Speranza
DIO'S ROME, being AN HISTORICAL NARRATIVE ORIGINALLY COMPOSED IN GREEK DURING THE
REIGNS OF SEPTIMIUS SEVERUS, GETA AND CARACALLA, MACRINUS, ELAGABALUS AND
ALEXANDER SEVERUS: AND NOW PRESENTED IN ENGLISH FORM
BY HERBERT
BALDWIN FOSTER, A.B. (Harvard), Ph.D. (Johns Hopkins), Professor of
Greek in Lehigh University
With the Epitome of Books 1-21 arranged by Ioannes Zonaras, Soldier and
Secretary, in the Monastery of Mt. Athos, about 1130 A.D. II.
To My Friend Teacher and Inspirer Mr. Gildersleeve
of Baltimore Who Has Won to the Age of Greek Lore even as to the Youth of
Greek Life I Offer a Redundant Tribute
Cassius Dio, one of the three
original sources for Roman history to be found in Greek literature, has been
accessible these many years to the reader of
Italian.
In the
Harvard College Library is deposited the fruit of a slight effort in an English
direction, a diminutive volume dated two centuries back, the title page of which
(agog with queer italics) reads as follows:
THE HISTORY OF DION
CASSIUS ABBRIDG'D BY XIPHILIN CONTAINING the most considerable Passages
under the Roman emperors from the time of Pompey the Great, to the Reign of
Alexander Severus. In Two Volumes Done from the
Greek, by Mr. Manning
Tametsi haudquaquam par gloria sequatur
Scriptorem, & Authorem rerum, tamen in primis arduum videtur res gestas
scribere. Salust. London: Printed for A. and J. Churchill, in
Paternoster Row, 1704.
Four hundred and seven small pages, over
and above the Epistle Dedicatory, are contained.
Really, however,
this is not the true Dione at all, but merely his shadow, seized and distorted to
satisfy the ideas of his epitomizer, the monk Xiphilinus, who was separated from
him by a thousand years in the flesh and another thousand in the spirit.
Of the
little specimens here and there translated for this man's or that man's
convenience no mention need here be made.
Hence, practically speaking, Dione now
for the first time emerges in his impressive stature before the English-speaking
public after there has elapsed since his own day a period twice as long as then
constituted the extent of that history which was his theme.
The present
version, begun while the translator was serving as Professor of Greek at St. Stephen's
College, Annandale, N.Y., has been carried forward during such intervals of
leisure as he could snatch from an overflowing schedule at the University of
South Dakota.
It has been the translator's companion on many journeys and six states have
witnessed its progress toward completion.
In spite of the time consumed it seems
in retrospect not far short of presumptuous to have tried in three or four years
to put into acceptable English what Dio spent twelve in writing down.
Yet the
task was not quite the same, for half of this historian's books have been caught
up and whirled away in the cyclone of time; and who knows whether they still
possess any resting-place above or beneath the earth?
The text originally
chosen as the basis for the translation was that of Melber, the idea of the
translator being that the Teubner edition would be the most convenient
and readily obtainable standard of reference for any one who wished to compare
the Greek and the English.
Hence the numbering of the Fragments is that of
Melber (subdivisions are distinguished by a notation simpler than that of the
original "sections").
Since no Teubner volumes beyond the second proved to be
forthcoming, the rest of the work followed the stereotyped Tauchnitz edition,
which also enjoys a large circulation.
This text, however, contained so many
cases of corruption and clumsiness that it seemed best to work over carefully
nearly all of the latter portion of the English and to embody as many as
possible of the improvements of Boissevain.
Incidentally Boissevain's interior
arrangement of all the later books was adopted, though it was deemed preferable
(for mere readiness of reference) to adhere to the old external division of
books established by Leunclavius. (Boissevain's changes are, however,
indicated.)
The Tauchnitz text with all its inaccuracies endeavors to present a
coherent and readable narrative, and this is something which the exactitude of
Boissevain does not at all times permit. In the translation I have striven to
follow a conservative course, and at some points a straightforward narrative
interlarded with brackets will give evidence of its origin in Tauchnitz, whereas
at others loose, disjointed paragraphs betray the hand of Boissevain who would
not willingly let Xiphilinus and Dio ride in the same compartment.
My main
desire through it all has been not so much to attain a logical unity of form as
to present a history which shall look well and read well in English.
For this
reason also I have banished most of the Fragments (which must have only
a comparatively limited interest) to the last volume and have replaced them in
my first by portions of Zonaras (taken from Melber) which have their origin in
Dio and are at the same time clear, comprehensible, and connected.
Should any
person object that even so my text does not offer eye and ear a pellucid field
for smooth advance, I must reply that the original is likewise very far from
being a serene and joyous highway; and it has not appeared to me necessary or
desirable to improve upon the form of Dio's record further than the difference
in the genius of the two languages demanded.
I am reminded here of what
F. Reynard says regarding the difficulties of Boccaccio, and because of
a similarity in the situation I venture to quote from the preface of his version of the Decameron.
Dans son admiration exclusive des
anciens, Boccace a pris pour modèle Cicéron et sa longue période académique,
dans laquelle les incidences se greffent sur les incidences, poursuivant l'idée
jusqu'au bout, et ne la laissant que lorsqu'elle est épuisée, comme le souffle
ou l'attention de celui qui lit.... Aussi le plus souvent sa phraséologie
est-elle fort complexe, et pour suivre le fil de l'idée première, faut-il
apporter une attention soutenue. Ce qui est déjà une difficulté de lecture dans
le texte italien, devient un obstacle très sérieux quand on a à traduire ces
interminables phrases en français moderne, prototype de précision, de clarté, de
logique grammaticale.... Je sais bien qu'il y a un moyen commode de l'éluder...:
c'est de couper les phrases et d'en faire, d'une seule, deux, trois, quatre,
autant qu'il est besoin. Mais à ce jeu on[Pg xiii] change notablement la
physionomie de l'original, et c'est ce que je ne puis admettre.
As is
Boccaccio to Cicero, so is Cassius Dio, mutatis mutandis, to Thukydides.
And of
course the imitator improves upon the model.
Imagine a man who out-Paters Pater
when Pater shall be but a memory, and you begin to secure a vision of the style
of this Roman senator, who accentuates every peculiarity of the tragic
historian's packed periods; and whereas his great predecessor made sentences so
long as to cause mediæval scholars heartily to wish him in the Barathron, books
and all, comes forward six hundred years later marshaling phrase upon phrase,
clause upon clause, till a modern is forced to exclaim: "What, will the line
stretch out to the crack of doom?" Now I have dealt with these complexes in
different ways; and sometimes I have cleft and hacked and wrenched them out of
all semblance of their original shape, and sometimes I have hauled them almost
entire, like a cable, tangled with particles, out of the sea-bed of departed
days.
This principle of inconsistency which I have pursued in varying the
rendering of long sentences, periodic or loose, according to external modifying
conditions, may be observed also in certain other features of the book.
For I
have felt obliged to allow inconsistency of letter in the hope of approaching a
consistency of spirit. I suppose that the ideal plan to follow in a translation
would be to let a given English word represent a given Greek word, so that
"beautiful" should occur as many times in the English version as καλος in the
original, and "strength" as many times as 'ρωμη. Such a[Pg xiv] scheme, however,
is not feasible in a passage of any length, and its impossibility simply goes to
show what a makeshift translation is and always has been, after all. Therefore
single Greek words will be found reproduced by various English terms, but with
that color which seems best adapted to the context.
Again, in spelling we have
chosen a method not unknown to recent historians, which consists in anglicising
familiar proper names that are household words, like Antonio, Catilina, etc., but
keeping the classical Latin form for persons less well known, as Antonio the
grandfather of Mark Antony.
To the names of gods I have given a Latin dress
unless a particular god happened to be named by a Greek on Greek soil.
Similarly
in geographical or topographical designations the translator of Dio must needs
confront a more difficult situation than did Dio himself. Greek reduces all
names to its own basis.
In English one must often select from the Latin form,
Greek form, Native form, or Anglicised form.
************************
Since Dione lived in ITALIA and was
to
all intents and purposes a Roman
we decided to make the Latin form the standard,
and admit rarely the Anglicised form, less often the Greek,
and least often the
Native.
As to the minutiæ of spelling I need scarcely say that I have been
tremendously aided by Boissevain's exhaustive studies, briefly summarized in his
notes. This painstaking care, for which he feels almost obliged to apologize,
will lend a permanent lustre to his invaluable work.
That many errors must
have crept into an undertaking of this magnitude I have only too vivid
forebodings, and this in spite of no inconsiderable efforts of mine to
avoid them: herein I can but beg the clemency of my readers and judges and hope
that such faults may be found to be mostly of a minor character.
And perhaps I
can do no better than to make common cause at once with Mr. Francis Manning
whose book I recently mentioned; for, in his Epistle Dedicatory
"To The Right
Honourable CHARLES Earl of Orrery, he voices as well as possible the
feelings with which I write on the dedication page the name of Professor
Gildersleeve:
Your Lordship will forgive me for detaining you thus long with
relation to the Work I have made bold to present you with in our own Tongue.
How
well it is perform'd, I must leave entirely to my Readers. I assume nothing to
myself but an endeavour to make my Author speak intelligible English. I shall
only add what my Subject leads me to, and what for my Reader's sake I ought to
mention: That as there are but few Authors that can present any Book to your
Lordship in most other Languages, and on most of the Learned Subjects, but might
wish they had been assisted by your Lordship's Skill and Knowledge therein, as
well as Patronage and Protection; so the Translator of this Greek Historian in
particular must lament, that notwithstanding all his Industry and Pains, he is
faln infinitely short of that great Judgment, Nicety and Criticism in the Greek
Language, which your Lordship has in your Writings made appear to the
World.
Dione has long served as a source to writers treating
topics of greater or less length in Roman history.
Dione is now presented entire to
the casual reader:.
His veracious narrative must ever continue to
interest the historical student, who may correct him by others or others by him,
the ecclesiastic, to whom is here offered so graphic a picture of the conditions
surrounding early Christianity, and the literary man, who finds the limpid
stream of Hellenic diction far from its source grow turbid and turgid in turning
the mill wheels for this dealer in ογκος.
Dio's faults are patent, but his
excellencies, fortunately, are patent, too.
And the world may rejoice that in an
age of lust and bloodshed this serious-minded magistrate bethought him to record
with religious exactness what he believed to be the truth respecting the
Kingdom, the Republic, and the Empire of Rome even to his own day.
I desire
in conclusion to express especial gratitude and appreciation for assistance and
suggestions to:
Professor C.W.E. Miller of Johns Hopkins University
Professors
J.H. Wright and A.A. Howard of Harvard University, and to
Mr. A.T. Robinson of
the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Likewise I must acknowledge my
obligations, in the elucidation of particularly vexed and corrupt passages, to
the illuminative comments of Sturz, or Wagner, or Gros, or Boissée, or all
combined. Additional thanks are due to many others who have helped or shall yet
help to make Dio in English a success.
HERBERT BALDWIN FOSTER
Bethlehem,
Pennsylvania,
June, 1905.
****************************************
Cassius Dio
Cocceianus, Roman senator and prætor, when about forty years of age delivered
himself of a pamphlet describing the dreams and omens that had led the general
Septimius Severus to hope for the imperial office which he actually secured.
One
evening there came to the author a note of thanks from the prince; and the
temporary satisfaction of the recipient was continued in his dreams, wherein his
guiding angel seemed to urge him to write a detailed account of the reign of the
unworthy Commodus (Book Seventy-two), just ended.
Once again did Dione glow
beneath the imperial felicitations and those of the public.
Inoculated with the
bacillus of publication and animated by a strong desire for immortality —a wish
happily realized — he undertook the prodigious task of giving to the world a
complete account of Roman events from the beginning to so late a date as Fortune
might vouchsafe.
Forthwith he began the accumulation of materials, a task in
which ten active years (A.D. 200 to 210) were utilized.
The actual labor of
composition, continued for twelve years more at intervals of respite from duties
of state, brought him in his narrative to the inception of the reign of his
original patron, the first Severus.
All the foregoing facts are given us as
Dio's own statement, in what is at present the twenty-third chapter of the
seventy-second book, by that painter in miniature, Ioannes Xiphilinus.
It was
now the year A.D. 223, Dione was either consul for the first time (as some assert)
or had the consular office behind him, the world was richer by the loss of
Elagabalus, and Alexander Severus reigned in his stead.
Under this emperor the
remaining books (Seventy-three to Eighty, inclusive) must have been composed,
for Dio puts the finishing touches on his history in 229.
********************************
Since by that time he
was nearly eighty years of age
and since he has written of no reign
subsequent
to Alexander's,
we may conclude that he did not
survive his master, who died in
235 A. D.
*************
The sum total of his efforts, then, as he left it, consisted of eighty
books, covering a period from 1064 B.C. to 229 A.D.
************************
At present there are extant
of that number complete only Books Thirty-six to Sixty inclusive, treating the
events of the years 68 B.C. to 47 A.D.
The last twenty books, Sixty-one to
Eighty, appear in fairly reliable excerpts and epitomes, but for the first
thirty-five books we are dependent upon the merest scraps and fragments.
How and
by what steps this great work disintegrated, and in what form it has been
preserved to modern times, this it is to be our next business to trace.
It
seems that Dione's work had no immediate influence, but "Time brings roses", and
in the Byzantine age we find that he had come to be regarded as the canonical
example of the way in which Roman History should be written.
Before this
desirable result, however, had been brought to pass, Books Twenty-two to
Thirty-five inclusive had disappeared.
These gave the events of the years from
the destruction of Carthage and Corinth (in the middle of the second century
B.C.) to the activity of Lucullus in 69.
A like fate befell Books Seventy
and Seventy-one at an early date.
The first twenty-one books and the last
forty-five (save the two above noted) seem to have been extant in their original
forms at least as late as the twelfth century.
Which end of the already
syncopated composition was the first to go the way of all flesh (and parchment,
too,) it would not be an easy matter to determine.
It is regarded by most
scholars as certain that Ioannes Zonaras, who lived in the twelfth century, had
the first twenty-one and the last forty-five for his epitomes.
Hultsch, to be
sure, advances the opinion that Books One to Twenty-one had by that time
fallen into a condensed form, the only one accessible.
But the majority of
scholars are against him.
After Zonaras's day both One to Twenty-one and
Sixty-one to Eighty suffer the corruption of moth and of worm.
The world has,
then, in this twentieth century, those entire books of Dio which have already
been mentioned,—Thirty-six to Sixty,—and something more.
Let us first consider,
accordingly, the condition in which this intact remnant has come down to the
immediate present, and afterward the sources on which we have to depend for a
knowledge of the lost portion.
There are eleven manuscripts for this torso of
Roman History, taking their names from the library of final deposit, but they
are not all, by any means, of equal value.
First come Mediceus A (referred to in
this book as Ma), Vaticanus A, Parisinus A, and Venetus A (Va) of the first
class; then Mediceus B of the second class; finally, Parisinus B,
Escorialensis, Turinensis, Vaticanus B, and Venetus B, with the mongrel
Vesontinus, which occupies a position in this group best designated, perhaps, as
2-1/2.
Vaticanus A has been copied from Mediceus A, and Parisinus A from
Vaticanus A, so that they are practically one with their archetype. Venetus A is
of equal age and authority with Mediceus A.
One can not now get back of these
two codices.
There is none of remoter date for Dio save the parchment Cod. Vat.
1288, containing most of Books Seventy-eight and Seventy-nine,—a portion of the
work for the moment not under discussion. Coming to the second class, Mediceus B
is a joint product of copying from the two principal MSS. just mentioned. In the
third class, Parisinus B is a copy of Mediceus B with a little at the opening
taken from Mediceus A.
This was the version selected as a guide by Robert
Estienne in the first important edition of Dio ever published (A.D. 1548). All
the rest, Escorialensis, Turinensis, Vaticanus B, and Venetus B are mere
offshoots of Parisinus B. The Vesontinus codex is derived partly from Venetus A
and partly from some manuscript of the third class.
The parchment manuscript
to which allusion was made above is only some three centuries later than the
time of Dio himself. It covers the ground from Book 78, 2, 2, to 79, 8, 3
inclusive (ordinary division).
It belonged to Orsini, and after his death (A.D.
1600) became the property of the Vatican Library.
It is square in shape and
consists of thirteen leaves, each containing three columns of uncials. In
spite of its age it is fairly overflowing with errors of every sort, many of
which have been emended by an unknown corrector who also wrote in uncials; this
same corrector would appear to have added the last leaf. And there are a few
additions in minuscules by a still later hand.
The leaves are very thin and in
some places the ink has completely faded, showing only the impression of the
pen. For specimen illustrations of this codex see Silvestre (Paléographie
Universelle II, plate 7), Tischendorf (cod. Sinait. plate 20) and Boissevain's
Cassius Dio (Vol. III).
The dates of these codices, centuries indicated by
Arabic numerals, are as follows:
I. Mediceus A-Ma-(11)
I. Venetus
A-Va-(11)
I. Vaticanus A(15)
I. Parisinus A(17)
II. Mediceus
B(15)
III. Parisinus B(15)
III. Venetus B(15)
III. Vaticanus B(15)
I.
and III.Vesontinus(15)
III.Turinensis(16)
III. Escorialensis(?)
I. Codex
Vaticanus græcus No. 1288(5-6)
*******************************
Mediceus A contains practically Books
Thirty-six to Fifty-four, and Venetus A Books Forty-one to Sixty (two
"decades").
As they are both the oldest copies extant and the sources of
all the others, modern editors would confine themselves to them exclusively but
for the fact that in each some gaps are found.
In Mediceus A, for instance, two
quaternions (sixteen leaves) are lacking at the start, Leaf 7 is gone from the
third quaternion, Leaves 1 and 8 from the fourth; from the thirty-first (now
Quaternion 29) Leaf 1 has been cut, from the thirty-third and last Leaf 5 has
disappeared.
Likewise in Venetus A there are some gaps, especially near the end,
in Book Sixty, where three leaves are missing. Hence (without stopping to take
up gaps and breaks in detail) it may be said that the general plan pursued at
the present day is to adopt a reading drawn for each book from the following
sources respectively:
Book 36.
Mediceus A, with lacuna of chapters 3-19
incl.,
supplied by the mutual corrections of Vaticanus A and Parisinus
B.
Books 37 to 49.Mediceus A.
Books 50 to 54.Vaticanus A (vice Mediceus
A).
Books 55 to 59.Venetus A.
Book 60.
Venetus A, except chapter 17,
sections 7 to 20, and chapter 22,
section 3, to chapter 26, section 2,—two
passages supplied by Mediceus B.
******************************
What knowledge has the world of the
first thirty-five books of Dio's Roman History?
To such a question answer must
be made that of this whole section the merest glimpse can be had.
It is
here that we encounter the name of Zonaras, concerning whom some information
will now be in order. Ioannes Zonaras was an official of the Byzantine Court who
came into prominence under Alexis I. Comnenus in the early part of the twelfth
century. For a time he acted as both commander of the body-guard and first
private secretary to Alexis, but in the succeeding reign,—that of
Calo-Ioannes,—he retired to the monastery of Mt. Athos, where he devoted himself
to literary labors until his death, which is said to have occurred at the
advanced age of eighty-eight. He was the author of numerous works, such as a
Lexicon of Words Old and New, an Exposition of the Apostolic and Patristic
Canons, an Argument Directed Against the Marriage of Two Nephews to the Same
Woman, etc.; but our special interest lies in his Χρονικον (Chronicon), a
history of the world in eighteen books, from the creation to 1118 A.D.,—this
last being the date of the demise of Alexis. The earlier portions of this work
are drawn from Josephus; for Roman History he uses largely Cassius Dio;
Plutarch, Eusebius, Appian also figure.
But it has already been stated that
Books Twenty-two to Thirty-five perished at an indefinitely early date; hence it
follows that Zonaras has only Books One to Twenty-one at hand to use for his
account of early Rome; besides these he has later employed Books Forty-four to
Eighty. Consequently it is possible to get many of the facts related to Dio, and
in some cases his exact words, by reading Books VII to XII of this[Pg 12]
Χρονικον or Επιτομη 'Ιστοριων by Zonaras. It is Books VII, VIII, and IX
especially which follow Books One to Twenty-one of Dio.
Parallel with this
account of Zonaras and extending beyond it, even to the extent of throwing a
wire of communication across the yawning time-chasm represented by Books
Twenty-two to Thirty-five, are certain excerpts and epitomes found in various
odd corners and strangely preserved to the present moment. These are: Excerpts
Concerning Virtues and Vices; Excerpts Concerning Judgments; Excerpts Concerning
Embassies.
The so-called "Planudean Excerpts" which used to be admitted to
editions are rejected on good authority[2] by Melber, whom I have followed. I
shall attempt only a brief mention of those excerpts, to show their
pertinence.
The Excerpts Concerning Virtues and Vices exist in a manuscript
of the tenth century at the library of Tours, originally brought from the island
of Cyprus and sold to Nicolas Claude Fabre de Peiresc, who lived from 1580 to
1637.
Apparently it is a collection made at the order of Constantine VII.
Porphyrogenitus.
It was first published at Paris by Henri de Valois in 1634. The
collection consists of quotations from Polybius, Diodorus Siculus, Nicolas
Damascenus, Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Appian, Dio, John of Antioch, and
others.
The Excerpts Concerning Judgments are found in a Vatican manuscript
known as Codex Vaticanus Rescriptus Græcus, N. 73. Angelo Mai first published
the[Pg 13] collection at Rome in 1826. They consist of many narrative fragments
extending over the field of Roman History from early to late times, but fall
into two parts: between these two parts there is a gap of six or more pages.
That the former set of fragments is taken directly from Dio all scholars are
ready to allow. In regard to the latter set there have been, and perhaps still
are, diverse opinions.
The trouble is that on the one hand these passages do not
end with the reign of Alexander Severus, where Dio manifestly ended his history,
but continue down to Constantine and (since the manuscript has lost some sheets
at the close) possibly much farther: and on the other hand the style and diction
differ considerably from Dio's own.
It was once the fashion to say that as many
of the fragments as come before the reign of Valerian (A.D. 253)[3] came from
Dio's composition, but that the remainder were written by an unknown author.
Now, however, it is generally agreed that all the excerpts of the second set
were the work of one man, whether John of Antioch, or Peter Patricius, or some
third individual. Still, though not direct quotations from Dio, they are
regarded as of value in filling out both his account and that of Xiphilinus.
The
words are different, but the facts remain undoubtedly true.
The Excerpts
Concerning Embassies are contained in somewhat less than a dozen manuscripts,
all of which prove to have sprung from a Spanish archetype (since destroyed by
fire) that Juan Paez de Castro owned in the sixteenth century. Many of the
copies were made[Pg 14] by Andreas Darmarius. The first publisher of these
selections was Fulvio Orsini (= Ursinus), who brought them out at Antwerp in
1582. As their name indicates, they are accounts of embassies sent either by the
Romans to foreign tribes or by foreign tribes to the Romans. Some of them are
taken from Cassius Dio; hence their importance here.
Now it was the custom of
the earlier editors to arrange the (early) fragments of Dio according to the
groups from which they were taken: (1) the so-called Fragmenta Valesia (pickings
from grammarians, lexicographers, scholiasts), edited by the same Henri de
Valois above mentioned; (2) the Fragmenta Peiresciana (= Excerpts Concerning
Virtues and Vices); (3) the Fragmenta Ursina (= Excerpts Concerning Embassies);
and finally, in the edition of Sturz[4] (4) Excerpta Vaticana (= Excerpts
Concerning Judgments and the now rejected "Planudean Excerpts"). The above
grouping has been abandoned and a strictly chronological order followed in all
the later editions, including Bekker, Dindorf, Melber, Boissevain.
The body
of Fragments preceding Book Thirty-six cites, in addition to the collections
mentioned, the following works or authors:
Anecdota Græca of Immanuel Bekker
(1785-1871), a scholar of vast attainments and profound learning in classical
literature. These Anecdota are excerpts made from various Greek manuscripts
found in the course of travels extending through France, Italy, England, and
Germany. There were three volumes, appearing from 1814 to 1821.[Pg
15]
Antonio Melissa.—A Greek monk living between 700 and 1100 A.D. He
collected two books of quotations from early Christian Fathers (one hundred and
seventy-six titles) on the general subject of Virtues and
Vices.
Arsenius.—Archbishop of Monembasia: age of the Revival of
Learning.
Cedrenus.—A Greek monk of the eleventh century who compiled a
historical work (Συνοψις 'ιστοριων) the scope of which extended from the
creation to 1057 A.D. He gives no evidence of historical knowledge or the
critical sense, but rather of great credulity and a fondness for legends. His
treatise is, moreover, largely plagiarized from the Annals of Ioannes Scylitzes
Curopalates.
Cramer, J.A.—An Oxford scholar who published two collections of
excerpts (similar to those of Bekker) between 1835 and 1841. The collection
referred to in our text had its source in manuscripts of the Royal Library in
Paris. It was in three octavo volumes.
Etymologicum Magnum.—A lexicon of
uncertain date, after Photius (886 A.D.) and before Eustathius. This dictionary
contains many valuable citations from lost Greek works. First edition, Venice,
1499.
Eustathius.—Archbishop of Thessalonica and the most learned man of his
age (latter half of the twelfth century). His most important composition is his
Commentary on Homer's Iliad and Odyssey in which he quotes vast numbers of
authors unknown to us now except by name. First edition, Rome,
1542-1550.
Glossary of C. Labbæus, the editor of Ancient Glosses of Law
Terms, published in Paris, 1606.[Pg 16]
John of Antioch.—Author of a work
called "Chronological History from Adam" quoted in the Excerpts Concerning
Virtues and Vices (vid. supra). Internal evidence indicates that the book was
written after 610 and before 900 A.D.
John of Damascus.—A voluminous
ecclesiastical writer belonging to the reigns of Leo Isauricus and Constantine
VII. (approximately from 700 to 750 A.D.). He was an opponent of the
iconoclastic movement. The best edition of his works was published at Paris in
1712. The passage cited in our Fragments is from περι Δρακοντων, a mutilated
essay on dragons standing between a "Dialogue Between a Saracen and a Christian"
and a "Discussion of the Holy Trinity."
John Laurentius Lydus.—A Byzantine
writer, born at Philadelphia (the city of Revelation, III, 7), in 490 A.D.
Although he was famed during his lifetime as a poet, all his verses have
perished. The work cited in our Fragments,—"Concerning the Offices of the Roman
Republic, in Three Books,"—had a curious history. For centuries it was regarded
as lost, but about 1785 nine tenths of it was discovered by De Villoison in a
MS. in the suburbs of Constantinople. It was published in Paris,
1811.—Laurentius in the course of his career held important political posts and
received two important literary appointments from the Emperor Justinian
I.
Suidas.—A lexicographer of the tenth century, composer of the most
comprehensive Greek dictionary of early times. It is a manual at once of
language and of antiquities. Inestimable as its value is, the workman[Pg 17]ship
is careless and uneven. The arrangement is alphabetical.
John Tzetzes.—A
Greek grammarian of the twelfth century. His learning was great but scarcely
equaled his self-conceit, as repeatedly displayed in passages of his works. Many
of his writings are still extant. One of these is called Chiliades (or
Thousands), a name bestowed by its first editor, who divided the work into
sections of one thousand lines each. The subject-matter consists of the most
miscellaneous historical or mythological narratives or anecdotes, absolutely
without connection. Tzetzes copied these accounts from upward of four hundred
writers,—one of them being Cassius Dio. The Chiliades is written in the
so-called Versus politicus, or "political verse," which is really not verse at
all, but a kind of decadent doggerel.—A minor treatise by the same author is the
Exegesis of the Iliad of Homer, published by Hermann (Leipzig, 1812).
Isaac
Tzetzes, who has attracted less attention than his brother John, is best known
as the author of a commentary on the Cassandra of Lycophron (a poem of 1474
iambic verses by a post-classical tragedian, about 285 B.C., embodying the
warnings of the royal prophetess and couched in appropriately incomprehensible
expressions). It was hardly worth all the care that Tzetzes lavished upon it.
From manuscript evidence and various claims of John Tzetzes it seems that John
worked over, improved, and enlarged the commentary of his brother. Isaac's name,
however, still remains associated with this particular exposition.
We are now
at length placed in a position to consider the condition of the ultimate
portion of the work, i.e., the last twenty books, Sixty-one to Eighty inclusive.
In general it may be said that for this section of the history we are thrown
back upon an epitome of Ioannes Xiphilinus, who lived about fifty years earlier
than the Ioannes Zonaras recently under discussion. To this general statement
there are two important exceptions. First, even as early as Xiphilinus wrote
(eleventh century) nearly two books of this last portion had perished. Book
Seventy, containing the reign of Antoninus Pius, was entirely gone save a few
miserable chapters, and Book Seventy-one had suffered the same fate in its
beginning, so that our account of the renowned Marcus Aurelius begins
practically with the year 172 instead of 161. The gap thus created has been
partially filled by extracts of every conceivable quality and merit, from
Suidas, from John of Antioch, even from Asinius Quadratus. This on the side of
loss: on the side of gain there are numerous little excerpts (just as in the
case of the early books) that may serve to fill crevices or cover scars, and
above all there exists a parchment manuscript, known as Vaticanus 1288, older
than Mediceus A, older than Venetus A, and containing Books Seventy-eight and
Seventy-nine probably very much as Dio wrote them, save that the account is
mutilated at beginning and end.
Boissevain concludes (by comparing the Table
of Contents found with a remark of Photius) that this particular piece of
salvage was originally Books Seventy-nine and Eighty (instead of Seventy-eight
and Seventy-nine), that Book Eighty of Dio was really what is[Pg 19] now
commonly called Seventy-nine and Eighty, and that the so-called Book Eighty (of
only five chapters) was but a kind of epilogue to the whole work. Whatever we
may decide respecting the merits of his argument, the important fact is that
here for a short distance we have Dio's original narrative, as in Books
Thirty-six to Sixty, and are no longer obliged to depend upon epitomes.
A
word of explanation about Xiphilinus must come next. This Xiphilinus was a
native of Trapezos (Trebizond) and became a monk at Constantinople. Here, at the
behest of Michael VII. Ducas (1071-1078) he made an abridgment of Books
Thirty-six to Eighty of Dio; thus it is his version of the lost books Sixty-one
to Eighty on which we are compelled to rely. His task was accomplished with an
even greater degree of carelessness than is customary in such compositions, and
it may be said that his ability or, at least, his good will is not nearly so
great as that of Zonaras. Yet he is largely a pis aller for the would-be reader
of Cassius Dio.
Whereas the original was divided arbitrarily into books,
Xiphilinus divided his condensation into "sections," each containing the life of
one emperor. Readers must further note that the present division of Books
Seventy-one to Eighty dates only from Leunclavius (1592, first edition) and is
not necessarily correct. Improvements in arrangement by Boissevain (latest
editor of Dio entire) are indicated in the present translation, though for
convenience of reference the old headlines are still retained.
Before
speaking of the editions through which Dio's Roman History has passed it seems
desirable to summarize briefly the condition of the whole as explained in the
preceding pages. Here is a bird's-eye view of the whole
situation.
Books 1-21 exist in Zonaras and various fragments.
Books 22-35 exist in
fragments only.
Books 36-54 exist in Dio's own words, and are found in universally
approved MSS.
Books 54-60 exist in generally approved MSS.
Books 60-69 exist in
Xiphilinus and excerpts.
Book 70 exists in fragments only.
Books 71-77 exist
in Xiphilinus and excerpts.
Books 78 and 79 exist in Dio's own words (oldest
MS).
Book 80 exists in Xiphilinus.
*****************************
A brief list of
important editions of this author is appended; the order is chronological.
N. Leonicenus.—Italian translation of Books 35 to 60.
Venice, 1533. Free, and
with many errors.
R. Stephanus.—Greek text of Books 35 to 60. Paris, 1548.
Work well done, but based on a poor MS.
Xylander.—Latin translation of
Books 35 to 60, with a brief Latin index. Basle, 1557. This version was made
from No. 2.
Baldelli.—Italian translation of Books 35 to 60. Venice,
1562.[Pg 21]
H. Stephanus.—A second edition of No. 2 with Latin
translation of No. 2 added. A few corrections have been made and the Latin index
is a little fuller. Paris, 1591.
Leunclavius.—A second edition of No. 3,
somewhat emended, and with Books 61 to 80 (Xiphilinus) added; also containing
Orsini's Excerpts Concerning Embassies (in Greek and Latin), notes of
Leunclavius, and a still fuller Latin index. Frankfurt, 1592.
Leunclavius.—Posthumous edition. Text of Dio and of Xiphilinus (the latter from
Nero to Alexander Severus). Corrections of R. Stephanus in Dio proper, and of
Xylander in both Dio and Xiphilinus, notes of Leunclavius on Dio, and notes of
Orsini on Excerpts Concerning Embassies. Same Latin index as in No. 6. Hanover,
1606.
Reimar. (Important. All previous editions are taken from codex
Parisinus B. Reimar, assisted by Gronovius (father and son) and by Quirinus,
employed Mediceus A (the standard codex) together with Vaticanus A and Vaticanus
B.)
Text of Dio and Xiphilinus (Books 36 to 80), the Xylander-Leunclavius Latin
version, the Excerpts Concerning Virtues and Vices, and fragments collected from
various sources by Henri de Valois. Reimar used not only the three MSS.
mentioned above, but three copies of previous editions,—one of No. 2 (with notes
of Turnebus and others), one[Pg 22] of No. 5 (with, notes of Oddey), and one of
No. 7 (with notes of an unknown individual of much learning, cited by Reimar and
in this edition as N). Finally he gathered all possible emendations from as many
as fourteen scholars who had suggested improvements in the text. Hamburg,
1750.
J.A. Wagner.—German translation in five volumes. Frankfurt,
1783.
Penzel.—German translation with notes. Four volumes. Leipzig,
1786-1818.
Morellius.—Fragments of Dio, with new readings of the same.
Emphasizes the importance of codex Venetus A and has some remarks on Venetus B.
Published in 1793.
Sturz.—New edition of Dio based on No. 8, improved by
a new collation of the Medicean manuscripts and with collation of the codex
Turinensis, besides emendations gathered from many new sources. Eight volumes.
Leipzig, 1824-5. (Volume IX in 1843, containing Mai's Excerpts Concerning
Judgments.)
Tauchnitz text.—Stereotyped edition, four volumes, Leipzig,
1829. New impression, Leipzig, 1870-77. (Originally used as a basis for the
present translation after Book Fifty: later, wholesale revisions were undertaken
to make the English for the most part conform to the text of Boissevain.)
Tafel.—German translation, three volumes. Stuttgart, 1831-1844.[Pg 23]
J.
Bekker.—Dio entire. (With new collation of the old MS. containing most of Books
Seventy-eight and Seventy-nine, and with many new and brilliant conjectural
emendations by the editor.) Two volumes. Leipzig, 1849.
Gros-Boissée.—French translation together with the Greek text and copious notes.
(With new collation of the Vatican, Medicean, and Venetian codices, besides use
of Parisinus A and Vesontinus; manuscripts of the Fragments, especially the
Tours manuscript (concerning Virtues and Vices) have been carefully gone over.)
Ten volumes. Gros edited the first four; Boissée the last six. Paris,
1845-1870.
Dindorf.—Teubner text. Dindorf was the first to perceive the
relation of the manuscripts and their respective values. He used Herwerden's new
collation of the Vatican palimpsest containing Excerpts Concerning Judgments.
From making fuller notes and emendations he was prevented by untimely death.
Five volumes. Leipzig, 1863-1865.
Melber.—Teubner text, being a new
recension of Dindorf, with numerous additions. To consist of five volumes.
Leipzig, from 1890. The first two volumes, all that were available, have been
used for this translation.
Boissevain.
The most modern, accurate, and
artistic edition of Dio.
The editor is very conservative in the matter of
manuscript tradition.
He personally read in Italy many of the MSS., and had the
aid of numerous friends at home and abroad in collating MSS., besides the
help of a few in the suggestion of new readings.
In the later portion of the
text he makes a new division of books, and essays also to assign the early
fragments to their respective books.
Three volumes. Berlin, 1895, 1898, 1901.
Vol. I, pp. 359 + cxxvi; Vol. II, pp. 690 + xxxi; Vol. III, pp. 800 + xviii. The
second volume contains two phototype facsimiles of pages of the Laurentian and
Marcian MSS., and the third volume three similar specimens of the Codex
Vaticanus.
In the appendix of the last volume are found, in the order named, the
following aids to the study of Dio.
1. The entire epitome of Xiphilinus
(Books 36-80).
2. Vatican Excerpts of Peter Patricius (Nos. 1-38), compared
with Dio's wording.
3. Vatican Excerpts of Peter Patricius (Nos. 156-191),
containing that portion of the Historia Augusta which is subsequent to Dio's
narrative.
4. Excerpts by John of Antioch, taken from Dio.
5. The
"Salmasian Excerpts."
6. Some "Constantinian Excerpts," compared with
Dio.
7. The account of Dio given by Photius and by Suidas.[Pg 25]
8. Table
of Fragments.
Boissevain's invaluable emendations and interpretations have
been liberally used by the present translator, and some of his changes of
arrangement have been accepted outright, others only
indicated.
**********************************************
The atmosphere of Dio's Roman
History is serious to a degree.
Its author never loses sight of the fact that by
his labor he is conferring a substantial benefit upon mankind, and he follows,
moreover, a particular historical theory, popular at the time, which allows
little chance for sportiveness or wit.
Just as the early French drama could
concern itself only with personages of noble or royal rank, so Dio's ideal
compels him for the most part to restrict himself to the large transactions of
governments or rulers and to diminish the consideration that idiosyncrasies of
private life or points of antiquarian interest might otherwise seem to claim.
The name of this ideal is "Dignity" (ογκος is the Greek), a principle of
construction which is opposed to a narration adorned with details.
However much
it may have been overworked at times, its influence was certainly healthful, for
it demanded that the material be handled in organic masses to prevent the reader
from being lost in a confused mass of minutiæ.
Racy gossip and old wives' tales
are to be replaced by philosophic
reflection and pictures of temperament.
Instead of mere lists of anecdotes there must be a careful survey of
political relations.
Names, numbers, and exact dates are often
dispensed with.
Still, amid all this, there is enough humor of situation in the
gigantic tale and enough latitude of speech on the part of the acting personages
to prevent monotony and to render intellectual scintillations of the compiler
comparatively unnecessary.
Occasionally, for the sake of sharper focus on the
portrait of some leader, Dio will introduce this or that trivial incident and
may perhaps feel called upon immediately, under the strictness of his
self-imposed régime, to apologize or justify himself.
The style of the
original is rendered somewhat difficult by a conscious imitation of the involved
sentence-unit found in Tucidide (though reminiscences of Herodotos and
Demosthenes also abound) but gives an effect of solidity that is symmetrical
with both the method and the man.
Moreover, one may assert of it what Matthew
Arnold declared could not be said regarding Homer's style, that it rises and
falls with the matter it treats, so that at every climax we may be sure of
finding the charm of vividness and at many intermediate points the merit of
grace.
It is a long course that our historian, pressed by official cares, has to
cover, and he accomplishes his difficult task with creditable zeal: finally,
when his Thousand Years of Rome is done, he compares himself to a warrior helped
by a protecting deity from the scene of conflict.
Surely it must have been one
of the major battles of his energetic life to wrest from the formless void this
orderly record of actions and events embroidered with discussion of the
motives for those actions and the causes of such events.
Dio has apparently
equipped himself extremely well for his undertaking.
A fragment edited by Mai
(see Fragment I) seems to make him say that he has read every available book
upon the subject; and, like Thukydides, he is critical, he is eclectic, and
often supports his statements by the citation or introduction of documentary
testimony.
His superstition is debasing and repellent, but works harm only in
limited spheres, and it is counterbalanced by the fact that he had been a part
of many events recounted and had held high governmental offices, enjoying a
career which furnished him with standards by which to judge the likelihood of
allegations regarding earlier periods of Rome,—that, in a word, he was no mere
carpet-knight of History.
He is honestly conscientious in his use of language,
attempting to give the preference to standard phrases and words of classical
Greek over corrupt idioms and expressions of a decadent tongue.
It is this very
conscientiousness, of course, which leads him to adopt so much elaborate syntax
from bygone masters of style.
Finally,—the point in which, I think, Dio has come
nearest to the gloomy Athenian,—something of the matter-of-fact directness of
Thukydides is perceptible in this Roman History.
The operator unrolls before us
the long panorama of wars and plots and bribes and murders: his pictures speak,
but he himself seldom interjects a word.
Sometimes the lack of comment seems
almost brutal, but what need to darken the torture-chamber in the House of
Hades?
There are two ways of writing history.
One is to observe a
strictly chronological order, describing together only such events as took place
in a single year or reign; and the other, to give all in one place and in one
narration the story of a single great movement, though it should cover several
years and a fraction,—or, again, to sketch the condition of affairs in one
province, or valley, or peninsula for so long a time as the story of such a
region seems to possess unity of development.
The first kind of writing takes
the year or the reign as its standard, whereas the second uses the matter under
discussion or some part of the earth in the same way: and they may accordingly
be called, one, the chronological method, and the other, the
pragmato-geographical.
The difference between the two is well illustrated by the
varying ways in which modern works on Greek history treat the affairs of
Sicily.
The first plan is that which Dio follows, and his work would have
been called by the Romans annales rather than historiæ. The method has its
advantages, one of which is, or should be, that the reader knows just how far he
has progressed; he can compare the relative significance of events happening at
the same time in widely separated lands: he is, as it were, living in the past,
and receives from week to week or month to month reports of the world's doings
in all quarters. On the other hand, this plan lacks dramatic force; there are
sub-climaces and one grand climax: and the interest is apt to flag through being
obliged to divide itself among many districts.
The same results, both[Pg 29]
good and bad, are observable in Thukydides, whom Dio follows in constructive
theory as well as style. It has already been said that our historian sacrifices
sharpness of dates to the Onkos, depending, doubtless, on his chronological
arrangements to make good the loss. Usually it does so, but occasionally
confusion arises. Whether because he noticed this or not, he begins at the
opening of the fifty-first book to be accurate in his dates, generally stating
the exact day. Rarely, Dio lets his interest run away with him and mixes the two
economies.
If we read the pages closely, we find that by Dio's own statement
his work falls properly into three parts. The first consists of the first
fifty-one books, from the landing of Æneas to the establishment of the empire by
Octavianus. Up to that time, Dio says (in LIII, 19), political action had been
taken openly, after discussion in the senate and before the people. Everybody
knew the facts, and in case any authors distorted them, the public records were
open for any one to consult. After that time, however, the rulers commonly kept
their acts and discussions secret; and their censored accounts, when made
public, were naturally looked upon by the man in the street with doubt and
suspicion. Hence, from this point, says the historian, a radical difference must
inevitably be found in the character of his account.
The second portion,
opening with Book Fifty-two, ends at the death of Marcus Aurelius (180 B.C.). In
LXXI, 36, 4 Dio admits that the old splendor ended with Marcus and was not
renewed. His history, he[Pg 30] says, makes here a sheer descent (καταπιπτει)
from the golden to the iron age. It fades, as it were, into the light of common
day in a double sense: for the events succeeding this reign Dio himself was able
to observe as an intelligent eyewitness.
The third section, then, extends
from the beginning of Book Seventy-two to the end of the work. Here Dio breaks
away oftener than before from his servility to the Dignity of History, only to
display a far more contemptible servility to his imperial masters. According to
his own account he stood by and passively allowed atrocities to be multiplied
about him, nor does he venture to express any forceful indignation at the
performance of such deeds. Had he protested, the world's knowledge of Rome's
degenerate tyrants would undoubtedly have been less complete than it now is; and
Dio was quite enough of an egotist to believe that his own life and work were of
paramount importance. If we compare him unfavorably with Epictetus, we must
remember that the latter was obscure enough to be ignored.
In both the second
and the third parts, that is to say throughout the entire imperial period, Dio
is conceded to have committed an error in his point of view by making the
relations of the emperor to the senate the leading idea in his narrative and
subordinating other events to that relation. Senator as he was, he naturally
magnified its importance, and in an impartial estimate of his account one must
allow for personal bias.
Our historian's sources for the earlier part of his
work are not positively known. He has been credited[Pg 31] with the use of Livy,
of Cœlius, of Appian, and of Dionysios of Halicarnassos, but the traces are not
definite enough to warrant any dogmatic assertion. Perhaps he knew Tacitus and
perhaps Suetonius: the portrait of Tiberius is especially good and was probably
obtained from an author of merit.
But there were in existence a great multitude
of books inferior or now forgotten besides the works of the authors above
mentioned; and Dio's History in general shows no greater evidence of having been
drawn from writers whom we know than from others whom we do not know.
We have
already noticed Dio's similarity to Thukydides in style, arrangement, and
emotional attitude. There remains one more bond of brotherhood,—the speeches.
Just as the sombre story of the Peloponnesian conflict has for a prominent
feature the pleas and counterpleas of contending parties, together with a few
independent orations, so this Roman History is filled with public utterances of
famous men, either singly or in pairs. Dio evinces considerable fondness for
these wordy combats ('αμιλλαι λογων).
About one speech to the book is the
average in the earlier portion of the work.
The author probably adapted them
from rhetorical μελεται, or essays, then in existence.
He was himself a finished
product of the rhetorical schools and was inclined to give their output the
greatest publicity. The most interesting of these efforts,—some go so far as to
say the only one of real interest,—is[Pg 32] the speech of Mæcenas in favor of
the establishment of monarchy by Augustus: this argument undoubtedly sets forth
Dio's own views on government. Like the rival deliverance of Agrippa it shows
traces of having undergone a revision of the first draught, and it is more than
probable that the two did not assume their present shape until the time of
Alexander Severus.
Suidas, the lexicographer of the tenth century, who is profitable for so
many things, has this entry under "Dio":
Dio, called Cassius, surnamed
Cocceius (others "Cocceianus"), of Nicæa, historian, born in the times of
Alexander son of Mammæa, wrote a "Roman History" in 80 books (they are divided by
decades), a "Persia", "The Getæ", "Journey-signs", "In Trajan's Day", and a "Life of
Arrian the Philosopher".
Photius, an influential Patriarch of Constantinople
and belonging to the ninth century, has in his "Bibliotheca" a much longer
notice on DIONE, which, however, contains almost nothing that a reader will not find in
Dio's own record.
This is about the extent of the information afforded us by
antiquity, and modern biographers usually fall back upon the author's own
remarks regarding himself, as found scattered through his Roman History.
Such
personal references were for the first time carefully collected, systematically
arranged, and discussed in the edition of Reimar; subsequently the same matter
was reprinted in the fifth volume of the Dindorf Teubner text.
Just a word
first in regard to the lost works with which Suidas credits Dio.
He probably
never wrote the "Persia".
Perhaps it belonged to Dio of Colophon, or possibly
Suidas has confused Dion with Deinon.
It is certain that he did not write
"The Getæ".
This composition was by his maternal grandfather, Dio of Prusa, and
was the fruit of exile.
"Journey-signs" or "Itineraries" is an enigmatic title,
and the more cautious scholars forbear to venture an opinion upon its
significance.
Bernhardy, editor of Suidas, says "Intelligo Librum de Signis" and
translates the title "De Ominibus inter congrediendum." Leonhard Schmitz (in the
rather antiquated Smith) thinks it means "Itineraries" and that Dio Chrysostom
very likely wrote it, because he traveled considerably.
Concerning "In Trajan's
Day" two opinions may be mentioned.
One, that the attribution of such a title to
Dio is a mistake (for, if true, he would have mentioned it in his larger work).
The other, that its substance was incorporated in the larger work, and that it
thereby lost its identity and importance.
The "Life of Arrian" is probably a
fact.
Arrian was a fellow-countryman of Dio's and had a somewhat similar
character and career.
It may be true, as Christ surmises, that this biography
was a youthful task or an essay of leisure, hastily thrown off in the midst of
other enterprises.
Coming to Dione's personality we have at the outset to
decide how his name shall be written.
We must make sure of his proper
designation before we presume to talk about him.
The choice lies between Dione
Cassio and Cassio Dione, and the former is the popular form of the name, if it
be permissible to speak of Dione at all as a "popular" writer.
The facts in the
case, however, are simple.
The Greek arrangement is Διων 'ο Κασσιος: Dione il Cassio.
Now the
regular Greek custom is to place the gentile name, or even the prænomen,
after the cognomen.
But the regular Latin custom (and after all Dione has more of
the Roman in his makeup than of the Greek) is to observe the order prænomen,
nomen, cognomen.
It is objected, first, that the Greeks sometimes followed the
regular Latin order, and, second, that the Romans sometimes followed the regular
Greek order (e.g., Cicero, in his Letters).
But the Greek exception cannot here
make Dione the nomen and Cassio the cognomen.
We know that the historian belonged
to the gens "Cassia": his father was Cassius Apronianus.
And we also know and that he took Dione as
cognomen from his grandfather, Dione Chrysostom.
And the Latin exception simply
offers us the alternative of following a common usage or an uncommon usage.
The
real question is whether Dione should be regarded rather as Greek or as Roman.
To
be logical, we must say either Dion Kassios or Cassius Dio.
Considering the
historian's times and his habitat, not merely his birthplace and literary
dialect, I must prefer Cassio Dione as his official appellation.
Yet, because the
opposite arrangement has the sanction of usage, I deem it desirable to employ as
often as possible the unvexed single name Dione.
Dione's prænomen is unknown, but
he had still another cognomen, Cocceiano, which he derived along with the Dio
from his maternal grandfather.
The latter, known as Dione of Prusa from his
birthplace in Bithynia, is renowned for his speeches, which contain perhaps more
philosophy than oratory and won for him from posterity the title of
Chrysostom,—"Golden Mouth."
Dio of Prusa was exiled by the tyrant Domitian, but
recalled and showered with favors by the emperor Cocceius Nerva (96-98
A.D.).
From this patron he took the cognomen mentioned, Cocceianus, which he
handed down to his illustrious grandson.
Besides this distinguished ancestor
on his mother's side Dione the historian had a father, Cassius Apronianus, of no
mean importance.
Dione's father was a Roman senator and had been governor of Dalmatia and
Cilicia.
To the latter post Dione bore his father company (Books 49, 36; 69, 1;
72, 7).
The date of the historian's birth is determined approximately as
somewhere from 150 to 162 A.D., that is, during the last part of the reign of
Antoninus Pius or at the beginning of the reign of Marcus Aurelius.
The town
where he first saw the light was Nicæa in Bithynia.
The careful education
which the youth must have had is evident, of course, in his work.
After the trip
to Cilicia already referred to Dio came to Rome, probably not for the first
time, arriving there early in the reign of Commodus (Book 72, 4).
This monster
was overthrown in 192 A.D.
Before Commodo's death, Dione was a senator (Book 72, 16).
In
other words, Dione was by that time above the minimum age, twenty-five years,
required for admission to full senatorial standing.
And thus we gain some scanty
light respecting the date of his birth.
Under Commodus he had held no higher
offices than those of quæstor and ædile.
Pertinax now, in the year 193, made him
prætor (Book 73, 12).
Directly came the death of Pertinax, as likewise of his
successor Julianus, and the accession of him whom Dio proudly hailed as the
"Second Augustus,"—Septimius Severus.
The new emperor exerted a great
influence upon Dio's political views.
He pretended that the gods had brought him
forward, as they had Augustus, especially for his work.
The proofs of Heaven's
graciousness to this latest sovereign were probably by him delivered to Dio, who
undertook to compile them into a little book and appears to have believed them
all.
Severus, indeed, had been remarkably successful at the outset.
Before long
Dio had begun his great work, which he doubtless intended to bring to a
triumphant conclusion amid the golden years of the new prince of
peace.
Unfortunately the entente cordiale between ruler and historian did not
long endure.
Severus grew disappointing to Dio through his severity, visited
first upon Niger and later upon Cæsar Clodius Albinus.
And Dio came to be
persona non grata to Severus for this reason among others, that the emperor
changed his mind completely about Commodus, and since he had begun to revere, if
not to imitate him, what Dio had written concerning his predecessor could be no
longer palatable.
The estrangement seems to be marked by the fact that until
Severus's death Dio went abroad on no important military or diplomatic mission,
but remained constantly in his villa in Italy.
He was sometimes in Rome, but more commonly
resided at his country-seat in Capua (Book 76, 2).
In a very vague Passage in
Book 76, 16 Dione speaks of finding "when I was consul" three thousand indictments
for adultery inscribed on the records.
This leads most scholars to assume
that he was consul before the death of Severus.
Reimar thought differently, and
produces arguments to support his view.
I do not deem many of the passages which
he cites entirely apposite, and yet some of the points urged are important. I
can only say that the impression left in my mind by a rapid reading of the Greek
is that Dio was consul while Severus reigned; if such be the case, he probably
held the rank of consul suffectus ("honorary" or "substitute").
All who refuse
to admit that he could have obtained so high an office at that time place the
date of his first consulship anywhere from 219 to 223 A.D. because of his own
statement that in 224 he was appointed to the (regularly proconsular)
governorship of Africa.
The son of Severus, Caracalla or Antoninus, drew Dio
from his homekeeping and took him with him on an eastern expedition in 216, so
that our historian passed the winter of 216-217 as a member of Caracalla's
retinue at Nicomedea (Book 77, 17 and 18) and joined there in the annual
celebration of the Saturnalia (Book 78, 8). Dio takes occasion to deplore the
emperor's bestial behavior as well as the considerable pecuniary outlay to which
he was personally subjected, but at the same time he evidently did not allow his
convictions to become indiscreetly audible. Much farther than Nicomedea Dio
cannot have accompanied his master; for he did not go to the Parthian war,
presently undertaken, and he was not present either at Caracalla's death (217)
or at the overthrow of[Pg 41] Macrinus (218). This Macrinus, one of the
short-time emperors, gave Dio the post of curator ad corrigendum statum
civitatium, with administrative powers over the cities of Pergamum and Smyrna
(Book 79, 7), and his appointee remained in active service during much of the
reign of Elagabalus,—possibly, indeed, until the accession of Alexander Severus
(see Book 78, 18, end).
Mammæa, the mother of the new sovereign, surrounded her
son with skilled helpers of proved value, and it was possibly due to her wisdom
that Dio was first sent to manage the proconsulate of Africa, and, on his
return, to govern the imperial provinces of Dalmatia and Upper Pannonia.
Somewhat later, in the year 229, he became consul for the second time, consul
ordinarius, as colleague of Alexander himself. But Dio's disciplinary measures
in Pannonia had rendered him unpopular with the pampered Pretorians, and heeding
at once his own safety and the emperor's request he remained most of the time
outside of Rome. This state of affairs was not wholly satisfactory, and it is
not surprising that after a short time Dio complained of a bad foot and asked
leave to betake himself to Nicæa, his native place.
Here we must leave him.
Whether his death came soon or late after 229 A.D. is a matter of some
uncertainty. It would be difficult to make a more complete record out of the
available material, save to say that from two casual references it is inferred
that Dio had a wife and children, and that in his career he often, sometimes
with imperial assistance, tried cases in court.
REFERENCES:
A.
Baumgartner.
Über die Quellen des Cassius Dio für die ältere römische
Geschichte. 1880.
F. Beckurts.
Zur Quellenkritik des Tacitus, Sueton und
Cassius Dio.
1880.
J. Bergmans.
Die Quellen der Vita Tiberii (Buch 57 der
Historia Romana) des Cassius Dio. 1903
Breitung
Bemerkungen über die
Quellen des Dio Cassius LXVI-LXIX. (1882.)
H. Christensen
De fontibus a
Cassio Dione in Vita Neronis enarranda adhibitis. (1871.)
A. Deppe.
Des Dio
Cassius Bericht über die Varusschlacht verglichen mit den übrigen
Geschichtsquellen. (1880.)
