of the chief men of the nation, he seated him- self near the hearth by the household gods, a place which among the Italian nations was held sacred. When Tullius entered, the Roman rose and greeted his former enemy : " My name (he said) is Caius Marcius : my surname, Coriolanus — the only reward now remaining for all my services. I am an exile from Rome, my country; I seek refuge in the house of my enemy. If ye will use my services, I will serve you well ; if ye would rather take vengeance on me, strike, I am ready." Tullius at once accepted the offer of the " banished lord ;" and determined to break the treaty which there then was between his people and the Romans. But the Volscians were afraid to go to war. So Tullius had recourse to fraud. It happened that one Titus Atinius, a Plebeian of Rome, was warned in a dream to go to the Consuls, and order them to celebrate the Great Games over again, because they had not been rightly performed the first time. But he was afraid and would not go. Then his son fell sick and died ; and again he dreamt the same dream ; but still he would not go. Then he was himself stricken with palsy; and so he delayed no longer, but made his friends carry him on a litter to the Consuls. And they believed his words, and the Great Games were begun again with increased^pomp ; and many of the Volscians, being at peace with Rome, came to see them. ^Jpon this Tullius went secretly to the Consuls, and told them 104 EOME UNDER THE PATRICIANS. Book II. that his countrymen were thronging to Rome, and he feared they had mischief in their thoughts. Then the Consuls laid this secret information before the Senate; and the Senate decreed that all Yolscians should depart from Rome before sunset. This decree seemed to the Volscians to be a wanton insult, and they went home in a rage. TuUius met them on their way home at the fountain of Ferentina, where the Latins had been wont to hold their councils of old; and he spoke to them, and increased their anger, and persuaded them to break off their treaty with the Romans. So the Volscians made war against Rome, and chose Attus Tullius and Caius Marcius the Roman to be their, commanders. The army advanced against Rome, ravaging and laying waste all the lands of the Plebeians, but letting those of the Patricians remain untouched. This increased the jealousy between the Orders, and the Consuls found it impossible to raise an army to go out against the enemy. Coriolanus took one Latin town after another, and even the Volscians deserted their own general to serve under his banners. He now advanced and encamped at the Cluilian Foss, within five miles of the city. Nothing was now to be seen within the walls but consterna- tion and despair. The temples of the gods were filled with suppliants ; the Plebeians themselves pressed the Senate to make peace with the terrible Coriolanus. Meantime the enemy advanced to the very gates of the city, and at length the Senate agreed to send five men, chiefs among the Patricians, to turn away the anger of their countryman. He received them with the utmost sternness ; said that he was now general of the Vol- scians, and must do what was best for his new friends ; that if they wished for peace they must restore all the lands and places that had been taken from the Volscians, and must admit these people to an equal league, and put them on an equal footing with the Latins. The deputies could not accept these terms; so they returned to Rome. The Senate sent them back, to ask for milder terms; but the haughty exile would not suffer them to enter his camp. Then went forth another deputation, graver and more solemn than the former, — the Pontiffs, Flamens, and Augurs, all attired in their priestly robes, who besought him, by all that he held sacred, by the respect he owed to his country's gods, to give them assurance of peace and safety. He treated them with grave respect, but sent them away without relaxing any of his demands. It seemed as if the glory of Rome were departing, as if the crown were about to be transferred to the cities of the Volscians. Chap. IX. CORIOLANUS. 105 But not so was it destined to be. It chanced that as all the women were weeping and praying in the temples, the thought arose among .them that they might effect what Patricians and Priests had alike failed to do. It was Valeria, the sister of the great Valerius Poplicola, who first started the thought, and she prevailed on Volumnia, the stern mother of the exile, to accompany the mournful train. With them also went Virgilia, his wife, leading her two boys by the hand, and a crowd of other women. Coriolanus beheld them from afar, as he was sitting on a raised seat among the Volscian chiefs, and resolved to send back them also with a denial. But when they came near, and he saw his mother at the head of the sad pro- cession, he sprang from his seat, and was about to kiss her. But she drew back with all the loftiness of a Roman matron, and said — " Art thou Caius Marcius, and am I thy mother ? or art thou the general of the Volscian foe, and I a prisoner in his camp ? Before thou kissest me, answer me that question." Caius stood silent, and his mother went on : " Shall it be said that it is to me — to me alone — that Rome owes her conqueror and oppressor ? Had I never been a mother, my country had still been free. But I am too old to feel this misery long. Look to thy wife and little ones ; thou art enslaving thy country, and with it thou enslavest them." The fierce Roman's heart sunk before the indignant words of her whom he had feared and respected from his childhood ; and when his wife and children hanging about him added their soft prayers to the lofty supplications of his mother, he turned to her with bitterness of soul, and said — " O my mother, thou hast saved Rome, but lost thy son !" So he drew off his army, and the women went back to Rome and were hailed as the saviours of their country. And the Senate ordered a temple to be built and dedicated to " Woman's Fortune" (Fortuna Muliebris) ; and Valeria was the first priestess of the temple."* But Coriolanus returned to dwell among the Volscians ; and Tullius, who had before become jealous of his superiority, ex- cited the people against him, saying that he had purposely spared their great enemy the city of Rome, even when it was within their grasp. So he lost favour, and was slain in a tumult ; and the words he had spoken to his mother were truly fulfilled. This is the famous Legend of Coriolanus, which is dear to us, because it has been wrought by Shakspere into one of his noblest tragedies. Nothing can exceed the truth and force with which he has drawn the character of the haughty Patrician ; but it must be observed that the Tribunes and Plebeians of the * That of Fortuna Virilis had been built by Servius luUius. 5* 106 ROME UNDER THE PATRICIANS. Book II. play rather represent the turbulent mob of the times of Marius and Csesar, than the sturdy countrymen who formed the people of Rome in those early days. § 4. Legend of Cincinnatus and the ^quians. In the course of these wars, Minucius, one of the Consuls, suffered himself to be cut off from Rome in a narrow valley of Mount Algidus, and it seemed as if hope of delivery there was none. ■ However, five horsemen found means to escape and report at Rome the perilous condition of the Consul and his army. Then the other Consul consulted the Senate, and it was agreed that the only man who could deliver the army was L. Quinc- tius Cincinnatus. Therefore this man was named Dictator, and deputies were sent to acquaint him with his high dignity. Now this Lucius Quinctius was called Cincinnatus, because he wore his hair in long curling locks (cincinni) ; and, though he was a Patrician, he lived on his own small farm, like any ple- beian yeomen. This farm was beyond the Tiber,* and here he lived contentedly with his wife Racilia. Two years before he had been Consul, and had been brought into great distress by the conduct of his son Kseso. This Kses© Quinctius was a wild and insolent young man, who despised the Plebeians, and hated their Tribunes, like Coriolanus. Like Corio- lanus, he was impeached by the Tribunes, but on very different grounds. One Volscius Fictor alleged that he and his brother, an old and sickly man, had been attacked by Kseso and a party of young Patricians by night in the Suburra ; his brother had died of the treatment then received. The indignation of the people rose high ; and Kseso, again like Coriolanus, was forced to go into exile. After this the young patricians became more insolent than ever, but they courted the poorest of the people, hoping to engage them on their side against the more respect- able Plebeians. Next year all Rome was alarmed by finding that the Capitol had been seized by an enemy during the night. This enemy was Appius Herdonius, a Sabine, and with him was asso- ciated a band of desperate men, exiles and runaway slaves. The first demand he made was that all Roman exiles should be restored. The Consul, P. Valerius, collected a force, and took the Capitol. But he was himself killed in the assault, and L. Quinctius Cincinnatus, father of the banished Kseso, was chosen to succeed him. When he heard the news of his elevation, he turned to his wife and said, — " I fear, Racilia our little field must remain this year unsown." Then he assumed the robe of * Within the entrenched limits of Janiculum, we must suppose ; for all the rest of the Trans-Tiberine land had been restored in the time of Porsenna to the Veientinea. Chap. IX. CINCINNATUS. 107 state, and went to Kome. Now it was believed that Kseso had been concerned in the desperate enterprise that had just been de- feated. What had become of him was unknown ; but that he was ah'eady dead was pretty certain ; and his father was very bitter against the Tribunes and their party, to whom he attributed his son's disgrace and death, P. Valerius, the Consul, had persuaded the Plebeians to join in the assault of the Capitol, by promising to gain them further privileges : this promise Cincinnatus refused to keep, and used all his power to frustrate the attempts of the Tri- bunes to gain its fulfilment. At the end of his year of office, how- ever, when the Patricians wished to continue him in the consul- ship, he positively declined the offer, and returned to his rustic life as if he had never left it. It was two years after these events, that the deputies of the Senate, who came to invest him with the ensigns of dictatorial power, found him working on his little farm. He was clad in his tunic only ; and as the deputies advanced, they bade him put on his toga, that he might receive the commands of the Senate in seemly guise. So he wiped off the dust and sweat, the signs of labour, and bade his wife fetch his toga, and asked anxiously whether all was right or no. Then the deputies told him how the army was beset by the ^quian foe, and how the Senate looked to him as the saviour of the state. A boat was provided to carry him over the Tiber ; and when he reached the other bank, he was greeted by his family and friends and the greater part of the Senate, who followed him to the city, while he himself walked in state, with his four-and-twenty lictors. Cincinnatus then chose L. Tarquitius as his Master of the Horse. This man was a Patrician, but, like the Dictator, was poor, — so poor, that he could not keep a horse, but was obliged to serve among the foot-soldiers. That same day the Dictator and his Master of the Horse came down into the Forum, ordered all shops to be shut, and all busi- ness to be suspended. All men of the military age were to meet them in the Field of Mars before sunset, each man with five days' provisions and twelve stakes ; the older men were to get the pro- visions ready, while the soldiers were preparing the stakes. Thus all was got ready in time : the Dictator led them forth ; and they marched so rapidly, that by midnight they had reached Mount Algidus, where the army of the Consul Avas hemmed in. Then the Dictator, when he had discovered the place of the enemy's army, ordered his men to put all their baggage down in one place, and then to surround the enemy's camp. They obeyed, and each one raising a shout, began digging the trench and fixing his stakes, so as to form a palisade round the 108 ROME UNDER THE PATRICIANS. BOOK 11. enemy. The Consul's army, which was hemmed in, heard the shout of their brethren, and flew to arms ; and so hotly did they fight all night, that the vEquians had no time to attend to the new foe, and next morning they found themselves hemmed in on all sides by the trench and palisade, so that they were now between two Koman armies. They were thus forced to surrender. The Dic- tator required them to give up their chiefs, and made their whole army pass under the yoke, which was formed by two spears fixed upright in the ground, and a third bound across them at the top. Cincinnatus returned to Rome amid the shouts and exultation of his soldiers : they gave him a golden crown, in token that he had saved the lives of many citizens ; and the Senate decreed that he should enter the city in triumph. So Cincinnatus accomplished the purpose for which he had been made Dictator in twenty-four hours. One evening he marched forth to deliver the Consul, and the next evening he returned vic- torious. But he would not lay down his high ofiice till he had avenged his son Kseso. Accordingly he summoned Volscius Fictor, the accuser, and had him tried for perjury. The man was condemned and banished ; and then Cincinnatus once more returned to his wife and farm. § 5. Legend of the Fabian Gens and the Veientines. It has already been related that, after the final expulsion of the Tarquins, the Patricians withdrew from the Plebeians those rights which they had originally obtained from King Servius, and which had been renewed and confirmed to them during the time that the Tarquins were endeavouring to return. And for a number of years it appears that the Fabii engrossed a great share of this power to themselves. For we find in the lists of Consuls that for seven years running (from 485 to 479 B.C.), one of the two Consuls Avas always a Fabius. Now these Fabii were the chief opponents of the Agrarian Law ; and Kseso Fabius, who was three times Consul in the said seven years, was the person who procured the condemnation of Sp. Cassius, the great friend of the Plebeians. This Kasso, in his second Consulship, found himself as unpopular as Appius Claudius. His soldiers refused to fight against the enemy. But in his third Consulship, which fell in the last of the seven years, he showed an altered spirit, he and all his house. For the Fabii saw the injustice they had been guilty of towards the Plebeians, and the injury they had been doing to the state ; and Kseso himself came forward and proposed that the Agrarian Law of Sp. Cassius should be carried into full eff'ect. But the Patricians rejected the proposal with scorn ; and so the whole Fabian Gens determined to leave Chap. IX. THE FABII AT THE CRBMERA. 109 Kome altogetlier. They thought they could serve their country better by warring against the Veientines than by remaining at home. So they assembled together on the Quirinal Hill, in all three hundred and six men, besides their clients and followers, and they passed under the Capitol, and went out of the city by the right-hand arch of the Carmental gate.* They then crossed the Tiber, and marked out a place on the little river Cremera, which flows into the Tiber below Veii. Here they fortified a camp, and sallied forth to ravage the lands of the Veientines and drive their cattle. So they stood between Rome and Veii for more than a year's time, and the Romans had peace on that side, whereas the Veien- tines suffered greatly. But there was a certain day, the Ides of rebruary,f which was always held sacred by the Fabii, when they offered solemn sacrifices on the Quirinal Hill J to the gods of their Gens. On this day, Kseso, their chief, led them forth for Rome ; and the Veientines, hearing of it, lay in ambush for them, and they were all cut off. And the Plebeians greatly mourned the loss of their patrician friends, and Menenius, the Consul, who was encamped near at hand, but did not assist them, Avas accused by the Tribunes of treacherously betraying them, as has been above recorded.§ But one young Fabius, who was then a boy, was left behind at Rome when the rest of his Gens went forth to settle on the Cre- mera. And he ♦(so it was said) was the father of the Fabii who Avere afterwards so famous in the history of Rome. After this, it is said, the men of Veii asked and obtained a peace of forty years. § 6. Though these poetic legends are so much more copious than the scanty facts recorded by the Annals, these last furnish us with the true account of the manner in which the victorious inroads of the Volscians and ^quians were turned back, and their encroachments stayed. Here also the name of Spurius Cassius, albeit not celebrated in the legends, must claim our chief attention. The patrician minstrels who sang of Coriolanus and Cincinnatus left his acts unnoticed. But not the less may we be sure that it was the Leagues formed by him with the * Called the right Janus or Janua. So Ovid says {Fasti, ii. 201): — " Cannenti Portse dextro via proxima Jano est : Ire per hanc noli quisquis es : omen habet." I " Hsec ftiit ille dies, in quo Veientibus arvis Ter centum Falaii, ter cecidere duo." — Ovm, Fasti, ii. 195. X This seems to show that they were Sabines of the Titian tribe. Sea. Niebuhr, vol. i. note 810. § Chapt viii. § 6. 110 ROME UNDER THE PATRICIANS. BOOK XL Latins and Hernicans wliich. really stemmed the tide of conquest, and saved Latium from the dominion of these Oscan tribes. The first of these Leagues was made in the second Consulship of Cas- sius (e.g. 493), the second in the third Consulship (b.c. 486). It was stipulated by the first that the people of Eome and Latium should form a combined army for the purpose of repelling the invader ; their Legions were united imder the same forms, and in like manner ; and it is probable that in one year a Roman Con- sul, in another a Latin Dictator, took the supreme command. The League with the Hernicans was probably of a less intimate nature. In both it seems to have been agreed that all lands taken from the enemy should be shared alike by the combined nations. § Y. The geographical sketch above given will show the im- portance of these Leagues, especially of the second, for the defence of Rome. The League of Rome and Latium was as much a de- fensive measure on the part of the Latins as on that of the Romans. It was chiefly Latin towns that had become the booty of the con- querors. The Hernicans, in their upland valleys, were probably less exposed to the common danger. But their position between the Volscian and -i^quian hills was such, that when either of these tribes sallied down to attack the cities of Latium, their flank and rear lay exposed to the assaults of the Hernicans. We have no detailed accounts to show how these advantages were used. But from the time of these Leagues we may date th# declining power of the Oscan tribes, who had one time overrun Latium, and pre- sented themselves before the walls of Rome. Velitrse, Antium, Satricum, and other places were recovered ; and to Antium a colony was sent to restore its wasted population. § 8. The League formed by Spurius Cassius with the Latins, cemented as it was by common interest and common danger, re- gained unaltered till the Gauls broke into Latium, and with their furious onslaught confounded all that existed of order and associa- tion. The formation of an alliance which lasted unbroken for more than a century, and which then gave way under the pressure of an unforeseen calamity, speaks of no ordinary prudence and foresight on the part of him who formed it. Yet this act was, as we have seen, turned into an article of impeachment against Spu- rius Cassius.* * Chapt. viii. § 4. Castor and PoUus. CHAPTEE X, CONTINUED STRUaGLE BETWEEN THE ORDERS. THE DECEMVIRATE. (470—449 B.C.) §1. Progress of Plebeians : Colony of Antium. impeacliment of second Appius. § 2. Great pestilence. § 3. Eeform-bill of Terentilius Harsa. § 4. Violent scenes at Eome. § 5. Compromise : Triumvii's appointed to report upon Laws of Solon at Athens. § 6. Public Land on the Aventine parcelled out among Plebeians. § 1. Eeturn of Triumviri. § 8. Appoiatment of De- cemviri ; their functions : third Appius Claudius their chief. § 9. Ten Tables completed. § 10. Eesignation of first Decemvirs : successors elected, including Appius. §11. Change in bearing of Appius : despotism of new Decemvirs. § 12. Two Tables added to Code. § 13. Appius and col- leagues retain office for a second year. § 14. "Wars break out with ^quians and Sabines. § 15. Legend of Siccius Dentatus. § 16. Legend of Vir- ginia. § IT. Second Secession to Mons Sacer: Decemvirs resign. § 18. L. Valerius and M. Horatius sent to negotiate between Senate and Ple- beians : Ten Tribunes elected. § 19. Eestoration of Consulship ; Valerius and Horatius elected. § 20. Valerio-Horatian Laws. § 21. Triumph of new Consuls over Sabines and ^quians. § 22. Appius impeached and dies in prison: Appius .executed : the rest pardoned. § 23. Attempt tore-elect Consuls and Tribunes. § 1. It Las been shown how tlie Patrician Burgesses endeavoured to wrest independence from the Plebs after the battle of Lake Eegillus ; and how the latter, ruined by constant wars with the neighbouring nations, compelled to make good their losses by- borrowing money from patrician creditors, and liable to become bondsmen in default of payment, at length deserted the city, and only returned on condition of being protected by Tribunes of their own ; and how, lastly, by the firmness of Publilius Volero and Lajtorius, they obtained the right of electing these Tribunes at their own assembly, the Comitia of the Tribes. It has also 112 ROME UNDER THE PATRICIANS. Book II. been shown tliat the great Consul Spurius Cassius endeavoured to relieve the commonalty by an Agrarian law, so as to better their condition permanently. The execution of the Agrarian law was constantly evaded, as we have seen. But, on the conquest of Antium from the Volscians in the year 468 B.C., a colony was sent thither ; and this was one of the first examples of a distribution of public land to poorer citizens, which answered two purposes — the im- provement of their condition, and the defence of the place against the enemy. Nor did the Tribunes, now made altogether independent of the Patricians, fail to assert their power. One of the first per- sons who felt the force of their arm was the second Appius Claudius. This Sabine noble, following his father's example, had, after the departure of the Fabii, led the opposition to the Pub- lilian law. When he took the field against the Volscians, his soldiers would not fight ; and the stern commander put to death every tenth man in his legions. For the acts of his consulship he Avas brought to trial by the Tribunes, M. Duillius and C. Sicinius. Seeing that the event was certain, the proud Patrician avoided humiliation by suicide.* § 2. Nevertheless the border wars still continued, and the Plebeians still sufi'ered much. To the evils of debt and want Avere added about this time the horrors of pestilential disease, which visited the Eoman territory several times at that period. In one year (b.c. 464) the two Consuls, two of the four Augurs, and the Curio Maximus, who was the Head of all the Patricians, were swept ofl^ : a fact which implies the death of a vast number of less distinguished persons. The government was adminis- tered by the Plebeian JEdiles, under the control of senatorial Interreges.f The Volscians and JEquians ravaged the country up to the walls of Rome ; and the safety of the city must be attri- buted to the Latins and Hernicans, not to the men of Rome. § 3. Meantime the Tribunes had in vain demanded a full execution of the Agrarian law. But in the year 462 b.c, one of the Sacred College, by name C. Terrentilius Harsa, came forward with a bill, of which the object was to give the Plebeians a surer footing in the state. This man perceived that as long as the Consuls retained their almost despotic power, and were elected by the influence of the Patricians, this Order had it in their power to thwart all measures, even after they were passed, which tended to advance the interests of the Plebeians. He therefore no longer demanded the execution of the Agrarian law, but pro- * So says Dionys. ix. 51. " Morbo moritur," says Livy, ii. 61. f Liv. iii. 6-8. Chap.X. TEEBNTILIAN law, liy posed that a commission of Ten Men (decemviri) should be appointed to draw up constitutional laws for regulating the future relations of the Patricians and Plebeians. § 4. The Reform Bill of Terentilius was, as might be supposed, vehemently resisted by the Patrician Burgesses. But the Ple- beians supported their champion no less warmly. For five con- secutive years the same Tribunes were re-elected, and in vain endeavoured to carry the bill. This was the time which least fulfils the character Avhich we have claimed for the Eoman people — patience and temperance, combined with firmness in their demands. To prevent the Tribunes from carrying their law, the younger Patricians thronged to the Assemblies, and interfered with all proceedings ; Terentilius, they said, Avas endeavouring to confound all distinction between the Orders. Some scenes occurred which seem to show that both sides were prepared for civil Avar. In the year 460 B.C. the city was alarmed by hearing that the Capitol had been seized by a band of Sabines and exiled Romans, under the command of one Herdonius.* Who these exiles were is uncertain. But we have seen, in the legend of Cincinnatus, that Kseso Quinctius, the son of that old hero, was an exile. It has been inferred, therefore, that he was among them, that the Tribunes had succeeded in banishing from the city the most violent of their opponents, and that these persons had not scrupled to associate themselves with Sabines to recover their homes. The Consul Valerius, aided by the Latins of Tus- culum, levied an army to attack the insurgents, on condition- that after success the law should be fully considered. The exiles Avere driven out, and Herdonius was killed. But the Consul fell -f in the assault ; and the Patricians, led by old Cincinnatus, refused to fulfil his promises. Then foUoAved the danger of the ^quian invasion, to which the legend of Cincinnatus, as given above, refers. The stern old man used his dictatorial power quite as much to crush the Tribunes at home, as to conquer the enemies abroad. One of the historians tells us that in this period of seditious violence, many of the leading Plebeians were assassinated, as the Tribune Genucius had beeri ; and to this time only can be attri- buted the horrible story mentioned by more than one writer, that nine Tribunes Avere burnt alive at the instance of their _^ colleague Mucius.f Society was utterly disorganised. The two * The circumstances, as related in the legend, have already been given in the story of Cincinnatus. \ Dio Cassius, Fragment. Vatican, xxii., and in the abridgment by Zonaras, vii. It. Compare Yaler. Max. vi. 3, § 2. The latter atrributes it to the time 114 EOMB UNDER THE PATRICIANS. Book IL Orders were on tlie brink of civil war. It seemed as if Rome was to become the city of discord, not of law. Happily, there were moderate men in both Orders. Now, as at the time of: the Secession, their voices prevailed, and a compromise was arranged. § 5. In the eighth year after the first promulgation of the Terentilian law, this compromise was made (454 b.c). The law itself was no longer pressed by the Tribunes. The Patricians, on the other hand, so far gave way as to allow Three Men (triumviri) to be appointed, who were to travel into Greece, and bring back a copy of the laws of Solon, as well as the laws and institutes of any other Greek states, which they might deem good and useful. These were to be the groundwork of a new Code of Laws, such as should give fair and equal rights to both Orders, and restrain the arbitrary power of the Patrician Magistrates. § 6. Another concession made by the Patrician Lords was a small instalment of the Agrarian law. L. Icilius, Tribune of the Plebs, proposed that all the Aventine hill, being Public Land, should be made over to the Plebs, to be their quarter for ever, as the other hills were occupied by the Patricians and their Clients. This hill, it will be remembered, was consecrated to the goddess Diana (Jana),* and though included in the walls of Servius, was yet not within the sacred limits (pomoerium) of the patrician city. After some opposition, the Patricians suffered this Icilian law to pass, in hopes of soothing the anger of the Plebeians. The land was parcelled out into building-sites. But as there was not enough to give a separate plot to every plebeian householder that wished to live in the city, one allotment was assigned to several persons, who built a joint house in flats or stories, each of which was inhabited (as in Edinburgh and in most foreign towns) by a separate family .f § 7. The three men who had been sent into Greece returned in the third year (452 B.C.). They found the city free from domestic strife, partly from the concessions already made, partly from expectation of what was now to follow, and partly from the effect of a pestilence which had broken out anew. § 8. So far did moderate counsels now prevail among the Pa- tricians, that after some little delay they agreed to suspend the ordinary government by the Consuls and other officers, and in of Spurius Cassius. But it must have been after the year 441 b.c. ; for in that year the number of Tribunes first became ten. * Chapt. iii. § 27. f These houses, or blocks of houses, jomtly occupied by several families, were in Roman phrase called insuloR (the term isola is still so used), while the term domtis was restricted to the mansion occupied by a single wealthy family. Chap. X. DECEMYIRATE. 115 their stead to appoint a Council of Ten, who were during their existence to be entrusted with all the functions of government. But they were to have a double duty : they were not only an ad- ministrative, but also a legislative council. On the one hand, they were to conduct the government, administer justice, and command the armies. On the other, they were to draw up a Code of Laws, by which equal justice was to be dealt out to the whole Roman People, to Patricians and Plebeians alike, and by Avhich especially the authority to be exercised by the Consuls, or chief magistrates, was to be clearly determined and settled. This supreme Council of Ten, or Decemvirs, was first appointed in the year 450 b.c. They were all Patricians. At their head stood Appius Claudius and T. Genucius, who had already been chosen Consuls for this memorable year. This Appius Claudius, the third of his name, was son and grandson of those two patri- cian chiefs who had opposed the leaders of the Plebeians so vehe- mently in the matter of the tribunate. But he affected a dif- ferent conduct from his sires. He was the most popular man of the whole council, and became in fact the sovereign of Rome. At first he used his great power well ; and the first year's government of the Decemvirs was famed for justice and mo-' deration. § 9. They also applied themselves diligently to their great work of law-making ; and before the end of the year, had drawn up a Code of Ten Tables, which were posted in the Forum, that all citizens might examine them, and suggest amendments to the Decemvirs. After due time thus spent, the Ten Tables were confirmed and made law at the Comitia of the Centuries. By this Code equal justice was to be administered to both Orders without distinction of persons. § 10. At the close of the year, the first Decemvirs laid down their ofiice, just as the Consuls and other ofiicers of state had been accustomed to do before. They were succeeded by a second set of ten, who for the next year at least were to conduct the government like their predecessors. The only one of the old Decemvirs re-elected was Appius Claudius. The Patricians, indeed, endeavoured to prevent even this, and to this end he was himself appointed to preside at the new elec- tions ; for it was held impossible for a chief magistrate to return his own name, when he was himself presiding. But Appius scorned precedents. He returned himself as elected, together with nine others, men of no name, while two of the great Quinctian Gens who off'ered themselves were rejected. Of the new Decemvirs, it is certain, that three,'* and it is pro- * Sp. Oppius, Q. Pcetelius, 0. Duillius. 116 EOME UNDER THE PATEICIANS. BOOK IL bable that five, were Plebeians. Appius, with the plebeian Oppius, held the judicial office, and remained in the city ; and these two seem to have been regarded as the chiefs. The other six commanded the armies and discharged the duties previously assigned to the Quaestors and ^diles. § 11. The first Decemvirs had earned the respect and esteem of their fellow-citizens. The new Council of Ten deserved the hatred which has ever since cloven to their name. Appius now threw off the mask which he had so long worn, and assumed his natural character — the same as had distinguished his sire and grandsire of unhappy memory. He became an absolute despot. His brethren in the council offered no hindrance to his will : even the plebeian decemvirs, bribed by power, fell into his way of action and supported his tyranny. They each had twelve lictors, who carried fasces with the axes in them, the symbol of absolute power, as in the times of the Kings ; so that it was said, Rome had now twelve Tarquins instead of oue, and 120 armed lictors instead of 12. All freedom of speech ceased. The Senate was seldom called together. The leading men, Patricians and Plebeians, left the city. The outward aspect of things was that of perfect calm and peace ; but an opportunity only was want- ing for the discontent which was smouldering in . all men's hearts to break out and show itself. § 12. By the end of the year the Decemvirs had added two more Tables to the Code, so that there were now Twelve Tables. But these two last were of a most oppressive and arbitrary kind, devoted chiefly to restore the ancient privileges of the patrician caste. Of these Tables we will speak presently ; but here it should be observed that they were made laws not by the vote of the People, but by the simple edict of the Decemvirs. § 13. It was, no doubt, expected that the second Decemvirs also would have held Comitia for the election of successors. But Appius and his colleagues showed no intention, and when the year came to a close they continued to hold office as if they had been re-elected. So firmly did their power seem to be established, that we hear not of any endeavour being made to induce them to resign. § 14. In the course of this next year (449 e.g.), the border wars were renewed. On the north the Sabines, and the JEquians on the north-east, invaded the Roman country at the same time. The latter penetrated as far as Mount Algidus, as in 458 B.C., when they were routed by old Cincinnatus. The Decemvirs probably, like the Patrician Burgesses in former times, regarded these inroads not without satisfaction ; for they turned away the mind of the people from their sufferings at home. Yet from Chap. X. DECEMVIRATE. 117 these very wars sprung the events which overturned their power and destroyed themselves. Two armies were levied, one to check the Sabines, the other to oppose the ^quians, and these were commanded by the six military Decemvirs. Appius and Oppius remained to administer affairs at home. But there was no spirit in the armies. Both were defeated ; and that which was opposed to the vEquians was compelled to take refuge within the walls of Tusculum, Then followed two events which were preserved in well-known legends, and which give the popular narrative of the manner in which the power of the Decemvirs was overthrown, § 15. Legend of Siccius Dentatus. — In the army sent against the Sabines, Siccius Dentatus was known as the bravest man. He was then serving as a centurion; he had fought in 120 battles ; he had slain eight champions in single combat ; had saved the lives of fourteen citizens ; had received forty wounds, all in front; had followed in nine triumphal processions; and had won crowns and decorations without number. This gallant veteran had taken an active part in the civil contests between the two orders, and was now suspected by the Decemvirs commanding the Sabine army, of plotting against them. Ac- cordingly, they determined to get rid of him ; and for this end they sent him out as if to reconnoitre, with a party of soldiers, who Avere secretly instructed to murder him. Having discovered their design, he set his back against a rock, and resolved to sell his life dear. More than one of his assailants fell, and the rest stood at bay around him, not venturing to come within sword's length ; when one wretch climbed up the rock behind and crushed the brave old man with a massive stone. But the man- ner of his death could not be hidden from the army ; and the generals only prevented an outbreak by honouring him with a magnificent funeral. Such was the state of things in the Sabine army. § 16. Legend of Virginia. — The other army had a still grosser outrage to complain of. In this, also, there was a notable r^enturion, Virginius by name. His daughter Virginia, just ripen- ing into womanhood, beautiful as the day, was betrothed to L. Icilius, the Tribune who had carried the law for allotting the Aventine Hill to the Plebeians. Appius Claudius, the Decemvir, saw her and lusted to make her his own. And with this view, he ordered one of his clients, M. Claudius by name, to lay hands upon her as she was going to her school in the Forum, and to claim her as his slave. The man did so ; and when the cries of her nurse brought a crowd round them, M. Claudius ii^.sisted on taking her before the Decemvir, in order (as he said) to have lis ROME UNDER THE PATRICIAljTS. Book II. the case fairly tried. Her friends consented; and no sooner had Appius heard the matter, than he gave judgment that the maiden should be delivered up to the claimant, who should be bound to produce her in case her alleged father appeared to gain- say the claim. Now this judgment was directly against one of the laws of the Twelve Tables, which Appius himself had framed : for therein it was provided, that any person being at freedom should continue free, till it was proved that such person was a slave. Icilius, therefore, with Numitorius the uncle of the maiden, boldly argued against the legality of the judgment ; and at length Appius, fearing a tumult, agreed to leave the girl in their hands on condition of their giving bail to bring her before him next morning ; and then, if Virginius did not appear, he would at once (he said) give her up to her pretended master. To this Icilius consented ; but he delayed giving bail, pretending that he could not procure it readily ; and in the meantime he sent off a secret message to the camp on Algidus, to inform Vir- ginius of what had happened. As soon as the bail was given, Appius also sent a message to the Decemvirs in command of that army, ordering them to refuse leave of absence to Virginius. But when this last message arrived, Virginius was already half- way on his road to Rome ; for the distance was not more than twenty miles, and he had started at nightfall. Next morning early, Virginius entered the Forum leading his daughter by the hand, both clad in mean attire. A great num- ber of friends and matrons attended him ; and he went about among the people entreating them to support him against the tyranny of Appius. So when Appius came to take his place on the judgment seat, he found the Forum full of people, all friendly to Virginius and his cause. But he inherited the boldness as well as the vices of his sires, aid though he saw Virginius stand- ing there, ready to prove that he was the maiden's father, he at once gave judgment against his own law, that Virginia should be given up to M. Claudius, till it should be proved that she was free.* Tlie wretch came up to seize her, and the lictors kept the people from him. Virginius, now despairing of. deliverance, begged Appius to allow him to ask the maiden whe- ther she were indeed his daughter or no. " If," said he, " I find I am not her father, I shall bear her loss the lighter." Un- der this pretence he drew her aside to a spot upon the northern side of the Forum (afterwards called the Novae Tabern8e),f and * This was called vindicias in servitutem dare. Vindex was the legal term for claimant; vindicce was the claim to possession. The opposite judgment ■ was vindicias in libertatem dare. The person who claimed another as slave or free was said asserere aliquem in servitutem, or in libertatem. f See Chap. iii. § 11. Chap. S. PALL OF DECEMYIRATE. 119 here, snatching up a knife from a butcher's stall, he cried : " In this Avay only can I keep thee free ;" — and so saying, stabbed her to the heart. Then he turned to the tribunal and said : " On thee, Appius, and on thy head be this blood." Appius cried out to seize " the murderer :" but the crowd made way for Virginius, and he passed through them holding up the bloody knife, and Avent out at the gate and made straight for the army. There, when the soldiers had heard his tale, they at once abandoned their decemviral generals, and marched to Rome. They were soon followed by the other army from the Sabine frontier ; for to them Icilius had gone, and Numitorius ; and they found willing ears among men who were already enraged by the murder of old Siccius Dentatus. So the two armies joined their banners, elected new generals, and encamped upon the Aventine Hill, the quarter of the Plebeians. Meantime, the people at home had risen against Appius ; and, after driving him from the Forum, they joined their armed fellow citizens upon the Aventine. There the whole body of the com- mons, armed and unarmed, hung like a dark cloud ready to burst upon the city. § 17. Whatever may be the truth of the legends of Siccius and Virginia, there can be no doubt that the conduct of the Decem- virs had brought matters to the verge of civil war. At this juncture the Senate met ; and the moderate party so far prevailed as to send their own leaders, M. Horatius Barbatus and L. Valerius Potitus, to negotiate with the insurgents. The Plebeians were ready to listen to the voices of these men ; for they remembered that the Consuls of the first year of the Republic, when the Patri- cian Burgesses were friends to the Plebeians, were named Va- lerius and Horatius ; and so they appointed M. Duillius, a former Tribune to be their spokesman. But no good came of it. And Duillius persuaded the Plebeians to leave the city, and once more to occupy the Sacred Mount. Then remembrances of the great Secession came back upon the minds of the Patricians ; and the Senate observing the calm and resolute bearing of the plebeian leaders, compelled the Decem- virs to resign, and sent back Valerius and Horatius to negotiate anew. § 18. The leaders of the Plebeians demanded : — 1st, That the Tribuneship should be restored, and the Comitia Tributa recog- nised. 2ndly, That a right of appeal to the People against the power of the supreme magistrate should be secured. Srdly, That full indemnity should be granted to the movers and promoters of the late Secession. 4thly, That the Decemvirs should be burnt alive. 120 ROME UNDER THE PATRICIANS. BOOK 11. Of these demands tlie deputies of tlie Senate agreed to the three first; but the fourth, they said, was unworthy of a free people ; it was a piece of tyranny, as bad as any of the worst acts of the late government ; and it was needless, because any one who had reason of complaint against the late Decemvirs might proceed against them according to law. The Plebeians listened to these words of wisdom, and withdrew their savage demand. The other three were confirmed by the Fathers, and the Plebeians returned to their quarters on the Aventine, Here they held an Assembly according to their Tribes, in which the Pontifex Maximus presided ;* and they now for the first time elected Ten Tribunes — first Virginius, Numitorius, and leilius, then Duillius and six others : so full were their minds of the wrong done to the daughter of Virginius; so entirely was it the blood of young Virginia that overthrew the Decemvirs, even as that of Lucretia had driven out the Tarquins. § 19. The Plebeians had now returned to the city, headed by their ten Tribunes, a number which was never again altered so long as the tribunate continued in existence. It remained for the Patricians to redeem the pledges given by their agents Valerius and Horatius, on the other demands of the plebeian leaders. The first thing to settle was the election of the supreme magis- trates. The Decemvirs had fallen, and the state was without any executive government. It has been supposed, as we have above said, that the govern- ment of the Decemvirs was intended to be perpetual. The patricians gave up their Consuls, and the Plebeians their Tribunes, on condition that each order was to be admitted to an equal share in the new decemviral college. But the Tribunes were now restored in augmented number, and it was but natural that the Patricians should insist on again occupying all places in the supreine magistracy. By common consent, as it would seem, the Comitia of the Centuries met, and elected to the consulate the two Patricians who had shown themselves the friends of both Orders — L. Valerius Potitus, and M. Horatius Barbatus. Properly speaking, these were the first Consuls, though (in accordance with common custom) this name has been used to designate the supreme magistrates from the beginning of the Eepublic. But we are told by the Roman historians that before the year 449 b.c. these ofiicers were known by the name of * Usually the Tribunes themselves conducted the business of the Comitia Tributa. But at present there were no Tribunes. The presence of the Chief Pontiff, although a Patrician, would give a peculiar force to the restoration of the leges sacraicB of the tribunate. Chap. X. FALL OP DECEMVIR ATE. 121 Pr.etors.* Strictly, therefore, Valerius and Horatius were tlie first Consuls. § 20, As soon as they were installed in office tliey proceeded to redeem the pledges tlaey had given to the Plebeian leaders by bringing forward certain popular laws, which from them are com- monly called the Valerio-Horatian Laws. (1.) First, they solemnly renewed the old law of Valerius Pop- licola, by which it was provided that every Eoman citizen should have an Appeal to the People against the power of the supreme magistrate. This had been sanctioned by the Ten Tables of the Decemvirs, and some remarks on the nature of the right will be found in the next chapter. It must here be noticed that probably the "People" designated in the old law of Poplicola was the Assembly of Patrician Burgesses, whereas now it meant the general Assembly of the Centuries. To the law as proposed by the Consuls, the Tribune Duillius added the terrible penalty already inflicted on nine Tribunes, and threatened to the Decemvirs that " whoso transgressed it should be burnt alive,"f (2,) Secondly, it was enacted that the Assembly of the Tribes should receive legislative power, and their measures should, like the laws passed at the Centuriate Comitia, have authority over the whole body of citizens — Patricians and Plebeians, Hitherto the Plehi-scita, or resolutions of the Plebs, had been made merely for regulating their own affairs, and had not the force of law. Henceforth they became laws binding on all the Body PoliticJ We shall have occasion to return to this subject hereafter. At present it will be enough to note that, as will appear from our review of the laws of the Twelve Tables, the Decemvirs had included in the plebeian or local Tribes the Patricians and their Clients ; so that the claim of the Comitia Tributa to obtain legis- lative authority was no exclusive privilege conferred on the Plebeians, § 21. The second of these laws soon showed itself in operation. It will be remembered that two armies had been sent by the Decemvirs to meet the Sabines and the ^quians in the field. When these armies marched to Rome to take vengeance upon * See Liv. iii. 54. They were called Pr^tors in the Laws of the XII. Tables (Plin., Hist Nat. xviii. 3). The derivation of consul and consulere is evidently the same, namely the preposition cum or con, implying joint deliberation and common action. Niebuhr compares it to proesul from proi, exul from ex. \ Zuvrac KaTaaavdyva i, Diodor. xii. 25. Livy (iii. 55) says that the of- -enders were "to be scourged and beheaded." But the practice of burning seems at that time to have been the last penalty. X The terms of the enactment, as given by Livy, are:— "Ut quod tributim plehes jussisset, populum teneret." 6 122 KOME UNDER THE PATRICIANS. Book II. Appius and his colleagues, the enemy was left to pursue their ravages unchecked, except by the Latins and Hernicans. The new Consuls now held a levy. Names were willingly given in, and they were soon ready to take the field at the head of men devoted to them for their good services. Victories were gained ; but when Valerius and Horatius returned at the head of their troops, and halted in the Campus Martins (according to custom), that they might enter the city in triumphal procession, the Senate refused them this honour. Upon this, L. Icilius, Tribune of the Plebs, obtained a vote from the people assembled in their Tribes, by which it was ordained that the friends of the Plebs should enjoy. their triumph in despite of the senatorial ill-will; and the Senate saw themselves compelled to give way. § 22. Meanwhile the Decemvirs had been left personally unmo- lested ; but Virginius, now a Tribune, singled out Appius as the chief offender, and impeached him. The proud Patrician scorned submission, and descended into the Forum, surrounded by a crowd of young men of his own order. Virginius ordered him to be arrested, and refused to hold him to bail unless he could prove " that he had not assigned Virginia into bondage till she was proved free." This was impossible, and he was thrown into prison to await his trial before the assembled people. But to such degradation he could not stoop; and, like his father, he put an end to his own life in prison. Then Sp. Oppius, the chief among the Plebeian Decemvirs, the friend and imitator of Appius the Patrician, was accused by Numitorius and executed. The goods of both were confiscated to the state (publicata sunt). But Avhen some of the plebeian leaders would have gone on to impeach the other Decemvirs, then M. Duillius, the Tribune, came forward, and by his power of veto stayed all further proceedings. " Enough had been done," he said, "to vindicate justice and uphold freedom. Further pun- ishments would bear the semblance of revenge, and make it still more difficult to reconcile the two orders." Happy is the people which has leaders who in the heat and tumult of triumph can gain even greater honours by moderation, than by the firm- ness displayed in the conduct of the struggle ! § 23. In all these proceedings no security had yet been taken for the election of Consuls more favourable to plebeian claims. The late refusal of the Senate to authorise the triumph of Vale- rius and Horatius, and the zeal of the young Patricians to obtain the acquittal of Appius, were not encouraging signs for future peace. The more ardent of the plebeian leaders, therefore, pro- ^ posed that the Consuls and Tribunes now in office should be con- tinued without re-election for the succeeding year. But, with Chap. X. FALL OF DECEMVIRATE. 123 the moderation that had marked all their proceedings, the Consuls declined this honour for themselves ; and Duillius the Tribune, on his part, declared that he could not receive any votes tendered for reappointing himself or any of his present colleagues. But many of the Plebeians persisted in voting in this sense : and in conse- quence only five of the new candidates obtained votes sufiicient for their election. These five then chose other five to complete the College of Ten. Thus closed the remarkable year in which the Decemvirs were overthrown, and a new beginning of independence made for the commonalty of Rome. But before we continue our narrative, it will be proper to add a chapter on the famous code of laws left behind by the Decemvirs ; for though they were passed away, and their government was forgotten, their laws endured for many ages. * This was called coopiaiio: see Chapt. xxiv. § 3. One of the Tribunes now elected, L. Trebonius, introduced a law by which it was enacted that hereafter the election of the Tribunes should be kept open till all ten received the due number of votes. Coin of p. Porcius Lsioa, author of the Law of Appeal. CHAPTER XI. THE CODE OF THE TWELVE TABLES. § 1. Few remains of the XII Tables. § 2. Difference of character in the first X and last II Tables. § 3. Political ordinances of the X Tables. § 4. Laws for protection of Person and Property. § 5. Iniquitous provisions of the IL Tables. § 6, Advantages resulting from the Code to the Plebeians. § 1. The Twelve Tables were considered as the foundation of all law,* and Cicero always mentions them with the utmost reverence. But only fragments remain, and those who have bestowed the greatest labour in examining these can give but an imperfect ac- count of their original form and contents. § 2. It is probable that the purpose of Terentilius and his fol- lowers, in urging the framing of a Code of laws, was to establish an equality of rights for both orders — Patricians and Plebeians, Lords and Commons. Now it will be seen in the following short statement that some laws had a contrary effect, and tended to widen the breach. These unequal laws were believed by the an- cients to belong to the Two last Tables, which were enacted by the second Decemvirs, and which were unduly favourable to the extreme patrician party, while the Ten Tables of the first Decem- virs were just and equal for all.f § 3. We will first review the political ordinances of these Ten Tables, by which the first Decemvirs sought to establish equality between the Orders. (1.) It has been already stated that they divided the supreme authority. All the old offices were, for the time at least, abro- gated ; and the state was to be governed by a Council of ten, con- sisting of five Patricians and five Plebeians. This reasonable rule fell to the ground when the Decemvirate was abolished ; and hence the contentions between the Orders were renewed (as we shall see) with great virulence. (2.) The Patricians and their Clients were now probably first included in the Plebeian Tribes ; and when we speak of Clients, we must now comprehend also the Freedmen (libertini),\ who * Livy (iii. 34) calls them "fons omnis public! privatique juris." f Cicero de Republica, ii. 3*7. So Appius boasts at the close of the first decemvirate — "se . . omnia jura summis infimisque sequasse." Liv. iii. 34. X They were called libertini absolutely, but liberti m reference to their patron. Thus Tiro was Cicero's libertus, but when spoken of simply he was a libertinus. Chap. XL CODE OP THE TWELVE TABLES. 125 were a largo and increasing class.* Further, tlie three old Patri- cian Tribes now, or before this, became obsolete ; and henceforth a Patrician was known not as a Ramnian, a Titian, or a Lucerian, but as a Burgess of the PoUian, Papirian, or some other local Tribe. The term Populus Romanus, which (as before remarked) had been applicable in some measure to the united body of Patri- cians and Plebeians since the time when both Orders were com- prehended in the Comitia of the Centuries, was now more properly and strictly so used, — though the time of their perfect union was yet to come. (3.) In consequence of this ordinance a great alteration followed both in the Comitia Centuriata and in the Comitia Tributa ; but as these alterations were rather future consequences of the last- mentioned ordinance, than a distinct ordinance of the Decemvirs, it will be more -convenient to notice them hereafter.f § 4. We will now notice a few provisions of those laws, which were intended to protect the person and property of private citizens. (1.) It was enacted that any person claimed as a Slave should be left at freedom till such time as the alleged master proved his claim good. This was the law violated by Appius in the case of Virginia. (2.) The power of a Father over his Children was made less absolute. By the old law the son was as much at the mercy of his father (in potestate patris) as a slave. Henceforth by three sales, real or fictitious, the son might acquire independence or be- come sui juris. (3.) The law of Debt was left in its former state of severity, J But the condition of borrowing money was made easier ; for it was made illegal to exact higher interest than ten per cent. For that this is the meaning of foenus unciarium has been clearly proved by Niebuhr. Uncia (derived from unus) is one of the tioelve units into which the as was divided, each being one-twelfth part of the whole. Now J^- of the capital is 8i per cent. ; but as the old Roman year was only ten months, we must add two months' interest at the same rate ; and this amounts to ten per cent, for the year of twelve months. (4.) No Private Law or privilegium — that is a law to impose any penalty or disability on a single citizen, similar in character to our bills of attainder — was to be made.|| * All slaves who became free remained attached to their former master as his freedmen, and he was now called not their master (dominus), but their pa- tron (patronus), the very same term which was used in respect to his clients. It is indeed probable that the increase in the number of slaves and freedmen was among the causes of the gradual decay of the relation of patrons and chents. f See Chapt. xxxv. § 11 sqq. % See above, Chapt. vii. § T. I Cicero pro Sestio 30, pro Domo 17. 126 EOME UNDER THE PATRICIANS. BOOK II. (5.) There was to be an Appeal to the People from the sentence of every magistrate ; and no citizen was to be tried for his life except before the Comitia of the Centuries. It is remarkable how constantly laws of this kind were renewed, from the time of the first law of appeal passed by Valerius Pop- licola in the first year of the Republic. The right of Appeal was one of the demands made by Duillius on behalf of the Ple- beians at the fall of the Decemvirs ; and one of the first acts of the new Consuls was to provide that there should be such appeal. All these laws were finally absorbed in that of Porcius La3ca, passed nearly two centuries after (b.c. 256). This was the famous Porcian law " de capite et tergo civium," by which it was enacted that no Roman citizen should be put to d^ath or scourged without trial before the Centuries.* These laws may be compared to our Act of Habeas Corpus, which provides that no man shall be im- prisoned by the sovereign or his oflicers without having his person produced in open court and allowed a fair trial. And as in turbu- lent times this Act is sometimes suspended by the proclamation of military law, so at Rome the laws of appeal might be suspended. This was done in the earlier times by the appointment of a Dic- tator, and afterwards by a resolution of the Senate, " that the Consuls should see that the commonwealth suffered no injury ."f By such a resolution the Consuls were invested with dictatorial power ; they possessed the imperium within the walls of the city, and might put any dangerous citizen to death. Thus it was that the Senate proceeded against the Gracchi, and against the Catili- narian conspirators. (6,) With regard to the laws of inheritance and contracts, they are of too intricate and technical a nature to be satisfactorily treated in a work like this. The decemviral laws on this head generally made the conveyance of property easier and more cer- tain, favoured the power of leaving property by will, and endeav- oured to secure the fulfilment of contracts. These laws are well worth careful study, for they are the foundation of the great Code of laws known in later times by the name of the Roman or Civil Law, which still prevails in Italy, Germany, and other parts of Europe. § 5. On the whole, therefore, it is clear that the legislation of the first decemviral council was honest and fair, and really tended to introduce equal rights both in law and government for the whole nation. But there are some laws which had a directly contrary eff"ect, * This was the law by which St. Paul " appealed to Caesar" — for the Em- peror then represented the Roman People. The phrases varied: — Provoco ad Populum, Appello Ccesarem. See the Coin at the end of the last Chapter. \ " Videant consules, ne quid detriment! capiat Respublica." Chap. XL CODE OP THE TWELVE TABLES. 12*7 and tliese (as lias been said) are, by tlie ancients, attributed to tlie Two last Tables of tlie Code. (1.) The old law or custom probibiting all Intermarriage (con- nubium) between the two Orders was now formally confirmed, and thus a positive bar Avas put to wbat is conjectured to have been the primary aim of Terentilius and the Tribunes, namely to procure an equalisation of the two Orders. No such consummation could be looked for, when the Code of national law proclaimed them to be of diftereut races, unfit to mingle one with the other. It is impossible to conceive any enactment that could more tend to dissever the two Orders, and produce greater bitterness of feeling between them. At the time of passing it the law was thought to be injurious chiefly to the Plebeians ; and to their feel- ings and their pride it was injurious. But the class to whom it was really most injurious was the Patrician ; for if they had been compelled to intermarry among themselves they would soon have dwindled into a very small number of families, as has been proved by experience in many cases.* It is probable that the wiser and more moderate of the Patricians knew this, and therefore it was that this law was repealed shortly after, without much opposition, by the Tribune Canuleius. (2.) To this may be added the celebrated law by which any one who wrote lampoons or libels on his neighbours was liable to be deprived of civil rights (diminutio capitis). By this law the poet Nasvius Avas punished, Avhen he assailed the great family of the Metelli.f (3.) We may also mention that no attempt was made to divide the Public Land more equitably. Hence we shall find that Agra- rian Laws remained a ready instrument in the hands of all ene- mies of the Patricians and Avealthy Plebeians, whether true patriots or brawling demagogues. § 6. But, notwithstanding these unequal laws, there can be no doubt that by the Code of the Twelve Tables the Plebeians gained a considerable step towards the adjustment of their differences with the Patrician Lords. It was nearly eighty years before these dif- ferences were completely settled, when the Licinian Laws again admitted the Plebeians to the supreme ofiices of the state. * Niebulir quotes the case of the baronial famiUes of Bremen, who by such restricted marriages were in fifty years diminished by one-third. By the Act of Union with Scotland it was forlDidden to create any more Scottish peerages. At the Union 154 Peers were on the Roll. In 1812 71 of this list had disap- peared. A few of these were forfeited, and some dormant ; but far the greater number were extinct, — and this, though there was no law prohibiting mar- riage with commoners. f Chapt. xxxvii. § 14. CHAPTER XII. SEQUEL OF THE DECBMVIRATE. MILITARY TRIBUNATE. GENERAL HISTORY TO THE "WAR "WITH VEIL (448 406 B.C.) § 1. Many Patricians go over to the Plebeians. § 2. Canuleian Law for legalising Intermarriage of Orders. § 3. Proposition to throw open Con- sulship to Plebeians : compromise by appointment of Mihtary Tribunes. § 4. Nugatory nature of concession. Creation of Censorship. § 5. Survey of whole time of Military Tribunate: three periods. § 6. Eeasons for Plebeians demanding so httle. § V. Quaestors increased from two to four: admission of Plebeians to Qussstorship. § 8. Probably at same time to Senate. § 9. Summary. § 10. Popularity of Sp. Meelius, a knight: struck dead by 0. ServDius Ahala. § 11. Stories of two Postumii : their severity. § 1. In tlie first joy wliicli followed the fall of the Decemvirs, there seems to have been a great disposition in the moderate men of both sides to confide in the good intentions of the opposite party. This appeared fully in the conduct of the Consuls and of Duillius, the most influential of the Tribunes. But the greater part of the Patricians, especially the young men, in whom the pride of blood was hottest, seem only to have made concessions in the hope of recalling them on the first opportunity. It could not be concealed that the Tribunes and the Comitia Tributa had re- ceived a great accession of power ; and it was, apparently, for the sake of wielding this power in their own interest that at this time we hear of Senators off"ering themselves for the Tribunate, and of Patricians laying aside the dignity of their birth, and obtaining adoption into Plebeian families ; nay, at this time, we read that Patricians, or those who had been Patricians, were chosen into the college of the Tribunes.* § 2. But the greatest omission in the arrangement efi'ected by the Consuls and Tribunes of the year 449 b.c. was, that they had not insisted on the repeal of the invidious law, ratified * Livy (iii. 65) distinctly states that of the five Tribunes chosen by their colleagues, in default of due election (see Chapt. x. § 23), two were Patricians, and that a similar attempt was made at a later period (v. 10). If this was done without the Patricians having been previously made Plebeians, it must be set down to the disorder of the times ; for to the latest period, after all other political distinctions had ceased, a man of Patrician blood could not be- come a Tribune without having been adopted as a Plebeian. The fact that at this time " many Patricians renounced their birth to become Tribunes" ia stated by Zonaras (the Bpitomator of Dio Cassius), vii. 15. Chap. XII. CANULBIAN LAW. 129 lately by the Twelve Tables, by wliicli tlie Intermarriage of the Orders was probibited. Attention was perhaps called to tliis by the sight of Patricians seeking the Tribunate ; and in the fourth year alter the deposition of the Decemvirs, an enterprising college of Tribunes made it fully understood that the claims of the Plebeians were yet unsatisfied. Nothing short of social and political equality would allay the contests which had been raging, and were sure to rage again, till the wall of severance raised up by oligarchical pride were broken down. With these views, C. Canuleius, one of the Tribunes of the year 445 B.C., gave notice of a bill which should make the marriage of the two Orders legitimate. And at the same time his nine col- leagues spoke of bringing forward a measure which should throw open the Consulship to Patricians and Plebeians alike. Scenes of great violence followed the introduction of these bills, as before, when Terentilius Harsa was striving for his law. We are not informed of the particulars ; but at length the Tribunes, despairing of success, again led the Plebeians out of the city, and in this third Secession they occupied the Janiculum.* If, they said, the Patricians deemed their fellow citizens unworthy to marry with them, if their blood would not mingle, if they were different races of men, — it were better that they separate. Here, however, as before, the Secession gave strength to the moderate party, and it was agreed by the Patricians to allow the Canuleian law to pass without further opposition. This was in itself a revo- lution. It destroyed the existence of the Patricians as a caste. It was now conceded that the two Orders were equal in blood, and that children born of a mixed marriage were in law entitled to the same rank and privileges as those of pure patrician descent.f This change, more than any other, promoted that complete amalgama- tion of the two Orders, which followed so rapidly in the next seventy or eighty years. § 3. The Canuleian bill had become law. The proposal of the nine Tribunes to open the Consulship remained. Against this, the Patrician Burgesses made a firmer stand. They had yielded the most dearly prized of their social privileges ; they resolved to maintain their political powers untouched. The Consuls, they argued, had sacred duties to perform ; it was their business to call together the Centuriate Assembly and preside over it, for * " Tertiam seditionem incitavit matrimonioruni dignitas, ut plebeii cum patrieiis jungerentur : qui tumultus in monte Janiculo duce Canulcio Trib. Pleb. exarsit." — Plorus, i. 25. This secession is not mentioned by Livy or Dionysius. f See the eloquent speech which Livy puts into the mouth of Canuleius, iii. 3-5. It anticipates the pregnant argument of Shylock : " Hath not a Jew eyes? . . . fed with the same food, hurt with the same weapons," &c. 6* 130 ROME UNDER THE PATRICIANS. Book II. none could take the auspices and perform the sacred duties asso- ciated with this business except those in whose veins ran pure patrician blood. Thus was again raised the very question which ought to have been set to rest for ever by the Canuleian law. The different nature, as it were, of Patricians and Plebeians was still made a reason for excluding the latter from the highest offices of state. After much altercation and long delays, a compromise was agreed to, as in the case of the Terentilian law. Till a satisfactory ar- rangement could be made with respect to the Consulship the chief executive power was committed to officers who bore the name of Military Tribunes, or Tribunes with Consular authority.* They were to be elected, like the Consuls, by the Centuries, and Plebe- ians, as well as Patricians, were to be eligible. § 4. It seems, at first sight, as if by this concession the Patrici- ans had given up more than was demanded by the nine Tribunes, They asked for one of the Consulships ; all the places in the Mili- tary Tribunate were opened to them. However, on examination, it turns out that these apparent concessions were more than bal- ^anced by other portions of the arrangement. (1.) The Patricians felt quite sure, by their influence in the Comitia of the Centuries, that they should secure most of the places in the new tribunitian college. But if this seemed unlikely, the Senate had the power of suspending the new magistracy and ordering an election of Consuls for any given year. (2.) The office of Prefect of the City seems to have been called into greater prominency now than before. In the absence of the Kings or Consuls it had been usual to invest one of the lead- ing Senators with this high ofiice. But now it seems to have be- come almost permanent. His business was to preside in the Senate and in the courts of justice, and to execute all those high execut- ive functions which were associated with regal and consular dignity. (3.) In the very year after the establishment of Military Tri- bunes, two new officers of state, called Censors, were appointed. These were both Patricians. Their business was to hold the Cen- sus, and perform the solemn rites with which every lustrum, or period of five years, was initiated ; and their office was to last for the whole of this period. In later times the Censors obtained a very great and commanding power, and became the chief and crowning dignity which a Roman burgess could reach. But it cannot be doubted that the cause of their creation was to take out of the hands of the Military Tribunes some of the most important * Their proper title was ■ iribuni militares consulari potesiate, or consulari imperio. Chap. XII. MILITARY TRIBUNATE. 131 functions attacliing to the office of Consul. It is nowhere said that the Military Tribunes could not take the auspices. But it is said that none of them ever enjoyed a triumph ; the Patrician Tribunes Avould not claim this honour, lest it should also be granted to their Plebeian Colleagues. Probably the auspices were always taken by the Censors, or (when there were no Censors) by the Prefect of the City. It is evident, therefore, that the concessions made in the compro- mise of the year 444 B.C. were rather apparent than real. Even if the Plebeians had succeeded in filling all the places in the Mili- tary Tribunate, which was not to be expected, yet the Prefect of the City and the Censors were there to maintain the claim of the Patricians to exclusive management of the Comitia Centuriata, with its sacred attributes, the framing of the list of citizens, the assessment for taxation and military service. § 5. We must now anticipate matters a little, to see how this sys- tem worked in practice. The time during which the Military Tribunate lasted may be divided into three periods: (1), eighteen years (444 — 42Y B.C.), in which Military Tribunes, three in number, were elected only five times, and Consuls in the remaining years ; (2), twenty-one years (426 — 406 B.C.), in which we count fourteen colleges of Military Tribunes, consisting of four in each year, except twice, when the number of three recurs;* (3) thirty-nine years (405 — 367 B.C.) in which Consuls are found only twice, while the annual number of Military Tribunes amounts to six, except in three years,f when they are eight. It appears, then, that in the first period the Military Tribunes formed an exception to the rule. Out of seventeen annual magis- tracies, there were at least twelve sets of Consuls ; and even in the five years when there were three Military Tribunes there were Censors by their side. But in the year 434 b.c. L. ^milius Mamercus, himself a Patri- cian, and a man of highest distinction,^ introduced a change. He was in that year invested with the office of Dictator, for the purpose of conducting the war in Lower Etruria, of which we shall speak in the next chapter. His services, however, were not re- quired in the field ; but he brought in a law by which the Censors were allowed eighteen months for the purpose of executing their business, and then were required to lay down their office ; so that if Censors were elected for each lustrum, there would be three years and a half in each of these quinquennial periods during which there were no Censors. We know not what were the * Namely, the years 418, 408, B.C. f Namely, 403, 380, 319, B.C. 1^ He was three times Dictator. 132 EOME UNDER THE PATRICIANS. Book II. motives of ^milius in this transaction. So angry Avere the Patri- cians, that the next Censors disgraced this eminent man by depriv- ing him of his political rights as a Burgess of Rome. It is shortly after this law took effect that we first hear of four Military Tri- bunes ; and the conjecture of Niebuhr is now commonly accepted, namely, that the fourth Tribune was the Prgefectus Urbis, and therefore necessarily a Patrician.* The third period begins with the siege of Veii. From this time the Military Tribunate becomes the rule, and the Consulship the exception. The number now appears fixed at six : for the three years in which eight are counted, it is probable that the two addi- tional names were those of the Censors.f One of them was no doubt always the Prefect of the City, and he was supreme. It may be observed tliat it was not till the year 400 e.g. that even a single Plebeian obtained a place in the college. After this, however, the inferior order commonly obtained their due share of places, and in one year they even formed a majority. § 6. It may be matter of surprise that the Plebeians were content with so little. No doubt, the first thing they looked to was their own personal well-being ; as yet they cared little for political rights. All their movements had rather tended to secu- rity of life and property than to possession of power. They sought for Tribunes of the Plebs, to protect the poor debtors from the oppression of rich creditors. They demanded an equal Code of laws, that they might have known rights, not dependent on the will of patrician courts of law. They claimed the right of Appeal from the judgment of the supreme magistrate ; that their per- sons might be secure from the arbitrary power of patrician praetors. The only exception is the second Valerian Law, by which the Assembly of the Tribes obtained the power of making laws. But for some time to come even these laws had to do only with questions of life and property ; the Plebeians did not yet interfere with political matters, such as peace and war. Just so, the Commons of England, from their first assembly in Parliament to the time of James I., confined themselves to laws affecting their own personal interests, and to voting money for the purposes of government : and when they attempted to go further in Elizabeth's time, they Avere sternly rebuked by that * 418 B.C., when there were only three Tribunes, was a censorial year, and therefore a patrician prefect was not required. 408 B.C., when there were also but three, remains a problem. f This is certainly the case in 403 B.C., where Livy (v. 1) and Plutarch {Vit. CamiU. 2) reckon the Censors Camillus and Postumius among the eight Military Tribunes. In the years 380, 3*79 B.C., Diodorus alone names eight Tribunes. The Censors of these years, however, are not named among these eight. Chap. XII. QU^STORES CLASSIOL 133 imperious sovereign for presuming to "meddle with matters of state." § 7. We may assume that the period hetween the Canuleian Law and the siege of Veii, when the MiHtary Tribunate seems first to have been regularly established, was a period of pro- visional government, during which all public relations were ex- tremely unsettled. The few events that are preserved by the annalists fully indicate this state of things. Throughout the two first periods of the Military Tribunate, the Patrician Bur- gesses are evidently struggling hard to maintain their political supremacy. At first Consulships are general ; the very first election to the Military Tribunate was set aside by the augurs, and the same thing happens more than once : but at length consular years become rare, and after the beginning of the siege of Veii almost disappear. In the year 421 b.c. the Plebeians were admitted to another ofiice of state hitherto confined to the Patricians, namely, the Qusestorship. The Qusestors now spoken of are the Qu^stoees Classici, so called because they were ori- ginally named by King Servius as paymasters of the Classes, or great military bodies, into which he divided all the people : and they must be distinguished from the Qusestores Parricidii, or Perduellionis.* As time went on, the duties of the Qusestores Classici, now called simply Quaestors, multiplied ; and it was thought necessary to appoint four instead of two. On this, the Tribunes of the Plebs demanded, that two of the four should be Plebeians, and after some little opposition this was conceded. Some time after, the number of the Quaestors was again doubled ; and in later times they became indefinite in number, since every general and every governor of a province had a Quaestor attached to his staff. § 8. Now it was the custom (as we know in after-times) to fill up vacancies in the Senate from those who had served as Quaes- tors ; and probably it was so from the beginning. When, there- fore, there were eight Quaestors, the Censors at the commencement of each lustrum would find forty men, out of whom new Senators were to be chosen ; and as these forty had all been elected Quaestors by the People in their Centuries, it is plain that the Senate was indirectly chosen by the People. This regulation, whenever introduced, diminished very much the arbitrary power of the Censors in choosing new Senators. Moreover, it gave the Plebeians admission into the Senate — a most important pri- vilege, which was granted we know not exactly when, but probably from their first admission to the Quaestorship. For we find P. Licinius Calvus spoken of as " an old senator," just * Chapt. ii. § 2. 134 ROME UNDER THE PATRICIANS. BOOK II. at the close of the Veientine Avar (iu 390 b.c.),* and lie was a Plebeian. Now, as the Plebeians were admitted to the Quaestor- ship in 421 B.C. (about 20 years before), it may reasonably be supposed that this P. Licinius was one of the first plebeian Quaestors, and that he with other Plebeians was placed by the next Censors on the roll of the Senate. § 9. Therefore we see the Plebeians admitted to the Military Tribuneship, by law in 444 B.C., and actually in 400 ; to the Quaestorship in 421, and to the Senate probably at the same time. The political disunion of the Orders was fast disappearing, and but for the Gallic invasion, which interrupted all peaceful reforms, would have ended sooner than was actually the fact. § 10. Yet there remained many signs of discord and discontent, though of less violence than in the time of Terentilius. Of these the subjoined narratives will afford sufficient evidence. The year 440 b.c. was the beginning of several seasons of dearth and scarcity. To relieve the distress of the poor, a new oflice, called the Mastership of the Market (Praefectura Annonae), was created ; and the Patrician L. Minucius was the first who held this office. But the poorer sort among the Plebeians, im- patient with hunger, complained that his measures were slow and ineftectual; and their discontent was still further increased by the suspicious liberality of Sp. Maelius, a wealthy Plebeian Knight. This man employed his money in buying up corn, which he distributed for little or nothing among the poorer citizens. He thus beeame exceedingly popular ; and he was sus-, pected by the Patricians of a wish to raise himself to kingly power. The unhappy man paid dearly for his ambition or generosity. One of the Consuls of the year was T. Quinctius Capitolinus, one of the most vehement of the Patricians, who determined to crush the attempts of Maelius. To this end he named a Dictator, and the person chosen was the old hero L. Quinctius Cincinnatus, his kinsman, Avell known as a bitter enemy of the Plebeians, who now reappears for a moment upon the stage. The aged Dictator entered on his ofiice with all the eagerness of youth ; he named C. Servilius Ahala his Master of the Horse ; during the night he occupied the Capitol and all the §trong places in the city. Next morning he took his seat in the Forum, and sent Ahala to summon Maelius before his tribunal. Maelius knew that his case was desperate ; for the Dictator being ap- pointed, the right of Appeal to the Centuries was for the time suspended. He therefore refused to obey the summons ; and, on his refusal, Ahala struck him dead upon the spot. Then the Dictator gave judgment that the act was necessary and justifi- * " Vetus Senator." — Liv. v. 12. Chap. XII. STORIES OP TWO POSTUMII. I35 able : lie treated Mselius as a condemned traitor, and ordered his house to be levelled with the ground. The place was called the ^quiraajlium. His stores of corn were sold at a low rate to the poor Plebeians by Minucius. Cicero and the ancients always praise the conduct of Ahala, and represent him to have saved the commonwealth by his firmness and decision. On the other hand, the Plebeians of his own time considered Maslius as a martyr to their cause ; and so great was their indignation that Ahala, fearing to be indicted for murder, was obliged to leave Rome. Which is the true view of the case — whether Mselius was a self- ish demagogue or a true patriot, or something between the two — it is impossible for us in our ignorance to say. But suspicions are raised in his favour by remarking that the members of the Quinc- tian Gens were generally violent and tyrannical ; and, further, by the notice that L. Minucius, the patrician Master of the Market, changed his mode of conduct after the death of Mselius so much as to desert his own order and become a Plebeian.* § 11. Still more angry feeling is indicated by two narratives relating to members of the haughty Postumian Gens. In the year 431 e.g., Rome was threatened by a combined attack from the -<^quians and Volscians ; and to oppose it A. Pos- tumius Tubertus was named Dictator. He defeated the enemy, but only by enforcing the most rigorous discipline — so rigorous, that he condemned his own son to death because he had pre- sumed to attack the enemy, though he conquered them, without orders. The story of the severity of the Roman father is better known in the case of T. Manlius, which occurred nearly 100 years later. Again, in the year 414 e.g., M. Postumius Regillensis was Military Tribune, and warmly opposed an agrarian law, by which it was proposed to divide among the poor Plebeians certain lands which had been taken from the ^quians of Lavici and Bola. As commander of the army, he threatened to use his absolute power (imperium) in punishing any soldier who had dared, or should dare to further this agrarian law ; and he made good his word by refusing them all share in the plunder of Bola. So exasperated were the men by this conduct, that they rose in mutiny, and stoned their general to death — a rare instance of in- subordination among the soldiers of Rome. For a time, however, this violence, as is usually the case, gave advantage to the enemies of the Plebeians ; and for some years the Patricians succeeded in having Consuls elected instead of Military Tribunes. * Livy, iv. 16. Emissary of Alban Lake. CHAPTER XIII. WARS SINCE THE DECEMVIRATE. SIEGE OF VEIL (448 391 B.C.) § 1. Steady advance of Romans on side of ^quians and Volscians. § 2. Lower Ktruria, at peace since fall of Fabii. § 3. Renewal of hostilities : Cossus wins spolia opima from Lars Tolumnius. § 4. Veii : siege begins in 400 B.C. § 5. Appointment of M. Furius Camillus as Dictator. § 6. Legend of Overflow of Alban Lake. § 1. Legend of Capture of Veii in tenth year of war. § 8. Camillus takes Falerii (story of schoolmaster), Chap. XIII. WARS SINCE THE DECEMVIRATB. 137 Sutrium, Nepete : truce with Volsinii. § 9. Project of removing from Rome to Yeii, defeated. § 10. Unpopularity of Camillus : his banishment. § 11. Estimate of his conduct: his parting prayer. § 1. Since the victory gained by tlie Consuls Valerius and Hora- tius over the Sabines, no molestation liad been experienced from that quarter. The Leagues formed by the great Consul Sp. Cas- sius had checked the advance of the Opican nations on the east, particularly of the Volscians. These successes continued. The towns of Lavici and Bola were recovered from the JEquians ; Anxur won from the Volscians, then lost, but again won. Colo- nies sent to Ardea in 442 e.g., and to Velitrse in 404, shut out the Volscians from the coast-lands ; while northern Latium was secured by another Colony planted at Lavici in 418. While the narratives of these wars are uncertain and exaggerated, it is clear that there was a steady progress on the part of the Latin arms : the Opican arms were gradually being forced back into their mountains. A great change had taken place since they had been in occupation of the Alban Hills, and threatened the very gates of Rome. § 2. But if less positive results were obtained against the Opi- cans on the east, a war took place against the Etruscans beyond the Tiber, which ended in the first considerable addition to the Roman territory that had been received since the fall of the monarchy. It will be recollected that ancient Etruria was described as being divided into two portions by the Ciminian hills ; but the whole Etruscan nation was considered as constituting twelve great communities, of which twelve cities formed the centres.* All these communities were independent of each other, being governed by oligarchies, while the mass of the population were their clients or serfs. For general national purposes these twelve cities formed a federation, and their common meeting-place was the Fanum Vol- tumnae, which lay on the northern slope of the Ciminian range. When the nation engaged in common war, it was usual for them to elect a common chief, under the title of Lar or Lars. Such was Porsenna of Clusium. Since the days of Lars Porsenna, Rome had carried on a desul- tory war with the Veientines, as with her neighbours on the eastern frontier. But since the fatal day on which the great Fabian Gens perished on the Cremera, there had been a cessation of these feuds. The quarrel was thus renewed. § 3. Fidena3 was an ancient town on the Sabine side of the Tiber, opposite the Cremera, not more than six or seven miles from Rome. It was a Roman Colony, but it had repeatedly re- * See the description of their country, Chapt. vi. § 9. 138 EOME UNDER THE PATRICIANS. Book IL volted and expelled tlie colonists. The last time that this hap- pened the Fidenatians called on Lars Tolumnius of Veil to defend them from the Romans. He raised an army of his own people combined with the men of Capena and the Faliscans, and marched against Rome. The Romans prevailed, and A. Cornelius Cossus, one of the Military Tribunes, slew the Veientine king with his own hand : the linen cuirass which he took and oflFered up to Jupiter was long preserved, and the Emperor Augustus himself pointed out to Livy that in the inscription upon it Cossos called himself Consul instead of Military Tribune, in order that he might have the credit of winning the spolia opima.* After this victory, Fidense was taken and razed to the ground : a truce was made with Veii. § 4. This truce ended in the year 407 b.c, and the Veientines entreated the assistance of their Etruscan kinsfolk against the City of the Seven Hills. They met at the Fanum Voltumnse ; but the northern states Avere in fear of the Gauls, who were threatening to overrun their country,f and Veii was left to defend herself. She was no mean rival — as large as Rome, well-peopled, not more than twelve miles distant ; and, from the preparations made on the part of Rome, it was plain that the war must end in the destruction of one city or the other. The Veientines, however, did not dare again to meet the Romans in the field, and allowed their city to be invested. This was the first time that the Roman jnilitia kept the field for a continuance. Hitherto the men had gone forth for a short campaign, but now they were obliged to remain in the field for the whole year, in order effectually to blockade the enemy's city. Hence it became necessary to pay the army for the whole year, instead of furnishing them with a small allowance for the summer's campaign.^ § 5. But the siege lasted several years without any progress on the part of the Romans. Their soldiers were (as Ave have said) a kind of militia, unused to the Avork of a regular siege ; and the Veientines, assisted noAV by the people of Capena and Falerii, met them in the field and defeated them. A panic fear spread from the army to Rome ; the matrons crowded to the temples ; the Senate met and ordered that a Dictator should be appointed. The choice fell on M. Furius Camillus, a great name, which is now mentioned for the first time. * Liv. iv. 20. For, as Military Tribune, he could not be sole commander of the legions. •j- They had expelled the Etruscans from the valley of the Po, but Avhen this took place is quite unknown. Introduct. Sect. ii. § 9. X The regular pay (stipendium) 'was 100 asses a month, or in later times a denarius every three days. Of the mode in Avhich the pay was raised an ac- count will be given in Chapt. xxxvi. § 7. CiiAP.Xm. SIEGE OP VEIL 139 From about the time of his appointment the story of the siege passes into an heroic legend, like those of Coriolanus and the Fabii. Thus it runs. § 6. The panic fear which overpowered the people in the seventh year of the war was not caused by defeat alone. It was magnified by prodigies and marvels : for when summer was now far spent, the Alban Lake, which stands high on the Alban Hills without any visible outlet for its waters, began to rise, and at length poured itself upon the plain below. Prayers and sacrifice availed not; the waters still flowed on. Then the Senate sent to consult the oracle at Delphi Avhat should be done to avert the mischief. Meantime an old Veientine soothsayer was heard to laugh at the Romans who were encamped by Veil ; " for," said he, " it is written in the Book of Fate that Veil shall never be taken till the waters of the Alban Lake find a passage into the sea." A Roman centurion who heard this persuaded the old man to come forth and advise him about certain matters of his own : then he seized the old man, and the generals sent him to Rome to be examined by the Senate. But the Senate paid no heed to him till the mes- sengers returned from Delphi, and said the same things as the old Veientine soothsayer. Then they set to work and made a great tunnel leading from the south-western part of the lake to the river Anio ; and so the waters escaped into the river, and flowed down with its waters into the sea. The tunnel, called in Latin an emissarium or out-letter, to which the legend refers, still remains. It is hewn through hard volcanic rock for a distance of nearly three miles, measuring about five feet in height and three in breadth.* It would be a great work even in these days.f When the Veientines found that the fates were about to be fulfilled, they sent messengers to ask for peace. But the Senate turned a deaf ear to their prayers ; whereupon one of the messen- gers said, " It is written truly that our city should fall ; but it * See the Section and Plan at the head of this Chapter. The Alban stone is noted for its hardness. To check fires at Rome, the Emperor Augustus or- dered that a portion of every new house should be of Alban or Gabian stone. — The interpreters suppose that these enigmatical orders darkly hinted at the operation of mining, by which (as the legend says) Yeii was taken. f There is a similar emissarium to let off the waters of the Fucine Lake (Lake of Celano) in the ^quian mountains. It was executed in the time of the Emperor Claudius, and is three miles in length from the edge of the lake to the bed of the Liris. Its height is about ten feet, and its breadth six. Thirty thousand men were engaged for eleven years in the work ; and after all, it failed. In our own days, a company has been formed to complete the work, the calculated expense being 160,000Z. These facts will give some notion of the greatness of the work of draining the Alban Lake, which was successfully executed in the infancy of the Roman Republic. 140 EOME UNDER THE PATRICIANS. BOOK U. is also written (though, ye know it not), that if Veii should fall, Eome shall be destroyed also." But still the Senate listened not, and M, Furius Camillus was appointed Dictator, as has been told before. §7. Camillus dallied not with the work. He was not con' tented with blockading the city as before, but began a mine which was to open into the citadel ; and when this was ready for spring- ing, he sent for all citizens to come from Eome and share in the plunder. As the Romans stood in the mine, so runs the Legend, the King of the Veii was offering a sacrij&ce to Juno in the citadel ; and they heard the soothsayer declare that whoever completed that sacrifice should prevail. Then Camillus gave the sign, and the Veientines were astounded to see armed Romans rise from the floor beneath their feet. So they and their king were slain, and the Romans completed the sacrifice. And Camillus sent a band of young men dressed in white, with hands clean from blood, to carry the statue of the great goddess Juno to Rome. But they, not daring to touch her, asked whether she were willing to go ; and then (it is said) she nodded assent, and the statue was placed in a new tem- ple dedicated to her upon the Aventine. Thus fell Veii, like Troy, in the tenth year of the war, and the people obtained a great booty. And Camillus entered Rome, and descended the Sacred Way, and went up to the Capitol in a car drawn by four white horses, like the chariot of the sun. Never had general so triumphed before, and old men feared that the ven- geance of the gods might come upon his pride. § 8. Veii had fallen, and her few allies were not left unpunished. First, the Romans attacked and utterly destroyed Capena ; then Camillus, who was now a Military Tribune, went against Falerii, the chief city of the Falisci,* which also fell an easy prey to the Roman arms. The story goes that when he appeared before this city a certain schoolmaster, who taught the sons of all the chief men, brought them out by stealth and oflPered to put them into the hands of the Romans. But Camillus, scorning the baseness of the man, ordered that his hands should be tied behind him, and that the boys should flog him back again into the town; "for Romans," said he, " war not with boys, but with men." Then the Falis- cans, won by his noble conduct, willingly surrendered their city . (B.C. 394). Soon after Sutrium and Nepete also surrendered, and as Csere was an ancient ally of Rome, her power was paramount in * These Faliscans, though ia Etruria, -were not Etruscans. Virgil calls them u^qui Falisci (JEJn. vii. 695). Probably they were of the Opican race, wMch inhabited the country before the incoming of the Etruscans. Chap. XIII. SIEGE OF VEIL 141 all the district south of the Ciminian forest. Nor was this alL Three years later they came in collision with the powerful city of Volsinii, (Bolsena), north of the Ciminian range, and won a battle. A peace of twenty years was then concluded. Doubtless the same reasons had prevented the northern Etruscans from aiding their southern compatriots, and now hastened this peace. The Gauls ere this had crossed the Apennines. § 9. The conquest of Veii very nearly proved the ruin of Rome. It was a large and beautiful city, well and regularly built, on a plain, with a citadel of great natural strength overhanging the city. All the plain country round, up to the hills of the Cimi- nian forest, were now subject to Rome. The Vei en tines them- selves, according to the barbarous practice of ancient times, had all been put to the sword or sold into slavery. There stood the goodly city empty, inviting people to come and dwell in her. On the other hand, Rome with her seven hills presented a series of ascents and descents; in the ancient city there was hardly a level street. The streets themselves were much less regular and handsome than those of Veii, and the climate was even then bad, as has been said above.* It is not wonderful then that men should turn their thoughts towards Veii, especially those poor Plebeians who had no lands at Rome. Some called for an agrarian law, to divide the lands of Veii among the people ; but T. Sicinus and some of his brother Tribunes proposed that half the people should go and settle in Veii, so that she should form another state equal to Rome. At first this proposal was stopped by the veto of two Tribunes who opposed their colleagues ; but at length it was brought before the People, who now listened to the reasoning of the Patricians, and eleven tribes out of twenty-one voted against the bill : thus the Tribunes were defeated even in their own Assembly. Happy for Rome that her people were so moderate and reason- able. Separation such as was proposed might have condemned both Rome and Veii to become obscure Latin towns, like Tuscu- lum or Praeneste, and the sovereignty of Italy might have fallen to the Samnites or to Pyrrhus of Epirus. But Providence had determined that Rome was to be the mistress of the world, and she remained unbroken by the will of her own people. Satisfied with this victory, the patrician party consented to an agrarian law on a large scale. The Veientine lands were distri- buted, and seven jugera were allotted to every householder, with an additional allowance for his children. § 10. Meantime the great Camillus had lost favour with his countrymen. His patrician pride all along diminished the popu- * See Chapt. vi. §§ 5 and 6, ■ 142 ROME UNDER THP:1 PATRICIANS. Book IL larity which as a conqueror lie could not fail to win : and lie lost still more when he called upon every man to refund a tenth of the spoil they had taken at Veii; for though he, in the moment of victory, had vowed to offer his tenth to Apollo, yet the plunder was taken before there had been time to set apart the portion of the god. Poor men ill brook to part with what they think their own ; and in this case the whole of the ill-will fell upon the general. "His vow," they said, "was a mere pretence to rob the Plebeians of their hard-won spoil." Still worse than this, it was not long before men came forward and accused Camillus of taking much of the booty for his own share, which ought to have been fairly divided among all. Espe- cially, it was said, he had appropriated the great bronze gates, which in those days, when all coin was made of bronze, were exceedingly valuable. The general was impeached for corrupt practices by L. Appuleius, Tribune of the Plebs (391 b.c.) His Clients and Tribesmen offered to pay the fine, which probably would have been imposed upon him, but said they could not acquit him. He therefore left the city, and as he left it he turned about and prayed that his country might soon have reason to feel his want and call him back again. Ardea, a city of the Latins, was his place of refuge. § 11. There can be little doubt that the great Camillus really took these gates. But how far he was guilty of an illegal act we cannot determine. He might think that he was entitled to them, for it was acknowledged that a general had a right to set apart a portion for himself: and we may well believe that his chief fault was, that in his pride he arrogated to himself more than was generally thought right. All would wish to believe that so great a man was not to be blamed for greed and baseness. His parting prayer was heard : for " the Gaul was at the gates," and the next year saw Rome in ashes. Geese of the Capitol (?). CHAPTEE XIV. THE GAULS. (390 B.C.) § 1. Introductory. § 2. "Who the G-auls were. § 3. Migration of Celtio mations : occupation of Northern Italy by Gauls. § 4. Who those Gauls were that burnt Rome. § 5. Legend of quarrel with Gauls, and battle of Alia. § 6 — 8. Of sack of Rome and blockade of Capitol. § 9. Of delivery by Camillus. § 10. Falsehood of last Legend. § 11. Later inroads of Gauls. § 12. Legends of T. Manlius Torquatus and M. Valerius Corvus. § 1. The course of Roman History, hitherto disturbed only by petty border wars, now suffers a great convulsion. Over her neighbours on the east and north the Republic was in the ascendant ; on the west, the frail oligarchies of Etruria had sunk before Camillus and his hardy soldiers ; when, by an untoward union of events, Rome saw her best general depart from her walls, and heard of the barbarian host which was wasting the fair land of Italy. The Gauls burst upon Latium and the adjoining lands with the suddenness of a thunder-storm; and, as the storm, with all its fury and destructiveness, yet clears the loaded air and restores a balance between the disturbed powers of nature, so it was with this Gallic hurricane. It swept over the face of Italy, crushing and destroying. The Etruscans were weakened by it ; and if Rome herself was laid prostrate, the Latins also suffered 144 ROME UNDER THE PATRICIANS. Book U. greatly, the Volscians trembled, and the ^quians were irrecover- ably weakened. § 2. Before telling tbe tale of the destruction of Rome by tbe Gauls, it will be well to ask — Who were these Gauls? They were a tribe of that large race of mankind who are known under the name of Celts, and who at the time in question peopled nearly the whole of Western Europe, from the heart of Germany to the ocean. The northern and central parts of the continent were already in the hands of various nations, called by the com- mon name of Germans or Teutons, to whom belonged the Goths, Saxons, Danes, Normans, Lombards, Franks, and Alemanni, — names which yet live in Europe. But the Celts in earlier times possessed a far extended range of country — France, great part of Germany, most of Spain and Portugal, together with the British Isles. Of these Celts there were, and still are, two great divisions, commonly called Gael and Cymri, differing in habits and lan- guage.* The ancient inhabitants of France were Gael, those of Britain and Belgica were Cymri ; and the Druidical religion, though sometimes adopted by the Gael, was properly and originally Cymric. Gael are still found in Ireland and in the Highlands of Scotland ; Cymri in Wales and Low Brittany ; and they have left traces of their name in Cumber-land. But the great Celtic race, once so widely spread, has been, as it were, pushed into the sea by the Gothic and German tribes. The few fragments of them that remain are usually found on the western verge of their old countries. § 3. Now before the time we are now speaking of, there had been a great movement in these Celtic nations. Two great swarms went out from Gaul. Of these, one crossed the Alps into Italy; the other, moving eastward, in the course of time penetrated into Greece and then passed into Asia Minor, Avhere they were known under the name of Galatians.f It is supposed that the Gael who dwelt in the eastern parts of Gaul, being oppressed by Cymric tribes of the west and north, went forth to seek new homes in distant lands, as in later times the Gothic and German tribes were driven in the contrary direc- tion by the Huns and other Asiatic hordes, who Avere thronging into Europe from the east. At all events, it is certain, that large bodies of Celts passed over the Alps before and after * Celt is strictly the same as G-ael {KeXr-ai, Talar-ai, Gall-i, Gael, being all one), and therefore is itself properly opposed to Cymri. But it is convenient to have one common name, and most modern writers have taken Celt or Kelt as the generic appellation of the race. f They plundered the temple of Delphi in 279 B.C., rather more than a century after their compatriots sacked Rome. See Dr. Smith's History of Greece, chapt. xlvi. § 4- Chap. XIV. THE GAULS. I45 this time, and Laving once tasted the wines and eaten the fruits uf Italy were in no hurry to return from that fair laud into their own less hospitable regions. We read of one swarm after another pressing into the Land of Promise ; parties of Lingones, whose fathers lived about Langres in Champagne ; Boians, whose name is traced in French Bourbon and Italian Bologna ; Senones, whose old country was about Sens,* and who have left record of themselves in the name of Senigaglia, (Sena Gallica) on the coast of the Adriatic. The course taken by these adventurers Avas probably over divers passes of the Alps, from that of the Mount Cenis and the Little St. Bernard to the Simplon. Pouring from these outlets, they overran the rich plains of Northern Italy, and so occupied the territory which lies between the Alps, the Apennines, and the Adriatic,! that the Romans called this territory Gallia Cisalpina, or Hither Gaul. The northern Etruscans gave way before these fierce barbarians, and their name is heard of no more in those parts. Thence the Gauls crossed, the Apennines into Southern Etruria, and while they were ravaging that country they first came in contact with the sons of Rome. § 4. The common date for this event is 390 b.c. How long before this time the Gallic hordes had been pouring into Italy we know not. But whenever it was that they first passed over the Alps, it is certain that now they first crossed the Apennines. The tribe which took this course were of the Senones, as all authors say, and therefore we may suppose they were Gaelic; but it has been thought they Avere mixed with Cymri, since the name of their king or chief was Brenmcs, and Brenhin is Cymric for a King.^ They are described as large-limbed, with fair skins, yellow hair, and blue eyes, in all respects contrasted with the natives of Southern Italy — a description which suits Gael better than Cymri. Their courage was high, but their tempers fickle. They were more fitted for action than endurance ; able to conquer, but not steady enough to maintain and secure their conquests. These qualities attributed to the Gallic nations of antiquity, ghow themselves remarkably in their descendants. Nowhere, as above observed, have the Celts been able to sustain the approach pf the German nations ; even in Gaul, transformed as it was by Roman civilisation, the Germans prevailed. The modern French nation is * "Senonumque priores," says Juvenal, whereas Polybius writes their name ^rjvove^. But other Gallic names in -ones are pronounced short (as Lingones, Santones Vascones, &c.), and therefore we follow Juvenal. f All of it except Liguria, which was bounded by the Apennines and Mari- time Alps, the Po and the Trebia. X The same title is given to the chief who led the assault upon Delphi. '7 146 ROME UNDER THE PATRICIANS. Book IL a compound of these conquerors, Goths, Vandals, Franks, North- men, with the original Celtic population. § 5. Such is a brief account of the Gauls who destroyed Eome, Now begins the Roman Legend. Brennus and his barbarians (it was said or sung) passed into Etruria at the invitation of Aruns, a citizen of Clusium (Chiusi), whose daughter had been dishonoured by a young Lucumo or Noble of the same place. To avenge his private wrongs this Etruscan called in the Gauls, as Count Julian in the Spanish romance called in the Moors to avenge the seduction of his daughter by Roderic the Goth. The Gauls, nothing loth, crossed the mountains, and laid siege to Clusium ; on which the Etruscans of the city, terrified and helpless, despairing of effectual succour from their own countrymen, sent to seek aid from the city of the Tiber, which had formerly measured arms with their own King Porsenna, and which but now had conquered so many old Etruscan cities. Common danger makes friends of foes ; and the Senate determined tp support the Etruscans against the barbarians. However, all they did was to send three ambassadors, sons of Fabius Ambustus, the Pontifex Maximus, to warn the Gauls not to meddle further with the men of Clusium, for Clusium was the ally of Rome. The barbarians took slight notice of the message, and continued the war. Now it chanced that there was a battle fought while the three Fabii were still at Clusium; and they, forgetting . their peaceful character as envoys, took part with the Clusians against the Gauls, and one of them was seen stripping the arms off a Gallic champion whom he had slain. The barbarians, in high wrath, demanded to be led straight against the city whose sons were so faithless; but their chiefs restrained them, and sent an embassy to Rome demanding that the envoys should be given up. Then the Senate, not caring to decide so weighty a matter, referred it to the People ; and so far were they from listening to the demands of the Gauls, that at the Comitia next ensuing, these very envoys were all three elected Military Tribunes. On hearing of this gross and open insult, Brennus broke up his camp at Clusium, and the Gauls marched southward for Rome. The river Clanis, upon which stood Clusium, led them down to the Tiber beneath Vulsinii ; they crossed that river, and pouring down its left bank, they found themselves confronted by the Romans on the banks of the Alia, a little stream that rises in the Sabine hills and empties itself into the Tiber at a point nearly opposite the Cremera. Their left rested on the Tiber, the Alia was in their front, and their right occupied some hilly ground. Brennus did not attempt to attack in front, CiiAP. XIV. THE GAULS. 147 but threw himself with an overpowering force upon the right flank of the enemy ; and the Romans, finding their position turned, were seizecl with panic fear and fled. The greater part plunged into the Tiber in the hope of escaping across the river to Veii, and many made their escape good; but many were drowned, and many pierced by Gallic javelins. A still smaller number made their way to Rome, and carried home news of the disaster. The Gauls cared not to pursue the flying foe. One day, or even two days (as some accounts give it), they spent in col- lecting trophies and rejoicing in their great and easy victory. § 6. Meantime the Senate at Rome did what was possible to retrieve their fallen fortunes. With all the men of military age they withdrew into the Capitol, for they had not numbers enough to man the walls of the City. These were mainly Patricians. The mass of the Plebeians, with the women, fled to Veii. The priests and vestal virgins, carrying with them the sacred images and utensils, found refuge at the friendly Etruscan city of Caere. But the old senators, who had been Consuls or Censors, and had won triumphs and grown gray in their country's service, feeling themselves to be now no longer a succour but a burthen, determined to sacrifice themselves for her ; and M. Fabius, the Pontifex, recited the form of words * by which they solemnly devoted themselves to the gods below, praying that on their heads only might fall the vengeance and the destruction. Then, as the Gauls approached, they ordered their ivory chairs to be set in the Comitium before the temples of the gods,f and there they took their seats, each man clad in his robes of state, to await the coming of the avenger. § 7. At length the Gallic host approached the city and came to the CoUine gate. It stood wide open before their astonished gaze, and they advanced slowly, not without suspicion, through deserted streets, unresisted and unchecked. When they reached the Forum, there within its sacred precincts they beheld those venerable men, sitting like so many gods descended from Heaven to protect their own. They gazed with silent awe : till at length a Gaul, hardier than his brethren, ventured to stroke the long beard of M. Papirius. The old hero raised his ivory staff" and smote the off"ender ; whereupon the barbarian in wrath slew him ; and this first sword-stroke gave the signal for a general slaughter. Then the Romans in the Capitol believed that the gods had accepted the off'ering which those old men had made, and that the rest would be saved. * Oarmen, as the Eomans called it. f Livy says that they sat in the porticoes of their own houses •]'48 ROME UNDER THE PATRICIANS. Book II. But for a time tliey were doomed to look down inactive upon the pillage of their beloved city. Fires broke out, and all the houses perished, except some upon the Palatine, which were saved for the convenience of the chiefs. At length the Gauls, sated with plunder, resolved to assault the Capitol. . In those days it was surrounded on all sides with steep scarped clifts, and only approachable from the Forum by the Sacer Clivus. Here the Gauls made their assault; but it was easily repulsed, and henceforth they contented themselves with a blockade. A por- tion of them remained in the city, while the rest roamed through Southern Italy, plundering and destroying. § 8. The months that follow are embellished with more than one heroic Legend. We read that while the Gauls were lying at the foot of the Capitol, they were astonished to see a youth named C Fabius Dorso come down into the midst of them, clad in sacred attire, and pass through the Forum along the Sacred Way to the Quirinal Hill, there to perform certain solemn rites peculiar to the great Fabian Gens.* Struck with religious awe, they suffered the bold youth to go upon his way and return to the Capitol unharmed. Still more famous is the Legend of M. Manlius, the saviour of the Capitol. The Plebeians at Veil were anxious to communi- cate with the Senate and Patricians there; and for this pur- pose Pontius Cominius, a brave patrician youth, undertook to climb up the steep rock of the Capitoline Hill on the river side.f He explained to the Senate the wish of the People to recal Camillus and make him Dictator ; and having obtained their sanction, he returned the same way in safety. But next day, the Gauls observed the marks on the rock where his feet had rested, or where he had clung for support to the tufted grass and bushes. Where one man had climbed another could follow; and a chosen jjarty cautiously ascended by the same track. The foremost of them was just reaching the top in safety ; the guards slept ; not even a watch-dog bayed. But in the temple of Juno, which stood hard by, certain sacred geese were kept, and the pious Romans (so ran the legend) had spared to eat of these even in the extremities of hunger. And they were rewarded. For now, in the hour of need, the sacred birds began to cackle aloud and flap their wings, so that they roused M. Manlius from sleep. Then he, hastily snatching up his arms, rushed to the edge of the cliff where the noise Avas, and found a Gaul who had just reached the top. On he rushed and pushed * See the legend of the Cremera, Chapt. ix. § 5. f The place designated was somewhere near the steps which now lead up to the Capitol, near the church of Araceli. Chap. XIV. THE GAULS. 149 liiiu backward ; and his fall so alarmed his comrades, that some fell down, and others Avere slain without resistance. Thus did M. Manlius save the Capitol ; and his fellow-soldiers honoured his bravery so highly, that each man gave him a day's allowance oi, food, notwithstanding the distress to which all had been re- duced. § 9. For seven months did the Gauls blockade the Capitol.'* They entered the city in the heat of the Dog-days,f and the two months that follow are at Rome the most unhealthy of the year. Unused to the sultry climate, naturally intemperate, living in the open air, numbers of them fell a prey to pestilence and fever. But with stubborn courage they braved all, till at length Brennus agreed to quit Rome on condition of receiving 1000 pounds weight of gold. This was hastily collected, partly from the temples of the Capitol, partly from private sources ; and when it was being weighed out, Brennus with insolent bravado threw in his sword with the weights, crying, " Woe to the vanquished !" While the scale was yet turning (so ran the legend), Camillus, who had successfully repulsed the Gauls from Ardea, and then as Dictator had taken the command of the Roman army at Veii, marched into the Forum. Sternly he ordered the gold to be taken away, saying that with iron, not with gold, would he redeem the city. Then he drove the Gauls away, and so com- pletely destroyed their host, that not a man was left to carry home the news of their calamity. § 10. Such "was the conclusion of the Legend. But, unfortu- nately for Roman pride, here also, as in the tale of Porsenna, traces of true history are preserved which show how little the Roman annalists regarded truth. Polybius tells us, as if he knew no other story, that the departure of the Gauls was caused by the intelligence that the Venetians, an Illyrian tribe, had invaded their settlements in Northern Italy, and that they actually received the gold and marched off unmolested to their homes. It is added by a later historian, that Drusus, the elder brother of the Emperor Tiberius, recovered this very gold from the Gauls of his own day. This last account at least shows that in the time of Drusus the heroic Legend of Camillus found little credence. The Gauls left the city in ruins, in whatever way they Avere compelled to retire, whether by the sword of Camillus, or * So says Polybius, ii. 22. Varro and Florus say six, Servius eigJii. f The battle of the Alia was fought about the summer solstice (Plutarch, Camill. c. 19). The Kalends of August was the day marked in the Kalendar as ill-omened in consequence of this battle. But the uncertainty of the year has akeady been noticed, Chapt, i. § 17, Note. 150 KOME UNDER THE PATRICIANS. BOOK 11. by tlie softer persuasion of gold. Of the effects of their inva- sions and the- condition of Rome thereafter, we will speak in the next chapter. § 11. It may be convenient to mention beforehand the two later invasions, which perhaps were quite as formidable as tljg first, though the Romans now resisted with greater courage and firmness. Thirty years after the first irruption (361 b.c), we hear that another host of Senonian Gauls burst into Latium from the Nortli, and in alliance with the people of Tibur, ravaged the lands of Rome, Latium, and Campania. For four years they continued their ravages, and then we hear of them no more. A third irruption followed, ten years later, of still more formi- dable character. The Gauls formed a stationary camp on the Alban Hills, and kept Rome in perpetual terror. But, in the second year, the Romans, under the command of L. Furius Ca- millus, a nephew of the great M. Camillus, took the field against them, and so harassed them by cutting ofi" their supplies, with- out venturing on a general action, that after some months they poured southward, and disappear from history. Therefore Lucius Camillus was called by Aristotle " the Deliverer of Rome" from the Gauls.* (b.c. 350, 349.) After this, the Romans did not come in contact with the. Gauls for many years ; and then they were the invaders of Gallia Cisalpina, not the Gauls of Latium. § 12. These later inroads of the Gauls are distinguished by two famous Legends ; the last, or nearly the last, which occur in the pages of Roman history. In the Manlian house there was a Family which bore the name of Torquatus. This name was said to have been won by T. Manlius, who fought with a gigantic Gallic champion on the bridge over the Anio in 361 b.c, and slew him. From the neck of the slain enemy he took the massy chain (torques) which the Gallic chiefs were in the habit of wearing.f He put it round his own neck, and returning in triumph to his friends, was ever after known by the name of T. Manlius Torquatus. Of him we shall hear more in the sequel. Again, when L. Camillus was pursuing the Gauls through the Volscian plains in 349 B.C., a champion challenged any one of the Roman youth to single combat. The challenge was readily * Plutarch, Camill. c. 22. Aristotle was born in 384 B.C., and was living at Athens when this last invasion tooli place. From this and other facts, we see that the affau-s of Italy were now exciting interest in Greece. t " Lactea coUa Auro innectuntur." — ViRG. JEn. viii. 660. Chap. XIV. THE GAULS. 151 accepted by M. Valerius, avIio, by tbe side of the huge Gaul, looked like a mere stripling. At the beginning of the combat (wonder- ful to tell) a crow lighted upon his helmet ; and as they fought, the bird confounded the Gaul by flying in his face and striking him with his beak, and flapping his wings before his eyes ; so that he fell an easy conquest to the young Roman. Hence M. Valerius was ever known by the name of Corvus, and his descendants after him. Him also we shall hear of hereafter ; for he lived to be a great general, and more than once delivered his country from great danger. As, with head of Janus. CHAPTER XV. SEQUEL OF THE GALLIC WAR. LICINIAN LAWS. FINAL EQUALISATION OF THE TWO ORDERS. (389 307 B.C.) § 1. Proposition to migrate to Veii renewed ; defeated by an omen. § 2. Ir- regularity in rebuilding the City. § 3. Misery of the people. § 4. M. Manlius comes forward as their patron: his fate. § 5. Estimate of his character. §6. Measures to conciliate the Plebs : Fournew Tribes created from the Veientine territory. § T. Claims of the Plebeians to the Consul- ate renewed by C. Licinius and L. Sextius. § 8. Pretended cause of their enterprise. § 9. The three Licinian Eogations promulgated 316 B.C. § 10. First, for reduction of debt. § 11. Second, agrarian. § 12. Third, pohti- cal. § 13. Violent opposition of the Patricians, met by an interdict on all elections by Licinius and Sextius. § 14. Struggle prolonged for five years. § 15. Compromise refused by the Tribunes: after five years more the Li- cinian Rogations become Law. §16. Sextius first Plebeian Consul : Patri- cian Curies refuse him the Imiierium. § 17. This Quarrel adjusted: judi- cial power of the Consul transferred to a new Patrician Magistrate : the Praetor: Curule ^diles. § 18. Camillus vows a Temple to Concord; rapid rise of Roman power consequent on the Union of the Orders. § 1. We can imagine better tlian describe tbe blank dismay with Avhicli the Romans, on the departure of the Gauls, must have looked upon their ancient homes. Not only were the fields Chap. XY. EEBUILDING OF EOME. I53 ravaged and tlie farms of the plebeian yeomen destroyed, as had often happened in days of yore, but the city itself, except the Capitol, was a heap of ruins. It is not strange that once again the Plebeians should have thought of quitting Rome for ever. Not long before a great body of them had Avished to make Veii their city ; now, the bulk of the people had actually been living there for many months. Rome no longer existed ; patriotism, it •might be said, no longer required them to stand by their ancient home : why should not all depart — Patricians Avith their Clients and Freedmen, as well as Plebeians — and make a new Rome at Veii ? Thus was the question argued, and so it seemed likely to be decided. In vain Camillus opposed it with all the influence which his late services had given him. Even standing in the Forum, under the shadoAv of the Capitol, Avith the Citadel so Avell defended by Manlius over their heads, in the sight of their coun- try's gods, Avhich had noAV been safely brought back from the friendly refuge of Caere, the Plebeians Avere ready to agree to a general migration of the whole people, Avhen (so runs the story) a sudden omen changed their hearts and minds. A certain cen- turion Avas leading a party of soldiers through the city, and, halt- ing them in the Forum Avhile the question was in hot debate, he used these memorable Avords : " Standard-bearer, pitch the stand- ard here ; here it will be best for us to stay !" § 2. It was therefore resolved to rebuild the city, and the Senate- did all in their power to hasten on the work. They took care to retrace, as far as might be, the ancient sites of the temples ; but the hurry Avas too great and authority too Aveak to prescribe any rules for marking out the streets and fixing the habitations of tho- citizens. All they did was to supply tiling for the houses at the public expense. Then men built their houses Avhere they could, where the ground Avas most clear of rubbish, or Avhere old ma- terials Avere most easy to be got. Hence, Avhen these houses came to be joined together by others, so as to form streets, these streets Avere narroAV and crooked, and, Avhat was still worse were often built across the lines of the ancient scAvers, so that there was noAv no good and effectual drainage. The irregularity continued till Rome was again rebuilt after the great fire in the time of the Em- peror Nero. § 3. Great were the evils that were caused by this hurry. Tlie healthiness of the city must have been impaired, order and de- cency must have suftered, but there was one particular evil at the moment Avhich threatened very great mischief. The mass of the people, having little or nothing of their OAvn, or having lost all in the late destruction, Avere obliged to borrow money in order to complete their dwellings ; and as tillage had for the last season V* 154 ROME UNDER THE PATRICIANS. Book II. been nearly suspended, tlie want and misery that prevailed was great. Now we have seen that the Twelve Tables did indeed regu- late the rate of interest, but left untouched the ancient severity of the laws of debt ;* so that now again, as after the wars against the Tarquins, many of the poorer sort were reduced to bondage in the houses of the wealthy Patricians and Plebeians ; for the latter now possessed many rich members, and the rich persons of both orders began to act together. § 4. Then it was that M. Manlius, the defender of the Capitol, stood forth as the patron of the poor. He saw a debtor being taken to prison, whom he recognised as a brave centurion that had formerly served with him in the wars. He instantly paid the man's debt and set him free. After this he did the same for many others ; and, selling the best part of his landed pro- perty, he declared that while he could prevent it he would never see a fellow-citizen imprisoned for debt. His popularity rose high, and with the poorer sort the name of M. Manlius was more in esteem than that of the great Camillus. Nor did he content himself with relieving want ; he also stepped forward as an accuser of the Patricians and Senators : they had divided among themselves, he said, part of the gold which had been raised to pay the Gauls. On the other hand, the Patricians asserted that Manlius was endeavouring to make himself tyrant of Rome, and that this was the real purpose of all his generosity. The Senate ordered a Dictator to be named, and Au. Cornelius Cossus was the person chosen. He summoned Manlius before him, and required him to prove the charge which he had mali- ciously brought against the ruling body. He failed to do so and was cast into prison, but claimed to be regularly tried before the whole people assembled in their Centuries ; and his claim was allowed. On the appointed day he appeared in the Campus Martius, surrounded by a crowd of debtors, every one of whom he had redeemed from bondage. Then he exhibited spoils taken from thirty enemies slain by himself in single combat ; eight civic crowns bestowed each of them for the life of a citizen saved in battle, with many other badges given him in token of bravery. He laid bare his breast and showed it all scarred with wounds, and then turning to the Capitol, he called those gods to aid whom he had saved from the sacrilegious hands of the bar- barians. The appeal was felt, and if i the Centuries had then given their votes, he would certainly have been acquitted of high treason. So his enemies contrived to break up that Assembly; and shortly after he was put on his trial in another place, the Peteline grove, whence (it is said) the Capitol could not be seen. Here he * Chapt. xi. § 4. i CHiP. XV. M. MANLIUS. 155 was at once found guilty, and condemned to be thrown down the Tarpeian rock, A bill was then brought in and passed, enacting that his house on the Capitol should be destroyed, and that no one of his Gens should hereafter bear the forename of Marcus.'* § 5. When we read this story, like those of Sp. Cassius and Sp. M^elius, we again ask, was M. Manlius really a traitor or no ? It is difficult to give a positive answer, yet there are circum- stances which show that probably he was not free from guilt. The ostentatious way in which he relieved the debtors is no good sign ; and we read that in the first trial the Tribunes of the Plebs were against him. It is not unlikeiy that he endeavoured to exalt him- self by means of the poorest classes, and thus raised against him not only the Patrician Lords, but also all the wealthier Plebeians, or indeed men of all orders, who had cause to fear disorder and revolution. There are several different accounts of his trial and latter days. One historianf tells us that Manlius forestalled his arrest by heading an insurrection, and, seizing the Capitol, where he himself dwelt,J bade defiance to the power of the Senate, But they craftily engaged a false friend of the traitor in their interest ; and he, pretending to have something important to tell, led Man- lius to the edge of the Tarpeian rock and then pushed him un- awares over the brink. All accounts agree at least in this, that Manlius had made him- self dangerous to public order, and, in the unsettled state of affairs which then prevailed, it is more than probable that the Senate resorted to unusual, perhaps unconstitutional, measures to put him down. § 6, The Senate, however, also had recourse to conciliatory measures. The lands Vhich had been taken from the Veientines on the right bank of the Tiber were now incorporated into the Roman territory and divided into four Tribes, so that all free men settled in these districts became burgesses of Rome, and had votes .in the Comitia both of the Centuries and Tribes. This politic measure, however, served no less to conciliate the aff"ections of their new Etrurian subjects than to benefit their own poor citizens.§ Moreover an attempt was made to plant a number of poor citizens in the Pontine district. Yet these * It may be observed that each gens et familia clung to the same forenames. Thus Publius, Lucius, Cneius, were favourite forenames of the Comelii ; Caius oftheJulii; Appius of the Claudii; and so on. f Dio Cassius, Fragm. xxxi., ed. Eeimar. ; also as abridged by Zonaras, vii. 24. X He was sumamed Capitolinus from this circumstance probably, and not because he saved the Capitol. For we have other families called by the same name, as that of T. Quinctius CapitoUnus. § See Chapt. xviii. § 2. 1-56 ROME UNDER THE :e:A.TRICIANS. Book n. measures were insufficient to heal the breach which still subsisted between the Patricians and Plebeians. Nothing could be effectual to this end but the admission of the Plebeians to the chief magis- tracy ; and a struggle now commenced for that purpose whict ended successfully. • § 7. It has been often repeated, that all difference between the Patrician and Plebeian Orders was rapidly disappearing, or rather that the Patrician families were dying off, and the numbers of their order gradually becoming less, while many Plebeian fami- lies were becoming wealthy and powerful. Already we have seen the Plebeians obtain a footing in the Senate ; already they were allowed to fill the offices of Quaestor and -^dile, and, as Mili- tary Tribunes, could command the armies of the state ; but to the highest curule oflices, as the Censorship and Consulship, they were not admissible, the reason given being, that for these offices the auguries must be taken, and no religious rites could be per- formed save by persons of pure Patrician blood. This now began to be felt to be a mockery. Men saw with their OAvn eyes and judged with their own understanding that Patricians and Plebeians were men of like natures and like faculties, were all called on alike to share burthens and dangers in the service of the state, and therefore ought to share alike the honours and dignities Avhich she conferred. So Canuleius argued many years before, so the Plebeians thought now ; and two resolute, clear- headed Tribunes arose, who proposed, and at length carried, the celebrated laws by which Plebeians Avere admitted to the highest honours. These two men were C. Licinius Stole and L. Sextius his kins- man. § 8. There is a well-known story of the manner in which they were first roused to the u^ndertaking. It runs thus. M. Fabius Ambustus, a Patrician, had two daughters, the elder married to Serv. Sulpicius, a Patrician, the younger to C. Liciijius, a Ple- beian. It happened that Sulpicius was Consular Tribune in the same year that Licinius was Tribune of the Plebs ; and as the younger Fabia was on a visit to her sister, Sulpicius, return- ing home from the Forum with his lictors, alarmed the Plebeian's wife by the noise he made on entering the house. The elder sister laughed at this ignorance ; and the younger Fabia, stung to the quick, besought her husband to place her on a level with her proud sister. Thus, it is said, did Licinius form the design which we have now to speak of. It may be observed, by the way, that the story must be an invention; — because, Lici- nius' wife being daughter of a man who had himself been Con- sular Tribune not long before, could not have been ignorant of Chap. XY. LICINIAN ROGATIONS. 157 the dignities of tlie office ; and because there was nothing in the world to prevent Licinius himself from being Consular Tribune, and thus equal in power and dignity to his brother-in-law. No doubt Licinius and his kinsman were led by higher motives and better principles to bring forward their laws. § 9. However this might be, Licinius and Sextius, being Tri- bunes of the Plebs together in the year 3Y6 b.c, promulgated the three bills which have ever since borne the name of the Lici- NiAN Rogations. These were : L That of all debts on which interest had been paid, the sum of the interest paid should be deducted from the principal and the remainder paid off in three successive years. II. That no citizen should hold more than 500 jugera (nearly 320 acres) of the Public Land, nor should feed on the public pastures more than 100 head of larger cattle and 500 of smaller, under penalty of a heavy fine. III. That henceforth Consuls, not Consular Tribunes, should always be elected, and that one of the two Consuls must he a Plebeian. - § 10. Of these laws, the first is of a kind not very uncommon in rude states of society, and in such only could it fail to pro- duce great and serious mischief. If persons lend and borrow money, Avithout violating the law, they enter into a legal con- tract, and the State is bound to maintain this contract, not to annul or alter it. Cases will occur when the borrower is unable to pay his debts, and that from no fault or neglect of his own ; and it is good that laws should be enacted to provide for such cases of insolvency, — cases, that is, in which the insolvent is not guilty of fraud or neglect. These laws must be general and known beforehand, so that when the parties make the contract they may do it with their eyes open. But if the State were often to cancel legal debts, in whole or in part, this would shake all confidence, persons would be very slow to lend money at all, and thus credit and commerce would be destroyed. But at Rome in the times after the Gallic war, as at Athens in the time of Solon (when a similar ordinance was passed)* all things were in such confusion, all law so weakened, all trade so utterly at a stand-still, that it might possibly be necessary to resort to vio- lent and arbitrary measures of this kind ; and we may well believe that Licinius, who was himself a wealthy man, would not have interfered in this way but for a presumed necessity. It must be * His famous oEiaaxdeia, or Disburthening Ordinance, by which all existing debts were wiped out. See Dr. Smith's History of Greece, chapt. x. § 12. So, after the wars of the League in France, SuUy deducted from the principal of all debts the usurious interest already paid, and left the remainder standuig at the legal rate of interest. 