The Project Gutenberg EBook of A Smaller History of Rome, by William Smith and Eugene Lawrence This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org Title: A Smaller History of Rome Author: William Smith and Eugene Lawrence Release Date: November 1, 2006 [EBook #19694] Language: English Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 *** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A SMALLER HISTORY OF ROME *** Produced by Alicia Williams, Taavi Kalju and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net [Illustration: THE ROMAN FORUM RESTORED.] A SMALLER HISTORY OF ROME, FROM THE EARLIEST TIMES TO THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE EMPIRE. BY WILLIAM SMITH, LL.D. WITH A CONTINUATION TO A.D. 479. BY EUGENE LAWRENCE, A.M. [Illustration] Illustrated by Engravings on Wood. 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The present History has been drawn up chiefly for the lower forms in schools, at the request of several teachers, and is intended to range with the author's Smaller History of Greece. It will be followed by a similar History of England. The author is indebted in this work to several of the more important articles upon Roman history in the Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography. The Table of Contents presents a full analysis of the work, and has been so arranged that the teacher can frame from it questions for the examination of his class, the answers to which will be found in the corresponding pages of the volume. The restoration of the Forum has been designed by Mr. P.W. Justyne. W.S. [Illustration: Temple of Janus. (From a Coin.)] [Illustration: Julius Cæsar.] CONTENTS. B.C. Page CHAPTER I. GEOGRAPHY OF ITALY--EARLY INHABITANTS. Position of Italy 1 Its boundaries 1 Its two Divisions 1 I. Gallia Cisalpina 2 Liguria 2 Venetia 2 II. Italia, properly so called 2 Etruria 2 Umbria 2 Picenum 2 Sabini 3 Marsi 3 Peligni 3 Vestini 3 Marrucini 3 Frentani 3 Latium: its two senses 3 The Campagna 3 The Pontine Marshes 4 Campania 4 Bay of Naples 4 Samnium 4 Apulia 4 Calabria 4 Lucania 4 Bruttii 4 Fertility of Italy 5 Its productions 5 Its inhabitants 5 I. Italians proper 5 1. Latins 5 2. Umbro-Sabellians 5 II. Iapygians 5 III. Etruscans 5 Their name 5 Their language 5 Their origin 5 Their two confederacies 6 1. North of the Po 6 2. South of the Apennines 6 Foreign races-- IV. Greeks 6 Gauls 6 CHAPTER II. THE FIRST FOUR KINGS OF ROME. B.C. 753-616. Position of Rome 7 Its inhabitants 7 1. Latins 7 2. Sabines 7 3. Etruscans 7 Remarks on early Roman history 8 Legend of Æneas 8 Legend of Ascanius 8 Foundation of Alba Longa 8 Legend of Rhea Silvia 8 Birth of Romulus and Remus 8 Their recognition by Numitor 9 753. Foundation of Rome 9 Roma Quadrata 9 Pomoerium 9 Death of Remus 10 753-716. Reign of Romulus 9 Asylum 10 Rape of Sabines 10 War with Sabines 10 Tarpeia 10 Sabine women 10 Joint reign of Romulus and Titus Tatius 11 Death of Titus Tatius 11 Sole reign of Romulus 11 Death of Romulus 11 Institutions ascribed to Romulus 12 Patricians & Clients 12 Three tribes--Ramnes, Tities, Luceres 12 Thirty Curiæ 12 Three Hundred Gentes 12 Comitia Curiata 12 The Senate 12 The Army 12 716-673. Reign of Numa Pompilius 12 Institutions ascribed to Numa Pompilius 12 Pontiffs 12 Augurs 13 Flamens 13 Vestal Virgins 13 Salii 13 Temple of Janus 13 673-641. Reign of Tullus Hostilius 13 War with Alba Longa 13 Battle of the Horatii and Curiatii 13 War with the Etruscans 14 Punishment of Mettius Fuffetius, Dictator of Alba Longa 14 Destruction of Alba Longa 14 Removal of its inhabitants to Rome 14 Origin of the Roman Plebs 14 Death of Tullus Hostilius 14 640-616. Reign of Ancus Marcius 14 War with the Latins 14 Increase of the Plebs 15 Ostia 15 Janiculum 15 Pons Sublicius 15 Death of Ancus Marcius 15 CHAPTER III. THE LAST THREE KINGS OF ROME, AND THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE REPUBLIC DOWN TO THE BATTLE OF THE LAKE REGILLUS. B.C. 616-498. 616-578. Reign of Tarquinius Priscus 16 His early history 16 His removal to Rome 16 Becomes king 16 His wars 16 The Cloacæ 16 Circus Maximus 17 Increase of the Senate 17 Increase of the Equites 17 Attus Navius 17 Increase of the Vestal Virgins 17 Early history of Servius Tullius 17 Death of Tarquinius Priscus 18 578-534. Reign of Servius Tullius 18 I. Reform of the Roman Constitution 18 1. Division of the Roman territory into Thirty Tribes 18 2. Comitia Centuriata 18 Census 18 Five Classes 19 The Equites 19 Number of the Centuries 19 Three sovereign assemblies--Comitia Centuriata, Comitia Curiata, Comitia Tributa 20 II. Increase of the city: walls of Servius Tullius 20 III. Alliance with the Latins 20 Death of Servius Tullius 22 534-510. Reign of Tarquinius Superbus 22 His tyranny 22 His alliance with the Latins 23 His war with the Volscians 23 Foundation of the temple on the Capitoline Hill 23 The Sibylline books 23 Legend of the Sibyl 23 Capture of Gabii 23 King's sons and Brutus sent to consult the oracle at Delphi 23 Lucretia 24 Expulsion of the Tarquins 25 509. Establishment of the Republic 25 The Consuls 25 First attempt to restore the Tarquins 25 Execution of the sons of Brutus 25 War of the Etruscans with Rome 26 Death of Brutus 26 Defeat of the Etruscans 26 Valerius Publicola 26 Dedication of the Capitoline Temple by M. Horatius 26 508. Second attempt to restore the Tarquins 26 Lars Porsena 26 Horatius Cocles 26 Mucius Scævola 27 Cloelia 27 498. Third attempt to restore the Tarquins 28 War with the Latins 28 Battle of the Lake Regillus 28 496. Death of Tarquinius Superbus 28 CHAPTER IV. FROM THE BATTLE OF THE LAKE REGILLUS TO THE DECEMVIRATE. B.C. 498-451. Struggles between the Patricians and Plebeians 29 Ascendency of the Patricians 29 Sufferings of the Plebeians 30 Law of debtor and creditor 30 Ager Publicus 30 Object of the Plebeians to obtain a share in the political power and in the public land 30 494. Secession to the Sacred Mount 30 Fable of Menenius Agrippa 31 Institution of the Tribunes of the Plebs 31 486. Agrarian Law of Sp. Cassius 31 Foreign wars 32 488. I. Coriolanus and the Volscians 32 477. II. The Fabia Gens and the Veientines 33 458. III. Cincinnatus and the Æquians 34 League between the Romans, Latins, and Hernicans 35 CHAPTER V. THE DECEMVIRATE. B.C. 451-449. 471. Publilian Law transferring the election of the Tribunes from the Comitia of Centuries to those of the Tribes 36 462. Proposal of the Tribune Terentilius Arsa for the appointment of Decemviri 37 460. Seizure of the Capitol by Herdonius the Sabine 37 454. Appointment of three Commissioners to visit Greece 37 452. Their return to Rome 37 451. Appointment of the Decemviri 37 The Ten Tables 37 450. New Decemviri appointed 37 Their tyranny 38 Two new Tables added, making twelve in all 38 449. The Decemviri continue in office 38 Death of Sicinius Dentatus 38 Death of Virginia 39 Second secession to the Sacred Mount 39 Resignation of the Decemvirs 39 Election of ten Tribunes 40 Valerian and Horatian Laws 40 Death of Appius Claudius 40 The Twelve Tables 40 CHAPTER VI. FROM THE DECEMVIRATE TO THE CAPTURE OF ROME BY THE GAULS. B.C. 448-390. 445. Third secession to the Sacred Mount 41 Lex Canuleia for intermarriage between the two orders 41 Institution of Military Tribunes with consular powers 41 443. Institution of the Censorship 41 421. Quæstorship thrown open to the Plebeians 42 440. Famine at Rome 42 Death of Sp. Mælius 42 Foreign wars 42 Roman colonies 43 War with the Etruscans 43 437. Spolia Opima won by A. Cornelius Cossus 43 426. Capture and destruction of Fidenæ 43 403. Commencement of siege of Veii 43 Tale of the Alban Lake 43 396. Appointment of Camillus as Dictator 43 Capture of Veii 44 394. War with Falerii 44 Tale of the Schoolmaster 44 Unpopularity of Camillus 44 391. He goes into exile 44 CHAPTER VII. FROM THE CAPTURE OF ROME BY THE GAULS TO THE FINAL UNION OF THE TWO ORDERS. B.C. 390-367. The Gauls, or Celts 45 391. Attack of Clusium by the Senones 45 Roman ambassadors sent to Clusium 45 They take part in the fight against the Senones 45 The Senones march upon Rome 46 390. Battle of the Allia 46 Destruction of Rome 46 Siege of the Capitol 46 Legend of M. Manlius 47 Appointment of Camillus as Dictator 47 He delivers Rome from the Gauls 47 Rebuilding of the city 47 Further Gallic wars 48 361. Legend of T. Manlius Torquatus 48 349. Legend of M. Valerius Corvus 48 385. Distress at Rome 48 384. M. Manlius comes forward as a patron of the poor 48 His fate 49 376. Licinian Rogations proposed 49 Violent opposition of the Patricians 50 367. Licinian Rogations passed 50 366. L. Sextius first Plebeian Consul 50 Institution of the Prætorship 50 356. First Plebeian Dictator 51 351. First Plebeian Censor 51 336. First Plebeian Prætor 51 300. Lex Ogulnia, increasing the number of the Pontiffs and Augurs, and enacting that a certain number of them should be taken from the Plebeians 51 339. Publilian Laws 51 286. Lex Hortensia 51 CHAPTER VIII. FROM THE LICINIAN ROGATIONS TO THE END OF THE SAMNITE WARS. B.C. 367-290. 362. Pestilence at Rome 52 Death of Camillus 52 Tale of M. Curtius 53 The Samnites 53 Their history 53 Division into four tribes 53 Conquer Campania and Lucania 53 Samnites of the Apennines attack the Sidicini 53 Campanians assist the Sidicini 53 They are defeated by the Samnites 53 They solicit the assistance of Rome 53 343-341. FIRST SAMNITE WAR 54 Battle of Mount Gaurus 54 Peace concluded 54 Reasons for the conclusion of peace 54 340-338. THE LATIN WAR 54 The armies meet near Mount Vesuvius 55 Tale of Torquatus 55 Decisive battle 55 Self-sacrifice of Decius 55 Capture of Latin towns 56 Conclusion of the war 56 329. Conquest of the Volscian town of Privernum 56 Origin of the Second Samnite War 56 327. The Romans attack Palæopolis and Neapolis 56 326-304. SECOND SAMNITE WAR 57 _First Period._ Roman arms successful 57 325. Quarrel between L. Papirius Dictator and Q. Fabius, his master of the horse 57 321-315. _Second Period._ Success of the Samnites 57 321. Defeat of the Romans at the Caudine Forks by C. Pontius 68 Ignominious treaty rejected by the Romans 58 314-304. _Third Period._ Success of the Romans 58 311. War with the Etruscans 58 Defeat of the Etruscans 59 Defeat of the Samnites 59 304. Peace with Rome 59 300. Conquests of Rome in Central Italy 59 Coalition of Etruscans, Umbrians, and Samnites against Rome 59 298-290. THIRD SAMNITE WAR 59 295. Decisive battle of Sentinum 59 Self-sacrifice of the younger Decius 59 292. C. Pontius taken prisoner and put to death 59 CHAPTER IX. FROM THE CONCLUSION OF THE SAMNITE WAR TO THE SUBJUGATION OF ITALY. B.C. 290-265. 283. War with the Etruscans and Gauls 60 Battle of the Lake Vadimo 60 282. State of Magna Græcia 60 The Romans assist Thurii 60 Their fleet is attacked by the Tarentines 61 Roman embassy to Tarentum 61 281. War declared against the Tarentines 61 They apply for aid to Pyrrhus 61 Pyrrhus arrives in Italy 62 280. His first campaign against the Romans 62 Battle of Heraclea 62 Remarks of Pyrrhus on the victory 62 He attempts to make peace with Rome 62 Failure of his minister Cineas 63 He marches upon Rome and arrives at Præneste 63 Retires into winter quarters at Tarentum 63 Embassy of Fabricius 63 279. Second campaign of Pyrrhus 64 Battle of Asculum 64 278. Treachery of the physician of Pyrrhus 64 Truce with Rome 64 Pyrrhus crosses over into Sicily 64 276. He returns to Italy 64 274. Defeat of Pyrrhus 65 He returns to Greece 65 272. Subjugation of Tarentum 65 Conquest of Italy 65 273. Embassy of Ptolemy Philadelphus to Rome 65 Three classes of Italian population: I. Cives Romani, or Roman Citizens 66 1. Of the Thirty-three tribes 66 2. Of the Roman Colonies 66 3. Of the Municipal Towns 66 II. Nomen Latinum, or the Latin name 66 III. Socii, or Allies 66 312. Censorship of Appius Claudius 67 His dangerous innovation as to the Freedmen 67 304. Repealed in the Censorship of Q. Fabius Maximus and P. Decius Mus 67 312. The Appian Way 67 The Appian Aqueduct 67 Cn. Flavius 67 CHAPTER X. THE FIRST PUNIC WAR. B.C. 264-241. 814. Foundation of Carthage 68 Its empire 68 Its government 68 Its army 68 Its foreign conquests 68 Conquest of Messana by the Mamertini 69 Hiero attacks the Mamertini 69 They apply for assistance to Rome 69 264. The Consul Ap. Claudius crosses over to Sicily to aid them 70 He defeats the forces of Syracuse and Carthage 70 263. Hiero makes peace with the Romans 70 262. Capture of Agrigentum by the Romans 70 260. The Romans build a fleet 70 Naval victory of the Consul Duilius 71 256. The Romans invade Africa 72 Their naval victory 72 Brilliant success of Regulus in Africa 72 The Carthaginians sue in vain for peace 72 255. Arrival of the Lacedæmonian Xanthippus 72 He restores confidence to the Carthaginians 73 Defeat and capture of Regulus 73 Destruction of the Roman fleet by a storm 73 The Romans build another fleet 73 253. Again destroyed by a storm 73 The war confined to Sicily 73 250. Victory of Metellus at Panormus 73 Embassy of the Carthaginians to Rome 73 Heroic conduct of Regulus 74 250. Siege of Lilybæum 74 249. Defeat of the Consul Claudius at sea 75 Destruction of the Roman fleet a third time 75 247. Appointment of Hamilcar Barca to the Carthaginian command 75 He intrenches himself on Mount Herctè, near Panormus 75 He removes to Mount Eryx 75 241. Victory off the Ægatian Islands 76 Peace with Carthage 76 End of the War 76 CHAPTER XI. EVENTS BETWEEN THE FIRST AND SECOND PUNIC WARS. B.C. 240-219. 240-238. War of the Mercenaries with Carthage 77 She owes her safety to Hamilcar 77 238. The Romans seize Sardinia and Corsica 77 Hamilcar goes to Spain 78 235. Temple of Janus closed 78 Completion of the Thirty-five Roman Tribes 78 229. ILLYRIAN WAR 78 Conquest of Teuta, queen of the Illyrians 78 223. Honors paid to the Romans in the Grecian cities 78 232. Agrarian law of the Tribune Flaminius 78 225. GALLIC WAR 78 Defeat of the Gauls at Telamon in Etruria 79 224. Conquest of the Boii 79 223. The Romans cross the Po 79 222. Conquest of the Insubres 79 Marcellus wins the Spolia Opima 79 220. The Via Flaminia from Rome to Ariminum 79 218. Foundation of Colonies at Placentia and Cremona 79 219. SECOND ILLYRIAN WAR 79 235. Hamilcar in Spain 80 Oath of Hannibal 80 229. Death of Hamilcar 80 Hasdrubal succeeds him in the command 80 227. Treaty with Rome 80 221. Death of Hasdrubal 80 Hannibal succeeds him in the command 80 219. Siege of Saguntum 80 Its capture 81 War declared against Carthage 81 CHAPTER XII. THE SECOND PUNIC WAR: FIRST PERIOD, DOWN TO THE BATTLE OF CANNÆ B.C. 218-216. 218. Preparations of Hannibal 82 His march to the Rhone 83 Arrival of the Consul Scipio at Massilia 83 Hannibal crosses the Rhone 83 Scipio sends his brother to Spain, and returns himself to Italy 83 Hannibal crosses the Alps 83 Skirmish on the Ticinus 84 Battle of the Trebia 84 Defeat of the Romans 84 217. Hannibal's march through Etruria 86 Battle of the Lake Trasimenus 86 Great defeat of the Romans 86 Q. Fabius Maximus appointed Dictator 87 His policy 87 Rashness of Minucius, the Master of the Horse 87 216. Great preparations of the Romans 88 Battle of Cannæ 88 Great defeat of the Romans 88 Revolt of Southern Italy 88 Hannibal winters at Capua 89 Note on Hannibal's passage across the Alps 90 CHAPTER XIII. SECOND PUNIC WAR: SECOND PERIOD, FROM THE REVOLT OF CAPUA TO THE BATTLE OF THE METAURUS. B.C. 215-207. 215. Plan of the War 91 Hannibal's repulse before Nola 92 214. He attempts in vain to surprise Tarentum 92 213. He obtains possession of Tarentum 93 WAR IN SICILY-- 216. Death of Hiero 93 Succession of Hieronymus 93 His assassination 93 214. Arrival of Marcellus in Sicily 93 He takes Leontini 93 He lays siege to Syracuse 93 Defended by Archimedes 93 212. Capture of Syracuse 94 WAR IN SPAIN-- 212. Capture and death of the two Scipios 95 Siege of Capua 95 211. Hannibal marches upon Rome 95 Is compelled to retreat 96 The Romans recover Capua 96 Punishment of its inhabitants 93 209. The Romans recover Tarentum 96 208. Defeat and death of Marcellus 97 207. Hasdrubal marches into Italy 97 He besieges Placentia 97 March of the Consul Nero to join his colleague Livius in Umbria 97 Battle of the Metaurus 98 Defeat and death of Hasdrubal 98 CHAPTER XIV. SECOND PUNIC WAR: THIRD PERIOD, FROM THE BATTLE OF THE METAURUS TO THE CONCLUSION OF THE WAR. B.C. 206-201. Character and early life of Scipio 99 210. He is elected Proconsul for Spain 100 He takes New Carthage 100 206. He subdues Spain 101 He crosses over into Africa and visits Syphax 101 He returns to Rome 102 205. His Consulship 102 He prepares to invade Africa 102 His project is opposed by Fabius and others 102 204. He arrives in Africa 103 203. He defeats the Carthaginians and Syphax 103 Masinissa and Sophonisba 103 The Carthaginians recall Hannibal 104 202. Battle of Zama, and defeat of Hannibal 104 Terms of peace 105 201. Conclusion of the war 105 Triumph of Scipio 105 CHAPTER XV. WARS IN THE EAST: THE MACEDONIAN, SYRIAN, AND GALATIAN WARS. B.C. 214-188. State of the East 106 Syria 106 Pontus 106 Galatia 106 Pergamus 106 Egypt 107 State of Greece 107 Macedonia 107 Achæan League 107 Ætolian League 107 Rhodes 107 Sparta 107 214-205. FIRST MACEDONIAN WAR-- Its indecisive character 108 211. Treaty of the Romans with the Ætolian League 108 205. Conclusion of the war 108 Philip's hostile acts 108 He assists the Carthaginians at the battle of Zama 108 His conduct in Greece 108 200-196. SECOND MACEDONIAN WAR-- 200. First campaign: the Consul Galba 108 199. Second campaign: the Consul Villius 109 198. Third campaign: the Consul Flamininus 109 197. Battle of Cynoscephalæ 109 196. Declaration of Grecian independence at the Isthmian Games 109 191-190. SYRIAN WAR-- Antiochus the Third 110 Intrigues of the Ætolians in Greece 110 They Invite Antiochus to Greece 110 Hannibal expelled from Carthage 110 He arrives in Syria 110 His advice to Antiochus 110 192. Antiochus crosses over to Greece 110 191. The Romans defeat him at Thermopylæ 110 He returns to Asia 110 190. The Romans invade Asia 111 Battle of Magnesia 111 Defeat of Antiochus by Scipio Asiaticus 111 Terms of peace 111 Hannibal flies to Prusias, king of Bithynia 111 189. ÆTOLIAN WAR-- Fulvius takes Ambracia 111 Terms of peace 111 189. GALATIAN WAR-- Manlius attacks the Galatians without the authority of the Senate or the People 112 187. He returns to Rome 113 Effects of the Eastern conquests upon the Roman character 113 CHAPTER XVI. WARS IN THE WEST: THE GALLIC, LIGURIAN, AND SPANISH WARS. B.C. 200-175. 200. THE GALLIC WAR-- The Gauls take Placentia and lay siege to Cremona 113 Conquest of the Insubres and Cenomani 114 191. Conquest of the Boil 114 190. Colony founded at Bononia 114 180. Via Æmilia 114 200. THE LIGURIAN WAR-- Continued with intermissions for nearly 80 years 114 Character of the war 114 198. TWO PROVINCES FORMED IN SPAIN 114 195. THE SPANISH WAR-- The Consul M. Porcius Cato sent into Spain 114 His success 115 The Spaniards again take up arms 115 180. The war brought to a conclusion by Tib. Sempronius Gracchus 115 178. THE ISTRIAN WAR 115 177-175. THE SARDINIAN AND CORSICAN WAR 115 CHAPTER XVII. THE ROMAN CONSTITUTION AND ARMY. Review of the history of the Roman Constitution 116 Political equality of the Patricians and Plebeians 116 I. THE MAGISTRATES-- The Lex Annalis 117 1. The Quæstors 117 2. The Ædiles 117 3. The Prætors 117 4. The Consuls 118 5. The Dictators 118 6. The Censors 118 (_a_) The Census 118 (_b_) Control over the morals of the citizens 119 (_c_) Administration of the finances of the state 119 II. THE SENATE-- Its number 119 Its mode of Election 119 Its power and duties 119 III. THE POPULAR ASSEMBLIES-- 1. The Comitia Curiata 120 2. The Comitia Centuriata: change in its constitution 120 3. The Comitia Tributa 121 The Tribunes 121 The Plebiscita 121 IV. FINANCES-- Tributum 121 Vectigalia 121 V. THE ARMY-- Number of the Legion 122 1. _First Period_--Servius Tullius 122 2. _Second Period_--The Great Latin War, B.C. 340 122 Hastati 122 Principes 122 Triarii 122 Rorarii and Accensi 123 3. _Third Period_--During the wars of the younger Scipio 123 Two legions assigned to each Consul 123 Division of the legion 123 The Maniples 123 The Cohorts 123 The Tribuni Militum 123 The Horse-soldiers 123 Infantry of the Socii 123 4. _Fourth Period_--From the times of the Gracchi to the downfall of the Republic 123 Changes introduced by Marius 124 Triumphs 124 CHAPTER XVIII. INTERNAL HISTORY OF ROME DURING THE MACEDONIAN AND SYRIAN WARS. CATO AND SCIPIO. Effect of the Roman conquests in the East 126 Debasement of the Roman character 126 192. Infamous conduct of L. Flamininus 127 193. Worship of Bacchus 127 Gladiatorial exhibitions 127 Rise of the new nobility 127 191. Law against bribery 127 Decay of the peasant proprietors 128 M. Porcius Cato 128 234. His birth 128 His early life 128 204. His Quæstorship 129 198. His Prætorship 129 195. His Consulship 129 Repeal of the Oppian Law 130 191. Cato serves in the battle of Thermopylæ 130 Prosecution of the two Scipios 130 Haughty conduct of Scipio Africanus 130 Condemnation of Scipio Asiaticus 130 Prosecution of Scipio Africanus 130 He leaves Rome 131 188. His death 131 Death of Hannibal 132 184. Censorship of Cato 132 He studies Greek in his old age 132 His character 133 CHAPTER XIX. THE THIRD MACEDONIAN, ACHÆAN, AND THIRD PUNIC WARS. B.C. 179-146. 179. Death of Philip and accession of Perseus 134 172. Murder of Eumenes, king of Pergamus 135 171-168. THIRD MACEDONIAN WAR-- 168. Battle of Pydna 135 Defeat of Perseus by L. Æmilius Paullus 135 167. Æmilius Paullus punishes the Epirotes 135 His triumph 135 His domestic misfortunes 136 Haughty conduct of Rome in the East 136 Embassy to Antiochus Epiphanes 136 Treatment of Eumenes, king of Pergamus 136 Mean conduct of Prusias, king of Bythinia 136 Treatment of the Rhodians 136 167. One thousand Achæans sent to Italy 136 151. The survivors allowed to return to Greece 137 140. A pretender lays claim to the throne of Macedonia 137 He is defeated and taken prisoner 137 147-146. THE ACHÆAN WAR-- 146. Corinth taken by L. Mummius 138 Final conquest of Greece 138 Rome jealous of Carthage 139 Advice of Scipio 139 War between Masinissa and Carthage 139 Conduct of the Romans 140 149-146. THIRD PUNIC WAR-- 147. Scipio Africanus the younger, Consul 140 His parentage and adoption 140 His character 140 146. He takes Carthage 142 Formation of the Roman province of Africa 142 Later history of Carthage 142 CHAPTER XX. SPANISH WARS, B.C. 153-133. FIRST SERVILE WAR, B.C. 134-132. 153. War with the Celtiberians 143 152. Peace with the Celtiberians 143 151. War with the Lusitanians 143 150. Treacherous murder of the Lusitanians by Galba 144 Success of Viriathus against the Romans 144 The Celtiberians again take up arms--the Numantine War 144 140. Murder of Viriathus 145 138. Brutus conquers the Gallæci 145 137. The Consul Hostilius Mancinus defeated by the Numantines 145 He signs a peace with the Numantines 145 The Senate refuse to ratify it 145 142. Censorship of Scipio Africanus 145 134. Consul a second time 145 He carries on the war against Numantia 146 133. He takes Numantia 146 Increase of slaves 146 They rise in Sicily 146 They elect Eunus as their leader 146 Eunus assumes the title of king 146 134. He defeats the Roman generals 147 132. Is himself defeated and taken prisoner 147 133. Death of Attalus, last king of Pergamus 147 He bequeaths his kingdom to the Romans 147 131. Aristonicus lays claim to the kingdom of Pergamus 147 130. Is defeated and taken prisoner 147 129. Formation of the province of Asia 147 Extent of the Roman dominions 147 CHAPTER XXI. THE GRACCHI. B.C. 133-121. Necessity for reform 148 Early life of Tiberius Gracchus 149 137. Quæstor in Spain 149 133. Elected Tribune 150 Brings forward an Agrarian Law 150 Opposition of the landowners 150 The Tribune Octavius puts his veto upon it 150 Deposition of Octavius 151 The Agrarian Law enseted 151 Three Commissioners elected 151 Distribution of the treasures of Pergamus among the Roman people 151 Renewed opposition to Tiberius 151 He becomes a candidate for the Tribunate a second time 151 Riots 152 Death of Tiberius 152 132. Return of Scipio to Rome 152 He opposes the popular party 153 129. Death of Scipio 153 126. Expulsion of the Allies from Rome 154 125. M. Fulvius Flaccus proposes to give the franchise to the Italians 154 Revolt and destruction of Fregellæ 154 126. C. Gracchus goes to Sardinia as Quæstor 154 124. He returns to Rome 157 123. He is elected Tribune 157 His legislation 157 I. Laws for improving the condition of the people 157 1. Extension of the Agrarian Law 157 2. State provision for the poor 157 3. Soldiers equipped at the expense of the Republic 157 II. Laws to diminish the power of the Senate 157 1. Transference of the judicial power from the Senators to the Equites 157 2. Distribution of the Provinces before the election of the Consuls 158 122. C. Gracchus Tribune a second time 158 Proposes to confer the citizenship upon the Latins 158 Unpopularity of this proposal 158 The Tribune M. Livius Drusus outbids Gracchus 158 Foundation of a colony at Carthage 159 Decline of the popularity of Gracchus 159 121. His murder 160 Cornelia, the mother of the Gracchi 160 CHAPTER XXII. JUGURTHA AND HIS TIMES. B.C. 118-104. C. MARIUS 161 134. Serves at the siege of Numantia 161 Attracts the notice of Scipio Africanus 161 119. Tribune of the Plebs 162 115. Prætor 162 149. Death of Masinissa 162 Accession of Micipsa 162 134. Jugurtha serves at the siege of Numantia 162 118. Death of Micipsa 162 Jugurtha assassinates Hiempsal 163 War between Jugurtha and Adherbal 163 117. Roman commissioners divide Numidia between Jugurtha and Adherbal 163 Fresh war between Jugurtha and Adherbal 163 Siege of Cirta 163 112. Death of Adherbal 163 111. The Romans declare war against Jugurtha 163 Jugurtha bribes the Consul Calpurnius Bestia 163 Indignation at Rome 163 Jugurtha comes to Rome 164 111. He murders Massiva 164 Renewal of the war 164 110. Incapacity of the Consul Sp. Postumius Albinus 164 Defeat of his brother Aulus 164 109. Bill of the Tribune C. Mamilius 164 Many Romans condemned 164 The Consul Q. Cæcilius Metellus lands in Africa 164 Accompanied by Marius as his lieutenant 165 Metellus defeats Jugurtha 165 Ambitious views of Marius 165 108. He quits Africa and arrives in Rome 166 Is elected Consul 166 Attacks the nobility 166 Campaign of Metellus as Proconsul 166 The people give Marius command of the Numidian War 166 107. First Consulship of Marius 166 He arrives in Africa 166 He defeats Jugurtha and Bocchus, king of Mauritania 167 106. Bocchus surrenders Jugurtha to Sulla, the Quæstor of Marius 167 Early history of Sulla 167 His character 167 104. Triumph of Marius 168 His second Consulship 168 CHAPTER XXIII. THE CIMBRI AND TEUTONES, B.C. 113-101. SECOND SERVILE WAR IN SICILY, B.C. 103-101. Invasion of the Cimbri and Teutones 169 Their probable origin 169 113. Defeat of the Consul Cn. Papirius Carbo 169 109. Defeat of the Consul M. Junius Silanus 169 107. Defeat of the Consul L. Cassius Longinus 169 105. Defeat of the Consul Cn. Mallius Maximus and the Proconsul Cn. Servilius Cæpio 170 104. Second Consulship of Marius 170 The Cimbri invade Spain 170 103. Third Consulship of Marius 170 102. Fourth Consulship of Marius 170 The Cimbri return from Spain 170 102. Marius takes up his position near Arles 170 The Cimbri enter Italy by the Pass of Tridentum 170 Great defeat of the Teutones by Marius at Aquæ Sextiæ 171 101. Fifth Consulship of Marius 171 Great defeat of the Teutones at Vercellæ by Marius and the Proconsul Catulus 171 Triumph of Marius and Catulus 171 103-101. Second Servile War in Sicily 171 Tryphon king of the Slaves 172 Succeeded by Athenio as king 172 101. The Consul Aquillius puts an end to the war 172 CHAPTER XXIV. INTERNAL HISTORY OF ROME, FROM THE DEFEAT OF THE CIMBRI AND TEUTONES TO THE SOCIAL WAR. B.C. 100-91. 