P. Fabia.
Julius Pælignus, préfet des vigiles et
procurateur de Cappadoce (Tacite, Ann. XII, 49; Dion Cassius LXI, 6, 6).
(1898.)
R. Ferwer.—Die politischen Anschauungen des Cassius Dio.
(1878.)
J.G. Fischer.—De fontibus et auctoritate Cassii Dionis. (1870.)
H.
Grohs.—Der Wert des Geschichtswerkes des Cassius Dio als Quelle für die
Geschichte der Jahre 49-44 v. Chr. (1884.)
G. Heimbach.—Quid et quantum
Cassius Dio in historia conscribenda inde a libro XI usque ad librum XLVII e
Livio desumpserit. (1878.)
F.K. Hertlein.—Conjecturen zu griechischen
Prosaikern. (1873.)[Pg 46]
D.G. Ielgersma.—De fide et auctoritate Dionis
Cassii Cocceiani. (1879.)
E. Kyhnitzsch.—De contionibus, quas Cassius Dio
historiæ suæ intexuit, cum Thucydideis comparatis. (1894.)
E. Litsch.—De
Cassio Dione imitatore Thucydidis. (1893.)
Madvig.—Adversaria Critica.
(1884.)
J. Maisel.—Observationes in Cassium Dionem. (1888.)
J. Melber.—Der
Bericht des Dio Cassius über die gallischen Kriege Cæsars. (1891.)
J.
Melber.—Dio Cassius über die letzten Kämpfe gegen Sext. Pompeius, 36 v. Chr.
(1891.) In "Abhandlungen aus dem Gebiet der Klassichen Alterthumswissenschaft,
W. v. Christ zum 60. Geburtstag dargebracht von seinen Schülern."
P.
Meyer.—De Mæcenatis oratione a Dione ficta. (1891.)
M. Posner.—Quibus
auctoribus in bello Hannibalico enarrando usus sit Dio Cassius. (1874.)
E.
Schmidt.—Plutarchs Bericht über die Catilinarische Verschwörung in seinem
Verhältnis zu Sallust, Livius und Dio. (1885.)
G. Sickel.—De fontibus a
Cassio Dione in conscribendis rebus inde a Tiberio usque ad mortem Vitelii
gestis adhibitis. (1876.)
D.R. Stuart.
The attitude of Dio Cassius towards
epigraphic sources. (1904.)
In "Roman Historical Sources," etc., pp. 101-147.
H. van Herwerden.—Lectiones Rheno-Traiectinæ. (1882.) Pp. 78-95.
A. v.
Gutschmid.—See Kleine Schriften, V, pp. 547-554. (1894.)
J. Will.—Quæ ratio
intercedat inter Dionis Cassii de Cæsaris bellis gallicis narrationem et
commentarios Cæsaris de bello gallico. (1901.)
1884.
A review of R. Ferwer. (Die
politischen Anschauungen des Cassius Dio.) (Bursian, Jhrb.)
H. Haupt.—Dio
Cassius. (Yearly Review, continued.) (Rh. Mus., Book 4.)
K. Schenkl.
A
general review of the advance made in the study of Dio from 1873 to 1884.
(Bursian, Jhrb. pp. 277-8; and also pp. 186-194 for 1883.)
1885.U. Ph.
Boissevain.—De Cassii Dionis libris manuscriptis (with author's stemma).
(Mnemos., Vol. 13, Part 3. Also see Note on p. 456 of Part 4, same
volume.)
H. Haupt.
A review of Grohs (Der Wert des Geschichtswerkes des
Cassius Dio als Quelle der Jahre 49-44 V.C.). (Philolog. Anzeiger.)
Id.—Dio
Cassius. (Yearly Review, continued.) (Philol., Vol. 44, Book 1 and Book
3.)
H. Schiller.—A review of Grohs (same article). (B.P.W., Feb. 21.)
—— A
review of U. Ph. Boissevain. (Program. On the Fragments of Cassius Dio.)
(Bursian, Jhrb.)
1886. S.A. Naber.—Emendations in Dio XLII, 34, and XXXVI,
49. (Mnemos., N.S. 14, pp. 93 and 94.)[Pg 52]
—— Mention of Haupt's Survey in
Philol. 44. (See above. Bursian, Jhrb.)
—— A review of Grohs. (Article cited
above. Bursian, Jhrb.)
—— A review of Grohs. (Do. do.—Litt. Cbl., Jan.
16.)
1887.—— A review of C.J. Rockel (De allocutionis usu qualis sit apud
Thucydidem, Xenophontem, oratores Atticos, Dionem, Aristidem.). (Jhrb. of I.
Müller.)
—— Mention of H. Haupt's Survey in Philol. 44. (Jhrb. of I.
Müller.)
Br. Keil.—A criticism of Rockel. (Article above cited. W. Kl. Ph.,
May 4.)
W.F. Allen.—The Monetary Crisis in Rome, A.D. 33. (Containing
citations from Dio. Tr. A. Ph. A., Vol. 18.)
E.G. Sihler.—The Tradition of
Cæsar's Gallic Wars from Cicero to Orosius. (Containing citations from Dio. Tr.
A. Ph. A., Vol. 18.)
Liatyschev.—(An article containing citations from Dio
that contribute to a knowledge of the location of the city of Olbia.—Journal
Ministerstva Narodnavo Prosvêschtscheniia, Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4.)
1888.
W.F.
Allen.—Lex Curiata de Imperio. (Containing citations from Dio XXXIX, 19 and
elsewhere.—Tr. A. Ph. A., Vol. 19.)[Pg 53]
S.A. Naber.—Critical observations.
(Including Dio XLVI, 15; LI, 14; LV, 10; LXIX, 28; LXXVI, 14; LXXVII, 4.
Mnemos., Vol. 16, part 1.)
—— A review of L. Poetsch. (Program. Bei.—träge
zur Kritik der Kaiserbiographien Cassius Dio, Herodian, und Ælius Lampridius auf
Grund ihrer Berichte über den Kaiser Commodus Antoninus.—Z. œst. Gymn., 1888,
Book 3.)
1889.
Breitung.—A review of Maisel (Observationes in Cassium
Dionem.). (W. Kl. Ph., June 19.)
—— A review of Maisel. (Do. do.—The Academy,
February.)
J. Hilberg.—A review of Maisel. (Do. do.—Z. œst. Gymn., 1889, Book
3.)
H. Kontos.—Critical note on Dio, XLIX, 12, 2. (ΑΘΗΝΑ, Vol. 1, parts
3-4.)
Melber.—Contribution to a new order of the Fragments in Cassius Dio.
(Sitzb. d. philos.-philolog. u. hist. d. k. B. Akademie d. Wiss. zu München,
Feb. 9.)
Nauck.—Analecta Critica. (Proposition to restore six fragments of
Cassius Dio to Dio Chrysostom.—Hermes, Vol. 24, part 3.)
Alex Riese.—Die
Sueben (based upon Dio). (Rh. Mus., Vol. 44, part 3.)
Sp. Vasis.—Passage of
Dio applied to correct conclusions of Willems on Cic. ad Att. 5, 4, 2. (ΑΘΗΝΑ,
Vol. 1, parts 3-4.)[Pg 54]
—— A review of E. Cornelius (Quomodo Tacitus
historiæ scriptor in hominum memoria versatus sit usque ad renascentes litteras
sæc. XIV et XV.—Dio is indirectly involved.). (Jhrb. d. phil. Ver. zu. Berlin,
1889.)
—— A review of C.J. Rockel. (Title cited under 1887.—Jhrb. of I.
Müller.)
1890.
U. Ph. Boissevain.—A misplaced fragment of Dio (LXXV, 9,
6). (Hermes, Vol. 25, part 3.)
Th. Hultzsch.—On Dio Cassius (relative to
early alteration of the text). (N. JB. f. Ph. u. Pä., Vol. 141, book 3.)
Karl
Jacoby.—A review of Maisel. (Title cited under 1889.—B.P.W., Feb.
15.)
Melber.—Regarding the chronological relocation of several fragments of
Dio. (Bl. f. d. Bayer. Gymn., Vol. 26, books 6 and 7.)
—— A citation of the
Kontos note (see above) from ΑΘΗΝΑ. (Rev. d. Et. Gr., Vol. 3, N.
9.)
1891.
Boissevain.—A review of Melber. (Text edition of Dio, Vol. I.)
(B.P.W., Jan. 24.)
Breitung.—A review of Melber. (Do. do.—W. Kl. Ph., June
24.)
B. Kübler.—A review of Melber. (Do. do.—Deutsche LZ., Nov.
28.)
Id.—Five conjectures in the (earlier portion of) text of Dio. (Rh. Mus.,
Vol. 46, part 2.)[Pg 55]
Melber.—A review of Maisel. (Title cited under
1889.—Bl. f. d. Bayer. Gymn., Vol. 27, books 6 and 7.)
Id.—A correction in
Zonaras, IX, 5. (Bl. f. d. Bayer. Gymn., Vol. 27, book 1.)
G.M. Rushforth.—A
review of Melber (Dio, Vol. 1). (Cl. Rev., Vol. 5, Nos. 1 and 2.)
C.
Wachsmuth.—The pentad arrangement in Dio and others. (Rh. Mus., Vol. 46, part
2.)
—— Mention of an article on Dio (Cæsar's Gallic Wars) in Festgruss des
kgl. Max.-Gymn. zu München. (Phil. Rundsch., Dec. 5.)
1892.
U. Ph.
Boissevain.—On the spellings Callæci—Gallæci, etc. (Mnemos., N.S. Vol. 20, p.
286 ff.)
H. Schiller.—A review of Meyer (De Mæcenatis oratione a Dione
ficta). (B.P.W., Sept. 17.)
1893.
Büttner-Wobst.—An account of Dio in the
Cod. Peir. (Berichte der kgl. sächs. Gesellsch. d. Wissensch., part 3.)
C.G.
Cobet.—Emendations. (Mnemos. N.S., Vol. 21, p. 395.)
B. Heisterbergk.—An
emendation in XLVIII, 12. (Philol., Vol. 50, part 4.)
J.J.H.—An emendation of
LXVII, 12. (Mnemos., Vol. 21, part 4.)
Maisel.—A review of Melber. (Dio, Vol.
1.—Phil. Rundsch., March 4.)
S.A. Naber.—Four emendations. (Mnemos., Vol. 21,
part 4.)[Pg 56]
1894.
K. Buresch.—A comment on Dio, LIV, 30, 3. (W. Kl.
Ph., Jan. 24.)
1895.
Ad. Bauer.—Dio's account of the war in Dalmatia and
Pannonia (6-9 A.D.). (Archäologisch-Epigraphische Mittheilungen aus
Oesterreich-Ungarn, 17th year, book 2.)
U. Ph. Boissevain.—A review of Maisel
(Beiträge zur Würdigung der Hdss. des Cassius Dio). (B.P.W., Apr. 13.)
K.
Jacoby.—A review of Maisel. (Do. do.—W. Kl. Ph., July 3.)
Id.—A review of
Melber. (Dio, Vol. 2.—Ibid.)
Th. Mommsen.—The miracle of the rain on the
column of Marcus Aurelius. (Dio as a source.) (Hermes, Vol. 30, part 1.)
—— A
review of E. Kyhnitzsch (De contionibus quas Cassius Dio historiæ suæ intexuit,
cum Thucydideis comparatis). (Litt. Cbl., Oct. 26.)
1896.
U. Ph.
Boissevain.—A review of E. Kyhnitzsch. (Title just above.—B.P.W., Jan.
18.)
P. Ercole.—A review of M.A. Micallela (La Fonte di Dione Cassio per le
guerre galliche di Cesare). (Riv. di. Fil. e d'Istr. Class., 25th year, part
1.)
Ph. Fabia.—The statement of Dio about Nero and Pappæa shown to be
parallel with that of Tacitus (Hist. I, 13). (Rev. de Phil., de Litt., et
d'Hist. anciennes, Vol. 20, part 1.)[Pg 57]
K. Kuiper.—De Cassii Dionis
Zonaræque historiis epistula critica ad Ursulum Philippum Boissevain. (Mnemos.,
N.S. Vol. 24.)
B. Niese.—Dio's contributions to the history of the war
against Pyrrhus. (Hermes, Vol. 31, part 4.)
F. Vogel.—Dio worthless for facts
regarding Cæsar's second expedition into Britain. (N. JB. f. Ph. u. Pä., 1896,
books 3 and 4.)
—— Dio LIII, 23, compared with inscription discovered at
Philæ, Egypt. (Philol., Vol. 55, part 1.)
1897.
D. Detlefsen.—Dio LIV, 32,
as a sample of ancient knowledge in regard to the North Sea. (Hermes, Vol. 32,
part 2.)
Ph. Fabia.—Ofonius rather than Sophonius (Dio MSS.) for the gentile
name of Tigillinus. (Rev. de Phil., de Litt., et d'Hist. anciennes, Vol. 21,
book 3.)
P. Garofolo.—A citation of Dio. (Jhrb. of I. Müller, 1897.)
B.
Kübler.—A review of Melber. (Dio, Vol. 2.—Deutsche LZ., March 6.)
Id.—A
review of Boissevain. (Edition of Dio.—B.P.W., May 15.)
—— A mention of three
articles by Melber.
1.) Der Bericht des Dio Cassius über d. gall. [Pg
58]Kriege Cäsars.
2.) Des Dio Cassius Bericht über d. Seeschlacht d. D.
Brutus geg. d. Veneter.
3.) Dio Cassius über d. letzten Kämpfe geg. S.
Pompejus, 36 v. Chr.
(Jhrb. of I. Müller, 1897.)
—— Mention of a
rearrangement favored by Boissevain ("Ein verschobenes Fragment des Cassius
Dio") who holds that a certain fragment, old style LXXV, 9, 6, properly belongs
to the year 116 A.D. and to Trajan's expedition against the
Parthians.
1898.
Büttner-Wobst.—Dio corrected in regard to an episode in
the siege of Ambracia, 189 B.C. (Philol., Vol. 57, part 3.)
Ph. Fabia.—An
emendation and a change of order in Dio, LXI, 6, 6. (Rev. de Phil., de Litt., et
d'Hist. anciennes, 1898, book 2.)
J. Kromayer.—Studies in the Second
Triumvirate (Dio as a source). (Hermes, Vol. 33, part 1.)
B. Kübler.—A review
of Boissevain. (Dio, Vol. 2.—B.P.W., Nov. 26 and Dec. 3.)
J. Vahlen.—Varia.
(Dio LV, 6 and 7, for date of death of Mæcenas). (Hermes, Vol. 33, part
2.)
1899.
Wilh. Crönert.—-A study of 34 pp. on the transmission of the
text of Dio. (Wiener Studien, 1899, book 1.)
K. Jacoby.—A review of
Boissevain. (Dio, Vol. 1.—W. Kl. Ph., March 22.)[Pg 59]
1900.
Wilh.
Crönert.—Criticism of Boissevain. (Rev. Crit., July 2.)
C. Robert.—On Dio LV,
10. (Hermes, Vol. 25, No. 4.)
—— On Dio XLVII, 17, 1. (Archiv. f.
Papyrusforschung u. verw. Geb., vol. 2, book 1.)
—— Observationes. (Philol.,
Vol. 59, No. 2.)
—— Mélanges (including Dio XXXVIII, 50, 4). (Wiener Studien,
22nd year, book 2.)
N. Vulić.—A note on Cassius Dio, XXXVIII, 50, 4. (Wiener
Studien, 22nd year, book 2, p. 314.)
1901.
C. Jullian.—Dio's account of
the surrender of Vercingetorix compared with others. (Rev. des Et. Anc., Vol. 3,
No. 2.)
H. St. Sedimayer.—Apocolocyntosis, i.e. Apotheosis per Satiram (Dio,
LX, 35). (Wiener Studien, I, pp. 181-192.)
1902.
B. Kübler.—A review of
Boissevain. (Dio, Vol. 3.—B.P.W., Dec. 20.)
—— Reference to portraiture in
Dio. (Philol., Vol. 61, No. 3.)
—— Record of a new coin bearing the name of
L. Munatius Plancus (cp. Dio XLVI, 50). (Numismat. Zeitschr., Vol.
34.)
1903.
A. Bomer.—An opinion to the effect that Ελισων (Dio LIV, 33) is
a corrupt reading for Στιβαρνα = Stever. (N. JB. f. d. kl. Alt., Gesch., u.
deut. Lit., 6th year, part 3.)[Pg 60]
S.B. Cougeas.—An account of a new MS.
of Xiphilinus (No. 812 of the Iberian monastery on Mt. Athos. It is incomplete
and ends at L, 11, 3 of Dio). (ΑΘΗΝΑ, Vol. 15.)
H. Peter.—A review of G.M.
Columba (Cassio Dione e del guerre galliche di Cesare.—B.P.W., Sept.
5).
**********************************
THE ORIGINAL ARRANGEMENT of DIO'S ROMAN
HISTORY as conjectured by A. von Gutschmid (Kleine Schriften, V, p.
561).
I. Rome under the Kings (Two Books).
LIBRO I:
B.C.
753-673.
LIBRO II:
B.C. 672-510.
II. Roma under a Republic (Thirty-nine
Books).
a.) To the End of the Second Punic War (Fifteen
Books.)
1.) To the Beginning of the Second Samnite War (Five
Books):
LIBRO III:
B.C. 509.
Book IV, B.C. 508-493.
Book V, B.C.
493-449.
Book VI, B.C. 449-390.
Book VII, B.C. 390-326.
2.)
To the
Beginning of the Second Punic War (Five Books):
Book VIII, B.C.
326-290.
Book IX, B.C. 290-278.
Book X, B.C. 277-264.
Book XI, B.C.
264-250.
Book XII, B.C. 250-219.
3.)
To the End of the Second Punic
War (Five Books):
Book XIII, B.C. 219-218.
Book XIV, B.C. 218-217.
Book
XV, B.C. 216-211.
Book XVI, B.C. 211-206.
[Pg 64]Book XVII, B.C.
206-201.
b.) From the End of the Second Punic War (Twenty-four
Books).
1.) To the Death of Gaius Gracchus (Eight Books):
Book XVIII,
B.C. 200-195.
Book XIX, B.C. 195-183.
Book XX, B.C. 183-149.
Book XXI,
B.C. 149-146.
Book XXII, B.C. 145-140.
Book XXIII, B.C. 139-133.
Book
XXIV, B.C. 133-124.
Book XXV, B.C. 124-121.
2.) To the Dictatorship of
Sulla (Eight Books):
Book XXVI, B.C. 120-106.
Book XXVII, B.C.
105-101.
Book XXVIII, B.C. 100-91.
Book XXIX, B.C. 90-89.
Book XXX,
B.C. 88 (Happenings at Home).
Book XXXI, B.C. 88 (Events Abroad) and 87
(Happenings at Home).
Book XXXII, B.C. 87 (Events Abroad)-84.
Book XXXIII,
B.C. 84-82.
3.) To the Battle of Pharsalus (Eight Books):
Book XXXIV,
B.C. 81-79.
Book XXXV, B.C. 78-70.
[Pg 65]Book XXXVI, B.C. 69-66.
Book
XXXVII, B.C. 65-60.
Book XXXVIII, B.C. 59-58.
Book XXXIX, B.C. 57-54 (=
a.u. 700) (Happenings at Home).
Book XL, B.C. 54 (Events Abroad)-50.
Book
XLI, B.C. 49-48.
*********************************************************************
III.
Rome under Political Factions and under the Monarchy
(Thirty-nine Books).
a.) To the Death of Augustus (Fifteen
Books).
1.) To the Triumvirate (Five Books)
*******************************************************************
LIBRO XLII, B.C.
48-47.
Book XLIII, B.C. 46-44.
Book XLIV, B.C. 44.
Book XLV, B.C.
44-43.
Book XLVI, B.C. 43.
2.) To the Bestowal of the Imperial Title
upon Augustus (Five Books):
Book XLVII, B.C. 43-42.
Book XLVIII, B.C.
42-37.
Book XLIX, B.C. 36-33.
Book L, B.C. 32-Sept. 2, B.C. 31.
Book
LI, Sept. 2, B.C. 31-29 (= a.u. 725) (Events Abroad).
3.) To the Death of
Augustus (Five Books):
Book LII, B.C. 29 (Happenings at Home).
Book LIII,
B.C. 28-23.
Book LIV, B.C. 22-10.
Book LV, B.C. 9-A.D. 8.
[Pg 66]Book
LVI, A.D. 9-14.
b.) From the Death of Augustus (Twenty-four
Books).
1.) To Vespasian (Eight Books):
Book LVII, A.D. 14-25.
Book
LVIII, A.D. 26-37.
Book LIX, A.D. 37-41.
Book LX, A.D. 41-46.
Book LXI,
A.D. 47 (= a.u. 800)-59.
Book LXII, A.D. 59-68.
Book LXIII, A.D.
68-69
Book LXIV, A.D. 69-70.
2.) To Commodus (Eight Books):
Book
LXV, A.D. 70-79.
Book LXVI, A.D. 79-81.
Book LXVII, A.D. 81-96.
Book
LXVIII, A.D. 96-117.
Book LXIX, A.D. 117-138.
Book LXX, A.D.
138-161.
Book LXXI, A.D. 161-169.
Book LXXII, A.D. 169-180.
3.) To
Dio's Second Consulate (Eight Books).
Book LXXIII, A.D. 180-192.
Book
LXXIV, A.D. 193.
Book LXXV, A.D. 193-197.
Book LXXVI, A.D.
197-211.
Book LXXVII, A.D. 211-217.
Book LXXVIII, A.D. 217-218.
Book
LXXIX, A.D. 218-222.
Book LXXX, A.D. 222-229.
*****************************************
AN EPITOME of THE LOST BOOKS I-XXI OF DIO as found in
the CHRONICON
of IOANNES ZONARAS.
LIBRO 1
BOISSEVAIN
Frag. 1VII, 1.
Enea, after the Trojan war, came to the
Aborigines, who were the former inhabitants of the land wherein Roma has been
built and at that time had Latino, the son of Fauno, as their sovereign.
Enea
came ashore at Laurentum, by the mouth of the river Numicio, where in obedience
to some oracle he is said to have made preparations to dwell.
The ruler of
the land, Latino, interfered with Enea's settling in the land.
But after a
sharp struggle Latino was defeated.
Then in accordance with dreams that appeared to
both leaders they effected a reconciliation and the king beside permitting Enea
to reside there gave him his daughter Lavinia in marriage.
Thereupon Enea
founded a city which he named Lavinio and the country was called Lazio and the
people there were termed Latini.
But the Rutuli who occupied adjoining territory
had been previously hostile to the Latini, and now they set out from the city of
Ardea with warlike demonstrations.
They had the support of no less distinguished
a man than Turno, a relative of Latino, who had taken a dislike to Latino
because of Lavinia's marriage.
For it was to him that the maiden had originally
been promised.
A battle took place, Turno and Latino fell, and Eneas gained
the victory and his father-in-law's kingdom as well.
After a time, however, the
Rutuli secured the Etruscans as allies and marched upon Æneas.
They won in this
war.
Æneas vanished, being seen no more alive or dead, and was honored as a god
by the Latins.
Hence he has come to be regarded by the Romans as the
fountain head of their race and they take pride in being called "Sons of Æneas."
The Latin domain fell in direct succession to Enea's son Ascanio who had
accompanied his father from home.
Enea had not yet had any child by Lavinia,
but left her pregnant.
Ascanius was enclosed round about by the enemy, but by
night the Latins attacked them and ended both the siege and the war.
As time
went on the Latin nation increased in size, and the majority of the people
abandoned Lavinium to build another town in a better location.
To it they gave
the name of Alba from its whiteness and from its length they called it Longa
(or, as Greeks would say, "white" and "long").
At the death of Ascanius the
Latins gave the preference in the matter of royal power to the son borne to
Æneas by Lavinia over the son of Ascanius, their preference being founded on the
fact that Latinus was his grandfather.
The new king's name was Silvius. Silvius
begat Æneas, from Æneas sprang Latinus, and Latinus was succeeded by Pastis.
Tiberinus, who came subsequently to be ruler, lost his life by falling into a
river called the Albula.
This river was renamed TEVERE from him.
It flows through
Rome and is of great value to the city and in the highest degree useful to the
Romans.
Amulius, a descendant of Tiberinus, displayed an overweening pride and
had the audacity to deify himself, pretending an ability to answer thunder with
thunder by mechanical contrivances and to lighten in response to the lightnings
and to hurl thunderbolts. He met his end by the overflow[Pg 71] of the lake
beside which his palace was set, and both he and the palace were submerged in
the sudden rush of waters.
Aventinus his son perished in warfare.
So far the
account concerns Lavinium and the people of Alba. At the beginning of Roman
history we see Numitor and Amulius, who were grandsons of Aventinus and
descendants of Æneas.
************
BOOK 2
BOISSEVAIN
B.C. 672
(a.u.
82)VII, 6.—
When Numa died leaving no successor, Tullus Hostilius was chosen by
the people and the senate. He followed in the footsteps of Romulus, and both
welcomed combats himself and encouraged the people to do the same.
The Albanians
having become the victims of a marauding expedition on the part of the the
Romans, both sides proceeded into battle; before they came into actual conflict,
however, they effected a reconciliation and both races decided to dwell together
in one city. Frag. 62but as each clung to his own town and insisted that the
other race should remove to it, they failed of their object. next they disputed
about the leadership.
As neither one would yield it to the other, Frag. 62they
arranged to have a contest for the sovereignty. They did not care to fight with
entire armies nor yet to let the decision be made by a duel of champions. But
there were on both sides brethren born three at a birth, the offspring of twin
mothers, of like age and alike in strength: the Roman brethren were called
Publihoratii and the Albanian Curiatii. These they set into battle over against
one another, paying no heed to their relationship. So they, having armed
themselves and having arrayed themselves in opposing files in the vacant space
between the camps, called upon the same family gods and cast repeated glances
upward at the sun. Having joined issue they fought now in groups, now in pairs.
Finally, when two of the Romans had fallen and all of the Al[Pg 73]banians had
been wounded, the remaining Horatius, because he could not withstand the three
at once, even were he unwounded, gave way in order that in pursuing him they
might be scattered. And when they had become separated in the pursuit, Frag.
62attacking each one he despatched them all. Then he was given honors. But
because he further killed his sister when she lamented on seeing Horatius
carrying the spoils of her cousins, he was tried for murder; and having taken an
appeal to the people he was released.
The Albanians now became subjects of
the Romans, but later they disregarded the compact; and having been summoned, in
their capacity of subjects, to serve as allies, they attempted at the crisis of
the battle to desert to the enemy and to join in the attack upon the Romans.
They were detected, however, and punished: many (including their leader,
Mettius) were put to death, and the rest suffered deportation; their city Alba
was razed to the ground, after being deemed for five hundred years the mother
city of the Romans.
Frag. 64
now against the enemy tullus was thought to be
very efficient, but he neglected religion. when, however, a pestilence was
incurred and he himself fell sick, he turned aside to a godfearing course. He is
said to have reached the end of his life by being consumed by lightning[5] or
else as the result of a plot formed by Ancus Marcius, who happened to be (as has
been stated) a son of Numa's daughter. He was king of the Romans thirty-two
years.
[Pg 74]
VII, 7.—
When Hostilius died, Marcius succeeded to the
kingdom, receiving it as a voluntary gift from the Romans. And he was not
perfect in his arm, for he was maimed at the joint (or bend), whence he got the
title Ancus (bent arm). Though gentle he was compelled to Frag. 7change his
habits and he turned his attention to campaigns. For the rest of the Latins, on
account of the destruction of Alba and in fear that they themselves might suffer
some similar disaster, were angry at the Romans. As long as Tullus survived,
they humbled themselves, dreading his reputation for warfare: but thinking that
Marcius was easy to attack because of his peaceful disposition, they assailed
his territory and pillaged it. He, Frag. 7comprehending that peace could be
caused by war, attacked the attackers, defended his position, and captured their
cities, one of which he razed to the ground, and treated many of the men taken
as slaves and transferred many others to Rome. As the Romans grew and land was
added to their domain, the neighboring peoples were displeased and set
themselves at odds with the Romans. Hence the latter had to overcome the
Fidenates by siege, and they damaged the Sabines by falling upon them while
scattered and seizing their camp, and by terrifying others they got them to
embrace peace even contrary to inclination. After this the life-stint of Marcius
was exhausted, when he had ruled for twenty-four years, being a man that paid
strict attention to religion according to the manner of his grandfather
Numa.
VII, 8.—
The sovereignty was now appropriated by Lucius Tarquinius, who
was the son of Demaratus a Corinthian, borne to the latter by a native woman
after he had been exiled and had taken up his abode in Tarquinii, an
Etruscan city; the boy had been named Lucumo. And though he inherited much
wealth from his father, yet, because as an immigrant he was not deemed worthy of
the highest offices by the people of Tarquinii, he removed to Rome, changing his
appellation along with his city; and he changed his name to Lucius
Tarquinius,—from the city in which he dwelt. It is said that as he was
journeying to his new home an eagle swooped down and snatched the cap which he
had on his head, and after soaring aloft and screaming for some time placed it
again exactly upon his head: wherefore he was inspired to hope for no small
advancement and eagerly took up his residence in Rome. Hence not long after he
was numbered among the foremost men. Frag. 8for by using his wealth quite
lavishly and by winning over the nobles through his intelligence and wit he was
included among the patricians and in the senate by marcius, was appointed
prætor, and was entrusted with the supervision of the king's children and of the
kingdom. he showed himself an excellent man, sharing his money with those in
need and bestowing his services readily if any one needed him to help. he
neither did nor said anything mean to any one. if he received a kindness from
persons he made much of the attention, whereas if any offence was offered him,
he either disregarded the injury or minimized it and made light of it, and far
from making reprisals upon the man that had done the injury, he would[Pg 76]
even benefit him. thus he came to dominate both marcius himself and his circle,
and acquired the reputation of being a sensible and upright man.
But the
aforesaid estimate of him did not continue permanently. For at the death of
Marcius he behaved in a knavish way to the latter's two sons and made the
kingdom his own. The senate and the people were intending to elect the children
of Marcius, when Tarquinius made advances to the most influential of the
senators;—he had first sent the fatherless boys to some distant point on a
hunting expedition:—and by his talk and his efforts he got these men to vote him
the kingdom on the understanding that he would restore it to the children when
they had attained manhood. And after assuming control of affairs he so disposed
the Romans that they should never wish to choose the children in preference to
him: the lads he accustomed to indolence and ruined their souls and bodies by a
kind of kindness. As he still felt afraid in spite of being so placed, he
secured some extra strength for himself in the senate. Those of the populace who
felt friendly towards him he enrolled (to the number of about two hundred) among
the patricians and the senators, and thus he put both the senate and the people
within his own control. He altered his raiment, likewise, to a more magnificent
style. It consisted of toga and tunic, purple all over and shot with gold, of a
crown of precious stones set in gold, and of ivory sceptre and chair, which were
later used by various officials and especially by those that held sway as
emperors. He also on the[Pg 77] occasion of a triumph paraded with a four-horse
chariot and kept twelve lictors for life.
He would certainly have introduced
still other and more numerous innovations, had not Attus Navius prevented him,
when he desired to rearrange the tribes: this man was an augur whose equal has
never been seen. Tarquinius, angry at his opposition, took measures to abase him
and to bring his art into contempt. So, putting into his bosom a whetstone and a
razor, he went among the populace having in his mind that the whetstone should
be cut by the razor,—a thing that is impossible. He said all that he wished, and
when Attus vehemently opposed him, he said, still yielding not a particle: "If
you are not opposing me out of quarrelsomeness, but are speaking the truth,
answer me in the presence of all these witnesses whether what I have in mind to
do shall be performed." Attus, having taken an augury on almost the very spot,
replied immediately: "Verily, O King, what you intend shall be fulfilled."
"Well, then," said the other, "take this whetstone and cut it through with this
razor; this is what I have had in mind to come to pass." Attus at once took the
stone and cut it through. Tarquinius, in admiration, heaped various honors upon
him, accorded him the privilege of a bronze image, and did not again make any
change in the established constitution, but employed Attus as a counselor on all
matters.
He fought against the Latins who had revolted, and afterwards
against the Sabines, who, aided by the Etruscans as allies, had invaded the
Roman country;[Pg 78] and he conquered them all. He discovered that one of the
priestesses of Vesta, who are required by custom to remain virgins all their
life, had been seduced by a man, whereupon he arranged a kind of underground
chamber with a long passage, and after placing in it a bed, a light, and a table
nearly full of foods, he brought thither the unchaste woman escorted by a
procession and having introduced her alive into the room walled it up. From his
institution this plan of punishing those of the priestesses that do not keep
their virginity has continued to prevail. The men that outrage them have their
necks inserted in cloven pillars in the Forum, and then are maltreated naked
until they give up the ghost.
However, an attack was made upon Tarquinius by
the children of Marcius because he would not yield the sovereignty to them, but
instead placed a certain Tullius, borne to him by a slave woman, at the head of
them all. This more than anything else displeased the patricians. The young men
interested some of the latter class in their cause and formed a plot against the
king. They arrayed two men like rustics, equipped with axes and scythes, and
made them ready to attack him. So these two, when they did not find Tarquinius
in the Forum, went to the royal court (pretending, of course, to have a dispute
with each other) and asked for admission to his presence. Their request was
granted and they began to make opposing arguments, and while Tarquinius was
giving his attention to one of them pleading his cause, the other slew him.[Pg
79]
VII, 9.—Such was the end that befell Tarquinius who had ruled for
thirty-eight years. By the coöperation of Tanaquil, wife of Tarquinius, Tullius
succeeded to the kingdom of Rome. He was the child of a certain woman named
Ocrisia, the wife of Spurius Tullius, a Latin; she had been captured in the war
and chosen by Tarquinius: she had either become pregnant at home or conceived
after her capture; both stories are current. When Tullius had reached boyhood he
went to sleep on a chair once in the daytime and a quantity of fire seemed to
leap from his head. Tarquinius, seeing it, took an active interest in the child
and on his arriving at maturity had him enrolled among the patricians and in the
senate.
The murderers of Tarquinius were arrested and his wife and Tullius
learned the plan of the plot; but instead of making Tarquinius's death known at
once, they took him up and tended him (pretending that he was still alive), and
meantime exchanged mutual pledges that Tullius should take the sovereignty but
surrender it to Tanaquil's sons when they became men. And when the multitude ran
together and raised an outcry, Tanaquil, leaning out of an upper story, said:
"Be not afraid. My husband both lives and shall be seen by you shortly. But in
order that he may regain health at leisure and that no hindrance to business may
arise from his being incapacitated, he entrusts the management of the public
weal for the present to Tullius." These were her words and the people not
unwillingly accepted Tullius: for he was thought to be an upright man.[Pg
80]
So, having been granted the administration of public affairs, he managed
them for the most part according to orders supposed to emanate from Tarquinius.
Frag. 9but when he saw the people obeying him in all points, he brought the
assassins of Tarquinius before the senate, though, to be sure, only because of
their plot; for he was still pretending that the king was still alive. They were
sentenced and put to death, and the sons of Marcius through fear took refuge
among the Volsci. Then did Tullius reveal the death of Tarquinius and openly
take possession of the kingdom. At first he put forward the children of
Tarquinius as his excuse and caused it to be understood that he was the guardian
of their royal office, but afterward he proceeded to pay court to the people,
believing that he could secure control of the multitude very much more easily
than of the patricians. He gave them money, assigned land to each individual,
and made preparations to free the slaves and adopt them into tribes. As the
nobles were irritated at this, he gave instructions that those liberated should
perform some services, in requital, for the men that had liberated them. Now
since the patricians were disaffected in the matter of his aspirations and
circulated among other sayings one to the effect that no one had chosen him to
hold the sovereignty, he gathered the people and harangued them. And by the use
of many alluring statements he so disposed them toward himself that they at once
voted the kingdom to him outright. He in return bestowed many gifts upon them
and enrolled some of them in the senate.[Pg 81] These originally in most matters
were at a disadvantage as compared with the patricians, but as time went on they
shared equally with the patricians in everything save the office of interrex and
the priesthoods, and were distinguished from them in no respect except by their
shoes. For the shoes of the patricians were made ornate by the addition of
straps and the imprint of the letter, which were intended to signify that they
were descended from the original hundred men that had been senators. The letter
R, they say, either indicates the number of the hundred men referred to or else
is used as the initial of the name of the Romans.
In this way Tullius gained
control of the populace, but fearing that some rebellion might take place he
delivered the greater number and the more important of the public positions to
the care of the more powerful citizens. Thus they became harmonious in their
views and transacted the public business in the best manner. He also conducted a
few wars against the Veians and against all the Etruscans, in the course of
which nothing was done worthy of record. Wishing to affiliate the Latins still
more closely with the Romans he persuaded them to construct in Rome a temple out
of common funds. This he devoted to Minerva. But differences arose in regard to
its superintendence. Meantime a Sabine brought to Rome an exceedingly fine cow,
intending to sacrifice her to Minerva in accordance with an oracle. The oracle
said that he who should sacrifice her would enlarge his country. One of the
Romans learning this went to the man and told[Pg 82] him that it was requisite
for the victim first to be purified in the river, and by his talk persuaded him.
Having persuaded him he took the cow under the pretence of keeping her safe and
having taken her he sacrificed her. When the Sabine made known the oracle the
Latins both yielded the presidency of the shrine to the Romans and in other ways
honored them as superior to themselves.
This was the course these matters
took. Now Tullius joined his daughters in marriage with the Tarquins, and though
he announced that he was going to restore the kingdom to them he kept putting it
off, now on one excuse and now on another. And they were not at all disposed to
be complaisant, but were indignant. The king paid no heed to them and urged the
Romans to democracy and freedom. Then were the Tarquins all the more disquieted.
But the younger one, however ill at ease he was, still endured it, until in the
course of time he thought he could bear Tullius no longer. And when he found
that his wife did not approve his attitude, nor did his brother, he put to death
his own wife Frag. 101and compassed his brother's death by poison administered
by the latter's wife. Then, uniting his fortunes with his brother's spouse, he
plotted with her help against Tullius. After persuading many of the senators and
patricians whose reputations were under a cloud to coöperate with him against
Tullius he unexpectedly repaired with them to the senate, his wife Tullia also
following him. He there spoke many words to remind them of his father's worth
and uttered many[Pg 83] jests at the expense of Tullius. When the latter on
hearing of it hastily made his appearance and said a word or two, the pretender
seized him, and thrusting him out cast him down the steps in front of the
senate-house. So the king, bewildered by the audacity of Tarquin and surprised
that no one came to his assistance, did not say or do anything more. Tarquin at
once obtained the kingdom from the senate, and sent some men who despatched
Tullius while he was on his way home. The latter's daughter, after embracing her
husband in the senate-house and saluting him as king, departed to the palace and
drove her chariot over the dead body of her father as he lay there.
VII,
10.—Thus ruled Tullius and thus he died after a reign of forty-four years.
Tarquin, who succeeded to the kingdom, stationed body-guards around him after
the manner of Romulus, and used them both night and day, at home and abroad.
For, as a result of what he had done to his father-in-law, and his wife to her
father, they in turn were afraid of other people. Frag. 102and when he had
equipped himself to rule over them tyrannically he arrested and put to death the
most powerful members of the senate and of the rest, executing publicly those
against whom he was able to bring a charge, and others secretly; some also he
banished. he destroyed not merely those who were attached to the party of
tullius, but in addition those who had coöperated with him in securing the
monarchy, and thus he made away with the best part of the senate and of the
knights. he understood[Pg 84] that he was hated by the entire populace; hence he
did not appoint any persons whatever to take the places of those who kept
perishing, but undertaking to abolish the senate altogether he did not appoint a
single new person to it and communicated no news of importance to those who
still were members. he called the senators together not to help him in the
administration of any important measures, but in order that their fewness might
be made evident to all and they be consequently despised. most of his business
he carried on by himself or with the aid of his sons. it was hard to approach
and hard to accost him, and he showed great haughtiness and brutality toward all
alike, and he as well as his children adopted a more tyrannical bearing toward
all persons. Hence he also cast eyes of suspicion upon the members of his guard
and secured a new body-guard from the Latin nation, intermingling the Latins
with Romans in the ranks. He intended that the Latins by obtaining equal
privileges with the Romans should owe him gratitude therefor, and that the
Romans should cause him less terror, since they no longer had a place of their
own but bore arms only in association with the Latins.
He also joined battle
with the people of Gabii and fared ill in the conflict, but by treachery
overcame them; for he suggested to his son Sextus that he desert to their side.
Sextus, in order to get some plausible pretext for the desertion, Frag.
103reviled his father publicly as a tyrant and foresworn, and the latter flogged
his son and took measures of defence. Then, according to[Pg 85] arrangement, the
son made his treacherous desertion to the people of Gabii, taking along with him
money and companions. The enemy believed the trick on account of the cruelty of
Tarquin and because at this time the son spoke many words of truth in abusing
his father and by his conduct seemed to have become thoroughly estranged from
him. So they were very glad to receive him, and in his company made many
incursions into Roman territory and did it no slight damage. For this reason and
because he privately furnished some persons with money and spent it lavishly for
public purposes he was chosen prætor by them and was entrusted with the
management of the government among them. At that he secretly sent a man and
acquainted his father with what had occurred, asking him for his intentions with
regard to the future. The king made no answer to the emissary, in order that he
might not, being equally informed, either willingly or unwillingly reveal
something; but leading him into a garden where there were poppies he struck off
with a rod the heads that were prominent and strewed the ground with them;
hereupon he dismissed the message-bearer. The latter, without comprehending the
affair, repeated the king's actions to Sextus, and he understood the sense of
the suggestion. Therefore he destroyed the more eminent men of Gabii, some
secretly by poison, others by robbers (supposedly), and still others he put to
death after judicial trial by contriving against them false accusations of
traitorous dealings with his father.
Thus did Sextus visit sorrow upon the
men of Gabii and destroyed their superior citizens, distributing[Pg 86] their
money among the crowd. Later, when some had already perished and the rest had
been cozened and thoroughly believed in him, assisted by the Roman captives and
the deserters (many of whom he had gathered for his projects), he seized the
city and surrendered it to his father. The king bestowed it upon his son, but
himself made war upon other nations.
VII, 11.—The oracles of the Sibyl to the
Romans he obtained even against his will. A woman whom they called Sibyl, gifted
with divine inspiration, came to Rome bringing Frag. 104three or nine books,
offered these to Tarquin for purchase, and stated the value of the books. As he
paid no attention to her, she burned one or three of the books. When again
Tarquin scorned her, she destroyed part of the rest in a similar way. And she
was about to burn up also those still left when the augurs compelled him to
purchase the few that were intact. He bought these for the price for which he
might have secured them all, and delivered them to two senators to keep. As they
did not entirely understand the contents, they sent to Greece and hired two men
to come from there to read and interpret these things. The dwellers in the
vicinity, desiring to learn what was revealed by the books, Frag. 104managed to
bribe marcus acilius,[6] one of the custodians, and had some statements copied
out. the affair became public and marcus after being thrown into two hides sewn
together was drowned (and beginning with him this punishment has ever since
prevailed in the case of parricides), in order that earth nor water nor sun
might be defiled by his death.
[Pg 87]
The temple on the Tarpeian rock he
constructed according to the vow of his father. And the earth having yawned even
to the substructure of the foundations there appeared the head of a man freshly
slain, still with blood in it. Accordingly the Romans sent to a soothsayer of
Etruria to ask what was signified by the phenomenon. And he, desiring to make
the portent apply to Etruria, made a diagram upon the ground and in it laid out
the plan of Rome and the Tarpeian rock. He intended to ask the envoys: "Is this
Rome? Is this the Rock? Was the head found here?" They would suspect nothing and
agree in their assent, and so the efficacy of the portent would be transferred
to the place where it had been shown in the diagram. This was his design, but
the envoys learned from his son what his device was, and when the question was
put to them, they answered: "The settlement of Rome is not here, but in Latium,
and the hill is in the country of the Romans, and the head was found on that
hill." Thus the design of the soothsayer was thwarted and they learned the whole
truth and reported it to their fellow-citizens, to wit, that they should be very
powerful and rule very many people. So this was another event that imbued them
with hope. Then the hill was renamed by them "Capitolium": for capita in the
Roman speech means "the head."
Needing money for the building of the temple
Tarquin waged war upon the inhabitants of Ardea; but from it he gained no money,
and he was driven out of the kingdom. Signs also came in his way that indicated
his expulsion. Out of his garden vultures[Pg 88] drove the young of eagles, and
in the men's hall, where he was having a banquet with his friends, a huge
serpent appeared and caused him and his companions at table to decamp. In
consequence of this he sent his sons Titus and Aruns to Delphi. But as Apollo
declared that he should not be driven from his domain till a dog should use
human speech, he was elated with hopes for the best, thinking that the oracle
could never be fulfilled.
Frag. 105now lucius junius was a son of tarquin's
sister; his father and brother tarquin had killed. so he, fearing for his own
person, feigned madness, employing this means of safety as a screen for his
life. hence he was dubbed brutus, for this is the name by which the latins are
accustomed to call idiots. while pretending to be mad he was taken along as a
plaything by the children of tarquin, when they journeyed to delphi. and he said
that he was carrying a votive offering to the god; this was a staff, apparently
possessing no point of excellence, so that he became a laughing stock for it all
the more. It furnished a kind of image of the affliction that he feigned. For he
had hollowed it out and had secretly poured in gold, indicating thereby that the
disesteem which he suffered for his madness served to conceal a sound and
estimable intelligence. Frag. 107to the query of the sons of tarquin as to who
should succeed to their father's sovereignty the god replied that the first who
kissed his mother should obtain the power. and brutus, comprehending, fell down
as if accidentally and cov[Pg 89]ered the earth with kisses, rightly deeming her
to be the mother of all.
Frag. 108this brutus overthrew the tarquins, taking
as his justification the case of Lucretia, though these rulers were even without
that hated by all for their tyrannous and violent characteristics. Lucretia was
a daughter of Lucretius Spurius, a man that was a member of the senate, and she
was wife of the distinguished Tarquinius Collatinus and was renowned, as it
chanced, for her beauty and chastity. Frag. 108sextus, the son of tarquin, set
his heart upon outraging her, not so much because he was inspired with passion
by her beauty as because he chose to plot against her chaste reputation. so,
having watched for collatinus to be away from home, he came by night to her and
lodged at her house, since she was the wife of a relative. and first he tried by
persuasion to secure illicit pleasure from her and then he resorted to violence.
as he could not succeed, he threatened to cut her throat. but inasmuch as she
despised death, he threatened furthermore to lay a slave beside her and to kill
them both and to spread the report that he had found them sleeping together and
killed them. this rendered lucretia distraught, and in fear that this might be
believed to have so happened she surrendered. and after the act of adultery she
placed a dagger beneath the pillow and sent for her husband and her father. when
they came, accompanied by brutus and publius valerius, she shed many tears and
with moans related the entire transaction. then she added: "and i will treat my
case as be[Pg 90]comes me, but do you, if you are men, avenge me, yourselves,
and show the tyrants what manner of creatures you are and what manner of woman
they have outraged." having spoken to this effect she immediately drew the
dagger from its hiding place and killed herself.
[Pg 91]
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BOOK 4
BOISSEVAIN.
VII, 13.—The Sabines, however, because of wrath at their
treatment, did not keep quiet even through the winter, but overran Roman
territory and damaged the forces of Postumius when he was for the second time
consul. And they would absolutely have captured him, had not Menenius Agrippa,
his colleague, come to his aid. And assaulting them they killed a number, with
the result that the rest withdrew. After this Spurius Cassius and Opiter
Verginius as consuls made peace with the Sabines. And capturing the city of
Camerium they executed most of the inhabitants; the remnant they took alive and
sold, and razed the city to the ground.
Postumius Cominius and Titus Larcius
arrested and put to death some slaves who were hatching a conspiracy to seize
the Capitoline. Servius Sulpicius and Marcus Tullius in their turn anticipated a
second conspiracy composed of slaves and some others that had joined them, for
it was reported to the consuls by certain men privy to the plot. They surrounded
and overpowered the conspirators and cut them down. To the informers citizenship
and other rewards were given.
When a new war was stirred up on the part of
the Latins against Rome, the people, demanding that a cancellation of debts be
authorized, refused to take up arms. Therefore the nobles then for the first
time established a new office to have jurisdiction over both[Pg 92] classes.
Dictator was the name given to the person entitled to the position, and he
possessed all powers as much as had the kings. People hated the name of king on
account of the Tarquins, but being anxious for the benefit to be derived from
sole leadership (which seemed to exert a potent influence amid conditions of war
and revolution), they chose it under another name. Hence the dictatorship was,
as has been said, so far as its authority went, equivalent to kingship, except
that the dictator might not ride on horseback unless he were about to start on a
campaign, and was not permitted to make any expenditure from the public funds
unless the right were specially voted. He might try men and put them to death at
home and on campaigns, and not merely such as belonged to the populace, but also
members of the knights and of the senate itself. No one had the power to make
any complaint against him nor to take any action hostile to him,—no, not even
the tribunes,—and no case could be appealed from him. The office of dictator
extended for a period of not more than six months, to the end that no such
official by spending much time in the midst of so much power and unhampered
authority should become haughty and plunge headlong into a passion for sole
leadership. This was what happened later to Julius Cæsar, when contrary to
lawful precedent he had been approved for the dictatorship.
VII, 14.—At this
time, consequently, when Larcius became dictator, the populace made no uprising
but presented themselves under arms. When, however, the Latins came to terms and
were now in a quiescent state,[Pg 93] the lenders proceeded to treat the debtors
more harshly and the populace for this reason again rebelled and even came
running in a throng into the senate. And all the senators would there have
perished at the hands of the inrushing mob, had not some persons at this
juncture reported that the Volsci had invaded the country. In the face of such
news the populace became calm, not regarding this action, however, in the light
of clemency to the senate, for they felt sure that that body would almost
immediately be destroyed by the enemy. Hence they did not take the trouble to
man the walls nor render any assistance until Servilius released the prisoners
held for default of payments and decreed a suspension of taxes for as long as
the campaign lasted and promised to reduce the debts. Then in consequence of
these concessions they proceeded against the enemy and won the day. Inasmuch,
however, as they were not relieved of their debts and in general could obtain no
decent treatment, they again raised a clamor and grew full of wrath and made an
uprising against both the senate and the prætors.
But at the approach of
another war the prætors decreed a cancellation of debts: others opposed this
measure: and so Marcus Valerius was named dictator. He was of the kindred of
Poplicola and was beloved by the people. Then, indeed, so many gathered,
animated with such zeal (for he had promised them prizes, too), that they
overran not only the Sabines, but the Volsci and Æqui who were allied with them.
As a sequel, the populace voted many honors to Valerius, one of which[Pg 94] was
their bestowal of the title Maximus. This name, translated into Greek, signifies
"greatest." And he, wishing to do the populace some favors, made many addresses
to the senate but could not get it to follow his guidance. Consequently he
rushed out of the senatorial assembly in a rage, and after making to the
populace a long speech against the senate resigned his command. Frag. 164and the
populace was all the more provoked to revolt. as for the money-lenders, by
insisting in the case of debts upon the very letter of the agreement and
refusing to make any concession to those who owed them they both failed to
secure the exact amount and were disappointed in many other hopes. for poverty
and the resulting desperation is a heavy curse, and is, if it spreads among a
large number of people, very difficult to combat. now the cause of most of the
troubles that befell the romans lay in the unyielding attitude adopted at this
time by the more powerful toward their inferiors. For as the military contingent
came to be hard pressed by dint of campaigns and was baffled out and out in
frequent hopes frequently entertained, and the debtors were repeatedly abused
and maltreated by the money-lenders, the people became inflamed to such a pitch
of fury that many of the destitute abandoned the city, withdrew from the camp,
Frag. 165and like enemies gathered their subsistence from the country.
when
this situation had been brought about, since numbers came flocking to the side
of the revolutionists, the senators, dreading that the latter might become more
estranged and the neighboring tribes[Pg 95] join their rebellion for purposes of
attack, made propositions to them in which they promised everything that the
senate was empowered to do for them. but when they displayed the utmost audacity
and would accept no offer, one of the envoys, agrippa menenius, begged them to
hearken to a fable. having obtained their consent he spoke as follows. once all
the members of the body began a contention against the belly. and the eyes said:
"we give the hands the power to work and the feet the power to go." and the
tongue and the lips: "through us the counsels of the heart are made known." and
then the ears: "through us the words of others are despatched to the mind." and
the hands: "we are the workers and lay up stores of wealth." and finally the
feet: "we tire ourselves out carrying the whole body in journeys and while
working and while standing." and all in a chorus: "while we labor so, thou
alone, free from contribution and labor, like a mistress art served by us all
and the fruit of all our labors thou thyself alone dost enjoy." the belly
herself admitted that this was so, and said she: "if you like, leave me
unsupplied and make me no presents." this proposition suited, and the members
voted never more to supply the belly by their common effort. when no food was
presented to her, the hands were not nimble to work, being relaxed on account of
the failure of the belly, nor were the feet possessed of strength, nor did any
other of the limbs show its normal activity uninjured, but all were inefficient,
slow, or completely motionless. and then they comprehended that the[Pg 96]
presents made to the belly had been supplied not more to her than to themselves
and that each one of them incidentally enjoys the benefit conferred upon
her.
Frag. 165through these words the populace was made to comprehend that
the abundance of the prosperous tends also to the advantage of the poor, and
that even though the former be advantaged by their loans and so increase their
abundance, the outcome of this is not hurtful to the interests of the many;
since, if it were not for the wealthy owning property, the poor would not have
in times of need persons to lend to them and would perish under the pressure of
want. accordingly they became milder and reached an agreement, the senate for
its part voting a reduction in their debts and a release from seizure of
property.
VII, 15.—They feared, however, that when their society had been
disbanded they might either find the agreements not effectual or might Frag. 166
be harmed on account of their separation, one being punished on one pretext,
another on another, in constant succession. So they formed a compact to lend aid
to one another in case any one of them should be wronged in any particular; and
they took oaths to this effect and forthwith elected two representatives from
their own number (and afterward still more) in order that by such a partnership
arrangement they might have assistants and avengers. And this they did not only
once, but the idea now conceived in this form kept growing, and they appointed
their representatives for a year, as to some office. The men were called in the
tongue of the[Pg 97] Latins tribunes (the commanders of thousands are also so
named) but are styled dêmarchoi in the Greek language. In order that the titles
of the tribuni might be kept distinct they added to the name of the one class
the phrase "of the soldiers" and to that of the other class the phrase "of the
people." These tribunes of the people, then, or dêmarchoi became responsible for
great evils that befell Rome. For though they did not immediately secure the
title of magistrates, they gained power beyond all the rest, defending every one
that begged protection and rescuing every one that called upon them not only
from private persons, but from the very magistrates, except the dictators. If
any one ever invoked them when absent, he, too, was released from the person
holding him prisoner and was either brought before the populace by them or was
set free. And if ever they saw fit that anything should not be done, they
prevented it, whether the person acting were a private citizen or an official:
and if the people or the senate were about to do or vote anything and a single
tribune opposed it, the action or the vote became null and void. As time went
on, they were allowed or allowed themselves to summon the senate, to punish
whoever disobeyed them, to practice divination, and to hold court. And in case
they were refused permission to do anything, they gained their point by their
incontestable opposition to every project undertaken by others. For they
introduced laws to the effect that whoever should obstruct them by deed or word,
be he private citizen or magistrate, should be[Pg 98] "hallowed" and incur
pollution. This being "hallowed" meant destruction; for this was the name
applied to everything (as, for instance, a victim) that was consecrated for
slaughter. The tribunes themselves were termed by the multitude "sacrosanct",
since they obtained sacred enclosures for the shelter of such as invoked them.