158 EOMB UNDER THE PATRICIANS. Book II. added that tlie Roman law, at that time, was too favourable to the creditor, and quite insuflScient to protect the debtor. But the precedent was a bad one ; and in later times one of the worst means by which demagogues pandered to the dishonest wishes of the people was a promise of novce tabulce, or an abolition of all standing debts. § 11. The second law was a general Agrarian Law. We need only refer here to what has before been said as to the nature of Agrarian Laws at Rome, namely, that they were not intended to confiscate private property, but to divide among needy citizens the state-lands, which by the law of the state belonged to the whole body of citizens.* Former Agrarian laws had merely di- vided certain portions of state-land (ager publicus) among the needy citizens ; but this proposed to lay down a general rule, by which the holding (possessio) of all the state-lands was to be limited. The purpose of Licinius was a good one. He wished to maintain that hardy race of independent yeomen who were the best soldiers in the state-militia ; whereas if all these lands were absorbed by the rich, they would be cultivated by hired labourers or slaves. The subsequent history will show how unfortunate it was for Rome that this law was not more fully executed. § 12. These two laws were of a social nature,, attempting to regulate the private relations and dealings of the citizens : the third was a political law, and needs no remark. It went to afiirm that the Plebeians had an equal right to supreme power with the Patricians. § 13. At first the Patricians were equally opposed to all these laws ; they were the chief creditors, and therefore would lose by the first law ; they held the bulk of the state-lands on easy terms, and therefore would lose by the second ; they alone could be Consuls, and therefore they could not brook the third. We need not therefore wonder at a violent resistance ; nor is it won- derful that they should enlist many rich Plebeians on their side, for these persons would suffer as much as themselves from the first two laws. Accordingly we find that in the college of Tri- bunes of the Plebs some Tribunes were found to put a veto on the bills. But Licinius and Sextius would not be thus thwarted, and themselves turned the powerful engine of the veto against their opponents. When the time of the elections arrived they interdicted all proceedings in the Comitia of the Centuries : con- sequently no Consuls, Consular Tribunes, Censors, or Quaestors * Appian (Bell. Civ. i. 8) states this so clearly, that it is surprising that the common misapprehensions should ever have arisen. After explaining what the Public Land was, he says that Licinius ordained fxrjdsva exeiv TH2AE THS FHS 'jvMdpa nevTaKoaiuv nTieiova, k. t. "k. Chap. XV. LICINIAN ROaATIONS. 159 could be elected. The Tribunes and ^diles, who were chosen at the Comitia of Tribes, were the only officers of state for the ensu- ing year. § 14. This state of things (as the Roman annalists say) lasted for five years,* Licinius and Sextius being re-elected to the Tri- bunate every year. But in the fifth year, when the people of Tus- culum, old allies of Rome, applied for aid against the Latins, the Tribunes permitted Consular Tribunes to be elected to lead the army, and among them was M. Fabius Ambustus, the father-in- law and friend of Licinius. The latter, far from relaxing his claims, now proposed a fourth bill, providing that, instead of two keepers of the Sibylline books (duumviri), both Patricians, there should be ten (decemviri), to be chosen alike from both Orders ; — so scornfully did he treat the pretensions of the Patricians to be sole ministers of religion. The latter felt that the ground was slipping from under them, and that the popular cause was daily gaining strength. In vain did the Senate order a Dictator to be named for the purpose of settling the inatter in their favour. The great Camillus assumed the office for the fourth time, but resigned ; and P. Manlius Capi- tolinus, who was named presently after, eff"ected nothing. He seems, indeed, to have been friendly to the Plebeians, if we may judge from the fact that he chose P. Licinius Calvus, a Plebeian, to be his Master of Horse. § 15. Once more, as when the Patricians were in opposition to the Tribunes Terentilius and Canuleius, so now did the more moderate party propose a compromise. The law respecting the keepers of the Sibylline books was allowed to pass, and it Avas suggested that the two former of the Licinian Rogations, the two social laws, might be conceded, if the Plebeians would not press the political law, and claim admission to the highest curule rank. But this the Tribunes refused. They could not, they saidj effectually remedy the social evils of their poor brethren unless they had access to the highest political power ; and they declared they would not allow the two first bills to become law unless the third was passed together with them. "If the people will not eat," said Licinius, " neither shall they drink." In vain did the Patricians endeavour to turn this declaration against them ; in vain did they represent the Tribunes as ambitious men, who cared not really for the wants of the poor in comparison of their own honour and dignity ; in vain did the mass of the Plebeians * In a highly organised state of society, it is impossible to conceive the sus- pension of the chief magistrates for so long a time. But after the burning of the city, with the population much diminished, and in the absence of foreign wars, the thing does not seem incredible. 1 60 ROME UNDER THE PATRICIANS. Book n. avow themselves ready to accept the compromise offered by the Patricians, The Tribunes set their faces like iron against the threats of the higher sort and the supplications of the lower. For another five years the grim conflict lasted, till at length their reso- lution prevailed, and in the year 367 b.c. all the three Licinian Rogations became law. This great triumph was achieved with little tumult (so far as we hear) and no bloodshed. Who can refuse his admiration to a peo- ple Avhich could carry through their most violent changes with such calmness and moderation ? § 16. But the Patricians, worsted as they were, had not yet shot away all their arrows. At the first election after these laws Avere passed, L. Sextius was chosen the first Plebeian Consul. Now the Consuls, though elected at the Comitia of the Centuries, Avere invested with the imperium or sovereign power by a law of the Curies.* This laAV the Patricians, who alone composed the Curies, refused to grant ; and to support this refusal the Senate had ordered Camillus, who was now some eighty years old, to be named Dictator for the fifth time. The old soldier, always ready to fight at an advantage, perceived that nothing now was prac- ticable but an honourable capitulation. The Tribunes advised the people to submit to the Dictator, but declared that they would in- dict him at the close of his office ; and he, taking a calm view of the state of things, resolved to act as mediator.f §1*7. The matter was finally adjusted by a further compro- mise. The Plebeian Consul was invested with the imperium ; but the judicial power Avas now taken from the Consuls and put into the hands of a supreme Patrician Judge, called the Praetor of the City (Praetor ITrbanus), and Sp. Camillus, son of the; Dictator, was the first Praetor. A hundred men (centumviri) Avere named, to whom he might delegate all difficult cases not of a criminal nature. At the same time also another magistracy, the Curule ^dileship, was created, to be chosen from Patricians and Plebeians in alternate years, Avho shared the duties of the only Plebeian ^diles, and besides this, had to superintend the Great Games, for which they were allowed a certain sum from the treasury. At the same time a fourth day Avas added to these games, J in honour of the Plebeians. * liBX curiata de imperio. f Not, however, without another Secession, if we must take Ovid's words literally {Fast. i. 639) :— " Furius antiquum populi superator Etrusci Voverat et voti solverat ante fidem. Causa, quod a patribus sumtis secesserat armis Vulgus et ipsa suas Roma timebat opee." X Ludi Magni or Romani. Chap. XV. TEMPLE OF CONCORD. 161 § 18. Thustlie Patricians lost one of the Consulships, but re- tained part of the consular functions under other titles. And when Camillus had thus eft'ected peace between the Orders, he vowed a temple to Concord ; but before he could dedicate it, the old hero died. The temple, however, was built according to his design ; its site, now one of the best known among those of an- cient Rome, can still be traced with great certainty at the North- western angle of the Forum, immediately under the Capitoline.* The building was restored with great magnificence by the Emperor Tiberius ; and it deserved to be so, for it commemorated one of the greatest events of Roman history, — the final union of the two Orders, from Avhich point we must date that splendid period on which Ave now enter. By this event Avas a single city enabled to conquer, first all Italy, and then all the civilised countries of the knoAvn world, that is, all the peoples bordering on the Mediterranean Sea. We pause here, though it was some years yet before the political equality of the Plebeians was fully recognised. But it will be convenient to reserve this transition period for the next Book, because it runs inextricably into the events there to be narrated. The present Book shall be closed with a chapter on the sources of Roman History down to the point which Ave have noAV reached. * See the Plan of the Forum, Chapt. iii. § 24. Reverse of As, with Ship's prov/. CHAPTER XVI. SOURCES OF EARLY ROMAN HISTORY. § 1. Destruction of all public Kecords by the Gauls. § 2. Meagre character of these Eecords : early History of Kome embodied in Legends. § 3. Legends of the Patrician period Ml of falsehood. § 4. Due to banc^uet- minstrelsy and funeral eulogies. § 6. Plebeian ballads also rife. § 6. How this mass of Legends was made into History. § 1. Tradition and documents. § 8. Minstrelsy lingered on after Burning by Gauls, but super- seded by Annals. § 1. When th'e Gauls departed and left Rome in ashes, it was not only the buildings of the city which perished. We are expressly told that all public Records shared in the general destruction, — the Fasti, or list of yearly magistrates with their triumphs, the Annales Pontificum and the Linen Rolls (libri lintei), which were annual registers or chronicles of events kept by the Pontiffs and Augurs.* This took place, we know, about the year 390 b.c. Now the first Roman annalists, Fabius Pictor, Cincius Alimen- tus, Cato the Censor, with the poets Na^vius and Ennius, flourished about a century and a half after this date. Whence, then, it is natural to ask, did these writers and their successors find materials for the History of Rome before the burning of the city ? What . is the authority for the events and actions Avbich are stated to have taken place before the year 390 B.C.? § 2. The answer to these questions may partly be found in our fifth chapter. The early history of Rome was preserved in old heroic legends, which lived in the memories of men, and were transmitted by word of mouth from one generation to another. The early history of all nations is, as we have said, the same ; and even if we had the Fasti and the Annals complete, we should still have to refer to those legendary tales for the substance and colour of the early history. The Fasti, indeed, if they were so utterly destroyed as Livy states, must have been preserved in memory with tolerable accuracy, for we have several lists of the early magistratesy> which only differ by a few omissions and trans- positions. The Annals and Linen Rolls, if we had copies of them, would present little else than dry bones without flesh, * Liv. vi. 1. Chap. XVI. SOURCES OF EARLY ROMAN HISTORY, 163 mere names witli a few naked incidents attached, mucii like what we read in the famous Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. For narrative w*e should still have been dependent upon the Legends. We might know the exact time at which Coriolanus appeared at the head of the Volscian host, but the story would remain untouched. The Annals would give us nothing of the Legends of Romulus and Numa, of the Horatii and Curiatii, of Mucins Scsevola, Codes and Cloelia, of the twin horsemen of Lake Regillus, of the fatal suf- ferings of Lucretia and Virginia, of the Veientine soothsayer and the draining of the Alban lake, of the self-sacrifice of Curtius, of the deeds of Camillus, and the noble devotion of the aged senators who fell beneath the Gallic sword. All these are as much matter of legendary story as the lays of King Arthur and his knights, of Charlemagne and his Paladins, of the Cid and Bernardo, which we read in the ballad poetry of England, France, and Spain.* § 3. We have already taken notice of the legendary character of the early history, and endeavoured very briefly to show how out of them might be extracted evidence of historical truth so far as regarded the condition of Rome under the kings. Under the patrician rule, of which we have now been speaking, the Legends tell us little, for they pass into positive romance. We have noticed that it was the glaring discrepancies and falsehoods per- vading the legends respecting Porsenna and Camillus that led Beaufort to attack the whole of early Roman history. These false statements are quite different in kind from the greater part of the legendary fictions of Greece or of regal Rome. There we discern no dishonesty of purpose, no intentional fraud ; here much of this baser coin is current. In the Legends of Porsenna and Camillus the dishonour of Rome and the triumphs of the in- vaders are studiously kept out of sight, and glorious deeds are attributed to heroes who are proved to have no claim to such honour. It remains to state the cause of this altered character in the Legends. § 4. The cause seems to have been, chiefly, the predominant power of certain great Houses. The Valerii, the Fabii, the Furii, the Horatii, the Mucii, appropriated to themselves and their an- cestors deeds which were never performed ; and family bards or ministrels made it their vocation to pander to this idle and unreal love of honour. The occasion on which these poets were enabled * It is doubtful, indeed, whether the Annals even went so far back as the earlier of these legends. The fact of the year being naarked by fixing a nail confirms Livy's statement that writing was little known in those times: " Parvse et rarse per eadem tempera litterse . . . ; una cuatodia fidelis memoria rerum gestarum." — vl 1. 164 ROME UNDER THE PATRICIANS. BoOK II. to exalt the family of their patrons arose out of the custom common among all rude nations to enhance the pleasures of wine and wassail by music and heroic song. Of these practices we have direct and positive evidence. " Cato, in his Origines, tells us," says Cicero, "that it was an old custom at banquets for those who sate at table to sing to the flute the praiseworthy deeds of famous men."* But these lays had perished in Cicero's time. " Oh," he exclaims in another place, " Oh that we had left some of those old lays of which Cato speaks in his Origines !"f Valerius Maximus bears testimony to the same fact. J Varro adds that well-born boys used to sing these ballads to the company, || like Phemios in the Odyssey, or Cadwallader in the halls of the kings of Powys. We may wish with Cicero that Cato had pre- served some of these Reliques of early Latin poetry, and had thus done his country the same service that Percy and Scott have rendered to the minstrelsy of old England and of the Scottish border. We should then be able more clearly to distinguish between the poem and the chronicle, as they lie mixed in the pages of Livy. Besides this practice of banquet minstrelsy, it was a custom much honoured at Rome, on occasion of the funerals of persons of rank, to carry forth the images of their ancestors, when family bards rehearsed their laudatory songs, and family chroniclers poured forth panegyrics in praise* of the illustrious dead.^f] At such times truth is little regarded. The common saying, " de mortuis nil nisi bonuin," is easily extended to the families and ancestors of the departed. The stories of Horatius and of Mucins may be traced to the desire of the Horatii and Mucii of later times to connect themselves with the early history of Rome. If we had an Etrus- can account of the siege of Rome by Porsenna, we should proba- bly hear little of these famous names ; and if a Gallic bard had sung the lay of Brennus, the great Camillus would appear in a very different light. This may be illustrated by Percy's remarks on the battle of Otterburn. The version which he gives, " is re- lated," he says, " with the allowable partiality of an English poet ;" while " the Scottish writers have, with a partiality at least as allow- able, related it no less in their own favour." The version adopted by the ministrel varied according as he touched his harp in the halls of the Percy or the Douglas. * QuEestiones Tuscul. iv. 2. j Brutus, 19. X Book ii. 1, § 10. Il Varro ap. Nonium, s. v. Assa voce. "|[ Such songs and speeches were called ncenice, laudationes,^-" Absint inani funere nsenise," says Horace ; that is, "I am a poet, and shall not die: my funeral, therefore, will be an idle ceremony: funeral songs will be wasted upon me." — Od. ii. 20, 21. Chap. XVI. SOURCES OF EARLY ROMAN HISTORY. 165 § 5. It may be observed tbat some of the Legends, as those of Virginia, show a manifest leaning to the side of the Plebeians. No doubt the lower order had their minstrels as well as the higher, nor did the praises of the great Plebeian Houses remain unsung. So in our own country the Commons had their poets as well as the great feudal lords ; nor were the deeds of Percy and Douglas, of the Childe of EUe, or of Fair Rosamond, more famous than the " Gestes of Robin Hood and Little John," the feats of Adam Bell and Clym of the Clough, and of other heroes in whose names the people delighted. § 6. There can be no doubt, then, that at the burning of Rome there was abundant store of these romantic lays or ballads, Avhich were constantly called for and constantly adapted to the require- ments of the hearers. Thus they lived, and thus they were pro- pagated, till they were reduced into more regular form by Nsevius and Ennius, and the prose chroniclers in the times before and after the great Hannibalic war, and at length were embalmed in the great work of Livy, who gave them, as he found them, in their true poetic form. But for him, perhaps, the mass of these legends might have been filtered off into rationalising narratives, like those of Piso.* Thus not only should we have lost the life of the Roman Annals, but we should have regarded them as so dry and uninterest- ing that they would have been studied no more than the early history of Scotland or Ireland ; and we should have altogether lost the spirit-stirring story of these early times. We may there- fore say, paradoxically, that it is to the fiction manifest in the legendary tales of Livy that we owe our knowledge of the reali- ties of early Roman History. § v. Besides these lays, it cannot be doubted that there was a mass of traditional history which preserved incidents in the strug- gle of the two Orders. Some documents were certainly preserved, as the Laws of the Twelve Tables, and the Treaty with Carthage which Polybius saw.f There were also, no doubt, archives pre- served in Latin towns, from which careful inquirers might have gleaned information ; but searching examination of this kind was little the fashion among Roman annalists. § 8. After the burning of the city the minstrels still continued to compose their romances. It is plain that the combats of Valerius Corvus and Manlius Torquatus with gigantic Gauls were borrowed from ballads in their honour ; but few or nohe appear in the pages of Livy after this date, and one reason for their some- what sudden disappearance is the fact that after this time the An- nals or Registers are preserved ; so that henceforth Chroniclers, with their dry narratives, superseded the ministrels. The meagre * See Chapt. v. § 6. f Chapt. vi. § 1. IQQ EOME UNDER THE PATRICIANS. Book XL and unintelligible Annals of the years that follow the Gallic irrup- tion are a specimen of what would have remained to us, had all the Legendary History perished, and had the Annals been pre- served entire from the first ages of the Republic. The gradual decay of Roman minstrelsy may, like its positive qualities, be compared to our own. " As the old minstrels gra- dually wore out," says Percy, " a new race of ballad-writers suc- ceeded, an inferior race of minor poets, who wrote narrative songs merely for the press. Towards the end of Queen Elizabeth's reign the genuine old minstrelsy seems to have been extinct, and thenceforth the ballads that were produced were wholly of the latter kind." Such ballads are merely rhythmical versions of pass- ing events, which die when they have satisfied the immediate occasion for which they were produced. As poetry they are gen- erally worthless ; as historical narratives they are inferior to the more exact accounts of the prose writers who gradually supersede them. M. Curtius. BOOK III. ROME CONQUEROR OF ITALY. (B.C. 366—265.) CHAPTER XVII. SEQUEL OF THE LICINIAN LAWS. CIVIL HISTORY TO THE FIRST SAMNITE WAR. (b.c. 366 344.) § 1 Difficulties of Social Reformation. § 2. Increased by pestilence : Gulf in Forum : Self-sacrifice of M. Curtius. § 3. Also by Gallic inroads. § 4. Yain attempts to limit rate of Interest. § 5. Evasion of Second Licinian Law. § 6. Attempts to set aside Third Licinian Law foiled : First Plebeian Dictator : First Plebeian Censor. § 1. Plebeian honours Umited to a few families. § 8. Subject of this Book. § 1. Various causes were for some time interposed to prevent the due execution of the Licinian laws. Indeed the first two of these measures, which aimed at social improvements, may be said to have failed. Social abuses are always difficult to correct. The evils are, in these cases, of slow growth ; their roots strike deep ; 168 EOME CONQUEROR OF ITALY. Book IIL they can only be abated by altering tlie habits and feelings of the people, which cannot be effected in the existing generation ; they will not give way at once to the will of a lawgiver, however good his judgment, however pure his motives, however just his objects. In most cases he must content himself with carrying his reform, and leaving it to work upon a future generation. But the com- mon difficulty of removing social evils was increased in Kome at this time by circumstances. § 2. For two years a pestilence raged in the city, which swept away great numbers of citizens and paralysed the industry of all. The most illustrious of its victims was Camillus, who died even more gloriously than he had lived, while discharging the office of peacemaker. About the same time the region of the city was shaken by earthquakes ; the Tiber overflowed his bed and flooded the Great Circus, so that the games then going on were broken off. Not long after a vast gulf opened in the Forum, as if to say that the meeting-place of the Roman People was to be used no more. The seers being consulted, said that the gods forbade this gulf to close till that Avhich Rome held most valu- able were thrown into it. Then, when men were asking what this might be, a noble youth, named M. Curtius, said aloud that Rome's true riches were brave men, that nothing else so worthy could be devoted to the gods. Thus saying, he put on his armour, and, mounting his horse, leaped into the gulf; and straightway, says the legend, the earth closed and became solid as before ; and the place was called the Lacus Curtius for ever after.* § 3. To these direct visitations of God, the pestilence and the earthquake, was added a still more terrible scourge in the continued inroads of the Gauls. It has been noticed above that in the years 361 and 350 B.c.f hordes of these barbarians again burst into Latium and again ravaged all the Roman territory. § 4. These combined causes so increased the distress of the poor that no one can wonder to hear of debts being multiplied every day. We read therefore without surprise that in the year 35Y B.C., ten years after the passing of the Licinian laws, a bill was brought forward by Duillius and Ma?nius, Tribunes of the Plebs, to restore the rate of interest fixed by the XII. Tables,;]; which in the late troubles had fallen into neglect ; and five years later (in 352) the Consuls, P. Valerius and C. Marcius Rutilus, * According to an older legend it derived its name from the Sabine cham' pion Mettus Curtius (chapt. ii. § 9). Here is a notable example of the " double legend." The spot was called "the Lacus Curtius;" and to account for the name two legends arose, one recent, the otlier of remote antiquity. f Chapt. xiv. §§ 12 and 13. X Chapt. xi. § 4. i C'flfAP- STII. SEQUEL OF THE LICINIAN LAWS. 169 brouglit forward a measure to assist tlie operation of the Licinian law of debt. Many persons had not been able to take advantage of tbislaw, because their whole property was invested in land or houses ; and owing to the general distress and the great scarcity of money, they could not sell this property but at a very heavy loss. The Consuls therefore appointed Five Commissioners [quinqueviri)^ with power to make estimates of all debts and of the property of the debtors. This done, the Commissioners ad- vanced money to discharge the debt, so far as it was covered by the property of the debtor. Thus a quantity of land came into possession of the state; and landed property in general must have become more valuable, while money was more freely circulated, and must have been more easy to procure at a fair rate of in- terest. The measure was wise and useful, but could only be partial in its effects. It could not help those debtors who had no property, or not enough property to pay their debts withal. Hence we find that in another five years (347 b.c.) the rate of interest was reduced to five per cent. ;* and some years afterwards it was tried to abolish interest altogether. But, laws to limit interest then, as ever since, proved ineffectual or even mischiev- ous. It is always easy to evade such laws ; and the only difference they make is, that needy borrowers have to resort to grasping and dishonest usurers, who charge higher interest than they would otherwise have done, in order to meet the increased risk. In short we find, as we should expect, that all these laws proved in- sufiicient, and in the year 342 b.c. recourse was had to a measure still more sweeping and violent than the Licinian law, which shall be spoken of in its proper place.f § 5. There were, then, great difficulties in the way of a law for relieving debtors. These were increased, as has been seen, by circumstances, and we must now add the selfishness and dis- honesty of the rich Patricians and Plebeians, who held the bulk of the Public Land in their own hands. If these lands had been leased out on moderate terms to the poorer sort, no doubt they would have been able in great measure to avoid debt for the future. But the present holders contrived to evade the Licinian law in the following way. If a man held more than 500 jugera, he emancipated his son and made over a portion of the land nominally to him, or, if he had no son, to some other trusty per- son. With sorrow we hear of these practices, and with still greater sorrow we learn that in the year 354 b.c. C. Licinius * Tacit. Annal. vi. 16. Poenus semi-unciarium, i. e. J^ of the capital, being 4^ per cent for the old Roman year of 10 months, or five per cent, for the com- mon year. t Chapt. xviiL § 12. 8 170 ROME CONQUEROR OF ITALY. Book HL himself was indicted by the Curule ^dile, M. Popillius Leenas, for fraudulently making over 500 jugera to his son, while he held another 500 in his own name. Perhaps it was some suspicion of his true character that induced the people to elect L. Sextius, his kinsman, first plebeian consul, instead of Licinius himself. Thus this remedy for pauperism was set aside and neglected, till the Gracchi arose, and vainly endeavoured, after more than two centuries of abuse, to correct that which at first might have been prevented. Circumstances, therefore, combined with the dishonesty of men, thwarted the social amendments which the Licinian laws aimed at. § 6. The law for equalising political power was more eflfective. For eleven years after the Licinian law one Consul was always a Plebeian, Then the Patricians made one last struggle to recover their exclusive privilege; and in the year 355 b.c. we have a Sulpicius and a Valerius as Consuls, both of them Patricians ; and in the course of the next dozen years we find the law violated in like manner no less than seven times. After that it is regu- larly observed, one Consul being Patrician and the other Plebeian, till at length in the year 172 b.c, when the patrician families had greatly decreased, both Consulships were opened to the Plebeians, and from that time forth the ofiices were held by men of either order without distinction. These violations of the law above mentioned were eff'ected by the power by which the Senate ordered the Patrician Consul to name a Dictator. At least in the space of twenty-five years after the Licinian laws, we have no less than fifteen Dictators. Now several of these were appointed for sudden emergencies of war, such as the Gallic invasions of 361 and 350. But often we find Dictators when there is no mention of foreign war. In the year 360 we find that both the Consuls enjoyed a triumph, and not the Dictator. These and other reasons have led to the belief that these Dictators were appointed to hold the Consular Comitia, and brought the overbearing weight of their political power to secure the election of two Patrician Consuls. § 7. But if this were the plan of the Patricians, it availed not. After the year 343 B.C. the law was regularly observed, by which one Consul Avas necessarily a Plebeian. The Plebeians also forced their way to other offices. C. Marcius Eutilus, the most distin- guished Plebeian of his time, who was four times elected Consul, was named Dictator in the year 356 B.C., no doubt by the Plebeian Consul Popillius Lsenas ; and five years later (351) we find the same Marcius elected to the Censorship. § 8. Practically, therefore, the political reform of Licinius and Chap. XVII. SEQUEL OF THE LICINIAN LAWS. I7l Sextius had been effectual so far as the admission of Plebeians to the highest offices of state was concerned. It must be re- marked, however, that these privileges, though no longer en- grossed by Patricians, seem to have been open only to a few wealthy plebeian families. C. Marcius Eutilus, as we have just remarked, held the Consulship four times in sixteen years (SSY- 3-42). M. Popillius Lsenas and C. Pcetelius Libo enjoyed a similar monopoly of honours. § 9. As the exclusive privileges of the Patricians thus gradually and quietly gave way, instead of being maintained (as in modern France) till swept away by the violent tide of revolution, so did the power of the Senate rise. It was by the wisdom or policy of this famous assembly that the City of Eome became mistress of Italy and of the World ; but a more convenient place for ex- amining its altered constitution will occur hereafter. At present we proceed with our proper task. Hitherto the contest has been internal, of citizen against citizen, in order to gain an equality of rights. Henceforth, for two hundred years^ we shall have to relate contests with foreign people, and the subject of this Book is to give an account of the conquest of Italy, for which the Roman Senate and People, now at length politically united, were prepared. -.2^fV■^C5^^^ v^/^^? Etruscan "Walling. CHAPTER XVIII. WARS FROM THE BURNING OF ROME TO THE FIRST SAMNITE WAR. (B.C. 389—344.) § 1. Eising of Volscians, -^quians, and Etruscans. Victorious Dictatorship of Camillug. § 2. Six new Tribes added, four from the Etruscan, two from the Volscian territory. § 3. The Latin League no longer in existence ; wars with several Latin Cities. § 4. Fresh irruption of the Gauls, favoured by Hernicans and Tiburtines. § 5. Eenewal of Latin League. § 6. "War with the Tarquinians, followed by a peace for 40 years. § 7. Third inroad of Gauls. Second Treaty with Carthage. Keflections. § 1. The annals for several years after the burning of the city by the Gauls, are, especially in regard to foreign wars, extremely vague and meagre. We have lost the poetic Legends without finding anything like historic exactness in their stead. There can be no doubt that at first Rome had to struggle for very existence. Before the city was so far restored as to be habitable, it was announced that the -^quians and Volscians were in arms. The ^quians seem to have shared in the general, disaster caused by the Gallic inroad : henceforth at least the part they play is insignificant. But the Volscians boldly advanced to Lanuvium, and once more encamped at the foot of the Alban Chap. XVIIL TRIUMPH OP CAMILLUS. lYS Hills. The city Avas in great alarm ; and the Consular Tribunes being deemed unequal to the exigency, Camillus was named Dictator for the second time. He defeated them with great loss, and pursued them into their own territory. He then marched rapidly to Boise, to which place the JEquians had advanced, and gained another victory. But in the moment of triumph news came that Etruria was in arms. The storm of the Gallic invasion seems to have been averted from Etruria to Rome, and by a brave effort it now seemed possible to recover the territory which the Romans had for the second time appropriated. The people of Fidense and Ficulea are mentioned as appearing in arms. A force was sent against them ; but so completely was it routed on the Nones of July, that this day was noted in the Kalendar as the Poplifuga. Siege was then laid to Sutrium by the victors, and it fell. But the prompt Dictator, on the first alarm, marched his troops straight from Boise to the point of danger ; and on the very day on which Sutrium had yielded to the foe, it was again taken by the Roman General. Such is the obscure account preserved of this year's danger. Camillus again appears as the Saviour of Rome. He enjoyed a threefold triumph over the Volscians, the ^quians, and the Etrurians. § 2. It was two years after, that the Etruscan territory, now effectually conquered, was formed into four Tribes, as has been mentioned before.* By the addition of these new Tribes, the first that had been added since this very territory had been wrested from Rome by Porsenna, the whole number was raised to twenty- five. The late assault of the Etruscans, perhaps, suggested the wisdom of making the free inhabitants of this district citizens of Rome. Men who had lately been subject to the oppressive government of a civic oligarchy, being now mingled with Roman Plebeians who had received allotments in the district, and seeing the comparative freedom of all Roman Burgesses, were sure in future to fight for Rome rather than join in an insurrection against her. Here was the beginning of that sagacious policy, which for a time led political enfranchisement hand in hand with conquest. Thirty years later (358 B.C.) the Senate pursued the same course with respect to the Pontine district and other lowlands, which had been recovered from the grasp of the Volscians. A settlement of poor Plebeians which was at- tempted in 387 B.C., failed : the emigrants were cut off by the Volscian hills-men. But the territory being now formed into * Chapt. XV. § 6. The names of these four tribes were the Stellatine, Tro- mentiue, Sabatine, Aniene. Liv. vi. 5. 174 ROME CONQUEROR OF ITALY, Book IID two Tribes, so as to make the whole number twenty-seven, the inhabitants had themselves an interest in repressing predatory- inroads.* Yet the assaults of the Volscians continued. In 386 b.c, Ca- millus being Consular Tribune for the fourth time, reconquered Antium, which must have fallen into the hands of the Volscians again after the Gallic invasion. Colonies were sent to Sati'icum and Setia in Southern Latium, to Nepete in Etruria. Then came the struggle for the Licinian laws; and during this period the annals are altogether silent on the subject of wars. § 3. But before the promulgation of the Licinian laws, there were threatenings of greater danger than was to be feared either from Etruscans or Volscians. The Latins and Hernicans, who since the time of Sp. Cassius had been bound in close alliance with Eome, and had fought by her side in all her border wars, no longer appeared in this position. The inroad of the Gauls had broken up the League. Eome had then been reduced to ashes, and was left in miserable weakness. Many of the thirty Latin cities, the names of which occur in the League of Cassius, were so utterly destroyed that the antiquary in vain seeks for their site in the desolation of the Campagna. But the two important cities of Tibur and Prajneste (Tivoli and Palestrina,) perched on steep-scarped rocks, defied the rude arts of the invader, and had gained strength by the ruin of their neigh-r hours. Prseneste seems to have seized the district of Algidus and the other lands from which the vEquians had been expelled. Both Prseneste and Tibur appear as separate and independent communities, standing apart from the rest of Latium and from Home. It was believed that the Prsenestines encouraged the Volscians in their inroads, and in 382 b.c. war was declared against them. Some of the Latin cities joined Prseneste, as Lanuvium and Velitrae; others sought protection against her from Rome, as Tusculum, Gabii, Lavici. In this war all is obscure. In the course of it even the Tusculans deserted Rome. But after a struggle of five years, the Dictator T. Quinc- tius took nine insurgent cities, Velitrae amongst the number, and blockaded Prseneste itself, which also capitulated on terms of which we are not informed. Soon after Tusculum also was recovered ; and for the present all fear of the Latins sub- sided. § 4. But a few years after the Temple of Concord had been erected by old Camillus, fresh alarms arose. The Hernicans gave signs of disquietude. War was declared against them in * The Pontine and Publilian. Liv. vii. 15. CuAP. XVIII. WAR WITH THE TARQUINIANS. 1Y5 3G2 B.C. Next year came the second inroad of the Gauls, and it was observed Avith consternation that this terrible foe occupied the valley of the Anio, and was not molested either by the Latins of Tibur or by the Hernicans. In the year 360 B.C. the Fasti record a triumph of the Consul Fabius over this last-named people, and another of his colleague Poetelius over the men of Tibur and the Gauls* — an ominous conjunction. § 5. But this new inroad of the barbarians, which threatened Eome with a second ruin, really proved a blessing ; for the re- maining Latin cities, which in the late conflict had stood aloof, terrified by the presence of the Gauls, and seeing safety only in union, now renewed their league with Rome, and the Hernicans soon after followed their example. The glory of concluding this second league belongs to C. Plautius, the plebeian Consul of the year 358 b.c. The Gauls now quitted Latium, we know not how or why. Of all the Latin cities, Privernum and Tibur now alone remained out of the alliance ; but in the next five years both were compelled to yield. (357, 354 B.C.) § 6. While these dangers were successfully averted on the north-eastern frontier, war had been declared against Rome by the powerful Etruscan city of Tarquinii, which lies beyond the Cimi- nian Hills. This was in the very year in which the new League was formed with the Latins and Hernicans. But for this, it is hard to imagine that Rome, exhausted as she was, could have resisted the united assaults of Gauls, Volscians, Latins, Hernicans, and Etruscans. As it was, she found it hard to repel the Tarquinians. The people made a sudden descent from the hills, defeated the Consul C. Fabius, and sacrificed three hundred and seven Roman prisoners to their gods (b.c. 358). Two years later they were joined by the Faliscans. Bearing torches in their hands, and having their hair Avreathed into snake-like tresses, they attacked the Romans with savage cries, and drove them before them. They overran the district lately formed into four new Tribes, and threatened Rome itself. Then M. Popillius Lsenas, the ple- beian Consul, being ordered by the Senate to name a Dictator, named another Plebeian, C. Marcius Rutilus, the first of his order (as we have said) who was advanced to this high oflSce ; and his conduct justified the appointment. The enemy was de- feated. The Senate refused a triumph to the Plebeian ; but the People in their Tribes voted that he should enjoy the well-earned honour. For a moment the people of Caere, the old allies of the Roman people, who had given shelter to their sacred things, their * "C. Poetelius C. F. Q. N. Libo Visolus Cos. de Galleis et Tiburtibus." 1*76 EOME CONQUEROR OF ITALY. Book III women and children, in the panic of the Gallic invasion, joined the war ; but almost immediately after sued for peace. The Romans, however, remembered this defection, as we shall have to mention in a future page.* The Tarquinians were again defeated in a great battle. Three hundred and fifty-eight prisoners were scourged and beheaded in the Forum to retaliate for former bar- barity. In the year 351 b.c. a peace of forty years was concluded, after a struggle of eight years' duration. § v. It was in the very next year after the conclusion of this war that the third inroad of the Gauls took place, of which we have above spoken, when L. Camillus, grandson of the old Dic- tator, rivalled the glory of his progenitor, and L. Valerius gained his name of Corvus. Thus remarkably was Rome carried through the dangers of intestine strife and surrounding wars. When she was at strife within, her enemies were quiet. Before each new assault commenced a former foe had retired from the field, and. Rome rose stronger from every fall. She had now recovered all the Latin coast-land from the Tiber to Circeii ; and her increasing importance is shown by a renewed treaty with the great commer- cial city of Carthage.f But a more formidable enemy was now to be encountered than had as yet challenged Rome to conflict ; and a larger area opened to her ambition. In the course of a very few years after the last event of which we have spoken the First Sam- nite War began. * Chapt. xxvii. § 12 (1). f LLv. vii. 21, Oros. iii. 1. J Coin -witti Samnite Bull goring the Koman Wolf, struck in the Social War. CHAPTER XIX. FIRST SAMNITE WAR. (b.C. 343 341.) §. 1. Origin and geographical position of the Sanmites. § 2. Little unity between them and kindred tribes. § 3. Sanmites a pastoral people. § 4. They spread from their mountains over various parts of the coast. Cam- pania. Their Colonists become then* enemies. § 5. Causes of the "War. § 6. Fhst year of the "War : battle of Mount G-aurus gained by Valerius Corvus. Other victories. § T. Peace concluded next year. Reasons. § 8. First Reason; Mutiny of Roman Legions wintering at Campania. They advance to BovUlse, and are joined by Plebeians from the City. § 9. Difference between this and former Secessions. It is put down by Valerius. § 10. Laws for improving the condition of soldiers. § 11. Genucian Laws. Laws for relieving debtors: remarks. § 12. Second Reason deferred to next Chapter. § 1. We must now carry our eyes beyond the district described in our sixth. Chapter, and penetrate into Campania and the val- leys of the Apennines, of which, as yet, our History has taken no count. The Sabines are a people connected with the earliest legends of Rome. But the Sabines of Cures and the lower country between the Anio and the Tiber are those who have hitherto engaged our attention. It is in the highlands of Reate and Ami- ternum that we must search for the cradle of the race. The valleys of this high district aflford but scanty subsistence ; and the hardy mountaineers ever and anon cast off swarms of emi- grants, who sought other homes, and made good their claim by arms. It was a custom of the Sabellian race, when famine threatened and the population became too dense, to devote the whole prodace of one spring-time, by a solemn vow, to the gods.* Among other produce, the youth born in that year were included: * This was called a Yer sacrum. 178 EOME CONQUEROR OP ITALY. Book III. they were dedicated to the god Mamers (Mars), and went forth, to seek their fortunes abroad. On one such occasion the emi- grants, pressing southward along the highland valleys, occupied the broad mountainous district which lies northward of Cam- pania. Such is the story which the Samnites told of their own origin.* The Picenians and Frentanians, on the north coast, with the four allied Cantoris of the Yestinians, Marrucinians, Pelignians, and Marsians, who were interposed between the Sam- nites and their ancestral Sabines, claimed kin with both nations. The Samnites themselves also formed four Cantons — the Caro- cenians, Pentrians, Caudinians, and Hirpinians. Of these Can- tons, the first and last are little heard of. The Pentrians were far the most considerable : they occupied the rugged mountain district between the upper valleys of the Vulturnus and the Calor. Here a great mass of mountains, now known by the name of Mount Matese, projects boldly from the central chain, rising to the height of more than 6000 feet; and its steep defiles ofter defences of great natural strength against an invader. But the remains of massive polygonal masonry, which are still seen on the rocky heights occupied by their towns of -^sernia and Bovi- anum (Isernia and Bojano), show that the Samnites trusted to military art as well as to natural strength of country. Below Mount Matese, in the valley of the Calor, lay the Cantons of the Caudinians, whose town of Beneventum (anciently called Male- ventum, or Maliessa) also off'ered a position made strong by art. It is within these limits, from isernia to Beneventum, that the scenes of some of the chief campaigns of the Samnite wars were laid. § 2. It must be remarked that but little connexion seems to have been maintained between the Samnite Cantons and their Sabellian kinsmen to the north. If the Sabines of the Upper Apennines, if Marsian, and Pelignian, and other Cantons which lie between the Sabines and the Samnites, had combined, nay, if all the Samnite cantons had been closely united, the issue of the wars which were waged with Rome might have been diff"erent. But the brunt of conflict fell chiefly on the Pentrians and Caudinians ; and it was not till their strength was well nigh exhausted that the other Sabellian tribes came forward to oppose the growing power of Rome. § 3. From the nature of their country, the Samnites were for the most part a pastoral people. Their mountains break into numberless valleys, sloping both to the north and south, well watered, and fresh even in the summer heats. Into these valleys, * Strabo, who gives a similar account of the origin of the Picenians. Chap. XIX. FIRST SAMNITE WAR. 179 as is still the practice of tlie country, tlie flocks were driven from the lower lands, ascending higher and higher as the heats in- creased, and descending towards the plain in the same gradual way as autumn inclined towards winter. § 4. But the Samnites Avere not contented with these narrow mountain-homes. As they had themselves been sent forth from a central hive, so in time they cast forth new swarms of emigrants. In early times a Samnite tribe, under the name of Frentanians, had taken possession of the coast lands between the Marrucinian canton and Apulia. They also constantly pushed forward bands of adventurous settlers down the Vulturnus and Calor into the rich plain that lay temptingly beneath their mountains, and to which they gave the name of Campania, or the champagne-land, in opposition to the narrow vales and rugged hills of their native country. In earlier times this fair plain had attracted Etruscan conquerors ; and its chief city, anciently called Yulturnum, is said from them to have received the lasting name of Capua.* But in about the year 423 B.C., nearly a century before the time of which we are presently to speak, a band of Samnites had seized this famous city, and had become its lords,f the ancient Oscan inhabitants being reduced to the condition of clients. Soon after, the great Greek city of Cuma, which then gave name to the Bay of Naples, had been conquered by the new lords of Capua ;J and from this time forth, under the name of Cam- panians, they became the dominant power of the country. In course of time, however, the Samnites of Capua, or the Cam- panians, lost their own language and usages, and adopted those of the Oscan people, who had become their subjects. Hence it is that we shall find the Campanian Samnites at war with the old Samnites of the mountains, just as the Roman Sabines lost all national sympathy with the old Sabines of Cures, and as in England the Anglo-Normans became the national enemies of the French. It may be added that the Lucanians and Apulians, who stretched across the breadth of Italy below Campania, were formed by a mixture of Samnite invaders with the ancient popu- lation, themselves (as we have seen above) a compound of Oscan and Pelasgian races ; || while the Bruttians, who occupied the * From the Etruscan cMef Capys. It must be remarked, however, that Capvxi and Campania seem to be etymologically akin, and are probably both of Samnile origin. f Liv. iv. 37. :j: Liv. iv. 44, who places the conquest of Cumaj in the year 420 e.g. Dio- dorus, xii. 76, places it eight years earlier. I Introduction, Sect. II. § 8. 180 ROME CONQUEROR OF ITALY. Book III. mountainous district south of the Gulf of Tarentum, were a similar offcast from the Lucanians. But these half-Sabellian tribes, like the old races from whom the Samnites came, lent very uncertain aid to their kinsmen in the struggle with Rome. The sons were not more alive to their own interest in joining the Samnites against the new conquerors than the fathers. § 5. These prefatory remarks will prepare us for the great conflict which followed, and which, in fact, determined the sovereignty of Italy to be the right of the Roman, and not of the Samnite people. The first war arose out of a quarrel such as we have just alluded to between the Campanians and the old Sam- nites of the Matese. In the year 354 e.g., a league had been concluded with the Romans and the Samnites. Since that time, Samnite adventurers had been pressing upon the Oscan nations in the upper valley of the Liris, and had even taken the Volscian cities of Sora and Fregellse, while the Romans, combined with the Latins again since the year 358 B.C., were forcing back the Volscians from the west. In 343 b.c, the Samnites had pursued their encroachments so far as to assail Teanum, the chief city of the Sidicines, probably an Oscan tribe, who occupied the lower hills in the north of Campania. The Sidicines demanded the aid of the Burgesses of Capua against their assailants ; and the Cam- panians, venturing to give this aid, drew upon their own heads the wrath of the mountaineers. The Samnites took possession of Mount Tifata, a bare hill which overhangs Capua on the north, and from their camp there plundered at will the rich plain below. Unable to meet the enemy in the field, the degenerate Campanians entreated the assistance of the Roman and Latin League. There was some difiiculty in listening to this application ; for the treaty of peace, which had been concluded eleven years before, still subsisted, and no aggression against Rome or her allies was chargeable upon the Samnites. But it is probable that their aggressions in the valleys of the Liris and Vulturnus had alarmed the Senate ; and all scruples were removed when the Campanians offered to surrender their city absolutely, so that in, defending them Rome would be defending her own subjects. This quibbling bargain was struck, and war was declared against the Samnites. § 6. The Consuls of the year were both Patricians — An. Corne- lius Cossus, and M. Valerius Corvus, whose single combat with the Gaul has been mentioned more than once. Apart from legendary tales, it is evident that Valerius was the most considerable man at Rome, now that Camillus was no more. He was now in his third Consulship, and thrice in future years he held the same Chap. XIX. FIRST SAMNITE WAR. 181 high office. To extreme old age lie continued in the service of the state, and his last Consulships were employed in assisting to remove the last traces of disunion between the Orders. If the Licinian Law was to be broken, it could not be broken in favour of a worthier than M. Valerius. Each Consul led two legions separately into the field, with an equal number of Latin Allies. The force under the command of Valerius was destined to drive the Samnites out of Campania, while Cossus was to invade the Pentrian valleys. But the details of the campaign are quite unintelligible. Valerius gained a great victory over the Samnites on Mount Gaurus, which lies near Baiaj on the sea-coast. How it was that he was thus driven into this corner of the land we know not. No sooner was the battle of Mount Gaurus won, than news reached Vale- rius that his colleague Cossus had become entangled in a Sam- nite defile, and was shut in by the enemy on all sides. From this danger he was relieved by the valour and conduct of a legionary tribune, P. Decius Mus, the first-named of an illus- trious plebeian family. He seized an eminence, which com- manded the pass, and the Consul was enabled to escape from his danger. Then, say the Roman annals, Cossus attacked the Sam- nites and defeated them. It is added that Valerius joined him directly after, and the united forces overthrew the enemy in a third great battle. § 7. An army remained in Campania during the winter, lest the Samnites should descend from their mountains suddenly. But in the next spring, instead of continuing the war, the Eomans concluded a treaty of alliance with the enemy, by which the Sidicines and Campanians were left entirely at their mercy. The causes of this unexpected change of policy were twofold ; first, a renewal of discord between the two Orders of the Roman People ; secondly, the uneasy feeling which showed itself between the Romans and their Latin Allies. § 8. It has been shown above that the pressure of the laws of debt continued, and that there was a systematic attempt to evade the Licinian Law in the election of Consuls.* The dis- content thus caused, long smouldering, broke out into flame among the legionaries who were wintering in Campania. They compared that rich and beautiful country with the sullen gloom of the Roman territory, and the luxurious life of the Campanian people with their own rude and sparing habits : and they formed (as we are told) a design to imitate the old Samnites in making themselves lords of this happy land. When C. Marcius, the new Consul, came to the army in the year 342 b.c, he found tbd * Chapt. xvii. 182 ROME CONQUEROR OF ITALY. Book III, men more ready to mutiny than to take the field. An attempt was made to check this spirit by drafting ofF the most unruly, and sending them home under various pretences. But as these men passed Lautulse, a place near Terracina, which commanded the road over the Volscian Hills, they found the cohort that had been posted to defend this pass ready to mutiny, and those who were on their way home agreed to join them. The insurgents, being joined by many others from the army, forced an old Patrician of the Quinctian house, whom they found dwell- ing at his country house, to be their leader ; and then advancing, encamped at Bovillse, in front of the Alban Hills. Upon this, the disaffected within the city also rose ; and putting another Patrician, named Manlius, at their head, joined the mutineers in their camp. § 9. Here, then, was another of those Secessions of which we have already heard so much. But now, be it observed, the secession was not of the whole Plebeian Order, but only of the poorer sort, who felt oppressed by debt. Against these were arrayed not only the Patricians and their Clients, but also all the wealthier Plebeians, indeed, all who wished to maintain order in the state : and this great party showed their sincerity by pro- curing that M. Valerius Corvus, a man as famous for moderation as for bravery, should be appointed Dictator, to put an end to the sedition. He was able to collect an imposing force, with which he approached the camp of the insurgents. But Roman citizens were not yet so reckless of blood and so cold of heart as willingly to engage in civil war ; and when the two armies met, both were overpowered by their different feelings, the one by pity, the other by remorse. Arms were laid aside, and the sol- diers of each party embraced each other. No doubt this happy issue of the sedition was brought about by the good offices of the Dictator Valerius and Marcius the Ple- beian Consul. It was no doubt understood on both sides that the Patricians and rich Plebeians were ready to avert the evil by making large concessions, for these followed immediately. § 10. The leaders of the army were allowed to propose and carry two Laws : first, that no citizen should be struck off the military roll, except for some crime ; secondly, that no one who had served as legionary tribune should thereafter be called on to act as centurion. The first law was evidently a boon to the debtors ; for persons serving in the army were protected from their creditors. The second is said to have arisen from the case of one Salonius, who had been vexatiously degraded to a sub- altern ra,nk by his patrician general ; and the Plebeians were the more willing to maintain the dignity of the Tribunes, since the Chap. XIX. FIRST SAMNITE WAR. 183 election of six out of tlie twenty-four had recently been conceded to tlie legions themselves.* It was also proposed to reduce the pay of the equites, who at that time received three times as much as the foot soldiers. But on the interference of Valerius this proposal was withdrawn. § 11. Such were the concessions made to the army. But at home greater changes followed. L. Genucius, Tribune of the Plebs, moved that henceforth both Consulships should be open to Plebeians ; and that no one should be re-elected to a curule magistracy. But it does not appear that these Genucian Laws took effect. It was long before both Consuls were Plebeians ; and it remained for many years a constant practice to re-elect the same persons to the Consulship within the stated period. But from this time forth we find no more violations of the Licinian Law. At the same time another Law was carried, by whom we know not, of much greater and more serious import ; for it enacted that all debts then existing should be cancelled, and that for the future no interest was to be taken for money lent. This second provision was simply absurd. It was the same thing as forbid- ding the loan of money at all ; no one will lend without some profit to cover the risk of loss. The former provision, cancelling all debts, was a more violent and dangerous form of the first Licinian Law. The Licinian LaAV struck certain sums off the debts, providing for the payment of the rest; this new Law abolished the debts altogether. What was said of the former law must be repeated here. Such laws, declaring general insol- vency, can only be justified by absolute necessity, and never can be enacted in a settled state of society. At Rome, possibly, they may have been necessary at this juncture, owing to the great cruelty of the old laws of debt. And that such laws were necessary may be inferred from the fact that Valerius suffered them to pass. Society was already so disorganised, that even such a law did not make it worse : nay, from this time forth we may date improvement ; for henceforth we hear no more of free Romans binding themselves as slaves to their creditors. § 12. The second cause which, joined to these intestine com- motions, operated to promote the Samnite peace, was so im- portant, and was followed by results so considerable, that it must form the subject of a separate Chapter. * The regular number of Legions was four, two to each Consul, and there were six Tribunes to each Legion. At a later time, the people elected 18 out of the 24. Roman Soldiers. CHAPTER XX. GREAT LATIN WAR. SUBJECTION OF LATIUM. (b.C. 340 338.) § 1. Eeview of the relations between Eome and Latium. § 2. Proposals of the Latin Cities for a union with Rome. § 3. Contemptuously rejected. § 4. Manlius and Decius, Consuls, march into Campania: reasons. § 5. Eoman and Latin armies meet under Vesuvius : military systems of Rome : identical with that of Latins. § 6. Order of Manlius against single com- bats. § 1. Manlius condemns his son for disobeying. § 8. Battle of Vesuvius : self-sacrifice of Decius. § 9. Mournful triumph of Manlius. § 10. Conclusion of the War. § 11. Large quantity of Pubhc Land gained by the "War : a portion distributed to the poor Plebeians. § 12. Publilian Laws. § 13. Principle on which the Latin Cities were treated. § 14. Public and Private Rights of Romans : how granted to foreigners. § 15. Previous privileges of Latins. § 16. New arrangements, of three kinds. § IT. Settlement of the Campanian Cities. § 1. The uneasy feeling caused by the disposition visible among the Latin Communities in league with Rome must have operated still more strongly than domestic troubles to incline Rome to peace ; for it must never be forgotten that when a Roman army took the field, half of it was composed of Latins. It has been said that after the burning of the city in 390 b.c. the Latins, as a body, stood aloof from Rome, while Prseneste and Tibur assumed a position of defiance. But in 356 b.c. the old Chap. XX. GREAT LATIN" "WAR. 185 League had been renewed, and such as remained of the original Thirty Cities again joined their ranks to those of Rome in war- ring first against the Volscians and Etruscans, and finally against the Samnites. In the first year of the Samnite war we find two Roman Consuls in command ; in the second it is probable that the Latins would have claimed the chief command for their two Praetors. All we know is, that the Senate foresaw that the con- federacy of Latin Cities would claim equality with Rome ; and it was no doubt to strengthen themselves against such claim that now, in the year 341 B.C., they not only made peace with the Samnites, but concluded a separate league with that people. Thus the Latins alone continued in alliance with the Sidicines and other Oscan tribes of Campania, while the Romans united themselves with the Samnites, the mortal enemies of these same Oscan tribes, whose protectors they had lately been. We also hear of the Latins being at war with the Pelignians, which shows that other Sabellian tribes were taking part with the Samnites.* § 2. Wlien Rome formed a separate League with the Samnites, she broke faith with the Latins. Her conduct made it clear that Latium could no longer remain the independent ally of Rome : the former must either submit entirely to her rival, or assert her independence in arms. There was, indeed, a third course possible, namely, for the two nations to form a united state under one central government, like England and Scotland since the Union : and this course the Latins proposed to try, although the spirit and temper of the Roman Senate made it very clear that the attempt must fail. However, it was made. In the year 340 b.c. the united cities of Latium sent their two Praetors (who were elected every year like the Consuls at Rome), together with the ten chiefs of their Senate, to propose terms of union. Rome and Latium were henceforth to form one state, Rome being allowed to remain as the seat of government ; but of the two Consuls, one was to be a Latin. The Senate was to be doubled by the admission of 300 Latin members ; and no doubt (though this is not recorded) the Latin territory was to be divided, like the Roman, into Tribes, which would have equal votes with those of old Rome at the Comitia. The proposal was fair enough, and it may be thought that Rome might have accepted it without loss of honour ; for not very long after, most of the Latin cities formed the centres of new Tribes, and some of the most distinguished men of later times were of Latin origin. But the conduct of some Latin * Liv. vii. 38. 186 ROME CONQUEROR OP ITALY. Book III. cities, as Tibur and Prseneste, had not been such as to warrant confidence, and it is probable that an Union now formed, when neither nation were willing quite to acknowledge the supremacy of the other, would not have been more lasting than that of Holland and Belgium in our own times. The Latins now pro- posed it only under fear of the Gauls and Samnites, and when that fear was removed, they would probably have broken it up. § 3. It is not likely, however, that politic reasons of this kind influenced the Eomans in rejecting it. Rude nations generally act on impulse rather than on reason ; and the story shows that it was Roman pride which was touched, rather than Roman in- terests. The Senate, says the Legend, met to receive the Latin depu- ties in the temple of Capitoline Jupiter, at the head of the Sacer Clivus. When the deputies had spoken, the Fathers were filled with wrath, and their mind was uttered by T. Manlius Torquatus, patrician Consul elect, the same who had earned his surname in a single fight against a Gaul. " If," said he, " the Roman Senate were so dead of heart as to admit these proposals, I myself would come down to the Senate-house sword in hand and slay the first Latin who should presume to cross this holy threshold." Angry words followed, in the course of which L. Annius of Setia, one of the Latin Praetors, spoke lightly of the great god of the Capitol, beneath whose temple they were standing. Then, to avenge his majesty, burst forth lightning and thunder ; and the Latin, turning hastily to depart, fell head- long down the steps of the Sacred Ascent, and was killed.* § 4. But when the Senate were receiving these deputies, they were already preparing for war. Their patrician Consul was, as has been mentioned, the famous champion T. Manlius, and his plebeian colleague was the no less famous P. Decius Mus, who had saved the army of the Consul Cossus in the Samnite war. These Consuls straightway assembled their legions, and boldly resolved to leave Rome under the protection of the Praetor, while they marched through the friendly passes of the Sabines, Marsians, and Pelignians into Samnimn, there to unite with a Samnite force and descend upon Capua. This bold stroke suc- ceeded. The Latin army marched hastily southward to protect their Oscan allies, and it was in the plains of Campania that the fate of Rome and Latium was to be decided. There could be little doubt which people were destined to prevail. The Latins and Romans might be well matched ; but, of * The Chroniclers, however, mention L. Annius as general of the Latins in the ensuing war, — another instance of the variety above noticed in these old legends. Chap. XX. GREAT LATIN WAR. 187 their allies, tlie Oscaus were quite unequal to the mountaineers of Samnium. Moreover, even of the Latin cities three adhered to Rome, Laurentum, Ardea, and Lanuvium, and several were luke- warm in the cause. The Oscan cities of Fundi and Formise, which command the road between Rome and Capua, remained neutral ; and in Capua herself a protest against war with Rome was made by sixteen hundred Knights (as they are called), who were probably the heads of the old Samnite families, before men- tioned as the lords of Capua.* § 5. When the two armies met under Mount Vesuvius, they lay opposed to one another, neither party choosing to begin the fray. It was almost like a civil war; Romans and Latins spoke the same language ; their armies had long fought side by side under common generals ; their arms, discipline, and tactics were the same. And here we will follow Livy in giving an account of the Ro- man army as at that time constituted.! In the old times the Roman army had been drawn up in close order like the Greek phalanx, so as to act by its weight. The front ranks were armed 'with the long pike or spear (Jiasta) and the large round shield (clijjeus, damg). Locking their shields to- gether, with their spear-points bristling in front, they formed a mass irresistible so long as it remained unbroken. This order of battle was carried to its greatest perfection by Philip of Macedon, and we shall have to speak further of it when we come to the Macedonian wars. The Romans, as is well known, changed their system, and made this heavy mass a living body. Their citizens were brave men fighting for their country, and were fit for something better than to be mere machines, unable to act separately. The soldiers of the republic were armed, not with the long pike, but with two heavy javelins, called pila, which they were taught to throw with great eff"ect, and a short strong sword, fit alike for striking and thrusting.J They exchanged the heavy round shield for a lighter one of oblong shape, (scutum), curved so as to defend the side as well as the front. Thus armed, they stood at a distance of a yard fron;i their right and left hand men, so as to allow free room for the use of their weapons. The men of each rear-rank stood, not directly behind their front-rank men, but so as to cover the space between two, like the knots in net-work (in quincuncem dispositi). Thus, when the front-rank men had discharged * Chapt. xix. § 3. f Liv. viii. 8. The account that follows is based on this passage with the commentary of Niebuhr. X The gladius Hispanus — see Liv. vii. 10. 188 EOME CONQUEROR OF ITALY. BOOK III. tlieir pila, they fell back, and tlieir rear-rank stepped forward, so as to come in front and discharge their pila in turn. Mean- while the original front-rank was falling back to the rear, and each rear- rank was gradually coming up to be ready to take their turn in front. When all the pila were discharged, and the enemy thrown into confusion by this continued fire, the whole body advanced to close combat, and completed the work of defeat with their swords. Now in the times of Marius and Csesar, who conquered the Germans and Gauls with tactics of this kind, the whole legion was armed alike, being divided into ten cohorts, and each cohort into three maniples or six centuries, each century being commanded by a centurion. But at the time of which we now speak, this uniformity of system did not yet prevail. At this time the Legion consisted of three battalions of the line, each 1200 strong, and to these were attached a body of light troops, bowmen and slingers (called rorarii, because they sprinkled their missiles like dew), and also an unarmed body called accensi, because they were added to the rate-paying citizens (censi)* to serve as attendants, and perform all the duties of camp-followers. -Of the three main battalions the foremost was called Hastafi, because they were still armed with the long pike, like the old phalanx. Close behind these were the Principes, who were composed of the first in rank among the citizens, and were probably armed with the sword and pila. In rear of the principes were placed the standards of the whole army, so that these two front battalions were called Ante-signani. Be- hind the standards were ranged the third battalion, called Triarii, composed of the most experienced soldiers, destined to act as a reserve, and bring aid to any part of the front battalions which seemed to be in difficulty. The battle was begun by the rorarii, who covered the advance of the main body, and then dispersed on either flank. It is probable that the principes then advanced through the intervals of the maniples of the hastati, and having discharged their pila, fell back again through the same intervals : but the manner in which the soldiers, armed some with the pike and some with the sword and pila, acted together, must remain matter of doubt. To each Legion was attached a squadron (ala) of 300 horse ; but the horse-soldiers of Eome were always inefficient ; her chief dependence was on her infantry. § 6. This system, at the time we speak of, was common both to * Those who paid no rates and taxes (the capiie censi) were not allowed to serve in the legions till the time of Marius, who first placed them on the military roll. Chap. XX. GEE AT LATIN WAR. 189 Romans and Latins. The divisions of their army, their officers, their tactics were exactly alike. They had been used to fight side by side, and in each army there were many men and officers who were personally connected with those in the other. Under these circumstances the Roman commanders thought it important to break oft" all communication between the armies, and they issued a general order to this efi'ect. It was also strictly forbidden to en- gage in any partial skirmishes with the Latins, or to accept any challenge to single combat which they might make. All strength was to be reserved for the great battle which was to determine the fate of the two nations. § 7. While the armies were thus lying over against each other, the Latin horsemen, conscious of superiority, used every endeavour to provoke the Romans to single combats. The latter, however, Avere checked by the orders of their generals, till young Manlius, son of the Consul, stung to the quick by the taunts of Geminus Metius, a Latin champion, accepted his challenge. The young Roman conquered, and returned to the camp to lay the spoils of the enemy at his father's feet. But the spirit of Brutus was not dead ; and the stern Consul, unmindful of his own feelings and the pleading voices of the whole army, condemned his son to death for disobedience to orders. Discipline was thus maintained, but at a heavy expense, and the men's hearts were heavy at this unnatural act. § 8. In the night before the day on which the Consuls resolved to fight, each of them were visited by an ominous dream, by which it was revealed that whichever army first lost its general should prevail ; and they agreed that he whose division first gave ground should devote himself to the gods of the lower world. In the morning, when the auspices were taken, the liver of the victim offered on the part of Decius was defective, while that of Manlius was perfect, and the event confirmed the omen ; for Man- lius, who commanded the right division, held his ground, while the legions of Decius on the left gave way. Then Decius, mindful of his vow, sent for Valerius, the Chief Pontiff, to direct him how duly to devote himself. He put on his toga, the robe of peace, after the Gabine fashion, bringing the end or lappet under the right arm and throwing it over his head ; and then standing on a javelin, he pronounced the solemn form of words prescribed, by which he devoted the army of the enemy along with himself to the gods of death and to the grave. Then, still shrouded in his toga, he leaped upon his horse, and dashing into the enemy's ranks was slain. Both armies were well aware of the meaning of the act : it de- 190 ROME CONQUEROR OP ITALY. Book III. pressed tlie spirits of the Latins as much as it raised those of the Romans. The skill of Manlius now finished the work of superstitious awe. He had armed his accensi, contrary to usual custom ; and as soon as his two front battalions were wearied, he brought them up in place of the triarii. The Latins, thinking they were triarii, brought up their own third battalions, who thus used up their weapons and their strength upon the Eoman accensi. Then Man- lius brought up his real triarii, fresh and unbroken, to gain an easy victory over the wearied enemy. They fled in irretrievable confusion. Such was the battle of Vesuvius, which decided the fate of Latium and of Campania. We know not what part the Campa- nians and Samnites took in it, but there is no doubt that they were engaged as allies on either side. The Latins en- deavoured to make a stand upon the Liris, but again suffered a defeat, and the surviving Consul led his victorious army to JEiome. ' § 9. If the greatness of a Consul's honours were proportioned to the importance of his acts, the triumph of T. Manlius Torquatus ought to have been second to none ; for Capua, Cumse, Cales, and other towns in Campania were among the conquered ; and not only Latiura, but Campania and the intervening country of the Auruncans and Volscians, remained at the mercy of the conquer- ors. But the memory of his son was alive ; the younger men were too much struck with horror at the remorseless father to give glory to the victorious Consul, and a gloomy silence attended his progress along the Forum to the Capitol. From the stern exercise of his authority he is said to have derived his other surname of Imperiosus. § 10. The war was kept up the next year by several Latin cities, which, however, were unable to keep an army in the field. Tibur, Prseneste, Aricia, Lavinium, Velitrse, and Antium were conquered successively by the Consuls Ti. JEmilius and Q. Publilius Philo, but Pedum still held out : in the third year, however (339 B.C.), this city also yielded, and the Latin war was ended. § 11. The country that was left at the mercy of Rome by the issue of the Latin war was a large tract, comprehending Latium itself, the country of the Volscians and Auruncans from Anxur or Terracina to the mouth of the Liris, and the northern district of Campania nearly to the mouth of the Vulturnus. It is probable that in the lower part of Campania the Samnites remained para- mount : but Ronian Campania was the vine-growing part of the country, in which lay Mons Massicus and Cales, and the famous Ager Falernus, while northward, among the Ausonians, was tho Chap. XX. SUBJECTION OP LATIUM. 191 Ager Csecubus and tlie Formian liills, whose wines were only second to those of Campania. It was a rich domain, and at the close of the first year of the war the Senate, sure of their prize, proceeded to appropriate part of the lands of these countries. The poorest Plebeians, lately relieved of the pressure of debt, now received portions not exceeding three jugera (nearly 2 acres) apiece.* The allotments were small, but with the help of pasturage on the public land, this was enough to enable industrious men to keep free from debt. § 12. However, the smallness of these allotments seems to have again raised discontent ; and in the second year of the Latin war (340 B.C.) the Plebeian Consul, Q. Publilius Philo, being named Dictator by his patrician colleague for some purpose now unknown, proposed and carried three laws still further abridging the few re- maining privileges of the patrician Lords. The first Publilian law enacted that one of the Censors, as one of the Consuls, must be a Plebeian, which confirmed as a rule what had already been allowed ; for C. Marcius Rutilus had already held this office.f The second gave fuller sanction to the principle already established, that the Resolutions of the Plebeian Assembly should have the force of law.J The third provided that all laws passed at the Comitia of the Centuries or of the Tribes should re- ceive beforehand the sanction of the Curies ;|| so that this Patrician Assembly now lost all power of stopping or rejecting laws proposed in the Popular Assemblies. It is remarkable that these Publilian Laws were passed with very little open opposition on the part of the Patricians. § 13. After the surrender of Pedum, in the third year of the war, the Senate proceeded to make such a settlement of the con- quered communities as might deliver Rome from all future fears of insurrection. The principle of policy was that which was steadily and insidiously pursued in all future dealings with conquered countries, namely, to divide the interests of the diff"erent communi- ties by bestowing privileges on some, and by reducing others to such a state of absolute subjection that they were never likely again to unite in arms. It should be added, however, that hopes were * Some received allotments on the public lands of Latium and the Volsci, and these portions only amounted to 2f jugera. But those who were settled on the Falernian lands had three. — Liv. viii. 11. \ See Chapt. xvii § 1. \ " Ut Plebisdta omnes Quirites ienerent," — which seems to have been merely a re-enactment of the Valerio-Horatian law menteoned in Ohapt. x. § 22 (2). — See below, Chapt. xxv. § 2. II "Ut Legum, quas Comitiis Centuriatis ferrentur, ante initum suffragium Patres auctores fierent." — This was clearly a diminution of the power of the Comitia Curiata. 192 ROME CONQUEROR OF ITALY. BOOK III. held out to those who were most severely punished that by obedi- ence and good service they might hereafter gain the privileges of the most highly favoured. § 14. It will be necessary here to say a few words on the nature of the privileges which Eome was able to bestow upon her subjects or to withhold from them. All Burgesses of Rome, now that no political distinction re, mained between Patrician and Plebeian, enjoyed the same rights. These rights are commonly divided into two classes, the Private and the Public. The private rights of a Roman citizen were (1) the power of legal marriage with all families of citizens, (2) the power of making legal contracts of bargain and sale, so that he might hold land and houses by a good title in any part of the Roman territory, (3) the power of devising property by will, and of inheriting property, with other smaller privileges of which it is needless to speak here.* The Public Rights were (1) the power of voting in the great popular assemblies, the Comitia of the Centuries and of the tribes, in all matters of legislation, in the election of magistrates, in the trial of fellow-citizens, and (2) the power of being elected to all offices of State.f When foreign lands were incorporated with Rome, the free citizens residing in those lands became entitled to all these Rights, both Private and Public. But it was common for Rome to enter into relations with foreign communities on such conditions, that she granted a portion of those Rights to the citizens of those com- munities, and received for her own citizens corresponding rights in those communities. Thus the citizens of Capua might possess the Private Rights of a Roman Citizen at Rome, and reciprocally a Roman burgess might be able to exercise the same Rights at Capua. It is obvious that these concessions might be made in various degrees of completeness. All Private Rights might be granted, or only some ; or to the Private Rights might be added a power of obtaining even the Public Rights, that is, of becoming a burgess of Rome. § 15. It is probable that by the League of Spurius Cassius, and by the League renewed by Plautius in 356 B.C., this equal relation was established between Rome and her subject communities on the one hand, and all the independent Latin communities on the other. Romans possessed the Private Rights of citizenship in all these communities, and Latins possessed the same. Rights at Rome. It is probable also that the citizens of each of the two parties to this League had some power of obtaining the * Jus Connubii, Jus Commercii, Jus Testamentifactionis et Scereditaiis, etc f Jus Suffragii, Jus Ronorum. Chap. XX. SUBJECTION OF LATIUM. I93 Public Eights in the allied states. A Roman might become the burgess of one of the Latin communities, a Latin might become a burgess of Rome. In Campania also similar relations seem to have existed between Rome and the chief Campanian communi- ties before the great war of which we are speaking. § 16. But now, at the end of the year 339 b.c, Latium, Cam- pania, and the intervening country, lay at the feet of Rome, and no such equality was thought of for the future. A complete division of interest was made, and all union between the cities was rendered difficult. (1.) Some Latin communities with their lands were at once added to the Roman territory, so that their citizens became citi- zens of Rome and voted in the Comitia. This complete incor- poration was conferred upon Lanuvium, Tusculum, Nomentum, and Velitrae. Part of these lands were added to Tribes already existing,* but the greater part was comprehended in two new Tribes, which were formed by the next Censors in 332 b.c, so that now the Roman Tribes amounted in number to twenty- nine.f It must be observed, however, that no reward was herein conferred upon Velitrse, which had been pertinacious in its resistance during the war ; for its walls were thrown down and its chief citizens banished beyond the Tiber, while its lands were divided among Plebeians of Rome. It was not, therefore, the Latins of Velitrse, but the new Roman settlers who became members of the Tribe in which the city stood ; but in the other three cities the Latin inhabitants henceforth became Ro- mans. It is probable that Aricia and Pedum were treated in the same manner as Velitrse. (2.) Tibur and Prseneste were deprived of a portion of their territory, which thus became part of the public domain of Rome ; otherwise they remained independent. Probably they were still too powerful to be treated without regard. Prseneste more than once again appeared in arms against Rome. (3.) The other Latin Communities were prohibited from enter- ing into any relations, private or public, one with another. The citizens of one town could not enter legal marriage with the family of another town, nor make a legal contract of bargain and sale with any but one of his own townsmen. This severe penal enactment shows that they were reduced into a state of absolute subjection to Rome, and the isolation which was its consequence effectually maintained that subjection. Many Latin * Tusculum was added to the old Papirian tribe. — Liv. viii. 37. f " Eodem anno census actus, novique cives censi : Tribus propter eos addite, Mtecia et Scaptia." — Liv. viii. 17. The last had been added more than 50 years before. — Chapt. xviii. § 2. 9 194 ROME CONQUEROR OP ITALY. Book III. Cities had been destroyed by the Gauls : others now began to dwindle away : so early began that chain of causes which has ended in the present desolation of the Campagna. In course of time their territory was nearly all incorporated with the Eoman Tribes, and Latin families derived from these towns furnished some of the most illustrious generals and statesmen of Rome. The Fulvii, the Curii, the Coruncanii were of Latin origin : Marius and Cicero, as is well known, derived their origin from the little Volscian town of Arpinum. § 17. The Oscan communities between Latium and Campania, with the chief cities of Northern Campania, were admitted into alliance with Rome much on the same terms that had befoi*e subsisted between Rome and the communities of Latium. Capua especially appears in later history on terms as equal as ever had been enjoyed by Tusculum, or Tibur, or Prseneste. The chief men, whom Livy calls the Knights, were (as we have seen) pro- bably of Samnite origin, and had taken part with Rome in the late Latin war, while the mass of the Oscan population joined their countrymen against the Latins. It is likely that these men were now restored as a Patrician order in Capua, and that the privileges of equal alliance referred to them alone. Probably, also, in Cumse, Suessula, Formise, and Fundi, where similar pri- vileges were granted, similar political revolutions took place. A Patriciate was formed and put in possession of political privi- leges, while the mass of the people were left in the former-con- dition of the Plebeians at Rome. Thus the Patricians or govern- ing body in each city would be anxious to maintain alliance with Rome, because on that depended the maintenance of their own supremacy. CHAPTER XXI. EVENTS LEADING TO THE SECOND SAMNITE WAR. (337 326 B.C.) § 1. Next twelve years without great events : measures of precaution against Samnites. § 2. Eevolt of Gales : Colony there. § 3. Alexander of MO' lossus engaged by Tarentines to make war with Lucanians : Treaty of Eomans with him. § 4. Colony sent to FregellEE. § 5. Generous treat- ment of Privemum : Thirty-one Tribes. § 6. Colony to Terracina. § 7. Dispute with Palsepohs, which calls in a Samnite garrison. § 8. PublUius Philo besieges Palsepolis : first Proconsul : destruction of Palaspolis. § 9. From these causes of quarrel, Second Samnite War breaks out. § 1. The first war witli tlie Samnites, followed so closely by the great Latin War, must have exhausted the resources of Rome ; a time of peace and quiet was necessary to restore them. But it was impossible for two aggressive nations like the Romans and the Samnites to remain long in alliance. Almost every event which occurred in the next twelve years shows that war, though staved off for the present, must be renewed in no very long time. Of these events we will now take a short survey, noticing par- ticularly how well the Romans employed the interval to strengthen themselves on the Samnite frontier. 196 ROME CONQUEROR OP ITALY. Book III. § 2. It appears that the Sidicines, in the late settlement of Campania, had been left independent, as a sort of border country between the Eoman and the Samnite borders. This people, not satisfied with neutrality, drove the Auruncans of Cales into revolt ao-ainst Rome, and a short war followed. Cales was speedily reduced by Valerius Corvus, Consul in b.c. 335 ; and, to prevent all future trouble, was occupied by a Colony of 2500 citizens (b.c. 334). These settlers became as it were the Patri- cians of the Colony, sharing the public domain amongst them ; while the old population was reduced to the position of Ple- beians ; and therefore it was for the interest of the colonists always to remain faithful to Rome. Thus one outpost was planted in the newly-conquered country, so placed as to defend it against the Samnites. § 3. Three years after (b.c. 332) news came to Rome that Alexander, King of Molossus, had landed in Southern Italy with an army. This Alexander was uncle of Alexander the Great, being brother of his mother Olympias. He had been invited to cross the sea by the Tarentines, whose practice it was to hire foreign armies commanded by leaders of note, in order to defend them against their barbarous neighbours, the Lucanians. Alex- ander defeated these people near Paestum ; and the Senate forth- with sent to form an alliance with him, thinking he might be of service to them in any future war with the Samnites. This was dishonest ; for Rome was already in alliance with the Sam- nites, and the Samnites were at war with Alexander. Nor did it profit them ; for Alexander, who had come into Italy not so much to assist the Tarentines as to win a kingdom for himself, was slain not long after in a second battle at Pandosia, § 4. Another event brought the two nations still nearer a direct collision. It will be remembered that the Samnites had conquered the Volscian country in the Upper Liris ; that they had been left in possession of their conquests at the settlement which followed the Great Latin War. From this frontier they seem to have gone on to attack other Volscian towns now under the protection of Rome ; for in the year 328 B.C. we find the Volscians of Fabrateria, near Fregellse, imploring the assistance of Rome. The appeal was listened to at once. The Senate warned the Samnites to abstain from further inroads ; and not content with this, they proceeded to occupy Fregellse with a strong body of Colonists. This second Colony on the Samnite frontier was destined to command the upper or inland road from Latium into Campania. § 5. Two years before (330 B.C.) one of the newly-conquered Volscian cities had revolted against Rome. This was Privernum, Chap. XXL CAUSES OF SECOND SAMNITE WAR. 197 and the revolt was countenanced by Fundi, and perhaps other Auruncan towns ; for Vitruvius Vaccus, a Avealthy citizen of Fundi, who had lately settled at Eome, appears as the leader of the Privernatians. The revolt was soon crushed : hut the Pri- vernatians, contrary to custom, were treated with indulgent favour by the Senate. Their deputies, being asked by the Con- sul, " What was due to such conduct as theirs ?" boldly re- plied by another question : — " What is due to brave men who have fought for freedom ?" " Well, but if Ave spare you," re- joined the Consul, " what are we to expect ?" " Peace," was the reply, " if you treat us well ; but if ill, a speedy return to war." Tlien the Senate voted that the people of Privernum should be admitted to be Roman citizens ; and not long after, they were included in two new Oscan Tribes, which, being added to the Roman territory, made the Tribes thirty-one in all.'* Probably this conduct was rather politic than magnanimous. It was evidently well calculated to make the Oscan nations satisfied with Roman sovereignty, and willing to take part with Rome rather than with the Samnites. § 6. Shortly after this the Senate placed a Colony of 300 Roman citizens in the strong city of Anxur, or Terracina. This Colony was of a different sort from those of Cales and Fregellse (as shall hereafter be explained). It was intended to command the lower or coast road from Latium into Campania, as FregellaB did the upper or inland. A Colony, planted in Antium at the close of the Latin war, had a similar effect. § 7. In the year 327 b.c. began the dispute which was the immediate cause of the great Samnite War. Parthenope was an ancient Greek colony founded by the Chalcidians of Cuma on the northern part of the Bay of Naples. In after years an- other city sprung up a little to the south, whence the original Parthenope was called Palsepolis, or Old-town, while the New Town took the name of Neapolis. The latter preserves its name in the modern Naples ; the former has so utterly disappeared that its site is a matter of guess. These two cities (as has been stated) were considered to be free and independent, though the main part of the country above had been seized by the Samnites. Now at the time just mentioned the Senate sent to Palsepolis to complain of piracies and other outrages committed upon Roman subjects in Campania. But the Greek city, being closely allied with her sister Neapolis and the great Oscan town of Nola (which had almost become Greek), seeing also that she might count on the aid of the Samnites against Rome, and being secretly instigated by the Tarentines, refused to give any satis- * "Duse Romse additse Tribus, Ufentina et Falerina." — Liv. ix. 20. 198 EOME CONQUEROR OF ITALY. Book III. faction for the alleged injuries. On this the Senate declared war, and ordered L. Publilius Philo, the plebeian Consul, to besiege Palsepolis ; and this city on her part received a garrison, consisting (it was said) of 2000 Nolans and 4000 Samnites. § 8. The Consul encamped between the two cities, the new and the old : "but the Romans were at this time unskilful in sieges, and the year drew on without any great advance being made. Publilius Philo, however, was a deserved favourite of the people, and in order to enable him to continue the war, he received the title of Pro-consul, with the command of the be- sieging army for the next year — the first example of a practice which afterwards became common. Still all his efforts might have been vain,- had not two traitor Greeks, holding high offices in Palsepolis, offered to betray the city. This offer was eagerly accepted, and the Romans were admitted into the old town at one gate, while the Samnite garrison left it by the opposite side. From this time we hear no more of Palcepolis. The Neapolitans, foreseeing the ascendency of Rome, entered into a treaty of peace with the Senate ; and Publilius returned home completely suc- cessful. He was the first Pro-consul ; he was also the first general Avho was allowed to triumph before he had laid down his office. § 9. While these affairs were going on, war broke out with the Samnites. The Senate sent ambassadors to complain of the conduct of these people in encouraging the men of Privernum to revolt, and in supporting the Greeks of Palsepolis against Rome. The Samnites denied both charges, and fiercely retorted upon Rome for daring to colonise Fregellse, which they had taken and destroyed. " What need of further trifling ?" said they ; " war is the only way to settle our disputes, and the plain of Campania must be our battle-ground. There let us rrieet, between Capua and Suessula, and decide which is to be mistress of Italy, Samnium or Rome." But the Romans, coldly replying that it was their custom to choose their own field of battle, contented themselves with declaring war ; and the colleague of Publilius was ordered to enter the Samnite frontiers. Thus in the year 326 b.c. was war again begun between Rome and Samnium. This time it lasted, not two years, as before, but twenty-two. It was a desolating warfare, which brought both nations to the last stage of exhaustion. But Rome remained the conqueror. Beneventum in Samnium. CHAPTER XXII. THE GREAT SAMNITE WAR, COMMONLY CALLED THE SECOND. (326—304 B.C.) § 1. Part taken in war by nations of Southern Italy. § 2. Leading men at Eome: M. 'Valerius Corvus, M. Papirius Cursor, Q. Fabius, P. Decius the younger, etc. § 3. "War divided into three periods. § 4. First Period (326-322), in which Eomans gain the upper hand. § 5. Second Period (B.C. 321-315): great Defeat of Roman Army at Furculas Caudinffi. §6. Pontius passes Romans under yoke, and releases them on conditions of peace. § T. Peace repudiated by Senate. § 8. Remarks on their conduct. § 9. ' Continued success of Samnites, tOl 315. § 10. Third Period (314-304) : precautionary measures : Capua called to account : Colonists sent to Fre- geUse, Casinum, Interamna, Suessa. § 11. "War declared by Etruscans. § 12. Great defeat of Sammtes by Papirius. § 13. Of Etruscans by Fabius. § 14. Samnites sue for Peace (304 B.C.) § 15. "Why Senate was ready to come to terms. — Thirty-three Tribes. § 1. War being declared, the Senate hastened to detach from the cause of the Samnites such of the Sabellian tribes as would listen to their diplomacy. They appear to have been successful with some of the Lucanian and some of the Apulian communities. We find indeed, that the Lucanians soon after took part with the 200 ROME CONQUEROR OP ITALY. Book m. Samnites ; but their aid seems to have been of an uncertain and unstable character. The alliance formed with the Apulian tribes was more serviceable to Rome. Tarentum, which was now the chief of the Greek cities in the South of Italy, took no direct part in the war, but regarded it with no common interest. Lately the Samnites and Lucanians had been her chief enemies ; but the conquests of Rome, and especially the fall of Palsepolis, had excited the interest and the fears of the Greek cities in the south, and their good wishes were on the side of Samnium. Indeed, we are expressly told that it was by the arts of the Tarentines that the Lucanians were detached from their alliance with Rome.* § 2. Such was the state of the neighbouring nations when war broke out. It will be useful here to notice the men whom the Romans expected to lead them to victory. Of T. Manlius Torquatus, the conqueror of the Latins, we hear not. Either he was dead, or the horror caused by the ruthless execution of his son prevented his being again elected Consul. But M. Valerius Corvus, the conqueror of the Samnites in the First War, was still in the vigour of life. He had been first elected Consul in the year 346, at the early age of twenty-three, now, therefore, he was little more than forty-four. Four times had he been Consul ; and as Dictator, in the year after his Samnite vic- tory, he had quelled a dangerous insurrection without bloodshed. In the course of this war he was once more Dictator and twice Consul. But the general in whom the Senate seem to have placed most confidence was M. Papirius Cursor. Four times was he made Consul in this war, and once Dictator, and his services were usually called for in the greatest emergencies. He was a man of little education, of great bodily strength, and especially remarkable for his swiftness of foot (whence his name of Cursor) ; able to endure * all extremes of hunger, cold, and fatigue ; and not without a rough sort of humour. Once, it is said, the troops asked for some remis- sion of duty in reward for good service : " Very well," said he, " you need not stroke your horses on the back when you dismount." Again, an off"ender was brought before hhn as he was walking up and down in front of his tent, and straightway he bade the lictor get ready his axe. The culprit, pale with fear, stood expecting his death-blow, when Papirius said- — " Here, lictor, cut away this root, or 'twill trip me up as I Avalk ;" and then dismissed the trembling- wretch. A man of this kind was sure to be popular with the sol- diers ; yet often he lost their good-will by his violent and overbear- ing conduct. * Liv. viii. 21, Ifin. Chap. XXII. SECOND SAMNITE WAR. 201 Q. Fabius Maximus* was perhaps the most considerable man of the time. He was a patrician, but the warm friend of the plebeian P. Dccius, the sou of that Decius who devoted himself so nobly in the Latin War. Fabius more than once proved himself the better genius of Rome, in the latter part of this war and after- wards. With these three Patricians must be remembered the names of C. Marcius Rutilus and Q. Publilius Philo, Plebeians, who have already been mentioned more than once. To oppose these Roman chiefs, the Samnites had no doubt bold and skilful leaders ; for during a great part of the war their arms Avere in the ascendant. But the only name we know is that of C. Pontius ; and a fitter place will occur presently to speak of this great man. § 3. The war itself may be conveniently divided into three periods : the first, from 326 to 322, when the Samnites were so far reduced as to sue for peace; the second from 321, when the Ro- mans were defeated at the Caudine Forks, to 315, when the Sam- nites gained another victory at Lautulse, and Capua threatened to revolt ; the third, from 314, when the Roman fortune again began to prevail, to 304, when the war ended. § 4. First Period (326— 322).— The year after the fall of Pa- Isepolis, the Senate boldly ordered the Consul D. Junius Brutus to march into the allied country of Apulia, in order to attack the Sam- nites from that quarter, while the other Consul entered Samnium from Campania. By this means they hoped to avert tlfe war from their own territory, as they had done successfully in the Latin war. Brutus was refused a passage through the Vestinian country, and spent the whole year in reducing these people to submission. The purpose of this was, no doubt, to secure a passage into Apulia. Meantime, the other Consul being sick, M. Papirius Cursor was named Dictator to act in his place, and he chose Q. Fabius as his Master of Horse. The Dictator found the Samnite army ad- vanced to the edge of the Lower Apennines, which overhang the Latian Plain, somewhere in the neighbourhood of Sublaqueum (Subiaco), and there he fixed his camp. Being recalled to Rome to rectify some mistake in the auguries, he left the army in com- mand of Fabius, strictly charging him not to venture on an action. But in a day or two, as he was presiding in the Senate, a message reached him to say that his Master of Horse had been so pro- voked by the hourly insults of the enemy, that he had attacked them and gained a signal victory. Papirius rushed out of the * Also called Rullianus. From this name it should seem that he waa adopted by a Fabius from the Gens RuUia. 9* 202 EOME CONQUEROR OP ITALY. Book III. Senate-house, and went straight to the army, vowing that his rebellious officer should die the death of young Manlius, the son of Torquatus. But Fabius, being forewarned, called the soldiers together, and told them of his danger; whereupon they bade him be of good cheer, for they would stand between him and the Dictator's wrath. The latter, as soon as he arrived, ordered the lictors to seize Fabius, who took refuge among the veterans ; and after a long struggle, the Dictator was obliged to let matters stand over till the next day. Meantime, Fabius fled to Eome, and appeared before the Senate to tell his story. But Papirius pursuing him, entered the Senate-house and ordered the lictors to arrest him. A scene of great violence followed ; and at length the Dictator was obliged to yield to the wishes of both Senate and People. But the pardon he granted was forced and ungracious, and on his return to the camp he found the army ripe for mutiny and unwilling to fight. Then even his stubborn will gave way ; he found it necessary to curb his angry temper, and adopt gentler manners ; till at length, having recovered the good-will of the soldiery, he again attacked the enemy, and again defeated them. So discouraged were the Samnites, that they sued for peace ; but only a year's truce was granted, at the end of which hostilities were resumed with the same fortune as before. They were again defeated in a great battle on the borders of their own country ; while Q. Fabius, now Consul, made an irruption into the northern part of Apulia, which was still subject to the Samnites, and took Luceria, with other places. On these losses, the enemy prayed for peace more earnestly than before ; but the Senate refused to treat unless Brutulus Papius, whom they accounted the leader of the war-party, were first delivered up. This man nobly said that he would not stand in the way of his country's wishes, and sought a voluntary death. Then the Samnites sent ambassadors to Eome, bearing the body of Papius, to repeat their former prayer. But this unworthy treatment of a man whose only fault seems to have been that he loved his county too well, was of no avail. The conditions of peace ofiered by the Senate were so hard, that it was thought that a war ever so unsuccessful could bring about no worse results. It was determined to renew hostilities. § 5. Second Period (321 — 315 B.C.) — As during the first five years of the war the Roman arms had prevailed, so during the next seven the Samnites were almost uniformly successful. This success was mainly due to C. Pontius. Herennius, his father, was famed for wisdom, not without reason ; for he had drank at the fountain of Greek philosophy, having been the friend of the Chap. XXII. SECOND SAMNITE WAR. 203 Pythagorean sage Archytas,'* avIio had governed Tarentum with wisdom and virtue for many years. Herennius had paid great attention to the education of his son, and the name of C. Pontius stood so high, that he was elected captain-general of the Samnite League. The very first year of his command was marked by one of the greatest disgraces which the Roman armies ever suffered. This w^as the famous affair of the Caudine Forks (Furculae Caudinse). It appears that in this year (321 b.c.) both the Consuls, T. Yeturius and Sp. Posthumius, had been ordered to march into Campania, in order to attack Samnium from that country. When they reached Capua, they heard that Pontius with the whole Sam- nite army was besieging Luceria. Thinking that, unless they hast- ened by the shortest way into Apulia, the whole country might fall away from the Romans, they marched straight northward into Samnium, taking the road which led by Calatia through the mountains to Beneventum, the chief town of the Caudini. Soon after the road enters the mountains, the valley becomes very nar- row : it then opens out into a small plain, and then closes in again.f When the Roman armies, after traversing the plain, attempted to defile through the pass at the far end of it, they found they had been deceived by false reports. The enemy had indeed besieged Luceria ; but C. Pontius himself, with the best of his troops, had beset the road, and was so strongly posted, that it seemed impossi- ble to force a passage. The Consuls then turned about, intending to go back into Campania and seek another way into Apulia, but they found that the enemy had in the meantime taken possession of the pass by which they had entered, so that they were hemmed in both in front and rear. The hills on either side were also guarded, so that escape was impossible. Still the Romans made a desperate attempt to force their way out of this trap, but at what point is unknown. Great numbers fell ; one-half of their ofiicers were killed or wounded ; and not till then did the Consuls offer to treat.J § 6. Pontius was so elated by his great success, that he knew not what would be the best use to make of his victory. In this state of doubt he sent for his sage father, and demanded counsel. " Two courses are open to you," said Herennius, " either to put all to the * Cicero de Senect. c. 12. f The place is uncertaiQ. It was certainly on the road from Capua to Beneventum, and must have been either the Stretto d'Arpaia, a narrow defile between Arienzo and Arpaia, or the depressed vaUey beyond Arpaia, between that place and -Montesarchio. :]: Livy mentions no battle : he did not see that defeat was more glorioua than surrender. But the battle is expressly mentioned by Cicero (de OflBc. iii. 30, de Senect. 12), and the great loss is specified by Appian. 204 ROME CONQUEROR OP ITALY. Book III. sword, and deprive your enemies of a brave army ; or to let them go untouclied, and make them your friends." This advice has been highly praised, but without much reason. It sounds like the policy of a rude Samnite mountaineer, rather than of one who had heard the lessons of Grecian wisdom. The slaughter of a whole army is too cruel for a civilised man to think of. To dis- miss them all without conditions would have been a romantic piece of generosity, Avhich the Roman Senate would have ascribed either to folly or to fear. Nor did Pontius listen to his father's counsel. He proposed to let the army go free, on surrendering their arms and publicly acknowledging their defeat, if the chief oflScers would engage to procure a peace and cause that all towns and lands which had been taken from the Samnites should be restored. This was agreed to; the treaty was signed by the Consuls and all the superior officers. Six hundred knights were handed over to Pontius as hostages till the treaty was ratified by the Senate. And then the whole army, clad in their under gar- ments only, having given up their armour and cloaks, was allowed to go through the Samnite lines, each man passing singly under the yoke. They returned in this sorry guise to Capua, where they were supplied with arms and outer garments, that they might not return to Rome like prisoners or slaves. But so ashamed were they, that none would go into the city till nightfall, except the Consuls, who were obliged to enter publicly, and by daylight. But they shared in the feelings of their men, and the whole Roman people Avere oppressed by shame and grief. All busi- ness was suspended ;* all ranks put on mourning ; all festivals, public and private, were adjourned ; and the Comitia for election of new magistrates were held by an Interrex, the Consuls being- deemed unworthy to preside. The persons chosen to be the new Consuls were those held most likely to repair this great disaster, — L. Papirius Cursor the Patrician, and Q. Publilius Philo the Plebeian. § 7. Pontius now demanded the fulfilment of the treaty, and the matter was laid before the Senate. The late Consuls, who had made the treaty, rose and declared that it ought not to be observed ; that they and all who had signed that shameful treaty ought to be given up to the enemy. Two Tribunes of the Plebs opposed this motion, but they were not heard. Consuls, Legion- ary Tribunes, Quaestors, and all others who had signed, were given to the fecial or herald ; and he delivered them in chains to the Samnites. As soon as this was done, Postumius, the late Consul, struck the Roman fecial with his knee, saying : " I anl now a Sam- * Justitium indicium est. Chap. XXIL SECOND SAMNITE WAR. 205 nite subject, and thus do I insult ttie sacred officer of Rome. The Romans can now make rightful Avar against the Samnites." But Pontius cut short this paltry quibbling by declaring that he would not receive the prisoners at all. " Rome," said he, " made a treaty with me ; I will not excuse her performance of her duty because she gives up the persons of a few officers. If she will not have the treaty, let her place her army as it was in the Pass of Caudine Forks, and then I will see what may be done." The Roman pri- soners returned to Rome ; the six hundred hostages were left, to the mercy of the Samnites. § 8. In this matter the Roman Senate has been much blamed for treachery and breach of faith. But, to justity such censure, we must be able to answer these questions : — Had the Consuls power to make a treaty binding on the whole people ? Or if they had not, did they send to Rome to obtain the sanction of the Senate and People? If these questions are answered, one or both of them, in the affirmative, then doubtless the Senate were most guilty. But if the Consuls had no such power, and if the authorities at home had not been consulted, then all that can be said is that C. Pontius ought not to have dismissed the army till the treaty had been duly ratified : for Rome was so near that an answer could soon have been brought back. There is too much reason to think that, directly or indirectly, some authority was given to the treaty. At all events the conduct of Postumius, in pretending to be a Samnite when he insulted the Roman fecial, is, to our notions, contemptible, if not too ludicrous even to be contemptible. § 9. So the war was renewed, and Papirius Cursor, with his ple- beian colleague, took the field. It is said that Luceria surrendered to Papirius ; at all events, his presence in Apulia prevented that people from deserting the Roman alliance, and he was re-elected Consul for the next year. The history of the rest of this period is obscure. Two years passed in another armistice, during which the Romans created the two new Oscan Tribes above noticed.'* But fortune continued to favour the Samnites. They advanced still further along the upper valley of the Liris; Sora revolted to them, and they expelled the Roma;i colonists from Fregellse ; so that the Romans lost the command of the upper road into Campania. Still the Senate persisted in their aggressive policy ; and in the eleventh year of the war, Papirius and Publilius, again colleagues in the Consul- ship, again led their arms into Apulia and Samnium, leaving the lower Campanian road undefended. On this the Samnites * Cliapt. xxi. § 5. 206 EOME CONQUEROR OF ITALY. Book III. descended into Campania ; and Fabius, being appointed Dictator, had only just time to occupy the pass of Lautulse, which has been mentioned as an important position on the lower road, between Anxur and Fundi. But Fabius, brave and skilful as he was, could not hold his post with ah army so hastily drawn together. He was defeated with great loss, Q. Aulius Cerre- tanus. Master of the Horse, being in the number of the slain. The loss of Lautulse opened Latium to the Samnite army; the Auruncans and other Oscan tribes rose against Rome, and Campania threatened to revolt. The condition of the city seemed desperate. But old Eome never shone so bright as when her light seemed quite put out. "Merses profundo, pul- chrior evenit," is no poetic fancy, but an historic truth. And so it was even now. Fabius appears to have saved part of his army, and with it to have joined one of the Consuls, who had returned home in haste, when the news of the battle of Lautulse reached him. They fell upon the Samnites, and defeated them completely. From this time the star of the Samnites began to wane. For the remaining ten years of the war the Roman arms uniformly prevailed ; and with these begin our third and last period. § 10. Third Period (314 — 304 B.C.). — The defeat of the Sam- nites just mentioned was so complete, that they could not meet the Romans in the field. The wretched Auruncans, who had been tempted to revolt after the battle of Lautulse, were betrayed to their old masters, and (to use the words of Livy) were annihi- lated.* Msenius was named Dictator to inquire into Campanian disaffection ; and his presence at Capua created so much terror, that the two Calavii, the leaders of the confederacy, were delivered up to him, and a general amnesty was granted. The Senate then busied themselves with so fortifying the upper road, that they might never again lose it. Sora was a second time betrayed to them; they re-established the Colony of Fregellse, and sent colonists to Casinum, Interamna, and Suessa, so that these places, with Cales, formed a line of for- tresses along the Samnite frontier. They also took the large town of Nola in Southern Campania, and probably also Salernum, so that the Samnites were now almost, if not quite, cut off from the southern sea. Lastly, a large body of colonists was sent to the distant town of Luceria, to prevent its being again surprised by the enemy. Thus were the Samnites held in check on every side. § 11. The war would probably have come to a quick conclusion * " Deleta gens Ausonum." — ix. 25. Chap. XXH. SECOND SAMNITB WAR. 207 had it not been that in the fifteenth year the forty years' truce Avith the Etruscans of the southern country ended, and this people stirred up other cities of Northern Etruria to join with them in war against Rome. In that year Q. Fahius was appointed Consul for the second time, to conduct the war against the Etrus- cans, while C. Marcius Rutilus, his colleague, held the Samnites in check. But the Plebeian Consul was defeated by the Samnites, and cut off from communication with the city. The Senate, in great alarm, resolved that Papirius Cursor should be named Dic- tator. But who was to name him? Marcius could not; and Fabius, it was feared, would not.* However, they sent to the latter in Etruria, trusting that love of his country would overcome memory of his private wrongs. Fabius received the order to exalt his old enemy in silence, and turned abruptly from the messengers; but at dead of night he rose, according to ancient custom, and named his deadly foe to the Dictatorship. § 12, For the next year (309 B.C.), it appears from the Fasti that no Consuls were elected. Papirius, with dictatorial power, led his legions into Samnium ; while Fabius continued as Pro- consul in Etruria. The Samnites had made great exertions to improve their success, and the splendid equipment of their army is described by Livy. One division wore striped tunics with gilded shields ; the other was clad in white, with shields of silver. But all was of no avail ; the long-tried fortune of Papirius again pre- vailed, and the Samnites were once more utterly defeated. This was the last battle they fought in this war. § 13. Meanwhile Fabius had been no less successful in Etruria. He first made another attempt upon the Etruscan lines at Sutrium ; but finding them too strong to be forced, with the bold decision which marks the Roman leaders of this time he determined to make an inroad into their country. He knew their weakness at home, caused by the tyranny which was exercised bv the Lucumones over their serfs. Still his enter- prise was a bold one. To reach the Vulsinian territory he must traverse the Ciminian hills.* Since Lower Etruria had been con- quered, these hills had been left as a frontier, not to be occupied by either party. They were quite overgrown with wood, and no Roman foot (it is said) had traversed them for many years, Fabius proposed to make his way through this barrier, and descend at once upon Vulsinii, justly calculating that the alarm caused by his appearance would draw off the invading army. He sent forward his brother Marcus, who had been brought up at Caere and spoke Etruscan like a native, to examine the * See Chapt, vi. § 9. 208 ROME CONQUEROR OP ITALY. Book III. country beyond the forest; and sent word to tlie Senate of his intention, that they might provide means to defend the city, in case the Etruscans ventured to attack it in his absence. The Senate was alarmed by his boldness, and sent off ambassadors, attended by two Tribunes, with positive orders to stop his march. But Fabius was already in Etruria. He ravaged the country far and wide ; and the enemy broke up from Sutrium to defend their own homes. He encountered them near Perusia, and, after a bloody battle, defeated them utterly. The result was that the cities whom the Vulsinians had drawn into the war, made a peace for thirty years. The ^ilsinians, however, continued in arms. § 14. The Samnites were now quite worn out. The war had lasted more than twenty years. The Romans every year invaded their country ; and at length, upon the fall of Bovianum, the chief town of the Pentrians, they sued for peace. It was granted, but on hard terms. They lost all their territory on the sea-coast : they gave up all foreign alliances and conquests, and acknowledged the supremacy of Rome. § 15. The Senate were more ready to come to terms, because some of her other neighbours threatened to be troublesome. Even the Hernicans, the old and faithful allies of Rome, had risen against her just before the close of the war ; but they were re- duced in a single campaign, and their towns treated as those of the Latins had been before. Anagnia, their chief city, became a Roman municipal town. Part of the Volscian lands also were occupied by the, colonies of Interamna and Casinum (as above noted), and more recently by Sora. At the close of the war, the remnant of the -^quians also ventured to provoke the wrath of Rome. They also were soon subdued, and two Colonies were planted among their mountains — at Alba on the Fucine Lake, and at Carseoli ; and by the next Censors the JEquian territory on the Anio was formed into two new Tribes, so that now the number amounted to Thirty -three.* This near approach of Roman settlers alarmed the Sabellian tribes on the high Apennines, and the Mar- sians declared war. They also were defeated ; upon which the Senate at once offered to enter into a league with them on equal terms : and the Marsians long remained the faithful ally of Rome. The Marrucinians, Pelignians, Frentanians, and Vestinians, also joined the Roman league. * In the censorship of P. Sempronius Sophus, P. Sulpicius, 299 B.C. "Tri- busque addite duse, Anienis et Terentina." — ^Liv. s; 9, 'mB ^ME [li<0)*CM FSCilP i 0_J ■.■.■.■.Eu.a.u.iAiAlaftM.B.i.i,KKi.n,naAii,axjiAi;M,ifl.i'.«ji«aa Tomb of Scjpio Barbatus. CHAPTER XXIII. THIRD SAMNITE WAR. (299 290 B.C.) § 1. Hollowness of the late peace. § 2. Rome engaged in war -with Etrus- cans, Umbrians, and Gauls. § 3. Samnites choose this crisis for declaring war. § 4. Samnium desolated by Fabius and Decius. § 5. Great con- federacy organised by Gellius Bgnatius, the Samnite. § 6. Fabius and Decius again elected Consuls: great efforts for Campaign. § T. Decisive battle of Sentinum : self-sacrifice of second Decius. § 8. Victory in Sam- nium by Papirius and Carvilius. § 9. C. Pontius agatu appears, and is taken prisoner by Pabius. § 10. Great Colony planted at Venusia. § 11. Submission of Samnites. § 12. Shameful death of C. Pontius. § 1. The peace whicli concluded the Second Samnite War was made in 304 e.g., and in less than six years from that time the Third Samnite War began. This peace indeed was no peace (in our sense of the word), but a mere armistice on the part of the Samnites, who no doubt were resolved to break it as soon as they feit themselves strong enough to renew hostilities. Their great want in the late war*had been allies. They had fought single-handed against Rome, who was supported by Latins, Campanians, and Apulians. The greater part of the Sabellian tribes had stood aloof in cold neutrality, or had rendered a very doubtful succour. But an opportunity now offered which seemed to present occasion for forming a great confederation of Central Italy against Rome. 210 EOMB CONQUEROR OP ITALT. Book III. § 2. After the conclusion of tte peace before-named, Rome again appears in hostility with many of the Etruscan cities, not- withstanding the thirty years' truce which all except Vulsinii had lately made.