100. Sixth Consulship of Marius 173 His league with the demagogues Saturninus and Glaucia 173 Agrarian Law of Saturninus 174 Banishment of Metellus 174 Saturninus declared a public enemy 174 He is put to death 175 Marius visits the East 175 92. Condemnation of Rutilius Lupus 175 91. Tribunate of M. Livius Drusus 175 His measures 176 Proposes to give the franchise to the Italian allies 176 His assassination 176 CHAPTER XXV. THE SOCIAL OR MARSIC WAR. B.C. 90-89. 90. The Allies take up arms 178 The war breaks out at Asculum in Picenum 178 Corfinium the new capital of the Italian confederation 178 Q. Pompædius Silo, a Marsian, and C. Papius Mutilus, a Samnite, the Italian Consuls 178 Defeat and death of the Roman Consul P. Rutilius Lupus 179 Exploits of Marius 179 The Lex Julia 179 89. Success of the Romans 180 The Lex Plautia Papiria 180 The franchise given to the Allies 180 All the Allies lay down their arms except the Samnites and Lucanians 180 Ten new Tribes formed 180 CHAPTER XXVI. FIRST CIVIL WAR. B.C. 88-86. 88. Consulship of Sulla 181 Receives the command of the Mithridatic War 181 The Tribune P. Sulpicius Rufus 182 He proposes to distribute the Italians among the thirty-five Tribes 182 Sulla flies from Rome to Nola 182 The people give Marius the command of the Mithridatic War 182 Sulla marches upon Rome 182 Sulpicius put to death 183 Marius flies from Rome 183 His adventures 183 Is seized at Minturnæ 183 Escapes to Africa 184 Sulla sails to the East 184 87. Riots at Rome 185 The Consul Cinna invites the assistance of Marius 185 Marius and Cinna march upon Rome 185 They enter the city 185 Proscription of their enemies 185 86. Seventh Consulship of Marius 185 His death 185 CHAPTER XXVII. FIRST MITHRIDATIC WAR. B.C. 88-84. Kingdom of Pontus 186 Its history 186 120. Accession of Mithridates VI 186 His early life 186 His attainments 187 His conquests 187 His disputes with the Romans 187 88. He invades Cappadocia and Bithynia 187 He invades the Roman province of Asia 188 Massacre of Romans and Italians 188 87. The Grecian states declare in favor of Mithridates 188 Sulla lands in Epirus 188 He lays siege to Athens and the Piræus 188 86. Takes these cities 188 Defeats Archelaus, the general of Mithridates, at Chæronea 188 85. Again defeats Archelaus at Orchomenus 189 84. Peace with Mithridates 189 Sulla attacks Fimbria, the Marian general, in Asia 189 83. He returns to Italy 189 CHAPTER XXVIII. SECOND CIVIL WAR--SULLA'S DICTATORSHIP, LEGISLATION, AND DEATH. B.C. 83-78. 84. Consulship of Cinna and Carbo 190 Death of Cinna 190 83. Consulship of Scipio and Norbanus 190 Preparations for war 191 The Italians support the Marian party 191 Sulla marches from Brundusium to Campania 191 Defeats the Consul Norbanus 191 Pompey, Metellus Pius, Crasus, and others, join Sulla 192 83. Consulship of Papirus Carbo and the younger Marius 192 Defeat of Marius, who takes refuge in Præneste 192 Murder of Senators in Rome by order of Marius 192 Great battle before the Colline gate at Rome between Sulla and the Samnites 192 Defeat of the Samnites 193 Surrender of Præneste 193 Death of Marius 193 End of the war 193 Sulla master of Rome 193 Proscription 193 Dreadful scenes 194 81. Sulla dictator 194 He celebrates his triumph over Mithridates 194 His reforms in the constitution 194 His military colonies 194 73. He resigns the Dictatorship 195 He retires to Puteoli 195 73. His death 195 His funeral 196 LEGES CORNELLÆ-- I. _Laws relating to the Constitution_ 196 Deprive the Comitia Tribute of their legislative and judicial powers 196 Increase the power of the Senate 197 Increase the number of the Quæstors and Prætors 197 Deprive the Tribunes of all real power 197 II. _Laws relating to the Ecclesiastical Corporations_ 197 Repeal of the Lex Domitia 197 Increase of the number of Pontiffs and Augurs 197 III. _Laws relating to the Administration of Justice_ 197 Quæstiones Perpetuæ 197 Transference of the Judicia from the Equites to the Senators 198 IV. _Laws relating to the improvement of Public Morals_ 198 CHAPTER XXIX. FROM THE DEATH OF SULLA TO THE CONSULSHIP OF POMPEY AND CRASSUS. B.C. 78-70. 78. Consulship of Lepidus and Catulus 199 Lepidus attempts to repeal the laws of Sulla 199 Is opposed by Catulus 199 Is defeated at the Mulvian Bridge 199 Retires to Sardinia 200 His death 200 82. Sertorius in Spain 200 79. Carries on war against Metellus 200 CN. POMPEIUS MAGNUS 200 His birth 200 89. Fights against the Italians under his father 200 83. Joins Sulla 200 82. Is sent into Sicily and Africa 200 80. Enters Rome in triumph 201 78. Supports the aristocracy against Lepidus 201 76. Is sent into Spain to assist Metellus 201 72. Assassination of Sertorius by Perperna 202 71. Pompey finishes the war in Spain 202 73. War of the Gladiators: Spartacus 202 72. Spartacus defeats both Consuls 202 71. Crassus appointed to the command of the war against the Gladiators 202 Defeats and slays Spartacus 203 Pompey cuts to pieces a body of Gladiators 203 70. Consulship of Pompey and Crassus 203 Pompey restores the Tribunitian power 203 Law of L. Aurelius Cotta, transferring the Judicia to the Senators, Equites, and Tribuni Ærarii 204 CHAPTER XXX. THIRD OR GREAT MITHRIDATIC WAR. B.C. 74-61. 83. SECOND MITHRIDATIC WAR-- Murena invades Pontus 205 83. Mithridates defeats Murena 205 End of the Second Mithridatic War 205 Preparations of Mithridates 206 71. THIRD MITHRIDATIC WAR-- Mithridates defeats the Consul Cotta 206 He lays siege to Cyzicus 206 73. The siege is raised by Lucullus 207 Lucullus defeats Mithridates 207 71. Mithridates takes refuge in Armenia 207 70. Lucullus settles the affairs of Asia 207 69. He invades Armenia and defeats Tigranes 208 68. Lucullus defeats Tigranes and Mithridates, and lays siege to Nisibis 208 67. Mithridates returns to Pontus and defeats the generals of Lucullus 208 Mutiny in the army of Lucullus 208 The command of the Mithridatic War given to Glabrio 209 WAR WITH THE PIRATES-- Account of the Pirates 209 Command of the war given by the Gabinian Law to Pompey 210 Success of Pompey 210 He finishes the war 210 66. THIRD MITHRIDATIC WAR CONTINUED 210 Command of the Mithridatic War given by the Manilian Law to Pompey 210 It is opposed by the aristocracy 211 It is supported by Cicero 211 Pompey defeats Mithridates 211 Mithridates retires into the Cimmerian Bosporus 211 Pompey invades Armenia 212 Submission of Tigranes 212 65. Pompey pursues Mithridates 212 He advances as far as the River Phasis 212 He returns to Pontus, which he reduces to the form of a Roman province 212 64. He marches into Syria, which he makes a Roman province 212 63. He subdues Phoenicia and Palestine 212 He takes Jerusalem 212 Preparations of Mithridates 213 Conspiracy against him 213 His death 213 Pompey settles the affairs of Asia 213 62. He returns to Italy 213 CHAPTER XXXI. INTERNAL HISTORY, FROM THE CONSULSHIP OF POMPEY AND CRASSUS TO THE RETURN OF POMPEY FROM THE EAST: THE CONSPIRACY OF CATILINE. B.C. 69-61. C. JULIUS CÆSAR-- 100. His birth 214 His early history 214 Proscribed by Sulla 215 81. He serves in Asia 215 77. Accuses Dolabella 215 Taken by the Pirates 215 75. Studies in Rhodes 215 68. Quæstor 215 65. Curule Ædile 216 Restores the statues of Marius 216 M. TULLIUS CICERO-- 106. His birth 216 80. Serves in the Social War 216 81. His speech for P. Quintius 216 80. His speech for Sex. Roscius of Ameria 216 79. He goes to Athens 216 78. He studies in Rome 216 77. He returns to Rome 216 76. Quæstor in Sicily 217 70. He accuses Verres 217 68. Ædile 217 66. Prætor 217 He speaks on behalf of the Manilian law 217 65. First conspiracy of Catiline 217 History of Catiline 218 63. Consulship of Cicero 219 Second conspiracy of Catiline 219 Catiline quits Rome 220 Cicero seizes the conspirators 220 They are put to death 221 62. Defeat and death of Catiline 221 Popularity of Cicero 221 Remarks upon the punishment of the conspirators 221 CHAPTER XXXII. FROM POMPEY'S RETURN FROM THE EAST TO CICERO'S BANISHMENT AND RECALL. B.C. 62-57. 62. Pompey arrives in Italy 223 61. Triumph of Pompey 223 State of parties in Rome 224 60. The Senate refuses to sanction Pompey's measures in Asia 224 63. Prætorship of Cæsar 224 61. Proprætor in Spain 224 60. His victories in Spain 224 He returns to Rome 225 FIRST TRIUMVIRATE 225 59. Consulship of Cæsar 225 Agrarian Law for the division of the Campanian land 225 Ratification of Pompey's acts in Asia 225 Marriage of Julia, Cæsar's daughter, with Pompey 225 Cæsar gains over the Equites 225 Vatinian Law, granting to Cæsar the provinces of Cisalpine Gaul and Illyricum for five years 226 Transalpine Gaul added 226 62. Clodius profanes the rites of the Bona Dea 226 61. His trial and acquittal 227 His enmity against Cicero 227 58. Tribune of the Plebs 227 He accuses Cicero 227 Banishment of Cicero 227 57. Riots at Rome between Clodius and Milo 227 Return of Cicero from banishment 228 CHAPTER XXXIII. CÆSAR'S CAMPAIGNS IN GAUL. B.C. 58-51. 58. _First Campaign_ 229 He defeats the Helvetii 229 He defeats Ariovistus and the Germans 230 57. _Second Campaign_ 230 The Belgic War 230 Great victory over the Nervii 230 55. _Third Campaign_ 230 He defeats the Veneti 231 He defeats the Morini and Menapii 231 55. _Fourth Campaign_ 231 Cæsar crosses the Rhine 231 His first invasion of Britain 231 54. _Fifth Campaign_ 232 His second invasion of Britain 232 Revolt of the Eburones 232 They destroy the detachment of T. Titurius Sabinus and L. Aurunculeius Cotta 232 They attack the camp of Q. Cicero 232 53. _Sixth Campaign_ 232 Cæsar puts down the revolt in Gaul 233 He crosses the Rhine a second time 233 52. _Seventh Campaign_ 233 Revolt of all Gaul 233 Headed by Vercingetorix 233 Cæsar takes Alesia and Vercingetorix 234 51. _Eighth Campaign_ 234 Pacification of Gaul 234 CHAPTER XXXIV. INTERNAL HISTORY FROM THE RETURN OF CICERO FROM BANISHMENT TO THE COMMENCEMENT OF THE CIVIL WAR: EXPEDITION AND DEATH OF CRASSUS. B.C. 57-50. 57. Cicero supports the Triumvirs 235 56. Pompey and Crassus meet Cæsar at Luca 236 Fresh arrangements for the continuance of their power 236 55. Second Consulship of Pompey and Crassus 236 The Trebonian Law, giving the two Spains to Pompey and Syria to Crassus, and prolonging Pompey's government for five years more 236 Dedication of Pompey's theatre 236 54. Crassus crosses the Euphrates 237 He winters in Syria 237 53. He again crosses the Euphrates 237 Is defeated and slain near Carrhæ 237 54. Death of Julia 237 53. Riots in Rome 238 52. Murder of Clodius by Milo 238 Pompey sole Consul 238 Trial and condemnation of Milo 238 51. Rupture between Cæsar and Pompey 239 Pompey joins the aristocratical party 239 49. Proposition that Cæsar should lay down his command 240 The Senate invest the Consuls with dictatorial power 240 The Tribunes Antony and Cassius fly to Cæsar's camp 240 Commencement of the Civil War 240 CHAPTER XXXV. THE BEGINNING OF THE SECOND CIVIL WAR TO CÆSAR'S DEATH, B.C. 49-44. 49. Cæsar at Ravenna 241 He crosses the Rubicon 241 His triumphal progress through Italy 241 Pompey and his party fly from Rome to Brundusium 242 They are pursued by Cæsar 242 They embark for Greece 242 Cæsar goes to Rome 242 He sets out for Spain 242 He conquers L. Africanus and M. Petreius, Pompey's lieutenants in Spain 243 Is appointed Dictator, which office he holds only eleven days 243 He takes Massilia 243 48. He sails from Brundusium to Greece 243 He besieges Pompey at Dyrrhachium 244 Is compelled to retire 241 Battle of Pharsalia, and defeat of Pompey 244 Pompey flies to Egypt 245 His death 245 Cæsar is appointed Dictator a second time 245 The Alexandrine War 245 47. Conclusion of the Alexandrine War 246 Cæsar marches into Pontus and defeats Pharnaces 246 He sails to Africa 246 46. Battle of Thapsus, and defeat of the Pompeians 246 Siege of Utica 247 Death of Cato 247 Cæsar returns to Rome 247 His triumph 247 His reformation of the Calendar 247 Insurrection in Spain 248 Cæsar sets out for Spain 248 45. Battle of Munda, and defeat of the Pompeians 248 Cæsar returns to Rome 248 He is undisputed master of the Roman world 248 Honors conferred upon him 248 Use he made of his power 248 His vast projects 249 44. Conspiracy against Cæsar's life 249 Brutus and Cassius 249 Assassination of Cæsar on the Ides of March 250 Reflections on his death 250 His character and genius 250 CHAPTER XXXVI. FROM THE DEATH OF CÆSAR TO THE BATTLE OF PHILIPPI. B.C. 44-42. 44. Proceedings of the conspirators 252 Antony and Lepidus 253 Pretended reconciliation 253 Cæsar's will 253 His funeral 253 Popular indignation against the conspirators 253 They fly from Home 253 OCTAVIUS, Cæsar's nephew, at Illyricum 253 Is made Cæsar's heir 253 He proceeds to Rome 254 His opposition to Antony 254 He courts the Senate 254 Antony proceeds to Cisalpine Gaul, and lays siege to Mutina 254 43. Cicero's second Philippic 254 Octavian and the Consuls Hirtius and Pansa march against Antony 255 They attack Antony 255 Death of Hirtius and Pansa 255 Antony is defeated, and crosses the Alps 255 Octavian marches to Rome 255 Is declared Consul 255 Breaks with the Senate, and outlaws the murderers of Cæsar 255 Marches against Antony and Lepidus 255 Is reconciled with them 256 SECOND TRIUMVIRATE 256 The Triumvirs enter Rome 256 Dreadful Scenes 256 Death of Cicero 257 Sextus Pompey master of Sicily and the Mediterranean 257 He defeats the fleet of the Triumvirs 257 Brutus obtains possession of Macedonia 258 Cassius, of Syria 258 Their proceedings in the East 258 They plunder Asia Minor 258 42. They return to Europe to meet the Triumvirs 258 Battle of Philippi 261 Death of Brutus and Cassius 261 CHAPTER XXXVII. FROM THE BATTLE OF PHILIPPI TO THE BATTLE OF ACTIUM. B.C. 41-30. 41. Antony remains in the East 262 He meets Cleopatra at Tarsus 262 He accompanies her to Alexandria 263 Octavian returns to Rome 263 Confusion in Italy 263 Confiscation of lands 263 Fulvia, the wife of Antony, and L. Antonius, his brother, rise against Antony 263 They take refuge in Perusia 263 40. Capture of Perusia, and end of the war 263 The Parthians invade Syria 264 Antony joins Sextus Pompey and lays siege to Brundusium 264 Reconciliation between Antony and Octavian 264 Fresh division of the Roman world 264 Antony marries Octavia 264 39. Peace with Sextus Pompey at Misenum 264 Ventidius, the Legate of Antony, defeats the Parthians 265 38. He again defeats the Parthians 265 Death of Pacorus 265 War with Sextus Pompey 265 He destroys the fleet of Octavian 265 37. Antony comes to Tarentum 266 Triumvirate renewed for another period of five years 266 36. Renewal of the war with Sextus Pompey 266 His defeat 266 He flies to Asia 266 Lepidus deprived of his Triumvirate 266 35. Death of Pompey 266 30. Antony joins Cleopatra 267 His infatuation 267 He invades Parthia 267 His disastrous retreat 267 34. He invades Armenia 267 Octavian subdues the Dalmatians 267 His prudent conduct 267 33. Rupture between Octavian and Antony 267 32. War against Cleopatra 268 31. Battle of Actium 268 Defeat of Antony 268 He flies to Alexandria 268 30. Death of Antony and Cleopatra 269 Egypt made a Roman province 269 End of the Republic 269 29. Triumph of Octavian 269 27. He receives the title of Augustus 270 His policy 270 CHAPTER XXXVIII. SKETCH OF THE HISTORY OF ROMAN LITERATURE FROM THE EARLIEST TIMES TO THE DEATH OF AUGUSTUS. Poetry-- Saturnian Metre 272 Commencement of Roman Literature 272 _The Drama_-- 240. M. Livius Andronicus 272 235. Cn. Nævius 273 239-169. Q. Ennius 273 254-184. T. Maccius Plautus 273 195-159. P. Terentius Afer 274 160. Q. Cæcilius 274 100. L. Afranius 274 220-180. M. Pacuvius 275 170-90. L. Accius 275 _Comoediæ Togatæ_ 274 _Comoediæ Palliatæ_ 274 _Comoediæ Prætextatæ_ 275 _Atellanæ Fabulæ_ 275 _Mimes_ 275 50. Dec. Laberius 275 P. Syrus 275 _Fescennine Songs_ 276 _Satire_ 276 148-103. C. Lucilius 276 95-51. T. Lucretius Carus 276 87-47. Valerius Catullus 276 70-19. P. Virgilius Maro 277 65-8. Q. Horatius Flaccus 278 30. Albius Tibullus 280 Aurelius Propertius 280 B.C. A.D. 43-18. P. Ovidius Naso 281 B.C. PROSE WRITERS-- _The Annalists_ 282 210. Q. Fabius Pictor 282 L. Cincius Alimentus 282 234-140. M. Porcius Cato 282 106-43. M. Tullius Cicero 282 117-28. M. Terentius Varro 283 100-41. C. Julius Cæsar 283 86-34. C. Sallustius Crispus 284 Cornelius Nepos 284 B.C. A.D. 53-17. Titus Livius 284 CHAPTER XXXIX. THE REIGN OF AUGUSTUS CÆSAR. B.C. 31-A.D. 14. Conduct of Augustus 286 His friends 286 Police of Rome 286 Condition of the empire 287 Italy, Gaul, and Spain 287 Africa 288 Egypt and Greece 288 Boundaries of the empire 289 The Prætorian guard 290 Army and navy 290 Augustus in Spain 291 His family 291 His wife, Livia 292 Marcellus, Julia, Tiberius 292 Cains and Lucius Cæsar 293 Birth of the Savior 293 Death of Augustus 294 His character and personal appearance 294 CHAPTER XL. FROM THE ACCESSION OF TIBERIUS, A.D. 14-37, TO DOMITIAN, A.D. 96. Accession of Tiberius 295 Germanicus 296 His death 296 The Lex Majestas 297 The Delatores 297 Sejanus 297 Death of Sejanus 298 Death of Tiberius 299 Caligula 299 Claudius 300 His conduct 300 The Emperor Nero 301 His crimes 301 Vitellius 302 Vespasian 302 Fall of Jerusalem 303 Reign of Titus 304 The Colosseum 304 Reign of Domitian 305 He persecutes the Christians 305 CHAPTER XLI. PROSPERITY OF THE EMPIRE, A.D. 96.--COMMODUS, A.D. 180.--REIGN OF M. COCCEIUS NERVA, A.D. 96-98. The Emperor Nerva 306 Prosperity of the empire 306 Trajan 307 His wise administration 307 The Dacian war 308 Conquests in the East 308 Trajan's public works 309 Reign of Hadrian 309 His travels 310 His death 312 Antoninus Pius 313 His excellent character 313 Marcus Aurelius 314 His conduct 315 He defeats the Barbarians 316 The depraved Commodus 316 His vices 316 Is assassinated 316 CHAPTER XLII. FROM PERTINAX TO DIOCLETIAN. A.D. 192-284. Pertinax made emperor 319 Is assassinated 319 Didius Julianus 319 Severus 320 His severe rule 320 Geta and Caracalla 321 Papinian executed 321 Cruelties of Caracalla 322 Elagabalus 322 Alexander Severus 322 Maximin 323 The Goths invade the empire 324 Valerian 325 Thirty tyrants 325 Zenobia 325 Aurelian 325 The Emperor Tacitus 326 Frugal habits of Carus 326 CHAPTER XLIII. FROM DIOCLETIAN, A.D. 284, TO CONSTANTINE'S DEATH, A.D. 337. Diocletian 327 His colleagues 328 Persecution of the Christians 329 Abdication of Diocletian 329 Constantine the Great 330 His administration 331 The Council of Nice 332 Constantinople 332 Its magnificence 333 The præfectures 334 Christianity the national religion 334 Taxes 334 Family of Constantine 335 He is baptized and dies 335 CHAPTER XLIV. FROM THE DEATH OF CONSTANTINE, A.D. 337, TO ROMULUS AUGUSTULUS, A.D. 476. The three sons of Constantine 336 Constantius jealous of Julian 337 Julian becomes emperor 337 Attempts to restore Paganism 337 Valentinian 338 The Huns appear in Europe 338 The Goths cross the Danube 338 Theodosius the Great 339 Stilicho 339 Alaric enters Italy 340 Luxury of the Romans 340 Sack of Rome 341 Arcadius and Honorius 341 The Vandals 342 The Huns 342 Romulus Augustulus 343 Extinction of the Empire of the West 343 CHAPTER XLV. ROMAN LITERATURE UNDER THE EMPIRE. A.D. 14-476. Decline of letters 344 Epic poetry--Lucan 344 Silius Italicus 344 Claudian 345 Persius, Juvenal 345 Martial 346 History--Velleius Paterculus 346 Valerius Maximus 346 Tacitus 347 Quintus Curtius 347 Rhetoric--Seneca the elder 348 Quintilian 348 Appuleius 349 Philosophy--Seneca 349 The elder Pliny 349 His nephew 350 Grammarians--Macrobius 350 Marcellinus 350 Legal writers--Gains 350 Science and art 351 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. The Roman Forum FRONTISPIECE Puteal on a Coin of the Scribonia Gens TITLE-PAGE Map of Italy Temple of Janus vi Julius Cæsar vii Virgil xxx Tivoli, the ancient Tibur 1 Gate of Arpinum 6 The Alban Hills 7 Plan of the City of Romulus 11 Salii carrying the Ancilia 13 Arch of Volaterræ 15 Pons Sublicius, restored by Canina 16 Cloaca Maxima 17 Map of Rome, showing the Servian Wall and the Seven Hills 21 Coin representing the children of Brutus led to death by Lictors 23 The Campagna of Rome 29 The Environs of Rome 33 Tarpeian Rock 36 View in the neighborhood of Veii 41 Temple of Jupiter Capitolinus restored 45 Ruins at Capua 52 Coin of Pyrrhus 60 Temple of Vesta 67 Mount Ercta in Sicily 68 Columna Rostrata 71 Plan of Mount Ercta 76 Coin of Carthage 77 Coin of Hiero 81 Lake Trasimenus 82 Map of the coasts of the Mediterranean, illustrating the history of the Punic Wars 85 Route of Hannibal 89 Plain of Cannæ 91 Hannibal 99 The Capitoline Wolf 105 Coin of Antiochus the Great 106 Roman Soldiers 113 Temple of Jupiter Capitolinus 115 Lictors 116 A Roman general addressing the soldiers 125 Scipio Africanus 126 Island in the Tiber, with the Fabrician and Cestian Bridges 134 Plan of Carthage 141 Personification of the River Tiber 143 Stairs of the modern Capitol 148 The Forum in its present state 155 Temple of Saturn at Rome 160 A Roman Trophy 161 Soldiers blowing Tubæ and Cornua 168 Caius Marius 169 Fasces 172 Tomb of Metella Cæcilia 173 Beneventum in Samnium 177 Coin of the Eight Italian Nations taking the Oath of Federation 178 Terracina 181 Mount Argæus in Cappadocia 186 Coin of Nicomedes III., king of Bithynia 189 Brundusium 190 Coin of Sulla 198 Cn. Pompeius Magnus 199 Temple of Pudicitia Patricia at Rome 204 Coin of Mithridates 205 Coin of Tigranes 207 Cicero 214 Coin of Pompey 222 Julius Cæsar 223 Temple of Hercules at Rome 228 Temple of Nemausus (_Nimes_), now called the _Maison Carrée_ 229 Ruins on the Esquiline 235 Marcus Brutus 241 Coin of Julius Cæsar 250 Statue of a Roman, representing the Toga 251 M. Antonius 252 Philippi 259 Coin of Antony and Cleopatra 261 M. Agrippa 262 Plan of Actium 268 Map of the Provinces of the Roman Empire 271 Horace 272 Mæcenas 285 Aureus of Augustus Cæsar 288 Gold Coin of Agrippa 292 The Carpentum or Chariot 293 Medal of Augustus 294 Medal of Nero 295 Roman Galley 299 Copper Coin of Antoninus Pius 306 Trajan's Pillar 308 Hadrian's Mausoleum restored 311 Reverse of a Brass Coin of Antoninus Pius 313 Commodus 317 Pertinax 318 Septimius Severus 319 Caracalla 321 Alexander Severus 323 Court-yard of Diocletian's Palace at Spolatro 327 Constantino and Fausta 330 Arch of Constantine 331 Map of the Propontis, Hellespont, and Bosphorus 333 Map of Constantinople 333 Julian the Apostate 336 Juvenal 351 Coin of Augustus 361 [Illustration: Virgil.] HISTORY OF ROME. [Illustration: Tivoli, the ancient Tibur.] CHAPTER I. GEOGRAPHY OF ITALY--EARLY INHABITANTS. Italy is the central one of the three great peninsulas which project from the south of Europe into the Mediterranean Sea. It is bounded on the north by the chain of the Alps, which form a natural barrier, and it is surrounded on other sides by the sea. Its shores are washed on the west by the "Mare Inferum," or the Lower Sea, and on the east by the Adriatic, called by the Romans the "Mare Superum," or the Upper Sea. It may be divided into two parts, the northern consisting of the great plain drained by the River Padus, or _Po_, and its tributaries, and the southern being a long tongue of land, with the Apennines as a back-bone running down its whole extent from north to south. The extreme length of the peninsula from the Alps to the Straits of Messina is 700 miles. The breadth of northern Italy is 350 miles, while that of the southern portion is on an average not more than 100 miles. But, till the time of the Empire, the Romans never included the plain of the Po in Italy. To this country they gave the general name of GALLIA CISALPINA, or Gaul on this (the Roman) side of the Alps, in consequence of its being inhabited by Gauls. The western-most portion of the plain was peopled by Ligurian tribes, and was therefore called LIGURIA, while its eastern extremity formed the Roman province of VENETIA. The name ITALIA was originally applied to a very small tract of country. It was at first confined to the southern portion of Calabria, and was gradually extended northward, till about the time of the Punic wars it indicated the whole peninsula south of the Rivers Rubicon and Macra, the former separating Cisalpine Gaul and Umbria, the latter Liguria and Etruria. Italy, properly so called, is a very mountainous country, being filled up more or less by the broad mass of the Apennines, the offshoots or lateral branches of which, in some parts, descend quite to the sea, but in others leave a considerable space of level or low country. Excluding the plain of the Po, it was divided into the following districts:[1] 1. ETRURIA, which extended along the coast of the Lower Sea from the River Macra on the north to the Tiber on the south. Inland, the Tiber also formed its eastern boundary, dividing it first from Umbria, afterward from the Sabines, and, lastly, from Latium. Its inhabitants were called Etrusci, or Tusci, the latter form being still preserved in the name of _Tuscany_. Besides the Tiber it possesses only one other river of any importance, the Arnus, or Arno, upon which the city of _Florence_ now stands. Of its lakes the most considerable is the Lacus Trasimenus, about thirty-six miles in circumference, celebrated for the great victory which Hannibal there gained over the Romans. 