For sacra among the Romans means "walls", and sancta "sacred". Many of their
actions were unwarrantable, for they threw even consuls into prison and put men
to death without granting them a hearing. Nobody ventured to oppose them; or, in
case any one did, he became himself "hallowed." If, however, persons were
condemned not by all the tribunes, they would call to their help those who had
not concurred in the verdict, and so they went duly through the forms of court
procedure before the tribunes themselves or before some arbiters or before the
populace, and became the possession of the side that won. In the course of time
the number of the tribunes was fixed at ten, Frag. 167and as a result of this
most of their power was overthrown. for as though by nature (but really, of
course, by reason of jealousy) fellow officials invariably quarrel; and it is
difficult for a number of men, especially in a position of influence, to attain
harmony. No sooner did outsiders, planning to wreck their influence, raise
factional issues to the end that dissension might make them weaker, than the
tribunes actually attached themselves some to one party, some to another. Frag.
167if even one of them opposed a measure, he rendered the decisions of the rest
null and void.[Pg 99]
Now at first they did not enter the senate-house, but
sitting at the entrance watched proceedings, and in case aught failed to please
them, they would show resistance. Next they were invited inside. Later, however,
the ex-tribunes were numbered with the senators, and finally some of the
senators actually were permitted to be tribunes, unless a man chanced to be a
patrician. Patricians the people would not accept: having chosen the tribunes to
defend them against the patricians, and having advanced them to so great power,
they dreaded lest one of them might turn his strength to contrary purposes and
use it against them. But if a man abjured the rank given him by birth and
changed his social standing to that of a common citizen, they received him
gladly. Many of the patricians whose position was unquestioned renounced their
nobility through desire for the immense influence possible, and so became
tribunes.
Such was the growth of the domination of the tribunes. In addition
to them the people chose two ædiles, to be their assistants in the matter of
documents. They took charge of everything that was submitted in writing to the
plebs, to the populace, and to the senate, and kept it, so that nothing that was
done escaped their notice. This and the trying of cases were the objects for
which they were chosen anciently, but later they were charged with the
supervision of buying and selling, whence they came to be called agoranomoi
("clerks of the market") by those who put their name into Greek.[Pg
100]
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BOOK 5
BOISSEVAIN
VII, 16.—The first revolution of the Romans,
then, terminated as described. Many of the neighboring tribes had found in the
revolution a hostile incentive, and the Romans with a unified purpose after
their reconciliation conducted vigorously the wars which the latter waged, and
conquered in all of them. It was at this time that in the siege of Corioli they
came within an ace of being driven from their camp, but a patrician, Gnæus
Marcius, showed his prowess and repelled the assailants. For this he received
various tokens of renown and was given the title of Coriolanus from the people
which he had routed. Frag. 172for the time he was thus exalted but not long
afterward he was anxious to be made prætor and failed, and therefore grew vexed
at the populace and evinced displeasure toward the tribunes. hence the tribunes
(whose functions he was especially eager to abolish) heaped up accusations
against him and fixed upon him a charge of aiming at tyranny and expelled him
from rome. having been expelled he forthwith betook himself to the volsci. The
latter's leaders and those in authority over them were delighted at his arrival
and again made ready for war; Attius Tullius urged this course upon them all,
but the people showed lack of enthusiasm. So when the nobles neither by advice
nor by intimidation could prevail upon them to take up arms, they concocted the
following scheme. The Romans were[Pg 101] conducting a horse-race, and the
Volsci among other neighboring peoples had gathered in a large body to behold
the spectacle. Tullius, as a pretended friend of the Romans, persuaded the Roman
prætors that they should keep watch on the Volsci, since the latter had made
ready to attack them unexpectedly in the midst of the horse-race. The prætors,
after communicating the information to the others, made proclamation at once,
before the contest, that all the Volsci must retire. The Volsci, indignant
because they alone of all the spectators had been expelled, put themselves in
readiness for battle. Setting at their head Coriolanus and Tullius, and with
numbers swollen by the accession of the Latins, they advanced against Rome. The
Romans, when informed of it, instead of making a vigorous use of arms fell into
mutual recriminations, the popular party censuring the patricians because
Coriolanus, who was campaigning against his country, happened to belong to their
number, and the other party the populace because they had been unjust in
expelling him and making him an enemy. Because of this contention they would
have incurred some great injury, had not the women come to their aid. For when
the senate voted restoration to Coriolanus and envoys had been despatched to him
to this end, he demanded that the land of which the Volsci had been deprived in
the previous wars be given back to them. But the people would not relinquish the
land. Consequence: a second embassy. Frag. 178and he was exceedingly angry that
they, who were in danger of losing their own country, would not[Pg 102] even
under these conditions withdraw from the possessions of others. when this
situation was reported to the disputants, they still refused to budge, nor did
the dangers cause the men, at least, to desist from quarreling. but the women,
volumnia the wife of coriolanus and veturia[7] his mother, gathering a company
of the remaining most eminent ladies visited him in camp and took his children
along with them. while the rest wept without speaking veturia began: "we are not
deserters, my son, but the country has sent us to you to be, if you should
yield, your mother, wife and children, but otherwise your spoil. and if even now
you still are angry, kill us the first. be reconciled and hold no longer your
anger against your citizens, friends, temples, tombs; do not take by storm your
native land in which you were born, were reared, and became coriolanus, bearer
of this great name. send me not hence without result, unless you would behold me
dead by my own hand." thereupon she sighed aloud and showed her breasts and
touched her abdomen, exclaiming: "this brought you forth, my child, these reared
you up." she, then, said this, and his wife and children and the rest of the
women joined in the lament, so that he too was moved to grief. recovering
himself with difficulty he enfolded his mother in his arms and at the same time
kissing her replied: "see, mother, i yield to you. yours is the victory, and to
you let all ascribe this favor. for i cannot endure even to see them, who after
receiving such great benefits at my[Pg 103] hands have given me such a
recompense, nor will i enter the city. do you keep the country instead of me,
because you have so wished it, and i will depart." having spoken thus he
withdrew. and he did not accept the restoration, but retired among the volsci
and there at an advanced age departed this life.
VII, 17.—Now the tribunes
demanded that some land acquired by the Romans from the enemy be apportioned
among the people, and as a result of their action much damage was incurred by
the citizens both from the enemy and from one another. Frag. 191for the nobles
being unable to restrain them in any other way stirred up purposely wars after
wars, in order that being busied therewith they might not disturb themselves
about the land. But after a time some persons began to suspect what was going
on, and would not permit both of the consuls (or prætors) to be appointed by the
nobles, but themselves desired to choose one of them from the patricians. Upon
effecting this they selected Spurius Furius, and campaigning with him
accomplished with enthusiasm all objects for which they had set out. But those
who took the field with his colleague, Fabius Cæso, not only displayed no
energy, but abandoned their camp, came to the city, and raised a tumult until
the Etruscans, learning of the affair, assailed them. Even then, moreover, they
did not leave the city until some of the tribunes came to an agreement with the
nobles. Still, they fought vigorously and destroyed many of the enemy, and not a
few of their own number also were killed. One of the consuls like[Pg 104]wise
fell,—Manlius[8]: the populace chose Manlius[9] prætor for the third
time.
Again was a war waged against them by the Etruscans. And when the
Romans were in dejection and at a loss to know how they should withstand the
enemy, the Fabii came to their help. Frag. 201they, three hundred and six in
number, when they saw that the romans were dejected, were not following
profitable counsels, and were on all points in desperation, took upon themselves
the burden of the war against the Etruscans, exhibiting readiness to carry on
the conflict by themselves with their persons and with their wealth. They
occupied and fortified an advantageous position from which as a base they
harried the entire hostile domain, since the Etruscans would not venture to
engage in combat with them, or, if they ever did join issue, were decisively
defeated. But, upon the accession of allies, the Etruscans laid an ambuscade in
a wooded spot: the Fabii, being masters of the whole field, assailed them
without precaution, Frag. 202fell into the snare, were surrounded and all
massacred. And their race would have entirely disappeared, had not one of them
because of his youth been left at home, in whose descendants the family later
attained renewed renown.
After the Fabii had been destroyed as related the
Romans received rough treatment at the hands of the Etruscans. Subsequently they
concluded a peace with the enemy, but turning against one another committed[Pg
105] many deeds of outrage, the populace not even refraining from attack upon
the prætors. They beat their assistants and shattered their fasces and made the
prætors themselves submit to investigation on every pretext, great and small.
They actually planned to throw Appius Claudius into prison in the very midst of
his term of office, inasmuch as he persistently opposed them at every point and
had decimated the partners of his campaign after their giving way before the
Volsci in battle. Now decimation was the following sort of process. When the
soldiers had committed any grave offence the leader told them off in groups of
ten and taking one man of each ten (who had drawn the lot) he would punish him
by death. At Claudius's retirement from office the popular party straightway
brought him to trial; and though they failed to condemn him, they forced him, by
postponing their vote, to commit suicide. And among the measures introduced by
some of the tribunes to the prejudice of the patrician interests was one
permitting the populace to convene separately, and without interference from the
patricians to deliberate upon and transact as much business as they pleased.
They also ordained that, if any one for any cause should have a penalty imposed
upon him by the prætors, the populace might thereupon have the case appealed to
them and decide it. And they increased the number of ædiles and of tribunes, in
order to have a large body of persons to act as their representatives.
Frag.
211during the progress of these events the patricians openly took scarcely any
retaliatory measures, except in a few cases, but secretly slaughtered a[Pg 106]
number of the boldest spirits. neither this, however, nor the fact that on one
occasion nine tribunes were delivered to the flames by the populace seemed to
restrain the rest. not only were those who subsequently held the tribuneship not
calmed, but actually they were the rather emboldened. Frag. 212this was the
condition into which the patricians brought the populace. and they would not
obey the summons to go on a campaign, though the foe assailed, unless they
secured the objects for which they were striving, and if they ever did take the
field, they fought listlessly, unless they had accomplished all that they
desired. hence many of the tribes living close to them, relying on either the
dissension of their foes or their own strength, raised the standard of revolt.
Frag. 221among these were also the æqui, who, after conquering at this time
marcus minucius while he served as prætor, became presumptuous. Frag. 222those
at rome, learning that minucius had been defeated, chose as dictator lucius
quinctius, who was a poor man and had devoted his life to farming, but was
distinguished for his valor and wise moderation; and he let his hair grow in
curls, whence he was named cincinnatus.[10] He, being selected as dictator, took
the field that very day, used wariness as well as speed, and simultaneously with
Minucius attacked the Æqui, killing very many of them and capturing the rest
alive: the latter he led under the yoke and then released. This matter of the
yoke I shall briefly describe. The Romans used to fix in the ground two poles
(upright wooden beams, of course, with a space between them)[Pg 107] and across
them they would lay another transverse beam; through the frame thus formed they
led the captives naked. This conferred great distinction upon the side that
conducted the operation but vast dishonor upon the side that endured it, so that
some preferred to die rather than submit to any such treatment. Cincinnatus also
captured a city of theirs called Corvinum[11] and returned: he removed Minucius
from his prætorship because of his defeat, and himself resigned his
office.
VII, 18.—The Romans, however, now got another war on their hands at
home, in which their adversaries were composed of slaves and some exiles who
moved unexpectedly by night and secured possession of the Capitol. This time,
too, the multitude did not arm themselves for the fray till they had wrung some
further concessions from the patricians. Then they assailed the revolutionists
and overcame them, but lost many of their own men.
For these reasons,
accordingly, and because of certain portents the Romans became sobered and
dismissed their mutual grievances and voted to establish the rights of
citizenship on a fairer basis. And they sent three men to Greece with an eye to
the laws and the customs of the people there. Upon the return of the commission
they abolished all the political offices, including that of the tribunes, and
chose instead eight of the foremost men, and B.C. 451
(a.u. 303)designated
Appius Claudius and Titus Genucius prætors with dictatorial powers for that one
year. They empowered them to compile laws and further voted that no case could
be appealed[Pg 108] from them,—a latitude granted previously to none of the
magistrates save the dictators. These men held sway each for a day, assuming by
turns the dignity of rulership. They compiled laws and exposed the same to view
in the Forum. These statutes being found pleasing to all were put before the
people, and after receiving their ratification were inscribed on ten tablets;
for all records that were deemed worthy of safekeeping used to be preserved on
tablets.
B.C. 450
(a.u. 304)The above mentioned magistrates at the
expiration of the year surrendered their office, but ten more chosen anew (for
the overthrow of the State, as it almost seemed) came to grief. They all held
sway at once on equal terms and chose from among the patricians some most brazen
youths, through whom, as their agents, they committed many acts of violence. At
last, toward the end of the year, they compiled a few additional statutes
written upon two tablets, all of which were the product of their own individual
judgment. From these not harmony, but greater disputes, were destined to fall to
the lot of the Romans.
The so-called twelve tablets were thus created at that
time. But besides doing this the lawgivers in question, when their year of
office had expired, still maintained control of affairs, occupying the city by
force; and they would not convene the senate nor the people, lest, if they came
together, they should depose them. And when the Æqui and the Sabines now stirred
up war against the Romans, these officials by arrangement with their adherents
gained their object of hav[Pg 109]ing the conduct of the wars entrusted to them.
Of the decemvirate Servius Oppius and Appius Claudius remained at home: the
other eight set out against the enemy.
Absolutely all Frag. 223the interests,
however, of state and camp alike were thrown into confusion, and hence
contention again arose. The leaders of the force had invaded the land of the
Sabines and sent a certain Lucius Sicius, who was accounted a strong tower in
warfare and likewise one of the most prominent representatives of the populace,
with companions, avowedly to seize a certain position; but they had the man
slain by the party that had been sent out with him. The report was brought into
camp that the man with others had been killed by the foe, and the soldiers went
out to gather up the dead bodies. They found not one corpse belonging to the
enemy but many of their own race, whom Sicius had killed in his own defence when
they attacked him. And when they saw that the dead were lying all around him and
had their faces turned toward him, they suspected what had been done and
furthermore raised a tumult.—There was still another incident that had a bearing
on the situation.
Lucius Virginius, a man of the people, had a daughter of
surpassing beauty whom he intended to bestow in marriage upon Lucius
Icilius,[12] a person of similar rank in society. For this maiden Claudius
conceived a passion, and not otherwise able to attain[Pg 110] his ends he
arranged with certain men to declare her a slave: he was to be the arbiter. The
father of the girl accordingly came from the camp and pled his case. When
Claudius had given sentence against her and the girl was delivered to those who
had declared her a slave and no one came to the rescue, her father wild with
grief took a cleaver and ended his daughter's life and, just as he was, rushed
out to the soldiers. They, who had been previously far from tractable, were so
wrought up that they straightway set out in haste against the city to find
Claudius. And the rest, who had gone on a campaign against the Sabines, when
they learned this abandoned their intrenchments, and, joining with the rest, set
at their head twenty men, determined to accomplish something of importance. The
remainder of the multitude in the city likewise espoused their cause and added
to the tumult.
Meanwhile Claudius in terror had hidden himself and Oppius
convened the senate; and sending to the populace he enquired what they wanted.
They demanded that Lucius Valerius and Marcus Horatius, two of the senators who
favored their cause, be sent to them, saying that through these men they would
make their reply. Owing to the fear of the ten magistrates (for they were now
all on the scene) that the people would employ the two as leaders against them
they were not sent, whereupon the populace grew still more angry. As a
consequence the senators were inspired with no slight fear and against the will
of the magistrates they sent Valerius and Horatius to the people.[Pg 111] By
this means a reconciliation was effected: the rioters were granted immunity for
their acts, and the decemvirate was abolished; the annual magistracies,
including that of tribunes, were restored with the same privileges as they had
formerly enjoyed. Virginius was one of the magistrates appointed; and they cast
into prison Oppius and Claudius (who committed suicide before their cases were
investigated), and indicted, convicted, and banished the remainder of the
board.
B.C. 449
(a.u. 305)VII, 19.—Now the consuls—it is said that this is
the first time they were known as consuls, being previously called prætors; and
they were Valerius and Horatius—both then and thereafter showed favor to the
populace and strengthened their cause rather than that of the patricians. The
patricians, though subdued, would not readily convene and did not put matters
entirely in the power of the lower class, but granted the tribunes the right of
practicing augury in their assemblies: nominally this was an honor and dignity
for them, since from very ancient times this privilege had been accorded the
patricians alone, but really it was a hindrance. The nobles intended that the
tribunes and the populace should not accomplish easily everything they pleased,
but should sometimes be prevented under this plea of augury. The patricians as
well as the senate were displeased at the consuls, whom they regarded as
favorable to the popular cause, and so did not vote a triumph to them—though
each had won a war—and did not assign to each a day as had been the custom. The
populace, however, both held a festival for two days and voted triumphal honors
to the consuls.
******************************
(BOOK 6, BOISSEVAIN.)
B.C. 448
(a.u.
306)When the Romans thus fell into discord their adversaries took courage and
came against them. It was in the following year, when Marcus Genucius and Gaius
Curtius were consuls, that they turned against each other. The popular leaders
desired to be consuls, since the patricians were in the habit of becoming
tribunes by transference to their order, and the patricians clung tenaciously to
the consular office. They indulged in many words and acts of violence against
each other. But in order to prevent the populace from proceeding to greater
extremities the nobles yielded to them the substance of authority though they
would not relinquish the name; and in place of the consuls they named military
tribunes in order that the honor of the title might not be sullied by contact
with the vulgar throng. It was agreed that three military tribunes be chosen
from each of the classes in place of the two consuls. However, the name of
consul was not lost entirely, but sometimes consuls were appointed and at other
times military tribunes. This, at all events, is the tradition that has come
down of what took place, with the additional detail that the consuls nominated
dictators, though their own powers were far inferior to those appertaining to
that office, and even that the military tribunes likewise did so sometimes. It
is further said that none of the military tribunes, though many of them won many
victories, ever celebrated a triumph.
[Pg 113]
B.C. 447
(a.u. 307)It
was in this way, then, that military tribunes came to be chosen at that time:
censors were appointed in the following year, during the consulship of Barbatus
and Marcus Macrinus. Those chosen were Lucius Papirius and Lucius Sempronius.
The reason for their election was that the consuls were unable, on account of
the number of the people, to supervise them all; the duties now assigned to the
censors had until that time been performed by the consuls as a part of their
prerogatives. Two was the original number of the censors and they were taken
from the patricians. They held office at first and at the last for five-year
periods, but during the intervening time for three half-years; and they came to
be greater than the consuls, though they had taken over only a part of their
functions. They had the right to let the public revenues, to supervise roads and
public buildings, to make complete records of each man's wealth, and to note and
investigate the lives of the citizens, enrolling those deserving of praise in
the tribes, in the equestrian order, or in the senate (as seemed to fit the case
of each one), and similarly erasing from any class the names of those who were
not right livers: this power was greater than all those now left to the consuls.
They made declarations attested by oath, in regard to every one of their acts,
that no such act was prompted by favor or by enmity but that their
considerations and performances were both the result of an unbiased opinion of
what was advantageous for the commonwealth. They convened the people when laws
were to be introduced and for other purposes, and employed all the insignia of
the greater offices save lictors. Such, at its inception, was
[Pg 114] the
office of the censors. If any persons did not register their property and
themselves in the census lists, the censors sold the property and the consuls
the men. This arrangement held for a certain time, but later it was determined
that a man once enrolled in the senate should be a senator for life and that his
name should not be erased, unless one had been disgraced by being tried for the
commission of a crime or was convicted of leading an evil life: the names of
such persons were erased and others inscribed in their stead.
In the case of
those who gave satisfaction in office principal honors were bestowed upon
dictators, honors of the second rank upon censors, and third place was awarded
to masters of horse. This system was followed without distinction, whether they
were still in office or whether they had already laid it down. For if one
descended from a greater office to an inferior one, he still kept the dignity of
his former position intact. One particular man, whom they styled principa of the
senate (he would be called prokritos by the Greeks) was preferred before all for
the time that he was president (a person was not chosen for this position for
life) and surpassed the rest in dignity, without wielding, however, any
power.
VII, 20.—For a time they maintained peace with each other and with the
adjacent tribes, but then a famine mastered them, so severe that some not able
to endure the pangs of hunger threw themselves into the river, and they fell to
quarreling. The one class blamed the prosperous as being at fault in the
handling of the grain, and the other class blamed the poorer men for
unwillingness to till the soil. B.C. 439
(a.u. 315)Spurius Mælius, a[Pg 115]
wealthy knight, seeing this attempted to set up a tyranny, and buying corn from
the neighboring region he lowered the price of it for many and gave it free to
many others. In this way he won the friendship of a great many and procured arms
and guardsmen. And he would have gained control of the city, had not Minucius
Augurinus, a patrician, appointed to have charge of the grain distribution and
censured for the lack of grain, reported the proceeding to the senate. The
senate on receiving the information nominated at once and at that very meeting
Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus, though past his prime (he was eighty years old),
to be dictator. They spent the whole day sitting there, as if engaged in some
discussion, to prevent news of their action from traveling abroad. By night the
dictator had the knights occupy in advance the Capitol and the remaining points
of vantage, and at dawn he sent to Mælius Gaius Servilius, master of the horse,
to summon him pretendedly on some other errand. But as Mælius had some
suspicions and delayed, Servilius fearing that he might be rescued by the
populace—for they were already running together—killed the man either on his own
responsibility or because ordered to do so by the dictator. At this the populace
broke into a riot, but Quinctius harangued them and by providing them with grain
and refraining from punishing or accusing any one else he stopped the
riot.
Wars with various nations now assailed the Romans, in some of which
they were victorious within a few days; but with the Etruscans they waged a long
continued contest. Postumius conquered the Æqui and had captured a large city of
theirs, but the soldiers[Pg 116] neither had had it turned over to them for
pillage nor were awarded a share of the plunder when they requested it.
Therefore they surrounded and slew the quæstor who was disposing of it, and when
Postumius reprimanded them for this and strove to find the assassins, they
killed him also. And they assigned to their own use not only the captive
territory but all that at the time happened to be found in the public treasury.
The uprising would have assumed even greater dimensions but for the fact that
war against the Romans was renewed by the Æqui. Alarmed by this situation they
became quiet, endured the punishment for the murders, which touched only a few,
and took the field against their opponents, whom they engaged and conquered. For
this achievement the nobles distributed the plunder among them, and voted pay
first to the infantry and later also to the cavalry. Up to that time they were
used to undertaking campaigns without pay and lived at their own expense; now
for the first time they began to draw pay.
B.C. 408
(a.u. 346)A war
arising between them and Veii, the Romans won frequent victories and reduced the
foe to a state of siege as long as the latter fought with merely their own
contingent: but when allies had been added to their force they came out against
the Romans and defeated them. Meanwhile the lake situated close to the Alban
Mount, which was shut in by the surrounding ridges and had no outlet, overflowed
its banks during the siege of Veii to such an extent that it actually poured
over the crests of the hills and went rushing[Pg 117] down to the sea. The
Romans deeming that something supernatural was certainly signified by this event
sent to Delphi to consult the oracle about the matter. There was also among the
population of Veii an Etruscan who was a soothsayer. The Pythian interpretation
coincided with his; and both declared that the city would be captured when the
overflowing water should not fall into the sea but be used up differently. The
Romans consequently ordered several religious services to be performed. But the
Pythian god did not specify to which of the divinities nor in what way they
should offer these, and the Etruscan appeared to have the knowledge but would
explain nothing. So the Romans who were stationed about the wall from which he
was wont to issue to consort with them pretended friendliness toward him,
permitted him to make himself at ease in every way, and allowed him to come to
visit them without interference. Thus they succeeded in seizing him and forced
him to give all the requisite information. According to the indications he
furnished they offered sacrifices, tunneled the hill, and conducted the
superfluous water by a secret canal into the plain, so that all of it was used
up there and none ran down into the sea.
[Pg 118]
***********************
BOOK 7
BOISSEVAIN.
VII, 24.—A certain Marcus Fabius, a patrician, who chanced to be
the father of two daughters, betrothed the elder to a Licinius Stolo, much
inferior to him in rank, and married the younger to Sulpicius Rufus, who
belonged to his own class. Frag. 271now while rufus was military tribune, once
when he was in the forum his wife had a visit from her sister. at the arrival of
the husband the lictor, according to some ancient custom, knocked at the door.
the clatter startled the woman, who was not familiar with this procedure:
thereupon both her sister and the others present burst out laughing and she was
made fun of as a simpleton. she took the matter as a serious affront and roused
her husband to canvass for office. Stolo, accordingly, incited by his wife,
confided his intentions to Lucius Sextius, one of his peers, and both forced
their way into the tribuneship; they thus overturned the good order of the State
to such an extent that for four years the people had no rulers, since these men
repeatedly obstructed the patrician elections. This state of affairs would have
continued for a still longer time, had not news been brought that the Celtæ were
again marching upon Rome.
VII, 25.—It is related that after this a disaster
befell Rome. The level land between the Palatine and the Capitoline is said to
have become suddenly a yawning gulf, without any preceding earthquake or other
phenomenon such as usually takes place in nature on the occasion of such
developments. For a long time the[Pg 119] chasm remained in statu quo, and
neither closed up in the slightest degree nor was to be filled, albeit the
Romans brought and cast into it masses of earth and stones and all sorts of
other material. In the midst of the Romans' uncertainty an oracle was given them
to the effect that the aperture could in no way be closed except they should
throw into the chasm their best possession and that which was the chief source
of their strength: then the thing would cease, and the city should command power
inextinguishable. Still the uncertainty remained unresolved, for the oracle was
obscure. But Marcus Curtius, a patrician, young in years, of a remarkably
beautiful appearance, powerful physique, and courageous spirit, conspicuous also
for intelligence, comprehended the meaning of the oracle. He came forward before
them all and addressed them, saying: "Why, Romans, convict the revelation of
obscurity or ourselves of ignorance? We are the thing sought and debated. For
nothing lifeless may be counted better than what has life, nor shall that which
has comprehension and prudence and the adornment of speech fail of preference
before what is uncomprehending, speechless and senseless. What should any one
deem superior to Man to be cast into the earth-fissure, that therewith we might
contract it? Frag. 282there is no mortal creature either better or stronger than
man. for, if one may speak somewhat boldly, man is naught else than a god with
mortal body, and a god naught else than a man without body and therefore
immortal, and we are not far sundered from divine Power. This, to my mind, is
the matter and I urge you also to adhere to this view. May no one think that
I[Pg 120] shall have recourse to the lot or bid maiden or lad lose a life. I
myself willingly bestow myself upon you, that you may send me this very day as
herald and envoy to the cthonian gods, to be your representative and helper
forever." At the close of these words Curtius proceeded to put on his armor and
then mounted his horse. The rest grew mad with grief and mad with joy; they came
flocking with adornments, and some adorned the man himself with them as a hero,
and others threw some of them into the chasm. Scarcely had Curtius sprung into
it fully mounted, when the earth-fissure was closed and no one ever again beheld
either the chasm or Curtius. This is the way the story is related by the Romans.
Should any person judge it fabulous and not to be credited, he has the right to
pay no attention to it.
And again wars were waged against the Romans both by
Gauls and by other nations, but they repelled all invaders, voting now for
consuls, now for dictators. Whereupon somewhat of the following nature took
place. Lucius Camillus was named dictator, as the Gauls were overrunning the
environs of Rome. He proceeded against the barbarians with the intention of
using up time and not risking the issue in conflict with men animated by
desperation: he expected to exhaust them more easily and securely by the failure
of provisions. And a Gaul challenged the Romans to furnish a champion for a
duel. His opponent, accordingly, was Marcus Valerius, a military tribune, a
grandson of the famous Maximus. The course of the battle was brilliant on both
sides: the Roman excelled in cleverness and an unusual mastery of his art, and
the Gaul in[Pg 121] strength and daring. It was regarded as still more marvelous
that a crow lighted on the helmet of Valerius and cawing all the time made
dashes at the barbarian, confusing his sight and impeding his onset until he
finally received a finishing blow. The Gauls, consequently, indignant at being
beaten by a bird, in a rage closed at once with the Romans and suffered a severe
defeat. From the incident of the crow's assistance Valerius obtained the further
name of Corvinus.
Thereafter, as the armies began to grow insubordinate and a
civil war threatened to break out, the insurgents were brought to terms by the
enactment of laws that no one's name should be erased from the lists against his
will, that any person who had served as tribune of the soldiers should not be
centurion, that both of the consuls might belong to and be appointed from the
people, and that the same man should not hold two offices at the same time nor
hold the same office twice within ten years.
VII, 26.—Now the Latins,
although under treaty with the Romans, revolted and provoked a conflict. They
were filled with pride for the reason that they had an abundance of youthful
warriors and were practiced in the details of warfare as a result of the
constant campaigning with the Romans. The other side, understanding the
situation, chose Torquatus consul for the third time and likewise Decius, and
came out to meet them. They fought a fierce battle, each party thinking that
that day was a precise test of their fortune and of their valor. A certain event
seemed to give the battle added distinction. The consuls, seeing that[Pg 122]
the Latins were equipped and spoke like the Romans, feared that some of the
soldiers might make mistakes through not distinguishing their own and the
hostile force with entire ease. Therefore they made proclamation to their men to
observe instructions carefully and in no case to fight an isolated combat with
any of the antagonists. Most observed this injunction, but the son of Torquatus,
who was on the field among the cavalry and had been sent to reconnoitre the
enemy's position, transgressed it not through wilfulness but rather through
ambition. The leader of the Latin horse saw him approaching and challenged him
to a championship contest; and when the youth would not accept the challenge on
account of the notice that had been served, the other provoked him, saying: "Are
you not the son of Torquatus? Do you not give yourself airs with your father's
collar? Are you strong and courageous against those low-lived Gauls but fear us
Latins? Where, then, do you find your right to rule? Why do you give orders to
us as your inferiors?"—The Roman became frenzied with rage and readily forgot
the injunction: he won the combat, and in high spirits conveyed the spoils to
his father. The latter, after assembling the army, said: "Nobly you have fought,
my child, and for this I will crown you. But because you did not observe the
orders issued, though under obligation both as a son and as a soldier to yield
obedience, Frag. 322for this reason i shall execute you, that you may obtain
both the prize for your prowess and the penalty for your disobedience." Having
spoken these words[Pg 123] he at the same moment placed the garland on his head
and cut off the very head that bore it.
Soon after, a dream that appeared to
both consuls the same night, of identical import in each case, seemed to tell
them that they should overcome the enemy, if one of the consuls should devote
himself. Discussing the dream together in the daytime, they decided that it was
of divine origin, and agreed that it must be obeyed. And they disputed with each
other, not as to which should be saved, but as to which of them preferably
should devote himself: they even presented their arguments before the foremost
men in camp. Finally they settled it that one should station himself on the
right wing and the other on the left, and that whichever of those two divisions
should be defeated, the consul stationed there should give up his life. There
was so much rivalry between them in regard to the self-devotion that each of the
consuls prayed that he might be defeated, in order to obtain the right to devote
himself and the consequent glory. After joining battle with the Latins they
carried on a closely contested fight for a long time, but finally Decius's wing
gave way before the Latins a little. On perceiving this Decius devoted himself.
Slipping off his armor he put on his purple-bordered clothing. Some say that in
this costume he sprang upon a horse and rode toward the enemy and met his death
at their hands, others that he was slain by a fellow-soldier of his own race. A
short time after Decius had perished a decisive victory fell to the lot of the
Romans and the Latins were all routed,[Pg 124] yet certainly not on account of
the death of Decius. Frag. 324for how can you believe that from such a death of
one man so great a multitude of human beings was destroyed on the one side and
on the other was saved and won a conspicuous victory? So the Latins in this way
were defeated, Frag. 326and torquatus, though he had killed his son and though
his colleague had lost his life, nevertheless celebrated a triumph.
Once
again did they subdue these very Latins, who had revolted, and they subjugated
in battle other nations, employing now consuls and now dictators.
[Pg
125]
(BOOK 8, BOISSEVAIN.)
One of the latter was Lucius Papirius, also
called Cursor from his physical condition (he was a very fleet runner) and on
account of his practicing running. After this Papirius as dictator with Fabius
Rullus as master of the horse was sent out against the Samnites and by defeating
them compelled them to agree to such terms as he wished. But when he had
resigned his leadership they again arose in arms. They were attacked anew by the
dictator Aulus Cornelius, Frag. 333and being defeated made proposals of peace to
the men at rome. they sent them all the captives that they had, and ascribed the
responsibility for the war to rutulus, a man of influence among them. his bones,
since he anticipated them in committing suicide, they scattered abroad. yet they
did not obtain their peace, being accounted untrustworthy; but the victors,
though accepting the prisoners, voted for relentless war against them. Frag.
334the romans, then, expecting in their extreme arrogance that they should
capture them all at the first blow, succumbed to a terrible disaster. the
samnites, being badly frightened and thinking the refusal to make peace a
calamity, fought with desperation; and by planting an ambuscade in a narrow spot
rather closely hemmed in by hills they both captured the camp and seized alive
the whole force of the romans, all of whom they sent under the yoke.—What the
operation of the yoke was has already been described by me above.[13]—How[Pg
126]ever, they killed not a man but took away their arms and horses and
everything else they had save one garment, and released them thus stripped of
possessions under an agreement that they should leave Samnite territory and be
their allies on an equal footing. In order to insure the articles of the
agreement being ratified also by the senate, they retained six hundred of the
knights to serve as hostages.
The consuls Spurius Postumius and Tiberius
Calvinus with their army immediately withdrew, and at night they and the most
notable of the rest of the force entered Rome, while the remaining soldiers
scattered through the country districts. Frag. 339the men in the city on hearing
of the event did not find it possible either to be pleased at the survival of
their soldiers or to be displeased. when they thought of the calamity their
grief was extreme, and the fact that they had suffered such a reverse at the
hands of the samnites increased their grief; when they stopped to reflect,
however, that if it had come to pass that all had perished, all their interests
would have been endangered, they were really pleased at the survival of their
own men. But concealing for a time their pleasure they went into mourning and
carried on no business in the everyday fashion either at once or subsequently,
as long as they had control of affairs. The consuls they deposed forthwith,
chose others in their stead, and took counsel about the situation. And they
determined not to accept the arrangement; but since it was impossible to take
this action without throwing the responsibility upon the men who had conducted
the negotiations, they hesitated on the one hand to con[Pg 127]demn the consuls
and the rest who, associated with the latter in their capacity as holders of
certain offices, had made the peace, and they hesitated on the other hand to
acquit them, since by so doing they would bring the breach of faith home to
themselves. Accordingly they made these very consuls participate in their
deliberations and they asked Postumius first of all for his opinion, that he
might state separately his sentiments touching his own case, and the shame of
having disgrace attach to all of them be avoided. So he came forward and said
that their acts ought not to be ratified by the senate and the people, Frag.
3311for they themselves had not acted of their own free will, but under the
compulsion of a necessity which the enemy had brought upon them not through
valor but through craft and ambuscade. Now men who had practiced deception could
not, if they were deceived in turn, have any just complaint against those who
turned the tables on them. When he had finished saying this and considerable
more of the same nature, the senate found itself at a loss how to act: but as
Postumius and Calvinus took the burden of responsibility upon their own
shoulders, it was voted that the agreements should not be ratified and that
these men should be delivered up.
Both the consuls, therefore, and the
remaining officials who had been present when oaths were taken were conducted
back to Samnium. Frag. 3314the samnites, however, would not accept them, but
demanded back all the captives, and invoked the gods and conjured them by the
divine power, and finally they dismissed the men that had been surrendered. The
Romans were glad enough to get them back, but were angry at the[Pg 128] Samnites
whom they attacked in battle and vanquished, after which they accorded them a
similar treatment, for they sent them under the yoke in turn and released them
without inflicting any other injury. They also got possession of their own
knights, who were being held by the Samnites as hostages and were
unharmed.
VIII, 1.—After a long interval the Romans under the leadership of
Gaius Junius were again warring with the Samnites, when they met with disaster.
While Junius was pillaging the hostile territory, the Samnites conveyed their
possessions into the Avernian[14] woods, so-called from the fact that on account
of the closeness of the trees no bird flies into them. Being there ensconced
they set out some herds without herdsmen or guards and quietly sent some
pretended deserters who guided the Romans to the booty apparently lying at their
disposal. But when the latter had entered the wood, the Samnites surrounded them
and did not cease from slaughter till they were completely tired out. And though
the Samnites fought on many other occasions against the Romans and were
defeated, they would not be quiet, but having acquired the Gauls, besides
others, as allies, they made preparations to march upon Rome itself. The Romans,
when they learned of it, fell into alarm, for their original inclination to do
so was augmented by many portents. On the Capitol blood is reported to have
issued for three days from the altar of Jupiter, together with honey on one day,
and milk on a second—if anybody can believe it: and in[Pg 129] the Forum a
bronze statue of Victory set upon a stone pedestal was found standing upon the
ground below, without any one's having moved it; and, as it happened, it was
facing in that direction from which the Gauls were already approaching. This of
itself was enough to terrify the populace, who were even more dismayed by
ill-omened interpretations published by the seers. However, a certain Manius, by
birth an Etruscan, encouraged them by declaring that Victory, even if she had
descended, had gone forward, and being now settled more firmly on the ground
indicated to them mastery in the war. Accordingly, many sacrifices, too, should
be offered to the gods; for their altars, and particularly those on the Capitol,
where they sacrifice thank-offerings for victory, were regularly stained with
blood in the midst of their successes and not in their disasters. From these
developments, then, he persuaded them to expect some fortunate outcome, but from
the honey to expect disease (because invalids crave it) and from the milk
famine; for they should encounter so great a scarcity of provisions as to seek
for food of native growth and pasturage.
Manius, then, interpreted the omens
in this way, Frag. 3322and as his prophecy turned out to be correct, he gained
thereafter a reputation for skill and foreknowledge in all matters. Now
Volumnius was ordered to make war upon the Samnites; Fabius Maximus Rullus and
Publius Decius were chosen consuls and were sent to withstand the Gauls and the
other warriors in the Gallic contingent. They, having come with speed to
Etruria, saw the camp of Appius, which was fortified by a[Pg 130] double
palisade; and they pulled up the stakes and carried them off, instructing the
soldiers to place their hope of safety in their weapons. So they joined battle
with the enemy. Meanwhile a wolf in pursuit of a deer had invaded the space
between the two armies and darting toward the Romans passed through their ranks.
This encouraged them, for they regarded themselves as having a bond of union
with him, since, according to tradition, a she-wolf had reared Romulus. But the
deer ran to the other side and was struck down, thus leaving to them fear and
the issue of disaster. When the armies collided, Maximus quite easily conquered
the foes opposed to him, but Decius was defeated. And recalling the
self-devotion of his father, undertaken on account of the dream, he likewise
devoted himself, though without giving anybody any information about his act.
Scarcely had he let himself be slain, when the men ranged at his side, partly
through shame at his deed (feeling that he had perished voluntarily for them)
and partly in the hopes of certain victory as a result of this occurrence,
checked their flight and nobly withstood their pursuers. At this juncture
Maximus, too, assailed the latter in the rear and slaughtered vast numbers. The
survivors took to their heels and were annihilated. Fabius Maximus then burned
the corpse of Decius together with the spoils and made a truce with such as
asked for peace.
The following year Atilius Regulus again waged war with the
Samnites. And for a time they carried on an[Pg 131] evenly contested struggle,
but eventually, after the Samnites had won a victory, the Romans conquered them
in turn, took them captive, led them beneath the yoke, and so released them.
Frag. 3323the samnites, enraged at what had occurred, resorted to desperate
measures with the intention of either conquering or being utterly destroyed,
threatening with death him who should remain at home. So these invaded Campania:
but the consuls ravaged Samnium, since it was destitute of soldiers, and
captured a few cities. Therefore the Samnites abandoning Campania made haste to
reach their own land; and having come into hostile collision with one of the
consuls they were defeated by a trick and in their flight met with terrible
reverses, losing their camp and in addition the fortress to the assistance of
which they were advancing. The consul celebrated a triumph and devoted to public
uses the goods gathered from the spoils. The other consul made a campaign
against the Etruscans and reduced them in short order: he then levied upon them
contributions of grain and money, of which he distributed a part to the soldiers
and deposited the rest in the treasuries.
However, there befell a mighty
pestilence, and the Samnites and Falisci began to bestir themselves; they
entertained a contempt for the Romans both on account of the disease and
because, since no war menaced, they had chosen the consuls not on grounds of
excellence. The Romans, ascertaining the situation, sent out Carvilius along
with Junius Brutus, and with Quintus Fabius his father Rullus Maximus, as
subcommanders or lieutenants. Brutus worsted the Falisci and[Pg 132] plundered
their possessions as well as those of the other Etruscans: Fabius marched out of
Rome before his father and pushed rapidly forward when he learned that the
Samnites were plundering Campania. Falling in with some scouts of theirs and
seeing them quickly retire he got the impression that all the enemy were at that
point and believed they were in flight. Accordingly, in his hurry to come to
blows with them before his father should arrive, in order that the success might
appear to be his own and not his elder's, he went ahead with a careless
formation. Thus he encountered a compact body of foes and would have been
utterly destroyed, had not night intervened. Many of his men died also after
that with no physician or relative to attend them, because they had hastened on
far ahead of the baggage carriers in the expectation of immediate victory. Of a
surety they would have perished on the following day but for the fact that the
Samnites, thinking Fabius's father to be near, felt afraid and
withdrew.
Frag. 3324those in the city on hearing this became terribly angry,
summoned the consul, and wanted to put him on trial. but the old man his father
by enumerating his own and his ancestors' brave deeds, by promising that his son
should make no record that was unworthy of them, and by urging his son's youth
to account for the misfortune, immediately abated their wrath. joining him in
the campaign he conquered the samnites in battle, captured their camp, ravaged
their country, and drove away great booty. a part of it he devoted to public
uses and a part he accorded to the soldiers. for these reasons the romans
extolled[Pg 133] him and ordered that his son also should command for the future
with consular powers and still employ his father as lieutenant. the latter
managed and arranged everything for him, sparing his old age not a whit, yet he
did not let it be seen that he was executing the business on his own
responsibility, but made the glory of his exploits attach to his child.
Frag.
37VIII, 2.—after this, when the tribunes moved an annulment of debts, the
people, since this was not yielded by the lenders as well, fell into turmoil:
and their turbulent behavior was not quieted until foes came against the
city.
[Pg 134]
*******************
BOOK 9
BOISSEVAIN.
Those to begin the wars were the
Tarentini, Frag. 391who had associated with themselves the etruscans and gauls
and samnites and several other tribes. These allies the Romans engaged and
defeated in various battles, with different consuls on different occasions, but
the Tarentini, although they had themselves been the authors of the war,
nevertheless did not yet openly present an imposing array in battle. Frag.
393now lucius valerius while admiral wanted to anchor with his triremes off
tarentum (being on his way to a place whither he had been despatched with them),
for he deemed the country friendly. Frag. 394but the tarentini, owing to a
guilty sense of their own operations, suspected that valerius was sailing
against them, and in a passion set sail likewise and attacking him when he was
expecting no hostile act sent him to the bottom along with many others. of the
captives they imprisoned some and put others to death. when the romans heard of
this, they were indignant, to be sure, but nevertheless despatched envoys
upbraiding them and demanding satisfaction. the offenders not only failed to
vouchsafe them any decent answer, but actually jeered at them, going so far as
to soil the clothing of lucius postumius, the head of the embassy. at this an
uproar arose and the tarentini indulged in continued guffaws. but postumius
cried: "laugh on, laugh on while you may! for long will be the period of your
weeping, when you shall wash this garment clean with your blood."[Pg
135]
Upon the return of the envoys the Romans, learning what had been done,
were grieved and voted that Lucius Æmilius the consul make a campaign against
the Tarentini. He advanced close to Tarentum and sent them favorable
propositions, thinking that they would choose peace on fair terms. Now they were
at variance among themselves in their opinions. Frag. 396?The elderly and
well-to-do were anxious for peace, but those who were youthful and who had
little or nothing were for war. The younger generation had its way. Being timid
for all that they planned to invite Pyrrhus of Epirus to form an alliance, and
sent to him envoys and gifts. Æmilius, learning this, proceeded to pillage and
devastate their country. They made sorties but were routed, so that the Romans
ravaged their country with impunity and got possession of some strongholds.
Æmilius showed much consideration for those taken prisoners and liberated some
of the more influential, and the Tarentini, accordingly, filled with admiration
for his kindness, were led to hope for reconciliation and so chose as leader
with full powers Agis, who was of kindred to the Romans. Scarcely had he been
elected when Cineas, sent ahead by Pyrrhus, planted himself in the pathway of
negotiations. Frag. 401for pyrrhus, king of the so-called epirus, surpassed
everybody through natural cleverness and through the influence and experience
bestowed by education; and he had made the larger part of hellas his own, partly
by benefits and partly by fear. Frag. 402accordingly, chance having thrown the
envoys of the tarentini in his way, he deemed the alliance a piece of good luck.
for a considerable[Pg 136] time he had had his eye on sicily and carthage and
sardinia, but nevertheless he shrank from personally taking the initiative in
hostilities against the romans. He announced that he would lead the Tarentini,
but in order that the motive of his declaration might not be suspected (for
reasons indicated) he stated that he should return home without delay, and
insisted upon a clause being added to the agreement to the effect that he should
not be detained by them in Italy further than actual need required. After
settling this agreement he detained the majority of the envoys as hostages,
giving out that he wanted them to help him get the armies ready: a few of them
together with Cineas he sent in advance with troops. As soon as they arrived the
Tarentini took courage, gave up their attempted reconciliation with the Romans,
and deposing Agris from his leadership elected one of the envoys leader. Shortly
afterward Milo, sent by Pyrrhus with a force, took charge of their acropolis and
personally superintended the manning of their wall. The Tarentini were glad at
this, feeling that they did not have to do guard duty or undergo any other
troublesome labor, and they sent regular supplies of food to the men and
consignments of money to Pyrrhus.
Æmilius for a time held his ground, but
when he perceived that the Pyrrhic soldiers had come, and recognized his
inability on account of the winter to maintain an opposition, he set out for
Apulia. The Tarentini laid an ambush at a narrow passage through which he was
obliged to go, and by their arrows, javelins and[Pg 137] slingshots rendered
progress impossible for him. But he put at the head of his line their captives
whom he was conveying. Fear fell upon the Tarentini that they might destroy
their own men instead of the Romans, and they ceased their efforts.
Now
Pyrrhus set off, Frag. 404not even awaiting the coming of spring, taking a
large, picked army, and twenty elephants, beasts never previously beheld by the
Italians. Hence the latter were invariably filled with alarm and astonishment.
While crossing the Ionian Sea he encountered a storm and lost many soldiers of
his army: the remainder were scattered by the violent waters. Only with
difficulty, then, and by land travel did he reach Tarentum. He at once impressed
those in their prime into service alongside of his own soldiers so as to make
sure that they should not be led, by having a separate company, to think of
rebellion; he closed the theatre, presumably on account of the war and to
prevent the people from gathering there and setting on foot any uprising; also
he forbade them to assemble for banquets and revels, and ordered the youth to
practice in arms instead of spending all day in the market-place. When some,
indignant at this, left the ranks, he stationed guards from his own contingent
so that no one could leave the city. The inhabitants, oppressed by these
measures, and by supplying food, compelled as they were, too, to receive the
guardsmen into their houses, repented, since they found in Pyrrhus only a
master, not an ally. He, fearing for these reasons that they might lean to the
Roman cause, took note of all[Pg 138] the men who had any ability as politicians
or could dominate the populace and sent them one after another to Epirus to his
son on various excuses; occasionally, however, he would quietly assassinate them
instead. A certain Aristarchus, who was accounted one of the noblest of the
Tarentini and was a most persuasive speaker, he made his boon companion to the
end that this man should be suspected by the people of having the interests of
Pyrrhus at heart. When, however, he saw that he still had the confidence of the
throng, he gave him an errand to Epirus. Aristarchus, not daring to dispute his
behest, set sail, but went to Rome.
VIII, 3.—Such was the behavior of Pyrrhus
toward the Tarentini. Frag. 408those in rome learning that pyrrhus had come to
tarentum were smitten with terror because the italian states had been set at
enmity with them and because he was reported to be without doubt a good warrior
and to have a force that was by no means despicable as an adversary. So they
proceeded to enlist soldiers and to gather money and to distribute garrisons
among the allied cities to prevent them from likewise revolting; and learning
that some were already stirred with sedition they punished the principal men in
them. A handful of those from Præneste were brought to Rome late in the
afternoon and thrown into the treasury for security. Thereby a certain oracle
was fulfilled for the Romans. For an oracle had told them once that these people
should occupy the Roman treasure-house. The oracle, then, resulted this way: the
men lost their lives.
Valerius Lavinius was despatched against Pyrrhus, the
Tarentini, and the rest of their associates, but a[Pg 139] part of the army was
retained in the city. As for Lavinius, he at once set out on his march so that
he might carry on the war as far as possible from his own territory. He hoped to
frighten Pyrrhus by showing the latter those men advancing against him of their
own accord whom he had thought to besiege. In the course of his journey he
seized a strong strategic point in the land of the Lucanians, and he left behind
a force in Lucania to hinder the people from giving aid to his
opponents.
Pyrrhus on learning of Lavinius's approach made a start before the
latter came in sight, established a camp, and was desirous of using up time
while waiting for allies to join. He sent a haughty letter to Lavinius with the
design of overawing him. The writing was couched thus: "King Pyrrhus to
Lavinius, Greeting. I learn that you are leading an army against Tarentum. Send
it away, therefore, and come yourself to me with few attendants. For I will
judge between you, if you have any blame to impute to each other, and I will
compel the party at fault, however unwilling, to grant justice." Lavinius wrote
the following reply to Pyrrhus: "You seem to me, Pyrrhus, to have been quite
daft when you set yourself up as judge between the Tarentini and us before
rendering to us an account of your crossing over into Italy at all. I will come,
therefore, with all my army and will exact the appropriate recompense both from
the Tarentini and from you. What use can I have for nonsense and palaver, when I
can stand trial in the court of Mars, our progenitor?" After sending such an
answering despatch he hurried on and pitched camp, leaving the[Pg 140] stream of
the river at that point between them. Having apprehended some scouts he showed
them his troops and after telling them he had more of them, many times that
number, he sent them back. Pyrrhus, struck with alarm by this, was not desirous
of fighting because some of the allies had not yet joined his force, and he was
constantly hoping that provisions would fail the Romans while they delayed on
hostile soil. Lavinius, too, reckoned on this and was eager to join issue. As
the soldiers had become terrified at the reputation of Pyrrhus and on account of
the elephants, he called them together and delivered a speech containing many
exhortations to courage; then he busily prepared to close with Pyrrhus, willing
or unwilling. The latter had no heart to fight, but in order to avoid an
appearance of fearing the Romans he also in person addressed his own men,
inciting them to the conflict. Lavinius tried to cross the river opposite the
camp, but was prevented. So he retired and himself remained in position with his
infantry, but sent the cavalry off (apparently on some marauding expedition)
with injunctions to march some distance and then make the attempt. In this way
both they assailed the enemy unexpectedly in the rear, and Lavinius, in the
midst of the foe's confusion, crossed the river and took part in the battle.
Pyrrhus came to the aid of his own men, who were in flight, but lost his horse
by a wound and was thought by them to have been killed. Then, the one side being
dejected and the other scornfully elated, their actions were correspondingly
altered. He became[Pg 141] aware of this and gave his clothing, which was more
striking than that of the rest, to Megacles, bidding him put it on and ride
about in all directions to the end that thinking him safe his opponents might be
brought to fear and his followers to feel encouragement. As for himself, he put
on an ordinary uniform and encountered the Romans with his full army, save the
elephants, and by bringing assistance to the contestants wherever they were in
trouble he did his supporters a great deal of good. At first, then, for a large
part of the day they fought evenly; but when a man killed Megacles, thinking to
have killed Pyrrhus and creating this impression in the minds of the rest, the
Romans gained vigor and their opponents began to give way. Frag. 4012pyrrhus,
noting what was taking place, cast off his cap and went about with his head
bare; and the battle took an opposite turn. Seeing this, Lavinius, who had
horsemen in hiding somewhere, outside the battle, ordered them to attack the
enemy in the rear. In response to this Pyrrhus, as a device to meet it, raised
the signal for the elephants. Then, indeed, at the sight of the animals, which
was out of all common experience, at their bloodcurdling trumpeting, and at the
clatter of arms which their riders, seated in the towers, made, both the Romans
themselves became panic stricken and their horses, in a frenzy, either shook off
their riders or bolted, carrying them away. Disheartened at this the Roman army
was turned to flight and in their rout some soldiers were destroyed by the men
in the towers on the elephants' backs, and others by the beasts them[Pg
142]selves, which with their trunks and horns (or teeth?) took the lives of many
and crushed and trampled under foot no less. The cavalry, following after, slew
many; not one, indeed, would have been left, had not an elephant been wounded,
and by its own struggles as a result of the wound as well as by its trumpeting
thrown the rest into confusion. Only this restrained Pyrrhus from pursuit and
only in this way did the Romans manage to cross the river and make their escape
into an Apulian city. Many of Pyrrhus's soldiers and officers alike fell, so
that Frag. 4013when certain men congratulated him on his victory, he said; "if
we ever conquer again in like fashion, we shall be ruined." the romans, however,
he admired even in their defeat, declaring: "i should already have mastered the
whole inhabited world, were i king of the romans."
Frag. 4014pyrrhus,
accordingly, acquired a great reputation for his victory and many came over to
his side: the allies also espoused his cause. these he rebuked somewhat on
account of their tardiness, but gave them a share of the spoil. VIII, 4.—The men
of Rome felt grief at the defeat, but they sent an army to Lavinius; and they
summoned Tiberius from Etruria and put the city under guard when they learned
that Pyrrhus was hastening against it. Lavinius, however, as soon as he had
cured his own followers of their wounds and had collected the scattered, the
reinforcements from Rome now having arrived, followed on the track of Pyrrhus
and harassed him. Finding out that the king was ambitious to capture Capua he
occupied it in advance and guarded it. Disappointed there Pyrrhus set out for
Neapolis. Since[Pg 143] he developed no power to accomplish anything at this
place either and was in haste to occupy Rome, he passed on through Etruria with
the object of winning that people also to his cause. He learned that they had
made a treaty with the Romans and that Tiberius was moving to meet him face to
face. (Lavinius was dogging his footsteps.) Frag. 4019a dread seized him of
being cut off on all sides by them while he was in unfamiliar regions and he
would advance no farther. Frag. 4020when, as he was retreating and had reached
the vicinity of campania, lavinius confronted him and the latter's army was much
larger than it was before, he declared that the roman troops when cut to pieces
grew whole again, hydra-fashion. and he made preparations in his turn, but did
not come to the issue of battle. He had ordered his own soldiers before the
shock of conflict, in order to terrify the Romans, to smite their shields with
their spears and cry aloud while the trumpeters and the elephants raised a
united blare. But when the other side raised a much greater shout, actually
scaring the followers of Pyrrhus, he no longer wanted to come to close quarters,
but retired, as if he found the omens bad. And he came to Tarentum. Frag.
4021thither came roman envoys to treat in behalf of the captives,—fabricius
among others. these he entertained lavishly and showed them honor, expecting
that they would conclude a truce and make terms as the defeated party. Frag.
4022fabricius asked that he might get back the men captured in battle for such
ransom as should be pleasing to both. pyrrhus, quite dumfounded because the man
did not say that[Pg 144] he was also commissioned to treat about peace, took
counsel privately with his friends, as was his wont, about the return of the
captives, but also about the war and how he should conduct it. Milo advised
neither returning the captives nor making a truce, but overcoming all remaining
resistance by war, since the Romans were already defeated: Cineas, however, gave
advice just the opposite of his; he approved of surrendering the captives
without price and sending envoys and money to Rome for the purpose of obtaining
an armistice and peace. Frag. 4023to his decision did the rest also cleave, and
pyrrhus, too, chanced to be of this mind. having called the ambassadors,
therefore, he said: "not willingly, romans, did i lately make war upon you, and
i have no wish to war against you now. it was my desire to become your friend.
wherefore i release to you the captives without ransom and ask the privilege of
making peace."