* At Arretium (Arezzo) we find the noble house of the Cilnii, from whom C. Cilnius Maecenas, the minister of Augus- tus, claimed descent, inviting the Romans to restore them to the city from which they had been banished. Perusia also and other cities appear in arms. Even beyond Etruria, in Umbria, we find the Romans at war with the people of Nequinum, a city strongly situated on the Nar (Nera). After an obstinate siege they took the place, and planted a Colony there, under the name of Narnia (Narni), to command the point at which the frontiers of Etruria, Umbria, and the Sabines meet. The Umbrians were so alarmed by this aggressive movement, that they called in to aid them a people who had hitherto been regarded with horror by all Italian nations. A tribe of the Senonian Gauls, the same who had burnt Rome, had made a permanent settlement on the TJmbrian coast-land, between the litis and the ^sk. The Umbrians, once a large and powerful nation, had been gradually confined to the moun- tain land on the left bank of the Tiber ; and these Gauls had been the last enemy who had encroached upon their lands till the late settlement of the Romans at Narnia. We may infer the alarm felt by the Umbrians from the fact of their seeking such assistance. § 3. In the year 298 B.C. the Consuls were preparing to resist an attack from the Umbrians and Gauls ; and this was the favourable moment chosen by the Samnites for renewing the war. Their first step was to overpower the Roman party in Lucania and Apulia ; the colony of Luceria alone held out. Then they attempted to draw over the Marsians to their league ; but this people turned a deaf ear to the voice of the tempter. The Sabines, however, of the upper country, gave a favourable answer. With this formidable confederacy on the one hand, and the fear of the Etrurians, Umbrians, and Senonian Gauls on the other, the position of Rome appeared critical. But for some reason the fickle Gauls failed in their engagement, the Umbrians did not move, and Rome was left to deal with the Samnite league on the south, and the Etruscan cities on the north. But no doubt the interposition , of the Frentanians and of the Marsians, with, their associated cantons, between the Samnites and Northern Italy, must have greatly strengthened the hands of Rome in the ensuing war. * Chapt. xxii. § 12. Chap. XXIIL THIED SAMNITE WAE. 211 § 4. The patrician Consul of tlie year 298 b.c, L. Cornelius Scipio Barbatus, the first of a great name,'* invaded Etruria, while his colleague, Cn. Fulvius, entered the country of the Pentrian Samnites. Fulvius gained not that advantage which the Roman people expected over an enemy whom they considered as already conquered. Accordingly, the general wish was to elect Q. Fabius Maximus, the hero of the late war, Consul for the next year. Fabius was now an elderly man, and this would be his fourth Consulship. He was fain to decline the task, but at length gave way on condition that his plebeian colleague should be P. Decius Mus, son of him who devoted himself in the great Latin war ; and he also had been Consul twice before. They had been col- leagues in the Consulship four years before (301 b.c), and had cordially united in measures calculated to preserve harmony in the state, as we shall show in the next chapter. They continued firm friends till the death of Decius, and present a most honoura- ble specimen of a Patrician and Plebeian combined for the com- mon good. Etruria was neglected. Both Consuls invaded Samnium : Fa- bius the Pentrian, Decius the Caudine valleys. They overran every part, burning and destroying. It is said that in this sum- mer's campaign, Decius encamped in forty-five diff"erent places, Fabius in eighty-six. The campaign served to detach the Luca- nians and Apulians from alliance with the Samnites. § 5. It appeared as if this brave people were again at the feet of Rome ; and L. Volumnius, the plebeian Consul of the next yeai: (296 b.c), whilst his colleague App. Claudius was sent into Etruria, entered Samnium as if to take possession. But the Samnites rose from under their calamities with an elasticity as great as Rome herself displayed. Probably in the terrible assault of the last year great part of their flocks and herds, their chief wealth, had been secured in mountain fastnesses, and therefore they sufi^ered not so much as an agricultural people might have done. But the chief merit of their renewed vigour must be at- tributed to a brave chief, named Gellius Egnatius, who shines forth for a moment, like Pontius in the former war, through the uncertain mist of Samnite history, as it is transmitted to us by Roman annalists. The plan for an Italian confederation, which had been faintly attempted at the beginning of the war, this man' attempted to realise by a step as bold as ever was taken in a des- perate emergency. * This was the Scipio' whose sarcophagus (figured at the head of this Chap- ter) is so familiar to aU eyes. The inscription on it records tliat he " conquered the Lucanians, &c., and led away hostages." When this was done is not re- corded in Liw- 212 ROME CONQUEROR OP ITALY. Book III. With a clioseii body of Samnites he made a rapid march into the valley of the Tiber, between Umbria and Etruria, hoping that his presence might rouse to action the slumbering energies of those countries, leaving, however, a sufficient force to keep Volumnius employed in Samnium. App. Claudius, a remarkable man, of whose acts in peace we shall have to speak in the next chapter, was more skilled in the contests of the Senate than of the field, and he was alarmed to hear that Gellius was likely to rouse both TJmbrians and Gauls to join the Etruscans. He shut himself up in an entrenched camp, and sent orders to his colleague to join him. But no attack was made that year. § 6. In this state of alarm the people were convened to elect Consuls for the ensuing year (295 b.c). They at once chose old Fabius for the fifth time, and would have continued Volumnius in office. But Fabius again refused to be elected unless he was united to his old and tried colleague, P. Decius ; and this noble Plebeian was elected for the fourth time Consul. At the very beginning of the year Fabius went to the camp of the late Consuls, where he found Appius adding to the fortifica- tions. He treated the statesman with much contempt, and led forth the men into the field, exercising them daily. He then returned for a short time to the city, to concert measures with the Senate for the eventful campaign that followed. It was settled that both the Consuls, with four legions, were to go forward into Umbria, so as to separate the Samnites, with their Umbrian and Gallic allies, from Etruria. Scipio Barbatus had been sent forward with a single legion to watch the move- ments of the enemy. Yolumnius, as Proconsul, was sent into Samnium. Fulvius was to be stationed near Falerii with a re- serve force to overawe Etruria ; while a fourth army, under Pos- tumius, was to cover Rome herself. This was the largest number of troops that the Republic had ever yet called into the field. With her allies she could not have had less than 100,000 men under arms. § 7. When the Consuls took the field, they were greeted with the unwelcome news that Scipio had been overpowered by the Gauls ; and that these barbarians, with some of the Etruscans, had joined the brave Gellius Egnatius in Umbria. They im- 'mediately pushed across the Apennines, and (probably to supply Scipio's place) recalled Volumnius from Samnium. At the same time they sent orders to Fulvius to advance into Etruria, hoping by this diversion to draw off the Etruscans, and thus weaken the confederate army. The scheme was successful ; and when the Roman army met the confederates at Sentinum in Umbria, the Etruscans had already returned home. Here, as on all occa- Chap. XXIII. THIRD SAMNITE WAR. 213 sions, the conduct of that people was weak and selfish. No brave man could trust his fortunes in their hands. The Roman army of Umbria, legionaries and allies, amounted to not less than 60,000 men. The enemy, even without the Etruscans, were far more numerous. Fabius commanded the right wing, which was opposed to Gellius with his Samnites, the Umbrians, and probably some other Italian tribes ; Decius on the left faced an immense host of Gauls. Just before the battle began, a hind and a wolf (so runs the story) ran down between the armies : the hind turned in among the Gauls, and was slain by their javelins ; the wolf sought refuge in the Roman ranks, and no man touched the sacred beast of Romulus. This was hailed as an omen of good, and the battle began. Fabius, after an obstinate struggle, brought up his reserve and the Samnites gave way. But he could not pursue them ; for Decius on his side had been less successful. The Gauls had brought their war-chariots into action, and the Romans were terror- struck by these strange engines of destruction. A panic seized the cavalry, and the legions wavered ; when Decius resolved to follow the example of his father, and devote himself for his country. He went through the same solemn forms ; his heroic death lent new courage to his men, and they returned to the charge under the command of M. Livius, the Pontifex Maximus. Still the Gauls kept their ground unflinching, though the heat of an Italian sun relaxed the strength of their northern frames. At this time Fabius, having driven the Samnites and their con- federates from the field, wheeled round, and assailed the Gauls on their left flank, while he detached the Campanian cavalry to take them in rear. Thus surrounded, they were soon completely broken, and a general pursuit took place. Then the Samnites were attacked anew, and the brave Gellius Egnatius fell fighting. But a remnant of his hardy mountaineers retreated in good order, and regained their own country. The slaughter on both sides was prodigious. Such was the battle of Sentinum, which determined the fate of Samnium and of Italy. The triumph of Fabius, who returned not home till he had gained another victory over the Etruscans at Perusia, was well deserved. But it was marred by the absence of his brave colleague ; and none felt this more than Fabius himself. He pronounced an oration over the grave of his thrice-proved friend, lamenting that he had borne all the danger, but had not lived to share the glory. § 8. Notwithstanding this complete rout of the confederates, the Samnites maintained the contest for five years more. In 293 B.C. they made a desperate effort ; certain picked battalions were 214 ROME CONQUEROR OF ITALY. Book m. splendidly armed, as in the last war, and bound themselves by horrid oaths to die or conquer. The Consuls of the year were L. Papirius, son of Papirius Cursor, and Sp. Carvilius;' and they both invaded Samnium, as Fabius and Decius had done four years before. The Samnites resolved to try the fortune of another battle with their new levies, and their armies met Papirius — we know not where. When the omens were taken from the feeding of the sacred fowls (puUi), their keeper (the pullarius) reported that " they fed well, — so greedily indeed, that some of the corn fell over." The omen was good. But just as the battle was beginning the nephew of the Consul Papirius came to him in great fear : " for," said he, " the pullarius has lied ; the fowls will not eat at all." " Be it so," replied the Consul, " the omens were reported to me as good, and I shall begin the battle. If the report was false, let the false speaker look to it ;" and he ordered the pullarius to be set in the front rank. At the first onset the wretch was killed ; by his death the anger of the gods was believed to be averted, and the Romans advanced to battle with fresh confidence. In the heat of battle Papirius, confident of victory, shouted : " Jupiter, grant me vic- tory, and I will give thee a cup of wine and honey before I touch a cup myself." The soldiers recognised the rough humour of old Papirius Cursor, and shared the general's confidence. The enemy were utterly defeated; and the rest of the year was spent in ravaging the country. The booty taken was immense ; and Car- vilius signalised his triumph by erecting a colossal statue of Jupi- ter on the Capitol, so huge that it could be seen from the Albau Hill, twelve miles off. § 9. These vigorous measures were not continued the next year, when Q. Fabius Gurges, son of old Fabius, was sent alone into Samnium. He had the name but not the nature of his father, and the Samnites were once more commanded by their greatest man, C. Pontius, of whom we hear nothing from the year of the Furculse Caudinse to the present time. He resumed his old tactics, and again drew the Romans into a defile, from which, however, he allowed them to escape, but not without heavy loss. The news of this unexpected reverse raised a storm of indignation at Rome, and the Consul was only saved from disgrace by his father, who volunteered to join the army as his son's legatus or lieutenant. His presence restored spirit to the army. Another battle was fought ; many thousand Samnites fell, and C. Pontius was taken prisoner. The tri- umphal procession was remarkable, because old Fabius and his son both appeared in the car of victory, and ascended together to the Capitol. Chap. XXIII. THIRD SAMNITB WAR. 215 § 10. The Senate had some fear lest Tarentum and the Southern tribes might even yet be excited to join the Samnites ; and to curb them, they determined to colonise Venusia, in Southern Apulia. It is said that 20,000 Komans and Latins settled in the future birthplace of Horace, and we shall find Venusia hereafter appear- ing as one of the most faithful of the Colonies. § 11. Two years after, in the year 290 B.C., the Samnites finally laid down their arms, and submitted to Roman supremacy. One short struggle more followed ten years after, when the arrival of Pyn-hus gave false hopes to the people of Southern Italy. After his departure the Samnites, with the rest of the Italians, bowed without further dispute to the sovereignty of Rome. § 12. The close of this war was marked by one disgraceful act, the death of C Pontius. He followed the triumphal procession of Fabius Gurges, and was beheaded in the prison under the Capitol. We blush for Rome when we hear of such treatment of a noble and generous enemy. We grieve that the last we hear of old Fabius is that he should have been associated in a triumph whose laurels were so grievously sullied. The death of Pontius not only showed a great want of magnanimity, but was a viola- tion of common humanity. But the religion of the Romans did not teach humanity ; and though they were magnanimous in mis- fortune, they were always tyrannical in success. ''fej^-'K«i;'<<=^<=-:s- Appian "Way. CHAPTER XXIV. CIVIL HISTORY DURING THE TIME OF THE SAMNITE "VVAKS. § 1. Internal changes during Samnite "Wars : remnants of jealousy between two Orders: Pudicitia Plebeia. § 2. Patrician Clubs put down by C. Msenius. § 3. Ogulnian Law for admitting Plebeians to Pontificate and Augurate. § 4. Plebeians, as a class, no longer poor. § 5. Increasing number of Slaves and Preedmen. § 6. Political condition of Freedmen. § 1. Appius Claudius Caecus: his scheme of uniting Patricians and Freed- men against Plebeians. § 8. Choice of Senate by Appius as Censor : his colleague resigns, but he remains sole Censor. § 9. He enrols Freedmen in aU Tribes. § 10. His agent, Cn. Flavins the notary : publishes a Calendar. § 11. Elected Curule ^dile. § 12. Appius retains his Censorship for four years. § 13. His public works : Appian Eoad: Appian Aqueduct. §14. His later life. § 15. Eestoration of old rule with respect to Freedmen by Fabius and Decius : peaceable end of the question. § 1. In a period of continued war, home affairs commonly present a monotonous aspect. It is after a war that civil commotions usually arise and political innovations take place. There were, Chap. XXIV. CIVIL HISTORY DURING SAMNITB WARS. 217 however, some changes introduced during the Samnite wars that call for special notice. First, it may be noticed that as all political inequality be- tween Patricians and Plebeians had been removed, so all social distinctions were fast disappearing. Many Patrician families had fallen into decay ; a Plebeian Nobility had grown up by their side ; and the Publilii, the Marcii, the Decii, boasted names as great as the Manlii, the Papirii, the Fabii. Moreover access to the Senate Avas obtained, as we have before said, by the tenure of \ political office ; and, now that these offices Avere equally divided, it may be presumed that there were as many Plebeian Senators as Patrician. That jealousy still lingered in many minds is certain. A sign of this appears in the story preserved of the wife of Volumnius, the plebeian colleague of Appius Claudius in 296 b.c. She was a Patrician of the Virginian Gens, but the patrician matrons would not allow her to join in the worship of the Pudicitia Patricia, alleging that by marriage with a Plebeian she had for- feited her rights. Upon this she consecrated a chapel to Pudi- citia Plebeia. But petty jealousies of this kind did not find place among the better sort of either order. The example of Fabius and Decius shows that there were noble-minded men in each who could join heart and hand in the service of the state, § 2. But there were many of the young Patricians who could not brook to part even with their political supremacy. Clubs (coitiones) were formed for the purpose of promoting the elec- tion of their own order at the Comitia, and debarring the Ple- beians from the rights accorded to them by the Licinian law. But C. Msenius, a Plebeian, who had been appointed Dictator to inquire into the threatened revolt of Capua (314 B.C.),* after executing his duty abroad, went on summarily to break up these political clubs as contrary to public good. The outcry raised by the clubbists Avas so great that he laid down his office, and sub- mitted to be impeached before the Senate, together with his Master of the Horse, M. Foslius, and the noble plebeian Q, Pub- lilius Philo, by whose advice he had acted. The complaint, how- ever, was dismissed, and the Clubs are little heard of afterwards. § 3. The only exclusive privilege which was still maintained by the Patricians was, that they alone were eligible to the sacred offices of the Pontificate and Augurate.f There were still only four Pontifices, beside the Pontifex Maximus, and four Augurs, * Above, Chapt. xxii. § 10. f The Plebeians, indeed, first obtained entrances to the Censorsliip in 280 B.C. — Liv. Epit. xiii. But there seems to have been no law necessary to admit them. 10 218 EOMB CONQUEROR OP ITALY. BookIIL all Patricians, according to the original institutions ascribed to Numa. But this privilege was little worth preserving, when it had been conceded that Plebeians could hold curule offices, enter the Capitoline Temple in triumphal procession, and take the aus- pices at the meeting of the Centuriate Assembly. Accordingly, in the year 300 B.C., a law was proposed by two Tribunes, both bearing the name of Ogulnius, for removing this last symbol of exclusive privilege. It was proposed that henceforth there should be eight Pontifices, four from each order, besides the chief Pontiff, who might be either patrician or plebeian, for we find the office held by Ti. Coruncanius, a distinguished Plebeian, not many years later. The number of Augurs was also to be increased to nine, four from each order, the ninth probably being President of the College, as was the Chief Pontiff' of the Pontifical College. Vacancies were to be filled up as heretofore, by the surviving mem- bers of the College, a practice which in Roman language was called Cobptatio!'' Decius spoke warmly in favour of the law, and it was carried by general consent. § 4. We have now ceased to hear the epithet poor applied to the Plebeians as a class. There were still, no doubt, poor Plebeians, as there were poor Patricians ; but the law which de- livered debtors into bondage was no more, and the late divisions of Public Land to those who had been sent out to settle in the colonies lately planted in the Volscian, ^quian, and other dis- tricts, must have removed poverty from a large number of families. The colonial system of Rome, which afterwards played so import- ant a part in her policy, was as yet in its infancy, and we shall defer our consideration of its nature and intentions. But its eff'ect in diminishing the number of the poor Plebeians is self-evi- dent ; nor was anything now remaining to affix poverty to them as a class. § 5. But while this complete fusion of the Orders was peace- ably brought about, a new element of discord was appearing in the state. The poor of the plebeian order had been relieved by colonisation. But another class of poor was rapidly arising with the increase of the city in population and wealth. In all large communities assembled in towns a vast number of needy per- sons are found, who live from hand to mouth, and are ready to take advantage of any political or social disturbance. In ancient cities, where labour and mechanical arts were chiefly left to slaves, this class was separated from the burgesses or citizens by a yet wider gulf than prevails in modern communities. For a long period of Rome's earlier age. Slaves seem not to have been * Being the process by which Fellows of Colleges at Oxford and Cambridge are elected. Chap. XXIV. CIVIL HISTORY DURING SAMNITB WARS. 219 nnmerous. Agricultural labour was mostly clone by the Plebeians themselves, either as the owners of small estates or as free la- bourers. The mechanical works of artisans and the business of trade were mostly carried on by the Clients under the protection and for the benefit of their Patrons. But, no doubt, when Kome became a powei-fal monarchy under the later kings, she followed the example of all ancient states, and made Slaves of a large number of those whom she conquered. And the same process must have been repeated with accelerated rapidity during the progress which the arms of the Republic had made since the imion of Patricians and Plebeians. We find, in fact, that the Freedmen, that is, those who had once been Slaves or whose parents had been Slaves, had become an important class in the state ; and therefore it follows that Slaves, from whose ranks the Freedmen were sup- plied, must also have become numerous. These Freedmen were many of them wealthy ; but when a large number of Slaves were set free at once, as was sometimes the case on the death of their master, a number of indigent per- sons must have been left to their own resources : and thus it was that the new race of poor citizens arose, of whom we shall hear so much in the later period of our history under the name of the Populace of Rome, the factio forensis of the Roman writers. § 6. We have called these Freedmen citizens. They were so ; but their citizenship was limited by this particular stigma, that they could only belong to one of the four City Tribes. Therefore, even if they formed a majority in thage four Tribes, they never could exercise much weight in the Comitia Tributa. For, since there were at present twenty-seven Rustic Tribes, the votes of the full Burgesses stood to those of the Freedmen in the proportion of more than six to one. But it was obvious that if these Freed- men were thrown into the Rustic Tribes, their single votes would gain great weight, and give much political power to any one who could command these votes. § 7. It is not an unusual thing to find persons of high patri- cian blood associating themselves politically with the lowest orders rather than with the class immediately below them. The proud Patrician may find more complete submission in the one case than will be rendered in the other ; and the lower orders themselves are glad to find a leader among those whom historical association and ancient wealth connect with the highest order in the state. Such a combination was easy at Rome, because the elevation of the Plebeian order still rankled in the minds of many Patricians ; and it might have been ex- pected that there would not be wanting unscrupulous men of this class who would avail themselves of any means to recover 220 KOME CONQUEROR OP ITALY. Book III. their exclusive privileges. Sucli a man appears at the present juncture. Appius Claudius, afterwards named Csecus or the Blind, was this man. He was descended from that proud Sabine family which in the earlier times of the Republic had for three gene- rations led the high Patrician party in their opposition to the claims of the Plebeians. But for nearly a century and a half, from the end of the Decemviral government to this period, the name of that great family disappears from the Annals. He was, as we have seen, devoid of military talent among a people where every man was more or less a soldier, and where every magis- trate was expected to be a general. But his abilities as a states- man must have been great. He is the first man of whom we hear as rising to high honours with this recommendation only to favour : his temper was determined, and his will inflexible. This eminent man first conceived the plan of creating a new party by means of the Freedmen, so as to neutralise the equality lately won by the Plebeians. The Patricians were as yet the chief slave-owners. The Freedmen were therefore chiefly attached to them, and whatever influence was conceded to them would probably be used, for a time at least, on the side of the Patricians, especially if the political boon conferred were conferred by the hand of a patrician statesman. § 8. In 312 B.C., three years after the disastrous defeat sustained by Fabius at Lautulse, Appius was chosen Censor, together with the plebeian C. Plautius>» He was not Consul till five years later, a reversal of the usual order of office, which may be attributed to his want of military skill. One of the first duties of the Censor was to make up the list of the Senate. The com- mon practice was to leave all the old members on the list, unless any man had been guilty of some dishonourable act, and to fill up the vacancies by a regular rule, of which we shall speak here- after.* But Appius disdained all precedent, and called up into the Senate a number of persons devoted to himself, who had no claim to such a dignity. N^o doubt the chief slight was shown to the Plebeians, for L. Junius Bubulcus, who in the next year was Plebeian Consul for the third time, treated the list made out by Appius as null, and the Plebeian Censor, C. Plautius, resigned his office. The purpose of this resignation was to force Appius also to resign ; for it was the custom when by any cause a Cen- sor was deprived of his colleague, that he should lay down his office at once. But here again Appius defied precedent, and re- mained sole Censor. § 9. He was now quite unfettered, and undertook the great * Chapt. XXXV. § 9. Chap. XXIV. CIYIL HISTORY DURING SAMNITE WARS. 221 alteration to wliicli Ave liave before alluded. In revising the Census-register, or list of all who belonged to the Tribes, he allowed the Freedmen to be registered in the list of any Tribe they pleased, country as well as city. By this means, as we have said, the Freedmen's votes became available in every Tribe, in- stead of being confined to four. Moreover the Freedmen, being resident in Rome, were always present at the assemblies, whereas the country voters attended much less regularly, — a fact which gave to the Freedmen a power beyond their numerical propor- tion. It is not too much to assume that in this measure Appius had the interest of the Patrician party at heart rather than that of the Freedmen and Populace, whom he admitted to equality with the rest of the Burgesses. § 10. The agent whom he employed in dealing with the popu- lace was one Cn. Flavins, the son of a freedman, who followed the calling of a public scrivener or notary (scriba), a class which in ancient times, when printing was unknown, was numerous and important. This man's name is best known in connexion with another matter, the publication of the forms and times to be observed in legal proceedings. Up to that time the Patri- cians had kept all the secrets of law in their own hands ; they alone knew which were the days when courts could be held and when they could not ;* they alone were in possession of those technical formularies according to which all actions must pro- ceed. But Flavius, probably by the help of his patron Appius, got possession of these secrets, and drew up a regular Calendar, in which the Dies Fasti and Nefasti were marked ; and this he set up in the forum, so that all might see it : he also published an authentic list of the formularies proper to be employed in the several kinds of action ; and thus, as Cicero says, " he picked out the crows' eyes."f § 11. Soon after the admission of the Freedmen to the full citizenship, Flavius became a candidate for the Curule JEdile- ship. The Tribune presiding at the election said he could not take votes for a person who was engaged in trade ; upon which Flavius stepped forward and laid down his tablets and stile, the badges of his occupation, declaring that he would be a scrivener no longer. Then he was elected, to the great indignation of the * Originally the court days had been on the Nundinas, or one day in every week when the markets were held. But they were now held irregularly on the Dies Fasti, that is, on aU days which were not marked as Nefasti or Illicit in the secret calendar of the Pontiffs, as Ovid says : — lUe Nefastus erit, per quem tria verba silentur ; Fastus erit, per quem lege licebit agi. f " Scriba quidam, Cn, Flavius, qui cornicum oculos confixerit." — Cicero pro Murena, ch. 11. 222 ROME OONQUEROE OF ITALY. Book HI. old citizens, wlio saw two of their own candidates, men of consular rank, rejected in favour of this Freedman's son. Flavins, how- ever, was no common man; he maintained his position with dignity, and was so struck with the evils that might result from continued disunion, that he vowed a shrine to Concord if the upper and lower classes could be reconciled. § 12, We have seen that Appius remained sole Censor, and when he had held his office for eighteen months it was expected that he would lay it down, as ordered by the JEmilian law.* But he had no such intention. He had begun some great na- tional works, and determined to hold his office for the whole Lustrum, that is, for three and a half years longer. The works we speak of became and still remain famous as the Appian road and the Appian aqueduct. § 13. The Appian Road is well known, even to those who have not visited Rome, by the amusing description which Horace has given of his journey along it. It led from Rome to Capua, passing through the Pontine marshes to Terracina, then skirted the seaward side of the Auruncan hills, so as to avoid the pass of Lautulse, and went on by way of Fundi, Formise, and Sinuessa to Capua. There had been a road this way before, which we have called the lower road to Capua. What Appius did was to straighten it, and make it fit for military purposes : its length was about 120 miles. Some years later it was paved with large angular blocks of basalt or hard lava (silex) and long afterwards it was continued through Beneventum and the Samnite Apennines to Brundusium.f The Latin road, as the upper road to Capua was now called, left Rome by the same gate, the Porta Capena. The Appian Aqueduct (aqua Appia) was the first of these great works by which Rome was so abundantly supplied with water, to the shame of the great cities of modern times. But it did not resemble the Roman Aqueducts of later times — those long lines of arches with which every one is familiar. In those days enemies often penetrated even to the walls of Rome, and might easily have broken off" a raised Aqueduct. It passed under ground, except after it had entered the city, when it rose on a few arches near the Porta Capena :J thence it passed down into * See Chapt. xii. § 5. (3). f Part of it has recently been laid bare of the rubbish which had collected over it, and an interesting description of the discoveries made, with restora- tions, has been given by Canina, the well-known Roman antiquary. See the woodcut at the head of this Chapter. X " Substitit ad veteres areus madidamque Capenam." — Juven. iii. 11. From this it will appear that the common Roman practice of raising their aqueducts on high arches arose, not from ignorance of the fact that water Chap. XXIY. CIVIL HISTORY DURING SAMNITB WARS. 22a the lower parts of tlie city next the river, between the Capitol and the Aventine, where spring-water there was none. In this quarter dwelt those poorer classes whose favour Appius had otherwise endeavoured to gain. It may therefore be suspected that in this work "also he had a political end in view ; but how- ever this may be, every one will agree with the remark, that one must " feel unmixed pleasure in observing that the first Roman aqueduct was constructed for the benefit of the poor, and of those who most needed it."* § 14. At the end of the fourth year of his Censorship Appius was elected Consul. He intended to have continued Censor for this year, but the Tribunes interfered with so much determina- tion that he deemed it prudent to resign his office, and content himself with the Consulship. He was Consul again ten years later (296 b.c), when Gellius Egnatius led his Samnites into Etru- ria, and the next year he was Prsetor : it was not long after this, probably, that he lost his sight. This deprivation was regarded as a punishment for his having advised the Patrician Gentes of the Potitii and Pinarii, who were hereditary priests of Hercules, to delegate their ministry to slaves, another evidence of the con- tempt of Appius for old customs. These Gentes, adds the legend, soon after ceased to exist. § 15. During the whole of Appius' arbitrary Censorship the Senate and the old citizens behaved with marvellous self-control, and refrained from offering any direct opposition to his acts. But when the next Censors (of the year 30*7 b.c.) left office without attempt to restore the balance of power which Appius had destroyed, the Senate resolved that new Censors should be chosen for this purpose two and a half years before the proper time, and the choice of the people fell on Eome's two worthiest sons, Q. Fabius Maximus and P. Decius Mus. These two great men, who agreed heart and hand together, accepted the office, and applied a remedy simple but effectual. They did not, as some of the more violent might have wished, disenfran- chise the new citizens, but merely removed their names from the country Tribes and restored them to the four city Tribes, to which they had before belonged. Thus the new voters could only carry four Tribes, while there were twenty-nine in the hands of the old citizens. This measure was executed in the year 303 B.C. Fabius and Decius saved the state as much by their firm- ness and moderation now as they did afterwards by the glorious victory of Sentinum. rises to its own level, but probably because they were not able to manufacture pipes of sufBcient magnitude for conveying very large streams. * Arnold, Hist, of Rome, ii. p. 289. The Island of the Tiber, CHAPTER XXV. EVENTS BETWEEN THE THIRD SAMNITE WAR AND THE LANDING OF PYRRHUS. (289 282 B.C.) § 1. M' Ourius Dentatus: conquest ofUpper Sabines. § 2. Agrarian Law of Curius: Secession of poorer Citizens : Hortensian Laws. §3. Early inter- course of Eome with Greece Proper : tlie Snake of ^sculapius and Sacred Isle. § 4. Now brought into contact with Magna Grsecia and Sicily: retrospective view of their wealth and population. § 5. Syracuse. § 6. Other towns of Sicily: Rhegium occupied by Mamertines. § *l. Tarentum: her situation and people : practice of hiring foreign captains. § 8. Her treaty with Eome. § 9. She intrigues with Italian nations against Rome. § 10. Thurii seek aid of Rome against Lucanians. § 11. General rising of Southern Italians, as also of Etruscans and Gauls : Prsetor Metellus cut off in Etruria. § 12. Consul Dolabella extirpates Senonians. § 13. Boian Gauls defeated in a great battle on Lake Vadimo : Colony of Sena GaUica. § 14. Pabricius conducts war in South. § 15. Ten Roman ships are assaulted in harbour of Tarentum : sack of Thurii. § 16. Roman Envoys insulted : speech of L. Postumius. § IT. Hopes of peace frustrated by promised arrival of Pyrrhus. § 1. Of the years whicli follow the Samnite wars little is known. The glowing pages of Livy desert us at this point, and from the end of the Samnite wars to the beginning of the great Chap. XXY. CONQUEST OP UPPER SABINES. 225 war "witli Hannibal and the Carthaginians, a brief and naked epitome of each book is all that remains to us. For the cam- paigns of Pyrrhus Ave have Plutarch. But for the intervening years the materials are few and scanty. Immediately upon the final submission of the Samnites, in 290 B.C., the Senate resolved to punish the Sabines for their suspicious conduct in listening to the overtures of Gellius Egnatius at the beginning of the late war, when the Marsians and their neighbours stood firm in their alliance.* The com- mander entrusted with the invasion of the difiicult country formed by the valleys of the highest Apennines, was M' Curius Dentatus, a name which may be counted among the most illus- trious in Roman history,f though we confess Avith regret that we know little of his life. He is said himself to have been of Sabine origin, — sprung from the Sabines of the lower country, no doubt, who had long been closely united with Rome.J We first hear of him as Tribune of the Plebs, when he stood forth as a defender of his order, and forced Appius Claudius, then presiding as interrex, to receive the votes of the Plebeians, which the Patricians wished to reject.|| He lived, like the old plebeian yeomen, on his own farm, and himself shared with his men the labours of the field. It is said that on one occasion the Samnites sent messengers to tempt him with costly presents of gold ; the messengers found him toasting radishes at the fire; and when he had heard their business, he pointed to his rude meal, and said — " Leave me my earthen pans, and let those who use gold be my subjects." His honesty and rough vigour of character recommended him to the Tribes, and notwithstanding his humble condition, he rose to the first ofiices of state. In the year 290 B.C. he was elected Consul, and received the final submission of the Samnites. He then straightway turned his arms against the Sabines, who fell an easy prey. What surprises us is to hear that he took a very large booty, a quantity of gold, and other things, which sound strangely as the possessions of a tribe that dwelt in the upland valleys of the Apennines. The Sabines became now absolutely subject to Rome, being obliged to accept the citizenship without suff'rage, the burdens without the privileges. * Chapt. sxiii. § 7. f So thought Horace : — "Hunc, et incomtis Curium capillis S^va paupertas tulit, et Camillum," etc. And so Milton : — " Canst thou not remember Quinctius, Fabricius, Curius, Regulus?" X Chapt. xiii. § 1. II Sext. Aurelius Victor de Viris Illustr., c. xxxiii. 10* 226 EOME CONQUEROR OF ITALY. Book III. § 2. After his double triumph, over the Samnites and Sabines, Curius proposed an Agrarian Law, providing that all the poorer citizens (these probably were for the most part the Freedmen and others lately admitted into the Tribes) should receive each man an allotment of seven jugera in the Sabine country.* This was vehemently opposed by the greater part of the old citizens, Ple- beians as well as Patricians, and the life of Curius was thought to be in so great danger, that eight hundred young men attached themselves to him as a body guard. The sequel of this strife cannot be unfolded. All we know is, that the poverty of the poor was aggravated by several years of famine and pestilence : at the same time debts again multiplied and became oppressive. The end of it was, that about the year 286 B.C. the mass of the poorer citizens, consisting (as may be guessed) chiefly of those who had lately been enfranchised by Appius, left the city and encamped in an oak-wood upon the Janiculura.f To appease this last Secession, Q. Hortensius was named Dictator, and he succeeded in bringing back the people by allowing them to enact several laws upon the spot. One of these Hortensian laws was probably an extension of the Agrarian Law of Carius, granting not seven, but fourteen jugera (about 9 acres) to each of the poor citizens.^ Another provided for the reduc- tion of debt. But that which is best known as the Hortensian law was one enacting that all Resolutions of the Tribes should be law for the whole Roman people.]! This was nearly in the same terms as the law passed by Valerius and Horatius at the close of the Decemvirate, and that passed by Publilius Philo the Dictator, after the conquest of Latium.^ Hortensius died in his Dictatorship — an unparalleled event, which was considered ominous. Yet with his death ended the last Secession of the People. For one hundred and fifty years from this time to the appearance of the Gracchi, we hear of no civil dissensions at Rome. It may be here added, that on the allotment of the Sabine domain lands, Curius refused to take more than any other poor citizen. But it was decreed by acclamation that he should be rewarded by a gift of five hundred jugera (about 320 acres). And we shall find him acting with the same single-minded honesty ten years later in the war with Pyrrhus. * See Chapt. viii. § 3. \ In cesculeto, Plin. Hist. Nat., xvi. § 3*7. i Aurel. Victor says that Curius assigned fourteen jugera ; Pliny (H. N"., xviii. § 8) says seven. Tlie statement in the text attempts to reconcile the two. I " Quod Plebs jussisset, omnes Quirites teneret." TT Above, chapt. x. § 22, and chapt. xx. § 11. Chap. XXV. PESTILENCE AT ROME. 227 § 3. Notwithstanding tlie part played by Hellenic heroes in the earliest Roman Legends, the Romans had as yet had few dealings with the Greeks. The tale of Tarquin sending to consult the Oracle at Delphi, of the mission of the three men to procure the laws of Solon, of the answer of the Delphic Priestess with respect to the draining of the Alban Lake, are Legends of dubious authority, A story that Roman envoys appeared among the ambassadors of other Italian peoples at Alexander's court at Baby- lon, is rejected as false by Arrian, the most trustworthy historian of the great king. The next time we find Rome mentioned as having intercourse with Greece was soon after the close of the third Samnite war. Pestilence was raging at Rome ; and the Senate is said to have sent to Epidaurus, to request that JEsculapius (the tutelary god of that place) might come to avert the evil. The ambassadors returned with a sacred snake, the emblem of the god,'* who found his own way into their ship, and ensconced him- self in the cabin. When they arrived in the Tiber, the snake glided from the ship, and swimming to the land which lies between the Capitol and Aventine disappeared there. Here a temple was built to the Greek god of medicine. The island was shaped into the rude resemblance of a trireme, which it still bears, and to this day it is called by the name of the Sacred Isle (Isola Sacra) .f Such are the faint records of Rome's early intercourse with Greece Proper. § 4. But there was another Greece, nearer home, with which she was soon to come in direct collision. In early times, when the name of Rome was yet unknown, the cities of Greece, especially the great Dorian city of Corinth, were sending out their superflu- ous population to seek settlements in the western worlds, Italy and Sicily were to them what North America has been to us. All the eastern and southern coasts of Sicily — all the coasts of Lower Italy, from the Bay of Naples to the promontory of lapygia, were thick-studded with Grecian Colonies, which had become large and flourishing cities when Rome was yet struggling for existence. The inhabitants of these Greek colonies were known by the names of Siceliotes and Italiotes,J to distinguish them from the native Siceli and Itali. The whole seaboard of Southern Italy received, and still retains, the appellation of Magna Grecia. * See the coin of Epidaurus at the end of this Chapter. f See the cut at the head of this Chapter. There is no doubt that tHs tem- ple was a Hospital, like other temples of ^sculapius. Its insular position might be chosen to avoid the noise of the thoroughfares, and to obtain fresher air than was possible in the close and crooked streets of the old city. :j: St/ceAtoiraf, 'Ira/ltwrat. 228 ROME CONQUEROR OF ITALY. Book III. Hitherto the name of Rome had been unfeared and uncared for. The Greeks of Sicily were defended by the sea ; those of Italy by the barrier of hardy tribes which lay between them and their future mistress. But now this barrier was broken down. The brave Samnites had submitted after a struggle as noble as any which history has recorded. The Lucanians and Apulians had formed a league with Rome. Already had Palsepolis and Neapolis bowed before her. Any day the Consuls and their legions might be expected to knock at the gates of the southern cities. These cities, so famous in early time, had most of them fallen into decay. This had been caused in part by the inroads of the Oscan and Sabellian tribes (as above noticed),* in part by civil wars with one another, and by domestic convulsions in each. In Sicily especially, the Carthaginians were always dangerous ; and here, above all, the changes of Government were most frequent and most violent. Aristocracies were supplanted by turbulent democracies, and these gave way in turn to despotic rulers, who had been elevated in ancient times, or who had raised themselves by force or fraud to sovereign power. Such rulers were called Tyrants by the Greeks — a name which (as is well known) referred rather to the mode in which power was gained than to that in which it was exercised. In seditions and civil wars thousands and tens of thousands of citizens had fallen ; the prosperity of ancient cities had decayed ; cities themselves had perished. The vast remains of temples at Agrigentum, at Selinus, at Psestum, show what those cities must have been, where now not a house is left. Whole mounds of broken pottery cover the environs of Tarentum, and show what masses of men must have peopled those now deso- late shores. The series of coins due to this city is surpassed in beauty and variety of type only by those of Syracuse. Sybaris, the splendid and luxurious rival of Croton, was destroyed by the latter city. Croton herself, though supported by the old remembrance of her Pythagorean rulers, had fallen into insignifi- cance. Thurii, the chosen seat of the old age of Herodotus, and its neighbouring Metapontum, Locri, and Rhegium, still retained the vestiges of ancient grandeur. The most noted tyrant of Syra- cuse, Dionysius, was one of the chief causes of the decay of the Greek towns of Lower Italy. About the time that the Gauls were devastating Latium, he did not scruple to league himself Avith the barbarous Lucanians to establish a tyranny over his fellow-countrymen. And about a century later, Agathocles of Syracuse ravaged Lower Italy. Thus, by combined violence . * Chapt i. § 20. Chap. XXY. SYRACUSE. 229 from many sources, the Hellenic communities both of Italy and Sicily, were fallen from their sometime magnificence. Tarentum and Syracuse remained, and a brief sketch of the previous history of these two places will illustrate the above remarks, and will serve to make the succeeding narrative in- telligible. § 5. Syracuse was founded about the same time as Rome, by Archias, a noble Corinthian, who led forth a colony of his coun- trymen, to seek a new country in the far west. For many years the colony was governed (like the mother city) by a moderate aristocracy. This was interrupted by the princely tyranny of Gelo and his son Hiero, who held the sceptre of Syracuse at the time of the Persian wars from 485 to 467 b.c. The old republic was then restored till the invasion of the Athenians in 415, when it was supplanted by a violent democracy. This again was overthrown by the elder Dionysius in 406 ; but the sceptre which, after an active reign of thirty-eight years, he transmitted to his son, passed finally from that son's feebler grasp about the beginning of the Samnite wars. For twenty-six years the republic was restored, when in 317 another adventurer possessed himself of the throne. This was Agathocles, who began life as a potter's apprentice, and raised himself first by his personal strength and beauty of form, then by the continued exertion of an almost fabulous boldness. His reign terminated in 289, just as the third Samnite war had been concluded. A new king, Hiero IL, was called to the throne in 270, and it was in his reign that the Romans first set foot in Sicily. Of these sovereigns, it may be observed that the two last, Agathocles and Hiero, Avere no longer called Tyrants, but Kings. The former name had fallen into disuse after the splendid royalty of Alexander, whom no one, save Demosthenes and his republican followers, ventured to call by the name of Tyrant. Yet they had all risen by the same means, and held their power by the same tenure. Nor were any of them able to transmit the sceptre to a line of successors. They all rose to power, because the Republic needed a skilful captain to carry on the war against the Cartha- ginians. Gelo defeated the enemy in a great naval battle on the same day as the battle of Salamis. Dionysius I,, after being besieged in his capital, took Motye, the Calcutta of those merchant- princes, and established his rule over the greater part of Sicily. Agathocles carried fire and sword up to the gates of Carthage. More than once he landed in Italy for the purpose of defending the Tarentines from the Bruttians, their barbarous neighbours. Strange to say, the name of this remarkable man is not mentioned by the Roman historians. Yet, but for his perpetual Avars with 230 ROME CONQUBEOE OP ITALY. Book IIL Carthage, he might have employed his restless arms in supporting the Samnites against Rome. § 6. The other Greek cities of Sicily suffered similar vicissitudes. But we know little of them, nor is it important that we should. The state of one will serve to inform us of all. But before we leave Sicily, an event must be mentioned, which has no small influence on the subsequent history. A large portion of the army of Agathocles consisted of Italians, who called them- selves Mamertines, that is, servants of Mamers, or Mars. They were Campanian adventurers of Samnite origin, who took service with any government that would pay them. They chose their own captains, like the free troops led by the condottieri of the middle ages. On the death of Agathocles, a large body of these Mamertines seized Syracuse as a guarantee for the payment of their wages. On payment being made, they were induced to leave the city, and were marched to Messana, for the purpose of crossing into Italy. But finding this city an inviting prey, they seized it and became its lords ; and soon they established their power over a large portion of northern Sicily. Meanwhile, the Carthaginians recovered possession of the west of the islands. Syracuse and the other Greek cities retained a precarious independence. Hence it will appear that the Greek-Sicilian cities were in no case to help their brethren in Italy, should they be attacked by Eome. They could not defend themselves, much less render aid to others. § v. Our attention is now claimed by Tarentum, the chief of the Greek-Italian cities. The origin of Lacedaemonian Tarentum is veiled in fable. The warriors of Sparta (so runs the well-known legend) went forth to the second Messenian war under a vow not to see their homes till they had conquered the enemy. They were long absent, and their wives sought paramours among the slaves and others who had not gone out to war. When the warriors returned, they found a large body of youth grown up from this adulterous intercourse. These youths, (the Parthenii, as they were called) disdaining subjection, quitted their native land under the command of Phalantus, one of their own body, and founded the colony of Tarentum. Whatever may be the truth of this legend, thus much is certain, that Tarentum was a Lacedaemonian colony of very great antiquity. Its history is little known. But what is known shows that the colony partook of the steady nature of her mother-city, and resisted those violent and frequent changes which were ''o rife in Syracuse and the other Greek cities of the Chap. XXV. TARENTUM. 231 west. Tarentum lay at the northern corner of the great gulf which still bears its name. It had an excellent harbour, almost land-locked. On its eastern horn stood the city. Its form was triangular ; one side being washed by the open sea, the other by the waters of the harbour, while the base or land side was pro- tected by a line of strong fortifications. Thus advantageously posted for commerce the city grew apace. She possessed an opulent middle class ; and the poorer citizens found an easy sub- sistence in the abundant supply of fish which the gulf afforded. These native fishermen were always ready to man the navy of the state. But they made indifferent soldiers. Therefore when any peril of war threatened the state, it was the practice of the government to hire foreign captains, soldiers of fortune, who were often kings or princes, to bring an army for their defence. Thus we find them taking into their service Archidamus of Sparta and Alexander of Molossus,* to defend them against the Lucanians. So also, after the second Samnite war, when they began to fear the power of Eome, they engaged the services of Cleonymus Prince of Sparta to fight their battles. They called in Agathocles of Syracuse to war against the Bruttians. And last of all, when they came into actual conflict with Rome, they put them- selves under the protection of Pyrrhus, as we shall presently have to narrate. It was probably this practice of hiring foreign aiTuies for their wars which saved them from the domination of successive tyrants ; for at Syracuse, as we have seen, these tyrants were citizens who had raised themselves by means of the military power with which they had been invested. However, this practice had many evils. The city learnt every day to trust more to strangers and less to the energies of her own citizens ; and the foreign captains whose aid she sought often proved mere buccaneers, who plundered and ruined friendly Greeks as well as hostile barbarians. Such was the con- duct of Cleonymus towards Metapontum and Thurii, of Agathocles towards Locri and Rhegium. Yet on the whole the government of Tarentum was better and more regular than that of most Greek Republics. Seven times was Archytas, the Pythagorean Philosopher, raised to the supreme magistracy, — that Archytas who has been mentioned above as the friend of Herennius the Samnite, and instructor of C. Pontius.f This shows that the Tarentines could value duly the merits of this great man, without that jealousy which in many Greek states pre- vented the people from reaping the full service of their best and wisest citizens. * Chapt. xxi. § 3. f Chapt. xxii. § 5. 232 ROME CONQUEROR OP ITALY. Book IIL This brief sketch of the state of Sicily and Magna Grsecia will have shown that of all the Greek cities, lately so great and power- ful, Tarentum alone was in a condition to cope with Rome. § 8. Once already they had been engaged in brief hostilities : this Was at the close of the second Samnite war, when the Romans lent aid to the Lucanians in attacking the Sallentines. This last- named people were neighbours of Tarentum, and the Greek republic, willing to defend them, called in the aid of Cleonymus, as has been just mentioned. The appearance of this soldier of fortune inclined the Lucanians to peace, and at the same time no doubt was made the treaty between Rome and the Tarentines by which certain limits were prescribed to the fleets of the latter power, while the Romans on their part bound themselves not to pass the temple of Lacinian Juno, nor let any ships of theirs appear in the Gulf of Tarentum, § 9. After this followed the third Samnite war. At its close it seemed clear that Rome was to be, if she was not already, mistress of Italy. What power could withstand her ? Tarentum must now meet Rome ,fece to face, and must decide whether they should meet as friendoffoe. She chose the latter. For the next few years we find various nations of Italy, the Etruscans and Gauls in the north", the Lucanians and other barbarians in the south, renewing war with Rome, and finally crushed by her energy. These last struggles are attributed to the intrigues of Tarentum, and when they availed not, she at length threw herself into the gap, and called in Pyrrhus, the greatest general of the age, to fight the battles of the Greeks against Rome. § 10. The first link in the chain of events which led to the war with Tarentum was (curiously enough) the aid lent by Rome to a neighbouring Greek city. This was Thurii. Soon after the close of the third Samnite war Thurii was attacked by the Lucanians. The Thurians knew that Tarentum would not defend them. Some years before, when Cleonymus of Sparta inade a descent upon their coast and took their city, they had implored, the aid of Roman legions, which came too late indeed, but yet came, and Thurii now hoped for more eff"ectual succour. But at this time the domestic struggle was going on which ended in the Hortensian law. Soon after quiet was restored, the Tribune ^lius proposed, and the people voted, to declare war against the Lucanians, (284 B.C.). § 11. This declaration of war was followed by a general rising of the Italian nations against Rome. The Lucanians, lately her allies, now her enemies, were joined by the Bruttians, part of the Apulians, and even by some relics of the Samnites. But the attention of the Senate was diverted from this southern war by Graf. XXV. EXTIRPATION OF SENONIANS. 233 more imminent peril in the nortli. Early in the year 283 b.c. news came that the Etruscans of Vulsinii, who had been for the last twenty years engaged in feeble and uncertain war against Kome, had roused the other states of Northern Etruria to make a joint attack upon Arretium, "which, under the rule of the friendly Cilnii, remained faithful to Eome. They had summoned to their aid an army of Senonian Gauls from the coasts of Um- bria, and these Celtic barbarians, though at peace with Rome, came eager for plunder, and burning to. avenge their defeat at the battle of Sentinum. Q. Csecilius Metellus, the Consul of the last year, and now Praetor, was ordered to march to the relief of Arretium, while the new Consuls, P. Cornelius Dolabella and Cn. Domitius, prepared to crush the Etruscan war. But what was the consternation at Rome when tidings came that Metellus had been utterly defeated, himself slain, and his whole army cut to pieces or made prisoners. § 12. The Senate, nothing daunted, ordered the Consul Dola- bella to advance, while Domitius, with M' Curius the Praetor, re- mained in reserve. Meanwhile they sent the Fecials into Umbria to complain of the breach of faith committed by the Senonian Gauls. But it happened that in the battle with Metellus, Brito- maris the Gallic chief had fallen, and the young chief, his son, burning with mad desire of vengeance, committed another and a worse breach of faith : he murdered the sacred envoys .in cold blood. As soon as the news of this outrage reached the Consul Dolabella, he promptly changed his plan. Instead of marching towards Arretium he turned to the right, and crossing the Apen- nines descended into the Senonian country. This he found almost defenceless, for the warriors were absent in Etruria. He took a bloody revenge, ravaging the country, burning the dwell- ings, slaying the old men, enslaving the women and children. The Celtic warriors hastily returned to defend their homes, but in vain ; they sustained a complete defeat, and " the race of the Senonians was annihilated."* Such is the brief and terrible epitome of their fate. § 13. The work of death was not yet done. The Boian Gauls, who lived along the southern bank of the Po, from the Trebia to the Rubicon, seized their arms and marched southwards to assist or avenge their brethren. They overtook the Consul Dolabella on the Tiber at its junction with the Nar, but not till after he had been joined by his colleague Domitius. The battle was fought on the right bank of the Tiber, near the little lake Vadimo. It was a fierce conflict, the most terrible probably which the Romans * " Gens Senonui* deleta est." — Liv. 234 EOME CONQUEROR OP ITALY. Book III. had fought since the battle of Sentinum. But the legionaries had become used to the huge bodies, strange arms, and savage cries of the Celtic barbarians ; and their victory was complete. Once more, hov?ever, the Boians made a desperate rally, and were again defeated. These great successes kept the Celtic tribes of Northern Italy quiet for nearly sixty years. Meanwhile the Senate secured the frontier of Umbria and occupied the vacant lands of the Senonians by the Colony of Sena Gallica, which, under the name of Senigaglia, still preserves the memory of its Celtic possessors. § 14. Meanwhile the war had been going on feebly in Lucania; but these prompt and successful operations in the north enabled the Senate to prosecute it more energetically ; and in the year 282 B.C. the Consul of the year, C. Fabricius Luscinus, a remark- able man, of whom we shall have more to say presently, defeated the confederates in several actions, and finally compelled them to raise the siege of Thurii. The Eoman army was withdrawn, but a garrison was left to defend the city ; and the grateful people de- dicated a statue to their deliverers, the first honour paid by Greeks to their future masters. § 15. It was believed at Rome, and not without reason, that the Tarentines, though they had not themselves drawn the sword, had been the secret instigators of these wars, both in Lucania and Etruria. The Senate therefore determined to pay no atten- tion to the treaty, by which Roman ships were forbidden to appear in the bay of Tarentum ; and on the withdrawal of the army of Fabricius, L. Valerius, one of the duumviri navales,* sailed round the Lacinian headland, and with ten ships stood across the gulf towards Tarentum. It was a summer noon, and the people were assembled in their theatre, which (as was com- mon in Greek cities) was used alike for purposes of business and pleasure.f This theatre was cut out of the side of the hill look- ing towards the sea, and commanded a view of the whole bay. The whole assembly therefore saw the treaty violated before their eyes, and lent a ready ear to a demagogue named Philocharis, who rose and exhorted them to take summary vengeance. The people, seamen by habit, rushed down to the harbour, manned a number of ships and gained an easy victory over the little Roman squadron. Four ships were sunk, one taken, and Valerius him- * This office was abolished not long after. In the Punic and subsequent wars the Consuls and Praators commanded both the armies and fleets indiffer- ently, as was the case in all modern European countries till the close of the Itth century. f Compare the assembly in the theatre at Ephesus to hear the complaint of the silver-workers against the Christianfe. — ^Acts six. 29. Chap. XXV, L. POSTUMIUS AT TAEBNTUM. 235 self "svas killed. The die was now cast, and tlie demagogues pushed the people to farther outrages. They marched forth to Thui'ii, and, accusing that people of seeking aid from the barba- rians, required the instant dismissal of the Roman garrison. This was done, and no sooner was it done than the Tarentine populace plundered the unfortunate city and drove its chief citizens into exile. § 16. The Senate, unwilling to undertake a new war, in which their coasts might be ravaged by the superior navy of the Taren- tines, sent an embassy, headed by L. Postumius, to require some explanation of this outrageous conduct. They knew that the wealthier citizens of Tarentum were as averse from war as them- selves, and hoped that by this time the people might be inclined to hear the voice of reason. But unfortunately the ambassadors arrived at the season of the Dionysia, when the whole people, given up to wine and revelry, were again collected in the theatre. The Roman envoys were led straight into the orchestra, and ordered to state the purpose of their mission. When Postumius endeavoured to do so, his bad Greek produced peals of laughter from the thoughtless populace. He bore all patiently till a drunken buffoon ran up and defiled his white toga with ordure. This produced fresh laughter and loud applause, which was again renewed, when Postumius held up the sullied robe in the sight of all, " Aye," said he, " laugh on now : but this robe of mine shall remain uncleansed till it is washed in your best blood !" § 17. Yet even after these gross insults the Roman People was so weary of war that the Senate debated long before they ordered L. ^milius Barbula, the Consul of the year 281 b.c, to march southward, while his colleague covered the Etruscan frontier. ./Etnilius was instructed to ravage the lands of the democratic party, and to spare the property of those citizens who wished to maintain peace ; and so successful was this policy, that the demagogues lost their power, and Agis or Apis, the chief of the moderate party, was chosen strategus. And now there was good hope that some satisfaction would be offered for the outrages committed against the Romans and their allies, and that peace might be maintained : but this hope Avas soon frustrated. Early in the year the chiefs of the democratic party had sent to invite Pyrrhus, King of Epirus, to bring over an army and undertake the defence of Tarentum. These Tarentine envoys were accom- panied by ambassadors from the Lucanians and Samnites, with large promises of soldiers to recruit his army and provisions to feed them. Pyrrhus needed no great persuasion to undertake a romantic enterprise, and he forthwith despatched Milo, one of his best officers, with 3000 men, to garrison the citadel of 236 ROME CONQUEROR OP ITALY. Book III. Tarentum. The arrival of Milo restored the democratic party to power. Agis was deprived of his office : the Roman Consul I'etired into Apulia, and fixed his head-quarters at the colony of Venusia. Pyrrhus was now expected every day, and the Tarentine popu- lace gave themselves up to immoderate joy. " Aye, dance and sing, while ye may," said one of their graver citizens ; " there will be something else to do when Pyrrhus comes." He did not arrive till winter, and before we speat of his opera- tions, it will be necessary to give some account of his life and character. Coin of Epidaurua Coia of Pyrrhus with head of Dodonean Zeus. CHAPTER XXVI. PYRRHUS IN ITALY. (280 2*75 B.C.) § 1. Adventurous youth of Pyrrhus, King of Bpirus : lust of conquest. § 2. Arrives at Tarentum : stern discipline. § 3. Preparations of Komans : comparison of forces. § 4. Pyrrhus meets Eomans on Siris : battle of Heraclea. § 5. Remarks of Pyrrhus after victory § 6. Locri joins Pyrrhus: Rhegium seized by Campanian captain, Decius JubeUius : disap- pointment of Pyrrhus. § T. Mission of Cineas to Rome : patriotic speech of App. Claudius. § 8. Report of Cineas : Pyrrhus marches into Latium, but Rome remains firm. § 9. Embassy of Fabricius during winter. § 10. Second campaign: Battle of Asculum in Apuha : Pyrrhus inchned to Peace. § 11. Consuls of the next year warn him of his physician's treachery : Pyrrhus restores prisoners and departs for Sicily. § 12. His fortunes in Sicily. § 13. Returns to Italy in third year. § 14. M' Curius, the Consul, compels Romans to enhst. § 15. Battle of Beneventum : defeat of Pyrrhus. § 16. After fate of Pyrrhus. § 1. Pyrrhus, King of Epirus, when he landed in Italy, was in his thirty-eighth year. His whole early life had been a series of adventure and peril. His father's name was ^acidas, a kinsman of that Alexander of Molossus, who, some fifty years before, had been invited by the Tarentines to defend them against the Lucanians.* When Alexander fell at Pandosia, -^acidas seized the throne of the Molossians. But he did not long retain it. * Chapt. xxi. § 3. 238 ROME OONQUBROB, OP ITALY. Book III. For soon after followed the death of Alexander the Great at Babylon (323 B.C.), and the whole of his vast empire was broken up into separate kingdoms, which became the appanages of his generals. Cassander obtained Macedon, first as Regent, after- wards as king. But Olympias, the mother of the great Alexander, raised a faction against him, and ^acidas took her part. After some years of conflict, u^acidas fell in battle (313 b.c.) and by order of the ruthless Cassander all his family were massacred except Pyrrhus, who was then a child of about five years old. The boy was carried off secretly, and found safe harbourage with Glaucias, an Illyrian chief. In this obscure retreat he remained till he had reached the age of twelve or thirteen years, when his foster-father took advantage of disturbances in Macedon to restore his young charge to the throne of Epirus. But Cassander again triumphed over opposition, and prevailed upon the Epi- rotes to expel the young prince. Pyrrhus, now about seventeen years old, sought refuge at the court of Antigonus, the Macedonian king of Syria. Here he formed a friendship with the king's son, the celebrated Demetrius Poliorcetes. But the ambition of the Syrian princes provoked the other Macedonian monarchs to form a league against them ; and the bloody field of Ipsus (301 B.C.) deprived Antigonus of his life, and Demetrius of his suc- cession. Pyrrhus was present at the battle. On the defeat of his friend Demetrius, he offered himself as a hostage for him, and was so received at the magnificent court of Ptolemy Soter, the first Macedonian king of Egypt. Here he had opportu- nities of completing the education which the friendship of Deme- trius had offered him. Ptolemy was one of the best of Alexander's ofiicers ; and himself, with his son Philadelphus, did all that lay in their power to encourage the cultivation of Greek arts and letters. Pyrrhus found favour with the queen Berenice, who gave him in marriage Antigone, her daughter by a former marriage, and persuaded Ptolemy to assist him in recovering his Epirote sovereignty. J'or some time he reigned conjointly with Neop- tolemus, son of that Alexander who had been killed in Italy. But, as was to be expected, the two sovereigns broke out into quarrels, which ended in the death of Neoptolemus (295 B.C.), so that Pyrrhus, now about twenty-three years of age, became sole monarch. In that same year Cassander died, and a war arose about the succession to the throne of Macedon. At length De- metrius, who had long been an outcast and a wanderer, gained possession of the Macedonian throne. But Pyrrhus thought his own claims better than those of his old friend, and joined a general league against him. In 287 b.c. Demetrius was overthrown ; and while Lysimachus took possession of the eastern part of Macedon, Ch-^jp. XXVI. PYRRHUS IN ITALY. 239 the western provinces were ceded to the young and enterprising sovereign of Epirus. But Pyrrhus did not long retain this much- coveted prize. The Macedonians preferred Lysimachus as their king ; and, after a seven months' reign, Pyrrhus was again driven across the mountains into Epirus (b.c. 287). For the next few years he lived at peace ; built Ambracia as a new capital of his dominions, and reigned there in security and magnificence. He was in the prime of life, handsome in person, happy in temper, popular from his frankness and generosity, and reputed to be a skilful soldier. But neither his nature nor his restless youth had fitted him for the enjoyment of happy tranquillity. He had married as his second wife the daughter of Agathocles of Syra- cuse ; the exploits of that remarkable man fired his soul ; he remembered that Alcibiades, that Alexander, that every Greek conqueror had looked to the West as a new scene for enter- prise and triumph ; and he lent a ready ear to the solicitations of the Italian envoys. After defeating the Romans and Cartha- ginians, he might return as king of Southern Italy and Sicily, and dictate terms to the exhausted monarchs of Macedon and Asia. These had been the dreams of less romantic persons than himself. § 2. It-Avas at the end of the year 281 b.c. that he left Epirus with a force of about 20,000 foot, and 4000 or 5000 horse, together with a squadron of 20 elephants, held by the Greeks of that time to be a necessary part of a complete armament. On the passage his ships were scattered by a storm, but eventually they all reached Tarentum in safety. His infantry was in part supplied by Ptolemy Ceraunus, the new King of Macedon. His cavalry were Thessalian, the best in Greece. It wjas a small army for the execu- tion of designs so vast. But he trusted to the promises of the Lucanians and Samnites ; and he also intended to make the Tarentines into soldiers. No sooner had he landed than this people found how true were the words of their fellow-citizen. They had meant him to fight their battles, like his kinsman, Alexander of Molossus ; but he resolved that they also should fight his battles. He shut up the theatres and other places of public amusement ; closed the democratic clubs ; put some dema- gogues to death, and banished others ; and ordered all citizens of military age to be drilled for the phalanx. The indolent popu- lace murmured, but in vain. The horse had taken a rider on his back to avenge him on the stag, and it was no longer possible to shake him off. § 3. With the early spring the Romans took the field. Ti. Coruncanius, plebeian Consul for the year 280, commanded against the Etrurians, with orders to make a peace if possible. P. Valerius 240 ROME CONQUEROR OF ITALY. Book ni. Lgevinus, his patrician colleague, was to march through. Lucania, so as to prevent the Lucanians from joining the king ; while ySmilius, Consul of the former year, was stationed at Venusia, to hold the Samnites and Apulians in check. A Campanian legion, composed of Mamertines, commanded by Decius Jubellius, an officer of their own choosing, occupied Ehegium, in order (we may suppose) to intercept communication from Sicily. The army with which Pyrrhus advanced along the coast of the Bay of Tarentum, to encounter Lsevinus, is said to have been inferior to that of the Consul. It must be supposed that the latter had not only his own two legions, but also a third legion, under the command of a Prsetor. These three, together with the allies, would amount to about 30,000 foot, and the cavalry might be 4000. But this arm was in quality very inferior to the Thessalian horse of the king ; and when we take the elephants into account, it is difficult to understand how Pyrrhus' army, which must have been increased by Tarentine levies, though none of the Italians had yet joined, could have been inferior to that of the Romans, It is rather matter of wonder that the Senate ehould not have sent both Consuls against so formidable an antagonist, relying on a praetorian army to keep the Etruscans in check. § 4. As the king moved along the coast from Heraclea he came in view of the Roman army, encamped on the right bank of the' little river Siris. His practised eye was at once struck by the military order of the enemy's camp. And when he saw them cross the broad but shallow stream in the face of his own army, and form their line before he could close with them, he remarked, " In war, at least, these barbarians are no way barbarous." And now for the first time the Roman Legions had to stand the shock of the Greek Phalanx. The tactics of the two armies Avere wholly different. The Roman army had undergone no essential change since we had occasion to describe its order in the great Latin war.* Each soldier stood free of his right and left hand man. "When all had discharged their pila they then came to close quarters with their short strong swords, and large oblong shields, each man fighting separately. But the Epirots formed two great columns, called the Phalanxes, in which each man stood close to his fellow, so that half his body was covered by his right-hand man's shield. They were drawn up sixteen deep, and their long pikes, called sarissse, bristled so thickly in front, that the line was impenetrable unless a gap could be made in the front ranks. They acted mechanically, by weight. If * Chapt XX. § 5. Chap. XXVI. PYERHUS IN ITALY. 241 they "were once broken tliey were almost defenceless. Level ground, tlierefore, was necessary to their effective action, Pyrrhus had secured this last-named advantage : the jDlain of Heraclea was well adapted for the regular movement of the phalanxes, as Avell as for that of his cavalry and elephants. The action began by the Eoman cavalry crossing the Siris, and driving back a squadron of the Thessalian horse, the remainder of which, with the elephants, were yet in rear. The main body of the Romans, inspirited by this success, followed across the bed of the river to assail the phalanxes. But they could make no impres- sion on these solid masses ; the Principes took the place of the Hastati, and the Triarii succeeded to the Principes, in vain, Lasvi- nus then ordered up his cavalry to attack the phalanxes in flank. But they were met by the whole body of Thessalian horse, sup- ported by the elephants. The Romans had never before seen these monstrous animals, which in their ignorance they called " Lucanian oxen :" their horses would not face them, and galloped back affrighted among the infantry, Pyrrhus now led the whole line forward, and the rout was general. The Romans were driven back across the Siris, and did not attempt to defend their camp. Yet they soon rallied, and retired in good order into Apulia, where Yenusia was ready to receive them. It was now seen with what judgment the Senate had occupied that place with a large Colony, § 5, The victory of Heraclea was gained at a heavy loss. Pyrr- hus now rightly estimated the task he had undertaken. He had a soldier's eye. When he visited the field of battle next day, and saw every Roman corpse with its wounds in front, he exclaimed : " If these were my soldiers, or if I were their general, we should conquer the world." When he offered in the temple of Jove at Tarentum a portion of the spoils taken after the battle, he placed on them the following inscription : — " Those who had ne'er been vanquished yet, great Father of Olympus, Those have I vanquished in the fight, and they have vanquished me."* And when he was asked why he spoke thus, he answered: " Another victory like this will send me without a man back to Epirus." § 6. The battle of Heraclea, however, encouraged the Greek cities of Locri and Rhegium to throw off" the Roman yoke. Locri joined Pyrrhus ; but Decius Jubellius, with his Campanian soldiers, declared themselves independent, and seized Rhegium * The lines quoted by Orosius, iv. 1, are, no doubt, those of Ennius, a translation of the original Greek : — " Qui ante hac invicti fuere viri. Pater 6ptime Olympi, Hos ego in pugna vici * *, victusque sum ab isdem." 11 242 ROME CONQUEROR OP ITALY. Book III. for themselves, as their brethren the Mamertines had seized Mes- sana on the opposite side of the straits. But, above all, the battle of Heraclea left the ground open for the Lucanians and Samnites to join the king ; and he advanced into Samnium to claim • the fulfilment of their promises. But as he advanced he was struck by the fewness of the men, and the desolate condition of the whole country; and he bitterly reproached the Italians with deceiving him. The battle which had just been fought taught him how for- midable was the foe he had to deal with, and what he now saw showed him how much he must trust to his own resources. He resolved therefore to end the war at once by negotiating an advan- tageous peace, while he himself advanced slowly to support his negotiations by the show of force. § 7. The person employed in this negotiation was Cineas, a name only less remarkable than that of Pyrrhus himself. He was a Thessalian Greek, famous for his eloquence, but still more famous for his diplomatic skill. He served Pyrrhus as minister at home and ambassador abroad. " The tongue of Cineas," Pyrrhus used to say, "had won him more battles than his own sword." So quick was his perception, and so excellent his memory, that he had hardly arrived in Rome when he could call every Senator by his name, and address every one according to his character. The terms he had to offer were stringent ; for Pyrrhus required that all Greek cities should be left free, and that all the places that had been taken from the Samnites, Apulians, and his other allies, should be restored. Yet the skill of Cineas would have persuaded the Senate to submit to these terms if it had not been for one man. This was Appius Claudius the Censor. He was now in extreme old age ; he had been blind for many years, and had long ceased to take part in public affairs. But now, when he heard of the proposed surrender, he caused himself to be conducted to the senate-house by his four sons and his five sons-in-law, and there, with the authoritative eloquence of an oracle, he confirmed the Avavering spirits of the Fathers, and dictated the only answer worthy of Rome, — that she would not treat of peace with Pyrrhus till he had quitted the shores of Italy. The dying patriotism of Appius covers the multitude of arbitrary acts of which he Avas guilty in his Censorship. § 8. Cineas returned to Pyrrhus, baffled and Avithout hope. He told his master, that " to fight with the Roman People was like fighting Avith the hydra ;" he declared that " the City was as a temple of the gods, and the Senate an assembly of kings." But the king resolved to try Avhat effect might be produced by the presence of his army in Latium. He passed rapidly through Campania, leaving it to be plundered by the Samnites, and ad- Chap. XXVL PYERHUS IN ITALY. 243 vanced upon Rome by the upper or Latin road. He took the colony of Fregellse by storm ; he received the willing submis- sion of Anaguia, the capital of the Hernicans, and Avas admitted into the impregnable citadel of Praeneste, for both the Hernicans and the Prsenestines were only half Roman citizens ; they bore the burthens without enjoying the privileges, and were therefore glad to welcome a chance of liberty. He then advanced six miles beyond Prseneste, within eighteen miles of Rome. But here his course was stayed. There were no signs of defection among the bulk of the Latins, or Volscians, or Campanians, who had been admitted into the Tribes and enjoyed the full honours of Roman citizenship. Ti. Coruncanius, afterwards Chief Pontiff, and now Consul, was himself a Latin of Tusculum, What he had now gained all might hope for. The situation of Pyrrhus now became perilous. Coruncanius himself had just concluded a peace with the Etruscans, and his army was free to act in front of Rome ; Lsevinus had recruited his shattered army and was coming up in rear ; his own army was, except the Epirotes, ill-disciplined and disorderly, and he therefore determined to close the campaign and retire into win- ter quarters at Tarentum. § 9. This winter is famous for the embassy of C, Fabricius, who was sent by the Senate with two other Consulars to propose an interchange of prisoners. The character and habits of Fabricius resembled those of Curius. He lived in frugal simplicity upon his own farm, and was honoured by his countrymen for his inflexible uprightness. He was somewhat younger than Curius, and seems to have been less rough in manners and more gentle in dispo- sition. The stories are well known which tell how Pyrrhus practised upon his cupidity by offering him gold, and upon his fears by concealing an elephant behind the curtains of the royal tent, which, upon a given signal, waved its trunk over his head ; and how Fabricius calmly refused the bribe, and looked with un- moved eye upon the threatening monster. Pyrrhus, it is said, so admired the bearing of the Roman that he wished him to enter into his service like Cineas, an offer which, to a Roman ear, could convey nothing but insult. He refused to give up any Roman citizens whom he had taken, unless the Senate would make peace upon the terms proposed through Cineas : but he gave his prisoners leave to return home in the month of De- cember to partake in the joviality of the Saturnalia, if they would pledge their word of honour to return. His confidence was not misplaced. The prisoners used every effort to procure peace; but the Senate remained firm, and ordered every man, under penalty of death, to return to Tarentum by the appointed day. 244 ROME CONQUEEOR OE ITALY. Book HI. § 10. Hostilities were renewed next year, Tlie new Consuls were P. Sulpicius for the Patricians, and P. Decius Mus,, son and grandson of those illustrious Plebeians who bore the same name, and had devoted themselves to death beneath Vesuvius and at Sentinum. Since peace was now concluded with the Etrus- cans, both Consuls led their armies into Apulia, where Pyrrhus had already taken the field. He was anxious to make himself master of the Colonies of Venusia and Luceria, so that the Romans might be forced to quit that country and leave him master of all Southern Italy. But he failed. We are ignorant of the details of the campaign till we find the Consuls strongly encamped on the hills which command the plain of Apulian Asculum.* Here Pyrrhus encountered them. After some skilful manoeuvring he drew the Romans down into the plain, where his phalanx and cavalry could act freely. He placed the Tarentines in the centre, the Italian allies on his left wing, and his Epirotes and Macedonians in phalanx on the right ; his cavalry and elephants he kept in reserve. "What success the Roman Legions had against the Tarentines and Italians we know not, but they wasted their strength upon the phalanxes. Again and again they charged that iron wall with unavailing bravery. At length, when they were well nigh exhausted, Pyrrhus brought up his cavalry and elephants, as at Heraclea, and the Romans were broken. But this time they made good their retreat to their entrenched camp, and Pyrrhus did not think it prudent to pursue them. He had little confidence in his Italian allies, who hated the Greeks even more than they hated the Romans, and gave signal proof of their perfidy by plundering the king's camp Avhile he was in action. The loss on both sides was heavy. The second victory was now won ; but the king's saying was fast being fulfilled. In these two battles he had lost many of his chief officers and a great number of the Epirotes, the only troops on whom he could rely. He dared not advance. When he returned to Tarentum news awaited him which dis- pirited him still more. The Romans, he heard, had concluded a defensive alliance with Carthage, so that the superiority of Taren- tum at sea would be lost ;f Ptolemy Ceraunus, who had pro- mised him fresh troops from Macedon, had been slain by the Gauls, and these barbarians were threatening to overrun the whole of Greece.J § 11. Under these circumstances he seized the first occasion of making peace with Rome. This was aff"orded early in the * Otherwise called Apulum, now Ascoli di Satriano. This town must not be confounded with Asculum (Ascoli) in Picenum. f Polyb. iii. 25. X ^^^ above, Chapt. xiv. § 3. Chap. XXVI. PYRRHUS IN ITALY. 245 next year by a communication lie received from tne new Consuls Q. ^milius and C. Fabricius. They sent to give bim notice that bis pbysician or cup-bearer (tbe accounts vary) bad offered to take bim off by poison. Pyrrbus returned his warmest thanks, sent back all his prisoners fresh-clothed and without ransom, and told his allies he should accept an invitation he had just received to take the command of a Sicilian-Greek army against tbe Carthaginians and Mamertines. Accordingly he sailed from Locri to Sicily, evading the Carthaginian fleet which had been lying in wait for him. He left tbe Italians to tbe mercy of the Romans, but Milo still kept hold of tbe citadel of Tarentum, and Alexander, tbe king's son, remained in garrison at Locri. He bad been a little more than two years in Italy, for be came at the end of the year 281 B.C. and departed early in 278 : he re- turned towards the close of 216, so that bis stay in Sicily was about two years and a half. The events of this period may be very briefly summed up. § 12. The Samnites and Lucanians continued a sort of partisan warfare ao-ainst Rome, in which, though tbe Consuls were ho- noured with triumphs, no very signal advantages seem to have been gained. The Romans no doubt took back tbe places on tbe Latin road which bad submitted to tbe king ; they also made themselves masters of Locri, and utterly destroyed the ancient city of Croton, but they failed to take Rhegium, which was stoutly maintained by Decius Jubellius and his Campanians against Pyrrbus and Romans alike. Meanwhile Pyrrbus was pursuing a career of brilliant success in Sicily. He confined the Mamertines Avitbin the walls of Messana, and in a brilliant cam- paign drove the Carthaginians to the extreme west of tbe island. At length, in an evil hour and by tbe advice of evil counsellors, he undertook tbe siege of Lilybaeum, a place which the Cartha- ginians bad made almost impregnable. He was obliged to raise the siege, and with this first reverse of fortune he lost tbe confidence of his fickle Greek allies. Before this also death had deprived bim of tbe services of Cineas. Left to himself, be was guilty of many harsh and arbitrary acts, which proceeded rather from impatience and disappointment than from a cruel or tyrannical temper. It now became clear that he could bold Sicily no longer, and he gladly accepted a new invitation to re- turn to Italy. § 13. Accordingly, late in tbe year 276 B.C., he set sail for Tarentum. On the passage he was intercepted by a Carthaginian fleet, and lost tbe larger number of bis ships ; and, on landing between Rhegium and Locri, he suffered further loss by an assault from the Campanians, who still held the former city. 246 ROME CONQUEROR OF ITALY. Book III. Yet, once in Italy, lie found liimself at the head of a large army, composed partly of his veteran Epirotes, and partly of soldiers of fortune who had followed him from Sicily. His first act was to assault and recover possession of Locri; and here, in extreme want of money, he again listened to evil counsellors, and plun- dered the rich treasury of the temple of Proserpine. The ships that were conveying the plunder were wrecked, and Pyrrhus, conscience-stricken, restored all that was saved. But the me- mory of the deed haunted him : he has recorded his belief that this sacrilegious act was the cause of all his future misfor- tunes.* § 14. The Consuls of the next year were L. Cornelius Lentulus and M' Curius Dentatus. On Curius depended the fortunes of Rome. The people were much disheartened, for pestilence was raging. The statue of Capitoline Jupiter had been struck by lightning, and men's hearts were filled with ominous forebodings. When the Consuls held their levy, the citizens summoned for service did not answer their names. Then Curius ordered the goods of the first recusant to be sold, a sentence which was fol- lowed by the loss of all political rights. This severe measure had its effect, and the required legions were made up. § 15. -Lentulus marched into Lucania, Curius into Samnium. Pyrrhus chose the latter country for the seat of war. He found Curius encamped above Beneventum, and he resolved on a night attack, so as to surprise him before he could be joined by his colleague. But night attacks seldom succeed : part of the army missed its way, and it was broad daylight before the Epirote army appeared before the camp of the Consul. Curius imme- diately drew out his legions, and assaulted the enemy while they were entangled in the mountains. He had instructed his archers to shoot arrows wrapped in burning tow at the elephants, and to this device is attributed the victory he won. One of the females, hearing the cries of her young one, which had been wounded in this Avay, rushed furiously into the ranks of her own men. Curius now brought up the main body of his foot and attacked the disordered phalanxes : they were broken, and became help- less. The defeat was complete : Pyrrhus fell back at once upon Tarentum, and resolved to leave the shores of Italy. However, he left Milo still in the citadel, as if he intended to return. § 16. But the glory of his life Avas ended ; the two or three years that remained of it were passed in hopeless enterprises. One day he was proclaimed King of Macedon, and the next he lost his kingdom. Then he attacked Sparta, and nearly took * ' S2f /ca? avToc 6 Hippo^ ev toIq idioig iTrouvrjfiaai, ypdipsi. — Dionys. xix. 11. Chap. XXVI. DEATH OF PYRRHUS. 247 it. Lastly, lie assaulted Argos, and was killed by a tile thrown by a woman from the roof of a house. Such was the end of this remarkable man. Like Eichard I. of England or Charles XII. of Sweden, he passed his life in winning battles without securing any fruits of victory; and, like them, a life passed in the thick of danger was ended in a petty war and by an unknown hand. His chivalric disposition won him the admiration even of his enemies ; his impetuous temper and impatience of misfortune prevented him from securing the con- fidence of his friends. Yet he left a name Avorthy of his great ancestry ; and we part with regret from the history of his Italian wars, for it is the most frank and generous conflict in which Rome was cv'er engaged. Brundasium. CHAPTER XXVII. FINAL REDUCTION AND SETTLEMENT OF ITALY. (274 264 B.C.) § 1. Milo left by Pyrrhus in Tarentum. § 2. Final reduction of Samnites and Italians of South. § 3. Surrender of Tarentum : embassy of Ptolemy PhUadelphus to Kome. § 4. Campanian soldiers in Rbegium compelled to surrender: their fate. § 5. Submission of SaUentines and Messapians: Colony of Brundusium. § 6. Reduction of Picenians and Umbrians. § 1. Of Etruscans. § 8. Account of Settlement of Italy: present extent of Roman Territory : none but its inhabitants admitted to a share in govern- ment. § 9. Principles adopted in regulating Italy: Isolation and Self- government. § 10. How Isolation was produced : different conditions of Italian Towns. § 11. Prefectures. § 12. Municipal Towns. § 13. Colo- nies. § 14. Colonies of Roman Citizens. § 15. Latin Colonies. § 16. Jus. Latii. § 1*7. Free and Confederate States. § 18. Constitutions of Italian Towns. § 19. Admirable results of the system. § 1. The departure of Pyrrhus left Italy at the mercy of Rome. Yet Milo, the king's lieutenant, still held the citadel of Tarentum, and none of the nations who had lately joined the Epirote stan- dard suhmitted without a final struggle. Of this struggle, what few particulars have survived shall be related, the affairs of the south being taken first, and then those of the north. Ch-\p. XXVII. PINAL REDUCTION OF ITALY. 249 § 2. Affairs of the South. — The Samnites, Lucanians, Brut- tians, and other tribes continued a kind of guerilla warfare, for Avhich their mountains afforded great facilities. To put an end to this, in the year 272 b.c, L. Papirius Cursor the younger, and Sp. Carvilius, who had been the instruments of crushing the Samnites at the close of the third war, were again elected Consuls together and sent southward with all their legions. Papirius invested Ta- rentum ; and while the lines were being formed, he received the submission of the Lucanians and Bruttians. Meanwhile Carvilius attacked the Samnites in their mountains, and the scattered remnants of that brave people, deserted by all, saw themselves compelled to submit finally to Rome, after a struggle of about seventy years. Thus ended what is sometimes called the fourth Samnite war. § 3. The same summer witnessed the reduction of Tarentum. Papirius, jealous of the appearance of a Carthaginian fleet in the gulf, entered into a secret treaty with Milo, by which the Epirote governor agreed to evacuate the city and leave it to the will of the Romans. This man had ruled the Tarentines like a tyrant, and it is probable that they on their part would have gladly pur- chased reasonable terms from the consul by surrendering their Epirote governor. But they were not allowed the choice. Milo sailed for Epirus with all his men and stores, and Tarentum was left to itself. The aristocratical party instantly seized the govern- ment, and made submission to Rome. They were allowed to con- tinue independent, on condition of paying an annual tribute to the conqueror : but their fortifications were rased, their arsenal dis- mantled, the fleet surrendered to Rome, and a Roman garrison placed in their citadel. The attention generally excited in the east of the Mediterranean by the failure of Pyrrhus is attested by the fact that in the year 273 B.C. Ptolemy Philadelphus, the king's brother-in-law, now sovereign of Egypt, sent ambassadors to Rome, and entered into alliance with Rome. Thus began a friendly connexion with Egypt which continued unbroken to the time of Caesar. § 4. In 271 B.C. the Plebeian Consul, C. Genucius, was sent to reduce Decius Jubellius and the Campanian soldiers, who had made themselves lords of Rhegium. This able captain had added a number of adventurers to his original legion, and was in fact head of a niilitary oligarchy in that city. But the Senate formed a treaty with the Mamertine soldiery, who had occupied Messana in precisely the same manner, and thus detached them from alliance with their compatriots : they also secured supplies of corn from Hiero, who had been raised to the sovereignty of Syra- cuse on the departure of Pyrrhus from Sicily. The Campanians 11* 250 ROME GONQUBROR OF ITALY. Book III. of Ehegium were thus left to themselves; the city was taken by assault and all the soldiery put to the sword, except the original legionaries of Jubellius, who as burgesses of Capua possessed some of the rights of Roman citizens, and were therefore reserved for trial before the People of Rome. Not more than three hundred still survived out of several thousands ; but they met with no mercy. Every Tribe voted that they should be first scourged and then beheaded as traitors to the Republic. Rhegium was restored to the condition of st Greek community. § 5. A few years later, the Sallentines and Messapians in the heel of Italy submitted to the joint forces of both Consuls. Brundusium and its lands were ceded to Rome ; and about twenty years afterwards (244 b.c.) a colony was planted there. Brundu- sium became the Dover of Italy, as Dyrrhachium, on the opposite Epirote coast, became the Calais of Greece. § 6. Affairs of the North. — In the year 268 B.C. both Con- suls undertook the reduction of the Picenians, who occupied the coast land between Umbria and the Marrucinians. Their chief city, Asculum, was taken by storm. A portion of the people was transferred to that beautiful coast which lies between the bay of Naples and the Silarus, where they took the name of Picentines. Soon after (266 b.c.) Sarsina, the chief city of the Umbrians, was taken, and all Umbria submitted to Rome. § 7. It remains to speak of Etruria. No community here was strong enough, so far as we hear, to maintain active war against Rome ; and the haughty Vulsinii, which had so long resisted her single-handed, was now compelled to sue for succour. The ruling aristocracy had ventured to arm their serfs, probably for the purpose of a Roman war : but these men had turned upon their late masters, and were now exercising a still direr oppression than they had suffered. The Senate readily gave ear to a call for as- sistance from the Volsinian lords ; and (in the year 265 B.C.) Q. Fabius Gurges, son of old Fabius Maximus, invested the city. He was slain in a sally made by the Etruscan serfs, who were, how- ever, obliged to surrender soon after. The Romans treated the city as lawfully-gotten booty. The old Etruscan town on the hill- top, with its polygonal walls, was destroyed ; its 2000 statues and other works of art were transferred to Rome ; a new town was founded on the low ground, which in the modernised name of Bolsena still preserves the memory of its ancient fame. After the fall of Vulsinii, all the Etruscan communities, which (like Arre- tium) were not already in alliance with Rome, made formal sub- mission ; and Etruria, like every other district of Roman Italy, awaited the will of the conquering city of the Tiber. Chap. XXVII. FINAL REDUCTION OF ITALY. 251 § 8. We must now give a brief account of the manner in wliicli the Roman government so ordered the noble dominions of which they were now masters, that for many years at least absolute tranquillity prevailed. We have no definite account of the organisation by which these results were obtained ; but by putting together incidental facts which are handed down with respect to various communities, a tolerably exact knowledge of their system may be obtained. To conceive of ancient Rome as the capital of Italy in the same sense that London is the capital of England or Paris of France would be a great mistake. London and Paris are the chief cities of their respective countries only because they are the seat of government. The people of these cities and their surrounding districts have no privileges superior to those of other English or French citizens. But the city of ancient Rome, with her surrounding territory, was a great Corporate Body or Com- munity, holding sovereignty over the whole of Italy, which had now obtained that signification which we have above noticed,* and comprehended the whole Peninsula from the Macra and Rubicon downwards, except that the territory lately taken from the Senonian Gauls was for some years later termed the Pro- vince of Ariminum. The Roman territory itself, in the first days of the Republic, consisted (as we have seen) of twenty-one Tribes or Wards. Before the point at which we have arrived, these Tribes had been successively increased to three-and-thirty. . These Tribes included a district beyond the Tiber stretching somewhat further than Veil ; a portion of the Sabine and ^quian territory beyond the Anio ; with part of Latium, part of the Volscian country, and the coast-land as far as the Liris, southward. None but persons enrolled on the lists of these Tribes had a vote in the Popular Assemblies or any share in the government and legislation of the City. The Latin Cities not in- cluded in tfce Tribes, and all the Italian Communities, were subject to Rome, but had no share in her political franchise. § 9. The principles on which the Italian nations were so settled as to remain the peaceable subjects of Rome were these. First, they were broken up and divided as much as possible ; secondly, they were allowed, with little exception, to manage their own affairs. The Isolation enforced by Rome prevented them from combining against her. The Self-goveenment granted by Rome made them bear her supremacy Avith contentment. § 10. The arts by which Isolation was produced we have seen put in full practice at the settlement of Latium fifty years before.f The same plan was pursued with the difi"erent Italian * Chapt. i. § 3. f See below, § 11. 252 ROME CONQUEROR OF ITALY. Book IH. nations. Those which submitted with a good grace were treated leniently. Those which resisted stubbornly were weakened by the confiscation of their lands and by the settlement of colonies in their principal towns. The Frentanians are the best example of the milder treatment ; the Samnites afford the most notable instance of the more harsh. The work of Isolation was promoted partly by the long and narrow shape and the central mountain range, which still makes a central government so difficult, and still renders it easy for many states to maintain a separate existence, but partly also by a sentiment common to most of the Italian nations, as well as to those of Greece. They regarded a free man, not as one of a Nation, but as the member of a Civic Community. Every one regarded his first duties as owed to his own City, and not to his Nation. Their City was their Country. They addressed one another not as fellow-countrymen, but as fellow- citizens. Eome herself was the noblest specimen of this form of society. And the settlement which she adopted throughout Italy took advantage of this prevailing rule, and perpetuated it. Not only were the Italians split up into civic communities, but these communities were themselves placed in very different conditions. The common division of the Italian communities, as established by the Eoman Government, is threefold — Pre- fectures, Municipal Towns, and Colonies. In each of these three classes, many subordinate diff"erences existed. Yet there were certain broad distinctions which justify this division ; and they shall now be described briefly in their order. § 11. Prefectures. We will begin with these, because, though they may be regarded as exceptions, they are examples of the simplest form under which Italian cities subject to Eome present themselves. The Prefectures are exceptional, because they did not enjoy the right of Self-government, but were under the rule of Prefects ; that is, of Eoman governors annually nominated by the Praetor of the City. All lawsuits were tried in the Prefect's court ; and the inhabitants of the Prefecture were registered by the Eoman Censor, so as to be liable to all the burthens and duties of Eoman citizens, without enjoying any of their privileges. This condition was called the Cserite Franchise, because the town of Caere, in Lower Etruria, was the first community placed in this dependent position.* Amid the terror of the GaUic invasion, Caere had afforded a place of refuge to priests and sacred things, and women and children of the Eomans, and had * Caerite cera digni, Horat i. Dpistol. 6. 62 : cf. Gellius, xvi. 13. Chap. XXVII. FINAL REDUCTION OP ITALY. 253 been rewarded by a treaty of equal alliance. But at a later period slie joined other Etruscan communities in war against Rome,* and it Avas on ber submission, probably, that she was reduced to the condition of a Prefecture. Capua afterwards became a notable instance of a similar change. She also, during the Samnite wars and afterwards, enjoyed a state of perfect equality in respect to Rome. The troops which she supplied in virtue of the alliance between her and Rome formed a separate legion, and were commanded by officers of her own, as appeared in the case of Decius Jubellius. But in the Hannibalic war she joined the Carthaginian conqueror; and when Rome regained the ascendancy, she was degraded to the condition of a Pre- fecture f § 12, Municipal Towns. At the period of which we write, these were Communities bound to Rome by treaties of alliance varying in specific terms, but framed on a general principle with respect to burthens and privileges. Their burthens consisted in furnishing certain contingents of troops, which they were obliged to provide with pay and equipments while on service, provisions being found by the Romans.^ Their privileges con- sisted in freedom from all other taxes, and in possessing in more or less completeness the right of Self-government. This con- dition was secured by a treaty of alliance, which, nominally at least, placed the Municipal community on a footing of equality with Rome ; though sometimes this treaty was imposed by Rome without consulting the will of the other Community.|| Thus there was, no doubt, a considerable diversity of condition among the Municipia. Some regarded their alliance as a boon, others looked upon it as a mark of subjection. In the former condition were Caere and Capua before they were made Prefec- tures ; in the latter condition was Volsinii and the other Etrus- can Cities. The Municipal Towns, then, were exempt from all tribute or toll payable to Rome, except military service. They enjoyed the right of Self-government, and administered their own laws. They also were allowed to exercise the Civil or Private rights of * Chapt. sviii. § 7. \ The Prefectures of which we hear are : — (1), in Campania : Capua, Cumje, Casilinum, Volturnum, Litemum, Puteoli, Acerrse, Suessula, AteUa, Calatia, Pundi, Pormiee ; (2), in Etruria : Casre, Saturnia ; (3), in Samnium : Yena- frum, AUifae; (4), in the Volscian land: Arpinum, Privemum; (5), in the Hernican : Anagnia, Frusino ; (6), in the Sabine : Reate, Nursia. X Polyb. vi. 39, § 15. II Hence the distinction between Clvitates Federates and Oiviiaies Libera. All Federate Communities were free, but not all Free Communities were federate. 254 EOMB CONQUEROR OF ITALY. Book III Roman citizens ; but none, witliout special grant, had any power of obtaining the Political or Public Rights. In some cases even the Private Rights were withheld, as from the greater part of the Latin communities after the war of 338 B.C., when the citizens of each Community were for a time forbidden to form contracts of marriage or commerce with Roman citizens or with their neigh- bours. They stood to Rome and to the rest of Italy much in the same condition as the Plebeians to the Patricians before the Can- uleian law. But these prohibitions were gradually and silently removed. Municipal Towns were often rewarded by a gift of the Roman franchise, more or less completely, Avhile those which offended were depressed to the condition of Prefectures. At length, by the Julian and other Laws, (b.c. 90), of which we shall speak in its proper place, all the Municipal Towns of Italy, as well as the Colonies, received the full Roman franchise ; and hence arose the common conception of a Municipal Town, that is, a Community of which the citizens are members of the whole nation, all possessing the same rights, and subject to the same burthens, but retaining the administration of law and government in all local matters which concern not the nation at large. But the Municipal Towns of Italy, before the Julian law, were hardly members of a nation at all. Their citizens had no share in the central government, no votes in the National Assemblies ; while they were exempt from all taxation, except that which they found it necessary to impose on themselves for sending their contingents of troops into the field ; and they possessed unfettered power of self-government, except when a Roman Consul or Praetor hap- pened to be present in their city. § 13. Colonies. It is in the Colonial Towns that we must look for the chief instruments of Roman supremacy in Italy. Directly dependent upon Rome for existence, they served more than anything to promote that division of interests which ren- dered it so difficult for Italy, or any part of Italy, to combine na- tionally against the Roman government. When we speak or think of Roman Colonies, we must dismiss all those conceptions of colonisation which are familiar to our minds from the practice either of ancient Greece or of the mari- time states of modern Europe. Roman Colonies were not planted in new countries by adventurers who found their old homes too narrow for their wants or their ambition, and whose bond of union with the mother-country was rendered feeble and precarious by difference of interest or remoteness of situation. When the Romans planted a Colony (at the time we speak of and for more than a century later), it was always within the limits of the Italian Peninsula, and within the walls of ancient Chap. XXVII. FINAL REDUCTION OP ITALY. 255 cities "wliose obstinate resistance made it prudent to restore them to independence, and whose reduced condition rendered it possible to place them in the condition of subjects. It was a custom followed by the Romans, in common with the Sabellian nations, to amerce a conquered community of its lands, either in whole or in part, for the benefit of the conquering state. The lands thus confiscated Avere added to the Public Land, of which we have heard so much. After the conquest of Italy, this Public Land had become very large in extent in every part of the Peninsula. We have, on several occasions, mentioned that por- tions of this land were appropriated to the citizens who migrated from Rome and its neighbourhood to become the citizens of a Colony. Thus two purposes were served at once : — the poorer plebeians were raised to a state of easy independence, and the sovereignty of Rome was secured in remote districts by the pres- ence of a new population devoted to her interests. But these Colonies were not all of the same character. They must be distinguished into two classes, — the Colonies of Reman Citizens, and the Latin Colonies. § 14. The Colonies of Roman Citizens consisted usually of three hundred men of approved military experience, who went forth with their families to occupy conquered cities of no great magnitude, but which were important as military positions, being usually on the sea-coast.* These three hundred families formed a sort of patrician caste, while the old inhabitants sank into the condition formerly occupied by the plebeians at Rome. The heads of these families retained all their rights as Roman citizens, and might re- pair to Rome to vote in the Popular Assemblies. When in early Roman history we hear of the revolt of a Colony, the meaning seems to be that the natives rose against the colonists and expelled them. Hence it is that we hear of colonists being sent more than once to the same place, as to Antium.f § 15. But more numerous and more important than these were the Latin Colonies, of which there were thirty in existence when Hannibal crossed the Alps. Of these thirty no fewer than twenty-six had been founded before the close of the year 263 B.C. The reason for the name they bore was this. We have seen that a close connection had subsisted between Rome and the Latin communities from the earliest times. Under the later * All such were called specially Cohnice Navales. \ The Roman Colonies of which we hear previous to 263 B.C., were Antium, Vitellia, Satricum, Terracina, Casinum, in the Volsdan land; Mintumae and fiinuessa, in Campania (296 B.C.) ; Sena GaUica, on the Umhrian coast (282 B.C.); Castrum Novum, in Picenum (264 B.C.). 256 EOME CONQUEROR OP ITALY. Book III. Kings Rome was tlie head of Latium ; and by Spurius Cassius a League was formed between Rome and Latium, which continued with a slight interruption till the great Latin War of 338 B.C. So long as this league lasted, Rome on the one side and the Latin Communities on the other granted certain reciprocal rights to the citizens of each people. Latins enjoyed all the Private Rights of Roman citizens in Rome ; and Romans enjoyed all the Private Rights of the Latin citizens in any of the cities of Latium.* During the period of the league a number of Colonies were sent forth, in which the settlers consisted jointly of Romans and Latins, and their numbers were not confined to the small number of three hundred, but usually amounted to some thousands. But the citi- zens of these Latin Colonies seem to have had no rights at Rome, except such as were possessed by the allied Municipal Towns. They were therefore regarded politically as Communities in alliance with Rome. After the Latin war, similar Colonies still continued to be sent forth ; indeed, these were the Colonies which chiefly relieved the poor of the Roman territory. At first, no doubt, the Colonists remained distinct from the old inhabitants ; but generally both were fused into one body, like the Sabines and Latins at Rome, like the Samnites and Oscans in Capua. The Latin Colonies, then, at that time seem to have been merely Allied Cities, bound like them to furnish troops for the service of Rome, and holding their cities as the friends of Rome in the midst of a hostile population. It is to these Colonies that we must attribute chiefly that tenacious grasp which Rome was able to keep upon every district in Italy. The Volscians were overawed by Fregellae, Pontise, Interamna, and Sora ; the Campanians by Gales, Suessa Aurunca, and Cosa ; the -,3j]quians by Carseoli ; the Marsians by Alba Fucentia ; Umbria by Narnia and Ariminum ; the Picenians by Hatria and Firmum ; the Samnites by Saticula, Beneventum, and -i^Esernia ; the Apulians by Luceria and Venusia; the Lucanians by Posidonia (afterwards Psestum). These places were, no doubt, all strongly fortified. The ruins of massive walls built with irregular polygonal blocks of stone, which crowned their rocky citadels, still remain in many places, to show that they must have presented most formidable obstacles in an age when gun- powder was unknown. § 16. The rights and privileges of these Latin Colonies are only known to us as they are found at a later period of the Republic under the name of Latinitas, or the Right of Latium (Jus Latii). This Right, at the later time we speak of, we know to have con- sisted in the power of obtaining the full Rights of a Roman * Comp. Chapt. xx. § 14. Chap. XXYII. FINAL REDUCTION OF ITALY. 26 Y Burgess, but in a limited and peculiar manner. Any citizen of a Latin Community, wliether one of the Free Cities of Latium or a Latin Colony, was allowed to emigrate to Rome and be enrolled in one of the Roman Tribes, on two conditions : first, that he had held a magistracy in his native town ; secondly, that he left a representative of his family in that native town. Thus was formed that large body of half-Roman citizens throughout Italy, Avho are so well known to readers of Livy under the appellation of " the Latin name." Socii et nomen Latinum — the Allies and the Latin Name — was the technical expression for all those Italian Communi- ties, besides Rome herself, who were bound to supply soldiers for her armies. §17. Free and Confederate States.* It will be seen, then,, that the mass of the Italian Communities were in a condition of greater or less dependence upon Rome, — the Prefectures being in a state of absolute subjection, the Colonies bound by ties of national feeling and interest, the Municipal Towns by articles of alliance varying in kind. Besides these more or less dependent communi- ties, there remain to be noticed, fourthly, the Cities which remained wholly independent of Rome, but bound to her by treaties of Equal Alliance. Of the Latin cities, Tibur and Praeneste alone were in this condition ; in Campania, most of the cities, till, after the Hannibalic war, Capua and others were reduced to the con- dition of Prefectures, while Nola and Nuceria alone remained free ; of the Hellenic cities, in the south, Neapolis, Velia, Locri, Rhegium, and Heraclea ; in Umbria, Camerium ; in Etruria, Iguvium ; with all the cities of the Frentanians. But as Roman power increased, most of these communities were reduced to the condition of simple municipal towns. § 18. Whatever is known of the internal constitution of these various communities belongs to later times, when by the Julian Law they had all obtained the Roman franchise, and had become part and parcel of the Roman state. At Capua, indeed, we learn that the government was now in the hands of a Senate, with an elective chief called the Meddix Tuticus.f But Capua, as we have just seen, was, till after 211 b.c, to all intents and pur- poses an independent city, and affords no clue to assist us in judging of the rest. There can, however, be little doubt that in the Colonies a con- stitution was adopted similar to that of Rome herself. The Colonists formed a kind of Patriciate or Aristocracy, and the heads of their leading families constituted a Senate. There were two chief magistrates representing the Consuls, to whom (in the more important towns) were added one or two men to fulfil the * Civitates Libferse et Federatse. f Liv. xxiii. 35 ; xxiv. 19. 258 EOME CONQUEROR OF ITALY. Book IIL duties of Censor and Quaestor * In course of time similar con- stitutions were introduced into the Municipal Towns also. And it is probable that from the first Rome exerted her influence in favour of an aristocratic government. § 19. Thus, by placing the Italian Cities in every possible rela- tion to herself, from real independence to complete subjection, and by planting Colonies, some with full Roman Rights, some with a limited power of obtaining these Rights, Rome Avove her net of sovereignty over the Peninsula, and covered every part with its entangling meshes. It is not to be supposed that every step in this process was taken with a full consciousness of its efii'ect But some general plan there must have been, such as we have summed up in the words Isolation and -Self-government. The effects, at all events, were such as would have corresponded with the most deep- laid .plans of policy. The campaigns of Pyrrhus took place at a time when Italy was yet not wholly conquered. But few cities of importance, except those of his own countrymen, opened their gates to him. In the first Punic war, not an Italian community took advantage of the exhausted condition to which Rome was more than once reduced. In the Gallic Avar that followed, her allies served her faithfully. The invasion of Hannibal exposed her to a pressure as severe as any government ever underwent. Yet when the great General Avas asked by his rivals at home, "Whether the defeat of Cannai had caused one Latin community to desert Rome ?" f he could not answer in the affirmative. More than this. The mass of the Campanians, the poor remains of the brave Samnite tribes, the Lucanians, Apulians, and Bruttians, all rose in favour of the Carthaginian invader. But in central Italy, where the Roman government was best known, not one city, federate or municipal, opened her gates to the conqueror; and even in the insurgent districts the Colonies remained immoveable as rocks, upon Avhich the seething Avaves might lavish their utmost fury. * This was so in later times, at all events. Hence in some towns we hear the magistrates called Duumviri, in others Tresviri, in others Quatuorviri. For purposes of business the municipal senates were divided into committees of ten, whence the members of those senates are called Decuriones. f " Bcquis Latini Nominis Populus defecerit ad nos ?"— Liv, xxiii. 12, Coin of Carthage, with Winged Horse. BOOK IV. ROME AND CARTHAdE. CHAPTER XXVIII. CARTHAGE. EVENTS LEADING TO FIRST PUNIC "WAR. § 1. Good fortune of Rome in her successive wars. § 2. Saying of Pyrrhua § 3. Situation of Carthage. § 4. Origin and growth of Carthage. § 5. Her subjects. § 6. G-overnment. § Y. Army. § 8. Navy. § 9. Her attempts to gain possession of Sicily. § 10. Mamertines of Messana and Hiero of Syracuse: Mamertines seek protection of Rome. § 11. Hieroand Carthaginians defeated by Romans. § 12. The First Punic War foUows. § 1. Nothing is more remarkable in the History of Rome than the manner in which she was brought into contact only with one enemy at a time. During the heat of her contest with the Samnites, Alexander of Macedon was terminating his career. The second Samnite war broke out in 324 b.c. ; and in the fol- lowing year the great King died at the untimely age of thirty- two. When he took rest at Babylon, after ten years spent in ceaseless activity, he received embassies from all parts of the known world. If it is to be believed that among these envoys there Avere representatives of the Samnites and other tribes of Lower Italy, their business at the distant court of Alex- 260 ROME AND OARTHAaB. Book lY. ander could have been no other than to solicit the aid of his victorious arms to arrest the course of Rome, and protect the south of Italy, so dear to every Greek, from her overpowering ambition. The possibility that the great King might have turned his course westward to execute the plan which had once presented itself to the young ambition of Alcibiades,* oc- curred to Roman minds. Why should not he have attempted, what his kinsman Alexander of Molossus had attempted, and what Pyrrhus after him was destined to attempt? Livy broaches the question whether Rome would have risen su- perior to the contest or not, and decides it in the affirmative. But his judgment is that of a patriot, rather than of an histo- rian. Scarcely did Rome prevail over the unassisted prowess of the Samnites. Scarcely did she drive the adventurous Pyrrhus from her shores, after she had broken the force of Italy. If a stronger than Pyrrhus — a man of rarest ability both for war and peace — had joined his power to that of C Pontius the Samnite, it can hardly be doubted that the History of the World would have been changed. § 2. The same good fortune attended Rome in her collision with Carthage. The adventurous temper of Pyrrhus led him from Italy to Sicily, and thus threw the Carthaginians into neces- sary alliance with the Romans. When the King was on his return to the Italian shore, the greater part of his forces were destroyed by a Carthaginian fleet. What might have been the result of the Tarentine war, if the diplomacy of Cineas had, in the first instance, been employed to engage the great African city against Rome ? Now that Italy was prostrate, it was plain that a collision between the two governments so encroaching and so jealous was inevitable. As Pyrrhus left the soil of Italy for ever, he said regretfully : — " How fair a battle-field we are leaving for the Romans and Carthaginians !" § 3. Before we begin the narration of the first Punic War, it will be well to give a brief account of Carthage and the Cartha- ginians. The north coast of Africa, at a point nearly due south of Florence, turns abruptly southward, and the coast continues to run in a southerly direction for about two hundred miles, when it again trends eastward. Just before the coast takes its sudden turn to the south, it is hollowed out into a deep bay, of which the western extremity was named the Fair Promontory (Pulcrum Promontorium), and the eastern horn, anciently called the Pro- montory of Mercury (Promontorium Hermseum), is now well known under the appellation of Cape Bon. About the middle of * Thuc. vi. 90. Chap. XXVIII. CARTHAGE. 261 tliis great bay a tongue of land juts out into the water, and on this now desolate spot once stood the great commercial city of Carthage.* Cape Bon is not more than eighty miles distant from Lilybseum, the southernmost point of Sicily, and Carthage itself was not more than one hundred miles from the same point. If the African coast ran on straight eastward from Cape Bon, it would strike against the headland of Lilybseum. § 4. It is well known that this celebrated city was a colony from Tyre, the great centre of Phoenician commerce in the east, and that the common- date for its foundation is about a century before the foundation of Rome, The language of the colony con- tinued to be Phoenician, or (as the Romans called it) Punic ;f and the scanty remains of that language are sufficient to show its near affinity with Hebrew and other kindred tongues. In very early times Carthage had assumed a leading position in the west of the Mediterranean. At the time of her fall, after the long and disastrous struggle with Rome, and the loss of all her empire, she still numbered a population of 700,000 within her walls ; and the circumference of these walls measured more than twenty miles. As her wealth and power increased, she had planted numerous colonies on the African coast. Three hundred Libyan cities are said to have paid her tribute ; and her dominion was gradually extended to the Pillars of Hercules on the one side, and nearly to the Great Syrtis on the other. Much of this coast- land, especially the great plain that extends south of Carthage to the Lesser Syrtis, is extraordinarily fertile. § 5. This fertility naturally attracted inhabitants. Besides the native Libyan Tribes, there was a large mixed population of Libyans and Phoenicians in and around the colonies of Carthage, and of other cities which, like Carthage, claimed descent from Phoenicia itself. These people were ruled by Carthage with ex- cessive rigour. They were treated as mere tillers of the ground, subject to the payment of tribute, but were not entrusted with any political rights whatsoever. Their condition somewhat resembled that of the Rayahs or Christian peasantry in the Turkish dominions, before the recent reforms ; but whereas the Turkish tribute was always light, the burdens imposed upon these subjects of the Carthaginian government were often more than the utmost industry could furnish. The result was that the Carthaginian Government was detested everywhere, and the presence of a foreign invader was always the signal for a general * A 4)laii of Carthage, with its harbours, wiU he given to illustrate its siege, in Chapt. xlvi. § T. ■j- P^oem'a; became in old Latin Poewws. The adjective hence form od was Punicus, as munire from moenia, punire from poena. 262 ROME AND CARTHAGE. Book IV. insurrection, a fact wliicli offers a remarkable point of contrast between the dominion of Rome in Italy and that of Carthage in Africa. § 6. Of the internal condition of Carthage little is known. It seems probable that both the government and the trade were a monopoly in the hands of a few wealthy families, descendants of those merchant princes who once bore rule in Tyre. Power was nominally entrusted to two elective magistrates, who bore the title of Suffets* or Protectors^ and a Senate of three hun- dred. The Suffets were elective, but only held their office for a season. On certain occasiofis the whole body of citizens were called together and consulted. But all real power seems to have been absorbed by a smaller Council of One Hundred, self-elected, who held office for life. Before this narrow oligarchy all other powers grew dim. The Suffets became mere lay -figures; the Senate and the Assembly of the People faded into venerable forms ; just as at Venice, after the thirteenth century, the Doges and the Ass'embly of the Nobles dwindled into a shadow before the secret despotism of the Council of Ten. § 7. The Carthaginians had little need of a strong military force in Africa. Their own citizens seem to have been trained to arms for home purposes, and an immense magazine of military stores Avas kept in Byrsa or Bosra,f the citadel. This force was probably sufficient to overawe the native Libyans, and to repress the incursions of the Numidians and other predatory tribes on their western side. But for foreign service they relied almost solely on mercenary troops. These they hired from Libya itself, Spain, Italy, Gaul, and Greece. The Balearic Isles supplied them with good slingers. Their light cavalry, which in the hands of Hannibal proved a formidable force, was formed of wild Nu- midians, light, spare, hardy men, Avho had their horses so com- pletely under command as to ride them without bit or rein. Organisation seems to have been introduced into this army by Mago, a notable man who flourished about 500 B.C., and is the re- puted founder of the military power of Carthage. The officers in chief command of these motley forces were usually native Carthaginians. But here the jealous and confined nature of the Government was hurtful to the public interest. * The Latin Suffes, plur. Suffetes, is clearly the same as the Hebrew Shophet, plur. Shof Urn, which in our version of the Bible is translated Judges. But the root is shdfat, to protect. f More than one strongly fortified city on the borders of Palestine was called Bosra — the Phoenician name for the citadel of Carthage. The Greeks called it Bvpaa. No doubt the meaning of this word gave rise to the legend that Dido bought as much land from the Libyans " as a hide would compass," and then cheated them by cutting the hide into strips. Chap. XXVIII. CARTHAGE. 263 Notliing was more formidable to such a Government than an able and successful general at the bead of a force tbat owed no allegiance save to their officers. The generals, therefore, seem mostly to have been men chosen rather because of their devo- tion to the oligarchical families, than because of their aptness for command. When they failed their merciless masters visited the ftiilure by fine, imprisonment, or crucifixion. § 8. If the army was not a national institution, it might have been thought that a people whose wealth so much depended upon their shipping would at least have been absolute masters of the sea. And we find immense fleets fitted out, and great losses speedily repaired. But here again the commanders seem to have been hampered by the Government, or not to have made fit use of the means at their command. It must have been as surprising to people of that day to see the Carthaginians beaten on their own element by the Romans, as it would be to the present generation to see the fleets of England defeated by those of Russia. § 9. It was by means of the fleets, of course, that Carthage was brought into connexion and collision with other countries. In early days she had established commercial settlements in the South of Spain and in Sicily. It was in the latter country that she came in contact first with the Greeks, and afterwards with the Romans. We have seen that in the first year of the Republic a treaty was made between Carthage and Rome. This was at a time when the Sicilian Greeks, by their growing wealth and restless energy, must have already awakened the jealousy of the mer- chant-rulers of western Sicily. About thirty years later, the great Persian invasion encouraged Carthage to assail them ; but the Sicilian Greeks had kept aloof, and Gelon of Syracuse destroyed the fleets of Carthage and Etruria, combined under the command of Mago, as has been already noticed. For the next seventy years the Carthaginians contented themselves with obtaining possession of three factories or trading-marts on the coast of Sicily — Panormus, Motye, and Lilybseum, which they fortified very strongly. But after the great overthrow of the Athenian power by the Syracusans (413 b.c), the Carthaginian Government formed the design of becoming masters of this fertile and coveted island. Three years later they appeared in great force before Selinus, which fell after a brave resistance. Other cities shared the same fate ; and in 406 b.c. the city of Agrigentum, then probably the largest and most magnificent in the Hellenic world, was sacked and destroyed. The person, afterwards so famous as Dionysius the Tyrant, took advantage of this disaster 264 ROME AND CARTHAGE. Book IV. to attack tlie existing Government of Syracuse for permitting tlie destruction of a sister city, and with singular craft raised himself to absolute power. His long reign of thirty-eight years (405 — 367 B.C.) comprises the time of Rome's great depression by the Gallic invasion, while the year of his death is coincident with that of the Licinian Laws, the era from which dates the con- stant advance of the Italian great city. He engaged in two great wars with Carthage. In the first, he had lost all Sicily, and was blockaded by Imilcon in Syracuse, when a pestilence destroyed the Carthaginian army, and so reduced that people, that their Libyan subjects rose in insurrection, and for a time the existence of Carthage seemed doubtful (394 b.c.) In the second, he was at first eminently successful, but was at length obliged to conclude a peace by which the River Halycus was settled as the boundary between Grecian and Carthaginian Sicily, and the territory of Agrigentum was added to Syracusan rule (383 b.c.) This treaty was followed by a long rest. The younger Diony- sius succeeded, and was overthrown by Dion, a Platonic philoso- pher, who put down the tyranny of Dionysius 11. only to continue a modified tyranny in his own person. Dion was put to death by his brother Timoleon, a man in whom stern patriotism overpow- ered the sentiments of nature. The Carthaginians took advantage of these troubles to renew hostilities, but were compelled by Timo- leon to remain contented with the same boundaries which had been fixed by the treaty of Dionysius. This took place in the year of the great Latin War. Peace was now maintained for nearly thirty years. But in 31*7 B.C. Agathocles made himself King of Syracuse by means still more unscrupulous than had been used by Dionysius. In 310 B.C. the Carthaginians declared war against him. At Himera he was signally defeated, and Syracuse lay open to the enemy. But Agathocles took the bold step of transporting the troops which remained for the defence of the capital into Africa, so as to avail himself of the known disaftection of the Libyan subjects of Carthage. His successes were marvellous. One of the Sufi'ets fell in battle, the other acted as a traitor. All the Libyan sub- jects of Carthage supported the Sicilian monarch, and he en- camped almost under the walls of the city. But he was obliged to return to Sicily rapidly, to check an insurrection there, and a hurried peace was made with Carthage. The remainder of his life was spent in vain attempts in Sicily, in Corcyra, and in Southern Italy. He died in 289 B.C., less then ten years before the appearance of Pyrrhus in Italy. After the death of Agathocles, the Carthaginians and Greeks of Sicily rested quiet, till Pyrrhus undertook to expel the former Chap. XXVIII. CAKTHAGE. 265 from the island. We have already mentioned his first brilliant .successes and his subsequent failure.* By this assault of Pyr- rhus, Carthage was led to conclude a treaty with Rome. But the appearance of Carthaginian fleets off Ostia and in the Gulf of Tarentum had roused the jealousy of the Italian Republic, and an opportunity only was wanting to give rise to open war between the two states. In the year 264 b.c. such an opportu- nity occurred. § 10. It has been recorded above that a body of Campanian Mercenaries, calling themselves Mamertines, being discharged from the service of Agathocles, had made themselves masters of Messana.f From this place they became dangerous neighbours to Syracuse. A young man of good birth, named Hiero, who had won distinction in the Sicilian campaigns of Pyrrhus, gained a signal victory over these marauders at Centuripa, and was by his grateful compatriots proclaimed king. This was about the year 2*70 B.C. For some time the Mamertines remained quiet, and Hiero was occupied in securing his power at Syracuse, But in 264 B.C. the new King resolved to destroy this nest of robbers, and advanced against Messana with a force superior to any they could bring into the field against him. The Ma- mertines, in this peril, were divided as to the best means of seeking succour. One party wished to call in the Cartha- ginians, who Avere close at hand : another preferred alliance with Rome. The latter prevailed, and envoys were despatched to demand immediate aid. The Senate were well inclined to grant what was asked ; for they knew that, if they did not inter- fere, Carthage would ; and to see Messana, a town with a good harbour, and separated from Italy by so narrow a strait, in the hands of Carthage, might have given alarm to a less watchful government. Yet shame restrained them. It was barely six years since Hiero had assisted them in punishing the Campanian legion which had seized Italian Rhegium, as the Mamertines had seized Sicilian Messana. In this perplexity, the Senate de- clined to entertain the question. But the Consuls, eager for military glory, immediately brought the matter before the Centu- riate Assembly, which straightway voted that support should be given to the Mamertines, or in other words, that the Carthaginians should not be allowed to gain possession of Messana. The Consul App. Claudius, son of the old Censor, was to command the army ; and he sent his kinsman, C. Claudius, to assure the Mamertines of approaching aid. § 11. During this delay, however, the Carthaginian party among * Chapt. xxvi § 12. f Chapt. xxv. § 1. 12 266 KOMB AND CARTHAGE. Book IT. the Mamertines had prevailed, and Hanno, with a party of Car- thaginian soldiers, had been admitted into the town. But the. arrival of Appius soon changed the face of affairs. After being once driven back by the fleet of Hanno, he succeeded in landing his troops to the south of the town ; and immediately attacking Hiero, he defeated him with such loss, that the prudent King gave up the siege and retired to Syracuse. Next day the Romans fell upon Hanno, and also defeated him. Messana was now free. The Consul pursued his successes by plundering the Syracusan dominions up to the very gates of the city. § 12. The Romans, having now set foot in Sicily, determined to declare war against Carthage, so as to anticipate any plan which she might have of assailing Italy. It is probable that the Senate, recollecting the rapid success of Pyrrhus, who in two years almost swept the Carthaginians out of the island, reckoned on a speedy conquest : else, after their late exhausting wars, they would hardly have engaged in this new and terrible conflict. But they were much deceived. The first Punic War, which began in 263 B.C., did not end till 241, having dragged out its tedious length for three-and-twenty years. The general history of it is most uninteresting. All the great men of Rome, who had waged her Italian wars with so much vigour and ability, were in their graves ; we hear no more of Decius, or Curius, or Fabricius ; and no worthy successors had arisen. The only men of note who appear on the Roman side are Duillius and Regulus. But the heroes of Carthage are no less obscure. No one on their side is worthy of mention, except the great Hamilcar ; and he appears not till near the close of the war, and is to be mentioned not so much for what he then did as for the promise of what he might do hereafter.- Coin of a Liviadus with head of Ecgulus. CHAPTER XXIX. FIRST PUNIC WAR (263 241 B.C.). § 1. Pirst Punic "War divided into Three Periods. § 2. First Period. Suc- cess of Romans : sack of Agrigentum. § 3. Eomans build a fleet of Quin- queremes. § 4. Sail to the North of Sicily. § 5. Grappling engines, called Corvi. § 6. Carthaginians defeated by DuQlius of Mylse. § 'T. Cartha- ginians lose greater part of Sicily. § 8. Second Period. Regulus and Manlius set sail for Africa : great victory at sea oif Ecnomus. § 9. Army landed at Clupea. § 10. Romans advance to Carthage. Great defeat of Regulus by Xanthippus. § 11. Fleet entirely lost. § 12. Fresh Fleet bunt. Panormus taken. § 13. Second Fleet lost. Romans give up the Sea^ § 14. Victory gained by MeteUus at Panormus. § 15. Embassy and death of Regulus. § 16. Criticism of this event. § It. Third Period. Third Fleet built. Siege of LUyb^um. § 18. Headstrong folly of Claudius: part of Fleet destroyed at Drepanum, the rest by a storm off Camarina. § 19. Hamilcar. § 20. Fourth Fleet built. § 21. Battle of the ^gatian Isles. § 22. Terms of Peace with Carthage. § 23. Review of the War. Prospects. § 1. To make tlie dreary length, of this war more intelligible, it may conveniently be divided into three periods. The first com- prises its first seven years (263-25Y), during which the Romans were uniformly successful, and at the close of which they had driven the Carthaginians to the south and west coasts of Sicily. The second is an anxious period of mingled success and failure, also lasting for seven years (256-250) : it begins with the invasion of Africa by Regulus, and ends with his embassy and death. The third is a long and listless period of nine years (249-241), in which the Romans slowly retrieve their losses, and at length con- clude the war by a great victory at sea. § 2. First Period (263-257). — The ill success of Hanno at Messana so displeased the Carthaginian government that they 268 ROME AND CARTHAGE. Book lY. ordered the unfortunate general to be crucified. They had mani- festly not calculated on the aggressive spirit of Eome, and had no force on foot sufficient to meet her armies in the field. The Romans pursued their first success with vigour. In the year 263 B.C. both the Consuls crossed over into Sicily with an army of forty or fifty thousand men. On their appearance, a vast number of the Sicilian towns, weary of being the objects of contention be- tween Carthaginians and Syracusans, declared in favour of the new power, which might (they hoped) secure their independence against both ; for at present no one dreamed of a permanent occu- pation of the island by the Romans. No less than sixty-seven towns are said to have taken this course. Hiero, a prudent man, ■was struck by the energy of the new invaders. " They had con- tjuered him," he said, " before he had time to see them." He .shrewdly calculated that the Carthaginians would prove inferior in the struggle, and forthwith concluded a treaty of alliance with Rome, by which he was left in undisturbed possession of a smalt but fertile region lying round Syracuse : some more remote towns, as Tauromenium, being also subject to his sceptre. From this time forth to the time of his death, a period of forty-seven years, he remained a useful ally 9f the Roman people. In 262 b.c. both Consuls laid siege to the city of Agrigentum, which, though far fallen from her ancient splendour, was still the second of the Hel- lenic communities in Sicily. Another Hanno was sent with a force from Carthage to raise the siege, and for some time fortune favoured him. He drew a second circle of entrenchments round the Roman lines, so as to intercept all supplies ; and thus the besiegers, being themselves besieged, were reduced to the greatest straits. JBut the Consul at length forced Hanno to give him battle, and gained a complete victory. Upon this the commandant of the garrison, finding further defence useless, slipped out of Agri- gentum by night, and deserted the hapless city after a siege of seven months. The Romans repaid themselves for the miseries they had undergone by indulging in all those excesses which soldiers are wont to commit when they take a town by storm after a long and obstinate defence. It is said that 25,000 men were slain. § 3. This great success raised the spirits of the Romans. And now, for the first time, the Senate conceived the hope and formed the plan of expelling the Carthaginians entirely from Sicily : but after a short experience, that sagacious Council became aware that a fleet Avas indispensable for success. The coasts of Italy were infested by Carthaginian cruisers, and though it might always be possible to carry men and stores across the narrow strait of Messana, the want of roads in the mountainous dis- Chap. XXIX. FIRST FUNIC WAR. 269 trict about ^tna made this an inconvenient place of transit. It was important for Rome to send her armies straight to Syracuse or Panormus ; and since the Carthaginians were masters of the sea, this could not be done without such a navy as might be able to cope with the fleets of the enemy. Nothing shows the courage and resolution of the Romans more than their manner of acting in this matter. It is no light matter for landsmen to become sea- men ; but for unpractised landsmen to think of encountering tho most skilful seamen then known might have been deemed a piece of romantic absurdity, if the men of Rome had not undertaken and accomplished it. What they wanted first was a set of ships, which, in size at least and weight, should be a match for those of the enemy. It is a mistake to suppose that the Romans had no fleet before this time. The treaties with Carthage sufliciently prove the contrary ; and on several occasions we hear of ships being employed by them. But these ships were of the trireme kind, formerly em ployed by the Greeks. The Carthaginians, like the Greeks after Alexander, used quinqueremes ; and it would have been as absurd for the small Roman ships to have encountered those heavier ves- sels, as for a frigate to cope with a three-decker. The Romans therefore determined to build quinqueremes. A Carthaginian ship cast ashore on the coast of Bruttii served as a model ; the forest of Sila, in that district, supplied timber. In sixty days from the time the trees were felled they had completed, probably by the help of Greek artisans, a fleet of one hundred quinqueremes and twenty triremes ; and while it was building, they trained men to row in a manner which to us seems laughable, by placing them on scaffolds ranged on land in the same way as the benches in the ships.* (266 B.C.) § 4. The Consul Cn. Cornelius put to sea first with seventeen ships, leaving the rest of the fleet to follow ; but he was surprised near Lipara and captured, with the whole of his little squadron, by the Carthaginian admiral. His plebeian colleague, C. Duillius, was in command of the army in Sicily ; but as soon as he heard of this disaster, he hastened to take charge of the main body of the fleet, and with it he sailed slowly along the north coast of Sicily. § 5. Meantime, the Roman shipwrights had contrived certain engines, by means of which their seamen might grapple with the enemy's ships, so as to bring them to close quarters and deprive them of the superiority derived from their better construction * All this rests on the weighty authority of Folybius (i. 20 and 21), except the time spent in building the fleet, which is given by Fliny {Nat. Hist. xvi. 14). 