2. UMBRIA, situated to the east of Etruria, and extending from the valley of the Tiber to the shores of the Adriatic. It was separated on the north from Gallia Cisalpina by the Rubicon, and on the south by the Æsis from Picenum, and by the Nar from the Sabines. 3. PICENUM extended along the Adriatic from the mouth of the Æsis to that of the Matrinus and inland as far as the central ridge of the Apennines. It was bounded on the north by Umbria, on the south by the Vestini, and on the west by Umbria and the Sabini. Its inhabitants, the Picentes, were a Sabine race, as is mentioned below. 4. The SABINI inhabited the rugged mountain-country in the central chain of the Apennines, lying between Etruria, Umbria, Picenum, Latium, and the country of the Marsi and Vestini. They were one of the most ancient races of Italy, and the progenitors of the far more numerous tribes which, under the names of Picentes, Peligni, and Samnites, spread themselves to the east and south. Modern writers have given the general name of _Sabellians_ to all these tribes. The Sabines, like most other mountaineers, were brave, hardy, and frugal; and even the Romans looked up to them with admiration on account of their proverbial honesty and temperance. 5. The MARSI, PELIGNI, VESTINI, and MARRUCINI inhabited the valleys of the central Apennines, and were closely connected, being probably all of Sabine origin. The MARSI dwelt inland around the basin of the Lake Fucinus, which is about thirty miles in circumference, and the only one of any extent in the central Apennines. The PELIGNI also occupied an inland district east of the MARSI. The VESTINI dwelt east of the Sabines, and possessed on the coast of the Adriatic a narrow space between the mouth of the Matrinus and that of the Aternus, a distance of about six miles. The MARRUCINI inhabited a narrow strip of country on the Adriatic, east of the Peligni, and were bounded on the north by the Vestini and on the south by the Frentani. 6. The FRENTANI dwelt upon the coast of the Adriatic from the frontiers of the Marrucini to those of Apulia. They were bounded on the west by the Samnites, from whom they were originally descended, but they appear in Roman history as an independent people. 7. LATIUM was used in two senses. It originally signified only the land of the Latini, and was a country of small extent, bounded by the Tiber on the north, by the Apennines on the east, by the sea on the west, and by the Alban Hills on the south. But after the conquest of the Volscians, Hernici, Æquians, and other tribes, originally independent, the name of Latium was extended to all the country which the latter had previously occupied. It was thus applied to the whole region from the borders of Etruria to those of Campania, or from the Tiber to the Liris. The original abode of the Latins is of volcanic origin. The Alban Mountains are a great volcanic mass, and several of the craters have been filled with water, forming lakes, of which the Alban Lake is one of the most remarkable. The plain in which Rome stands, now called the _Campagna_, is not an unbroken level, but a broad undulating tract, intersected by numerous streams, which have cut themselves deep channels through the soft volcanic tufa of which the soil is composed. The climate of Latium was not healthy even in ancient times. The malaria of the Campagna renders Rome itself unhealthy in the summer and autumn; and the Pontine Marshes, which extend along the coast in the south of Latium for a distance of thirty miles, are still more pestilential. 8. CAMPANIA extended along the coast from the Liris, which separated it from Latium, to the Silarus, which formed the boundary of Lucania. It is the fairest portion of Italy. The greater part of it is an unbroken plain, celebrated in ancient as well as in modern times for its extraordinary beauty and fertility. The _Bay of Naples_--formerly called Sinus Cumanus and Puteolanus, from the neighboring cities of Cumæ and Puteoli--is one of the most lovely spots in the world; and the softness of its climate, as well as the beauty of its scenery, attracted the Roman nobles, who had numerous villas along its coasts. 9. SAMNIUM was an inland district, bounded on the north by the Marsi and Peligni, on the east by the Frentani and Apulia, on the west by Latium and Campania, and on the south by Lucania. It is a mountainous country, being entirely filled with the masses of the Apennines. Its inhabitants, the Samnites, were of Sabine origin, as has been already mentioned, and they settled in the country at a comparatively late period. They were one of the most warlike races in Italy, and carried on a long and fierce struggle with the Romans. 10. APULIA extended along the coast of the Adriatic from the Frentani on the north to Calabria on the south, and was bounded on the west by the Apennines, which separated it from Samnium and Lucania. It consists almost entirely of a great plain, sloping down from the Apennines to the sea. 11. CALABRIA formed the heel of Italy, lying south of Apulia, and surrounded on every other side by the sea. It contains no mountains, and only hills of moderate elevation, the Apennines running to the southwest through Lucania and the Bruttii. 12. LUCANIA was bounded on the north by Campania and Samnium, on the east by Apulia, and on the south by the Bruttii. The Apennines run through the province in its whole extent. The Lucanians were a branch of the Samnite nation, which separated from the main body of that people, and pressed on still farther to the south. 13. The BRUTTII[2] inhabited the southern extremity of Italy, lying south of Lucania; and, like Lucania, their country is traversed throughout by the chain of the Apennines. Italy has been in all ages renowned for its beauty and fertility. The lofty ranges of the Apennines, and the seas which bathe its shores on both sides, contribute at once to temper and vary its climate, so as to adapt it for the productions alike of the temperate and the warmest parts of Europe. In the plains on either side of the Apennines corn is produced in abundance; olives flourish on the southern slopes of the mountains; and the vine is cultivated in every part of the peninsula, the vineyards of northern Campania being the most celebrated in antiquity. The early inhabitants of Italy may be divided into three great classes--the _Italians_ proper, the _Iapygians_, and the _Etruscans_, who are clearly distinguished from each other by their respective languages. (1.) The _Italians_ proper inhabited the centre of the peninsula. They were divided into two branches, the _Latins_ and the _Umbro-Sabellians_, including the Umbrians, Sabines, Samnites, and their numerous colonies. The dialects of the Latins and Umbro-Sabellians, though marked by striking differences, still show clearest evidence of a common origin, and both are closely related to the Greek. It is evident that at some remote period a race migrated from the East, embracing the ancestors of both the Greeks and Italians--that from it the Italians branched off--and that they again were divided into the Latins on the west and the Umbrians and Sabellians on the east. (2.) The _Iapygians_ dwelt in Calabria, in the extreme southeast corner of Italy. Inscriptions in a peculiar language have here been discovered, clearly showing that the inhabitants belonged to a different race from those whom we have designated as the Italians. They were doubtless the oldest inhabitants of Italy, who were driven toward the extremity of the peninsula as the Latins and Sabellians pressed farther to the south. (3.) The _Etruscans_, or, as they called themselves, _Rasena_, form a striking contrast to the Latins and Sabellians as well as to the Greeks. Their language is radically different from the other languages of Italy; and their manners and customs clearly prove them to be a people originally quite distinct from the Greek and Italian races. Their religion was of a gloomy character, delighting in mysteries and in wild and horrible rites. Their origin is unknown. Most ancient writers relate that the Etruscans were Lydians who had migrated by sea from Asia to Italy; but this is very improbable, and it is now more generally believed that the Etruscans descended into Italy from, the Rhætian Alps. It is expressly stated by ancient writers that the Rhætians were Etruscans, and that they spoke the same language; while their name is perhaps the same as that of Rasena, the native name of the Etruscans. In more ancient times, before the Roman dominion, the Etruscans inhabited not only the country called Etruria, but also the great plain of the Po, as far as the foot of the Alps. Here they maintained their ground till they were expelled or subdued by the invading Gauls. The Etruscans, both in the north of Italy and to the south of the Apennines, consisted of a confederacy of twelve cities, each of which was independent, possessing the power of even making war and peace on its own account. In Etruria proper Volsinii was regarded as the metropolis. Besides these three races, two foreign races also settled in the peninsula in historical times. These are the _Greeks_ and the Gauls. (4.) The _Greeks_ planted so many colonies upon the coasts of southern Italy that they gave to that district the name of Magna Græcia. The most ancient, and, at the same time, the most northerly Greek city in Italy, was Cumæ in Campania. Most of the other Greek colonies were situated farther to the south, where many of them attained to great power and opulence. Of these, some of the most distinguished were Tarentum, Sybaris, Croton, and Metapontum. (5.) The _Gauls_, as we have already said, occupied the greater part of northern Italy, and were so numerous and important as to give to the whole basin of the Po the name of Gallia Cisalpina. They were of the same race with the Gauls who inhabited the country beyond the Alps, and their migration and settlement in Italy were referred by the Roman historian to the time of the Tarquins. [Illustration: Gate of Arpinum.] [Footnote 1: The description which follows in the text must be compared with the map of Italy given in this work.] [Footnote 2: The name "Bruttium," given to the country by modern writers on ancient geography, is not found in any classical author.] [Illustration: The Alban Hills.] CHAPTER II. THE FIRST FOUR KINGS OF ROME. B.C. 753-616. The history of Rome is that of a city which originally had only a few miles of territory, and gradually extended its dominions at first over Italy and then over the civilized world. The city lay in the central part of the peninsula, on the left bank of the Tiber, and about fifteen miles from its mouth. Its situation was upon the borders of three of the most powerful races in Italy, the Latins, Sabines, and Etruscans. Though originally a Latin town, it received at an early period a considerable Sabine population, which left a permanent impression upon the sacred rites and religious institutions of the people. The Etruscans exercised less influence upon Rome, though it appears nearly certain that a part of its population was of Etruscan origin, and that the two Tarquins represent the establishment of an Etruscan dynasty at Rome. The population of the city may therefore be regarded as one of mixed origin, consisting of the three elements of Latins, Sabines, and Etruscans, but the last in much smaller proportion than the other two. That the Latin element predominated over the Sabine is also evident from the fact that the language of the Romans was a Latin and not a Sabellian dialect. The early history of Rome is given in an unbroken narrative by the Roman writers, and was received by the Romans themselves as a faithful record of facts. But it can no longer be regarded in that light. Not only is it full of marvelous tales and poetical embellishments, of contradictions and impossibilities, but it wants the very foundation upon which all history must be based. The reader, therefore, must not receive the history of the first four centuries of the city as a statement of undoubted facts, though it has unquestionably preserved many circumstances which did actually occur. It is not until we come to the war with Pyrrhus that we can place full reliance upon the narrative as a trustworthy statement of facts. With this caution we now proceed to relate the celebrated legends of the foundation and early history of Home. * * * * * Æneas, son of Anchises and Venus, fled after the fall of Troy to seek a new home in a foreign land. He carried with him his son Ascanius, the Penates or household gods, and the Palladium of Troy.[3] Upon reaching the coast of Latium he was kindly received by Latinus, the king of the country, who gave him his daughter Lavinia in marriage. Æneas now built a city, which he named Lavinium, in honor of his wife. But Lavinia had been previously promised to Turnus, the leader of the Rutulians. This youthful chief, enraged at the insult, attacked the strangers. He was slain, however, by the hands of Æneas; but in a new war which broke out three years afterward the Trojan hero disappeared amid the waters of the River Numicius, and was henceforward worshiped under the name of Jupiter Indiges, or "god of the country." Ascanius, who was also called Iulus, removed from Lavinium thirty years after its foundation, and built Alba Longa, or the "Long White City," on a ridge of the Alban Mount about fifteen miles southeast of Rome. It became the most powerful city in Latium, and the head of a confederacy of Latin cities. Twelve kings of the family of Æneas succeeded Ascanius. The last of these, named Procas, left two sons, Numitor and Amulius. Amulius, the younger, seized the kingdom; and Numitor, who was of a peaceful disposition, made no resistance to his brother. Amulius, fearing lest the children of Numitor might not submit so quietly to his usurpation, caused his only son to be murdered, and made his daughter, Rhea Silvia, one of the vestal virgins, who were compelled to live and die unmarried. But the maiden became, by the god Mars, the mother of twins. She was, in consequence, put to death, because she had broken her vow, and her babes were doomed to be drowned in the river. The Tiber had overflowed its banks far and wide; and the cradle in which the babes were placed was stranded at the foot of the Palatine, and overturned on the root of a wild fig-tree. A she-wolf, which had come to drink of the stream, carried them into her den hard by, and suckled them; and when they wanted other food, the woodpecker, a bird sacred to Mars, brought it to them. At length, this marvelous spectacle was seen by Faustulus, the king's shepherd, who took the children home to his wife, Acca Larentia. They were called Romulus and Remus, and grew up along with the sons of their foster-parents on the Palatine Hill. A quarrel arose between them and the herdsmen of Numitor, who stalled their cattle on the neighboring hill of the Aventine. Remus was taken by a stratagem, and carried off to Numitor. His age and noble bearing made Numitor think of his grandsons; and his suspicions were confirmed by the tale of the marvelous nurture of the twin brothers. Soon afterward Romulus hastened with his foster-father to Numitor; suspicion was changed into certainty, and the old man recognized them as his grandsons. They now resolved to avenge the wrongs which their family had suffered. With the help of their faithful comrades they slew Amulius, and placed Numitor on the throne. Romulus and Remus loved their old abode, and therefore left Alba to found a city on the banks of the Tiber. But a dispute arose between the brothers where the city should be built, and after whose name it should be called. Romulus wished to build it on the Palatine, Remus on the Aventine. It was agreed that the question should be decided by the gods; and each took his station on the top of his chosen hill, awaiting the pleasure of the gods by some striking sign. The night passed away, and as the day was dawning Remus saw six vultures; but at sunrise, when these tidings were brought to Romulus, twelve vultures flew by him. Each claimed the augury in his own favor; but the shepherds decided for Romulus, and Remus was therefore obliged to yield. 1. REIGN OF ROMULUS, B.C. 753-716.--Romulus now proceeded to mark out the boundaries of his city. He yoked a bullock and a heifer to a plow, and drew a deep furrow round the Palatine. This formed the sacred limits of the city, and was called the _Pomoerium_. To the original city on the Palatine was given the name of _Roma Quadrata_, or Square Rome, to distinguish it from the one which subsequently extended over the seven hills. Rome is said to have been founded on the 21st of April, 753 years before the Christian era. On the line of the Pomoerium Romulus began to raise a wall. One day Remus leapt over it in scorn; whereupon Romulus slew him, exclaiming, "So die whosoever hereafter shall leap over my walls." Romulus now found his people too few in numbers. Accordingly, lie set apart on the Capitoline Hill an asylum, or a sanctuary, in which homicides and runaway slaves might take refuge. The city thus became filled with men, but they wanted women, and the inhabitants of the neighboring cities refused to give their daughters to such an outcast race. Romulus accordingly resolved to obtain by force what he could not obtain by treaty. He proclaimed that games were to be celebrated in honor of the god Consus, and invited his neighbors, the Latins and Sabines, to the festival. Suspecting no treachery, they came in numbers with their wives and children, but the Roman youths rushed upon their guests and carried off the virgins. The parents returned home and prepared for vengeance. The inhabitants of three of the Latin towns, Cænina, Antemnæ and Crustumerium, took up arms one after the other, but were defeated by the Romans. Romulus slew with his own hand Acron, king of Cænina, and dedicated his arms and armor, as _spolia opima_, to Jupiter. These were offered when the commander of one army slew with his own hand the commander of another, and were only gained twice afterward in Roman history. At last Titus Tatius, the king of Cures, the most powerful of the Sabine states, marched against Rome. His forces were so great that Romulus, unable to resist him in the field, was obliged to retire into the city. Besides the city on the Palatine, Romulus had also fortified the top of the Capitoline Hill, which he intrusted to the care of Tarpeius. But his daughter Tarpeia, dazzled by the golden bracelets of the Sabines, promised to betray the hill to them "if they would give her what they wore on their left arms." Her offer was accepted. In the night-time she opened a gate and let in the enemy, but when she claimed her reward they threw upon her the shields "which they wore on their left arms," and thus crushed her to death. One of the heights of the Capitoline Hill preserved her name, and it was from the Tarpeian Rock that traitors were afterward hurled down. On the next day the Romans endeavored to recover the hill. A long and desperate battle was fought in the valley between the Palatine and the Capitoline. At one time the Romans were driven before the enemy, when Romulus vowed a temple to Jupiter Stator, the Stayer of Flight, whereupon his men took courage and returned again to the combat. At length the Sabine women, who were the cause of the war, rushed in between them, and prayed their husbands and fathers to be reconciled. Their prayers were heard; the two people not only made peace, but agreed to form only one nation. The Romans dwelt on the Palatine under their king Romulus, the Sabines on the Capitoline under their king Titus Tatius.[4] The two kings and their senates met for deliberation in the valley between the two hills, which was hence called _Comitium_, or the place of meeting, and which afterward became the Roman Forum. But this union did not last long. Titus Tatius was slain at Lavinium by some Latins to whom he had refused satisfaction for outrages committed by his kinsmen. Henceforward Romulus ruled alone over both Romans and Sabines. He reigned, in all, thirty-seven years. One day, as he was reviewing his people in the Campus Martius, near the Goat's Fool, the sun was suddenly eclipsed, and a dreadful storm dispersed the people. When daylight returned Romulus had disappeared, for his father Mars had carried him up to heaven in a fiery chariot. Shortly afterward he appeared in more than mortal beauty to the senator Proculus Sabinus, and bade him tell the Romans to worship him under the name of the god Quirinus. [Illustration: Plan of the City of Romulus.] As Romulus was regarded as the founder of Rome, its most ancient political institutions and the organization of the people were ascribed to him by the popular belief. (i.) The Roman people consisted only of _Patricians_ and their _Clients_. The Patricians formed the Populus Romanus, or sovereign people. They alone had political rights; the Clients were entirely dependent upon them. A Patrician had a certain number of Clients attached to him personally. To these he acted as a _Patronus_ or Patron. He was bound to protect the interests of the Client both in public and private, while the Client had to render many services to his patron. (ii.) The Patricians were divided by Romulus into _three Tribes_; the Ramnes, or Romans of Romulus; the Tities, or Sabines of Titus Tatius; and the Luceres, or Etruscans of Cæles, a Lucumo or Etruscan noble, who assisted Romulus in the war against the Sabines. Each tribe was divided into 10 curiæ, and each curiæ into 10 gentes. The 30 curiæ formed the _Comitia Curiata_, a sovereign assembly of the Patricians. This assembly elected the king, made the laws, and decided in all cases affecting the life of a citizen. To assist him in the government Romulus selected a number of aged men, forming a _Senate_, or Council of Elders, who were called Patres, or Senators. It consisted at first of 100 members, which number was increased to 200 when the Sabines were incorporated in the state. The 20 curiæ of the Ramnes and Tities each sent 10 members to the senate, but the Luceres were not yet represented. (iii.) Each of the three tribes was bound to furnish 1000 men for the infantry and 100 men for the cavalry. Thus 3000 foot-soldiers and 300 horse-soldiers formed the original army of the Roman state, and were called a _Legion_. 2. REIGN OF NUMA POMPILIUS, B.C. 716-673.--On the death of Romulus, the Senate, at first, would not allow the election of a new king. The Senators enjoyed the royal power in rotation as Inter-reges, or between-kings. In this way a year passed. But the people at length insisted that a king should be chosen, and the Senate were obliged to give way. The choice fell upon the wise and pious Numa Pompilius, a native of the Sabine Cures who had married the daughter of Tatius. The forty-three years of Numa's reign glided away in quiet happiness without any war or any calamity. As Romulus was the founder of the political institutions of Rome, so Numa was the author of the religious institutions. Instructed by the nymph Egeria, whom he met in the sacred grove of Aricia, he instituted the Pontiffs, four in number, with a Pontifex Maximus at their head, who had the general superintendence of religion; the Augurs, also four in number, who consulted the will of the gods on all occasions, both private and public; three Flamens, each of whom attended to the worship of separate deities--Jupiter,[5] Mars, and Quirinus; four Vestal Virgins, who kept alive the sacred fire of Vesta brought from Alba Longa; and twelve Salii, or priests of Mars, who had the care of the sacred shields.[6] Numa reformed the calendar, encouraged agriculture, and marked out the boundaries of property, which he placed under the care of the god Terminus. He also built the temple of Janus, a god represented with two heads looking different ways. The gates of this temple were to be open during war and closed in time of peace. [Illustration: Salii carrying the Ancilia.] 3. REIGN OF TULLUS HOSTILIUS, B.C. 673-641.