Frag. 4024these words he had spoken to the envoys as a whole
and had either given or furnished them promises of money, but in conversation
with fabricius alone he said: "i would gladly become a friend to all romans, but
most of all to you. i see that you are an excellent man and i ask you to help me
in getting peace." with these words he attempted to bestow upon him a number of
gifts. but fabricius said: "i commend you for desiring peace, and i will effect
it for you, if it shall prove to our advantage. for you will not ask me, a man
who, as you say, pretends to uprightness, to do anything against my country.
nay, i would not even accept any of these things which you are fain to give. i
ask you, therefore,[Pg 145] whether you in very truth regard me as a reputable
man or not. if i am a scoundrel, how is it that you deem me worthy of gifts? if,
on the other hand, i am a man of honor, how can you bid me accept them? be then
assured that i have very many possessions, that i am satisfied with what i now
have and feel no need of more. you, however, even if you are ever so rich, are
in unspeakable poverty. for you would not have crossed over to this land,
leaving behind epirus and the rest of your possessions, if you had been content
with them and were not reaching out for more."
After this conversation had
taken place as recounted, the envoys took the captives and departed. Pyrrhus
despatched Cineas to Rome with a large amount of gold coin and women's apparel
of every description, so that even if some of the men should resist, their
wives, at least, won by the appeal of the finery, might make them share in the
prostitution of principles. Cineas on coming to the city did not seek an
audience with the senate, but lingered about, alleging now one reason, now
another. He was visiting the houses of leading men and by his conversation and
gifts was slowly extending his influence over them. When he had won the
attachment of a number, he entered the senate-chamber and spoke, saying; "King
Pyrrhus offers as his defence the fact that he came not to make war upon you,
but to reconcile the Tarentini, and in answer to their entreaties. Indeed, he
has released your prisoners, waiving ransom, and though he might have ravaged
your country and assaulted your city, he requests to be en[Pg 146]rolled among
your friends and allies, hoping to gain much assistance from you and to render
you still more and greater benefits in return."
Thereupon the greater part of
the senators evinced pleasure because of the gifts and because of the captives:
however, they made no reply, but went on deliberating for several days more as
to the proper course to pursue. There was a deal of talk, but the disposition to
accord a truce predominated. On learning this Appius the Blind was carried to
the senate-house (for by reason of his age and his infirmity he was a
stay-at-home) and declared that the modus vivendi with Pyrrhus was not
advantageous to the State. He urged them to dismiss Cineas at once from the city
and to make known to Pyrrhus by his mouth that the king must first withdraw to
his home country and from there make propositions to them about peace or about
anything else he wanted. This was the advice Appius gave. The senate delayed no
longer, but forthwith unanimously voted to send Cineas that very day across the
borders and to wage an implacable war with Pyrrhus, so long as he should abide
in Italy. They imposed upon the captives certain degradations in the campaigns
and used them no longer against Pyrrhus nor for any other project as a unit (out
of apprehension that if they were together they might rebel), but sent them to
do garrison duty, a few here, a few there.
[Pg 147]
********************************
BOOK 10
BOISSEVAIN
B.C. 279
(a.u. 475)VIII, 5.—During the winter both sides
busied themselves with preparations. When spring had now begun, Pyrrhus invaded
Apulia and reduced many places by force, many also by capitulation. Finally the
Romans came upon him near a city called Asculum and pitched camp opposite. For
several days they lingered, rather avoiding each other. The Romans were not
feeling confident against men who had once beaten them, and the others dreaded
the Romans as persons animated by desperation. Meanwhile some were talking to
the effect that Decius was getting ready to "devote himself" after the fashion
of his father and grandfather, and by so doing they terribly alarmed the
followers of Pyrrhus, who believed that through his death they would certainly
be ruined. Pyrrhus then convened his soldiers and discussed this matter,
advising them not to be disheartened nor scared out of their wits by such talk.
One human being, he said, could not by dying prevail over many nor could any
incantation or magic prove superior to arms and men. By making these remarks and
confirming his words by arguments Pyrrhus encouraged the army under his lead.
Also he enquired into the details of the costume which the Decii had used in
devoting themselves, and sent injunctions to his men, if they should see anybody
so arrayed, not to kill him, but seize him alive. Frag. 4028and he sent to
decius and told him that he would not succeed in[Pg 148] accomplishing this,
even if he wished it, and threatened that if he were taken alive, he should
perish miserably. to this the consuls answered that they were in no need of
having recourse to such a proceeding as the one mentioned, since they were sure
to conquer him anyway. There was a river not easy to ford running between the
two camps, and they enquired whether he chose to cross unmolested himself, while
they retired, or whether he would allow them to do it, the object being that the
forces should encounter each other intact and so from a battle with conditions
equal the test of valor might be made an accurate one. The Romans delivered this
speech to overawe him, but Pyrrhus granted them permission to cross the river,
since he placed great reliance upon his elephants. The Romans among their other
preparations made ready, as a measure against the elephants, projecting beams on
wagons, overlaid with iron and bristling in all directions. From these they
intended to shoot and to withstand the animals with fire as well as by other
means. When the conflict began, the Romans forced the Greeks back, slowly to be
sure, but none the less effectually, until Pyrrhus, bringing his elephants to
bear not opposite their chariots but at the other end of the line, routed their
cavalry through fear of the beasts even before they had come close. Upon their
infantry, however, he inflicted no great damage. Meantime some of the Apulians
had started for the camp of the Epirots and by so doing brought about victory
for the Romans. For when Pyrrhus sent some of his warriors against them, all the
rest were thrown into dis[Pg 149]order and suspecting that their tents had been
captured and their companions were in flight they gave way. Numbers of them
fell, Pyrrhus and many commanding officers besides were wounded, and later on
account of the lack of food and of medical supplies they incurred great loss.
Hence he retreated to Tarentum before the Romans were aware. As for the consuls,
they crossed the river to fight, but when they ascertained that all had
scattered, they withdrew to their own cities. They were unable to pursue after
their foes on account of wounds among their own following. Then the Romans went
into winter quarters in Apulia, whereas Pyrrhus sent for soldiers and money from
home and went on with other preparations. But learning that Fabricius and Pappus
had been chosen consuls and had arrived in camp, he was not constant in the same
intention.
B.C. 278
(a.u. 476)The aforesaid consuls were now in the midst
of their army, when a certain Nicias, one of those believed to be loyal to
Pyrrhus, came to Fabricius and offered to murder him treacherously. Fabricius,
indignant at this (for he wanted to overcome the enemy by valor and main force,
like Camillus), informed Pyrrhus of the plot. This action of his moved the king
so strongly that he again released the Roman captives without price and sent
envoys once more in regard to peace. But when the Romans made no reply about
peace, but as before bade him depart from Italy and only in that event make
propositions to them, and since they kept overrunning and capturing the cities
in alliance with him, Frag. 4029he fell into perplexity; till at length some
Syra
[Pg 150]cusans called on him for aid—they had been quarreling, as it
chanced, ever since the death of Agathocles—and surrendered to him both
themselves and their city. Hereupon he again breathed freely, hoping to
subjugate all of Sicily. Leaving Milo behind in Italy to keep guard over
Tarentum and the other positions, he himself sailed away after letting it be
understood that he would soon return. The Syracusans welcomed him and laid
everything at his feet, so that in brief time he had again become great and the
Carthaginians in fright secured additional mercenaries from Italy. But presently
his prospects fell to the other extreme of fortune Frag. 4030by reason of the
fact that he either expelled or slew many who held office and had incurred his
suspicions. Then the Carthaginians, seeing that he was not strong in private
forces and did not possess the devotion of the natives, took up the war
vigorously. They harbored any Syracusans who were exiled and rendered his
position so uncomfortable that he abandoned not only Syracuse, but Sicily as
well.
B.C. 277
(a.u. 477)VIII, 6.—The Romans on finding out his absence
took courage and turned their attention to requiting those who had invited him.
Postponing till another occasion the case of the Tarentini they invaded Samnium
with their consuls Rufinus and Junius, devastated the country as they went
along, and took several deserted forts. The Samnites had conveyed their dearest
and most valuable treasures into the hills called the Cranita, because they bear
a large growth of cornel-wood (crania). The Romans in contempt for them dared
to[Pg 151] begin the ascent of the aforementioned hills. As the region was
tangled with shrubbery and difficult of access many were killed and many, too,
were taken prisoners.
The consuls now no longer carried on the war together,
since each blamed the other for the disaster, but Junius went on ravaging a
portion of Samnium, while Rufinus inflicted injury upon Lucanians and Bruttians.
He then started against Croton, which had revolted from Rome. His friends had
sent for him, but the other party got ahead of them by bringing a garrison from
Milo, of which Nicomachus was commander. Ignorant of this fact he approached the
walls carelessly, supposing that his friends controlled affairs, and suffered a
setback by a sudden sortie made against him. Then, bethinking himself of a
trick, he captured the city. He sent two captives as pretended deserters into
Croton; one at once, declaring that he had despaired of capturing the place and
was about to set out into Locris, which was being betrayed to him; the other
later, corroborating the report with the further detail that he was on his way.
That the story might gain credence he packed up the baggage and affected to be
in haste. Nicomachus trusted this news (for his scouts made the same report),
and leaving Croton set off with speed into Locrian territory by a somewhat
shorter road. When he had got well into Locris, Rufinus turned back to Croton,
and escaping observation because he was not expected and because of a mist that
then prevailed he captured the city. Nicomachus learn[Pg 152]ing this went back
to Tarentum, and encountering Rufinus on the way lost many men. The Locrians
came over to the Roman side.
B.C. 276
(a.u. 478)The next year the Romans
made expeditions into Samnium and into Lucania and fought with the Bruttians.
Pyrrhus, who had been driven out of Sicily and had returned, was now troubling
them grievously. He got back the Locrians (by their killing the Roman garrison
and changing their rulers), but in a campaign against Rhegium was repulsed, was
himself wounded, and lost great numbers. He then retired into Locris and after
executing a few who opposed his cause he got food and money from the rest and
made his way back to Tarentum. The Samnites, hard pressed by the Romans, caused
him to leave the shelter of that town: B.C. 275
(a.u. 479) but on coming to
their assistance he was put to flight. A young elephant was wounded, and shaking
off its riders wandered about in search of its mother; the latter thereupon
became unmanageable, and as all the rest of the elephants raised a din
everything was thrown into dire confusion. Finally the Romans won the day,
killing many men and capturing eight elephants, and occupied the enemy's
entrenchments. Pyrrhus accompanied by a few horsemen made his escape to
Tarentum, and from there sailed back to Epirus, leaving Milo behind with a
garrison to take care of Tarentum because he expected to come back again. He
also gave them a chair fastened with straps made from the skin of Nicias, whom
he put to death for treachery. This was the vengeance, then, that he[Pg 153]
took upon Nicias, Frag. 4032and he was intending to exact vengeance from some
youths who had ridiculed him at a banquet; but he asked them why they were
ridiculing him, and when they answered: "we should have said a lot more things a
good deal worse, if the wine hadn't failed us", he laughed and let them
go.
Now Pyrrhus, who had made a most distinguished record among generals, who
had inspired the Romans with great fear and left Italy in the fifth year to make
a campaign against Greece, not long afterward met his death in Argos. A woman,
as the story runs, being eager to catch a sight of him from the roof as he
passed by, made a misstep and falling upon him killed him. The same year
Fabricius and Pappus became censors; and among others whose names they erased
from the lists of the knights and the senators was Rufinus, though he had served
as dictator and had twice been consul. The reason was that he had in his
possession silver plate of ten pounds' weight. This shows how the Romans
regarded poverty as consisting not in the failure to possess many things but in
wanting many things. Accordingly, their officials who went abroad and others who
set out on any business of importance to the State received besides other
necessary allowances a seal-ring as a public gift.
Some of the Tarentini who
had been abused by Milo attacked him, with Nico at their head. Not accomplishing
anything they occupied a section of their own wall, and with that as
headquarters kept making assaults upon Milo. When they found out that the Romans
were[Pg 154] disposed to make war upon them, they despatched envoys to Rome and
obtained peace.
Frag. 41
B.C. 273
(a.u. 481) and ptolemy philadelphus,
king of egypt, when he learned that pyrrhus had fared poorly and that the romans
were growing, sent gifts to them and made a compact. and the romans, pleased
with this, despatched ambassadors to him in turn. the latter received
magnificent gifts from him, which they wanted to put into the treasury; the
senate, however, would not accept them, but allowed them to keep them.
B.C.
272
(a.u. 482)After this, by the activity of Carvilius they subdued the
Samnites, and overcame the Lucanians and Bruttians by the hands of Papirius. The
same Papirius quelled the Tarentini. The latter, angry at Milo and subjected to
abuse by their own men, who, as has been told, made the attack on Milo, called
in the Carthaginians to their aid when they learned that Pyrrhus was dead. Milo,
seeing that his chances had been contracted to narrow limits, as the Romans
beset him on the land side and the Carthaginians on the water front, surrendered
the citadel to Papirius on condition of being permitted to depart unharmed with
his immediate followers and his money. Then the Carthaginians, as
representatives of a nation friendly to the Romans, sailed away, and the city
made terms with Papirius. They delivered to him their arms and their ships,
demolished their walls, and agreed to pay tribute.
The Romans, having thus
secured control of the Tarentini, turned their attention to Rhegium, whose
inhabitants after taking Croton by treachery had razed[Pg 155] the city to the
ground and had slain the Romans there. They averted the danger that was
threatening them from the Mamertines holding Messana (whom the people of Rhegium
wanted to get as allies), by coming to an agreement with them; but in the siege
of Rhegium they suffered hardships through a scarcity of food and some other
causes until Hiero by sending from Sicily grain and soldiers to the Romans
strengthened their hands and materially aided them in capturing the city. B.C.
270
(a.u. 484)The place was restored to the survivors among the original
inhabitants: those who had plotted against it were punished.
Hiero, who was
not of distinguished family on his father's side and on his mother's was akin to
the slave class, ruled almost the whole of Sicily and was deemed a friend and
ally of the Romans. After the flight of Pyrrhus he became master of Syracuse,
and having a cautious eye upon the Carthaginians who were encroaching upon
Sicily he was inclined to favor the Romans; and the first mark of favor that he
showed them was the alliance and the forwarding of grain already
narrated.
After this came a winter so severe that the Tiber was frozen to a
great depth and trees were killed. The people of Rome suffered hardships and the
hay gave out, causing the cattle to perish.
B.C. 269
(a.u. 485)VIII,
7.—The next year a Samnite named Lolius living in Rome as a hostage made his
escape, gathered a band and seized a strong position in his native country from
which he carried on brigandage. Quintus Gallus[Pg 156] and Gaius Fabius made a
campaign against him. Him and the rabblement with him, most of them unarmed,
they suppressed; on proceeding, however, against the Carcini in whose keeping
the robbers had deposited their booty, they encountered trouble. Finally one
night, led by deserters, they scaled the wall at a certain point and came
dangerously near perishing on account of the darkness,—not that it was a
moonless night but because it was snowing fiercely. But the moon shone out and
they made themselves absolute masters of the position.
A great deal of money
fell to the share of Rome in those days, so that they actually used silver
denarii.
B.C. 267
(a.u. 487)Next they made a campaign into the district
now called Calabria. Their excuse was that the people had harbored Pyrrhus and
had been overrunning their allied territory, but as a fact they wanted to gain
sole possession of Brundusium, since there was a fine harbor and for the traffic
with Illyricum and Greece the town had an approach and landing-place of such a
character that vessels would sometimes come to land and put out to sea wafted by
the same wind. B.C. 266
(a.u. 488)
Frag. 42They captured it and sent
colonists to it and to other settlements as well. While the accomplishment of
these exploits raised them to a higher plane of prosperity, they showed no
haughtiness: on the contrary they surrendered to the apolloniatians on the
ionian gulf quintus fabius, a senator, because he had insulted their
ambassadors. but these on receiving him sent him back home again
unharmed.
B.C. 265
(a.u. 489)In the year of the consulship of Quintus
Fabius and[Pg 157] Æmilius they went on a campaign to the Volsinii to secure the
freedom of the latter, for they were under treaty obligations to them. These
people were originally a branch of the Etruscans, and they gathered power and
erected an extremely strong rampart; they enjoyed also a government guided by
good laws. For these reasons once, when they were involved in war with the
Romans, they offered resistance for a very long time. When they had been
subdued, they deteriorated into a state of effeminacy, left the management of
the city to their servants and let those servants, as a rule, also carry on
their campaigns. Finally they encouraged them to such an extent that the
servants possessed both spirit and power, and thought they had a right to
freedom. In the course of time their efforts to obtain it were crowned with
success. After that they were accustomed to wed their mistresses, to inherit
their masters, to be enrolled in the senate, to secure the offices, and to hold
the entire authority themselves. Indeed, it was usual, when insults were offered
them by their masters, for them to requite the authors of them with rather
unbecoming speed. Hence the old-fashioned citizens, not being able to endure
them and yet possessing no power of their own to repress them, despatched envoys
by stealth to Rome. The envoys urged the senate to convene with secrecy at night
in a private house, so that no report might get abroad, and they obtained their
request. The meeting accordingly deliberated under the idea that no one was
listening: but a sick Samnite, who was being entertained as a guest of the[Pg
158] master of the house, kept his bed unnoticed, learned what was voted, and
gave information to those against whom charges were preferred. The latter seized
and tortured the envoys on their return; when they found out what was on foot
they killed the messengers and also some of the foremost men.
The above were
the causes which led the Romans to send Fabius against them. He routed the body
of the foe that met him, destroyed many in their flight, shut up the remainder
within the wall, and made an assault upon the city. In that action he was
wounded and killed, whereupon gaining confidence the enemy made a sortie. They
were again defeated, retired, and had to submit to siege. When they began to
feel the pangs of hunger, they surrendered. The consul delivered to outrage and
death the men who had appropriated the honors of the ruling class and he razed
the city to the ground; the native inhabitants, however, and many servants who
had rendered valuable service to their masters he settled on another
site.
[Pg 159]
*************************************
BOOK 11
BOISSEVAIN.
VIII, 8.—From that time the
Romans began struggles oversea: they had previously had no experience at all in
naval matters. They now became seamen and crossed over to the islands and to
other divisions of the mainland. The first people they fought against were the
Carthaginians. These Carthaginians were no whit inferior to them in wealth or in
the excellence of their land; they were trained in naval operations to a great
degree of accuracy, were equipped with cavalry forces, with infantry and
elephants, ruled the Libyans, and held possession of both Sardinia and the
greater part of Sicily: as a result they had cherished hopes of subjugating
Italy. Various factors contributed to increase their self-conceit. They were
especially delighted with their position of independence: their king they
elected under the title of a yearly office and not for permanent sovereignty.
Animated by these considerations they were at the point of most zealous
eagerness.
Frag. 431the reasons alleged for the war were—on the part of the
romans that the carthaginians had assisted the tarentini, on the part of the
carthaginians that the romans had made a treaty of friendship with hiero. the
fact was, however, that they viewed each other with jealousy and thought that
the only salvation for their own possessions lay in the possibility of obtaining
what the other held. at a time when their attitude toward each other[Pg 160] was
of this nature a slight accident that befell broke the truce and provoked a
conflict between them. This is what happened.
The Mamertines, who had once
conducted a colony from Campania to Messana, were now being besieged by Hiero,
and they called upon the Romans as a nation of kindred blood. The latter readily
voted to aid them, knowing that in case the Mamertines should not secure an
alliance with them, they would have recourse to the Carthaginians; and then the
Carthaginians would sweep all Sicily and from there cross over into Italy. For
this island is such a short distance away from the mainland that the story goes
that it was itself once a part of the mainland. Frag. 432so the island thus
lying off italy seemed to invite the carthaginians, and it appeared as if they
might lay claim to the land over opposite, could they but occupy it. and the
possession of messana gave to its masters the right to be lords of the strait
also.
Though the Romans voted to assist the Mamertines, they did not quickly
come to their aid because of various hindrances that occurred. Hence the
Mamertines, under the spur of necessity, called upon the Carthaginians. These
brought about peace with Hiero both for themselves and for the party that had
invoked their help, so as to prevent the Romans from crossing into the island;
and under the leadership of Hanno they retained the guardianship of strait and
city. B.C. 264
(a.u. 490)Meantime Gaius Claudius, military tribune, sent in
advance with a few ships by Appius Claudius, had arrived at Rhegium. But to sail
across was more than he dared, for[Pg 161] he saw that the Carthaginian fleet
was far larger. So he embarked in a skiff and approached Messana, where he held
a conversation, as extended as the case permitted, with the party in possession.
When the Carthaginians had made reply, he returned without accomplishing
anything. Subsequently he ascertained that the Mamertines were at odds (they did
not want to submit to the Romans, and yet they felt uneasy about the
Carthaginians), and he sailed over again. Frag. 433among other remarks which he
made to tempt them he declared that the object of his presence was to free the
city, and as soon as he could set their affairs in order, he should sail away.
he bade the carthaginians also either to withdraw, or, if they had any just
plea, to offer it. now when not one of the mamertines (by reason of fear) opened
his lips, and the carthaginians since they were occupying the city by force of
arms paid no heed to him, he said: "the silence on both sides affords sufficient
evidence. it shows that the one side is in the wrong, for they would have
justified themselves if their purposes were at all honest; and that the other
side covets freedom, for they would have been quite free to speak, if they had
espoused the cause of the carthaginians." and he volunteered to aid them. At
this a tumult of praise arose from the Mamertines. He then sailed back to
Rhegium and a little later with his entire fleet forced his passage across.
However, partly because of the numbers and skill of the Carthaginians, but
chiefly because of the difficulty of sailing and a storm that suddenly broke
Frag. 434he lost some of his tri[Pg 162]remes and with the remainder barely
succeeded in getting back to rhegium.
VIII, 9.—however, the romans did not
shun the sea because of their defeat. Claudius proceeded to repair his ships,
Frag. 435while hanno, wishing to throw the responsibility for breaking the truce
upon the romans, sent to claudius the captured triremes and restored the
captives, urging him to agree to peace. Frag. 436but when the other would accept
nothing, he threatened that he would never permit the romans even to wash their
hands in the sea. Claudius now having become acquainted with the strait watched
for a time when the current and the wind both carried from Italy toward Sicily,
and under those circumstances sailed to the island, encountering no opposition.
Frag. 437he discovered the mamertines at the harbor: hanno had before become
suspicious of their movements and had established himself in the acropolis,
which he was guarding. the roman leader accordingly convened an assembly and
after some conversation with them persuaded them to send for hanno. the latter
refused to come down, but filled with a subsequent fear that the Mamertines
might allege injustice on his part and revolt he did enter the assembly. After
many words had been spoken to no purpose by both sides, one of the Romans seized
him and, with the approval of the Mamertines, threw him into prison.
Thus,
under compulsion, Hanno left Messana entirely. The Carthaginians disciplined him
and sent a herald to the Romans bidding them leave Messana and depart from all
of Sicily by a given day; they also set[Pg 163] an army in motion. Since the
Romans paid no heed, they put to death the mercenaries serving with them who
were from Italy, and made an assault upon Messana, Hiero accompanying them. Then
for a season they besieged the city and kept guard over the strait, to prevent
any troops or provisions being conveyed to the foe. The consul was informed of
this when he was already quite close at hand, and found a number of
Carthaginians disposed at various points in and about the harbor under pretence
of carrying on trade. In order to get safe across the strait he resorted to
deception and did succeed in anchoring off Sicily by night. His point of
approach was not far from the camp of Hiero and he joined battle without delay,
thinking that his appearance in force would be most likely to inspire the enemy
with fear. When they came out to withstand the attack, the Roman cavalry was
worsted but the heavy-armed infantry prevailed. Hiero retired temporarily to the
mountains and later to Syracuse.
When Hiero had retired, the Mamertines took
courage because of the presence of Claudius. He therefore assailed the
Carthaginians, who were now isolated, and their rampart, which was situated on a
kind of peninsula. For on the one side the sea enclosed it and on the other some
marshes, difficult to traverse. At the neck of this peninsula, the only entrance
and a very narrow one, a cross wall had been built. In an attempt to carry this
point by force the Romans fared badly and withdrew under a shower of weapons.
Frag. 439the libyans[Pg 164] then took courage and sallied out, pursuing the
fugitives, as they thought them, beyond the narrow strip of land. thereupon the
romans wheeled, routed them, and killed a number, so that they did not issue
from the camp again,—at least so long as claudius was in messana. He, however,
not daring to attack the approach in force, left a detachment behind in Messana
and turned his steps toward Syracuse and Hiero. He personally superintended the
assault upon the city, and now and then the inhabitants would come out to
battle. Each side would sometimes be victorious and sometimes incur defeat. One
day the consul got into a confined position and would have been caught, had he
not, before being surrounded, sent to Hiero an invitation to agree to some
terms. When the representative came with whom he was to conclude the terms, he
kept falling back unobtrusively, while he conversed with him, until he had
retired to safety. But the city could not easily be taken, and a siege, on
account of scarcity of food supplies and disease in the army, was impracticable.
Claudius accordingly withdrew; and the Syracusans following held discussions
with his scattered followers and would have made a truce, if Hiero also had been
willing to agree to terms. The consul left behind a garrison in Messana and
sailed back to Rhegium.
B.C. 263
(a.u. 491)As Etruscan unrest had come to
a standstill and affairs in Italy were perfectly peaceful, whereas the
Carthaginian state was becoming ever greater, the Romans ordered both the
consuls to make an expedition into Sicily. Valerius Maximus and Otacilius
Crassus consequently crossed over and in their progress[Pg 165] through the
island together and separately they won over many towns by capitulation. When
they had made the majority of places their own, they set out for Syracuse. Hiero
in terror sent a herald to them with offers: he expressed a readiness to restore
the cities of which they had been deprived, promised money, and liberated the
prisoners. On these terms he obtained peace, for the consuls thought they could
subjugate the Carthaginians more easily with his help. After reaching an
agreement with him, then, they turned their attention to the remaining cities
garrisoned by Carthaginians. They were repulsed from all of them except Segesta,
which they took without resistance. Its inhabitants because of their
relationship with the Romans (they declare they are descended from Æneas) slew
the Carthaginians and joined the Roman alliance.
VIII, 10.—On account of the
winter the consuls embarked again for Rhegium. The Carthaginians conveyed most
of their army to Sardinia in the intention of attacking Rome from that quarter.
They would thus either rout them out of Sicily altogether or would render them
weaker after they had crossed. Yet they achieved neither the one object nor the
other. The Romans both kept guard over their own land and sent a respectable
force to Sicily with Postumius Albinus and Quintus Æmilius.[15] B.C.
262
(a.u. 492)On arriving in Sicily the consuls set out for Agrigentum and
there besieged Hannibal the son of Gisco. The people of Carthage, when[Pg 166]
apprised of it, sent Hanno, with a powerful support, to aid him in the warfare.
This leader arrived at Heraclea, not far from Agrigentum, and was soon engaged
in war. A number of battles, but not great ones, took place. At first Hanno
challenged the consuls to fight, then later on the Romans challenged him. For as
long as the Romans had an abundance of food, they did not venture to contend
against a superior force, and were hoping to get possession of the city by
famine; when, however, they encountered a permanent shortage of grain, they
displayed a zeal for taking risks, but Hanno showed hesitation; their eagerness
led him to suspect that he might be ambushed. Everybody therefore was satisfied
to revere the Romans as easy conquerors, and Hiero, who once coöperated with
them sulkily, now sent them grain, so that even the consuls took heart.
Hanno
now undertook to bring on a battle, expecting that Hannibal would fall upon the
Romans in the rear, assailing them from the wall. The consuls learned his plan
but remained inactive, and Hanno in scorn approached their intrenchments. They
also sent some men to lie in ambush behind him. When toward evening he
fearlessly and contemptuously led a charge, the Romans joined battle with him
from ambush and from palisade and wrought a great slaughter of the enemy and of
the elephants besides. Hannibal had in the meantime assailed the Roman tents,
but was hurled back by the men guarding them. Hanno abandoned his camp and made
good his escape to Heraclea. Hannibal then formed a plan to escape as runaways
from Agri[Pg 167]gentum by night, and himself eluded observation; the rest,
however, were recognized and were killed, some by the Romans and many by the
Agrigentinians. For all that the people of Agrigentum did not obtain pardon, but
their wealth was plundered and they themselves were all sold into
servitude.
On account of the winter the consuls retired to Messana. The
Carthaginians were angry with Hanno and despatched Hamilcar the son of Barca in
his stead, a man superior in generalship to all his countrymen save only
Hannibal his son. B.C. 261
(a.u. 493)Hamilcar himself guarded Sicily and sent
Hannibal as admiral to damage the coast sections of Italy and so draw the
consuls to his vicinity. Yet he did not accomplish his aim, for they posted
guards along both shores and then went to Sicily. They effected nothing worthy
of record, however. And Hamilcar, becoming afraid that his Gallic mercenaries
(who were offended because he had not given them full pay) might go over to the
Romans, brought about their destruction. He sent them to take charge of one of
the cities under Roman sway, assuring them that it was in course of being
betrayed and giving them permission to plunder it: he then sent to the consuls
pretended deserters to give them advance information of the coming of the Gauls.
Hence all the Gauls were ambuscaded and destroyed; many of the Romans also
perished.
After the consuls had departed home Hamilcar sailed to Italy and
ravaged the land and won over some cities in Sicily. On receipt of this
information the Romans[Pg 168] B.C. 260
(a.u. 494)gathered a fleet and put
one of the consuls, Gaius Duillius, in command of it, while they sent his
colleague, Gaius[16] Cornelius, to Sicily. He, neglecting the war on land which
had fallen to his lot, sailed with the ships that belonged to him to Lipara, on
the understanding that it was to be betrayed to him. Through treachery it had
fallen into the hands of the Carthaginians. When, therefore, he put into Lipara,
Bodes the lieutenant of Hannibal closed in upon him. As Gaius[17] made
preparations to defend himself, Bodes fearing the Romans' desperation invited
them to discuss terms. Having persuaded them to do so he took the consul and
military tribunes, who supposed they were to meet the admiral, on board his own
trireme. These men he sent to Carthage: the rest he captured without their so
much as lifting a weapon.
VIII, 11.—Then Hannibal continued the ravaging of
Italy, while Hamilcar made a campaign against Segesta, where the Romans had most
of their infantry force. Gaius Cæcilius, a military tribune, wanted to assist
them, but Hamilcar waylaid him and slaughtered many of his followers. The people
of Rome learning this at once sent out the prætor urbanus and incited Duillius
to haste. On coming to Sicily he learned the fact that the ships of the
Carthaginians were inferior to his own in stoutness and size, but excelled in
the quickness of their rowing and variety of movement. Therefore he fitted out
his triremes with mechanical devices,—anchors and grappling irons with long
spikes and other such things,—in order that by laying hold of[Pg 169] the
hostile ships with these they might pin them fast to their own vessels; then by
crossing over into them they might have a hand to hand conflict with the
Carthaginians and engage them just as in an infantry battle. When the
Carthaginians began the fight with the Roman ships, they sailed round and round
them using the oars rapidly and would make sudden dashes. So for the time the
conflict was an evenly matched one: later the Romans got the upper hand and sank
numbers of crews, retaining possession also of large numbers. Hannibal conducted
the fight on a boat of seven banks, but when his own ship became entangled with
a trireme, he feared capture, hastily left the seven banked affair, and
transferring to another ship effected his escape.
This was the way, then,
that the naval battle resulted, and much spoil was taken. Frag. 4313the
carthaginians would have put hannibal to death on account of the defeat, if he
had not immediately enquired of them whether, granted that the business were
still untouched, they would bid him risk a sea-fight or not. they agreed that he
ought to fight, for they prided themselves upon having a superior navy. he then
added: "i, then, have done no wrong, for i went into the engagement with the
same hopes as you. it was the decision, but not the fortune of the battle that
happened to be within my power." So he saved his life, but was deprived of his
command.—Duillius after securing a reinforcement of infantry rescued the people
of Segesta, and Hamilcar would not venture to come into close conflict with him.
He strengthened the[Pg 170] loyalty of the other friendly settlements and
returned to Rome at the close of autumn. Upon his departure Hamilcar took
forcible possession of the place called Drepanum (it is a convenient roadstead),
deposited there the objects of greatest value and transferred to it all the
people of Eryx. The city of the latter, because it was a strong point, he razed
to the ground to prevent the Romans from seizing it and making it a base of
operations for the war. He captured some cities, too, some by force, some by
betrayal; and if Gaius Florus who wintered there had not restrained him, he
would have subjugated Sicily entire.
B.C. 259
(a.u. 495)Lucius Scipio, his
colleague, made a campaign against Sardinia and against Corsica. These islands
are situated in the Tyrrhenian sea only a short distance apart,—so short a
distance, in fact, that from a little way off they seem to be one. His first
landing place was Corsica. There he captured by force Valeria, its largest city,
and subdued the remainder of the region without effort. As he was sailing toward
Sardinia he descried a Carthaginian fleet and directed his course to it. The
enemy fled before a battle could be joined and he came to the city of Olbia.
There the Carthaginians put in an appearance along with their ships, and Scipio
being frightened (for he had no infantry worthy the mention) set sail for
home.
These were the days when the Samnites with the coöperation of other
captives and slaves in the city came to an agreement to form a conspiracy
against Rome. Numbers of them had been brought there with[Pg 171] a view to
their utilization in the equipment of the fleet. Herius Potilius, the leader of
the auxiliary force, found it out and pretended to be of like mind with them, in
order that he might fully inform himself in regard to what they had determined.
As he was not able to give knowledge of the affair,—for all those about him were
Samnites,—he persuaded them to gather in the Forum at a time when a senate
meeting was being convened and denounce him with declarations that they were
being wronged in the matter of the grain which they were receiving. They did
this and he was sent for as being the cause of the tumult; and he then laid bare
to the Romans the plot. For the moment they merely dismissed the protestants
(after they had become quiet) but by night all of those who held slaves arrested
some of them. And in this way the entire conspiracy was overthrown.
B.C.
253
(a.u. 496)The following summer the Romans and the Carthaginians fought in
Sicily and Sardinia at once. Somewhat later Atilius Latinus[18] went to Sicily
and finding a city named Mytistratus being besieged by Florus he made use of the
latter's support. He made assaults upon the circuit of the wall which the
natives with the help of the Carthaginians at first withstood vigorously, but
when the women and children were moved to tears and laments they abandoned
resistance. The Carthaginians passed out secretly by night and at daybreak the
natives voluntarily swung the gates wide open. The Romans went in and proceeded
to slaughter them all[Pg 172] till Atilius made proclamation that the remainder
of the booty and the human beings belonged to him who might take them. Forthwith
they spared the lives of the remaining captives and after pillaging the city
burned it to the ground.
VIII, 12.—Thence they proceeded heedlessly against
Camarina and came into a region where an ambuscade had already been set. They
would have perished utterly, had not Marcus Calpurnius, serving as military
tribune, matched the catastrophe by his cleverness. He saw that one and one only
of the surrounding hills had by reason of its steepness not been occupied and he
asked of the consul three hundred heavy-armed men and with them he set out for
that point. His purpose was to make the enemy turn their attention to his
detachment so that then the rest of the Romans might make their escape. And so
it happened; for when the adversaries saw his project, they were thunderstruck
and left the consul and his followers as men already captured in order to make a
united rush upon Calpurnius. A fierce battle ensued in which many of the
opposing side and all the three hundred fell. Calpurnius alone survived. He had
been wounded and lay unnoticed among the heaps of slain, being as good as dead
by reason of his wounds; afterward he was found alive and his life was saved.
While the three hundred were fighting, the consul got away; and after this
escape he reduced Camarina and other cities, some by force and some by
capitulation. Next Atilius set out against Lipara. But Hamilcar at night by
stealth[Pg 173] occupied it in advance and by making a sudden sally killed many
Romans.
Gaius Sulpicius overran the most of Sardinia and filled with
arrogance as a result he set out for Libya. The Carthaginians, alarmed for the
safety of their home population, also set sail with Hannibal, Frag. 4314but as a
contrary wind was encountered both leaders turned back. subsequently atilius[19]
brought about hannibal's defeat through some false deserters who pretended that
Atilius[20] was going to sail to Libya again. Hannibal weighed anchor and came
out with speed, whereupon Sulpicius sailed to meet him and sank the majority of
his vessels, which, because of a mist, did not know for a long time what was
taking place and were thrown into confusion; all that made their escape to land
he seized, though minus their crews, for Hannibal who saw that the harbor was
unsafe abandoned them and retired to the city of Sulci. There the Carthaginians
engaged in mutiny against their leader and he came forth before them alone and
was slain. The Romans in consequence overran the country with greater ease, but
were defeated by Hanno. This is what took place that year. Also stones in great
quantities at once, and in appearance something like hail, fell from heaven upon
Rome continually. It likewise came to pass that stones descended upon Albanum
and elsewhere.
B.C. 257
(a.u. 497)The consuls on coming to Sicily made a
campaign against Lipara. Perceiving the Carthaginians lying in[Pg 174] the
harbor below the height called Tyndaris they divided their expedition in two.
One of the consuls with half the fleet surrounded the promontory, and Hamilcar
thinking them an isolated force set sail. When the rest came up, he turned to
flight and lost most of his fleet. The Romans were elated, and feeling that
Sicily was already theirs they left it and ventured to make an attempt on Libya
and Carthage. Frag. 4316their leaders were marcus regulus and lucius manlius,
preferred before others for their excellence. B.C. 256
(a.u. 498)These two
sailed to Sicily, settled affairs there, and made ready for the voyage to Libya:
the Carthaginians did not wait for their hostile voyage to begin, but after due
preparation hastened toward Sicily. Off Heracleotis the opposing forces met. The
contest was for a long time evenly balanced but in the end the Romans got the
best of it. Hamilcar did not dare to withstand their progress, Frag. 4317but
sent hanno to them pretendedly in behalf of peace, whereas he really wished to
use up time; he was in hopes that an army would be sent to him from home. when
some clamored for hanno's arrest, because the carthaginians had also
treacherously arrested cornelius, the envoy said: "If you do this, you will be
no longer any better than Libyans." He, therefore, by flattering them most
opportunely escaped any kind of molestation: the Romans, however, again took up
the war. And the consuls sailed from Messana, while Hamilcar and Hanno separated
and studied how to enclose them from both sides. Hanno, however, would not stand
before them when they approached, but sailed away betimes to the harbor of[Pg
175] Carthage and kept constant guard of the city. Hamilcar, apprised of this,
stayed where he was. The Romans disembarked on land and marched against the city
Aspis, whose inhabitants, seeing them approaching, slipped out quietly and in
good season. The Romans thus occupied it without striking a blow and made it a
base in the war. From it they ravaged the country and acquired cities, some of
their own free will and others by intimidation. They also kept securing great
booty, receiving vast numbers of deserters, and getting back many of their own
men who had been captured in the previous wars.
VIII, 13.—Winter came on and
Manlius sailed back to Rome with the booty, whereas Regulus remained behind in
Libya. The Carthaginians found themselves in the depths of woe, since their
country was being pillaged and their vassals alienated; but cooped up in their
fortifications they remained inactive. (Frag. 4318?)while regulus was beside the
bagradas river a serpent of huge bulk appeared to him, the length of which is
said to have been one hundred and twenty feet. its slough was carried to rome
for exhibition purposes. and the rest of its body corresponded in size. It
destroyed many of the soldiers that approached it and some also who were
drinking from the river. Regulus overcame it by a crowd of soldiers and
hurling-engines. After thus destroying it he gave battle by night to Hamilcar,
who was encamped upon a high, woody spot; and he slew many in their beds as well
as many who had just risen. Any who escaped fell in with Romans guarding the
roads, who despatched them. In this way a large[Pg 176] division of
Carthaginians was blotted out and numerous cities went over to the Romans. Frag.
4319those in the town being in fear of capture sent heralds to the consul to the
end that having by some satisfactory arrangement induced him to go away they
might avoid the danger of the moment and so escape. but when many unreasonable
demands were made of them, they decided that the truce would mean their utter
subjugation and prepared rather to fight.
B.C. 255
(a.u. 499)Regulus,
however, who up to that time was fortunate, became filled with boastfulness and
conceit, so much so that he even wrote to Rome that he had sealed up the gates
of Carthage with fear. His followers and the people of Rome thought the same
way, and this caused their undoing. Allies of various sorts came to the
Carthaginians, among them Xanthippus from Sparta. He assumed the general
superintendence of the Carthaginians, for the populace was eager to entrust
matters to his charge and Hamilcar together with the other officials stepped
aside voluntarily. The new leader, then, disposed things excellently in every
way, and particularly he brought the Carthaginians down from the heights, where
they were staying through fear, into the level country, where their horses and
elephants were sure to develop greatest power. For some time he remained
inactive until at length he found the Romans encamped in a way that betokened
their contempt. They were very haughty over their victorious progress and looked
down upon Xanthippus as a "Græcus" (this is a name they give to Hellenes and
they use this epithet as a reproach to them for their mean birth);[Pg 177] B.C.
255
(a.u. 499)consequently they had constructed their camp in a heedless
fashion. While the Romans were in this situation, Xanthippus assailed them,
routed their cavalry with his elephants, cut down many and captured many alive,
among them Regulus himself. This put the Carthaginians in high spirits. They
saved the lives of the captives in order that their own citizens previously
taken captive by the Romans might not be killed. All the Roman prisoners were
treated with consideration except Regulus, whom they kept in a state of utter
misery; they offered him only just food enough to maintain existence and they
would repeatedly lead an elephant close up to him to frighten him, so that he
might have peace in neither body nor mind. After afflicting him in this way for
a good while they placed him in prison.
The manner in which the Carthaginians
dealt with their allies forms a chapter of great ruthlessness in this story.
They were not supplied with sufficient wealth to pay them what they had
originally promised, and dismissed them with the understanding that they would
pay them their wages before very long. To the men who escorted the allies,
however, they issued orders to put them ashore on a desert island and quietly
sail away. As to Xanthippus, one story is that they drowned him, attacking him
in boats after his boat had departed: the other is that they gave him an old
ship which was in no wise seaworthy but had been newly covered over with pitch
outside, that it might sink quite of itself; and that he, aware of the fact, got
aboard a[Pg 178] different ship and so was saved. Their reason for doing this
was to avoid seeming to have been preserved by his ability; for they thought
that once he had perished the renown of his deeds would also perish.
VIII,
14.—The people of Rome were grieved at the turn of events and more especially
because they were looking for the Carthaginians to sail against Rome itself. For
this reason they carefully guarded Italy and hastily sent to the Romans in
Sicily and Libya the consuls Marcus Æmilius and Fulvius Pætinus.[21] They after
sailing to Sicily and garrisoning the positions there started for Libya, but
were overtaken by a storm and carried to Cossura. They ravaged the island and
put it in charge of a garrison, then sailed onward again. Meanwhile a fierce
naval battle with the Carthaginians had taken place. The latter were struggling
to eject the Romans entirely from their native land, and the Romans to save the
remnants of their soldiers who had been left in hostile territory. In the midst
of a close battle the Romans in Aspis suddenly attacked the Carthaginians in
ships from the rear, and by getting them between two forces overcame them. Later
the Romans also won an infantry engagement and took many prisoners, whose lives
they saved because of Regulus and those captured with him. They made several
raids and then sailed to Sicily. After encountering a storm, however, and losing
many of their number, they sailed for home with the ships that remained.
B.C.
254
(a.u. 500)The Carthaginians took Cossura and crossed over to[Pg 179]
Sicily; and had they not learned that Collatinus[22] and Gnæus Cornelius were
approaching with a large fleet, they would have subjugated the whole of it. The
Romans had quickly fitted out a first-class fleet, had made levies of their best
men, and had become so strong that in the third month they returned to Sicily.
It was the five hundredth year from the founding of Rome. The lower city of
Panhormus they took without trouble, but in the siege of the citadel they fared
badly until food failed those in it. Then they came to terms with the consuls.
Frag. 4320the carthaginians kept watch for their ships homeward bound and
captured several that were full of money.
B.C. 253
(a.u. 501)The next
event was that Servilius Cæpio and Gaius Sempronius, consuls, made an attempt
upon Lilybæum (from which they were repulsed) and crossing over to Libya ravaged
the coast districts. As they were returning homeward they encountered a storm
and incurred damage. Hence the people, thinking that the damage was due to their
inexperience in naval affairs, voted that they should keep away from the sea in
general but with a few ships should guard Italy.
B.C. 252
(a.u. 502)In the
succeeding year Publius Gaius[23] and Aurelius Servilius[24] came to Sicily and
subdued Himera besides some other places. However, they did not get possession
of any of its inhabitants, for the Carthaginians conveyed them away by night.
After this Aurelius secured some ships from Hiero and adding to his con[Pg
180]tingent all the Romans that were there he sailed to Lipara. Here he left the
tribune Quintus Cassius,[25] who was to keep a lookout but avoid a battle, and
set sail for home. Quintus, disregarding orders, made an attack upon the city
and lost many men. Aurelius, however, subsequently took the place, killed all
the inhabitants, and deposed Cassius from his command.
B.C. 251
(a.u.
503)The Carthaginians learned what the Romans had determined regarding the fleet
and sent an expedition to Sicily hoping now to bring it entirely under their
control. As long as both consuls, Cæcilius Metellus and Gaius Furius, were on
the ground, they remained quiet; but when Furius set out for Rome, they
conceived a contempt for Metellus and proceeded to Panhormus. Metellus
ascertained that spies had come from the enemy, and assembling all the people of
the city he began a talk with them, in the midst of which he suddenly ordered
them to lay hold of one another. He was thus enabled to investigate who each one
was and what was his business and so detected the enemy.—The Carthaginians now
set themselves in battle array and Metellus pretended to be afraid. As he
continued this pretence for several days the Carthaginians became filled with
presumption and attacked him rather recklessly. Then Metellus raised the signal
for the Romans. Forthwith they made an unexpected rush through all the gates,
easily overcame resistance, and enclosed the enemy in a narrow place through
which they could now no longer retreat. Being many in number and with many
ele[Pg 181]phants along they were huddled together and thrown into confusion.
Meanwhile the Libyan fleet approached the coast and became the prime cause of
their destruction. The fugitives seeing the ships rushed toward them and made
desperate exertions to climb aboard; some fell into the sea and perished, other
were killed by the elephants, which got close to one another and to the human
beings, still others were slain by the Romans; many also were captured alive,
men as well as elephants. For since the beasts, bereft of the men to whom they
were used, became furious, Metellus made a proclamation to the prisoners,
offering preservation and forgiveness to such as would check them: accordingly,
some keepers approached the gentlest of the animals, controlling them by the
influence of their accustomed presence, and then won over the remainder. These,
one hundred and twenty in number, were conveyed to Rome, and they were ferried
across the strait in the following way. A number of huge jars, separated by
pieces of wood, were fastened together in such a way that they were neither
detached nor yet did they touch; then this framework was spanned by beams and on
the top of all earth and brush were placed and the surface was fenced in round
about so that it resembled a courtyard. The beasts were put on board this and
were ferried across without knowing that they were moving on the water. Thus did
Metellus win a victory: Hasdrubal, the Carthaginian leader, though he got away
safe on this occasion was later summoned to trial by the Carthaginians at home
and suffered impalement.[Pg 182]
Frag. 4321VIII, 15.—the carthaginians now
began negotiations with the romans on account of the great number of the
captives (among other causes); and with the envoys they also sent regulus
himself, thinking that through him their object had practically been already
gained because of the reputation and valor of the main: and they bound him by
oaths to return without fail. and he acted in all respects like one of the
carthaginians; for he did not even grant his wife leave to confer with him nor
did he enter the city although repeatedly invited to do so; instead, when the
senate was assembled outside the walls, as they were accustomed to do in
treating with envoys of the enemy, and he was introduced into the gathering, he
said: "We, Conscript Fathers, have been sent to you by the Carthaginians. They
it was who despatched me on this journey, since by the law of war I have become
their slave. They ask, if possible, to conclude the war upon terms pleasing to
both parties or, if not, to effect an exchange of prisoners." At the end of
these words he withdrew with the envoys that the Romans might deliberate in
private. When the consuls urged him to take part in their discussion, Frag.
4322he paid no heed until permission was granted by the carthaginians. For a
time he was silent. Then, as the senators bade him state his opinion, he
spoke:
[Pg 183]
***************************************
BOOK 12
BOISSEVAIN
"I am one of you, Conscript
Fathers, though I be captured times without number. My body is a Carthaginian
chattel, but my spirit is yours.
The former has been alienated from you, but the
latter nobody has the power to make anything else than Roman. As captive I
belong to the Carthaginians, yet, as I met with misfortune not from cowardice
but from zeal, I am not only a Roman, but my heart is in your cause. Not in a
single respect do I think reconciliation advantageous to you."
After these
words Regulus stated also the reasons for which he favored rejecting the
proposals, and added: "I know, to be sure, that manifest destruction confronts
me, for it is impossible to keep them from learning the advice I have given; but
even so I esteem the public advantage above my own safety. If any one shall say:
'Why do you not run away, or stay here?' he shall be told that I have sworn to
them to return and I would not transgress my oaths, not even when they have been
given to enemies. There are various explanations for this, but the principal one
is that if I abide by my oath I alone shall suffer disaster, but if I break it,
the whole city will be involved."
But the senate out of consideration for his
safety showed a disposition to make peace and to restore the captives. When he
was made aware of this, he pretended, in order that he might not be the cause of
their[Pg 184] letting slip their advantage, that he had swallowed deadly poison
and was destined certainly to die from its effects. Hence no agreement and no
exchange of prisoners was made. As he was departing in company with the envoys,
his wife and children and others clung to him, and the consuls declared they
would not surrender him, if he chose to stay, nor yet would they detain him if
he was for departing. Consequently, since he preferred not to transgress the
oaths, he was carried back. He died of outrages, so the legend reports,
perpetrated by his captors. They cut off his eyelids and for a time shut him in
darkness, then they threw him into some kind of specially constructed receptacle
bristling with spikes; and they made him face the sun; so that through suffering
and sleeplessness,—for the spikes kept him from reclining in any fashion,—he
perished. When the Romans found it out, they delivered the foremost captives
that they held to his children to outrage and put to death in revenge.
B.C.
250
(a.u. 504)They voted that the consuls, Atilius Gaius, brother of Regulus,
and Lucius Manlius, should make a campaign into Libya. On coming to Sicily they
attacked Lilybæum and undertook to fill up a portion of the ditch to facilitate
bringing up the engines. The Carthaginians dug below the mound and undermined
it. As they found this to be a losing game because of the numbers of the
opposing workmen, they built another wall, crescent-shaped, inside. The Romans
ran tunnels under the circle, in order that when the wall settled they might
rush in through the breach thus made. The[Pg 185] Carthaginians then built
counter-tunnels and came upon many workers who were unaware of what the other
side was doing. These they killed, and also destroyed many by hurling blazing
firewood into the diggings. Some of the allies now, burdened by the strain of
the siege and displeased because their superiors did not come down with their
full wages, made propositions to the Romans to betray the place. Hamilcar
discovered their plot but did not disclose it, for fear of driving them into
open hostility. However, he supplied their leaders with money and in addition
promised other supplies of it to the mass of them. In this way he won their
favor, and they did not even deny their treachery but drove away the last envoys
who returned. The latter then deserted to the consuls and received from them
land in Sicily and other gifts.
The Carthaginians at home, hearing this, sent
Adherbal with a very large number of ships carrying grain and money to Lilybæum.
The leader waited for a time of storm and sailed in. Thereupon many others
likewise ventured to attempt a landing, and some made it, others were
destroyed.
As long as both the consuls were present, the conflicts were even.
Pestilence and famine, however, came to harass them and these caused one of them
with the soldiers of his division to return home. Hamilcar then took courage and
made sorties in which he would set fire to the engines and slay the men
defending them; his cavalry, starting from Drepanum, prevented the Romans from
getting provisions and overran the territory[Pg 186] of their allies; and
Adherbal ravaged the shores now of Sicily, now of Italy, so that the Romans fell
into perplexity. B.C. 249
(a.u. 505)Meantime, however, Lucius Junius was
making ready a fleet, and Claudius Pulcher made haste to reach Lilybæum, where
he manned ships of war. With these he overhauled Hanno the Carthaginian as he
was leaving harbor on a five-banked ship. The prize craft served the Romans as a
model in shipbuilding.
The interests of their fleet were so frequently
endangered that the Romans were disheartened by the constant destruction of
their ships. In these they lost numbers of men and vast sums of money. Yet they
would not give up; nay, they even executed a man who in the senate opened his
mouth about reconciliation with the Carthaginians, and they voted that a
dictator should be named. Collatinus[26] was therefore named dictator and
Metellus became master of the horse, but they accomplished nothing worthy of
remembrance. While Collatinus[27] was being named dictator, Junius had won over
Eryx, and Carthalo had occupied Ægithallus and taken Junius alive.
B.C.
248
(a.u. 506)VIII, 16.—The next year Gaius Aurelius and Publius Servilius
took office and spent their time in harrying Lilybæum and Drepanum, in keeping
the Carthaginians off the land, and in devastating the region that was in
alliance with them. Carthalo undertook many different kinds of enterprises
against them, but, as he accomplished nothing, he started for Italy with the
object of thus attracting the consuls to that country or,[Pg 187] in any case,
of injuring the district and capturing cities. Yet he made no headway even there
and on learning that the prætor urbanus was approaching sailed back to Sicily.
His mercenaries now rebelled about a question of pay, whereupon he put numbers
ashore on desert islands and left them there, and sent many more off to
Carthage. When the rest heard this, they became indignant and were on the point
of an uprising. Hamilcar, Carthalo's successor, cut down numbers of them one
night and had numerous others drowned. In the meantime the Romans had concluded
a perpetual friendship with Hiero and they furthermore remitted all the dues
which they were accustomed to receive from him annually.
B.C. 247
(a.u.
507)Next year the Romans officially refrained from naval warfare because of
their misfortunes and expenses, but some private individuals asked for ships on
condition of restoring the vessels but appropriating any booty gained; and among
other injuries that they inflicted upon the enemy they sailed to Hippo, a Libyan
city, and there burned to ashes all the boats and many of the buildings. The
natives put chains across the mouth of their harbor and the invaders found
themselves encompassed but saved themselves by cleverness and good fortune. They
made a quick dash at the chains, and just as the beaks of the ships were about
to catch in them the members of the crew went back to the stern, and so the
prows being lightened cleared the chains: and again, by their making a rush into
the prows, the sterns of the vessels were lifted high[Pg 188] enough in the air.
Thus they effected their escape, and later near Panhormus they conquered the
Carthaginians with these ships.
Of the consuls Metellus Cæcilius was in the
vicinity of Lilybæum, and Numerius Fabius was investing Drepanum, with
additional designs upon the islet of Pelias. As this had been seized earlier by
the Carthaginians, he sent soldiers by night who killed the garrison and took
possession of the island. Learning this Hamilcar at dawn attacked the party that
had crossed to it. Fabius not being able to ward them off led an assault upon
Drepanum that he might either capture the city while deserted or bring back
Hamilcar from the island. One of these objects was accomplished, for Hamilcar in
fear retired within the fortifications. So Fabius occupied Pelias, and by
filling in the strait (which happened to be shallow) between it and the mainland
he made a clear stretch of solid ground and thus conducted with greater facility
his hostile operations against the wall, which was rather weak at that point.
Incidentally the Carthaginians caused the Romans excessive annoyance by
undertaking circuitous voyages to Sicily and making trips across into
Italy.—They exchanged each other's captives man for man; those left over (since
the numbers were not equal) the Carthaginians got back for money.