270 ROME AND CARTHAGE. Book IY. and the greater skill of their crews. These engines were callec"". crows (corvi). They consisted of a gangway S6 feet long and 4 broad, pierced with an oblong hole towards one end, so as to play freely round a strong pole 24 feet high, which was fixed near the ship's prow. At the other end was attached a strong rope, which passed over a sheaf at the head of the pole. By this rope the gangway was kept hauled up till within reach of the enemy's ship : it was then suddenly let go, and as it fell with all its weight, a strong, sharp spike on its under side (shaped like a crow's beak) was driven fast into the enemy's deck. Then the Eoman men-at-arms poured along the gangway, and a mere stand-up fight followed, in which the best soldiers were sure to prevail. § 6. Thus prepared, Duillius encountered the enemy's fleet. He found them ravaging the coast at Mylae, a little to the west of Palermo. The admiral was the same person who had com- manded the garrison of Agrigentum, and was carried in an enor- mous septireme, which had formerly belonged to Pyrrhus. ISTothing daunted, Duillius attacked without delay. By his rude assault the skilful tactics of the Carthaginian seamen were con- founded. The Eoman fighting-men were very numerous, and when they had once boarded an enemy's ship, easily made them- selves masters of her. Duillius took thirty-one Carthaginian ships and sunk fourteen. For a season, no Roman name stood so high as that of Duillius. Public honours were awarded him ; he was to be escorted home at night from banquets and festivals by the light of torches and the music of the flute ; a pillar was set up in the Forum, ornamented with the beaks of the captured ships, and therefore called the Columna Eostrata, to commemorate the great event : fragments of the inscription still remain.* And no doubt the triumph was signal. To have defeated the Mistress of the Sea upon her own element in the first trial of strength was indeed remarkable, and might justify almost any amount of extravagant exultation. The honours conferred upon the con- queror cannot but give a pleasing impression of the simple life and manners then prevailing at Eome, especially when we con- trast them with the cruelty of the Carthaginian Government, who crucified their unfortunate admiral for this and other mis- chances. § 7. The sea-fight of Duillius was fought in the year 260 b.c. The next three years passed with no very remarkable successes. In 259 we learn that L. Scipio, Consul of the year, made a de- * In the Capitoline Museum at Rome — probably a copy of the original, made when the Columna Rostrata was restored by the Emperor Augustus. Chap. XXIX. FIRST PUNIC WAR. 2Yl scent upon Sardinia and Corsica. But in the following year the Consul L. Atilius Calatinus had nearly suffered a great reverse. He advanced incautiously into a defile in the western part of the island, and was entirely hemmed in, when he was delivered by the military skill and bravery of M. Calpurnius, one of the legionary tribunes in his army, and the imminent disaster was changed into a victory, which the Senate deemed worthy of a triumph. On the whole, it is clear that the Carthaginians were now only able to act upon the defensive. Not only Agrigentum, but Cama- rina, Gela, Enna, Egesta, and many other cities had surrendered to the Eomans. The Carthaginians were confined to their great trading marts, Drepana, Lilybseum, Eryx, and Panormus. They did not dare to meet the Romans in the field ; yet these places were very strong, especially Lilybseum. Against its iron fortifica- tions all the strength of Pyrrhus had been broken. It was not time yet for Carthage to despair. But in the eighth year of the war the Senate determined on more decisive measures. They knew the weakness of the Cartha- ginians at home ; they had a victorious fleet, and they determined not to let their fortune slumber. § 8. Second Period (256-250 B.C.). — Duillius appears for a brief time as the hero of the first part of the war ; but its second period is marked by the name of a man who has become famous in the whole world as a hero and a patriot, — M. Atilius Regulus. His claim to these high titles has of late years been questioned and denied, and shall be shortly examined when we come to the close of his career. At all events, he fills a commanding place among the men of the first Punic War. It was in the year 256, the eighth of the war, that the Consuls, M. Regulus and L. Manlius, sailed from Italy and doubled Cape Pachynum Avith a fleet of 330 quinqueremes. The Carthaginian fleet, even larger in number, had been stationed at Lilybseum to meet the enemy, whether they should approach from the north or from the east. They now put to sea, and sailed westward along the southern coast of Sicily. They met the Roman fleet at a place called Ecnomus, a little more than half way along that coast. The battle that ensued was the greatest that, up to that time, had ever been fought at sea : it is calculated that not fewer than 300,000 men were engaged. It was desperately contested on both sides ; but at Ecnomus, again, we are astonished to find the Roman fleet victorious. It must be presumed that they still employed the corvi to baffle the superior skill of the enemy, and turn a sea-fight into the similitude of a battle ou land. 272 ROME AND CARTHAGE. Book W. § 9. The way was now open to Africa. The Consuls, after re- fitting and provisioning their fleet, sailed straight across to the Hermajan Promontory, which is distant from the nearest point of Sicily not more than eighty miles. But the omens were not auspicious ; the Roman soldiery went on board with gloomy fore- bodings of their fate ; nay, one of the tribunes refused to lead his legionaries into the ships, till Regulus ordered the lictors to seize him. The passage, however, was favoured by the wind. The Consuls landed their men, drew up the fleet on shore, and fortified it in a naval camp ; and then, marching southward, they took the city of Aspis or Clupea by assault. No Carthaginian army met them : every place they came near, except Utica, surrendered at discretion ; for they were unfortified and defenceless. Carthage, being of old mistress of the sea, feared no invaders : like England since the Civil Wars, she ieffc her cities unwalled, trusting for defence rather to her ships than to stone walls. Yet she had not been unwarned. Sixty years before, the adventurous Agathocles had landed like Regulus. Then, as now, the whole country lay like a garden before him, covered with Avealthy towns and the luxurious villas of the Carthaginian mer- chants. Then two hundred towns or more had surrendered almost without stroke of sword. It appeared as if the same easy success now awaited Regulus and the Romans. § 10. The Consuls were advancing along the coast of the gulf towards Carthage, when, at a critical moment and for reasons we know not of, Manlius was recalled with the greater part of the army, and Regulus was left in Africa with only 15,000 foot and 500 horse. Yet even with this small force he remained mas- ter of the country. The Libyans (as has been said) off'ered no resistance or joined the invader ; and the Carthaginian generals, after venturing one battle in which they were worsted, did not again meet the Consul in the field. He had gone round the whole Gulf of Tunis as far as Utica, and now he turned upon his steps with the intention of marching upon the capital itself. On his way he was obliged to cross the river Bagradas, and here (so ran the legend) the army was stopped by a huge serpent, so strong and tough of skin that they were unable to destroy it, till they brought up their artillery of catapults and balists :* he then continued his route southwards to the Bay of Carthage. He was allowed to take Tunis, which stood within * ISTo mention of this is made by Polybius, the most ancient and most antlientic historian of tlie war. Its subsequent invention shows how easily semi-mythical legends may intrude themselves even into the history of well- known times, and certainly is one of the circumstances which indicate that the fame of Regulus is partly due to the family pride of the AtOian Gens. Chap. XXIX. FIRST PUNIC WAR. 273 twenty miles of Carthage. The great city was now reduced to the utmost straits. A Roman army was encamped within sight ; the Numidiaus took advantage of the enemy's presence to overrun and plunder the whole country ; famine stared the townsmen in the face ; the Government trembled. In this abject condition the Council sent an embassy to ask what terms of peace Regulus would grant. The Consul was so elated by success, so confident in his power, that he demanded the most extravagant concessions. The Carthaginians were to give up their fleet, pay all the expenses of the war, and cede all Sicily, with Sardinia, Corsica, and the Balearic Isles, to Rome. When these terms were reported the Government took care to publish them, and public indignation rose against the arrogant invaders. The civic force was, as we have said,* not untrained to arms, and they had now to fight for their hearths and altars. A good general was sought for. At that time there happened to be at Carthage a soldier of fortune, by name Xanthippus, a Lacedaemonian. This man had been heard to censure the ordinary tactics of the native generals, and to de- clare that the victories of the Romans were due, not to their own superior skill and valour, but to the faults committed by their opponents. He was summoned before the Council and desired to give reasons for his remarks. He did so ; and, for a moment, the Government, dismissing all jealousy, appointed this obscure foreigner general in chief. Xanthippus immediately drew to- gether all the mercenaries he could find, and united them Avith the armed citizens ; then, supported by a large body of elephants, he boldly took the field. The Romans were aston- ished ; but they were too much accustomed to victory to hesi- tate about accepting battle. But they were both outnumbered and outgeneraled. Xanthippus gained a victory as easy as it was complete. Regulus himself was taken prisoner ; only 2000 of his men succeeded in making good their retreat to Clupea. Thus was Carthage delivered by the ability of one man, and that man a foreigner. The Government did not improve in wis- dom or generosity; their old and incapable generals resumed the command; Xanthippus, loaded Avith honours and presents, prudently withdrew from the jealous city, and is heard of no more. § 11. The Roman Senate, on the other hand, did their best to repair this great calamity. The new Consuls Avere ordered to put to sea, and bring ofl:' the garrison and fugitives from Clupea. J^ear the Hermsean Promontory they encountered the enemy's * Chapt. xxviii. § T. 12* 274 ROME AND CARTHAGE. BOOK FV. fleet, and again defeated it ; and then, having taken up the ships and men at Clupea, they sailed for Syracuse. But now a still greater disaster was in store for Kome than the destruction of her African army. This was the loss of that fleet of which she was justly proud. The time of year was about the beginning of the dog-days, when the Mediterranean is apt to be visited by sudden storms. The Consuls, upon their passage, were warned that such a storm was at hand ; but they were ignorant and rash, and con- tinued their course. Before they could double Cape Pachynum they were caught by the tempest; almost the whole fleet was wrecked or foundered ; the coast of Sicily from Camarina to Pa- chynum was strewed with fragments of ships and bodies of men. Such was the end of the Roman fleet. § 12. These successive disasters might well raise the hopes of Carthage, and they sent a considerable force into Sicily with 140 elephants. Agrigentum is said to have been recovered, and no doubt it was expected that the whole island would once more become their own. But the Romans, aptly compared by Horace to the hydra which grows stronger from successive mutilations, showed a spirit equal to the need. In three months' time (so won- derful was their energy), a new fleet of 220 sail was ready for sea.* The Consuls of the year 254 B.C., having touched at Mes- sana to take up the remnants of the old fleet, passed onward to Drepanum. They could not take this strong place, but they were more successful at Panormus, the modern Palermo, which yielded after a short siege to the Roman arms. This was an important conquest. § 13, Next year the fleet touched at several places on the Afri- can coast, but without making any impression on the country. Among the shoals and currents of the Lesser Syrtis it ran great danger of being k)st ; but having escaped this peril, the Consuls re- turned to Panormus and thence stood straight across for the mouth of the Tiber. On the passage they were overtaken by another of those terrible storms, and again nearly the whole fleet was lost. Thus, within three years, the Romans lost two great fleets. This was enough to damp even their courage ; and the Senate determined to try whether it were not possible to keep their ground in Sicily without a navy. For the present they gave up all claim to the command of the sea, and limited themselves to a small fleet of sixty ships. § 14. Matters continued in this state for two years. Neither party seemed willing to hazard a battle by land ; but in 250 B.C. Hasdrubal, the Carthaginian general, was induced to march * The grave Polybius ia voucher for this fact. Chap. XXIX. FIRST PUNIC WAR 2V5 secretly from Lilybseum to Panormus, in the hope of surprising and recovering that important town. The Roman commandant was the Proconsul L. Cajcilius Metellus. He allowed the enemy to approach the walls, and then suddenly sallied forth, covering his attack by a cloud of light troops, slingers, and javelin-men. Some of the elephants being wounded, carried confusion into their own ranks, and Metellus, seizing the occasion, charged the enemy and defeated them utterly. Besides 13 Carthaginian generals, 120 elephants were taken and carried across the sea on strong rafts to adorn the triumph of the Proconsul. The battle of Panormus was the greatest battle that was fought on land in the course of the war, and it was the last. In memory of this victory we find the elephant as a frequent device on the coins of the great family of the Metelli.* § 15. After the battle of Panormus, the hopes of the Romans rose again, and the Senate gave orders to build a third fleet of 200 sail. But the Carthaginians, weary of the expenses of the war, and suffering greatly in their commerce, thought that a fair opportunity for making peace was now offered. The Romans had recovered in some measure from their late disasters, but not so entirely but that they might be glad to listen to fair terms. Accordingly an embassy was dispatched to offer an exchange of prisoners and to propose terms on which a peace might be concluded. Regulus (according to the well-known story) accompanied this" embassy, under promise to return to Carthage if the purposes of the embassy should fail. When he arrived at Rome he refused to enter the walls and take his place in the Senate, as being no longer a citizen or a senator. Then the Senate sent certain of their own number to confer with him in the presence of the ambassadors, and the counsel which he gave confirmed the wavering minds of the fathers. " Useless it was," he said, " to ransom prisoners who had ignobly yielded with arms in their hands : let them be left to perish unheeded ; let war go on till Carthage be subdued." His coun- sel prevailed, and the embassy returned without effect. Regulus also returned to suffer the vengeance of the Carthaginians. Every one knows the horrid tortures by which it is said that life was taken from him ; how his eyelids were cut off; how he was placed in a barrel stuck full of nails, with one end knocked out ; and how he was exposed to the unmitigated glare of an African sun, to die by the slow agonies of pain, and thirst, and fever. § 16. Regulus was a man of the old Roman kind, like Curius and Fabricius, devoted to his country, eager for glory, frugal, * See a coin of Metellus Scipio figured at the end of this chapter. .276 ROME AND CAETHAGE. Book IT: bold, resolute or (call it) stubborn. He has been censured for ex- cessive presumptuousness in liis African campaign, and for the extravagance by vi^hich he lost all the advantages which he might have secured. But it must be allowed that he had some grounds even for overweening confidence. Ever since the two nations had met in arms, the star of Carthage had grown dim before that of Rome. Even on the sea, where her navies had long ridden triumphant, the Queen of the Mediterranean had twice been beaten by her unskilled rival. There was enough to make more sagacious men than Regulus believe that Carthage was well nigh powerless against Rome. The Romans had yet to learn that when the jealous government of Carthage allowed great generals to command their armies, such as Xanthippus, and Hamilcar, and Hannibal, then the well-trained mercenaries might gain easy victories over their own brave but less practised citizens. The whole story of the embassy and -death of Regulus has been doubted, chiefly because of the silence of Polybius, the most authentic historian of the time ; and from the certainty that at least one mythical marvel has been introduced into the narrative.* But if allowance be made for some patriotic exaggeration, there is nothing improbable in the story. Those who crucified their own unlucky generals would not be slow to wreak any measure of vengeance on a recusant prisoner. We read also that the Romans i^taliated by torturing some Carthaginian prisoners,! and this fact can hardly be an invention. At all events, the personal qualities of Regulus rest too firmly on old tradition to be questioned. While we read the beautiful passage in which Cicero describes his disinterested patriotism ;J while we repeat the noble Ode, in which Horace paints him as putting aside all who would have persuaded him to stay — people, friends, and family, going forth to torture and death with the same serene indifference as if he were leaving the busy life of Rome for the calm retirement of his country house ; § — so long will the blood flow more quickly and the heart beat higher at mention of the name of Regulus. With the failure of this attempt at peace closes the second period of the war. § 17. Third Period (249-241). — It has been said that the Senate, encouraged by the victory of Panormus, resolved once more to attempt the sea. In the year 249 b.c, the third fleet was ready, and its purpose soon became evident. The Consuls * Above, § 10. f Niebuhr supposes that these tortures are a fact, and that the story of the tortures of Regulus arose out of them, — a somewhat gratuitous suppositioru t De Ofaciis, iii. 27. § Carm., iii. 5. Chap. XXIX. FIRST PUNIC WAR. 277 • were ordered to invest Lilyba3um, tlie queen of Carthaginian fort- resses, botli by sea and land. If this strong place fell, the Cartha- ginians would have no firm hold on Sicily ; but it could not be taken unless it were blockaded by sea, for by sea supplies could be poured into it from Carthage. The blockade of Lilybseum was the thing that made a fleet necessary at this time. The Eomans began the siege with great activity ; they con- structed enormous works, they endeavoured to throw a dam across the harbour, but in vain. The skilful seamen of Carthage con- trived to carry provision-ships into the harbour through the midst of the Koman fleet. Their own navy lay near at hand in the Bay of Drepanum, ready to take advantage of any remissness on the part of the Romans. § IS. Yet the invincible perseverance of the Eomans would have prevailed, but for the headstrong folly of the Patrician Consul for the year 249 B.C. This was P. Claudius, a younger son of the old Censor, brother of him who had relieved Messana. As ho lay before Lilybseum, he formed a plan for surprising the enemy's fleet at Drepanum, and left his station for this purpose. In vain he was warned by the PuUarii, that the sacred chickens would not feed. "Then let them drink," said the irreverent commander, and threw them into the sea. But the men were much dispirited by the omen and by the contempt of the omen. And the Consul had managed matters with so little secresy and skill, that the enemy were informed of his intended attack. As the Eomans sailed in column into the harbour, the Carthaginian fleet was seen sailing outward. But on a sudden they tacked and bore down upon the side of the Eoman column. Of Claudius' two hundred and twenty ships, only thirty escaped. The reckless Consul was recalled to Eome by the Senate, and ordered to supersede him- self by naming a Dictator. With the old insolence of his family he named the son of one of his own freedmen, by name Claudius Glycias. But the Senate set aside the nomination, and themselves appointed A. Atilius Calatinus, who was also called Serranus.* What became of Claudius we know not. But he was dead three years after ; for a story is preserved, that at that time his sister insolently expressed a wish that he were still alive, that he might lose more men, and make the streets less crowded. She was heavily fined for this speech ; and if words deserve punishment, none ever more deserved it than hers. The loss of the fleet of Claudius was not the only disaster * " Vel te sulco, Serrane, serentem." — Aen. vi. 844. The story told of Cincinnatus is here transferred to Calatinus : see Chapt. ix. § 4. 278 EOMB AND CAETHAGE. Book IV. of tlie year. L. Junius, his Plebeian colleague, was less guilty,' but even more unfortunate. He was convoying a large fleet of ships, freighted with supplies for the forces at Lilybseum, when, near Camarina, he was overtaken by a tremendous hurricane, and both the convoy and the convoying squadron perished. The destruction was so complete, that every single ship was broken up, and not a plank (says Polybius) was fit to be used again. Thus, by the folly of one Consul and the misfortune of the other, did the Romans lose their entire fleet for the third time. It seemed to them as if the god of the sea was jealous of these new pretenders to his favour. § 19. These disasters left the Carthaginians once more masters of the Sea. And at the same time a really great man was appointed to a command in Sicily. This was Hamilcar, the father of Hannibal, of whom we shall have a better opportunity to speak hereafter. He does not seem to have had many ships or troops at his command ; but the skill with which he used his means abundantly shows what might have been done if the government had trusted him more completely. He made continual descents on the coasts of Italy, plundering and alarming. Before long he landed suddenly near Panormus, and in the face of the Roman commandant seized a hill called Hercte, which overhung the town (the same with the modern Monte Pellegrino). Here he fortified himself; and hence he carried on a con- tinual predatory warfare against the Romans for the space of three years. After this, by an equally sudden movement, he made a descent on Eryx, which had been taken by the Romans not long before, and surprised it. To this place he now shifted his quarters, and continued the same harassing attacks for the remaining years of the war. Except for this, matters were at a stand-still. Neither party made any advance. The whole strength of the Romans was con- centrated in the lines of Lilybseum ; but they had no fleet now, and therefore the place was fully supplied from the sea. On the other hand, Hamilcar acted like a perpetual blister, and kept the enemy always in alarm ; but either his forces were too small, or the Romans were too watchful to allow him to make any great impression. Slight actions constantly took place ; and an anecdote is told by Diodorus, Avhich sets the character of Hamilcar in a pleasing light. In a skirmish with the Roman Consul, C. Fundanius, he had suffered some loss, and sent (according to custom) to demand a truce, that he might bury his dead. But the Consul insolently replied that he ought to concern himself about the living rather than the dead, Chap. XXIX. FIRST PUNIC WAR. 2*79 and save further bloodslied by surrendering at once. Soon after it was Hamilcar's turn to defeat the Romans, and when their com- mander sent for leave to bury their dead, the Carthaginian General at once granted it, saying that he " w^arred not with the dead, but with the living."* § 20. These interminable hostilities convinced the Senate that they must once more build a fleet, or give up all hopes of driving the Carthaginians out of Sicily. Lilybseum would foil all their efforts, as it had done those of Pyrrhus. The siege had now lasted eight years, from 250 to 241, and it appeared no nearer its conclusion than at first. All sacrifices must be made. A fleet must be built. And it was built. At the beginning of the year 241 B.C., the Patrician Consul, Q. Lutatius Catulus, put to sea with more than two hundred sail.f This was the fourth navy which the Romans had created. Three times had they lost the whole by storms or by mismanage- ment. It is impossible not to admire this iron determination ; im- possible not to feel satisfaction at seeing it rewarded. § 21. The Consul, with his new fleet, sailed very early in the year. He immediately blockaded Drepanum by sea and land, hop- ing to take it at once, and so deprive the Carthaginians of the harbour in which their fleet commonly lay to watch the Romans at Lily- bseum. He also took great pains to train his seamen in naval tactics. In an action which took place at Drepanum he was severely wounded. On the other hand, the Carthaginians had of late neglected their navy ; and it was not till early in the following year (241) that a fleet was dispatched to the relief of Drepanum. It was heavily freighted with provisions and stores. Hanno, its com- mander, touched at Hiera, a small island, about twenty or twenty- five miles from the port of Drepanum. Of this (it appears) Catu- lus was informed. He was still suffering from his wound, but he at once embarked and put to sea, hoping to intercept the enemy before they unloaded their ships. On the evening of the 9th of March he lay to at JEgusa, another small island, not above ten miles distant from Hiera. Next morning the Carthaginians put to sea and endeavoured to run into Drepanum. But they were in- tercepted by the Roman fleet, and obliged to give battle. They fought under great disadvantages, and the Romans gained an easy victory. Fifty of the enemy's ships were sunk, seventy taken ; the rest escaped to Hiera. § 22. This battle, called the battle of the ^gatian islands (for this was the general name of the group), decided the war. It was * " NuUum cum victis certamen et sethere cassis." — ^Yirg., Aen. xi. 105. f Polybius says 200 ; Justin and others say 300. 280 nOUE AND CARTHAGE. Book IY. plain that Lilybseum must now surrender ; and that though Hamil- car might yet stand at bay, he could not recover Sicily for the present. The merchants of Carthage were eager for the conclu- sion of the war ; and the government sent orders to Hamilcar to make a peace on the best terms he could obtain. Catulus at first required, as a preliminary to all negociations, that Hamilcar should lay doAvn his arms, and give up all Roman deserters in his service. But when the Carthaginian disdainfully refused this condition, the Consul prudently waived it, and a treaty was finally agreed on by the two commanders to the following eflfect : — that the Carthagi- nians should evacuate Sicily ; should give up all Roman prisoners without ransom ; and should pay 2,200 talents, in twenty years, towards the expenses of the war. This treaty, however, was sub- ject to the approval of the Roman people, and the tribes refused to ratify it without inquiry. Accordingly the Senate sent over ten envoys, who confirmed the treaty of Catulus, except that they raised the sum to 3,200 talents, and required this larger sum to be paid in ten years, instead of twenty. They also in- sisted on the cession of all the small islands between Italy and Sicily. The treaty was immediately executed. Lilybseum, Dre- panum, Eryx, and the other places still held by the Carthagi- nians, were surrendered, and Hamilcar embarked his troops for Carthage. § 23. Thus ended the first Punic War. The issue of this long struggle was altogether in favour of Rome. She had performed few brilliant exploits ; she had sent few eminent men to conduct the war ; but she had done great things on the whole. She had beaten the Mistress of the Sea upon her own element. She had gained possession of a large and fertile island ; an island nearly twice as large as Yorkshire, and fertile beyond the example of other lands.* Her losses indeed had been enormous ; for she had lost seven hundred ships, a vast number of men, and large sums of money. But Carthage had suff"ered still more. For though she had lost not more than five hundred ships, yet the interruption to her trade, and the loss of her great commercial emporiums of Lilybseum and Drepanum, not only crippled the resources of the State, but largely diminished the fortunes of every individual citi- zen. The Romans and Italians, who fought in this war, were mostly agricultural ; and the losses of such a people are small, and soon repaired, while those suff"ered by a great commercial state are often irreparable. * Sicily became the first province. But as it was lost again a few years after, and all the known rules of government date from the second conquest, all notice of the provincial system of Eome shall be deferred. See Chapt. xxxvL Chap. XXIX. FIRST PUmO WAR, 281 This war was only the prelude to a more fierce and deadly- contest. Carthage had withdrawn discomfited from Sicily, and her empty treasury and ruined trade forbade her to continue the conflict at that time. •• But it was not yet decided whether Rome or Carthage Avas to rule the coasts of the Mediterranean, The great Hamilcar left Efyx without despair. He foresaw that by patience and prudence he might shake off the control of his jealous Government, and train up an army in his own interest, with which he might defy the Roman legions.* Unfortunate circumstances prevented him from the execution of this project for the next four years. After that (as we shall see) he began that policy which was so successfully carried out by his celebrated son. * See Polyb., i. 60. Coin of Metellus Scipio, referring to Battle of Panormus. Temple of Janus closed, on a Coin of Nero. CHAPTER XXX. EVENTS BETWEEN THE FIRST AND SECOND PUNIC WARS. § 1. Origin and progress of the Mercenary "War at Carthage : Spendiua and Matho. § 2. Hamilcar commissioned to check it : thwarted by Hanno. § 3. Hamilcar made sole commander : he compels Spendius to surrender. § 4. Obstinate resistance of Matho : he murders Gisgo and other prisoners : end of War. § 5. Ungenerous conduct of Rome. § 6. Hamilcar goes to Spain. § 1. Affairs of Rome : Temple of Janus closed. § 8. Illtrian "War : Piratical tribes of lUyrian coast : Queen Teuta murders a Roman Envoy. § 9. Demetrius of Pharos, Teuta's governor of Corcyra^ treacher- ously joins Rome : Teuta obliged to consent to hard terms. § 10. Honour paid to Romans in Greece. § 11. Gallic War : Gauls provoked to war by proposal of Plaminius to plant settlements in Picenum and Umbria. § 12. Enormous forces at disposal of Rome: plan of campaign. § 13. Great defeat of Gauls at Telamon in Btruria. § 14. Invasion of Transpa- dane Gaul. § 15. MarceUus wins spolia opima. § 16. Colonies planted at Placentia and Cremona. § 11. Revolt of Demetrius of Pharos, easUy sub- dued by .iEmilius Paulus. § 18. Hamilcar's operations in Spain: Hanni- bal's oath. § 1. The first Punic War lasted three-and-twenty-years ; and the interval between the end of this war and the beginning of the next was of nearly the same duration. In the course of this period (from 240 to 218 b.c.) both Eome and Carthage, notwithstanding their exhausted condition, were involved in perilous wars. In the next three years Carthage was brought to the very brink of de- struction by a general mutiny of her mercenary troops. This Mer- cenary War arose in the following manner. As soon as peace was concluded, it was necessary for Carthage Chap. XXX. THE MERCENARY WAR. 283 to witlidraw all lier troops from Sicily, and pay them their arrears. The general who was entrusted with the charge of shipping off these troops, Gisgo, executed his trust with judg- ment and dexterity. He foresaw the danger that might arise, if the whole army, consisting of adventurers without country or law, were landed all at once on the shores of Africa. They might make war on their own account, like the Campanians of Rhe- gium, or the Mamertines of Messana. Gisgo therefore sent home the troops in small detachments, so that each might be paid off and disbanded before the next arrival. But he was ill seconded by the Government at home. The treasury was ex- hausted. No doubt money was to be raised on loans at high interest ; and perhaps the Council imagined that, by delaying payment, they might induce the soldiers to be content with a smaller sum than was their due. They therefore allowed the whole army to collect at Sicca, in the neighbourhood of the capital, before any measures were taken for payment of their arrears. The consequence was the reverse of what was expected. The reckless adventurers who commanded these mercenaries saw the weakness of the Government, and coveted the wealth and luxury of the great city, which seemed now within their grasp. They at once declared that they must have their full arrears of pay ; and presently added that now they would not be content even with this. To enforce these demands they en- camped at Tunis, almost within sight of Carthage. The Govern- ment became frightened, and offered to concede all demands. But with the fears of the Government rose the demands of the soldiers ; it soon became clear that the whole army was in open revolt, and their leaders bent on nothing less than conquering their masters. Their Carthaginian officers and commanders were discarded : two desperate and abandoned men gained supreme power over the whole army. These were Spendius, a runaway Campanian slave, who feared to be given up to the Romans ; and Matho, a Libyan, who had been too forward in urging the demands of the army to hope for forgiveness from the Carthaginian Government.' Led on by these desperadoes, the soldiers gave a full loose to their ferocity ; they seized Gisgo, who had been sent to treat with them, as a hostage ; plundered the country round about; raised the subject Africans in rebellion; besieged the fortified towns of Utica and Hippo ; and cut off all communication by land with the promontory on which Carthage stands. § 2. In this desperate crisis, the Government turned their eyes on Hamilcar, and charged him with the office of saving his country. He promptly obeyed. The civic force of Carthage 284 EOME AND CARTHAGE. ■ Book lY: itself must have formed his chief force. By skilful persnasiori he induced the Numidian cavalry to desert and join his standard. Thus strengthened, he gave battle to the mutineers twice, and twice defeated them. He showed his policy hy sparing all prisoners, and offering free pardon to all that would at once sub- mit. Everything promised a speedy termination of this mutiny, when the Government again spoiled all. Hanno, who headed the most influential party in the Council, was jealous of Hamilcar, and procured his own appointment to a share in the command. The two generals were now continually at variance ; all the plans of Hamilcar were thwarted ; and the rebels again resumed the upper hand ; so much so indeed, that at the end of the second year they got possession of Utica and Hippo, and proceeded to besiege Car- thage herself. , § 3. Immediate danger once more made the Government wise, and Hamilcar was again appointed to the sole command. He was enabled to tate the field with a better appointed force than before; for Hiero of Syracuse, and the Senate of Rome, both sent supplies to the exhausted Carthaginians, and interdicted all communication with the insurgents. Hamilcar soon succeeded in raising the siege of Carthage, and forced the rebel army to separate into two bodies, respectively commanded by Spendius and Matho. He first pursued Spendius, and reduced him to such extremities, that he surrendered at discretion, with Autaritus, the leader of the Gallic Mercenaries : he then turned his arms against Matho, and compelled this rebel chief to shut himself up in Tunis. § 4. The spirit of the insurgents was now quite broken, and they would fain have given in. But Matho and his officers were fighting with halters round their necks, and whenever any one attempted to persuade peaceful measures, a knot of the more violent cried him down ; and thus, as usually happens in popular commotions, the real wishes of the greater part were drowned in the loud vociferations of a few bold and resolute desperadoes. What made the task of these men easier, was that the army was composed of a great many diffeTent nations; and the soldiers not being able to understand one another, could not so readily combine against their leaders. Almost the only word Avhich was understood by all, was the terrible cry of " Stone him, stone him!"* which was raised by the leading insurgents, whenever anj^ one rose to advocate peace, and was re-echoed by the mass in ignorance or fear. But Matho still feared the influence of Hamilcar over the troops, and he resolved to commit acts which would compromise himself and his followers still more * /3uAe (3ci?ie.—Po\jh., i. 69 and 80. CflAP. XXX. THE MERCENARY WAR. 285 irrevocably. He took Gisgo, who had hitherto been kept as a hostage, with seven hundred other prisoners, cut off their hands and ears, broke their legs, threw them, yet living, into a pit, and declared that he would treat all other prisoners in the same barbarous fashion. Hamilcar, who had hitherto used all gentle- ness, Avas by this brutal conduct driven to retaliation : he crucified Spendius, and threw his other prisoners to wild beasts. But this frightful state of things did not last much longer. The insurgents in Tunis were now reduced to the last extremi- ties of famine, and at length Matho was obliged to lead out his men to battle. He was utterly defeated, taken prisoner and put to death. The death of Matho terminated this terrible war, which had lasted more than three years and four months, and at one time threatened the very existence of Carthage. It was known by the name of the War Without Truce, or the Inexpiable War.* § 5. The forbearance shown by the Romans to Carthage during this fearful war makes their conduct at its close very surprising. For now they were guilty of an act which was not only unjust, but dishonourable. The mercenary troops in Sardinia had mutinied after the example of their brethren, had slain Bostar, their Carthaginian commandant, and had taken possession of the island. After the close of the war in Africa these insurgents, fearing that their turn was come, put them- selves under Roman protection ; and their prayer for aid, like that of the Mamertines, was granted. The Senate had the effrontery not only to demand the cession of Sardinia and Cor- sica, but also the payment of a further sum of 1,200 talents. The Carthaginians were too weak to refuse ; not even Hamilcar could have counselled them to do so. But this ungenerous conduct sank deep into many hearts, and strengthened Hamil- car's grim resolve, to take full vengeance on the grasping Italian Republic. § 6. In order to execute this resolve, it was necessary for him to obtain an independent authority, so as to form armies and carry on campaigns, without being fettered by the orders of the narrow-minded government. And now seemed the time to obtain this authority. Hanno and the leading members, of the council had long been jealous of the family of Barca,f of which Hamilcar was the chief. Hamilcar's fame and popularity was now so high, that it was possible he might form a party and overthrow the usurped power of the council. It was therefore * TtoTiEfioQ uanovSog. — Polyb. i. 65. f Barca, or Barka, is the same word as the Hebrew Barak, which means lightning. 286 ROME AND CARTHAGE. Book IV. with pleasure that they received his proposal to go to Spain and reduce that country under the Carthaginian power. Carthage already had settlements in the south of Spain, and the old trad- ing city of Gades was in alliance with her. But the rest of the country was peopled by wild and savage tribes, who could not be conquered in a day. No doubt the government of Carthage saw the departure of Hamilcar for Spain with as much inward satisfaction as the French Directory in 1V9Y witnessed the departure of Napoleon for Egypt. If he succeeded, he would at least be far distant, and long absent ; if he failed, they would be rid of one whom they feared and hated. Before we trace the consequences of this extension of Carthaginian power in Spain, the affairs of Eome and Italy claim our attention. § 7. During the Mercenary War in Africa, the Eomans had remained at peace, except to quell an insignificant revolt of the Faliscans, which was put down in less than a week. The northern frontier of Eoman Italy was slightly troubled by incursions on the part of Gauls and Ligurians ; and in more than one year a triumph is recorded over Sardinians and Corsicans, the new provinces so iniquitously wrung from Carthage. But so pro- found was the general tranquillity in the year 235 b.c, that the temple of Janus was closed by the Consul Manlius Torquatus, for the first time (say the annals) since the time of Numa. The people of Italy seem to have been little disturbed during the late war. Several Colonies had been founded in its course, of which one was Brundusium. In the last year of the war, the lower Sabine country was formed into two Tribes, the Veline and the Quirine. Thus the number of thirty-five was completed, and no addition was hereafter made to the Roman territory. § 8. This tranquillity was of no long duration. The success of their arms in Sicily, and their newly acquired maritime power, encouraged the Romans to cross the Adriatic not so much for the purpose of advancing their own dominion as to render a service to all who frequented these seas for the purposes of traffic. The far side of the Adriatic consists of a narrow ledge of coast-land flanked by parallel mountain-chains. Many islands appear off the shore, and several large creeks or bays afford safe anchorage for ships. These natural advantages made the lUyrians of the coast skilful seamen. Their light barks (lembi)*' * The Illyrian seamen long continued the use of these light vessels. The Liburnian galleys used by Augustus at Actium were from these coasts. Therefore Horace (Epod. i. 1) saya to Maecenas, " Ibis Liburnis inter alta nayium, Amice, propugnacula." Chap. XXS. ILLYRIAN" PIRATES. 287 issued from behind the islands or out of the creeks, and practised piracy on their neighbours. The lower part of this Illyrian district had been reduced by Philip of Macedon, but on the confusion which followed the death of Alexander, the people had become independent. The main stronghold of this lower Illyria seems to have been Scodra (Scutari), and a chief named Agron had established a supremacy for his tribe over all his neighbours as far as the Ceraunian mountains. He died in 231 B.C., and his wife Teuta, a woman of bold and masculine spirit, became chief of this piratical race during the infancy of Agron's son Pinnes. She pursued her husband's designs, and in 230 B.C. had made herself supreme over all the islands except Issa, which she blockaded in person in that year. The Senate had not hitherto found leisure to attend to the many complaints which reached them of the assaults committed by these pirates. But in the year just named, they resolved to take measures for checking their marauding expeditions, and sent C. and L. Coruncanius as Envoys to remonstrate with Teuta. They found her, it seems, at Issa. But Teuta was little disposed to listen to them. " It was not," she said, " customary for the Chiefs of Illyria to prevent their subjects from making use of the sea." The younger Coruncanius, indignant at this avowal of national piracy, replied that " if such were the institutions of' the Illyrians, the Romans would lose no time in helping her to mend them." Exasperated by the sarcasm, Teuta ordered the Envoys to be pursued and the younger one to be put to death. Upon receiving news of this violent act, the Romans at once declared war against the Illyrians. § 9. After the surrender of Issa, the Illyrian Queen had pur- sued her success by the capture not only of Dyrrhachium, but also of Corcyra ; and Demetrius, a clever and unscrupulous Greek of Pharos (a place on the coast of Upper Illyria), who had been the chief counsellor of Teuta in her late enterprises, was made Governor of this famous island. Upon this, the Epirotes sent Ambassadors to crave protection from Rome ; and the Senate, already preparing for war, gladly took advantage of this opening. Early in the next spring both Consuls appeared at Corcyra with a powerful fleet and army. Demetrius quickly discerned to which side fortune would incline, and without hesitation took his course. He surrendered Corcyra to the Romans without a blow. This treachery seems to have paralysed Teuta's spirit ; and the information given by Demetrius enabled the Roman commanders to overpower her forces with little trouble. Teuta was obliged to surrender the greater part of her dominions to the traitor Demetrius, who now became 2 §8 ROME AND CARTHAGE. Book IV. Chief of Corcyra and soutliern lUyria, under the protection of Eome. The Illyrians were not to appear south of Lissus with more than two barks at a time. , § 10. The suppression of Illyrian piracy was even more advan- tageous to the commerce of Greece than that of Rome. The leading men of the Senate began, even at this time, to show a strong disposition to win the good opinion of the Greeks, who, degenerate as they were, were still held to be the centre of civili- sation and the dispensers of fame, Postumius the Consul, therefore, ' sent envoys to various Greek states to explain the appearance of a Roman force in those quarters. They were received with high distinction. The Athenians and Corinthians, especially, paid honour to Rome ; and the latter people recog- nised her Greek descent by voting that her citizens should be admitted to the Isthmian games (228 B.C.). § 11. This short but decisive war was scarcely ended, when Rome saw a conflict impending, which filled them with more alarm than was warranted by the event. It will be remembered that just before the war with Pyrrhus, the Senonian Gauls had been extirpated, and the Boians defeated with great slaughter in two battles near the lake Vadimo in Etruria (283 B.C.)* From that time, some sixty years before, the Gauls had remained quiet within their own boundaries. But in 292 B.C., the Tribune C. Flaminius, a man who will hereafter claim more special notice, proposed to distribute all the public lands held by Rome on the Picenian and Umbrian coasts to a number of poor citizens ; a law which was put into effect four years afterwards. When the Colonies of Sena Gallica and Ariminum had been planted on that same coast, the Boians were too much weakened by their late defeats to offer any opposition. But in two generations their strength was re- cruited, and they were encouraged to rise against Rome by the promised support of the Insubrians, a powerful tribe who occupied the Transpadane district about Milan. The arrival of large bodies of Gauls from beyond the Alps f completed their determination, and increased the terror which the recollections of the Alia still wrought upon the Roman mind. * See Chapt. xxv. §§ 13 and 14. f They were called Gaesatae, which Polybius (ii. 22, 1) explains as merce- naries. But it is hardly possible to avoid connecting the name with gaesa, the Gallic javeUns mentioned by Virgil and others : " duo quisque Alpina coruscant Gsesa manu." — Aen. viii. 661. They are represented as very lightly clad, wearing tartan plaids {sagula virgata) and trews (braccae). Hence Transalpine Gaul was called Gallia Braccata, while the Romanised Cisalpine province was Gallia Togaia. Craf. XXX. GREAT GALLIC WAR. 289 § 12. Reports excaggerated these movements, and the Romans made larger preparation for this Gallic war than they had made against Pyrrhus or the Carthaginians. It is said that in the year 225 b.c. the men returned fit for active service in the Roman Tribes and among the various Italian Allies amounted to nearly 800,000 ; hut the forces called out for service were only a small portion of this vast national militia. A consular army amounting to about 25,000 foot and 1500 horse was sent under j^milius to Arminium, while a Prsetor with an army of similar amount pushed forward to Fsesulse on the Arno. The other Consul, Atilius, who had been despatched early in the year to Sardinia, was ordered to join the Praator in Northern Etruria without delay. A reserve force of large amount was ready near Rome. These active preparations were seconded by superstitious rites. The Sybilline books were consulted, -and in them it was found written that the soil of Rome must be twice occupied by a foreign foe. To fulfil this prediction, the Government ordered a Gaulish man and woman, together with a Greek woman, to be buried alive in the Forum. By this barbarous folly it was hoped the alarm of the people might be calmed, and the omen averted, § 13. The campaign opened in ISTorthern Etruria. The Gauls crossed the Apennines into the vale of the Arno and fell suddenly upon the Prsetor stationed at Faesulse. Him they overpowered, and defeated with great slaughter. The Consul u^milius now, with great promptitude, crossed the Umbrian hills into Etruria ; and on his approach the Gauls retired north- Avards along the coast, wishing to secure their booty ; while JEmilius hung upon their rear, without venturing to engage in a general action. But when the Gauls came near Pisa, they found that the Consul Atilius had landed there from Sardinia ; and thus hemmed in by two consular armies, they Avere obhged to give battle at a place called Telamon. The conflict was desperate ; but the Romans were better armed and better disci- plined than of old, while the Gauls had remained stationary. Their large heavy broad-swords, forged of ill-tempered iron, bent at the first blow, and while they stooped to straighten them with the foot, they were fully exposed to the thrust of the short Roman sword. The victory of Telamon was as signal as that of Sentinura or that of the Lake Vadimo. ^milius pursued the flying host across the mountains, and brought home a large booty from the Boian lands to grace the triumph. § 14. The Consuls of the next year (224 b.c.) again invaded the Boian country, and received the complete submission of all 13 290 ROME AND CARTHAGE. Book IV. the tribes on the left bank of the Po. They were prevented from pursuing their successes by a pestilence in their army. But in the following year C. Flaminius, who was the reputed cause of the war, was Consul with P. Furius, and these Consuls pushed across the Po, with the resolution of punishing the Insubrians (Milanese) for the part they had taken in the invasion of Etruria. The place at which they crossed the great river was somewhere above Mantua ; and here they formed a league with the Cenomanni, who were at deadly feud with the Insubrians. Assisted by these auxiliaries, they moved westward across the Adda, which was the boundary of the Insubrian district. Fla- minius now appears to have had the chief command. Despatches arrived from the Senate addressed to him, forbidding him to invade the Insubrian country. But suspecting their contents, he laid them aside unopened, and at once gave battle to the enemy, who had advanced to drive him into the Adda. The Eomans, however, beat them back triumphantly ; and then Flaminius, opening the despatches, laughed at the caution of the Senate.* § 15. The war was brought to an end in the fourth campaign. During the winter the Insubrians sued for peace ; but the new Consuls, Cn. Cornelius Scipio and M. Claudius Marcellus — after- wards so celebrated — persuaded the Senate to reject the appli- cation. The Consuls both marched north, and entered the Insu- brian territory. But Marcellus hearing that Viridomarus, the Insubrian chief, had crossed the Po to ravage the country lately occupied by the Romans, left his colleague to reduce the prin- cipal towns of the Insubrians, while he pursued the chief with his army. He came up with him near Clastidium, and attacked him with his cavalry alone. A smart action ensued, in which Marcellus encountered Viridomarus, and slew him with his own hand ; and the Gauls fled in disorder. Thus were won the third and last Spolia Opima. Meanwhile Scipio had taken Mediolanum (Milan), the chief city of the Insubrian Gauls, and the war was concluded (b.c. 221). § 16. Soon after this, it was resolved, probably at the instance of Flaminius, to plant two colonies, Cremona and Placentia, on opposite sides of the Po, so as to secure the territory lately won in the Boian and Insubrian territories. But the execution of this project did not take place till three years later, when Hannibal was on his march. Probably the same interruption prevented the large tract of country which had been conquered on the Po * If we believe Polybius (ii. 23), the victory was due to the military skill of the legionary tribunes. Flaminius is strongly censured for the reckless way in which he accepted battle, without providing for retreat in case of defeat. Chap. XXX. HAMLLCAR IN SPAIN. 291 from being at once formed into a Province. A few jears after- wards we liear it spoken of under the name of the province of Ariminum ;* but when this Province was constituted we are not informed. Communication Avas secured between Rome and Ariminum by a road constructed in the Censorship of Flaminius, which bore his name (220 b.c). § 17. During this great disturbance in Italy, Demetrius of Pharos proved as false to his new patrons as he had been to Teuta. Relying on the promised support of the king of Macedon, he assumed the air of an independent chief, and encouraged his subjects in the piratical practices, which he had been placed at Corcyra to prevent. In 219 b.c. L. JEmilius Paullus, the Patrician Consul, received orders from the Senate to put a stop to these proceedings. In one short campaign he reduced Corcyra, took Pharos, and forced Demetrius to take refuge at the court of his new patron, Philip king of Macedon, where we shall find him at a later time, active in promoting hos- tilities against Rome. Perhaps lUyria, as well as Gaul, might then have been occupied as a Province, but for the sudden events that checked the progress of the Roman arms. Left to itself, it again fell into the hands of native chiefs. The Romans, however, kept possession of the island of Corcyra, together with the strong towns of Oricum and Apollonia, with a small surrounding district, — positions which were of great service to them afterwards in the Macedonian wars. § 18. Thus triumphant on all sides and on all sides apparently secure, the Roman government had no presentiment of the storm that had long been gathering in the West. We must now return to the time at which Hamilcar, as has been related,f was preparing to cross over into Spain. He crossed the straits of Gibraltar in 235 b.c. With him went his son-in-law Hasdrubal, and his son Hannibal, then a boy of nine years old, but even then giving promise of those qualities which afterwards made him the terror of Rome. Hamilcar had not intended to take him to Spain ; but the boy pleaded so earnestly, that the father yielded on condition that he should swear eternal enmity to Rome and the Romans. Hannibal him- self, in his old age, told the tale to Antiochus, king of Syria, how that he was led to the altar of his country's gods, and took this direful oath.J How well he kept it the sequel will prove. Nothing can more strongly show the feelings with which Hamil- car left his country. He went not as the servant of Carthage, * In the year 205 B.C. See Liv. xxviii. 38 : '^Ariminum, — ita Galliam appeUabant." f Above, § 6. X Polyb., iu. 12. 292 ROME A'NB CARTHAGE. Book IV. but as the enemy of Rome, with feelings of personal hostility, not to be appeased save by the degradation of his antagonist. His first object was to conquer Spain, and thus put Carthage in possession of a province which might itself become a great kingdom, and was worth many Sicilies and Sardinias. One of the chief advantages he proposed to himself in this conquest was the unlimited supply of hardy soldiers, which would be given by the possession of Spain. But he was Avell aware that for this purpose conquest was not sufficient ; he must enlist the feelings of the Spaniards in his cause ; he must teach them to look up to himself and his family as their friends and bene- factors. Accordingly he married a Spanish lady of Castulo ; he lived among the natives like one of themselves ; he taught them to work their rich silver mines ; and in all ways opened out the resources of the country under his sway. Meanwhile he col- lected and disciplined an excellent army, with which he reduced many of the ruder tribes to the northward of the modern Anda- lusia and Murcia. Thus he reigned (this is the best word to express his power) with vigour and wisdom for eight years ; and in the ninth he fell in battle, admired and regretted by all southern Spain. His forecast and sagacity, combined with great activity, resolution, and knowledge of men, gave him all the qualities of a great general and a great sovereign. It is a remark of Aristotle's that men of brilliant abilities seldom leave those abilities as an inheritance. In the times of which we write, Hamilcar and Hannibal, as Philip of Macedon and Alexander before them, afford remarkable exceptions to this rule. § 19. Hannibal was yet only in his eighteenth year, too young to take up the work which Hamilcar had left unfinished. But Hasdrubal, the son-in-law of the great commander, proved his worthy successor. He at once assumed supreme authority. By the gentler arts of conciliation he won over a great number of tribes ; and in order to give a capital to this new realm, he founded the city of New Carthage, now Carthagena, on the coast of Murcia. The successes of Hamilcar had at length attracted the notice of the Roman Senate ; and in the year 227 b.c, the first of Hasdrubal's command, they concluded a league with the latter general, whereby the river Ebro was fixed as the northern boundary of the Carthaginian empire in Spain. Hasdrubal fell by the knife of an assassin in the year 221 e.g., the seventh of his command. § 20. Hannibal was now in his twenty-fourth year. He was at once elected by the acclamations of the army to stand in his great father's place. Nor did the government venture to brave the anger of a young general at the head of an army devoted to Chap. XXX. HANNIBAL IN SPAIN. 293 liis cause. Hannibal remained as ruler of Carthaginian Spain. The office was becoming hereditary in his family. He set himself to realise his father's designs. Hamilcar had enlarged the Carthaginian rule in Spain from a few trading settlements to a great province. Hasdrubal had car- ried the limits of this province as far as the Sierra of Toledo. Hannibal immediately crossed this range into the valley of the Tagus, and reduced the Celtiberian tribes which then occupied Castille. He even passed the Castilian mountains which form the upper edge of the basin of the Tagus, and made the name of Car- thage feared among the Vaccseans in the valley of the Douro, by taking their chief town Helmantice (Salamanca). At the close of the year 220 b.c, all Spain south of the Ebro and Douro was in subjection to Carthage, or in alliance with her. The great quali- ties of the three men through whom they knew her made them not unwilling vassals. § 21. But there was one city south of the Ebro which still maintained independence. This was Saguntum, an ancient colony from the Greek island of Zacynthos. Its site on the coast of modern Valencia is marked by the present town of Murviedro (Muri Veteres), rather more than half-way between New Car- thage and the mouth of the Ebro. Saguntum, like Massilia, had been for some time in alliance with Rome'; and therefore, though it was on the Carthaginian side of the Ebro, was by Roman cus- tom entitled to support. In the year 219 b.c. this city was at war with a neighbouring tribe, and Hannibal eagerly accepted an invitation to destroy the ally of his enemy. He surrounded Saguntum with a large army. The siege began ; but the people held out for eight months against all his assaults with that heroic obstinacy which seems to distinguish all dwellers on Spanish ground, when engaged in defensive warfare. In many respects, the siege of Saguntum brings that of Saragossa to mind. The booty obtained by the conqueror was of great use in fitting out his army for the next year's campaign. § 22. While the siege yet lasted, the Roman Senate had sent envoys to Hannibal, requiring him to desist from attacking their ally. He replied coldly, that "he could not answer for their safety in his camp; they had better seek redress at Carthage." They went on their way : but meantime the news of the fall of Saguntum reached Rome, and an embassy was sent to Carthage to demand that Hannibal, the author of the mischief, should be given up. There was a large party, that of Hanno and the government, which would probably have complied with their de- mand. But the memory of Rome's dishonourable conduct at the close of the Mercenary War dwelt in many hearts ; and the 294 ROME AND CARTHAGE. Book IV. government did not dare to oppose the general feeling. Nor in- deed were they themselves altogether averse from such a war as Hannibal proposed to wage against Rome ; they might expect the brunt of it to be borne by him and his Spaniards : at all events it would remove the young ambition of the general far from home, and might end by ruining him altogether. They replied that " Saguntum was not mentioned in the treaty of Hasdrubal ; but even if it were, that treaty had never been rati- fied by the government, and therefore was of no authority." Then Q. Fabius Buteo, the chief of the Roman Envoys, doubling his toga in his hand, held it up and said : " In this fold I carry peace and war : choose ye which ye will have." " Give us which you will," replied the Suffet. " Then take war," said the Roman, letting his toga fall loose. " We accept the gift," cried the Senators of Car- thage, " and welcome." Thus was war formally declared against Rome. But before we pass on to the narrative of this war, it will be well to form some idea of the extraordinary man who, by his sole genius, undertook and supported it with success for so many years. § 23. Hannibal was now in his twenty-eighth year, nearly of the same age at which Napoleon Bonaparte led the army of the French Republic into Italy. And Avhen we have named Napo- leon, we have named, perhaps, the only man, ancient or modern, who can claim to be superior, or even equal, to Hannibal as a general. Bred in the camp, he possessed every quality necessary to gain the confidence of his men. His personal strength and activity were such, that he could handle their arms and perform their exercises, on foot or on horsebeck, more skilfully than themselves. His endurance of heat and cold, of fatigue and hunger, excelled that of the hardiest soldier in the camp. He never required others to do what he could not and would not do himself. To these bodily powers he added an address as winning as that of Hasdrubal his brother-in-law, talents for command fully as great as those of his father Hamilcar. His frank manners and genial temper endeared him to the soldiery. His strong will swayed them like one man. The different nations who made up his motley arms — Africans and Spaniards, Gauls and Ital- ians — looked upon him each as their own chief. Polybius twice remarks, that amid the hardships which his mixed army underwent for sixteen years in a foreign land, there never was a mutiny in his camp.* The admirable versatility of the man was seconded by qualities required to make the general. His quick perception and great sagacity led him to marvellously * xi. 19; xxiv. 9. Chap. XXX. HANNIBAL. 295 correct judgment of future events and distant countries, — wliicli in those days, when travellers were few and countries unknown, must have been a task of extraordinary difficulty. He formed his plans after patient inquiry, and kept them profoundly secret till it was necessary to make them known. But with this caution in design- ing Avas united marvellous promptness in execution. " He was never deceived himself," says Polybius, " but never failed to take advantage of the errors of his opponent."* Nor was he a mere soldier. In leisure hours he delighted to converse with Greeks on topics of intellectual cultivation. And we shall see hereafter that, as a statesman, he displayed ability hardly inferior to that which he had displayed as a general. Against these great qualities, he was traditionally reported to have been cruel even to ferocity, and treacherous beyond the common measure of his country .f But even if we believe the bad faith of Carthage to have been greater than that which Rome showed towards foreigners, yet we hear of no single occa- sion on which Hannibal broke faith with Rome. With regard to his cruelty, there can be no doubt that he was indifferent to human life when success could be gained by its sacrifice; and on several occasions we shall find him, under the influence of passion, treating his prisoners with great barbarity. But though he had been trained to consider the Romans as his natural enemies, to be hunted down like wolves, we shall find that he forgot not to treat worthy foemen, such as Marcellus, with the magnanimity of a noble nature. And after all, it is somewhat out of place to expect refined humanity from a leader of mercenaries, who had lived from his earliest boyhood in the midst of war. But whatever might be the ability, whatever the hardihood of the young general, he required it all for the enterprise he had now in hand. To penetrate from the Ebro to the Po, with chains of giant mountains to bar his progress, through countries partly bar- barous and for the most part hostile, without roads, or maps, or accurate knowledge of his route, without certain provision for the food and clothing of his army, without the hearty concurrence of his own Government, — was an undertaking from which the boldest might shrink ; and to have accomplished this march, with tri- umphant success would alone justify the homage whicli is still paid to the genius of Hannibal. * X. 33, 2. f " Has tantas viri virtutes ingentia vitia aequabant : inhumana crudelitas, perfidia plusquam Punica." — Li v. xxi. 4. Lake Trasimcne. CHAPTER XXXI. SECOND PUNIC war: FIRST PERIOD (218 — 216 B.C.). 1. The "War divided into Four Periods. § 2. Hannibal's preparations and forces. § 3. His march to the Ehone. § 4. Preparations of the Romans: Sempronius sent to Sicily, Scipio touches at Massilia. § 5. Passage of the Rhone. § 6. Scipio sends his brother into Spain, and himself returns to Italy. § 1. Hannibal marches up the Rhone to the Isere. § 8. Begins the passage of the Alps. § 9. Surmounts the Pass and reaches Italy. § 10. His great losses: takes Turin. §11- Cavalry skirmish of the Ticinus. § 12. Retreat of Scipio: position of the two armies on tho Trebia. § 13. Battle of the Trebia. § 14. Preparations for second cam- paign : position of Flaminius. § 1 5. Hannibal's march through Etruria. § 16. Battle of Lake Trasimene. § 17. Dismay at Rome: measures taken by the Senate. § 18. Course taken by Hannibal. § 19. Policy of Fabius : escape of Hannibal from Campania. §20. Discontent at Rome : t Minueius. § 21. Review : Varro and Paullus Consuls for next year. § 22. Position of the two armies near Canusium. § 23. Varro resolves to give battle. § 24. Preparations for the battle of Cannse. § 25. Battle of Cannas. § 26. Feelings at Rome. § 27. Reasons for Hannibal not advancing to Rome: Embassy. §28. Firmness of the Senate. §29. Hannibal enters Chap. XXXI. SECOND PUNIC WAR: PERIOD I. 297 Capua. § 30. Revolt of all Southern Italy, except Colonies and Free Towns. § 31. Embassy of Hannibal to Carthage. § 32. The Scipios in Spain. §33. Prospects of Hannibal. §34. Senate fiUed up : economical measures. § 35. Philip of Macedon : Oppian Law. § 1. The war whicli began with the invasion of Italy by Han- nibal lasted for seventeen years. Its changing scenes and for- tunes will be made more clear by separating it into Periods, as was done with the First Punic War. These Periods shall be Four. The First comprehends the victorious career of Hannibal, from the Passage of the Alps in 218 e.g., to his winter-quarters at Capua in 216-15. Each year is marked by a great battle — Trebia, Tra- simene, Cannae. The Second is of Five Years, in which the Romans, by caution and wariness, avoid signal defeats, and succeed in recovering Capua while they lose Tarentum (215-211 B.C.). The Third, of Four Years, in which Hannibal, left without sup- port from home, is obliged more and more to confine himself to the mountain regions of Calabria, relying on the succours to be brought him from Spain by his brother Hasdrubal. It ends with the disastrous Battle of the Metaurus, which destroyed his hopes (211-207 B.C.). The Fourth, of Four Years, in which Hannibal stands at bay in the extremity of Italy, while the main scene of the war shifts to Spain, Sicily, and Africa. It terminates with the great battle of Zama, and the peace which followed (206-202 B.C.). But during the former periods of the great war, the Roman arms were also engaged in Spain, in Sicily, and in Epirus. From the very beginning of the war they maintained the conflict in Spain. After 215 B.C. they were obliged to besiege Syracuse and reconquer Sicily, as well as Sardinia. In 212 b.c. they declared war against Philip of Macedon, in order to prevent him from send- ing aid to Hannibal in Italy. Fitting opportunities will occur to speak of the first two wars ; but the Macedonian War will be con- veniently deferred to the next Book. § 2. The winter of 219 was passed by Hannibal in active preparations for his great enterprise. His soldiers received leave of absence, with orders to be present at New Carthage at the very beginning of next spring. He sent envoys into the south of Gaul and north of Italy, along his intended line of march, with instructions to inform the Celts on both sides of the Alps of his expedition, — to win the Transalpine Gauls with hopes of the plunder of Italy, to rouse the Cisalpines by promises of de- livery from the Roman yoke. These envoys returned early in 13* 298 EOME AND CAKTHAaE. Book IV. the year 218 with favourable accounts of the disposition of the Gallic tribes : the Passage of the Alps they reported to be diffi- cult and dangerous, but not impracticable. Thus assured, Hannibal reviewed his troops at New Carthage. The army of invasion amounted to 90,000 foot and 12,000 horse, with some fifty elephants.* The infantry were mostly Spanish, the veteran soldiers of Hamilcar and Hasdrubal, recruited by new levies of his own. The Spaniards, however, were kept in balance by a large body of Libyan mercenaries, drawn over from Africa in exchange for about 15,000 Spaniards, whom he placed at the dis- posal of the Home Government. The light infantry, slingers and archers, were from the Balearic Isles. Of the cavalry, the heavy- troopers were Spanish, while the light horse were furnished by Numidia ; and the whole of this arm was placed under the com- mand of the fiery Maharbal. Hasdrubal, the brother of Hannibal, was left at New Carthage, to rule the lately-conquered province of Spain, and to raise an army of reserve for the Italian war. Mago, his youngest brother, accompanied the general. § 3. Having left New Carthage about the end of May, he marched with no interruption to the Ebro ; but as soon as he had crossed that river, the whole country up to the Pyrenees was hos- tile. By great rapidity of movement, though with the loss of many men, he reduced all the tribes to submission in a few weeks ; and leaving an officer in charge of this newly-acquired district, with 11,000 men, he pushed forward to the Pyrenees. Here his Spanish soldiers first discovered that they were to leave their own country for strange and unknown lands ; discontent appeared in the camp ; 3,000 Carpetanians, a tribe which had not been long- conquered, seized their arms and set off homewards. Upon this, Hannibal, with prudent frankness, called the troops together, told them his whole design, and gave all who were unwilling to go on free leave to return. Nearly 8,000 more availed themselves of this permission. He passed round the eastern end of the Pyrenees, where the mountains sink gently towards the sea, and halted his army for a few days at Ruscino (Roussillon). On a review, it appeared that the losses he had sustained, together with the 22,000 men whom he had either left in Catalonia or dismissed, had reduced his foot to 50,000, and his horse to 9,000. With this force he advanced almost unopposed to the banks of the Rhone. § 4. It is now time to inquire what the Romans were doing to meet the coming danger. * Polybius saw at Lacinium in Southern Italy a bronze table left there by Hannibal on which these numbers were inscribed (iii. 34, 18). Chap. XXXI. SECOND PUNIC WAR: PERIOD I. 299 The Senate had not been idle in preparation. But they had acted on the supposition that the Second Punic War would, like the First, be fought on foreign soil. It is almost amusing to con- trast their expectations with the actual result of the year's cam- paign. The Plebeian Consul, Tib. Sempronius Longus, was sent to Lilybaeum with a large fleet, and instructed to invade Africa. The other Consul, P. Cornelius Scipio, was ordered to land in Spain and take the field against Hannibal. And it is plain that the Senate thought this service was the least important of the two, because they detained Scipio's army rather than that of Sempro- nius, to quell a rebellion which broke out this summer in Cis- alpine Gaul. This rebellion was caused by the proceeding of the Triumviri, who had been sent to distribute the confiscated lands of the Boians and Insubrians among the settlers in the new colo- nies of Placentia and Cremona.'* Just at this time the envoys of Hannibal arrived, and the Gauls rushed to arms. The Ti'iumviri were taken prisoners ; the colonists fled to Mutina (Modena) ; and L. Manlius the Praetor was obliged to retire. It was to repress this outbreak that one of Scipio's legions was sent oif in all haste : the Consul could not set sail for Spain till he had raised a new legion. It is plain, however, that his movements must still have been very measured. For he was only just leaving Pisa for Spain when he heard that Hannibal had already crossed the Pyrenees. On receiving this news he put in at the allied city of Massilia (Marseilles), and disembarked there, intending to meet Hannibal upon the Rhone. He did not expect him there for some time yet, and therefore he gave his army some days' rest, while he de- spatched a reconnoitring party of 300 picked horse, to move from Marseilles up the left bank of the Rhone, under the trusty guidance of some Massaliots. § 5. But Hannibal had crossed the Rhone while these horsemen were on their way up the river. The point at which he reached it was not far above Avignon, about fifty miles from the coast.f The river itself is large, and the rapidity of its stream pro- verbial. But, besides these natural difficulties, he found the left bank occupied by a large host of Gauls. Upon this, he imme- diately made preparations for forcing the passage, by seizing all the boats he could, and constructing rafts. After two days spent in this way, he sent Hanno, son of Bomilcar, with a strong detach- ment of cavalry, to cross the river about twenty miles higher up, so that, returning down the other bank, he might come upon the * Above, Chapt. xxx. § 16. f Four days' march. Roquemaure is the place fixed upon by the conjec- ture of several geographical critics. 300 ROME AND CARTHAGE. Book lY. rear of tlie Gauls. On the morning of tlie third day after his departure, Hanno signalled his arrival to Hannibal by a column of smoke ; and the Carthaginians, who were ready to put off their boats and rafts, immediately pushed into the stream. The Gauls flocked down to the Avater's • edge, brandishing their arms and uttering wild yells of defiance. But while the boats were in mid stream, a cry arose from the rear ; and, looking round, the Barbarians beheld their tents in flames. They hastened back, and were charged by Hanno with his cavalry. Meanwhile, the first divisions of the army landed, and forming under the General's eye, attacked' the Gauls in rear ; and for the remainder of the day the Carthaginians lay encamped in the enemy's late quarters. All the army, except the elephants, had effected the passage. It was on this very day that Scipio sent off his 300 horse from Marseilles. On the next morning (the sixth after his arrival on the Rhone) news reached Hannibal that the Romans had landed. Upon this he instantly despatched a body of 400 Numidian horse to recon- noitre, while he himself spent the day in preparation for bringing over the elephants. At this moment, some Boian and Insubrian chieftains arrived from Italy to inform him of what their people were doing and had done against the Romans, and to describe in glowing colours the richness and beauty of the land which would welcome him after the toils of the Alpine Passage. This news had a great effect upon the army, which was somewhat dis- pirited by the opposition offered by the Gauls upon the Rhone. These barbarians, repented, it seemed, of encouraging the march of the Carthaginians, when they found the strangers really among them. The unknown language of all, the swarthy skins and un- couth forms of the Africans, the wild Numidian horse, the mon- strous elephants appalled them ; and the Carthaginians found enemies where they expected friends. The encouraging news from Italy came most opportunelj^ In the evening the Numidian horse galloped into camp in great disorder, having lost half their number. At some distance a body of cavalry appeared in pursuit, who reined in their horses on coming in view of the Carthaginian camp, and then turned about and rode off down the river. This was Scipio's reconnoiter- ing party, Avho had encountered the Numidians and defeated them. § 6. Hannibal, finding the enemy so near at hand, and having .no intention to fight them till he reached Italy, sent off the whole of his infantry next morning to march up the left bank of the Rhone. He himself only stayed till he saw his elephants, now about thirty in number, safely across the stream ; and then, with Chap. XXXI. SECOND PUNIC WAR: PERIOD I. 301 the clepliants and cavalry, lie followed the main body of his army. Scipio, on his part, so soon as he heard that the Carthaginians had already crossed the Rhone, proceeded by forced marches np the river. But it was three or four days after Hannibal's de- parture that he arrived at the point where the Carthaginians had crossed. It was in vain to pursue the enemy into unknown regions, peopled by barbarous tribes ; and Scipio had the morti- fication to reflect that, if he had marched at once from Mar- seilles, he might have come in time to assist the Gauls in barring Hannibal's passage. Not able to undo the past, he pi'ovided wisely for the future. He despatched his brother Cneius to Spain with the fleet and the consular army, deeming it of high importance to cut off communication between Hannibal and that country ; and himself returned to Pisa, to take command of the army of Manlius, which had suppressed the Gallic insurrection. He expected to be in time to meet Hannibal's army shattered and broken by the passage of the Alps, and to gain an easy victory. § 7. Meanwhile, Hannibal continued his march up the Rhone, and crossing the Isere, found himself in the plains of Dauphine, then inhabited by the AUobrogian Gauls. He marched thus far north, about one hundred miles beyond the place where he had crossed the river, at the invitation of a chieftain who was con- tending for the dominion of the tribe with his younger brother. Hannibal's veterans soon put the elder brother in possession ; and the grateful chief furnished the army with a quantity of arms and clothing, and entertained them hospitably for some days. He then guided them to the verge of his own dominions, and topk his leave. This must have brought them to the point at which the Isere issues from the lower range of the Alps into the plain, some- where near the present fortress of Grenoble. § 8. Up to this point there is little doubt as to the route taken by Hannibal ; but after this all is doubtful. It appears that he first had to force his way through a pass of the lower mountains just behind Grenoble, from which he emerged into a compara- tively open valley ; and here he assaulted a town belonging to the AUobrogian Gauls, who had attempted to bar his way through the above-named pass. Two or three days' march through this valley brought him to the foot of the main Alpine chain. Here he was met by the mountaineers with branches in their hands, in token of peace and friendship, off"ering to guide him over the pass. Hannibal accepted their ofters, only because he thought it dangerous to refuse, and took the precaution to secure his rear by a strong guard. On the third day, the faithless barbarians 302 ROME AND CARTHAGE. Book IT. fell upon his rear, and were only repulsed with great loss both in men and horses. They continued to annoy his line of march by rolling huge stones down the steep sides of the mountain which overhung the path, till Hannibal prevented them from following, by seizing a strong white rock which entirely commands the pass. Here he kept the barbarians at bay till his baggage and cavalry were a day's march in advance ; and then followed, with the ele- phants in rear, for the mountaineers dared not come near these strange and unknown monsters. § 9. In seven days* after he began the ascent did he reach the summit, Hannibal now endeavoured to cheer the fainting hearts of his weary soldiers, by pointing out the descending pathway which led to the plains of Italy. And here he halted two days to rest them and collect the stragglers. It was now near the end of October.f The last year's snow, frozen into ice, lay thick at the top of the pass, and fresh snow now began to fall, which covered the traces of the path. The ascent had been bad, but the descent threatened to be worse. Those who have walked over the main Alps, where they are traversed only by a mule-track, may in some degree imagine the difficulty of conveying an army with its stores and baggage over such a pass, especially at a season when the days are shortening and the snow constantly falling. Multitudes of men and cattle sank daily, worn out by hunger and fatigue. Their progress was further impeded by finding that in one place the pathway had slipped down or been carried away by an avalanche for a distance of a furlong and a half.J Before this place could be passed it was necessary to make the road good, and in miserable plight the army, was compelled to halt for nearly three days.§ In three days more they reached the bottom of the pass, having spent fifteen in the whole passage. § 10. The extent of suffering which the army had gone through may be best estimated by considering the losses which it had sustained since the review at Roussillon. Oat of 50,000 foot and 9000 horse Hannibal had now remaining only 20,000 of the * Polybius says nine (iii. 53, 9). But tliis must include the two days' halt at the top of the pass. For the descent occupied at least six days (compare id., iii. 55, 8, with 56, 1); and the whole passage took fifteen days (56, 3). f About the setting of the Pleiades (Polyb., iii. 54, 1). This took place on the 29th October, according to Pliny (xviii. 31) ; on the STth, according to Columella (xi. 2, nX). X Livy's blunder of " mille pedum in aUiiudinem," where he should have said "in longitudinem," is well known. § The stories of his softening the rocks by fire and vinegar are omitted. Polybius says not a word of such matters ; and there is little doubt that they are a romantic addition of the Latin writers. Chap. XXXI. SECOND PUNIC WAR: PERIOD I. 303 former and GOOO of the latter.* A large number of his elephants had perished ; it is only wonderful that so many horse had survived. Hannibal descended among the mountains of the Salassians, and pushed on into the friendly country of the Insubrians (Milanese), where he rested his troops for some time, and pro- cured fresh horses for many of his cavalry. He then rewarded the good services of the Insubrians by lending them his aid against the hostile tribe of the Taurini, whose capital city (Turin) he took by assault.f § 11. It was now December. He was moving down the left bank of the Po, above its junction with the Ticinus, and on the Piedmontese side of that river, when his cavalry came accident- ally in conflict with the Roman horse, commanded by the Consul Scipio himself. Scipio had returned to Pisa. Taking command of the army of the Praetor, he moved slowly through the Gallic country, in order to be ready to encounter Hannibal on his descent from the Alps. He crossed the Po near Pavia, and made a bridge over the Ticinus to secure his retreat ; then crossing the latter river, he began to march up the left bank of the Po, just as Hannibal was coming down it. Both generals were in advance with their cavalry, and came unexpectedly in sight of each other. A smart action followed, in which the Romans had the worst, and the Consul was severely wounded, his life being saved by the devotion of a Ligurian slave, or, as others said, by his son Publius, afterwards the great Africanus, then a youth only seven- teen years old. He fell back upon his main body and recrossed the Ticinus so rapidly that, in breaking up the bridge, he left 600 men behind, who fell into the hands of Hannibal. This was the skirmish of the Ticinus, which proved Hannibal's superiority in cavalry. It had the effect of making the Boian Gauls on the * This also is taken from Hannibal's bronze plate at Lacinium. f From Grenoble on the Isere to Turin, geographers dispute about the route ascribed by Polybius to Hannibal. At one time, General Melville's route was adopted, which carried him over the low range between Grenoble and MontmeUlail into the valley of Chambery, up the Isere over the Little St. Bernard, down through the valley of Aosta into the Insubrian country, and so back to Turin. This is confessedly a long rouixi. And later writers prefer carrying him from Montmeihan up the Arc over the Mont Cenis, and straight down by Susa to Turin. Others again follow Liyy in taking him from Grenoble up the Romanche into the valley of Bourg d'Oisans, and so over the Mont Genevre (Cottian Alp) down to Turin. The controversy wiU probably last for ever. The data seem insufficient to enable us to form a positive judgment. 304 ROME AND CARTHAGE. Book IV, south of tlie Po declare in his favour. Those who were serving as auxiliaries in the Roman camp deserted ; and the Roman Triumviri, who had been seized early in the spring, were given up. to the Carthaginians. § 12. Hannibal, after spending two or three days on the north side of the Po, crossed somewhere below Placentia ; and Scipio. not finding his position near that town secure, fell back so as to place the Trebia between himself and Hannibal. On the left bank of this river, he fortified a strong camp, with the purpose of awaiting the arrival of his colleague Sempronius, Avhom the Senate had ordered to hasten from Sicily into the north of Italy. Hannibal followed the Romans and encamped in view of them on the right bank of the Trebia. Here he received off'ers from a Brundusian, who was in charge of the Roman magazine at Clas- tidium, a town in Scipio's rear, to betray the place ; and it must have been while he was absent in this quarter that Sempronius joined Scipio. Sempronius, not daring to sail across from Sicily to Pisa at that time of year, had sent his army over the Straits of Messana, with orders to rendezvous at Ariminum ; and so expeditious were they that they performed the whole march from Lilybseum to Scipio's camp in forty days. After some days' rest, a foraging party of Hannibal's Avas attacked with some advantage by the Roman horse, and this slight success made Sempronius eager for a general action. Scipio endeavoured to dissuade him, but in vain ; and being still confined by the consequences of his wound, he was obliged to leave the Avhole army under the direction of his colleague. Hannibal, for his part, was equally anxious for a battle. The Gauls began to com- plain of the burthen of tAVO armies in their country, and victory Avas necessary to secure them in his interest. § 13. The Trebia is a mountain stream, which in summer runs babbling over a broad gravelly bed, so shallow that the foot- traveller walks over it unheeding ; but in winter, or after heavy rains, it rises to a deep and rapid torrent. It Avas now nearly the end of December,* and Hannibal resolved that he would not cross the Avater to attack the Romans, but would make them cross it to attack him. He executed his purpose with great skill. On his left there Avas a sort of gully, thickly groAvn with reeds and brushAvood, in Avhich he concealed his brother Mago with 1000 foot and as many horse. Then, early in the morning, he sent his Numidian riders across the river, and ordered the whole army to prepare for the cold of the day by rubbing themselves Avith oil and making a hearty meal. As soon * TTEpl TTeifiepLvuc rponuQ, Polyb. iii. 72, 3. Chap. XXXI. SECOND PUNIC WAR: PERIOD I. 305 as Sempronius saw the Numidians cross the water, he sent out his cavahy, about 4000 strong, to meet them, and then drew out his whole army, amounting to about 36,000 men, to support the attack. The Numidians feigned to be beaten and fell back across the river. The Romans pursued, but the water was running breast-high and was deadly cold ; sleet was falling, which was driven in their faces by the east wind ; and when they reached the other side, they were half frozen with cold and wet, as well as faint with hunger. Their treacherous foes now opened on both sides and displayed Hannibal's infantry in battle-order with the rest of the cavalry and the elephants on either wing. The Roman cavalry, which was also on the wings, was greatly outnumbered and soon put to flight ; but the Legions and Allies kept their ground bravely under all disadvantages till Mago rose from ambush and attacked them in rear. Then the rout became general. A body of 10,000 men, however, cut their way through the Carthaginian lines to Placentia ; the rest were driven back with great slaughter to the Trebia, in which many were drowned, but a large number, with the Consul Sempronius himself, recrossed in safety. The battle of the Trebia ended Hannibal's first campaign. The two Consuls, with the relics of their armies, soon after con- trived to throw themselves into Placentia and Cremona, and afterwards made good their retreat to Ariminum. Sempronius had sent home a varnished account of the battle, but the fatal truth soon betrayed itself. Two consular armies had been de- feated. Cisalpine Gaul was abandoned to the Carthaginians. § 14. B.C. 217. The Senate made great preparations for the next campaign. Sicily, Sardinia, and Tarentum were garrisoned against the Carthaginian fleets ; the new Consuls were to keep Hannibal out of Roman Italy. The Patrician Consul for the year was Cn. Servilius ; C. Flaminius was the Plebeian. Flaminius, it will be remembered, had held this' high ofiice in 223 b.c, and had won a great battle over the Insubrian Gauls, in contempt of the orders of the Senate. As Censor, he still dwells in memory for having made the Flaminian Way, the great high road from Rome through the Sabine country to Ariminum. He had -won extraordinary popularity by a sweeping agrarian law to divide the coast lands of Umbria and Picenum among a number of poor citizens. He had incurred the bitterest enmity of the Senate by the warm support he gave to a law of the Tribune Claudius, which prohibited senators from engaging in trade. This was the man elected by popular favour to oppose Han- nibal, brave, as it appears, and generous, but adventurous and reckless. Fearing that the Senate might even yet bar his Con- 306 EOME AND CARTHAGE. Book IV. sulship by an appeal to tlie omens, he left the city before the Ides of March,* which was at that time the day for the Consuls to enter upon office. But no such attempt Avas made. Servi- lius was sent to Ariminum in case Hannibal should come down by the Flaminian Road; and Flaminius himself took post at Arretium to watch the passes of the Apennines. § 15, As the spring approached, Hannibal was anxious to leave Cisalpine Gaul. His friends the Insubrians and Boians, how- ever much they wished to be relieved from the Roman yoke, did not relish entertaining a large army in winter-quarters. They were proverbially fickle, and so much did Hannibal mistrust them, that, to prevent attempts upon his life, he continually wore disguises, and assumed false hair. Leaving the Roman colonies of Placentia and Cremona unassailed, he passed the Apennines early in the year by an unfrequented route, which brought him down into the neighbourhood of Pistoja and Lucca. From this point eastward he. had to march through the Yal d'Arno, which was at that time an unwholesome swamp.f Here his men and horses suffered much ; he himself, being attacked by ophthalmia, lost the sight of one eye, and was obliged to have recourse to the single elephant which survived the cold of the Alps and a winter in the North of Italy. In the neighbourhood of Fsesulaj he rested his army, now much increased by Gallic recruits, and re- warded his men for their late toils by the plunder of Etruria. Flaminius now found that his dexterous enemy had stolen a march upon him, and Hannibal, on his part, heard with delight the rash and adventurous character of the new Consul. Trust- ing to this, he led his army past Arretium, where Flaminius still lay encamped, and leav- ing Cortona on the 'left, passed on towards Pe- rusia along the northern, side of Lake Trasimene. As soon as Flaminius found that the Cartha- ginian had passed him in this disdainful way, he immediately marched in pursuit. § 16. As the traveller comes upon the north-western corner of Lake Trasimene, the road ascends a low ridge, now called Monte Gualandro, along * Prom the year 223 to 153 B.C., the Consuls entered office on the Ides of March ; after the latter date, on the Calends of January, f See Introduction, Sect. i. § 18. M.CUM&NDRO Chap. XXXI. SECOND PUNIC WAR : PERIOD I. 30*7 wliicli runs tlie boundary line of the Estates of tlie Cliurch. and Tuscany. The broad \skc. lies to his right and the road descends into a crescent-shaped plain, skirted on the left by hills of some height, Avhile between the road and the lake the ground undulates considerably. After traversing this open space the road passes through the modern village of Passignano, and ascends a hill. This was the ground Hannibal chose for awaiting Flaminius. He placed his Balearians and light troops in ambush round the hills on the left of the narrow plain; he himself,' with his infantry, lay in front somewhere near the village of Passignano, while his cavalry were ensconced in the uneven ground next the lake, ready to close upon the rear of the Romans so soon as they were fairly in the plain. "While the Carthaginians were thus disposed, Flaminius was encamping for the night on the Tuscan side of Monte Gualandro. In the morning a thick mist hung over the lake and low lands, so that when the Consul advanced into the plain above described he could see nothing. Hannibal suffered the Roman van-guard, consisting of 6000 men, to advance beyond Passignano before he gave the signal for attack. Hearing the cries of battle behind them, they halted anxiously on the hill which they were then ascending, but could see nothing for the mist. Meantime the Consul, with the main army, was assailed on all sides. Charged in front by the Spanish and African infantry, on his right and rear by the Gauls and cavalry, exposed on his left flank to the ceaseless fire of the slingers and javelin-men, Flaminius and his soldiers did all that brave men could. They fought valiantly and died fighting. Not less than 15,000 Italians fell on that fatal field. Such was the scene disclosed to the soldiers of the van-guard when the mist cleared off. Hannibal now sent Maharbal to pursue this division, which surrendered at discretion. Such of them as were Romans or Latins were all thrown into chains ; the Italian Allies were dismissed Avithout ransom. Thus did Hannibal's plan for the conquest of Rome begin to show itself; he had no hope of sub- duing Rome and Italy with a handful of Spanish and African veterans. These were to be the core of a great army, to be made up of Italians, who (as he hoped) would join his victorious stan- dard, as the Gauls had already done. " He had come," he said, " into Italy, not to fight against the Italians, but to fight for the liberty of the Italians against Rome." Such was the battle of Lake Trasimene. So hot was the conflict that the combatants did not feel the shock of an earthquake, which overthrew many cities of Italy. § 17. Stragglers escaping from the slaughter soon carried the evil tidings to Rome, and the Praetor, unable to extenuate the 308 ROME AND CAETHAGE. Book IV. loss, came into tlie Forum, where tlie people were assembled, and ascending the Rostra uttered the brief but significant words : " We have been defeated in a great battle." Dreadful was the terror, so soon as it was known that the Consul was dead, his army destroyed. The gates were thronged with mothers and children, eagerly questioning the fugitives about the fate of their sons, and fathers, and kinsfolk. Every hour Hannibal was expected at the gates. Three days passed and he came not ; but the news of a fresh disaster came. Cn. Servilius, the other Consul, as soon as he heard of Hannibal's presence in Etruria, resolved to join his colleague immediately, and sent on his horse, 4000 strong, as an earnest of his own arrival. Hannibal, informed of their approach, detached Maharbal with a division of cavalry and some light-armed troops to intercept them. Half of the Romans were cut in pieces, the rest returned in disorder to tell the Consul that he was too late. Amid the terror which prevailed at Rome the Senate alone maintained their calmness. They sate, Avithout adjournment, to receive intelligence and deliberate on measures of safety. It was resolved (an extraordinary measure) to call upon the people to elect a Dictator, the person recommended being Q. Fabius Maximus, a man of known discretion and reputed skill ; M. Minucius Rufus was also elected as his Master of the Horse.* Fabius first called upon the gods to sanction the defence of Rome, consulted the Sibylline books, and advised the Senate to decree a " sacred spring," according to the ancient custom of the Sabines.f And then, collecting the troops that had escaped from the slaugh- ter, and filling up their ranks by a new levy, he sent for the army of Servilius, and thus Avith four legions and their auxiliary troops he prepared to take the field. § 18. Meanwhile the movements of Hannibal had relieved the Romans of all immediate fear of seeing him at the gates. It seems that he had little hopes of the Etruscans, for he straightway left their country and passed northwards by the Flaminian Road. He presented himself before the colony of Spoletum, but the colonists closed their gates, and he passed upon his way into Picenum, collecting plunder from all the Roman settlements as he went. Here he lay quiet during the heat of summer. As the weather became cooler, he advanced along the coast of the Adriatic into Apulia, still plundering as he went. The soldiers of the Alps revelled in the abundance of Italy : it is said they bathed their horses in wine. But the colonies of Luceria and * Commonly, it will be remembered, the Consul nominated the Dictator at the order of the Senate, and the Dictator chose his own Master of Horse. f See Chapt. xix. § 1. Chap. XXXI. oECOND FUNIC WAR: PERIOD I. 309 Venusia, as of old, refused entrance to the invader, and Hannibal passed the Apennines again into Lower Samnium, -where Bene- A'entum, now become a colony, defied him like the rest. § 19. By this time Fabius had taken the field. He had made np his mind not to risk another battle. His plan for conducting the campaign was to move along the heights, so as to keep Han- nibal in view, cutting oft" his supplies, intercepting his commu- nications, and harassing him in all ways without a general action. This was not for Hannibal's interest. He wished to fight another great battle and win another great victory (the things were synonymous with him), in order that the Samnites and other Italians, lately conquered, might venture to rise and join him. It w^as no doubt with the purpose of provoking Fabius to a battle, or of showing the Italians that the Romans dared not fight him, that Hannibal descended from Beneventum down the Vulturnus into the rich Falernian Plain.* Here dwelt Roman citizens ; this Avas the garden of Italy : would not the Dictator fight to defend them and their country from the spoiler ? No : Fabius persisted in his cautious policy. He closed all the passes leading from the plain, where Hannibal's soldiers were now luxuriating, and waited his time patiently, thinking he had caught the invader in a trap. But the wily Carthaginian eluded him by a simple stra- tagem. Collecting all the oxen he had seized in this favoured region, he ordered fagots to be tied to their horns ; and as soon as it was night, these fagots being lighted, the animals were driven, tossing their heads with fright and waving the flames, up the pass which leads from Teanum to AUifee. The troops who guarded this pass fled panic-stricken to the heights of Mount Callicula, and left free passage for the Carthaginian army. When morning broke Hannibal was gone ; he was lying safely encamped near Allifse. From thence he pursued his devastating course through the Pelignian and Frentanian lands, till he again reached Apulia, and there fixed on a strong position near Geronium for his winter-quarters. The place was warm and sunny ; corn and pro- visions were abundant. Fabius, however discomfited by Hannibal's escape from Cam- pania, persisted in earning his name of The Lmgerer^\ and foUow- * This is the simple statement of Polybius (iii. 91). The well-known story in Livy (xxii. 13), that Hannibal told the guides to lead to Gasinum on the Latin road, and that they by a mistake took him to Oasilinum in Campania, is not noticed by the graver historian. ■{■ Cunctator. Every one knows Ennius' line, borrowed by Virgil — " Unus homo nobis cunctando restituit rem." But every one does not know those which follow — " Non ponebat enim rumores ante salutem; Ergo magisque magisque viri nunc gloria claret." 310 EOMB AND CARTHAGE. Book IV. ing Hannibal as before, took post at Larinum, witbin five or six miles of the enemy's camp. § 20. He was now called to Rome, ostensibly to preside over certain sacred offices, but really to give an account of bis conduct. He found the people mucb discontented. He bad been in command of two Consular armies for several montbs, and bad done worse tban notbing : be bad allowed tbe lands of tbe Roman colonists in Apulia and Samnium, tbe lands of Roman citizens in Campania, to be wasted and spoiled before bis eyes. These discontents were fomented by Minucius, the Master of tbe Horse, who openly dissented from the tactics of his commander, and declared that were be General-in-Chief he would try the for- tune of another battle. Minucius had been left in command at Larinum, and though charged by the Dictator not to risk an action, be pushed his camp forward within two miles of Han- nibal, and gained some advantages in skirmishing with the Car- thaginian foraging-parties. This raised his self-opinion still higher, and he sent home highly coloured despatches describing his successes. Popular feeling rose to its height, and Terentius Varro became its mouthpiece. This man was a petty merchant by trade, the son of a butcher ; but he had been Praetor tbe year before, and was now candidate for tbe Consulship. His elo- quence was great ; and the Senate were obliged to consent to a law which gave Minucius an equal command with the Dictator. Fabius returned to tbe camp, and quietly gave up half the army to bis late subordinate. But he was soon repaid for his modera- tion. Hannibal discovered the rash character of tbe new com- mander, and drew him out to battle, having previously (according to bis wont) concealed a squadron of cavalry in the flank of the field of battle. Minucius fell into the snare, and would have been defeated as utterly as Flaminius at Lake Trasimene, had not the watchful Fabius come up upon his rear, so as to baffle tbe flank attack of the cavalry. Hannibal drew off bis men ; and Minucius, acknowledging Fabius as bis deliverer, craved his pardon and re- sumed his post of Master of the Horse. Tbe whole army returned to its old quarters at Larinum. § 21. Thus ended tbe second campaign, not greatly to tbe satisfaction of either party. Hannibal bad hoped that ere this all Southern Italy would have risen like one man against Rome. He had shown himself her master in the field ; wherever her soldiers bad dared to meet his, they had been grievously defeated. He bad shown all indulgence for Italian prisoners, though he bad put to tbe sword all Roman and Latin citizens. But not one city bad yet opened its gates to receive him. Tbe Gauls of the North were tbe only people who bad joined him since he crossed Chap. XXXI. SECOND PUNIC WAR: PERIOD I. 311 the Alps. The Romans, indeed, continued to suffer cruelly, and their ordinary revenues were grievously curtailed. It seems to have been agreed that a great effort must be made in the ensuino- campaign ; an overpowering force was to be brought ao-ainst Hannibal ; he was to be crushed, if not by skill, by numbers. It was so far encouraging that the Allies had as yet remained faithful ; but how long this might last no one could tell. Everything concurred in showing that another battle must be ventured. When the day of electing the Consuls came, out of six candi- dates C. Terentius Varro alone obtained a sufficient number of votes in any tribe to be returned. It is difficult to ascertain the true character of this man. His vigorous eloquence had won the confidence of the people : but so much is plain, that he was no general, and his election was esteemed a public misfortune by the Senate. Varro himself presided at the election of his colleague, when the Senate, anxious to provide an able general, induced L. ^milius Paullus to offer himself as candidate. Paullus had shown his ability as a general in his former Consulship, when (219 B.C.) he concluded the Illyrian War in a single campaign. But his character for integrity was not spotless, and his manners were cold and haughty. Yet so earnestly did the Senate represent the necessity of the case, that he was returned without opposi- tion. These were the Consuls elected to fight Hannibal. Their four legions were to be added to the four which Fabius had com- manded just before, and which were still in the field. These eight legions were raised to more than their usual complement,* so that the whole army to be commanded by the Consuls must, with the allied force, have amounted to at least 80,000 foot and more than 6000 horse. § 22. B.C. 216. The late Consuls (Atilius had succeeded Fla- minius), now. serving as Proconsuls, had moved from Larinum southwards towards Venusia, and had busied themselves with forming magazines at Canusium and Cannse ; and on the plain near the latter place the camp was formed. Hannibal, as the spring advanced, suffered much from want of corn, for he had exhausted his supplies at Geronium ; and having by this time received recruits from Cisalpine Gaul, he made a rapid move- ment and seized the Roman magazine at Cannse, encamping not far from that place, on the left bank of the Aufidus. The Pro- * The i;sual complement of a legion at this time was 4000 foot and 200 horse. At need, this was raised to 5000 foot and 300 horse. It must be always remembered that the legions of every Consular army were rather more than doubled by the addition of the Itahan Auxiliaries. 312 ROME AND CARTHAGE. Book IV. consuls sent home word of this disaster, but received strict orders to continue on the defensive till the Consuls arrived to take the command. Yet it was some time before this took place, certainly not till near the end of July, for the great battle, which is now to be described, was fought on the 2nd of August,* and it was fought soon after the arrival of the Consuls. § 23. The Consuls found the army about two days' march from Hannibal : they immediately moved to his neighbourhood, with the intention of offering battle. But when Paullus observed the open plain on which Hannibal lay, he was desirous to put ofi an engagement, and manoeuvre so as to draw the enemy into ground less favourable for the action of cavalry. Varro, however, knowing the anxiety of the people to have the matter brought to a speedy issue, thought otherwise, and now appeared the evil of both Consuls being joined in command of the same army. It Avas a repetition of the arrangement which had answered so ill in the last years with Fabius and Minucius, with this additional evil, that the Consuls, instead of dividing the army between them, took the command of the whole on alternate days. A plan more expressly, calculated to prevent unity of action could not have been devised. But the Consuls were, by the constitution, equal, and Varro was far too confident of success to give way to his more experienced colleague, ^milius felt bitterly the truth of Fabius' parting in- junction : " Remember that you will have to oppose not only Han- nibal, but also Varro." On the first day of his sole command, Varro moved the whole army to the right bank of the Aufidus, between Cannse and the sea, so that the river only separated the Roman camp from that of the Carthaginians. Next day ^milius fortified a smaller camp on the left side of the river, fronting Hannibal, so as to secure the passage of the river, but resolutely declined battle. On the third day, however, when morning broke, the red standard, which was the Roman signal for battle, was seen flying from. Varro's tent. The men rejoiced at this ; they were sick of their long inactivity ; they were confident in their numbers, and the resolution of their favourite Varro was highly applauded. § 24. When ^milius found that a battle must be fought on the plain of Cannae, he did his best to support his colleague. The whole army was drawn up nearly facing south, with the right resting, on the river Aufidus. The Roman cavalry, only 2400 strong, were on this right flank ; the left was covered in like manner by the cavalry of the Allies, ^milius commanded on the * It is probable, however, that the Roman Calendar was in error, and that the battle was really fought earlier in the year. See Clinton, F. H. iii. anno 216. Chap. XXXI. SECOND PUNIC WAR: PERIOD I. 313 riglit, Varro on the left ; tlie centre was under the orders of Ser- vilius and Atilius, the Proconsuls. It must be especially observed that the Legionaries and Allied Infantry were not drawn up, as usual, in an open and far-extended line, leaving considerable gaps between each manipulus; but the ranks were made very deep and closed up almost like the Phalanx. It has been above ob- served how serviceable the Phalanx was on plain ground ; and probably the Consuls imagined that by this order they might offer a niore complete resistance to the formidable cavalry of Hannibal, Avhich might be expected to break itself against these compact masses of infantry. But Hannibal skilfully availed himself of this close array, and formed his line accordingly. He had crossed the river early, as soon as he saw the Romans in motion. The Spanish and Gallic Infantry, which were much inferior in number to the Romans, he drew out in an extended line, equal in length to that of the enemy, but much less deep and massive. This line advanced in a convex form, and at each end he placed his Africans, armed with the spoils of former battles, so as to form two flanking columns of narrow front but great depth. He himself, with his brother Mago, commanded the infantry. On his left flank, next the river, were the heavy cavalry of Spain and Gaul, commanded by an officer named Hasdrubal, not the brother of the General. On the right were the Numidian light horse, under the orders of Maharbal. Hannibal was in high spirits at the prospect of the battle. He had ascended an eminence to gain a better view of the Roman lines : and as he stood surveying them, surrounded by his officers, one of them, named Gisgo, remarked on " the won- derful numbers" of the enemy. "Ah," said Hannibal, "there is one thing about them more wonderful than their numbers." Gisgo asked what he meant. " Why," replied the General, " in all that vast number there is not one man called Gisgo." This sally raised a laugh ; the gaiety of the General was an earnest of victory. § 25. After some indecisive skirmishing betwen the light troops, the real battle began with a conflict on the river-side between the Roman cavalry and the horse of Hasdrubal. The latter were greatly superior in force, and charged with such effect as to drive the Roman horse across the river. Meantime the Roman legions, and their allied infantry, ad- vanced steadily against Hannibal's centre. The long crescent- shaped line above described was quite unable to withstand the shock. Nor had the General expected it. On the contrary, he had instructed the centre so to fall back, as to form a concave 14 314 ROME AND CARTHAGE. Book TV. figure, and then the whole line to retire slowly, in order to draw the Roman masses on between the African flanking columns. This order was obeyed with great precision. The Romans pressed eagerly on the retiring foe ; but as they advanced, the Africans, on either hand, wheeled half-round opposite ways, and attacked the Romans on both flanks. The latter, jammed together, and assailed on both sides, fell into great disorder, very few of their vast army being able to use . their weapons. But the Consul JEmilius, who had been wounded by a sling, in an early part of the action, and had vainly endeavoured to make the Roman ca- valry keep their ground, contrived to restore some sort of order ; and it seemed as if the battle was not lost ; when Hasdrubal fell upon the rear of the legions, and the rout became complete. This able oflficer, after destroying the Roman cavalry, had led his heavy horse round to the other wing, where he found the Numidians, engaged with the allied cavalry. The latter being- borne down by the whole force of Hannibal's cavalry, speedily turned their backs ; and Hasdrubal, leaving Maharbal to pursue them, made that decisive charge upon the rear of the legions, which completed the defeat of the Roman army. Then the battle became a mere massacre. The Romans and Allies, mingled in a disorderly mass, Avere cut down on all sides. The Consul JEmilius fell. Varro, with but seventy horsemen, escaped to Venusia. Other parties of fugitives made good their retreat to Canusium ; some thousands took refuge in the camps. But on the bloody field that evening, there lay dead, at the lowest computation, more than 40,000 Roman foot and 3,000 horse. The loss in the cavalry involved the death of some of the wealthiest and most distinguished men at Rome. With them had fallen one Consul, both the Proconsuls, both the Quaestors, one-and-twenty out of eight-and-forty Tribunes, and not less than eighty Senators. And to add to this, all who had taken refuge in the camp surrendered at discretion next day. Hannibal's loss is variously stated at from six to eight thousand.* § 26. This then was the battle of Cannae. History does not record any defeat more complete, and very few more murderous. The great army levied to conquer Hannibal had been annihilated. * The slaughter in ancient battles was much greater than in modern. At "Waterloo the English loss in killed and wounded was about 15,000, the French more than double. The killed are generally about one-fifth of the whole. But in ancient battles we never hear of loounded; for in ancient battles the conflict was hand to hand, and few were left wounded on the field. In these also the lines were generally much closer and deeper, and the attack took place along the whole line instead of on single pomts ; so that, in case of a defeat, the conquered army was wholly at the mercy of the con- queror. Chap. XXXI. SECOND PUNIC WAR: PERIOD I. 315 The feverish anxiety with which all men at Rome followed the Consuls to the field may be imagined ; those who stayed behind in horrible suspense, flocked to the temples, offered vows, con- sulted the auguries, raked up omens and prophecies, left no means untried to divine the issue of the coming battle. "What must have been the dismay, what the amazement, with which they re- ceived the first uncertain tidings of defeat ! what the despair, what the stupor, which the dreadful reality produced ! Among the fugitives who came in with the tidings, was a Tribune of the Legions, Cn. Lentulus by name. As he rode off the field, he had seen JEmilius the Consul sitting on a stone, mortally Avounded. He had dismounted and offered him his horse. But the Consul replied, " No, my hours are numbered : go thou to Rome, seek out Q. Fabius, and bid him prepare to defend the city : tell him that -^milius dies, as he lived, mindful of his precepts and example." To Fabius, indeed, all eyes were now turned. The Senate instantly met ; and at his motion, each Senator was invested with the power of a magistrate : they were to prevent all public lamentations ;'* to hinder the people from meeting in the Forum, lest they should pass resolutions in favour of peace ; to keep the gates well guarded, suffering no one to pass in or out Avithout a special order. Every one feared to see the army of Hannibal defiling through the Apennines upon the plain of Latium. § 27. What the Romans feared the Carthaginians desired. " Only send me on," said Maharbal to the General, " with the cavalry, and within five days thou shalt sup in the Capitol." But Hannibal thought otherwise. His army was small : he was totally unprovided with materials for a siege ; Rome was strongly fortified. He felt that the mere appearance of his army before the walls would rather rouse to action than terrify into submission ; and meanwhile the golden time for raising the Samnites and other nations of Italy might be lost. Already was he in negocia- tion with the leading men at Capua, a city second only to Rome in point of size, superior probably in wealth. To this place he resolved to march as soon as his men were rested. When their Allies had deserted, Rome must agree to his terms, without giving him the trouble of a siege. He resolved, however, to try the temper of the Romans, and accordingly sent ten of the chief men among his prisoners, with offers to hold all whom he had taken to ransom. The Senate, on the motion of T. Manlius Torquatus, a man who had inherited * ov6' eld KXateiv Upta/nog /isyac oi 61 aiuizy VEnpovg TTvpKair/c enevrivEov, uxvi/ievoi, Kf/p. — II. H. 42 '7. 316 EOME AND CARTHAaE. Book IV. tlie stern decision of his ancestor, refused to admit the messengers to an audience, and ordered all to return, as they had boxmd themselves, to Hannibal's camp. One man conceived he had ful- filled his promise, because he had gone back on pretence of hav- ing forgotten something. But the Senate sent him back with his companions. Hannibal was greatly provoked at this almost contemptuous reply to his advances. He immediately sold the greater part of his prisoners into slavery. This was but the com- mon custom of the times. But besides this, he reserved the bravest and noblest youths, in order to fight as gladiators for the amuse- ment of his army ; and on their refusal, he put them to death by torture.* The fact shows, that in moments of passion Hannibal was too justly liable to the accusation of barbarous cruelty. § 28.. The Senate were now busily occupied in taking all steps possible for the safety of Eome. The public horror was in- creased by a discovery that two Vestal virgins had been guilty of unchastity. One was, as the law directed, buried alive ;. the other put herself to death. To avert the wrath of the gods, Fabius Pictor was sent to consult the Greek oracle at Delphi ; and by the orders of the Sibylline books, a Greek man and woman and a Gaulish man and woman were buried alive in the Forum, according to the same horrid practice used in the last great Gallic War.f But to these superstitious rites were added wiser precautions. Fabius, Avith the coolness of age and expe- rience, continued to direct their measures. M. Claudius Mar- cellus, one of the Praetors, was at Ostia with some troops for the service of the fleet, and one legion. He was ordered to bring these troops to Rome, while he himself was sent to take the command of the fugitives in Apulia. For by this time despatches had arrived from Varro, stating that he had been joined by about four thousand men at Venusia, and that about the same number had assembled at Canusium under App, Claudius, young P. Scipio (now about nineteen years of age,) and other Tribunes. It was added, that some of the young nobles at Canusium, headed by a Metellus, had formed a plan to fly from Italy and offer their ser- vices to some foreign prince, despairing of the Republic ; that young Scipio had gone instantly to the lodgings of Metellus, and standing over him Avith a drawn sword, had made him swear that neither would he desert the Republic, nor allow others to do so*, that to support the noble conduct of Scipio, Yarro had himself transferred his head-quarters to Canusium, and was using all his efforts to collect and organise the remains of the defeated army. * This is noticed by Dio Cassius, and others. Comp. Polyb. i. 62. f See Chapt. xxvii. § IS. Chap. XXXI. SECOND PUNIC WAR: PERIOD I. 3 1*7 On tlie arrival of Marcellus at Cannsium, Varro set out to Eome to make a personal report of his conduct. With what feelings he approached the city may be imagined. But as he drew near, the Senate and People Avent out to meet him, and publicly thanked him, " for that he had not despaired of the Re- public." History presents no nobler spectacle than this. Had he been a Carthaginian general, he would have been cruci- fied. The Dictator ordered levies in Rome and Latium. But the immense losses sustained in the three past years had thinned the ranks of those who were on the military list. From the action on the Ticinus to Cann^, the loss of the Romans and their allies could not have been less than 80,000 men. And therefore, while the regular levies were slowly proceeding, the Dictator pro- posed to buy 8000 slaves from their masters to serve as light troops ; and also to enrol debtors, prisoners, and other persons by law incapable of serving in the Roman Legions. Marcellus had now drawai the eight or ten thousand fugitives from Canusium into Campania, and took his post at Casilinum. All commanders were instructed to keep to the defensive system of Fabius, and on no account to risk another battle. § 29, Meanwhile Hannibal had advanced through Samnium to Capua, where he found all prepared to receive him. The Senate, who were in the interest of Rome, were dismissed, and the chief power committed to a popular leader, named Pacuvius Calavius. His first act was to seize on all Romans resident in the city and put them to death ; he then made an agreement with Hannibal that no Carthaginian officer should exercise authority in Capua, but that all the magistrates, as heretofore, should be of their own choice ; and demanded that 300 Roman prisoners should be put into his hands as hostages for the safety of 300 Capuan knights who were serving in the Roman army in Sicily. Hannibal agreed to all their demands, and entered this great and wealthy city in triumph. One man only, by name Decius Magius, ventured to oppose the measures of Pacuvius. Hannibal treated him with magnanimous clemency, and contented himself Avith sending him oS" to Africa. The rest of the Roman party held their peace, and were suffered to remain in Capua. § 30, All Southern Italy had by this time declared in Han- nibal's favour. Most of the Apulians, the Hirpinian and Cau- dinian Samnites, the Surrentines, most of the Lucanians, the Bruttians, and all the Greek cities of the South which were not held by Roman garrisons, Avelcomed him as their deliverer. It seemed as if he Avere now about to realise his great project of raising Italy in insurrection against Rome. 318 ROME AND OAETHAGB. Book lY. He was obliged to send detachments of his army into these several districts ; and he employed what small force he still retained in attempting to gain possession of the cities in the plains of Campania. Nuceria, Acerra, and some others sub- mitted, as Capua had done. But Neapolis and Cumse closed their gates ; and the Senate of Nola, fearing that the people might rise against them, as at Capua, sent for Marcellus to Casilinum, This bold and enterprising officer threw himself into the city, and by a successful sally repulsed Hannibal from the gates. He then seized and executed seventy persons who Avere suspected of treason, and entrenched himself strongly in a fixed camp near the city. Hannibal being thus repulsed from Nola, determined to invest Casilinum, which from its close proximity to Capua Avas likely to prove a troublesome neighbour.'* The garrison held out obstinately ; but as Marcellus dared not risk an action to relieve them, they were at length obliged' to yield to the Carthaginian. This was almost the only town in Italy which he took by a regular siege. § 31. Hannibal now went into winter quarters at Capua, in expectation of receiving succours from home. Soon after the battle he had sent off his brother Mago to carry home the tidings of his great success. For three years he had pursued a career of victory unassisted by the Government : Rome was at his feet : he only wanted force enough to crush her. In proof of the greatness of the victory of Cannee, Mago poured out on the floor of the Senate-house a bushel of gold rings, which had been worn by Roman knights Avho had fallen on that fatal field. But the jealous Government, headed by a Hanno, the mortal enemy of the Barcine family, listened coldly to Mago's words : they asked " whether one Roman or Latin citizen had joined Hannibal ? He wanted men and money : what more could he want, had he lost the battle instead of winning it ?" At length, however, It was agreed that Mago should carry reinforcements to Hannibal. But the war in Spain soon assumed so threatening an aspect, that these succours were diverted to this nearer danger, and Mago was ordered to lead them to the support of his brother Hasdrubal in that country. All that reached Hannibal was a paltry force of 4000 Numidian horse, with about forty elephants, and a stinted supply of money. § 32. Perhaps the General had not expected much from this quarter. No doubt the person to whom he looked for chief sup- port was his brother Hasdrubal in Spain. But here, too, he was * Casilinum ig the modern Capua. It lies on the river. The site of the ancient Capua is about two miles eastward, on an eminence. Chap. XXXI. SECOND PUNIC WAR: PERIOD L 319 doomed to disappointment. It will be remembered that P. Scipio, the Consul of the year 218, when he returned from Marseilles to Pisa, had sent on his brother Cneius with proconsular command into Spain, according to the original orders of the Senate. The wisdom of this step was fully proved by the event. Cn. Scipio landed at Emporium (Ampurias), an old Greek colony. Within the year he had driven Hanno across the Ebro, and recovered the Roman dominion in Spain, In the next year, the year of Trasi- mene, he defeated Hasdrubal by sea, ravaged the coast up to the sub- urbs of New Carthage, and made large booty in one of the Balearic Isles. P. Scipio joined his brother towards the close of the same year ; and by the time that the battle of Cannse had made Hanni- bal master of Southen Italy, the two brothers had subdued all Northern Spain. § 33. Hannibal's hopes, therefore, of reinforcements for the next campaign rested with his new Italian allies. The additional cavalry and elephants from Carthage, would still give him the commaiid of the open country. But the Romans had learnt wisdom by sore experience, and Hannibal could not expect to win great vic- tories, such as had marked his first three campaigns. What he wanted was a good engineer corps and siege apparatus, to take the Latin Colonies and other Free Towns, Avhich even in the dis- tricts that had joined him still maintained the cause of Rome. Why he did not employ his winter at Capua in organising a force of this nature we know not. Whether it was that he thought Rome Avas too much weakened to make head against him, or whether the Italians were jealous of his authority, and, fearing to make him their master, never provided him with any efficient force, we know not. The clear narrative of Polybius deserts us after the battle of Cannae ; and the history of Livy, beautiful as it is, fails in all that precise information which would account for Hannibal's apparent remissness during the Avinter. But, whatever was the cause, he Avas never able to take tOAvns by force ; and the Romans never gave him an opportunity of winning another great battle. Consequently all the Latin Colonies and Free Towns remained faithful to Rome, and Hannibal was only half master even of Southern Italy. § 34. The Romans, for their part, passed the Avinter in the most active preparations. The first step necessary was to fill up the numerous vacancies caused in the Senate by the late disastrous bat- tles. It appeared, on calling over the list, that no feAver than one hundred and seA^enty-seven members were missing. Sp. Carvilius proposed to recruit the ranks of the Senate by admitting the chief citizens of the Latin towns, but this liberal proposal Avas not list- ened to ; and it Avas resolved to commit the Avhole business to the 320 EOMB AND CARTHAGE. Book lY. care of a Dictator specially appointed for the purpose. The perso] chosen was M. Fabius Buteo, the same who had been sent as chief ambassador to Carthage in the year 219 b.c. He was an old man, miiversally respected ; and the way he discharged the duty laid upon him gave great satisfaction. The bravest and the worthiest men were named as the new members. The Consuls elected for the ensuing year were T. Sempronius Gracchus and L. Postumius, \who was now Prsetor commanding in Cisalpine Gaul. But before the Ides of March came the sad intelligence that Postumius, with all his army, had been cut off by the Gauls. Fabius Maxi- mus himself was elected Consul for the third time, to supply his place. Marcellus and Varro were to remain in command as Proconsuls. Yet to support the vast expenses of the war means were scanty, for the revenues of the whole of Southern Italy were cut off. The direct taxes were doubled ; and to regulate the collection of this impost, three Commissioners* were appointed by a special law. The Praetors in Sicily and Sardinia were informed that they must raise money to pay their forces within their Provinces ; and, fortu- nately for Rome, King Hiero of Syracuse supplied money to her treasury even in her most exhausted state. But he died at the close of this year,f and it was well known that both these pro- vinces were on the eve of revolt. § 35. It must have been a further discouragement to find that Hannibal had entered into negociations with Philip King of Mace- don. The messengers of the King were taken on their way to Capua. For the present, therefore, the danger to be expected from this quarter was averted ; but for the future the prospect was made more gloomy. Yet nothing availed to break the courage or shake the determination of the Senate. Few things, probably, could mark the public feeling more than a law which Avas passed in the next year at the instance of the Tribune Oppius, by which it was forbidden that any woman should wear a gay-coloured dress, or have more than half an ounce of gold to ornament her person, and that none should approach within a mile of any city or town in a car drawn by horses. Public need must be very urgent before it is possible to restrain private expense by enactments so rigid as those of the Oppian Law. * Triumviri mensarii (Liv. xxiii. 22). f Clinton, F. H. ii. p, 267, Not. (EcL 2). Head of Marcellus, 0:1 a Coin of Marcelliuus. CHAPTER XXXII. SECOND PUNIC WAR. SECOND PERIOD (215-211 B.C.). § 1. Fabius and his coadjutors. § 2. Plan of the campaign on both sides. § 3. Gracchus attacks the Capuans : Marcellus saUies from Nola and defeats a division of the Carthaguiians. § 4. Fabius sets aside the election of the tribes. § 5. Order with respect to the soldiers of Cannae. § 6. Hanno fails before Beneventum, Hannibal before Tarentum. § 7. Uncertainty of Hannibal's position in Southern Italy. § 8. "War declared against Philip of Macedon. § 9. Insurrection in Sardinia. § 10. Death of Hiero, and revolt of Syracuse. § 11. Marcellus takes Leontini and begins siege of Syracuse. § 12. Extent of Syracuse. § 13. Vigorous defence by Archi- medes : general defection of the Sicilian towns. § 14. Capture of Syracuse. § 15. "War still maintained by Epicydes, with the assistance of the African Mutin: Ovation of Marcellus. § 16. Lsevinus in Sicily; the war ended by the desertion of Mutin. § lY. Hannibal surprises Tarentum, and blockades the Citadel. § 18. Capua besieged by Fulvius and Appius. § 19. Raised by Hannibal: heavy losses sustained by several Roman commanders. § 20. Siege of Capua resumed: the place completely invested. § 21. Hannibal's endeavour to reheve it by a march upon Rome. § 22. Surrender and punishment of Capua. § 23. Prospects of Hannibal. § 24. The war in Spain : defeat and death of the two Scipios. § 1. The first three campaigns of this great war have been nar- rated somewhat explicitly, because of the remarkable nature of the events. It would not suit the plan of this work to pursue the same course with the remainder of the war. ISTor indeed is it possible to do so satisfactorily. For here (as we have said) the narrative of Polybius fails us, and we are left to the guidance of Livy, whose account of military movements is always extremely vague. The first period closed with the revolt of Capua. That which now claims our attention ends with the recovery of that im- portant city by the Eomans. 14* 322 ROME AND CARTHAGE. Book lY. In times of danger and difficulty, the chief power of a Republic usually falls into the hands of a single man, who is thought capa- ble of saving the state. At Rome, after the battle of Cannse, Q. Fabius Maximus became for some years the virtual chief of Senate and People. He was great-grandson of that Q. Fabius who won so hio'h a name in the Second Samnite War. He was already an old man ; more than seventy summers had passed over his head. His disposition was so mild or so apathetic that he was known by the popular name of Ovicula, or the Lamb. His abilities seem not to have been great. His merit was that he had the hardihood to avow that the Roman militia were no match for Hannibal's vet- erans, and the courage to act on his belief. The cautious system which he had practised after the battle of Lake Trasimene had excited discontent : but the great defeat of Cannse had most unhappily vindicated it. For some years it was rigorously car- ried out by commanders more skilful in war than Fabius him- self. Of these coadjutors the ablest was unquestionably M. Claudius Marcellus, who was called the Sword of Rome, as Fabius was called the Shield. He also was past the middle age, being at this time more than fifty. In his first consulship he had distinguished himself by a brilliant victory over the Insubrian Gauls ;* and his name now stood very high, for having given the first check to Hannibal in his career of victory. Marcellus was a true Roman soldier, prompt and bold in action, resolute in adversity, stern and unyielding in disposition, blunt and illiterate, yet not with- out touches of finer feeling, as was proved at the siege of Syra- ■ cuse. "With him must be mentioned Tib. Sempronius Gracchus, a man of humane and kindly temper, and possessing high talents for com- mand. Had he not been cut off so early, he might have rivalled the fame of Marcellus. Q. Fulvius Flaccus, who, like Marcellus, had already been twice Consul, disdained not for the two following years to act as Praetor of the City. He enjoyed the confidence of Fabius and the Senate, and this office gave him, in the continued absence of the Consuls, the whole management of the home government. He was not less than sixty years of age, discreet and cautious as Fabius himself, but more active, energetic, and relentless. These and other able men kept Hannibal in check by acting on the defensive system of Fabius. When by this means the strength of the republic was recruited, Scipio came forward as the author of an offensive system. But for the next few years, * Above, Chapt. xxx. § 15. Chap. XXXII. SECOND PUNIC WAR: PERIOD II. 323 it is only necessary to cast the eye over tlie list of Consuls, to see how that office was limited to those whom Fabius, as the Senate's Minister for War, approved.