--Upon the death of Numa an interregnum again followed; but soon afterward Tullus Hostilius, a Roman, was elected king. His reign was as warlike as that of Numa had been peaceful. The most memorable event in it is the destruction of Alba Longa. A quarrel having arisen between the two cities, and their armies having been drawn up in array against each other, the princes determined to avert the battle by a combat of champions chosen from each army. There were in the Roman army three brothers, born at the same birth, named Horatii; and in the Alban army, in like manner, three brothers, born at the same birth, and called Curiatii. The two sets of brothers were chosen as champions, and it was agreed that the people to whom the conquerors belonged should rule the other. Two of the Horatii were slain, but the three Curiatii were wounded, and the surviving Horatius, who was unhurt, had recourse to stratagem. He was unable to contend with the Curiatii united, but was more than a match for each of them separately. Taking to flight, he was followed by his three opponents at unequal distances. Suddenly turning round, he slew, first one, then the second, and finally the third. The Romans were declared the conquerors, and the Albans their subjects. But a tragical event followed. As Horatius was entering Rome, bearing his threefold spoils, his sister met him, and recognized on his shoulders the cloak of one of the Curiatii, her betrothed lover. She burst into such passionate grief that the anger of her brother was kindled, and, stabbing her with his sword, he exclaimed, "So perish every Roman woman who bewails a foe." For this murder he was condemned by the two judges of blood to be hanged upon the fatal tree, but he appealed to the people, and they gave him his life. Shortly afterward Tullus Hostilius made war against the Etruscans of Fidenæ and Veii. The Albans, under their dictator Mettius Fuffetius, followed him to the war as the subjects of Rome. In the battle against the Etruscans, the Alban dictator, faithless and insolent, withdrew to the hills, but when the Etruscans were defeated he descended to the plain, and congratulated the Roman king. Tullus pretended to be deceived. On the following day he summoned the two armies to receive their praises and rewards. The Albans came without arms, and were surrounded by the Roman troops. They then heard their sentence. Their dictator was to be torn in pieces by horses driven opposite ways; their city was to be razed to the ground; and they themselves, with their wives and children, transported to Rome. Tullus assigned to them the Cælian Hill for their habitation. Some of the noble families of Alba were enrolled among the Roman patricians, but the great mass of the Alban people were not admitted to the privileges of the ruling class. They were the origin of the Roman _Plebs_, who were thus quite distinct from the Patricians and their Clients. The Patricians still formed exclusively the Populus, or Roman people, properly so called. The Plebs were a subject-class without any share in the government. After carrying on several other wars Tullus fell sick, and sought to win the favor of the gods, as Numa had done, by prayers and divination. But Jupiter was angry with him, and smote him and his whole house with fire from heaven. Thus perished Tullus, after a reign of thirty-two years. 4. REIGN OF ANCUS MARCIUS, B.C. 640-616.--Ancus Marcius, the successor of Tullus Hostilius, was a Sabine, being the son of Numa's daughter. He sought to tread in the footsteps of his grandfather by reviving the religious ceremonies which had fallen into neglect; but a war with the Latins called him from the pursuits of peace. He conquered several of the Latin cities, and removed many of the inhabitants to Rome, where he assigned them the Aventine for their habitation. Thus the number of the Plebeians was greatly enlarged. Ancus instituted the Fetiales, whose duty it was to demand satisfaction from a foreign state when any dispute arose, to determine the circumstances under which hostilities might be commenced, and to perform the proper religious rites on the declaration of war. He also founded a colony at Ostia at the mouth of the Tiber, built a fortress on the Janiculum as a protection against the Etruscans, and united it with the city by a bridge across the Tiber, called the Pons Sublicius, because it was made of wooden piles, and erected a prison to restrain offenders. He died after a reign of twenty-four years. [Illustration: Arch of Volaterræ.] [Footnote 3: The Palladium was a statue of Pallas, or Minerva, which was said to have fallen from heaven, and was preserved at Rome with the most sacred care.] [Footnote 4: The Sabines were called _Quirites_, and this name was afterward applied to the Roman people in their civil capacity.] [Footnote 5: The Flamen of Jupiter was called Flamen Dialis.] [Footnote 6: These shields were called _Ancilia_. One of these shields is said to have fallen from heaven; and Numa ordered eleven others to be made exactly like it, that it might not be known and stolen.] [Illustration: Pons Sublicius, restored by Canina.] CHAPTER III. THE LAST THREE KINGS OF ROME, AND THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE REPUBLIC DOWN TO THE BATTLE OF THE LAKE REGILLUS. B.C. 616-498. 5. REIGN OF LUCIUS TARQUINIUS PRISCUS, or the ELDER TARQUIN, B.C. 616-578.--The fifth king of Rome was an Etruscan by birth, but a Greek by descent. His father Demaratus was a wealthy citizen of Corinth, who settled in the Etruscan city of Tarquinii, where he married an Etruscan wife. Their son married Tanaquil, who belonged to one of the noblest families in Tarquinii, and himself became a Lucumo or a noble in the state. But he aspired to still higher honors; and, urged on by his wife, who was an ambitious woman, he resolved to try his fortune at Rome. Accordingly, he set out for this city, accompanied by a large train of followers. When he had reached the Janiculum an eagle seized his cap, and, after carrying it away to a great height, placed it again upon his head. Tanaquil, who was skilled in the Etruscan science of augury, bade her husband hope for the highest honors. Her predictions were soon verified. He took the name of Lucius Tarquinius Priscus, and gained the favor both of Ancus Marcius and the people. Ancus appointed the stranger guardian of his children; and, when he died, the senate and the people unanimously elected Tarquin to the vacant throne. The reign of Tarquin was distinguished by great exploits in war and by great works in peace. He defeated the Sabines, and took their town Collatia, which he placed under his nephew Egerius, who was thence called Collatinus. He also captured many of the Latin towns, and became the ruler of all Latium; but the important works which he executed in peace have rendered his name still more famous. The great cloacæ, or sewers, by which he drained the lower parts of the city, still remain, after so many ages, with not a stone displaced. He laid out the Circus Maximus, and instituted the great or Roman games performed in the circus. He also made some changes in the constitution of the state. He added to the Senate 100 new members, taken from the Luceres, the third tribe, and called _patres minorum gentium_, to distinguish them from the old Senators, who were now termed _patres majorum gentium_. To the three centuries of equites established by Romulus he wished to add three new centuries, and to call them after himself and two of his friends. But his plan was opposed by the augur Attus Navius, who said that the gods forbade it. The tale runs that the king, to test the augur, asked him to divine whether what he was thinking of could be done. After consulting the heavens, the augur replied that it could; whereupon the king said, "I was thinking that thou shouldst cut this whetstone with a razor." Navius, without a moment's hesitation, took a razor and cut it in twain. In consequence of this miracle, Tarquin gave up his design of establishing new centuries; but with each of the former centuries he associated another under the same name, so that henceforth there were the first and second Ramnes, Tities, and Luceres. The number of Vestal Virgins was also increased from four to six, the two new vestals being probably taken from the Luceres. [Illustration: Cloaca Maxima.] Tarquin had a favorite, Servius Tullius, said to have been the son of a female slave taken at the capture of the Latin town Corniculum. His infancy was marked by prodigies which foreshadowed his future greatness. On one occasion a flame played around his head, as he was asleep, without harming him. Tanaquil foresaw the greatness of the boy, and from this time he was brought up as the king's child. Tarquin afterward gave him his daughter in marriage, and left the government in his hands. But the sons of Ancus Marcius, fearing lest Tarquin should transmit the crown to his son-in-law, hired two countrymen to assassinate the king. These men, feigning to have a quarrel, came before the king to have their dispute decided, and while he was listening to the complaint of one, the other gave him a deadly wound with his axe. But the sons of Ancus did not reap the fruit of their crime; for Tanaquil, pretending that the king's wound was not mortal, told them that he would soon return, and that he had, meantime, appointed Servius to act in his stead. Servius forthwith proceeded to discharge the duties of king, greatly to the satisfaction of the people; and when the death of Tarquin could no longer be concealed, he was already in firm possession of the regal power. Tarquin had reigned thirty-eight years. 6. SERVIUS TULLIUS, B.C. 578-534.--Servius thus succeeded to the throne without being elected by the Senate and the Assembly of the Curiæ. The reign of this king is almost as barren of military exploits as that of Numa. His great deeds were those of peace; and he was regarded by posterity as the author of the later Roman constitution, just as Romulus was of the earlier. Three important acts are assigned to Servius by universal tradition. Of these the greatest was: I. The reform of the Roman Constitution. In this reform his two main objects were to give the Plebeians political rights, and to assign to property that influence in the state which had previously belonged exclusively to birth. To carry his purpose into effect he made a twofold division of the Roman people, one territorial and the other according to property. _a._ It must be recollected that the only existing political organization was that of the Patricians into 3 tribes, 30 curiæ, and 300 gentes; but Servius now divided the whole Roman territory into _Thirty Tribes_, and, as this division was simply local, these tribes contained Plebeians as well as Patricians. But, though the institution of the Thirty Tribes gave the Plebeians a political organization, it conferred upon them no political power, nor any right to take part in the elections, or in the management of public affairs. At a later time the tribes assembled in the forum for the transaction of business, and were hence called _Comitia Tributa_. The Patricians were then excluded from this assembly, which was summoned by the Tribunes of the Plebs, and was entirely Plebeian. _b._ The means by which Servius gave the Plebeians a share in the government was by establishing a new Popular Assembly, in which Patricians and Plebeians alike voted. It was so arranged that the wealthiest persons, whether Patricians or Plebeians, possessed the chief power. In order to ascertain the property of each citizen, Servius instituted the _Census_, which was a register of Roman citizens and their property. All Roman citizens possessing property to the amount of 12,500 asses and upward[7] were divided into five great _Classes_. The First Class contained the richest citizens, the Second Class the next in point of wealth, and so on. The whole arrangement was of a military character. Each of the five Classes was divided into a certain number of Centuries or Companies, half of which consisted of Seniores from the age of 46 to 60, and half of Juniores from the age of 17 to 45. All the Classes had to provide their own arms and armor, but the expense of the equipment was in proportion to the wealth of each Class. The Five _Classes_ formed the infantry. To these five Classes were added two centuries of smiths and carpenters, and two of trumpeters and horn-blowers. These four centuries voted with the Classes. Those persons whose property did not amount to 12,500 asses were not included in the Classes, and formed a single century. At the head of the Classes were the Equites or cavalry. These consisted of eighteen centuries, six being the old patrician Equites, as founded by Romulus and augmented by Tarquinius Priscus, and the other twelve being chosen from the chief plebeian families.[8] The Centuries formed the new National Assembly. They mustered as an army in the Campus Martius, or the Field of Mars, on the banks of the Tiber, outside the city. They voted by Centuries, and were hence called the _Comitia Centuriata_. Each Century counted as one vote, but did not consist of the same number of men. On the contrary, in order to give the preponderance to wealth, the first or richest class contained a far greater number of Centuries than any of the other classes (as will be seen from the table below), although they must at the same time have included a much smaller number of men. The Equites and First Class alone amounted to 100 Centuries, or more than half of the total number; so that, if they agreed to vote the same way, they possessed at once an absolute majority. An advantage was also given to age; for the Seniores, though possessing an equal number of votes, must of course have been very inferior in number to the Juniores. Servius made the Comitia Centuriata the sovereign assembly of the nation; and he accordingly transferred to it from the Comitia Curiata the right of electing kings and the higher magistrates, of enacting and repealing laws, and of deciding in cases of appeal from the sentence of a judge. But he did not dare to abolish the old Patrician assembly, and was even obliged to enact that no vote of the Comitia Centuriata should be valid till it had received the sanction of the Comitia Curiata. Thus, in consequence of the legislation, we shall find that Rome subsequently possessed three sovereign assemblies: 1. The _Comitia Centuriata_, consisting of both Patricians and Plebeians, and voting according to Centuries; 2. The _Comitia Curiata_, consisting exclusively of Patricians, and voting according to Curiæ; 3. The _Comitia Tributa_, exclusively of Plebeians, and voting according to Tribes. II. The second great work of Servius was the extension of the Pomoerium, or hallowed boundary of the city, and the completion of the city by incorporating with it the Quirinal, Viminal, and Esquiline Hills.[9] He surrounded the whole with a stone wall, called after him the wall of Servius Tullius; and from the Porta Collina to the Esquiline Gate, where the hills sloped gently to the plain, he constructed a gigantic mound nearly a mile in length, and a moat 100 feet in breadth and 30 in depth, from which the earth of the mound was dug. Rome thus acquired a circumference of five miles, and this continued to be the legal extent of the city till the time of the emperors, although suburbs were added to it. III. An important alliance with the Latins, by which Rome and the cities of Latium became the members of one great league, was one of the great events which distinguished the reign of Servius. [Illustration: Map of Rome, showing the Servian Wall and the Seven Hills.] Servius gave his two daughters in marriage to the two sons of Tarquinius Priscus. Lucius, the elder, was married to a quiet and gentle wife; Aruns, the younger, to an aspiring and ambitious woman. The character of the two brothers was the very opposite of the wives who had fallen to their lot; for Lucius was proud and haughty, but Aruns unambitious and quiet. The wife of Aruns, enraged at the long life of her father, and fearing that at his death her husband would tamely resign the sovereignty to his elder brother, resolved to murder both her father and husband. Her fiendish spirit put into the heart of Lucius thoughts of crime which he had never entertained before. Lucius made way with his wife, and the younger Tullia with her husband; and the survivors, without even the show of mourning, were straightway joined in unhallowed wedlock. Tullia now incessantly urged her husband to murder her father, and thus obtain the kingdom which he so ardently coveted. Tarquin formed a conspiracy with the Patricians, who were enraged at the reforms of Servius; and when the plot was ripe he entered the forum arrayed in the kingly robes, seated himself in the royal chair, in the senate-house, and ordered the senators to be summoned to him as their king. At the first news of the commotion Servius hastened to the senate-house, and, standing at the doorway, bade Tarquin to come down from the throne; but Tarquin sprang forward, seized the old man, and flung him down the stone steps. Covered with blood, the king hastened home; but, before he reached it, he was overtaken by the servants of Tarquin, and murdered. Tullia drove to the senate-house and greeted her husband as king; but her transports of joy struck even him with horror. He bade her go home; and, as she was returning, her charioteer pulled up and pointed out the corpse of her father lying in his blood across the road. She commanded him to drive on; the blood of her father spirted over the carriage and on her dress; and from that day forward the place bore the name of the Wicked Street. The body lay unburied; for Tarquin said, scoffingly, "Romulus too went without burial;" and this impious mockery is said to have given rise to his surname of Superbus, or the Proud. Servius had reigned forty-four years. 7. Reign of LUCIUS TARQUINIUS SUPERBUS, or, THE PROUD, B.C. 534-510.--Tarquin commenced his reign without any of the forms of election. One of his first acts was to abolish all the privileges which had been conferred upon the Plebeians by Servius. He also compelled the poor to work at miserable wages upon his magnificent buildings, and the hardships which they suffered were so great that many put an end to their lives. But he did not confine his oppressions to the poor. All the senators and patricians whom he mistrusted, or whose wealth he coveted, were put to death or driven into exile. He surrounded himself with a body-guard, by whose means he was enabled to carry out his designs. But, although a tyrant at home, he raised the state to great influence and power among the surrounding nations, partly by his alliances and partly by his conquests. He gave his daughter in marriage to Octavius Mamilius, of Tusculum, the most powerful of the Latins, by whose means he acquired great influence in Latium. Any Latin chiefs like Turnus Herdonius, who attempted to resist him, were treated as traitors, and punished with death. At the solemn meeting of the Latins at the Alban Mount, Tarquin sacrificed the bull on behalf of all the allies, and distributed the flesh to the people of the league. Strengthened by this Latin alliance, Tarquin turned his arms against the Volscians. He took the wealthy town of Suessa Pometia, with the spoils of which he commenced the erection of a magnificent temple on the Capitoline Hill, which his father had vowed. This temple was dedicated to the three gods of the Latin and Etruscan religions, Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva. A human head (_caput_), fresh, bleeding and undecayed, is said to have been found by the workmen as they were digging the foundations, and being accepted as a sign that the place was destined to become the head of the world, the name of CAPITOLIUM was given to the temple, and thence to the hill. In a stone vault beneath were deposited the Sibylline books, containing obscure and prophetic sayings. One day a Sibyl, a prophetess from Cumæ, appeared before the king and offered to sell him nine books. Upon his refusing to buy them she went away and burned three, and then demanded the same sum for the remaining six as she had asked for the nine. But the king laughed, whereupon she again burnt three and then demanded the same sum as before for the remaining three. Wondering at this strange conduct, the king purchased the books. They were placed under the care of two patricians, and were consulted when the state was in danger. Tarquin next attacked Gabii, one of the Latin cities, which refused to enter into the league. Unable to take the city by force, he had recourse to stratagem. His son, Sextus, pretending to be ill, treated by his father, and covered with the bloody marks of stripes, fled to Gabii. The infatuated inhabitants intrusted him with the command of their troops; and when he had obtained the unlimited confidence of the citizens, he sent a messenger to his father to inquire how he should deliver the city into his hands. The king, who was walking in his garden when the messenger arrived, made no reply, but kept striking off the heads of the tallest poppies with his stick. Sextus took the hint. He put to death or banished, on false charges, all the leading men of the place, and then had no difficulty in compelling it to submit to his father. In the midst of his prosperity Tarquin was troubled by a strange portent. A serpent crawled out from the altar in the royal palace, and seized on the entrails of the victim. The king, in fear, sent his two sons, Titus and Aruns, to consult the oracle at Delphi. They were accompanied by their cousin L. Junius Brutus. One of the sisters of Tarquin had been married to M. Brutus, a man of great wealth, who died, leaving two sons under age.[10] Of these the elder was killed by Tarquin, who coveted their possessions; the younger escaped his brother's fate only by feigning idiotcy. On arriving at Delphi, Brutus propitiated the priestess with the gift of a golden stick inclosed in a hollow staff. After executing the king's commission, Titus and Aruns asked the priestess who was to reign at Rome after their father. The priestess replied, whichsoever should first kiss his mother. The princes agreed to keep the matter secret from Sextus, who was at Rome, and to cast lots between themselves. Brutus, who better understood the meaning of the oracle, fell, as if by chance, when they quitted the temple, and kissed the earth, the mother of them all. Soon afterward Tarquin laid siege to Ardea, a city of the Rutulians. The place could not be taken by force, and the Roman army lay encamped beneath the walls. Here, as the king's sons, and their cousin Tarquinius Collatinus, were feasting together, a dispute arose about the virtue of their wives. As nothing was doing in the field, they mounted their horses to visit their homes by surprise. They first went to Rome, where they surprised the king's daughters at a splendid banquet. They then hastened to Collatia, and there, though it was late in the night, they found Lucretia, the wife of Collatinus, spinning amid her handmaids. The beauty and virtue of Lucretia excited the evil passions of Sextus. A few days after he returned to Collatia, where he was hospitably received by Lucretia as her husband's kinsman. In the dead of night he entered her chamber with a drawn sword, threatening that, if she did not yield to his desires, he would kill her and lay by her side a slave with his throat cut, and would declare that he had killed them both taken in adultery. Fear of such a shame forced Lucretia to consent; but, as soon as Sextus had departed, she sent for her husband and father. Collatinus came, accompanied by L. Brutus, her father, Lucretius, brought with him P. Valerius. They found her in an agony of sorrow. She told them what had happened, enjoined them to avenge her dishonor, and then stabbed herself to the heart. They all swore to avenge her. Brutus threw off his assumed stupidity, and placed himself at their head. They carried the corpse into the market-place of Collatia. There the people took up arms, and renounced the Tarquins. A number of young men attended the funeral procession to Rome. Brutus summoned the people, and related the deed of shame. All classes were inflamed with the same indignation. A decree was passed deposing the king, and banishing him and his family from the city. Brutus now set out for the army at Ardea. Tarquinius meantime had hastened to Rome, but found the gates closed against him. Brutus was received with joy at Ardea; and the army renounced their allegiance to the tyrant. Tarquin, with his two sons, Titus and Aruns, took refuge at Cæré, in Etruria. Sextus fled to Gabii, where he was shortly after murdered by the friends of those whom he had put to death. Tarquin had reigned 22 years when he was driven out of Rome. In memory of this event an annual festival was celebrated on the 24th of February, called the _Regifugium_ or _Fugalia_. THE REPUBLIC.