In the
subsequent period various persons became consuls but effected nothing worthy of
record. The Romans owed the majority of their reverses to the fact that they
kept sending out from year to year different[Pg 189] and ever different leaders,
and took away their office from them when they were just learning the art of
generalship. It looked as if they were choosing them for practice and not for
service.
The Gauls, who were acting in alliance with the Carthaginians and
hated them because their masters treated them ill, abandoned to the Romans for
money a position with the guarding of which they had been entrusted. The Romans
secured for mercenary service the Gauls and other of the Carthaginian allies who
had revolted from their service; never before had they supported foreigners in
their army. Elated at this accession and furthermore by the ravaging of Libya on
the part of the private citizens who were managing the ships, they were no
longer willing to neglect the sea, and they again got together a fleet.
B.C.
241
(a.u. 513)VIII, 17.—And Lutatius Catulus was chosen consul and with him
was sent out Quintus Valerius Flaccus as prætor urbanus. On coming to Sicily
they assailed Drepanum both by land and by sea and demolished a section of the
wall. They would have captured the town but for the fact that the consul was
wounded and the soldiers were wholly engrossed in caring for him. During the
delay which ensued they learned that a body of the enemy had come from home with
a huge fleet commanded by Hanno, and they turned their attention to these new
arrivals. When the forces had been marshaled in hostile array, a meteor like a
star appeared above the Romans and after rising high to the left of the
Carthaginians plunged into their ranks. The naval[Pg 190] combat was a vigorous
one on the part of both nations, and for several reasons; especially were the
Carthaginians anxious to drive the Romans into complete despair of naval
success, and the Romans to retrieve their former disasters. In spite of
everything the Romans carried off the victory, for the Carthaginian vessels were
impeded by the fact that they carried freight,—grain and money and other
things.
Hanno escaped and hastened at once to Carthage. The Carthaginians,
seized with wrath and fear, crucified him and sent envoys to Catulus regarding
peace. And he was disposed to end the war since his office was soon to expire
and he could not hope to destroy Carthage in so short a time; nor, again, did he
care to leave his successors the glory of his own efforts. Consequently they
effected an armistice by giving him money, grain, and hostages; these
preliminaries secured them the right of sending envoys to Rome and proposing as
conditions that they retire from Sicily entire, yielding it to the Romans, as
well as abandon all the surrounding islands, that they carry on no war with
Hiero, and pay an indemnity, a part at the time of making the treaty and a part
later, and that they return the Roman deserters and captives free of cost, but
ransom their own.
Such were the terms agreed upon. Hamilcar succeeded only in
having the disgrace of going under the yoke left out. After settling these
conditions he led his soldiers out of the fortifications and sailed for home
before the oaths were imposed. The people of Rome[Pg 191] soon learned of the
victory and were greatly elated, feeling that their superiority was
indisputable. Upon the arrival of envoys they could no longer restrain
themselves and hoped to possess all of Libya. Therefore they would not abide by
the terms of the consul: instead, they exacted from them a very much larger sum
of money than had been promised. They forbade them also to sail past Italy or
allied territory abroad in ships of war, or to employ mercenaries from such
districts.
The first war between the Carthaginians and the Romans, then,
ended this way in the twenty-fourth year. Catulus celebrated a triumph over its
conclusion. Quintus Lutatius became consul and departed for Sicily, where with
his brother Catulus he enforced order in all communities; and he deprived the
islanders of arms. Thus Sicily, with the exception of Hiero's domain, was made a
slave of Rome, and from this time its people were on a friendly footing with the
Carthaginians.
Both soon were again involved in other wars outside. At
Carthage the remnant of their mercenary force and the slave population in the
city and a large proportion of their hostages (influenced by the disasters of
the State) joined in an attack upon it. The Romans did not heed the invitations
to aid the party that had assumed the offensive, but sent envoys in turn for
discussion; and when they found themselves unable to reconcile the combatants,
they released free of cost all the Carthaginian captives they were holding, sent
grain to the city and permitted it to gather mercenaries from Ro[Pg 192]man
allied territory. By this action they were seeking to gain a reputation for
fairness rather than displaying a real interest in their own advantage, and this
later caused them trouble. For the great Hamilcar Barca, after he had conquered
his adversaries, did not dare to make a campaign against the Romans, much as he
hated them; but he started for Spain contrary to the wishes of the magistrates
at home.
VIII, 18.—This, however, took place later. At the time under
discussion the Romans entered upon war with the Falisci, and Manlius Torquatus
ravaged their country. In a battle with them his heavy infantry was worsted but
his cavalry conquered. In a second engagement with them he was victorious and
took possession of their arms, their cavalry, their furniture, their slaves, and
half their country. Later on the original city, which was set upon a steep
mountain, was torn down and another one was built, easily reached by road. After
this the Romans again waged wars upon the Boii and upon the Gauls that were
neighbors of the latter, and upon some Ligurians. The Ligurians were conquered
in battle and otherwise injured by Sempronius Gracchus: Publius Valerius in a
conflict with the Gauls was at first defeated, but soon, learning that troops
had come from Rome to his assistance, he renewed the struggle with the Gauls,
determined either[Pg 193] to conquer by his own exertions or to die—he preferred
that rather than to live and bear the stigma of disgrace; and by some fortune or
other he managed to win the day.
B.C. 238
(a.u. 516)At this time these
events befell the Romans as described. They also secured Sardinia from the
Carthaginians and a new supply of money by charging them with harming Roman
shipping. The Carthaginians, not having yet recovered strength, feared their
threats.—Next year Lucius Lentulus and Quintus Flaccus made a campaign against
the Gauls; and as long as they remained together, they were invincible, B.C.
237
(a.u. 517)but when they began to pillage districts separately with the
idea of getting greater booty, the army of Flaccus fell into danger, being
surrounded by night. Temporarily the barbarians were beaten back, but having
gained accessions of allies they proceeded anew with a huge force against the
Romans. B.C. 236
(a.u. 518)When confronted by Publius Lentulus and Licinius
Varus, they hoped to overcome them by their numbers and prevail without a
battle. So they sent and demanded the land surrounding Ariminum and commanded
the Romans to remove from the city since it belonged to them. The consuls on
account of their small numbers did not dare to risk a battle nor would they take
the responsibility of releasing any territory, and accordingly they arranged a
truce to confer with Rome. Gallic emissaries came before the senate with the
aforementioned representations. As none of their demands was granted, the envoys
returned to camp. There they found their cause was[Pg 194] ruined. Some of their
allies had repented and regarding the Romans with fear had turned upon the Boii,
and many had been killed on both sides. Then the remainder had gone home and the
Boii had obtained peace only at the price of a large portion of their
land.
The Gallic wars having now ceased, Lentulus conducted a campaign
against the Ligurians. He drove off the attacking parties and gained possession
of several fortresses.—Varus took Corsica as his objective point, and inasmuch
as he lacked the necessary ships to carry him over, he sent a certain Claudius
Clineas in advance with troops. The latter terrified the Corsicans, held a
conference with them, and made peace as though he had full authority to do so.
But Varus, paying no attention to the covenant, fought against the Corsicans
until he had subjugated them. Frag. 442the romans to divert the blame for
breaking the compact from themselves sent to the people offering to give
claudius up. when he was not received, they drove him into exile. Frag. 451they
were on the point of leading an expedition against the carthaginians alleging
that the latter were committing outrages upon the merchants; but instead of
doing this they exacted money and renewed the truce. Yet the agreements were not
destined even so to be of long standing.—The case of the Carthaginians was
accordingly postponed and they made an expedition against the Sardinians, who
would not yield obedience, and conquered them. Subsequently the Carthaginians
persuaded the Sardinians to plan a secret uprising against the Romans. Besides
these the Corsicans also revolted and the Ligurians did not remain at rest.[Pg
195]
B.C. 234
(a.u. 520)The following year the Romans divided their forces
into three parts in order that all the rebels, finding war waged upon them at
once, might not render assistance to one another; and they sent Postumius
Albinus into Liguria, Spurius Carvilius against the Corsicans, and Publius
Cornelius, the prætor urbanus, into Sardinia. And the consuls not without
trouble, yet with some speed, accomplished their missions. The Sardinians,
animated by an immoderate amount of spirit, were vanquished by Carvilius in a
fierce battle, for Cornelius and many of his soldiers had been destroyed by
disease. When the Romans left their country, the Sardinians and the Ligurians
revolted again. B.C. 233
(a.u. 521)Quintus Fabius Maximus was accordingly
sent to Ligurian territory and Pomponius Manius into Sardinia. The
Carthaginians, as the cause of the wars, were adjudged enemies, and they sent to
them and demanded money and ordained that they should remove their ships from
all the islands, since these ports were hostile to them. In making known their
attitude the Romans despatched to their rivals a spear and a herald's staff,
bidding them choose one, whichever they pleased. But the Carthaginians without
shrinking made a rather rough answer and declared that they chose neither of the
articles sent them, but were ready to accept either that the challengers might
leave there. Henceforth the two nations hated each other but hesitated to begin
war.
B.C. 232
(a.u. 522)As there was again a hostile movement of the
Sardinians against the Romans, both the consuls took the field, Marcus Malleolus
and Marcus Æmilius. And they secured rich spoils, which, however, were taken[Pg
196] away from them by the Corsicans when they touched at their island. Hence
the Romans next turned their attention to both. B.C. 231
(a.u. 523)Marcus
Pomponius harried Sardinia, but could not find most of the inhabitants, who, as
he learned, had slipped into caves of the forest, difficult to locate; therefore
he sent for keen-scented dogs from Italy and with their aid he discovered the
trail of both men and cattle and cut off many such parties. Gaius Papirius drove
the Corsicans from the plains, but in attempting to force his way to the
mountains he lost numerous men through ambush and would have suffered loss of
still more through lack of water, had not water after a great while been found;
then he persuaded the Corsicans to come to terms.
VIII, 19.—About this time
also Hamilcar the Carthaginian general was defeated by the Spaniards and lost
his life. For, on the occasion of his being arrayed in battle against them, they
led out in front of the Carthaginian army wagons full of pine wood and pitch and
as they drew near they set fire to these vehicles, then hurried on with goads
the animals that were drawing them. Forthwith their opponents were thrown into
confusion, were disorganized and turned to flight, and the Spaniards pursuing
killed Hamilcar and a very great number of others. He having reached the very
highest pinnacle of fame thus met his end, and at his death his brother-in-law
Hasdrubal succeeded him. The latter acquired a large portion of Spain and
founded a city called Carthage, after his native town.
As the Boii and the
rest of the Gauls were continually offering for sale many articles and an
especially large[Pg 197] number of captives, the Romans became afraid that they
might some day use the money against them, and accordingly forbade everybody to
give to a Gaul either silver or gold coin.—B.C. 230
(a.u. 524)Soon after the
Carthaginians,[28] learning that the consuls Marcus Æmilius and Marcus Junius
had started for Liguria, made preparations to march upon Rome. The consuls
became aware of this and proceeded toward them in force, whereupon the
Carthaginians became frightened and met them with all appearances of
friendliness. The consuls likewise feigned that they had not set out against
them but were going through their country into the Ligurian territory.
Now
the Romans crossed the Ionian Gulf and laid hands upon the Greek mainland. They
found an excuse for the voyage in the following circumstances. Frag. 471issa is
an island situated in the ionian gulf. its dwellers, known as issæans, had of
their own free will surrendered themselves to the romans because they were angry
with their ruler Agro, king of the Ardiæans and of Illyrian stock. Frag. 472to
him the consuls sent envoys. But he had died, leaving a son as his successor who
was still a mere child, Frag. 472and his wife, the boy's stepmother, was
administering the domain of the ardiæans. her dealings with the ambassadors were
characterized by a lack of moderation, and when they spoke frankly she cast some
of them into prison and killed others. immediately the romans voted for war
against her, however, she was panic-stricken, promised to restore the
ambassadors that were left alive, and declared[Pg 198] that the dead had been
slain by robbers. when the romans demanded the surrender of the murderers, she
declared that she would not give them up and despatched an army against issa.
then she again grew fearful and sent a certain demetrius to the consuls,
assuring them of her readiness to heed them in every detail. a truce was made
with her emissary upon the latter's agreeing to give them corcyra. yet when the
consuls had crossed over to the island, she, possessing woman-like a light and
fickle disposition, felt imbued with new courage, and sent out an army to
epidamnus and apollonia. at the news that the romans had rescued the cities,
that they had detained ships of hers laden with treasure which were sailing home
from the peloponnesus, that they had devastated the coast regions, that
demetrius as a result of her capriciousness had transferred his allegiance to
the romans besides persuading some others to desert, she became utterly
terrified and withdrew from her sovereignty. Demetrius as destined guardian of
the child was given charge of the ex-queen also. The Romans were thanked by the
Corinthians for this action and took part in the Isthmian contest, Plautus
winning the stadium race in it. Moreover they formed a friendship with the
Athenians and took part in their government and in the Mysteries.
The name
Illyricum was anciently applied to various regions, but later it was transferred
to the upper mainland, that above Macedonia and Thrace, located this side of
Hæmus and toward Rhodope: it lies between these mountains and the Alps, also
between the river[Pg 199] Ænus and the Ister, extending as far as the Euxine
Sea,—indeed, its boundaries at some points extend beyond the Ister.
(Frag.
48?)as an oracle had once come to the romans that greeks and gauls should occupy
the city, two gauls and a couple of greeks, male and female, were buried alive
in the forum, that in this way destiny might seem to have fulfilled itself and
they be properly regarded, since buried alive, as possessing a part of the
city.
After this the Sardinians, deeming it a calamity that a Roman prætor
was forever set over them, made an uprising. They were again enslaved,
however.
VIII, 20.—The Insubres, a Gallic tribe, having gained allies among
their kinsmen beyond the Alps turned their arms against the Romans, and the
latter accordingly made counter-preparations. The barbarians plundered some
towns, but at last a great storm occurred in the night and they began to suspect
that Heaven was against them. Consequently they lost heart and falling into a
panic attempted to entrust their safety to flight. B.C. 225
(a.u. 529)Regulus
pursued them and brought on an engagement with the rear guards in which he was
defeated and lost his life. Æmilius occupied a hill and remained quiet. The
Gauls in turn occupied another one and for several days were inactive; then the
Romans through anger at what had taken place and the barbarians from arrogance
born of the victory charged down from the heights and came to blows. For a long
time the battle was evenly con[Pg 200]tested, but finally the Romans surrounded
them with their horse, cut them down, seized their camp, and got back the
spoils. After this Æmilius wrought havoc among the possessions of the Boii and
Frag. 493celebrated a triumph, in which he conveyed the foremost captives clad
in armor up to the capitol, making jests at their expense for having sworn not
to remove their breastplates before they had mounted the capitol. The Romans now
secured control of the entire territory of the Boii and for the first time
crossed the Po to take the offensive against the Insubres; and they continued to
ravage their country.
Meanwhile portents had occurred which threw the people
of Rome into great fear. A river in Picenum ran the color of blood, in Etruria a
good part of the heavens seemed to be on fire, at Ariminum a light like daylight
blazed out at night, in many portions of Italy the shapes of three moons became
visible in the night time, and in the Forum a vulture roosted for several days.
B.C. 223
(a.u. 531)Because of these portents and inasmuch as some declared
that the consuls had been illegally chosen, they summoned them home. The consuls
received the letter but did not open it immediately, since they were just
entering upon war: instead, they joined battle first and came out victorious.
After the battle the letter was read, and Furius was for obeying without
discussion; but Flaminius was elated over the victory and pointed out that it
had proved their choice to be correct, and he went on with vehement assertions
that it was because they were jealous of him that the[Pg 201] influential men
were even falsifying heavenly warnings. Consequently he refused to depart until
he had settled the whole business in hand, and he said he would teach the people
at home, too, not to be deceived by relying on birds or any other such thing. So
he was anxious to remain on the ground and made repeated attempts to detain his
colleague, but Furius would not heed him. But since the men who were going to be
left behind with Flaminius dreaded lest in their isolation they might suffer
some disaster at the hands of their opponents and begged him to stay by them for
a few days, he yielded to their entreaties but did not take part in any action.
Flaminius traveled about laying waste the country, subjugated a few forts, and
bestowed all the spoils upon the soldiers as a means of winning their favor. At
length the leaders returned home and were put on trial by the senate for their
disobedience (on account of their anger towards Flaminius they subjected Furius
also to disgrace); but the populace was against the senate and showed emulation
in Flaminius's behalf, so that it voted them a triumph. After celebrating it
they laid down their office.
B.C. 222
(a.u. 532)Other consuls, Claudius
Marcellus and Gnæus Scipio, chosen in their stead, made an expedition against
the Insubres, for the Romans had not complied with the latter's requests by
voting for peace. Together at first they carried on the war and were in most
cases victorious. Soon, learning that the allied territory was being plundered,
they severed their[Pg 202] forces. Marcellus made a quick march against those
plundering the land of the allies, but did not find them on the scene; he then
pursued them as they fled and when they made a stand overcame them. Scipio
remained where he was and proceeded to besiege Acerræ; he took it and made it a
base for the war, since it was favorably located and well walled. Starting from
that point they subdued Mediolanum and another village-town. After these had
been captured the rest of the Insubres also made terms with them, giving them
money and a section of the land.
B.C. 221
(a.u. 533)
B.C. 220
(a.u.
534)
Frag. 51Thereafter Publius Cornelius and Marcus Minucius made a campaign
to the Ister regions and brought into subjection many of the nations there, some
by war and some on terms agreed upon. Lucius Veturius and Gaius Lutatius went as
far as the Alps and without any fighting established Roman sovereignty over many
people. The prince of the Ardiæans, however, demetrius, was, as has been stated
above, hateful to the natives and injured the property of neighboring tribes;
and it appeared that it was by misusing the friendship of the romans that he was
able to wrong those peoples. B.C. 219
(a.u. 535)as soon as the consuls,
æmilius paulus and marcus livius, heard of this they summoned him before them.
when he refused compliance and actually assailed their allies, they made a
campaign against issa, where he was. And having received advance information
that he was lying secretly at anchor somewhere in the vicinity of the
landing-places they sent a portion of their ships to the other side of the
island to bring on an engagement.[Pg 203] When the Illyrians accordingly fell
upon the reconnoitering party, thinking them alone, the main body approached at
leisure in their ships and after pitching camp in a suitable place repulsed the
natives, who, angry at the trick, lost no time in attacking them. Demetrius made
his escape to Pharos, another island, but they sailed to that, overcame
resistance, and captured the city by betrayal, only to find Demetrius fled. He
at this time reached Macedonia with large amounts of money and went to Philip,
the king of the country. He was not surrendered by him, but on returning to the
Illyrians was arrested by the Romans and was executed.
[Pg 204]
(BOOK 13,
BOISSEVAIN.)
B.C. 218
(a.u. 536)VIII, 21.—In the succeeding year the
Romans became openly hostile to the Carthaginians, and the war, though of far
shorter duration than the previous one, proved to be both greater and more
baneful in its exploits and effects. It was brought on chiefly by Hannibal,
general of the Carthaginians. This Hannibal was a child of Hamilcar Barca, and
from his earliest boyhood had been trained to fight against the Romans. Hamilcar
said he was raising all his sons like so many whelps to fight against them, but
as he saw that this one's nature was far superior to that of the rest, he made
him take an oath that he would wage war upon them, and for this reason he
instructed the boy in warfare above all else when only fifteen years old. On
account of this youthfulness Hannibal was not able, when his father died, to
succeed to the generalship. But when Hasdrubal was dead, he delayed no longer,
being now twenty-six years of age, but at once took possession of the army in
Spain and after being acclaimed as leader by the soldiers brought it about that
his right to lead was confirmed also by those in authority at home. After
effecting this he needed a plausible excuse for his enterprise against the
Romans, and this he found in the Saguntines of Spain. These people, dwelling not
far from the river Iber and a short distance above the sea, were dependents of
the Romans, and the latter held them in honor and in the treaty[Pg 205] with the
Carthaginians had made an exception of them. For these reasons, then, Hannibal
began a war with them, knowing that the Romans would either assist the
Saguntines or avenge them if they suffered injury. Hence for these reasons as
well as because he knew that they possessed great wealth, which he particularly
needed, and for various other causes that promised him advantages against the
Romans he made an attack upon the Saguntines.
Spain, in which the Saguntines
dwell, and all the adjoining land is in the western part of Europe. It extends
for a considerable distance along the inner sea, beside the Pillars of Hercules,
and along the ocean; furthermore it occupies the upper part of the mainland for
a very great distance, as far as the Pyrenees. Frag. 53this range, beginning at
the sea called anciently the sea of the bebryces but later the sea of the
narbonenses, reaches to the great outer sea, and confines many diverse
nationalities; it also separates spain from the neighboring land of gaul. The
tribes did not employ the same language nor carry on a common government. This
resulted in their not having a single name. The Romans called them Hispanii, but
the Greeks Iberians, from the river Iber.
These Saguntines, then, being
besieged sent to those near them and to the Romans asking for aid. But Hannibal
checked any local movement, and the Romans sent ambassadors to him bidding him
not come near the Saguntines, and threatening in case he should not obey to sail
to Carthage at once and lay accusations[Pg 206] against him. When the envoys
were now close at hand, Hannibal sent some of the natives who were to pretend
that they were kindly disposed to them and were instructed to say that the
general was not there but had gone some distance away into parts unknown; they
advised the enemy, therefore (they were to say), to depart as quickly as
possible and before their presence should be reported lest in the disorder
prevailing because of the absence of the general they should lose their lives.
The envoys accordingly believed them and set off for Carthage. An assembly being
called some of the Carthaginians counseled maintaining peace with the Romans,
but the party attached to Hannibal affirmed that the Saguntines were guilty of
wrongdoing and the Romans were meddling with what did not concern them. Finally
those who urged them to make war won the day.
Meanwhile Hannibal in the
course of his siege was conducting vigorous assaults. Many kept falling and many
more were being wounded on Hannibal's side. One day the Carthaginians succeeded
in shaking down a portion of the outer circuit and had been daring enough to
enter through the breach, when the Saguntines made a sortie and scared them
away. This gave the besieged strength and the Carthaginians fell back in
dejection. They did not leave the spot, however, till they had captured the
city, though the siege dragged on to the eighth month. Many unusual events
happened in that time, one of which was Hannibal's being dangerously wounded.
The place was taken in this[Pg 207] manner. They brought to bear against the
wall an engine much higher than the fortification and carrying heavy-armed
soldiers, some visible, some concealed. While the Saguntines, therefore, were
quite strenuously fighting against the men they saw, thinking them the only
ones, those hidden had dug through the wall from below and found their way
inside. The Saguntines overwhelmed by the unexpectedness of the event ran up to
the citadel and held a conference to see whether by any reasonable concessions
they might be preserved. But as Hannibal held out no moderate terms and no
assistance came to them from the Romans, they begged for a cessation of the
assaults until they should deliberate a little about their position. During this
respite they gathered together the most highly prized of their treasures and
cast them into the fire; then such as were incapable of fighting committed
suicide, and those who were in their prime advanced in a body against their
opponents and in a desperate struggle were cut down.
VIII, 22.—For their
sakes the Romans and the Carthaginians embarked upon war. Hannibal after gaining
numerous allies was hastening toward Italy. The Romans on ascertaining this
assembled in their senate-hall, and many speeches were delivered. Lucius
Cornelius Lentulus addressed the people and said they must not delay but vote
for war against the Carthaginians and separate consuls and armies into two
detachments, and send the one to Spain and the other to Libya, in order that at
one and the same time the land[Pg 208] of the enemy might be desolated and his
allies injured; thus neither would he be able to assist Spain nor could he
himself receive assistance from there. To this Quintus Fabius Maximus rejoined
that it was not so absolutely and inevitably necessary to vote for war, but they
could first employ an embassy, and then if the Carthaginians persuaded them that
they were guilty of no wrong, they should remain quiet, but if the same people
were convicted of wrongdoing, they might thereupon wage war against them, "in
order," he said, "that we may cast the responsibility for the war upon them."
Frag. 549the opinions of the two men were substantially these. the senate
decided to make preparations, to be sure, for conflict, but to despatch envoys
to carthage and denounce hannibal; and if the carthaginians refrained from
approving the exploits, they would arbitrate the matter, or if all
responsibility were laid upon his shoulders, they would demand his extradition,
and if he were not given up, they would declare war upon the nation.
The
envoys set out and the Carthaginians considered what must be done. And a certain
Hasdrubal, one of those who had been primed by Hannibal, counseled them that
they ought to get back their ancient freedom and shake off by means of money and
troops and allies, all welded together, the slavery imposed by peace, adding:
"If you only permit Hannibal to act as he wishes, the proper thing will be done
and you will have no trouble." After such words on his part the great Hanno,
opposing Hasdrubal's argument, gave it as his opinion that they ought not to
draw war upon them[Pg 209]selves lightly nor for small complaints concerning
foreigners, when it was in their power to settle a part of the difficulty and
divert the rest of it upon the heads of those who had been active in the matter.
With these remarks he ceased, and the elder Carthaginians who remembered the
former war sided with him, but those in robust manhood and especially all the
partisans of Hannibal violently gainsaid him. Frag. 5410inasmuch, then, as they
made no definite answer and showed contempt for the envoys, marcus fabius
thrusting his hands beneath his toga and holding them with palms upward said:
"here i bring to you, carthaginians, both war and peace: do you choose whichever
of them you wish." upon their replying that they chose neither, but would
readily accept either that the romans should leave, he immediately declared war
upon them.
In this way, then, and for these reasons the Romans and the
Carthaginians became involved in war for the second time. And the Divinity
beforehand indicated what was to come to pass. For in Rome an ox talked with a
human voice, and another at the Ludi Romani threw himself out of a house into
the Tiber and was lost, many thunderbolts fell, and blood in one case was seen
coming from sacred statues whereas in another it dripped from the shield of a
soldier, and the sword of another soldier was snatched by a wolf from the very
midst of the camp. Many unknown wild beasts went before Hannibal leading the
way, as he was crossing the Iber, and a vision appeared to him in a dream. He
thought that the gods once, sitting in assembly, sent for[Pg 210] him and bade
him march with all speed into Italy and receive from them a guide for the way,
and that by this guide he was commanded to follow without turning around. He did
turn around, however, and saw a great tempest moving and an immense serpent
accompanying it. In surprise he asked his conductor what these creatures were;
and the guide said: "Hannibal, they are on their way to help you in the sack of
Italy."
[Pg 211]
(BOOK 14, BOISSEVAIN.)
VIII, 23.—These things inspired
Hannibal with a firm hope, but threw the Romans into a state of profound terror.
The Romans divided their forces into two parts and sent out the
consuls,—Sempronius Longus to Sicily and Publius Scipio to Spain. Hannibal,
desiring to invade Italy with all possible speed, marched on hurriedly and
traversed without fighting the whole of Gaul lying between the Pyrenees and the
Rhone. As far as the Rhone river no one came to oppose him, but at that point
Scipio showed himself although he had no troops with him. Nevertheless with the
help of the natives and their nearest neighbors he had already destroyed the
boats in the river and had posted guards over the stream. Hannibal therefore
used up some time in building rafts and skiffs, some of them out of a single log
of wood, but still with the help of a large corps of workers had everything in
readiness that was needful for crossing before Scipio's own army could arrive.
He sent his brother Mago accompanied by the horsemen and a few light troops to
cross at a point where the river is scattered over considerable breadth, with
branches separated by islands; he himself, of course, proceeded by way of the
natural ford, his object being that the Gauls should be deceived and array
themselves against him only, while they set their guards with less care at other
points along the river. This object was accomplished. Mago had already got[Pg
212] across the river when Hannibal and his followers were crossing by the ford.
On reaching the middle of the stream they raised a war cry and the trumpeters
joined with the blare of their instruments, and Mago fell upon their antagonists
from the rear. In this way the elephants and all the rest were ferried safely
over. They had just finished crossing when Scipio's own force arrived. Both
sides, then, sent horsemen to reconnoitre, after which they entered upon a
cavalry battle with the same results as attended the war as a whole. The Romans,
that is, after first seeming to get the worst of it and losing a number of men
were victorious.
Then Hannibal, in haste to set out for Italy but suspicious
of the more direct roads, turned aside from them and followed another, on which
he underwent bitter hardships. The mountains there are exceedingly precipitous
and the snow falling in great quantities was driven by the winds and filled the
chasms, and the ice was frozen to a great thickness. These things conspired to
cause them fearful suffering, and many of his soldiers perished through the
winter cold and lack of food; many also returned home. There is a story to the
effect that he himself would also have turned back but for the fact that the
road already traversed was longer and more difficult than the portion left
before him. For this reason he did not retrace his steps, but suddenly appearing
south of the Alps spread astonishment and terror among the Romans.
So he
advanced taking possession of whatever lay before him. Scipio sent his brother
Gaius[29] Scipio, who was serving as a lieutenant under him, into Spain to[Pg
213] either seize and hold it or bring Hannibal back, but he himself marched
against Hannibal. They waited a few days; then both moved into action. Frag.
564before beginning operations, hannibal called together the soldiers and
brought in the captives whom he had taken by the way: he asked the latter
whether they chose to undergo imprisonment and to endure a grievous slavery, or
to fight in single combat with one another on condition that the victors should
be released without ransom. when they accepted the second alternative, he set
them to fighting. and at the end of the conflict he addressed his own soldiers,
encouraging them and whetting their eagerness for war. Scipio also did this on
the Roman side. Then the contest began and looked at the outset as if it would
involve the entire armies: but Scipio in a preliminary cavalry skirmish was
defeated, lost many men, was wounded and would have been killed, had not his son
Scipio, though only seventeen years old, come to his aid; he was consequently
alarmed lest his infantry should similarly meet with a reverse, and he at once
fell back and that night withdrew from the field.
VIII, 24.—Hannibal did not
learn of his withdrawal till daybreak and then went to the Po, and finding there
neither rafts nor boats,—for they had been burned by Scipio,—he ordered his
brother Mago to swim across with the cavalry and pursue the Romans, whereas he
himself marched up toward the sources of the river and commanded that the
elephants cross where the tributary streams converged. In this manner, while the
water was temporarily dammed and torn piecemeal by the animals' bulk, he
effected a crossing more easily below[Pg 214] them. Scipio overtaken stood his
ground and would have offered battle but for the fact that by night the Gauls in
his army deserted. Embarrassed by this occurrence and still suffering from his
wound he once more broke up at night and located his entrenchments on high
ground. He was not pursued, but subsequently the Carthaginians came up and
encamped, with the river between the two forces.
Scipio on account of his
wound and because of what had taken place was inclined to wait and send for
reinforcements; and Hannibal after many attempts to provoke him to battle,
finding that he could not do this and that he was short of food, attacked a fort
where a large supply for the Romans was stored. As he made no headway he
employed money to bribe the commander of the garrison, which thus came into his
possession by betrayal. He hoped also to attain his other objects, partly by
arms and partly by gold. Meanwhile Longus had entrusted Sicily to his lieutenant
and had come in response to Scipio's call. Not much later influenced by ambition
on the one hand and also by the fact of a victory over some marauders he
presented himself in battle array. He lost the day by falling into an ambuscade,
and when Hannibal appeared upon the scene with his infantry and elephants the
followers of the Roman leader turned to flight and many were put to the sword,
many also heedless of the river fell in and were choked. Only a few saved
themselves with Longus. However, Hannibal though victorious was not happy,
because he had lost many soldiers and all of his elephants, except one, as a
result of the winter and from wounds.[Pg 215]
Accordingly, they arranged an
armistice without any desire for peace implied and both sides retired to the
territory of their allies and passed the winter in the cities there. Plenty of
provisions kept coming to the Romans, but Hannibal, not satisfied with the
contributions of the allies, made frequent raids upon the Roman villages and
cities and sometimes would conquer, sometimes be repulsed. Once he was beaten by
Longus with the cavalry and received a wound. Some of the Roman settlers
encouraged by this came out by themselves to oppose him when he assailed them.
These would-be warriors he destroyed and received the capitulation of the place,
which he razed to the ground. Of the captives taken he killed the Romans but
released the rest. This he did also in the case of all those taken alive, hoping
to conciliate the cities by their influence. And, indeed, many of the Gauls as
well as Ligurians and Etruscans either murdered the Romans dwelling within their
borders or surrendered them and then transferred their allegiance.
As
Hannibal was advancing toward Etruria Longus attacked him in the midst of a
great storm. Many fell on both sides and Hannibal entered Ligurian territory and
delayed some time. He was suspicious of even his own men and was free to trust
no one, but made frequent changes of costume, wore false hair, spoke different
languages at different times (for he knew a number, including Latin) and both
night and day he would frequently make the rounds of his camp. He was always
listening to some conversations in the guise of an[Pg 216] entirely different
person from Hannibal and occasionally he talked thus in character.
VIII,
25.—While this was going on in Italy the other Scipio, Gaius, had sailed along
the coast to Spain, and had won over, partly by force and partly without
opposition, all the districts to the Iber that border on the sea and
considerable of the upper peninsula. He had also defeated Banno in battle and
had taken him prisoner. Hasdrubal, the brother of Hannibal, on learning this
crossed the Iber and reduced some of the rebels, but at Scipio's approach he
fell back.
B.C. 217
(a.u. 537)The people of Rome again chose Flaminius and
Geminus consuls. Just after the advent of spring Hannibal was apprised that
Flaminius together with Servilius Geminus would march against him with a large
force, and he devoted his attention to deceiving them. He pretended that he was
going to spend his time and meet the issue where he was, and when the Romans,
thinking that he was permanently located, began to show carelessness in their
line of march, he started just after nightfall, leaving his cavalry behind at
camp, noiselessly traversed the passes and hastened on toward Aretium; and the
cavalry, after he had got far ahead, set out to follow him. When the consuls
found out that they had been tricked, Geminus stayed behind to harass the
revolted districts and prevent them from assisting the Carthaginians, and
Flaminius alone pursued, eager that his alone should be the credit of the
expected victory. He succeeded in occupying Aretium beforehand, for Hannibal in
taking a shorter road had[Pg 217] encountered difficult marching, and had lost
numerous men, many pack animals, and one of his eyes. It was late, then, before
he reached Aretium and found there Flaminius, whom he regarded with contempt. He
did not give battle, for the situation was unsuitable, but by way of testing his
enemy's disposition he laid waste the country. At this the Romans made a sally
and he retired, to give them the idea that he was afraid. During the night he
broke up and found a satisfactory spot for battle, where he remained. He
arranged that most of the infantry should form an ambush along the mountain
sides and ordered all the cavalry to lie in wait concealed from view outside the
pass; he himself encamped with a few followers on the hilltop. Flaminius was in
good spirits and when he saw him with but a few men on the high ground he
believed that the rest of the army must have been sent to some distant point and
hoped to take him easily thus isolated. So he carelessly entered the mouth of
the pass and there (for it was late) pitched camp. About midnight, when they
were sleeping unguarded through scorn of their enemies, the Carthaginians
surrounded them on every side at once and by using from a distance javelins,
slings, and arrows they killed some still in their beds, others just seizing
their arms, without receiving any serious harm in return. The Romans, having no
tangible adversaries and with darkness and mist prevailing, found no chance to
employ their valor. So great was the uproar and of such a nature the disordered
alarm that seized them, that they were not even aware of earthquakes then[Pg
218] prevailing, although many buildings fell in ruins and many mountains either
were cleft asunder or collapsed so that they blocked up ravines, and rivers shut
off from their ancient outlet sought another. Such were the earthquakes which
overwhelmed Etruria, yet the combatants were not conscious of them. Flaminius
himself and a vast number of others fell, though not a few managed to climb a
hill. When it became day, they started to flee and being overtaken surrendered
themselves and their arms on promise of free pardon. Hannibal, however, recking
little of his oaths, imprisoned and kept under guard the Romans themselves, but
released their subjects and allies among all the captives he had in his army.
After this success he hastened toward Rome and proceeded as far as Narnia
devastating the country and winning over the cities, save Spoletium; there he
surrounded and slew the prætor Gaius Centenius who was in ambush. He made an
attack upon Spoletium, but was repulsed, and as he saw that the bridge over the
Nar had been torn down and ascertained that this had been done also in the case
of the other rivers which he was obliged to cross, he ceased his headlong rush
upon Rome. Instead, he turned aside into Campania, for he heard that the land
was excellent and that Capua was a great city, and thought that if he should
first occupy these he might acquire the rest of Italy in a short time.
The
people of Rome when informed of the defeat were grieved and lamented both for
themselves and for the lost. They were in sore straits and tore down the[Pg 219]
bridges over the Tiber, save one, and proceeded hurriedly to repair their walls,
which were weak in many places. Frag. 569wishing to have a dictator ready, they
had proclaimed one in assembly. satisfied if they themselves only should be
saved, they had despatched no aid to the allies. but now, learning that hannibal
had set out into campania, they determined to assist the allies also. To
Hannibal they opposed the dictator Fabius and the master of horse Marcus
Minucius. These leaders set out in his direction but did not come into close
quarters with him. They followed and kept him in view in the hope that a
favorable opportunity for battle might possibly befall. Fabius was unwilling to
risk a conflict with cowed and beaten soldiers against a greater number who had
been victorious. Furthermore he hoped that the more his foes should injure the
country, the sooner would they be in want of food. Calculating in this way he
did not defend Campania nor any other district. For these reasons he confined
hostilities entirely within Campania; unknown to the enemy he had surrounded
them on every side and now kept guard over them. He himself secured an abundance
of provisions both from the sea and from the territory of allies, but the
invaders, he knew, had only the products of the land which they were devastating
to depend upon. Therefore he waited and did not mind the delay. Hence also he
was blamed by his fellow-citizens and was even given the name of The
Delayer.
VIII, 26.—When it came to be nearly winter and Hannibal could not
pass that season where he was owing to a lack of the necessities of life and had
been[Pg 220] checked in many attempts to get out of Campania, he devised a plan
of this kind. He first slew all the captives, that no one of them might escape
and acquaint the Romans with what was being done. Then he gathered the cattle
which were in camp, affixed torches to their horns, and went at nightfall to the
mountains forming the boundary of Samnium, where he lighted the torches and
threw the cattle into a fright. They, maddened by the fire and the driving, set
fire to the forest in many places and consequently rendered it easy for Hannibal
to cross the mountains. The Romans in the plain as well as those on the heights
dreaded an ambuscade and would not budge. Thus Hannibal got across and made his
way into Samnium.
Fabius, ascertaining the next day what had been done, gave
chase and routed those left behind on the road to hinder his men's progress,
afterward defeating also troops that came to the assistance of the first party.
He then encamped not far from the enemy, yet would not come into conflict with
them. However, he prevented them from scattering and foraging, so that Hannibal
in perplexity at first started for Rome. As Fabius would not fight, but quietly
accompanied him, he again turned back into Samnium. Frag. 5610and fabius
following on continued to besiege him from a safe distance, being anxious not to
lose any of his own troops, especially since he could obtain necessities in
abundance, whereas he saw that his foe actually possessed nothing outside of his
weapons and that no assistance was sent to him from home. Frag. 5611for the
cartha[Pg 221]ginians were disposed to make sport of him in that he wrote of his
splendid progress and his many successes and in the same breath asked soldiers
of them and money. they said that his requests were not in accord with his
successes: conquerors ought to find their army sufficient, and to forward money
to their homes instead of demanding more.
As long as Fabius was in the field,
no disaster happened to the Romans, but when he started for Rome on some public
business, they met with a setback. Rufus, his master of horse, was only a young
man and therefore full of empty conceit; he was not observant of the errors of
warfare and was wearied by the delays of Fabius: hence, when he once held the
leadership of the army alone, he disregarded the injunctions of the dictator and
hastened to bring on a set battle, in which at first he seemed to be victorious,
but was soon defeated. Indeed, he would have been utterly destroyed, had not
some Samnites arrived by chance to aid the Romans and impressed the
Carthaginians with the idea that Fabius was approaching. When for this reason
they retired he thought that he had vanquished them and sent messages to Rome
magnifying his exploit and also slandering the dictator; he called Fabius
timorous and hesitating and a sympathizer with the enemy.
The people of Rome
believed that Rufus had really conquered, and in view of this unexpected
encouragement they commended and honored him. They were suspicious of Fabius
both because of the outcome and because he had not ravaged his own land in
Campania, and it would have taken but little to make them depose[Pg 222] him
from his command. However, as they believed him useful, Frag. 5614they did not
depose him but they assigned equal power to his master of horse so that both
held command on an equal footing. when this had been decreed, fabius harbored no
wrath against either the citizens or rufus; but rufus, who had not shown the
right spirit in the first place, was now especially puffed up and could not
contain himself. he kept asking for the right to hold sole sway a day at a time,
or for several days alternately. fabius, possessed with dread that he might work
some harm if he should get possession of the undivided power, would not consent
to either plan of his, but divided the army in such a way that they each, the
same as the consuls, had a separate force. and immediately rufus encamped apart,
in order to illustrate the fact that he was holding sway in his own right and
not subject to the dictator. Hannibal, accordingly, perceiving this came up as
if to seize a position, and drew him into battle. He then encompassed him about
by means of an ambuscade and plunged him into danger, to such an extent, indeed,
that he would have annihilated his entire army, if Fabius had not assailed
Hannibal in the rear and prevented it.
After this experience Frag. 5616rufus
altered his attitude, led the remnant of the army immediately into fabius's
quarters and laid down his command. he did not wait for the people to revoke it,
but voluntarily gave up the leadership which he, a mere master of the horse, had
obtained from his superior. and for this all praised him. and fabius at once,
nothing doubting, accepted entire control and the people[Pg 223] sanctioned it.
Frag. 5617thereafter as head of the army he afforded greatest security, and when
about to retire from office sent for the consuls, surrendered the army to them,
and advised them very fully regarding all the details of what must be done. and
they were not unduly bold, but acted entirely on the suggestion of fabius,
notwithstanding that Geminus had had some previous success. He had seen the
Carthaginian fleet at anchor off Italy but not venturing to display any
hostility because of the Roman ability to meet it, and he had started on a
retaliatory voyage, first making sure the good conduct of the Corsicans and
Sardinians by a cruise past their coasts; he had then landed in Libya and
plundered the shore district. In spite of this achievement he was not so puffed
up by it as to risk a decisive engagement with Hannibal, but was willing to
abide by the injunctions of Fabius. One consequence was that the cities were no
longer found siding with the Carthaginians, as they had done; for they feared
that Hannibal would be driven out of Italy and they themselves suffer some
calamity at the hands of the Romans since they were their kinsmen. The majority
were engaged in trying to read the future, but a few again espoused the Roman
cause, and some sent them offerings. And though Hiero often sent grain (and also
sent a statue of Victory), the Romans accepted it only once. Yet they were in
such hard straits for money that the silver coinage which was previously
unalloyed and pure was now mixed with copper.
IX, 1.—All this is what took
place in Italy at that period. Some slaves also formed a conspiracy against
Rome, but were apprehended in advance. And a spy[Pg 224] caught in the city had
his hands cut off and was released that he might tell the Carthaginians his
experience with his own lips.—In Spain in a sea-fight near the mouth of the Iber
Scipio was victorious; for when the struggle proved to be too even, the sails
were cut down in order that the men being placed in a desperate position might
struggle more zealously. He also ravaged the country, got possession of numerous
fortresses and through his brother Publius Scipio gained control of some Spanish
cities. A Spaniard named Habelux affecting loyalty to the Carthaginians but in
reality in the Roman service persuaded the Carthaginian guardian of the Spanish
hostages to send them to their homes, in order that they might use their
influence to bring their cities into friendly relations. Habelux naturally took
charge of them, inasmuch as he had been the one to suggest the idea, but first
sent to the Scipios and held a discussion about what he desired; then, while he
was secretly taking the hostages away by night, he of course got captured. In
this way it was the Romans who obtained possession of these men and acquired
control of their native states by returning them to their homes.
[Pg
225]
(BOOK 15, BOISSEVAIN.)
B.C. 216
(a.u. 538)Though in these matters
they were fortunate, they encountered elsewhere a fearful disaster, than which
they never suffered one more terrible either earlier or subsequently. It was
preceded by certain portents and the solemn verses of the Sibyl which had
prophesied the disaster to them so many years before. Remarkable was also the
prediction of Marcius. He also was a soothsayer and it was his rede that,
inasmuch as they were Trojans of old, they should be overthrown in the Plain of
Diomed. This was in Daunian Apulia and took its name from the settlement of
Diomed, which he made there in the course of his wanderings. In that plain is
also Cannæ, where the present misfortune occurred, close to the Ionian Gulf and
near the mouths of the Aufidus. The Sibyl had urged them to beware of the spot,
yet said it would avail them naught, even if they should keep it under strictest
guard.
Such were the oracular utterances: now what befell the Romans was
this. Frag. 5621the commanders were æmilius paulus and terentius varro, men not
of similar temperament. for the one was a patrician, possessed of the graces of
education, and esteemed safety before haste: but terentius had been brought up
among the rabble, was practiced in vulgar bravado, and so displayed lack of
prudence in nearly all respects, thinking, for instance, that he alone should
have the leadership in view of the quiet behavior of his colleague. now they
both reached the camp at a[Pg 226] most opportune time: hannibal had no longer
any provender; spain was in turmoil; the affection of the allies was being
alienated from him; and if they had waited for even the briefest possible
period, they would have conquered. as matters went, however, the recklessness of
terentius and the submissiveness of paulus compassed their defeat. Hannibal
attempted to lead them into a conflict at once, and with a few followers drew
near their stronghold: then, when a sortie was made, he purposely fell back to
create the impression of being afraid and so drew them the more surely into a
set battle. But, as Paulus restrained his own soldiers from pursuit, Hannibal
simulated terror and that night packed up as if to depart; and he left behind
him numerous articles lying within the palisade and ordered the rest of the
baggage to be escorted with a considerable show of carelessness so as to make
the Romans devote their attention to plundering it and give him thereby a chance
to attack them. He would have translated his wish into fact, if Paulus had not
held back his soldiers, in spite of their reluctance, and held back Terentius as
well.
So Hannibal, having failed in this essay also, came by night to Cannæ,
and since he knew the place as one fit for ambuscades and for a pitched battle,
he encamped there. And first he ploughed the whole site over, because it had a
sandy subsoil and his object was to have a cloud of dust raised in the conflict;
the wind generally springs up there in summer toward noon, and he contrived to
get it behind his back. The consuls seeing at dawn that his stockade was empty
of men at first waited, apprehending ambush, but later in[Pg 227] the broad
daylight came to Cannæ. Each of the Roman leaders bivouacked apart beside the
river, for since they were not congenial they avoided association together.
Paulus remained quiet, but Terentius was anxious to force the issue; when he
saw, however, that the soldiers were rather listless, he gave up the idea. But
Hannibal, who was determined to goad them into battle even against their will,
shut them off from their sources of water, prevented their scattering into small
parties, and threw the bodies of the slain into the stream above their
intrenchments and in plain sight, in order to disgust them with the drinking
supply. Then the Romans started to array themselves for battle. Hannibal
anticipating this movement had planted ambuscades at the foot of the hills but
held the remainder of his army drawn up. He also ordered some men at a given
signal to simulate desertion; they were to throw away their shields and spears
and larger swords but secretly to retain their daggers, so that after his
antagonists had received them as unarmed, they might attack them
unexpectedly.
The Romans having had in view since early morning the troops
arrayed about Hannibal were now arming themselves and taking their places. The
trumpets incited both parties, the signals were raised, and then ensued the
clash of battle and a contest which assumed a variety of aspects. Until noon the
advantage had not fallen distinctly to either side. Then the wind came up and
the false deserters were received as men destitute of arms and got behind the
Romans, alleging the very natural reason that they wanted to be out of the[Pg
228] way of the Carthaginian attack. At this moment the men rose from ambush on
both sides, Hannibal with his cavalry charged the front ranks, the enemy
confused the Romans on every hand, the wind and the dust cloud assailed their
faces violently, causing perplexity, and interfered with their breathing, which
was already growing quick and labored from exertion, so that deprived of sight,
deprived of voice, they perished in a wild mêlée, preserving no semblance of
order. So great a multitude fell that Hannibal did not even try to find out the
number of the common people, and in regard to the number of the knights and
members of the senate he did not write to the Carthaginians at home but
indicated it by the finger-rings; these he measured off by the quart and sent
away. Only the senators and the knights wore finger-rings. Yet after all a
number made good their escape even on this occasion, among them Terentius;
Paulus was killed. Hannibal did not pursue nor did he hasten to Rome. He might
have set out at once for Rome with either his entire army or at least a portion
of it and have quickly ended the war; yet he did not do so, although Maharbal
urged him to do so. Hence he was censured as being able to win victories but not
understanding how to use them. Since they had delayed this time, they could
never again have an opportunity to make haste. Therefore Hannibal regretted it,
feeling that he had committed a blunder, and was ever crying out: "Oh Cannæ,
Cannæ!"
IX, 2.—The Romans, who had been in such imminent danger of being
destroyed, won back their[Pg 229] superiority through Scipio. He was a son of
the Publius Scipio in Spain, and had saved the life of his father when the
latter was wounded: Frag. 5624he was at this time serving in the army, had fled
to canusium, and later achieved renown. by common consent of the fugitives
assembled at canusium he received the leadership, set in order affairs at that
place, sent garrisons to the regions in proximity, and both planned and executed
all measures well.
The people of Rome heard of the defeat but did not believe
it. When they at last came to believe it, they were filled with sorrow and met
in the senate-house, but were ready to break up without accomplishing anything,
when finally Fabius proposed that they send scouts to bring a report of what had
really happened and what Hannibal was doing. He advised them not to lament but
to go about in silence that the necessary measures might be taken, and
furthermore to collect as large a force as they might and to call upon adjoining
settlements for aid. After this, upon learning that Hannibal was in Apulia and
receiving a letter from Terentius stating that he was alive and what he was
doing, they recovered a little of their courage. Marcus Junius was named
dictator and Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus master of the horse. Immediately they
enrolled not only those of the citizens who were in their prime but also those
even who were past the fighting age; they added to their forces prisoners on
promise of pardon and slaves on promise of freedom and a brigand here and there;
moreover they called on their allies to help, reminding them of any kindness
ever shown them and promising in addition to give to some[Pg 230] of them grain,
to others money, as they had never done before; they also sent emissaries to
Greece to either persuade or hire men to serve as their allies.
Hannibal,
learning that the Romans had united their troops and were engaged in
preparations, still delayed at Cannæ despairing of a capture by assault. Of the
captives he released the allied contingent without ransom as before, but the
Romans he kept, hoping to dispose of them by sale, since this would make him
better off but the Romans worse off. When no one came from Rome in quest of the
captives, he ordered them to send some of their number home after ransom,
provided they had first taken oath to return. When even then the Romans refused
to ransom them, he shipped those who were of any value to Carthage, and of the
rest he put some to death after maltreating them and forced the others to fight
as gladiators, pitting friends and relatives against each other. Those who were
sent for ransom returned in order to be true to their oaths, but later fled.
They were disfranchised by the censors and committed suicide.
Hannibal sent
his brother Mago to report the victory to the Carthaginians and to ask them for
money and troops. He on his arrival counted over the rings and described the
success naturally in even more glowing terms than it deserved; everything that
he asked was voted and they would not listen to Hanno who opposed it and advised
them to end the war while they seemed to have the upper hand. However, they
never put their vote into effect, but delayed. Hannibal mean[Pg 231]while had
advanced into Campania, had seized a Samnite fortress, and marched upon
Neapolis. He sent before him a few soldiers with the booty and when the people
of the city, thinking them alone, rushed out upon them, he unexpectedly appeared
in person and slew a large number. He did not capture the city, nor did he lay
siege to it for long. The reason will presently be plain. Of the Campanian
inhabitants of Capua a part clung to Roman friendship, but others favored
Hannibal. After his success at Cannæ and when some of their men taken captive
had been released the populace was clamorous to revolt to Hannibal, but the men
of rank waited for some time. Finally the crowd made a rush upon them as they
were assembled in the senate-house and would have made away with them all but
for the action of some one of the crowd who saw how great a misfortune this
would be. This person denounced the senators as by all means deserving to
perish, but said that they ought first to choose others to fill their places,
for the State could not endure without some men to concert measures for them.
Having gained the assent of the Capuan people he ejected each one of them from
the senate-house, asking the populace, as he did so, whom they chose in his
place. Thus, as they found themselves unable to choose others on short notice,
they let all the old senators go unharmed, because they appeared to be
necessary. Later they became reconciled with one another and made peace with
Hannibal. This is why he quickly retired from Neapolis and came to Capua. He[Pg
232] held a conference with the people and made many attractive offers, among
other things promising to give them the supreme direction of Italy; for he was
anxious that they should be animated by hope and, feeling that they would be
working for themselves, develop greater zeal in the struggle.
At the revolt
of Capua the rest of Campania also became restive, and the news of the town's
secession troubled the Romans. As for Hannibal, he started on a campaign against
the Nucerini. Under stress of siege and owing to lack of food they thrust out
that portion of the population which was not available for fighting. Hannibal
would not receive them, however, and gave them assurance of safety only in case
they should go back to the city. Frag. 5625therefore the rest also agreed to
leave the city carrying one change of clothing. as soon, however, as hannibal
was master of the situation, he shut the senators into bath-houses and
suffocated them, and in the case of the others, although he had told them to go
away where they pleased, he cut down on the road many even of them. a number of
them saved their lives only by taking refuge in the woods. thereupon the rest
became afraid and would no longer come to terms with him, but resisted while
they were able. The people of Nola were planning to range themselves under his
banner, but when they saw what had been done to their countrymen, they quietly
let Marcellus in and later repulsed Hannibal when he assaulted their city.
Repelled from Nola he captured the people of Acerræ by starving them out. Frag.
5629he made the same[Pg 233] terms with them as with the dwellers in nuceria and
also accorded them the same treatment. After that he directed his forces against
Casilinum in which Romans and about a thousand of the allies had taken refuge.
These put to death the native citizens who were meditating how to betray them,
repulsed Hannibal several times and held out nobly against hunger. When food was
failing them they sent a man across the river on an inflated skin to inform the
dictator. The latter put jars filled with wheat into the river at night and bade
them keep their eyes on the current in the darkness. For a while he thus
supplied them with nutriment without being discovered, but eventually a jar was
dashed against some obstacle and shattered; then the Carthaginians became aware
of what was going on and put chains across the river. After a number had
perished of hunger and of their wounds, they abandoned one half of the city, cut
down the bridge, and held out in the other half. They now threw turnip seed from
the wall upon a spot outside, doing this in order to alarm the enemy and make
them believe that they were likely to endure for a long time. Hannibal, indeed,
thinking that they must have plenty of food and astonished at their endurance
invited them to capitulate and released them for money. The Romans outside were
glad to ransom them, and more than that they showed them honor.
IX, 3.—While
these events took place the messengers returned from Delphi saying that the
Pythia admonished them to shake off sloth and devote them[Pg 234]selves to the
war. Then they were filled with new strength. They overtook Hannibal and
encamped near him so as to watch his movements. Junius the dictator ordered the
Romans to do exactly as the Carthaginians were commanded to do. So they took
their food and sleep at the same time, visited the sentries in the same manner,
and were doing everything else in similar fashion. When Hannibal understood the
situation, he waited for a stormy night and announced to some of his soldiers a
skirmish for after nightfall. Junius did the same thing. Thereupon Hannibal
ordered different detachments to attack him in succession at different times in
order that his opponent might be involved in constant labor as a result of
sleeplessness and the storm. He himself rested with the troops not in action.
When day was about to break, he recalled the army, as was expected, and the
Romans put away their weapons and retired to rest; then all of a sudden he
attacked them, with the result that he killed a number and captured the
entrenchments, which were deserted.
Conditions in Sicily and Sardinia grew
unsettled but did not receive any consideration at the hands of the Romans. B.C.