* § 2. The plan of war now adopted was of the following kind. The two Consuls and a Proconsul were stationed in Campania, each with two legions and their auxiliary cohorts. In the present year Fabius took post on the Latin road, between Cales and Casili- num ; Gracchus occupied the entrenched camp, which had been formed by Marcellus near Sinuessa; and Marcellus himself occupied a similar camp near Nola. Thus these commanders Avere always ready to harass Capua, and were also able to make forays into Samniura, Apulia, and Lucania, whenever Hannibal was absent. Their connexion with the sea was maintained by the great sea- ports of Naples and Cumte. Hannibal, on the other hand, formed a strong camp on the ridge of Mount Tifata above Capua. But he was often obliged to move his forces into the south, leaving the Capuans to defend themselves. He sent Hanno son of Bomilcar, with a small division, into Bruttii, to reassure his friends in that quarter, and collect recruits. The Greek towns of Locri and Croton fell into the hands of this com- mander ; but the Romans retained a firm hold of Rhegium, Thurii, Metapontum and Tarentum. We have no means of estimating the amount of Hannibal's army ; but it may be inferred that it was small ; we never find him able to act in force both in Campa- nia and in the south. § 3. He soon came in collision with the Consul Gracchus. This general was in his camp at Sinuessa, busily employed in training the two legions of slaves, who, by the name of Volones or Volun- teers, still served under his command. Here he received informa- tion from the people of Cumse that the Capuans were coming to hold a festival near their city, and he was enabled to fall upon the Capuans by night, and slaughter a great number. The news soon reached Hannibal, who descended from his camp, only to find Gracchus safe behind the walls of Cuma?. * Tliose who seem to have been opposed to Fabius are marked with an asterisk. The Patrician Consul stands first in each year. 215 B.C. Q. Fabius Maximus, iii. Tib. Sempronius Gracchus. 214 — Q. Fabius Maximus, ir. M. Claudius Marcellus, iii. 213 — Q. Fabius, son of old Fabius. Tib. Sempronius Gracchus, ii. 212 — App. Claudius Pulcher. Q. Fulvius Flaccus, iii. 211 B.C. *P. Sulpicius Galba. Cn. Fulvius Centumalus. 210 — *M. Valerius Lgevinus. M. Claudius Marcellus, iv. 209 — Q. Fabius Maximus, v. Q. Fulvius Flaccus, iv. 208 — T. Quinctius Crispinus. M. Claudius Marcellus, v. Therefore, out of sixteen Consulships, Fabius and his son held four, Marcellus three, Fulvius tv/o. 324 ROME AND CAETHAGE. Book IV. "While Gracchus was thus engaged at Cumse, Fabius had occupied his camp at Sinuessa, and Marcellus was making forays in the Sam- nite country. The sufferers sent earnest appeals for defence to Hannibal, who now appeared a second time before the walls of Nola, being induced by some of the popular party, which in all the cities Avas hostile to Rome, to hope that the place might be betrayed. But Marcellus made a well-timed sally, in which he cut off a large body of the Carthaginian army ; and Hannibal, retiring in disappointment, went into winter quarters at Arpi in Apulia. § 4. Returning spring (214 b.c.) found Hannibal again in his camp on Tifata, and the same Roman commanders opposed to him. Fabius was still Consul, with Marcellus for his colleague ; while Gracchus had taken the place of the latter as Proconsul. The circumstance of the election of these Consuls deserves noting, because it shows how completely the people had surrendered their right of free choice into the hands of Fabius. The old Consul, on returning to hold the Comitia, purposely halted in the Campus Martins, and held the election without having entered the city. By this means he retained his Imperium, or absolute power. The Prerogative Century, which happened to be the Juniors of the An- iene tribe, gave their vote for M. ^milius Regillus and T. Otacilius Crassus. Otacilius was a nephew of Fabius, and had served as Praetor in command of the fleet during the current year, but without much credit. Upon this vote being given, the old Consul stopped the proceedings and addressed the people. " The Re- public," he said, " was struggling for existence ; she was main- taining nearly twenty legions in Italy and Sicily and other quarters ; and that with revenues diminished and citizens thin- ned ; what was the use of all their exertions if she committed her armies to untried men ? Therefore," he concluded, " go, Lictor, call back the Juniors of the Aniene tribe to give their vote anew." All men felt that the old man had not only power, but reason on his side. The same Century which had voted for other men, now gave their voices for Fabius himself and Marcellus. § 5. At the same time the Senate gave an earnest of their stern determination by passing a decree that the soldiers of Cannse should be sent to act on the defensive in Sicily, without hope of honour and glory till the end of the war. And the Censors, in the course of this year, summoned before them Metellus and the others who had wished to desert the Republic after the defeat of Cannse ; and tliey were all deprived of their civic rights. Provision was also made for supporting the continued drain upon the Treasury ; but of this hereafter. Chap. XXXII. SECOND PUNIC WAR: PERIOD II. 325 § 6. Early in this campaign, Hannibal was enticed from Cam- pania by a message sent from certain friends whom he had made Avithiu the walls of Tarentmii, and who now offered to betray that large and important town to him. Meanwhile he ordered Hanno to come up from Bruttii, for the purpose of covering Samnium and Campania. Hanno seems to have had hopes of surprising the Roman colony of Beneventum. But the Proconsul Gracchus threw himself into the town; "And now," he told his Slave- soldiers, " now the time was come when they might win their liberty. Every one who brought in an enemy's head should be made free." In the battle which followed, victory was long undetermined ; till Gracchus proclaimed that without victory none should be enfranchised ; but if they conquered, none should remain a slave. Thus the desperate conflict was determined in favour of the Romans, and Hanno, after great loss, made good his retreat back into the Bruttian territory. Then Gracchus fulfilled the promise made to his Volones, and celebrated their enfranchisement by a public festival, in which they all appeared wearing white caps in token of liberty. So pleased was their commander with the scene, that he had a picture painted to com- memorate it on the walls of the Temple of Liberty on the Aventine Hill. Hannibal, therefore, had the mortification to hear of this reverse, without the satisfaction of succeeding in his own expedition. For M. Valerius Laevinus, the Roman Praetor stationed at Brundusium, being informed of the plot to betray Tarentum, threw a strong- garrison into the place under the command of M. Livius, and the conspirators did not dare to attempt the fulfilment of their promises. § 7. The next year (213 b.c.) was still less fruitful in decisive events than the two foregoing. That is, it was favourable to the Romans ; for to Hannibal's cause inaction was fatal. And there are not wanting indications to show that the Italians who had joined him began even now to falter in their resolution, and to look with fearful eyes to the little progress he had made since the battle of Cannae, and to the tenacity Avith which the Romans kept hold of every city. Arpi in Apulia, Hannibal's late winter quarters, Avas betrayed to Fabius the younger, who was now Consul, assisted by his father as legate.* The 300 Capuan * In the same way that the elder Fabius had acted as legate to his son in the Third SamniteWar, Chapt. xxiii. § 8. "When old Fabius arrived in camp, he rode up to greet his son, who bade him dismount before he presumed to appear before tlie Consul. The old man alighted and said, " My son, I wished to see if thou wouldst remember that thou wert Consul." 326 ROME AND OAKTHAGE. Book lY. knights wlio were in tlie service of Rome at the time when their city threw itself into Hannibal's arms, had shown their disapprobation of this step by enrolling themselves as citizens of Rome ; and about this time one hundred and twelve more of the same order came into the Roman camp at Suessula. There can be no doubt that the aristocratic party, who had formed the municipal government of the communities in connexion with Rome, were all against Hannibal. It was this party which main- tained so many places in their old allegiance, and were ready to restore to Rome such places as had revolted at the first opportunity. But if the war in Italy languished, it had broken out with great vigour in other quarters. Plannibal's skilful negociations had raised up enemies to Rome Avherever his envoys could find an opening — in Macedonia, in Sardinia, in Sicily. § 8. It has been mentioned that the first letters of Philip king of Macedon to Hannibal had been intercepted by the Romans; and it was the fear of an attack from this quarter that had induced them to station Lsevinus with a fleet at Brundusiura. A second embassy was more successful, and an alliance was concluded by Hannibal with the king, by which the latter bound himself to send an auxiliary force to support the Carthaginians in Italy. But Lsevinus and his successors carried the war into Philip's own neighbourhood, and took their measures with so much skill and energy that the promised succours Avere never sent. § 9. In Sardinia an insurrection broke out in the year after Cannae. Q. Fulvius, the City-Prsetoi", was ordered to provide for its suppression, with leave to appoint any commander whom he thought fit. He straightway made choice of T. Manlius Torquatus, a man as stern and uncompromising as himself, who in his Consul- ship twenty years before had first conquered the island. The old general landed with little delay, and in one decisive battle com- pletely restored Sardinia to subjection. § 10. Affairs in Sicily gave much more trouble. Indeed in the years 211 and 212 this island became the chief seat of the war. Hiero, the old king of Syracuse, who for fifty years had never faltered in his alliance with Rome, had died soon after the fatal day of Cannae. He was succeeded by his grandson Hiero- nymus, a youth of fifteen years of age, whose imagination was captivated by the brilliant career of Hannibal. The able Cartha- ginian soon availed himself of the opportunity Avhich thus pre- sented itself to send over agents, into whose hands the young prince completely surrendered himself. These were two brothers named Hippocrates and Epicydes, Syracusan Greeks by descent, Chap. XXXII. SECOND PUNIC WAR : PERIOD II. 327 but natives of Carthage. The young King, however, after a little more than a year's reign, Avas assassinated by a gang of obscure conspirators in the main street of Leontini. A republic was immediately proclaimed at Syracuse : and shortly after, all the remaining members of the royal family were massacred with circumstances of singular atrocity. The question now was whether the new government should side with Kome or Carthage. The brothers, Hippocrates and Epicydes, had at first resolved to return to Hannibal ; but they changed their plan, and pretending to fall in with the views of the conspirators, were elected Generals-in- Chief with several others. Yet the popular feeling seems to have inclined towards Rome ; and when App. Claudius the Praetor, who had been watching the course of events from Murgantia, a seaport about thirty miles north of Syracuse, appeared off the harbour with a squadron of 100 ships, it was agreed to conclude a treaty with Rome. Before long, however, Hippocrates, triie to the interests of his master, contrived to leave Syracuse with a body of troops. He re- paired to Leontini, and here he was soon joined by his brother Epicydes. They then threw off the mask ; and the Leontines de- clared themselves independent of Syracuse. This was probably late in the year 214 b.c. And about that time the Consul Marcellus arrived to take the command of the army in Sicily ; for Appius foreseeing that war was at hand, had sent despatches to the Senate early in the year. § 11. Marcellus, without delay, laid siege to Leontini, and took the town by assault. He did what he could to spare the inhabi- tants ; but he was guilty of a piece of most imprudent severity in scourging and putting to death as deserters 2000 of the garrison, who had once been in the service of Rome. It appears that the troops whom Hiero had sent over to the succour of Rome, had returned home on the death of that prince, and that these men were now in the Syracusan army. When they heard of the cruel death of their comrades at Leontini, they lent a ready ear to the persuasion of Hippocrates and Epicydes, who had escaped from Leontini and now turned the severity of Marcellus to good account. These two adventurers were elected sole Generals, and Syracuse closed her gates against Rome. Marcellus made some fruitless attempts at negociation ; and finally commenced the siege of Syracuse. § 12. The city of Syracuse had been greatly enlarged since the Athenian expedition.* The island of Ortygia had become the citadel, and the suburb along the sea-coast, called Achradina, * See the plan in Dr. Smith's " History of Greece," p. 337. 328 ROME AND CARTHAGE. Book IV. was now part of the town. The rugged triangular surface called Epipolse was well fortified, and its northern approaches, especially, were strongly defended by a fort called Hexapylum. § 13. Marcellus at first attempted to take the city by assault. He himself attacked the sea-wall of Achradina, while Appius attempted to force Hexapylum. The Romans were always famous, for their skill in the attack and defence of fortifications, and Mar- cellus was well provided with engines of all kinds. But within the walls was an engineer more skilful than any they possessed. Archimedes, the most celebrated mathematician of ancient times, was now 75 years old, but age had not quenched the inventive vigour of his mind. He was so devoted to abstruse calcu- lations, that sometimes he forgot even to take his meals ; yet speculation had not unfitted him for practical pursuits. He had been the friend of Hiero and therefore of Rome ; yet his pa- triotism burnt with steady flame, and the enemy of his country was his enemy. Marvellous are the stories told of the engines which he invented to thvi^art the assaults of the Romans, both by sea and land. The whole wall Avas armed with ballists and cata- pults of immense power, so that the ships dared not come within shot. If they ventured to get close under the walls, favoured by the darkness of night, they were galled by a fire from myriads of loopholes, and nearly crushed by enormous stones let drop from the battlements. Then one end of the ship was grasped by an " iron hand" let down from a projecting crane, which suddenly lifted it up, and as suddenly let it go, so that first one end and then the other was plunged in the water. It is said also, that burning-glasses of great power were so placed as to set on fire ships which approached Avithin their reach. This is pro- bably a fiction.* But thus much is certain, that Marcellus at length gave up all hopes of taking the city by storm, and com- menced to blockade it by regular lines of circumvallation. After many months the Romans were as far from taking Syracuse as ever. Meantime, the Roman cause was daily losing ground in Sicily. Even Murgantia, the head-quarters of the fleet, surren- dered to Carthage : and Enna, a very strong fortress, was only prevented from doing likewise by the prompt cruelty of the Commandant, who massacred the whole of its inhabitants. But * The burning-glasses are not mentioned in any of the earlier accounts. They first appear in Galen and Lucian, authors of the second century after Christ. Tlie thing appears to be mathematically possible ; for, by a compli- cated arrangement of mirrors, Buffon succeeded in igniting wood at a distance of 150 yards. See a summary of the argument in Smith's Diet, of Biography, vol. i. p. 270. Chap. SXXII. SECOND PUNIC WAR : PERIOD I] 329 tliis barbarous act, thougli efficacious on tlie ispot, served still more to alienate tlie Sicilians from Rome. Agrigentnm sur- rendered, and numerous other towns threw off the yoke. § 14. But there was treason Avithin the walls of Syracuse. Marcellus at length succeeded in scaling the walls of Hexapylum by night, when by reason of a festival they Avere left unguarded. He soon gained possession of the whole upper city ; and as he gazed from the heights of Epipolae on the fair view beneath him, even his rude nature was so affected by the beauty of the scene and the greatness of his success, that he burst into a flood of tears. The southern quarters of the town surrendered to him ; but Epicydes, with his army, drew within Achradina, and prepared for a desperate defence. Hippocrates, who had gone to obtain succours from Carthage, soon returned with a considerable force. But Marcellus lay safe within the Upper City, and the army of Hippocrates, which encamped on the marshy ground at the mouth of the Anapus, Avas soon thinned by disease, as the hot weather came on ; and among the dead Avas Hippocrates himself. Still the sea was open, and a fleet was daily expected from Carthage under the command of Bomilcar. At length the Admiral came in view ; but the Roman squadron put out to meet him ; and great was the disappointment of Epicydes, Avhen he saw the Carthaginian fleet bear away toAvards Italy. He left the city secretly and fled to Agrigentum. Many of the garrison were deserters from the Romans, who could expect little mercy from the severe Marcellus. But the rest, when they found themselves deserted by their General, slew their officers, and put themselves under Meric, a Spaniard, and Sosis, one of the murderers of Hieronymus. These men admitted Marcellus by night within the walls of Achradina. Next morning, the city was given up to plunder ; and in the massacre which followed,'* Archimedes was slain by a soldier, whose question he did not ansAver, being absorbed in a geometrical problem. For the honour of Marcellus, it should be recorded that he was deeply grieved by this mischance, that he gave honourable burial to the -corpse of the philosopher, and showed great kindness to his relations. The royal treasure was reserved for the State ; and the exquisite Avorks of the Grecian chisel which adorned the splendid city Avere sent to Rome, to begin that system of plunder which enriched Rome at the expense of Greece. The people were treated with more mildness than usual ; * When the Romans took a town by assault, they commenced an indiscri- minate slaughter of every living tiling, dogs included. This was what so horrified the Greeks of Sicily. See Polyb. x. 15. 330 ROME AND CARTHAGE. Book IV, and yet wliat was that mildness, that sold tlie mass of the citizens into slavery, and drove numbers starving into the fields ! § 15. Thus fell Syracuse, in the summer of 212 b.c, after a siege of nearly two years. But though Syracuse was taken, Sicily was not conquered. It will be well to anticipate events a little, so as to finish our narrative of this war in this place. Epicydes, who had escaped to Agrigentum, continued his ceaseless activity, and persuaded the Carthaginian Government to send out another large force under the command of a general named Hanno.* Hannibal also sent over an ofiicer named Mutin or Mutton, who henceforth became the soul of the war in Sicily .f This man was a half-bred Carthaginian : and the African blood in his veins degraded him as much in the eyes of pure Cartha- ginians, as the taint of black blood degrades a man in the United States. But his abilities as a soldier made Hannibal overlook vain distinctions, and Mutin took the command of the Numidian horse in the army of Hanno and Epicydes. With such skill did he use this formidable cavalry, that Marcellus rather lost ground than gained it. But Hanno was jealous of the upstart commander, and took occasion to give battle to the Romans during his absence. Marcellus accepted the challenge, and gained a signal victory. This was in the year 211 b.c; and the Proconsul, not wishing to tarnish his laurels by the chance of another encounter with the dreaded Mutin, went straight home and claimed a triumph. But the Senate, finding that Sicily still continued in full revolt, refused this demand ; and Marcellus, notwithstanding his suc- cesses, was obliged to remain contented, with a splendid Ovation. § 16. In the next year (210 b.c.) Valerius Laevinus took the command in Sicily. How long the war might have continued it is hard to say, for Mutin still continued to defy the Romans. But in an evil hour, the jealousy of Hanno led him to deprive his able subordinate of his command, upon which the hot-blooded African immediately put himself at the head of his faithful Numidians, and threw open the gates of Agrigentum to the Roman Consul. Hanno and Epicydes escaped to Carthage, leav- ing the army an easy prey to the Roman Legions. The town was sacked and plundered, and the inhabitants reduced to slavery. And in a short time La3vinus was able to send des- patches to the Senate, reporting the entire submission of all Sicily. Mutin, as well as Meric and Sosis, Avas made a Roman * The Carthaginians must have had a very scarce supply of names. Their Hannos are infinite. f Livy calls him Mutines ; Polybius, Mvttovoc. CflAP. XXXII. SECOND PUNIC WAR: PERIOD II. 331 citizen, and received 500 jugera of State-land. His Numidian horse took service with Rome. § 17. It is now time to return to Italy, where the war had also resumed a more active form. Early in the year 212 b.c. Hannibal once more marched southward to Tarentum, and this time with better success than before. He encamped at a distance of about three miles, and was constantly visited by two young Greeks, who left the city under pretence of hunting, and repaired to Hannibal's camp to concert measures for de- livering the city into his hands. The place was very strong, as the description before given of it will show."* It was by the landward side that the conspirators proposed to admit Hannibal ; and the time they chose was a night on which it was Avell known that M. Livius, the Commandant, would be engaged in a drink- ing-bout. The Romans went to bed in drunken security, and at daybreak found the city in the hands of the Carthaginians. Great part of the garrison was put to the sword ; but Livius, with the survivors, made good his escape to the Citadel. Han- nibal immediately took measures for besieging it ; and the Tarentines, having dragged their ships over-land from the harbour into the open sea, were enabled to blockade it both by sea and land. It was about this time that Bomilcar arrived at Tarentum, with the fleet destined to relieve Syracuse. And Hannibal, having thus received considerable reinforcements, was enabled to resume active operations against the Romans. § 18. Meanwhile, the Consuls — Appius Claudius and old Q. Falvius Flaccus — were preparing to besiege Capua. Gracchus, with his Volones, was stationed in Lucania ; one Praetor, Claudius Nero, occupied the old camp at Suessula ; another, Cn. Fulvius, brother of the Consul, lay in Apulia. The Capuans, fearing they should be cut off from all supplies, sent a hasty message to Han- nibal at Tarentum ; and he straightway sent orders to provision the town, in case it should be besieged before he could come. Hanno executed his difficult task with success ; but near Bene- ventum, the Consuls fell upon Hanno, and captured all the supplies. He was obliged to retire once more into Bruttii, and leave Capua to its fate. § 19. The Roman armies now began to close round that devoted city. But they were destined to suffer heavy losses before they were able to invest it. First, Gracchus, who was coming northwards from Lucania to reinforce the Consuls, was slain in an ambuscade, and his Volones, so long faithful to their favourite leader, dispersed and fled, each man to his own home. * See Chapt. xxv. § 7, 332 ROME AND CARTHAGE. Book IY. Next, Hannibal himself once more appeared in Campania. He had already sent Mago with a division of cavalry to encourage the Capuans ; and now he entered the city in person without the knowledge of the Consuls. He was in high spirits at his successes in the South. Not only Tarentum, but also Meta- pontum and Thurii, had joined him ; and though Syracuse had fallen, the war was still raging fiercely in Sicily. But the Roman Commanders were cautious ; and Hannibal, finding he could not bring on a battle, was anxious to return to press the siege of the citadel of Tarentum, which the Romans had succeeded in reinforcing. He went by way of Lucania, and on his route met a Roman army, commanded by M. Centenius, an old centurion, who had collected an army, and with equal courage and folly attempted to bar Hannibal's march. He fell as a valiant soldier should fall ; and many thousand brave men paid the penalty of trusting to his promises. Hannibal now passed the mountains into Apulia ; and here, near Herdonea, he surprised the Praetor, Cn. Fulvius. He was like Centenius in rashness, but unlike him in being a profligate and a coward. In this action, also, many thousand Romans were cut to pieces. Fulvius Avas afterwards brought to trial, and obliged to go into exile to save his life. § 20. But notwithstanding these thick-coming losses, the Consuls held to their resolution of blockading Capua. No sooner was Hannibal's back turned than they again appeared before the city ; and before the expiration of the year the lines of circumvallation were completed. The armies of Rome always contained good workmen ; their common agricultural habits accustomed them to the use of the spade ; the great works that had for some time been going on, roads and aqueducts, had trained a number of men for military work. Yet the rapidity with which the vast extent of lines necessary to enclose a great city like Capua was completed, cannot but surprise us. These lines were secured by a double wall, and care Avas taken to supply the besiegers Avith provisions. § 21. The Consuls for the next year (211 b.c.) Avere not allowed to supersede Appius and Fulvius : to them was left the glory of completing Avell what they had well begun. When the Capuans found themselves blockaded, their spirits fell, and they sent an urgent message to Hannibal. In an assault upon the Roman lines, he Avas beaten off" with loss. And now only one hope remained. It was possible that, if he threatened Rome itself, the besieging army might be recalled to defend the capital. Accordingly, he sent the Capuans notice of his purpose by means of a pretended deserter, and the next morning the Proconsuls saw his camp on Mount Tifata empty. They Chap. XXXII. SECOND FUNIC WAR: PERIOD II. 333 thought, probably, that be had returned to the South. But they soon discovered the truth from country people, who came in full of horror to tell that Hannibal's "vvild Numidians and monstrous elephants were in full route for Rome, Fulvius sent word to the Senate of this fearful visitation ; and the opinion of Fabius was unanimously adopted, that one of the Proconsuls should be recalled to defend the city with part of his army and the City Legions, while the other was left to maintain the blockade of Capua. Accordingly, Fulvius marched straight to Rome by the Appian road, while Hannibal took the line of the Latin road, and then probably crossed the Anio, to avoid the thick-studded cities and colonies which might have barred his passage. Fulvius, therefore, arrived at Rome before Hannibal descended from the North, and encamped within a mile or two of the city. The consternation at Rome was in some measure quelled by the arrival of Fulvius ; and still more, when Han- nibal himself, after riding up to the Colline gate, and then skirting the walls, was attacked by the old Proconsul, and obliged to fall back upon his camp. It is said, that while he lay there, the land occupied by his camp Avas put up to sale and bought at a price not at all below its value. Hannibal laughed, and bade an auctioneer put up the silversmiths' shops in the Forum for sale. But though he put a bold face upon the matter, he felt in his heart that he had failed. Rome was able to defend herself, and yet had left a sufficient force at Capua to continue the blockade. The line of his retreat is as uncertain as that of his advance. It is known, however, that he conducted his army through Apulia into Bruttii, which became henceforth his head-quarters in Italy. § 22. Meantime, Fulvius had returned to the lines round Capua, full of exultation. Time wore on, and famine began to oppress the wretched inhabitants. How long the desperate resistance was prolonged we know not. But at length it appeared manifest that surrender must ensue within a few hours ; upon which Vibius Virrius, one of the insurgent chiefs, gave a splendid banquet to all Senators who would partake of i1^ Twenty-seven came, and Avhen the feast was over, a poisoned cup went round, in which the guests pledged their host. They went home to die; and next morning the city was surrendered. The savage old Q. Fulvius determined to wreak a bloody vengeance upon the leaders of the insurgents. Five-and-twenty were sent to Cales, to Teanum eight-and-twenty, there to await their doom. In vain did Appius plead for milder measures. Fulvius heeded no intercession. On the morning after the capture, he rode in person to Teanum, and saw all the prisoners beheaded. He 334 EOME AND CARTHAGE. Book IV. then galloped off to Gales; but wlien the prisoners there were being bound, a messenger from Rome brought him letters from the Senate. He put them into his bosom, and ordered the executions to proceed. When all the heads had fallen, he opened the letters, which contained orders to reserve the prisoners for the judgment of the Senate. Others of the chief men were imprisoned, and all the commoner sort were sold into slavery. The city itself was confiscated to Rome. The future settlers, for the most part freedmen and slaves, were allowed no power of self-government, a Prefect being sent every year from Rome, who ruled them with arbitrary sway.* Such was the terrible fate of a revolted city in the best times of the Roman Republic. Other revolted cities of Campania suffered a like fate. But it is worth remarking, that when the Consuls returned home, they were refused a triumph. No Roman general, it was said, deserved a triumph for merely recovering what once belonged to the Republic. § 23. The fall of Syracuse and Capua had given a decided superiority to the Roman arms in Italy .f Yet, though Hannibal was at present so weak that he could not leave the South, nor give efi'ectual succour to his Campanian allies, there were many causes to give him hopes of retrieving his fortunes. The diversion made by sending Mutin to Sicily had proved most successful, and it was not till a year later that the folly of Hanno betrayed the cause of Carthage in that island. Though the Citadel of Tarentum still held out, that great city itself, with the rest of Magna Grsecia, except Rhegium, had joined Hannibal; and if the Greeks of Sicily should be permanently attached to his interests, he might hope at length that Philip of Macedon would come over to oppose the common enemy. § 24. But the quarter to which he looked for most effectual aid was Spain. For a long time the successes of the Scipios had cut off all hope of succour from his brother Hasdrubal. These successes continued, notwithstanding the arrival of Mago with reinforcejpents from Carthage ; and the Romans at one time penetrated into the valley of the Guadalquivir. Many of the Celtiberian Tribes enlisted under their banners, eager to try a change of masters. Syphax, a Prince of the Numidians, formed an alliance with them, and they seemed thus early to have formed the design of carrying the war into Africa. In the * See above, Chapt. xxvii. § 11. ■)• So much was attributed to the capture of Syracuse, that the Sibylline books were consulted, and the games of ApoUo, afterwards one of the most splendid shows of Rome, instituted (Liv. xxv. 12). Chap. XXXII. SECOND PUNIC WAR: PERIOD 11. 335 year 212 b.c, the same which witnessed the fall of Syracuse and the investment of Capua, the two brothers entertained high hopes of a successful campaign. They had wintered in the Celtiberian country, and now divided their armies ; Cn. Scipio marching against Hasdrubal, the brother of Hannibal, and Publius directing his course against a second Carthaginian army, under another Hasdrubal and Mago. But the Celtiberians in the army of Cneius deserted to their old commander ; and the Roman Proconsul was in full retreat when he heard that his brother Publius had been surprised and slain with a great portion of his army. The united Carthaginian armies now threw themselves on the retreating army of Cn. Scipio. He fell fighting bravely, with most of his officers. The remains of the Roman armies were collected by a brave knight, by name L. Marcius. But though he made good his retreat, it is not too much to say that the defeat and death of the two Scipios gave back to the Carthaginians all that they had lost in Spain since the departure of Hannibal. The road now lay open for Hasdrubal to lead a large force to the assistance of his brother in Italy, and enable him to resume that superiority which he had lately lost. Notwithstanding his losses, however, it must not be forgotten that no Roman General had dared to meet him in a fair field of battle since Cannsg. What might he not hope when largely reinforced ? It belongs to the history of the next period to show how irremediably these hopes were blighted. Coin of an Acilius, with Triuniphal Car. CHAPTER XXXIII. SECOND PUNIC WAR : THIRD PERIOD (210 207 B.C.). § 1. Depressed state of Rome. § 2. Renewed Discontent with the Fabian system : Election of Consuls for 210 B.C. § 3. M. Valerius Lsevinus. § 4. Immense armies kept on foot. § 5. Financial measures to raise money. § 6. Patriotic Loan. § T. Caution of Marcellus. § 8. Leevinus : quarrel with the Senate. § 9. Twelve of the Thirty Latin Colonies refuse any longer to contribute to the war. § 10. Tarentum recovered from Hannibal by Fabius. § 11. Dissatisfaction. § 12. MarceUus killed. § 13. His colleague Crispinus only Uves long enough to name a Dictator : apprehensions of Hasdrubal's invasion. § 14. M. Claudius Nero and M. Livius Salinator elected Consuls for 20'? b.c., to meet Hasdrubal. § 15. March of Hasdrubal: his delay at Placentia. § 16. His despatches to Han- nibal intercepted: Nero marches to join Livius in Umbria. § 1*7. Hasdru- bal returns : overtaken by the Romans on the Metaurus. § 18. Battle of the Metaurus. § 19. Joy at Rome. § 20. Grief of Hannibal: he retires into the Bruttian territory. § 21. Triumph of the Consuls : the first since the beginning of the War. § 1. The last year's campaign was full of heavy discouragement to the Romans. Syracuse, indeed, had been taken ; but Sicily still remained in full revolt. Capua had fallen, and Campania was again restored to Roman dominion : but Tarentum, all except the citadel, was lost. The unmolested march of Hannibal to the walls of Rome showed that no part of Italy save the fortified towns and entrenched camps could be called their own, so long as the Car- thaginian General could lead his wild and lawless mercenaries whithersoever he pleased. The loss of Spain had placed before them the dreadful possibility that their great enemy might soon be reinforced by numbers so large as to make him stronger than he had been since he crossed the Alps. Chap. XXXIII. SECOND PUNIC WAR: PERIOD III. 337 § 2. It is evident that mutterings of discontent were beginning to arise at tlie manner in Avhich the war had been conducted by Fabins and his friends. The bitter lesson of Cannae had taught the necessity of caution, and proved that, to act with success against Hannibal, they must act on the defensive only. But was this system to last for ever? Were they never to meet Hannibal in the field ? Thoughts like these, no doubt, suggested the experiment of electing a popular Consul for the year 210 b.c. When the votes of the Prerogative Century were taken, it appeared that the men of their choice were old T. Man,- lius Torquatus, the conqueror of Sardinia, and that same T. Ota- cilius who had been ousted from his Consulship five years before by his uncle Fabius. He was doomed to like treatment a second time, though he did not live to hear of it. For Manlius imme- diately rose and declined the Consulship for himself: "he was," he said, " old and nearly blind : a general should be able to use his own eyes. They must choose other and better men." The Century, after some hesitation, obeyed, and gave one of their votes for Marcellus, as no doubt Fabius and the Senate wished, while they bestowed the other upon M. Valerius Lsevinus, who had served the State well in the conduct of the war against Philip of Macedon. § 3. Valerius probably owed his choice to the fact that he was not disposed to submit to Fabius and Fulvius. An oppor- tunity soon arose for showing this. As he passed through Capua on his way to Rome, Avhere he had not been for several years,* the Campanians, smarting under the severe dominion of Fulvius, earnestly besought him to let them follow in his train, that they might lay their grievances before tbe Senate. The old Proconsul growled, but at length allowed them to go with Lsevinus. When the Consul arrived at Rome, he was greeted by a deputation of Sicilians, who had heard with alarm that the imperious Mar- cellus was about to return to their island with Consular authority. The affairs of both peoples were brought before the Senate. As to the Campanians, the Fathers confirmed in all respects the stern edicts of Fulvius ; and not unjustly, for of all cities Capua had been most generously treated by Rome : her rebellion had been prompted, not by love of liberty (for she was already free), but by lust for power. Capua, therefore, now became a Prefecture. On the other hand, Marcellus at once gave up his Sicilian province to his colleague Laevinus, and agreed to take the command in Italy against Hannibal ; and the Senate, though * He served as Prsetor and Propr^tor in Southern Italy and Macedonia from 215 to 211 B.C. 15 338 EOME AND CARTHAGE. BOOK lY. they ratified tlie previous measures of Marcellus, now recom- mended the Sicilians to the special care of Lsevinus. Upon this, the Sicilian Envoys, fearing the future anger of Marcellus, fell at his feet and entreated him to take them as his clients. For many years the Marcelli, his descendants, are found as patrons and pro- tectors of the island. § 4. Before the Consuls took the field, they were called upon to meet the financial difficulties under v^^hich the state Vfas labouring. The force which had been maintained by Rome now for many years was very large, and the cost enormous. The number of Legions kept on foot since the battle of Cannse had averaged about twenty; so that the number of soldiers, legionaries and allied, amounted to nearly 200,000 men. While the expenditure was thus prodigiously increased, the revenues were greatly diminished : and it is a recorded fact, that about this time corn had risen to many times its ordinary price.* § 5. Plitherto the difficulties had been met by various expe- dients. Early in the war the Senate had simply doubled all existing imposts. The commanders in Sardinia and Sicily were told that they must subsist their troops from the resources of those provinces. The Scipios in Spain had for some time done likewise. But in the year after Cannse, these commanders had written to say that they were destitute of all things — money, food, and clothing. Upon this, the Senate proposed to the con- tractors to supply the required stores, and wait for payment till the end of the war, it being understood that whatever was shipped from Italy was to be paid for, whether the vessel reached its destination or not. This ofi"er was readily accepted ; but some of the contractors were guilty of a fraud, disgraceful enough at any time, but at a time when the State was struggling for very existence, utterly detestable. These wretched men put a quantity of worthless stores on board crazy vessels, which were purposely lost on their passage, and then claimed payment in full, ac- cording to their contract. The fraud, however, was discovered, and these unworthy citizens were obliged to seek refuge in dishon- ourable exile. Contracts taken oil such terms were, in fact, a loan to the State. The contractors advanced their property for the service of the State, and received in exchange a ticket promising them * The mecUmnus (=l-i- bushels) was selling for 15 draehmse (about 12 shil- lings), Polyb., ix. 44. In Polybius' time corn sold in Cisalpine Gaul for 4 obols (about G^d.) the medimnus (ii. 15, 1): but this was extraordinarily cheap. In Cicero's time a medimnus in Sicily sold for 15 sesterces (about 2s. 6d), in Verr. iii. 75. Chap. XXXIII. SECOND PUNIC WAR: PERIOD III. 339 payment at some future time. Till tlien they lent lier their goods, and held her promissory note as a security. In the same manner, the owners of the eight thousand slaves who were enlisted by Gracchus, gave np their slaves to the State, and waited for payment till the Treasury was replenished. Both these transactions took place in the year 215 b.c. In the following year (214 B.C.) the Senate were obliged to borrow money in a more direct form. The fortunes of minors and Avidows, which were in the hands of guardians or trustees, were now advanced to the State, all expenses incurred on the part of the owners being discharged by orders upon the Treasury.* These Treasury Bills (as they may be called) Avere probably taken in payment by the tradesmen and others, who did not press to have them ex- changed for coin till it was convenient for the Treasury to xlo so. In these loans it does not appear that the State allowed any in- terest upon the goods or money advanced. It is probable that the bills or orders upon the Treasury continued in use as money, like our Bank-notes. In the same year (214 b.c.) an extraordinary measure had been taken for manning the fleets. All citizens, except the poor, Avere required to furnish one or more seamen, Avith six months' pay and their full accoutrements. Senators were called upon to equip eight, and the rest in proportion to their rated property. Such was the Roman " Ship-money." § 6. The necessities of the present year (210) Avere greater than ever. Every resource seemed to be exhausted. Among other means, the coinage had been gradually lowered in value. The As, Avhich had originally been a pound weight, of copper, had noAV been diminished to one-sixth of that weight ; and all payments for the Treasury were no doubt made in this depreciated coinage. The usual results of such measures had followed. A temporary relief Avas gained. But the prices of all articles were raised to meet the change, and public credit Avas shaken. In these difficulties, the Senate proposed again to levy ship- money. But the people Avere in no mood to bear it. They had been much impoverished in the last four years ; continued increase of taxation had drained their resources ; continued service in the army had prevented the proper cultivation of their lands ; the marauding march of Hannibal in the year before had ruined many. The ferment caused by this neAV impost assumed a very formidable appearance. The Senate met to deliberate, and the Consul Lsevinus proposed that the great Council should * A qusestore perscribebantur (Liv. sxiv. 19). For the use of the term perscribere or rescribere, to pay by an order or note of hand, see Terent, Fhorm. v. 1, 30, with the notes. 340 Rome and garth age. book iy. set an example of patriotic devotion. " Let us," said he, " contri- bute all our treasure for the service of the State. Let us reserve — of gold, only our rings, the bullae worn by our sons, and for the ornaments of our wives and daughters one ounce apiece, — of sil- ver, the trappings of our horses, the family salt-cellar, and a small vessel for the service of the gods, — of copper, five thousand pounds for the necessities of each family." This proposal was carried by acclamation, and the noble example followed emulously by all the people. So eager was the throng which pressed to the Treasury, that the clerks were unable to make a full register of the names. This Patriotic Loan (for it was intended that it should be repaid hereafter) saved the State ; and it was even more valuable in the spirit which it called forth, than for the actual relief which it afforded to the Treasury. § 7. The Consuls now took the field. Marcellus arrived in Samnium only to hear that Cn. Fulvius Centumalus, the last year's Consul, had shared the fate of his namesake and pre- decessor, Cn, Fulvius Flaccus, and had been cut off with the greater part of his army at Herdonea."* The unhappy relics of this force Avere sent to be added to the remains of the army of Cannae, which the relentless Senate still kept in banishment in Sicily. Marcellus cautiously advanced to Venusia, and so dogged Hannibal's footsteps that he was unable to strike another blow. The town of Salapia in Apulia, where lived a lady whom Hanni- bal loved too well, and who is said to have more than once de- tained him from the field, was betrayed to Marcellus, as Arpi had been to Fulvius, and was another example of the altered feeling of the Italians. § 8. Lsevinus, as has above been mentioned, was enabled by a stroke of good luck to finish the war in Sicily with ease and credit ; and he returned to Eome accompanied by the redoubt- able Mutin. Before he left Sicily he had sent over his fleet to examine the coasts of Africa. The officer despatched on this service learnt that the Carthaginian Government were actively engaged in collecting troops to be placed under Hasdrubal's com- mand for a second invasion of Italy from the IS'orth ; and he immediately forwarded this intelligence to the Consul at Rome. The Senate were so much alarmed that they ordered Lsevinus to return instantly to his province without Avaiting to preside at the Comitia. He was to name a Dictator for that purpose ; and the person submitted to him for nomination was old Q. Fulvius, the Governor of Capua. Lsevinus, however, refused to * The names are so similar, and Livy's narrative so vague, that one is led to suspect that one event has been made into two. Chap. XXXIII. SECOND PUNIC WAR: PERIOD III. 341 name liis personal enemy ; upon -wliicli the ruling party referred the matter to the People, who peremptorily ordered the Consul to name Fulvius, and no one else. But Lsevinus, to avoid this necessity, had already left Rome ; and the Fathers were obliged to send for Marcellus to execute their orders. When the old Dictator held the Comitia, the Prerogative Tribe gave its vote for Fulvius himself and Fabius. An objection was taken by two of the Tribunes, who were of the party opposed to Fabius, that a presiding magistrate could not allow himself to be elected. But this, like many other ordinances, was overruled at this critical season by the Senate, and the election proceeded. The next year was to see Hannibal confronted with the three men reputed to be the ablest commanders in Rome, Fabius and Fulvius the Consuls, and Marcellus as Proconsul. It was hoped that by their united efforts the enemy might be crushed before the arrival of Hasdrubal and his Spaniards. § 9. But the result was not equal to men's expectations. In the very outset of this year (209 b.c.) the levies were delayed by a circumstance which looked even more threatening than the financial difficulties of the previous year. The Latin Colonies, now Thirty in number, have been mentioned as the chief stays of Roman power in the subject provinces of Italy. They had hitherto borne the toils and expenses of the war as unrepiningly as Rome herself. What then was the alarm of the Consuls and the Senate, when Twelve of the Thirty openly declined to comply with the requisition to furnish their contingents for the armies of this year. The refusal was due in part no doubt to exhaustion and poverty ; but it was partly caused by anger at the fact, that most of the defeated soldiers of Centumalus who had lately been banished to Sicily were citizens of their towns. The Consuls at first endeavoured to reason with them, but in vain ; and when the deputies of the other Eighteen Colonies, which comprised all the largest and most important places,* declared their stedfast and un- altered allegiance, they determined to pass the matter over for the present, saying that they would not deign to ask assistance from those who would not give it willingly. * The Eighteen faithful Colonies were : — In Apulia, Brundusium, Venusia, Luceria; in Lucania, Pcestum ; in Samnium, Benevenium, Saticula, ^sernia; in Latitim, Fregellce, Signia, Norba ; in Etruria, Cosa ; in Picenum, Hadria, Firmum; in Umbria, Spoletwn, Ariminum ; in Gallia Cisalpina, Placentia, Cremona ; and, lastly, the island of Pontia. The Twelve contumacious Colonies were : — In Campania Cales, Suessa ; in Latium, Interamna, Circeii, Setia, Cora, Ardea; in the Marsian country, Alha Fuceniia ; in the Sabine, CarseoU ; in Etruria, Sairium, Nepeie ; in Umbria, Narnia. 342 EOMB AND CARTHAGE. Book IV. To provide for tlie current expenses, a large treasure of gold, wlilcli had been reserved for the emergency of another Gallic war, was now first invaded. § 10. Fulvius resumed his station at Capua; Marcellus was to engage Hannibal's attention in Apulia, while old Fabius made an attempt to recover Tarentum. Marcellus found his enemy at Canusium ; and a series of indecisive actions followed, in which (although the Roman annalists claim the advantage for their hero) it is plain that he must have suffered greatly ; for he remained inactive during the rest of the campaign. But fortunately for Fabius' attempt upon Tarentum, Hannibal's pre- sence was required in Bruttii to defend his allies from a band of Free Mercenaries, who, formerly in the service of the Car- thaginians in Sicily, had now been engaged by Lsevinus, and sent to Rhegium to harass their old masters. The appearance of the great General was enough to scare these marauders into submission ; but scarcely was this done, when he heard the news that Fabius had sate down before Tarentum. Instantly he put his army in motion, and marched day and night to relieve this important city. But he was too late. By treachery he had won the place, and by treachery he lost it. The officer in command at Tarentum was a Bruttian. This man had a mistress, sister to an Italian serving in the army of Fabius : she it was who persuaded him to open the gates to the Consul ; and Hannibal, while yet upon his march, heard this disastrous news. The old Consul gave up the despised city of the Greeks to be plundered by his soldiers, reserving the public treasure for the service of the State. But when he was asked whether he would have the statues and works of art taken to Rome, after the example set by Marcellus at Syracuse, " No," he said, " let the Tarentines keep their angry gods." Besides the recovery of Tarentum, the Samnites and Lucanians, long wavering, again returned to their allegiance, and were restored by Falvius to their position as allies without any notice being taken of their revolt. § 11. Notwithstanding this, men were dissatisfied with there- suit of the campaign. Three consular armies had not sufficed to defeat Hannibal ; Marcellus, reputed their best general, seemed to have suffered a defeat. But the party who murmured against Fabius and his friends were as yet feeble, even among the people. Very lately Lsevinus had been compelled to relinquish his oppo- sition to that great party ; and when Marcellus appeared before the people, and gave a narrative of his services, all men's hearts were turned, and not only was he forgiven freely, but was even elected Consul for the ensuing year (208 B.C.). His col- Chap. XXXIII. SECOND PUNIC WAR: PERIOD IIL 343 league was T. Quinctius Crispinus, "wlio had served under liim in Sicily. Old Fabius liad just completed liis public life. The capture of Tarentum was his greatest exploit, and it was his last ; an honour- able close to an honourable career. Marcellus, so long his friend and compeer, w^as destined to close not only his military career, but his life, a few weeks later. § 12. The defection of the Italians had no doubt weakened Hannibal, and the two Consuls determined to throw them- selves upon him Avith their conjoint force, in order (if possible) to break the charm which seemed to protect the Carthaginian from defeat. They found him near Venusia, and every day they drew out their forces before his camp and offered him battle. But the odds were too great even for Hannibal, and he kept close within his intrenchments. It happened that between his camp and that of the Consuls there was a hill which Marcellus thought it desirable to occupy. Accordingly he rode np to the top, accompanied by his colleague and a small detachment of cavalry, unconscious that a large body of Numidian horse were lurking in the woods below. In a moment the Consuls were surrounded. Marcellus was run through by the spear of one of these wild horsemen, and fell dead from his horse ; Crispinus escaped mortally wounded to his camp. As soon as Hannibal heard of this great stroke of good luck, he hastened to the scene of conflict, and saw with his own eyes his ablest antagonist lying dead before him. His conduct proved the true nobility of his nature. He showed no triumph : but simply drew the gold ring from the dead tnan's finger, saying : " There lies a good sol- dier but a bad general." He then ordered the corpse to receive a soldier's burial. Like his father Hamilcar, he warred not with the dead, but with the living. § 13. Great was the consternation at Rome when intelligence of this untoward event arrived. The Consul Crispinus lived just long enough to be carried in a litter to Capua, where he was on Roman ground, and could therefore execute the command of the Senate to name a Dictator. He named old Manlius Torquatus. But no attempt was made to molest Hannibal again this year. Torquatus only exercised his office in holding Comitia for the election of new Consuls. The occasion was a grave one. Never before, since the beginning of the Republic, had she been bereft of both her Consuls at one blow. But in order to understand the full importance of the choice which the people were now required to make, it must be mentioned that Hasdrubal, the brother of Hannibal, had already set out upon his march from Spain, and in a short time might be expected to arrive in Italy. 344 ROME AND CARTHAGE. Book IT. § 13. All notice of the Spanish war since the death of the two Scipios has purposely been deferred. Here it will be enough to say, that soon after that event, the Senate, well understanding the importance of maintaining the war in Spain, and anxious (if it might be) to prevent a further invasion of Italy, had endeavoured to retrieve their losses in that quarter ; and in 211 e.g. young P. Scipio, the hero of the latter part of the war, had been appointed to the dangerous command left vacant by his father and uncle. In the next chapter notice will be taken of his splendid successes during the three years which had passed. But these successes had not served to divert Hasdrubal from his purpose. This general had collected an army, not large, but com- posed of tried soldiers, which he skilfully carried through the heart of Spain, and crossed the Pyrenees near Bayonne, entering Gaul by the pass which now is threaded by the high road from Paris to Madrid. By this dexterous movement he completely eluded the vigilance of the Romans, who lost sight of him altogether and knew not whither he was gone. But towards the close of the present year news came from the friendly people of Marseilles, to the efiect that Hasdrubal had arrived in Aquitania, and in- tended wintering in Gaul, as the season was too far advanced for the safe passage of the Alps. Such were the grave circumstances under which Torquatus sum- moned the people to elect Consuls for the year 207. § 14. It might have been thought, that the ablest Patrician to be found was M. Valerius Lsevinus, who was still in Sicily. Not only had he restored the province to order, but had laid in large stores of provisions at Catana for the Italian armies, and had assisted in other ways in lightening the expenses of the war. But the Senate distrusted him : they had not forgotten the contumacious way in which he had quitted Rome two years be- fore, rather than name a Dictator at their bidding. They there- fore turned their eyes on M. Claudius Nero, a man of known energy and unflinching resolution, who had served now for many years under Fulvius and Marcellus. He had been sent to Spain at the first news of the disasters there, and remained in command till the appointment of young Scipio. All men agreed that Nero should be the Patrician Consul. But who was to be his Ple- beian colleague ? Marcellus was dead, and Gracchus was dead ; and Fulvius was nearly as old as Fabius. At length it was resolved to choose M. Livius Salinator, a man who was also well stricken in years, for he had been Consul with ^milius PauUus in the year before Hannibal's invasion, and had triumphed with him over the Illyrians. But he had been accused of unfair division of the spoil taken in that Illyrian war, and had been Chap. XXXIII. SECOND PUNIC WAR: PERIOD III. 345 condemned to pay a fine by the vote of all tlie Tribes, save one. Indignant at a sentence which he deemed mijust, he had "withdrawn to his estate in the country, and had only lately reappeared in the Senate at the command of the Censors. But when there, he sat in moody silence, till at length he started up to speak in defence of his kinsman Livius, the commandant of Tarentum, who was accused of having lost the city to Han- nibal. On this occasion Fabius' conduct had not been conciliatory. For when it was urged in defence of the accused that he had mainly assisted in recovering the city, Fabius drily remarked, that " he did not wish to condemn Livius : certainly he had assisted in recovering Tarentum, for if he had not lost it, it would not have been recovered at all." These recollections all rankled in the heart of the old Senator ; and he refused the proffered Consulship, Here, however, he yielded to the command, rather than the entreaty of the Fathers. But still one difficulty re- mained. The cross-grained old man was at feud with his col- league Nero ; and when friends tried to reconcile them, he replied that " he saw no occasion for it : if they remained enemies, they would keep a keener watch for each other's faults." At last he gave way in this point also, and before they took the field the Consuls were in perfect agreement. They hastened early in the year to their respective stations, Nero to take the command in Southern Italy, against the feeble army of Hannibal ; Livius to Ariminum, on the frontier of Cisalpine Gaul, to await the arrival of Hasdrubal. § 15. As soon as the season permitted, Hasdrubal advanced from his winter-quarters to the passage of the Alps. He avoided the coast-road taken by his brother, and passed through the country of the Arvernians (who have left their name in French Auvergne), and thus came straight to the point where the Rhone and Isere meet, so as to take the same route over the mountains which had been pursued by his brother eleven years before. The time of the year was favourable : in the period which had elapsed the people had become better ac- quainted with the Carthaginians ; and Hasdrubal achieved his passage into Italy with little loss or difficulty. He straightway marched through the plains of Cisalpine Gaul to the banks of the Po, where the Roman colony of Placentia, one of the eighteen lately found faithful, had before defied the arms of Hannibal. Hannibal had not wasted time in assailing this .town; but Hasdrubal spent some time in besieging it, probably to oblige the Gauls, whom he expected to swell the numbers of his army. For hitherto they had not given Hannibal much assistance. In the eventful year of Cannae thev had cut off" the Consul-elect 15* 346 EOME AND CAETHAGB. Book IV. Posthumius, and still drank mead out of his skull. But since then they had remained quiet ; and Varro, with a single Legion at Ariminum, had sufficed to watch them. And now they seem to have given Hasdrubal indifferent support, so that the time he spent at Placentia must have been nearly thrown away. However he obtained some Gallic recruits, and (what was more valuable) a considerable body of Ligurians, an active and hardy people, who were likely to do him good service. § 16. Before he left his lines at Placentia, he sent off six couriers, four Gauls and two Numidians, to inform his brother of his intended route. Hannibal, meantime, had been constantly on the move. We find him marching from Bruttii into Lu- cania, from Lucania into Apulia, and from Apulia again into Bruttii, and then once more back into Apulia. The purpose of these rapid movements seems to have been to collect recruits from such people as still remained faithful to him, in order that he might join his brother with as strong a force as possible. We cannot but admire the skill with which he eluded Nero, who pursued him with a double army of four Legions. Yet it was one of these marches that accidentally proved the ruin of his cause. The couriers despatched by Hasdrubal from Placentia made their way into Apulia, but unfortunately arrived just at the time when Hannibal was absent in Bruttii. They at- tempted to follow him but missed their way, and fell into the hands of the Praetor stationed on the Tarentine frontier. That ofiicer immediately sent off the despatches found upon them to Nero, who was lying at Canusium. An interpreter was soon pro- cured, and the whole plan of the enemy's campaign was now revealed to the Consul. Hasdrubal told his brother that he in- tended to advance along the Adriatic, by way of Ariminum, and proposed that they should join forces in Umbria, in order to march upon Rome. Nero's determination was soon taken. Legally, he had no power to quit his district in Southern Italy, but in this emergency he resolved to set all forms at defiance. He picked out 6000 foot and 1000 horse, the flower of his army, and gave out that he would march at nightfall on a secret expedition .into Lucania. As soon as it was dark, he set out ; but the soldiers soon discovered that Lucania was not their destination. . They were marching northwards towards Picenum, and they found that provisions and beasts of burthen were ready for them all along the road, by the Consul's orders. As soon as he was well advanced upon his march, he addressed his men, and told them that "in a few days they would join their countrymen under Livius in his camp at Sena Gallica in Umbria ; that com- bined they would intercept Hasdrubal and his invading army; Chap. XXXIII. SECOND PUNIC WAR : PERIOD III. 347 that victory was certain ; that the chief share of the glory would be theirs." The men answered such an address as soldiers should ; and everywhere, as they passed, the inhabitants came out to meet them, pressing upon them clothes, victuals, horses, all, and more than all that they could want. In a week's time they accomplished a distance of about 250 miles,* and found themselves within a short distance of Sena. Nero halted till it was dark, that he might enter his colleague's camp unperceived by Hasdrubal. § 17. He had previously written to the Senate, informing them of his march, and urging them to throw forward a strong force to defend the defile through which the Flaminian road passes at Narnia, in case the Consuls should be beaten by Hasdrubal. Answers had reached him, fully approving his bold design, and promising all support. It was, therefore, with full confidence that he entered his colleague's camp, and beheld the watch- fires of Hasdrubal at not more than half a mile's distance in front. His men were warmly greeted by their comrades, and received within the camp of Livius, that Hasdrubal might not observe the increase of the army. After one day's rest, Nero urged immediate action, lest his absence from Apulia might be discovered by Hannibal, or his presence in Umbria by Hasdrubal. Accordingly, the two legions of Livius, with the two commanded by the Praetor Porcius, and Nero's troops, drew out before Has- drubal's camp and offered battle. The experienced eye of the Carthaginian was struck with an apparent increase of numbers ; and his suspicions were confirmed, when he heard the trumpet sound twice in the Consul's lines. This convinced him that Nero had joined his colleague, and full of anxious fear as to the fate of his brother, he determined to refuse battle and retreat under cover of night. The Romans returned to their camp ; and when the next day broke, they found Hasdrubal's camp deserted. Orders were given to pursue. They came up with the Carthaginian army on the banks of the Metaurus, about twelve or fourteen miles north of their former position. The Metaurus, usually a small river, was swollen by rains, so that they could not pass it except at certain places ; and their guides had deserted them so that they could not find the fords. Hasdrubal, therefore, was obliged to give battle with the river in his rear. § 18. On the side of the Romans, Nero commanded on the right and Livius on the left, the centre being under the charge of the Prsetor Porcius. Hasdrubal with his Spanish veterans, * In six days, Livy says (xxviiL 10). The soldiers were much assisted in these long marches by the loan of horses, cars, &c. 348 ROME AND CARTHAGE. Book ly. stood opposed to Livius, while his Gallic allies confronted Nero; and his centre, covered by a corps of elephants, was formed of the Ligurians who had taken service in his army. The battle began along the whole line at once. In the cen- tre, the elephants were wounded, and running furiously about trampled down friends and foes alike. On the left, Nero found the Gauls strongly posted ; and leaving the greater part of his troops to hold them in check, he himself made a flank movement with his own troops, and fell upon the right of Hasdrubal's division. This bold charge decided the battle. When the right wing of the Carthaginian army gave way, the centre followed their example ; and Hasdrubal, finding the battle lost, and the destruction of his army inevitable from the nature of the ground, threw himself into the enemy's ranks ^nd fell fighting. The slaughter was great : the Metaurus ran red with blood. § 19. At Rome, as may be well imagined, the news of Nero's march had filled all hearts with hope and fear. And now, after some ten days of intense anxiety, vague rumours came that a battle had been fought and won. Still, men feared to believe what they wished ; and the anxiety rose higher and higher, till the officer in command at Narnia sent home despatches to say that two horsemen had arrived at that place from the field of battle with certain news of a great victory. So eager were the people, that the Praetor had great difiiculty in prevent- ing the despatches from being seized and torn open before they had been read in the Senate. And when he brought them out from the Senate-house, and read them publicly from the Eostra, a burst of exultation broke from every tongue ; and men, women, and children thronged to the temples to bless the gods for their great deliverance. Thanks were decreed to the Consuls and their armies ; three days were appointed for a public thanks- giving to the gods. Never Avas public joy and gratitude more deserved. The battle of the Metaurus was the salvation of Italy; and Horace spoke Avith as much historic truth as poetic fervour when he said that " Then, by the death of Hasdrubal, then fell all the hope and fortune of Carthage." * § 20. The news was conveyed to Hannibal in a barbarous fashion. Nero had returned to his camp at Canusium as speedily as possible, and his lieutenants had kept the secret so well, that Hannibal had remained ignorant of his absence ; when one morning a grisly head was thrown into his camp, and Han- nibal knew the features of his brother. Two prisoners sent in, * " Occidit occidit Spes omnis et fortuna nostri Nominis, Hasdrubale, interempto." Chap. XXXin, SECOND PUNIC WAR: PERIOD III. 349 and a large body paraded before the Roman camp, confirmed the dismal forebodings of the general, and he said with a heavy heart that " the doom of Carthage was spoken." This treatment of his brother's remains was an ill return for the generosity shown by Hannibal to the corpses of his opponents ; and Nero, by this act, forfeited all claim to admiration, except such as must be bestowed on a skilful general and a resolute man. Hannibal now retreated into Bruttii. The people of this wild country, still nearly as wild as it was then, clung to his fallen for- tunes with unshaken fidelity. Here he maintained himself for four years longer, almost more admirable in adversity than in prosperity. Even now no Roman general was able to gain a victory over him ; even now every veteran soldier remained faithful to his great leader. But he was driven into a corner, and stood like a lion at bay, still terrible, but without hope. The war in Italy may now be considered at an end. § 21. The victory of the Metaurus was held to be an occasion for allowing a triumph to the victorious Generals. No triumphal procession had passed down the Sacred Way and ascended to the Capitol since ^milius PauUus and Livius Salinator had led up the captive Illyrians in the year before Hannibal's invasion. All former successes in the war had been but the recoveries of losses, all except the capture of Syracuse ; and Marcellus was refused a full triumph then, because he left the Sicilian war unfinished. But now there was no drawback. The two Consuls met at Praeneste, and advanced with the army of Livius and the captives in long procession to the Temple of Bellona, in the Campus Martins. Here they were received by the Senate and people in festal array. Livius appeared in the triumphal car drawn by four white horses, attended by his army ; Nero rode on horseback beside him unat- tended ; for the battle had been fought in Livius' district. Yet all men turned their eyes on the Patrician Consul, and the acclama- tions of the crowd showed to whom belonged the true honours of the triumph. Notwithstanding these honours, Nero (strange to say) was never again employed during the war; and it was not till Neros became heirs of the Empire of Augustus that poets sang of the debt which Rome owed to 'that name.* A star was appearing in the west, which soon eclipsed the brightness of Nero's fame. The remain- ing period of the war will be little more than a history of the deeds of Scipio. * " Quid debeas, Roma, Neronibus, Testis Metaurum flumen at Hasdrubal Devictus," etc. L. Cornelius Scipio Africanus. CHAPTER XXXIV. SECOND PTTNIC WAR : FOURTH AND LAST PERIOD (206 202 B.C.) § 1. Young P. Seipio elected Proconsul for Spain. § 2. Character of Scipio. § 3. He resolves to surprise New Carthage. § 4 Site of New Carthage : its capture. § 5. His humane and politic conduct : he refuses to be king. § 6. Movements of Hasdrubal Barca. § 1. Great battle near the Guadal- quivir : Romans masters of all Spain except Gades. § 8. Scipio's designs upon Africa. § 9. He crosses over to hold conference with Syphax, king of Western Numidia: Treaty. § 10. Revolt of Spanish Cities. § 11. Mutiny quelled. § 12. Mago loses Gades. § 13. Scipio returns home : is elected Consul, and sent to Sicily with permission to invade Africa. § 14. Adventures of Masinissa. § 15. Attempts made at home to thwart Scipio, triumphantly repelled. § 16. Restoration of confidence and credit at Rome. § 17. Scipio lands in Africa. § 18. Besieges Utica, and destroys Cartha- ginian army by a treacherous artifice. § 19. Defeats a second army : ad- vances to Tunis. § 20. Masmissa made King of aU Numidia: death of Sophonisba. § 21. The Carthaginians recall Hannibal and Mago, and send to treat for Peace at Rome. § 22. Peace refused: death >of Fabius. § 23. Hannibal lands at Leptis and advances to Zama : Scipio moves to the same point: Conference. §24. Battle of Zama. §25. Zama and "Waterloo. § 26. Conditions of Peace. § 21. Hannibal becomes chief of Carthage. § 28. Triumph of Scipio. § 1. The History of the War in Spain has been left almost un- noticed, since the Defeat and Death of the two Scipios in 212 or 211, It is now time to return to that country; for the issue Chap. XXXIY. SECOND PUNIC WAR: PERIOD IV. 35 1 of tlie war between Rome and Hannibal was in reality determined on Spanish soil. After the disasters of that campaign, the Senate -determined to despatch reinforcements without delay ; and the officer ap- pointed to take the temporary command was C. Claudius Nero, the future hero of the Metaurus. Nero succeeded in restoring Roman dominion in the district north of the Ebro ; but the Senate resolved to call upon the People to elect a Proconsul for Spain at the Great Comitia. This was an unusual course, and was due no doubt to the peculiar exigencies of the case. The policy of continuing the Spanish War was manifest ; but the risk of failure was so great, that the Senate thought fit to throw the responsibility upon the People. It was announced therefore that Candidates for the Proconsulate were to present themselves in the Campus Martins. But when the day came no Candidate appeared. Men looked at one another in blank dismay. It seemed that none of the soldiers of the Republic dared to under- take so great and hazardous an enterprise ; when, to the surprise and admiration of all, P. Cornelius Scipio, son and rephew of the slain Proconsuls, arose and oflFered himself to the sufl'rages of the People. He was barely twenty-six years of age ;* but his name and character were well known ; and though he had hither- to held no office higher than that of -^dile, he Avas elected by acclamation. § 2. Scipio presents in almost all respects a striking contrast to the men who had hitherto conducted the affairs of Rome in the Second Punic War, They were far advanced in years, cau- tious and distrustful ; he was in the prime of youth, enterprising and self-confident. They had been trained in all the severity of the old Roman discipline ; he is said to have been dissolute in early years, and was still thought to affect too much the easy laxity of Grecian manners. They were strictly obedient to the letter of the law ; he was accustomed from his very youth to put himself above the laws and customs of Rome. They always acted as the faithful ministers of the Senate ; he very soon showed that the Senate must be content to follow his policy, rather than guide it. They, however gentle to their country- men, were to foreigners harsh, arrogant, and cruel; he treated foreigners with a humanity and courteousness that made his name better loved in Spain than in Italy. Yet in some re- spects he was a true Roman. Notwithstanding the excesses * He was seventeen at the skirmish on the Ticinus (Polyb., x. 3). When he went to Spain he was in his twenty-seventh year (id., x. 6). He cannot therefore have set out till the end of 210 or the beginning of 209. Livy's chronology is hardly to be reconciled with the above statements. 352 ROME AND CARTHAGE. Book IY. charged upon liis youth, lie had long learnt to control his pas- sions absolutely, and to submit every desire to his own views of duty. Notwithstanding the grace and affability of his manner, he, preserved a loftiness of deportment which kept men at a cer- tain distance from him. Few shared his intimacy ; but where he gave his confidence, as to his friend C. Lselius, that confidence was complete and unreserved. One point in his character calls for particular attention, — the Religiousness of his life. Never, from his first appearance in public, had he been known to un- dertake any enterprise without first resorting to the Great Tem- ple on the Capitol, and remaining there for hours absorbed in devotion. There have been those who have represented this conduct as merely assumed to blind and influence the people. But such was not the belief of those who knew him best ; and to think that Scipio was a mere hypocrite, is a monstrous belief. In the time of the Second Punic War, religious feelings were strong in the hearts of the people, though the popular belief in prodigies and the popular mode of deprecating the divine wrath were gross and barbarous. The Religion of Scipio might not be consistent ; yet, on the whole, it would be unjust to doubt that he, like others of his own time, acted in reliance on the support of Higher Powers. In this lies the secret of his character. That self-confidence, which prompted him to shrink from no responsibility, led him also to neglect the laws of his country, when they seemed to oppose what he thought just or necessary. Every incident in his youth shows this confidence. Not to insist on the doubtful story of his saving his father's life, Avhen he was yet a boy, we have seen him a Tribune of the Legions at the age of twenty, assisting to rally the broken remains of the army of Cannae, and barring the Secession of the young Nobles after that disastrous day. Three years after, we find him off"ering him- self Candidate for the Curule ^dileship ; and, when it was ob- jected that he was yet too young for the office, promptly answering, " If the People vote for me, that will make me old enough." And now, after the death of his Father and Uncle in Spain, we see him modestly waiting till it was clear that no experienced commander would claim the dangerous honour of succeeding them, and then bravely off"ering himself to the acceptance of the People. § 3. Scipio arrived in Spain late in the summer of 210, or perhaps not till the spring of 209. He landed at Emporise, with his friend Lselius and his elder brother Lucius, who accompanied him as Legates, and M. Junius Silanus, who was to command as Propraetor in the place of Nero. He found that the three Ohap. XXXIV. SECOND PUNIC WAR : PERIOD IV. 353 Generals commanding the Carthaginians in Spain, Hasdrubal and Mago, brothers of Hannibal, and Hasdrubal, son of Gisgo, were at discord with each other. Their forces lay scattered over a wide extent of country from Gades to Celtiberia ; and there seems to have been no disposition to act on the offensive against the Romans. Scipio, taking advantage of these circum- stances, determined to strike a blow which, if successful, would confirm the enthusiastic feelings of the Roman People towards him, and would mark that a General had arisen who would not rest content with the timid discretion of the Fabian policy. No less a place than New Carthage itself, the Capital of Carthaginian Spain, was the object he had in view. He heard that it was de- fended by a garrison of 1000 men only, and that none of the Carthaginian armies lay near it. By a bold stroke it might be possible to surprise it. His purpose was revealed to none save Lselius, who sailed in command of the fleet, while Scipio himself led his army across the Ebro, and arrived in an incredibly short time under the walls of the city.* § 4. New Carthage lay on a hilly peninsula jutting out into a fine bay, which forms the harbour. On the land side its walls were covered by a marsh or lagoon, which was overflowed by the sea, so that the place was only approachable by a narrow neck of land between the lagoon and the harbour. On this neck of land Scipio took up his position, entrenching himself in rear, but leaving the front of his camp open towards the city. No time was to be lost ; and next morning he gave orders to assault the walls. He addressed his soldiers, and assured them of success ; Neptune, he said, had appeared to him in a dream, and promised to fight with the Romans. The men advanced gallantly to the escalade, confident in their young General. But the walls were high and strong ; the garrison made a stout defence : and before noon Scipio called off his soldiers. But he did not give up his enterprise. In the afternoon, as he was informed, the water in the lagoon would be very low, in consequence of. a fall in the tide assisted by a strong wind. He therefore picked out_ 500 men, who were ordered to take a number of scaling-ladders and dash through the water so as to mount the walls unobserved, while the main body of the army made a feigned attack by the neck of land. Thus Neptune would fulfil his promise. The device succeeded completely. The garrison had retired to their noon-day's sleep, and while they were hurrying to repel the * Polybius says in seven days (x. 9). The distance in a straight line is not less than 230 miles, so that this march would rival the march of Nero to the Metaurus. "We must suppose that the baggage and engines were sent with the fleet. 354 ROME AND OAETHAGB. Book IV. feigned attack, tlie 500 got into the town unopposed, and rushing to the main entrance threw open the gates. Scipio, with a chosen detachment, pushed on to the citadel, into which the garrison had fled ; and the Commandant surrendered at discretion. All pillaging and slaughter was now stopped ; and at the close of the day the young General found himself master of this impor- tant city, with a very large treasure and an immense supply of stores. § 5. In the city he found a number of Spaniards, mostly women and children, kept there as hostages for the fidelity of their countrymen. For the Carthaginian rule was no longer beloved as in the days of the elder Hasdrubal. Hasdrubal the son of Gisgo, especially, had made himself hateful to the people ; and the Celtiberians, the most powerful tribe of Central Spain, were eager for an opportunity of revolting. Scipio turned these dispositions to his own advantage with admirable dexterity. He set free all the hostages, as well as all of Spanish blood who had been taken prisoners in the city. Among these hostages was the wife of Mandonius, brother of Indibilis, a powerful chief who had formerly been the friend of Carthage, and the daughters of Indibilis himself. He sent them home with as much care as if they had been his own kinswomen, although Indibilis and Mandonius had been actively engaged against his unfortunate father and uncle. Then the soldiers brought him a beautiful girl, whom they had reserved as a special gift for their youth- ful commander. But Scipio, observing her tears, inquired into her condition, and finding that she was the betrothed of Al- lucius, a young Celtiberian chief, he sent for the youth, and restored his bride unharmed, without ransom or condition. This generous conduct was not without its reward. The Spaniards, quick in feeling and romantic in disposition, regarded the young conqueror as a hero sent to deliver them from the yoke of Carthage. His noble bearing, his personal beauty, confirmed the favourable impressions caused by his conduct to the hostages; and when he advanced next year into Celti- beria, he was welcomed by Indibilis and Mandonius at the head of their vassals. Soon after, a deputation of Spaniards came to him with entreaties to become their King. In him they saw revived the dignity of Hamilcar, the afli"ability of the elder Hasdrubal; and they hoped that the popular times of those favourite rulers might return. But Scipio courteously declined the ofi"er, informing them that he was but the General of the Roman People, in whose ears the name of king was a byword and a reproach. § 6. The Carthaginian generals had been quite unable to make Chap. XXXIV. SECOND PUNIC WAR: PERIOD IT. 355 head against the well-earned popularity of the youthful Eoman. Hasdrnbal Barca had attempted to retake New Carthage by surprise, but in vain ; and the year 208 found him too busily engaged in preparing for his Italian expedition to act with energy against the Romans. All Spain north of the Baetis (Guadalquivir) was relinquished ; but at length Hasdrubal found himself obliged to give battle at a place called Btecula, which stands near that river. The Eomans won the day; but the Carthaginian Com- mander made a skilful retreat, leaving his camp and baggage in the hands of the enemy. Hasdrubal now drew back into Lusi- tania, leaving his brother Mago and the other Hasdrubal (son of Gisgo) to cover the borders of that district, which with the pro- vince now called Andalusia were the only parts of Spain left to the Carthaginians. Meanwhile he himself crossed the Tagus, and marching northwards (as we have seen) by ways unknown to ih.e Romans, crossed the Pyrenees into Gaul near the shores of the Bay of Biscay. Scipio, informed of his intentions to pass into Italy, and expecting him to follow the course of his brother Hannibal, spent the remainder of the season upon the Ebro in fruitless expectation. In the beginning of 207, he heard that his able opponent had eluded him, and was already in the heart of Gaul. § 7. In that year the Carthaginians made great efforts to retrieve their falling fortunes. An officer named Hanno had come over from Africa to replace Hasdrubal Barca; and the young Masinissa, son of Gala, a powerful Numidian chief, had also taken the field with a large body of his formidable horse- men. Scipio himself did not appear in the field till late in the season, when he found that his brother Lucius, with his legate Silanus, had kept the Carthaginians in check. But the news of the Metaurus had reached him, and he burned with eagerness to eclipse the glory of Nero. Late in this year, therefore, or early in 206, Scipio with his whole force prepared to pass the Baetis and bring the enemy to action. The Carthaginians, confident in their numbers, were equally ready, and their united forces boldly faced the enemy. The place of the battle is unknown ; its name is variously given as Silpia or Elinga. But the result is certain. Scipio's victory was complete : the whole Carthaginian army was broken and destroyed ; its scattered remains took re- fuge behind the walls of Gades, with Hasdrubal Gisgo and Mago ; while the wily Masinissa entered into secret nogotia- tions with Silanus, of which we shall have to speak further pre- sently. The Senate, therefore, at the commencement of the year 206, had to congratulate the People not only on seeing 356 HOME AND CARTHAGE. BoOKlY. Italy almost delivered from the army of Hannibal, but also on tbe important fact that all Spain, except the town of Gades, was in the hands of the Roman armies. § 8. But Scipio regarded Spain as a mere stepping-stone to Africa. Here, and here only, he felt convinced, could the war be concluded. Already had Valerius Lsevinus made descents upon the African coast, and found the country nearly as de- fenceless as in the days of Regulus. But Fabius and the Senate were hostile to bold enterprises, and Lsevinus could go no further. Scipio determined not to return to Rome till he had laid the train for an invasion of Africa; and then, with the confidence that marked his whole career, he would offer him- self for the Consulship, and force the Senate to allow him his own way. § 9. At that time, the country to the west of the Carthaginian Territory, from Bona to Gran, was known by the name of J^u- raidia; and the Numidians themselves were divided into two great Tribes, the Eastern Numidians or Massesylians, and the Western or Massy lians. Of the Massesylians, Syphax was King ; his capital being Cirta, now well known under the name of Con- stantine as a chief place in French Algeria. Gala, father of Masinissa, was ruler of the Massylians. We have already seen Scipio entering into negotiations with Masinissa. But Masinissa had not yet any power of his own. On the other hand, the position of the territory of Syphax on the Carthaginian frontier necessarily made him the most dangerous enemy of Carthage. It was therefore of the greatest importance to secure the friend- ship of this powerful but unstable chieftain. Scipio resolved, with a boldness almost romantic, to pay a visit to the Numi- dian capital ; and, to show his confidence in Syphax, he sailed from New Carthage to Africa with two ships only. It hap- pened that Hasdrubal Gisgo, who had before this left Spain in despair, appeared at the court of Syphax at the self-same time, with the self-same purposes. The two rivals were both enter- tained by the Numidian ; -but the winning manners and personal grace of Scipio prevailed for the present, and Syphax formed an alliance with the Romans. § 10. When Scipio returned to Spain, he found that his short absence had produced a serious chajige. Three important cities in the vale of the Bsetis, Illiturgi, Castulo, and Astapa, had closed their gates and declared their independence. Without delay, he laid siege to Illiturgi. The town was taken after an obstinate defence, and given up to massacre and pillage. This dreadful fate of their countrymen produced immediate, but opposite, effects on Castulo and Astapa. The men of Castulo, stricken with fear, Chap. XXXIV. SECOND PUNIC WAR: PERIOD IV. 357 surrendered at discretion. The men of Astapa collected all their property and valuables into a huge funeral pile in the market-place, and placed their Avives and daughters under a guard, who had orders to slay them and fire the pile as soon as the gates should be forced. The rest of the citizens fell fighting bravely, and the Romans were left masters of a heap of ashes. § 11. Another circumstance showed that the Roman power in Spain rested on a very precarious tenure. Scipio fell ill at New Carthage, and a report was spread that he was dead. Upon this, Indibilis and Mandonius, whom he had believed to be his most faithful friends, raised the standard of revolt and advanced into Celtiberia. A division of Italian troops, 8000 strong, stationed upon the Sucro, broke out into open mutiny, driving away their Roman officers, and choosing two Italians as their chiefs. The prompt and decisive way in which Scipio quelled this dangerous mutiny recalls the conduct of Clive in Bengal on a similar occasion. He sent messengers to the mutineers, desiring them to come to New Carthage and state their grievances; and as they approached the town, he ordered the division of the army in that place to pre- pare for marching against the revolted Spaniards. The Italians, therefore, met the army leaving New Carthage as they entered it, and fondly deemed that the General would now be completely at their mercy. But when they appeared next morning before Scipio, they found that thirty-five persons, the ringleaders of the mutiny, had been arrested during the night ; and the clash of arms in the streets leading to the Forum apprised them that the army had returned from its pretended march. Scipio now showed the mutineers that they were in his power. He re- proved them with much severity. Pie ordered the ringleaders for execution, and pardoned the rest on their taking the oath of allegiance anew. Indibilis and Mandonius, finding that the re- port of the General's death was false, hastened to make full sub- mission. But no sooner had Scipio left Spain, than these discon- tented chiefs again took arms. Indibilis fell in battle ; Mando- nius was taken prisoner, and put to death with a number of other chieftains. For the present, therefore, Spain was reduced to quiet ; but it was more than two centuries before the power of Rome was finally established in the Peninsula. § 12. It was now apparent that the Carthaginians had no longer any hope of recovering their lost ground in Spain. Has- drubal Gisgo had returned to Africa. Masinissa obtained a personal interview with Scipio, and renewed those promises of friendship which he had made to Silanus after the battle of Elinga, and which he afterwards faithfully performed. Mago, 358 KOME AND CARTHAGE. Book IT. the last remaining brother of Hannibal, after a vain attempt to surprise New Carthage, returned to Gades, and found that the inhabitants shut their gates against him. He enticed the chief Magistrates, called Suifets, like the two chief Magistrates of Carthage, into a negotiation, and then seizing their persons, he crucified them in sight of the town. This brutal and trea- cherous act forfeited his last claim on the sympathies of the people of Gades. They immediately surrendered to the Romans, while Mago sailed off to the Balearic Isles, and there occupied himself in preparing for a fresh descent upon the coast of Italy, as a last chance of relieving his illustrious brother. § 13. The soil of the Spanish Peninsula was now completely cleared of the Carthaginians, and Scipio prepared to return to Rome. About three years before he had left his country amid the hopes and expectations of all men. He now returned, having more than fulfilled those hopes and expectations. His friend Lselius had been sent home to announce his first great success ; his brother Lucius had lately arrived to prepare the Senate and people for the speedy arrival of the hero ; and no one doubted that at the approaching elections Scipio would be raised to the Consulship by the unanimous voice of the people. It was towards the close of the year 206 b.c. that he returned. The Senate met him at the Temple of Bellona; but refused him a triumph on the ground that he had not held any regular magistracy during his absence. He therefore entered the city, and ofi"ered himself candidate for the Consulship. Every Tribe united in giving him their suffrages, though he was not yet thirty years old. But the common rules of election had been neglected throughout the war, and no difficulty seems to have been raised on the score of age. His colleague was P. Licinius Crassus, who was Pontifex Maximus, and therefore unable to leave Italy. Whatever foreign enterprise was undertaken must fall to the lot of Scipio. He himself was at no pains to conceal his intention of carrying the war into Africa; and it was generally understood, that if the Senate refused leave, he would bring a special bill for the purpose before the people. Fabius, Avith Fulvius and the old Senatorial party, vehemently opposed these bold projects. .But the time was gone by when they could use the votes of the people against an enterprising Consul, as they had done some years before against Laevinus.* The confidence of all men in Scipio was unbounded ; and, in the end, the Senate was fain to compromise the matter by naming Sicily as his province, with permission to cross over into Africa, if he deemed it expedient * Chapt. xxxiii. § 8. Chap. XXXIV. SECOND PUNIC WAR: PERIOD IV. 359 They refused him, however, the additional levies and supplies which he required. But the Etruscans and other Italians enthu- siastically volunteered to give all he wanted. Scipio led a well- appointed fleet into his province, and was able to add con- siderably to the veteran soldiers of Cannse and Herdonea, who had seen hard service under Marcellus and Laevinus. The year passed, however, without any attempt on Africa, except that Ltelius went across to reconnoitre, and, after an interview with Masinissa, returned laden Avith spoil. § 14. It will be worth while to devote a few lines to the for- tunes of this Numidian Prince. His life, since his return from Spain, had been one series of romantic enterprises ; and at the present time, notwithstanding his adventurous daring, he was a wanderer and an outlaw. While he was in Spain, his father Gala had died, and his uncle Q^lsalces took possession of the chief- tainship of the Massylians. On the death of his uncle, and his uncle's son, which followed in rapid succession, the chief poAver was seized by an adventurer named Mezetulus, who pretended to act as guardian of an infant, the sole remaining scion of the family of CEsalces. Masinissa now appeared on the scene. He was very popular among the Massylians, and Mezetulus, with his young charge, was obliged to fly for safety to the court of Syphax at Cirta. This prince, we saw, had formed a treaty with Scipio. But Hasdrubal Gisgo soon found means to detach the fickle Numidian from his new ally, by off"ering him the hand of his beautiful daughter Sophonisba, and urged him to prevent Masinissa from recovering the power of his father. The power of Masinissa was unequal to that of Syphax. He was defeated in every battle he ventured to fight ; but he seemed to lead a charmed life. Once he was obliged to lie hid many days in a cave, once he escaped with only two horsemen by swimming a broad and rapid river ; but he always appeared afresh, from his fastnesses in the mountains of the south, at the head of a body of his wild cavalry, plundering and alarming the subjects of Carthage, as well as those of Syphax. Personal pique was added to the desire of recovering the chieftainship of his father ; for the beautiful Sophonisba had been his betrothed bride. § 15. In the next year he looked eagerly to see the Romans in Africa. But before this took place the enemies of Scipio made one more attempt to thwart his African enterprise. He had been continued in his command as Proconsul ; and, hearing that the citadel of Locri had been taken by Q. Pleminius, who commanded as Propraetor in Bruttii, but that Hannibal had come to the relief of the place, he left his province without hesita- tion, and sailing into the harbour of Locri, obliged the Cartha- 3 fit) ROME AND CARTHAGE. BOOK IV. ginian to retire. Pleminius was no sooner left in command tliere than he indulged in gross and brutal outrages, not only ao-ainst the people of Locri, but against such Romans as ventured to oppose his will. Scipio was appealed to, but declined to interfere, desiring the Locrians to lay their complaints before the Senate at Rome. These complaints arrived early in the year 204 B.C., and old Fabius again took occasion to inveigh loudly against the presumptuous audacity of his young rival. He ended his speech by proposing that he should be deprived of his com-, mand. Other complaints were made against Scipio, that by going to Locri he had transgressed the limits of his province, as he had done before by visiting Syphax in Numidia ; more- over, that he spent his time in pursuits unfit for a Roman soldier, frequenting the schools and gymnasia of the Greek cities, and wearing a Greek dress ; while his men were daily becoming corrupted by licentious living and want of discipline. The Senate was too well aware of the merits and popularity of Scipio to venture to act on these vague accusations without pre- vious inquiry ; and it was therefore resolved to send a commission into Sicily to examine into the truth of the charges. The result Avas highly favourable to the General. It was reported that he was quite guiltless of the excesses of Pleminius, who was arrested and left to die in prison ; and his troops, instead of being neglected or undisciplined, were in the highest order ; the Com- missioners had themselves witnessed the evolutions of the army and fleet, and could testify to- their effective condition ; they had also inspected the stores at Lilybseura, and found arms, engines, and supplies of every kind provided for the invasion of Africa. It was universally resolved that Scipio should retain his command till he should bring the war to a close. § 16. The confidence which the Senate felt in the altered state of aff'airs is fully shown by two Decrees passed in the sajne year. The first respected the Twelve Latin Colonies, which five years before had refused to furnish soldiers. At the time, it had been thought prudent to pass over this contumacious conduct.* But now they were required to furnish twice their proper con- tingent till the end of the war. They murmured, but submitted. The other Decree was moved by Lsevinus for the repayment of the patriotic loan advanced by the Senators and people during his Consulship in the year 210 B.c.f It was apparent, therefore, that the battle of the Metaurus, backed by the great successes of Scipio in Spain, had raised the Republic above all fear of disaffection in her Colonies, or of bankruptcy at home. Other * Chapt. xxxiii. § 8. \ Chapt. xsxiii. § 6. Chap. XXXIV. SECOND PUNIC WAR: PERIOD IV. 361 signs of confidence appear. A huge stone, supposed to represent the Great Mother of the Gods, was brought in state to Eome from Pessinus in Sicily. The Sibylline books directed that the care of this precious relic should be given to " the best man" at Eome : and the Senate adjudged the title to P. Scipio Nasica, son of Cn, Scipio, who had died in Spain, and first cousin to the great man who was now making the name illustrious.* The Cincian Law, also, brought forward by the Tribune M. Cincius Alimentus, at tha instance of old Fabius, to prevent advocates from accepting fees for their services, shows that business was falling into its routine course again. § 17. All obstacles being now removed, Scipio prepared to cross over into Africa. His army and fleet were assembled at Lilybseum under his own eye. His brother Lucius and his friend Lselius still attended him as legates; and his Quaestor was a young man destined hereafter to become famous, M. Porcius Cato. It was towards the close of 204 e.g. that he set sail. His army was not so numerous as it was well-appointed and well- disciplined, composed of men who had grown old in service, . skilful in sieges, prepared for all dangers ; for the greater part of them knew that in the successful termination of the war lay their only chance of returning home to end their days in peace. As the ships left the harbour at daybreak, Scipio prayed aloud to all the gods, that his enterprise might be blessed by their favour; that the evils which Carthage had wrought against Eome might now be visited upon her own head.f When the second morning broke, they were in sight of land ; and Scipio, Avhen he heard that they were off the Fair Promontory, said that the omen was a good one, and there should be their landing- place. Masinissa hastened to join him with only 200 of his Numidian horse ; but his knowledge of the country, and the ceaseless activity which he displayed, would have made him most welcome, even if he had come alone. § 18, Scipio immediately laid siege to Utica. The terror felt at Carthage, when Lselius had landed the year before, Avas great ; and now, when Scipio himself was almost at the gates, terror rose to its highest pitch. For a time he was left to carry on his operations unmolested. But as the winter advanced, Has- drubal Gisgo succeeded in collecting a considerable force, and * The Megalesian games (i. e. the games of the [leydXr] firjTTJp) long pre- served the memory of this great event. f The prayer is given by Livy (xxix. 27) evidently from an old author. A number of old Latin forms occur in it, — Bii . . . bene verruncent, i. e. vertant, • — bonis audibus auxitis, — copiam faxitis, — eta Ifi g62 ROME AND CARTHAaB. ,■ Book IV. persuaded Syphax, his son-in-law, to lend his aid in relieving Utica. Scipio was encamped on a head-land to the eastward of this town, on a spot which long retained the name of "the Cornelian Camp,"* where (it is said) the ruins of his entrench- ments are still to he traced ; and the Carthaginians hoped that they might hlockade him here hoth by land and sea. They made their arrangements not without skill ; and their fleet, which was superior to that of the Eomans, threatened to intercept com- munication with Sicily. Scipio remained quiet the whole winter, except that he amused Syphax by entering into negotiations for peace. The fickle Numidian showed himself not unwilling to form a separate treaty, and to desert his father-in-law Hasdrubal. But Scipio had no real purpose in these negotiations. They were only carried on to mask a design, which, as spring came on, he was enabled to put in practice. He observed that Hasdrubal occupied one camp, and Syphax another. The huts occupied by the Numidians were composed merely of stakes Avattled and thatched with reeds ; the quarters of the Carthaginians, though somewhat more substantial, consisted solely of timber, without any stone or brick. Scipio, in the course of the before-mentioned negotiations, contrived to gain an accurate knowledge of the plan and disposition of these camps ; and when he thought the time for the execution of his design was arrived, he suddenly broke oiF the negotiations, and told Syphax that all thoughts of peace must be deferred till a later time. On the first dark night that followed, he sent Lselius and Ma- sinissa against the camp of Syphax, while he himself moved to- wards that of Hasdrubal. Masinissa, with his Numidians, ob- tained an easy entrance into the lines of his countrymen, and straightway set fire to their inflammable habitations. The unfor- tunate men rose from their beds or from their wine-cups, and en- deavoured to extinguish the flames. But the work had .been too well done ; and as they attempted to escape, they found that every avenue of the camp was beset by enemies. Fire was behind them, death by the sword before ; and though Syphax, with a chosen band, escaped, the whole of his army was destroyed. The same fate befel Hasdrubal. On the first alarm, he conjectured the truth, and with a cowardly haste made off, leaving his men an easy prey to Scipio. When morning broke, the Romans pursued the fugi- tives ; and it is not too much to say that the whole army on which Carthage depended for safety was cut off in this horrible way. The recital makes the blood run cold. We may congratulate ourselves on the comparative honesty * Ccesar, Bell. Civ. ii. 24 and 37. Chap. XXXIV. SECOND PUNIC WAR : PERIOD IV. 363 of modern warfare. If in sieges and bombardments dreadful calami- ties are inflicted and suft'ered, yet no general would form a plan for burning and destroying an army b}^ pretended negotiations for peace, carried on in cold blood for weeks before. Yet the historian Polybius relates this event as a matter quite in the ordinary course of warfare, without any remark on the duplicity by which it was made successful. Neither the act itself, nor the means by which it was carried into execution, was ever thought to cast any slur on the fair fame of Scipio. § 19. The Carthaginian Senate were ready to give up matters as lost. But at this juncture 10,000 Celtiberians landed in Africa and oifered their services to Syphax ; and this prince was over- persuaded by the entreaties of Sophonisba to renew the struggle. Hasdrubal also exerted himself greatly to collect a new army ; and in the course of thirty days the two allied generals appeared on the Great Plains, which lie about 70 or 80 miles to the south-west of Utica and Carthage. Scipio, leaving his fleet and a division of his army to continue the blockade of Utica, advanced to give them battle without delay. The Celtiberians made a stout resist- ance ; but being deserted by the rest of the army, they were en- tirely cut to pieces. Hasdrubal fled to Carthage, Syphax to his own kingdom ; so that the whole country was left to the mercy of the Romans. Scipio advanced towards Carthage, receiving the submission of the difl'erent towns by which he passed. Encamping at Tunis, within sight of the Capital, he awaited the submission of the Government. § 20. Meanwhile Lselius and Masinissa, with the Italian and Numidian cavalry, pursued Syphax to Cirta. The unlucky king made a faint show of resistance ; but he was defeated, and his capital surrendered at discretion. Masinissa now received his reward, and was proclaimed king of all Numidia. When he entered Cirta, he was met by Sophonisba, formerly his betrothed, and now the wife of his rival. Her charms melted his heart; and fearing lest Scipio might claim her as his captive, to lead her in triumph by the side of Syphax, he took the bold step of mar- rying her at once. This much provoked Scipio, who sent for the young chief and rebuked him sternly for venturing to take pos- session of a Roman captive. Masinissa sighed, and felt that he was unable to protect his unhappy bride. But, resolved that at least she should have the option of escaping from the degrada- tion of a Roman triumph, he sent her a cup of poison, telling her that herein lay her only possible deliverance. She took the potion, saying that she accepted the nuptial gift, and drained it to the dregs. When the tragical fate of Sophonisba reached the ears of Scipio, he feared that he had dealt too harshly with 364 ROME AND CARTHAGE. Book IV. his Numidian ally. He sent for liim, and gently reproving him for his haste, he publicly presented him with the most honourable testimonies to his bravery and fidelity which a Roman General could bestow. In the delights of satisfied ambition and the ac- quisition of a powerful sovereignty, Masinissa soon forgot the sor- rows of Sophonisba. § 21. While Scipio remained at Tunis, the Carthaginian fleet made an attack on the Roman ships in the harbour of Utica, and gained some advantage. Intelligence also reached the Govern- ment that Mago, on landing in Italy, had been welcomed by the Ligurians and a portion of the Gauls, and had lately taken posi- tion on the Po with a considerable force. Here, however, he was. encountered by a Roman army and defeated after a severe strug- gle. Mago, himself wounded, took refuge among the Ligurians, who still remained faithful to his cause. The Carthaginian Government then had the choice of three courses : either to make terms with Rome at once ; or to continue the war by recalling Hannibal and Mago from Italy to Africa ; or to re- call the two brothers on the one hand, while on the other they en- tered into negotiations for a peace. The last was the course adopted. Ambassadors were dispatched to Rome to treat for peace, while orders were sent to Hannibal and Mago to return with such forces as they could bring. Mago obeyed the orders immediately, but never reached Africa. He died of his wound upon the passage, and his few ships were taken by the Romans. Hannibal also with bitter feelings prepared to obey. For sixteen years had the indomitable man maintained himself on foreign ground ; and even now the remains of his veteran army clung to him with desperate fidelity. He felt that, so far as he was concerned, he had been more than successful ; if he had failed, it had been the fault of that ungrateful country, which had left him long years unsupported, and now was recall- ing him to defend her from the enemy. What Scipio was now to Carthage, that might Hannibal have been to Rome. Still he saw that no advantage could be gained by remaining longer in Italy : he therefore bade farewell to the foreign shores, so long his own, and set sail for that native land which had not seen him for nearly forty years. § 22. Great was the joy at Rome when the news came that their dire* enemy had been at length compelled to leave the shores of Italy. A public thanksgiving was decreed ; sacrifices off"ered to all the Great Gods of Rome ; and the Roman Games, which had been vowed by Marcellus in his last Consul- * This epithet has been appropriated to Hannibal by Horace. CH.iP. XXXiy. SECOND PUNIC WAR: PERIOD IV. 365 sliip, were now at leiigtli performed. It was at this moment of triumph that the Carthaginian Ambassadors arrived. The Senate received them (inauspicious omen !) in the Temple of Bellona. Lsevinus moved that they should be at once dismissed, and that orders should be sent to Scipio to push on the war with vigour. After some debate, his proposition was adopted. The close of the year 203 therefore rendered it certain that the war must be decided by a trial of strength between the two great Generals, who, each triumphant in his own career, had never yet encountered each other in arms. About the same time old Fabius breathed his last, as if unwilling to be a spectator of the final glory of Scipio. He died in extreme old age. He has the merit of first successfully opposing Hannibal ; but his somewhat narrow mind, and the jealous obstinacy which often accompanies increasing years, prevented him from seeing that there is a time for all things; that his own policy was excellent for retrieving the fortunes of the Republic, but that the inactivity of the Car- thaginian Government had ruined Hannibal and left the field open for the bolder measures of Scipio. § 23. Hannibal had landed at Leptis, to the south of Carthage, with his veterans ; and thence marching northwards, took up his position on the plain of Zama, within five days' march of Carthage. Scipio, early in the year (202 b.c), advanced from Tunis to meet him ; and finding that the Carthaginian General had sent spies to ascertain his strength, he ordered them to be led through his camp, and sent back with a full account of all that they had seen. Hannibal felt that he had to deal with a superior force, led by a General only second in ability to himself. His own veterans were few in number ; the remainder of his army were raw levies or allies little to be trusted ; the Numidian horse, which had been his main arm in Italy, were now arrayed against him under the enterprising Masinissa. He therefore proposed a personal conference, in the faint hope that he might efiiect a treaty between himself and Scipio, which he would then compel the Carthaginian Government to accept. Perhaps if Scipio had felt himself free to act independently, he might have listened to the blandishments of his great opponent; but he was the General of the Republic, and he knew the feeling at Rome too well to venture to act in opposition to it. The Generals therefore parted from their conference, with feelings of mutual esteem, and prepared to decide the fate of the civilised world by battle. § 24. Next day at sunrise both armies drew out. Hannibal marshalled his army in three lines : first his Gallic and Ligurian auxiliaries, with Balearians and other light troops ; in the S6b KOME AND CARTHAGE. Book IV. second line, the veterans of Italy with fresh African levies ; -and in the rear, the few Bruttian and Italian allies who had followed his fortunes. Both wings were flanked by cavalry, as usual ; and the whole line of battle was covered by a formidable array of eighty elephants. To oppose him, Scipio also formed three lines according to the common practice of the Romans; Lselius with the Italian cavalry was posted on the left, Masi- nissa with his Numidians on the right. The Roman army was superior in all respects, except in elephants ; and to make the attack of these monsters powerless, Scipio drew up the maniples of his infantry not (as was usual) chequer-wise, but one imme- diately behind the other, so as to leave open lanes between the maniples from front to rear. The battle began by an attack of the elephants on the Roman light troops, who skirmished in front of the regular lines. These were overborne by the weight of the huge beasts, and fled down the lanes which have been described ; but when the elephants came within the ranks, the men on each side pricked them with their javelins, so that some of them rushed clear through the spaces without turning to the right or left ; others wheeled about and carried confusion into the Carthaginian ranks. Meanwhile both Masinissa and Lselius had routed the cavalry opposed to them, and the battle grew hot in the centre. The auxiliaries in Hannibal's front line were soon driven in upon the veterans, who, however, levelled their spears and com- pelled them to advance again. Both parties kept bringing up their fresh men, withdrawing their wounded to the rear ; and the battle continued with great fury, till Lselius and Masinissa, returning with the cavalry from the pursuit, charged the Car- thaginians in rear, and decided the fate of the day. The Romans lost about 5000 on the field ; the Carthaginians not less than 20,000, besides a vast number who were taken prisoners. § 25. Thus was Hannibal defeated, but not subdued. The Battle of Zama has often been compared to that of Waterloo. In both, the greatest Generals of the respective parties met for the first time; and in both, the more famous chief, fighting with an army hastily drawn together in defence of his country, ■was defeated. But in other points they were unlike. Waterloo left Fi'ance helpless ; and her ruler had no hope but in with- drawing from her shores. After the Battle of Zama Hannibal could still have off'ered a long resistance ; and if he thought it best to make peace immediately, it was that he might reform the government, and prepare for new struggles at a future time. - § 26. As Scipio was returning to Tunis, he met envoys from Cmvp. XXXIY. SECOND PUNIC WAR: PERIOD lY. 367 Cartilage. He sent them back with the following conditions of peace : " The Carthaginians were to be left independent within their own territories; they were to give up all prisoners and deserters, all their ships of war except ten triremes, and all their elephants ; they Avere not to make war in Africa or out of Africa without the consent of Rome ; they Avere to acknoAvledge Masi- nissa as King of Numidia; they were to pay 10,000 talents of silver towards the expenses of the Avar by instalments in the course of the next fifty years."* When the Senate of Carthage met to debate on these conditions, Hasdrubal, son of Gisgo, rose to advise the continuation of Avar ! Avhen Hannibal, angry at the folly ^of the man, pulled him back to his seat. A loud cry Avas raised; upon Avhich the General rose and said that "for six- and-thirty years he had been fighting the battles of his country in foreign lands, and if in the camp he had forgotten the manners of the city, he prayed forgiveness." He then Avent on to show that all resistance, however prolonged, must eventually prove fruitless; and in the end the Senate agreed to accept the pro- posed conditions. Upon this Scipio granted an armistice of three months, while he sent his brother Lucius, with two other envoys, to Rome to learn the pleasure of the Senate and People. The Senate gave audience to Scipio's envoys in the Temple of Bellona, and welcomed them into the city Avith the highest honours. At the same time ambassadors arrived from the old Government party at Carthage, who had always opposed the Hannibalic War, and noAV hoped to obtain more favourable terms : but they Avere dismissed by the Senate Avith contumely ; and the final decision respecting Peace was left to the People. All the Tribes voted that Scipio should be empoAvered to con- firm the conditions Avhich he had already off"ered ; and the Fe- cials were ordered to pass over into Africa, carrying with them Italian flints to strike fire withal, and Italian herbs on Avhich to ofi"er sacrifice, that the Treaty might be made in unexceptionable form. Accordingly, in the very beginning of the year 201 b.c, seventeen years after Hannibal had set out from Ncav Carthage on his march into Italy, peace was concluded, and Scipio set sail for Rome. § 27. When the old merchant rulers of Carthage saw their ships of war delivered up to the Romans, and most of them burned before their eyes ; when they were obliged to open their money-bag-s to pay the first instalment of the enormous fine entailed upon them by that Avar, Avhich had been begun in defi- ance of their secret wishes, and Avhich had ended thus disas- * 10,000 talents weight of silver would be worth at the present day more than 2,O00,O00Z. sterhng. 368 ^ ROME AND CARTHAGE. BookIv. trously in consequence of their own jealousy and supineness, Han- nibal made no secret of his contempt, and laughed openly at their rueful and dejected aspect. Nothing marks more clearly the cha- racter of this son of the camp. Kind and genial as he was, frank and generous to his soldiers, he respected not the real suf- ferings of these civilians, and took no trouble to disguise his sen- timents. He felt conscious that his power in the city was greater now, than when he was conqueror of Italy. We shall see here- after that for the next few years he became the absolute ruler of Carthage, and the reformer of her narrow institutions. If he had been permitted, he might have raised her to an eminence greater than that from which she had fallen. But such was not the will of Providence. § 28. The Triumph of Scipio was the most splendid that had ever yet ascended the Sacred Hill. The enormous quantity of silver which he brought with him not only enriched his soldiers, but relieved the State from the pressure of the debts which dur- ing the war she had been obliged to contract. King Syphax fol- lowed his car, with many other illustrious prisoners ; and, Avhat was still more grateful to his feelings, many Romans who had long languished in captivity attended their deliverer wearing caps of Liberty. Among these was a Senator, by name Q. Terentius Culeo, who ever after considered himself the Freedman of Scipio. The General himself, the universal gaze of men, was saluted by the name of the country he had conquered. No one before him had obtained the honour of this titular surname : but the name of Scipio has come down to our own times indissolubly linked with that of Africanus. Lictors. CHAPTEE XXXV. GOVERNMENT AND CONSTITUTIONAL CHANGES UP TO THE CLOSE OP THE HANNIBALIC WAR. § 1. The present a fit place for a Review of the Constitution, &c. § 2. The severance between Patricians and Plebeians fast disappearing. § 3. Decay of the Comitia Curiata. § 4. Regulations of age, &c., for admission to offices of State. § 5. Duties attached to each. § 6. These offices pro- fessedly open to all, but now practically hmited to the wealthy. § 1 Constant change in executive officers, even in those of the army. § 8. Re- publican nature of the system : its disadvantages, how counteracted in practice. § 9. Stability given to the system by the Senate: the Senate composed of persons qualified (1) by tenure of office, (2) by property, (3) by age. § 10. Power of the Senate, (1) in legislation, (2) in administra- tion of home and foreign affairs, (3) in jurisdiction. §11. The Comitia Centuriata, as re-modelled. § 12. The Comitia Tributa: its gradual rise to power, coordinate with the encroachments of the Tribunate. § 13. Anomaly of two independent legislative bodies : how were collisions prevented ? § 14. The Tribe Assembly far from a pure democracy. § 15. AU laws in both Assemblies required the previous sanction of the Senate. § 16- Causes that prevented collisions between the Senate and the Tribes. § 17. Predominance of the Tribe Assembly over the Centuriate, in legislation. § 18. Their elective powers. § 19. Their rights of jurisdiction. § 20. Present supremacy of the Senate accounted for. § 1. Now that we have seen Rome first become Mistress of Italy, and then, after a life and death struggle, rise superior to Car- 16* 370 KOME AND CARTHAGE. Book IV. thage ; now that we sliall have to follow her in her conquest of all the countries bordering on the Mediterranean, so that this sea be- came what in modern phrase may be called a Roman lake, we naturally inquire what was the form of government under which she made these great achievements, what the treatment of the subject foreigners, what the condition of the people, their manners and mode of life, their progress in art and literature. To some of these questions an answer 'has already been given by the history itself; to others no answer can be given, so scanty are the records of the time. § 2. About the time of the Punic Wars the framework of the Eoman Constitution was complete. This Constitution was not created by a single legislator, like that of Sparta, nor due to the convulsive efforts of an oppressed commonalty, like that of modern France, but had grown up, like that of England, by slow degrees out of the struggle between the Patrician Lords who had origi- nally engrossed all political power, and the Plebeians or Commons, who had by successive steps obtained a share in all the privileges of the Patricians. The only trace remaining of ancient severance was the regulation, by which, of the two Consuls and the two Censors, one must be a Patrician, one a Plebeian. At the time of which we speak this regulation was in full force. Indeed the Consuls who in the Hannibalic War rendered the most signal services were Patrician; but, by a law of nature, the Patrician Families being (like the Scottish Peerages) limited in number, gradually died off", while new Plebeian Families were rising to opulence and honour. In a few years even the partition of offices fell into disuse,* and no political distinction remained, save that persons of Patrician pedigree were excluded from the Tribunate of the Plebs, as Scottish Peers from sitting in the House of Com- mons. § 3. In correspondence with the advance of Plebeian and the decay of Patrician Families, a silent revolution had been wrought in most parts of the Constitution. The Assembly of the Curies, consisting wholly of Patricians, once the sole and supreme Legislative Body, continued to drag on a sickly existence. The Curies, indeed, still retained nominal powers of high sound. No Consul or Dictator could assume the Imperium without a Curiate Law to invest him therewith. But what at first sight seems a veto on the appointment of the first officers of State, was in fact a mere form ; for the assent which the Curies were still allowed to give they were not allowed to withhold. They continued to meet even to Cicero's time, ■ * Both Consuls were plebeian first in 1'72 B.C. ; both Censors first in 131. ■ Chap. XXXV. GOVERNMENT AT CLOSE OE PUNIC WARS. 37 1 but tlieir business had then dwindled away to the regulation of the religious observances proper to the Patrician Gentes. A few Lictors, who were present fis the attendants of the presiding Magis- trate, alone appeared to represent the descendants of the Valerii, the Claudii, and the Posthumii."^ As the Assembly of the Curies declined, the Assembly of the Tribes arose. As the Comitium or Patrician Meeting-place at the narrow end of the Forum was deserted, the Forum itself or Ple- beian Meeting-place was more and more thronged.f But before we speak of this Assembly it will be convenient to give some account of the Executive Government. § 4. The chief ofHcers of State employed in the administration of Roman affairs remained as they had been settled after the Li- cinian Laws. In Cicero's time it- is well known that every Roman who aspired to the highest offices was obliged to ascend through a regular scale of honours. An age was fixed before which each was unattainable. The first office so held was the Queestorship, and the earliest age at which this could then be gained appears to have been about twenty-seven. Several years were then to elapse before a Roman could hold the first Curule ofiice, that is, the j^dileship. But between this and each of the highest honours, the Prsetorship and the Consulship, only two complete years were interposed. To be chosen ^dile a man must be at least thirty-seven, to be Praetor at least forty, to be Consul at least forty-three.J But no settled regulations had yet been made. Many cases occur, both before and after the Secon^ Punic "War, in which men were elected to the Consulship at a very early age, and before they had held any other Curule office. Such was the case with Valerius Corvus in the Samnite Wars ; such was the case with the great Scipio in the Hannibalic War ; such was the case with Galba and Flamininus, two of the Consuls whom we shall find employed in the Macedonian War. Even in later times the rule Avas dispensed with on great emergencies or in * Cicero, ad Ait. iv. 18; a curious and interesting passage. \ In later times the Tribe Assembly became too large for the Forum. It might meet in any place to wliich the power of the Tribunes extended ; that is, any place within a mile of the city walls, and therefore in the Campus Mar- tius, the regular meeting-place of the Centuriate Assembly. j[. These ages were probably fixed by the Lex Annalis of L. Villius (b.c. 1 80). The age of 27 for the qu^storship is inferred from the age at which the Grac- chi and others are known to have held it. The other ages follow from a well- known passage of Cicero (de Lege Agraria^ ii. 31), in which he says that he held each of his curule offices at the earliest age permitted by the law. Com- pare De Officiis, ii. 17. 3 "7 2 ROME AND CARTHAGE. Book IV. favour of particular men. The younger Scipio was elected Consul, though he was but candidate for the ^dileship : Marius and Sylla both avoided the JEdileship. § 5. There can be little doubt that this last-named office was the least acceptable to an active and ambitious man. The chief duties of the ^diles related to the care of the Public Buildings (whence their name), the celebration of the Games and Festivals, the order of the streets, and other matters belonging to the depart- ment of Police. But the Quaestors were charged with«' business of a more important character. They were attached to the Consuls and Praetors as Treasurers and Paymasters. The Tax-gatherers (Publican!) paid into their hands all moneys received on account of the State, and out of these funds they disbursed all sums required for the use of the Army, the Fleet, or the Civil Adminis- tration. They were originally two in number, one for each Con- sul; but very soon they were doubled, and at the conquest of Italy they were increased to eight. Two always remained at home to conduct the business of the Treasury, the rest accompa- nied the Consuls, and Praetors, and Proconsuls to the most impor- tant provinces. The office of Praetor was supplementary to that of the Con- suls. The time of its first creation was that important crisis when the Consulate was half surrendered to the Plebeians.* The judicial functions hitherto discharged by the Consuls were then transferred to a special Magistrate, who assumed the name of Praetor, originally borne by the Consuls themselves, and the Patricians retained exclusive possession of this magistracy longer than of any other; it was not till 337 B.C., that the first Plebeian obtained access to it. This original Praetor was called Praetor TJrbanus, or President of the City Courts. A second was added about the time when Sicily became subject to Rome, and a new court was erected for the decision of cases in which foreigners were concerned : hence the new magistrate was called Praetor Peregrinus. For the government of the two first provinces, Sicily and Sardinia, two more Praetors were created, and when Spain was constituted as a double province, two more, so that the whole number amounted to six. In the absence of the Consuls the Praetors presided in the Senate and at the great assembly of the Centuries. They often commanded reserve armies in the field, but they were always subordinate to the Consul ; and to mark this subordinate position they were allowed only six Lictors,f whereas each Consul was attended by twelve. Of the Consuls it is needless to speak in this place. Their * Chapt. XV. § 17. f Hence their Greek name ol L^aneleKvc. Chap. XXXV. GOVERNMENT AT CLOSE OP PUNIC WARS. 3*73 position as the supreme executive officers of the State is sufficiently indicated in every page of the History. § 6. To obtain each of these high offices the Roman was obliged to seek the suffrages of his fellow-citizens. They were open to the ambition of every one whose name had been entered by the Cen- sors on the Register of Citizens, provided he had reached the required age. No office, except the Censorship, was held for a longer period than twelve months : no officer received any pay or salary for his services. To defray expenses certain allowances were made from the Treasury by order of the Senate. To discharge routine duties and to conduct their correspondence, each magistrate had a certain number of clerks (Scribae), who formed what we should call the Civil Service, and who had before this assumed an important position in the State.* But though the highest offices seemed thus absolutely open to every candidate, they were not so in practice. About the time of the First Punic War an alteration was made which, in effect, confined the Curule offices to the wealthy families. The JEdiles, as has been said, were charged with the management of the Public Games, and for celebrating them with due splendour an allowance had been made from the Treasury. At the time just mentioned this allowance Avas withdrawn. Yet the Curule ^diles were still expected to maintain the honour of Rome by costly spectacles at the Great Roman Games, the Megalesian Festival, and others of less consequence. A great change was wrought by this law, which, under a popular aspect, limited the choice of the people to those who could buy their favour. § 7. That which strikes the mind as most remarkable in the Executive Government of Rome is the short period for which each magistrate held his office, and the seeming danger of leaving appointments so important to the suffrages of the people at large. And this is still more striking when we remember that the same system was extended to the army itself as well as to its generals. The Romans had no standing army. Every Roman citizen between the complete ages of seventeen and forty-five, and possessing property worth at least 4000 pounds of copper, was placed on the Military Roll. From this Roll four Legions, two for each Consul, were enlisted every year, and in cases of necessity additional Legions were raised. But at the close of the year's campaign these legionary soldiers had a right to re- turn home and be relieved by others. Nor were there any fixed officers. Each Legion had six Tribunes and sixty Centurions ; but these were appointed, like the Consuls and soldiers, fresh * See the history of Appius the Censor, and Cn. Flavins, Chapt. xxiv. § 10. .3'74 ROME AND CAKTHAGE. Book IV. every year. The majority of the Tribunes were elected by the people at the Comitia of the Tribes, and the remainder were nomi- nated by the Consuls of the year, the only limitation to such choice being that those elected or nominated should have served in the Legions at least five campaigns. The Centurions were then nomi- nated. by the Tribunes, subject to the approval of the Consuls. No doubt the Tribunes and Consuls, for their own sake, would nomi- nate effective men : and therefore we should conclude, what we find to be the fact, that the Roman armies depended chiefly on their Centurions, and on those Tribunes who were nominated by the Consuls. § 8. This brief statement will sufficiently show that the Roman system, both in Army and State, was strictly Republican, that is, calculated to distribute public ofiices to as many citizens as possible, and to prevent power being absorbed by any single man or classes of men. There were no professed statesmen or ofiicers, but there was a large number of men who had served for a time in each ca- pacity. There was no standing Army, but there was a good Militia. There was no regularly trained soldiery, but every citizen had served in his time several campaigns, and every one was some- thing of a soldier. It has often been objected that this system was hurtful on the one hand to the successful management of war and foreign afi"airs ; on the other hand destructive of that liberty which is necessary to trade and commerce. As to the latter point it may be admitted at once : the Roman institutions were not framed for the purpose of encouraging commercial pursuits. But military and political success would seem likely to be thwarted no less effectually by this fleeting tenure of office. If a Consul was pursuing his operations ever so successfully, he was liable to be superseded at the year's close by his successor in the Consul- ship : and this successor brought Avith him new soldiers and new officers; everything, it would seem, had to be done over again. This was always felt in times of difficulty, and the con- stitutional usages were practically suspended. No Republic, however jealous, can rigidly carry out such a system : necessity will modify it in practice. During the Samnite Wars we find the same eminent men repeatedly elected to the Consulship, notwithstanding the provision that no man should hold this high office except at intervals of ten years. Valerius Corvus was first chosen Consul at three-and-twenty ; he held the office four times in fourteen years ; and, besides this, he often served as Dictator, as Praetor, and as Tribune of the Legions. The same remark, with slight alteration, may be made of Papirius Cursor, Publilius Philo, Fabius Maximus, Marcius Rex, and others, who Chap. XXXV SENATE AT CLOSE OF PUNIC WARS. 375 held tlic same sovereign office repeatedly at short intervals. It was not till after 300 B.C. that the ten years' law seems to have been enforced ; and before this time another plan had been devised to leave the conduct of any doubtful war in the hands of a General who had shown himself equal to the task. In the year 328 B.C. the Senate first assumed the power of decreeing that a Consul or Praetor might be continued in his command for several successive years, with the title of Proconsul or Pro- praetor, the power of these officers being, within their own dis- trict, equal to the power of the Consul or Prsetor himself. The Proconsul also was allowed to keep part of his old army, and would of course continue his Tribunes and Centurions in office. The hope of booty and the desire to serve out their campaigns (for after a certain number of campaigns served the legionary w£ls exempt, even though he was much under forty -five years*) kept many soldiers in the field ; and thus the nucleus of a standing army was formed by each commander. In the Punic Wars the ten years' law was suspended altogether, and Proconsuls weio ordered to remain in office for years together : almost all the great successes of Marcellus and Scipio were gained in Proconsular commands. § 9. But though the chief officers both in State and Army were continually changing at the popular will, there was a mighty power behind them, on which they were all dependent, which did not ■change. This was the Senate. The importance of this body can hardly be overstated. All the acts of the Roman Republic ran in the name of the Senate and People, as if the Senate were half the state, though its number seems still to have been limited to Three Hundred members. The Senate of Rome was perhaps the most remarkable assem- bly that the world has ever seen. Its members held their seats for life ; once Senators always Senators, unless they were degraded for some dishonourable cause. But the Senatorial Peerage was not hereditary. No father could transmit the honour to his son. Each man must win it for himself. The manner in which seats in the Senate were obtained is tolerably well ascertained. Many persons will be surprised to learn that the members of this august body, all — or nearly all — owed their places to the votes of the people. In theory, indeed, the Censors still possessed the power really exercised by the Kings and early Consuls, of choosing the Senators at their own will and pleasure. But official powers, however arbitrary, are * Such exempts were called Emeriti, — qui stipendia legitima fecissent. The number of campaigns required was 20 for the infantry, 10 for the cavalry. 