--Thus ended monarchy at Rome. Tarquin the Proud had made the name of king so hateful that the people resolved to intrust the kingly power to two men, who were only to hold office for a year. In later times they were called _Consuls_, but at their first institution they were named _Prætors_. They were elected by the Comitia Curiata, and possessed the same honors as the king had had. The first consuls were L. Brutus and Tarquinius Collatinus (B.C. 509). But the people so hated the very name and race of Tarquin, that Collatinus was obliged to resign his office and retire from Rome. P. Valerius was elected consul in his place. Meantime embassadors came to Rome from Tarquin, asking that his private property should be given up to him. The demand seemed just to the Senate and the People; but, while the embassadors were making preparation for carrying away the property, they formed a conspiracy among the young Roman nobles for the restoration of the royal family. The plot was discovered by means of a slave, and among the conspirators were found the two sons of Brutus himself. But the consul would not pardon his guilty children, and ordered the lictors[11] to put them to death with the other traitors. The agreement to surrender the property was made void by this attempt at treason. The royal goods were given up to the people to plunder. As the plot had failed, Tarquin now endeavored to recover the throne by arms. The people of Tarquinii and Veii espoused the cause of their Etruscan kinsmen, and marched against Rome. The two Consuls advanced to meet them. When Aruns, the king's son, saw Brutus at the head of the Roman cavalry, he spurred his horse to the charge. Brutus did not shrink from the combat; and both fell from their horses mortally wounded by each other's spears. A desperate battle between the two armies now followed. Both parties claimed the victory, till a voice was heard in the dead of night, proclaiming that the Romans had conquered, as the Etruscans had lost one man more. Alarmed at this, the Etruscans fled; and Valerius, the surviving Consul, returned to Rome, carrying with him the dead body of Brutus. The matrons mourned for Brutus a whole year, because he had revenged the death of Lucretia. This was the first war for the restoration of Tarquin. Valerius was now left without a colleague; and as he began to build a house on the top of the hill Velia, which looked down upon the forum, the people feared that he was aiming at kingly power. Thereupon Valerius not only pulled down the house, but, calling an assembly of the people, he ordered the lictors to lower the fasces before them, as an acknowledgment that their power was superior to his. He likewise brought forward a law enacting that every citizen who was condemned by a magistrate should have a right of appeal to the people. Valerius became, in consequence, so popular that he received the surname of _Publicola_, or "The People's Friend." Valerius then summoned an assembly for the election of a successor to Brutus, and Sp. Lucretius was chosen. Lucretius, however, lived only a few days, and M. Horatius was elected consul in his place. It was Horatius who had the honor of consecrating the temple on the Capitol, which Tarquin had left unfinished when he was driven from the throne. The second year of the republic (B.C. 508) witnessed the second attempt of Tarquin to recover the crown. He now applied for help to Lars Porsena, the powerful ruler of the Etruscan town of Clusium, who marched against Rome at the head of a vast army. The Romans could not meet him in the field; and Porsena seized without opposition the Janiculum, a hill immediately opposite the city, and separated from it only by the Tiber. Rome was now in the greatest danger, and the Etruscans would have entered the city by the Sublician bridge had not Horatius Cocles, with two comrades, kept the whole Etruscan army at bay while the Romans broke down the bridge behind him. When it was giving way he sent back his two companions, and withstood alone the attacks of the foe till the cracks of the falling timbers and the shouts of his countrymen told him that the bridge had fallen. Then praying, "O Father Tiber, take me into thy charge and bear me up!" he plunged into the stream and swam across in safety, amid the arrows of the enemy. The state raised a statue in his honor, and allowed him as much land as he could plow round in one day. Few legends are more celebrated in Roman history than this gallant deed of Horatius, and Roman writers loved to tell "How well Horatius kept the bridge In the brave days of old." The Etruscans now proceeded to lay siege to the city, which soon began to suffer from famine. Thereupon a young Roman, named C. Mucius, resolved to deliver his country by murdering the invading king. He accordingly went over to the Etruscan camp; but, ignorant of the person of Porsena, killed the royal secretary instead. Seized and threatened with torture, he thrust his right hand into the fire on the altar, and there let it burn, to show how little he heeded pain. Astonished at his courage, the king bade him depart in peace; and Mucius, out of gratitude, advised him to make peace with Rome, since three hundred noble youths, he said, had sworn to take the life of the king, and he was the first upon whom the lot had fallen. Mucius was henceforward called Scævola, or the _Left-handed_, because his right hand had been burnt off. Porsena, alarmed for his life, which he could not secure against so many desperate men, forthwith offered peace to the Romans on condition of their restoring to the Veientines the land which they had taken from them. These terms were accepted, and Porsena withdrew his troops from the Janiculum after receiving ten youths and ten maidens as hostages from the Romans. Cloelia, one of the maidens, escaped from the Etruscan camp, and swam across the Tiber to Rome. She was sent back by the Romans to Porsena, who was so amazed at her courage that he not only set her at liberty, but allowed her to take with her those of the hostages whom she pleased. Thus ended the second attempt to restore the Tarquins by force.[12] After Porsena quitted Rome, Tarquin took refuge with his son-in-law, Octavius Mamilius, of Tusculum. The thirty Latin cities now espoused the cause of the exiled king, and declared war against Rome. The contest was decided by the battle of the Lake Regillus, which was long celebrated in Roman story, and the account of which resembles one of the battles in the Iliad. The Romans were commanded by the Dictator,[13] A. Postumius, and by T. Æbutius, the Master of the Horse; at the head of the Latins were Tarquin and Octavius Mamilius. The struggle was fierce and bloody, but the Latins at length fled. Almost all the chiefs on either side fell in the conflict, or were grievously wounded. Titus, the son of Tarquin, was killed; and the aged king was wounded, but escaped with his life. It was related in the old tradition that the Romans gained this battle by the assistance of the gods Castor and Pollux, who were seen charging the Latins at the head of the Roman cavalry, and who afterward carried to Rome the tidings of the victory. A temple was built in the forum on the spot where they appeared, and their festival was celebrated yearly. This was the third and last attempt to restore the Tarquins. The Latins were completely humbled by this victory. Tarquinius Superbus had no other state to which he could apply for assistance. He had already survived all his family; and he now fled to Cumæ, where he died a wretched and childless old man (B.C. 496). [Illustration: Coin representing the children of Brutus led to death by Lictors.] [Footnote 7: The _As_ was originally a pound weight of copper of 12 ounces.] [Footnote 8: The following table will show the census of each class, and the number of centuries which each contained: _Equites._--Centuriæ 18 _First Class._--Census 100,000 asses and upward. Centuriæ Seniorum 40 \ Centuriæ Juniorum 40 > 82 Centuriæ Fabrum (smiths and carpenters) 2 / _Second Class._--Census, 75,000 asses and upward. Centuriæ Seniorum 10 \ Centuriæ Juniorum 10 / 20 _Third Class._--Census, 50,000 asses and upward. Centuriæ Seniorum 10 \ Centuriæ Juniorum 10 / 20 _Fourth Class._--Census, 25,000 asses and upward. Centuriæ Seniorum 10 \ Centuriæ Juniorum 10 / 20 _Fifth Class._--Census, 12,500 asses and upward. Centuriæ Seniorum 15 \ Centuriæ Juniorum 15 > 32 Centuriæ cornicinum, tubicinum 2 / Centuriæ capita censorum 1 --- Sum total of the centuriæ 198 ] [Footnote 9: The celebrated seven hills upon which Rome stood were the Palatine, Aventine, Capitoline, Cælian, Quirinal, Viminal, and Esquilian. The Mons Pincius was not included within the Servian Wall.] [Footnote 10: The following genealogical table exhibits the relationship of the family: Demaratus of Corinth. | ---------------------------------------- | | TARQUINIUS PRISCUS. Aruns. | | -------------------------------------------- | | | | | | Tarquinia, Tarquinia, L. TARQUINIUS Aruns. Egerius, married married SUPERBUS. commander of Servius Tullius. M. Brutus. | Collatia. | | | ----------------- ------------------ | | | | | | | M. Brutus, L. Brutus, Titus. Sextus. Aruns. Tarquinius put to the Collatinus, death by Consul. married Tarquinius. Lucretia. ] [Footnote 11: The _Lictors_ were public officers who attended upon the Roman magistrate. Each consul had twelve lictors. They carried upon their shoulders _fasces_, which were rods bound in the form of a bundle, and containing an axe in the middle.] [Footnote 12: There is, however, reason to believe that these brilliant stories conceal one of the earliest and greatest disasters of the city. It appears that Rome was really conquered by Porsena, and lost all the territory which the kings had gained on the right side of the Tiber. Hence we find the thirty tribes, established by Servius Tullius, reduced to twenty after the war with Porsena.] [Footnote 13: The _Dictator_ was an extraordinary magistrate appointed by one of the Consuls in seasons of great peril. He possessed absolute power. Twenty-four lictors attended him, bearing the axes in the fasces, even in the city; and from his decision there was no appeal. He could not hold the office longer than six months, and he usually laid it down much sooner. He appointed a _Magister Equitum_, or Master of the Horse, who acted as his lieutenant. From the time of the appointment of the Dictator, all the other magistrates, even the Consuls, ceased to exercise any power.] [Illustration: The Campagna of Rome.] CHAPTER IV. FROM THE BATTLE OF THE LAKE REGILLUS TO THE DECEMVIRATE. B.C. 498-451. The history of Rome for the next 150 years consists internally of the struggles between the Patricians and Plebeians, and externally of the wars with the Etruscans, Volscians, Æquians, and other tribes in the immediate neighborhood of Rome. The internal history of Rome during this period is one of great interest. The Patricians and Plebeians formed two distinct orders in the state. After the banishment of the kings the Patricians retained exclusive possession of political power. The Plebeians, it is true, could vote in the Comitia Centuriata, but, as they were mostly poor, they were outvoted by the Patricians and their clients. The Consuls and other magistrates were taken entirely from the Patricians, who also possessed the exclusive knowledge and administration of the law. In one word, the Patricians were a ruling and the Plebeians a subject class. But this was not all. The Patricians formed not only a separate _class_, but a separate _caste_, not marrying with the Plebeians, and worshiping the gods with different religious rites. If a Patrician man married a Plebeian wife, or a Patrician woman a Plebeian husband, the state refused to recognize the marriage, and the offspring was treated as illegitimate. The Plebeians had to complain not only of political, but also of private wrongs. The law of debtor and creditor was very severe at Rome. If the borrower did not pay the money by the time agreed upon, his person was seized by the creditor, and he was obliged to work as a slave.[14] Nay, in certain cases he might even be put to death by the creditor; and if there were more than one, his body might be cut in pieces and divided among them. The whole weight of this oppressive law fell upon the Plebeians; and what rendered the case still harder was, that they were frequently compelled, through no fault of their own, to become borrowers. They were small landholders, living by cultivating the soil with their own hands; but as they had to serve in the army without pay, they had no means of engaging laborers in their absence. Hence, on their return home, they were left without the means of subsistence or of purchasing seed for the next crop, and borrowing was their only resource. Another circumstance still farther aggravated the hardships of the Plebeians. The state possessed a large quantity of land called _Ager Publicus_, or the "Public Land." This land originally belonged to the kings, being set apart for their support; and it was constantly increased by conquest, as it was the practice on the subjugation of a people to deprive them of a certain portion of their land. This public land was let by the state subject to a rent; but as the Patricians possessed the political power, they divided the public land among themselves, and paid for it only a nominal rent. Thus the Plebeians, by whose blood and unpaid toil much of this land had been won, were excluded from all participation in it. It was not to be expected that the Plebeians would submit to such grievous injustice. The contest was twofold. It was a struggle of a subject against a ruling class, and of rich against poor. The Plebeians strove to obtain an equal share not only in the political power, but also in the public land. The cruelty of the Patrician creditors was the most pressing evil, and led to the first reform. In B.C. 494 the Plebeians, after a campaign against the Volscians, instead of returning to Rome, retired to the Sacred Mount, a hill about two miles from the city, near the junction of the Arno and the Tiber. Here they determined to settle and found a new town, leaving Rome to the Patricians and their clients. This event is known as the _Secession to the Sacred Mount_. The Patricians, alarmed, sent several of their number to persuade the Plebeians to return. Among the deputies was the aged Menenius Agrippa, who had great influence with the Plebeians. He related to them the celebrated fable of the Belly and the Members. "Once upon a time," he said, "the Members refused to work any longer for the Belly, which led a lazy life, and grew fat upon their toils. But receiving no longer any nourishment from the Belly, they soon began to pine away, and found that it was to the Belly they owed their life and strength." The fable was understood, and the Plebeians agreed to treat with the Patricians. It was decided that existing debts should be canceled, and that all debtors in bondage should be restored to freedom. It was necessary, however, to provide security for the future, and the Plebeians therefore insisted that two of their own number should be elected annually, to whom the Plebeians might appeal for assistance against the decisions of the Patrician magistrates. These officers were called _Tribunes of the Plebs_. Their persons were declared sacred and inviolate; they were never to quit the city during their year of office; and their houses were to remain open day and night, that all who were in need of help might apply to them. Their number was soon afterward increased to five, and at a later time to ten. They gradually gained more and more power, and obtained the right of putting a veto[15] upon any public business.[16] At the Sacred Mount the Plebeians also obtained the privilege of having two Ædiles of their order appointed. These officers had at a later time the care of the public buildings and roads, and the superintendence of the police of the city. Emboldened by this success, the Plebeians now demanded a share in the public land. And in this they found an unexpected supporter among the Patricians themselves. Sp. Cassius, one of the most distinguished men in the state, who had formed the league between the Romans, Latins, and Hernicans, brought forward in his third consulship a law, by which a portion of the public land was to be divided among the Plebeians (B.C. 486). This was the first Agrarian Law mentioned in Roman history. It must be recollected that all the Agrarian laws dealt only with the public land, and never touched the property of private persons. Notwithstanding the violent opposition of the Patricians, the law was passed; but it was never carried into execution, and the Patricians soon revenged themselves upon its author. In the following year he was accused of aiming at the kingly power, and condemned to death. He was scourged and beheaded, and his house razed to the ground. We now turn to the external history of Rome. Under the kings Rome had risen to a superiority over her neighbors, and had extended her dominion over the southern part of Etruria and the greater part of Latium. The early history of the republic presents a very different spectacle. For the next 100 years she is engaged in a difficult and often dubious struggle with the Etruscans on the one hand, and the Volscians and Æquians on the other. It would be unprofitable to relate the details of these petty campaigns; but there are three celebrated legends connected with them which must not be passed over. 1. CORIOLANUS AND THE VOLSCIANS, B.C. 488.--C. Marcius, surnamed Coriolanus, from his valor at the capture of the Latin town of Corioli, was a brave but haughty Patrician youth. He was hated by the Plebeians, who refused him the consulship. This inflamed him with anger; and accordingly, when the city was suffering from famine, and a present of corn came from Sicily, Coriolanus advised the Senate not to distribute it among the Plebeians unless they gave up their Tribunes. Such insolence enraged the Plebeians, who would have torn him to pieces on the spot had not the tribunes summoned him before the Comitia of the Tribes. Coriolanus himself breathed nothing but defiance; and his kinsmen and friends interceded for him in vain. He was condemned to exile. He now turned his steps to Antium, the capital of the Volscians, and offered to lead them against Rome. Attius Tullius, king of the Volscians, persuaded his countrymen to appoint Coriolanus their general. Nothing could check his victorious progress; town after town fell before him; and he advanced within five miles of the city, ravaging the lands of the Plebeians, but sparing those of the Patricians. The city was filled with despair. The ten first men in the Senate were sent in hopes of moving his compassion. But they were received with the utmost sternness, and told that the city must submit to his absolute will. Next day the pontiffs, augurs, flamens, and all the priests, came in their robes of office, and in vain prayed him to spare the city. All seemed lost; but Rome was saved by her women. Next morning the noblest matrons, headed by Veturia, the aged mother of Corolanus, and by his wife Volumnia, holding her little children by the hand, came to his tent. Their lamentations turned him from his purpose. "Mother," he said, bursting into tears, "thou hast saved Rome, but lost thy son!" He then led the Volscians home, but they put him to death because he had spared Rome. Others relate that he lived among the Volscians to a great age, and was often heard to say that "none but an old man can feel how wretched it is to live in a foreign land." [Illustration: The Environs of Rome.] 2. THE FABIA GENS AND THE VEIENTINES, B.C. 477.--The Fabii were one of the most powerful of the Patrician houses. For seven successive years one of the Consuls was always a Fabius. The Fabii had been among the leading opponents of the Agrarian Law; and Kæso Fabius had taken an active part in obtaining the condemnation of Sp. Cassius. But shortly afterward we find this same Kæso the advocate of the popular rights, and proposing that the Agrarian Law of Cassius should be carried into effect. He was supported in his new views by his powerful house, though the reasons for their change of opinion we do not know. But the Fabii made no impression upon the great body of the Patricians, and only earned for themselves the hearty hatred of their order. Finding that they could no longer live in peace at Rome, they determined to leave the city, and found a separate settlement, where they might still be useful to their native land. One of the most formidable enemies of the republic was the Etruscan city of Veii, situated about twelve miles from Rome. Accordingly, the Fabian house, consisting of 306 males of full age, accompanied by their wives and children, clients and dependents, marched out of Rome by the right-hand arch of the Carmental Gate, and proceeded straight to the Cremera, a river which flows into the Tiber below Veii. On the Cremera they established a fortified camp, and, sallying thence, they laid waste the Veientine territory. For two years they sustained the whole weight of the Veientine war; and all the attempts of the Veientines to dislodge them proved in vain. But at length they were enticed into an ambuscade, and were all slain. The settlement was destroyed, and no one of the house survived except a boy who had been left behind at Rome, and who became the ancestor of the Fabii, afterward so celebrated in Roman history. The Fabii were sacrificed to the hatred of the Patricians; for the consul T. Menenius was encamped a short way off at the time, and he did nothing to save them. 3. CINCINNATUS AND THE ÆQUIANS, B.C. 458.--The Æquians in their numerous attacks upon the Roman territory generally occupied Mount Algidus, which formed a part of the group of the Alban Hills in Latium. It was accordingly upon this mount that the battles between the Romans and Æquians most frequently took place. In the year 458 B.C. the Roman consul L. Minucius was defeated on the Algidus, and surrounded in his camp. Five horsemen, who made their escape before the Romans were completely encompassed, brought the tidings to Rome. The Senate forthwith appointed L. Cincinnatus dictator. L. Cincinnatus was one of the heroes of old Roman story. When the deputies of the Senate came to him to announce his elevation to the dictatorship they found him driving a plow, and clad only in his tunic or shirt. They bade him clothe himself, that he might hear the commands of the Senate. He put on his toga, which his wife Racilia brought him. The deputies then told him of the peril of the Roman army, and that he had been made Dictator. The next morning, before daybreak, he appeared in the forum, and ordered all the men of military age to meet him in the evening in the Field of Mars, with food for five days, and each with twelve stakes. His orders were obeyed; and with such speed did he march, that by midnight he reached Mount Algidus. Placing his men around the Æquian camp, he told them to raise the war-cry, and at the same time to begin digging a trench and raising a mound, on the top of which the stakes were to be driven in. The other Roman army, which was shut in, hearing the war-cry, burst forth from their camp, and fought with the Æquians all night. The Dictator's troops thus worked without interruption, and completed the intrenchment by the morning. The Æquians found themselves hemmed in between the two armies, and were forced to surrender. The Dictator made them pass under the yoke, which was formed by two spears fixed upright in the ground, while a third was fastened across them. Cincinnatus entered Rome in triumph only twenty-four hours after he had quitted it, having thus saved a whole Roman army from destruction. In reading the wars of the early Republic, it is important to recollect the League formed by Spurius Cassius, the author of the Agrarian Law between the Romans, Latins, and Hernicans. This League, to which allusion has been already made, was of the most intimate kind, and the armies of the three states fought by each other's sides. It was by means of this League that the Æquians and Volscians were kept in check, for they were two of the most warlike nations in Italy, and would have been more than a match for the unsupported arms of Rome. [Footnote 14: Debtors thus given over to their creditors were called _Addicti_.] [Footnote 15: This was called the right of _intercession_, from _intercedo_, "to come between."] [Footnote 16: The Tribunes were originally elected at the Comitia of the Centuries, where the influence of the Patricians was predominant; but by the Publilian Law, proposed by the tribune Publilius Volero, and passed B.C. 471, the election was transferred to the Comitia of the Tribes, by which means the Plebeians obtained the uncontrolled election of their own officers.] [Illustration: Tarpeian Rock.] CHAPTER V. THE DECEMVIRATE. B.C. 451-449. From the Agrarian Law of Sp. Cassius to the appointment of the Decemvirs was a period of more than thirty years. During the whole of this time the struggle between the Patricians and the Plebeians was increasing. The latter constantly demanded, and the former as firmly refused, the execution of the Agrarian Law of Cassius. But, though the Plebeians failed in obtaining this object, they nevertheless made steady progress in gaining for themselves a more important position in the city. In B.C. 471 the Publilian Law was carried, by which the election of the Tribunes and Plebeian Ædiles was transferred from the Comitia of the Centuries to those of the Tribes.