215
(a.u. 539)The consuls chosen were Gracchus, previously master of the
horse, and Postumius Albinus. Albinus was ambuscaded and destroyed with his
entire army by the Boii as he was traversing a wooded mountain. The barbarians
cut off his head, scooped out the interior and after gilding it used it for a
bowl in their sacred ceremonials.—Portents occurred at this time.[Pg 235] A cow
brought forth a horse and fire shone out at sea. The consuls Gracchus and Fabius
encamped and kept watch of Hannibal while he stayed in Capua, to see what he
did. They spent their time in sending scouts in every direction, defending the
allies, trying to win back the revolted and injuring their adversaries'
interests. Hannibal, so long as he obtained a barely sufficient supply of food
at the cost of encountering dangers, led a temperate life, as did his army; but
after they had taken Capua and wintered there in idleness with ample provisions,
they began to lose their physical strength by not laboring and their
intellectual force by tranquillity, and in changing their ancestral habits they
learned an accomplishment new to them,—that of being defeated in battle.—When
the work of war finally became pressing, Hannibal transferred his quarters to
the mountains and gave the army exercise. But they could not get strong in a
short space of time. He was encouraged by the arrival of reinforcements from
home, especially in the matter of elephants. He now set out against Nola
intending to capture it or else to draw Marcellus, who was ravaging Samnium,
away from that region. As he could accomplish nothing, he withdrew from the city
and laid waste the country, until he suffered a decisive defeat in battle,—an
event which grieved him. Many Spaniards and even many Libyans now forsook him
and deserted to the Romans,—a new experience for him. Consequently, despairing
of his own and the soldiers' prospects he abandoned that entire region and
retired to[Pg 236] Capua. Afterward he left there also to take up a different
position.
B.C. 217
(a.u. 537)The Scipios had crossed the river Iber and
were ravaging the country; they had secured control of various cities and when
Hasdrubal for this reason hastened to oppose them, they had conquered him in
battle. The Carthaginians learning this thought that Hasdrubal needed more
assistance than did Hannibal, and fearing that the Scipios might attempt to
cross into Libya also they sent only a small body of troops to Hannibal, but
despatched the largest detachment with Mago to Spain with the utmost speed; and
they bade him after the reduction of Spain to remain to guard their interests
there, whereas Hasdrubal was to be sent with a body of troops against Italy.
B.C. 216
(a.u. 538)The Scipios, made aware of the plan, no longer gave battle
for fear that Hasdrubal perhaps might win a victory and then hasten to Italy.
However, as the Carthaginians went on injuring the part of the country that was
friendly to the Romans, Publius engaged in a struggle with such of his opponents
as attacked him and won a victory; Gnæus intercepted the enemy who were retiring
from this battle and annihilated them. As a result of this disaster and because
numerous cities were transferring their allegiance to the Romans and some of the
Libyans had gone over to their side, Hasdrubal remained there longer than he was
intending. The Scipios sent their accessions at once to Italy, and they
themselves continued to adjust affairs in Spain. They captured the subjects of
Saguntum who[Pg 237] had caused them the war and their reverses, and they tore
down the hostile settlement and sold the men. After this they took possession of
Saguntum and restored it to its original inhabitants. They were so scrupulous in
regard to the plunder that they sent nothing home. They allowed the partners of
their campaign to do so, but for themselves they sent only some jackstones to
their children. Hence the senate upon the request of Gnæus for leave of absence
that he might go home and borrow a dowry for his daughter, who was of age to be
married, voted that a dowry be given her from the public funds.
IX, 4.—In the
course of the same period both Sicily and Sardinia had become openly hostile.
But the disturbance in these regions soon subsided. B.C. 215
(a.u.
539)Hasdrubal, who was aiding them, was captured and Manlius Torquatus recovered
almost the entire island. For the time being affairs in Sicily were quiet, but
afterward disturbance reigned anew. King Philip of Macedonia showed himself a
most open partisan of the Carthaginians. In his desire to add Greece to his
possessions he made an agreement with Hannibal that they should conduct the war
in common, and that the Carthaginians should get Italy but he should have Greece
and Epirus together with the islands. The agreement was made on this basis, but
through the capture of the herald who had been sent to Hannibal by Philip the
Romans learned what was taking place and forthwith despatched the prætor Marcus
Valerius Lævinus[30][Pg 238] against him. They intended to make him anxious
about internal affairs, so that he should stay at home. The plan worked. B.C.
214
(a.u. 540)Philip had progressed as far as Corcyca with the intention of
sailing to Italy, but on learning that Lævinus was already at Brundusium he
returned home. When Lævinus had sailed as far as Corcyca, Philip set out against
the Roman allies; he had captured Oricum and was besieging Apollonia. Lævinus
made an expedition against him anew, recovered Oricum and rescued Apollonia.
Then Philip after burning the ships which he had used retired homewards
overland.
The people of Rome chose Fabius and Marcellus consuls. Hannibal was
then traveling about in what is called Calabria and in adjacent regions, and
they assigned the care of him to Gracchus, who had held office before them. The
latter routed Hanno (who had come from Bruttium and confronted him near
Beneventum), and then going on he watched Hannibal closely, kept ravaging the
possessions of rebels and won some cities safely back. The consuls themselves
turned their steps toward Campania, for they were anxious to subdue it and so
leave no element of hostility behind their backs when they should march against
Hannibal. They then divided forces. Fabius overran the districts of Campania and
Samnium. Marcellus crossed into Sicily and proceeded to besiege Syracuse. The
town had submitted to him, but then had revolted again through the treachery of
some men by the use of a false message. He would have subdued[Pg 239] it very
speedily,—for he assaulted the wall by both land and sea at once,—had not
Archimedes with his inventions enabled the citizens to resist an extremely long
time. By his devices he suspended stones and heavy-armed soldiers in the air
whom he would let down suddenly and soon draw up again. Even ships that carried
towers he would dash one upon another; he would pull them up and (Frag.
5631?)lifting them high would let go all in a mass so that when they fell into
the water they were sunk by the impact. At last in an incredible manner he
destroyed the whole Roman fleet by conflagration. By tilting a kind of mirror
toward the sun he concentrated the sun's beams on it; and as the thickness and
smoothness of the mirror coöperated to ignite the air from these beams he
kindled a great flame, all of which he directed upon the ships that lay at
anchor in the path of the fire, and he consumed them all. Marcellus, therefore,
despairing of capturing the city on account of the inventiveness of Archimedes
thought to take it by famine after a regular investment. This duty he assigned
to Pulcher while he himself turned his attention to those who had participated
in the revolt of Syracuse. Any who yielded were granted pardon, but those who
resisted he treated harshly, and he captured a number of the cities by force,
some also by betrayal. In the meantime Himilco had come from Carthage with an
army, had occupied Agrigentum and Heraclea and had reached Syracuse. There he
was first defeated, then was in turn victorious, and finally was beaten by a
sudden assault on the part of Marcellus.[Pg 240]
IX, 5.—Thereafter Marcellus
was still investing Syracuse. Hannibal was passing his time in Calabria. B.C.
212
(a.u. 542)The Romans, moreover, had again experienced many and
disagreeable reverses. The consuls had received a setback near Capua, Gracchus
had died in Lucania, Tarentum and other cities had revolted, Hannibal,
previously cowed, remained in Italy and had marched upon Rome, and both the
Scipios had perished. Elated by these events Hannibal undertook to render
assistance to Capua. He went as far as Beneventum, then, ascertaining that
Claudius had returned from Samnium into Lucania on account of the death of
Gracchus, he became afraid that the Romans might secure control of parts of it,
and he advanced no farther but turned to meet Claudius.—Upon the death of the
Scipios the whole of Spain was thrown into disorder. Some towns voluntarily went
over to the Carthaginians and others under compulsion, even if they did later
swing back to the Roman side.
Marcellus, finding that he was accomplishing
naught by assault on Syracuse, thought of the following scheme. There was a
vulnerable spot in the Syracusans' wall, which they called Galeagra; it had
never before been recognized as such, but the fact was at this time discovered.
He waited till the whole town of Syracuse celebrated an all night festival to
Artemis and then bade some soldiers scale the wall at that point. After that
some gates were opened by them and, as soon as a few others had gone in, all,
both inside and outside, at a given signal raised a shout and struck their[Pg
241] spears upon their shields, and the trumpeters blew a blast, with the result
that utter panic overwhelmed the Syracusans, who were anyway somewhat the worse
for drink, and the city was captured with the exception of Achradina and what is
called the "island." Marcellus plundered the captured town and attacked the
portions not yet taken, and with time and labor but after all successfully he
conquered the remainder of Syracuse. The Romans when they became masters of
these districts killed many persons, among them Archimedes. He was constructing
a geometrical figure and hearing that the enemy were at hand he said: (Frag.
5632?)"Let them come at my head, but keep their distance from my figure!" He was
little perturbed when a hostile warrior confronted him, and by his words,
"Fellow, stand away from my figure," he irritated the man and was cut
down.
B.C. 211
(a.u. 543)
cp. Frag. 326Marcellus for his capture of
Syracuse and his conciliation of most of the rest of Sicily received high praise
and was appointed consul. They had nominated Torquatus, who once had put his son
to death. He declined, however, saying: "I could not endure your blunders, nor
you my punctiliousness," whereupon they elected Marcellus and Valerius
Lævinus.
IX, 6.—After Marcellus left Sicily, Hannibal sent a troop of cavalry
there and the Carthaginians despatched another. They won several battles and
acquired some cities. And if the prætor Cornelius Dolabella had not come upon
the scene, they would have subjugated all Sicily.[Pg 242]
Capua was at this
time taken by the Romans. It availed nothing that Hannibal marched upon Rome in
order to draw away from Capua the forces besieging it, although he traversed
Latium, came to the Tiber, and laid waste the suburbs of the city. The people of
Rome were frightened, but still they voted that one of the consuls[31] should
remain at Capua while the other defended them. It was Claudius who remained at
Capua, for he had been wounded: Flaccus hastened to Rome.
Hannibal kept
making raids all the time before their eyes and doing a great amount of harm,
but for some time they were satisfied to preserve their possessions within the
walls. When, however, he reached the point of assaulting the city and their
armies at once, they risked the proverbial cast of the die and made a sortie.
They were already engaged in skirmishing when (Frag. 5633?)an extraordinary
storm accompanied by an inconceivably strong wind as well as thunder, hail, and
lightning, broke from a clear sky, so that both were glad enough to flee as if
by mutual consent back to the place from which they had set out. They were just
laying aside their arms when the sky became clear. Although Hannibal concluded
that the event mentioned, coming as it did precisely at the moment of conflict,
had not occurred without divine ordering, yet he did not desist from his siege
operations and even attempted again on a subsequent occasion to force the issue.
But when the same phenomena were met for the second time, he became[Pg 243]
terrified. What added to his alarm was that the enemy though in so great danger
did not withdraw from Capua and were getting ready to send both soldiers and a
prætor into Spain, and that being in need of funds they sold the spot where he
was encamped, which was a piece of public property. In despair he retired, often
crying aloud, "Oh, Cannæ, Cannæ!" And he no longer showed a disposition to
render aid to Capua.
The people of that city although in extremities were
nevertheless desperate, believing that they could not obtain pardon from the
Romans, and they therefore held out and sent a letter to Hannibal begging him to
assist them. The bearers of the letter were seized by Flaccus (Claudius had
before this time died of his wound) and had their hands cut off. Seeing them the
Campanians were terribly dismayed and took counsel as to what they should do.
After considerable talk a certain Vibius Virius, one of the foremost men and
most responsible for the revolt, spoke, saying: "Our only refuge and freedom
lies in death. Escort me home. I have a poison made ready." So he took with him
those who were willing to accept his advice and with them voluntarily gave up
his life. The rest opened the gates to the Romans. Flaccus took possession of
all their arms and money, killed some of the head men and sent others to Rome.
The only ones that he left unmolested were the survivors of the common people,
and he spared them only on condition that they receive a Roman governor,
maintain no senate, and hold no assembly.
Later they subjected themselves to
other disabilities[Pg 244] by daring to accuse Flaccus. Frag. 5634the campanians
undertook to accuse flaccus and the syracusans marcellus, when the latter was
already consul. And Marcellus made a defence, refusing to perform any of the
duties of his office until he had defended himself. The Syracusans when given a
hearing were rather sparing of their remarks and devoted themselves not to
accusing Marcellus but to supplication and defence, showing that they had not of
their own free will revolted from the Romans and begging that pardon be granted
them. While uttering these words they fell upon the ground and bewailed their
lot. When a decision was rendered, it was to the effect that Marcellus was not
guilty; that the Syracusans, however, were deserving of a certain degree of kind
treatment not for their acts but for their words and supplications. As Marcellus
asked to be excused from returning to Sicily, they sent Lævinus. The Syracusans
in this way obtained some consideration: the Campanians, however, were led by
stupidity to deliver their accusation with too much audacity and were rebuked.
Flaccus was not present, but one of his ex-lieutenants conducted his defence for
him.
After the capture of Capua the other strongholds in the vicinity went
over to the Romans, with the exception of Atellanæ. The dwellers in this town
abandoned their city and went in a body to Hannibal. Also the rest of Italy that
favored the Carthaginian cause was being gradually estranged and the consuls in
their tours of the country were taking possession of it. The Tarentini did not
as yet openly avow their allegiance to the Romans, but secretly they were
getting tired of the Carthaginians.
[Pg 245]
(BOOK 16,
BOISSEVAIN.)
Frag. 5635the romans made propositions to hannibal that both
sides should return their prisoners. they did not effect the exchange because
they would not receive carthalo, as being an enemy, inside of their walls. and
he refused to hold any conversation with them, but immediately turned back in a
rage.
At this time, moreover, Lævinus made friends with the Ætolians, who
were allies of Philip; and when Philip had advanced as far as Corcyra he scared
him away again so that the king returned to Macedonia with speed.
B.C.
210
(a.u. 544)IX, 7.—The people of Rome sent Gaius Claudius Nero with
soldiers into Spain. He followed the line of the coast with his fleet as far as
the Iber, where he found the remainder of the Roman forces and confronted
Hasdrubal before his presence had been made known. He enclosed the Carthaginians
securely but was then cheated out of the advantage gained. Hasdrubal, seeing
that he was cut off, sent heralds to Nero proposing to give up the whole of
Spain and leave the country. Nero gladly accepted the offer and his opponent
postponed the settlement of the terms to the following day. That night Hasdrubal
quietly sent out a number of his men to various parts of the mountains, and they
got safely away because the Romans, in expectation of a truce, were not keeping
any guard. The next day he held a conference with Nero but used up the whole
time without fixing upon anything definitely. That night he sent off other men
in like manner. This[Pg 246] he did similarly on several other days while
disputing about some points in the treaty. When the entire infantry had gone in
advance, he himself at last with the cavalry and elephants silently slipped
away. He reached a place of safety and managed to make himself a source of
anxiety to Nero subsequently.
On learning this the people of Rome condemned
Nero and voted to entrust the leadership to somebody else. And they were at a
loss whom to send, for the situation required no ordinary man and many were
breaking away from allegiance on account of the untimely fate of the Scipios.
Frag. 5637thereupon the famous publius scipio, who saved his wounded father,
offered himself voluntarily for the work of the campaign. he surpassed in
excellence and was also renowned for his education. He was chosen forthwith, but
his supporters not long after regretted their action because of his youth (he
was in his twenty-fourth year) and because his house was in mourning for the
loss of his father and uncle. Accordingly he made a second public appearance and
delivered a speech; and his words put the senators to shame, so that they did
not, to be sure, release him from his command, but sent Marcus Junius, an
elderly man, to accompany him.
After these events matters progressed without
catastrophes for the Romans and gradually grew better. Marcellus after his
acquittal before the court had set out against Hannibal and was making nearly
everything safe, though he was afraid to risk an engagement with men driven to
desperation. At any time that he was forced into a combat he came out victorious
as the result of prudence mingled with daring. Hannibal now[Pg 247] undertook to
inflict injury upon those regions which he was unable to occupy, being
influenced by the reasons aforementioned as also by the fact that the cities in
his alliance had either abandoned him or were intending to do so, and by some
other causes. He hurt a great many and several towns deserted to the Romans for
this reason.
In the case of the city of Salapia the following incident
occurred. Two men managed affairs there and were hostile to each other.
Alinius[32] favored the Carthaginian cause, and Plautius[33] the Roman; and the
latter talked with Alinius about betraying the place to the Romans. Alinius at
once informed Hannibal of the fact and Plautius was brought to trial. While
Hannibal was deliberating with the councilors as to how to punish him, Plautius
dared in his presence to speak again to Alinius, who stood near, about betrayal.
The latter cried out: "There, there, he's talking to me about this very matter
now." Hannibal distrusted him on account of the improbability of the case and
acquitted Plautius as a victim of blackmail. After his release the two men
became harmonious and brought in soldiers obtained from Marcellus, with whose
aid they cut down the Carthaginian garrison and delivered the city to the
Romans.
This was the state of Carthaginian interests in Italy. Not even
Sicily retained its friendliness for them, but submitted to the consul Lævinus.
The leader of the Carthaginians in Sicily was Hanno, and Muttines was[Pg 248] a
member of his staff. The latter had been with Hannibal formerly and owing to the
latter's jealousy of his great deeds of valor had been sent into Sicily. When
there also he made a brilliant record as commander of the cavalry, he incurred
the jealousy of Hanno as well, and as a consequence was deprived of his command.
Deeply grieved at this he joined the Romans. First he accomplished the betrayal
of Agrigentum for them and then he helped them in reducing other places, so that
the whole of Sicily came again under their sway without any great labor.
B.C.
209
(a.u. 545)IX, 8.—Fabius and Flaccus subdued among other cities Tarentum,
which Hannibal was holding. They gave orders to a body of men to overrun
Bruttium in order that Hannibal might leave Tarentum and come to its assistance.
When this had happened, Flaccus kept watch of Hannibal while Fabius by night
assailed Tarentum with ships and infantry at once and captured the city by means
of his assault aided by betrayal. Hannibal, enraged at the trick, was eager to
find some scheme for paying Fabius back. So he sent him a letter, purporting to
be from the dwellers in Metapontum, looking to a betrayal of the city; for he
hoped that Fabius would advance carelessly in that direction and that he might
set a trap for him on the way. But the Roman leader suspected the truth of the
case and by comparing the writing with the letter which Hannibal had once
written to the Tarentini, he detected the plot from the similarity of the
two.
Scipio for the first part of the time, however much he may have longed
to avenge his father and uncle and however much he yearned for glory in the war,
never[Pg 249]theless showed no haste on account of the multitude of his
opponents. But after he ascertained that they were passing the winter at a
considerable distance, he disregarded them and marched upon Carthage,—the
Spanish town. Moreover no one gained the slightest knowledge of his march till
he had come close to Carthage itself. And by much exertion he took the
city.
Following the capture of Carthage a very great Frag. 5639mutiny of the
soldiers came very near taking place. Scipio had promised to give a crown to the
first one that set foot on the wall, and two men, the one a Roman, the other
belonging to the allies, quarreled over it. Their continued dispute promoted a
disturbance among the rest as well and they became inflamed to the utmost degree
and were ready to commit some fearful outrage when Scipio settled the trouble by
crowning both men. Frag. 5639and he distributed many gifts to the soldiers,
assigning many also to public uses; and all the hostages who were being detained
there he gave back freely to their relatives. as a result many towns and many
princes espoused his cause, the celtiberian race among the best. he had taken
among the captives a maiden distinguished for her beauty and it was thought that
he would fall in love with her; but when he learned that she was betrothed to
one of the celtiberian magistrates, he sent for him and delivered the young girl
to him, bestowing upon him furthermore the ransom which her kinsfolk had brought
for her. by this procedure he attached to his cause both them and the remainder
of the nation.
Next he learned that Hasdrubal the brother of Hannibal was
approaching rapidly, still ignorant of the[Pg 250] capture of the city and
expecting to meet no hostile force on his march. Scipio therefore confronted and
defeated him, and afterward bivouacked in his camp and got control of many
places in the vicinity. Frag. 5640for he was clever in strategy, agreeable in
society, terrifying to opponents, and thoroughly humane to such as yielded. and
especially the recollection that he had made a prediction, saying beforehand
that he would encamp in the enemy's country, caused all to honor him. the
spaniards actually named him "great king."
Hasdrubal, giving up all hope, was
anxious to leave Spain for Italy. B.C. 208
(a.u. 546)So after packing
everything for the march he started in winter. His fellow commanders held their
ground and kept Scipio busy so that he could not pursue Hasdrubal nor lighten
the burden of war for the Romans in Italy by going there, nor sail to Carthage.
But, although Scipio did not pursue Hasdrubal, he sent runners through whom he
apprised the people of Rome of his approach, and he himself gave attention to
his own immediate concerns. As he saw that his opponents were spread over a
goodly portion of the country, he dreaded that whenever he should begin an
engagement with them, he should be the cause of their gathering in one place
through a necessity of aiding one another. Accordingly, he conducted in person a
campaign against Hasdrubal, son of Gisco, and sent Silanus into Celtiberia
against Mago, and also Lucius Scipio his brother into Bastitania. Lucius
occupied the district after hard fighting, conquered Mago, kept close at his
heels as he fled to Hasdrubal, and came to Scipio before the latter had
accomplished anything as yet.[Pg 251]
Now that Mago had joined Hasdrubal and
Lucius his brother Scipio, at first they would make descents into the plain and
fight strenuously with their cavalry, and later they would array their whole
army in line of battle but did not do any fighting. This went on for several
days. When the clash finally came, the Carthaginians themselves and their allies
were defeated, their stronghold was taken by the Romans, and the Romans made use
of the provisions in it. This Scipio had prophesied, as the story goes, three
days before. For when materials for food had failed them he predicted—by what
prompting is unknown—: "On such and such a day we shall make use of the enemy's
store."—After this he left Silanus to take care of the surviving opponents and
himself took his departure to the other cities, many of which he won over. When
he had brought order into the newly acquired territory he took up his winter
abode there. His brother Lucius he despatched to Rome to report the progress
made, to convey the captives thither, and to investigate how the people of Rome
felt toward him.
IX, 9.—The dwellers in Italy had suffered from disease and
had encountered hardships in battles, for some of the Etruscans had rebelled.
But what grieved them more than all else was the fact that they had lost
Marcellus. They had been making a campaign against Hannibal, who chanced to be
at Locri, and both the consuls had been surrounded by an ambuscade, Marcellus
perishing instantly and Crispinus dying from a wound not long after. Hannibal
found the body of Marcellus and taking his ring with which Marcellus was
accustomed to seal his documents he would forward letters[Pg 252] to the cities
purporting to come from him. He was accomplishing whatever he pleased until
Crispinus became aware of it and sent them a warning to be on their guard. As a
result of this the tables were turned upon Hannibal. He had sent a message to
the citizens of Salapia through a fictitious deserter, and approached the walls
in the guise of Marcellus, using the Latin language in company with other men
who understood it, in order to be taken for Romans. The Salapini, informed of
his artifice, were artful enough in turn to pretend that they believed Marcellus
was really approaching. Then drawing up the portcullis they admitted as many as
it seemed to them they could conveniently dispose of and killed them all.
Hannibal withdrew at once on learning that Locri was being besieged by the
Romans, who had sailed against it from Sicily.
Publius Sulpicius assisted by
Ætolians and other allies devastated a large part of Achæa. But as soon as
Philip the Macedonian formed an alliance with the Achæans, the Romans would have
been driven out of Greece completely but for the fact that the helmet of Philip
fell off and the Ætolians got possession of it. For in this way a report reached
Macedonia that he was dead and a factional uprising took place; Philip,
consequently, fearing that he should be deprived of his kingdom, hastened to
Macedonia. Then the Romans stuck to their places in Greece and conquered a few
cities.
B.C. 207
(a.u. 547)The following year upon announcement of
Hasdrubal's approach the people of Rome gathered their[Pg 253] forces, summoned
their allies, and chose Claudius Nero and Marcus Livius consuls. Nero they sent
against Hannibal, Livius against Hasdrubal. The latter met him near the city of
Sena but did not immediately open engagement with him. For many days he remained
stationary, and Hasdrubal was in no hurry for battle, either, but remained at
rest awaiting his brother. Nero and Hannibal entered Lucania to encamp and
neither hastened to array his forces for battle, but in other ways they had some
conflicts. Hannibal kept constantly changing position and Nero kept careful
watch of him. As he constantly had the advantage of him and ere long captured
the letter sent to him by Hasdrubal, he began to despise Hannibal, but fearing
that Hasdrubal might overwhelm Livius through mere numbers he ventured upon a
hazardous exploit. He left on the spot a portion of his force sufficient to
check Hannibal in case the latter should make any movement, and he gave the men
injunctions to do everything to create the impression that he was also there. He
selected the flower of his army and started out apparently to attack some
neighboring city, nor did any one know his true intentions. He hastened on,
then, against Hasdrubal, reached his colleague at night, and took up his
quarters in the latter's entrenchments. Both made ready for a sudden attack upon
the invader. The situation did not go concealed, but Hasdrubal inferred what had
happened from the fact that the word of command was given twice; for each consul
issued orders to his own troops separately. Suspecting therefore that
Hannibal[Pg 254] had been defeated and had perished,—for he calculated that if
his brother were alive, Nero would never have marched against him,—he determined
to retire among the Gauls and there find out definitely about his brother and so
carry on the war at his convenience.
So after giving orders to the army to
break up he started out that night, and the consuls from the noise suspected
what was going on, yet they did not move immediately because of the darkness. At
dawn, however, they sent the cavalry ahead to pursue the enemy and they
themselves followed. Hasdrubal made a stand against the cavalry, deeming them an
isolated troop, but the consuls came up and routed him and followed after the
fugitives, of whom they slaughtered many. Even the elephants were of no help to
the Carthaginians. Inasmuch as some of them that had been wounded did more harm
to those in charge of them than had been done by the enemy, Hasdrubal gave
orders to those seated upon them to slay the beasts as fast as they got wounded.
And they killed them very easily by piercing them with an iron instrument under
the ear. So they were destroyed by the Carthaginians, but the men by the Romans.
So many fell that the Romans became surfeited with slaughter and did not wish to
pursue the rest. They had destroyed Hasdrubal along with many others, they had
secured huge quantities of spoil, they had found Roman captives to the number of
four thousand in the camp, and thought they had sufficiently retrieved the
disaster of Cannæ.
At the conclusion of these operations Livius stayed[Pg
255] where he was, but Nero returned to Apulia, reaching it on the sixth day;
his absence up to that time had not been detected. Some of the prisoners he sent
into Hannibal's camp to explain what had happened, and he fixed Hasdrubal's head
on a pole nearby. Hannibal, learning that his brother was vanquished and dead,
and that Nero had conquered and returned, lamented bitterly, often crying out
upon Fortune and Cannæ. And he retired into Bruttium where he remained
inactive.
B.C. 206
(a.u. 548)IX, 10.—Scipio was detailed to superintend
Roman interests in Spain till what time he should reach a satisfactory
adjustment of them all. First he sailed to Libya with two quinqueremes, and it
so happened that Hasdrubal son of Gisco landed there at the same time as he did.
Syphax, who was king of a portion of Libya and had enjoyed friendly relations
with the Carthaginians, entertained them both and endeavored to reconcile them.
But Scipio said that he had no private enmity and he could not on his own
responsibility arrange terms for his country.
Accordingly he went back again
and began a war against the Iliturgitani because they had handed over to the
Carthaginians the Romans who took refuge with them after the death of the
Scipios. He did not make himself master of their city until he dared to scale
the wall in person and got wounded. Then the soldiers, put to shame and fearing
for his life, made a very vigorous assault. Having mastered the situation they
killed the whole population and burned down the entire[Pg 256] city. As a result
of the fear thus inspired many voluntarily ranged themselves on his side,
whereas many others had to be subdued by force. Some when subjected to siege
burned their cities and slew their kinsmen and finally themselves.
After
subjugating the greater part of the country Scipio shifted his position to
Carthage and there instituted funeral combats in full armor in honor of his
father and his uncle. When many others had contended, there came also two
brothers who continued at variance about a kingdom, though Scipio had made
efforts to reconcile them. And the elder slew the younger in spite of the
superior strength of the latter.
Subsequently Scipio fell sick, and that was
the signal for a rebellion of the Spaniards. One of Scipio's legions that was in
winter quarters near Sucro became restless. It had shown a lack of docility
before this, but had not ventured upon open rebellion. Now, however, perceiving
that Scipio was incapacitated and influenced further by the fact that their pay
had been slow in coming they mutinied outright, drove away the tribunes, and
elected consuls for themselves. Their number was about eight thousand. The
Spaniards on ascertaining this revolted with greater readiness and proceeded to
damage the territory belonging to the Roman alliance. Mago, who had intended to
abandon Gades, consequently did not abandon it, but crossed over to the mainland
and wrought considerable mischief.
Scipio learning this wrote and sent a
letter to[Pg 257] apostate legion in which he affected to pardon them for
revolting on account of the scarcity of the necessities of life, and did not
seem to think it proper to view them with suspicion but conferred praise upon
those who had accepted their leadership for the purpose of preventing any
outrage due to lack of government being either suffered or committed. When
Scipio had written to this effect and the soldiers had learned that he was alive
and was not angry with them, they made no further demonstrations. Even after he
recovered his health he did not use harsh threats in dealing with them, but sent
a promise to supply them with food and invited them all to come to him either
all together or only a part at a time. The soldiers, not daring to go in small
squads, went in a body. Scipio arranged that they should bivouac outside the
wall—for it was nearly evening—and furnished them provisions in abundance. So
they encamped, but Scipio brought it about that the boldest spirits among them
should enter the city, and during the night he overpowered and imprisoned them.
At daybreak he sent forth all his army as if to go on an expedition somewhere.
Then he called the recent arrivals inside the wall without their weapons in
order to join his undertaking after they had received their provision-money. As
soon as they had accordingly entered he signaled the men who had gone forth to
return just as they were. Thus he surrounded the rebels and heaped upon them
many reproaches and threats, saying finally: Frag. 5642"you all deserve to die:
however, i shall not put you all to death but i shall execute only a few whom i
have already arrested; the rest i shall release." With[Pg 258] these words he
set the prisoners in their midst, fixed them upon crosses, and after copious
abuse killed them. Some of the soldiers standing by grew indignant and raised an
outcry, whereupon he punished a number of them also. After this he gave the rest
their pay and conducted a campaign against Indibilis and Mandonius. As they were
too timid to offer him battle, he attacked and was victorious.
Following
their capitulation most of the rest of Spain was again enslaved, Mago abandoned
Gades, and Masinissa took the Roman side. The Carthaginians at news of the death
of Hasdrubal, Hannibal's brother, had voted to give up Spain but to recover
their prestige in Italy. And they sent money to Mago that he might gather a
force of auxiliaries and lead a campaign against that country. He, setting out
once more for Italy, reached the Gymnasian islands. The larger one escaped his
grasp; the natives from a distance kept using their slings (in which art they
were masters) against the ships, so that he could not effect a landing: but he
anchored off the smaller one and waited there on account of the winter. Frag.
5644these islands are situated close to the mainland in the vicinity of the
iber. they are three in number and the greeks and the romans alike call them the
gymnasian, but the spaniards the baleares or hyasousæ,[34] or, separately, the
first Ebusus, the second the "Larger,"[35] and the third the "Smaller,"[36]
exceedingly well named.—Gades was occupied by the Romans.
[Pg 259]
(BOOK
17, BOISSEVAIN.)
Frag. 5645IX, 11.—masinissa ranked among the most prominent
men: in force and in planning alike he displayed a superiority, as it chanced,
where warlike deeds were concerned. He had left the Carthaginians for the Romans
as a result of circumstances now to be related. Hasdrubal the son of Gisco was a
friend of his and had betrothed to him his daughter Sophonis. Hasdrubal,
however, became acquainted with Syphax and perceiving that he favored the Romans
did not keep his agreement with Masinissa any longer. He was so anxious to add
Syphax, who was lord of a very great power, to the Carthaginian alliance that
when his father about this time died he helped him to take possession of his
domain, which properly belonged to Masinissa, and furthermore gave him Sophonis
in marriage. Frag. 5646she was conspicuous for beauty, had been trained in a
liberal literary and musical education, was of attractive manners, coy, and so
lovable that the mere sight of her or even the sound of her voice vanquished
even a person quite devoid of affection.
Syphax for these reasons attached
himself to the Carthaginians, and Masinissa on the contrary took up with the
Romans and from first to last proved very useful to them. Frag. 5647scipio after
winning over the whole territory south of the pyrenees, partly by force, partly
by treaty, equipped himself to journey to libya. the people of rome, however,
through jealousy of his successes and through fear that he[Pg 260] might become
arrogant and play the tyrant sent two of the prætors to relieve him and called
him home.
thus he was deposed from his command. but sulpicius together with
attalus occupied oreus by treachery and opus by main force. philip was unable to
send them speedy aid as the ætolians had seized the passes in advance. but at
last he did arrive on the scene and forced attalus back to his ships. philip,
however, wished to conclude a truce with the romans. and after some preliminary
discussion the peace proposition was withdrawn, but he moved the ætolians out of
their position of alliance with the romans and made them his own friends
instead.
Hannibal for a time kept quiet, satisfied if he might only retain
such advantages as were already his. And the consuls thinking that his power had
slowly wasted away without a battle also waited.
B.C. 205
(a.u.
549)
Frag. 5648The succeeding year Publius Scipio and licinius crassus became
consuls. And the latter stayed in italy, but Scipio had received orders to leave
there for Sicily and Libya to the end that in case he should not capture
Carthage he might at least eventually draw Hannibal from Italy. He did not
succeed in securing an army of any real value nor in getting an expenditure for
triremes, because the honors accorded to his prowess had made him an object of
jealousy. The people would scarcely supply him with the necessities. While he
set out with the fleet of the allies and a few volunteers drawn from the
populace, Mago left the[Pg 261] island and after sailing along the Italian coast
disembarked in Liguria. Crassus was in Bruttium lying in wait for Hannibal.
Philip, however, had become reconciled with the Romans; for on ascertaining that
Publius Sempronius had reached Apollonia with a large force he was glad to make
peace.
(Frag. 5650?)Scipio the consul landed in Sicily and made ready to sail
to Libya, but he could not do so because he did not have a complete force at his
disposal and what he had was undisciplined. Therefore he resided there for the
entire winter, drilling his followers and enrolling others in addition. As he
was on the point of making the passage, a message came to him from Rhegium that
some of the citizens of Locri would betray the city. Having denounced the
commander of the garrison and obtained no satisfaction from Hannibal they were
now ready to go over to the Romans. Accordingly he sent a detachment there and
with the aid of the traitors seized a good part of the city during the night.
The Carthaginians were huddled together in the citadel and sent for Hannibal,
whereupon Scipio also set sail with speed and by a sudden sally repulsed
Hannibal when the latter was close to the city. Next he captured the acropolis
and, after entrusting the entire city to the care of the military tribunes,
sailed back again. He was unable, however, to consummate his voyage to Libya.
The Carthaginians so dreaded his advance that they despatched money to Philip to
induce him to make a campaign against Italy, and sent grain and soldiers to
Hannibal and to Mago ships and[Pg 262] money that he might prevent Scipio from
crossing. The Romans, led by certain portents to expect a brilliant victory,
entrusted to Scipio the army of Libya and gave him permission to enroll as large
an additional force as he should please. B.C. 204
(a.u. 550)Of the consuls
they set Marcus Cethegus over against Mago and Publius Sempronius against
Hannibal.
IX, 12.—The Carthaginians, fearing that Masinissa would join
Scipio, persuaded Syphax to restore his domain to him, the giver receiving
assurance that he would get the tract back again. Masinissa was suspicious of
the transaction, yet agreed to peace, in order to win the confidence of the
Carthaginians and so be able to plunge them into some great catastrophe. For he
was more enraged over Sophonis than over the kingdom, and consequently worked
for Roman interests while affecting to be for the Carthaginians. Syphax, who was
a Libyan adherent, professed a friendliness for the Romans and sent to Scipio
warning him against crossing over. Scipio heard this as a piece of secret
information, and to prevent the knowledge of it from reaching the soldiers he
sent the herald back post-haste before he had had time to meet anybody else.
Then he called together the army and hastened forward the preparations for
crossing; he declared that the Carthaginians were unprepared and that first
Masinissa and now Syphax was calling for them and upbraiding them for lingering.
After this speech he suffered no further delay but set sail. He brought his
ships to anchor near the cape called[Pg 263] Apollonium, and Frag. 5651pitched
his camp, devastated the country, made assaults upon the cities and captured a
few. as the romans were harrying the country, hanno the cavalry commander, who
was a son of hasdrubal son of gisco, was persuaded by masinissa to attack them.
scipio accordingly sent some horsemen and was plundering some districts that
were suitable for him to overrun, to the end that his men by simulated flight
might draw upon them the pursuers. so when they turned to flee, according to
previous arrangements, and the carthaginians followed them up, masinissa with
his followers got in the rear of the pursuers and attacked them and scipio
making an onset from his ambush joined battle with them. and many were
destroyed, many also were captured, among them hanno himself. therefore
hasdrubal arrested the mother of masinissa, and an exchange of the two captives
was effected. syphax now renounced even the appearance of friendship for the
romans and openly attached himself to the carthaginians. and the romans both
plundered the country and recovered many prisoners from italy who had been sent
to libya by hannibal and they went into winter quarters where they were.
B.C.
203
(a.u. 551)After this Gnæus Scipio[37] and Gaius Servilius became consuls,
and during their year of office the Carthaginians, having got the worst of it in
the struggle, felt a desire to arrange terms of peace and furthermore both
Hannibal and Mago were driven out of[Pg 264] Italy. It was the consuls who made
a stand against Hannibal and Mago, while Scipio was inflicting damage upon Libya
and assailing the cities. Meantime Frag. 5652he had captured a carthaginian
vessel, but released it when they feigned to have been coming on an embassy to
him. he knew, to be sure, that it was only a pretext, but preferred to avoid the
possibility of it being said against him that he had detained envoys. and in the
case of syphax, who was still endeavoring to negotiate a reconciliation on the
terms that scipio should sail from libya and hannibal from italy, he received
his proposition not in a trustful mood, but to the end that he might ruin him.
For on the excuse afforded by the postponed truce he sent various bodies of
soldiers at various times into the Carthaginian camp and into that of Syphax;
and when they had carefully inspected everything on the side of their opponents,
he put aside the treaty on a plausible pretext, which was the more readily found
because Syphax had been detected in a plot against Masinissa. And Scipio went by
night to where their two camps were located, not very far apart, and secretly
set fire to Hasdrubal's camp at many points at once. It rapidly blazed up—for
their tents had been made of corn-stalks and leafy branches—and the
Carthaginians fared badly. The followers of Syphax in attempting to aid them
encountered the Romans, who closed in the place, and were themselves destroyed;
and their own camp was set on fire in addition, and in it many men and horses
perished. The Romans escaped injury during the rest of the night[Pg 265]
following the exploit, but just after daylight Spaniards who had lately arrived
as an accession to the Carthaginian alliance fell upon them unexpectedly and
killed a large number.
As a result of all this Hasdrubal straightway retired
to Carthage and Syphax to his own country. Scipio set Masinissa and Gaius Lælius
to oppose Syphax while he himself marched against the Carthaginians. The
Carthaginians for their part sent ships toward the Roman stronghold, which the
enemy were using as winter quarters and as a storehouse for all their goods. In
this way they might either capture it or draw Scipio away from themselves. Such
also was the result. As soon as he heard of the manœuvre, he withdrew and
hurried to the harbor, which he placed under guard. And on the first day the
Romans easily repulsed their assailants, but on the next they had decidedly the
worst of the encounter. The Carthaginians even went so far as to take away Roman
ships by seizing them with grappling irons. They did not venture, however, to
disembark but finally sailed homewards, after which they superseded Hasdrubal
and chose a certain Hanno in his place. From this time Hanno was the general,
but his predecessor privately got hold of some slaves and deserters whom he
welded together into a fairly strong force; he then quietly persuaded some of
the Spaniards who were serving in Scipio's army to help him and attempted one
night to carry out a plot against the Roman's camp. Something would have come of
it, had not the[Pg 266] soothsayers, dismayed by the actions of birds, and the
mother of Masinissa, as a result of divinations, caused an investigation of the
Spaniards to be made. So their treachery was anticipated and punished, and
Scipio again made a campaign against Carthage; he was engaged in devastating
their fields [IX, 13.] while Syphax was waging war upon the followers of Lælius.
That prince offered successful resistance for some time, but eventually the
Romans prevailed, slaughtered many, took many alive, and captured Syphax. They
also acquired possession of Cirta, his palace, without a contest by displaying
to the guardians within their king, now a prisoner.
It was there that
Sophonis also was. Masinissa at once rushed toward her and embracing her said:
"I hold Syphax that snatched thee away. I hold thee also. Fear not. Thou hast
not become a captive, since thou hast me as an ally." After these words he
married her on the spot, anticipating any action on the part of the Romans out
of fear that he might somehow lose her, were she reckoned among the spoil. Then
he assumed control of the rest of the cities of Syphax also. Frag. 5653and they
brought to scipio along with the other property syphax himself. and the
commander would not consent to see him remain bound in chains, but calling to
mind his entertainment at the other's court and reflecting on human
possibilities he leaped from his chair, loosed him, embraced him, and treated
him with respect. Once he asked him: "What possessed you to go to war with us?"
Syphax[Pg 267] excused himself skillfully and at the same time made himself
secure against Masinissa by declaring that Sophonis had been responsible for his
attitude. To please her father Hasdrubal she had ensnared him by witchcraft
against his will to espouse the Carthaginian cause. "At any rate," he went on,
"I have paid a proper penalty for being hoodwinked by a woman, and in the midst
of my evils have at least one consolation,—that Masinissa has married her. For
she will certainly bring about his utter ruin likewise."
Scipio feeling
suspicious about this action of Masinissa called him and censured him for having
so speedily married a woman taken captive from the enemy without the commanding
officer's consent, and he bade him give her up to the Romans. Masinissa,
thoroughly distracted, rushed into the tent where Sophonis was and cried out to
her: "If I might by my own death ensure thee liberty and freedom from outrage, I
would cheerfully die for thee; but since this is impossible, I send thee before
me whither I and all shall come." With these words he held out poison to her.
And she uttered neither lament nor groan but with much nobility made answer:
"Husband, if this is thy will, I am content. My soul shall after thee know no
other lord: for my body, if Scipio require it, let him take it with life
extinct." Thus she met her death, and Scipio marveled at the deed.
Lælius
conducted to Rome Syphax and his son Vermina and some others of the foremost
men; and the citizens gave Syphax an estate at Alba, where at his death[Pg 268]
they honored him with a public funeral, and confirmed Vermina in the possession
of his father's kingdom besides bestowing upon him the captured Nomads.
Frag.
5654the carthaginians while making propositions to scipio through heralds gave
him money at once and gave back all the prisoners, but in regard to the
remaining matters they despatched an embassy to rome. however, the romans would
not receive the envoys at that time, declaring that it was a tradition in the
state not to admit an embassy from any parties and negotiate with them in regard
to peace while their armies were still in italy. later, when hannibal and mago
had embarked, they accorded the envoys an audience and voted the peace. But
Hannibal and Mago departed from Italy not on account of the tentative
arrangements but through haste to reach the scene of war at home.
The
Carthaginians in Libya were not thinking seriously of peace even before this and
had made propositions about a truce only for the purpose of using up time and
with a view to securing Hannibal's presence. When they heard that Hannibal was
really drawing near, they took courage Frag. 5655and attacked scipio both by
land and by sea. when the latter complained to them about this, they returned no
proper answer to the envoys and actually plotted against them when they sailed
back; and had not a wind fortunately arisen to help them, they would have
perished. hence scipio, though at this time the vote regarding peace was brought
to him, refused any longer to make it. So the Carthaginians sent Mago back to[Pg
269] Italy, but deposed Hanno from his command and appointed Hannibal general
with full powers. Hasdrubal they even voted to put to death, and finding that he
had by poison intentionally compassed his own destruction they abused his dead
body. Hannibal having secured complete leadership invaded the country of
Masinissa, where he proceeded to do mischief and made ready to fight against the
Romans. Counter-preparations were made by the followers of Scipio.
IX,
14.—The people of Rome were regretting that they had not prevented the return
voyage of Hannibal, and when they learned that he was consolidating the
opposition in Libya, they were again terrified beyond measure. B.C. 202
(a.u.
552)Accordingly they sent Claudius Nero, one of the consuls, to attend to him,
and allotted to Marcus Servilius the protection of Italy. Nevertheless Nero was
not able to reach Libya, being detained in Italy by stormy weather and again at
Sardinia. After that he progressed no farther than Sicily, for he learned that
Scipio had proved the victor. Scipio, indeed, was afraid that Nero might be so
prompt as to appropriate the glory that properly was the fruit of his own toils,
and so, at the very first glimmer of spring, he took up his march against
Hannibal; he had already received information that the latter had conquered
Masinissa. Hannibal, upon ascertaining the approach of Scipio, did not wait, but
went out to meet him. They encamped opposite each other and did not at once come
to blows, but delayed several days; and each commander addressed words to his
own army and incited it to battle.[Pg 270]
When it seemed best to Scipio not
to delay any further but to involve Hannibal in conflict whether he wished it or
not, he set out for Utica, that by creating an impression of fear and flight he
might gain a favorable opportunity for attack; and this was what took place.
Hannibal, thinking that he was in flight and being correspondingly encouraged,
pursued him with cavalry only. Contrary to his expectations Scipio resisted,
engaged in battle and came out victorious. After routing this body he directed
his next attentions not to pursuing them but to their equipment train, which
chanced to be on the march, and he captured it entire. This behavior caused
Hannibal alarm, an alarm increased by the news that Scipio had done no injury to
three Carthaginian spies whom he had found in his camp. Hannibal had learned
this fact from one of them, for the other two had chosen to remain with the
Romans. Disheartened and confused he no longer felt the courage to carry on a
decisive engagement with the Romans, but determined to make efforts for a truce
as quickly as possible, in order that if this attempt should not be successful,
it might at least cause a temporary delay and cessation of hostilities. So he
sent to Masinissa, and through him as a man of the same stock asked for a truce.
And he secured a conference with Scipio, but accomplished nothing. For Scipio
avoided a definite answer as much as he did a harsh one, but throughout pursued
a middle course, albeit preserving an agreeable tone, in order to lead Hannibal
into careless behavior by pretending a willingness[Pg 271] to come to terms.
Such was the result. Hannibal now gave no thought to battle, but concerned
himself with a desire to change his camp to a more favorable location. Scipio,
gaining this information from deserters, broke up beforehand by night and
occupied the spot which was the goal of Hannibal's striving. And when the
Carthaginians had reached a depressed part of the road unsuited for encampment
he suddenly confronted them. Hannibal refused to fight and in his efforts to
locate a camp there and to dig wells he had a hard time of it all night long.
Thus Scipio forced the enemy, while at a disadvantage from weariness and thirst,
to offer battle whether pleased or not.
Accordingly, the Romans entered the
conflict well marshaled and eager, but Hannibal and the Carthaginians listlessly
and in dejection, a dejection for which a total eclipse of the sun at this time
was largely accountable. From this combination of circumstances Hannibal
suspected that this, too, foreboded to them nothing auspicious. In this frame of
mind they stationed the elephants in front of them as a protection. Suddenly the
Romans emitted a great, bloodcurdling shout, and smiting their spears against
their shields advanced with determination and on a run against the elephants.
Thrown into a panic by the onset most of the beasts did not await the enemy's
approach, but turned to flee and receiving frequent wounds wrought greater
turmoil among their keepers. Others entered the fray, and then the Romans would
stand apart and the animals ran through the spaces in their ranks, getting[Pg
272] struck and wounded from close at hand as they passed along. For a time the
Carthaginians resisted, but at length, when Masinissa and Lælius fell upon them
from the rear with horsemen, they all fled. The majority of them were destroyed
and Hannibal came very near losing his life. As he fled, Masinissa pursued him
at breakneck speed, giving his horse free rein. Hannibal turned and saw him in
mad career; he swerved aside just slightly, Frag. 5657and checked his forward
course: Masinissa rushed by and Hannibal got behind and wounded him. Shortly
after with a few attendants the Carthaginian leader made good his
escape.
B.C. 201
(a.u. 553)
Frag. 5662Scipio followed up his victory by
a rapid advance against Carthage and proceeded to besiege it by land and sea at
once. The Carthaginians at first set themselves in readiness as though to endure
the siege, but later, brought to the end of their resources, they made overtures
to scipio for peace. Scipio accepted their proposals and discussed with them the
articles of the compact. the terms agreed upon were: that the hostages and the
captives and the deserters should be given up by the carthaginians, that all the
elephants and the triremes (save ten) should be delivered over, and that in the
future they should not keep elephants nor more ships of war than ten, nor make
war upon any one contrary to the advice and consent of the romans, and a few
other points.
when an agreement of this nature had been reached, the
carthaginians despatched ambassadors to rome. (Frag. 5663?)so they went their
way, but the senate did not receive the embassy readily; indeed, its members[Pg
273] disputed for a long time, one party being opposed to another. Frag. 5664the
popular assembly, however, unanimously voted for peace and accepted the
agreement and sent ten men that in conjunction with scipio they might settle all
the details. and the treaty was accepted, the triremes were given up and burned,
and of the elephants the larger number were carried off to rome, and the rest
were presented to masinissa. the romans now abandoned libya, and the
carthaginians italy.
the second war, then, with the carthaginians resulted in
this way at the end of sixteen years. by it scipio had been made illustrious,
and he was given the title of africanus (africa was the name of that part of
libya surrounding carthage), and many also called him "liberator" because he had
brought back many captive citizens. he therefore attained great prominence by
these deeds, but hannibal was accused by his own people of having refused to
capture rome when he was able to do so, and of having appropriated the plunder
in italy. he was not, however, convicted, but was shortly after entrusted with
the highest office in carthage.
Frag. 571IX, 15.—the romans now became
involved in other wars, which were waged against Philip the Macedonian and
against Antiochus.
[Pg 274]
(BOOK 18, BOISSEVAIN.)
As long as the
struggle with the Carthaginians was at its height they treated Philip with
consideration even if his attitude toward them was not one of friendliness; for
they wished to prevent him from consolidating with the Carthaginians or leading
an expedition into Italy. But when the previous hostilities had come to a
standstill, they did not wait a moment, but embarked upon open warfare with him,
which they justified by the presentation of many complaints. Accordingly, the
Romans sent envoys to him, and when he complied with none of their orders, voted
for war. They used his descent upon the Greeks as a pretext, but their real
reason was irritation at his general behavior and a determination to anticipate
him, so that he should not be able to enslave Greece and conduct a campaign
against Italy after the fashion of Pyrrhus. B.C. 200
(a.u. 554)As a
consequence of their vote they made effective preparations in all departments
and they associated with Sulpicius Galba Lucius Apustius as legatus in charge of
the fleet. Galba after crossing the Ionian Gulf was sick for some time;
accordingly the aforementioned legatus and the sub-lieutenant Claudius Cento
assumed charge of his entire force. The second of these with the aid of the
fleet rescued Athens, which was being besieged by the Macedonians, and sacked
Chalcis, which was occupied by the same enemy. Philip returned just then, having
finished his campaign against Athens, but Cento drove[Pg 275] him back at his
first approach and repulsed him again on the occasion of a subsequent assault.
Apustius, while Philip was busy with Greece, had invaded Macedonia, and was
plundering the country as well as making garrisons and cities subject. For these
reasons Philip found himself in a quandary, and for a time scurried about hither
and thither, defending now one place, now another. This he did until Apustius
proved himself a mighty menace to his country and the Dardanians were injuring
the part of Macedonia close to their borders Frag. 572(this people dwell above
the illyrians and the macedonians) and some Illyrians together with Amynander
king of the Athamanians, a Thessalian tribe, though they had previously been his
allies now transferred themselves to the Roman side. In view of these events he
conceived a suspicion of Ætolian loyalty and began to fear for his interests at
home, and he hastened thither with the larger part of his army. Apustius,
apprised of his approach, retired, for by this time it was winter.
Galba on
recovering from his illness made ready a still larger force and at the beginning
of spring pushed forward into Macedonia. When the two leaders drew near each
other they Frag. 573both pitched camp and conducted skirmishes of the horse and
light-armed troops. when the romans transferred their camp to a certain spot
from which they could get food more easily, philip decided that they had shifted
position out of fear of him; therefore he attacked them unexpectedly while they
were engaged in plundering and killed a few of them. and galba on perceiving
this[Pg 276] made a sortie from the camp, attacked him and slew many more in
return. philip, then, in view of his defeat and the fact that he was wounded,
withdrew just after nightfall. galba, however, did not follow him up but retired
to apollonia. apustius with the rhodians and with attalus cruised about and
subjugated many of the islands.
About the same time Frag. 574hamilcar, a
carthaginian who had made a campaign with mago in italy and remained there
unnoticed, after a term of quiet caused the gauls as soon as the macedonian war
broke out to revolt from the romans; then with the rebels he made an expedition
against the ligurians and won over some of them also. they fought with lucius
furius the prætor, were defeated, and sent envoys about peace. the ligurians
obtained this, but it was not granted to the others. Instead, Aurelius the
consul, who was jealous of the prætor's victory, led a new campaign against
them.
B.C. 199
(a.u. 555)The succeeding year a great deal of havoc was
wrought by Hamilcar and the Gauls. They conquered the prætor Gnæus Bæbius,
overran the territory which was in alliance with the Romans, besieged Placentia,
and capturing it razed it to the ground.
IX, 16.—To return to the campaign in
Greece and Macedonia—Publius Villius the consul was encamped opposite Philip,
who had occupied in advance the passes of Epirus through which are the entrances
to Macedonia. Philip had extended a wall across the entire mountain region in
between and held a formidable position, B.C. 198
(a.u. 556)but the consul
Titus Flamininus[38] at the[Pg 277] conclusion of winter got around the
circumvallation with a few followers by a narrow path. And appearing suddenly on
higher ground he terrified Philip, who thought that the whole army of Titus had
come up through the pass. Hence he fell back into Macedonia at once. The consul
did not pursue him, but assumed control of the cities in Epirus. He also went
into Thessaly and detached a good part of it from Philip and then retired into
Phocis and Bœotia. While he was besieging Elatea his brother Lucius Flamininus
in company with Attalus and the Rhodians was subduing the islands. Finally,
after the capture of Cenchrea, they learned that envoys had been sent to the
Achæans to see about an alliance and they despatched some themselves in turn,
the Athenians associating in the embassy. And at first the opinions of the
Achæans were divided, some wanting to vote their alliance to Philip and some to
the Romans; eventually, however, they voted assistance to the latter. And they
joined in an expedition against Corinth, where they succeeded in demolishing
portions of the wall, but retired after losses suffered through sallies of the
citizens.
Then Philip, growing afraid that many cities might be taken, made
overtures to the consul regarding peace. The latter accepted his representations
and they and their allies met, but nothing was accomplished except that
permission was granted Philip to send envoys to Rome. Nor was anything done
there. For, when the Greeks insisted that he depart from Corinth and Chalcis and
from Demetrias in Thessaly, the envoys of[Pg 278] Philip said they had received
no instructions on this point and closed an ineffectual mission.
The people
of Rome in voting to Flamininus the supreme direction in Greece for another year
also committed to his charge the case of Philip as well. The Roman leader, since
he was to remain at his post, prepared for war, and the more so because the
Lacedæmonian tyrant Nabis, although a friend of Philip from whom he had received
Argos, had made a truce with him. The Macedonian monarch being unable to
administer many districts at once and fearing that the city might be seized by
the Romans had deposited it with Nabis to be restored again.