376 ROME AND CARTHAGE. Book IV. always limited in practice; and the Censors followed rules established by ancient precedent. A notable example of the rule by which the list of the Senate was made, occurs at a period when, if ever, there was wide room for the exercise of discretion. After the fatal days of Thrasymene and Cannse, it was found that to complete the just number of Senators, no less than one hundred and seventy were Avanting. Two years were yet to pass before new Censors would be in office ; and to provide an extraordinary remedy for an extraordinary case, M. Fabius Buteo, an old Senator of high character, was named Dictator for the sole purpose of recruiting the vacant ranks of his Order. He thus discharged his duty. " After reciting the names of all sur- viving Senators, he chose as new members, first, those who had held Curule offices since the last Censorship, according to the order of their election ; then those who had served as yEdiles, Tribunes, or Qusestors ; then, of those who had not held office, such as had decorated their houses with spoils taken from the enemy, or with crowns bestowed for saving the lives of fellow- citizens."* In the interval between two Censorships, that is in the course of five years, the number of Ex-Qusestors alone must have amounted to at least forty, and this was more than sufficient to fill the number of vacancies which would have occurred in ordinary times. The first qualification for a seat in the Senate then was that of Office. It is probable that to the qualification of office there was added a second, of Property. Such was certainly the case in later times. The Emperor Augustus fixed the property qualification of Senators at double that required of the Equestrian Order. And so early as the Hannibalic War, -we have seen that when all orders were required to contribute to- wards a fleet, the Senators were called upon to equip a larger number of seamen than the citizens of the First Class ;f a requisi- tion which seems absurd, unless Senators had been the wealthiest men in the State. A third limitation, that of Age, followed from the rule that the Senate was recruited from the lists of official per- sons. No one could be a Senator till he was about thirty years of age. _ Such is a sketch of the constitution of this great Council during the best times of the Republic. It formed a true Aristocracy. Its members, almost all, possessed the knowledge derived from the discharge of public office and from mature age. They were recommended to their places by popular election, and yet. se- * When Appius the Censor transgressed the rule, new Censors were ap- pointed, to make out a list according to old custom. V. Chapt. xxiv. § 15. f Chapt. xxxiii. § 5. Chap. XXXV. SENATE AT CLOSE OP PUNIC WARS. 377 cured from subserviency to popular will by tbe amount of tbeir property. Forty or fifty Consulars at least, ten or twelve men to whom had been committed the delicate trusts belonging to the ofiice of Censor, with a number of younger aspirants to these high objects of ambition, were to be counted in its ranks. It was not by a mere figure of speech that the minister of Pyrrhus called the Eoman Senate " an Assembly of Kings." Many of its mem- bers had exercised Sovereign power ; many were preparing to exercise it. § 10. The power of the Senate was equal to its dignity. It absorbed into its ranks a large proportion of the practical ability of the community. It was a standing Council, where all oflicial functions were annual. And thus it is but natural that it should engross the chief business of the State. First, in regard to Legislation, they exercised an absolute con- trol over the Centuriate Assembly, because no law could be sub- mitted to its votes which had not originated in the Senate ; and thus the vote of the Centuries could not do more than place a veto on a Senatorial Decree. In respect to the Legislation of the Tribe Assembly, their control was less authoritative ; but of this we will speak presently. In respect to Foreign Affairs, the power of the Senate was absolute, except in declaring war or concluding treaties of peace, — matters which were submitted to the votes of the People.* They assigned to the Consuls and Prastors their respective provinces of administration and command ; they fixed the amount of the troops to be levied every year from the list of Roman citizens, and of the contingents to be furnished by the Italian allies. They prolonged the command of a general or superseded him at pleasure. They estimated the sums neces- sary for the military chest ; nor could a sesterce be paid to the General without their order. If a Consul proved refractory, they could transfer his power for the time to a Dictator ; even if his success had been great, they could refuse him the honour of a Triumph. Ambassadors to foreign states were chosen by them and from them ; so were the frequent Commissions appointed for transacting business abroad, either in treating with foreign po- tentates, or settling the government of conquered countries. All disputes in Italy or beyond seas Avere referred to their sovereign arbitrement. In the administration of Home Affairs, all the regulation of * Declarations of "War were submitted to the Centuriate Assembly, treaties of Peace to the Tribes. See the commencement of the First Punic and Mace- donian wars (Chapt. xxviii. § 7, xxxix. § 12), and the treaties at the close of the First Punic and Hannibalic wars (Chapt. xxix. § 23, xxxiv. § 26). 3V8 ROME AND CARTHAGE. Book IY. religious matters was in their hands ; they exercised superinten- dence over the Pontiffs and other ministers of public worship. They appointed days for extraordinary festivals, for thanksgiving after victory, for humiliation after defeat. But, which was of highest importance, all the Financial arrangements of the State were left to their discretion. The Censors, at periods usually not exceeding five years in duration, formed estimates of annual out- lay, and provided ways and means for meeting these estimates ; but always under the direction of the Senate. In all these matters, both of Home and Foreign administra- tion, their Decrees had the power of law. In times of difficulty they had the power of suspending all rules of law, by the appoint- ment of a Dictator, or by investing the Consuls with Dictatorial power. Besides these Administrative functions, they might resolve them- selves into a High Court of Justice for the trial of extraordinary offences. But in this matter they obtained far more definite authority by the Calpurnian Law, which about fifty years later established High Courts of Justice, in Avhich Prsetors acted as pre- siding judges, but the Senators were the Jury. It appears, then, that the Senate of Rome was not, like our Par- liament, a merely deliberative and legislative body, but a great Sovereign Council, controlling every branch of administration, and nearly all matters of legislation also. The Consuls and Praetors were its Ministers of Foreign and Home Affairs ; the Censors its Ministers of Finance ; the Quaestors its Treasurers and Paymasters; the JEdiles its Superintendents of Police and Public Works. It Avas at the present time, and for many years later, the main-spring of the Roman Constitution. § 11. Our attention must now be directed to the two great Legislative Assemblies of the Roman People, well known respec- tively under the names af the Assembly of the Classes and Cen- turies, and the Assembly of the Tribes, which had now entirely superseded the ancient Patrician Assembly of the Curies. A description was given in a former page of the manner in which King Servius so organised the great Centuriate Assem- bly as to give the privilege of a vote to every citizen, yet so as to leave all real power in the hands of the wealthier classes. But at some time between the Decemvirate and the Second Punic War, a complete reform had been made in the organisation of Servius. When this was we know not.* Nor do we know the * Niebuhr and many others attribute the reform to the Censorship of Fabius and Decius (Chapt. xxiv. § 15). Others place it as late as the Censorship of C. Plaminius, only two years before Hannibal crossed the Alps. There is no evidence to justify any positive conclusion. Chap. XXXV. POPULAR ASSEMBLIES. 379 precise nature of the reform. This only is certain, that the distribution of the whole people into Tribes was taken as the basis of division in the Centuriate Assembly as Avell as in the Assembly of the Tribes, and yet that the division into Classes and Centuries was still retained, as well as the division into Seniores and Juniores. The maintenance of this last division preserved the military character of this great Assembly ; the in> troduction of the Tribes as a basis of division gave it a more democratic character than before ; while the preservation of the Class system made it moxe aristocratic than the Tribe Assembly. In the absence of positive evidence, we may here give what is the most probable constitution of the Reformed Centuriate Assembly. It is assumed then, that the whole People was con- vened according to its division into thirty-five Tribes ; that in each Tribe, account was taken of the five Classes, arranged ac- cording to an ascending scale of property, which, however, had been greatly altered from that attributed to Servius ; and that in each Tribe each of the five Classes was subdivided into two Centuries, one of Seniores, or men between forty-five and sixty, one of Juniores, or men between eighteen and forty-five. On the whole, then, with the addition of eighteen Centuries of Knights, there would be 368 Centuries. This plan, though it allowed far less influence to wealth than the plan of Servius, would yet leave a considerable advantage to the richer classes. For it is plain that the two Centuries of the First Class in each Tribe would contain far fewer members than the two Centuries of the Second Class, those of the Second fewer than those of the Third, and all those of the first four together, probably, fewer than those of the Fifth. Yet these four Tribes having in all 240, or (with the Knights) 258 Centuries, would command an absolute majority; for the question was still decided not by the majority of persons, but by the majority of Centuries. § 12. While the Centuriate Assembly was becoming more popular in its constitution, a still more democratic body had come into existence, namely, the Assembly of the Tribes. There can be no doubt that when the Centuriate Assembly was restored by the Patricians after the expulsion of Tarquin, it was intended to be the sole Legislative body. The more recent Legislative Assembly of the Tribes was a spontaneous growth of popular will, not contemplated by statesmen. The Tribe As- sembly, originally intended to conduct the business of the Ple- beian Order, gradually extended its power over the whole Body politic ; and its ordinances (Piebiscita) obtained all the force of laws. 380 ROME AND CARTHAGE. BOOK IV. It is in tlie history of the Tribunate that we trace the course of the insensible revolution which made the Assembly of Tribes the chief Legislative body in the State. The Tribunes were, as their name denotes, the Presidents and Ministers of the Tribes. They were originally invested with political authority for the purpose of protecting the persons of the Plebeians from the arbitrary punishments inflicted by the Patrician Magistrates. It was no doubt intended that this au- thority should be only suspensive, so as to prevent sudden acts of violence. But the Tribunes soon assumed the licence of standing between Plebeians and the law. Thus they established the celebrated right of Intercession, which in course of time they extended to all matters. They forbade trials, stopped elections, put a veto on the passing of laws. So far, however, their power was only negative. But when the Tribe Assembly obtained legislative rights, the Tribunes obtained a positive authority. The power of the Tribunes and of the Tribes implied each other. The Plebeian Assembly was dead without able and resolute Tribunes; the Tribunes were impotent without the democracy at their back. This relation was at once established when the election of the Tribunes was committed to the Tribes themselves. The Tribunes soon began to summon the Tribes to discuss political questions; and the formidable authority which they now wielded appeared in the overthrow of the Decemvirate and the recognition of the Tribe Assembly as a Legislative body. The political powers then gained by the Valerio-Horatian laws were confirmed and extended by the popular Dictators, Q. Publilius Philo and Q. Hortensius.* It is impossible to estimate the amount of con- cession made by each of these laws. All that can be determined is, that by these laws — all of them passed at the Centuriate Assembly — the Tribes were constituted by the side of the other Assembly as a complete and independent Legislative body, and that no person except a Tribune could introduce a measure for their approval. Before the first of these laws was passed, the votes of the Tribe Assembly were merely like the rules of a parish meeting, having no reference to the community at large. After these laws were conceded, the Plebiscita obtained the authority of law, and were binding on the whole community. For a long period, however, only the measures of the Centuriate Assembly were dignified with the name of Leges ; but in later times the name Lex was applied indiscriminately to the measures passed by both Assemblies. § 13. Thus the Roman Constitution presents us with the ap' * See Chapters x. § 22 ; xx. § 11 ; xxv. § 2. Chap. XXXV. POPULAR ASSEMBLIES. 381 parent anomaly of two distinct Legislative Assemblies, each independent of the other; for laws passed in the one did not require the sanction of the other, as is the case with our Houses of Parliament. Nor were any distinct provinces of action assigned respectively to each . This being so, we should expect to find the one clashing with the other ; to hear of popular laws emanating from the one body met with a counter-project from the other. But no such struggles are recorded. The only way in which it can be known that a particular law is due to the more popular or to the more aristocratic Assembly is by looking to the name of the mover, by which every law was designated. If the name be that of a Tribune, the law must be referred to the Tribe Assembly. If the name be that of a Consul, Praetor, or Dictator, the law must be referred to the Centuriate Assembly. What, then, were the causes which prevented collisions which appear inevitable ? § 14. First, it must be remembered that, though the Centuriate Assembly had been made more democratic, yet the Tribe As- sembly was very far indeed from a purely democratic body. In the latter, the suffrages were taken by the head in each of the thirty-five Tribes, and if eighteen Tribes voted one way, and seventeen another, the question was decided by the votes of the eighteen. But the eighteen rarely, if ever, contained an abso- lute majority of citizens. For the whole population of Rome, Avith all the Freedmen, were thrown into four Tribes only,* and if these four Tribes were in the minority, there can be no doubt that the minority of Tribes represented a majority of voters. Thus even in the more popular Assembly, there was not wanting a counterpoise to the will of the mere majority. § 15. A still more effective check to collision is to be found in the fact that all measures proposed to the Tribe Assembly by the Tribes, as well as the Centuriate Laws proposed by the Consuls or other Ministers of the Senate, must first receive the sanction of the Senate itself. The few exceptions which occur are where Tribunes propose a Resolution granting to a popular Consul the Triumph refused by the Senate. But these exceptions only serve to prove the rule. § 16. Our surprise that no collision is heard of between the two Assemblies now takes another form, and we are led to ask how it came that, if all measures must be first approved by the Senate, any substantial power at all could belong to the Tribes ? It would seem that they also, like the Centuriate Assembly, could at most exercise only a veto on measures emanating from the great Council. * See Chapt, xxiv. § 15. 382 EOME AND CARTHAGE. Book IY. That this result did not follow, is due to the rude but formid- able counter-check provided by the Tribunate. The persons of the Tribunes were inviolable ; but the Tribunes had power to place even Consuls under arrest. By the advance of their inter- cessory prerogative they gradually built up an authority capable of overriding all other powers in the State. It is plain that if the Senate and the Tribunes had both in- sisted on their respective rights of initiation and intercession, Legislation must have come to a standstill. But it was to the credit of all orders at Rome, that hitherto they had always agreed to a peaceful compromise. The Senate, by its very composition, contained men of widely different sentiments ; the Plebeians, as we have seen, obtained access to its ranks at an early period.* Its members were taken from the official lists, and official personages are never disposed to push matters to extremity. Old soldiers Avill maintain a position while it is defensible : when it ceases to be so, they make an honourable retreat. As in early times we find the Senate far more moderate than the hot Patrician party, who would have resisted the demands of the Plebeians at all hazards, so in a later age we shall see this experienced Council taking a middle course between the stiff conservative policy of the Nobility and the violence of the Democratic Leaders. On the other hand, the College of Tribunes, consisting of Ten Members, Avere seldom so unanimous as to be able to thwart the Senate with effect. We shall find that it was by divisions in the College that their formidable power was often broken. § 1 7. We are now better able to appreciate the position of the two Assemblies as Legislative Bodies. The Tribe Assembly was presided over by ofiicers of its own choice, invested with autho- rity generally sufficient to extort from the Senate leave to bring in Laws of a popular character. ISTo such power resided in the Presidents of the Centuriate Assembly : for the Consuls were little more than Ministers of the Senate. It was natural that the more energetic will of the jDopular leaders should exalt their own Assemblies ; and as two Legislative Assemblies could not coexist with full and independent powers, it was no less natural that the more aristocratic body should suffer decay. Between the time when the Tribes gained legislative power and the close of the Hannibalic War, there are recorded but eleven Centuriate Laws, and more than thirty which emanated from the Tribes. Even of these eleven, five Avere measures of compromise, which served to advance the authority of the Tribes. The Centuriate * Chapt. xii. § 8. Chap. XXXV. POPULAR ASSEMBLIES. 383 Assembly more and more became a passive instrument in tho bands of tbe Senate. Tbe Tribe Assembly rose to be tlie real and sole organ of popular opinion. § 18. In otber matters, tbe powers of tbe two Assemblies were more definitely marked and tbe limits better observed. In Elections, tbe Centuriate Assembly always retained tbe riglit of cboosing tbe cbief Officers of State, tbe Consuls, tbe Praetors, and tbe Censors. Tbe Tribe Assembly, originally, elected only tbeir own Tribunes and tbe Plebeian ^diles. But in no long time tbey obtained tbe rigbt of cboosing also tbe Curule -iEdiles, tbe Quaestors, the great majority of tbe Legionary Tribunes, and all inferior Officers of State. But as tbe Centuriea were, generally, obliged to elect tbeir Prsetors and Consuls out of tbose wbo had already been elected Quaestors and vEdiles by tbe Tribes, it is manifest that tbe elective power of tbe former was controlled and over-ridden by the latter. In conferring extraordinary commands, such as that of Scipio in Spain, the Tribes were always consulted, not tbe Centuries. § 19. In regard to Jurisdiction, it has before been noticed that Rome was tender of tbe personal liberties of her citizens. Various Laws of Appeal provided for an open trial before his peers of any one charged with grave offences, such as would subject him to stripes, imprisonment, or death.* Now the Centuries alone formed a High Court of Justice for tbe trial of citizens ; tbe Tribe Assembly never achieved this dangerous privilege. But tbe peculiar nature of tbe Tribunician power offered to the cbief officers of the Tribes a ready means of interference. They used their rigbt of intercession, occasionally, to prevent any trial from taking place, and thus screened real offenders from justice. But more frequently they acted on tbe offensive. There was a merciful provision of the law of Rome, by which a person liable to a state-prosecution might withdraw from Italian soil at any time before his trial, and become the citizen of some allied city, such as Syracuse or Pergamus. But the Tribunes sometimes threw culprits into prison before trial, as in the case of App. Claudius tbe Decemvir and bis father. Or, after a culprit had sought safety in voluntary exile, they proposed a Bill of Outlawry, by which be was " interdicted from fire and water" on Italian soil, and all his goods were confiscated. Offending Magistrates were also fined heavily, without trial, by special Plebiscita, which resembled the Bills of Attainder so familiar to the reader of English history. These encroachments of the Tribunes were met by other un- ^ Chapt. xi. § 4. SB4- ROME AND CARTHAGE. SoQK lY. constitutional measures on the part of the Senate. To bar the action of the Tribunes and to suspend the Laws of Appeal, they at one time had constant recourse to Dictatorial appointments. Ten years after the nomination of Dictators had been solemnly prohibited by the Valerio-Horatian Laws (449 B.C.) Cincinnatus approved the act of Ahala, Avho had struck down the popular champion Q, Mselius in the Forum. In the following 237 years the Fasti supply the names of 65 Dictators, of whom no fewer than 37 appear in the 67 years next after the Licinian Laws. Three of these are expressly said to have been named for the purpose of quelling sedition.* But it must be remembered that of those appointed for special military service,f many xised their power to overawe the Plebeian leaders. It is a complaint constantly put by Livy into the mouths of the Tribunes, that Dictators were appointed nominally to carry on war, but really for a very different purpose ; nor indeed is it conceivable that so many emergencies should have occurred requiring the special action of an irresponsible magistrate. But these contests slackened at the time of the Samnite Wars. Dictators were again named, but for real service, in the desperate conflict of the Punic Wars. After that none are heard of till the time of Sylla. We shall find, however, that in critical time?, the Senate as- sumed the right of investing the Consuls with dictatorial power. And the dispute about jurisdiction over the persons of citizens assumed a new form when the Calpurnian law, already noticed, transferred the power of trying all grave ofi"ences from the Centuries to Juries of the Senate under the presidency of the Prwtor. § 20. It must not here be forgotten that of late years circum- stances had greatly exalted the power of the Senate and propor- tionally diminished the power of the Tribunes. In great wars, especially such as threaten the existence of a community, the voice of popular leaders is little heard. Reforms are forgotten. Agitation ceases. Each man applies his energies to avert present danger, rather than to achieve future improvements. During the Samnite Wars, scarcely one Tribunician law is recorded in the Annals : but no sooner is the peril overpast than the Ogulnian fjaw opens the Augurate to the Plebeians. During the first Punic War, the Forum is silent : but no sooner is it ended than we are struck by the appearance of a leader of the Commons, bold, resolute, and accomplished. This was C. Flaminius. In 232 * Sedandce seditionis causa. •j- Eei gerendce causa. The third cause for appointing Dic^"ators was clavi figendi causa, — to drive a nail into the door-post of the Temple of Jupiter, as a rude way of keeping count of the years. Chap. XXXV. INCREASED POWER OF SENATE. 385 B.C., being Tribune, he proposed an Agrarian Law to distribute the lands taken from the Boians and Insubrians to a large number of Colonists; and notwithstanding the opposition of the Senate, the colonies of Placentia and Cremona Avere founded. In the memorable year in which Hannibal crossed the Alps, Flaminius was Consul-elect, and under his auspices the Tribune Claudius obliged the Senate to consent to a law by which Senators were prohibited from engaging in commercial pursuits. Nor did the popular spirit evoked bl^ this man die till after the great battle of Cannse. His own election and that of Terentius Varro were directly contrary to the wisheo of the Senate ; and the measure by which Fabius was obliged to share his imperial power with Minucius his Master of the Horse, was a Plebiscitum proposed by a Tribune. Even after Cannse, thexTribune Oppius forced the Senate to consent to a sumptuary law. But after this, the Senate under the leading of old Fabius Cunctator ruled abso- lutely for several years. Even elections to the Consulate, which he deemed inopportune, were set aside, — a thing without pre- cedent in Roman constitutional history. Fabius was at length superseded by young Scipio, who in his turn became absolute, and at the close of the war might have made himself Dictator, had he been so pleased. At present, popular spirit had fallen asleep. Constitutional opposition there was none. The Senate seemed likely to retain in peace the power which war had neces- sarily thrown into their hands. Temple of Saturn. CHAPTER XXXVI. THE PROVINCES AND FINANCES. § 1. Provincial and Italian Communities. § 2. Our knowledge chiefly drawn from Sicily. § 3. Condition of the Sicilian Cities after the Second Punic "War. § 4. General principles of Provincial G-ovemment : similarity of Provincial Towns to ItaUan. § 5. Difference, chiefly consisting in Taxa- tion : Jus Italicum. § 6. Treasury. § T. Ordinary Revenues. § 8. Extraordinary Tax on Property levied for war expenses. § 9. Not suffi- cient for expenses of Second Punic "War : Loans, Contracts paid in paper- money: nature of these advances: soon repaid. § 10. The War Tax itself repaid: finally abohshed. § 11. How far Italians contributed to war expenses: reasons for their patience. § 12. System of Taxation and Tax-gathering in the Provinces. § 13. Corrupt administration of Pro- vincial Government. § 1. After this general view of the manner in which the dif- ferent elements of the Eoman Constitution were roughly welded into a sort of unity, we must give some account of the Imperial relations subsisting between Eome and her subjects at the be- Chap. XXXVI. PROYINCIAL GOVERNMENT. . 387 ginning of the second century before the Christian Era, and especially of the way in which the expenses of government were defrayed. In speaking of the subjects of the great Republic, the Latin and Italian Allies are not included. What has been said of them in a former Chapter will show the justice of this distinction. It is true, indeed, that all the Italians were not Allies ; for the Prefectures and some small communities were strictly subject. Nor were all the Provincial communities sub- ject ; for a favoured few were left in a condition as independent as any Italian city. But, as a general rule, the Italian Com- munities were allied, the Provincial communities were subject. § 2. At the close of the Hannibalic War, Rome was in pos- session, nominally, of five Provinces, Sicily, Sardinia, the Gallic coast of Umbria (then called the Province of Ariminum), with Hither and Further Spain, But of these, Sardinia and the Spains were almost to be conquered again ; and Gallic Umbria was shortly after absorbed into Italy, while the magnificent dis- trict between the Alps and the Gulf of Genoa became the Pro- vince of Gaul. Sicily was the only Province as yet constituted on a solid foundation. To Sicily, therefore, we will confine our remarks ; a course which is further recommended by the fact that we are better informed with regard to Sicily than with regard to any other of the foreign possessions of the Republic. § 3. We must call to mind that, in speaking of Sicily as of Italy, we are not to think of the country as a whole, but as broken up into a number of Civic Communities, each being more or less isolated from the rest. It was Roman policy to en- courage - this isolation, but in Sicily no encouragement was needed. Sicily, like Greece Proper, had long been divided into numerous small States, sometimes Republican, sometimes subject to Tyrants, but alwayl full of jealousy towards each other, and often in a state of war. Strong rulers, like Dionysius the Elder, might for a season unite the greater part of the island under the supremacy of Syracuse ; but as soon as the coercive force of military despotism was removed, disruption followed. At the close of the First Punic War, when the Romans had expelled the Carthaginians from the island, the greater part of it was formed into a Province ; while the kingdom of Hiero, consisting of Syra- cuse with six dependent communities,* was received into free alliance with Rome. But in the Second Punic War, Syracuse and all Sicily was reconquered by Marcellus and Lsevinus, and the form of the Provincial Communities was altered. The cities of Sicily were now divided into three classes. First, there were # * Acrse, Leontini, Megara, Helorum, Netum, Tauromemum. 388 . ROME AND CARTHAGE. BOOK lY. those cities wliicli had been taken by siege : these, twenty -six in number, were mulcted of their territory, which became part of the public land of Rome ;* their former citizens had perished in war, or had been sold as slaves, or were living as serfs on the soil which they had formerly owned. Secondly, there were a large number of Communities, thirty-four in all, which retained the fee-simple of their land, but were burthened with payment of a tithe of corn, wine, oil, and other produce, according to a rule established by Hiero in the district subject to Syracuse.f Thirdly, there were eight Communities left independent, which were, like the Italians, free from all imposts, except certain military services. These states were all left in possession of what we should call Municipal institutions ; they had the right of self-government in all local matters, with popular assemblies and councils, such as were common in Greek communities. But all were subject to the authority of a governor, sent from Rome, with the title of Praetor, whose business it was to adjudicate in all matters where the interests of Rome or of Roman citizens were concerned, and, above all, to provide for the regular payment of the imposts. In Sicily, which in those days was a av ell-cultivated and produc- tive country, this department was so important, that the Prsetor was assisted by two Quaestors, one stationed at Syracuse, the other at Lilybseum. § 4. This brief statement will show the principles of Roman Provincial government. Communities which, during the War of Conquest, had joined the invaders at once or at a critical point in the war, were left free from all ordinary and annual imposts. Cities that were taken by force became, with their territory, the absolute property of Rome. Between these extremes there was a large class, which retained full possession of their lands, and complete local independence, but were subject to the payment of yearly imposts to the imperial treasury, which were levied on the produce of their land. All alike were obliged to contribute towards the expenses of the Praetor's court and government. In the formation of the numerous Provinces which were con- quered in the next eighty years, the same principles were fol- lowed. But it is probable that there was a greater uniformity in the condition of the various communities. In many of the Provinces there seem to have been no large portions of public land, as in Sicily : while, on the other hand, the States both * Therefore called Oivitaies Censorice. \ Of these, three were allied cities, Civitates FederatoP; Messana, Tauro- menium, Netum, ; five were free without any special treaty of alliance, Civitates Liberce et inimunes, Centuripa, Alesa, Segesta, Panormus, Halicyas. Ch-U-. XXXVI. REVENUES OP ROME. 389 in independence and alliance seem also to have been less nume- rous. In a general "way, the administration of each Province much resembled that of Italy itself. The Prefectures, Municipia, and allied States of Italy correspond very nearly to the three conditions of Provincial Communities above noticed ; the prin- ciple of administration was, generallj^, internal independence under the control of the central government of the Senate. In Italy, the Senate acted through the Consuls or Praetor resident at Rome ; in the Provinces, through the Praetors or Proconsuls deputed to conduct the government there. § 5. There were, however, some important particulars, in which the constitution of Italy differed from the constitution of the Pro- vinces. In the Provinces, as we have said, the free and allied Communities formed the exceptions. Nor was it, till long after the present time, the practice to found Colonies out of Italy. But there was one yet more important distinction. It was a general rule that all Italian land was tax-free ; and that all Pro- vincial land, except such as was specified in treaties or in Decrees of the Senate, was subject to tax. This rule was so absolute, that the exemption of land from taxation was known by the technical name of Jus Italicum or the Right of Italy. This last distinction implies that the Imperial revenues were raised chiefly from the Provinces. In the course of little more than thirty years from the close of the Hannibalic "War, this was actually the case. "We will take this opportunity of giving a brief account of the different sources from which the revenues of Rome were raised. § 6. The Imperial Treasury of Rome was in the ancient Temple of Saturn, situated at the end of the Forum beneath the Capitol, of which three stately columns still remain to attest the magni- ficence Vi^ith which it was restored by the Emperor Severus. Here the two Quaestors of the city deposited all the moneys re- ceived on account of the State. No disbursements could be made without an order from an ofiicer duly authorised by the Senate. For the moneys received, the Quaestors also had to account to the Senate. The sources of receipt were two-fold, ordinary and extraordinary. § 7. The Ordinary Revenues consisted of the proceeds and rent of public property, custom-duties, tolls, and the like, and the tax levied on Provincial lands. The property of the State was, as has often been noticed, very large. Much of the public land, however, had been distributed to colonies, and the rent received for the rest seems to have been small. Yet the quantity of undistributed land in Italy and Sicily was so great, that it must have yielded a considerable re- 390 BOMB AND CARTHAGE. Book IT. venue. Besides this, the fisheries, with all mines and quarries,. Avere considered public property. Even the manufacture of salt was a State monopoly from the Censorship of M. Livius, who thenceforth bore the name of Salinator, or the Salt-maker. It is fair to state, however, that this monopoly was intended to keep salt at a lower price than it could be manufactured by private enterprise, and therefore, though it might be a mistake, the Senate is not properly chargeable with the odium of raising re- venue from one of the first necessaries of life, as was the practice in France before the Eevolution, and as has remained the practice in India to the present day. Besides these rents and monopolies, custom-duties were levied on certain kinds of goods, both exports and imports, and tolls were demanded for passengers and goods carried by canals or across bridges and ferries.* There Avas also an ad valorem duty of five per cent, imposed on the manumission of slaves. This was not carried to the account of the year, but laid by as a reserve-fund, not to be used except in great emergencies. The revenue derived from the Provincial Land-tax was only beginning to be productive, but in a few years it formed the chief income of the Republic. § 8. It appears that for the Civil government of the Republic the Ordinary Revenues were found sufiicient. The current ex- penses, indeed, were small. The Italian and Provincial Commu- nities defrayed the expenses of their own administration. Rome herself, as we have said, claimed the services of her statesmen and administrators without paying them any public salaries. In time of war, however, the Ordinary Revenues failed, and to meet the expenses of each year's campaign an Extraordinary Tax was levied as required. This Avas the Tributum or Property- tax. Its mode of assessment marks its close association with war-expenses. We have seen above that the whole arrangement of the Centuriate Assembly Avas military. Not the least im- portant of these Avas the Census or Register of all citizens, arranged according to their age and property. It was made out by the Censors at intervals of five years, and served during the succeeding period as the basis of taxation. The necessities of each year determined the amount to be levied. It Avas usually one in a thousand, or one-tenth per cent-f The Senate had the * These dues {portoria, as they Avere called) Avere extended to each Pro- vince as it Avas formed, and Avere abolished in Italy in the year 60 B.C. f This Avas the simplex tributum. The As^ord tributum, was used because this Avar-tax Avas collected in each tribe, according to the assessment of the Censors. The tribe-officers who collected it Avore the Tribuni Aerarii. Chap. XXXYI. TAXES AND LOANS. 3 91 power of calling- for tliis payment. It was this " power of the purse" wliicli, in time of war, enabled tliem to play so great a part. No people can control its government effectually, unless it has the right of taxing itself. § 9. In the Second Punic War this tax was quite insufficient to meet the expenses. Once it Avas doubled.* But at length it became necessary to call on Avealthy individuals to furnish sea- men, and to advance money by way of loan ; and contracts were formed with commercial companies to furnish stores and clothing for the army, in return for which they received orders on the Treasury payable at some future time.f The obligations thus contracted were not left as a national debt ; though the Hanni- balic War was so entirely a struggle for existence, that it might well have justified the Senate in laying part of the load upon posterity by the expedient which has been so much abused in modern times. But probably this expedient was not thought of. Those who made advances to the State without prospect of immediate payment, did so on speculation. If Rome pre- vailed, they were sure not to lose. If she fell, the practice of ancient warfare made it certain that they would lose all they had. The advancement of money or goods, therefore, was rather an act of prudent policy, than of extraordinary patriotism. The first and chief contributors were the Senators, who had much to lose and all to gain. No doubt, those who gave freely and without interest deserved well of their country. But, in serving the State they also served themselves. The whole con- cerns of the State, formed a great joint-stock company : every man had an interest in success and failure. We find, accord- ingly, that the first instalment of repayment was made in the year 204 B.C., immediately after the submission of Carthage ; the second and third at successive intervals of four years.J § 10. But here it must be observed that the war-tax itself in some degree resembled a compulsory loan. It was a forced con- tribution to the necessities of the State ; but it was repaid, in whole or in part, on the successful completion of the war. The soldiers who survived battles won or towns captured, seldom failed to gain a large share of booty. The greater portion, how- ever, was sold, and the money received paid into the Treasury, while the expenses of the war were in whole or in part charged upon the conquered people. From these funds which may be considered as another source of extraordinary revenue, it seems to have been the practice to repay the sums raised by way of * Duplex tributum imperatum (Liv. xxiii. 31). f Chapt. xxsiii. § 4. j;. Liv. xxix. 15 ; xxxL 13 ; xxxiii. 42. 392 ROME AND CARTHAGE, Book IY: property-tax during the war.* At length, in the year 167 b.c, we shall find that the payments exacted from the Provincials became so large that the Senate was enabled to dispense with extraordinary taxes altogether ; and thus the ordinary revenues sufficed for the expenses of all future wars, as well as for the civil administration, § 11. When it is said that the Italian allies were free from Land-tax, it must not be supposed that they escaped all taxation. Roman land was free from direct taxation except when the Tri- butum or war-tax was levied. So, also, the allied Communities of Italy, the Municipia and Colonies, were free from all direct burthens, except in time of Avar, Then each Community was required, according to a scale furnished by its own Censor, to supply contingents of soldiery to the Roman army, such contin- gents bearing a proportion to the number of legions levied by the Romans themselves in any given year. The Italian soldiery were fed by Rome ; but their equipments and pay were provided at the expense of their own States : and therefore it is plain that every Italian Community was indirectly subject to a war-tax. But though these Communities suffered the burthens of war like Rome, they did not like Rome profit by war. The Roman Trea- sury repaid taxes raised for the conduct of war. But such re- payment was confined to Romans. The soldiers of the Latin and Italian towns might obtain their share of booty; but their citi- zens at home had no hope of repayment. Moneys paid into the Roman T'reasury were applicable to Roman purposes only. The Italians, though they shared the danger and the expense, were not allowed to share the profit. Here was a fertile field for dis- content, which afterwards bore fatal fruits. In the Hannibalic War Italians, as well as Romans, were fighting for house and home ; and if, in the last years, the genius of Scipio enriched the Treasury by conquest, the Italians Avere too thankful for deliverance from the invader to think of claiming equality with Rome. But in the wars which fol- lowed, when their citizens were carried beyond seas and detained for years far from home, when their blood and treasure, poured out as profusely as the blood and treasure of Roman citizens, only served to bring glory and profit to Rome, it is less won- derful that disaftection should have arisen, than that it should have been delayed so long. It was more than a century from the close of the Hannibalic War before the Italians in arms * Says Livy (xxxix. 7) "A decree was made that from the moneys paid into the Treasury after the triumph (of 187 B.C.), repayment should be made of that portion of the soldiers' pay contributed by the people which had not ■been repaid already." Chap. XXXYI. MODE OF COLLECTINa TAXES. 393 demanded to be placed on an equal footing witli the citizens of Rome. § 12. In the Provinces, on the other hand, little military service was required ; but direct imposts were levied instead. This system Avas itself galling and onerous. It was as if Eng- land Avere to defray the expenses of her own administration from the proceeds of a tax levied upon her Indian Empire. But the system was made much worse by the way in which the taxes were collected. This was done by contract. Every five years the taxes of the Provinces were put up to public auction ; and that company of contractors which outbade the rest would receive the contract. The Farmers of the Taxes, therefore, oft'ered to pay a certain sum to the Imperial Treasury for the right of collecting the taxes and imposts of Sicily, ga>e security for payment, and then made what profit they could out of the taxes collected. The members of these companies were called Publicani, and the Farmers-general, or chiefs of the companies, bore the name of Mancipes. It is manifest that this system oflered a premium on extortion ; for the more the tax-collectors could wring from the Provincials, the more they would have for themselves. The extortions incident to this system form a principal topic in the Provincial history of Rome. § 13. If the Roman Governors had done their duty, it is pro- bable that the extortions of the Tax-gatherers might have been prevented, or limited within a narrow circle. The system of Pro- vincial governments, as above stated, sounds fair. Local indepen- dence, subject to the general control of a central authority, is the ideal of government. But, unfortunately, the fairness of the sys- tem was more in the sound than the reality. The Proconsuls and Praetors exercised an authority virtually despotic. They were Sena- tors, and were responsible to the Senate alone. It may too surely be anticipafed what degree of severity a close corporation, like the Senate, would exercise towards its own members in times when communication with the Provinces was uncertain and difficult, when no one cared for the fate of foreigners, when there was no press to give tongue to public opinion, and, indeed, no force of public opinion at all. Very soon, the Senatorial Proconsuls found it their interests to support the tax-gatherers in their extortions, on condition of sharing in the plunder ; and one party played into the hand of the other. Thus, the Provincial government of the Republic became in practice an organised system of oppression, calculated to enrich fortunate Senators, and to^ provide them with the means of buying the suffrages of the people or of discharging the debts incurred in buying them. The name of Proconsul be- came identified with tyranny and greed. IV* Eemains of Aqueduct at Eome. CHAPTER XXXVII SOCIAL AND INTELLECTUAL CONDITION OF THE PEOPLE. MANNERS BELIGION LITERATURE ART. 1. The Third Century before Christ the Golden Age of Eome. § 2. The Towns chiefly peopled by the Nobles and their dependents: § 3. the Country by the Yeomen : their condition in these times. ^ 4. Excess of population relieved by Home Colonies. § 5. Increase in the number of Slaves by conquest: their social condition. § 6. Common practice of setting Slaves free. § 1. Condition of the Freedmen: Eustic and Civic Tribes. § 8. FamUy life of Eomans : Marriage : paternal authority. § 9. Eeligion: its influence on morality. § 10. Superstitious practices. § 11. No faith or humanity towards Foreigners. § 12. The Language of Eome quite formed after First Punic War : versification. § 13. Native Literature of Eome Hellenized by the conquest of Magna Grsecia. § 14. M. Livus Andronicus the first Hellenizing writer. § 15. Cn. Nsevius: his opposition to Hellenism. § 16. Q. Ennius secures the ascendency of Hellenizing Literature. § 1*7. Prose Writers. § 18. Early specunens of Eoman Art: due to the G-rseco-Etruscan artists. §19. Pure Greek Art introduced after conquest of Magna Grsecia. § 20. Slow progress in the mechanical Arts. § 21. Eudeness of houses, agriculture, &c. § 22. Chap. XXXVII. GOLDEN AGE OF EOMB. 395 Architecture : greatness of the Romans as engineers and builders. § 23. Use of the Arch. § 24. Attention to sanatory rules at Rome. § 25. Tunnels. § 26. Conclusion with respect to Roman Character. § 1. The age of which we have been treating, from the Samnite War to the close of the Punic Wars, was always considered by the Romans, and is still considered by their admirers, to have been the golden age of the Republic. There is a tendency in every nation to look back with fond regret to the " good old times." Frenchmen, after all their revolutions, still love the gallantry and popular sympathies of their Fourth Henry; and English- men, perhaps with better reason, are still proud of the age of " good Queen Bess." Modern historians have laboured to dispel illusions, by holding up a dark picture of the social condition of such times, and by contrasting the comforts and luxuries which ■we enjoy with the rudeness and filth in which former generations were content to live. Reasonings of this kind are more appli- cable to people dwelling in a climate like our own than to those who live under the sky of Italy. In Italy, so great a part of life is spent in the open air, that many of our comforts or necessaries are to her people superfluous. On the other hand, in many countries and ages which we call uncivilised, there is found a genuine simplicity of thought and manners, which give them some unquestionable advantages. This simplicity, which Horace, no depredator of cultivated life, found and loved in his Sabine valley, when Rome was in the depth of corruption, still lingers in retired parts of Italy, and was at that time to be found within sight of the walls of Rome. A people which handed down the legends of Cincinnatus, Curius, Fabricius, Regulus, can hardly not have practised the thrift and honesty which they admired. The characters are no doubt idealised ; but they may be taken as types of their times. In the Roman country dis- tricts, and still more in the Apennine valleys, the habits of life were no doubt simple, honest, and perhaps rude, of Sabine rather than of Hellenic character, the life of countrymen rather than of dwellers in the town § 2. It has been remarked that the Italians, like the Greeks, must be regarded as members of Cities or Civic Communities. But the walled towns which were the centres of each com- munity were mostly the residence of the chief men and their dependents and slaves, while the mass of the free citizens were dispersed over, the adjoining country district, dwelling on their own farms, and resorting to the town only to bring their produce to market or to take their part in the political business transacted at the general assemblies. Such was the case at Rome in early 396 ROME AND CARTHAGE. Book IV. times. The great patrician lords with their families dwelt in strong houses or castles on the Capitoline, Palatine, and Quirinal Hills, while their clients thronged the lower parts adjacent. As the Plebeians increased in wealth and power, their great men established themselves at first upon the Cselian and Aventine, and afterwards indiscriminately on all the Hills. We may judge of the importance attached to these castle-like mansions by the fact, that when a man became too powerful or incurred the suspicion of the ruling party, one chief part of his punishment was that his house should be levelled with the ground. Such was the sentence laid upon the popular leaders Sp. Mselius and M. Manlius by the aristocratic Tribunals. And this was the reason which induced Valerius Publicola to avert jealousy by shifting the situation of his new house from the Velian ridge to lower ground. Suspicion prevailed on both sides. The Pa- tricians could not brook to see fortresses in the hands of popular leaders ; the Plebeians dreaded the Patrician mansions as the strongholds of oppression, and the prisons of unhappy debtors. § 3. In the country districts of Rome the greater part of the land was still in the hands of small proprietors, who tilled their own lands by the aid of their sons and sons-in-law. In the earliest times the dimensions of these Plebeian holdings were incredibly small, — an allotment being computed at not more than 2 jugera (about 1^ acres). Even with very fertile soil and unre- mitting labour, such a piece of land could barely maintain a family. But to eke out the produce of their tilled lands, every free citizen had a right to feed a certain number of cattle on the common pastures at the expense of a small payment to the State ; and in this way even a large family might live in rude abundance. In no long time, however, the plebeian allotments were increased to Y jugera (about 4| acres) ; and this increase of tilled lands indicates a corresponding improvement in the habits and comforts of the people,- — an improvement attributed, as all benefits conferred on the Plebeians in early times were attributed, to King Servius. And this long remained the normal size of the small properties then so common in the Roman district.* As long as the border wars with the ^quians and Volscians lasted, tillage must have been constantly interrupted. The yeo- manry of the Roman district must have been much in the condition of the English and Scottish borderers a century ago ; their hands must have been as well used to the sword and spear as to the spade or hoe. And even when war was re- moved to a distance from Rome, the farmer and his sons must * See Chapt. xxv. § 2. Chap. XXXVn. PROSPERITY AFTER SAMNITB WARS. 397 have been often summoned from their field labours to serve in the militia called out for service in the year. Yet the inconvenience cannot have been great. The allotments were still small : the severe labours of digging or ploughing "were over before the year's campaign opened : and the lighter toils of hoeing and weeding, and even of reaping, could be performed by the sturdy "wife and boys "whom the soldier left behind ; or, if the sons "were ripening to manhood, one of them would take the place of the good man in the legions. The cattle on the public pastures only needed a boy to drive them afield and bring them home. In the times that followed the Samnite Wars, it may be assumed that the Romans and Italians generally enjoyed a condition of great material prosperity. The farm and public pasture pro- duced all that the family required, — not only food, but flax and wool, which the matron and her daughters dressed and spun and wove, wood and stone for building and farm implements, every- thing except metals and salt, which were (as we have seen) state monopolies. § 4. But a golden age generally comes to an end with increase of population. Mouths to be fed multiply ; the yeomen sell their little farms and emigrate, or become satisfied with a lower scale of living as hired labourers. The Swiss have long poured a tide of emigrants into various parts of the world. The French are beginning to feel the evil of excessive division of land. But the Romans had a remedy for these evils in a home colonisation. The immense quantity of public land in the hands of the State, with the necessity of securing newly-conquered districts of Italy, led to the foundation of numerous Colonies between the Samnite and Punic Wars, and extended the means of material wellbeing to every one who was willing and able to work ; and this not only for Romans, but for Latins and others who were invited to become citizens of the colony. § 5. If, however, the superfluous sons of families settled on lands in Samnium, or Apulia, or Cisalpine Gaul, others must have lost these lands ; and the question naturally occurs, — What had become of these people ? This question brings us to the worst point in ancient society, — that is, Slavery. It was the -practice of ancient nations to regard all conquered persons as completely in the light of booty as cattle or lifeless goods. If indeed the enemy surrendered without a blow, they became subjects. But those who were taken after a struggle were for the most part sold into slavery. Barbarians were con- sidered even by philosophers as only created to be slaves to civilised people. In early times this evil was small. Nor was it to be expected 398 ROME AND CARTHAGE. Book IV. that the small proprietors could afford either to buy or to main- tain slaves. They were acquired by the rich Patricians and Plebeians, who held large tracts of public land, or who had acquired large estates of their own. Before the Decemvirate, their debtors were their slaves. But this custom had been long abolished, and it was conquest which supplied slaves to the rich. After the conquest of Samnium, 36,000 persons are said to have been sold. After the reduction of Cisalpine Gaul and Sicily, still larger numbers were brought to the hammer. These Avere the wretches on whose lands the poorer sort of Roman citizens settled. The slaves may generally be divided into two great classes, the Urban or City Slaves, and those of the Country. They had no civil rights; they could not contract legal marriage; they had no power over their own children; they could hold no pro- perty in their own name ; their very savings were not their own, but held by consent of their master;* all law proceedings ran in the name of their masters. For crimes committed, they were tried by the public courts; and the masters were held liable for the damage done, but only to the extent of the slave's value. To kill, maim, or maltreat a slave, was considered as damage to his master, and could only be treated as such. No pain or suffering inflicted on a slave was punishable, unless loss had thereby accrued to the owner. But human nature is too strong always to fulfil conditions so cruel. There is no doubt that the slaves of the household were often treated with kindness ; often they became the confidential advisers of their masters. The steward or bailiff of a rich man's estate, his VilUcus, was a person of considerable power. Still the mass of the slaves, especially the agricultural slaves, were treated as mere cattle. Some poor drudges were the slaves of other slaves, such ownership being allowed by the masters. Cato recommends to sell off old and infirm slaves, so as to save the expense of keeping live lumber. Englishmen feel a pang at seeing a fine horse consigned in his old age to the drivers of public carriages; but Romans wasted no such sympathy on slaves who had spent their lives and strength in culti- vating their lands. Notwithstanding the better treatment of ^the house-slaves, the humane Cicero reproached himself with feeling too much sorrow for one who had been for years his tried and faithful servant. It was in the next half-century, however, that slaves increased so much in Italy as to produce great effect upon the social condition of the people. At present the evil was only in its beginning. * PecuUum (i. e. pecuniolum) was the Dame of such savings. GuAP. XXXVII. SLAVES AND PRBBDMBN. 399 § 6. Here it must be remarked that, in the times of the Re- public, the practice of giving liberty to slaves was very common. Whether it was that the Romans made the discovery that slave- labour is less profitable than the labour of free men working for wages, it is certain that Freedmen became so numerous that restrictions were placed upon manumission by law. The pros- pect of freedom as a reward for good conduct must have done much to prevent Roman bondsmen from sinking into that state of animal contentment and listless indifference which marks the negro slaves of our own times. § 7. We have seen that, before the close of the Samnite Wars, the proud Patrician, App. Claudius, had conceived the plan of forming out of the Freedmen a political body devoted to himself,* and that his scheme was frustrated by the succeeding Censors, Fabius and Decius, who threw them into the Four City Tribes, so that after the Tribes had reached their highest number of Thu-ty-five (in 241 e.g.), the votes of the Freedmen only availed in the proportion of four to thirty-one. These Freedmen, however, filled no mean space in Roman society. Among them were to be found able and well-educated men, who had held a high station in their native country, and often obtained great influence over the minds of their masters. Freedmen exercised most branches of retail trade, and formed the shopkeepers and petty traders and artizans of Rome : for Roman citizens, however poor, could in early times condescend to no business except that of agriculture. Rich men carried on trades by means of their slaves and freedraen ; in later times Freedmen often worked as artists under some Patrician roof, and many of the early poets were Freedmen. Here then we trace the beginning of a great distinction, that afterwards was more strongly marked, between the population of the city and the population of the country, — between the Rustic and the Civic Tribes. § 8. At the time of which we write, a patriarchal rule prevailed in the family. In early ages the refusal of the Patricians to recognise any right of legal marriage between themselves and the Plebeians must have frequently led to illicit connexions. • But this unnatural severance between the Orders was the first to give way; and after the Canuleian Law, the simple marriage-rite of the Plebeians was held equally binding upon all as the more solemn vows of the Patrician form.f It is a noteworthy fact, * Chapt. xxiv. § 6-15. \ If two Plebeians lived together for a year, this was enough to constitute Matrimonium. But the union of Patricians required certain religious rites, called Confarreatio. 400 ROME AND CARTHAGE. Book IV. that Sp. Carvilius was the first person who put away his wife, and that the first example of divorce occurs as late as the year 231 B.C. This observance of marriage as a sacred bond is striking. From it was derived the pure and lofty character of the ancient Eoman Matron. At Rome it was not by clever and fascinating courtesans, such as Aspasia and Thais, but by wives and mothers, such as Lucretia and Volumnia of the legends, such as Cornelia the mother of the Gracchi in actual history, that noble wishes and heroic thoughts were inspired into the hearts of the men. The chastity and frugality of the women found an answer in the temperance and self-devotion of the men. This is the more remarkable, since by the Eoman law married women had no personal rights : they were subject to their husbands as absolutely as if they had been slaves. The same patriarchal power belonged to the father over his children, unless he thought fit to emancipate them, a process which was conducted with the same forms as the manumission of a slave. It was a terrible power ; yet we seldom hear of its being abused. Such a system no doubt prevented all gentleness of filial love. The old Romans had but one word — pietas — to ex- press the veneration due from children to parents and from men to gods. But the sterner exercise of parental authority, with the general purity of morals, preserved youth from that wild intem- perance, both of action and thought, which has often injured nations. It is impossible to read without admiration Cicero's description of the house of old Appius the Censor. " Blind and old as he was, he held dominion over four strong sons, . five daughters, and a crowd of clients. His mind was always ready strung, like a bow : nor did he give way to the feebleness of age. He ruled his dependents with sovereign power, feared by his slaves, respected by his children, beloved by all. Such, in his house, was the power of ancient custom and ancient discipline." If this could be said of the house of Appius, how much more shall we believe it of Fabius and Decius, of Curius and Fabricius ! But if in his own house the father was sovereign, the son when invested with the power of the State was not only allowed, but expected, to act as if there were no relation between them. All must remember the story of old Fabius Cunctator, . who rode into the camp of the Consul, his son, and was overjoyed at receiving a stern rebuke for his apparent want of deference to the representative of the Senate and People of Rome. § 9. There can be little doubt that the simple morality of the times, maintained by habitual deference to authority, was con- firmed by the higher sanction of Religion. The Religion of Rome was, as the legends show, of Sabine Chap. XXXVH. RELIGION OP ROME. 401 origin, niucli of its ceremonial, tlie names of many of its gods, were Etruscan : and Hellenic mythology began, at an early time, to mingle itself in tlie simple religious faith of the Sabine countrymen. The important question in the history of all reli- gions, is ho-w far they exert power over the lives of their pro- fessors. That the old faith of Rome was not without such power in the times of which we speak is unquestionable. The simple Roman husbandman lived and died, like his Sabine ances- tors, in the fear of the gods ; he believed that there was some- thing in the universe higher and better than himself; that by these higher powers his life and actions were watched ; that to these powers good deeds and an honest life were pleasing, evil deeds and bad faith hateful. Many modern historians represent Roman Religion as but a piece of statecraft, devised to make the people more easy to be led. But the cases quoted prove the con- trary. Papirius Cursor the younger spoke like a rough humour- ist, but not irreverently, when he vowed the cup of honied wine to Jove. Regulus and Claudius, when they neglected the omens in the first Punic War, shocked all men. Scipio won his early pop- ularity in a great measure by his religious fervour. And the weighty testimony of Polybius, delivered with reference to a later and more corrupt age, proves the conclusion. " If," says he, " you lend a single talent to a Greek, binding him by all possible securi- ties, yet he will break faith. But Roman magistrates, accustomed to have immense sums of money pass through their hands, are restrained from fi'aud simply by respect for the sanctity of an oath." If this was true in the days of Cato and the younger Scipio, how much more so in those of Fabius and Africanus, of Regulus, Fabricius, and Curius ! The Religion of Rome was wholly subject to the State. It had no clergy set apart and paid by special funds. The Pontiffs, Augurs, and Flamens, indeed, at this time formed close corpo- rations, which their own vacancies filled up, like the fellows of a college ; but in later times they were elected at the Comitia, in the same manner, though by a different rule, as the officers of state. § 10. No doubt, in Cicero's time, educated persons looked with contempt on the Roman ceremonial, with its omens and its auguries. At that time, formalism had taken the place of reli- gion ; but, at that time, morality also was little respected at Rome. No doubt, also, the Religion of Rome lent countenance to gross superstition and inhuman practices. The ominous circumstances constantly recorded by Livy, of oxen speaking, of stones falling like rain, show the former ; and for the latter, we are shocked to read that two Greeks and two Gauls, one of each sex, were buried 402 ROME AND CARTHAGE. BOOK IV. alive in tlie Forum on two different occasions, because it was fore- told in the Sibylline Books that these people should at some time occupy the soil of that famous place ; and that human sacrifices were occasionally offered — once even in the time of the Dictator Caesar — though they had been abolished by a special edict more than a century before. But these horrors may, as the mention of the Sibylline Books shows, be referred rather to Etruscan formularies than to the old Sabine religion of Eome. Nor ought those to be too forward in censuring the senseless modes adopted by heathen nations, in times of darkness and danger, to ascertain the will or avert the wrath of the gods, who remember what a history of superstitious practices and inhuman cruelties might be drawn up from the Annals of Christianity itself. The main point is, and this is indisputable, that the old Romans were in .fact more pure in morals, more honest, more self-denying than their neighbours ; and we have found a clear-sighted Greek ac- counting for the difference by their stronger sense of the obliga- tions of religion. § 11. But while morality, good faith, and self-denial prevailed among themselves, it is clear that the Romans laid no such re- strictions upon their dealings with other nations. This great defect is common to Rome with all antiquity. The calmest Greek philosopher, Aristotle, regarded barbarians as naturally the slaves of Greeks. International Law was unknown, except in certain formalities observed in declaring war and making peace, and in the respect paid to the persons of Ambassadors. This absence of common humanity and generosity to foreigners appears in many pages of this History, in none more strongly than in that which records the treatment of the Samnite leader C. Pontius. Gleams of better feeling appear in the war with Pyrrhus : the chivalric character of the King awakened something of a kindred spirit in the stern and rigid Romans. But nothing could be more ungenerous than the conduct of Rome to Carthage, after the Mercenary War : and still baser pieces of diplomacy occur in the subsequent dealings of the Senate with the Achseans and with Carthage. § 12. We have now to speak of the intellectual condition of the people. In the period between the conquest of Italy and the close of the First Punic War a great change had taken place in the lan- guage of the Romans. The heterogeneous compound of Pelas- gian, Oscan, and Sabine elements* had already been moulded * Introduction, Sect. ii. § 13. Chlajp. XXXYII. change IN THE LATIN LANGUAGE. 403 into a clear, uniform, and nervous instrument of thought. The oldest specimen extant of the Latin tongue is a Hymn of the Fra- tres Arvales, a rural priesthood, who used to go round the fields in spring, praying the earth to yield her increase. Its language is as different from the Latin of Horace as the English of Wiclifl's Bible is from that of Dryden.* Its antiquated forms recur in Inscriptions and Laws down to a late period ; for the Romans, like ourselves, did not easily relinquish old forms. But fragments remain, which were written between the First and Second Punic Wars; and these, if the ancient forms of spelling are altered, exhibit Latin in its com- plete form. A change also had taken place in the versification. The metre of the ancient Hymn just quoted is Saturnian, a kind of verse which much resembled our own ballad-metre, being regulated by accent or cadence solely, without regard to the laws of quantity so strictly observed by all Greek and by later Latin Avriters.f But at the time of the Punic Wars we find the forms of Greek metres already established. § 13. The revolution here indicated is no doubt due to the Hellenic influences Avhich began to prevail at Rome after the conquest of Lower Italy and Sicily. If the compound structure of Latin may be compared to that of our own tongue, its destiny has been far different. While English can boast of a more vig- orous native literature than any language, except Greek, Latin is perhaps of all the most destitute of originality. The germs of a rude literature existed in the ancient Lays, of which we have spoken in our 16th chapter. The Romans, also, from the earliest times, seem to have been fond of dramatic representations. The Atellane Fables or Exodla of the Oscan tribes were a kind of pantomimic performance, which perhaps still survives in the Policinello of modern Italy. They were kept up to a late time even at Rome, and were extemporaneous pieces, in which it was * Here it is, with a modem version : — Enos, Lase, juvate ! Neve luerve, Marmar, sins incurrer in pleores. Satiir fiifere, Mars ; limen sali sta, Berber. Semunes alternei innocapit cunctos. Enos, Marmar, juvato ! Triumpe, Triumpe ! Nbs, Lares, juvate ! Neve luem, Manners, sinas incurrere inflores. Satur fueris, Mars ; pestem {?.0L/udv) maris siste, Mavors. Semi-homines (demigods) alterni invocaie cunctos. Nbs, Maviers, juvato ! Triumphe, Triumphe! f Examples of the Latin Saturnium occm* below in § 15. As an English example, take this: Go fetch my sword Excalibar, Go saddle me my steed, Now, by my faye, that grim baron Shall rue this nithful deed. 404 ROME AND CARTHAGE. Book IV. not disgraceful for the noblest youths to play a part. The Fes- cennine verses were no doubt the original of the only kind of literature which the Romans claim as their own, — that is, the Satura or Satire, a lively and caustic criticism of the foibles and follies of the day. Dramatic exhibitions are said to have been first borrowed from the Etruscans in the year 363 B.C., when a pestilence was raging at Rome ; but at this time the drama was a mere name, — the story being told by means of dancing and gesticulation, with music, but without words. The Roman drama, such as we know it, was not so much borrowed or imitated as translated from the Greek originals. It arose in the period of tranquillity after the First Punic War, when the Temple of Janus was shut for a brief period. The vast increase of terri- tory and wealth which the Romans had lately won was of itself sufficient to give a stimulus to intellectual exertion as great as the Athenians received from their triumphs over the Persians. But in the conquered cities of Tarentum and Syracuse the Romans found a literature of unrivalled excellence, and it was not their na- ture to pursue with labour what they could adopt ready made. From this time dates the growth of the Grseco-Roman literature. In the well-known v/ords of Horace, " captive Greece took captive her rude conqueror." § 14. The first author of whom we hear as presenting a finished drama to a Roman audience was a Greek named Andronicus. He was taken prisoner at the capture of Tarentum in 2*72 B.C., and became the slave of M. Livius Salinator. Afterwards he was set free, when (according to custom) he adopted the two first names of his late master, adding his own name as a family appel- lation. Thus he became known as IVf. Livius Andronicus. His first piece was represented about thirty years later, in which time he had mastered Latin completely, and added to it the polish of his native Greek. His plays continued to be read in the times of Cicero and Horace ; and though these authors speak of them with little respect, the fact that they were used as a text-book for boys at the school of Orbilius, when Horace him- self was there, shows that they must have been written in a clear and grammatical style. Their titles — ^gisthus, Ajax, Helena, and the like — sufiiciently show from what source they were bor- rowed. § 15. A brave stand against the new Hellenizing fashion was made by Cn. Nsevius, a Campanian by birth. His name shows that he was not a Greek : the fact that he served in the Roman armies during the First Punic "War proves that he was a free citizen. In his earlier days he followed the example set by An- dronicus, so far as to translate Greek Dramas. The names pre- Chap. XXXVII. LITERATURE AETER FIRST PUNIC WAR. 405 served show that, among the masters of Attic Tragedy, Euripides Avas his favourite. Nsevius, however, was of comic rather than of tragic vein, and he maintained the licence of the old Fescennine songs in attacking the foibles of the great men of his day. He lampooned the conqueror of Hannibal for licentious practices in early youth. Scipio laughed at the libel. But soon after the poet ventured to assail the powerful family of the Metelli, saying that Pato Metelli fiunt Romse Consules. (The Metelli gain their honours not by merit, but by destiny.) The Metelli, or their family bard, retorted in Saturnian verse : Et NaBvio poetse, quum ssepe Isederentur, Dabunt malum Metelli, dabunt malum Metelli. And they Avere as good as their word. He was thrown into prison, and remained there long enough to compose two come- dies. He was set free by a Tribune on condition of his abstaining from personal libels. But he could not refrain from fresh attacks on the Senatorial nobility, which at the close of the Second Punic War had become so powerful ; and he was obliged to flee to Utica, where he died about 203 b.c. He employed his latter days in the work which made his name most famous, namely, in a sort of Epic Poem on the First Punic War, with accounts of early Roman his- tory introduced. In narrative or epic poetry Greek thought and metre had not yet established themselves. Even Livius, when he traiislated the Odyssey, kept to the old Saturnian verse, and Nsevius of course did likewise. His poem no doubt incorporated the ancient Lays. It was written in forcible language and lively imagery. Cicero de- clared that he derived from it a pleasure as great as from the con- templation of Mycon's finest statues. Many of the mythological incidents were borrowed by Ennius and Virgil. The loss of this poem of Naevius may be considered as the greatest loss which Latin literature has sustained.* The bold and independent character of Nsevius appears from the' epitaph he composed for himself. It is in Saturnian verse, and mournfully complains of the predominance which Greeks were daily gaining over the ancient Latin poetry : Mortales immortales flere si foret fas, Flerent Divee Camense Nsevium poetam. Itaque, postquam est Orcino traditus thesauro, Obhtei sunt Romse loqui- er Latina lingua. § 16. But at the very time when Nsevius, with the ardour of * "Wliat Scaliger said of Ennius would be more justly said of Nsevius : " Utinam hunc haberemus integrum, et amississemus Lucanum, Silium ItaU- cum, et tous ces gargons Id, .'" 406 ROME AND CARTHAGE. BOOK IV. youth, was beginning first to imitate and tlien to oppose the Greek models introduced by Livius Andronicus, was born the man who fixed the Greek metres and forms of poetry irrevocably in Latin usage, and crushed for ever the old Roman Lays. This was Q. Ennius, a native of Rudiae in Campania, an Oscan probably by blood, a Greek by education, whose birth-year is fixed at 238 b.c. In early youth he settled, we know not why, in Sardinia, and from this island he was brought to Rome by Cato in 204, when he was now in his thirty-fifth year, just before the death of Nsevius. Here he settled in a small house on the Aventine, and earned a frugal living for fourteen years by teaching Greek to the young nobles. In this period he must have acquired that mastery over the Latin tongue which is so plainly marked in the fragments of his poems which remain. He died in the year before the battle of Pydna (168) at the age of seventy. In his later years he suffered both from poverty and disease, which he bore with fortitude ; the disease was caused by his too great fondness for jovial living. He fulfilled the forebodings of Nsevius : after him the Camente, or Latin Muses, forgot their descent, and strove in all things to be Greek. The epitaph he wrote, to be placed under his bust, marks consciousness of his triumph : Aspicite, o cives, senis Enni imagini' formam : Hie vestriim panxit maxuma facta patrum. Nemo me lacrumis decoret, nee funera fletu Paxit. Cur ? Volito vivu! per ora virClm. As his works belong entirely to the age which forms the subject of the next Book, we will reserve our notice of them. § 17. The first writers of Latin prose were the Chroniclers Q. Fabius Pictor and L. Cincius Alimentus, who were both in their manhood before the invasion of Hannibal. Fabius served in the Gallic War of 225, rose to be a senator, and was sent on an em- bassy to consult the Delphic Oracle after the disaster of Cannae. Cincius was somewhat younger ; he also became a senator. At one time he fell into the hands of Hannibal, and some of his state- ments with regard to the war were derived from the lips of the great Carthaginian himself. The principal matter treated of by both these writers was that which then absorbed all interest; they wrote Chronicles of the Second Punic War ; and both of them prefixed a summary of early Roman History. Cincius seems to have been the most trustworthy : family partialities often misled Fabius. It is particularly to be noted that they both wrote in Greek, which seems then to have established itself as the language of the learned, just as Latin was used by all European writers during the Middle Ages. § 18. If Hellenic forms of thought and speech invaded the do- Chap. XXXVIL GRiECO-ETRUSCAN ART AT ROME. 407 main of Literature, much more was this the case with the Arts of Design. There are not wanting examples to show that before this time Sculpture and Painting were held in honour at Rome. The Consul Carvilius (in 293 b.c.) employed part of the spoils taken from the Samnites in setting up a colossal bronze statue on the Capitoline. A Quadriga, executed in terra cotta by an Etruscan artist, is ascribed to the same date. Statues were erected in the Forum to honour divers great men of olden time. Many temples were built in thanksgiving for victories, most of which were adorned by Etruscan or Greek artists. The Temple of Salus was ornamented about 305 B.C. by paintings from the hand of C. Fabius, who thenceforward adopted the name of Pictor and trans- mitted it as an honour to his family. The Ogulnii, in their JEdileship (296 b.c.) set up in the Capitol a bronze group repre- senting the Wolf suckling the Twins. A painting of the battle in which the Eomans defeated Hiero in 263 adorned the walls of the Senate-House. Of these works, and others not recorded by history, no trace remains except the famous Wolf now preserved in the Capitoline Museum.* The Twins are a later addition, but the animal is probably the original work noticed by Cicero and Livy. It bears the well-known marks of the archaic Greek art in the sharp, rigid forms of the limbs and muscles, the peculiar ex- pression of the face, and the regular knots of Lair about the neck and head. Here, then, we trace Hellenic artists at Rome. Others of the works mentioned are expressly assigned to Etrus- can artists, and it may be remarked that Fabius, the only native artist of whom we hear, belonged to a family always associated in history with Etruscans.f Now the Art of the Etruscans was probably much modified by Greek artists and Greek models at an early period. Their tombs, we are told, are always national in character, but their painted vases are Hellenic, not only in shape and pattern, but in the mythical subjects with which they are decorated. Indeed, when the vases discovered in the old Etruscan city of Yulci — a city of which history preserves no trace — are placed by the side of others known to be of Hellenic workmanship, it is only a practised eye that can detect the distinguishing characteristics of each.J Many of the Etruscan works of art bear a striking resemblance to the archaic forms of Greek art. Even the ancient * See woodcut to Chapt. i. \ The settlement of the Fabii on the Cremera shows this. When the great FalDius first crossed the Cimuaian Hills, he sent his brotlher to explore, be- cause he could speak Etruscan. See Chapt. xxii. § 13. X See Dennis's Etruria, vol. i. p. 425. 408 EOME AND CARTHAGE. Book IV: style of building called Cyclopean appears to have been as much Etruscan as Pelasgian or Hellenic. It may be assumed, then, that the earliest school of Roman art was derived from the Greeks through the medium of Etruscan artists. § 19. But when Rome had conquered Southern Italy, she was brought at once in contact with works of the finest Greek art. No coins of old Greece are so beautiful as those of her colonial settlements in the West ; and it is in the coins of Rome that we first trace the indisputable effect of Greek art. Up to the time when Italy was conquered, the Romans had used only copper money of a most clumsy and inconvenient kind. A pound of this metal by weight was stamped with the rude efiigy of a ship's prow, and this was the original As or Libra. Gradually the As was reduced in weight till, in the necessities of the Second Punic War, it became only l-6th of the Libra by weight ; yet it retained its ancient name, just as our pound sterling of silver, originally equivalent to a pound Troy-weight, is now not more than l-3rd, or as the French livre is not above l-24th part of that weight.* But even this dimi- nished coin was clumsy for use, as trade increased with in- creasing empire. After the conquest of Southern Italy the precious metals became more plentiful, and the coinage of the conquered cities supplied beautiful models. The first denarius, or silver piece of ten ases, was struck in the year 269 b.c, and is evidently imitated from the coins of Magna Grsecia. The Roman Generals who commanded in these districts stamped money for the use of their armies with the old insignia of the conquered cities. The workmanship is, indeed, " inferior to the best specimens of Hellenic coins, but far superior to anything Roman, before or after. Gold coins of similar model were not struck till near the close of the Hannibalic War (205 b.c). The great mass of Roman coins which we possess belong to the last century of the Republic. They usually bear the family emblems of the person who presided over the mint, or of the Consuls for whose use they were struck, but the execution always remained rude and unattractive. Afterwards, Roman conquest gave the means of supplying works of art by the easier mode of appropriation. In the con- quest of Etruria, years before, the practice had been begun : from Volsinii alone we read that 2000 statues were brought to Rome. In following years Agrigentum, Syracuse, Corinth, and other famous cities, sent the finest works of Hellenic Art to * When the pound of weight ceased to be the same with the pound of cur- rency, the former was usually designated ces grave. Chap. XXXYII. PROGRESS IN THE ARTS. 409 decorate tlie public buildings and public places of the barbarous City of the Tiber, or in many cases to ornament the villas of the rapacious generals. § 20. In the more intellectual even of the Useful Arts the Eomans made no great progress. The contrivances of Archi- medes for the defence of Syracuse struck them Avith amazement. In Cicero's time they usually carried the sciences of Quantity and Magnitude no further than was necessary for practical arithmetic and mensuration. In 293 b.c. L. Papirius Oursor the younger set up a sun-dial at Rome, and thirty years later another was brought from Sicily by the Consul M. Valerius Messala ; but no one knew how to place them, so as to make the shadow of the gnomon an index of time. A water-clock, resembling our sand- glass, was not introduced till 159 B.C. § 21. Nor were the common conveniences of life in an advanced state. Up to the year 264 the houses were commonly roofed with shingles of wood, like the Alpine cottages of our days ; then first earthen tiles began to supersede this rude material. Agri- culture must have been roughly carried on by men who were as much soldiers as countrymen. The wine of Latium was so bad that Cin^as, when he tasted it, said — and the witticism was re- membered — " he did not wonder that the mother of such wine was hung so high ;" alluding to the Italian custom, still retained, of training the vine up elms and poplars, while in Greece it was trained (as in France and Germany) on short poles and exposed to all the heat of the sun. § 22. A form of architecture called the Tuscan was mostly used, which bore an imperfect resemblance to that early Greek style usually called the Doric. But the existing remains of the Republican period are too scanty to allow of any precise state- ments. The true Arts of Rome Avere, then and always, the Arts of the Builder and Engineer. It would not be wrong to call the Romans the greatest Builders in the world. Some of their mighty works, works combining solidity of structure with beauty of form and utility of purpose, still remain for our admiration, having survived the decay of ages and the more destructive hands of barbarian conquerors. In every country subject to their sway, roads and bridges and aqueducts remain in sutBcient number and perfection to justify all praise. We class the roads among the buildings, according to their own phraseology,'* and their construction deserves the name as justly as the works upon our own railways. The first great military road and the first aqueduct are due to the old Censor Appius Csecus, and they * Munire viam, was their phrase. 18 i^io ^ BOMB AND CARTHAGE. Book IV. both remain to preserve the memory of the man, often self- willed and presumptuous, but resolute, firm of purpose, noble in conception, and audacious in execution. Other aqueducts and other roads rapidly followed ; and the spade and trowel were as much the instruments of Roman dominion as the sword and spear. By the close of the Punic Wars solid roads, carried by the en- gineer's art over broad and rapid streams, through difficult moun- tain-passes, across quaking morasses, had already linked Rome with Capua in the South, with Placentia and Cremona in the North. Such were the proud monuments of the Appii, the -^milii, the Flaminii. § 23. It may be said that these magnificent works, as well as the vast Amphitheatres and Baths which afterwards decorated Rome and every petty city in her provinces, were due to the in- vention of the Arch. This simple piece of mechanism, so wonder- ful in its results, first appears in the great Cloaca. It was unknown to the Greeks, or at least not used by them.* It may be that the Romans borrowed it from the Etruscans; the Cloaca is attributed to an Etruscan king, and similar works are discovered in ruined cities of Etruria.f But if they borrowed the principle they used it nobly, as witness the noble bridges still remaining, the copious streams carried over the plain for miles at the height of sixty or seventy feet from the level of the soil. If they had little feeling for beauty and delicacy in the use of the pencil or the chisel, their buildings are stamped with a greatness which ex- alted the power of the State while it disregarded the pleasure of the individual. § 24, Their attention to practical utility in draining and water- ing their city is especially noted by Strabo in contrast with the indifi"erence shown by the Greeks in these matters. To the facts already stated may be added their rule, established so early as the year 260 b.c, that no one should be buried within the city, — a rule scarcely yet adopted in London, From this time dates the beginning of those rows of sepulchral monuments which the traveller beheld on either side of the road as he entered the Eternal City, It was a gloomy custom, but better at least than leaving graveyards in the heart of crowded cities. § 25. A striking proof of engineering skill is shown in the tunnels cut through solid rock for the purpose of draining off volcanic lakes : this art we may also believe to have been ori- ginally borrowed from the Etruscans. The first tunnel of which we hear was that by which the Alban Lake was partially let ofi" * The arch is said to have been invented by Democritus, Posidon ap. Senec, Ep. 80. But it had long existed in Etruria. \ See Chapt. iii. § 11. Chap. XXXVII. PiJOGRESS IN THE ARTS. 411 during tlie siege of Veii, a work "whicli was suggested by an Etruscan soothsayer.'* Other works of like kind still remain, though the time of their execution is not always known. Here shall be added the notice of one work of kindred sort, which happens by a rare coincidence to combine great utility with rarest beauty. The famous M' Curius Dentatus, when Censor in 272, cut a passage through the rock, by which the waters of Lake Velinus were precipitated into the Nar. By this means he recovered for his newly-conquered Sabine Clients a large portion of fertile land, and left behind the most lovely, if not the most sublime, of all waterfalls. The Falls of Terni, such is the famous name they now bear, were wrought by the hand of man. " Thou- sands of travellers visit them," says Niebuhr ; " how few know that they are not the work of Nature !" § 26. It will be something gained if from these imperfect chapters the young student shall have learned to look upon the early Romans as they were — men of strong wills and rigid morals, who cared little for the elegancies of life, but much for its free- dom and order ; who scorned the credit to be derived from ori- ginality compared with the practical uses of an invention ; who were trained by education and discipline to rule themselves; and were thus carried on from conquest to conquest by an in- satiable desire to rule others. The Roman of this time has his own virtues — simplicity and good morals, joined indeed with roughness and want of feeling. In a later age he lost the virtues without losing the defects. The Roman, as we shall find him at the end of his career of conquest, without simplicity of man- ners and morality of life, corrupted by wealth and luxury, yet coarse and unfeeling as ever, is a being who does little honour to humanity. * See Chapt. xiii § 6, with the note. Coin of Ptolemy Philadelphus. BOOK V. EOME AND THE CONQUEST OF THE WOKLD. (B.C. 201—132.) CHAPTER XXXVIII. INTRODUCTORY : STATE OF THE EASTERN WORLD. § 1. The East and "West. § 2. The East from the death of Alexander to the Battle of Ipsus. § 3. Egypt at the present time. § 4. Syria. § 5. Per- gamus. § 6. Ehodes. § '7. Macedon. § 8. Athens. § 9. Sparta. § 10. Commencement of the Achaean League: its rapid rise under Aratus: unable to conquer Sparta, he makes the League subject to Macedon. § 11. The ^tolians. § 12. War between the ^tolians andAchseans: PhUip V. of Macedon assists the latter : his successes. § 13. His imagi- nation fired by the news of Trasimene and Cannse : Demetrius of Pharos : § 14. Philip's treaty with Hannibal. ^ § 1. So far, the countries round the Mediterranean had been divided, as it were, into two worlds, the Western and the Eastern : the Western, in which Rome and Carthage were strug- gling for mastery ; the Eastern, in which the Macedonian suc- cessors of Alexander the Great were wasting their strength in Avars. But from the moment that Philip V. of Macedon entered into alliance with Hannibal, the line of separation had been broken ; and Rome only waited her time to break in upon the enervated nations of the East. That time came when the battle of Zama had delivered her from the fear of Hannibal. § 2. At the death of Alexander in 323 B.C., his vast Empire fell into distinct portions. The Generals of the Great King at first governed these provinces as Viceroys of Alexander's infant son. But this child was set aside ; and within twenty years of Chap. XXXVIII. STATE OF THE EASTERN WORLD. 41 3 tlie King's death these Imperial Governors assumed the title of Sovereigns. Ptolemy became King of Egypt; Seleucus, of Baby- lonia and the East; Antigonus, with his son Demetrius, of Syria and Asia Minor; Lysimachus, of Thrace; Cassander, of Macedonia, with authority over the whole of Greece. Of these soldier- kings, the most ambitious of all were the Kings of Syria, Antigonus and Demetrius; and the year 305 b.c. saw the other sovereigns combined against these two. A general war followed; and in 301 b.c, the battle of Ipsus made a con- siderable change in these Macedonian monarchies. Seleucus became master of the greater part of Asia Minor and of northern Syria ; Phoenicia and Ccele-Syria fell into the hands of the King of Egypt. AVe must add a brief account of these kingdoms down to the period of the second Panic War. § 3. Egypt enjoyed long tranquillity. In the course of the eighty years which followed the battle of Ipsus, the Kings of Egypt quietly extended their sway over parts of Arabia and Libya, as well as Lower Syria, and became Masters of Lycia and Caria, of Cyprus and the Cyclades. The flourishing Republic of Rhodes was their ally. Trade flourished ; art and literature reached a height unknown since the best days of Athens : the natural sciences were cultivated with unexampled success. Alexandria increased daily in wealth and population, and became (as its great founder intended) the chief seat of trade between the East and West. Yet this prosperity was not long-lived. The decline of the monarchy may be dated from the accession of the fourth Ptolemy, surnamed Philopator; and so rapid was it, that when he died, towards the close of the Second Punic War (205 B.C.), the ministers of his infant son Epiphanes were obliged to look around for some poweful patron to defend the inherit- ance of their master from the Kings of Macedon and Syria, who had impudently agreed to divide it between them. In the year 273 b.c, Philadelphus formed an alliance with Rome (chapt. xxiii. § 3) ; and her attitude of superiority after the struggle with Carthage attracted the notice of all the Mediter- ranean nations. The Senate, therefore, were requested to become guardians of the boy-king, and they accepted the office. § 4. After the death of Seleucus, the monarchy of Syria fell into decay. His son, Antiochus I., shifted the seat of the monarchy from Babylon to his new city of Antiocheia (Antioch) on the Orontes, and thus the Eastern Provinces were left open to the inroads of the Parthians. Asia Minor was lost to the monarchy. The kings of Macedon gained a footing in Mysia and Ionia ; Caria and Lycia fell into the hands of the Egyptian sovereigns; 414 CONQUEST OF THE WORLD. BookY. Bitliynia, Cappadocia, and Pontus became independent princi- palities;' Northern Phrygia was occupied by hosts of vagrant Gauls, who gave name to the district called Galatia; a Greek eunuch, named Philetserus, Treasurer of Lysimachus, King of Thrace, gained possession of the city of Pergamus. He trans- mitted his principality to his nephew Eumenes, and Attains, another nephew, succeeding to Eumenes, took the title of King. Most of the Greek cities on the coast, with the islands of Lesbos, Chios, and Samos, became independent. Such was the con- dition of things in 223 b.c, when Antiochus III. ascended the throne, and turned his arms against the Parthians with so much success that he assumed the title of the Great. § 5. Attains, King of Pergamus, saw his advantage in siding with Rome. Threatened by the King of Macedonia on the north, and by the King of Syria on the south, he at once threw himself into the arms of this powerful ally, and was of no small use to the Roman commanders. § 6. The Republic of Rhodes rapidly recovered from the ter- rible siege which it had sustained from Demetrius Poliorcetes.* After Alexandria, Rhodes was the chief commercial place in the Eastern part of the Mediterranean. The government was conducted on upright principles ; her citizens commanded the respect of all who had dealings with them. They would gladly have stood aloof from the Roman wars. But their old ally, the King of Egypt, was too weak to support them ; and the brutal conduct of the King of Macedonia forced them into alliance with Rome. § Y. It remains to take a view of Macedon itself. A very short time after Demetrius the Besieger fled from the field of Ipsus, discrowned and helpless, we are surprised to find him in possession of the sceptre of Macedon and lord of Greece. After reiging at Pella for seven years, he was expelled from his new kingdom by a second coalition, headed by Lysimachus, the veteran King of Thrace, and Pyrrhus, the young King of Epirus. He made one more desperate attempt to recover his Asiatic domi- nions, when he fell into the hands of Seleucus, and died in captivity in the year 283 b.c. Soon after, died Ptolemy and Lysimachus. Seleucus, the only survivor of Alexander's generals, would have won Macedon also, but in the moment of conquest he fell by the knife of an assassin. This assassin was Ptolemy Ceraunus, eldest son of the deceased King of Egypt. For a brief period, this savage became King, and lent aid to Pyrrhus in his Italian campaigns. But Ceraunus did not long enjoy his ill-gotten spoil. * Dr. Smith's Greece, p. 562. CH.VP. XXXVIII. STATE OP THE EASTERN WORLD. 415 lie lost his life in endeavouring to stay the course of the Gauls who burnt Delphi. A period of confusion followed. The Gauls, expelled from Europe, settled in Asia Minor ; and when Pyrrhus returned from Italy in 274 B.C., he found that the sceptre of Macedon had fallen into the hands of Antigonas Gonatas, son of Demetrius, who transmitted the sceptre of Macedon to his son Demetrius II. When this prince died, he left his son Philip, a child of eight years old, to the charge of his cousin Antigonus Doson,* who took possession of the throne for himself, but in other respects acted with honour and good faith towards his young charge. He gave him a good education ; and at his death, in 221 B.C., he took care that Philip should be proclaimed King to the exclusion of his own children. Such an example of good faith deserves notice in this age of selfishness and corruption. When Philip succeeded to the throne, he found the kingdom in a flourishing state. No foreign enemy threatened his shores ; and unhappy Greece, torn by discord, was ready to welcome him as a protector. § 8. The mere mention of the name of Greece excites some interest in the mind of the most indifferent reader ; and when Greece is mentioned, the first name that memory recalls is that of Athens. But there was little left of that glorious spirit which enabled Athens to throw back the Persian invader from her shores. After the last struggle for independence, Avhen the name of Demosthenes sheds a dying glory over Athens, the people surrendered itself quietly to the protection of the Kings of Macedon. Art, indeed, and literature still remained in their old abode. Even now the silken chains were being woven, which, at a later time were to bind her Roman conquerors. Zeno the Stoic and Epicurus were establishing the rival doctrines which afterwards divided the Roman mind between them. Menander and Philemon and Diphilus were bringing on the stage those dramas of the New Comedy, which not long after delighted the Romans in the imperfect versions of Plautus and Terence. Yet, for all this, Athens, the star of Greece, had lost her brightness. An Athenian and a sycophant became convertible terms. § 9. In Sparta, the old Dorian nobility had dwindled away to a few families, who engrossed the land, and exercised tyrannical rule over the people. In the year 241 b.c, Agis IV., one o^the Kings, a young man of noble spirit, endeavoured to bring about a reform of the State, by abolishing all debts, and admitting to the Spartan franchise a number of the Lacedaemonians, among whom * Awffcjj;, intending to give ; for he did not give up the throne to Philip till his death. 416 CONQUEST OP TPIB WORLD. Book V. all lands were to be divided anew according to the system of Lycurgus, But tlie old burgesses, led by the Epbors and the other King, opposed him vehemently ; and Agis was put to death. Then followed a re-action. Cleomenes III., son of the King who had opposed Agis, succeeded to the crown and re- sumed the projects of that unhappy prince. But he showed more prudence in the execution of them ; and for a time some appearance of vigour was restored to the enfeebled frame of the Spartan constitution. § 10. But at that period chief notice belongs to a people who had hitherto played a very subordinate part in the history of Greece, the people of Ach^ea. From the time when the " long- haired Achseans" fought against Troy, their name had almost vanished from the pages of history. All we know of them is, that they were a relic of that ancient people who formerly possessed Peloponnesus, and were driven by the conquering Dorians to a narrow strip of land on the sea-coast. It was in the year 280 B.C., Avhen the irruption of the Gauls filled all hearts with fear, that four towns of this obscure district united for mutual defence. Such was the beginning of that Confederation, which became famous under the name of the Achaean League. Yet it was not to themselves, but to a foreigner, that this fame was due. Aratus was born at Sicyon about the time when Pyrrhus came to his ignoble end. Scarcely had he reached the age of twenty, when he formed the plan of delivering his native city from the Tyrant who oppressed her. Success justified his audacity ; and Sicyon, by the advice of Aratus, joined the Achaean League (251 B.C.). Not many years after, he was elected General-in-chief, and formed the design of uniting a,ll Peloponnesus under the League. He set Corinth free from her Macedonian garrison, and this important city joined the Fede- ration. Her example was followed by Megalopolis and by Argos; and by the year 227 B.C. the Achaean League had become the chief power of Peloponnesus. But Sparta still stood aloof; and Cleomenes had no mind to let his country become a province of the League. Aratus endeavoured to compel him. But he was an unskilful general, and Cleomenes possessed great talents for war. It soon appeared that Sparta was more likely to become master of the Achaeans, than the Achaeans of Sparta. In this state of things, Aratus scrupled not to undo the work which he had spent his best years in executing. He called in the aid of Antigonus Doson, or, in other wofds, he made the Achaean League subject to Macedon. The army of Antigonus, united to the forces of the League, was too much for Cleomenes. He was utterly defeated at the battle of Sellasia (222 b.c), and died an Chap. XXXVIII. STATE OP THE EASTERN WORLD. 417 exile in Egypt. Sparta fell into the hands of bloody Tyrants; and Aratus henceforth appears as Lieutenant of the King of Macedon. § 11. There was yet another warlike State always ready to take advantage of the weakness of its neighbours. In the best times of Greece the JEtolians make little more figure than the Achaeans. From the time when " yellow- haired Meleager" slew the boar of Calydon, we hear little of them. Dwelling in a mountainous district, they were a nation of freebooters, a sort of land-pirates, caring for nothing but plunder. They owned no king ; but before this time their several tribes had formed a sort of League ; and deputies met every year at Thermon, their chief city, to elect a Captain- General (ai^ttTj^j'os). They had thriven on the weakness of their neighbours. Ambracia, the capital of Pyrrhus, was theirs ; so was Naupactus, once the chief station of the Athenian navy in the Gulf of Corinth. Thermon rose to be a splendid city, and here the ^tolian chiefs lived in great magnificence. But they continued their marauding habits on a larger scale and in a more regular manner. It was chiefly by their selfish policy that the Romans were enabled to become masters of Greece. § 12. The ^tolian chiefs thought that the death of Antigonus Doson presented a good opportunity for a foray into Pelopon- nesus. The time was well chosen. Philip was too young, they thought, to act with promptitude ; Aratus Avas too unskilful a general to alarm them. For one year the marauders ravaged Arcadia and Argolis at will. But when they repeated their inroad in the following season, Philip came to aid the League, and the tide of war turned against the ^tolians. The young King of Macedon showed great vigour. Not only did he expel the invaders from Peloponnesus, but broke into their own country and surprised Thermon, where all the trea- sures of the nation were deposited. Here he made the fierce chiefs his enemies for ever ; for he carried off their treasure, destroyed their houses, and burnt down their temples. At this moment, Philip's attention was attracted by events which made his successes in vEtolia look pale and trifling. These events were Hannibal's first victories in Italy. § 13. It was in the winter of 217 B.C., when the Achseans and their allies were assembled at Argos under Philip's presidency, that their deliberations were suspended by the tidings of the battle of Trasimene. The young King's mind was fired with eager desire to take part in this more splendid drama. He made peace with the JEtolians on terms very favourable to the Achaeans; and thus ended what was called the last Social War, 18* 418 CONQUEST OP THE WORLD. Book V. Nothing could be more imprudent than Philip's desire to take part in Western politics. His position at home was most ad- vantageous. His army was well disciplined, his fleet consider- able ; his finances in good order. The King of Egypt was too feeble to thwart him ; the King of Syria and the Republic of Rhodes were willing to ' be his allies : the Greek states of Asia and Europe were ready to own him as protector ; the malcontent ^tolians had just felt his power. With prudence he might have formed an Eastern confederation, which would have ofi"ered a formidable front to Rome. But his imagination was influenced by Hannibal's glory; in sleep his dreams transported him to Italy ; and when the news of the great victory of Cannse followed that of Trasimene, he de- termined no longer to stand aloof. It must be added, that his natural ambition was urged on by a person whom he had just admitted into his councils. This was Demetrius of Pharos, who by treachery had lost the lUyrian Principality given him by Rome. He took refuge with Philip, and in the autumn which followed the battle of Trasimene, the Senate had sent to demand the surrender of his person. But at that moment, to be an enemy to Rome was to be the friend of Philip ; and Demetrius became the King's chief adviser. His acquaintance with Roman politics recommended him ; his unscrupulous advice suited the temper of Philip better than the cautious policy of Aratus, who ceased henceforth to have any weight in the counsels of Philip. § 14. It has been above mentioned that as soon as the news of the battle of Cannae arrived, Philip V. King of Macedon sent off" ambassadors to off"er terms of alliance to Hannibal ; that the messengers fell into the hands of the Romans, and that conse- quently the treaty was not concluded till late in the year 215 b.c. In this treaty, it was stipulated that Philip should send an army to support Hannibal in Italy ; and that, in the event of a suc- cessful issue of the war, Illyria should be given to Demetrius, while the Roman possessions in Epirus were handed over to Philip. The result of this treaty was the First Macedonian War. Coin of Philip V., King of Maccdon. CHAPTER XXXIX. FIRST AND SECOND MACEDONIAN WARS BY FLAMININUS. (214- SETTLEMENT OI' GREECE -194 B.C.) § I. Qonduct of Philip. § 2. League formed by Lsevinus with JEtolians. § 3. Activity of Philip: Lsevinus succeeded by Galba: ^gina taken. § 4. Danger of Philip in the year 208 : his vigilance and successes. § 5. End of the First Macedonian "War. § 6. Philip assists Hannibal at Zama : Embassy to Eome. § 7. His impohtic conduct towards the Achseans. His outrages in Asia Minor. § 8. Athens revolts from Philip : complaints laid before the Senate. § 9. Difficulty in declaring war against Phihp. § 10. Conquests of Phihp in Thrace. § 11. The Eomans burn Chalcis : the Achseans refuse aid to Phihp. § 12. Galba enters Macedonia by the North- west : his fruitless campaign. § 13. Second Campaign: L. Villius, Consul, attempts to enter Thessaly. § 14. T. Quinctius Fla- minius supersedes Vilhus: he forces the pass of the Aoiis. § 15. His operations in Greece: dissensions in the Achsean League. § 16. Conference during winter between Phihp and Flamininus. § 17. Third Campaign: Flamininus continued in command as Proconsul: Romans dominant in Greece. § 18. Battle of Cynoscephalse : complete defeat of Phihp. § 19. Terms offered by Flamininus to Phihp: Peace. § 20. Declaration of independence at Isthmian Games. § 21. Proceedings of Antiochus, Kmg of Syria. § 22. Nabis, Tyrant of Sparta: siege of Sparta. § 23. Policy of Flaminmus. § 24. Address of Flamininus to the Greeks at Corinth. § 25. His departure, and Triumph. § 1. No doubt Philip's wisest course would have been to abstain from mixing himself up with the affairs of Italy ; but, having done so, he ought to have engaged heartily in the war. In 212 b.c. Han- nibal became master of Tarentum. Then, if ever, would have been the time for the King to have dispatched his Macedonian phalanx to support the Carthaginian in Italy. His inactivity is the more remarkable, because about the same time he delivered himself 420 CONQUEST OF THE WOLED. Book V. so entirely to the counsels of Demetrius that lie did not hesitate to disembarrass himself of the troublesome remonstrances of Aratus by poison. Thus was the patriotic founder of the Acheean League, so long the faithful servant of the Kings of Macedon, requited for his services. § 2. On discovering Philip's negotiations with Hannibal, the Senate dispatched M. Valerius Lsevinus, with a small squadron, to watch his proceedings. This enterprising officer succeeded in checking Philip's feeble efforts ; but he took no forward step till the year 211 b.c, when ho entered into negotiations with the ^tolians, and soon found means to induce their greedy chiefs to form a treaty with Rome on terms that reveal their selfish policy. They were to join Rome in war upon Philip: all cities taken by the confederate forces were to be handed over to the ^tolians, but the inhabitants and moveable property were to be left to the Romans. § 3. The news of this treaty roused Philip to something of his former activity, and he baffled the assault of his enemies on every side. Lsevinus, however, succeeded in taking the strong city of Anticyra in Locris, which was treated in the manner prescribed by treaty. His successor was P. Sulpicius Galba, who was ordered to send home the legion which had hitherto been employed in Greece. The Senate were of opinion that a squadron of ships, supported by Attains at sea and by the ^tolians on land, was sufficient to hold Philip in check. Galba, thus hampered, was unable to do more than seize the island of ^gina. Here, as at Anticyra, the inhabitants were sold as slaves for the benefit of the Romans, while the place was left to the ^tolian chiefs, who handed it over to Attains for 30 talents. This monarch had lately joined the allies with a squadron of 35 Pergamese ships, and ^gina henceforth became his head-quarters. The Achseans, notwithstanding the suspicious death of Aratus, preferred maintaining their alliance with Philip to uniting them- selves with greedy freebooters like the JEtolians. But the Lace- daemonians and Eleans joined the vEtolian League. § 4. In the next year (208 B.C.) Philip with the Achseans had to enter upon a conflict with the Romans and Attalus at sea, the ^tolians and Lacedaemonians by land, while the Illyrians threatened the northern frontiei-s of Macedonia, and the Thra- cians broke into the eastern districts. To meet these multiplied enemies, Philip exerted a vigour and activity worthy of his best days. Fixing his head-quarters at Demetrias (a strong fortress in the south of Thessaly, erected by Demetrius Poliorcetes to command the passage from Macedonia Chap. XXXIX. SECOND MACEDONIAN WAR. 421 into Greece), lie sent troops to defend his allies from the attacks of tlie ^^tqlians. Attains was happily detached from the League by an incursion made by Prusias of Bithynia into his kingdom of Pergamus ; and Galba, left alone with a feeble squadron, was obliged to retire to vEgina. In the two following years fortune declared positively for Philip. In the Peloponnesus, Philopoemen, the new general of the Achaean League, gained a decided superiority over Lacedse- mon. The King invaded JEtolia, and again committed Thermon to the flames. § 5. The ^tolians finding themselves left to bear the brunt of the war, were glad to conclude a peace on terms favourable to Macedon, Scarcely was the peace concluded, when P. Sempro- nius Tuditanus arrived at Dyrrhachium, and Philip hastened over the mountains to attack him. But before any decisive action, the Epirotes off'ered their mediation, and a treaty of peace was signed between Philip and Rome (205 b.c.) Thus ended what is commonly called the First Macedonian War. The object of the Romans had been simply to prevent Philip from assisting Hannibal in Italy, and in this they had succeeded at a very small expense to themselves either in men or money. § 6. That Philip entertained few thoughts of a lasting peace, is shown by the fact that on Hannibal's return to Africa, he sent him 4000 men, commanded by Sopater, a nobleman of the highest rank at the Macedonian court, to assist in maintaining the war against Scipio. These men took part in the battle of Zama, and their commander with many of his men became pri- soners. Philip had the impudence to send envoys to Rome, to demand their liberation. His envoys were dismissed with the stern answer, that "if Philip wished for war, he should have it." § 7. Meantime the King of Macedon had been displaying a most unfortunate activity in the East and in Greece. On the death of Ptolemy Philopator in the very year of the Peace of Dyrrhachium, Philip made a bargain with Antiochus King of Syria to divide the dominions that had devolved on the boy-king of Egypt, Ptolemy Epiphanes. This was the unprincipled Treaty of Partition which drove the ministers of young Ptolemy to place him under the guardianship of Rome. In Greece the tyrannical disposition, which Philip had dis- closed ever since Demetrius of Pharos became his chief counsel- lor, exhibited itself more and more. This man was killed in battle soon after the Peace of Dyrrhachium, and was succeeded in the king's confidence by still more unscrupulous knaves, Heraclides, 422 CONQUEST OF THE WORLD. Book Y. a Tarentine pirate, and Dicsearclius, an JEtolian exile. At their instigation Philip now attempted to take off Philopoemen as he had taken off Aratus, but without success ; and the Achaean patriots, though they dreaded the -^tolian marauders, yet would not brook the oppressive tyranny of Philip. It was as yet uncer- tain what part they would take in the war. In Asia Minor his conduct was so outrageous, that the Rhodian fleet combined with that of Attalus, took the sea, and blockaded him in Caria so closely, that it was not till the spring of 201 b.c. that he effected his escape into Europe. § 8. The Rhodians and Attalus now passed over to Greece, and promised the Athenians support if they would throw off the Mace- donian yoke. Philip dispatched an army to overawe Athens, while in person he laid siege to Abydos. But, meantime, the injured powers had sent to complain at Rome ; and three Roman eftvoys, who were then just starting to assume the guardianship of the young King of Egypt, were ordered to visit Philip on their way, and remonstrate on his pro- ceedings. They were all men of note, — Claudius Nero the con- queror of Hasdrubal, P. Sempronius Tuditanus the author of the Peace of Dyrrhachium, and M. vEmilius Lepidus a young Senator of high and generous spirit, who afterwards rose to be the first man at Rome. Lsevinus was dispatched anew to Greece with the fleet that had during the Punic War been employed on the coast of Sicily. But no proposal to declare war was made till the next year (200 B.C.). § 9. On the Ides of March, the day on which at that period the Consuls entered upon office, these magistrates summoned the Senate. Dispatches had just arrived from Lsevinus, detailing in full the late conduct of Philip, and urging the necessity of an im- mediate declaration of war. The three envoys had found Philip at Abydos, and JEmilius had remonstrated in plain and open lan- guage. " You speak thus," replied the King, " because you are a young man, a handsome man, and — a Roman. If," he added, " you wish for war, I am ready." The Consul P. Sulpicius Galba, who had before succeeded Lsevinus, was again appointed to con- duct the Macedonian war, and prepared to bring in a bill for the purpose before the Assembly of the Centuries. Great pains had been taken to prepare the minds of the People for ready acquiescence. At the conclusion of the HannibaJic War, the victories of Rome had been celebrated with games of extraordinary pomp by the JEdiles, one of whom was T. Quinctius Flamininus, the future conqueror of Philip. The poorer class of citizens had been invited to purchase at a low rate the large supplies of grain sent over by Scipio from Africa. Portions of Chap. XXXIX. SECOND MACEDONIAN WAR. 423 the Public Land in Apulia and Samnium were distributed to the veterans of Scipio. There was, however, a general disinclination to make the sacri- fices required by a new war. The citizens of Rome, as well as the Latins and Italians, were all liable to be drawn for service, unless they were past the military age, or had already served their time. Every family had for years seen its best and strongest males withdrawn from rustic labour to bear arms against Carthage ; all were anxious to avoid any return of the miseries which they had endured during Hannibal's occupation of Italy. The declaration of war was rejected by the vote of almost every Century. But the Senate was not to be thus discouraged. The Consul was ordered to summon the Centuries to a second vote. Before the question was put, he addressed them in a set speech, in which he argued that the point of decision was, not whether they would go to war with Philip or not, but whether they would have that war in Italy or across the sea. The yeomen of the Tribes, terri- fied at the thoughts of a new invasion, believed his arguments, and reversed their vote. In consequence of these delays, Galba was not able to reach Apollonia till near the end of the season ; but he at once dis- patched C. Claudius Centho to relieve Athens. § 10. Meantime Philip had been pursuing a very successful career in Thrace. Abydos alone held out with heroic bravery : rather than yield to Philip, they said they would destroy every living soul within the city. " Well," remarked the King, with the reckless wit for which he was famous, " we will suspend the siege, and give them three days to kill themselves in." At last it fell ; and Philip heard that the Romans were in Epirus and at Athens. § 11. At once he crossed over to Demetrias. While he lay here, Claudius made an inroad into Euboea, and surprised the strong city of Chalcis. Philip crossed the Euripus; but, too late to save the place from plunder, he resolved to take ven- geance upon Athens. Claudius was not strong enough to meet him in the field, and Philip wreaked his barbarous rage on the sacred groves and buildings round the city, which his generals had hitherto spared. The Achseans were exasperated by this conduct, and were still less inclined to take part with the reckless tyrant. § 12. Early in the next year (199 b.c.) Galba moved. Under the guidance of Pleuratus, a young lUyrian chief, he advanced through the rugged and woody districts to the west of the Axius (Vardar), then called Eordsea and Elymiotis, but avoided a 42.4 CONQUEST OP THE WORLD. Book V descent into tlie level plain ; and Ptilip, not choosing to risk a battle on ground unfavourable to the action of the phalanx, con- tented himself with watching the enemy, Galba at length re- turned to ApoUonia by the valley of the Apsus. He had effected nothing, and his army suffered greatly in its bootless campaign. When he first landed at Corcyra, he Avrote word to the Senate that a laurel with which his ship's stem was decked had budded — a sure omen of victory ; but no laurel wreath adorned the Con- sul's brow. § 13. Galba's campaign took place after his successor P. Villius Tappulus had entered upon office ; but the latter did not arrive at Corcyra till late in the season, and during the winter he was occupied with quelling a mutiny. In the spring of 198 B.C. he took the field, but did not attempt the northern passes as Galba had done. He had the merit of perceiving that Philip was most vulnerable in Thessaly ; that the army, supported by the fleet, might by its presence in that country deprive Philip of all in- fluence in Greece. With the aim of penetrating into Thessaly, therefore, he marched up the valley of the Aovis ; and in a narrow defile of this valley he found Philip strongly posted. While he was considering his next move, he received news that T. Quinctius Elamininus, the Consul of the year, had arrived at Corcyra to take the command. § 14. Flamininus is as much the hero of the Macedonian war as is Scipio of the war with Hannibal. He also was a Patrician, and was elected to the Consulship at the age of thirty. Unlike Galba and Villius, he left Rome soon after the Ides of March, in- stead of allowing himself to be detained at Rome till it was time to go into winter-quarters. His brother Lucius accompanied him to take the command of the fleet. The position occupied by Philip Avas at a point where the valley closes in to a narrow gorge, which the Macedonians had occupied so skilfully that Flamininus hesitated to attempt a direct attack.* Both armies lay confronting each other for about six weeks, when an attempt was made to settle matters by negotia- tion. But Flamininus demanded that "the King should with- draw his garrisons from all Hellenic cities, making restitution for injuries past, and leave them independent for the future," and Philip broke oft" the conference, exclaiming that " no harder terms could be asked if he Avere beaten." It is probable that the Romans might have been altogether foiled, had not an Epirote chief named Charops betrayed a path by which the enemy's position might be turned. The Macedonians beat off * The place seems to have been a httle below Klissoura, where a ridge strikes across the gorge, and leaves a very narrow passage for tlie stream. CH.iP XXXIX. SECOND MACEDONIAN WAR. 425 the Roman assaults gallantly till tliey found themselves attacked in rear. Then they fled precipitately up the pass, past the present town of Metzovo; and Philip, after throwing garrisons into the strongest fortresses of Thessaly, withdrew to Pella. § 15. Flamininus attempted not to pursue him, but remained in Epirus, where he secured the goodwill of the people by his mild treatment. From Epirus he marched through Thessaly, and passed southward into Locris, where the seaport of Anticyra served as a basis of operations. He then laid siege to Elateia, a strong fortress which commanded the chief pass leading from Boeotia northwards. Meanwhile the Roman fleet, under the command of the general's brother, anchored at Cenchrea3, the eastern haven of Corinth. The purpose of L. Flamininus was to influence the General Assembly of the Achsean League, which had met at ^gium. The question for decision was whether they were to take part in the war, and if so, what part. Opinion had gra- dually been becoming more positive in favour of the Romans, and the leader of the Macedonian party had been banished; yet there was a third party, headed by Philopoemen, which desired neutrality. Great was the perplexity of the Assembly. If they declared in favour of the Romans, they would find themselves leagued with the barbarous ^tolians ; if they re- mained neutral, they might find themselves left in a perilous state of isolation. It is probable that the neutral party would have carried the day, had not Philopoemen been absent. After hearing the envoys of both powers, they sat a whole day silent or murmuring. Next day a tumultuous debate followed ; on the third day the majority voted for alliance with Rome, but the representatives of some States withdrew under protest ; Argos admitted a Macedonian garrison ; and Megalopolis stood aloof. The League was in fact broken up ; but the vote of the Assembly enabled Flamininus to declare himself Protector of the liberties of Greece. § 16. During the winter, both powers were active in negotiation. Philip was alarmed at the success of Flamininus. Flamininus was fearful of being superseded in the command. Both parties therefore agreed to a conference, which was held near the Pass of Thermopylae. The King approached the ' ap- pointed place in his state galley, attended by the banished Achaean leader, and two Macedonian ofticers. Flamininus stood upon the shore surrounded by his allies, Amynander Prince of the Athamanians, the envoy of Attains, the Rhodian admiral, the chiefs of the Achaean League, and Phaeneas the one-eyed captain of the ^tolians. The Roman began by demanding that 426 CONQUEST OP THE WORLD. BookV, ;■' Philip should restore freedom to the cities of Greece, and make restitution for injuries." He was followed by his several allies, who urged their own claims not without vehemence. Philip kept his patience till the JEtolian chief broke in by saying, that " this was no question of words : the long and short of it was that Philip must conquer or obey." "Ay," retorted the King in his sarcastic vein, " one may see that with half an eye." So closed the first day's conference. Next day Flamininus persuaded the allies to allow him to conduct the negotiations alone. On the third day proceedings closed with a proposal that both parties should send envoys to the Senate at Rome. When Philip's envoy began a set speech before the Senate he was cut short by the question, " Whether the King was prepared to withdraw the garrison from the three fortresses which (in his biting way) he used to call the Fetters of Greece — ^Demetrias, Chalcis, and Corinth ?" The envoy had received no instructions on this point, and was ordered to leave Rome. §17. Both parties therefore prepared for a decisive conflict. Flamininus was continued in the command as Proconsul. All Greece between Thessaly and the Isthmus was with him, except Acarnania and Boeotia. Acarnania might safely be neglected, but it was of high importance to secure Boeotia. An assembly was held at Thebes to discuss the propriety of submission, at which Attains, now an old man, spoke with so much warmth that he fell down in a fit, and died not long after. During the debate the Consul introduced a body of soldiers into Thebes, and the Assembly voted for alliance Avith Rome. Still more mortify- ing to Philip was it to see Nabis, Tyrant of Lacedsemon, follow the general current. He had stooped to court the favour of this monster, and as an earnest of goodwill put Argos into his hands. Nabis took the bribe, and then concluded an alliance with Flamininus. § 18. In 197 B.C., therefore, Flamininus advanced from Elateia to Thermopylae with all Greece at his back. Here he paused till he was joined by a division of ^tolian cavalry. Philip had already passed through the Vale of Tempe into Thessaly. Constant wars had so drained the population of Macedonia that the levies in- cluded veterans past the time of service, and boys of the tender age of sixteen. The phalanx, as usual, consisted of two divisions, each 8000 strong ; and to this were added about 7000 light troops and 2000 horse. The Romans had about the same number of foot, but the ^tolian cavalry gave them a great advantage in this arm. After some manoeuvring, Philip fell back upon Scotussa, where plains of waving corn, then just ripe, supplied forage. Flamininus followed ; and the two armies encamped, unknowingly, Chap. y^XTX SECOND MACEDONIAN WAR. 427 on opposite sides of the same low range of hills, which from their appearance were called CynoscephalfB, or the Dogheads. The next day Avas stormy, and the air so darkened by mist and rain that the men could only see a few yards before them. Philip, however, detached a body of light troops to occupy the ridge : and at the same time a Roman reconnoitering party ascended the opposite slope. The Eomans, being the weaker, were driven down the hill towards their camp, where they were supported by fresh troops, and the Macedonians were obliged to retire to the summit of the ridge. The mist now cleared off. The Mace- donians, reinforced in their turn, again forced the Romans down the slope, and would have cut them to pieces had not the vEtolian cavalry held them in check. Flamininus now drew out the Legions, and advanced with his whole line of battle ; while the Macedonian officers sent off message after message to the King, exaggerating their success, and urging him to bring up the Phalanxes and secure the victory. Philip was a good general, and had no mind to entangle his columns in uneven ground, but he suffered himself to be persuaded against his better judgment. The King himself led one Phalanx on the right, while Nicanor was to follow with the other on the left. On ordinary occasions the Phalanx was drawn up sixteen men in file ; but on this day Philip threw his division into a much deeper column. Its weight was thus much increased ; and as it bore down upon the Roman left with levelled lances, ten points against each soldier, its charge was irresistible. The Legions gave way before it. But while this was taking place on the Roman left, Flamininus upon the right observed Nicanor's Phalanx still upon the brow of the hill, broken by the rough ground. He immediately sent up his elephants, and following with his Legionaries charged before the enemy had time to form. The left Phalanx, attacked in this helpless condition, were driven over the hill in utter confusion. Philip saAV that all was lost, and left the field. Not fewer than 8000 Macedonians were killed; 7000 were taken prisoners. The army was annihilated. § 19. When the Romans reached the Macedonian camp, they found that their light-fingered allies the JEtolians had already plundered it. If this disgusted the soldiery, Flamininus himself was provoked by the arrogance with which their chiefs claimed the chief share in the victory of Cynoscephalae. Their cavalry had doubtless done good service ; but it was too much for Roman pride to hear an epigram recited, in which it was said that "Philip had been conquered by the ^tolians and the Latins."* * AItuIuv dfirjdevTeg vi^ 'Apeof ijdl Aarivuv. The epigram was written bj Alraeus of Messene. See Plutarch, Vit. Mamin. c. 9. 428 CONQUEST OF THE WORLD, BOOK V. The ^tolians had now ceased to be useful to the Eomans, and from this time forth we find little harmony between theni. Flamininus held a conference with Philip at Tempe ; and the . Eemains of Eoman Cisterns, Temples, &c. y^ F JL A OF TYRIAN CARTHAGE Tyrian Carthage (as it may be called, to distinguish it from the later Roman Colony) stood on a peninsula which was joined to the mainland of Tunis by an isthmus. The city itself measured about twenty-three miles round, but did not occupy the whole peninsula. The portion occupied by the city seems to have been the northern end ;* the southern part being a suburb, called Megara, chiefly occupied by gardens. The city itself was divided into two quarters, — the Citadel, which was called Bosra, and Cothon, or the harbour-quarter. It appears almost certain * This is inferred from the fact that the Roman remains now existing, near the Arabic vOlage of El Mersa, occupy the southern part. But, as Scipio pro- nounced a curse on the site of Tyrian Carthage, it is no less certaui that the Roman Colonists avoided this site : indeed Appian expressly asserts it. The annexed plan is formed upon this hypothesis. Most writers suppose that Tyrian and Roman Carthage were identical. 