[17] From this time the Comitia of the Tribes may be regarded as one of the political assemblies of the state, ranking with those of the Centuries and the Curies. But the Patricians still retained exclusive possession of the administrative and judicial powers, and there were no written laws to limit their authority and to regulate their decisions. Under these circumstances, the Tribune C. Terentilius Arsa proposed, in B.C. 462, that a commission of Ten Men (Decemviri) should be appointed to draw up a code of laws, by which a check might be put to the arbitrary power of the Patrician magistrates. This proposition, as might have been expected, met with the most vehement opposition from the Patricians. But the Plebeians were firm, and for five successive years the same Tribunes were re-elected. It was during this struggle that an attempt was made upon the Capitol by Herdonius, a Sabine chief, with a band of outlaws and slaves. It was a turbulent period, and the Patricians had recourse even to assassination. At length, after a struggle of eight years, a compromise was effected, and it was arranged that Three Commissioners (Triumviri) were to be sent into Greece to collect information respecting the laws of Solon at Athens, as well as of the other Greek states. After an absence of two years the three commissioners returned to Rome (B.C. 452), and it was now resolved that a Council of Ten, or Decemvirs, should be appointed to draw up a code of laws, and, at the same time, to carry on the government and administer justice. All the other magistrates were obliged to abdicate, and no exception was made even in favor of the Tribunes. The Decemvirs were thus intrusted with supreme power in the state. They entered upon their office at the beginning of B.C. 451. They were all Patricians. At their head stood Appius Claudius and T. Genucius, who had been already appointed consuls for the year. They discharged the duties of their office with diligence, and dispensed justice with impartiality. Each administered the government day by day in succession, and the fasces were carried only before the one who presided for the day. They drew up a Code of Ten Tables, in which equal justice was dealt out to both orders. The Ten Tables received the sanction of the Comitia of the Centuries, and thus became law. On the expiration of their year of office all parties were so well satisfied with the manner in which the Decemvirs had discharged their duties that it was resolved to continue the same form of government for another year, more especially as some of them said that their work was not finished. A new Council of Ten was accordingly elected, of whom Appius Claudius alone belonged to the former body. He had so carefully concealed his pride and ambition during the previous year that he had been the most popular member of the council, and the Patricians, to prevent his appointment for another year, had ordered him to preside at the Comitia for the elections, thinking that he would not receive votes for himself. But Appius set such scruples at defiance, and not only returned himself as elected, but took care that his nine colleagues should be subservient to his views. He now threw off the mask he had hitherto worn, and acted as the tyrant of Rome. Each Decemvir was attended by twelve lictors, who earned the fasces with the axes in them, so that 120 lictors were seen in the city instead of 12. The Senate was rarely summoned. No one was now safe, and many of the leading men quitted Rome. Two new Tables were added to the Code, making twelve in all; but these new laws were of the most oppressive kind, and confirmed the Patricians in their most odious privileges. When the year came to a close the Decemvirs neither resigned nor held Comitia for the election of successors, but continued to hold their power in defiance of the Senate and of the People. Next year (B.C. 449) the Sabines and Æquians invaded the Roman territory, and two armies were dispatched against them, commanded by some of the Decemvirs. Appius remained at Rome to administer justice. But the soldiers fought with no spirit under the command of men whom they detested, and two acts of outrageous tyranny caused them to turn their arms against their hated masters. In the army fighting against the Sabines was a centurion named L. Sicinius Dentatus, the bravest of the brave. He had fought in 120 battles; he had slain eight of the enemy in single combat; had received 40 wounds, all in front; he had accompanied the triumphs of nine generals; and had war-crowns and other rewards innumerable. As Tribune of the Plebs four years before, he had taken an active part in opposing the Patricians, and was now suspected of plotting against the Decemvirs. His death was accordingly resolved on, and he was sent with a company of soldiers as if to reconnoitre the enemy's position. But in a lonely spot they fell upon him and slew him, though not until he had destroyed most of the traitors. His comrades, who were told that he had fallen in an ambush of the enemy, discovered the foul treachery that had been practiced when they saw him surrounded by Roman soldiers who had evidently been slain by him. The Decemvirs prevented an immediate outbreak only by burying Dentatus with great pomp, but the troops were ready to rise in open mutiny upon the first provocation. In the other army sent against the Æquians there was a well-known centurion named Virginius. He had a beautiful daughter, betrothed to L. Icilius, an eminent leader of the Plebeian order. The maiden had attracted the notice of the Decemvir Appius Claudius. He at first tried bribes and allurements, but when these failed he had recourse to an outrageous act of tyranny. One morning, as Virginia, attended by her nurse, was on the way to her school, which was in one of the booths surrounding the forum, M. Claudius, a client of Appius, laid hold of the damsel and claimed her as his slave. The cry of the nurse for help brought a crowd around them, and all parties went before the Decemvir. In his presence Marcus repeated the tale he had learnt, asserting that Virginia was the child of one of his female slaves, and had been imposed upon Virginius by his wife, who was childless. He farther stated that he would prove this to Virginius as soon as he returned to Rome, and he demanded that the girl should meantime be handed over to his custody. Appius, fearing a riot, said that he would let the cause stand over till the next day, but that then, whether her father appeared or not, he should know how to maintain the laws. Straightway two friends of the family made all haste to the camp, which they reached the same evening. Virginius immediately obtained leave of absence, and was already on his way to Rome, when the messenger of Appius arrived, instructing his colleagues to detain him. Early next morning Virginius and his daughter came into the forum with their garments rent. The father appealed to the people for aid, and the women in their company sobbed aloud. But, intent upon the gratification of his passions, Appius cared not for the misery of the father and the girl, and hastened to give sentence, by which he consigned the maiden to his client. Appius, who had brought with him a large body of patricians and their clients, ordered his lictors to disperse the mob. The people drew back, leaving Virginius and his daughter alone before the judgment-seat. All help was gone. The unhappy father then prayed the Decemvir to be allowed to speak one word to the nurse in his daughter's hearing, in order to ascertain whether she was really his daughter. The request was granted. Virginius drew them both aside, and, snatching up a butcher's-knife from one of the stalls, plunged it into his daughter's breast, exclaiming, "There is no way but this to keep thee free." In vain did Appius call out to stop him. The crowd made way for him, and, holding his bloody knife on high, he rushed to the gate of the city and hastened to the army. His comrades espoused his cause, expelled their commanders, and marched toward Rome. They were soon joined by the other army, to whom Numitorius and Icilius had carried the tidings. The Plebeians in the city flocked to them, and they all resolved to retire once more to the Sacred Mount. This second secession extorted from the Patricians the second great charter of the Plebeian rights. The Patricians compelled the Decemvirs to resign, and sent L. Valerius and M. Horatius, two of the most eminent men of their order, to negotiate with the Plebeians. It was finally agreed that the Tribunes should be restored, that the authority of the Comitia Tributa should be recognized, and that the right of appeal to the people against the power of the supreme magistrates should be confirmed. The Plebeians now returned to the city, and elected, for the first time, ten Tribunes instead of five, a number which remained unchanged down to the latest times. Virginius, Icilius, and Numitorius were among the new Tribunes. Two Consuls were elected in place of the Decemvirs, and the choice of the Comitia Centuriata naturally fell upon Valerius and Horatius. The new Consuls now redeemed their promises to the Plebeians by bringing forward the laws which are called after them, the Valerian and Horatian Laws. These celebrated laws enacted: 1. That every Roman citizen should have the right of appeal against the sentence of the supreme magistrate. This was, in fact, a solemn confirmation of the old law of Valerius Publicola, passed in the first year of the republic. It was enacted again a third time in B.C. 300, on the proposal of M. Valerius, the Consul. These repeated enactments gave a still farther sanction to the law. In the same way the Great Charter of England was ratified several times. 2. That the _Plebiscita_, or resolutions passed by the Plebeians in the Comitia Tributa, should have the force of laws, and should be binding alike upon Patricians and Plebeians. 3. That the persons of the Tribunes, Ædiles, and other Plebeian magistrates should be sacred, and whoever injured them should be sold as a slave. Virginius now accused Appius Claudius, who was thrown into prison to await his trial. But the proud Patrician, seeing that his condemnation was certain, put an end to his own life. Oppius, another of the Decemvirs, and the personal friend of Appius, was condemned and executed. The other Decemvirs were allowed to go into exile, but they were all declared guilty, and their property confiscated to the state. The Twelve Tables were always regarded as the foundation of the Roman law, and long continued to be held in the highest estimation. But they probably did little more than fix in a written form a large body of customary law, though even this was a benefit to the Plebeians, as they were no longer subject to the arbitrary decisions of the Patrician magistrates. The Patricians still retained their exclusive privileges; and the eleventh table even gave the sanction of law to the old custom which prohibited all intermarriage (_connuubium_) between the two orders. [Footnote 17: See note on p. 31. (Footnote 16 of this e-text--Transcriber)] [Illustration: View in the neighborhood of Veii.] CHAPTER VI. FROM THE DECEMVIRATE TO THE CAPTURE OF ROME BY THE GAULS. B.C. 448-390. The efforts of the leaders of the Plebeians were now directed to two subjects, the removal of the prohibition of intermarriage between the two orders, and the opening of the Consulship to their own order. They attained the first object four years after the Decemvirate by the Lex Canuleia, proposed by Canuleius, one of the Tribunes (B.C. 445). But they did not carry this law without a third secession, in which they occupied the Janiculum. At the same time a compromise was effected with respect to the Consulship. The Patricians agreed that the supreme power in the state should be intrusted to new officers bearing the title of _Military Tribunes with Consular Power_, who might be chosen equally from Patricians and Plebeians. Their number varied in different years from three to six. In B.C. 444 three Military Tribunes were nominated for the first time. In the following year (443) two new magistrates, called _Censors_, were appointed. They were always to be chosen from the Patricians; and the reason of the institution clearly was to deprive the Military Tribunes of some of the most important functions, which had been formerly discharged by the Consuls. The Censors originally held office for a period of five years, which was called a _lustrum_; but their tenure was limited to eighteen months, as early as ten years after its institution (B.C. 443), by a law of the Dictator Mamercus Æmilius, though they continued to be appointed only once in five years.[18] Though the Military Tribunes could from their first institution be chosen from either order, yet such was the influence of the Patricians in the Comitia of the Centuries that it was not till B.C. 400, or nearly forty years afterward, that any Plebeians were actually elected. In B.C. 421 the Quæstorship was also thrown open to them. The Quæstors were the paymasters of the state; and as the Censors had to fill up vacancies in the Senate from those who had held the office of Quæstor, the Plebeians thus became eligible for the Senate. During these struggles between the two orders an event took place which is frequently referred to by later writers. In the year 440 B.C. there was a great famine at Rome. Sp. Mælius, one of the richest of the Plebeian knights, expended his fortune in buying up corn, which he sold to the poor at a small price, or distributed among them gratuitously. The Patricians thought, or pretended to think, that he was aiming at kingly power: and in the following year (439) the aged Quintius Cincinnatus, who had saved the Roman army on Mount Algidus, was appointed Dictator. He nominated C. Servilius Ahala his Master of the Horse. During the night the Capitol and all the strong posts were garrisoned by the Patricians, and in the morning Cincinnatus appeared in the forum with a strong force, and summoned Mælius to appear before his tribunal. But seeing the fate which awaited him, he refused to go, whereupon Ahala rushed into the crowd and struck him dead upon the spot. His property was confiscated, and his house was leveled to the ground. The deed of Ahala is frequently mentioned by Cicero and other writers in terms of the highest admiration, but it was regarded by the Plebeians at the time as an act of murder. Ahala was brought to trial, and only escaped condemnation by a voluntary exile. In their foreign wars the Romans continued to be successful, and, aided by their allies the Latins and Hernicans, they made steady progress in driving back their old enemies the Volscians and Æquians. About this time they planted several colonies in the districts which they conquered. These Roman colonies differed widely from those of ancient Greece and of modern Europe. They were of the nature of garrisons established in conquered towns, and served both to strengthen and extend the power of Rome. The colonists received a portion of the conquered territory, and lived as a ruling class among the old inhabitants, who retained the use of the land. The Romans now renewed their wars with the Etruscans; and the capture of the important city of Veii was the first decisive advantage gained by the Republic. The hero of this period was Camillus, who stands out prominently as the greatest general of the infant Republic, who saved Rome from the Gauls, and whom later ages honored as a second Romulus. Veii, however, was only taken after a long and severe struggle. It was closely allied with Fidenæ, a town of Latium, not more than five or six miles from Rome. The two cities frequently united their arms against Rome, and in one of these wars Lars Tolumnius, the king of Veii, was slain in single combat by A. Cornelius Cossus, one of the Military Tribunes, and his arms dedicated to Jupiter, the second of the three instances in which the _Spolia Opima_ were won (B.C. 437). A few years afterward Fidenæ was taken and destroyed (B.C. 426), and at the same time a truce was granted to the Veientines for twenty years. At the expiration of this truce the war was renewed, and the Romans resolved to subdue Veii as they had done Fidenæ. The siege of Veii, like that of Troy, lasted ten years, and the means of its capture was almost as marvelous as the wooden horse by which Troy was taken. The waters of the Alban Lake rose to such a height as to deluge the neighboring country. An oracle declared that Veii could not be taken until the waters of the lake found a passage to the sea. This reached the ears of the Romans, who thereupon constructed a tunnel to carry off its superfluous waters.[19] The formation of this tunnel is said to have suggested to the Romans the means of taking Veii. M. Furius Camillus, who was appointed Dictator, commenced digging a mine beneath the city, which was to have its outlet in the citadel, in the temple of Juno, the guardian deity of Veii. When the mine was finished, the attention of the inhabitants was diverted by feigned assaults against the walls. Camillus led the way into the mine at the head of a picked body of troops. As he stood beneath the temple of Juno, he heard the soothsayer declare to the king of the Veientines that whoever should complete the sacrifice he was offering would be the conqueror. Thereupon the Romans burst forth and seized the flesh of the victim, which Camillus offered up. The soldiers who guarded the walls were thus taken in the rear, the gates were thrown open, and the city soon filled with Romans. The booty was immense, and the few citizens who escaped the sword were sold as slaves. The image of Juno was carried to Rome, and installed with great pomp on Mount Aventine, where a temple was erected to her. Camillus entered Rome in a chariot drawn by four white horses. Rome had never yet seen so magnificent a triumph (B.C. 396). One circumstance, which occurred during the siege of Veii, deserves notice. As the Roman soldiers were obliged to pass the whole year under arms, in order to invest the city during the winter as well as the summer, they now, for the first time, received pay. Veii was a more beautiful city than Rome, and, as it was now without inhabitants, many of the Roman people wished to remove thither. At the persuasion of Camillus the project was abandoned; but the territory of Veii was divided among the Plebeians. Falerii was almost the only one of the Etruscan cities which had assisted Veii, and she was now exposed single-handed to the vengeance of the Romans. It is related that, when Camillus appeared before Falerii, a schoolmaster of the town treacherously conducted the sons of the noblest families into the Roman camp, but that Camillus, scorning the baseness of the man, ordered his arms to be tied behind him, and the boys to flog him back into the town; whereupon the inhabitants, overcome by such generosity, gave up their arms, and surrendered to the Romans (B.C. 394). Camillus was one of the proudest of the Patricians; and he now incurred the hatred of the Plebeians by calling upon every man to refund a tenth of the booty taken at Veii; because he had made a vow to consecrate to Apollo a tithe of the spoil. He was accused of having appropriated the great bronze gates at Veii, and was impeached by one of the Tribunes. Seeing that his condemnation was certain, he went into exile, praying as he left the walls that the Republic might soon have cause to regret him (B.C. 491). His prayer was heard, for the Gauls had already crossed the Apennines, and next year Rome was in ashes. [Footnote 18: The Censorship was regarded as the highest dignity in the state, with the exception of the Dictatorship. The duties of the Censors were numerous and important. They not only took the _census_--or the register of the citizens and their property--hut they also chose the members of the Senate, exercised a superintendence over the whole public and private life of the citizens, and, in addition, had the administration of the finances of the state.] [Footnote 19: This remarkable work, which, after the lapse of more than two thousand years, still continues to serve the purpose for which it was originally designed, is cut through the soft volcanic tufa of which the Alban Hill is composed. The length of the tunnel is about 6000 feet, and it is 4 feet 6 inches wide.] [Illustration: Temple of Jupiter Capitolinus restored.] CHAPTER VII. FROM THE CAPTURE OF ROME BY THE GAULS TO THE FINAL UNION OF THE TWO ORDERS. B.C. 390-367. The Gauls or Celts were in ancient times spread over the greater part of Western Europe. They inhabited Gaul and the British isles, and had in the time of the Tarquins crossed the Alps and taken possession of Northern Italy. But they now spread farther south, crossed the Apennines, and laid waste with fire and sword the provinces of Central Italy. Rome fell before them, and was reduced to ashes; but the details of its capture are clearly legendary. The common story runs as follows: The Senones, a tribe of the Gauls, led by their chief Brennus, laid siege to Clusium, the powerful Etruscan city over which Lars Porsena once reigned. Such reputation had Rome gained through her conquests in Etruria, that Clusium applied to her for aid (B.C. 391). The Senate sent three embassadors, sons of the chief pontiff, Fabius Ambustus, to warn the barbarians not to touch an ally of Rome. But the Gauls treated their message with scorn; and the embassadors, forgetting their sacred character, fought in the Clusine ranks. One of the Fabii slew with his own hands a Gallic chieftain, and was recognized while stripping off his armor. Brennus therefore sent to Rome to demand satisfaction. The Roman people not only refused to give it, but elected the three Fabii as Military Tribunes for the following year. On hearing of this insult, the Gauls broke up the siege of Clusium, and hastened southward toward Rome. All the inhabitants fled before them into the towns. They pursued their course without injuring any one, crying to the guards upon the walls of the towns they passed, "Our way lies for Rome." On the news of their approach the Roman army hurried out of the city, and on the 16th of July (B.C. 300), a day ever after regarded as disastrous, they met the Gauls on the Allia, a small river which flows into the Tiber, on its left bank, about eleven miles from Rome. Brennus attacked the Romans on the flank, and threw them into confusion. A general panic seized them: they turned and fled. Some escaped across the Tiber to Veii, and a few reached Rome, but the greater number were slain by the Gauls. The loss at the Allia had been so great that enough men were not left to guard the walls of the city. It was therefore resolved that those in the vigor of their age should withdraw to the Capitol, taking with them all the provisions in the city; that the priests and Vestal Virgins should convey the objects of religious reverence to Cæré; and that the rest of the population should disperse among the neighboring towns. But the aged senators, who had been Consuls or Censors, seeing that their lives were no longer of any service to the state, sat down in the forum on their curule thrones awaiting death. When the Gauls entered the city they found it desolate and deathlike. They marched on, without seeing a human being till they came to the forum. Here they beheld the aged senators sitting immovable, like beings of another world. For some time they gazed in awe at this strange sight, till at length one of the Gauls ventured to go up to M. Papirius and stroke his white beard. The old man struck him on the head with his ivory sceptre; whereupon the barbarian slew him, and all the rest were massacred. The Gauls now began plundering the city; fires broke out in several quarters; and with the exception of a few houses on the Palatine, which the chiefs kept for their own residence, the whole city was burnt to the ground. The Capitol was the next object of attack. There was only one steep way leading up to it, and all the assaults of the besiegers were easily repelled. They thereupon turned the siege into a blockade, and for seven months were encamped amid the ruins of Rome. But their numbers were soon thinned by disease, for they had entered Rome in the most unhealthy time of the year, when fevers have always prevailed. The failure of provisions obliged them to ravage the neighboring countries, the people of which began to combine for defense against the marauders. Meantime the scattered Romans took courage. They collected at Veii, and here resolved to recall Camillus from banishment, and appoint him Dictator. In order to obtain the consent of the Senate, a daring youth, named Pontius Cominius, offered to swim across the Tiber and climb the Capitol. He reached the top unperceived by the enemy, obtained the approval of the Senate to the appointment of Camillus, and returned safely to Veii. But next day some Gauls observed the traces of his steps, and in the dead of night they climbed up the same way. The foremost of them had already reached the top, unnoticed by the sentinels and the dogs, when the cries of some geese roused M. Manlius from sleep. These geese were sacred to Juno, and had been spared notwithstanding the gnawings of hunger; and the Romans were now rewarded for their piety. M. Manlius thrust down the Gaul who had clambered up, and gave the alarm. The Capitol was thus saved; and down to latest times M. Manlius was honored as one of the greatest heroes of the early Republic. Still no help came, and the Gauls remained before the Capitol. The Romans suffered from famine, and at length agreed to pay the barbarians 1000 pounds of gold, on condition of their quitting the city and its territory. Brennus brought false weights, and, when the Romans exclaimed against this injustice, the Gallic chief threw his sword also into the scale, crying, "Woe to the vanquished!" But at this very moment Camillus marched into the forum, ordered the gold to be taken away, and drove the Gauls out of the city. Another battle was fought on the road to Gabii, in which the Gauls were completely destroyed, and their leader Brennus taken prisoner. This tale, however, is an invention of Roman vanity. We learn from other sources that the Gauls retreated because their settlements in Northern Italy were attacked by the Venetians; and there can be little doubt that their departure was hastened by a present of Roman gold. The Gauls frequently repeated their inroads, and for many years to come were the constant dread of the Romans. When the Romans returned to the heap of ruins which was once their city their hearts sank within them. The people shrank from the expense and toil of rebuilding their houses, and loudly demanded that they should all remove to Veii, where the private dwellings and public buildings were still standing. But Camillus and the Patricians strongly urged them not to abandon the homes of their fathers, and they were at length persuaded to remain. The state granted bricks, and stones were fetched from Veii. Within a year the city rose from its ashes; but the streets were narrow and crooked; the houses were frequently built over the sewers; and the city continued to show, down to the great fire of Nero, evident traces of the haste and irregularity with which it had been rebuilt. Rome was now deprived of almost all her subjects, and her territory was reduced to nearly its original limits. The Latins and Hernicans dissolved the League with the Romans, and wars broke out on every side. In these difficulties and dangers Camillus was the soul of the Republic. Again and again he led the Roman legions against their enemies, and always with success. The rapidity with which the Romans recovered their power after so terrible a disaster would seem unaccountable but for the fact that the other nations had also suffered greatly from the inroads of the Gauls, who still continued to ravage Central Italy. Two of their invasions of the Roman territory are commemorated by celebrated legends, which may be related here, though they belong to a later period. In B.C. 361 the Gauls and Romans were encamped on either bank of the Arno. A gigantic Gaul stepped forth from the ranks and insultingly challenged a Roman knight. T. Manlius, a Roman youth, obtained permission from his general to accept the challenge, slew the giant, and took from the dead body the golden chain (_torques_) which the barbarian wore around his neck. His comrades gave him the surname of Torquatus, which he handed down to his descendants. In B.C. 349 another distinguished Roman family earned its surname from a single combat with a Gaul. Here again a Gallic warrior of gigantic size challenged any one of the Romans to single combat. His challenge was accepted by M. Valerius, upon whose helmet a raven perched; and as they fought, the bird flew into the face of the Gaul, striking at him with its beak and flapping his wings. Thus Valerius slew the Gaul, and was called in consequence "Corvus," or the "Raven." It is now necessary to revert to the internal history of Rome. Great suffering and discontent prevailed. Returning to ruined homes and ravaged lands, the poor citizens had been obliged to borrow money to rebuild their houses and cultivate their farms. The law of debtor and creditor at Rome, as we have already seen, was very severe, and many unfortunate debtors were carried away to bondage. Under these circumstances, M. Manlius, the preserver of the Capitol, came forward as the patron of the poor. This distinguished man had been bitterly disappointed in his claims to honor and gratitude. While Camillus, his personal enemy, who had shared in none of the dangers of the siege, was repeatedly raised to the highest honors of the state, he, who had saved the Capitol, was left to languish in a private station. Neglected by his own order, Manlius turned to the Plebeians. One day he recognized in the forum a soldier who had served with him in the field, and whom a creditor was carrying away in fetters. Manlius paid his debt upon the spot, and swore that, as long as he had a single pound, he would not allow any Roman to be imprisoned for debt. He sold a large part of his property, and applied the proceeds to the liberation of his fellow-citizens from bondage. Supported now by the Plebeians, he came forward as the accuser of his own order, and charged them with appropriating to their own use the gold which had been raised to ransom the city from the Gauls. The Patricians in return accused him, as they had accused Sp. Cassius, of aspiring to the tyranny. When he was brought to trial before the Comitia of the Centuries in the Campus Martius, he proudly showed the spoils of thirty warriors whom he had slain, the forty military distinctions which he had won in battle, and the innumerable scars upon his breast, and then turning toward the Capitol he prayed the immortal gods to remember the man who had saved their temples from destruction. After such an appeal, his condemnation was impossible, and his enemies therefore contrived to break up the assembly. Shortly afterward he was arraigned on the same charges before the Comitia of the Curies in the Peteline Grove. Here he was at once condemned, and was hurled from the Tarpeian Rock. His house, which was on the Capitol, was razed to the ground (B.C. 384). The death of Manlius, however, was only a temporary check to the Plebeian cause. A few years afterward the contest came to a crisis. In B.C. 376 C. Licinius Stolo and his kinsman L. Sextius, being Tribunes of the Plebs, determined to give the Plebeians an equal share in the political power, to deprive the Patricians of the exclusive use of the public land, and to remove the present distress of the Plebeians. For this purpose they brought forward three laws, which are celebrated in history under the name of THE LICINIAN ROGATIONS.