In a campaign of
the consul Ælius Pætus against the Gauls many perished on both sides in the
stress of conflict and no advantage was achieved. And the Carthaginian hostages
together with the slaves accompanying them and the captives who had been sold to
various persons had the hardihood to take possession of the several cities in
which they were living; and after slaughtering many of the native population
were overthrown by the prætor Cornelius Lentulus before they had wrought any
more mischief. The Gauls, however, elated by their successes and aware of the
fact that it was only a secondary war the Romans were waging against them
prepared as if to march upon Rome. B.C. 197
(a.u. 557)The Romans consequently
became afraid and sent both the consuls, Cornelius Cethegus and Minucius Rufus,
against the Gauls. They parted company and individually ravaged different tracts
of country. The[Pg 279] enemy accordingly also divided forces to meet the
consuls. One band under Hamilcar encountered Cethegus and was defeated; the rest
when made aware of this showed the white feather and would no longer face Rufus;
consequently the latter overran the country at will. Those who had fought
against Cethegus then made peace; the remainder still continued under
arms.
At this time Flamininus in company with Attalus reduced the whole of
Bœotia. Attalus expired of old age in the midst of a speech which he was making
to the people there. Flamininus went into Thessaly and came into collision with
Philip. It was only a cavalry skirmish in which they engaged, for the ground was
not suitable for a battle on a vaster scale; hence both withdrew. And having
reached a certain hill, the top ridge of which is called Dog's Head
(Cynoscephale), they bivouacked, one on one side, the other on the other. Here
also they fought with their entire armies, and the outcome would have left both
with equal honors if the Ætolians had not made the Romans superior. So Frag.
58philip was defeated and fled, and afterward, learning that Larissa and the
cities surrounding it had chosen to follow the fortunes of the victors, he sent
heralds to flamininus. and he made a truce as soon as Philip had given money and
hostages, among them his own son Demetrius, and had sent out envoys to Rome in
regard to peace.
During the period of these transactions Androsthenes also
had been vanquished by the Achæans and had lost Corinth. And Lucius Flamininus
who was in[Pg 280] charge of the fleet, when he could not persuade the
Acarnanians to refrain from allying themselves with Philip, besieged and
captured Leucas; later they became aware of Philip's defeat and he secured their
submission with greater ease.
Thus was the Macedonian war terminated and the
people of Rome very readily became reconciled with Philip upon the following
terms. He should restore the captives and deserters; give up the elephants and
triremes save five (including the flagship, a vessel of sixteen banks), pay an
indemnity, part at once, the rest in definite installments; be king of Macedonia
alone; not keep more than five thousand soldiers, nor make war with any person
outside his own country. For the rest of the cities situated in Asia and Europe
which were previously subservient to him they let go free.
The consuls waged
once more with the Gauls a war not unfraught with difficulties, yet in spite of
all they got the better of this people, too.
B.C. 195
(a.u. 559)IX,
17.—Porcius Cato being chosen consul won back Spain, which had been almost
entirely alienated. He was a man who surpassed those of his age in every virtue.
Now after the defeat inflicted upon the Romans at Cannæ a law had been passed to
the effect that women should not wear gold nor be carried in chairs nor make use
at all of variegated clothing; and the people were deliberating as to whether
they ought to abolish this law. And on this subject Cato delivered a speech in
which he made out that the law ought to prevail, and finally he added these
words: "Let the[Pg 281] women, then, be adorned not with gold nor precious
stones nor with any bright and transparent clothing, but with modesty, with love
of husband, love of children, persuasion, moderation, with the established laws,
with our arms, our victories, our trophies."—Lucius Valerius, a tribune, spoke
in opposition to Cato, urging that the privilege of the old-time ornament be
restored to the women. After speaking at length in this vein to the people he
then directed his discourse to a consideration of Cato, and said: "You, Cato, if
you are displeased at women's ornaments and wish to do something magnificent and
befitting a philosopher, clip their hair close all around and put on them short
frocks and tunics with one shoulder; yes, by Jove, you go ahead and give them
armor and mount them on horses and, if you like, take them to Spain; and let's
bring them in here, so that they may take part in our assemblies." Valerius said
this in jest, but the women hearing him (many of them were hanging about near
the Forum inquisitive to know how the affair would come out) rushed into the
assembly denouncing the law; and accordingly, as it was speedily repealed, they
put on some ornaments right there in the assembly and went out dancing.
Cato
sailed away and reached Spain. There he learned that all the dwellers as far as
the Iber had united in order to wage war against him in a body. After organizing
his army he attacked and defeated them and forced them to submit to him. They
did so in the fear that otherwise they might lose the cities at a single[Pg 282]
stroke. At the time he did them no harm, but later when some of them incurred
his suspicion, he deprived them all of arms and made the natives themselves tear
down their own walls. Letters were sent in every direction with orders that they
should be delivered to everybody on the same day; and in these he commanded the
people to raze the circuit of their fortifications instanter, threatening the
disobedient with death. Those occupying official positions when they had read
them thought in each case that the message had been written to them alone, and
without taking time for deliberation they all threw down their walls.
Cato
now crossed the Iber, and though he did not dare to contend with the Celtiberian
allies of the enemy on account of their number, yet he handled them in marvelous
fashion, now persuading them by a gift of larger pay to change front and join
him, now admonishing them to return home, sometimes even announcing a battle
with them for a stated day. The result of it all was that they broke up into
separate factions and became so fearful that they no longer ventured to fight
with him.
[Pg 283]
(BOOK 19, BOISSEVAIN.)
IX, 18.—At this time
Flamininus, too, made a campaign against Argos, for the Romans seeing that Nabis
was not loyal to them and was a source of terror to the Greeks treated him as an
enemy. With an accession of allies from Philip Flamininus marched upon Sparta,
crossed Taygetus without effort and advanced toward the city, meeting with no
opposition. For Nabis, being afraid of the Romans and suspicious of the natives,
did not rouse himself to the point of meeting Flamininus at a distance; but when
the latter came nearer he made a hostile excursion from the town, thinking
lightly of his opponent because of the fatigue of the journey and because
Flamininus was kept employed by the business of encamping; and he did cause a
few flurries. The next day he came out to face the Romans when they assaulted,
but as he lost large numbers he did not come out again. So Flamininus, leaving a
portion of his army there to prevent a warlike demonstration anywhere, with the
rest turned his attention to the country districts; these he ravaged with the
aid of his brother and the Rhodians and Eumenes, son of Attalus. Nabis was
consequently in despair and despatched a herald to Flamininus about peace. The
latter listened to his proposals but did not immediately cease hostilities. For
Nabis did not dare to refuse the arrangements which he was asked to make, nor
yet would he consent to make them. And the populace[Pg 284] prevented him from
coming to an agreement. So temporarily Nabis did not come to terms, but when the
Romans attacked again and captured almost all of Sparta (it was in part
destitute of a wall), he would wait no longer, but made a truce with Flamininus
and by sending an embassy to Rome effected a settlement.
Flamininus hereupon
set all the Greeks free; B.C. 194
(a.u. 560)later he convened them in session
and after reminding them of the benefits they had received urged them to
maintain a kindly attitude toward the Romans: he then withdrew all their
garrisons and departed with his entire army.
Upon the arrival of Flamininus
at Rome Nabis rebelled. And straightway the whole Greek world, so to speak, was
thrown into a turmoil which the Ætolians did their best to increase. They were
making ready for war and were sending embassies to Philip and Antiochus. They
persuaded the latter to assume a position of hostility to the Romans, promising
him that he should be king of both Greece and Italy. Roman interests were so
upset that they had no hope of overcoming Antiochus, but were satisfied if they
could preserve their former conquests. Antiochus was regarded as a mighty
personage both in the light of his own power, through which he had performed
distinguished exploits and above all had subjugated Media, B.C. 193
(a.u.
561)and he loomed far mightier still for having attached to his cause Ptolemy,
king of Egypt, and Ariarathes, monarch of Cappadocia, as a kinsman by
marriage.[Pg 285]
Antiochus being so esteemed, the Romans as long as they
were at war with Philip were careful to court his favor, keeping up friendly
relations with him through envoys and sending him gifts. But when they had
vanquished their other enemy, they despised also this king whom they had
formerly feared. Antiochus himself crossed over into Thrace and gained control
of many districts. B.C. 192
(a.u. 562)He helped colonize Lysimachia, which
had been depopulated, intending to use it as a base. It was Philip and Nabis who
had invited his assistance. Hannibal, too, had been with him and had caused him
to hope that he might sail to Carthage and from there to Italy, and further that
he could subjugate the races along the Ionian Gulf and with them set out against
Rome. Twice before, indeed, Antiochus had crossed into Europe and had reached
Greece. This time he learned that Ptolemy was dead, and deeming it all important
that he should obtain the sovereignty of Egypt he left his son Seleucus with a
force at Lysimachia and himself set out on the march. He found out, however,
that Ptolemy was alive, and so kept away from Egypt and made an attempt to sail
to Cyprus. Baffled by a storm he returned home. The Romans and he both
despatched envoys to each other submitting mutual complaints that they might get
an excuse for the war and inspect conditions on each side betimes.
Hannibal
had obtained the most important office at Carthage and in his tenure of it had
offended the most powerful nobles and incurred their hatred. Malicious[Pg 286]
reports about him were conveyed to the Romans to the effect that he was rousing
the Carthaginians to revolt and was negotiating with Antiochus. Learning that
some men from Rome were at hand and fearing possible arrest he escaped from
Carthage by night. He came then to Antiochus and paved the way for his own
restoration to his native country and for war against the Romans by promising
the king that he would secure to him the rulership of Greece and Italy. All went
well until Scipio Africanus joined them. Scipio had been sent to Libya as
arbitrator between Masinissa and the Carthaginians, who were at variance over
some land boundaries, and had left their dispute still hanging in the air that
they might continue to quarrel and neither of them be angry at the Romans on
account of a definite decision. From there he crossed into Asia nominally as an
envoy to Antiochus but in reality to smite both him and Hannibal with terror by
his appearance and accomplish what was for the advantage of the Romans. After
his arrival Antiochus no longer bestowed a similar degree of attention upon
Hannibal. He suspected him of secret dealings with Scipio, and found him
burdensome besides, because everybody ascribed every plan to Hannibal and all
placed in him their hope for success in the war. For these reasons, then, he
became both jealous and afraid of Hannibal, dreading that he might change his
demeanor, should he get control of any power. So he neither supplied him with an
army nor sent one to Carthage; and he did not favor him very[Pg 287] much with
audiences but made it a practice not to sanction any of his proposals.
IX,
19.—The rumors about Antiochus occupied a large share of Rome's attention and
caused the Romans no small degree of uneasiness. The name of Antiochus was in
many mouths: some said that he already held the whole of Greece, others talked
to the effect that he was hastening toward Italy. The Romans accordingly
despatched envoys to Greece, among them Flamininus, who was on intimate terms
with the people, in order to prevent them and Philip from creating any
disturbance; and of the prætors they sent Marcus Bæbius to Apollonia, in case
Antiochus should undertake to cross over into Italy that way, and Aulus Atilius
to attend to Nabis. The second of these had no work to do, for Nabis had ere
this perished, the victim of a plot on the part of the Ætolians, and Sparta had
been captured by the Achæans: Bæbius and Philip confirmed the loyalty of many
portions of Thessaly. The Macedonian king was true to his agreement with the
Romans principally for the reason that Antiochus had attached some settlements
belonging to him in Thrace.
Flamininus went about Greece, and some he
persuaded not to revolt, others already revolted he won back, except the
Ætolians and a few towns elsewhere. The Ætolian league had bound itself to
Antiochus and was forming a union out of some states that were willing and
others that were unwilling. Antiochus in spite of the winter time hastened
forward to fulfill the hopes[Pg 288] of the Ætolians, and this explains why he
did not bring along a respectable force. With what he had, however, he took
Chalcis and gained control of the rest of Eubœa. Finding some Romans among the
captives he released them all. Then he entered Chalcis to spend the winter,
Frag. 591with the result that he himself and his generals and his soldiers had
their mental energies ruined beforehand; for by his general indolence and his
passion for a certain girl he drifted into luxurious living and at the same time
rendered the best unfit for warfare.
The people of Rome learning that he was
in Greece and had captured Chalcis took up the war in earnest. B.C. 191
(a.u.
563)Of the consuls they retained Scipio Nasica to guard Italy and sent Manius
Glabrio with a large army into Greece. Nasica conducted a war against the Boii,
and Glabrio drove Antiochus out of Greece. He also went to Thessaly and with the
help of Bæbius and Philip gained control of many of the towns there. He captured
Philip of Megalopolis and sent him to Rome, and drove Amynander out of his
domain, which he then gave to the Macedonian ruler.
Antiochus meanwhile was
staying at Chalcis and keeping quiet. Afterward he entered Bœotia and at
Thermopylæ withstood the Romans who came to meet him. Considering the fewness of
his soldiers he thought it best to seek an ally in the natural advantages of his
position. And in order to avoid having himself such an experience as the Greeks
had met who were arrayed there against the Persian he sent a division of the
Ætolians up to the summit of the moun[Pg 289]tains to keep guard there. Glabrio
cared little for the location and did not postpone a battle: however, he
despatched his lieutenants Porcius Cato and Valerius Flaccus by night against
the Ætolians on the summit and himself engaged in conflict with Antiochus just
about dawn. As long as he fought on level ground he had the best of it, but when
Antiochus fell back to a position higher up, he found himself inferior till Cato
arrived in the enemy's rear. Cato had come upon the Ætolians asleep and had
killed most of them and scattered the rest; then he hurried down and
participated in the battle going on below. So they routed Antiochus and captured
his camp. The king forthwith retired to Chalcis, but learning that the consul
was approaching went back unobserved to Asia.
Glabrio at once occupied Bœotia
and Eubœa, and proceeded to deliver assaults upon Heraclea, since the Ætolians
were unwilling to yield to him. The lower city he captured by means of a siege
and received the capitulation of those who had fled to the acropolis. Among the
prisoners taken at this time was found Democritus the Ætolian general, who had
once refused alliance to Flamininus, and when the latter asked for a decree that
he might send it to Rome, had said: "Don't worry. I will carry it there with my
army and read it to you all on the banks of the Tiber."—Philip was engaged in
besieging Lamia when Glabrio came against it and appropriated both victory and
booty. Though the remainder of the Ætolians wanted to become reconciled, still
they made no truce because[Pg 290] Antiochus sent them envoys and money; and
they set themselves in readiness for war. Philip affected friendliness toward
the Romans, but his heart was with Antiochus. Meantime Glabrio was besieging
Naupactus which belonged to the Ætolians, and Flamininus coming to them
persuaded the inhabitants to make peace, for he was well known to them. They as
well as the Epirots despatched envoys to Rome. Philip for sending a triumphal
crown to Capitoline Jupiter received in return among other presents his son
Demetrius, who was living at Rome a hostage. A truce was not made with the
Ætolians, for they would not submit to any curtailment of privilege.
B.C.
190
(a.u. 564)IX, 20.—The Romans set against Antiochus the Scipios, Africanus
and his brother Lucius. They granted the Ætolians a respite for the purpose of
once more conducting an embassy to Rome regarding peace, and hurried on against
Antiochus. On reaching Macedonia they secured allies from Philip and marched on
to the Hellespont. After crossing into Asia they occupied most of the coast
districts which had previously been occupied by the Romans who had gone there
first, as well as by Eumenes and the Rhodians; the latter had also conquered
Hannibal in the region of Pamphylia, as he was taking some ships out from
Phœnicia. Eumenes and his brother Attalus proceeded to injure the country of
Antiochus, and cities kept coming over, some under compulsion, some voluntarily,
to the Romans, with the ultimate result that Antiochus was obliged to abandon
Europe en[Pg 291]tirely and to recall his son Seleucus from Lysimachia. When
this son had accomplished the return journey, he sent him with troops against
Pergamum. Inasmuch, however, as his investment of the town proved ineffectual
and the Scipios soon reached his vicinity, Antiochus lost no time in concluding
a truce with them; for he expected to obtain terms since Frag. 592he had got
possession of the son of africanus and was according him the kindest treatment.
and finally, though he failed of securing peace, he released him without ransom.
The peace project, however, came to nothing, because Antiochus would not agree
to accede to the Roman demands.
Still, for a long time their attitude was
marked by inaction. Finally they fell to fighting again. The following may serve
as a general description of the contest. Antiochus put the chariots in front,
with the elephants next, and behind these the slingers and the archers. But the
Romans anticipated the charge of the chariots by a charge of their own and with
a great clamor they rushed straight at them and repulsed them, so that most of
these vehicles turned in the direction of the elephants. In their backward
career they threw their own contingent into confusion,—for their erratic course
terrified and dispersed the men marshaled close to them,—and a heavy rain which
now came up rendered weak the detachment of archers and slingers. A heavy,
all-enveloping mist succeeded, which was of no hindrance to the Romans, who had
the upper hand and were fighting at close range; but in[Pg 292] the case of
their opponents, who were in dread and employed cavalry and archers for the most
part, it made it out of the question to see which way to shoot their arrows and
caused them to stumble over one another, like men in the dark. Nevertheless
Antiochus developed sufficient power, by means of his armored cavalry, to rout
the antagonists directly confronting him and to advance in pursuit of them as
far as their camp. Indeed, he would have taken it, had not Marcus Æmilius
Lepidus, who was charged with guarding it, killed the first Romans that came in
after they had refused to heed his exhortations to check their flight. As a
result the rest of the party turned back and the commander himself made a sortie
with members of the garrison who were free from the prevailing demoralization,
and their united efforts repulsed Antiochus. While this action was taking place,
Zeuxis had assailed the ramparts in another quarter, had succeeded in getting
within them, and continued to pillage until Lepidus became aware of it and came
to the rescue of his own interests. At the same time Scipio captured the camp of
Antiochus, wherein he found many human beings, many horses, baggage animals,
silver and gold coins, elephants, and a number of precious objects besides.
Antiochus after this defeat at once retired into Syria, and the Asiatic Greeks
made common cause with the Romans.
After this, upon overtures made by
Antiochus, an armistice was arranged. Africanus was well disposed toward him for
his son's sake, and the consul, too, did[Pg 293] not want to leave the victory
to be grasped by his successor, now approaching; consequently they laid upon
Antiochus conditions no more severe than those they had originally set, before
the battle. B.C. 189
(a.u. 565)Indeed, Gnæus Manlius who succeeded them in
office was not pleased with the agreement reached, and he made additional
demands upon the king, requiring him besides to give hostages, one of whom
should be his son Antiochus, and to deliver up all the deserters, among whom was
Hannibal. Antiochus reluctantly yielded obedience on all points: to give up
Hannibal, however, was out of his power, since that prince had taken seasonable
refuge with Prusias, king of Bithynia. On these terms Antiochus was able to send
envoys to Rome and effect a cessation of hostilities. Lucius Scipio received
praise for his victory, and it gave him the title of Asiaticus in the same way
as his brother had been called Africanus for conquering Carthage, which had
possessed the most considerable power in Africa.
These brothers who had
proved themselves men of such valor and as a result of excellence had attained
such a height of reputation were not long afterward brought to court and handed
over to the populace. Lucius was condemned on the suspicion of his having
appropriated no inconsiderable share of the spoil, and Africanus nominally for
having made the conditions lighter out of gratitude for kindness shown his son;
(the true cause of his conviction was jealousy). Frag. 60that they could not
justly be charged with wrongdoing is made plain both by other evidence and most
of[Pg 294] all by the fact that when the property of asiaticus was confiscated
it was found to consist merely of his original inheritance, and that though
africanus retired to liternum and abode there to the end, no one ever again
passed sentence of condemnation upon him.
Manlius all this time was engaged
in winning over Pisidia, Lycaonia, and Pamphylia, and a large district of
Galatia in Asia. For there exists in that region too a race of Gauls which broke
off from the European stock. Years ago with their king, Brennus, at their head
they overran Greece and Thrace, and crossing thence to Bithynia they detached
certain portions of Phrygia, Paphlagonia, Mysia adjacent to Olympus, and
Cappadocia, and took up their residence in them; and they constitute to-day a
separate nation bearing the name of Gauls. This people caused Manlius trouble,
but he managed to overcome them too, capturing their city Ancyra by assault and
gaining control of the rest of the towns by capitulation. This effected, he set
sail for home after he had received a large price for peace from Ariarathes,
king of Cappadocia.
IX, 21.—The Ætolians when they had sent ambassadors to
Rome the second time in regard to peace themselves raised the standard of
rebellion. Hence the Romans immediately dismissed the ambassadors and referred
the conduct of affairs in Greece to Marcus Fulvius. He set out first for the
large city of Ambracia (it had once been the royal residence of Pyrrhus and was
now occupied by the Ætolians) and pro[Pg 295]ceeded to besiege it. So the
Ætolians held a conference with him about peace, but finding him disinclined to
a truce they sent a part of their army into Ambracia. The Romans undertook to
capture the town by an underground passage and pushed their mine straight
forward, temporarily eluding the notice of the besieged party; but the latter
began to suspect the true state of affairs when the excavated earth attained
some dimensions. As they were not aware in what direction the trench was being
dug, they kept applying a bronze shield to the surface of the ground all about
the circuit of the walls. By means of the resonance they found out the place and
went to work in their turn to dig a tunnel from inside and approached the
Romans, with whom they battled in obscurity. Finally they devised the following
sort of defence. They filled a huge jar with feathers and put fire in it. To
this they attached a bronze cover that had a number of holes bored in it. Then,
after carrying the jar into the mine and turning the mouth of it toward the
enemy, they inserted a bellows in the bottom, and by blowing this bellows with
vigor they caused a tremendous amount of unpleasant smoke, such as feathers
would naturally create, to pour out, so that not one of the Romans could endure
it. Hence the Romans in despair of succeeding made a truce and raised the siege.
When they had agreed to treat, the Ætolians also changed their course and
secured an armistice. Subsequently they obtained a peace from the People by the
gift of considerable money and many hostages.[Pg 296] Fulvius induced
Cephallenia to capitulate and reduced to order the Peloponnesus, which was in a
state of factional turmoil.
B.C. 187
(a.u. 567)
B.C. 183
(a.u.
571)After a little, in the consulship of Gaius Flaminius and Æmilius Lepidus,
Antiochus died and his son Seleucus succeeded him. Much later, at the demise of
Seleucus, the Antiochus who spent some time as a hostage in Rome became king.
And Philip had courage enough to revolt because he had been deprived of some
towns in Thessaly and of Ænus and Maronea besides, but he was unable to do so on
account of his age and what had happened to his sons.—Some Gauls crossed the
Alps and desired to found a city to the south of the mountains. Marcus Marcellus
took away their arms and everything that they had brought: the Romans in the
capital, however, upon receiving an embassy from them restored everything on
condition that they should at once retire.
These years also saw the death of
Hannibal. Envoys had been sent from Rome to Prusias, monarch of Bithynia, and a
part of their errand was to make him give up Hannibal, who was at his court. The
Carthaginian had advance information of the facts and being unable to escape
committed suicide. cp. Frag. 64.an oracle had once announced to him that he
should die in the land of libyssa, and he was expecting to die in libya, his
native country, but, as it happened, his demise occurred while he chanced to be
staying in a certain place called libyssa. Scipio Africanus also died at this
time.
[Pg 297]
(BOOK 20, BOISSEVAIN.)
B.C. 179
(a.u. 575)IX,
22.—Philip, king of Macedonia, had put to death his son Demetrius and was about
to slay his other son Perseus, when death overtook him. Because Demetrius had
gained the affection of the Roman people through his sojourn as hostage and
because he himself and the rest of the Macedonian people hoped that he would
secure the kingdom after Philip was done with it, Perseus, who was his elder,
became jealous of him and falsely reported him to be plotting against his
father. Thus Demetrius was forced to drink poison and perished. Philip not long
after ascertained the truth and desired to take measures against Perseus; he did
not, however, possess sufficient strength and death overtook him. Perseus
succeeded to the kingdom. The Romans confirmed his claims to it and renewed the
compact of friendship enjoyed by his father.
In the period immediately
following some events of importance took place, yet they were not of so vital a
character that one should deem them worthy of record. Still later Perseus put
himself in the position of an enemy to the Romans, and in order to delay actual
warfare until he should reach a state of preparation he sent envoys to Rome
presumably to make a defence on the charges which were being pressed against
him. These messengers the Romans would not receive within the wall, but they
transacted business with them in the space before the city; and no other[Pg 298]
answer was vouchsafed them than that they would send a consul with whom he might
confer on whatever topics he pleased. They also caused them to depart the same
day, having given them guides to prevent their associating with anybody. And
Perseus was forbidden in the future to set foot on the soil of Italy.
The
Romans next sent out Gnæus Sicinius, a prætor, with a small force (they had not
yet made ready their greater armament) and Perseus made a tentative invasion of
Thessaly in which he won over the greater part of that country. B.C.
171
(a.u. 583)When spring opened they sent Licinius Crassus against him as
well as a prætor, Gaius Lucretius, in charge of the fleet. The latter first
encountered Perseus near Larissa and was worsted in a cavalry skirmish: later,
though, he got the best of him and Perseus accordingly retreated into Macedonia.
As for Crassus, he assailed the Greek cities which were held in subjection by
Philip and was repulsed from the majority of them, although he did get
possession of a few. Some he razed to the ground and sold the captives. When the
inhabitants of Rome learned these details, they became indignant and later they
imposed a money fine on Crassus, liberated the captured cities, and bought back
from the purchasers such of their inhabitants as had been sold and were then
found in Italy.
So fared the Romans in these undertakings, but in the war
against Perseus as a whole they suffered many great reverses and their fortunes
at many points were at a low ebb. Perseus occupied the greater part of[Pg 299]
Epirus and Thessaly, having gathered a large body of troops. As a measure of
defence against the Romans' elephants he had trained a phalanx of heavy-armed
warriors whose shields and helmets he had taken care should be studded with
sharp iron nails. Also, in order to make sure that the beasts should not prove a
source of terror to the horses he constructed images of elephants that were
smeared with some kind of ointment to give them a fearful odor and were
frightful both to see and to hear (for a mechanical device enabled them to emit
a roar resembling thunder); and he kept continually leading the horses up to
these representations until they took courage. Perseus, then, as a result of all
this had acquired great confidence and entertained hope that he might surpass
Alexander in glory and in the size of his domain; the people of Rome B.C.
169
(a.u. 585)when they learned this sent out with speed Marcius Philippus,
who was consul. He, on reaching the camp in Thessaly, drilled the Romans and the
allies so that Perseus, becoming afraid, remained quietly in Dium of Macedonia
and close to Tempe, and continued to keep watch of the pass. Philippus,
encouraged by this behavior of his, crossed the mountain range in the center and
occupied some possessions of Perseus. But as he was progressing toward Pydna he
fell short of provisions and turned back to Thessaly. Perseus gained boldness
anew, recovered the places that Philippus had occupied, and with his fleet
damaged the Romans at numerous points. He also secured allies Frag. 651and hoped
to eject the romans from greece altogether, but[Pg 300] through his excessive
and inopportune parsimony and the consequent contempt of his allies he became
weak once more. so soon as roman influence was declining slightly and his own
was increasing, he was filled with scorn and thought he had no further need of
his allies, and would not give them the money which he had offered. the zeal of
some accordingly became blunted and others abandoned him entirely, whereupon he
was so overwhelmed by despair as actually to sue for peace. and he would have
obtained it through eumenes but for the presence of rhodians also in the
embassy. they, by adopting a haughty tone with the romans, prevented him from
obtaining peace.
B.C. 168
(a.u. 586)IX, 23.—At this point the war waged
against him was entrusted to Æmilius Paulus, now for the second time consul. He
rapidly traversed the distance separating him from Thessaly and having first set
the affairs of the soldiers in order forced his way through Tempe, which was
being guarded by only a few men, and marched against Perseus. The latter had ere
this erected breastworks along the river Elpeus which intervened, had occupied
and rendered impassable by means of stone walls and palisades and buildings all
the ground between Olympus and the sea, and was encouraged by the lack of water
in the place. Yet even so the consul sought to effect a passage and found a
means of overcoming the prevailing drought. By piercing the sand bed at the foot
of Olympus he found water that was delicious as well as drinkable.—Meanwhile
envoys of the Rhodians reached him animated by the same insolence which they had
displayed on their former em[Pg 301]bassy to Rome. He would make no statement to
them beyond saying that he would return an answer in a few days, and dismissed
them.—Since he could accomplish nothing by direct assault, but learned that the
mountains were traversable here and there, he sent a portion of his army toward
that pass across them which was the more difficult of approach, to seize
opportune points along the route (on account of its difficulty of access it had
an extremely small guard); and he himself with the remainder of his army
attacked Perseus that the latter might not entertain any suspicion which might
lead to his guarding the mountains with especial care. After this, when the
heights had been occupied, he set out by night for the mountains and by passing
unnoticed at some points and employing force at others he crossed them. Perseus
on learning it became afraid that his enemy might assail him from the rear or
even get control of Pydna before he could (for the Roman fleet was
simultaneously sailing along the coast), and he abandoned his fortification near
the river and hastening to Pydna encamped in front of the town. Paulus, too,
came there, but instead of immediately beginning an engagement they delayed for
a number of days. Paulus had found out prior to the event that the moon was
about to suffer an eclipse, and after collecting his army on the evening when
the eclipse was due to occur gave the men notice of what would happen and warned
them not to let it disturb them at all. So the Romans on beholding the eclipse
looked for no evil to come from it, but it made an impression of terror upon the
Macedonians and they thought that the prodigy had a bearing on the cause[Pg 302]
of Perseus. While each side was in this frame of mind an entirely accidental
occurrence the next day threw them into a fierce conflict and put an end to the
war. One of the Roman pack-animals had fallen into the water from which a supply
was being drawn, and the Macedonians laid hold of him, while the water-carriers
in turn tightened their grasp. At first they fought by themselves; then the
remainder of the forces gradually issued from the respective camps to the
assistance of their own men and everybody on both sides became engaged. A
disordered but sharp conflict ensued in which the Romans were victorious and
pursuing the Macedonians as far as the sea slaughtered numbers of them by their
own efforts and allowed the fleet, which was drawing inshore, to slay numbers
more. Not one of them would have been left alive but for the timely succor of
night (for the battle had raged during the late afternoon).
Perseus
consequently made his escape to Amphipolis, where he intended to rally the
survivors and reorganize the campaign; but as nobody came to him save Cretan
mercenaries and he learned that Pydna and other cities had espoused the Roman
cause, he removed thence, and after putting aboard some vessels all the money
that he was carrying he sailed away by night to Samothrace. Before long he
ascertained that Octavius was approaching at the head of his fleet and that
Paulus was in Amphipolis; so he sent him a letter requesting permission to
confer about terms. Since, however, he described himself in the letter as
"king", he did not get any answer. Subsequently he despatched a letter without
any such appellation con[Pg 303]tained in it and was granted a conference to
consider the question of peace, but the victor declared that he would not
sanction any conditions that did not include Perseus's surrender of his person
and all his possessions to the Romans' keeping. Hence they failed to come to an
agreement. Frag. 653after this a demand was made upon perseus by the romans for
the surrender of one evander, a cretan, who had assisted him in many schemes
against them and was most faithful to him. the prince, fearing that he might
declare all the intrigues to which he had been privy, did not deliver him but
secretly slew him and had it rumored that the man had perished by his own hand.
then the associates of perseus, fearing his treachery (for they were not
ignorant of what had occurred), began to desert his standard. Perseus, then,
being afraid that he should be delivered up to the Romans tried one night to
escape by flight and might have taken himself away unobserved to Cotys, a
Thracian potentate, but for the fact that the Cretans abandoned him. They placed
the money in boats and weighed anchor for home. So he remained there for some
days with Philip, one of his sons, hidden from sight, but on ascertaining that
the rest of his children and his retinue had fallen into the hands of Octavius
Frag. 654he allowed himself to be found. upon his being brought to amphipolis
paulus did him no injury, but both entertained him and had him sit at his table,
keeping him, likewise, although a prisoner, unconfined, and showing him
courtesy. After this Paulus returned through Epirus to Italy.
IX, 24.—About
the same time Lucius Anicius, a[Pg 304] prætor sent to conduct operations
against Gentius, both conquered those who withstood him and pursued Gentius,
when he fled, to Scodra (where his palace was located) and shut him up there.
The place was built on a spur of the mountain and had deep ravines containing
boiling torrents winding about it, besides being girt by a steadfast wall; and
so the Roman commander's siege of it would have come to naught, if Gentius
presuming greatly upon his own power had not voluntarily advanced to battle.
This act gave the control of his entire domain to Anicius, who then proceeded,
before Paulus could arrive, to Epirus and tamed the quarrelsome pride of that
district as well.
The Romans of the capital by some vague report heard of the
victory of Paulus on the fourth day after the battle, but they placed no sure
confidence in it. Then letters were brought from Paulus regarding his success
and they were mightily pleased and plumed themselves not merely upon having
vanquished Perseus and acquired Macedonia but upon having beaten the renowned
Philip of old time and Alexander himself together with all that empire which he
had held. When Paulus reached Rome many decrees in his honor were passed and the
celebration of his triumph proved a most brilliant event. He had in his
procession all the booty which he had captured, and he had also Bithys, the son
of Cotys, besides Perseus and his wife and three children altogether in the garb
of captives. Fearing that Heaven might wax envious of the Romans on account of
their excess of good fortune he prayed, as Camillus had done before, that no ill
to the State might result from it all but rather to him if it[Pg 305] should be
unavoidable: and, indeed, he lost two sons, one a little before the celebration
and the other during the triumphal festival itself. Frag. 66he was not only good
at generalship, but he looked down upon money. of this the following is a proof.
though he had at that time entered for a second term upon the consulship and had
gained possession of untold spoils, he continued to live in so great indigence
that when he died the dowry was with difficulty paid back to his wife.
Of the
captives Bithys was returned to his father without ransom, but Perseus with his
children and attendants was settled in Alba. There he endured so long as he
still hoped to recover his sovereignty, but when he despaired of doing so he
despatched himself. His son Philip and his daughter also died shortly after:
only the youngest son survived for a time and served in the capacity of
under-secretary to the magistrates of Alba. Thus Perseus, who boasted of tracing
his descent through twenty kings and often had Philip and still oftener
Alexander in his mouth, lost his kingdom, became a captive, and marched in the
procession of triumph wearing chains as well as his diadem.
Frag. 671the
rhodians, who in their earlier dealings with the romans displayed self-esteem,
now begged the latter not to bear ill-will toward them: Frag. 672and whereas
they had previously refused to accept the title of roman allies, they were now
especially anxious to secure it; and they obtained the object of their
eagerness, but only after long delay. The Romans harbored resentment against the
Cretans, too, but in response to a number of embassies on the part[Pg 306] of
this nation they eventually relaxed their anger. Their behavior was similar
Frag. 68in the case of prusias and eumenes. the former came personally to the
city and entered the senate-house, covered the threshold with kisses, and
worshipped the senators; thus he obtained pity and was held guiltless: Eumenes
through Attalus his brother secured himself against any continuation of malice
on their part.
At this time, too, the affairs of Cappadocia were settled in
the following manner. The monarch of that country, Ariarathes, had a legitimate
son Ariarathes. But since for a long time before she had this son his wife had
failed to conceive, she had adopted a child whom she called Orophernes. When the
true son was later born the position of the other was detected and he was
banished. Naturally after the death of Ariarathes he headed an uprising against
his brother. Eumenes allied himself with Ariarathes, and Demetrius the king of
Syria with Orophernes. Ariarathes after sustaining a defeat found an asylum with
the Romans and was appointed by them to share the kingdom with Orophernes. But
the fact that Ariarathes had been termed "friend and ally" by the Romans enabled
him subsequently to make the entire domain his own. Attalus soon succeeded
Eumenes (who died) and drove Orophernes and Demetrius out of Cappadocia
altogether.
IX, 25.—Ptolemy, ruler of Egypt, passed away leaving two sons and
one daughter. When the brothers began to quarrel with each other about the
supreme office, Antiochus the son of Antiochus the Great sheltered the younger,
who had been driven out,[Pg 307] in order that under the pretext of defending
him he might interfere in Egyptian politics. In a campaign directed against
Egypt he conquered the greater part of the country and spent some time in
besieging Alexandria. As the unsubdued sought refuge with the Romans, Popilius
was sent to Antiochus and bade him keep his hands off Egypt; for the brothers,
comprehending the designs of Antiochus, had become reconciled. When the latter
was for putting off his reply, Popilius drew a circle about him with his staff
and demanded that he deliberate and answer standing where he was. Antiochus then
in fear raised the siege. The Ptolemies (such was the name of both princes) on
being relieved of foreign dread fell into renewed disputing. Then they were
reconciled again by the Romans on the condition that the elder should have Egypt
and Cyprus, and the other one the country about Cyrene, which was likewise part
of Egypt at that time. The younger one was vexed at having the inferior portion
and came to Rome where he secured from the government a grant of Cyprus in
addition. Then the elder once more effected an arrangement with the younger son
by giving him some cities in exchange for Cyprus and being rated to contribute
money and grain.
B.C. 164
(a.u. 590)Antiochus subsequently died, leaving
the kingdom to a child of the same name whom the Romans confirmed in possession
of it and sent three men (with sufficient show of reason, for he was a minor) to
act as his guardians. They on finding elephants and triremes contrary to the
compact ordered the elephants all to be slain and administered everything else
in the in[Pg 308]terest of Rome. Therefore Lysias, who had been entrusted with
the surveillance of the king, incited the populace to cast out the Romans and
also kill Gaius[39] Octavius. When these plans had been carried out Lysias
straightway despatched envoys to Rome to offer a defence for what had been done.
Demetrius the son of Seleucus son of Antiochus, who was staying in Rome as a
hostage at the time of his father's death and had been deprived of the kingdom
by his uncle Antiochus, asked for his ancestral domain when he learned of the
death of Antiochus, but the Romans would neither help him to get it nor permit
him to set out from Rome. In spite of his dissatisfaction he remained quiet. But
when the affair of Lysias came up, he no longer delayed but escaped by flight
and sent a message to the senate from Lycia saying that his objective was not
his cousin Antiochus (the children of brothers were so termed by the ancients)
but Lysias, and his purpose was to avenge Octavius. Hastening to Tripolis in
Syria he won over this town also, pretending that he had been sent out by the
Romans to take charge of the kingdom. No one at this time had any idea of his
secret flight, and so after conquering Apamea and gathering a body of troops he
marched to Antioch. There he destroyed Lysias and the boy, who came to meet him
in the guise of friends (through fear of the Romans they had offered no
opposition), B.C. 162
(a.u. 592)and he recovered the kingdom, whereupon he
for[Pg 309]warded to Rome a crown and the assassins of Octavius. The citizens,
being enraged at him, would accept neither the one nor the other.
Next the
Romans made a campaign against the Dalmatians. This race consists of Illyrians
who dwell along the Ionian Gulf, some of whom the Greeks used to call Taulantii,
and part of them are close to Dyrrachium. The cause of the war was that they had
been abusing some of their neighbors who were in a league of friendship with the
Romans, and when the Romans joined an embassy in their behalf the Dalmatians
returned an answer that was not respectful, and even arrested and killed the
envoys of the other nations. B.C. 155
(a.u. 599)Scipio Nasica subdued this
race in a campaign against them. He captured their towns and several times sold
the captives.—Other events, too, took place in those days,—not, however, of a
kind to deserve mention or historical record.
[Pg 310]
(BOOK 21,
BOISSEVAIN.)
B.C. 153
(a.u. 601)IX, 26.—The rattling of dice in the box of
Circumstance now announced the final cast in the struggle with Carthage,—the
third of the series. The Carthaginians could not endure their subordinate
position, but contrary to the treaty were setting their fleet in readiness and
making alliances as measures of preparation for war with the Nomads: B.C.
152
(a.u. 602)and the Romans, having settled other questions to their own
satisfaction, did not remain at rest, but by the mouth of Scipio Nasica their
commissioner they charged their rivals with this breach of faith and ordered
them to disband their armament. The Carthaginians found fault with Masinissa and
on account of the war with him declined to obey the command. The Romans then
arranged terms for them with Masinissa and prevailed upon him to retire from
some territory in their favor. B.C. 150
(a.u. 604)Since they showed
themselves no more tractable than before, the Romans waited a bit, and as soon
as information was received that the Carthaginians had been worsted in a great
battle by Masinissa they voted for war against them. The Carthaginians, who were
feeling the effects of their defeat, became frightened on learning this and sent
envoys to Rome to secure an alliance; for other neighboring tribes were also
beginning to attack them. They feigned a readiness to yield to the Romans on all
points, and their very intention of not remaining true to their agreements
rendered them all the more ready to promise anything.[Pg 311]
B.C.
149
(a.u. 605)When the senate called a meeting to consider the matter, Scipio
Nasica advised receiving the Carthaginian embassy and making a truce with them,
but Marcus Cato declared that no truce ought to be arranged nor the decree of
war rescinded. The senators accepted the supplication of the envoys, promised to
grant them a truce, and asked for hostages as an earnest of these conditions.
These hostages were sent to Sicily and Lucius Marcius and Marcus Manilius went
there, took charge of them, and sent them on to Rome. They themselves made haste
to occupy Africa. After encamping they summoned the magistrates of Carthage to
appear before them. When these officials arrived they did not unmask all their
demands at once, for they feared that if the Carthaginians understood them in
season they would plunge into war with resources unimpaired. So first they asked
for and received grain, next the triremes, and after that the engines; and then
they demanded the arms besides. They secured the entire visible supply (but the
Carthaginians had a great deal of other equipment safely hidden) and at length
ordered them to raze their city and to build in its place an unwalled town
inland, eighty stades distant from the sea. At that the Carthaginians were
dissolved in tears, acknowledged that they were trapped, and bewailed their
fate, begging the consuls not to compel them to act as the assassins of their
country. They soon found that they could accomplish nothing and had to face the
repeated command either to execute the order or to cast the die of war. Many of
the people then remained there on the[Pg 312] Roman side, tacitly admitting
their success: the remainder withdrew, and after killing some of their rulers
for not having chosen war in the first place and after murdering such Romans as
were discovered within the fortification they turned their attention to war.
Under these circumstances they liberated all the slaves, restored the exiles,
chose Hasdrubal once more as leader, and made ready arms, engines, and triremes.
With war at their doors and the danger of slavery confronting them they prepared
in the briefest possible time everything that they needed. They spared nothing,
but melted down the statues for the sake of the bronze in them and used the hair
of their women for ropes. The consuls at first, thinking them unarmed, expected
to overcome them speedily and merely prepared ladders, with which they expected
to scale the wall at once. As the assault showed their enemies to be armed and
they saw that they possessed means for a siege, the Romans, before approaching
close to the city again, devoted themselves to the manufacture of engines. The
construction of these machines was fraught with danger, since Hasdrubal set
ambuscades for those who were gathering the wood and annoyed them considerably,
but in time they were able to assail the town. Now Manilius in his assault from
the land side could not injure the Carthaginians at all, but Marcius, while
delivering an attack from marshy ground on the side where the sea was, managed
to shake down a part of the wall, though he could not get inside. The
Carthaginians repulsed those who attempted to force their way in, and at night
issued[Pg 313] through the ruins to slay numerous men and burn up a very large
number of engines. Hasdrubal and the cavalry, however, did not allow them to
scatter over any considerable territory and Masinissa lent them no aid. He had
not been invited at the opening of the war, and, though he had promised
Hasdrubal that he would fight now, they gave him no opportunity of doing
so.
IX, 27.—The consuls in view of the outcome of their attempts and because
their fleet had been damaged by its stay in the lake raised the siege. Marcius
endeavored to achieve some advantage by sea or at least to injure the coast
districts, but not accomplishing anything he sailed for home, then turned back
and subdued Ægimurus: and Manilius started for the interior, but upon sustaining
injuries at the hands of Himilco, commander of the Carthaginian cavalry, whom
they called also Phameas, he returned to Carthage. There, while the outside
forces of Hasdrubal troubled him, the people in the city harassed him by
excursions both night and day. In fact, the Carthaginians came to despise him
and advanced as far as the Roman camp, but being for the most part unarmed they
lost a number of men and shut themselves up in their fortifications again.
Manilius was particularly anxious to get into close quarters with Hasdrubal,
thinking that, if he could vanquish him, he should find it easier to wage war
upon the remainder. His wish to get into close quarters with him was eventually
realized. He followed Hasdrubal to a small fort whither the latter was retiring,
and before he knew[Pg 314] it got into a narrow passage over rough ground and
there suffered a tremendous reverse. He would have been utterly destroyed, had
he not found a most valuable helper in the person of Scipio the descendant of
Africanus, Frag. 69who excelled in apprehending and devising beforehand the most
advantageous movements, but excelled also in executing them. in bodily frame he
was strong; he was amiable, too, and moderate; and for these reasons he escaped
envy. he chose to make himself like to his inferiors, not better than his equals
(he served as military tribune), and weaker than greater men. Manilius both
reported what Scipio had done and sent a letter to the people of Rome concealing
nothing, but including among other matters an account of the proceedings of
Masinissa and Phameas. These were as follows.
Masinissa on his death-bed was
at a loss to know how he should dispose of his kingdom, his dilemma being due to
the number of his sons and the variety of their family ties on their mothers'
side. Therefore he sent for Scipio to advise him, and the consul let Scipio go.
But the demise of Masinissa occurred before Scipio arrived, and he gave his ring
to his son Micipsa and delivered and committed all the other interests
pertaining to his kingdom to Scipio, so soon as the latter should arrive. Scipio
being aware of the preferences of Masinissa's sons assigned the kingdom to no
one of them singly; but whereas there were three most distinguished, the eldest
Micipsa, the youngest Gulussa, and intermediate in age Mastanabal, he appointed
these to have charge of affairs, though separately. To the eldest, who was
versed in business and[Pg 315] fond of wealth, he entrusted the fiscal
administration, to the second son, who possessed the critical faculty, he
granted the right to decide disputes, and to Gulussa, who chanced to be of a
warlike temperament, he delivered the troops. They had also numerous brothers on
whom he bestowed certain cities and districts. He took Gulussa along with him
and introduced him to the consul.
Now at the beginning of spring they made a
campaign against the allies of the Carthaginians and brought many of them to
terms forcibly while inducing many others to capitulate. Scipio was especially
active in the work. Frag. 70when phameas, despairing of carthaginian success,
went over to the Romans and held a conference with Scipio, then they all set out
against Hasdrubal. For several days they assailed his fortress, but as
necessaries failed them they retired in good order. During the siege Phameas had
attacked them and made a show of fighting, and in the progress of the action he
had deserted together with some of the cavalry. Then Manilius went to Utica and
remained quiet, while Scipio took Phameas back to Rome, where he himself
received commendation and Phameas was honored to the extent of being allowed to
sit with the senate in the senate-house.
IX, 28.—It was at this time, too,
that the episode occurred in which Prusias figured. The latter being old and of
an irritable disposition became possessed by a fear that the Bithynians would
expel him from his kingdom, choosing in his stead his son Nicomedes. So on some
pretext he sent his son to Rome, with orders to make that his home. But since he
plotted against[Pg 316] the younger man even during the sojourn in Rome and
labored to kill him, some Bithynians made visits to Rome, took Nicomedes away
secretly and conveyed him to Bithynia, and after slaying the old man designated
him king. This act vexed the Romans, but did not incense them to the point of
war.
A certain Andriscus, who was a native of Atramyttium and resembled
Perseus in appearance, caused a wide area of Macedonia to revolt by pretending
to be his son and calling himself Philip. First he went to Macedonia and tried
to upheave the country, but as no one would yield him allegiance he took his way
to Demetrius in Syria to obtain from him the aid which relationship might
afford. Demetrius arrested him and sent him to Rome, where he met with general
contempt, both because he stood convicted of not being the son of Perseus and
because he had no other qualities that were worthy of attention. On being
released he gathered a band of revolutionists, drew after him a number of
cities, and finally, assuming the kingly garb and mustering an army, he reached
Thrace. There he added to his army numbers of the independent lands as well as
numbers of princes who disliked the Romans, invaded Macedonia (which he
occupied), and setting out for Thessaly made not a little of that territory his
own.
The Romans at first scorned Andriscus and then they sent Scipio Nasica
to effect some peaceful settlement in those parts. On reaching Greece and
ascertaining what had occurred he despatched a letter to the Romans explaining
the case; then after collecting troops from allies there he gave attention to
the busi[Pg 317]ness in hand and advanced as far as Macedonia. The people of
Rome when informed of the doings of Andriscus sent an army and Publius
Juventius, a prætor. Juventius had just reached the vicinity of Macedonia, when
Andriscus gave battle, killed the prætor, and would have annihilated his entire
force but for its withdrawal by night. Next he invaded Thessaly, damaged a very
great extent of it, and ranged Thracian interests on his side. Consequently the
people of Rome once more despatched a prætor, Quintus Cæcilius Metellus, with a
strong body of troops: he proceeded to Macedonia and enjoyed the assistance of
the fleet of Attalus. The fleet inspired Andriscus with some alarm for the coast
districts so that he did not venture to advance farther but moved up to a point
slightly beyond Pydna. There he had the best of it in a cavalry encounter but
out of fear of the infantry turned back. His elation was such that he divided
his army into two sections, and with one remained on the watch where he was,
while he sent the other to ravage Thessaly. Metellus in derision of the forces
confronting him joined battle, and by overpowering those with whom he first came
into conflict he got control of the remainder with greater ease; for they made
terms with him readily, inasmuch as they had erred. Andriscus fled to Thrace and
after assembling a body of fighters gave battle to Metellus as the latter was
advancing on his track. His vanguard, however, was routed first; then his
contingent of allies was scattered; and Andriscus himself was betrayed by Byzes,
a Thracian prince, and executed.
One Alexander, that also declared himself to
be a[Pg 318] son of Perseus and collected a band of warriors, had occupied the
country round about the river which is called the Mestus:[40] but he now took to
flight, and Metellus chased him as far as Dardania.
B.C. 148
(a.u. 606)IX,
29.—The Romans put Piso the consul in the field against the Carthaginians. Piso
did not try conclusions with Carthage and Hasdrubal, but devoted himself to the
coast cities. He was repulsed from Aspis, captured and razed Neapolis, and in
his expedition against the town of Hippo merely used up time without
accomplishing anything. The Carthaginians took heart both for the reasons
indicated and because some allies had joined their cause. Learning this the
Romans in army and city alike had recourse to Scipio and created him consul in
spite of the fact that his age would not properly let him hold the office. Cp.
Frag. 71 own deeds and the excellence of his father Paulus and of his
grandfather Africanus implanted in the breasts of all a firm hope that through
him they should vanquish their enemies and utterly root out Carthage.
B.C.
147
(a.u. 607)While Scipio was en route to Libya, Mancinus was sailing along
the coast of Carthage. He noticed a point called Megalia which was inside the
city wall and was located on a cliff having a sheer descent into the sea. This
point was a long distance away from the rest of the town and had but few guards
because of the natural strength of its position. Suddenly Mancinus applied
ladders to it from the ships and ascended. Not till he was safely up did some of
the[Pg 319] Carthaginians hastily gather, but even so they were unable to
repulse him from his vantage ground. He then sent to Piso an account of his
exploit and a request for assistance. Piso, however, being far in the interior,
proved of no aid to Mancinus, but Scipio happened along at nightfall just after
the receipt of the news and immediately sent him help. The Carthaginians would
have either captured or destroyed Mancinus, if they had not seen Scipio's
vessels skirting the shore: then they grew discouraged, but would not fall back.
So Scipio sent them some captives to tell them that he was at hand, upon receipt
of which information they no longer stood their ground, but retired to send for
Hasdrubal and fortify with trenches and palisades the cross-wall in front of the
residences. Scipio now left Mancinus to guard Megalia and himself set out to
join Piso and the troops so as to have their support in his conduct of
operations. He made a rapid return journey with the lightest equipped portion of
the army and found that Hasdrubal had entered Carthage and was attacking
Mancinus fiercely. The arrival of Scipio put an end to the attack. When Piso too
had come there, Scipio bade him take up his position outside the wall opposite
certain gates, and he sent other soldiers around to a little gate a long
distance away from the main force, with orders as to what they must do. He
himself about midnight took the strongest portion of the army, got inside the
circuit (using deserters as guides) and moving quietly to a point inside the
little gate he hacked the bar in two, let in the men who were[Pg 320] on the
watch outside and destroyed the guards. Then he hastened to the gate opposite
which Piso had his station, routing the intervening guards (who were only a few
in each place), so that Hasdrubal by the time he found out what had happened
could see that nearly the entire body of Roman troops was inside. For a while
the Carthaginians withstood them: then they abandoned the city, all but the
Cotho and Byrsa, in which they took refuge. Next Hasdrubal killed all the Roman
captives in order that his people in despair of pardon might show the greater
fortitude in resistance. He also made away with many of the natives on the
charge that they wanted to betray their own cause. And Scipio encircled them
with trench and palisade and intercepted them by a wall, yet it was some time
before he took them captive. The walls were strong and the men within being many
in number and confined in a small space fought with vehemence. They were well
off for food, too, for Bithias from the mainland opposite the city sent
merchantmen, amid wind and wave into the harbor to them so often as there was a
heavy gale blowing. To overcome this obstacle Scipio conceived and executed a
startling operation, namely, the damming of the narrow entrance to the harbor.
The work was difficult and toilsome, for the Carthaginians undertook to check
them, yet he accomplished it by the number of laborers at his disposal. Many
battles took place in the meantime, but the enemy were unable to prevent the
filling of the channel.
IX, 30.—So when the mouth of the harbor had been[Pg
321] filled up, the Carthaginians were terribly oppressed by the scarcity of
food; some of them deserted, others endured it and died, and still others ate
the dead bodies. Hasdrubal, accordingly, in dejection sent envoys to Scipio with
regard to truce, and would have obtained immunity, had he not desired to secure
both preservation and freedom for all the rest as well. After he had failed for
this reason to accomplish his purpose he confined his wife in the acropolis
because she had made propositions to Scipio for the safety of herself and her
children, and behaved in other ways more boldly on account of his despair. He,
therefore, and some others, mastered by frenzy, fought both night and day; and
sometimes they would be defeated and sometimes gain advantage; and they devised
machinery to oppose the Roman engines. Bithias, who held a high-perched fortress
and scoured wide stretches of the mainland, did what he could to help the
Carthaginians and damage the Romans. Hence Scipio also divided his army,
assigning one half of it to invest Carthage while he sent the other half against
Bithias, placing at the head of it his lieutenant Gaius Lælius. He himself spent
his time in passing from one division to the other for inspection. Then the
fortress was taken, and the siege of Carthage was once more conducted by an
undivided force.
B.C. 146
(a.u. 608)The Carthaginians despairing
consequently of being any longer able to save both walls betook themselves to
the enclosure of the Byrsa, since it was higher up, at the same time
transferring thither all the objects[Pg 322] that they could. By night they
burned the dockyard and most of the other structures in order to deprive the
enemy of any benefit from them. When the Romans became aware of their action,
they occupied the harbor and advanced against Byrsa. Occupying the houses on
each side of it some of the besiegers walked straight along on top of the roofs
by successively stepping to those immediately adjacent, and others by digging
through the walls pushed onward below until they reached the very citadel. When
they had got so far, the Carthaginians offered no further opposition, but all
except Hasdrubal sued for clemency. He together with the deserters (for Scipio
would not grant them a truce) was crowded into the temple of Æsculapius, as were
also his wife and children, and there he defended himself against assailants
until the deserters set fire to the temple and climbed to the roof to await the
last extremity of the flames. Then, beaten, he came to Scipio holding the
suppliant branch. His wife, who witnessed his entreaty, after calling him by
name and reproaching him for securing safety for himself when he had not allowed
her to obtain terms threw her children into the fire and likewise cast herself
in.