486 CONQUEST OP THE WORLD. Book V that the harbours, two in number, lay on the north side of the isthmus, and are to be identified not with the shallow lake now called the Bay of Tunis, but with the salt-pits on the northern side. The outermost was the merchants' harbour, protected from the sea by a broad pier or mole, and furnished with a spacious quay. Inside this, and so much in the heart of the city as to be concealed from the view of the outer haven, lay the harbour of the navy. In its centre Avas a small island. Both island and harbour were surrounded by docks for the reception of 220 ships, all furnished with Ionic columns, so as to give the whole the appearance of stately colonnades. The admiral resided in the island. The entrance of this basin was only 70 feet broad, and was kept closed by strong chains drawn across it. The cita- del was of course the highest and strongest part of the city. It measured about two miles round ; and on the side towards the isthmus was defended by three walls, each 30 cubits high and consisting of two stories, flanked at intervals by towers rising two stories above the wall. Along these walls were stalls for 300 ele- phants and 4000 horse, with barracks for 20,000 men. The suburb of Megara was defended by a comparatively feeble wall ; for it was edged by a low cliif, naturally defensible. § 8. The Consuls divided their army ; Manilius assaulting the triple wall abutting on the isthmus, Censorinus directing his attack at the end of the pier, where the city wall seemed least strong. But all their assaults were gallantly repelled. The season was passing, and the hot weather caused the army to suffer greatly. Censorinus returned home to hold the Comitia; and the army, commanded by Manilius, was only saved from Hasdrubal's assaults by Scipio, who was serving under the Consul. § 9. The Senate began to repent of having neglected Masinissa, and sent ambassadors to beg for his assistance. But the old chief was dead before they arrived. liis character will have shown itself sufficiently from the facts already mentioned. He showed no scruples in acquiring territory ; but it must be added to his credit, that he did much towards humanising the wild tribes who owned his sway, and turned many uncultivated tracts into fruitful fields. In following years Italy imported much of her corn from these districts. Of his numerous off'spring only three were legitimate. On his death-bed he sent for Scipio, to whom he was attached as the heir of the great Africanus, and left the settlement of the succes- sion to his judgment. Scipio gave the sceptre to Micipsa, the eldest son ; Golossa, the second, was to be General ; the adminis- tration of justice was committed to the youngest, Mastanarbal. Golossa joined the Eomans at the head of a body of troops ; and Chap. XLYI. THIRD AND LAST PUNIO "WAR. 487 tlius freed tlie Consul from tlie fear of seeing tlie Numidians take part with Cartilage. § 10. Before the winter set in, Hamilcar Phamseas, commander of the cavalry, the terror of the Roman foraging parties, finding that the Numidians had joined Rome, determined to make a merit of timely submission to Rome ; and Manilius was overjoyed to see this redoubted foe ride into camp in company with Scipio, followed by a squadron of African horse. Tidings now came that L. Calpurnius Piso, Consul for the next year, was on his way to supersede him ; and Manilius sent off Scipio, with Phamaeas as a trophy of success to Rome. The army escorted their favourite officer to the coast, and prayed him to come back as Consul; for all were persuaded that none but Scipio was destined to take Carthage. The Senate received Scipio with high distinction, and rewarded the traitor Phamseas with splendid presents. His desertion was the only piece of success which two Consuls and a great army had won in a whole campaign. § 11. The next year (148 b.c.) passed still less prosperously. Piso did not attempt to assault the city, but employed his fleet and army in buccaneering expeditions along the coast. Discon- tent and disorder spread amongst the soldiery ; and the Consul went early into winter-quarters at Utica. Meantime the spirits of the Carthaginians rose. Their bitter enemy, old Cato, had just died, at the age of 85. Bithyas, a Numidian chief, deserted from Golossa with a large body of cavalry. The Numidian Hasdrubal, who commanded the garrison, being suspected of intriguing with his cousin Golossa, was put to death, and the other Hasdrubal took command in the city. News also arrived of the Macedonian war; and it was hoped that the Romans might be altogether baffled. § 12. Meanwhile discontent arose high at Rome. Both Senate and People had expected to reap a rich booty at Carthage with little trouble, and the faineans who had disappointed them could hardly appear in public. It was well known that Scipio was the darling of the army. Old Cato had said of him, in a line of Homer, that " Onlj he has living force, the rest are fleeting shades." * The People clamoured for his election as Consul, though by the Lex Annalis he was not eligible, for he was but thirty-eight years of age, and was now a candidate for the -^dileship. He was, however, elected Consul at the Comitia; and the Senate yielded. § 13. Early in the next year (147 b.c.) Scipio set sail for Utica * oloc TTeirvvrai, toI di ckloI utaaovcn, Horn. Od. xi. 10 ; a quotation which shows that the old man had made progress in his late lore. 488 CONQUEST OP THE "WORLD. Book Y. with, new levies, attended "by Polybius. C. Lselius, son of that Lselius who had enjoyed the confidence of Africanus, had com- mand of the fleet. The Consul fixed his head-quarters in a camp commanding the Isthmus of Carthage ; and here his first business was to restore discipline in the disorganised army. He ordered the crowd of idlers and hucksters, who were following the camp for plunder or petty traffic, to leave it immediately; and enforced strict discipline. He then directed an attack against the suburb of Megara. Planks were laid from a detached tower to the wall ; and thus a party of soldiers descended into the place, and threw the gate open to their comrades. Tib. Gracchus the younger, destined to become famous in Roman history, was the first who mounted the wall. The loss of this suburb of gardens must have^ been of great moment to the Carthaginians; for it deprived them of a great source of provisions. Hasdrubal showed his vexation by putting his prisoners to death in sight of the Romans. In vain the Council endeavoured to restrain him : the savage soldier was now lord of Carthage, and determined to commit himself and his men to a desperate defence. He was a greedy tyrant, who fed his gross corpulence by luxurious living, while others were starving ; and aff'ected the pompous demeanour of an Oriental despot, rather than the simplicity of a patriot soldier. His men alone shared the provisions, 'which now began to come scantily into the city. The unhappy townsmen began to feel the miseries of want. § 14. For not only had Scipio taken Megara ; he had drawn strong lines across the isthmus so as to cut off the city from all land supplies ; and the fleet blockaded the harbour, so as to make it difficult to send in provisions by sea. Still, light vessels contrived to press into the harbour under full sail, when the wind blew strongly landwards and prevented the Roman ships from keeping the sea. Scipio determined to cut oiF even these precarious supplies by throwing an embankment across the mouth of the harbour.* The work was one of infinite labour, and made but slow progress. The Carthaginians, however, saw that it must ultimately succeed, and began to cut a canal from the inside, so as to open a new entrance from the sea into their harbour. Before the end of the year this work was com- pleted, and, moreover, a fleet of fifty ships had been secretly built in the inner port. By the time Scipio's embankment was finished, the Romans had the mortification to see this new fleet sail out by the new entrance ; so that it seemed as if all their * This embankment no doubt assisted in choking up the harbour, and reducing it to its present condition. Chap. XLYI. THIRD AND LAST PUNIC WAR. ' 489 labour had been thrown away. For two days they allowed the Carthaginian fleet to insult them with impunity. But on the third they attacked it with all their ships. The battle lasted till evening with some advantage to the Carthaginians. But as the latter fell back to the new entrance, they found the passage im- peded by small craft ; and in the confusion which ensued, the Romans succeeded in destroying the greater part of the new 'fleet. § 15. At the beginning of spring (146 e.g.), Scipio resumed the oftensive. While he made a feigned attack upon the walls of Cothon, Lselius succeeded in forcing an entrance on the other side of the city, and at evening the Eoman legions bivouacked in the Marketplace of Carthage. But a long and terrible struggle was still before them. From the Marketplace three streets con- verged towards the Citadel. These streets were all strongly barricaded ; and the houses on each side rising to the height of six stories, were occupied by the Carthaginians. A series of street-fights ensued, which lasted several days. The Romans were obliged to carry the first houses on each street by assault, and then to force their way by breaking through from house to house, and driving the enemy along the flat roofs. The cross streets or lanes were passed by bridges of planks. Thus they slowly advanced to the wall of Bosra. When they had reached this point the city was set on fire behind them. Six days and nights the flames continued to rage ; and as they slackened, the Roman legionaries were employed as pioneers to clear thorough- fares for the free passage of men and horses. § 16. During the great labour of the last days Scipio alone sought no rest. At length, worn out by anxiety and fatigue, he lay down to repose on an eminence commanding a view of the Temple of Esculapius, whi&h, with its gilded roof, crowned the heights of Bosra. He had not long been here, when the Cartha- ginian garrison, seeing no longer any hope, ofi"ered to surrender the Citadel, on condition of their lives being spared. Scipio con- sented for all, except Roman deserters ; and 50,000 men defiled out of the gates of Bosra as prisoners of war. Then Hasdrubal and his family, with 900 deserters and other desperadoes, retired into the Temple of Esculapius, as if to make a brave defence. But the Commandant's heart failed him ; and, slipping out alone, he threw himself at the feet of Scipio, and craved for pardon. His wife, standing on the base of the temple, was near enough to witness the sight, and reproaching her husband with cowardice, cast her- self with her children into the flames, which were now wrapping the Citadel round on all sides. Hasdrubal's life Avas spared to grace the triumph of the conqueror; most of the deserters ■ 21* 490 CONQUEST OP THE WORLD. Book V. perislied in the flames ; those who escaped, or were taken else- where, were trampled to death by elephants. It was during these scenes of horror, that Scipio, with Polybius at his side, gazed upon the burning city, and involuntarily vented his hio-h-wrought feeling in two well-known verses of Homer ;* " The day shall come, when sacred Troy shall be levelled with the plain, And Priam and the people of that good warrior slain." " Assyria," he said, " had fallen, and Persia and Macedon. Car- thage was burning. Rome's day might come next !" For five days the soldiery were allowed to range the ruined city, glutting their wild passions. Yet enough of statues and valuables of all sorts fell into the hands of the Proconsul, to adorn a triumph little less magnificent than that in which he had followed his father Paullus one-and-twenty years before. Before he left Africa, he celebrated magnificent games, in which all the spoil was displayed to the army, as had been done by Paullus in Macedonia. § 17. Scipio had written laconically to the Senate, that " Car- thage was taken, and the army waited for further orders." Amid the exultation of all classes, a Decree was passed that the walls should be destroyed, and every house within them levelled to the ground. A solemn curse was pronounced by Scipio on any one who should rebuild a town on the same site. Not many years after, C. Gracchus was sent to found a colony on the site of Carthage, — a design which failed; and its failure was attributed to the curse of Scipio. But the same design was renewed by the great Julius, and accomplished by Augustus. This Colony, which rose to be a noble city, and in the second century of the Christian era might be regarded as the metropolis of Western Christendom, stood (as stated above) at the southern end of the Peninsula, where the Moorish fortress of Goletta now commands the entrance of the Bay of Tunis. Utica, for her timely submission, was rewarded with a portion of the dominions of Carthage. The remaining territory was formed into a province under the name of Libya, and placed under the government of a Eoman Magistrate, being the fourth Province added to the empire in this one year. Such was the end of Carthage, after an existence of more than seven centuries. * II. iv. 164: eaaETac rjjj-ap, orav ■kot' oluT^ri 'Wtog Ifnj, Koi lipisanog Kal Aaog ivfi/ueAiu Ilpia.fJ.oio. CHAPTER XLVII. SPANISH WARS : FALL OF NUMANTIA. (149 133 B.C.) ' § 1. "War with the Lusitanians under Viriathus, and with Numantia. § 2. Celtiberian "War: Metellus Macedonicus: Treaty of Mancinus. § 3. Lusitaniau "War : Treaty of Q. Fabius Servihanus, broken by Q. ServiUus Csepio : Murder of Viriathus. § 4. Discussion on the Treaty of Mancinus : he is given up to the Numantians: their conduct. § 5. Dec. Brutus carries Roman arms into Gallsecia : surnamed Callaicus. § 6. Scipio : his hfe since the Fall of Carthage. § 7. His popularity: elected Consul for the Numantian War. § 8. Measures for restoring discipUne. § 9. He appears before Numantia: Unes of investment. § 10. Misery of the Numantians. § 11. Surrender and destruction of Numantia. § 1. While Eome was engaged in war with Carthage, the Lusi- tanians resumed their inroads under the conduct of the gallant Viriathus, who had escaped from the massacre of Galba. No Roman general could gain any positive advantage over this indefatigable enemy, and in the year 143 B.C. the war assumed a much more serious aspect. The brave Celtiberian tribes of Numantia and its adjacent districts again appeared in the field. For several years we find two Roman commanders engaged in Spain, as before the Treaty of Gracchus : one opposed to the Numantians and their Celtiberian allies in the North, the other carrying on an irregular warfare against Viriathus and the Lusi- tanians in the South. § 2. The conduct of the Celtiberian War was committed to Q. Metellus Macedonicus, who had been elected Consul for the year 143. He remained in command for two years, and was so successful in his measures that by the close of the second cam- paign he had compelled the enemy to shut themselves up in their strong cities. But he was disappointed, as in Greece, by finding anticipated triumph snatched from his grasp by Q. Pompeius, Consul for the year 141 b.c. Pompeius and his successors could make no impression upon the Numantians. Nay, C. Hostilius Mancinus, Consul for the year 137, suffered a memorable reverse. Mancinus set out for his province amid general alarm, excited by the unfavourable omens at his inaugural sacrifices. He was attended as Quaestor by young Tib. Gracchus, who had already distinguished himself at the siege of Carthage. Mancinus found the army before Numantia in a state of complete disorganisation, and deemed 492 CONQUEST OF THE WOSLD. BookV. it prudent to retreat from his position in front of that city. The Numantians pursued and pressed him so hard that he was obliged to entrench'himself in an old camp, and send a herald with offers to treat on condition that his army should be spared. The enemy consented, but only on the miderstanding that young Gracchus was to make himself responsible for the execution of the treaty. Articles of peace were accordingly signed by Mancinus himself, with Gracchus and all the chief officers of the army. Before we notice the sequel of the famous Treaty of Mancinus, it will be well to follow the Lusitanian War to its conclusion. § 3. Here also the fortune of Rome was in the decline. Q. Fabius Servilianus was surprised by Viriathus in a narrow defile, and so shut up that escape was impossible. The Lusitanian cap- tain offered liberal terms, which were gladly accepted by the Pro- consul. This peace was approved by the Senate, and Viriathus was acknowledged as the ally of Rome. But Q. Servilius Csepio, brother by blood of Servilianus, was little satisfied by the prospect of an inactive command. By impor- tunity he wrung from the Senate permission to break the peace so lately concluded by his brother, and ratified by themselves, — a permission basely given and more basely used. Caepio assailed Viriathus, when he little expected an attack, with so much vigour that the chief was fain to seek refuge in Gallsecia, and sent envoys to ask Caepio on what ground the late treaty was no longer observed. Caepio sent back the messengers with fair words, but privily bribed them to assassinate their master. They were too successful in their purpose, and returned to claim their blood-money from the Consul. But he, with double treachery, disowned the act, and referred them to the Senate for their reward. The death of Viriathus Avas the real end of the Lusitanian War. He was (as even the Roman writers allow) brave, generous, active, vigilant, patient, faithful to his word ; and the manner in which he baflled all fair and open assault of the disciplined armies of Rome gives a high conception of his qualities as a guerilla chief. His countrymen, sensible of their loss, honoured him with a splendid military funeral. The Senate, with a wise moderation which might have been adopted years before, assigned lands to a portion of the mountaineers within the Province, thus at length making good the broken promises of Galba. § 4. Such was the discreditable termination of the Lusitanian War. We must now return to Mancinus and his Treaty. He returned to defend his conduct before the Senate. He pleaded that the army was so demoralised that no man could wield it with effect, and admitted that he had concluded a treaty Chap. XLYII. NUMANTIAN WAR. 493 Avith Numantia without the authority of the Senate and People ; as that treaty was not approved, he declared himself ready to support a bill for delivering up the persons of himself and all who had signed it to the Numantians. Such a bill was accord- ingly brought before the Tribes. But young Gracchus upheld the treaty, and Scipio, his brother-in-law, made an eloquent speech in his behalf. But the people, always jealous of defeat, voted for delivering up Mancinus alone as an expiatory offering. Accordingly a person, consecrated for this special purpose, car- ried him to Numantia. But the Spaniards, like the Samnites of old, refused to accept such a compensation ; one man's body, they said, was no equivalent for the advantage they had lost. Mancinus, therefore, returned to Rome. But when he took his place in the Senate, the Tribune Rutilius ordered him to leave the Curia, because, he said, one who had been delivered over to the enemy with religious ceremony was no longer. a citizen of Rome, and could not recover his rights by simply returning to his country.* A special law was introduced to restore Mancinus to his former position.f § 5. Dec. Junius Brutus, Consul for 138, an able officer, was entrusted with the pacification of Lusitania : the town of Valentia owes its origin to a colony of this people planted there by him. After finishing this business, he carried his arms northward across the Tagus, the Douro, and the Minho, and received homage from the Tribes of the Western Pyrenees. He was the first Roman who reached the shores of the Bay of Biscay, and saw the sun set in the waters of the Atlantic ; and he was not unjustly honoured with the name of Callalcus J for his successes. § 6. But Numantia still defied the arms of Rome. Men began to clamour for a Consul fit to command ; and all eyes fell upon Scipio. His qualities as a general had been tested by success at Carthage, and circumstances had since occurred which raised him to great popularity. After his triumph in 146 B.C., Scipio had continued to lead the simple life in which he had been bred, and which not all the wealth he inherited from his adoptive father induced him to abandon. He affected an austerity of manners, which almost emulated that of Cato, though he was free from the censorius dogmatism and rude eccentricities of that celebrated man. In * Such a recovery of rights was called Postliminium. For the legal opinions on both sides see Cicero de Oral. i. 40, de Off. iii. 30, pro Ccecina, 34. f The rights of the question have already been discussed in speaking of the simQar transaction at the Furculse Caudinse. Chapt. xxii. § 8. I From Callaecia or Gallsecia, the ancient name of tb*^ district in the N.W. of Spain, still called GalUcia. 494 CONQUEST OF THE -WORLD. Book V. 142 B.C. lie was elected Censor in conjunction with Mummius, who so th-warted all the efforts of his colleague to promote reforms that the latter publicly exclaimed, " I should have been able to do my duty, either with a colleague or without one." Scipio had gained a clear conception of the unsound state of things, which long-continued wars and Senatorial government had pro- duced. In the prayer, which he offered on entering upon the Censor's office, he altered the usual form ; and instead of asking that " the gods would increase and magnify the power of Rome," he said, " I pray that they may preserve it ; it is great enough already." § 7. His frugal life carried with it a guarantee of honesty and devotion to public interests, which would alone have secured him public favour. But several of his acts gained him more direct popularity. The son of his kinsman Nasica, nicknamed Serapio, had joined the high oligarchical party. But the son of -^milius Paullus, on the few occasions on which he appeared in public, took the popular side. In 137, the Tribune Cassius proposed the first law for taking votes by secret ballot,* with the intention of neutralising the undue influence of the Senators. Scipio came forward and addressed the people in favour of this law. As his popularity was increased, his favour with the Senate proportion- ably fell. Six years before, when he was canvassing for the Censorship, App. Claudius, seeing the motley crowd which fol- lowed him, exclaimed : — " Ah, ^milius, it would trouble thy spirit to see thy son followed by such a crew." Yet he courted not popularity : he seldom even visite^ the Forum, though he spoke with force and eloquence when he chose. When the same Appius boasted that he knew all who frequented the Forum by name, Scipio replied : — " True, I do not know many of my fellow- citizens by name, but I have taken care that all should know me." Popularity came unasked, and the People cast their eyes upon him to retrieve the dishonour of the Roman arms in Spain. Legally he could not hold the Consulship, for a law had been lately passed forbidding a second election in any case. But Scipio received the votes of every Century, though he was not a candidate. § 8. He was now fifty-one years of age, and he proceeded to execute his commission with the same steady vigour which dis- * These Leges TabellaricB (as the Romans called them, iabella being their word for a iallot) were four in number : 1. The Gabinian (139 B.C.), intro- ducing the use of the Ballot at Elections. 2. Tlie Gassian (131), introducing it in all state-trials, except in the case of high-treason (perduellio). 3. The Papirian (131), introducing it into the Legislative Assembly. 4. The Ccelian (107), which cancelled the single exception made by the Gassian Law. Chap, XLVII. NUMANTIAN WAR. 495 tinguished liiin on other occasions. He found the demoralisation of the army not less than it had been described, and he applied himself to correct it with the same severity that his father had iised in Macedonia, and he himself had used before Carthage. All courtesans and hucksters, together with fortune-tellers who drove a lucrative trade in the dispirited army, he commanded to quit the camp. All carriages, horses, and mules he ordered to be sold, except those that were needed for actual service. No cook- ing utensils were allowed except a spit, a camp-bottle, and a drinking-cup. Dow^n beds were forbidden : the general himself slept upon a straw pallet. § 9. After some time spent in training his army, he led it to Numantia by a difficult and circuitous route, in order to avoid a battle. As he approached the place he was joined by young Ju- gurtha, a bastard son of Micipsa, who came from Numidia with twelve elephants and a large body of light cavalry. By this time the season for war was nearly over, and he ordered two strong camps to be formed for winter-quarters. In one he fixed himself, the other he put under the command of his brother Fabius. With the beginning of spring (133 b.c.) he began to draw lines of circumvallation round the city, and declined all attempts made by the Numantians to provoke a general action, — a circumstance which is rather surprising, if it be true that the available troops of the Spanish city amounted to no more than 8000 men. § 10. Numantia lay on both sides of the Douro, not far from its source. The blockade was so strict, and the inhabitants were so ill provided, that in no long time they were reduced to feed on boiled leather, and at length (horrible to tell) on the bodies of the dead. In vain those who retained sufficient strength attempted sallies by day and night ; Scipio had established so complete a system, that additional troops were always ready to strengthen any weak point which might be assailed. In vain did the young men of Lubia endeavour to relieve their brave neighbours. Scipio promptly marched to that place with a division of light troops, and, having compelled the government to surrender 400 of the most active sympathisers, he cut off their right hands and returned. Such was the cruelty which the most enlightened men of Rome permitted themselves to use towards barbarians. Nor does any ancient historian whisper a word of reproach. §11, The wretched Numantians now inquired on what terms they might be admitted to surrender. The reply was, that on that very day they must lay down their arms, and on the next appear at a given place. They prayed for time to deliberate. In the interval a certain number of brave men, resolved not to submit on any terms, put themselves to death ; the remnant came forth 496 CONQUEST OF THE WORLD. Book V. from the gates. Their matted hair, squalid apparel, and wasted forms made even the Romans turn away in horror from their own work. Scipio selected fifty to walk in his triumphal procession, and sold the rest. The town was so eftectually destroyed that its very site cannot be discovered. Such was the destructive, but riot glorious work, which earned for Scipio the name of Numantinus, as the ruin of Carthage had given him a better title than adoption to that of Africanus. Commissioners were sent, according to custom, to re-organise the Spanish Provinces. The conquests of Scipio and of Dec. Bru- tus were comprehended in the limits of the Hither Province, and for some years Spain remained in tranquillity. There was no enemy now left on the coast-lands of the Medi- terranean to dispute the Sovereignty of Rome. Nine Provinces, each fit to be a kingdom, owned her sway, and poured yearly taxes into her revenue. The kings of Asia Minor, of Syria, of Egypt were her obedient vassals. CHAPTER XLVIII. FIRST SLAVE-WAR IN SICILY. (133 131 B.C.) § 1. Increase of Slaves. § 2. Fondness of the Romans for agriculture : decline of agriculture. § 3. Immense numbers of Slaves brought to market. §4. The Slaves of Apulia become banditti. § 5. Similar state of things in Sicily : insurrection breaks out near Enna. § 6. King Eunus. § 7. Enna taken by the Slaves: dreadful scenes. § 8. Cleon heads another rising near Agrigentum. § 9. Defeat of a Roman Prsetor : spread of the Insur- rection. § 10. The War concluded by RupiUus: fate of the Slave-chiefs. § 11. Propitiation of Ceres. § 12. Laws of RupQius for improving the state of Sicily. § 1. While Numantia was yet defying the Roman Generals, a war broke out near home of a more dreadful kind than any distant contest with foreigners could be, — the insurrection of the Slaves in Sicily. Some remarks have already been made on the rapid increase in the number of Slaves which attended the career of Roman conquest ; and it was observed that, while domestic Slaves usually were well treated, the agricultural Slaves were thrust down to a condition worse than that of the oxen which laboured on the land.* The evils which such oppression might engender Avere now proved by terrible experience. § 2. Every one knows that in the early times of Rome the work of the farm was the only kind of manual labour deemed worthy of a free citizen. This feeling long survived, as may be seen from the praise bestowed on agriculture by Cicero,f whose enthusiasm was caught from one of his favourite heroes, old Cato the Censor, whose Treatise on Agriculture has been noticed. The taste for books of farming continued. Varro the antiquarian, a friend of Cicero, has left an excellent treatise on the subject. A little later came the famous Georgics of Virgil, followed at no long interval by Pliny's notices, and then by the elaborate Dissertations of Columella, who refers to a great number of Roman writers on the same subject. It is manifest that the subject of agriculture possessed a strong and enduring charm for the Roman mind. But, from the times of the Hannibalic War, agriculture lost * Chapt. xxxvii. § 5. •[• " Omnium autem rerum ex quibus aliquid acquiritur nihil est agri cul- tura. melius, nihil uberius, nihil dulcius, nihil homine libero dignius." — De Off. i. 42, fin. 498 CONQUEST OP THE WORLD. Book Y. ground in Italy. When Cato was asked what was the most profitable kind of farming, he said, " Good grazing." What next? " Tolerable grazing." What next ? " Bad grazing." What next? "Corn-growing."* Later writers, with one accord, deplore the diminished productiveness of land. This result was due in part, no doubt, to war, but much more to other causes. Corn could be imported with facility from the southern lands of Sicily, from Egypt, and from Numidia, while a great part of Italy was little suited for the production of grain-crops. These causes found a powerful assistant in the growth of large estates, and the profitable employment of Slaves as shepherds and herdsmen. § 3. A few examples will show the prodigious number of Slaves that must have been thrown into the market after the Second Punic War. To punish the Bruttians for the fidelity with which they adhered to the cause of Hannibal, the whole nation were made Slaves; 150,000 Epirotes were sold by JEmilius Paullus; 50,000 captives were sent home from Carthage. These numbers are accidentally preserved ; and if, according to this scale, we calculate the hosts of unhappy men sold in slavery during the Syrian, Macedonian, Illyrian, Grecian, and Spanish Wars, we shall be prepared to hear that Slaves fit only for unskilled labour were plentiful and cheap. There was also a Slave-trade regularly carried on in the East. The barbarous tribes on the coasts of the Black Sea were always ready to sell their own flesh and blood ; Thrace and Sarmatia were the Guinea Coast of the Romans. The entrepot of this trade was Delos, which had been made a free port by Rome after the conquest of Macedonia.f Strabo tells us that in one day 10,000 slaves were sold there in open market. Such were the vile uses to which was put the Sacred Island, once the treasury of Greece, when her states were banded together to secure their freedom against the Persian. § 4. It is evident that hosts of slaves, lately free men, and many of them soldiers, must become dangerous to the owners. Nor was their treatment such as to conciliate. They were turned out upon the hills, made responsible for the safety of the cattle put under their charge, and compelled to provide them- selves with the common necessaries of life. A body of these wretched men asked their master for clothing : " What," he asked, " are there no travellers with clothes on ?" The atrocious hint was soon taken : the shepherd slaves of Lower Italy became banditti, and to travel through Apulia without an armed retinue * Cicero de Offic. ii. 25, 5. f Chapt. xUv. § 3. Chap. XLYni. FIRST SLAVE-WAR. 499 was a perilous adventure. From assailing travellers, the ma- rauders began to plunder the smaller country-houses ; and all but the rich were obliged to desert the country and flock into the towns. So early as the year 185 b.c, 7000 slaves in Apulia were condemned for brigandage by a Praetor sent specially to restore order in that land of pasturage. When they were not employed upon the hills, they were shut up in large prison-like buildings {ergastula), where they could talk together of their wrongs, and form schemes of vengeance. § 5. The Sicilian landowners emulated their Italian brethren ; and it was their tyrannical conduct that led to the frightful insur- rection, which reveals to us somewhat of the real state of society which existed under the rule of Rome. In Sicily, as in Lower Italy, the herds are driven up into the mountain pastures during the summer months, and about Octo- ber return towards the plains. The same causes which were at Avork in Italy were at work, on a smaller scale, in Sicily. The city of Enna, once famous for the worship of Demeter, had be- come the centre of a pastoral district, and of the neighbouring landowners, Damophilus was the wealthiest. He was famous for the multitude of his Slave-herdsmen, and for his cruel treatment of them, and his wife Megallis emulated her lord in the barbarities which she practised on the female Slaves. At length the cup was full, and 400 of his bondsmen, meeting at Enna, took counsels of vengeance against Damophilus. § 6. At Enna there lived another rich proprietor, named Antigenes; and among his Slaves was a Syrian, known by the Greek name of Eunus {F^vvovq). This man was a kind of wizard, who pretended to have revelations of the future, and practised a mode of breathing fire, which passed for a superna- tural power. At length he gave out that his Syrian gods had declared to him that he should be king hereafter. His master treated him as a jester, and at banquets used to call him in to make sport for his guests ; and they, entering into his humour, used to beg him to remember them when he gained his sceptre. But to the confederate Slaves of Damophilus, Eunus seemed in truth a Prophet and a King sent to deliver them. They prayed him to become their leader, he accepted their offer ; and the whole body entered the city of Enna, with Eunus at their head breathing fire. § 7. The wretched city now felt the vengeance of men brutalised by oppression. Clad in skins, armed with stakes burnt at the end, with reaping-hooks, spits, or whatever arms rage supplied, they broke into the houses, and massacred all persons of free condition, from the old man and matron to the infant at the 500 CONQUEST OF THE WORLD. Book V. breast. Crowds of Slaves joined tliem ; every man's foes were those of his own household. Damophilus was dragged to the Theatre and slain. Megallis was given over to the female Slaves, who first tortured her, and then cast her down the crag on which the city stands. Eunus thus saw the wildest of his dreams fulfilled. He as- sumed the diadem, took the royal name of Antiochus, and called his followers Syrians. The ergastula were broken open, and numbers of Slaves sallied out to join him. Soon he was at the head of 10,000 men. He showed no little discretion in the choice of officers. Achseus, a Greek, was made General of the army, and he exerted himself to preserve order and moderate excesses. § 8. A few days after the massacre at Enna, Cleon, a Cilician Slave, raised a similar insurrection near Agrigentum. He also was soon at the head of several thousand men. The Romans in Sicily, who had looked on in blank dismay, now formed hopes that the two leaders might quarrel, — hopes soon disappointed by the tidings that Cleon had acknowledged the sovereign authority of King Antiochus. § 9. There was no Roman magistrate present in Sicily when the insurrection broke out. The Praetor of the last year had returned to Italy ; and his successor now arrived, ignorant of all that was passing. He contrived to collect 8000 men in the island, and took the field against the Slaves, who by this time numbered 20,000. He was utterly defeated, and the insurrection spread over the whole island. The consternation at Rome was great. No one could tell where the evil would stop. Movements broke out in various parts of the empire ; but the magistrates were on the alert, and all attempts were crushed forcibly. At Rome itself one hundred and fifty Slaves, detected in organising an outbreak, were put to death without mercy. § 10. The insurrection seemed to the Senate so serious that they dispatched the Consul, Q. Fulvius Flaccus, colleague of Scipio in the year 133 e.g., to crush it. But Flaccus ob- tained no advantage over the insurgents. In the next year L. Calpurnius Piso succeeded in wresting Messana from the enemy, and advanced to Enna, a place strongly defended by nature, which he was unable to take. His successor, P. Rupilius, a friend of Scipio, began his campaign with the siege of Tauro- menium. The Slaves offered a desperate resistance. Reduced to straits for want of food, they devoured the children, the wjomen, and at length began to prey upon each other. Even then the place was only taken by treachery. All the Slaves Chap. XLVIII. FIRST SLAVE-WAR. 501 taken alive were put to the torture and thrown down a precipice. The Consul now advanced to Enna, the last stronghold of Eunus. The fate of the insurgents was inevitable. Cleon of Agrigentum chose a soldier's death, and sallying forth with all who breathed the same spirit as himself, he died fighting valiantly. Of the end of Achseus we are not informed. Eunus, with a body- guard of 600 men, fled to the neighbouring hills ; but, despairing of escape, the greater part of the Avretched men slew one another. The mock king himself was taken in a cave, with his cook, baker, bathing-man, and jester. He showed a pusillanimity far unlike the desperate courage of the rest, and died eaten by vermin in a dungeon at Murgantia. § 11. Thus was crushed for a time this perilous insurrection, the result of the Slave-system established by Roman conquest. The well-being of Sicily had even now been so seriously impaired that extraordinary measures were deemed necessary for restoring order. The Sibylline Books were consulted. The oracular page ordered the propitiation of " Ceres the most ancient ;" and a solemn deputation of priests proceeded to the august Temple of the Goddess in the city of Enna. This circumstance, seemingly unimportant, becomes significant, when it is considered that the war really originated in the neglect of agricultural labours, and was at its height during the notable year in which Tib. Gracchus was bringing to all men's knowledge the reduced condition of the farmers of Italy. § 12. Ten Commissioners were sent to assist Rupilius in draw- ing up laws for the better regulation of the agricultural districts. The code formerly established by Hiero at Syracuse was taken as the basis of their legislation, a measure which gave great satisfac- tion to all the Greek Communities. The whole land was required to pay a tithe of its produce to the Romans except the five free cities and some others which were allowed to pay a fixed annual sum. The collection of these tithes was to be let to Roman contractors. But to prevent extortion. Courts of Appeal were provided. All disputes between citizens of the same town were left to be decided in the town courts ; those between citizens of difi'erent towns, by judges drawn by lot under the eye of the Prsetor ; those between a town-community and an individual, by the Senate of some other city ; those between a Roman citizen and a Sicilian, by a judge belonging to the same nation as the defendant. There can be bo doubt that the general condition of the Sicilian landholders was considerably improved by this system ; and agriculture again flourished in Sicily as it had done in former times. Tomb on the Appian "Way. OHAPTEE XLIX. THE CONDITION OF KOME AND HER PEOPLE AT THE CLOSE OF THE PERIOD OF CONQUEST. § 1. Rise of a New Nobility. § 2. Control of Public Purse now in hands of Senate. § 3. Precariousness of Senatorial power. § 4. Growth of a wealthy Class, not noble. § 5. Knights equo publico et private : new Equestrian Order created by C. Gracchus. § 6. The free citizens con- sumed by the wars. § 1. Those who returned migrated to the towns. § 8. Increase of large estates. § 9. How these estates were furnished with labour: Metayers. § 10. Growing division between the City and the Rural Tribes: what was meant by "Men of the People" at Rome. § 11. Influence of the Nobnity in the Comitiav § 1. An attempt was made to review the condition of Rome and lier subjects at the point of time when she had just passed through the terrible ordeal of the Hannibalic War, Since that we have followed her, for more than a century and a half, in her rapid ascent to absolute dominion. -And here again we may pause to note the changes that had taken place in her political and social system. For though no violent changes are recorded, yet silently and surely great alterations had been wrought in almost all sorts and conditions of Roman citizens. Chap. XLIX. SENATORIAL POWER. • 503 We have had continually to recognise the increasing power of the Senate and the growth of a New Nobility, as compact as the old Patrician Oligarchy, and Avielding a mightier power. The mark of Nobility was not now, as of old, birth within the pale of the Patriciate, but birth within the number of those families who could count up successive honours for generations. Those were now most noble who possessed the longest file of images, that is those whose ancestors had held the greatest number of Curule ofiices. § 2. That which secured political supremacy to the Senate was what is familiarly called the power of the Purse. No people can be free unless they have some control over the expenditure of public money ; and at Rome all financial matters were, as we have seen, wholly in the hands of the Senate. In earlier times this great Council was obliged to levy a war-tax upon the People, which served as a check upon its power. But the large sums which poured into the treasury for the next few years made this tax lighter every year, till with the conquest of Macedon it ceased altogether. Henceforth, therefore, there was not even an indirect control over the public purse, and no hindrance was offered to a vote for declaring Avar. Even Cato, in his deter- mination to destroy Carthage, lent himself to the policy of his Order. All lucrative employments were seized by the members of the great Senatorial families. It was only when diflicult ser- vices were required, such as the conquest of Macedon, or the reduction of Carthage and Numantia, that the Senate were obliged to resort to the services of independent men like JEmilius Paullus or his son Scipio. § 3. But while the Senatorial Nobility seemed to be in secure possession of nearly all honours, there were not wanting signs to show that this possession was precarious. In the first place there had grown up of late years a body of wealthy families who were debarred from political honours ; and in the second place, the condition of the Rustic Population was every day becoming so bad as to excite the sympathy of the generous, and to alarm the fears of the selfish. § 4. The wealthy class of which we speak was chiefly composed of the tax-collectors, public contractors, and other persons engaged in commercial pursuits. Just before the second Punic War a law had been passed to make it illegal for Senators to engage in any kind of commercial adventure ; and to supply the constant demand caused by the wars that followed. Companies were formed, with a sufficient capital to undertake contracts for supplying the army and navy. When one province after another was conquered, similiar Companies contracted to collect the im- 504 • CONQUEST OF THE WOELD. Book V posts laid upon the new subjects of Rome, and this soon became a large and profitable businesSo The provincial imposts were put up to public auction ; the Company which off"ered the largest sum, if they could give proper security, received the contract; they paid into the Treasury the sum which they had offered, and all that they collected over and above this sum they divided among themselves : a system well contrived to encourage extortion. It was from this wealthy class of contractors and commercial men that C. Gracchus created a new order of citi- zens to balance the Senators. This was the Equestrian Order, the members of which were called Equites or Knights, — a new application of an old name which demands explanation. § 5. It has been noticed that by the institutions attributed to King Servius the Equites were raised to the number of 3600. They were the wealthiest men at Rome, and formed a real body of Knights or Chivalry, who served on horseback in the army of the city, as all the other Centuries served on foot. They were furnished with a horse at the public expense, or rather by a special tax laid on the property of widows and orphans, Avho were exempt from all other dues. As the City increased in power there were many citizens who Avere as wealthy as the Equites,* and yet were not of their num- ber; and at the siege of Veil many of these citizens came forward and offered to serve as horse-soldiers at their own expense. Hence arose the distinction of Knights with a Public and Knights with a Private Horse. After this time, the Cavalry seem to have been regularly furnished by families of a certain amount of property ; and the horse bestowed by the State became a badge of honour, which was retained by Senators and Consulars, though they were no longer liable to serve in the army. The whole system was remodelled, as it appears, in the Censorship of Fabius and Decius, who were commissioned to counteract the measures of Appius Claudius. It was then ordained that on the day of the battle of Regillus the Knights who had a public horse, clad in purple and wreathed with olive, should ride in procession from the Temple of Mars outside the city, to the portico of the Temple of Castor and Pollux in the Forum, and there dismounting should lead their horses past the Censors, who had power to deprive any man of his rank by taking away his horse. Such a punishment was inflicted on Livius and Nero, the conquerors of Metaurus, each upon the other, and upon L. Scipio by Cato. In process of time the distinction between * The Census of the Equites in earlier times is not known, but was (it may be presumed) larger than that of the First Class. Augustus fixed it at 400,000 sesterces (about 3500Z.) ; see Horace, 1 Epist. i. 58. Chap. XLIX. RURAL POPULATION. 505 the titular . Equites and the horse-soldiers of the army became more and more pronounced, and the possession of a public horse became a sort of honorary distinction held in high esteem. The Cavaliers became distinct from the Cavalry. But a great and complete change took place when C. Gracchus raised to the Equestrian Order all who possessed a certain amount of property, and thus created a sort of Lesser I^obility to counterbalance the Senate. After this, as it seems, a man lost his place in the Equestrian Order by becoming a Senator ; and the Equites were either wealthy contractors and merchants, or young men of Senatorial families, who had not themselves reached Senatorial dignity. The antagonism of the Equites and the Senate forms one of the most striking points in the internal history of Rome ^br the next fifty years. And here we find one of the quarters from which the dominion of the Senate was threatened. § 6. More immediate danger was to be apprehended from the state of the Rural Population, not only in the Roman territory itself, but throughout the allied cities of Italy. In the early times of Rome military service was a privilege, confined to persons of a certain property. Citizens with a fixed yearly income of smaller amount than gave a position in the Classes were employed on board the ships ; but those who had no appreciable property were used only as slingers and archers to skirmish in front of the regular battalions of the Legion. And the same practice seems to have prevailed in the Italian Communities, who always furnished more than half the Roman armies. In the great defeats of the Hannibalic War, therefore, the losses fell not on mercenary armies ; but on the substantial burgesses of the towns and the stout yeomen of tjie country. There can be no doubt that in this dreadful war the rural inhabitants of the Roman Territory, and of Italy generally, must have been more than decimated. And it was probably due to this cause that, from the time of Flamininus, Proletarians began to be enrolled in the legions along with the wealthier citi- zens.* Italy was drained of her best blood, and many a farm lost the stout limbs of its proprietors. § v. To this must be added that the wars, being now carried on beyond seas, drew off" the legionaries from their country work much more completely than the Italian wars. The men could no longer return home when the campaign was over, but were kept for several years in foreign lands ; and even if they returned to their country they had often contracted licentious tastes and formed * That Fla minin us originated the practice appears probable from Plu- tarch. Vit. Flamin. c. 18. 23 ;506 CONQUEST OF THE WORLD. Book V. irregular habits wliicli ill suited the frugal life of an Italian hus- bandman. Those, therefore, who had small estates were eager to turn them into money, that they might enjoy the irregular pleasures of the City ; those who had nothing to sell migrated without hindrance. Thus the Rural Population was more and more thinned, Avhile the towns, and Rome most of all, swarmed with needy and reckless men, ready for outrage. § 8. The small proprietors found it extremely easy to part with their estates and holdings. For the great Senatorial families were every day growing richer by the commands and governments which" were multiplied after every successive war; and, being prohibited from commerce, they were glad to invest their gains in buying up land in the neighbourhood of their own estates. From this time forth began those Latifundi« or Great Estates which Pliny believed to be the real cause of the depoptilation and decay of Italy. § 9. It might appear, indeed, that these estates, being stript of their labourers, would not be very valuable. But this was compensated by the great abundance and cheapness of Slaves, — a point which has been sufficiently illustrated in our account of the Sicilian Slave-war. Whole districts were thrown into pas- turage because free labourers were wanting, and their place was supplied by wretched captives, Avho, though unequal to the labours of the plough or spade, were able to watch flocks and tend herds. Even when tillage was still found profitable in Italy, it changed its character. It was then, probably, that what is called the metayer system, which prevails so largely there at the present day, first took its rise ; the system, that is, in which the tenant and landlord are partners in the crops,* the landlord furnishing land, farm-buildings, and seed, the tenant supplying the farm- implements and the labour. Here, then, was a second cause of discontent, which rendered the established order of things insecure, and might at any time cause peril to the government of the Senate. § 10, Meantime, with the decline of the Rural Population, the Population of the City had constantly been increasing. Even in the time of the Samnite Wars the Censor Appius had found the Freedmen sufficiently numerous to form a powerful support of the Patricians against the Plebeians. So we shall find them in the next half-century generally taking part with the Nobility against the champions of the Rural Population, — a fact of great importance in estimating the relation of parties at Rome. The people of the city, contemptuously called the Forensic Mob, were mostly con- * Metayer properly means Partner. The Latin term was Partiarius. Chap. XLIX. INFLUENCE OF NOBILITY IN COMITIA. 5o7 fined to four votes out of thirty-five, aud therefore in a general way tliey liad little weight against the country people, who had thirty-one votes out of thirty-five. It is, therefore, the Country Tribes which in Roman history are commonly known by the name of " the People," and it is this part of the nation which supported the patriotic statesmen avIio endeavoured to restore the old yeomanry of Italy ; while the haughtiest of the aristo- cracy are allied with the Tribes of the City. It was Appius, the proud Patrician, who endeavoured to spread the latter over all the Tribes ; it was by the popular Censors, Fabius and Decius, that they were thrown back into the Four City Tribes. When they had again broken these bonds, the rule of Fabius and Decius was renewed by a man branded by Livy with the name and charac- ter of demagogue, namely C. Flaminius, who fell at the Lake Trasimene ; and it was the father of the Gracchi who confined them even to a single Tribe. Cato, the most popular man of his day, was all in favour of the rural population, and it was their sufferings that first awakened the sympathies of Tib. Gracchus. We must not, then, import our notions of "popular men" into this portion of Roman history. By "popular men" we mean those who favour the people of the towns ; at Rome the term meant those who supported the people of the country. There was, properly speaking, no large and independent Middle Class, consisting of shopkeepers and small traders of all kinds, such as are found in all parts of Western Europe ; for these crafts were filled by the Freedmen and dependents of the rich. The conflict lay, therefore, between the Nobility and the country voters, though in a few years the Equestrian Order stepped in as a New Nobility to embroil the strife. § 11. An important consequence of this relation of parties was that by dexterous management the Nobility were able to obtain great influence in the Comitia. Popular choice was already much limited by the fact that wealth was required for the discharge of public office. It was further limited by the fact that at many seasons of the year the country people of the more distant Tribes could not leave their harvesting to give their votes at Rome. In this case the great Landowners, and all who were not obliged per- sonally to labour on their estates, represented the country tribes. Thus we may understand why, at some seasons, the Nobility car- ried elections against the will of the popular party, while at other times this party obtained easy victories over the Nobility. Medalion of Terence. CHAPTEE L. MANNERS AND MORALS : LITERATURE AND ART. § 1. Vain attempts to check immorality by the Censorship, and by La-vy. § 2. Religion. § 3. Public opinion : Literature. § 4. Ennius. § 5. Comedy. § 6. Plautus and Terence. § Y. Characteristics of their Plays. § 8. Caecilius and Afranius. § 9. Tragedy : Pacuvius and Attius. § 10. Eeasons why the Drama had little success at Rome. § 11. Satire : Luci- lius. § 12. Prose "Writers. § 13. Study of Law and Oratory. § 14. Art. § 1. Enough has been said in more than one chapter of the fore- going Book to prove the rapid decline in morality which followed the Punic Wars. The rankness of vice was felt by all Eomans of better feeling and truer patriotism. In consequence of the growing corruption of the age, an attempt was made to check the evil in a manner characteristic of the Roman mind, namely, by the moral superintendence of the Censors. Cato, the very type of a Roman, wielded this enormous power without com- promise ; and if penal Edicts could have arrested social changes or enforced moral obligations, the Censorial power in the hands of such a man as Cato must have done it. But though his spirit descended, in some measure, upon succeeding Censors, the undertaking proved vain. Sumptuary Laws, Laws against Bribery, and the like, were also tried by those who still clung to the hope of reviving the old Roman simplicity. The history of all nations, or rather the history of human nature, would teach us the vanity of such en- deavours. They were not more successful at Rome than they have since been "in other lands. Uhap. L. literature. 509 § 2. It miist not, however, be imagined that there were no exceptions to the rule of corrupt and Hcentious living, which began to prevail at Rome in this period. In the foregoing chap- ters many such have been specified, and if the records of the time were more complete, names now forgotten might be added to the list. But in the most upright Romans, such as Cato, there is something harsh and repulsive ; and now, more remarkably than ever, was their acknowledgment of social duties confined to the circle of their own countrymen. Nothing can be more detestable than the public morality of Rome through- out her career of conquest. No arts were too base to be used by her statesmen and generals. In the fulfilment of positive contracts, indeed, their good faith was much greater than the Greeks were accustomed to ; and Polybius, in a passage already cited, gives them high praise in this particular. But the re- ligious feelings which he attributes to them were fast decaying. Those who lived in open profligacy could know nothing of religion but its formalities, which it was necessary for every Roman to observe, because they were inextricably entangled with political business and military enterprises. Men of edu- cation sought a substitute in Greek Philosophy ; and here it may be noticed that the best Romans, such as JEmilius Paullus and the younger Scipio, professed the stern and practical doc- trines of the Stoic school. § 3. Nor was the progress of corruption checked by the great Censor of modern times. Public Opinion. This force can never fully operate in large communities except through the Press. Whatever be the abuses of the Press, and they are great, its uses are greater far. At Athens the place of this potent instrument was in some measure supplied by the free and vigorous satire of the Comic Poets. But at Rome even this was wanting. The rude Roman took little pleasure in exquisite poetry and keen wit, such as that with which Aristophanes or Eupolis enchained the ear of an Athenian audience; nay, the wild buflfoonery with which even Attic poets were obliged to amuse the multi- tude, failed to please those whose youth had been spent in the camp and on the battle-field. Yet there was a Literature at Rome, and we will here resume the account of it from the point at which we before broke off. § 4. It was said that the native poetry of Rome suddenly gave way to an invasion from Greece; and that" Naevius, though he made a brave stand against the prevailing taste, yet lived to see the triumph of Ennius, an avowed Hellenist. The vigour and force with which the new poet used the heroic metre of Homer may be seen from a few specimens, which Virgil borrowed and 510 COUQUEST OF THE WORLD. Book V. incorporated with slight alteration in his great Epic* Enniiis, like Livius and Nsevius, wrote Tragedies and Comedies, which he translated from the Greek. But the work on which his fame rested was his great Epic poem entitled the Annals of Rome, in eighteen books. The first six of these contained a rapid nar- rative of the early History : the seventh began with the Second Punic War, so that to this great theme the bulk of the Poem was devoted. He boasts that he was the first who abandoned the rude metre used "by Fauns and Bards," and studied the elegancies of style ; and he is acknowledged by Lucretius as the poet Who first from lovely Helicon brought down The leaves of an imperishable crown, For all Italia's sons to hold in high renown. Nor was his boast empty. It is manifest that Ennius, by his Poem on the Punic Wars, formed and settled the Latin language, much as Shakspere and the Translators of the Bible formed and settled English. No doubt Virgil culled the fairest flowers ; but even the fastidious taste of Horace could recognise true poetic spirit in some lines of Ennius, though, at a later period of his lit 3, he sneered at the old bard's pretensions.f The devotion of Cicero to Ennius is absolute. So long did his popularity last, that Seneca, writing in the time of Nero, calls the Roman People Populus Ennianus, and portions of his poems were commonly recited in the theatres down to the time of the Emperor Aurelius. § 5. Meantime, besides Tragedy, of which we have spoken, there had arisen at Rome a Comic Drama, of high excellence. Comic entertainments of a rude kind had prevailed from early times. But the Fescennine Dialogues and the Atellane Mimes, of which we spoke in a former page, had no relation to what was called Comedy at Rome. ' This, like Tragedy, Avas merely * As, " Postquam Diseordia tetra Belli ferratos postes portasque refregit." — Ennius. " Impulit ipsa manu portas, et cardine verso Belli ferratos rupit Saturnia postes." — Virgil. " Qui ccelum versat stellis fulgentibus aptum." — Ennius. " Axem humero torquet stellis ardentibus aptum.'''' — ^YirgiL Quae neque Dardaniis campis potuere perire, " l^ec quum capta capi, nee quum combusta cremari." — ^Ennius. " Num Sige'is occumbere campis, Num capti potuere capi ? num incensa cremavit Troja viros?^^ — Virgil, f He recognises the poetic spirit in 1 Serm. iv. 60 sq.; he adopts a depre- ciatory tone in 2 Epist. i. 50 sq. Chap. L, LITERATURE. 511 transplanted from Greece. Probably all the old poets from Livius AndronicuR to Ennius, who translated Greek Tragedies for the Roman stage, also translated Greek Comedies. Nasvius, as we have seen, tried a more independent com'se, and was per- secuted for his pains. The Comedies, in which he attacked the Metelli and others, must have rather resembled the Old Comedy of Athens, in which it was usual to indulge in the most open personalities ; while the Roman Comic Dramas known to us are borrowed from the New Comedy of Meander and Diphilus, in which the characters represent not particular persons, but whole classes of society. It is evident, at once, that such dramas would have little effect, as will appear when we have given some ac- count of the chief Comic Poets and their works. § 6. T. Maccius Plautus was a native Italian, having been born at Sarsina, a petty town of Umbria, near the close of the First Punic War. His father was a Freedman.: he led a careless, jovial life, frequenting taverns, and entering into the humours of the people, rather than seekiug the patronage of the great. His plays were not without reward ; but he was sometimes obliged to labour like a slave for his daily bread. He died in 184 b.c. at a good old age. Twenty of his comedies still remain. P. Terentius Afer appears to have been born at Carthage about the year 195 B.C., and was therefore some half-century younger than Plautus. In his youth he was the slave of a wealthy Roman, named P. Terentius Lucanus, whose first names he adopted (according to custom) on obtaining his freedom. His first play was the Andria, which he finished in his twenty- seventh year, and it won him the acquaintance and patronage of Scipio ^milianus and Lselius, who were then young men, study- ing Greek under Polybius. His Adelphi was acted (by a strange abuse) at the funeral games of ^milius Paullus, and the charge that he was assisted in translating from Diphilus by his young patrons is at least not discountenanced by the poet.'* He died at the early age of thirty-four; and probably the six comedies which we still possess entire were all that he ever wrote. § 7. The characteristic excellences of the two poets correspond with the manners of their lives. As far as the plots go, there is little to praise. The same generic characters appear and reap- pear in every play. Both Plautus and Terence content them- * For he says in the Prologue : — " Nam quod isti dieunt malevoli, homines nobiles Eum adjutare adsidueque %ma scribere. Quod illi maledictum vehemens esse existimant, Earn laudem hie maximam ducit," &c. 512 CONQUEST OF THE WORLD. Book V. selves with giving us, at second hand, weak fathers who leave their sons to the care of roguish slaves; and represent the sons as determined to woo and win penniless girls, in which aim they were aided by the clever knavery of the slaves. In the end, a reconciliation is brought about by the discovery that the dreaded mistress is the lost daughter of a brother or some par- ticular friend of the father; so that the young man gains his point, and the slave, instead of being punished for his trickery, is rewarded for his adroitness. Sometimes a Captain Bobadil, such as in Greece were common after the Macedonian Wars, stupid, braggart, and rich with plunder, is made a butt for all kinds of jokes, verbal and practical, and he is attended by a Parasite, who flatters him extravagantly, and is rewarded (as his name shows) by a place at the Captain's table. But the tone and manner in which these unpromising charac- ters were employed by the two writers are extremely different. Plautus, coarser and more free-spoken, admits much of broad Eoman humour, and introduces many Roman customs into his scenes. Terence, veiling even immoral thoughts in a style polished almost to coldness, keeps closer to his Attic original, and seldom ventures to mar its unity by foreign admixture. The Parasite in Plautus tickles his master's vanity by a coarseness of flattery that would have put Falstaff to the blush : the Parasite of Terence falls into his lord's vein with such easy assentation, that a less stupid man might be deceived.* The Son of Plautus, thwarted in his desires, prays for his father's death, that he may bestow the inheritance on his mistress :f the Son of Terence, grieved for the deceit he has practised upon his father, breaks into passionate self-reproach.J There is a racy freshness in the style of Plautus which well deserves the praise bestowed by Cicero, and was so admired by some Roman critics, as to draw from them the extravagant praise, that, " if the Muses spoke Latin, they would * In the Miles Gloriosus of Plautus, the Parasite flatters Pyrgopolinicea thus : — " You broke," he says, " In India with your fist an elephant's arm." And again : " I do remember — ^let me see — an hundred Cryphiolathronians, and thirty Sardians, And threescore Macedonians — that's the nimaber Of men you slaughtered in a single day. Pyrgop. What's the sum total of the men ?" Parasite. Seven thousand!''' The Parasite in the Eunuehus of Terence is much more delicate in his flattery. f Mostellaria, Act i. Sc. 3, 1. 16. X As Pamphilus in the Andria, Act v. Sc. 3. Chap. L. LITERATURE, 5 13 use the tongue of Plautus :" and if Horace speaks slightingly of him, as of Ennius, it must be said that he was provoked by the fashion which in his day prevailed of over-rating the old Roman writers. The style of Terence is a very model of precision, elegance, and purity, as is testified by Cicero and by Csesar, though the latter laments a certain deficiency of comic vigour, which made him only " half a Menander."* § 8. Besides these two famous writers, may be mentioned Q. Csecilius, a Comic poet, who died about two years before the Andria of Terence Avas acted, and who was coupled with Terence in a manner that implies his excellence.f He was a Milanese by birth, and, like Terence, came to Rome as a slave. Another Comic poet of somewhat later date deserves particular notice. This was L. Afranius, who ventured, like Nsevius, to write Comedies on Roman subjects, though he still seems to have drawn upon Menander for his dialogue.^ § 9. To those short notices of the Comic Poets, we may add a still shorter account of the two Tragic writers who flourished at the same time. Pacuvius, sister's son of Ennius, was born in the year before Hannibal crossed the Alps, and lived to the age of eighty, so that he died about the same time with Terence. Most of his Tragedies, like those of his predecessors, were borrowed from the Greek. But he wrote one play named Paullus, of which the hero was the conqueror of Macedon. Attius, or Accius, began to bring forward plays in the year of the death of Pacuvius (l'39 B.C.). He also, besides his Greek trans- lations, produced two plays with Roman arguments. The Brutus and The Decius. The subjects were the Delivery of Rome from the Tarquins, and the Self-sacrifice of that Decius who fell at the battle of Sentinum. They were produced, as the name of the first testifies, under the patronage of Dec. Brutus Callaicus, who carried the Roman arms to the verge of the Atlantic, and who entered * " Quicquid come loquens atque omnia dulcia dicens." — Cicero, Fragm. " Tu quoque, tu in summis, dimidiate Menander, Poneris, et merito, puri sermonis amator. Lenibus atque utinam scriptis adjuncta foret vis Comica, ut sequato virtus poUeret honore Cum Grsecis, neque in hac despectus parte jaceris." — Csesar ap. Sueton. f " Vincere Caecilius gravitate, Terentius arte." — Horat. 2. Epist. 1. 59. This was the popular opinion, not Horace's. \ " Dicitur Afrani toga convenisse Menandei"," says Horace (2 Epist. i. 5*7). Comedies in which the Dramatis Personse were Roman, and wore Roman dresses, were called FabulcB Togatce, while those in which the Greek names and dresses were retained, which was usually the ease, were called Palliatce. 22* 514 CONQUEST OF THE WORLD. Book V. into a generous rivalry with Scipio in patronage of Poetry.* The few remains of Attius are terse and vigorous ; and the loss of his historical plays cannot but be matter of regret.f § 10. Enough has been said to show that this literature can have produced very little effect upon the manners and morals of Rome. It was wholly of foreign growth. What interest could the people at large take in the Grecian dramas ? " What was Hecuba to them, or they to Hecuba?" The Roman Drama was an exotic, which subsisted by the patronage of the great men, who spoke Greek as readily as Latin. The Roman Dra- matic Poets were mostly Slaves or Freedmen, whose object was to please the great family to which they were attached. When any one, as Nsevius, attempted to tread a freer course, his mouth was stopped by persecution. The common life and interests of a Roman citizen every year made him less disposed for intellectual amusements. From childhood he was used to the splendid games, which every suc- ceeding vEdile tried to make more splendid. Triumph after triumph raised a love of gorgeous exhibitions, which was ill- satisfied by the poetry and action of the Stage. Above all, the bloody sports of the gladiatorial combats, which were first exhibited at the funeral games of a Brutus (264 B.C.), created a craving for strong and real excitements, which no dramatic illusions could supply. This tendency in the vulgar was seconded by the old Roman spirit, which regarded the Drama as a foreign innovation, calculated to enervate and corrupt. Dramatic repre- sentations at Rome were but occasional, and the Theatres were but temporary booths, removed when the festival-time was past. In the year 155 b.c. the Censor Cassius wished to per- petuate the memory of his ofiice by building a stone Theatre ; but the Consul P. Scipio Nasica, a rigid stickler for old Roman * These Historical Plays were no doubt the dramas known under the name of the Fahulce Prcetextatce, because the chief persons wore the Prcetextce or State-robe of Senators. f Popular opinion represented Pacuvius as the Euripides, Attius as the Sophocles of Roman Tragedy : — " Aufert Pacuvius docti famam Senis, Attius alti." — Horat. 2 Epist, i. 56. Horace commends the fashion of plays on subjects of Roman history : — " Nee minimum meruere decus, vestigia Graeca Ausi deserere, et celebrare domestica facta." — Ars Poet. 286. One of the vigorous sayings of Attius is the famous Tyrant's maxim, " Oderint dum metuant." The pithy line — " Virtute sis par, dispar fortunse patris" — has been amplified by Virgil into — " Disce, puer, virtutem ex me verumque laborem, Fortimam ex aliis." Chap. L. LITERATURE. 515 customs, interfered to prevent the work; nor was any stone Theatre erected at Rome till the second Consulship of Pompey the Great, exactly one century later. But the Theatres, such as they were, were not so much used for dramatic purposes in the proper sense of the word, as for the representation of gorgeous spectacles and magnificent processions. In a tragedy, whose subject was the Fall of Troy, it was not the fate of Priam or the sorrows of Andromache that touched the hearts of the audi- ence, but a host of soldiers in foreign arms and strange apparel that amused their eyes. In Horace's time this corruption of taste had reached its height. The taste of the people, he says, is all for bear-baiting and boxing-matches. Nor could the educated classes boast of a better taste. The love of military shows and spectacles had overpowered all merely intellectual pleasures.* § 11. One species of Poetry remains to be mentioned, Avhich arose in the same period, and for which alone the Eomans can claim the merit of original invention, — that, namely, which Horace and Juvenal have made so well known under the name of Satire. It originated, doubtless, with those rustic effusions called the Fescennine Dialogues, which had served from early times to attack the foibles and fashions of the day. This rude instru- ment was taken up by a great poet, who used it so as not only to assail and censure, but also to convey positive instruction.! This Poet was named C. Lucilius. He was born at Suessa Aurunca in 148 e.g., served in the Equites under Scipio in the Numantine war, and continued on intimate terms with the younger Ltelius, after the death of his more illustrious friend. He died about the year 103 b.c. at Naples, to which place he had retired from the civil broils which disturbed the City. The muse of Lucilius was very fluent. Of his numerous Satires only fragments now remain ; but many of these show that he pos- sessed a vigour of thought and pungency of style not unworthy of the master of Horace and Juvenal. In the Augustan age, indeed, the admiration for Lucilius was so great, that Horace thought it necessary to moderate the fervour of his admirers, and gave so much offence that he was obliged to enter into an * See Hor. 2 Epist. i. 185 sqq. f Its originality is expressly asserted by Horace, who calls Lucilius "Greeds infacti carminis auctor" (1 /Se/m. s. 68). Juvenal's definition of Satire is well known : " Quicquid agunt homines, — votum, timor, ira, eupido, Gaudia, diseursus, — nostri est farrago libelli." — Sat. i. 86. The word Satira or Saiura is said to mean a medley, — a sense well suited to this definition. 516 CONQUEST OF THE WORLD. Book V. explanation of the Satire whicli lie liad written upon the first writer of Satires.* § 12. Little need here be added with respect to Prose Litera- ture. It became a fashionable employment for Romans of high family to compose naiTatives of portions of Roman history, after the example set by Fabius Pictor and Cincius Alimentus. The instruction of the people could but little be consulted, when books were all written by hand, and were, therefore, both scarce and costly. But any such purpose was disavowed by the fact, that most of these chroniclers wrote in Greek, just as the English, French, and German authors of the Middle ages wrote ia Latin. § 13. The study of law had before this begun to be common at Rome, and men little fitted for military life courted popular favour by giving legal advice to numerous clients. But this subject belongs properly to the succeeding age. Men of the Forum were still expected to take the command of armies, even when their inefficiency was certain. Such was the case with the Consuls who began the Third Punic War. But there was a kindred pursuit, which already brought fame and profit to those who professed it, namely, the art of Public Speaking. The practice of indicting great off'enders before the people, or prosecuting them in the Law-courts, encouraged Fo- rensic Oratory. Deliberative or Parliamentary speaking found an open field, not only in the Senate, but in the great Assemblies of the People. And the faculties of the Romans seem to have readily adapted themselves to the requirement. In his work on the Orators of Rome,f Cicero enumerates some even of this early date, whose speeches were still thought worth reading. Such was Appius Claudius the Censor, whose dying eloquence led the Senate to reject the persuasive offers of Cineas; such was Sergius Galba, whose pathetic language procured his own acquittal from the charge of oppression in Spain ; such was old Cato, for many years the favourite orator of the Forum. The study of the art of Speaking was, indeed, the chief part of a young Roman's education. When he had gone through some grammatical teaching, and read some of the old poets, he passed into the school of a Rhetorical master, and learned to repeat famous speeches, such as those of Galba, and to frame speeches of his own on imaginary subjects. But the old Romans objected to these novel practices. Greek Rhetoricians were their chief abomination. In the year 161 b.c, a Decree of the Senate was launched even against Latin Philosophers and Rhetoricians ; and * The first attack was in 1 Serm. iv. 8 sq. The explanation is 1 Serm. x. 1 sq. " Nempe incomposito, <&e." f Entitled Brutus, sive de Claris Oratoribus Libellus. Chap. L. ORATORY— ART. 517 the Prsetor Pomponius was instructed to see that no such persons remained at Rome. Of the prompt measures taken by Cato to remove Carneades six years later we have spoken. But the fashion was gradually tolerated and finally prevailed. § 14. Roman Art became more and more a mere name, except so far as engineering and building came into that province. We have nothing to add here to the remarks made in a former chapter. The story of Mummius and the Corinthian statues is, in a some- what grotesque form, an epitome of genuine Roman taste and feeling in respect to the Fine Arts. Bust ef Enniua. The Forum from the Capitol. BOOK VI. FIKST PEKIOD OF CIYIL WAES. CHAPTER LI. TIBERIUS GRACCHUS. (133 B.C.) § 1. Necessity of Reform. § 2. Youth and education of Tib. Gracclius. § 3. Elected Tribune. § 4. The Country Citizens chiefly interested iu an Agrarian Law. § 5. Provisions of the Law proposed by Gracchus. §6. Opposition to the Law : question as to its justice. § 1. Feeling in its favour : Octavius, a Tribune, undertakes to bar it. § 8. Proceedings at the First Assembly. § 9. Efforts of both parties. § 10. Proceedings at Chap. LI. TIBERIUS GRACCHUS. 519 the Second Assembly. § 11. The Third Assembly : Oetavius deposed, the Law passed, Three Commissioners elected. § 12. Bequest of Attains: Gracchus proposes to employ it in stocking the new allotments. § 13. Accusations against Gracchus in the Senate : decrease of popularity. § 14. He defends his own conduct. § 15. Gifers himself for re-election: brings forward popular measures. § 16. The Comitia adjourned : prepa- rations for a struggle. § 17. Tumult : death of Gracchus. § 18. Esti- mate of his charactei'. § 1. It appears that before the time of Scipio's election to con- duct the Numantian War, it had become a prevalent opinion that some measures Avere necessary to arrest the social evils of which we have spoken above. The frightful excesses of the Servile War called attention still more strongly to the subject ; and in the year that Scipio achieved the conquest of Numantia a leader appeared who was endowed with courage, firmness, self-confi- dence, ability, eloquence, and every requisite for political success, except a larger experience and a larger share of patience and selt- control. § 2. Ti. Sempronius Gracchus was son of one of the few Romans in whom public spirit prevailed over the spirit of party. Though personally hostile to the great Scipio, we saw him interfere be- tween him and his foes. After the death of Africanus, the chiefs of the party off"ered him the hand of Cornelia, the only surviving daughter of the hero ; and from this marriage twelve sons and one daughter were born in rapid succession. The eldest, Ti- berius, saw the light about 166 b.c, but the father died before his eldest son reached man's estate, and Cornelia was left a widow with her children. The daughter lived ; but of all the twelve sons only two grew up, — Tiberius, and Caius who was nine years younger. To the education of these precious relics Cornelia devoted all the energies of her masculine mind. She even refused an offer to share the throne of the King of Egypt. Her dearest task was to watch the opening capacities of her boys. Such was her hope of their greatness that she used to say she would be known not as the Daughter of Scipio, but as the Mother of the Gracchi. According to the fashion of the day, Greek teachers were called in to educate the boys. Blossius of Cumse, and Diophanes a Mitylensean exile, are mentioned as the instructors, and in later life as the friends, of Tiberius. Scarcely had Tiberius assumed the garb of manhood when he was elected into the College of Augurs. At the banquet given to celebrate his installation, App. Claudius, the Chief of the Senate, offered him his daughter's hand in marriage. When the proud Senator returned home, he told his wife that he had that day betrothed their daughter. 520 CIVIL WARS: FIRST PERIOD. Book VI. " All !" she cried, " she is too young : it had been well to wait a while, — unless indeed young Gracchus is the man." Soon after his marriage he accompanied Scipio to Carthage, where he was the first to scale the walls. The personal importance of Gracchus was strengthened by the marriage of Scipio with his only sister. But this marriage proved unhappy. Sempronia had no charms of person, and her temper was not good; -Scipio's austere manners were little pleasing to a bride ; nor were children born to form a bond of union between them. § 3. It was when Gracchus was about thirty years old (137 b.c.) that he served as Quaestor in Spain. Before this, when he tra- velled through Etruria to join the army, he had noted her broad lands tilled not by free yeomen as of old, but by slaves. Soon after this the Slave War broke out. He spoke his sentiments freely, and public opinion designated him as the man who was to undertake the thankless office of Reformer. In all places of public resort the walls were covered with inscriptions calling on Gracchus to vindicate the rights of all Roman citizens to a share in the State lands. He presented himself as a candidate for the Tribunate, and was elected. § 4. In the beginning of 133 b.c. he entered upon office. He had already prepared men for his projected legislation by elo- quent speeches, in which he compared the present state of Italy with her olden time, deplored the decay of her yeomen and farmers, and the lack of free men to serve in the legions. All his arguments pointed towards some measures for restoring the class of small landed proprietors who were dwindling fast away. § 5. In a short time his plan was matured and his Bill brought forward. He proposed to revise the Licinian Law of 364 b.c, by which it was enacted that no head of a family should hold more than 500 jugera (nearly 320 acres) of the Public Land ; but to render the rule less stringent, he added that every son of the family might, on becoming his own master, hold half that quantity in addition. Whoever was in possession of more was to give up the excess at once to the State ; but to obviate complaints of injustice, he proposed that those who gave up possession should be entitled to a fair compensation for any improvements they had made during the term of their possession. All Public Lands were to be vested in three Commissioners {^Triumviri), who were to be elected by the Tribes. Their business was to distribute the Public Lands to all citizens in needy circumstances : and to prevent lands so distributed being again absorbed into the estates of the rich Landowners, the sale of the new allotments was altogether prohibited. Chap. LL TIBERIUS GRACCHUS. 521 § 6. The greater part of these Public Lands had fallen into the hands of the rich Landowners. They had held them on pay- ment of a small yearly rent, for generations : and many of these persons had forgotten perhaps 'that their possession could be disturbed. After the first surprise was over, the voices of these Landholders began to be heard ; but as yet the majority of the Senate showed no disfavour to the law of Gracchus.* The per- sons interested alleged that the measure, though it pretended only to interfere with State lands, did in fact interfere with the rights of private property ; for these lands were held on public lease and had been made matters of purchase and sale, moneys were secured on them for the benefit of widows and orphans, tombs had been erected on them : if this law passed, no man's land could be called his own. If Gracchus had proposed a forcible and immediate resump- tion of all State lands, without compensation for moneys spent on them, these arguments would have had more weight. Eights arise by prescription ; and if the State had for a long course of time tacitly recognised a right of private property in these lands, it would have been a manifest injustice thus abruptly to resume possession. But the Licinian Law was evidence that the State claimed a right to interfere with the tenure of the Public Lands. That the Romans felt no doubt about the right is shown by the fact that in framing his law Tiberius was assisted by his father- in-law App. Claudius, the Chief of the Senate, and by P. Mucius Scsevola, Consul of the year, the best lawyer at Rome, and a man of unquestionable integrity. The right was clear : the only question was as to the expediency of the measure. § 7. It is certain that the Law would be carried in all the country Tribes, because it was precisely in these Tribes that the strength of Gracchus lay, and all his arguments show that he knew it. It was to the country people, who had lost or were afraid of losing their little tenements, that he spoke. " The wild animals of Italy," said he, " have their dens and lairs : the men who have fought for Italy have air and light, — nothing more. They are styled masters of the world, though they have not a clod of earth they can call their own." One course only remained open to the Landholders for thwarting the bold Tribune, and this was to gain over one of his brother Tribunes to interpose the fatal veto. They fixed on M. Octavius. For a time he was inexorable, but at length he gave way to their arguments ; and on the night before the day on which the Law was to be * Appius calls his opponents not Senators {(iovlevTal or ytpovTeg), but ol KTrifiaTLKoi or ol ix'kovaLoi, Lat. Possessores, — wealthy Landholders. 522 CIVIL WARS : FIRST PERIOD. Book VI. proposed, the holders of Public Lands went to rest with lightened hearts. § 8. The morning came. The Formn was crowded with people expecting the completion of the great measure which was to re- store some share in the broad lands of Italy to the sons of those who had won them. Strange faces were seen everywhere : vine- dressers from Campania and the Auruncan hills, peasants from the Sabine and ^quian valleys, farmers of valley and plain from the Clanis to the Vulturnus. Gracchus rose. His speech was received with loud applause by the eager multitude. When he had ended, he turned to the clerk, and bade him read over the Avords of the Law before it was put to the vote. Then Octavius stood up and forbade the man to read. Gracchus was taken by surprise. After much debate he broke up the Assembly, declaring that he would again bring on his defeated Bill upon the next regular day of meeting. § 9. This intervening time was spent in preparing for the con- test. Gracchus retaliated upon the veto of Octavius by laying an interdict on all public functionaries, shut up the courts of justice and the offices of police, and put a seal upon the doors of the Treasury. Further, he struck the compensation clauses out of his Bill, and now simply proposed that the State should resume possession of all lands held by individuals in contraven- tion of the Licinian Law. § 10. On the day of the second Assembly Gracchus appeared in the Forum escorted by a body-guard. Again he ordered the clerk to read the Bill ; again Octavius stood forth, and barred all pro- ceedings. A violent scene followed, and a riot seemed inevitable, when two Senators, friends of Gracchus — one named Fulvius Flaccus — earnestly besought him to refer the whole matter to the Senate. Gracchus consented. But his late impatient con- duct had weakened whatever influence his name possessed in the great Council, and his appearance was the signal for a burst of reproaches. He hastily left the House, and returning to the Forum gave out that on the next day of Assembly he would for the third time propose his measure ; and that, if Octavius persisted in opposition, he would move the People to depose their unfaithful Tribune. §11. As the day approached, Gracchus made every effort to avoid this desperate necessity ; but Octavius repelled every ad- vance, and on the morning of the third Assembly, Gracchus rose at once and moved that Octavius should be deprived of the trust which he had betrayed. The country Tribe, which obtained by lot the prerogative of voting first, was called, and its suffrage was unanimous for the Chap. LI. TIBERIUS GRACCHUS. 523 deposition of Octavius ; sixteen Tribes followed in the same sense ; tlie eigliteentli Avonld give a majority of tlie thirty-five, and its vote would determine the question. As this Tribe came up to vote, Gracchus stopped the proceedings, and besought Octavius not to force on the irrevocable step. The Tribune wavered : but he caught the eye of one of his rich friends, and turned coldly from Tiberius. Then the eighteenth Tribe was called, and by its vote Octavius was in a moment stripped of his sacred ofiice. The Bill itself was then passed by acclamation, and three Commissioners destined to execute its provisions were elected, — Tiberius himself, his father-in-law App. Claudius, his brother Caius, then a youth of twenty, serving under Scipio in Spain. The Law was not deemed safe unless it was intrusted for execu- tion to Tiberius and his kinsmen. § 12. In a few weeks Gracchus had risen to the summit of power. He seldom stirred from home without being followed by a crowd. The Numantian War and the Servile War still lin- gered, and the government of the Senate was not in a condition to defy attack. That body now was thoroughly alarmed, and Gracchus soon proceeded to measures which touched them in their tenderest point. Attains Philometor, King of Pergamus, the last of the line of Eumenes, was just dead, and had bequeathed his kingdom with nil his lands and treasure to the Roman People. In ordinary times the Senate, as the administrator of all foreign and financial aff"airs, would at once have assumed the disposition of this bequest ; but Gracchus promptly gave notice that he would propose a Bill to enact that the moneys of Attalus should be distributed to those who were to receive allotments of Public Land, in order to assist them in purchasing stock, in erecting farm-buildings, and the like ; and he added that he would bring the subject of its future government before the People without allowing the Senate to interfere. He thus openly announced a revolution. § 13. When Gracchus next appeared in the Senate-house, he was accused of receiving a purple robe and diadem from the envoy of the late King of Pergamus. T. Annius, an old Senator, who had been Consul twenty years before, openly taxed the Tribune with violating the Constitution. Gracchus, stung to the quick by this last assault, indicted the old Consular for treason against the majesty of the People. Annius appeared ; but before Gracchus could speak, he said : " I suppose, if one of your brother Tribunes offers to protect me, you will fly into a passion and depose him also." Gracchus saw the effect pro- duced upon his hearers, and broke up the Assembly. Moreover, many of his well-wishers had been alarmed by a 524 CIVIL WARS: FIRST PERIOD. Book VL Law, by which he had made the Triumviri absolute judges, without appeal, on disputed questions with regard to property in land. Many allotments of Public Land had been granted, of which the titles had been lost ; and every person holding under such condition saw his property placed at the mercy of irresponsible judges. § 14. Gracchus felt that his popularity was shaken, and at the next Assembly he thought it necessary to make a set speech to vindicate his conduct in deposing Octavius. The sum of his arguments amounts to a plea of necessity. It is true that the Constitution of Rome provided no remedy against the abuse of power by an officer, except the shortness of time during which he held office and his liability to indictment at the close of that time. The Tribunician authority, originally demanded to protect the People, might have turned against the People. But was not it open to Gracchus to propose a Law by which the veto of a single Tribune might be limited in its effect? Or might he not have waited patiently for the election of new set of Tribunes, and taken care that all were tried friends of his Law ? Instead of this he preferred a coup-d'etat, and thus set an example which was sure to be turned against himself. § 15. The violent language of Nasica and his party made it plain that in the next year, when his person was no longer pro- tected by the sanctity of the Tribunician office, he would b^ vigorously assailed. He therefore determined to offer himself for reelection at the approaching Comitia of the Tribes. But his election was far from- secure. Harvest-work occupied the country voters ; many had grown cold ; the mass of those who resided in the city were clients and dependents of the Nobility. It was to regain and extend his popularity that he now brought forward three measures calculated to please all classes except the Senatorial families. First, he proposed to diminish the necessary period of Military Service. Secondly, he announced a reform of the superior Law-courts, by which the juries were to be taken not from the Senators only, but from all persons pos- sessing a certain amount of property, — a measure which was sure to please the wealthy contractors and tax-collectors. Thirdly, he provided an Appeal in all cases from the law-courts to the Assembly of the People. These measures, which in altered forms were afterwards carried by his brother Gains, were only brought forward by Tiberius. But this was enough. His popularity returned in full tide. § 16. "When the day of the election came, the Prerogative Tribe gave its vote for Gracchus and his friends; so also the next. But it was objected that the same man could not be Chap. LI. TIBERIUS GRACCHUS. 525 chosen in two successive years ; and after a hot debate the Assembly was adjourned till next day. It wanted yet some hours of nightfall. Gracchus came forth into the Forum, clad in black, and leading his young son by the hand. In anticipation of his untimely end, he committed his precious charge to his fellow citizens. All hearts were touched. The people surrounded him with eager gesticulations, and escorted him home, bidding him be of good cheer for the mor- row. Many of his warmest adherents kept guard at his doors all night. § 17. The adjourned Assembly met next morning upon the Capitol, and the area in front of the Temple of Jupiter was filled chiefly by the adherents of Gracchus, among whom the Tribune was himself conspicuous, in company with his Greek friend and preceptor Blossius of Cumae. The Senate also assembled hard by in the Temple of Faith. jN'asica rose and urged the presiding Consul to «top the reelection. But Scasvola declined.* On this, Fulvius Flaccus left the Senate, informed Gracchus of the speech of Nasica, and told him that his death was resolved upon. Then the friends of Gracchus girded up their gowns and armed themselves with staves, for the purpose of repelling force by force. In the midst of the uproar Gracchus raised his hand to his head. His enemies cried that he was asking for a crown. Exaggerated reports were carried into the Senate-house, and Nasica exclaimed, " The Consul is betraying the Republic : those who would save their country, follow me !" So saying, he drew the skirt of his gown over his head, after the manner used by the Pontifex Maximus in solemn acts of worship. A number of Senators followed, and the people respectfully made way. But the Nobles and their partisans broke up the benches that had been set out for the Assembly, and began an assault upon the adherents of Gracchus, who fled in disorder. Gracchus abandoned all thoughts of resistance : he left his gown in the hands of a friend who sought to detain him, and made towards the Temple of Jupiter. But the priests had closed the doors ; and in his haste he stumbled over a bench and fell. As he was rising, one of his own colleagues struck him on the head with a stool ; another claimed the honour of repeating the blow ; and before the statues of the old kings at the portico of the Temple the Tribune lay dead. Many of his adherents were slain with him : many were forced over the wall at the edge of the Tar- Eeian Rock, and were killed by their fall. Not fewer than three undred lost their lives in the fray. * Piso, the other Consul, was employed in extinguishing the Slave-war in Sicily. — Chapt. xlviii. § 11. 526 CIVIL WARS: FIRST PERIOD. Book VI. Caius liad just returned from Spain, and asked leave to bury his brother's corpse. This was refused. The triumphant party ordered the bodies of Tiberius and his friends to be thrown into the Tiber before morning. Thus flowed the first blood that was shed in civil strife at Rome. 8 18. Tiberius Gracchus must be allowed the name of Great, if greatness be measured by the efi"ects produced upon society by the action of a single mind, rather than by the length of time during which power is held, or the success that follows upon bold enterprises. He held office not more than seven months ;* and in that short time he so shook the power of the Senate, that it never entirely recovered from the blow. His nature was noble ; his views and wishes those of a true patriot. But he was impatient of opposition, and by his abrupt and violent con- duct provoked a resistance which he might have avoided. When the moment of action came, his temper was too gentle, or his will too irresolute, to take the bold course which his own conduct and that of the Senate had rendered necessary. "When Scipio, in the camp before Numantia, heard of his kins- man's end, he exclaimed in the words of Homer : — " So perish all and every one who dares such deeds as he !" But the sequel will show that it was not so much of the political measures of Gracchus that Scipio disapproved, as of the impa- tience which he had shown and the violence which he had used in carrying them. Such defects of character were of all most displeasing to a soldier and a Stoic. * For the Tribunes entered on office on the IV. Id. Decembr. — the 10th of December ; and the new election was held in the July following. f u£ uTTo'koiTo Kol dTCkoQ, oTig ToiavTu ye f)e^ot, — Od. i. 4*7. Tomb on the Appian Way. CHAPTER LII. RETURN AND DKATH OF SCIPIO THE YOUNGER. (133-129 B.C.) § 1. Prevalence of the moderate Party in the Senate : P. Crassus elected Triumvir to succeed Tib. Gracchus : Nasica obliged to quit Rome. § 2. A Commission issued to try the accompUces of Gracchus. § 3. Scipio returns from Spain : his sympathies with the Italian yeomen. § 4. His opposition to the City populace. § 5. Scipio and Crassus competitors for command : Crassus elected : Censorship of Metellus and Pompeius, two Plebeians. § 6. Death of Crassus in Asia, and of App. Claudius : Fulvius Flaccus and Carbo elected Triumviri in their stead. § '7. Proceedings of Carbo to give effect to the Agrarian Law. § 8. Arbitrary decisions on tenure of Public Lands : great offence given to the Italians. § 9. They entreat Scipio to undertake their cause : failure of his scheme. § 10. Speech of Scipio in the Senate : intention to speak in the Forum next day : he is found dead in his bed. § 11. Suspicions of murder. § 12. Character of Scipio. § 1. The struggle had now commenced between the Oligarchy and Democracy. This struggle was to last till the Dictator Sylla for a time restored the Senate to sovereignty, which was wrested from them again by a Dictator yet more potent than Sylla. But we should be wrong to assume that the Senate and the Oligarchy 528 CIVIL WARS: FIRST PERIOD. Book Vi. were always identical. At times tliey were so, for at times the violent party among the Nobles were in command of a majority in the Senate ; but a moderate party always existed, who stood between the Nobility and the Democracy. It was the violent party, headed by Nasica, not the body itself, which was respon- sible for the death of Gracchus. The Senate did not support them. The People were allowecl to proceed quietly to the election of a new Commissioner in the place of Gracchus, and their choice fell on P. Licinius Crassus, brother by blood of the Consul Scsevola, who had been adopted into the family of the Crassi. His daughter had lately been married to young Caius Gracchus, and he now became the acknowledged leader of the party. Nor did the Senate attempt to shield Nasica from popular indignation. He was branded as the murderer of Gracchus, and his friends advised him to quit Italy, though, as Chief Pontifex, he was prohibited from doing so. Not long time after he died at Pergamus, and Crassus succeeded him in the Pontificate. § 2. But in the course of the next year (132 b.c.) the Senate was induced to give the new Consuls a Commission to inquire into the conduct of those who had abetted Gracchus. They began their proceedings by associating with themselves C. Lselius, a man of known moderation. Before the inquiry com- menced, Lselius sent for Blossius, and questioned him privately as to his part in the late disturbances. He excused himself on the ground that he had only followed the Tribune's orders. " That," said Lselius, " is no excuse. What would you have done if he had ordered you to set the Capitol on fire?" "Gracchus," replied Blossius, "could never have given such an order." "But if he had?" insisted Lfslius. "Then," said Blossius, " I Avould have done it." This bold partisan, however, was suffered to escape. Diophanes of Mitylene, another of the preceptors of Gracchus, was arrested by the Consuls and put to death. Others also lost their lives, and some escaped death by exile. These whole proceedings were in violation of the Laws of Appeal ; for the Consuls had no legal power to try and con- demn within the City. § 3. It was not probably till the autumn of this year that Scipio celebrated his Numantian triumph. It was not gorgeous with spoils and a long train of captives, for the Numantians had buried themselves and their possessions beneath the ruins of their city. But the presence of Scipio, at this moment, was or might be pregnant with results ; and as he passed in procession to the Capitol, many eyes turned to him with «;^pectation. It might be thought that his approval of the death of Gracchus Chap. LII. SCIPIO AJSTD CRASSUS. 529 sufficiently indicated -svliat part he intended to take. But it was possible for him to disapprove of the conduct of Gracchus with- out disapproving of his purpose. The countrymen of Latium and Italy had fought under him at Carthage and at Numantia. It was known that among the rest he had shown especial honour to a young soldier of Arpinum, of humble birth and rude man- ners. On one occasion he had invited this youth to supper, and placed him by his side ; and when some flatterer asked where a general could be found to succeed him, " Perhaps here," he said, laying his hand on the young soldier's arm. The name of the youth was C. Marius. § 4. Whatever doubt might rest on Scipio's intentions, he soon made it clear that he had no intention of holding out a hand to the Civic Populace. One of the partisans of Gracchus, by name C. Papirius Carbo, a man of ready wit, but in character turbulent, reckless, and unprincipled, hoped to raise himself to importance by means of this rabble. He was Tribune for the year, and had carried a law for extending the use of the ballot into the legislative assemblies of the People. He now brought forward another bill, making it legal to reelect a Tribune to a second year of office. Scipio and Lselius opposed the measure, and the former spoke so Avarmly against it, that it was rejected by the Tribes, though young C. Gracchus made his first public speech in its favour. It Avas then that Carbo publicly demanded of Scipio what he thought of the death of Gracchus. " That he was rightly put to death," Scipio promptly replied. At these words an angry shout was raised. Scipio turned sternly to the quarter from which it came, — " Peace," he said, " ye stepsons of Italy : remember who it was that brought you in chains to Rome." § 5. Early in the following year, however (131 B.C.), an incident occurred which also parted Scipio from Crassus. The Consuls for the year were Crassus himself and L. Valerius Flaccus. The former was Pontifex Maximus, the latter was Flamen of Mars. It happened that one Aristonicus, a bastard son of the last Attains, had raised an insurrection in the mountain-districts near Pergamus, and matters had become so serious, that a Consular army was required. Both Consuls were eager for command ; but by reason of their sacred offices they were both legally unable to leave Italy, and Scipio's tried skill in war pointed him out as the fittest man for command. Yet such was the popu- larity of Crassus, that out of thirty -five. Tribes, two only voted for Scipio and the rest for him. Considering a vote of the People as superior to the law, he completed his levies and set out for Pergamus, never to return. Scipio retired from Rome in disgust. 23 530 CIVIL WARS: FIRST PERIOD. Book VL In this same year the Censorsliip was held by Q. Metellus and Q. Pompeius, — an event noted by all the historians as memor- able, since now for the first time two men of plebeian blood were elected to the most august magistracy of the State. It is rather matter of wonder that an artificial distinction, which for all practical purposes was obsolete, should have been so long retained in the Censorship, than that it should now have ceased. § 6. If Crassus had returned, he might have taken more active steps to diminish the violence which the democratic leaders were beginning to encourage. But early in the year 130 b.c. he was defeated by Aristonicus in a pitched battle, and taken prisoner. The Roman statesman and jurist, deeming slavery intolerable, purposely struck the barbarian who had captured him in the face with his sword-belt, and was instantly cut down. His head was carried to Aristonicus : his body interred at Smyrna. About the same time died App. Claudius. The natural leader of the Gracchan party would now have been C. Gracchus. But this young man had withdrawn from public life at the advice of his mother Cornelia. Consequently fresh power fell into the hands of the reckless Carbo, who was supported by Fulvius Flaccus ; and the whole character of the party became more positively democratic. § 7. These leaders sought to recover their popularity with the country Tribes by calling the Agrarian Law into fresh life. Of the three Commissioners elected for the year C. Gracchus still appeared on the list ; the vacancies made by the deaths of Crassus and App. Claudius were filled by Carbo and Flaccus. The rich Landholders had endeavoured to baffle the law by passive resistance. To foil this policy, Carbo and his colleagues issued a proclamation, calling for informations against all who had not duly registered themselves as holders of Public Land. The call was readily obeyed, and the Triumvirs were soon over- burdened with names. The next step was to decide on the rights of the present holders, and to determine the boundaries between the private and the public lands in each estate. This was a task of extreme delicacy, and here the loss of Crassus was sensibly felt. The ignorant and reckless Carbo raised up a host of formidable opponents. § 8. Portions of the Public Land had often been alienated by grant or sale. The holders were now, in consequence of Carbo's proclamation, suddenly called upon to produce their title-deeds, which in many cases were missing ; so that a vast number of these holders were liable to be stripped of lands which were undoubtedly their own. Further, in cases where persons held property partly public and partly private, there were often no Chap. LII. SCIPIO. 531 documents to show whicli part was public and wliicli private. Tlie Commissioners acted in the most arbitrary way, and exas- perated a vast number of persons throughout all Italy; and thus a new popular party was called forth, which exer- cised a most important influence on the events of the next fifty years. In Carbo's rash haste to win the Roman coun- trymen he recked not of the hostility of Latins and Italians; and those who had lately worshipped Gracchus now rose like one man to oppose those who now pretended to represent Gracchus. § 9. These new opponents of the Agrarian Law had no mind to join the Roman oligarchs, but turned to Scipio and suppli- cated him to undertake their cause. They had claims upon him, for they had volunteered to fill his army when the Senate had no money to give him, and he had always manifested sym- pathy with them. Averse as he was from party politics, he did not shrink from the task, and the moderate party in the Senate welcomed his return. He began by moving that a Decree should issue for withdrawing from the Triumvirs the judicial power with which they had been invested by Gracchus, and transferring the jurisdiction to the Consuls, The Decree passed, and the task was committed to C. Sempronius Tuditanus, a man of refined taste, fonder of art and literature than of business. But news came of a movement among the lapydes, a people on the Illyrian frontier ; and Tuditanus eagerly seized this excuse for hastening to Aquileia, feeling confident that he could better cope with barbarous enemies than with the more barbarous perplexities of the law. All proceedings were thus cut short. The Senate had taken away jurisdiction from the Triumvirs ; the Consul to whom it was committed had fled. General discontent arose. Scipio was accused of having betrayed Roman interests to the Italians. His enemies spread reports that he had sold himself to the Oligarchy, that he intended to repeal the Sempronian Law by force, and let loose his Italian soldiery upon the People of Rome. § 10. Scipio felt that it was necessary to explain his motives, and announced his purpose of delivering set speeches, one day in the Senate, and the day after in the Forum, The first only of these purposes was fulfilled. By his speech in the Senate he pledged himself to maintain the rights of the Latins and Italians against the Triumvirs, and to prevent the unjust assumption of the lands that had been granted to them. The Senate loudly applauded ; and Scipio was escorted home by the mass of the Senators with a jubilant crowd of Italians, Many thought this the most glorious day of his life. 532 CIVIL WARS: FIRST PERIOft^ Book VI. He retired to rest early, in good healtli. In the morning lie was found dead in his bed. By his side lay the tablets on which he had been noting down the heads of the oration which he had intended to make next day. § 11. The death of Seipio struck consternation into the hearts of the Senators. Metellus exclaimed that he had been murdered. It is said that on the neck marks as of strangulation appeared ; and when he was carried out to burial the head was covered, contrary to custom. At the moment suspicion attached to C. Gracchus, and to his sister Sempronia, the wife of Seipio. But these unfounded rumoiirs soon passed over; and it was confidently affirmed that Carbo was the murderer. Cicero speaks of it as an undoubted fact ; the character, as well as the subse- quent history, of the man justifies the belief. § 12. Thus died the younger Africanus. No public honours attested his public services. The funeral feast was furnished in the most thrifty manner by his nephew Q. Tubero, a rigid Stoic, who was glad thus to remind the people of their ingratitude. Seipio possessed no lofty genius like the great man whose name he bore ; yet there was at Rome no one of his own time to be com- pared with him. To say that he was the best general of the day is little praise, for military talent was at that time scarce ; but no doubt his abilities for war would have won him glory in the best times of the Republic. His disinterested generosity has been already noticed ; at his death he was found to be no richer than when he succeeded to the inheritance of the great Seipio. His love of the country and his habitual reserve led him to shun public life. But the austere manner and severe gravity which he commonly aff"ected gave way among his friends ; and there is nothing that more raises our esteem for Seipio than the warm attachment borne to him by such men as Polybius, as well as Lselius, Rupilius, and others, whom Cicero has introduced into his beautiful dialogues.* Seipio has usually been represented as a stiff adherent of the Oligarchy, but the facts of history dis- prove this opinion. He might have lived some years to mo- derate the fury of party strife, to awe the factious, and to sup- port just claims ; for at his death he numbered no more than six-and-fifty years. His death at this moment was perhaps the greatest loss that the Republic could have suflFered. * The Lselius (de Amieitia), and the Republica. The time at which the latter is supposed to be held is just before the death of Seipio. Walls of Rome, from the inside. CHAPTER LIII. CAIUS GRACCHUS AND HIS TIMES. (128 121 B.C.) 1. General calm : Project for reconciling Romans with Italians : Law of Pennus for expelling Italians from Rome. § 2. C. Gracchus Quaestor in Sardinia. § 3. Fulvius Flaccus : his Bill for enfranchising Italians : he is sent into Transalpine Gaul. § 4. Revolt of Fregellse, quelled by Opimius. § 5. Attempt to detain C. Gracchus in Sardinia : he is elected Tribune. § 6. Former and present character of Caius : his eloquence. § T. Laws against his brother's enemies. § 8. Measures to improve condition of People: — (1.) Agrarian Law. (2.) Law for selling corn cheap to Popu- lace. § 9. Measures to abridge power of Senate : — (1.) Transference of Judicial Power from Senators to Equites. (2.) Assignment of Consular Provinces before Election. (3.) Public works. § 10. Purposes and Re- sults of Sempronian Laws. § 11. Election of Fannius as Consul: C. Gracchus reelected to Tribimate. § 12. Bill for enfranchising Itali.ins. § 13. Unpopularity of proposal to enfranchise Italians : Fannius : Drusus. § 14. Addition to Agrarian Law by C. Gracchus : Drusus outbids him. §15. Colonies in Provinces : proposal to colonise Carthage : Gracchus and Flaccus sent to found it. § 16. They return to Rome iu tima for 534 " CIVIL WARS : FIRST PERIOD. Book VL Consular Elections: Opimius Consul. § IT. Ill report from Carthage : Assembly of Tribes on Capitol : tumult : durijig night Opimius collects an armed force upon the Capitol: Flaccus occupies Aventine. § 18. At- tack on At entine : death of Gracchus and Flaccus. § 19. Persecution: Cornelia, mother of the Gracchi. § 1. The sudden death of Scipio was followed by a calm. The turbulent Carbo vanished from the scene, till nine years later he re-appears as a champion of the violent oligarchical party. C. Gracchus was still living in retirement. Fulvius Flaccus was content to let the Agrarian Law sleep in face of the portentous difficulties created by the measures of the Triumvirs. Nor was there anything in foreign affairs to ruffle the general calm. But under this external tranquillity a leaven of agitation was at work. It was not to be expected that the new-born jealousy which had sprung up between the Romans on the one side and the Latins and Italians on the other, would fall asleep. Proposals, . however, were set afloat for reconciling these two opposing inter- ests. The Italians were led to hope that they might be made citizens of Rome, on condition that they should not resist the execution of the Agrarian Law. • But the burgesses of Rome soon perceived that the admission of the Latins and Italians to the Roman franchise would reduce them to comparative insignificance. All the benefits now de- rived from the Provinces by Romans exclusively must then be shared with a vastly increased number of citizens, and the profits as well as the power of a Roman must be materially diminished. In the year 126 b.c. a large number of Italian strangers flocked to Rome, eager for the promised boon. But by this time public opinion at Rome was so far changed that M. Junius Pennus, one of the Tribunes, brought forward what we may call a severe Alien- Act, by which all strangers were compelled to quit Rome. The successors of Gracchus, however, remained constant to their new policy, and Caius himself was induced to speak in public for the second time. But he was unsuccessful. The Law of Pennus was passed ; and from this time may be dated that angry con- test of feeling between Romans and Italians which after thirty- eight years found vent in a bloody war. § 2. When Caius delivered this speech he was Qusestor-elect for the next year. He was appointed to serve under the Consul L. Aurelius Orestes, when this officer undertook to reduce the Sardinian mountaineers, who had been subjugated by the father of young Gracchus fifty years before.* After the first year's operations Orestes was at a loss for supplies and clothing ; and from this difficulty he was relieved by his Qusestor, who by the * B.O. 111. See Chapt. xli. § 9. Chap. LIII. C. GRACCHUS. 535 memory of his fatlier and his own persuasive eloquence induced the Sardinian colonists to give voluntarily what the soldiers wanted. Shortly after, envoys arrived at Rome from Micipsa, son of Masinissa, offering, from respect (as they said) for the name of Gracchus, to send supplies of corn to Sardinia. The Senate angrily dismissed the embassy. Orestes was directed to remain as Proconsul in his Province, and his Quaestor was ordered to continue in ofhce for a second year. § 3. Meanwhile the country party had succeeded in carry- ing the election of their present chief, Fulvius Flaccus, to the Consulship for 125 B.C. He was a man with little force of oratory, but his activity and audacity gave him power, and his unchangeable attachment to the memory of Ti. Gracchus made him respectable. No sooner was he in the Consul's chair than he gave full proof of his headlong temerity by giving notice of a bill for extending the Franchise to all the Latin and Italian Allies. It was a Eeform Bill sweeping beyond all example. No addition had been made to the Roman territory or the number of Tribes since 241 B.C., a period of one hundred and sixteen years, and now at one stroke it was proposed to add to the register a population much more numerous than the Avhole existing number of Roman burgesses. The Tribes felt their interests to be at stake, and the measure of Flaccus was highly unpopular at Rome. At this moment, the Senate adroitly contrived to detach Flaccus upon foreign service. The people of Massilia, old allies of Rome, sent to demand protection against the Salluvians, a Ligurian tribe of the Maritime Alps, and Flaccus was ordered to take command of the army destined to relieve them. He remained in Gaul for more than two years, and was honoured with a triumph in the year 123 b.c. Meantime his great mea- sure for extending the Franchise fell to the ground. § 4. But the hopes excited by the impetuous Consul were not easily relinquished. The excitement was great throughout Italy, and in one of the Latin Colonies the smouldering fire burst into flame. Fregellse was a large and flourishing city on the Latin road. It was one of the eighteen Colonies which had remained faithful to Rome in the Hannibalic War. It had seen the full Franchise conferred on its neighbours at Formias, Fundi, and Arpinum at the close of that war. And now the cup was dashed from the very lip. Fregellse flew to arms, without concert with any other towns ; and L. Opimius, one of the Praetors, a man of prompt resolution and devoid of pity, was ordered by the Senate to crush the insurrection. The gates were opened to him by trea- chery. Opimius took his seat in the Forum, and exercised a 536 CIVIL WARS: FIRST PERIOD. Book VI. fearful vengeance on the inhabitants, for which he was rewarded by the Senate with a triumph. The walls were pulled down, and the Colony, stripped of all -its rights, was reduced to the con- dition of a mere market-town {conciliabuluni). The example of Fregellse for a time silenced the claims of the Italians. § 5. Thus triumphant, the Senate determined to keep the chiefs of the Gracchan party absent from Rome. Flaccus had not yet finished his Gallic wars ; and an order was sent to detain C Gracchus for a third year in Sardinia. But the young Quaestor perceived the drift of this order, and returned to Rome about the middle of the year 124 B.C., to the no small consterna- tion of the Senate. He was instantly summoned before the Censors then in office to account for his conduct, in order that he might be branded with a public stigma, and thus disqualified from taking his seat in the Senate-House. He made his de- fence to the people in a set speech, in which he declared that the Senate had no right to keep him employed as Quaestor for more than one year. " No one," added he, " can say that I have received a penny in presents, or have put any one to charges on my own account. The purse which I took out full I have brought back empty; though I could name persons who took out casks filled with wine and brought them home charged with money." He was triumphantly acquitted, and at once came forward as candidate for the Tribunate. The Senate exerted all their influence to prevent his election, and succeeded so far that his name stood only fourth on the list. But as soon as he en- tered office, no one disputed his title to be first. § 6. The die was now cast. For ten years he had held back from public life ; but the vexatious course pursued by the Senate roused him to action ; the pent-up energy of his passionate nature burst forth, and he threw aside all restraints both of fear and of prudence. Hitherto there had been no proof of the young speaker's powers. Twice only had he spoken in public, and both times he had been on the losing side. But years of diligent study had passed ; and he became the greatest orator that Rome had yet seen. Much as Cicero disliked Gracchus, he speaks with lively admiration of his genius, and laments the loss which Latin literature had sustained by his early death. The care which the young orator bestowed on preparation was extraordinary : he was the first that used regular gesticulation : in his most fiery out- bursts his voice was so modulated as never to offend the ear.* * The story was that he always had a slave at his elbow who gave him the right note by a pitch-pipe. — Cicero de Oratore, iii. 61. But Cicero himself is puzzled by this curious device, — " cujus ego nondum plane rationem intelligo." Chap. LIII. C. GRACCHUS. 537 § Y. His first measures are marked by that which was tlie ruling passion of his life, — a burning desire to avenge his brother's death. Nasica Avas beyond his reach. But others, who had persecuted the friends and followers of Tiberius, were yet alive, and he inveighed against their cruel severity on all occasions. " Your ancestors," he exclaimed, " suffered not their Tribunes to be trampled down. But you^ — you let these men beat Tibe- rius to death, and murder his friends without a trial !" iVccordingly he brought a bill before the Tribes aimed at Popillius, who had been the head of the special Commission appointed after the death of Tiberius. It declared any magis- trate guilty of treason avIio had punished a citizen capitally without the consent of the People. Before it passed, Popillius' left Rome; and the Tribes, on the motion of Caius, banished him from the soil of Italy. The young Tiibune next moved that any one who should have been deprived of office by a vote of the People should be incapable of holding any other office, — an enactment evidently pointed at his brother's old opponent Octavius. Fortunately for the honour of Gracchus, he was stopped in his career of vengeance by the intercession of his mother. § 8. He now turned his thoughts to measures of a public nature, and brought forward a series of important bills, long known as the Sempronian Laws, so sweeping in their design, as to show that he meditated no less than a revolution in the government of Rome. They may be divided into two classes : first, those which were intended to ameliorate the condition of the People ; secondly, those which aimed at diminishing the power of the Senate. (1.) Foremost in the first class we may place a bill for renew- ing and extending the Agrarian Law of his brother, which was coupled with a measure for planting new Colonies in divers parts of Italy, and even in the Provinces. As the execution of this law was deferred till the next year, we will defer further mention of it here. This enactment was evidently intended to conciliate the country Tribes. (2.) The second Sempronian Law was the famous measure by which the State undertook to furnish corn at a low price to all Roman citizens. It provided that any one possessing the Roman franchise should be allowed to purchase grain from public stores at 6i ases the modius, or about 25 ases the bushel ; the losses incident to such sale being borne by the Treasury. Public measures for distributing corn in times of scarcity had long been familiar to Roman statesmen ; and individuals had more than once sought popularity by doles to the poor. But 23* 538 CIVIL WARS: FIRST PERIOD. Book VI. now, for the first time, was a Eight established by Law. The necessary results of such a measure must have been, and were, very fatal. Fifty years later, it was found necessary to limit the quantity sold to five modii (li bushels) a month for each person; and 40,000 citizens were habitual purchasers. Successive dema- gogues reduced the price, till the profligate Clodius enacted that these 1;^ bushels should be given away without any payment. The Dictator Caesar found no fewer than 320,000 citizens in the monthly receipt of this dole. He reduced the number to 150,000 : and Augustus fixed it at a maximum of 200,000 souls.* Such was the mass of paupers saddled upon the Imperial govern- ment by the unwise law of Gracchus. ' § 9. We now pass on to the measures which aimed at de- priving the Senate of the great administrative power which of late years it had engrossed. (l.) The first of these touched their Judicial power. It has been mentioned, that by the famous Calpurnian Law (149 b.c.) all Provincial Magistrates accused of corrupt dealings in their government were to be tried before the Prsetor Peregrinus as presiding Judge, and a Jury of Senators. This was the first regular and permanent Court of Justice established at Rome.f The principle of the Calpurnian Law was gradually extended to other grave offences ; and in all the superior courts the Juries were composed of Senators. These Courts had given little satisfaction. In all important cases of corruption, especially such as occurred in the Provinces, the offenders were themselves Senators. Some of the Judges had been guilty of like offences, others hoped for opportunities of committing like offences ; extortion was looked upon as a venial crime ; prosecutions became a trial of party strength, and the culprit was usually absolved. Gracchus now took the Judicial power altogether out of the hands of the Senate, and transferred it to a body of Three Hun- dred persons, to be chosen periodically from all citizens who possessed the Equestrian rate of property .J By this measure he smote the Senate with a two-edged sword. For not only did he deprive it of the means of shielding its own members, but he also gave a political constitution to a rival Order. The Eques- trian Order, as a political body, entirely distinct from a mere military class, now first received distinct recognition. ' * 200,000 persons, receiving monthly 1|- bushels, -would receive in the year 315,000 quarters. Taking wheat at 50s. the quarter, the corn-bounty would cost, in our money, 937,500?. per annum, f Hence these permanent courts were called Qucestiones perpetual. X This Register was called the Album Judicum Chap. LIII. C. GRACCHUS. 539 It is doubtful Avlietlier this measure of reform was followed by the good eftects intended by Graccbus. If tbe governors of Provinces were Senators, tbe farmers of tbe taxes were Equites. Tbe new Juries bad tbeir personal reasons for acquitting cor- rupt magistrates ; for witbout tbe countenance of tbese magis- trates tbey could not demand money from tbe Provincials be- yond wbat was strictly legal. Tbe constitution of tbese Juries formed a cbief ground of political contest for tbe next fifty years. (2.) Anotber measure wbicb fettered tbe power and patronage of tbe Senate was tbe Sempronian Law for tbe assignment of tbe Consular Provinces. Hitberto tbe Senate bad refrained from determining tbese Provinces till after tbe elections ; and tbey tbus bad a ready way of marking displeasure by allotting unpro- fitable governments to Consuls wbom tbey disliked. But Grac- cbus now ordained tbat tbe two Consular Provinces sbould be fixed before tbe elections, and tbat tbe new Consuls, immediately upon tbeir election, sbould settle between tbemselves wbat Pro- vinces eacb was to administer, eitber by lot or by agreement {sortitio or comparatio). It was a wise and equitable provision, wbicb remained in force as long as tbe Eepublic lasted. (3.) A great blow was given to Senatorial power by a measure for improving tbe roads of Italy. Public works of all kinds bad bitberto been left to tbe Censors, subject to tbe approval of tbe Senate. Graccbus now transferred tbe business to tbe Tribunes. § 10. Tbis account of tbe cbief Sempronian Laws sbows tbe spirit wbicb animated Graccbus. It is plain tbat bis main pur- pose was to diminisb tbe increased and increasing power of tbe Senate. It was no doubt a confusion between tbe pitfjjoses and tbe results of tbe Sempronian Legislation tbat swelled tbe cry against Graccbus in after times. It is clear, bowever, tbat be bad no cbance of amending tbe corrupt government of tbe Senatorial Oligarcby, unless be first weakened tbeir power ; and if be fancied tbat administrative functions migbt safely be controlled by a large and fluctuating popular Assembly, sometbing may be forgiven to political inexperience. Representative bodies are a modern invention ; and tbe wisest of tbe ancients found no baiting-place between Aristocracy and Democracy. Graccbus was not witbout misgivings as to the efi'ects of bis legislation. But it was too late to draw back ; and bis zeal was quickened by tbe return of Fulvius Flaccus from Gaul. §11. By bis measures Graccbus bad so won all sufi"rages, tbat be and bis friend Flaccus were absolute masters of tbe Comitia. Tbe elections of Curule ofiicers for tbe next year were at band, and Graccbus told tbe People be had a favour to ask. Every 540 CIVIL WARS: FIRST PERIOD. Book VI. one expected that he would demand his own election to some high office : but to the surprise of all he proposed as Candidate for the Consulship C. Fannius, an old comrade of his brother. Fannius was elected as a matter of course, to the rejection of L. Opimius, the Senatorial Candidate. The Tribunician elections followed. Flaccus, though he had been Consul, appeared as Candidate for an office that had been raised by the Gracchi to sovereign power. But Gracchus was not by his side ; for it had been made illegal that the same man should be reelected Tribune. However, there were not can- didates enough for the ten places ; and the People, exercising the absolute right of choice Avhich in this contingency was allowed, reelected Gracchus by a unanimous vote. Not more than seven months of his first year's Tribunate were over ; and he was secure of power for the next seventeen months at least. He now put forth all the tremendous power of the office. The Senate sate powerless, and Caius Gracchus became for a time the virtual sovereign of the Empire. § 12. Immediately on reflection, Gracchus came forward with a Bill for extending the Roman Franchise, certainly to the citi- zens of all Latin Colonies, probably to all free Italian commu- nities. Here we recognise the hand of Flaccus, who had in his Consulship raised this momentous question, and resumed the project on the first opportunity after his return. There can be no doubt that some change in this direction was necessary. The admission of the Latins and Italians to full citizenship would infuse a quantity of new blood into the decay- ing frame of the Roman People ; and, by extending to all Italians the benefits of the Agrarian law, there was really a good hope of reviving that hardy race of yeomen who were regretted by all Roman Statesmen, Scipio had induced the Senate for a moment to take up this cause ; but after the revolt of Fregellse, all thoughts of an extension of the Franchise had been dropped. The difficulty was how to favour the Italians without provoking the Roman Tribesmen. It is manifest that the project was still unpopular in the Forum, for Gracchus laboured to show that the Roman People and the Italians had one grievance in com- mon, namely, the tyranny of the Senatorial Oligarchy. " The other day," he told them, " the magistrates of Teanum had been stripped naked and scourged, because the Consul's lady com- plained that the public baths there had not been properly cleaned for her use." ..." How great is the insolence of the young Nobles, a single example would show. One of them was travelling through Apulia in a litter, and a countryman, meeting the bearers, asked Avhether they had got a dead man inside. For Chap. LIII. C. GRACCHUS. 541 this word, the young kird ordered the poor man to be beaten to death with tlie cords of the litter." § 13. The chiefs of the Senate perceived that the proposal to enfranchise the Italians had sapped his popularity at Rome. The Consul Fannius, notwithstanding the part Gracchus had taken in his election, vehemently opposed the measure. He declared that he Avould again bring forward the Alien-Act of Pennus, and expel all foreigners from Rome. The Senate soon after ventured a step further. One of the new Tribunes, M. Livius Drusus by name, a young man of high birth, rich, elo- quent, ambitious, and determined, undertook to thwart the progress of his great colleague, and he put a veto on the law for enfranchising the Latins. § 14. We must now return to the Agrarian Law. In further- ance of this Law, Caius proposed to plant Colonies in divers parts of Italy ; Capua and Tarentum were fixed upon as the first of these new settlements ; but here he showed no democratic tendencies; for no allotments were given to citizens, however poor, unless their character was respectable ; and only a small number of colonists w^ere to be sent to each place. Drusus Avas not slow to take advantage of these unpopular provisions. He resolved to outbid Gracchus, and the agent of the Nobility became a demagogue. He proposed to found no fewer than twelve Colonies at once, each to consist of 3000 families, to be chosen Avithout respect to character. All these Colonists were to hold their allotments rent-free. Drusus openly avowed that he made these propositions in favor of the poor on the part of the Senate ; and declared in significant terms that he would not himself accept any part in the honour or emo- lument to be derived from the office of foundmg these Colonies, Avhereas Gracchus had himself superintended all the public works which he had originated. § 15. At this time, plans were on foot for extending the Italian system of colonisation to the Provinces. In this very year, C. Sextius Calvinus, who had succeeded Flaccus as Proconsul in Gaul, founded the town of Aqute Sextia?, still called Aix, in Southern Gaul ; four years later Narbo Marcius, or Narbonne, was planted further westward in the same country. But Grac- chus himself was the first Avho had proposed to plant a Colony beyond the Italian Peninsula ; and the place he fixed upon was Carthage. The plan was taken up by the Senate. The new Colony was to be called Junonia, and it was dexterously con- trived that Gracchus himself, with Flaccus and another,* should be the Commissioners for distributing the lands and marking the limits of the settlement. In this way, the formidable Tri- 542 CIVIL WARS: FIRST PERIOD. Book VI bune and his most active supporter were obliged to quit Rome just when their presence was most needed to revive their drooping popularity. § 16. The Commissioners applied themselves to their task with so much assiduity that they returned to Eome in time for the Consular elections. The ruthless Opimius was again candidate, and Gracchus exerted himself to the utmost to reorganise his party, but in vain. Popular feeling was strongly marked by the triumphant election of Opimius to the Consulship, in company with Q. Fabius, son of Scipio's elder brother, a man personally hostile to Gracchus. The Tribunician elections followed, and were equally signi- ficant of the temper of the People. Neither Gracchus nor Flaccus Avas reelected. The remainder of the year indeed passed by quietly. But at the beginning of the year 121 b.c. Opimius became Consul, and it was evident that danger was at hand. § 17. Gracchus and his friends prudently refrained from all offensive steps ; but as he would give no grounds for pro- ceeding against him, Opimius resolved to make them. News arrived from the new Colony at Carthage to the effect that it had been planted on the ground cursed by Scipio : the wrath of the gods had been shown by the fact that wolves had torn down the boundary-posts. The Senate met, and on the motion of Opimius ordered the Tribunes to call a meeting of the Tribes upon the Capitol, to rescind the law for colonising Carthage. The place was ominous, for there Ti. Gracchus had been slain. On the appointed morning the impetuous Flaccus appeared with a large retinue armed with daggers. Gracchus followed with a considerable suite. Flaccus spoke vehemently to the Tribes, while Gracchus stood aloof in the portico of the Temple, in which Opimius was offering sacrifice. Here he was encoun- tered by a retainer of the Consul, who insolently pushed Gracchus aside, crying, "Make way for honest men." Gracchus cast an angry look upon the man, who presently fell stabbed to the heart by an unknown hand. A cry of murder was raised, and the crowd fled in alarm to the Forum. Gracchus retired to his house, regretting the rash imprudence of his followers. Mean- time the "body of the slain man was paraded before the eyes of the terrified People. The Senate armed the Consuls with a Decree, by Avhich Gracchus was proclaimed a public enemy; and Opimius took station during the night in the Temple of Castor, by the side of the Forum. He summoned the Senate to a special sitting early next morning ; and also sent to all on whom he could rely, desiring them to come armed to the Forum, and each man to brina: two armed slaves. With this force he Chap. LIII. C. GRACCHUS. 