[20] These were: I. That in future Consuls, and not Military Tribunes, should be appointed, and that one of the two Consuls _must_ be a Plebeian. II. That no citizen should possess more than 500 jugera[21] of the public land, nor should feed upon the public pastures more than 100 head of large and 500 of small cattle, under penalty of a heavy fine. III. That the interest already paid for borrowed money should be deducted from the principal, and that the remainder should be repaid in three yearly instalments. These great reforms naturally excited the most violent opposition, and the Patricians induced some of the Plebeians to put their veto upon the measures of their colleagues. But Licinius and Sextius were not to be baffled in this way, and they exercised their veto by preventing the Comitia of the Centuries from electing any magistrates for the next year. Hence no Consuls, Military Tribunes, Censors, or Quæstors could be appointed; and the Tribunes of the Plebs and the Ædiles, who were elected by the Comitia of the Tribes, were the only magistrates in the state. For five years did this state of things continue. C. Licinius and L. Sextius were re-elected annually, and prevented the Comitia of the Centuries from appointing any magistrates. At the end of this time they allowed Military Tribunes to be chosen in consequence of a war with the Latins; but so far were they from yielding any of their demands, that to their former Rogations they now added another: That the care of the Sibylline books, instead of being intrusted to two men (duumviri), both Patricians, should be given to ten men (decemviri), half of whom should be Plebeians. Five years more did the struggle last; but the firmness of the Tribunes at length prevailed. In B.C. 367 the Licinian Rogations were passed, and L. Sextius was elected the first Plebeian Consul for the next year. But the Patricians made one last effort to evade the law. By the Roman constitution, the Consuls, after being elected by the Comitia Centuriata, received the Imperium, or sovereign power, from the Comitia Curiata. The Patricians thus had it in their power to nullify the election of the Centuries by refusing the Imperium. This they did when L. Sextius was elected Consul; and they made Camillus, the great champion of their order, Dictator, to support them in their new struggle. But the old hero saw that it was too late, and determined to bring about a reconciliation between the two orders. A compromise was effected. The Imperium was conferred upon L. Sextius; but the judicial duties were taken away from the Consuls, and given to a new magistrate called _Prætor_. Camillus vowed to the goddess Concord a temple for his success. The long struggle between the Patricians and Plebeians was thus brought to a virtual close. The Patricians still clung obstinately to the exclusive privileges which they still possessed; but when the Plebeians had once obtained a share in the Consulship, it was evident that their participation in the other offices of the state could not be much longer delayed. We may therefore anticipate the course of events by narrating in this place that the first Plebeian Dictator was C. Marcius Rutilus in B.C. 356; that the same man was the first Plebeian Censor five years afterward (B.C. 351); that the Prætorship was thrown open to the Plebeians in B.C. 336; and that the Lex Ogulnia in B.C. 300, which increased the number of the Pontiffs from four to eight, and that of the Augurs from four to nine, also enacted that four of the Pontiffs and five of the Augurs should be taken from the Plebeians. About thirty years after the Licinian Rogations, another important reform, which abridged still farther the privileges of the Patricians, was effected by the PUBLILIAN LAWS, proposed by the Dictator Q. Publilius Philo in B.C. 339. These were: I. That the Resolutions of the Plebs should be binding on all the Quirites,[22] thus giving to the Plebiscita passed at the Comitia of the Tribes the same force as the Laws passed at the Comitia of the Centuries. II. That all laws passed at the Comitia of the Centuries should receive previously the sanction of the Curies; so that the Curies were now deprived of all power over the Centuries. III. That one of the Censors must be a Plebeian. The first of these laws seems to be little move than a re-enactment of one of the Valerian and Horatian laws, passed after the expulsion of the Decemvirs;[23] but it is probable that the latter had never been really carried into effect. Even the Publilian Law upon this subject seems to have been evaded; and it was accordingly enacted again by the Dictator Q. Hortensius in B.C. 286. In this year the last Secession of the Plebeians took place, and the LEX HORTENSIA is always mentioned as the law which gave to Plebiscita passed at the Comitia of the Tribes the full power of laws binding upon the whole nation. From this time we hear of no more civil dissensions till the times of the Gracchi, a hundred and fifty years afterward, and the Lex Hortensia may therefore be regarded as the termination of the long struggle between the two orders. [Footnote 20: _A Rogatio_ differed from a _Lex_, as a _Bill_ from an _Act_ of Parliament. A Rogatio was a law submitted to the assembly of the people, and only became a Lex when enacted by them.] [Footnote 21: A _Jugerum_ was rather more than half an acre.] [Footnote 22: _Ut plebiscita omnes Quirites tenerent._] [Footnote 23: See p. 40. (The end of Chapter V.--Transcriber)] [Illustration: Ruins at Capua.] CHAPTER VIII. FROM THE LICINIAN ROGATIONS TO THE END OF THE SAMNITE WARS. B.C. 367-290. United at home, the Romans were now prepared to carry on their foreign wars with more vigor; and their conquests of the Samnites and Latins made them the virtual masters of Italy. But the years which immediately followed the Licinian laws were times of great suffering. A pestilence raged in Rome, which carried off many of the most distinguished men, and among others the aged Camillus (B.C. 362). The Tiber overflowed its banks, the city was shaken by earthquakes, and a yawning chasm opened in the forum. The soothsayers declared that the gulf could never be filled up except by throwing into it that which Rome held most valuable. The tale runs that, when every one was doubting what the gods could mean, a noble youth named M. Curtius came forward, and, declaring that Rome possessed nothing so valuable as her brave citizens, mounted his steed and leaped into the abyss in full armor, whereupon the earth closed over him. This event is assigned to the year 362 B.C. During the next few years the Gauls renewed their inroads, of which we have already spoken, and in the course of which Manlius Torquatus and Valerius Corvus gained such glory. The Romans steadily extended their dominion over the southern part of Etruria and the country of the Volscians, and the alliance with the Latins was renewed. Fifty years had elapsed since the capture of the city by the Gauls, and Rome was now strong enough to enter into a contest with the most formidable enemy which her arms had yet encountered. The SAMNITES were at the height of their power, and the contest between them and the Romans was virtually for the supremacy of Italy. The Samnites, as we have already seen, were a people of Sabine origin, and had emigrated to the country which they inhabited at a comparatively late period. They consisted of four different tribes or cantons, the Pentri, Hirpini, Caraceni, and Caudini, of whom the two former were the most important. They inhabited that part of the Apennines which lies between Campania and Lucania, but they were not contented with their mountain-homes, and overran the rich plains which lay at their feet. They became the masters of Campania and Lucania, and spread themselves almost to the southern extremity of Italy. But the Samnites of Campania and Lucania had in course of time broken off all connection with the parent nation, and sometimes were engaged in hostilities with the latter. It was a contest of this kind that led to the war between the Romans and the Samnites of the Apennines. On the borders of Campania and Samnium dwelt a people, called the Sidicini, who had hitherto preserved their independence. Being attacked by the Samnites, this people implored the assistance of the Campanians, which was readily granted. Thereupon the Samnites turned their arms against the Campanians, and, after occupying Mount Tifata, which overlooks the city of Capua, they descended into the plain, and defeated the Campanians in a pitched battle at the very gates of Capua. The Campanians, being shut up within the city, now applied for assistance to Rome, and offered to place Capua in their hands. The Romans had only a few years previously concluded an alliance with the Samnites; but the bait of the richest city and the most fertile soil in Italy was irresistible, and they resolved to comply with the request. Thus began the Samnite Wars, which, with a few intervals of peace, lasted 53 years. FIRST SAMNITE WAR, B.C. 343-341.--The Romans commenced the war by sending two consular armies against the Samnites; and the first battle between the rival nations was fought at the foot of Mount Gaurus, which lies about three miles from Cumæ. The Samnites were defeated with great loss; and it has been justly remarked that this battle may be regarded as one of the most memorable in history, since it was a kind of omen of the ultimate issue of the great contest which had now begun between the Samnites and Romans for the sovereignty of Italy. The Romans gained two other decisive victories, and both consuls entered the city in triumph. But two causes prevented the Romans from prosecuting their success. In the first place, the Roman army, which had been wintering in Capua, rose in open mutiny; and the poorer Plebeians in the city, who were oppressed by debt, left Rome and joined the mutineers. In the second place, the increasing disaffection of the Latins warned the Romans to husband their resources for another and more terrible struggle. The Romans, therefore, abandoning the Sidicini and Campanians, concluded a treaty of peace and alliance with the Samnites in B.C. 341, so that in the great Latin war, which broke out in the following year, the Samnites fought on the side of the Romans. THE LATIN WAR, B.C. 340-338.--The Latins had, as already stated, renewed their league with Rome in B.C. 356, and consequently their troops had fought along with the Romans in the war against the Samnites. But the increasing power of Rome excited their alarm; and it became evident to them that, though nominally on a footing of equality, they were, in reality, becoming subject to Rome. This feeling was confirmed by the treaty of alliance which the Romans had formed with the Samnites. The Latins, therefore, determined to bring matters to a crisis, and sent two Prætors, who were their chief magistrates, to propose to the Romans that the two nations should henceforth form one state; that half of the state should consist of Latins, and that one of the two Consuls should be chosen from Latium. These requests excited the greatest indignation at Rome, and were rejected with the utmost scorn. The Senate met in the Temple of Jupiter, in the Capitol, to receive the Latin deputation, and, after hearing their proposals, the Consul, T. Manlius Torquatus, the same who had slain the Gaul in single combat, declared that, if the Republic should cowardly yield to these demands, he would come into the senate-house sword in hand and cut down the first Latin he saw there. The tale goes on to say that in the discussion which followed, when both parties were excited by anger, the Latin Prætor defied the Roman Jupiter; that thereupon an awful peal of thunder shook the building; and that, as the impious man hurried down the steps from the temple, he fell from top to bottom, and lay there a corpse. War was now declared, and the most vigorous efforts were made on both sides. The contest was to decide whether Rome should become a Latin town, or the Latins be subject to Rome. The Romans had elected to the consulship two of their most distinguished men. The Patrician Consul was, as already mentioned, T. Manlius Torquatus; his Plebeian colleague was P. Decius Mus, who had gained great renown in the recent war against the Samnites. The two Consuls marched through Samnium into Campania, and threatened Capua, thus leaving Rome exposed to the attacks of the Latins. But the Consuls foresaw that the Latins would not abandon Capua, their great acquisition; and the event proved their wisdom. The contest was thus withdrawn from the territory of Rome and transferred to Campania, where the Romans could receive assistance from the neighboring country of their Samnite allies. It was at the foot of Mount Vesuvius that the two armies met, and here the battle was fought which decided the contest. It was like a civil war. The soldiers of the two armies spoke the same language, had fought by each others' sides, and were well known to one another. Under these circumstances, the Consuls published a proclamation that no Roman should engage in single combat with a Latin on pain of death. But the son of Torquatus, provoked by the insults of a Tusculan officer, accepted his challenge, slew his adversary, and carried the bloody spoils in triumph to his father. The Consul had within him the heart of Brutus; he would not pardon this breach of discipline, and ordered the unhappy youth to be beheaded by the lictor in the presence of the assembled army. In the night before the battle a vision appeared to each Consul, announcing that the general of one side and the army of the other were doomed to destruction. Both agreed that the one whose wing first began to waver should devote himself and the army of the enemy to the gods of the lower world. Decius commanded the left wing; and when it began to give way, he resolved to fulfill his vow. Calling the Pontifex Maximus, he repeated after him the form of words by which he devoted himself and the army of the enemy to the gods of the dead and the mother earth; then leaping upon his horse, he rushed into the thickest of the fight, and was slain. The Romans gained a signal victory. Scarcely a fourth part of the Latins escaped (B.C. 340). This victory made the Romans masters of Campania, and the Latins did not dare to meet them again in the field. The war continued two years longer, each city confining itself to the defense of its own walls, and hoping to receive help from others in case of an attack. But upon the capture of Pedum in B.C. 338 all the Latins laid down their arms, and garrisons were placed in their towns. The Romans were now absolute masters of Latium, and their great object was to prevent the Latin cities from forming any union again. For this purpose not only were all general assemblies forbidden, but, in order to keep the cities completely isolated, the citizens of one town could not marry or make a legal contract of bargain or sale with another.[24] Tibur and Præneste, the two most powerful cities of the League, which had taken the most active part in the war, were deprived of a portion of their land, but were allowed to retain a nominal independence, preserving their own laws, and renewing from time to time their treaties with Rome. The inhabitants of several other towns, such as Tusculum and Lanuvium, received the Roman franchise; their territory was incorporated in that of the Republic; and two new tribes were created to carry these arrangements into effect. Many of the most distinguished Romans sprung from these Latin towns. Twelve years elapsed between the subjugation of Latium and the commencement of the Second Samnite War. During this time the Roman arms continued to make steady progress. One of their most important conquests was that of the Volscian town of Privernum in B.C. 329, from which time the Volscians, so long the formidable enemies of Rome, disappear as an independent nation. The extension of the Roman power naturally awakened the jealousy of the Samnites; and the assistance rendered by them to the Greek cities of Palæopolis and Neapolis was the immediate occasion of the Second Samnite War. These two cities were colonies of the neighboring Cumæ, and were situated only five miles from each other. The position of Palæopolis, or the "Old City," is uncertain; but Neapolis, or the "New City," stands on the site of a part of the modern Naples. The Romans declared war against the two cities in B.C. 327, and sent the Consul Q. Publilius Philo to reduce them to subjection. The Greek colonists had previously formed an alliance with the Samnites, and now received powerful Samnite garrisons. Publilius encamped between the cities; and as he did not succeed in taking them before his year of office expired, he was continued in the command with the title of _Proconsul_, the first time that this office was created. At the beginning of the following year Palæopolis was taken; and Neapolis only escaped the same fate by concluding an alliance with the Romans. Meanwhile the Romans had declared war against the Samnites. SECOND OR GREAT SAMNITE WAR, B.C. 326-304.--The Second Samnite War lasted 22 years, and was by far the most important of the three wars which this people waged with Rome. During the first five years (B.C. 326-322) the Roman arms were generally successful. The Samnites became so disheartened that they sued for peace, but obtained only a truce for a year. It was during this period that the well-known quarrel took place between L. Papirius Cursor and Q. Fabius Maximus, the two most celebrated Roman generals of the time, who constantly led the armies of the Republic to victory. In B.C. 325 L. Papirius was Dictator, and Q. Fabius his Master of the Horse. Recalled to Rome by some defect in the auspices, the Dictator left the army in charge of Fabius, but with strict orders not to venture upon an engagement. Compelled or provoked by the growing boldness of the enemy, Fabius attacked and defeated them with great loss. But this victory was no extenuation for his offense in the eyes of the Dictator. Papirius hastened back to the camp, burning with indignation that his commands had been disobeyed, and ordered his lictors to seize Fabius and put him to death. The soldiers, whom Fabius had led to victory, rose in his defense; and in the night he escaped to Rome, to implore the protection of the Senate. He was stating the case to the Fathers, when Papirius entered the senate-house, followed by his lictors, and demanded that the offender should be given up for execution. But the Senate, the people, and the aged father of Maximus interceded so strongly for his life, that the Dictator was obliged to give way and to grant an ungracious pardon. The year's truce had not expired when the Samnites again took up arms, and for the next seven years (B.C. 321-315) the balance of success inclined to their side. This appears to have been mainly owing to the military abilities of their general C. Pontius, who deserves to be ranked among the chief men of antiquity. In the first year of his command he inflicted upon the Romans one of the severest blows they ever sustained in the whole course of their history. In B.C. 321 the two Consuls, T. Veturius and Sp. Postumius, marched into Samnium by the road from Capua to Beneventum. Near the town of Caudium they entered the celebrated pass called the CAUDINE FORKS (Furculæ Caudinæ). It consisted of two narrow defiles or gorges, between which was a tolerably spacious plain, but shut in on each side by mountains. The Romans, thinking the Samnites to be far distant, had marched through the first pass and the plain; but when they came to the second they found it blocked up by works and trunks of trees, so as to be quite impassable. Retracing their steps to the pass by which they had entered, they found that the enemy had meantime taken possession of this also. They were thus blocked up at either end, and, after making vain attempts to force their way through, were obliged to surrender at discretion. Thus both Consuls and four legions fell into the hands of the Samnites. C. Pontius made a merciful use of his victory. He agreed to dismiss them in safety upon their promising to restore the ancient alliance on equal terms between the two nations, and to give up all the places which they had conquered during the war. The Consuls and the other superior officers swore to these terms in the name of the Republic, and six hundred Roman knights were given as hostages. The whole Roman army was now allowed to depart, and each Roman soldier marched out singly under the yoke. When the news of this disaster reached Rome the Senate refused to ratify the peace, and resolved that the two Consuls and all the officers who had sworn to the peace should be delivered up to the Samnites as persons who had deceived them. They were conducted to Caudium by a Fetialis; and when they appeared before the tribunal of C. Pontius, Postumius, with superstitious folly, struck the Fetialis with his foot, saying that he was now a Samnite citizen, and that war might be renewed with justice by the Romans, since a Samnite had insulted the sacred envoy of the Roman people. But Pontius refused to accept the persons who were thus offered, and told them, if they wished to nullify the treaty, to send back the army to the Caudine Forks. Thus Postumius and his companions returned to Rome, and the 600 knights were alone left in the hands of the Samnites. The disaster of Caudium shook the fate of many of the Roman allies, and the fortune of war was for some years in favor of the Samnites. But in B.C. 314 the tide of success again turned, and the decisive victory of the Consuls in that year opened the way into the heart of Samnium. From this time the Romans were uniformly successful; and it seemed probable that the war was drawing to a close, when the Etruscans created a powerful diversion by declaring war against Rome in B.C. 311. But the energy and ability of Q. Fabius Maximus averted this new danger. He boldly carried the war into the very heart of Etruria, and gained a decisive victory over the forces of the League. The Samnites also were repeatedly defeated; and after the capture of Bovianum, the chief city of the Pentri, they were compelled to sue for peace. It was granted them in B.C. 304, on condition of their acknowledging the supremacy of Rome. At the conclusion of the Second Samnite War the Æquians and Hernicans were reduced to subjection after a brief struggle. A part of the Æquian territory was incorporated in that of Rome by the addition of two new tribes, and two colonies were planted in the other portion. The Marsi, Marrucini, Peligni, and other nations of Central Italy, entered into a league with the Romans on equal terms. Thus, in B.C. 300, the power of Rome seemed firmly established in Central Italy. But this very power awakened the jealousy of the surrounding nations, and the Samnites exerted themselves to form a new and formidable coalition. The Etruscans and Umbrians agreed to make war against Rome, and called in the assistance of the Senonian Gauls. THIRD SAMNITE WAR, B.C. 298-290.