Thus did Scipio take Carthage, and he forwarded to the senate a letter in
these terms: "Carthage is taken. What are your orders?" This being read they
held a session to consider what should be done. Cato advanced the opinion that
they ought to raze the city and blot out the Carthaginians, whereas Scipio
Nasica still[Pg 323] advised sparing the Carthaginians. From this beginning the
senate became involved in great dispute and contention until some one said that
if for no other reason it must be considered necessary to spare them for the
Romans' own sake. With this nation for antagonists they would be sure to
practice excellence and not turn aside to pleasures and luxury; for if those who
were able to compel them to practice warlike pursuits should be removed from the
scene, they might become inferior from want of practice, for a lack of worthy
competitors. As a result of these words all became unanimous in favor of
demolishing Carthage, since they felt sure that that people would never remain
entirely at peace. The whole town was therefore overthrown from pinnacle to
foundation and it was decreed that for any person to settle upon its site should
be an accursed act. The majority of the population captured were thrown into
prison and there perished, and some few (still excepting the very foremost men)
were sold. These leaders and the hostages and Hasdrubal and Bithias lived to the
end of their lives in different parts of Italy as prisoners, yet free from
bonds. Scipio secured both glory and honor and was called Africanus not after
his grandfather but from his own achievements.
IX, 31.—This year likewise saw
the ruin of Corinth. The head men of the Greeks had been deported to Italy by
Æmilius Paulus, whereupon their countrymen at first through embassies kept
requesting the return of the men, and when their prayers were not[Pg 324]
granted some of the exiles in despair of ever effecting a return to their homes
committed suicide. The Greeks took this situation with a very bad grace and made
it a matter of public lamentation, besides evincing anger at any persons
dwelling among them that favored the Roman cause; yet they displayed no open
symptoms of hostility until they got back the remnants of those hostages. B.C.
149
(a.u. 605)
Frag. 72Then those that had been wronged and those that had
obtained a hold upon the goods of others fell into strife and began a real
warfare. the quarrel began by the action of the achæans in bringing charges
against the lacedæmonians as being responsible for what had happened to them.
the mediators whom the romans despatched to them they would not heed: they
rather set their faces toward war, acting under the supervision of Critolaus.
Metellus was consequently afraid that they might lay hands on Macedonia,—B.C.
148
(a.u. 606)they had already appeared in Thessaly,—and so he went to meet
them and routed them.
At the fall of Critolaus the Greek world was split
asunder. Some of them had embraced peace and laid down their weapons, whereas
others had committed their interests to the care of Diæus and were still
involved in factional turmoil. B.C. 146
(a.u. 608)On learning this the people
of Rome sent Mummius against them. He got rid of Metellus and gave his personal
attention to the war. Part of his army sustained a slight reverse through an
ambuscade and Diæus pursued the fugitives up to their own camp, but Mummius made
a[Pg 325] sortie, routed him, and followed to the Achæan entrenchments. Diæus
now gathered a larger force and undertook to give battle to them, but, as the
Romans would make no hostile demonstration, he conceived a contempt for them and
advanced to a depressed piece of ground lying between the camps. Mummius seeing
this secretly sent horsemen to assail them on the flank. After these had
attacked and thrown the enemy into confusion, he brought up the phalanx in front
and caused considerable slaughter. As a consequence Diæus in despair killed
himself, and of the survivors of the battle the Corinthians were scattered over
the country, while the rest fled to their homes. Hence the Corinthians within
the wall believing that all their citizens had been lost abandoned the city, and
it was empty of men when Mummius took it. After that he won over without trouble
both that nation and the rest of the Greeks. He now took possession of their
arms, all the offerings that were consecrated in their temples, the statues,
paintings, and whatever other kind of ornament they had; and as soon as he could
send his father and some other men to arrange terms for the vanquished he caused
the walls of some of the cities to be taken down and declared them all to be
free and independent except the Corinthians. The dwellers in Corinth he sold,
and confiscated their land and demolished their walls and all their houses
besides, out of fear that some states might again unite with them, since they
constituted the greatest state. To prevent any of them from remaining hidden and
any of the[Pg 326] other Greeks from being sold as Corinthians he assembled
everybody present before he had disclosed his determination, and after having
his soldiers surround them in such a way as not to attract notice he proclaimed
the enslavement of the Corinthians and the liberation of the remainder. Then he
instructed them all to take hold of any Corinthians standing beside them. In
this way he arrived at an accurate distinction.
Thus was Corinth overthrown.
The rest of the Greek world suffered temporarily from murders and levies of
money, but afterward came to enjoy such immunity and prosperity that it used to
be said: "If they had not been taken captive as early as they were, they could
not have been preserved."
So this end simultaneously befell Carthage and
Corinth, famous, ancient cities: but at a much later date they received colonies
of Romans, became again flourishing, and regained their original
position.
The exploits of the Romans up to this point, found by me in ancient
books that record these matters, written by men of old time, I have drawn thence
in a condensed form and have embodied in the present history. As for what comes
next in order,—the transactions of the consuls and dictators, so long as the
government of Rome was still conducted by these officials,—let no one censure me
as having passed this by through contempt or indolence or antipathy and having
left the history as it were incomplete. The gap has not been overlooked by me
through sloth, nor have I of my own[Pg 327] free will left my task half
finished, but through lack of books to describe the events. I have frequently
instituted a search for them, yet I have not found them, and I do not know
whether the cause is that the passage of time has destroyed them, and so they
are not preserved, or whether the persons to whom I entrusted the errand perhaps
did not search for them with sufficient diligence; for I was living abroad and
passing my life on an islet far from the city. And because it has not been my
lot to gain access to these books in this instance, my history turns out to be
only half complete for the acts of the consuls and even for those of the
dictators. Hence, passing over them, though reluctantly, I will record the deeds
of the emperors, with some brief introductory remarks to make clear to those who
shall read my history by what steps the Romans passed from aristocracy (or
democracy) to the rule of one man, and to impart, in addition, coherence to the
narrative.
[Pg 329]
note.—no summary exists of the missing
books twenty-two to thirty-five inclusive, and we are driven to rely on
scattered and inconsequential fragments (that have somehow escaped the wreck of
seasons) as the basis for whatever mental image we may choose to form of the
lost narrative. these bits possess the same value for dio's history as do the
unrelated pieces of marble and clay from excavations in enabling us to gain a
wider understanding of antique sculpture and pottery. for an account of the
sources of these fragments see the introduction, under the caption entitled THE
WRITING.
[Pg 331]
(BOOK 22, BOISSEVAIN.)
Frag.
LXXIII¶Viriathus was a Lusitanian, of very obscure origin, as some think, who
enjoyed great renown through his deeds, for from a shepherd he became a robber
and later on also a general. He was naturally adapted and had trained himself to
be very quick in pursuing and fleeing, and of great force in a stationary
conflict. He was glad to get any food that came to hand and whatever drink fell
to his lot; he lived most of his life under the open sky and was satisfied with
nature's bedding. Consequently he was superior to any heat or any cold, and
neither was he ever troubled by hunger nor did he suffer from any other
disagreeable condition; since he found all his wants met quite sufficiently by
whatever he had at hand, which seemed to him unexcelled. While he possessed such
a physical constitution, as the result of nature and training, he surpassed
still more in spiritual endowment. He was swift to perceive and do whatever was
requisite,—he could tell what must be done and at the same time he understood
the proper occasion for it,—and he was clever at pretending not to know the most
evident facts and to know the most hidden secrets. Furthermore he was not only
general but his own assistant in every business equally, and was seen to be
neither humble nor pompous, but in him obscurity of family and reputation for
strength were so mingled that he seemed to be neither inferior nor superior to
any one. And, in fine, he carried on the[Pg 332] war not for the sake of
personal gain or power nor through anger, but because of the opportunity for
action; therefore he was regarded as most thoroughly a lover of war and a
successful warrior. (Valesius, p. 614.)
Frag. LXXIV
B.C. 143
(a.u. 611)
1. ¶Claudius, the colleague of Metellus, impelled by pride of birth and jealousy
of Metellus, when he had had Italy allotted to his command and found no sign of
war, was eager to secure by any means some pretext for a triumph; hence without
taking the trouble to lodge any formal complaint he set the Salassi, a Gallic
tribe, at war with the Romans. He had been sent to reconcile them, because they
were disputing with their neighbors about the water necessary for the gold
mines, and he overran their entire country ... the Romans sent him two of the
ten priests. (Valesius, p. 617.)
2. ¶Claudius, even if he understood
thoroughly that he had not conquered, nevertheless even then displayed such
arrogance as not to say a word in either the senate or the popular assembly
about the triumph; but acting as if the right were indisputably his, even if no
one should vote to that effect, he asked for the requisite expenditures.
(Valesius, ib.)
Frag. LXXV
B.C. 142
(a.u. 612)¶As regards character
Mummius and Africanus differed vastly from each other in every respect. The
latter ruled with a view to the greatest uprightness and with exactitude, not
esteeming one influence above another; he called to account many of the senators
and many of the knights, as well as other individuals. Mummius, on the other
hand, was more urbane and humane in his behavior; he imputed no dishonor to
any[Pg 333] one, and abolished many of the regulations framed by Africanus, so
far as was possible. To such an extent of amiability did his nature lead him,
that he lent some statues to Lucullus for the consecration of the temple of
Felicitas (material for which he had gathered in the Spanish war), and then,
when that general was unwilling to return them on the ground that they had been
made sacred by the dedication, he showed no anger, but permitted his own spoils
to lie there offered up in another's name. (Valesius, p. 618.)
Frag.
LXXVI
B.C. 140
(a.u. 614) ¶Pompeius[41] received many setbacks and
incurred great disgrace. There was a river flowing through the country of the
Numantini that he wished to turn aside from its ancient channel and let in upon
their fields; and after tremendous exertions he did accomplish this. But he lost
many soldiers, and no advantage from turning it aside came to the Romans, nor
harm to the enemy.... (Valesius, ib.)
Frag. LXXVII¶Cæpio[42] effected nothing
worthy of mention against the foe, but brought much serious harm to his own men,
so that he ran the risk of being killed by them. He treated them all, but
especially the cavalry, with such harshness and cruelty that a vast number of
most unseemly jokes and stories passed current about him during the nights; and
the more he grew vexed at it, the more jests did they make and endeavor to
infuriate him. When what was going on became known and no one could be found
guilty—though he suspected it was the doing of the cavalry—as he could fix the
responsibility upon no one single man he became angry[Pg 334] at all of them,
and commanded them, six hundred in number, accompanied only by their grooms, to
cross the river by which they were encamped and bring wood from the mountain on
which Viriathus was bivouacking. The danger was manifest to all, and the
tribunes and lieutenants begged him not to destroy them. The cavalry waited for
a little to see if he would listen to the others, and when he would not yield,
they deemed it unworthy to supplicate him, as he was most eager for them to do,
but choosing rather to perish utterly than to speak a respectful word to him,
they started on the mission assigned. The horsemen of the allies and other
volunteers accompanied them. They crossed the river, cut the wood, and threw it
in all around the general's quarters, intending to burn them down. And he would
have perished in the flames, if he had not fled away in time. (Valesius, p.
618.)
Frag. LXXVIII
B.C. 139
(a.u. 615) ¶Popilius so terrified
Viriathus that the latter sent to him about peace immediately and before they
had tried any battle at all, killed some of the leaders of the rebels whose
surrender had been demanded by the Romans—among these his father-in-law, though
commanding his own force, was slaughtered—and delivered up the rest, all of
whose hands the consul cut off. And he would have agreed to a complete truce, if
their weapons had not been demanded in addition: with this condition neither he
nor the rest of the throng would comply.[43] (Ursinus, p. 383.)
[Pg
335]
(BOOK 23, BOISSEVAIN.)
Frag. LXXIX
B.C. 136
(a.u. 618) ¶The
Romans received the Numantine ambassadors on their arrival outside the walls, to
the end that their reception might not seem to imply a ratification of the
truce. However, they sent gifts of friendship notwithstanding, not wishing to
deprive them of the hope of possibly coming to terms. Mancinus and his followers
told of the necessity of the compact made and the number of the saved, and
stated that they still held all of their former possessions in Spain. They
besought their countrymen to consider the question not in the light of their
present immunity, but with reference to the danger that then encompassed the
soldiers, and to think not what ought to have been done, but what might have
been the outcome. The Numantini brought forward many statements about their
previous good-will toward the Romans and considerable about the latter's
subsequent injustice, by reason of which they had been forced into the war, and
the perjury of Pompeius: and they asked for considerate treatment in return for
the preservation of Mancinus and the rest. But the Romans both dissolved the
truce and decided that Mancinus should be given up to the Numantini. (Ursinus,
p. 383.)
Frag. LXXX¶Claudius[44] through his harshness would have committed
many outrageous acts, had he not been re[Pg 336]strained by his colleague
Quintus.[45] The latter, who was amiable and possessed exactly the opposite
temperament, did not oppose him with anger in any matter and, indeed,
occasionally yielded to him, and by gentle behavior so manipulated him that he
found very few opportunities for irritation. (Valesius, p. 621.)
Frag.
LXXXI¶Furius[46] led out among his lieutenants both Pompeius and Metellus though
they were hostile both to him and to each other; for, expecting to achieve some
great success, he wished to have in them sure witnesses to his deeds and to
receive the evidence of his prowess from their unwilling lips. (Valesius,
ib.)
[Pg 337]
(BOOK 24, BOISSEVAIN.)
Frag. LXXXII1. ¶Tiberius Gracchus
caused an upheaval of the Roman state,—and this in spite of the fact that he
belonged to one of the foremost families (his grandfather being Africanus), that
he possessed a natural endowment worthy of the latter, that he had gone through
a most thorough course of education, and had a high spirit. In proportion to
these great gifts of his was the allurement that they offered to follow his
ambitions: and when once he had turned aside from what was best he drifted even
involuntarily into what was worst. It began with his being refused a triumph
over the Numantini: he had hoped for this honor because he had previously had
the management of the business, but so far from obtaining anything of the kind
he incurred the danger of being delivered up; then he decided that deeds were
estimated not on the basis of goodness or truth but according to mere chance.
And this road to fame he abandoned as not safe, but since he desired by all
means to become prominent in some way and expected that he could accomplish this
better through the popular than through the senatorial party, he attached
himself to the former. (Valesius, p. 621.)
2. ¶Marcus Octavius on account of
an hereditary feud with Gracchus willingly made himself his opponent. B.C.
133
(a.u. 621)Thereafter there was no semblance of moderation: striving and
quarreling as they were, each to[Pg 338] survive the other rather than to
benefit the community, they committed many acts of violence as if they were in a
principality instead of a democracy, and suffered many unusual calamities proper
for war but not for peace. In addition to their individual conflicts, there were
many who, banded together, instituted grievous abuses and battles in the
senate-house itself and the popular assembly as well as throughout the rest of
the city: they pretended to be executing the law, but were in reality making in
all things every effort not to be surpassed by each other. The result was that
the authorities could not carry on their accustomed tasks, courts came to a
stop, no contract was entered into, and other sorts of confusion and disorder
were rife everywhere. The place bore the name of city, but was no whit different
from a camp. (Valesius, p. 622.)
3. ¶Gracchus proposed certain laws for the
benefit of those of the people who served in the army, and transferred the
courts from the senate to the knights, bedeviling and disturbing all established
customs in order that he might be enabled to lay hold on safety in some wise.
And after he found not even this of advantage to him, but his term of office was
drawing to a close, when he would be immediately exposed to the attacks of his
enemies, he attempted to secure the tribuneship also for the following year (in
company with his brother) and to appoint his father-in-law consul: to obtain
this end he would make any statement or promise anything what[Pg 339]ever to
anybody. Often, too, he put on a mourning garb and brought his mother and
children, tied hand and foot, into the presence of the populace. (Valesius,
ib.)
Frag. LXXXIII
B.C. 129
(a.u. 625) ¶Scipio Africanus had more
ambition in his makeup than was suitable for or compatible with his general
excellence. And in reality none of his rivals took pleasure in his death, but
although they thought him a great obstacle in their way even they missed him.
They saw that he was valuable to the State and never expected that he would
cause them any serious trouble. When he was suddenly taken away all the
possessions of the powerful class were again diminished, so that the promoters
of agrarian legislation ravaged at will practically all of Italy. And this seems
to me to have been most strongly indicated by the mass of stones that poured
down from heaven, falling upon some of the temples and killing men, and by the
tears of Apollo. B.C. 131
(a.u. 623)For the god wept copiously[47] for three
days, so that the Romans on the advice of the soothsayers voted to cut down the
statue and to sink it in the deep. (Valesius, p. 625.)
[Pg 340]
(BOOK 25,
BOISSEVAIN.)
Frag. LXXXIV¶Gracchus had a disposition like his brother; only
the latter drifted from excellence into ambition and then to baseness whereas
this man was naturally intractable and played the rogue voluntarily and far
surpassed the other in his gift of language. For these reasons his designs were
more mischievous, his daring more spontaneous, and his self-will greater in all
junctures alike. He was the first to walk up and down in the assemblies while he
harangued and the first to bare his arm; hence neither of these practices has
been thought improper, since he did it. And because his speaking was
characterized by great condensation of thought and forcefulness of words and he
consequently was unable to restrain himself easily but was often led to say what
he did not wish, he used to bring in a flute-player, and from him, playing a low
accompaniment, he would take his rhythm and time, or if even so he in some way
fell out of measure, he would stop. This was the sort of man that attacked the
government, and, by assuming no speech or act to be forbidden, in the briefest
time became a great power among the populace and the knights. All the nobility
and the senatorial party if he had lived longer[48] ... B.C. 121
(a.u.
633)but as it was his great authority made him envied even by the members of his
faction, and he was ruined by his own devices. (Valesius, ib.)
[Pg
341]
(BOOK 26, BOISSEVAIN.)
Frag. LXXXV
B.C. 114
(a.u. 640) 1. ¶The
priestesses for the most part incurred destruction and shame themselves, and
proved the source of great evils to numerous others as well, while the entire
city because of them was thrown into an uproar. For the people, in view of the
fact that what was immaculate by law and sacred by the dictates of religion and
decent through fear of vengeance had been polluted, were ready to believe that
anything most shameful and unholy might be done. For this reason they visited
punishment not only on the convicted, but also on all the rest who had been
accused, to show their hatred of what had occurred. Hence the whole episode in
which the women were concerned seemed now to be due not so much to their
feminine incontinence[49] as to a kind of madness inspired by supernatural
powers. (Valesius, p. 626.)
2. ¶Three altogether had had intercourse with
men; and of them Marcia had acted individually, granting her favors to one
single knight[50] and would never have been discovered, had not the
investigation into the cases of the others spread and overtaken her besides.
Æmilia and Licinia had a multitude of lovers and carried on their wanton
behavior with each other's help. At first they surrendered themselves to some
few privately and secretly, telling each man that he[Pg 342] was the only one
admitted. Later they themselves bound every one who could suspect and inform
against them to certain silence in advance by the price of intercourse with
them, and those who had previously enjoyed their conversation, though they saw
this, yet endured it in order not to be detected by a show of vexation. So after
holding commerce with many, now singly, now in groups, now privately, now
publicly, Licinia enjoyed the society of the brother of Æmilia, and Æmilia that
of Licinia's brother. These doings were hidden for a great period of time, and
though many men and many women, both free and slaves, were in the secret, it was
hidden for a very long period, until one Manius,[51] who seems to have been the
first to assist and coöperate in the whole evil, gave information of the matter
because he had not obtained freedom nor any of the other objects of his hope. He
was, indeed, very skillful not only at leading women into prostitution, but also
in slandering and ruining some of them. (Valesius, p. 626.)
Frag.
LXXXVI
B.C. 112
(a.u. 642) ¶This was calculated to bring him [sc. Marcus
Drusus] glory first of itself and second in the light of Cato's disaster; and
because he had shown great amiability toward the soldiers and seemed to have
made success of more importance than truth, he also secured a renown greater
than his deeds deserved. (Valesius, p. 629.)
Frag. LXXXVII
B.C.
108
(a.u. 646) 1. ¶When Jugurtha sent to Metellus about peace the latter made
separate demands upon him as if each[Pg 343] were to be the last, and in this
way got from him hostages, arms, the elephants, the captives, and the deserters.
All of these last he killed but did not grant a truce because Jugurtha, fearing
to be arrested, refused to come to him and because Marius and Gnæus[52]
prevented. (Ursinus, p. 385.)
2. ¶For he [sc. Marius] was in general
seditious and turbulent, wholly friendly to the rabble from which he had sprung
and wholly ready to overthrow the nobility. He risked with perfect readiness any
statement, promise, lie, or false oath in any matter where he hoped to gain a
benefit. Blackmailing one of the foremost citizens or commending some rascal he
thought child's play. And let no one be surprised that such a man could conceal
his villanies for a very long time: for, as a result of his exceeding cunning
and the good fortune which he enjoyed all through his early life, he actually
acquired a reputation for virtue. (Valesius, p. 629.)
3. ¶Marius was the more
easily able to calumniate Metellus for the reason that the latter was numbered
among the nobles and was managing military concerns excellently, whereas he
himself was just beginning to come forward from a very obscure and doubtful
origin into public notice:—the populace was readily inclined to overthrow
Metellus through envy, and favored Marius increasingly for his promises:—of
great assistance, too, was the report that Metellus had said to Marius (who was
just then coming forward[Pg 344] for election): "You ought to be satisfied if
you get to be consul along with my son" (who was a mere lad). (Valesius, p.
630.)
4. ¶Gaudas was angry at Metellus because in spite of requests he had
received from him neither the deserters nor a garrison of Roman soldiers, or
else because he could not sit near him,—a privilege ordinarily vouchsafed by the
consuls to princes and potentates. (Valesius, ib.)
B.C. 107
(a.u. 647)5.
¶When Cirta was captured by capitulation Bocchus sent a herald to Marius and
first demanded the empire of Jugurtha as the price for his defection, but later,
as he did not obtain it, simply asked him to make terms. So he sent envoys to
Rome, but Jugurtha while this was taking place retired to the most desolate
portions of his own territory. (Ursinus, p. 385.)
B.C. 106
(a.u. 648)6.
¶Marius entertained the envoys of Bocchus but said he would make no compact with
him unless he should receive Jugurtha's prisoners from his hands; and this was
done. (Ursinus, p. 386.)
[Pg 345]
(BOOK 27, BOISSEVAIN.)
Frag.
LXXXVIII¶Tolosa, which was formerly at peace with the Romans but had revolted,
under the influence of hope in the Cimbri, to the extent of imprisoning the
garrison, was occupied by them at night: they were admitted unexpectedly by
friends and plundered the temples, obtaining much other money besides, for the
place had been wealthy from of old, containing among other offerings those of
which the Gauls under the leadership of Brennus had once despoiled Delphi.
Nothing of importance, however, reached the Romans in the capital, but the
victors themselves confiscated the most of it. For this a number were called to
account. (Valesius, p. 630.)
Frag. LXXXIX
B.C. 105
(a.u. 649)1.
¶Servilius by reason of his jealousy of his colleague[53] became the cause of
many evils to the army; for, though he had in general equal powers, his repute
was naturally diminished by the fact that the other was also consul. And ...
after the death of Scaurus[54] he [Manlius?] sent for Servilius: but the latter
replied that each of them ought to keep his position. Then, apprehending that
Manlius might gain some success by his own resources, he grew jealous of him,
fearing that he might secure individual glory, and went to him: yet he did not
bivouac on the same ground nor make him the partaker of any plan, but took up a
dis[Pg 346]tinct position with the evident intention of joining battle with the
Cimbri before him and winning all the glory of the war. At the outset they still
inspired the enemy with dread, as long as their quarrel was concealed, so much
so as to lead the foe to desire peace, but when the Cimbri sent a herald to
Manlius as consul Servilius became indignant that they had not directed their
embassy to him, refused to agree to any reconciliation, and came near slaying
the envoys. (Valesius, p. 630.)
2. ¶The soldiers forced Servilius to go to
Manlius and consult with him about the emergency. But so far from coming into
accord they became as a result of the meeting even more hostile than before:
they fell into strife and abuse and parted in a disgraceful fashion. (Valesius,
p. 633.)
Frag. XC
B.C. 104
(a.u. 650)¶After Gnæus Domitius obtained
leave to bring suit against Scaurus, one of the slaves then came forward and
offered to bring any damaging charges against his master: but he refused to
become involved in such despicable business, and arresting the fellow delivered
him over to Scaurus. (Valesius, ib.)
Frag. XCI1. ¶Publius Licinius Nerva, who
was prætor in the island, on learning that the slaves were not being justly
treated in some respects, or else because he sought an occasion of profit (for
he was not inaccessible to bribes), circulated the announcement that all who had
any charges to bring against their masters should come to him, for he would
assist them. Accordingly, many of them banded together, and some de[Pg
347]clared they were being wronged and others made known some other grievances
against their masters, thinking they had secured an opportunity for
accomplishing without bloodshedding all that they wished. The freeborn, after
consultation, resisted them and would not yield to them on any point. Therefore
Licinius, inspired with fear by the united front of both sides and dreading that
some great mischief might be done by the defeated party, would not admit any of
the slaves but sent them away thinking that they would suffer no harm or that at
any rate they would be scattered and so could cause no more disturbance. But
they, fearing their masters because they had dared to raise their voices at all
against them, organized a force and by common consent turned to robbery.
(Valesius, p. 633.)
B.C. 103
(a.u. 651)2. ¶The Messenians, believing that
they would suffer no abuse, had deposited in that place for safe keeping all
their most valuable and highly prized possessions. Athenio, who as a Cilician
held the chief command of the robbers, on learning this attacked them while they
were celebrating a public festival in the suburbs, killed many of them as they
were scattered about, and almost took the city by storm. After building a wall
to fortify Macella,[55] a strong position, he did serious injury to the country.
(Valesius, p. 634.)
Frag. XCII
B.C. 102
(a.u. 652)1. ¶After the defeat
of the barbarians though many had fallen in battle some few were saved.
Whereupon Marius attempted to console these sur[Pg 348]vivors and to make amends
by restoring to them all the plunder at a nominal price, to prevent its being
thought that he had bestowed favors gratuitously upon any one. By this act
Marius, who previously had been the darling of the populace alone because sprung
from that class and raised to power by it, now won over even the nobles by whom
he was hated, and was praised equally by all. He received from a willing and
harmonious people a reëlection for the following year, to enable him to subdue
his remaining foes. (Valesius, ib.)
2. ¶The Cimbri when they had once halted
lost much of their spirit and consequently grew duller and weaker in both soul
and body. The reason was that in place of their former outdoor life they rested
in houses, instead of their former cold plunges they used warm baths, whereas
they were wont to eat raw meat they now filled themselves with richly spiced
dishes and relishes of the country, and they saturated themselves, contrary to
their custom, with wine and strong drink. These practices extinguished all their
fiery spirit and enervated their bodies, so that they could no longer bear toils
or hardships or heat or cold or sleeplessness. (Valesius, ib.)
[Pg
349]
(BOOK 28, BOISSEVAIN.)
Frag. XCIII
B.C. 99
(a.u. 655)1. ¶The
son of Metellus besought everybody to such an extent both in private and in
public to let his father return from exile that he received the appellation
Pius, i.e. dutiful. (Valesius, p. 638.)
2. ¶Furius had such enmity toward
Metellus that when he was censor he took his horse away. (Valesius, ib.)
3.
Publius Furius,[56] indicted for his deeds committed in the tribuneship, was
slain by the Romans in the Comitia itself. He richly deserved to die, for he was
a seditious person and after first joining Saturninus and Glaucia he veered
about, deserted to the opposing faction, and joined its members; it was not
proper, however, for him to perish in just this way. And this action seemed to
be on the whole justifiable. (Valesius, p. 637.)
Frag. XCIV1. For there were
other factional leaders, but the greatest authority was possessed by Marcius[57]
over one group, and by Quintus[58] over the other: these men were eager for
power, of insatiable ambition, and consequently greatly inclined toward strife.
Those qualities they possessed in common; but Drusus had the advantage of birth,
and of wealth, which he lavishly expended upon those who at any time made
demands upon him, while the other greatly surpassed him in[Pg 350] audacity,
daring, the anticipation of plots, and malignity suitable to the occasion. Hence
not unnaturally, since they supplemented each other partly by their likeness and
partly by their differences, they created an extremely strong factional feeling
which remained even after the death of both. (Valesius, p. 638.)
2. ¶Drusus
and Cæpio, formerly great friends and united by mutual ties of marriage, became
privately at enmity with each other and carried their feud even into politics.
(Valesius, ib.)
Frag. XCV
B.C. 92
(a.u. 662)1. ¶Rutilius, an upright
man, was most unjustly condemned. He was brought to court by a preconcerted plan
of the knights on a charge of having been bribed while serving in Asia as
lieutenant under Quintus Mucius,[59] and they imposed a fine upon him. The
reason for this act was their rage at his having ended many of their
irregularities in connection with the collecting of taxes. (Valesius, p.
637.)
2. ¶Rutilius made a very able defence, and there was no one of his
words which would not be the natural utterance of an upright man who was being
blackmailed and grieved far more for the conditions of the State than for his
own possessions: he was convicted, however, and immediately stripped of his
property. This process more than any other revealed the fact that he had in no
wise deserved the sentence passed upon him. He was found to possess much less
than[Pg 351] the accusers had charged him with having confiscated from Asia, and
he could trace all of his goods back to just and lawful sources of acquisition.
Such was his unworthy treatment, and Marius was not free from responsibility for
his conviction; a man so excellent and of such good repute had been an annoyance
to him. Wherefore Rutilius, indignant at the conduct of affairs in the city, and
disdaining to live longer in the company of such a creature, withdrew, though
under no compulsion, and went even as far as Asia. There for a time he dwelt in
Mitylene; then after that place had received injury in the Mithridatic war he
transferred his residence to Smyrna and there lived to the end of his life nor
wished ever to return home. And in all this he suffered not a whit in reputation
or plenty. He received many gifts from Mucius and a vast number from all the
peoples and kings as well who had become acquainted with him, till he possessed
far more than his original property. (Valesius, p. 637.)
[Pg 352]
(BOOK
29, BOISSEVAIN.)
Frag. XCVI
B.C. 90
(a.u. 664)1. ¶Lupus,[60] suspecting
that the patricians making the campaign with him were revealing his plans to the
enemy, sent word about them to the senate before he had any definite
information,[61] and, as a consequence, although they were in no case well
disposed[62] toward each other through factional differences, he set them still
more at variance. There would have been even greater disturbance, had not some
of the Marsi been detected mixing with the foraging parties of the Romans and
entering the ramparts under the guise of allies, where they took cognizance of
speeches and actions in the camp and reported them to their own men. In
consequence of this discovery they ceased to be angry with the patricians.
(Valesius, p. 641.)
2. ¶Marius suspected Lupus, although a relative, and
through jealousy and hope of being appointed consul even a seventh time as the
only man who could bring success out of the existing situation, bade him delay:
their men, he said, would have provisions, whereas the other side would not be
able to hold out for any considerable time when the war was in their country.
(Valesius, ib.)
3. ¶The Picentes subdued those who would not join their
rebellion and abused these men in the presence of their friends and from the
heads of their wives they tore out the hair along with the skin. (Valesius,
ib.)
[Pg 353]
(REMAINS OF BOOKS 30-35, BOISSEVAIN.)
Frag. XCVII1.
¶Mithridates, when the Roman envoys[63] arrived, did not make the slightest
move, but after bringing some counter-charges and also exhibiting to the envoys
the amount of his wealth, some of which he had at that time spent on various
objects public and private, he remained quiet. But Nicomedes, elated by their
alliance and being in need of money, invaded his territory. (Ursinus, p.
386.)
2. ¶Mithridates despatched envoys to Rome requesting them if they
deemed Nicomedes a friend to persuade him or compel him to act justly toward
him, or if not, to allow him (Mithridates) to take measures against his foe.
They, so far from doing what he wished, even threatened him with punishment if
he should not give back Cappadocia to Ariobarzanes and remain at peace with
Nicomedes. His envoys they sent away the very day and furthermore ordered him
never to send another one unless he should render them obedience. (Ursinus,
ib.)
Frag. XCVIII
B.C. 89
(a.u. 665) ¶Cato,[64] the greater part of
whose army was effeminate and superannuated, found his power diminished in every
direction: and once, when he had ventured to rebuke them because they were
unwilling to work hard or obey orders readily, he came near being overwhelmed
with a shower of missiles from them. He would certainly have been killed, if
they had had plenty of stones; but since the site where they were as[Pg
354]sembled was given over to agriculture and happened to be very wet, he
received no hurt from the clods of earth. The man who began the mutiny, Gaius
Titius,[65] was arrested: he was a low fellow who made his living in the courts
and was excessively and shamelessly outspoken; he was sent to the city to the
tribunes, but escaped punishment. (Valesius, p. 641.)
Frag. XCIX
B.C.
88
(a.u. 666)1. ¶All the Asiatics, at the bidding of Mithridates, massacred
the Romans; only the people of Tralles did not personally kill any one, but
hired a certain Theophilus, a Paphlagonian (as if the victims were more likely
thus to escape destruction, or as if it made any difference to them by whom they
should be slaughtered). (Valesius, p. 642.)
2. ¶The Thracians, persuaded by
Mithridates, overran Epirus and the rest of the country as far as Dodona, going
even to the point of plundering the temple of Zeus. (Valesius, ib.)
Frag.
C
B.C. 87
(a.u. 667)1. ¶Cinna, as soon as he took possession of the
office, was anxious upon no one point so much as to drive Sulla out of Italy. He
made Mithridates his excuse, but in reality wanted this leader to remove himself
that he might not, by lurking close at hand, prove a hindrance to the objects
that Cinna had in mind. He fairly distinguished himself by his zeal for Sulla
and would refuse to promise nothing that pleased him. For Sulla, who saw the
urgency of the war and was eager for its glory, before starting had arranged
everything at home for his own best interests. He ap[Pg 355]pointed Cinna and
one Gnæus Octavius to be his successors, hoping in this way to retain
considerable power even while absent. The second of the two he understood was
generally approved for his excellence and good nature, and he thought he would
cause no trouble: the other he well knew was an unprincipled person, but he did
not wish to antagonize him, because the man had some influence and was ready, as
he had said and declared on oath, to assist him in every way possible. Sulla
himself, though an adept at discovering the minds of men and inferring correctly
in regard to the nature of things, made a thorough mistake in this matter and
bequeathed a great war to the State. (Valesius, p. 642.)
2. ¶Octavius was
naturally dull in politics. (Valesius, ib.)
3. ¶The Romans, when civil war
set in, sent for Metellus, urging him to help them. (Ursinus, p. 386.)
4.
¶The Romans, at odds with one another, sent for Metellus and bade him come to
terms with the Samnites, as he best might: for at this time they alone were
still damaging Campania and the district beyond it. He, however, concluded no
truce with them. They demanded citizenship to be given not to themselves alone
but also to those who had deserted to their side, refused to give up any of the
booty which they had, but demanded back all the captives and deserters from
their own ranks, so that even the senators no longer chose to make peace with
them on these terms. (Ursinus, p. 385.)[Pg 356]
5. ¶When Cinna had put in
force again the law regarding the return of exiles, Marius and the rest of his
followers who had been expelled leaped into the city with the army left to them
by all the gates at once; these they shut, so that no one could make his escape,
and despatched every man they met, making no distinction, but treating them all
alike as enemies. They took special pains to destroy any persons who had
possessions, because they coveted such property, and outraged their children and
wives as if they had enslaved some foreign city. The heads of the most eminent
citizens they fastened to the rostra. That sight was no less cruel than their
ruin; for the thought might occur to the spectators that what their ancestors
had adorned with the beaks of the enemy was now being deformed by the heads of
the citizens.
For, in fine, so great a desire and greed for slaughter
possessed Marius, that when he had killed most of his enemies and no one because
of the great confusion prevailing occurred to him whom he wished to destroy, he
gave the word to the soldiers to stab all in succession of the passers-by to
whom he should not extend his hand. For Roman affairs had come to this, that a
man had to die not only without a trial and without having incurred enmity, but
by reason of Marius's hand not being stretched out. Now naturally in so great a
throng and uproar it was not only no object to Marius to make the gesture, but
it was not even possible, no matter how much he wished it, to use his hand as he
pleased. Hence many died for naught who ought[Pg 357] certainly on every account
not to have been slain. The entire number of the murdered is beyond finding out;
for the slaughter went on five whole days and an equal number of nights.
(Valesius, p. 642.)
B.C. 86
(a.u. 668)6. ¶While the Romans were offering
the New Year's sacrifice at the opening of the season and making their vows[66]
for their magistrate according to ancestral rites, the son of Marius killed a
tribune with his own hands, sending his head to the consuls, and hurled another
from the Capitol,—a fate which had never befallen such an official,—and debarred
two prætors from both fire and water. (Valesius, p. 645.)
Frag. CI1. ¶The
lieutenant of Flaccus, Fimbria, when his chief had reached Byzantium revolted
against him. He was in all matters very bold and reckless, passionately fond of
any notoriety whatsoever and contemptuous of all that was superior. This led him
at that time, after his departure from Rome, to pretend an incorruptibility in
respect to money and an interest in the soldiers, which bound them to him and
set them at variance with Flaccus. He was the more able to do this because
Flaccus was insatiable in regard to money, not being content to appropriate what
was ordinarily left over, but enriching himself even from the soldiers'
allowance for food and from the booty, which he invariably maintained belonged
to him. (Valesius, p. 650.)
2. ¶When Flaccus and Fimbria had arrived at
Byzantium and Flaccus after commanding them to bivouac outside the wall had gone
into the city, Fim[Pg 358]bria seized the occasion to accuse him of having taken
money, and denounced him, saying that he was living in luxury within, whereas
they were enduring hardships under the shelter of tents, in storm and cold. The
soldiers then angrily rushed into the city, killed some of those that fell upon
them and scattered to the various houses. (Valesius, ib.)
3. ¶On the occasion
of some dispute between Fimbria and the quæstor Flaccus threatened to send him
back to Rome whether he liked it or not, and when the other consequently made
some abusive reply deprived him of his command. Fimbria set out upon his return
with the worst possible will and on reaching the soldiers at Byzantium greeted
them as if he were upon the point of departure, asked for a letter, and lamented
his fate, pretending to have suffered undeservedly. He advised them to remember
the help he had given them and to be on their guard; and his words contained a
hidden reference to Flaccus, implying that he had designs upon them. Finding
that they accepted his story and were well disposed toward him and suspicious of
the general, he went on still further and incited them to anger by accusing
Flaccus of various faults, finally stating that he would betray them for money;
hence the soldiers drove away Thermus, who had been assigned to take charge of
them. (Valesius, ib.)
4. ¶Fimbria destroyed many men not to serve the best
ends of justice nor to secure the greatest benefit to Rome but through bad
temper and lust of slaughter.[Pg 359] A proof is that he once ordered many
crosses to be made, to which he was wont to bind them and wear out their lives
by cruel treatment, and then when these were found to be many more than those
who were to be put to death he commanded some of the bystanders to be arrested
and affixed to the crosses that were in excess, that they might not seem to have
been made in vain. (Valesius, p. 653.)
5. ¶The same man on capturing Ilium
despatched as many persons as he could, sparing none, and all but burned the
whole city to the ground. He took the place not by storm but by guile. After
bestowing some praise on them for the embassy sent to Sulla and saying that it
made no difference with which one of the two they ratified a truce (for he and
Sulla were both Romans) he thereupon went in among them as among friends and
performed these deeds. (Valesius, ib.)
Frag. CII
B.C. 85
(a.u. 669)1.
¶Metellus after being defeated by Cinna went to Sulla and was of the greatest
assistance to him. For in view of his reputation for justice and piety not a few
who were opposed to Sulla's policy decided that it was not without reason that
Metellus had joined him but that he chose what was really juster and more
advantageous for the country, and hence they went over to their side. (Valesius,
p. 653.)
2. ¶A thunderbolt fell upon the Capitol, causing the destruction of
the Sibylline books and of many other things. (Mai, p. 551.)
Frag.
CIII
B.C. 83
(a.u. 671) ¶Pompey was a son of Strabo, and has been compared
by Plutarch with Agesilaus the Lacedæmonian.[Pg 360] Indignant at those who held
the city he proceeded absolutely alone to Picenum before he had quite yet come
to man's estate: from the inhabitants on account of his father's position of
command he collected a small band and set up an individual sovereignty, thinking
to perform some famous exploit by himself; then he joined the party of Sulla.
Beginning in this way he became no less a man than his chief, but, as his title
indicates, grew to be "Great." (Valesius, p. 653.)
Frag. CIV
B.C.
82
(a.u. 672)¶Sulla delivered the army to a man[67] who was in no wise
distinguished[68] nor generally commended, in spite of the fact that he had many
who had been with him from the beginning superior in both experience and action,
whom up to that time he had employed in all emergencies and treated as most
faithful. Before he became victor he was accustomed to make requests of them and
use their assistance to the fullest extent. But as he drew near his dream of
absolute dominion, he made no account of them any longer but reposed his trust
rather in the basest men who were not conspicuous for family or possessed of a
reputation for uprightness. The reason was that he saw that such persons were
ready to assist him in all his projects, even the vilest; and he thought they
would be most grateful to him if they should obtain even very small favors,
would never show contempt nor lay claim to either his deeds or his plans. The
virtuous element, on the other hand, would not be willing to help him in his
evil-doing but would even rebuke him; they would de[Pg 361]mand rewards for
benefits conferred, according to merit, would feel no gratitude for them but
take them as something due, and would claim his actions and counsels as their
own. (Valesius, p. 654.)
Frag. CV1. ¶Sulla up to that day that he conquered
the Samnites had been a conspicuous figure, possessing a renown from his
leadership and plans, and was believed to be most devoted to humaneness and
piety, so that all thought that he had Fortune as an ally because of his
excellence. After this event he changed so much that one would not say his
earlier and his later deeds were those of the same person. This probably shows
that he could not endure good fortune. Acts that he censured in other persons
while he was still weak, and others, far more outrageous even, he committed: it
had presumably always been his wish to do so, but he had been hindered by lack
of opportunity. This fact produced a strong conviction in the minds of some that
bad luck has not a little to do with creating a reputation for virtue.[69] As
soon as Sulla had vanquished the Samnites and thought he had put an end to the
war (the rest of it he held of no account) he changed his tactics and, as it
were, left his former personality behind outside the wall and in the battle, and
proceeded to surpass Cinna and Marius and all their associates combined.
Treatment that he had given to no one of the foreign peoples that had opposed
him he bestowed upon his native land, as if he had subdued that as well. In the
first place he sent[Pg 362] forthwith the heads of Damasippus and the members of
his party stuck on poles to Præneste, and many of those who voluntarily
surrendered he killed as if he had caught them without their consent. The next
day he ordered the senators to assemble at the temple of Bellona, giving them
the idea that he would make some defence of his conduct, and ordered those
captured alive to meet at the so-called "public" field,[70] pretending that he
would enroll them in the lists. This last class he had other men slay, and many
persons from the city, mixed in among them, likewise perished: to the senators
he himself at the same time addressed a most bitter speech. (Valesius, p.
654.)
2. ¶The massacre of the captured persons was going on even under
Sulla's direction with unabated fury, and as they were being killed near the
temple the great uproar and lamentation that they made, their shrieks and wails,
invaded the senate-house, so that the senate was terrified for two reasons. The
second of the two was that they were not far from expecting that they
themselves, also, might yet suffer some terrible injury, so unholy were both his
words and his actions: therefore many, cut to the heart with grief at the
thought of reality and possibility, wished that they themselves belonged to the
number of men already dead outside, and so might secure a respite at last from
fear. Their cases, however, were postponed, while the rest were slaughtered and
thrown into the river, so that the savagery of Mithridates, deemed so[Pg 363]
terrible, in slaughtering all the Romans in Asia in one day, was now held to be
of slight importance in comparison with the number massacred and their manner of
death. Nor did the terror stop here, but the slaughters which began at this
point as if by a kind of signal occurred in the country district and all the
cities of Italy. Toward many Sulla himself showed hatred and toward many others
his companions did the same, some truthfully and some in pretence, in order that
displaying by the similarity of their deeds a character similar to his and
establishing him as their friend they might not, by any dissimilarity, incur
suspicion, seem to be reproving him at all, and so endanger themselves. They
murdered all whom they saw to surpass them either in wealth or in any other
respect, some through envy and others on account of their possessions. For under
such conditions many neutral persons even, though they might have taken neither
side, became subject to some private complaint, as surpassing some one in
excellence or wealth and family. No safety was visible for any one against those
in power who wished to commit an injustice in any case. (Valesius, p.
657.)
B.C. 81
(a.u. 673)3. ¶Such calamities held Rome encompassed. Who
could narrate the insults to the living, many of which were offered to women,
and many to the noblest and most prominent children, as if they were captives in
war? Yet those acts, though most distressing, yet at least in their similarity
to others that had previously taken place seemed endurable to such persons as
were[Pg 364] away from them. But Sulla was not satisfied, nor was he content to
do the same as others: a certain longing came over him to far excel all in the
variety of his slaughters, as if there were some virtue in being second to none
even in bloodguiltiness, and so he exposed to view a new device, a whitened
tablet, on which he inscribed the names. Notwithstanding this all previous
atrocities continued undiminished, and not even those whose names were not
inscribed on the tablets were in safety. For many, some living and others
actually dead, had their names subsequently inscribed at the pleasure of the
slayers, so that in this aspect the phenomenon exhibited no novelties, and
equally by its terror and its absurdity distressed absolutely every one. The
tablets were exposed like some register of senators or list of soldiers
approved, and all those passing by at one time or another ran eagerly to it in
crowds, with the idea that it contained some favorable announcement: then many
found relatives' names and some, indeed, their own inscribed for death,
whereupon their condition, overwhelmed by such a sudden disaster, was a terrible
one; many of them, making themselves known by their behavior, perished. There
was no particle of safety for any one outside of Sulla's company. For whether a
man approached the tablets, he incurred censure for meddling with matters not
concerning him, or if he did not approach he was regarded as a malcontent. The
man who read the list through or asked any question about anything inscribed
became suspected of enquiring about himself[Pg 365] or his companions, and the
one who did not read or enquire was suspected of being displeased at it and for
that reason incurred hatred. Tears or laughter proved fatal on the instant:
hence many were destroyed not because they had said or done anything forbidden,
but because they either drew a long face or smiled. Their attitudes were so
carefully observed as this, and it was possible for no one either to mourn or to
exult over an enemy, but even the latter class were slaughtered on the ground
that they were jeering at something. Furthermore many found trouble in their
very names, for some who were unacquainted with the proscribed applied their
names to whomsoever they pleased, and thus many perished in the place of others.
This resulted in great confusion, some naming any man they met just as ever they
pleased, and the others denying that they were so called. Some were slaughtered
while still ignorant of the fact that they were to die, and others, who had been
previously informed, anywhere that they happened to be; and there was no place
for them either holy or sacred, no safe retreat, no refuge. Some, to be sure, by
perishing suddenly before learning of the catastrophe hanging over them, and
some at the moment they received the news, were fortunately relieved of the
terrors preceding death: those who were warned in advance and hid themselves
found it a very difficult matter to escape. They did not dare to withdraw, for
fear of being detected, nor could they endure to remain where they were for fear
of betrayal. Very many of them[Pg 366] were betrayed by their associates and
those dearest to them, and so perished. Consequently not those whose names were
inscribed merely, but the rest, as well, suffered in anticipation. (Valesius,
pp. 658-662.)
4. ¶The heads of all those slaughtered in any place were
brought to the Roman Forum and exposed on the rostra, so that as often as
proscriptions were issued, so often did the heads appear. (Valesius,
ib.)
Frag. CVI
B.C. 74
(a.u. 680) Lucullus said that he would rather
have rescued one Roman from danger than have captured at one stroke all the
forces of the enemy. (Mai, p. 551.)
Frag. CVII1. For titles do not change the
characters of men, but one makes titles take on new meanings according to one's
management of affairs. Many monarchs are the source of blessings to their
subjects,—wherefore such a state is called a kingdom,—whereas many who live
under a democracy work innumerable evils to themselves. (Mai, p. 556. Cp. Frag.
XII.)
2. For nothing leads on an army or anything else requiring some control
to better or worse like the character and habits of the person presiding over
it. The disposition and character of their leaders the majority imitate, and
they do whatever they see them doing, some from real inclination, and others as
a mere pretence. (Mai, p. 556.)
3. The subservient element is wont ever to
shape itself according to the disposition of its rulers. (Mai, p. 560, from
Antonius Melissa, p. 78, ed. Tigur.)
4. For who would not prefer to be
upright and at his death to lie in the bosom of the State, rather than to behold
her devastated? (Mai, p. 557.)
5. If any one were building a house for you
where[Pg 367] you were not going to remain, you would think the undertaking a
loss: do you now wish to grow rich in that place from which you must depart
repeatedly before evening? (Mai, ib.)
6. Do you not know that we tarry in
others' domains just like strangers and sojourners? Do you not know that it is
the lot of sojourners to be driven out when they are not expecting or looking
for it? That is our case. (Mai, ib.)
7. Who would not choose to die from one
blow, and that with no pain or very little, instead of after sickness? Who would
not pray to depart from a sound body with sound spirits rather than to rot with
some decay or dropsy, or wither away in hunger? (Mai, ib.)
8. Things hoped
for that fail of realization are wont to grieve some persons more than the loss
of things never expected at all. They regard the latter as far from them and so
pursue them less, as if they belonged to others, whereas the former they
approach closely, and grieve for them as if deprived of rightful possessions.
(Mai, p. 558.)
9. Expectation of danger, without danger, puts the person
expecting in the position of having made things secure beforehand through
imagining some coming unpleasantness. (Mai, p. 560, from Antonius
Melissa.)
10. To be elated by good fortune is like running the stadium race
on a slippery course. (Mai, ib., also from Antonius.)
11. The same author
[i.e., Dio the Roman] said: "Is it not an outrage to trouble the gods, when we
ourselves are not willing to do what the gods deem to be[Pg 368] in our power?"
(Mai, p. 561, from the Anthology of Arsenius.)
12. The same said: "It is much
better to win some success and be envied than to fail and be pitied." (Mai, ib.,
from Arsenius.)
13. The same said: "It is impossible for any one who acts
contrary to right principles to derive any benefit from them." (Mai, p.
562.)
Frag. CVIII
B.C. 70
(a.u. 684)The Cretans sent an embassy to the
Romans, hoping to renew the old truce and furthermore to obtain some kindness
for their preservation of the quæstor and his fellow soldiers. But they, rather
imbued with anger at their failure to overcome the Cretans than grateful to the
enemy for not having destroyed them, made no reasonable answer and demanded back
from them all the captives and deserters. They demanded hostages and large sums
of money, required the largest ships and the chief men to be given up, and would
not wait for an answer from the envoys' country but sent out one of the consuls
immediately to take possession of those things and make war upon them if they
failed to give,—as proved to be the case. For the men who at the outset, before
any such demand was made and before they had conquered, had refused to make
terms would naturally not endure after their victory the imposition of
exorbitant demands of such a character. The Romans knowing this clearly and
suspecting further that the envoys would try to corrupt some persons with money,
so as to hinder the expedition, voted in the senate that no one should lend them
anything. (Ursinus, p. 388.)
FOOTNOTES
[1] Iahni Annales, vol.
141, p. 290 sqq.
[2] Mommsen (Hermes VI, pp. 82-89); Haupt (Hermes XIV, pp.
36-64, and XV, p. 160); Boissevain (Program, Rotterdam, 1884).
[3] This would
give Dio a considerably longer life than is commonly allowed him.
[4] See p.
22.
[5] The first alternative agrees with Plutarch, who, at the end of his
life of Numa (chapter 22), says that this death by lightning of Tullus Hostilius
caused many among the population at large to revere that religion which their
king had for so long a time neglected.
[6] Zonaras spells Acillius.
[7]
Zonaras spells it Veturina.
[8] This was probably one of the Manlii
Cincinnati.
[9] The second "Manlius" is evidently an error of Zonaras. The
name should be Fabius.
[10] Zonaras spells Cicinatus.
[11] The town is
called Corbio by Livy (II, 39, 4).
[12] Zonaras spells Icillius.
[13] Near
the end of VII, 17.
[14] In Greek, Birdless.
[15] In Roman records these
persons are known respectively as L. Postumius L. f. L. n. Megellus and Q.
Mamilius Q. f. M. n. Vitulus.
[16] This name should in both cases be
Gnæus.
[17] [See previous footnote.]
[18] A. Atilius Calatinus is
meant.
[19] Apparently a mistake for Sulpicius.
[20] [See previous
footnote.]
[21] Zonaras spells Plætinus.
[22] This is A. Atilius Calatinus
again.
[23] A mistake for Gaius Aurelius and Publius Servilius, as at the
beginning of Chapter 16.
[24] [See previous footnote.]
[25] But Valerius
Maximus (II, 7, 4) calls him P. Aurelius Pecuniola.
[26] A. Atilius Calatinus
once more.
[27] [See previous footnote.]
[28] This is a mistake, due to
the carelessness of Zonaras. Some Gallic tribe is evidently meant.
[29] Gnæus
Scipio is meant whenever Zonaras writes this form.
[30] Zonaras consistently
spells this name Lavinius.
[31] Possibly an error on the part of Zonaras for
proconsuls.
[32] By comparing other authors the names Alinius and Plautius
are found to be the corruptions of some copyists for Dasius and
Blattius.
[33] [See previous footnote.]
[34] A corruption for
Pityusæ.
[35] Or, in other words, Balearis Major and Balearis Minor.
[36]
[See previous footnote.]
[37] Dio probably wrote Cæpio here.
[38] Zonaras
consistently spells Flaminius.
[39] This name is erroneously written by
Zonaras for Gnæus. (Cp. Polybius 28, 3, 2; 31, 12 (also 13, 19, and 20); 32, 4
to 7.)
[40] Presumably an error for the Nestus, a well-known stream.
[41]
This is Q. Pompeius A. f. Nepos (consul B.C. 141).
[42] Q. Servilius Cæpio
(consul B.C. 140).
[43] Adopting Reiske's conjecture 'υπομειναι εψησεν in
place of the MS. 'υπομειναι εποιησες.
[44] These are the censors for the year
B.C. 136, Ap. Claudius Pulcher and Q. Fulvius Nobilior.
[45] See note, page
335.
[46] P. Furius Philus (consul B.C. 136).
[47] In the original the
word "wept" is repeated. Van Herwerden thinks that the second one should be
deleted, but Schenkl prefers to substitute an adverb in place of the first. In
the translation I have used an adverb giving nearly the same force as the
repetition of the verb.
[48] One may supply here, as Reiske suggests, "would
have been overthrown", "would have been humbled", or "would have been brought
low".
[49] Reading ετι ασελγειας (Boissevain's emendation) in place of the
unintelligible αιτιας αλγειν of the MS.
[50] Namely, L. Betutius
Barrus.
[51] A slave of the aforesaid Barrus.
[52] Possibly an error for
Gaudas.
[53] Cn. Manlius Maximus.
[54] M. Aurelius Scaurus (consul
suffectus B.C. 108).
[55] Possibly the modern Macellaro.
[56] He was
tribune of the plebs, B.C. 99.
[57] M. Livius Drusus.
[58] Q. Servilius
Cæpio.
[59] The clause as found in the MS. gives no sense. The translation
here is on the basis of an emendation suggested by Boissevain.
[60] P.
Rutilius Lupus.
[61] There are two gaps in the MS. here. "Had ...
information" is a conjecture of Tafel and Gros; and "well disposed toward each
other" of Reiske, who compares Book Fifty, chapter 16, of Dio.
[62] [See
previous footnote.]
[63] Their leader was M.' Aquilius.
[64] L. Porcius
Cato (consul B.C. 89).
[65] Properly C. Titinius Sisenna.
[66] Reading
ευχας (Reiske, Boissevain) in place of αρχας.
[67] Q. Lucretius
Ofella.
[68] Supplying μητ' επιφανει, with Reiske.
[69] Adopting Reiske's
suggestion for filling out a lacuna in the sense.
[70] The villa publica.
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