543 occupied the Capitol at daybreak, and prepared to execute the ■will of the Senate. Gracchus was irresolute ; hut Flaccus summoned to his house all Avho were ready to resist Senatorial authority. Here he armed them with the Celtic weapons which he had brought home from his Gallic campaigns, and kept up their courage by deep pota- tions of wine. Early in the morning he occupied a strong po- sition on the Aventine, where he was joined by Gracchus, who sighed over the necessity of using force. § 18. When the Senate met, the popular leaders were sum- moned to attend in their places, and explain the proceedings of the previous day. They answered by proclaiming liberty to all slaves who should join them. Nothing could more show the desperate aspect which the struggle had assumed. Yet before blood flowed, Gracchus insisted on trying negotiation, and Q. Flaccus, a handsome youth of eighteen, son of the ex-Tribune, was sent. But already the Senate had invested Opimius with dictatorial power. The only answer the Consul returned was that the leaders must appear before the Senate, and explain their conduct ; and when young Quintus came back with a fresh mes- sage, Opimius arrested him. He now set a price on the heads of Gracchus and Fulvius Flaccus, and ordered an immediate at- tack upon the Aventine. Under arms appeared the noblest men at Rome, P. Lentulus, Chief of the Senate, old Metellus Mace- donicus, and many others. For their leader they chose not the Consul, but L. Junius Brutus, the Spanish conqueror. The attack was opened under cover of a shower of arrows from a body of Cretan bowmen. Little or no resistance was oflPered. Flaccus fled with his eldest son. Gracchus retired into the Temple of Diana, where he was hardly prevented from putting an end to his own life by two faithful friends, the Knights Pomponius and Lsetorius. Urged by them to flee, he threw himself on his knees, and prayed the goddess to punish the unworthy people of Rome by everlasting slavery. All three then took their way down to the Porta Trigemina, hotly pursued. Pomponius made a stand in the gateway to cover his friend's escape across the Sublician Bridge, and fell pierced with many wounds. Lsetorius showed no less devotion by gallantly turning to bay upon the bridge till he knew that Gracchus was safe over, when he sprang into the river and perished. Gracchus with a single slave reached the Grove of the Furies, and here both were found dead. The faithful slave had first held the sword to his master's heart, and then fallen upon it himself. One Septimuleius cut ofi" the head of Gracchus, and was rewarded by the fierce Opimius with its weight in gold. 544 CIVIL WARS: FIRST PERIOD. Book VI. Flaccus and his eldest son had found shelter in the bath- house of a friend. The Consul's myrmidons tracked them, and threatened to set fire to the house. The owner, alarmed for his property, allowed another to disclose the secret, though he did not choose to speak the word himself. They were dragged forth and slain with every mark of indignity. The handsome youth who had been arrested before the assault commenced was allowed to put himself to death. § 19. Great numbers of the partisans of Gracchus were thrown into prison, and put to death without trial. The stream of Tiber flowed thick with corpses. The inconstant mob plundered their houses without molestation. The widows and friends of the slain were forbidden by Consular edict to wear mourning. When the bloody work was done, the City was purged by a formal lustration ; and the Consul, by order of the Senate, laid the foundations of a Temple of Concord. Under the inscription placed on it by Opimius was found next morning another to this effect : — "Workers of Discord raise a shrine to Concord.* But none dared openly avow themselves friends of the Gracchi. The son of Caius died soon after ; and except Sempronia, the widow of Scipio, none of the race remained. Cornelia retired to Misenum, where she lived for many years, not so much sorrowing for the loss of her sons as dwelling with delight on the memory of their acts. Many visited her in retirement, chiefly learned Greeks, to hear the story 'of the bold Eeformers. Calmly and loftily she told the tale, declaring that her sons had found worthy graves in the Temples of the Gods. In after days her statue in bronze was set up in the Forum, with the Greek sandals on her feet which had been made a reproach to her illustrious father. Beneath it were placed these words only : — To Cornelia, the Mother op the Gracchi. * ^pyov dnovoiag vabv Sfiovolag noLel. — Plut. Vit. O. Gracchi, c. 17. CHAPTER LIV. JUGURTHA AND HIS TIMES. (120 104 B.C.) § 1. Danger of delayed Reformation. § 2. Indictment of Opimius : suicide of Carbo. § 3. The nobler sort in the Senate: the Metelli: Scam'us. § -i. Conquest of Balearic Isles : "Wars in Gaul : Fabius Allobrogicus. § 5. Jugurtha. § 6. Murder of Hiempsal : Ifumidia divided by Senate between Adherbal and Jugurtha. § 1. Murder of Adherbal. § 8. The Tribune Memmius forces the Senate to proclaim "War. § 9. Futile campaign of Bestia : Jugurtha summoned to Rome. § 10. Jugurtha procures murder ofMassiva: is ordered to quit Rome. § 11. Metellus appoioted to com- mand. § 12. Commission of inquiry: Bestia, Albinus, and others put to death. § 13. Severity of Metellus : his legate C. Marius. § 14. First campaign of Metellus. § 15. Jugurtha offers to treat : diplomacy of Metellus. § 16. Marius depreciates Metellus : he is elected Consul. § IT. Second campaign of Metellus : Cirta taken : Jugurtha takes refuge "with Boeehus, § IS. Conunand transferred by People to Marius. § 19. Return of Metellus to Rome. § 20. Marius completes the conquest of Numidia : Sylla : his early life, § 21. Sylla sent to the court of Bocchus to obtain the person of Jugurtha: Jugurtha betrayed: Sylla's arrogance. § 22. Triumph and reelection of Marius. § 23. Lliserable end of Jugurtha. § 1. The cruel times whicli followed made the best men of both parties regret the untimely end of those who had sacrificed wealth, rank, tranquillity, in the hope of reforming the State by peaceful methods. It is not the less true because it is an epi- gram, " that the blood of the Gracchi was the seed sown, and Marius was the fruit." But Marius, though the most ruthless, was not the worst of the successors of the Gracchi. So savage were the party quarrels which followed, that good men shrank in despair from the cause of Reform, and the conduct of the popular party was abandoned to needy demagogues. Such is the common course of Revolutions. They begin with noble aspira- tions ; they end in reckless violence. At length public spirit is lost, and all men, sighing for tranquillity, seek it in the strong rule of an armed soldier. It is a thrice-told tale. § 2. As the murder of Tiberius had been avenged upon Nasica, so there was even now found a Tribune bold enough to indict Opimius. The accuser bore the time-honoured name of Decius ; the defender was that Carbo who was more than suspected of Scipio's murder, and who was now Consul (120 B.C.) : his elo- quence and the terror that prevailed procured an acquittal. But 646^ CIVIL WARS: FIRST PERIOD. Book VL Carbo, though he earned the gratitude of the Nobility by de- fending their champion, did not find his eloquence equally effectual in defending himself. It was at that time the practice of young Romans who aspired to distinction to attract public notice by indicting some great offender before the People. L. Licinius Crassus, son of Crassus the Pontifex, and brother- in-law of C. Gracchus, though only one-and-twenty years of age, felt within him that power of speech which in later days gained him the appellation of the Orator ; and he singled out Carbo for attack. So fierce was the invective of the young accuser that Carbo put an end to his own life by poison. § 3. The Nobility probably cared little for the life of a worth- less renegade. The best men in the Senate, indeed, regretted what they considered the necessity of taking up arms against Gracchus. First among these was old Metellus Macedonicus, who died full of honours and years seven years after the death of C. Gracchus. He left four sons. Before his death three of them had been Consuls ; the fourth was candidate for the Con- sulship at his father's death ; but his two nephews, sons of his brother Calvus, were more distinguished than his own offspring. Quintus the younger, under the title of Numidicus, shortly after- wards became the most eminent man in the ranks of the Nobility. In the course of twenty years the Metelli enjoyed six Consulships and four Censorships, besides five triumphs. Such an aggre- gation of honours in one family was without example. The worst fault of the Metelli was pride ; but if they were not be- loved, they were at least respected by the People. A person who plays a large part in the events of the next years was M. JEmilius Scaurus, a man of more dubious charac- ter. Horace names him with some of the greatest men of olden time;* Sallust represents him as disgracing high qualities by an inordinate love for money. The facts we shall have to re- cord will show that in his earlier days he was infected by the corruption of his compeers, while in later life his prudence was so great as to stand for principle. He was born in 163 B.C., so that at the fall of C. Gracchus he had reached that ripe age which was required for the Consulship. -Though he belonged to a great Patrician Gens, his family was so obscure that he was accounted a New Man. His father had been a charcoal merchant, and left his son so poor that the future ruler of the Empire had at one time contemplated following the trade of a money-changer. But he was encouraged to try the chances of * Reguliim, et Scauros, animaeque magnaa Prodigum, Pceno superante, PauUum. — 1. Carm. xii. SY. Chap. LIV. JUGURTHA. 54V political life; and in 115 B.C. lie reached the Consulate. By his ability and discretion he so won the confidence of the Senate that at the first vacancy he was named Princeps. He was a man less seen than felt. His oratory wanted fire ; but his talents for business, and his dexterity in the management of parties, made him the most important person in the field of politics from the fall of Gracchus till the rise of Sylla. The more prudent or more severe among the Senators be- lieved that reform in the State might be averted by a reformation of Manners. But in vain. The business of Jugurtha brought into full light the venality and corruption of the dominant statesmen. § 4. We have said little of the Wars of Rome since the fall of Numantia and the termination of the Servile War. They were not considerable. The kingdom of Pergamus had formed the tenth Province. The eldest son of old Metellus earned the title of Balearicus for subduing the Balearic Isles (121 B.C.); his eldest nephew that of Delmaticus for putting down an outbreak of the Dalmatians (117 b.c.) More attention was excited by wars in the South of Gaul, ana more permanent efi"ects followed. The success of Fulvius Flaccus, the friend of the Gracchi, in defending Marseilles, has been already noticed. C. SeXtius, who succeeded Flaccus in 123 B.C., secured his conquests by founding the colony of Aquae Sextiae, which under the name of Aix still attracts visitors for the sake of its hot springs. These conquests brought the Romans in contact with -the AUobrogians, between the Rhone and the Isere ; and this people threw themselves on the protection of Bituitus, chief of the Arvernians (Auvergne). Q. Fabius, while Opimius was crushing C. Gracchus, crossed the Isere. A desperate battle ensued, in which the Proconsul, with 30,000 men, is said to have so completely routed 200,000 Gauls, that in the battle and pur- suit no less than 130,000 fell. Fabius was suff"ering from a quartan ague, but in the heat of conflict shook ofi" his disease. He assumed the title of Allobrogicus with better right than many who Avere decorated with these national surnames. The war was now carried into the Arvenian country, and the great triumphs of Caesar might have been anticipated by some Sena- torial Commander, when it Avas brought to a sudden end. An enemy, formidable alike to Romans and Gauls, well known a few years later under the dreaded names of Cimbrians and Teutons, had appeared on the north-eastern frontier of Gaul, and threatened to overrun all southern Europe. But circum- stances deferred for a time the conflict between Italy and those barbarous hordes, and for the present the dominion of 548 CIVIL WARS : FIRST PERIOD. Book VI. Rome was firmly established in. tlie southern angle of Gaul, between the Alps and Pyrenees, a district which still preserves its Eoman name, " the Province," in the French Provence. The whole northern coast of the Mediterranean, from the Pillars of Hercules to Syria, now owned the sovereignty of Rome. § 5. Attention was now for a time riveted upon the affairs of Africa. The kingdom of Masinissa, as we said, had been divided among his three sons, Micipsa, Mastanarbal, and Golossa. The last two had died, and left Micipsa sole King of Numidia. The old friendship between this country and Rome was cemented by the flourishing corn-trade that grew up there, which supplied the failing crops of Italy. Micipsa died in 118 b.c, leaving two sons, Adherbal and Hiempsal. By their side stood their cousin Ju- gurtha, a bastard. This young man was considerably older than his cousins. Sixteen years before he had served with credit under Scipio at Numantia. The young nobles of Scipio's camp suggested to the African Prince that, at the death of Mi- cipsa, he should purchase the support of Rome and seize the Numidian crown. " At Rome," they said, " all things might be had for money." The intriguing character of Jugurtha escaped not the discernment of Scipio. At parting, he said : " Trust to your own good qualities, and power Avill come of itself Seek it by base arts, and you will lOse all." Old Micipsa left Ju- gurtha as Regent and guardian of his two young sons. § 6. It is possible that if the two Princes had submitted pas- sively, Jugurtha might have been contented with the substance without the title of sovereignty ; but Hiempsal showed a spirit impatient of control. When Jugurtha proposed that the decrees made by Micipsa in the last five years of his dotage should be abrogated, the young Prince gave a ready assent ; " for," said he, " with these will fall the ordinance by which you claim the Regency." The unscrupulous Jugurtha ordered Hiempsal to be assassinated ; and Adherbal, in alarm, took up arms. The people were with him, but the soldiery Avere with Jugurtha ; and Ad- herbal was obliged to fly into the Roman province of Libya, whence. he took ship to plead his own cause before the Senate. General feeling was strong in his favour ; but the wily Jugurtha bethought him of the advice tendered by his Roman friends, and sent envoys to Rome laden with gold. Adherbal was heard with cold attention, while many Senators supported the claim of Jugurtha. It was decided that a Commission of Ten should be sent to Numidia, with instructions to divide the kingdom be- tween Adherbal and his unscrupulous cousin. L. Opimius, a fit instrument for such work, was placed at the head of the Com- mission. The western half, which had been the patrimony of Chap. LIV. JUGURTHA. 549 Masinissa and supplied the famous Numidian cavalry, was assigned to Jugiirtha, The eastern portion, conterminous with the Roman Province, and formerly subject to Syphax, was given to Adherbal, § 7. Jugurtha was not slow in using his advantage. His rival was obliged to shut himself up in Cirta, the almost impregnable city which formed his capital ; but the Italian mercenaries, on whom he mainly relied, forced him to surrender on condition that his life should be spared. No sooner had Jugurtha got possession of his cousin, than he ordered him to be put to death by torture. § 8. So great was the power of Jugurtha's gold, that the matter would have been hushed up, had not C. Memmius, Tri- bune-elect, come forward in the Forum, and boldly exposed the iniquities of Jugurtha. The conscience-stricken majority of the Senate shrunk back; war was declared against the faithless Numidian Prince, and the command fell by lot to L. Calpurnius Bestia, one of the Consuls-elect for the next year (111 B.C.). § 9. The first campaign was conducted with so much remiss- ness, that it was universally believed that the commanders had received bribes. Memmius promptly brought in a bill, by which the Praetor L. Cassius was commissioned to bring Jugurtha to Rome under a safe-conduct, in order that he might give evidence against the persons accused of corrupt dealings. Jugurtha did not hesitate to attend Cassius to Rome, where he appeared in the garb of a suppliant. The People w^ould have executed sum- mary vengeance on the culprit, had not Memmius interfered to maintain the sanctity of the safe-conduct. But he ordered Jugurtha to stand forth, detailed at length the crimes with which he was charged, and concluded by urging him to place his hopes of safety in a simple confession of the truth. When Memmius resumed his seat, one of his colleagues, C. Bsebius by name, rose and forbade Jugurtha to reply. It was manifest that this Tribunician veto had been purchased by African gold, and a terrible storm arose in the Forum. But Baebius stood firm, and the sanctity of his office was allowed to protect his un- worthy client. § 10. But it was found impossible ^o obtain the votes of the People to any peace with Jugurtha, and the conduct of the war for the next year (110 b.c.) was allotted to Sp. Posthumius Albi- nus. Albinus had already entered into negotiations with Mas- siva, son of Golossa, the third son of Masinissa. Jugurtha dis- covered the intrigue, and procured the assassination of the young Prince. This piece of eflirontery was too much even for the Senate. Jugurtha received an order to quit Rome instantly. 55(> CIVIL WARS: FIRST PERIOD. Book VI. He obeyed ; and as lie passed out of the gates, he looked back and said : " A city for sale if she can find a purchaser !" § 11. Albinus was baffled at every point by the dexterous African. His brother Aulus suffered himself to be surprised by Jugurtha, and only saved his army by allowing it to pass under the yoke and agreeing to evacuate Numidia. But the Senate hastily repudiated the engagements made by Aulus, and the command for the next year (109 b.c.) was conferred upon Q. Metellus, nephew of old Macedonicus. § 12. It was time for the Senate to show that they had upright and capable men in their ranks. The scandal caused by the conduct of Numidian affairs was so great, that before the departure of Metellus, C. Mamilius, Tribune of the People, brought forward a bill for appointing a Commission of Three, to inquire into the conduct of all who had been concerned in the two last campaigns. Scaurus was placed at the head of this Triumvirate. Several of the leading Senators were found guilty of high treason, and put to death without mercy. Among them were Bestia and Albinus, the two Consuls who had conducted the war, and one whose fate can excite no commiseration, — the cruel and corrupt L. Opimius. § 13. Metellus was obliged to devote much time to restoring habits of discipline by the same severe methods which had been employed by Scipio. In this work he was much assisted by his chief lieutenant, a man who soon after became famous wherever the name of Rome was known. Caius Marius had already reached the age of fifty. He was a citizen of Arpinum, a Volscian town, which had been incorpo- rated into the Roman Tribes. His family was old and respect- able, but he was the first who obtained imperial honours. In his rustic origin and habits he may be compared to Cato ; but he had none of the intellectual ambition which distinguished that singular person. - He scorned the custom which led young Romans to study Greek and cultivate the art of rhetoric as the readiest way of rising to honours. " Greek," he said, " was the language of slaves : he would none of it." His rough temper and coarse manners unfitted him for political life. For war he possessed an instinctive genius. At twenty-four he had been designated by Scipio as the future general of Rome.* But the predominance of the Senatorial families, and his own poverty, made it difficult for him to rise. In 119 B.C., when he was thirty-eight years old, he was chosen Tribune, and had an oppor- tunity of showing his audacity. He had brought forward a l^ill * Chapt. lii. § 5. Chap. LIV. JUGURTHA. 55 j for taking the votes more easily in the Centuriate elections, which was opposed by the Consul Metellus, elder brother of that Metellus who now commanded against Jugurtha. The family of Marius Avas dependent upon the Metelli ; but the dauntless Tri- bune ordered the Consul into custody, and the Senate was com- pelled to allow the bill to pass. To choose such a man for his lieutenant is a proof of the integrity and the discernment of Metellus. It is true that he had lately allied himself to the oligarchy by a marriage with Julia, an aunt of the great Caesar. But the affront put upon the Consul's brother by Marius ten years before, was not of a kind to be forgotten ; and the proud noble can have had little in common Avith the rough soldier, except determination to con- duct the war with honest energy. § 14. Late in the year Metellus took the field. The ready wit of Jugurtha soon told him that he must now meet force by force, and by a skilful disposition of his troops he succeeded in sur- prising the Komans on their march. But after a long and harass- ing series of assaults, the Numidians were beaten off, and left forty elephants dead. This was the only engagement like a battle on which Jugurtha ventured during the war. He henceforth relied entirely upon his fortresses, of which. Cirta, his capital, now well known as Constantine, in Algeria, was among the strongest. The advance of Metellus was checked by the fortress of Zama, The season was too far advanced for a siege, and Metellus retired for winter-quarters into the Roman Province. § 15. Jugurtha saw that his cause was hopeless. Personally he might long elude capture. But the Romans were sure to gain possession of all his kingdom and all his strongholds, and he would be reduced to the condition of a homeless wanderer. He therefore offered to treat ; and Metellus, though his term of command had been prolonged to another year, was not unwilling to listen to overtures. He demanded that the Prince should give pledges of good faith, by paying down 200,000 pounds of silver, by giving up all his elephants and a quantity of horses, and by surrendering all deserters. These demands were com- plied with, and then Metellus required th« surrender of Jugur- tha's own person. It was evident that the worst defeat could hardly reduce him to greater extremities. He at once put aside counsels of peace, and disappeared from sight. § 16. Meanwhile the conduct of Marius began to excite dis- trust in the mind of the general. When he named the rude soldier his lieutenant, he expected doubtless that the honour of serving under a Metellus would be honour sufficient. But the military talents of Marius had become manifest, and he had be- 552 CIVIL WARS: FIRST PERIOD. Book VI. come a favourite with tlie soldiery. " If lie had half the army," he used to say, "he would soon send Jugurtha in chains to Rome." He gave out that he meant to offer himself as candi- date for the Consulship, and requested leave of absence as soon as he could be spared. " It will be time for you to seek the Consulship," sajd Metellus, " when my son (a youth of twenty years old) can be your colleague :" — ungenerous words, that rankled for ever in the heart of Marius. The next year's campaign had begun before Marius obtained leave to repair to Rome. The elections were to come on in twelve days. In less than a week he reached Rome, and there he used the same language which the camp had been accustomed to hear : " Make me Consul, and you shall soon have Jugurtha, dead or alive, at Rome." He was elected by an overpowering- majority. The death of Gracchus had been avenged. The people exulted in raising to the chief magistracy one whose chief claim was that he was a New Man and the best soldier of Rome. § 1*7. The second campaign of Metellus was conducted with vigour. Marius being absent, it was manifest that the general was not wholly indebted to his lieutenant. Cirta surrendered. Jugurtha, afraid of the treachery of his friends, put confidence in none, changed his quarters daily, and suffered no one to know where he was to pass the next night. At length he fled to the Court of Bocchus, king of Mauritania, whose daughter he had married. It was not long before Metellus heard that Bocchus was advancing with a large army to Cirta, and he prepared to meet this new enemy. At this crisis he received the unwelcome news that Marius was on his way to supersede him. § 18. After the election of the popular favourite, the Senate had decreed that Metellus should continue in command till the Ju- gurthan War was ended. But the Tribune Mancinus, encouraged by the success of his predecessors Memmius and Mamilius, moved in the Assembly of the Tribes that the command should be transferred to Marius ; and the measure passed by acclamation. Marius immediately set about his preparations. He harangued the People with expressions of vehement scorn against all the Senatorial commanders, " men of old pedigree, but ignorant of war ; who never saw an army till they became generals, and then set about studying Greek books of tactics.* He was a New Man ; he had no images to show ; lie knew no Greek, and was unfit to figure at the banquets of the great ; he did not esteem a stage- player or a cook better men than an honest yeoman : but he had images of his own, — spears, trappings, standards, prizes won by valour, and scars upon his breast." * " Praeposteri homines." Sallust, Bell. Jug. 85. c'hap. LIV. JUGURTHA. 553 He did not, nowevcr, confine himself to words. Thougli lie had spoken of only needing half the army of Metellus, he made levies on a large scale ; and here he introduced an innovation -which demands special notice. In early times military service was confined to those citizens who had a considerable stake in the country. Only those who were worth 4000 pounds of copper were allowed to enlist. After the Punic AVar the area of service had been extended by Flamininus. Marius now enlisted even those who were entered on the Censor's register as possessing no appreciable amount of property.* Marius shipped the infantry which he had levied at once for Africa, leaving his Quaestor, L. Cornelius Sylla,f to follow with the cavalry. § 19. Metellus shed tears of vexation when he heard that he was to lose the prize ; and not choosing to undergo the humilia- tion of surrendering his command to his late lieutenant, he took ship for Rome. Here he was well received. It could not be conce^d that Jugurtha was a fugitive, discrowned and landless, and that the war was virtually ended. Metellus without arro- gance assumed the title of Numidicus. Sallust, a bitter enemy to the aristocracy, allows that he was regarded with equal favour both by Senate and People. § 20. On the approach of Marius, Bocchus retired into his own country. The chief difficulty now remaining was to get posses- sion of the person of Jugurtha. Marius was no adept in diplo- matic arts, and probably would have begun a war with the Mauri- tanians. But he had with him one who was second to none in these arts. L. Cornelius Sylla had just arrived with the cavalry. This person was now thirty-one years old, twenty years younger than the general. His family, though a branch of the great Cornelian Gens, had remained without honours since the days of P. Rufinus, who had been ejected from the Senate by the stern Curius Den- tatus for possessing more than ten ounces of silver plate. Sylla had inherited little from his father, and was reduced to take a mean lodging in the same house with a poor freedman, who in his greatness reminded him of the fact. He made himself master of the Greek literature of the day, and in early years imbibed a taste for dramatic art. His habits were dissolute, as his appearance testified. His complexion, naturally fair, became pallid and blotched; but his bright blue eyes showed the vigorous spirit within. When he rode into the camp of Marius he had seen no active service, and the stern Consul looked with * The Capite Censi. \ More correctly ■written Sulla. But we retain tha form sanctioned by long usage. 24 554 CIVIL WARS : FIRST PERIOD. Book VI. contempt on the effeminate debauchee whom lot had assigned him as a Quaestor. But with happy versatility Sylla adapted himself to the rough manners of the general, and entered with ready zest into the joviality of the soldiery. His aptitude for business was such, that before the end of the campaign he was the chief adviser of Marius. § 21. As the army was retiring to winter at Cirta it was sud- denly assaulted by Bocchus and his Moors. The enemy were beaten off, but by a rapid side march they reached Cirta before Marius. A severe conflict followed, in which the Moors were at length defeated with horrible carnage. Bocchus now began to fear that the next spring might witness an invasion of his own country, and the winter passed in negotiation. Sylla was sent to the Moorish capital, but even his dexterity was baffled by the arts of Jugurtha, and he returned without result. In a short time, however, Bocchus repented, and requested that Sylla might be sent back again. But the monarch still hesitated. After a long delay, Bocchus sent for Sylla privately by night, and proposed to banish Jugurtha from his kingdom. Sylla replied that he was obliged to insist upon the surrender of Ju- gurtha's person. Bocchus still hesitated. It is said that he doubted whether he should give up Jugurtha to Sylla, or Sylla to Jugurtha. But the address of the Roman envoy prevailed, and he did not depart from the King's presence till he had re- ceived promises of all that he asked. Next morning, however, the doubts of Bocchus returned. For several days he held secret interviews alternately with Sylla and with the envoy of Jugurtha, giving both of them to understand that he was on their side. But it was necessary for the wavering monarch to choose his part, and fear of Rome prevailed. He bade Jugurtha appear at a specified time and place ; and the Prince came, expecting to triumph. But his retinue was sur- rounded and cut down, his own person secured, and given over to the Roman envoy. Sylla, relieved from the painful anxiety of many days, returned triumphantly to Marius. Sylla was not of a temper to waive any claims of his own in favour of his general. He openly asserted that he was the real conqueror of Jugurtha, and had a signet-ring cut bearing a repre- sentation of the surrender of Jugurtha. The friends of Metellus encouraged this claim ; but the soldiery and the people regarded Marius as the conqueror, and none could deny that he was the greatest general of the day. § 22, it was on the Calends of January 104 B.C. that Marius entered -Rome in triumphal procession, and passed before the gazing crowd to deposite in the Capitol the large booty \5rhich he Chap. LIV. JUGURTHA. 555 had taken. On the same day he entered upon his second Con- sulate. His reelection Avas against the law, both because he was absent at the time of his election, and because less than two years had passed since the termination of his first Consulship, The circumstances which justified this double suspension of the law will be given in the next chapter, § 23. Jugurtha was treated in a manner that excites compas- sion for one who little deserves such feelings. When he walked before the triumphal car of Marius he seemed sunk in stupor, from which he was roused by the brutal mob tearing off his clothes, and plucking the gold rings by force out of his ears. He was then thrust naked into the state-dungeon at the foot of the Capitoline. " Hercules," he cried, " what a cold bath this is !" Here he was left to starve for six days, when death came to his relief. His kingdom was given to a rival prince of the line of Masinissa. Caius Marius. CHAPTER LV. THE CIMBEIANS AND TEUTONS (105 101 B.C.) : SECOND SLAVE- WAR IN ITALY (103 101 B.C.). § 1. First appearance of the Cimbrians and Teutons. § 2. Defeat of three Roman armies. § 3. (Jreat defeat of Mallius and Caepio on the Rhone : Cimbrians push onward into Spain. § 4. Marius appointed to the com- mand : his stern discipline. § 5. Third and fourth Consulships of Marius : CatuluB his colleague in the last. § 6. Return of the Cimbrians from Spain : the Teutons also appear in Gaul, but turn eastward towards Switzerland. § Y. Marius on the Rhone : first battle of Aix. § 8. Second battle : anni- hilation of the Teutons. § 9. Fith Consulship of Marius. § 10. Catu- lus Proconsul: driven back from the Adige by the Teutons. §11. Catulus joined by Marius : they meet the Teutons near VerceUae. § 12. Battle of VerceUae : annihilation of the Teutons. § 13. Triumph of Marius and Catulus. § 14. Second Slave War in Sicily : its origin : Salvius in the East. § 15. Athenio in the East. § 16. Salvius assumes the title of King and the name of Tryphon : Athenio submits. § 17. L. Lucullus, his little success : M'Aquillius ends the war. § 18. Strict measures to prevent futm-e risings. § 1. JuGtJRTHA had been taken prisoner early in 106 b.c., but Marius remained in Africa till the close of the next year. In the course of this year and a half happened the events which justi- fied the election of Marius to his second Consulship. It has been noticed in the preceding chapter that Roman conquest on the Rhone had been checked by the irruption of barbarians from the North. It was a few years before the out- Chap. LV. THE CIMBRIANS AND TEUTONS. 557 break of the Jugurthan war that vast hordes from the North of Europe, impelled probably by want, appeared on the north- eastern frontier of Gaul. The chief names by which these bar- barians were known were those of Cimbrians and Teutons. It cannot be ascertained who or what they were. Probably the Teutons were an association of German tribes under one common name. The Cimbrians must have been of Celtic origin, though with much Teutonic admixture. Their numbers were large ; the fighting men are said to have numbered 300,000. The Cim- brians led the way ; many smaller tribes followed or joined them, as the Ambrons from Germany, the Tectosages from the south- west of Gaul, the Tigurinps from the north and west of Switzer- land. § 2. It was in the year 113 b.c. that the Eomans first came in contact with a host of Cimbrians on the northern frontier of Istria, and suflered a great defeat. But the main body pressed westward and crossed the Rhine at the crisis Avhen war was declared against Jugurtha (ill b.c). At that time they con- tented themselves with ravaging Gaul. Two years later they appeared on the frontier of the Transalpine Province, and de- manded a gift of land. The Consul Silanus, colleague of Metellus, replied by giving them battle ; but he also was defeated. In 107 B.C. the Tigurines pressed down the Rhone from their Swiss valleys, and were met by the Consul L. Cassius Longinus, col- league of Marius. The Helvetian Tribe shunned the conflict; but Cassius pursued them, and as he was incautiously advancing, he fell into an ambuscade. Great part of his army was slain, himself among the number; the rest were made to pass under the yoke. § 3. While Marius was still detained in Africa after the cap- ture of Jugurtha, still worse tidings reached Rome. The suc- cessive defeats just noticed had thoroughly alarmed the Senate, and large levies had been made for the year 105 b.c. Q. Ser- vilius Csepio, the Consul of that year, had held command on the Rhone, and gained an evil reputation by the sack of Tolosa (Tou- louse), the chief city of the Tectosages, which he had assailed without provocation. So great was the plunder he took, that "Toulouse gold" became a proverbial expression for ill-gotten gains. He was, however, high in the favour of the Senate, and he was continued in command as Proconsul ; but the chief com- mand (in 104 B.C.) fell to the new Consul, Cn. Mallius, a man only distinguished for his want of capacity. "When he arrived in the Province, Caspio scornfully refused to join him, till he crossed the Rhone, and was threatened by the barbarians. On hearing of the danger of the Consul, Csepio also crossed the 558 CIVIL WARS: FIRST PERIOD. Book VI. river, but still endeavoured to maintain a separate conamand. During tliese bickerings the armies of Mallius and Csepio were surprised and utterly destroyed ; they lost no fewer than 80,000 soldiers and 40,000 camp-followers. This bloody defeat, the most serious that Rome had sustained since the day of Cannae, took place on the 6th of October, which was marked as a black day in the calendar. : § 4. After this great victory, the barbarians, instead of pouring at once into Italy, turned southwards, and — a great portion of them at least — passed over the Pyrenees into Spain. Thus Italy was relieved from immediate fear ; and Marius, now Consul for the second time, put forth all his energy in organising a fresh army. The greater part of his troops must have been fur- nished by the lowest class of citizens, and the disorderly re- cruits murmured at the requirements of the Consul. His sternness repelled them, his arbitrary habits offended, and those who submitted patiently were called " the mules of Marius." Sylla, who, notwithstanding the jealousy of the General, had taken service under him as Legate, was of use m smoothing difficulties. The murmurs soon abated, and the nickname became a name of honour. The confidence felt by the old soldiers in the General exteilded itself to the new levies. It was found that, if he was inflexibly severe, he was no less inflexibly just, — the highest and the lowest received the same measure. His own nephew ofi"ered a brutal insult to a young soldier named Tre- bonius, who resented it by slaying his officer on the spot. Marius brought the youth to trial ; but when he heard his story proved by evidence, he not only directed an acquittal, but placed a crown upon the youth's head as a reward for his Roman virtue. § 5. For the next year Marius was elected Consul for the third time, and in the following year for the fourth time. His col- league was now Q. Lutatius Catulus, one of the most distinguished members of the aristocracy, who had hitherto been an unsuc- cessful candidate for the Consulship. In the three foregoing years he had been defeated by persons unworthy to be put in comparison with Catulus, whose character stood so high that it was usual to quote his mere word as sufficient authority for a fact : " It must be so, for Q. Lutatius has said it."* In personal integrity Marius was his equal, but in other respects they formed a marked contrast. Marius rough and stern, without education, scorning accomplishments, but the best general of the day; Catulus, polished in manner, well-informed and witty, the most finished orator of his time,f but untried in war. * " Hoc verum est ; dixit enim Q. Lutatius." — Cicero de Oratore, ii. 40. t " Oratio ejus pura sic ut Latine loqui psene solus videretur." — Ibid iii. 8. Chap.lv. the CIMBRIANS and teutons. 559 § 6. Soon after the election news arrived tliat the dreaded hour was really at hand : the Cirabrians had been repulsed by the Celtiberians, and had recrossed the Pyrenees. The Teutons, whose name now first appears in the narrative, had by this time entered Gaul from the north-east, and the combined hordes were gathering on the frontier of the Gallic Province. Marius left Rome in haste and crossed the Alps ; the remainder of the year he spent in fortifying a strong camp on the right bank of the Rhone, somewhere between Nismes and Aries. To secure ready access to the sea, he employed his men in cutting a canal from the rear of his camp to the coast, which long remained open, and was known as the Foss of Marius. It was soon found that the barbarian hordes had again sepa- rated. The Teutons, with the Ambrons, remained in Gaul to attack the Roman Province and enter Italy by the Maritime Alps, while the Cmibrians passed up the Rhone and made a long, circuit so as to threaten Italy from the north. Marius remained in Gaul to arrest the Teutons ; Catulus, with a second Consular army, was ordered to the plains of Lombardy, there to await the Cimbrians. Marius was exposed to the first assault. Early in the year 102 B.C. the plain in front of his camp was covered by Teutons, who challenged him with hideous cries to come forth ; and his men indignantly asked whether their only task was to be that of digging and delving like slaves. But Marius turned a deaf ear both to the provocations of the barbarians and the murmurs of his own troops. " We have to fight," he said, " not for trophies but for existence ; we will not give battle till victory is secure." This backwardness was in part due to a superstitious regard for divination. As Wallenstein consulted the stars through his astrologer, so the grim Roman carried about with him a Syrian woman named Martha, in whose predictions he placed unbounded confidence. § Y. The Teutons, finding their challenges vain, attempted to storm the Roman camp, but were driven off with great loss. On this, they marched eastward past the lines. For six days the barbarians were defiling before the eyes of the Italian soldiery, scoffingly asking whether they could not carry some message home for them to their wives. As soon as their vast host had crossed the Rhone, Marius followed them leisurely along the Aurelian road, till he came up with the Ambrons near Aquae Sextise. While the soldiers set to work to entrench the camp, the camp-followei's went down with the beasts to seek water, and found the Ambrons Avere luxuriantly bathing in the hot springs which gave name to the place. As soon as they saw 560 CIYIL WARS: FIRST PERIOD. Book VI. the Romans they seized their arms, shouting the name of their own tribe as a war-cry. There was in the Roman advanced guard a Ligurian Tribe bearing a similar name, who returned the cry, and rushed into the stream, Marius, unable to restrain them, drew out the remainder of his army, and the conflict became general. After a severe struggle the Ambrons were driven back to their camp, where their women came out and fell upon fugitives and Romans alike with indiscriminate violence. Darkness stopped the battle, and the Romans drew back to their unfortified camp, where they passed the night under arms, listen- ing to the wild and uncouth wailings with which the Ambrons lamented their dead. No attempt was made to renew the battle the next day, but Marius silently prepared for a decisive action on the morrow. § 8. The Teutons had in the mean time returned to support their comrades ; and when the sun rose, the whole mass of the barbarians stood upon the plain in front of the eminence where the Romans lay encamped. During the night Marius had sent 3000 men, to form an ambush in the rear of the enemy ; and having drawn out his legions on the sloping ground before his camp, he there awaited the attack. The barbarians charged up the slope with furious cries. The Romans awaited their assault steadily, till they were within spear's throw ; and then, having discharged their heavy javelins with terrible effect, they drew their swords and fell upon the broken ranks of the enemy. The barbarians were driven back across the plain, and at the moment when they were attempting to rally, Marcellus, issuing from the wood, fell upon their rear. A dreadful massacre fol- lowed. So numerous were the slain, that in after-years the people of Marseilles used the bones to make fences for their vineyards, and the whole plain was fertilised by putrescent bodies. The Teutonic host was annihilated , and, on the western side, Italy was saved by the battle of Aix. § 9. Teubocchus, the gigantic Chieftain of the Teutons, accus- tomed (as tales ran) to ride four or six horses at once, was reserved to grace the Triumph. The broken arms and equipages were piled in a huge heap, and Marius himself, waving-a chaplet and with his gown girded after the Gabine fashion, was advancing to fire it, when some horsemen Avere seen galloping along the road from Italy. He paused : leaping from their horses, they saluted him as Consul for the fifth time. § 10. During the whole year the Cimbrians had not made their appearance, but towards the close of the season it was ascertained that they had reached the Tyrol, and might be expected to de- scend into Italy next spring by the valley of the Athesis (Adige). Chap. LY. THE CIMBRIANS AND TEUTONS. " 561 Catulus, who remained in command for a second year as Pro- consul, concentrated his forces on that river. His camp, strongly fortified, was on the right or western bank ; a bridge Avas thrown across the stream, defended by a similar camp or tete-du-pont. The barbarians did not Avait for the melting of the snows, Early in the next year (101 b.c.) they poured down the Pass of the Brenner, sliding exultingly down the frozen slopes upon their shields. Keeping the left bank of the Adige, they made their way to the point where Catulus Avas stationed. The Roman soldiers, unaccustomed to the aspect of the barbarians, could not be prcA^ented from deserting the camp in precipitate flight. Happily, the division which Avas stationed on the left bank de- fended their post gallantly and prevented the Cimbrians from crossing the bridge in pursuit. § 11. Marius had returned to Eome at the close of the previous campaign, Avhere he was received as became the Conqueror of the Teutons, but generously declined the honour of a Triumph, till he could share it with Catulus. As soon as he heard of the descent of the Cimbrians, he set off for the Proconsul's camp, having previously ordered his lieutenants to bring his victorious army from Gaul into Italy. Catulus had succeeded in rallying his troops, and was posted on the south bank of the Po, probably near Placentia. The army Avhich Marius brought to his aid amounted to more than 30,000 men ; that of Catulus Avas reduced to little more than 20,000. The energy of Sylla had provided well for supplies of provisions and forage, and Marius Avas obliged to own himself indebted to an oflScer Avho had unceasingly pro- voked his jealousy. Between the two Commanders the best feeling subsisted. The Cimbrians had pushed westAvard in the hope of meeting their friends the Teutons, of Avhose destruction they had not heard. Marias and Catulus, crossing the Po above the Ticinus, ofl'ered battle. The Cimbrians answered by sending envoys to demand that, Avhen their brethren reached Italy, the Romans should give them lands. " Your brethren," replied Marius, " have already as much land as they are like to need ;" and he sent back some Teuton prisoners, who sufBciently explained the meaning of his words. Boiorix, the Cimbrian Chief, nothing daunted, rode up to the Roman lines, and challenged the Generals to fix the day and place for a pitched battle. " The Romans," retorted Marius, " are not wont to consult the enemy on such points. However, we will humour you. Let the day be the third day hence ; the place the plain of Vercellse." § 12. Here the battle was fought. Catulus commanded the centre ; the troops of the Consul Marius, in two divisions, flanked 24* ^62 CIVIL WARS: FIRST PERIOD. Book VI. ihim on tlae riglit and left. The Cimbrian host advanced in one dense column, their front ranks being linked together by chains passed through their belts. This great phalanx was supported by 15,000 horsemen, armed like Germans, with helmets made of the heads of wild beasts, surmounted by tall plumes. The com- bat took place on the 30th day of July ; and the intense heat, to- gether with the dust, impaired the vigour of these northern men. The compact ranks of the enemy, broken by the fire of the terrible pila, and charged by the whole Roman line, were driven back to their camp in disorder, and there received by their own wives as if they had been enemies. A scene of frightful carnage followed. The women alone, from the high waggons which formed the defence of the camp, continued to resist ; till, not choosing to become slaves, they strangled their children, and sought a volun- tary death either by the hands of friends or by nooses twisted of their own hair. The annihilation of the Cimbrian host at Vercellae was as complete as that of the Teutons at Aquaj Sextise. § 13. Both Marius and Catulus had done their duty in this bloody conflict. Plutarch, indeed, attributes the victory wholly to Catulus. But the accounts of Plutarch are borrowed from the annals of Sylla, a suspicious authority for estimating the merits of Marius. At Rome, all the credit of the Cimbrian, as well as of the Teutonic, victory was given to Marius. He was saluted, with Romulus and Camillus, as the third Founder of Rome. The people loudly expressed their wish that he should triumph alone. But Marius, respecting the feelings of the sol- diers, and not- devoid of a rough generosity, declared that his noble colleague must share the honour. The opinion of the day was ratified by posterity. Cicero speaks of the Triumph as due to Marius ;* and Juvenal in a well-known line sums up the tra- ditional faith of a later generation.f There can be no doubt that Marius well deserved all his honours. By these great vic- tories he rolled back the tide of Northern immigration for at least three centuries. The battles of Aix and Vercellse may be ranked in the number of those which changed the course of the World's History. § 14. "While the arms of the Republic were thus triumphant in averting external peril, the fertile Province of Sicily was again a prey to the desolating horrors of a Slave War. * " TJtrum tandem beatior. C. Marius turn, qmim Cimbricse victoriae gloriam eum coUega Catulo communicavit, — p£ene altero Lselio, an . . . etc." — Tuscul. QucBst. V. 1 9. The comparison of Catulus with Lselius implies that of Marius with Seipio. f ^' Nobilis ornatur lauro CoUega secunda." — Sat. viii. 253. Ckaf. LV. the CIMBRIANS and teutons. 563 After the former war had been happily concluded by Piso and Rupilius, several indications of similar troubles appeared in Italy itself. At Capua, a spendthrift Knight armed 4000 slaves and assumed the diadem. But by prompt measures the insur- rection was put down. The rising in Sicily might have been checked with no less ease. It originated thus. Marius had been commissioned by the Senate to raise troops in foreign countries to meet the difficulties of the Cimbrian war. He applied to the King of Bithynia, among other persons ; but the King answered that he had no soldiers, the Eoman Tax-gatherers had made slaves of them all. The Senate, glad to have an opportunity of censuring the Equites, passed a Decree that all persons unduly detained in slavery should be set free. In Sicily the number of such persons was so large that the Praetor suspended the execution of the Decree. Great disappointment followed. A body of slaves rose in insur- rection near Agrigentum, and beat off the Praetor. Their num- bers swelled to 20,000, and they chose one Salvius, a soothsayer, to be their king. This man showed himself fit to command. He divided his followers into three bodies, regularly officered. He enforced strict discipline. To restrain his men from wine and debauchery, he kept them in the field. He contrived to provide 2000 with horses. When his men seemed sufficiently trained, he laid siege to the city of Murgantia. But the slave- masters of Murgantia offered freedom to all slaves who would remain faithful, and Salvius saw himself compelled to retire. The promise, however, was not kept, and numbers of the deceived men flocked to the insurgent camp. § 15. This success in the East of Sicily gave birth to a similar rising in the West, which was headed by a Cilician slave named Athenio, who pretended to read the future in the stars. He soon found himself at the head of 10,000 soldiers, well found Avith arms and provisions. He gave out that the stars declared his sovereignty : he therefore forbade all robbery ; for, said he, " the property of our masters is now ours." He now rashly laid siege to the impregnable fortress of Lilybseum ; but finding its capture impossible, he drew off", alleging that an impending- danger had been revealed to him. § 16. Meanwhile Salvius, who had assumed the name of Try- phon, fixed the seat of his sovereignty at the fortress of Trio- cala, which had fallen into his hands, and sent orders to Athenio to repair in person to that place. Athenio obeyed the orders of King Tryphon, and appeared at Triocala with 3000 men. The King now occupied himself with adding to the strength of his new capital. He chose a Senate out of his followers. On public 564 CIVIL WARS: FIRST PERIOD. Book VI. occasions lie wore the Toga Prsetexta of a Roman Magistrate, and was attended by tlie due number of Lictors. § 17. The Romans seemed unable to make head against the insurgents, till, in 101 B.C., M' Aquillius, the colleague of Marius in his fifth Consulship, took the command. Meanwhile, Try- phon had died, and Athenio had become chief of the insur- gents. Aquillius brought them to an engagement, in which he encountered the brave Athenio hand to hand. The Consul was severely wounded, but the slave leader was killed. Aquillius remained as Proconsul in Sicily for another year, in the course of which time he crushed the last embers of the war. After the fall of Athenio, the insurgents dwindled away to a band of 1000 desperate men commanded by one Satyrus, who at length ■ surrendered to Aquillius, and were by him sent to Rome to serve as gladiators. The story of their end is very touching. Being brought out into the arena to fight with wild beasts, they slew one another at the foot of the altars which stood there ; and - Satyrus, being left alone, fell upon his own sword. It is manifest, from the humanity and discipline observed by these unhappy men in their power, that their chiefs must have been originally men of station and education, reduced to slavery by the horrid practice of ancient warfare. The story of their death presents a picture not flattering to Roman civilisation. § 18. Strict measures were adopted in Sicily to prevent a recurrence of these perils. It was made a standing order, con- firmed by every successive Praetor, that no slave should have a weapon in his possession. Nor Avas the ordinance suff"ered to remain a dead letter. Soon after, the Praetor L. Domitius received a fine wild boar as a present. He inquired who had killed it. Find- ing that it was a slave employed as a shepherd, he summoned the man to his presence. The poor fellow came with alacrity, ex- pecting a reward. The Prsetor asked him with what he had killed the animal ; and finding that it was with a hunting-spear, he ordered the unfortunate wretch to be crucified.' Such were the laws by which the masters of the world were obliged to maintaiu their power. CHAPTER LVr. FROM THE SIXTH CONSULSHIP OF MARIUS TO THE DEATH OF M. LIVIUS DRUSUS. (100 91 B.C.) § 1. Seaurus and the Senate form a middle party. § 2. Practice of young orators to indict culprits of high rank : condemnation of Q. Caepio. § 3. Caspio had offended the Equites. § 4. Eminent men in the moderate party : the two Scaevolas : Crassus and Antonius, the Orators. § 5. Position . of Marius : inaptitude for pohtical arts. § 6. Election of Marius to a Sixth Consulship, Glaucia to the Prsetorship, Saturninus to the Tribunate. § 7. Agrarian Law of Saturninus : oiath required of Senators. § 8. Ti'ick of Marius : banishment of Metellus. § 9. Extension of the Corn- law prevented by Cn. Caepio. § 10. Glaucia stands for the Consulship : murder of Memmius : Saturninus and his crew outlawed : -their end. § 11. Decline of Marius' power. § 12. Return of Metellus. § 13. Visit of Marius to Mithi'idates. § 14. Pi-setorship of Sylla : Sylla sent to Cilicia. § 15. Partial verdicts of the Equestrian Juries: cases of Aquillius and Rutillus. § 16. Drusus undertakes to deprive the Equites of Judicial power, but insists on enfranchising Italians. § 17. Measures of Drusus. § 18. His judicial Reform ill received. § 19. Attack of Phi- lippus on the Enfranchisement Bill ; death of Crassus. § 20. Assassination of Drusus. § 21. Law of Varius : impeachment of Seaurus. § 1. The power of the Nobility, shaken to its centre by the Gracchi, was for a time restored by force. But the election of Marius to the Consulate was a signal triumph of the popular party. Seaurus perceived that the reckless corruption of the Oligarchy must end in ruin, and he put himself at the head of the moderate party. The Senate was now in their hands. § 2. An indirect check was placed upon public immorality, by the increasing love for popular oratory, Avhich followed the transference of judicial authority from the Senate to the Eques- trian Order. The latter were venal enough, but were yet more open to persuasion than the old Senatorial juries, and afforded a greater scope to the powers of youthful orators. The examplo of Cato and the Gracchi showed how men might rise to emi- nence by peaceful arts ; and men even of noble family found a ready way to office by impeaching public officers. Q. Csepio suffered in this way. This man, as w'e have seen, was gorged with the plunder of Toulouse, and by his quarrel with the Consul Mallius had at least contributed to the great defeat of 105 B.C.* On the news of the defeat being received, the Tribes ^ * Chapt. Iv. § 3. 566 CIVIL WARS : FIRST PERIOD. Book VI. passed a vote to deprive Csepio of his proconsular command, and to confiscate all his goods,— a proceeding unexampled in the later annals of the Republic. In the next year, the Tri- bunes introduced a law by which it was enacted that any one Avho had been so deprived of his command should lose his seat in the Senate. § 3. The attainder of Csepio was the greatest advantage which we know to have been gained by the popular party at this time. It was not solely on the merits of the case that he was so promptly judged. He had, in the year before, when he was Consul, carried a Centuriate Law — the Servilian Law of Csepio — by Avhich the judicial authority was restored to the Senate, and had thus provoked the wrath of the Equestrian Order. This law, however, did not remain in force many months. It was repealed by the Servilian Law of the Tribune C. Glaucia, in the same year that Caepio was condemned : and thus one Servilian law for 'restoring judgment to the Senate was cancelled by another- Servilian law giving it back to the Knights. § 4. Of the moderate party, after Scaurus, none are more noticeable than Metellus and Catulus. But the most distin- guished for purity of life were the two Scsevolas, the Augur and the Pontifex Maximus. Q. Scsevola, the Augur, belonged to a former generation. He is chiefly known for his great legal knowledge, in which he was the worthy successor of his cousins, P. Scsevola and P. Crassus, the friends of Ti. Gracchus.* He married Lselia, the daughter of Scipio's friend. In a corrupt age he escaped all taint of corruption. The fame of Q. Scsevola, the Augur, was sustained by his cousin, Q. Scsevola, the Chief Pontiff. He was the son of that Scsevola who supported Ti. Gracchus, and was the third of his family who had borne the high office of Pontifex Maximus in succession. Like the Augur, he preferred the quiet profession of a jurist to the exciting conflicts of political life. But when- ever he appears in public, he adds honour to the name of his family. He ruled Asia Avith singular integrity ; and we shall have to notice in a future page the unjust condemnation of his Legate, P. Eutilius Rufus, for endeavouring to prevent the ex- tortions of the tax-collectors. His memory was long preserved by the grateful Asiatics in festal games known by the name of Mucia. The disinterested character of the Pontiff is shown by an anecdote preserved by Cicero. He had bought an estate under its due value ; and though that value had been fixed by the vendor, the conscientious purchaser insisted on paying a * P. Scsevola, Cons. I'TS B.C., and Q. Scsevola, Cons. l'74,were brothers. CuAP. LVI. THE LEADERS OF THE SENATE. 567 larger price, — an act Avhicli the jurists of the clay considered to bo incompatible "with wisdom.* Here also niay be noticed the two great Advocates of the day, M. Antonius and L. Licinius Crassus, each known by the name of '' the Orator." At Rome, in those days, a great Advocate could hardly avoid taking part in politics, for all celebrated causes were of a political nature. At Rome, advocacy was not so much a profession as a duty of private or political friendship. Both Crassus and Antonius generally appear as the defenders of Senators before the Equestrian Tribunal, and therefore seldom met as rivals at the bar. In youth, they both courted popular favour : but they soon became steady adherents of the Senatorial Order. Crassus married Mucia, daughter of Q. Scsevola the Augur, and was the close friend of Q. Scsevola the Pontiff. One of his most famous speeches was delivered in favour of the Servilian law of Csepio for restoring judicial power to the Senators : in the time of Cicero it was regarded as a classical composition : '^ it could not," remarks the critic, " be improved 'except by Crassus himself" The oratory of Crassus was often pointed with sarcasm, which made him enemies even in the Senate : that of Antonius was more natural and pathetic. Cicero is unable to adjudge superiority to either. He introduces the two as the chief interlocutors in his celebrated Dialogues on the Orator. He exhausts the Latin language in expressing his admiration of both. Crassus he held to be the greatest orator Rome had ever seen except Antonius, and Antonius the greatest except Crassus. The oratory of Antonius, from its pathetic character, was more fitted for a Jury ; that of Crassus for a deliberative Assembly. In their high finish and elaborate pre- paration the orations of Cicero himself may be taken as repre- sentations of the style of Crassus rather than of Antonius. But these men, though they were upright, grave, and dignified, had not energy enough to reform the abuses revealed by the Gracchi ; and thus the stage was left open to profligate dema- gogues. The removal of external danger by the defeat of the barbarians, and the return of Marius to Rome, gave the signal for a renewal of internal troubles. § 5. Marius was now the great man of the day. All parties were disposed to welcome him. He had conciliated the Senate by his bearing towards Catulus : his military glory dazzled the multitude ; the saving of Italy won him the regards of all. The blunt manners of the man gave no off'ence, nay, rather increased his popularity with the multitude. He had become rich ; but to * Cicero c?e OJi c. iii. 15. . - :;...-i,,v.; - ,-..,..,.. 568 CIVIL WARS : FIRST PERIOD. Book VI. gain wealtli lie had used no means that were reprobated by the usages of Roman society ; his character for integrity stood high. Yet his own nature and long habits of command rendered him incapable of using the arts of the Forum. He is not the only great General that has quailed before the clamours of a popular Assembly : and it was not long before his popularity began to decline. § 6. But he could not bear to descend into private life : all men were surprised, and moderate men were disgusted, when he appeared as candidate for a Sixth Consulship (101 b.c.) There was no excuse for any further violation of the law, and it appeared that his chance of election was doubtful. But agents were ready to assist him ; his money was at their disposal ; troops of dis- banded soldiery thronged the streets of Rome. Metellus came forward as a candidate, not so much hoping to defeat Marius, as to neutralise his power by becoming his colleague. But even in this he was disappointed : L. Valerius Flaccus, a feeble noble- man, was preferred to the leader of the aristocracy. The person who was mainly instrumental in procuring this result was L. Apuleius Saturninus, a man of good family, but with the habits of a reckless debauchee. Finding himself slighted by the Senate, he resolved upon revenge. He possessed that kind of eloquence which stirs the populace. What he wanted in rank and character he supplied by attaching himself to Marius. He found a friend and associate in C. Servilius Glaucia, the same who had already foiled the Senate by repealing the judicial law of Csepio. This man's character was as bad as that of Saturninus. But his ready wit and reckless humour made him a popular favourite, and he was elected Praetor of the City at the same Comitia which made Marius Consul for the sixth time. Having secured the election of these two men, Saturninus now stood forward as a candidate for a second Tribunate. But a man of spirit, named Nonius, rose in the Assembly, and after boldly denouncing the infamous lives of both Glaucia and Saturninus, offered himself as a candidate, and was elected Tribune to the exclusion of the demagogue. A man so reckless as Saturninus was not thus to be defeated. With a party of his adherents he set upon Nonius, and murdered him. Glaucia then called a partisan meeting early next morning, which he declared to be a regular Assembly of the Tribes; and by their votes Saturninus was elected Tribune. § Y. Saturninus at once commenced a career which is a sort of caricature of the public acts of the Gracchi. He began by intro- ducing an iniquitous Agrarian Law, by which it was proposed to divide among the soldiers of Marius the lands in Gaul recently Chap. LVI. SIXTH CONSULSHIP OF MARIUS. 569 occupied by tlic Cimbrians ; iniquitous, for these lands were the property of tlic Provincials who had been dispossessed by the barbarians. He also proposed to found Colonies in various pro- vinces, and to employ the " Toulouse gold " of Csepio as Ti. Gracchus had employed the gold of Attains. For carrying this law Saturninus relied chiefly on the disbanded soldiery of Marius and a mob of Latins and Italians. To intimi- date the Senate it was provided that, in case the law received the assent of the Tribes, every Senator should, within five days, take an oath of obedience to its enactments, and that any recusant should lose his seat in the Senate and pay a fine of twenty talents to the Treasury. § 8. On the day appointed for the vote, the opposite party en- deavoured to break up the Assembly by declaring that it was thundering. " If you do not take heed," said Saturninus, " it will hail also." Stung by his scornful demeanour, the opponents of the law girded up their gowns, and drove the adherents of Saturninus from the Forum. But the veteran soldiers regained possession of the place, and the law passed. On the same day Marius, in the Senate-house, declared that to exact a compulsory oath was an insult to the Order, and Metellus expressed his resolution to stand by the Consul in refusing the oath. But late on the afternoon of the fifth day, Avhen the time for taking the oath was just expiring, Marius hastily convened the Senate, and stated that there was reason to apprehend violence if the oath were not taken ; to appease the mob he proposed that all should submit to take it ; hereafter it might be declared null, as having been taken under compulsion. All saw through this hypocritical artifice : but there was no time for debate ; and Marius himself, rising from his place, went forth to the front of the Temple of Saturn, and there publicly took the oath. The rest of the Senators present followed his example, all except Metellus, who declared that he would submit to any penalty except dishonour. Next day, when the Senate met, Metellus appeared in his place ; and Saturninus ordered him to be removed. The other Tribunes interposed ; upon which Saturninus rushed forth and harangued his partisans, telling them that while Metellus was at Rome they would never get their promised lands. He then brought forward a Bill to banish Metellus from the soil of Italy. Before the day appointed for the vote, the Roman citizens armed themselves with daggers, and would have used force against the partisans of Saturninus ; but Metellus, with noble patriotism, said that not for him should blood be shed, and forthwith quitted the city. § 9. Saturninus next brought in a Bill designed to win the favour of the Roman Populace. It was a measure for reducing 5 70 CIVIL WARS: FIRST PERIOD. Book VI. tlie price of grain from 6i ases the modius (the price fixed hy C. Gracchus) to 5-6ths of an as.* The Senate were now roused to action. The Quaestor of the City, Cn, Csepio, made a report that the Treasury could not bear the drain which must follow ; and the Senate ordered Saturninus to proceed no further. He persisted ; his colleagues interposed their veto ; but Saturninus scornfully ordered the ballot-boxes to be brought forward, on which Caepio, supported by a strong body of men, broke down the gangways and overthrew the ballot-boxes. The violence of Saturninus could not be arrested but by violence. § 10. The Tribunician Elections for the next year came on before the Consular. Saturninus procured his own reelection ; and, as Marius did not seek a seventh Consulship, the Tribune used all his power to procure the election of his friend Glaucia to this office. But Antonius the Orator and C. Memmius were held sure of their election ; and, to prevent this result, Saturninus sent a band of ruffians who positively beat Memmius to death in the Campus Martins. This brutal act broke up the Assembly. The People of the City were wrought up to frenzy, and met next day, vowing that they would have the life of Saturninus. The Tribune, supported by Glaucia and by Saufeius, one of the City Quaestors, assumed an attitude of resistance. The Senate met, and Marius offered himself as mediator. But the Senate issued a decree which charged the Consuls with dictatorial power. Meanwhile the insurgents had seized the Capitol. All the chiefs of the Senate appeared in arms to support Marius, who became the unwilling leader of his political adversaries. It might have been not easy to reduce the insurgents under such a commander ; but some persons cut the pipes which supplied the quarter with water, and as it thus became impossible for the insurgents to hold out, they surrendered in reliance upon the good offices of Marius. The citizens would have slain them on the spot ; but Marius insisted on a regular trial, and shut them up in the Senate-house. The People, however, would not be balked of vengeance. Numbei"s of them climbed to the top of the building, tore off the tiles, and killed all the prisoners. Thus were slain a Prastor, a Quaestor, and a Tribune, all wearing the ensigns of office. § 11. The proceedings against Saturninus were the same as those adopted against the Gracchi. But this demagogue had himself set the example of using force, and his death was due to a burst of popular feeling. Marius had lost all influence by * The particular change of price was caused probably by a jingle of words. By the Apuleian Law corn was to be sold semisse et triente (^-j-J =■!) instead of senis et triente (6J), as ruled by the Sempronian Law. . Chap. LVI. RECAL OF METELLUS. 67 1 associating liimself witli sucli men. The Senate and People of Rome, who were now allied through fear of the Italians, hated him because he had attempted to save Saturninus. He proved as feeble a politician as he Avas a bold and skilful commandei". § 12. All orders now desired the rgcal of Metellus, who had retired to Rhodes. On the death of Saturninus, it was proposed at once to rescind the law by which he was banished ; but one of the Tribunes put a veto on the measure. In vain the friends and kinsmen of the banished Senator sought to bend this man. from his purpose ; in vain young Q. Metellus interceded for his father so earnestly that he was known ever after by the name of Pius. But at the beginning of the next year (99 B.C.), the law for removing the ban from Metellus now passed by acclamation. His return was a real triumph. The whole City, Nobles and People, met him outside the walls. So many were the greetings Avhich he had to receive and give that it was evening before he entered the gates. He had been absent about a year. § 13. That was a bitter day for the proud spirit of Marius. He left Rome abruptly, and took ship for Asia. The ambassadors of Mithridates had been insulted by Saturninus ; but the King dissembled all anger, and received the great General with every mark of honour. Marius answered the Oriental compliments oP Mithridates with rude threats. "King," said he, "you will have to conquer Rome or to submit." Plutarch avers that his purpose was to drive Mithridates to war, in the hope that he might recover in arms that consequence which he had lost in peace. § 14. The popular taste for shows was daily increasing with the increasing wealth of the great families who supplied yEdiles to the State. Sylla had relapsed into easy self-indulgence after his Cimbrian campaigns. But he now appeared as candidate for the Praetorship. He had not, however, served as -^dile ; and the people expected a magnificent show of beasts from the friend of Bocchus. Sylla therefore lost his election. But in 94 b.c. he spent large sums in bribery, and promised to exhibit as Praetor all that had been expected from him as ^Edile. Accordingly in the next year the wondering people saw one hundred lions, the gift of the Moorish King, let loose in the Circus. After his Praetorship, Sylla was sent by the Senate into Cilicia with a commission to watch Mithridates, who had already begun military preparations on a large scale. Wherever Marius went, it seemed as if he were destined to meet Sylla iii rivalry. § 15, Of all the measures of Gracchus none had left a deeper sore than that which transferred the judicial power from the Senators to the Equestrian Order, Q. Csepio's attempt to re- verse this measure had succeeded only for a moment : disap^ 572 CIVIL WARS: FIRST PERIOD. Book VL pointment aggravated the soreness of the Senate. But thougli popular feeling was in favour of the Equestrian rather than the Senatorial juries, yet the Knights, as has before been noted, had their own motives for corrupt judgment. As Farmers of the Eevenue, they were subject to the power of provincial magis- trates ; and, accordingly as a provincial magistrate favoured or hindered their exactions, it was probable that he would be treated with leniency or severity at their tribunal. Two celebrated causes had lately occurred which proved this point to demonstration. M' Aquillius had quelled the Second Slave-war in Sicily. His father had been noted for rapacity in Asia : the son followed too faithfully the example of his sire. His advocate, Antonius, pleaded his good services as a set-off against the corrupt practices by which he had amassed a large fortune. The orator concluded a pathetic appeal to the feelings of the jury by tearing open the tunic of the old soldier and displaying the scars which seamed his breast. The effect was such that the whole audience sobbed aloud, and iron tears were seen to roll down the cheeks of Marius. Aquillius was acquitted. ^ P. Eutilius Rufus had displayed no small military talent as Legate to Metellus in the Jugurthan War. After his Consulship he had accompanied his friend Q. Scsevola the Pontiff as Legate to Asia. The severe spirit of justice which regulated his whole conduct could not tolerate the rapacity displayed by the Eques- trian Farmers of the Revenue, and he exerted himself to protect the helpless Provincials from their exactions. On his return, a person of indifferent character was induced to indict him before the Equestrian Court for impeding public officers in the execution of their duty. Rutilius had, like Scipio, been a disciple of the great Stoic teacher Pansetius, and he practised the rigid philo- sophy which he professed. He would not accept the services either of Crassus or Antonius, and prevented even Scsevola, who attended him into Court, from using the arts of advocacy. But probably no advocacy would have availed. The complainants and the jury belonged to the same body ; and the Knights proved that they were not more fit than the Senators to be judges in their own case.* § 16. The iniquity of this sentence was so glaring that it gave an opportunity for wresting the privilege of judgment from the Knights. Scaurus cast his eye about for a fitting agent, and it fell on a young man named M. Livius Drusus, son of that Drusus * Cicero, a great patron of the Equestrian Order, declares that, "P. Rutilio damnato, nemo tam innoeens videbatur, ut non timeret judicia." — Pro Scauro, 1 ; compare In Pison. '39. Chap. LVI. TRIBUNATE OF DRUSUS. 5Y3 wlio had served as the tool of the Senate in outbidding C. Gracchus. His family was good, his wealth great, his life spot- less, his mind cultivated, his eloquence remarkable, his temper fearless, and his will inflexible. The frank simplicity of his nature is Avell shown by a well-known anecdote. He was building a new house on the Palatine (the same which afterwards belonged to Cicero), and the architect promised so to construct it that no one should be able to overlook him. " Rather," said Drusus, " so arrange it that all my life may be open to all eyes." Scaurus soon found that he had chosen one who would not stoop to be the tool of a party. Several of the Italian towns sent deputies to pray Drusus to undertake their cause, and he eagerly agreed. Scaurus and the Senatorial leaders, to secure him for their own service, were obliged to support his foreign policy. §17. Drusus began his Tribunate like C. Gracchus and Sa- turninus. He resorted to the old expedient of an Agratian Law, by which Colonies were to be largely planted on the Public Lands of Italy and Sicily, and he proposed an extension of the Law for selling corn cheap. § 18. He next undertook to fulfil the contract he had made with Scaurus. He did not, however, purpose simply to restore judicial power to the Senate; but devised a compromise, by which this power might be shared between its old and its new possessors. The number of the Senate was to be doubled by the addition of 300 members, to be chosen from among the Knights; and from these 600 Senators the Judges were to be chosen. But this plan failed to satisfy either party. The Knights, as a body, had no wish to transfer the privilege they now possessed to 300 of their Order, and the Oligarchy were loud against Scaurus for betraying his Order. § 19. The Oligarchy was even more irritated by the proposal to enfranchise the Italians. They won over the Consul Philippus, a cross-grained man of ready speech, who appeared in the Forum to oppose the Law. But Drusus ordered the Consul to be removed, and the order was executed with so little regard that blood burst from his mouth. On this Philippus declared in open Forum, that " with such a Senate as they now had it was impossible to carry on the Government." Next day, the Tribune rose in the House to complain of the attack made by the Consul on the Senatorial Order. He was seconded by Crassus in a speech so eloquent that he was thought to have surpassed himself. Philippus replied in a furious invective, and declared that he would exact pledges for good conduct from the Orator. This called up Crassus again, and he attacked the Consul in a strain of indig- nation unusual to him. "Do you expect," he exclaimed, "to 57-4 CIVIL WARS: FIRST PERIOD. Book VL frighten me by pledges ? You must first cut out this tongue ; -and even then love of liberty will find means to testify against depraved license." The great Orator sat down amid general applause ; but his exertions brought on an attack of pleurisy, and in a week that eloquent tongue was mute for ever. § 20. What might have been the result is impossible to guess ; for all further proceedings were cut short by the assassina- tion of the Tribune. Drusus knew that his life was in danger. For some time he had avoided public places, and received those who came to transact business with him in a covered walk behind his house. One evening, as he was dismissing his visitors, he cried out that he was stabbed, and fell to the ground. A leather- cutter's knife was found planted in his loins. He expired soon after, mournfully saying that it would be long before the Republic would have a servant so disinterested as himself. § 21. The excitement produced by this last disappointment of their hopes was great throughout the towns of Italy. It was greater still when a Tribune named Varius, a native of Sucro in Spain, who had become a Roman citizen, introduced a Law by which it was declared that all who favoured Italian claims had been guilty of high treason against the People of Rome. Under this Law Scaurus and the leading Senators were at once im- peached. Some sought safety in exile. Antonius stood his trial, defended himself in a speech of passionate vehemence, and was acquitted. There was no evidence against Scaurus but the word of the accuser ; and the wary statesman contented himself with saying in defence : " Q. Varius, the Spaniard, says that M. Scaurus, the Chief of the Senate, has endeavoured to excite the Allies to rebellion. Choose ye, Quirites, which ye will believe." He was acquitted, and this is the last we hear of a man who for thirty years or more had been the virtual Chief of Rome. Coin of the Eight Italian Nations, joining in an Oath of Federation, with the Legend Italia. CHAPTER LVII. THE SOCIAL WAR. (b.C. 90, 89.) § 1. Anger of the Italians : outbreak at Asculum. § 2. Organisation of the Italians : Consuls, Praetors, &c. § 3. Defeat and death of the Roman Consul, Rutilius Lupus : inactivity of Marius. § 4. New Consuls : Pompeius Strabo. § 5. Compromise proposed : Julian Law. § 6. Sul> mission of many : bitter enmity of the Samnites. § 7. Second Campaign: great successes of Sylla. § 8. And of Pompeius Strabo. § 9. Attempts at negotiation : Sylla takes BoYianum : answer of Mithridates. § 10. Capture of Asculum: submission of all the Allies except the Samnites and Lucanians : great losses on both sides. § 11. Plotian and Papirian Law. § 12. Admission of K'ew Citizens. § 13. Difficulties and dangers in the new state of things. § 14. State of the Law-courts. § 1. The occurrences described at the close of the last Chapter embittered the Italians to the uttermost. The outbreak of war was precipitated by an unpremeditated act of violence. Italy was at that time subject to the government of Proconsuls, One of these officers, named Servilius, stationed in the Picenian territory, received information that the citizens of Asculum were organising insurrection. He immediately entered that city with a small retinue, and, finding the citizens assembled for some festal purpose, he assailed them with vehement threats. The people set upon him and slew him ; and now that blood had been spilt, free vent was given to passion. All Romans who fell into their hands were massacred and their goods confiscated. The news spread like wildfire. A general meeting of the Allies was called. Deputies attended from the Picenians, from the Marsians, Pelignians, Marrucinians, and Vestinians ; from the Samnites, from the Apulians and the Lucanians. A formal state- ment of their claims was drawn up and despatched to Rome : — " They had," they said, " long done faithful service to the Re- S76 CIVIL WARS: FIRST PERIOD. Book VL public ; they had furnislied two-thirds of her armies ', they had conquered the world for her, yet they were still treated like mere aliens." The Senate stiffly replied, " that no embassies could be received till reparation was made for the late acts of violence." § 2. The steps taken by the Eight Allied Nations showed the nature of the impending struggle. The question was, not whether the Italians were to become citizens of Rome, but whether Rome was to continue to be mistress of the Italian Confederation. They declared Corfinium, a strong city in the Pelignian Apen- nines, the capital of the new Italian League : henceforth it was to be called Italica.* Two Consuls were to be the chief officers of the League, each having six Prsetors under his command. A Senate was formed for managing public business : everything showed the determination of the insurgent Communities to supersede the authority of Rome. No time was lost in debating. Q. Pompsedius Silo, a Marsian, and C. Papius Motylus, a Samnite, were elected Consuls.f In every quarter able officers started up who had learned the art of war in the Roman armies, some of them under Marius. The most eminent names are C. Judacilius, a Picenian of Asculum, Herius Asinius, a Marrucinian, T. Lamponius of Lucania, with Vettius Scato, Marius Egnatius, and T. Afranius, all three of Sam- nite blood. The meagre accounts which remain to us of the Social WarJ make it difficult to distinguish between the merits of these commanders. Their proceedings seem to have weak- ened by want of concentration, and forcibly recal to mind the straggling and indecisive conflicts which characterised the earlier part of our own Civil War, before the genius of Cromwell gave unity of purpose to the armies of the Parliament, § 3. The outbreak of the war (90 b.c.) evidently took the Senate by surprise. Campania itself, the favoured and favourite land of the Roman nobles, fell into the hands of the enemy. Nola was compelled to surrender : Stabise, Liternum, Salernum followed the example of Nola : Acerrse was closely invested by the Sam- nites. The Consul Csesar threw himself into this place, while his colleague Rutilius advanced with a regular army, with Marius for his Legate, to the Liris. He was met by Pompaedius Silo, the Marsian Consul. The Roman army was in two divisions, Rutilius himself commanding on the left, while Marius led the right to a * Coins of the Confederacy are found with the legend italia. See the Woodcut at the head of this Chapter. f Papius is the only one whose name appears on coins. — See below, note on § 5. X This is the name given to it by Florus, Eutropius, &c. Cicero and others call it Bellum Italicum. Horace, Strabo, and Plutarch call it the Marsian War. Chap. LVII. THE SOCIAL WAR. 577 point nearer the sea. No sooner liad Rutilius crossed the river with negligent haste, than he was assaulted by Pompaedius. The Roman army was utterly defeated, the Consul himself slain, and Marius apprised of the Consul's defeat only by the number of dead bodies that came slowly floating down the Liris. The old General immediately crossed the river and drove back the victorious enemy. The body of the Consul was recovered and sent to be interred publicly at Rome. But the consternation which prevailed there was raised to its height by this fatal spec- tacle, and the Senate issued a Decree ordering that the bodies of the slain, however illustrious, should be buried in the place where they had fallen. Marius himself maintained his reputation only by foiling the enemy in all attempts to force on a battle. Pompsedius, flushed with success, called on him, — " If he were the great General he was reported, to come out and fight." " Nay," retorted Marius, " if you are the great General you would fain be thought, make me come out and fight." Plutarch attributes his inactivity to his age (he was now sixty-five), his corpulence, and the luxurious habits he had of late adopted. But subsequent events showed that he could be active enough when he pleased ; and it is more than probable that Marius purposely abstained from acting with energy against the Italians, who had fought his battles in the field and supported his political agitation in the City. § 4. The Consuls chosen for the next year were, Cn. Pompeius Strabo, father of Pompey the Great, and L. Porcius Cato. Pom- peius was a greedy and selfish, but able man ; and he served the Republic well in the ensuing campaign. Cato had just rendered a great service to the State by checking a threatened rising in Etruria. § 5. But the Senate trusted not wholly to military ability. During the autumn serious deliberations were held as to the expediency of a compromise. Statesmen of the school of Scaurus advocated the affirmative side : the actual Consul L, Caesar, and the Consul-elect Cn. Pompeius, were both of this class. Besides the losses in Campania, all Samnium, except the Colony of ^sernia, was in the hands of the enemy ; in Apulia, even the Colonies of Venusia and Luceria had been taken by Judacilius, and Lamponius had driven the Praetor Crassus, son of the orator, out of Lucania. Unfavourable reports also came in from the North ; it seemed likely that the Sabellian insurrection might spread over the whole of Italy. The Consul Caesar was by the Senate empowered to draw up a Law, called after him the Julian Law, for granting the Franchise to those of the Allies who had either taken no part in the Social War, or had now ceased to 25 578 CIVIL WARS: FIRST PERIOD. Book VL take part in it, on the necessary condition tliat their respective countries should becomp integral portions of the Roman Terri- tory. To show that the Law was to be a reality, L. Caesar him- seltj with his Legate Crassus, were elected Censors for the year 89 B.C. to enrol the new citizens, though it was but eighteen months since the last Censors had laid down their office-. The effect of this timely concession immediately appeared : a division of opinion ws created in many of the insurgent Commu- nities. But in others it excited a still more vigorous determina- tion. At first, the coins issued from the Mint of the Confederates bore Latin Legends : but as the contest became embittered, the Oscan character was adopted, as if to show that the language of Rome was to be henceforth disused by the friends of Italy.* § 6. But while the Senate prudently disarmed the wavering or the lukewarm, they made strenuous exertions to crush those who should continue the war. The Samnites, above all, showed no inclination to accept favours from Rome : the deadly hostiUty of ancient times again broke out ; and they scrupled not to send an embassy to the Court of Mithridates, Desperate reso- lution could not be more strongly shown than by calling in an Asiatic monarch to share in the spoils of Italy. Proclamations were issued in which rewards were offered for the heads of Roman citizens, and freedom promised to all slaves who should join the Italian cause. § Y. Early in the spring of the next year (89 b.c.) the cam- paign began. The Consul Pompeius moved northwards into the Picenian territory, while his colleague Cato covered the passes leading down from the Appennines into the Campagna of Rome. But Cato fell at the very outset of the campaign in a skirmish, and the chief command on the south of the Apennines fell to his Lieutenant, Sylla. Sylla now exerted himself to the utmost to eclipse the military renown of his old Commander Marin s. He took the field with 3. small Roman division, supported by a strong auxiliary force of Numidians and Moors, raised by his personal influence in Africa. With these troops he advanced within sight of the enemy's entrenched camp in Campania. A gigantic Gaul came out and challenged any of Sylla's men to single combat. The challenge was accepted by a Numidian, whose adroitness enabled him to lay low his huge antagonist. On this, the enemy's host fled in consternation towards Nola ; and Sylla followed so closely, that the garrison of that city were obliged to close the gates which * It is impossible to say w^ew this change took place. The coin at the end of this Chapter bears the name of Papius in Oscan characters, with only Two of the Allied Nations left. Chap. LVII. THE SOCIAL WAR. 579 they liad opened to admit the fugitives. The active Roman fol- lowed np his first success so vigorously, that the enemy was obliged to leave Campania ; and Sylla, leaving part of his army to invest Nola, entered the Hirpinian country. Its towns sub- mitted ; and Sylla prepared to pass into the Pentrian valleys, the last and strongest holds of Samnite freedom. § 8. Meanwhile, the Consul Pompeius had been pm-suing a coarse no less successful in the North. He had at first been defeated by Judacilius, Avho left Afranius to hold the Consul in check, while he repaired in person to Apulia. But Pompeius routed Afranius, and invested Asculum, the first seat of the insurrection. As soon as this ill news reached Judacilius, he flew to the relief of his native city, but only succeeded so far as to cut his way through the Roman lines and enter the gates with a few brave men. Pompeius left his lieutenants to blockade the place, which was desperately defended, and himself moved south- wards. Corfinium fell into his hands, and the seat of the insur- gent government was shifted to Bovianum, the chief stronghold of the Pentrian Samnites. Here then the war was to be decided. While Pompeius de- scended from the North, Sylla was advancing from the South. § 9. At this moment an attempt was made to negotiate. Pom- peius and Scato had an interview, at which Cicero — then a youth of seventeen, served his first campaign in the Consul's army — was present. Sextus, the Consul's brother, came expressly from Rome to lend his good oflices for promoting peace. " I am," said he to the Samnite Chief, " by choice your friend, your enemy by necessity." But the attempt proved unavailing. Meanwhile, Sylla defeated the Samnite General Papius, and pushed on straight to Bovianum, where he was in correspondence with some persons attached to the Roman interest. The place was betrayed to him. About the same time an answer arrived from Mithridates. He bade the Samnites hold out firmly : he was, he said, at present engaged in expelling the Romans from Asia ; when that work was done, he would cross the sea, and assist them in crushing the she-wolf of Italy. But promises at such a juncture were equiva- lent to refusal. . § 10. On all hands, therefore, the fortune of Rome was in the ascendant. Judacilius, finding that he could hold Asculum no longer, raised a funeral pile in sight of his banqueting-hall, and after a sumptuous entertainment given to his friends, drained a poisoned cup of wine to the dregs, ascended the fatal pile, and bade his guests set fire to it. The place surrendered, and the Consul Pompeius treated the citizens with ruthless severity ; tho 580 CIVIL WARS: FIRST PERIOD. Book VI. richer sort were belieaded ; tlie rest sold as slaves ; the houses rased to the ground. Among those reserved to grace his triumph was a boy named P. Ventidius Bassus, who afterwards became one of the best officers in the Roman army, and himself enjoyed a triumph for avenging the defeat of Crassus upon the Parthians. The Vestinians and Pelignians yielded to the Consul ; Sulpicius received the submission of the Marrucinians, Murena and Me- tellus Pius that of the Marsians.* The brave Marsian Chief, Pompsedius, fled into Apulia, pursued by Metellus ; and venturing to give battle, was defeated and slain. Venusia returned to its allegiance. But Canusium in Apulia and Nola in Campania were still held by Samnite garrisons ; and the Samnites them- selves in their mountains, with a portion of the Lucanians, stib defied the Roman arms. The successful issue of the war was not purchased without heavy losses on the side of Rome. It is computed that in the whole of this deadly struggle not fewer than 300,000 of the youth of Italy fell. The greater part of them belonged doubtless to the enemy. But Avhen we speak of the enemy, it must be remembered that in every man who fell — whether Roman, Latin, or Italian — the Republic lost a soldier. § 11. When it was too late, the Senate showed themselves forward in concession. In the early part of the second cam- paign, the Tribunes, M. Plotius Sylvanus and C. Papirius Carbo, Drought in a Law supplementary to the Julian Law, by which its privileges were granted not only to the Italian allies, but also to the burgesses of all allied cities in the provinces, who were at that time domiciled in Italy, provided that they registered their names before the Praetor of the city within sixty days.f The Consul Pompeius emulated his predecessor by proposing a law for advancing all the citizens of the Gallic communities beyond the Po to the condition of Latin burgesses. § 12. The practical question that remained was the mode of admitting the new citizens. It is evident that there were two distinct ways in which this might be accomplished. First, the number of Tribes might have been retained as it was ; and the Italians might either have been distributed through the whole Thirty-five, or have been confined (like the Freedmen) to a cer- tain number. Of these plans, the former mode would have made the Italians masters of the Comitia on all occasions ; the latter * It must have been after the submission of these fom- nations that the A.llies struck money with four figures instead of eight. The four shortly ifter fell to two. See the coins at the head and foot of this Chapter. f The argument of Cicero in his well-known speech for the poet Archiaa turns upon the provisions of this law. Chap. LVII. THE SOCIAL WAR. 581 would lifive looked like an insult and a degradation. Or, secondly, the number of Tribes might be increased, and the new Tribes reserved for the Italians. This was the plan adopted. The Censors, L. Cajsar and P. Crassus, entered on their office during the present year ; and in the course of the year 89 b.c, they created Ten new Tribes for the Italians alone, and prepared to register all their -names as Eoman citizens of these Tribes. But the Civil War prevented the Censors from finishing their work. § 13. The difficulties attached to the question of enfranchising the Italians showed that it was not a merely factious opposition which had hitherto been offered. The Senate indeed had shown an anxious disposition to settle the matter peaceably ; and the passing of the Law to extend the Franchise, before arms were laid down, proves that they gave up the stern maxim of the old Republic, " Spare the submissive, and war down the proud." It was in fact impossible to adapt a Constitution originally fitted for a small Civic Community to a great Country. It was manifest that the Italians would not rest satisfied with the scanty share of direct power granted to them ; and yet it was hardly safe to grant them more, unless, indeed, some statesman in advance of his time had suggested a plan resembling the modern system of Representative Parliaments. But no such plan was thought of. It may be said that the partial admission of the Italians to the franchise annulled the old Roman Constitution, and made an absolute Monarchy almost a political necessity. § 14. During the Social War the. High Courts of Justice had been closed. Of the great advocates, Crassus was dead, Anto- nius was absent from Rome, Cotta, who had aspired to succeed to their fame, Avas in exile. Hortensius, who was fast establish- ing his claim to be considered the first orator of his day, was employed in the first year of the war as a Legionary Tribune, in the second as a Ti'ibune. Sulpicius, another eloquent speaker, had served as a Legate of the Consul Pompeius. Cicero, not yet eighteen, had just imbibed that distaste for a military life which attached him ever after to the Forum, ^ Coin of the Two Allied Nations who last held out, with the name of Papius in Oscan Characters. CHAPTBE LVIII. FIRST CIVIL WAR. (88 86 B.C.) § 1. Sylla appointed to the command against Mithridates. § 2. Attempt of the young Nobles to relieve themselves of debt. § 3. The Tribune Sul- pieius. § 4. He proposes to distribute the Italians among all the Tribes. § 5. Riots : the law passed, and Marius chosen to supersede Sylla, § 6. Sylla flies to his army at Kola. § '7. Marches upon Rome : joined by the other Consul Q. Pompeius Rufus. § 8. Battle in streets of Rome. § 9. Marius and eleven others outlawed by the Senate.' § 10. Death of Sul- picius. § 11- Adventures of Marius: he reaches Africa. § 12. Unpopu- larity of Sylla : Octavius and Cinna, Consuls : oath of Cinna : murder of Pompeius Rufus: Sylla leaves Italy. § 13. Cinna puts himself at the head of the Italians : he is driven out of Rome, and deprived of the Consulship. § 14. The army at !N"ola declares for Cinna: the Italians rise in arms. § 15. Marius returns to Italy : joins Cinna. § 16. Efforts of the Senate : Pompeius Strabo enters Rome. § 1*7. Blockade of Rome by four armies. § 18. Death of Pompeius: surrender of Rome. § 19. The Marian Mas- sacre. § 20. Sertorius slaughters the slaves. § 21. Death of Catulus and others. § 22. Seventh Consulship and death of Marius. § 1. Marius was the cause o£ the First Civil War; but the per- son who gave occasion to its outbreak was Mithridates, King of Pontus. We have said that in the second year of the Social War this remarkable man encouraged the insurgents to hope for his support as soon as he had expelled the Romans from Asia. The details of this enterprise will be given in the next chapter. Here we must be content with stating that, before the end of the year 89 B.C., the Senate had determined upon war, and a Commander was to be chosen. In the mind of Marius, this Commander could be none other than himself: he had long fixed his eye upon the East, and had done what in him lay to hasten a rupture. Late events had shown him that Sylla, whom he hated, might become a formidable rival ; and he left the sumptuous villa which he had lately erected at Misenum, for a house adjoining the Forum. He daily frequented that busy place, and, notwithstanding his increasing age and corpulence, again joined in the military exer- cises of the Campus, trusting that thus he should be always in the sight of the People. But the glory won by Sylla in the Social War marked him as the person to whom the command was due ; and, as he was Consul-elect, his appointment was regarded as a Chap. LVIII. FIRST CIVIL WAR. 583 matter of course. In the heart of Marius hatred was made intense by disappointment; and he determined, cost what it might, to secure the command for himself. § 2. Circumstances favoured his design. The business of farming the revenue every day increased the wealth of the Equestrian Order. To them all who needed money resorted. They demanded high rates of interest ; but lavish expenditure was the fashion among the young Nobles. Some of those who were heavily burthened with debt raked up an old law, by which usurious interest was forbidden, and refused to pay more than was by this law allowed. A case was brought before the Pra3tor Asellio, Avho allowed the noble debtors to prosecute their cre- ditors for illegal usury. The fury of the Knights rose to the utmost : Asellio was assaulted and murdered. § 3. Among the Tribunes of the year was P. Sulpicius, a master of lofty and pathetic eloquence,''' who had been a friend of the unfortunate Drnsus, and was animated by bitter enmity against Q. Pompeius Rufus, Sylla's colleague in the Consulship. This was the person whom old Marius now selected as his political agent, as he had formerly chosen Saturninus. Marius held up before his ardent imagination the treasures of Mithridates, promising that, if the command were transferred to himself, he would em- ploy the wealth of the Pontic King to relieve the Roman debtors. Sulpicius caught eagerly at the oft'er. § 4. There was no inclination among the People of Rome to supersede Sylla. But if the Italians could exercise a weight in the Comitia proportioned to their numbers, it was plain that Marius, alway a favourite with the Italian countrymen, would be secure of the appointment. Sulpicius, therefore, boldly gave notice of two measures : one by which the Italians were to be distributed evenly through all the Tribes ; a second, by which all Freedmen who had served in the Italian Wars were to be placed on a level with the Old Citizens. Thus in every Tribe the New Citizens, comprising Italians and Freedmen, would form a majority, and thus the votes of the Tribes would be at the dis- posal of Marius. § 5. It was not to be expected that the Old Citizens Would tamely submit to be overridden. As the day for voting drew nigh, battles with stones and staves were of daily occurrence. The Consuls endeavoured to postpone the day of conflict by pro- claiming a Justitium or General Holiday, the effect of which was to suspend all public business. But the Tribune declared his intention to proceed to a vote, just as if the Consuls had issued no proclamation ; and ordered a body of 3000 young men * " Maxime omnium grandis et tragieus Orator." — Cicero Brut. 55. 584 CIVIL WARS : FIRST PERIOD. Book VI. to attend lairn, with concealed daggers, in the Forum : they were to strike when he commanded, not sparing even the Consuls, if need were. On the appointed day the Tribune rose, and declared the proclamation of the Public Holiday illegal, on the ground that there was no special cause for it.* A loud outcry arose from the Old Citizens ; upon which, at a sign from the Tribune, his adherents drew their daggers. Their opponents fled. Pompeius only escaped by hiding himself: his son, who was married to Sylla's daughter, was ruthlessly murdered. Sylla fled into the house of Marius, which faced the Forum, whence he was obliged to return, and declare the Justitium at an end. The Laws then passed Avithout opposition ; and, as a matter of course, the command in the Mithridatic "War was transferred to Marius. § 6. Sylla went straight from the Forum to his camp before Nola (for the Samnites had not yet surrendered that town), with the purpose of hurrying to the East. But he had already been superseded; and two officers arrived in camp bearing a com- mission from Marius to assume the command. Sylla was now compelled to take a decisive part. Either he must submis- sively resign or must vindicate his right by force. The name of Civil War was not yet familiar to Eoman ears ; and before he committed himself to actual hostilities, he resolved to sound the inclinations of his troops. He summoned them to the Prse- torium. He enlarged on the insults that had been off'ered to himself; and gave them to understand that, unless he remained in command, their hopes of booty from the Mithridatic War must end ; and concluded by a hope that they would obey his orders. The men gave a ready interpretation to his last words by calling upon him to lead them to Rome, and proved their zeal by stoning to death the ofiicers sent by Marius. Sylla, fully assured, ordered six Legions to get under arms. The superior officers, however, shrunk from lending countenance to civil war ; and all, save one Quaestor, fled to Rome. § v. In the City the consternation Avas great. The Senate, more from fear of Marius than of their own good will, sent to demand of Sylla why he was. in arms against his country. "To set her at liberty," was the only answer he vouchsafed. The Praetors then went out, invested with all the ensigns of their office : but the soldiers broke their fasces, and stripped them of their robes. Sylla meantime continued to advance. The ofiicers who had deserted him were replaced by persons of note, who had fled from Rome : above all, he was joined by his colleague and kinsman, Q. Pompeius Rufus ; and henceforth all his acts ran in * A Justitium was proclaimed for some great triumph or disaster, — the former case accompanied by a Supplicatio or Public Thanksgiving. Chap. LVIII. FIRST CIVIL WAR. 585 the joint name of tlio two Consuls of the year, — a fact which had great authority over men's minds. § 8. The prompt audacity of Sylla took Marius and Sulpicius by surprise. They had not calculated on his daring to march a Roman army against Rome. To gain time, they sent a last em- bassy, in the name of the Senate, requesting the Consuls to stop the march of the army till the Fathers had come to some resolution. Sylla, now about five miles from the gates, pro- mised to comply : but no sooner had the envoys turned their backs, than he despatched two officers with a detachment to occupy the high ground adjoining the Esquiline. They marched so rapidly that they seized the Colline Gate, and pene- trated into the City ; but their progress was stopped by the People, who threw tiles and stones upon them from the house- tops. Meantime the Consuls had come up with their whole force. Pompeius pushed forward with one Legion to support the troops at the Colline Gate ; another Legion seized the Caeli- montane Gate ; a third turned the Aventine, and occupied the Sublician Bridge ; a fourth was left in reserve before the walls ; while Sylla with the remaining two entered the City. His opponents, meanthiie, had assembled a considerable force ; and in the district between the Cselian and the Esquiline, armed soldiers for the first time encountered in the streets of Rome. Sylla's men were beaten back, till, seizing an eagle, he threw himself into the thick of the fray. Meanwhile, his reserve Legion entered the city and attacked Marius in flank from the Suburra. The old General, finding his position turned, retreated to the Capitol, whence he issued a proclamation offering liberty to all slaves who would join his banner. But this desperate act only revealed his weakness, and even those who had hitherto sup- ported him dispersed. Marius and Sulpicius, with all their chief friends, sought safety in flight. § 9. Meantune Sylla had marched his Legions in good order down the Sacred Way into the Forum, and restored public con- fidcTice by inflicting summary punishment upon all plunderers. Next morning he addressed the People in a set speech, de- ploring the extremity to which he had been forced by profligate demagogues. From the Forum the Consuls proceeded to the Senate-house. A Decree was issued, by which twelve persons were proclaimed traitors. Among these, the most eminent were Marius, his son, his son-in law L. Granius, and the Tribunes Sul- picius and Albinovanus. Against this arbitrary Decree no one had courage to raise a voice except Q. Scsevola, the Pontifex. "Never," said the old lawyer, "will I consent to declare Caius Marius an outlaAV." 25* 586 CIVIL WARS: FIRST PERIOD. Book VI. § 10. All the proclaimed persons had escaped. But Sulpicius, who had secreted himself in a villa near Laurentum, "was be- trayed by a slave and slain. His head was exposed upon the Eostra, from which his eloquence had so often moved the people to tears, — the first example of a barbarous practice which became common in after years, The treacherous slave was rewarded by Sylla for doing his duty to the State, and then thrown down the Tarpeian Rock for betraying his master, — a perfidious judg- ment, characteristic of a country where slaves are numerous and held in fear. The masters dare not recognise tbem as free men, even where the public interest is most concerned. § 11. Marius himself ran through a series of adventures strange as ever were coined by the brain of a romancer. He reached Ostia in company with Granius his son-in-law, and a few slaves : hence they proposed to take ship for Africa, where Marius had much influence, derived from the times of the Jugurthan War. When young Marius, who had taken a diff"erent route, arrived at Ostia, he found that his father had put to sea. By a lucky chance, however, he found another vessel sailing for Africa, and reached that Province in safety. Meantime, old Marius was by stress of weather driven to land near Circeii. From this place the party wandered southward along the deso- late shore in great distress, till some herdsmen, who recognised the old General, warned him of the approach of a party of cavalry. Not daring to keep the road, the fugitives plunged into the forest which still covers the coast. Here they passed the night in great misery, and next morning continued their forlorn walk. Marius alone kept up his spirits and encouraged his attendants by assurances that a seventh Consulship was yet in store for him. In the two following days they had dragged their weary limbs over a space of about forty miles direct distance, when they saw a body of horse coming towards them. It happened that two merchant vessels- were passing southward close in-shore. The fugitives plunged into the sea, and made for the ships. Granius reached one of them, and was put ashore in the island of Pithecusa (Ischia). So exhausted was Marius, that he was hardly kept above water by two slaves, till the seamen got him on board the other vessel. Meantime, the horsemen rode down to the water's edge, and, calling out to the captain, demanded the person of Marius. With tears the old General besought protection ; and after much wavering the captain continued his course. When they reached the mouth of the Liris, he persuaded Marius to go ashore, as it Avas neces- sary to lie to till the land-wind rose. But no sooner had his boat returned, than the faithless captain got under way, and Chap. LVIII. FIRST CIVIL WAR. 587 Marius was loft absolutely alone upon the swampy beacli. He walked Avcarily to an old man's liut, who concealed him in a hole near the river, and covered him with reeds. Presently the horsemen came up and demanded where Marius was. Afraid of being discovered, the fugitive rose from his hiding-place and dashed into the river. He was perceived and dragged ashore ; and the horsemen conveyed him, nearly naked and covered Avith mud, to Minturnse. Here he was given over to the magistrates of the town, who had received a circular letter from the Con- suls, ordering them to put ]\Iarius to death if he should fall into their hands. But the magistrates, not liking to incur such responsibility, referred the matter to a Town Council. The Council voted that Sylla's orders should be obeyed, and a Gaulish slave was sent with orders to ^ut the old General to death. It was dark, and, as the man entered the room where Marius was lying, he saw the old man's eyes glaring through the darkness, while a deep voice exclaimed : " Fellow, darest thou slay Cains Marius ?" He threw down his sword and fled, crying, " I cannot slay Caius Marius." By the connivance of the Magis- trates, the fugitive escaped to Ischia, where he joined Granius, and a friendly ship was found to convey him to Africa. Hear- ing that his son had already arrived, he was emboldened to land near the site of ancient Carthage. But the Praetor Sex- tilius sent him orders to quit the Province without delay. Marius with silent in^lignation gazed fixedly on the messenger, till the man demanded what answer he should take back to the Prtetor. " Tell him," said the old General, " that you have seen Caius Marius sitting among the ruins of Carthage." Soon after, he was joined by his son, who had endeavoured to gain support from Hiempsal, King of Numidia. The J^oung man had been received with outward kindness, but was in fact detained as prisoner, till he was taught to escape by the com- passion of the King's daughter. After this, Marius remained in Africa without molestation. § 12. Meanwhile Sylla at Rome was not without his diffi- culties. He found both Senate and People so shocked by the intrusion of armed legions within the sacred precincts of the city, that he thought it prudent to send back the troops to their old quarters in Campania, while he remained himself to settle matters in his own favour, before he took his departure for the East. The Senate, on his motion, issued a Decree by which the laws of Sulpicius were declared null and void ; and thus the Italian voters were again deprived of the advantages granted them by those laws, while Sylla's appointment to the Oriental command resumed its force. But there was no disposition to 588 CIVIL WARS: FIRST PERIOD. Book VI. favour liim, and he was unable to influence the Consular elec- tions. The choice fell upon Cn. Octavius, a feeble nobleman, given to superstitious reverence for astrologers,* and L. Cornelius Cinna. It is plain that the latter was an object of suspicion to Sylla's observant eye ; for before he assumed office he was com- pelled by the General to repair to the Temple of Capitoline Jupiter, and there solemnly to swear that he would not disturb the existing order of things. But Sylla's position was very insecure. Cn. Pompeius Strabo, still serving as Proconsul in Apulia, was superseded by Q. Pompeius Rufus, Sylla's kinsman and late colleague. But no sooner had Strabo left his army, than a mutiny broke out, and Rufas was murdered by the soldiers. The wily Proconsul im- mediately returned to the camp, and, after rebuking the muti- neers with apparent sternness, quietly resumed the command; nor was Sylla strong enough to take notice of this piece of preconcerted treachery. Plots were formed against his life, and the murder of his colleague was a token of what might next be his own fate. Cinna urged one of the new Tribunes to impeach him for bringing an army within the walls of Rome ; upon which the General hastened to Campania, and shipped his troops for Greece, leaving the Aristocracy to fight their own battle. § 13. His departure was the signal for a fresh outbreak of Civil War. Cinna, an ambitious, unprincipled, and reckless man, perceived that he could at once raise himself to importance by putting himself at the head of the New Citizens, or Italian party, who had been left without leaders by the death of Sulpicius and the flight of Marius. He at once gave notice of a Bill for again distributing the Italians and Freedmen through all the Tribes. This measure was warmly opposed by the Senate and by the old Roman citizens. On the day of voting, Cinna's party occupied the Forum, armed Avith daggers ; and when it appeared that the Tribunes were about to interpose their veto, they drew their weapons upon those ofiicers. The Old Citizens, headed by Octa- vius, opposed force by force ; and a furious battle ensued, which ended in the Italians being driven from the Forum.f Cinna was obliged to quit Rome ; and the Senate immediately deprived him of the Consular office, and conferred it, by their own authority, on L. Cornelius Merula, Flamen of Jupiter, an inoffensive man, who allowed the perilous honour to be thrust upon him. § 14. Cinna was now completely compromised, and he took the bold step of trusting himself to the troops left by Sylla before * " Chaldaeans," as they were called. See Juven. vi. 554. x. 94. f With the loss of 10,000 men, according to Plutarch Vit. Serior. 4 This period of the Civil War was called Bellum Octavianum by Cieera Chap. LVIII. FIRST CIVIL WAR. 589 NolcO, who were discontented at being excluded from participating in the gains of the Mithridatic War. With passionate words he told the soldiery that the Senate had stripped him of the high office which had been conferred by the votes of the People ; and then he rent his robe and threw himself on the ground. The unwonted sight of a Consul in this attitude moved the susceptible feelings of the men. All took the oath of obedience to him as Consul. But Cinna not only addressed himself to the Roman soldiers who were beleaguering Nola ; he also invited the Samnite garrison of Nola to make common cause with him against the old Roman citizens. In a similar strain he declaimed in the towns of Italy which had lately been engaged in the Social War. Everywhere he was received with enthusiasm. The Social War was revived under a different aspect. A Consul appeared as their leader, and Marius, the greatest General of Rome, was known to favour their claims. Cinna was soon at the head of a formidable army. Among the officers who accepted commissions from him may be named Cn. Papirius Carbo and Q. Sertorius, men who played great parts in the following years. § 15. News of these proceedings soon reached old Marius in Africa, where he assembled about a thousand desperate men, and, landing in Etruria, soon found himself in command of a large force, which was brought into order by his habits of command. He also made himself master of a small but well-appointed fleet. He was now in a condition to treat with Cinna, and offered to accept a commission under him as Con- sul. Cinna's officers advised him to close with this offer, all except Sertorius. This sagacious man, who had served xmder Marius in the Cimbrian War, and had gained distinction in the war against the Allies, feared the savage temper of his old general, and advised Cinna not to compromise his cause by uniting it to that of Marius. But when Cinna confessed that he had opened a correspondence with Marius in Africa, Sertorius withdrew his objections. Cinna offered to Marius the rank of Proconsul. But the old man grimly refused all marks of honour. § 16. Meanwhile the Senate had been exerting themselves to raise a force for the defence of the city. They hired mercenaries in Gaul. They sent orders to Pompeius Strabo to bring up his army. They directed Metellus Pius, who was still employed in reducing the Samnites, to make what terms he could with the enemy, and hasten to Rome. Metellus lingered ; but Pompeius advanced to the CoUine Gate, where he maintained an obstinate reserve, and seemed uncertain whether he should join the Senate or go over to Marius. But after some fruitless intrigues he at length entered Rome, and united his troops to the scanty force of the Consul Ootavins. 590 CIVIL WARS: FIRST PERIOD. Book VI. § 1*7. The armies of tlie assailants now drew close round Eome, so as to invest it on every side. Cinna took his post near the CoUine Gate, so as to intercept communications with -the north and north-east. Carbo lay on his left, so as to command the roads which approached Rome from the east ; Sertorius on his right, so as to bar all passage from Etruria and the north- west. Marius himself took up his position on the Tiber, across which he threw a bridge, so as to communicate with Carbo on the one side and Sertorius on the other. Thus placed, with large forces at their command, the allied generals calculated on reducing the city by famine. § 18. Pompeius, after defeating an attempt of Marius to take Janiculura, died suddenly, and a plague broke out which deci- mated the Senatorial army. By this time Metellus had quitted Samnium, and encamped upon the Alban Hills. Here he was visited by some of the soldiers of Pompeius, who entreated him to take the chief command. But he was unable to do more than threaten Cinna's rear. Tired of inaction, great part of his troops deserted or returned home ; and the Senate, left almost defence- less, determined on attempting negotiations. A deputation of Senators arrived in the camp of Cinna, who prefaced all proceed- ings by asking whether they were prepared to treat with him " as Consul." They had no instructions on this point, and re- turned to Rome, while Cinna advanced his camp within a dart's throw of the gates. A second deputation arrived, and humbly saluted him as Consul. He received them sitting in his chair of state, with his Lictors on either side. The Deputies asked nothing more than that before entering the city he would take an oath not to suffer a general massacre. Cinna answered gently, and promised not to authorise any slaughter ; but all hopes inspired by the moderation of his language were damped by the aspect of old Marius. He stood behind the Consul's chair, in mean apparel, Avith his hair and beard rough and long, for they had been left untrimmed ever since the day on Avhich he had fled from Rome, and with a sullen frown upon his brow. But the Senate had little room for choice. Hastily they passed a Decree, inviting Cinna, Marius, and their partisans to enter the City. Marius ironically replied, that he had been formally pro- claimed a traitor, and must be formally restored to his rights. But before a second Decree could issue, he had entered the City with the army. § 19. Rome was treated as a conquered city. The soldiers, consisting of slaves and vagabonds of all kinds, combined with Italians smarting from the late war, were let loose to plunder. The unfortunate Octavius, assured by his astrologers, Avas slain Ch.\p. LVIII. first civil war. 591 while seated upon liis Consular chair in the Janiculum, Ilis slaughter was but the prelude to a series of horrible butcheries, Marius had returned to Italy full of the memory of his ignomini- ous flight, lie was attended everywhere by a band of ruffians, who had orders to strike down any person of rank whom their master passed without the courtesy of a salute. The Senators who had opposed his recall from exile were among his first victims. Q. Lentulus, C Numitorius, M. Bsebius, and others were cut down, and their bodies dragged through the public places. P. Crassus, seeing his eldest son slain by Fimbria, put an end to his own life. L. Cassar, author of the Law for en- franchising the Italians, and his brother Caius, were murdered in their own houses. Q. Ancharius came in suppliant guise to Marius, when he was sacrificing in the Capitol ; but the relent- less old man ordered the suppliant to be cut down in the very precincts of the Temple and his body cast into the street. The example of Marius was followed by all who had private wrongs to avenge, or debts to cancel. Many Knights were massacred, doubtless by their creditors. Slaves, drunk with passion and licence, wreaked a less discriminating vengeance upon all who fell in their way. But here it must be recorded that many were saved by the devotion of their household slaves. Cornutus was pursued to his house by some of the gang of Marius ; his slaves hung up one of the corpses, which were but too plentiful, with their master's gold ring upon the hand ; and when the murderers burst into the house, these faithful slaves pretended that they had anticipated the deed of blood, and by this pious fraud saved their master. The orator Antonius had incurred the special wrath of Marius by an eloquent speech in which he had opposed his recal to Rome. For some time he was concealed in a country- house by his slaves. But one of these simple men, in buying wine, told the vintner that he must have good liquor, since it was (he whispered) for the special use of the great orator An- tonius. The treacherous dealer hastened with the news to Marius, who ordered the orator's head to be brought to him and placed it on the table as the chief ornament of the banquet. § 20. Cinna took no part in these atrocities. Sertorius looked on with deep disgust, especially when he saw the enfranchised slaves giving a loose to every licentious passion with a Baccha- nalian glee which excites pity, not only for the sufferers, but also for those who by ill-treatment had been degraded into savages. By the permission of the Consul, Sertorious fell upon them with a body of his own troops, and slew several thousands. By this rude justice order was in some degree restored. §2]. But some persons who had escaped the massacre had 592 CIVIL WARS : FIRST PERIOD. Book VL been too conspicuous to remain unpunished, and against them the mockery of legal forms was put in motion. The most emi- nent of these were L. Cornelius Merula, Flamen of Jupiter, and Q. Lutatius Catulus, colleague of Marius in his Cimbric triumph. Merula was a quiet and respectable man, whose only offence was that he had unwillingly superseded Cinna in the Consulship. For this he was indicted ; and knowing that indictment was equivalent to condemnation, he repaired to the great Temple on the Capitol, and opening his veins bled to death. Catulus, like Antonius, had offended Marius by opposing his recal from exile. Some influential friends endeavoured to awaken in the breast of the stern old man some generous memory of the days when he had refused to triumph over the barbarians without Catulus to share his triumph. But in vain. " He must die," was the only answer vouchsafed. Catulus shut himself up in a newly- plastered room, lighted a charcoal fire, and died by suffocation. Sylla himself was beyond reach ; but his house was rased to the ground, his property confiscated, and himself proclaimed a traitor. His wife Csecilia and his children fled to join him in Greece. Of all Senators put to death in these days of Terror, the heads were exposed upon the Rostra, a ghastly tribute to the manes of the Tribune Sulpicius, who was the first Roman citizen thus dishonoured. The bodies of all were left unburied, to be de- voured by dogs and birds. But it must be observed that the Massacre of Marius differed widely from the Proscriptions of later times. It was a burst of savage passion, which lasted for a few hours, and was not marked by any systematic rules of murder and confiscation, § 22. The short remainder of the year passed in gloomy tran- quillity. News of Sylla's victories in the East from time to time disturbed the satisfaction of the conquerors. But for the pre- sent they were absolute. Cinna remained sole Consul till the Kalends of January of 86 B.C., when Marius for the seventh time, and Cinna for the second, assumed the fasces without election. On the first day of his authority, Marius ordered one Sext. Licinius, a Senator, to be thrown down the Tarpeian Rock, without even the form of a trial. Sad presages arose of what might follow. But Marius, since his return, had given himself to wine and riotous living ; and his iron constitution, worn out by former labours, and especially by his late strange sufferings, sank under an inflammatory fever. The hero of six Consulships died in thirteen days after he had seen his cherished expecta- tions fulfilled by the seventh tenure of that high oflace, — hated by his enemies, feared even by his friends. Coin of Mithridates VI. CHAPTER LIX. FIRST MITHRIDATIC WAR. (88 84 B.C.) § 1. Rise of kingdom of Pontus : ancestors of Mithridates. § 2. His youth, education, and character. § 3. His conquests from Pontus to the Borys- thenes : alliance "with Tigranes of Armenia. § 4. Seizes Cappadocia : intervention of Sylla. § 5. Encourages ItaUans during Social War : seizes Bithynia, while Tigranes invades Cappadocia : Aquillius sent to re- store Nicomedes. § 6. Mithridates invades Roman Province : treatment of Aquillius. § 1. Honours paid to Mithridates : Massacre of Italians. § 8. Athens revolts : Archelaus sent by Mithridates to garrison Piraeeus. § 9. Sylla lands in Epirus : assault and siege of Piraeeus : gallant defence of Archelaus. § 10. Siege of Piraeeus raised: fall of Athens. § 11. Archelaus retires by sea: fall of Piraeeus. § 12. Sylla defeats Archelaus at Chaeronea. § 13. Marches to intercept Flaccus : returns and defeats Archelaus at Orchomenus : winters in Thessaly. § 14. Flaccus murdered by Fimbria at Nicomedia. § 15. Fimbria nearly surprises Mithridates at Pergamus. § 16. Negotiations of Sylla and Archelaus. § 17. Sylla advances into Thrace : meets Mithridates in Troad : Peace concluded. § 18. Attacks Fimbria : his death. § 19. Leaves Murena in Asia : spends remainder of 84 b.c. in Greece. § 1. It will be necessary to go back in order to gain a clear per- ception of the causes which led to the Mithridatic War. After the battle of Magnesia, Asia Minor was broken up into a number of petty principalities, jealous of one another. Eumenes of Pergamus was rewarded by the addition of Lydia and some other districts to his rule ; but in time the kingdom of Pergamus 594 CIVIL WARS: FIRST PERIOD. Book VI. became a Eoman Province under the proud title of Asia,* just as tlie name of Libya or Africa had been bestowed on the Pro- vince formed out of the territory of Carthage. Bithynia to the north, subject to Kings of Macedonian origin, had, since Prusias declared his inability to protect Hannibal, fallen completely under Eoman influence. At this time it vs^as governed by Nico- medes II., grandson of Prusias. Cappadocia was subject to a prince named Ariarathes. Galatia, united into one principality, ■was ruled by a native chief named Deiotarus. But a country beyond these distant realms demands our chief attention. During the weakness of the later Persian monarchy, the Satraps of Pontus, that is, the mountainous country along the north shore of the Euxine from the Halys eastward, had asserted their independence. In the wars between the successors of Alexander, the ruler of Pontus, Mithridates by name, raised his principality to a kingdom. His descendants extended their power over part of Cappadocia and Paphlagonia till Mithridates V., called Euergetes, assisted Rome in her war against Aristonicus, and was rewarded with a considerable portion of Phrygia. This Mithridates was assassinated at Sinope, his capital, about the year 120 B.C., and was succeeded by his son Mithridates VI., commonly called Dionysos or Eupator, who was then a boy of about twelve years old.f This was the man who became famous as the competitor of Rome for the sovereignty of the East. § 2. In later times it was remembered that at his birth a comet blazed in the heavens so large in size as to reach from the zenith to the horizon, — a sign of his destined greatness. But during his boyhood the fates seemed adverse. The Senate revoked the gift conferred upon his father. His guardians attempted his life both by poison and the dagger ; but he escaped all perils marvellously. It was commonly believed that his constitution was enabled to defy the attacks of poison by the habitual use of antidotes. What education he received was given by Greek masters at Sinope. So excellent was his memory that he is said to have been master of five-and-twenty languages so as to be able to converse in their own tongue with all the tribes who composed his motley Empire. His appreciation of Hellenic superiority is attested by the employment of Greeks both for military and civil administration ; and his cultivated taste is disclosed by the * Sometimes called Proconsular Asia. Hence it is that persons, being already in Phrygia or Galatia, speak of going into Asia, as in the Acts of the Apostles, xvi. 6; compare xix. 22, 26, 21, sar, ib. Triumvir with Antony and Lepidus, 71'2. Attempts to wrest Sicily from Sext. Pompeius, 715. At Philippi, 717. Keceives West, 720. Confiscates Ita- lian lands, i b. Goes to Gaul, 721. Makes peace and en- ters Kome with Antony, • 722. Meets Sext. Pompeius at Misenum, ib. Breaks with him, 723. Defeated by Sextus, 724. Seduces army of Lepidus, ib. Pru- dent government, 726. Con- jugal licence, ib. Want of faith to Antony, ib. Pub- lishes Antony's will, 727. Wins battle of Actium, 728. Eeturns to Italy, ib. Visits Egypt, ib. Threefold tri- umph, 730. Ruler of the world, ib. Nature of his power, 732, 733. , Deaciditied using the Bookkeeper proces; Neutralizing agent: Magnesiura Oxide Treatment Date: |g()\f 2081 PreservationTechnologie: A WORLD LEADER IN PAPER PRESERVATIO 111 Thomson Pa* Drive Cranberry Township, PA 16066 (724) 779-2111 \^^ ^.. ■^c .•0' .^^ -^^ ' >'V:>J^-' ^^ * N ' .rO ^^ .x-^ v^' .V V ^">. "'c.. - • ^\ c> ■ ^ \ I' .•X' oV ■' " r, .. ■* ,\- ■■^^ ^X'- "^^ v^'' x^^'^. •0' .v-^ ^-iv■• "b \V -/>. -.>.^^ ^'.'V "S A^ •Z' 1% " 00 .\0 0,. '^V ,\^ % -X^' '^^\/!.-, V'^'/n^' ^^' vr* v - . - - c^ ^'^ \. #.* ..^^' '' ■^ .-Ji" > -. * ' 0-. "bo ."^'^ , K c >^ ,:./' - ,'-? ^ » I ^ , \ ■00^