--As soon as the Etruscans and Umbrians were engaged with Rome, the Samnites invaded Lucania. The Lucanians invoked the assistance of the Romans, who forthwith declared war against the Samnites. The Republic had now to contend at one and the same time against the Etruscans, Umbrians, Gauls, and Samnites; but she carried on the struggle with the utmost energy, attacking the Etruscans, Umbrians, and Gauls in the north, and the Samnites in the south. At length, in B.C. 295, the Samnites joined their confederates in Umbria. In this country, near the town of Sentinum, a desperate battle was fought, which decided the fortune of the war. The two Roman Consuls were the aged Q. Fabius Maximus and P. Decius Mus. The victory was long doubtful. The wing commanded by Decius was giving way before the terrible onset of the Gauls, when he determined to imitate the example of his father, and to devote himself and the enemy to destruction. His death gave fresh courage to his men, and Fabius gained a complete and decisive victory. Gellius Egnatius, the Samnite general, who had taken the most active part in forming the coalition, was slain. But, though the League was thus broken up, the Samnites continued the struggle for five years longer. During this period C. Pontius, who had defeated the Romans at the Caudine Forks, again appeared, after twenty-seven years, as the leader of the Samnites, but was defeated by Q. Fabius Maximus with great loss and taken prisoner. Being carried to Rome, he was put to death as the triumphal car of the victor ascended the Capitol (B.C. 292). This shameful act has been justly branded as one of the greatest stains on the Roman annals. Two years afterward the Samnites were unable to continue any longer the hopeless struggle, and became the subjects of Rome. The third and last Samnite war was brought to a close in B.C. 290. [Footnote 24: According to the Roman expression, the _Jus Connubii_ and _Jus Commercii_ were forbidden.] [Illustration: Coin of Pyrrhus.] CHAPTER IX. FROM THE CONCLUSION OF THE SAMNITE WAR TO THE SUBJUGATION OF ITALY. B.C. 290-265. Ten years elapsed from the conclusion of the third Samnite war to the arrival of Pyrrhus in Italy. During this time the Etruscans and Gauls renewed the war in the north, but were defeated with great slaughter near the Lake Vadimo. This decisive battle appears to have completely crushed the Etruscan power; and it inflicted so severe a blow upon the Gauls that we hear no more of their ravages for the next sixty years. In the south the Lucanians also rose against Rome. The extension of the Roman dominion in the south of the peninsula had brought the state into connection with the Greek cities, which at one period were so numerous and powerful as to give to this part of Italy the name of Magna Græcia.[25] Many of these cities had now fallen into decay through internal dissensions and the conquests of the Lucanians and other Sabellian tribes; but Tarentum, originally a Lacedæmonian colony, still maintained her former power and splendor. The Tarentines naturally regarded with extreme jealousy the progress of the Roman arms in the south of Italy, and had secretly instigated the Etruscans and Lucanians to form a new coalition against Rome. But the immediate cause of the war between the Lucanians and Romans was the assistance which the latter had rendered to the Greek city of Thurii. Being attacked by the Lucanians, the Thurians applied to Rome for aid, and the Consul C. Fabricius not only relieved Thurii, but defeated the Lucanians and their allies in several engagements (B.C. 252). Upon the departure of Fabricius a Roman garrison was left in Thurii. The only mode now of maintaining communication between Rome and Thurii was by sea; but this was virtually forbidden by a treaty which the Romans had made with Tarentum nearly twenty years before, in which treaty it was stipulated that no Roman ships of war should pass the Lacinian promontory. But circumstances were now changed, and the Senate determined that their vessels should no longer be debarred from the Gulf of Tarentum. There was a small squadron of ten ships in those seas under the command of L. Valerius; and one day, when the Tarentines were assembled in the theatre, which looked over the sea, they saw the Roman squadron sailing toward their harbor. This open violation of the treaty seemed a premeditated insult, and a demagogue urged the people to take summary vengeance. They rushed down to the harbor, quickly manned some ships, and gained an easy victory over the small Roman squadron. Only half made their escape, four were sunk, one taken, and Valerius himself killed. After this the Tarentines marched against Thurii, compelled the inhabitants to dismiss the Roman garrison, and then plundered the town. The Senate sent an embassy to Tarentum to complain of these outrages and to demand satisfaction. L. Postumius, who was at the head of the embassy, was introduced with his colleagues into the theatre, to state to the assembled people the demands of the Roman Senate. He began to address them in Greek, but his mistakes in the language were received with peals of laughter from the thoughtless mob. Unable to obtain a hearing, much less an answer, Postumius was leaving the theatre, when a drunken buffoon rushed up to him and sullied his white robe in the most disgusting manner. The whole theatre rang with shouts of laughter and clapping of hands, which became louder and louder when Postumius held up his sullied robe and showed it to the people. "Laugh on now," he cried, "but this robe shall be washed in torrents of your blood." War was now inevitable. The luxurious Tarentines sent an embassy to Pyrrhus, king of Epirus, begging him, in the name of all the Italian Greeks, to cross over into Italy in order to conduct the war against the Romans. They told him that they only wanted a general, and that all the nations of Southern Italy would flock to his standard. Pyrrhus needed no persuasion to engage in an enterprise which realized the earliest dreams of his ambition. The conquest of Italy would naturally lead to the sovereignty of Sicily and Africa, and he would then be able to return to Greece with the united forces of the West to overcome his rivals and reign as master of the world. But as he would not trust the success of his enterprise to the valor and fidelity of Italian troops, he began to make preparations to carry over a powerful army. Meantime he sent Milo, one of his generals, with a detachment of 3000 men, to garrison the citadel of Tarentum. Pyrrhus himself crossed over from Epirus toward the end of B.C. 281, taking with him 20,000 foot, 3000 horse, and 20 elephants. Upon reaching Tarentum he began to make preparations to carry on the war with activity. The Tarentines soon found they had obtained a master rather than an ally. He shut up the theatre and all other public places, and compelled their young men to serve in his ranks. Notwithstanding all his activity, the Romans were first in the field. The Consul M. Valerius Lævinus marched into Lucania; but as the army of Pyrrhus was inferior to that of the Romans, he attempted to gain time by negotiation in order that he might be joined by his Italian allies. He accordingly wrote to the Consul, offering to arbitrate between Rome and the Italian states; but Lævinus bluntly told him to mind his own business and retire to Epirus. Fearing to remain inactive any longer, although he was not yet joined by his allies, Pyrrhus marched out against the Romans with his own troops and the Tarentines. He took up his position between the towns of Pandosia and Heraclea, on the River Siris. The Romans, who were encamped on the other side of the river, were the first to begin the battle. They crossed the river, and were immediately attacked by the cavalry of Pyrrhus, who led them to the charge in person, and distinguished himself as usual by the most daring acts of valor. The Romans, however, bravely sustained the attack; and Pyrrhus, finding that his cavalry could not decide the day, ordered his infantry to advance. The battle was still contested most furiously: seven times did both armies advance and retreat; and it was not till Pyrrhus brought forward his elephants, which bore down every thing before them, that the Romans took to flight, leaving their camp to the conqueror (B.C. 280). This battle taught Pyrrhus the difficulty of the enterprise he had undertaken. Before the engagement, when he saw the Romans forming their line as they crossed the river, he said to his officers, "In war, at any rate, these barbarians are not barbarous;" and afterward, as he saw the Roman dead lying upon the field with all their wounds in front, he exclaimed, "If these were my soldiers, or if I were their general, we should conquer the world." And, though his loss had been inferior to that of the Romans, still so large a number of his officers and best troops had fallen, that he said, "Another such victory, and I must return to Epirus alone." He therefore resolved to avail himself of this victory to conclude, if possible, an advantageous peace. He sent his minister Cineas to Rome with the proposal that the Romans should recognize the independence of the Greeks in Italy, restore to the Samnites, Lucanians, Apulians, and Bruttians all the possessions which they had lost in war, and make peace with himself and the Tarentines. As soon as peace was concluded on these terms he promised to return all the Roman prisoners without ransom. Cineas, whose persuasive eloquence was said to have won more towns for Pyrrhus than his arms, neglected no means to induce the Romans to accept these terms. The prospects of the Republic seemed so dark and threatening that many members of the Senate thought it would be more prudent to comply with the demands of the king; and this party would probably have carried the day had it not been for the patriotic speech of the aged Ap. Claudius Caucus, who denounced the idea of a peace with a victorious foe with such effect that the Senate declined the proposals of the king, and commanded Cineas to quit Rome the same day. Cineas returned to Pyrrhus, and told him he must hope for nothing from negotiation; that the city was like a temple of the gods, and the Senate an assembly of kings. Pyrrhus now advanced by rapid marches toward Rome, ravaging the country as he went along, and without encountering any serious opposition. He at length arrived at Præneste, which fell into his hands. He was now only 24 miles from Rome, and his outposts advanced six miles farther. Another march would have brought him under the walls of the city; but at this moment he learned that peace was concluded with the Etruscans, and that the other Consul had returned with his army to Rome. All hope of compelling the Romans to accept the peace was now gone, and he therefore resolved to retreat. He retired slowly into Campania, and from thence withdrew into winter quarters to Tarentum. As soon as the armies were quartered for the winter, the Romans sent an embassy to Pyrrhus to negotiate the ransom or exchange of prisoners. The embassadors were received by Pyrrhus in the most distinguished manner; and his interviews with C. Fabricius, who was at the head of the embassy, form one of the most famous stories in Roman history. Fabricius was a fine specimen of the sturdy Roman character. He cultivated his farm with his own hands, and, like his contemporary Curius, was celebrated for his incorruptible integrity. The king attempted in vain to work upon his cupidity and his fears. He steadily refused the large sums of money offered by Pyrrhus; and when an elephant, concealed behind him by a curtain, waved his trunk over his head, Fabricius remained unmoved. Such respect did his conduct inspire, that Pyrrhus attempted to persuade him to enter into his service and accompany him to Greece. The object of the embassy failed. The king refused to exchange the prisoners; but, to show them his trust in their honor, he allowed them to go to Rome in order to celebrate the Saturnalia, stipulating that they were to return to Tarentum if the Senate would not accept the terms which he had previously offered through Cineas. The Senate remained firm in their resolve, and all the prisoners returned to Pyrrhus, the punishment of death having been denounced against those who should remain in the city. In the following year (B.C. 279) the war was renewed, and a battle was fought near Asculum. The Romans fled to their camp, which was so near to the field of battle that not more than 6000 fell, while Pyrrhus lost more than half this number. The victory yielded Pyrrhus little or no advantage, and he was obliged to retire to Tarentum for the winter without effecting any thing more during the campaign. In the last battle, as well as in the former, the brunt of the action had fallen almost exclusively upon his Greek troops; and the state of Greece, which this year was overrun by the Gauls, made it hopeless for him to expect any re-enforcements from Epirus. He was therefore unwilling to hazard his surviving Greeks by another campaign with the Romans, and accordingly lent a ready ear to the invitations of the Greeks in Sicily, who begged him to come to their assistance against the Carthaginians. It was necessary, however, first to suspend hostilities with the Romans, who were likewise anxious to get rid of so formidable an opponent, that they might complete the subjugation of Southern Italy without farther interruption. When both parties had the same wishes it was not difficult to find a fair pretext for bringing the war to a conclusion. This was afforded at the beginning of the following year (B.C. 278) by one of the servants of Pyrrhus deserting to the Romans, and proposing to the Consuls to poison his master. They sent back the deserter to the king, saying that they abhorred a victory gained by treason. Thereupon Pyrrhus, to show his gratitude, sent Cineas to Rome with all the Roman prisoners, without ransom and without conditions; and the Romans granted him a truce. Leaving Milo with part of his troops in possession of Tarentum, Pyrrhus now crossed over into Sicily. He remained there upward of two years. At first he met with brilliant success, and deprived the Carthaginians of a great part of the island. Subsequently, however, he received a severe repulse in an attempt which he made upon the impregnable town of Lilybæum. The fickle Greeks now began to form cabals and plots against him. This led to retaliation on his part, and he soon became as anxious to abandon the island as he had been before to leave Italy. Accordingly, when his Italian allies again begged him to come to their assistance, he readily complied with their request, and arrived in Italy in the autumn of B.C. 276. His troops were now almost the same in number as when he first landed in Italy, but very different in quality. The faithful Epirots had for the most part fallen, and his present soldiers consisted chiefly of mercenaries, whom he had levied in Italy. One of his first operations was the recovery of Locri, which had revolted to the Romans; and as he here found himself in great difficulties for want of money to pay his troops, he was induced to take possession of the treasures of the Temple of Proserpine in that town; but the ships conveying the money were wrecked. This circumstance deeply affected the mind of Pyrrhus; he ordered the treasures which were saved to be restored to the temple, and from this time became haunted by the idea that the wrath of Proserpine was pursuing him, and dragging him down to ruin. The following year (B.C. 274) closed the career of Pyrrhus in Italy. The Consul M'. Curius marched into Samnium, and his colleague into Lucania. Pyrrhus advanced against Curius, who was encamped in the neighborhood of Beneventum, and resolved to fight with him before he was joined by his colleague. As Curius did not wish to risk a battle with his own army alone, Pyrrhus planned a night-attack upon his camp. But he miscalculated the time and the distance; the torches burnt out, the men missed their way, and it was already broad daylight when he reached the heights above the Roman camp. Still their arrival was quite unexpected; but, as a battle was now inevitable, Curius led out his men. The troops of Pyrrhus, exhausted by fatigue, were easily put to the rout; two elephants were killed and eight more taken. Encouraged by this success, Curius no longer hesitated to meet the king in the open plain, and gained a decisive victory. Pyrrhus arrived at Tarentum with only a few horsemen. Shortly afterward he crossed over to Greece, leaving Milo with a garrison at Tarentum. Two years afterward he perished in an attack upon Argos, ingloriously slain by a tile hurled by a woman from the roof of a house. The departure of Pyrrhus left the Lucanians and other Italian tribes exposed to the full power of Rome. They nevertheless continued the hopeless struggle a little longer; but in B.C. 272 Tarentum fell into the hands of Rome, and in a few years afterward every nation in Italy, to the south of the Macra and the Rubicon, owned the supremacy of Rome. She had now become one of the first powers in the ancient world. The defeat of Pyrrhus attracted the attention of the nations of the East; and in B.C. 273, Ptolemy Philadelphus, king of Egypt, sent an embassy to Rome, and concluded a treaty with the Republic. The dominion which Rome had acquired by her arms was confirmed by her policy. She pursued the same system which she had adopted upon the subjugation of Latium, keeping the cities isolated from one another, but at the same time allowing them to manage their own affairs. The population of Italy was divided into three classes. _Cives Romani_, _Nomen Latinum_, and _Socii_. I. CIVES ROMANI, or ROMAN CITIZENS.--These consisted: (1.) Of the citizens of the thirty-three Tribes into which the Roman territory was now divided, and which extended north of the Tiber a little beyond Veii, and southward as far as the Liris; though even in this district there were some towns, such as Tibur and Prænesté, which did not possess the Roman franchise. (2.) Of the citizens of Roman colonies planted in different parts of Italy. (3.) Of the citizens of municipal towns upon whom the Roman franchise was conferred. In some cases the Roman franchise was granted without the right of voting in the Comitia (_civitas sine suffragio_), but in course of time this right also was generally conceded. II. NOMEN LATINUM, or the LATIN NAME.--This term was applied to the colonies founded by Rome which did not enjoy the rights of Roman citizenship, and which stood in the same position with regard to the Roman state as had been formerly occupied by the cities of the Latin League. The name originated at a period when colonies were actually sent out in common by the Romans and Latins, but similar colonies continued to be founded by the Romans alone long after the extinction of the Latin League. In fact, the majority of the colonies planted by Rome were of this kind, the Roman citizens who took part in them voluntarily resigning their citizenship, in consideration of the grants of land which they obtained. But the citizen of any Latin colony might emigrate to Rome, and be enrolled in one of the Roman tribes, provided he had held a magistracy in his native town. These Latin colonies--the _Nomen Latinum_--were some of the most flourishing towns in Italy. III. SOCII, or ALLIES, included the rest of Italy. Each of the towns which had been conquered by Rome had formed a treaty (_foedus_) with the latter, which determined their rights and duties. These treaties were of various kinds, some securing nominal independence to the towns, and others reducing them to absolute subjection. The political changes in Rome itself, from the time of the Latin wars, have been already in great part anticipated. Appius Claudius, afterward named Cæcus, or the Blind, introduced a dangerous innovation in the constitution during the Second Samnite War. Slavery existed at Rome, as among the other nations of antiquity; and as many slaves, from various causes, acquired their liberty, there gradually sprung up at Rome a large and indigent population of servile origin. These Freedmen were Roman citizens, but they could only be enrolled in the four city-tribes, so that, however numerous they might become, they could influence only the votes of four tribes. Appius Claudius, in his Censorship (B.C. 312), when making out the lists of citizens, allowed the Freedmen to enroll themselves in any tribe they pleased; but this dangerous innovation was abolished by the Censors Q. Fabius Maximus and P. Decius Mus (B.C. 304), who restored all the Freedmen to the four city-tribes. The Censorship of Appius is, however, memorable for the great public works which he executed. He made the great military road called the Appian Way (Via Appia), leading from Rome to Capua, a distance of 120 miles, which long afterward was continued across the Apennines to Brundusium. He also executed the first of the great aqueducts (Aqua Appia) which supplied Rome with such an abundance of water. Cn. Flavius, the son of a Freedman, and Secretary to Appius Claudius, divulged the forms and times to be observed in legal proceedings. These the Patricians had hitherto kept secret; they alone knew the days when the courts would be held, and the technical pleadings according to which all actions must proceed. But Flavius, having become acquainted with these secrets, by means of his patron, published in a book a list of the formularies to be observed in the several kinds of actions, and also set up in the forum a whited tablet containing a list of all the days on which the courts could be held. In spite of his ignominious birth, he was made a Senator by Appius Claudius, and was elected Curule Ædile by the people. [Illustration: Temple of Vesta. (From a Coin.)] [Footnote 25: See p. 6. (The end of Chapter I.--Transcriber)] [Illustration: Mount Ercta in Sicily.] CHAPTER X. THE FIRST PUNIC WAR. B.C. 264-241. Rome, now mistress of Italy, entered upon a long and arduous straggle with Carthage, which ruled without a rival the western waters of the Mediterranean. This great and powerful city was founded by the Phoenicians[26] of Tyre in B.C. 814, according to the common chronology. Its inhabitants were consequently a branch of the Semitic race, to which the Hebrews also belonged. Carthage rose to greatness by her commerce, and gradually extended her empire over the whole of the north of Africa, from the Straits of Hercules to the borders of Cyrene. Her Libyan subjects she treated with extreme harshness, and hence they were always ready to revolt against her so soon as a foreign enemy appeared upon her soil. The two chief magistrates at Carthage were elected annually out of a few of the chief families, and were called _Suffetes_.[27] There was a Senate of Three Hundred members, and also a smaller Council of One Hundred, of which the latter were the most powerful, holding office for life, and exercising an almost sovereign sway over the other authorities in the state. The government was a complete oligarchy; and a few old, rich, and powerful families divided among themselves the influence and power of the state. These great families were often opposed to each other in bitter feuds, but concurred in treating with contempt the mass of the people. In her foreign wars Carthage depended upon mercenary troops, which her great wealth enabled her to procure in abundance from Spain, Italy, and Greece, as well as from Libya. Sardinia and Corsica were among her earliest conquests, and Sicily was also one of the first objects of her military enterprise. The Phoenician colonies in this island came under her dominion as the power of Tyre declined; and having thus obtained a firm footing in Sicily, she carried on a long struggle for the supremacy with the Greek cities. It was here that she came into contact with the Roman arms. The relations of Rome and Carthage had hitherto been peaceful, and a treaty, concluded between the two states in the first years of the Roman republic, had been renewed more than once. But the extension of Roman dominion had excited the jealousy of Carthage, and Rome began to turn longing eyes to the fair island at the foot of her empire. It was evident that a struggle was not far distant, and Pyrrhus could not help exclaiming, as he quitted Sicily, "How fine a battle-field are we leaving to the Romans and Carthaginians!" The city of Messana, situated on the straits which divide Sicily from Italy, was occupied at this time by the Mamertini. They were a body of Campanian mercenaries, chiefly of Sabellian origin, who had served under Agathocles, and after the death of that tyrant (B.C. 289) were marched to Messana, in order to be transported to Italy. Being hospitably received within the city, they suddenly rose against the inhabitants, massacred the male population, and made themselves masters of their wives and property. They now took the name of Mamertini, or "Children of Mars," from Mamers, a Sabellian name for that deity. They rapidly extended their power over a considerable portion of the north of Sicily, and were formidable enemies to Syracuse. Hiero, having become king of Syracuse, determined to destroy this nest of robbers, advanced against them with a large army, defeated them in battle, and shut them up within Messana. The Mamertines were obliged to look out for help; one party wished to appeal to the Carthaginians, and the other to invoke the assistance of Rome. The latter ultimately prevailed, and an embassy was sent to implore immediate aid. The temptation was strong, for the occupation of Messana by a Carthaginian garrison might prove dangerous to the tranquillity of Italy. Still the Senate hesitated; for only six years before Hiero had assisted the Romans in punishing the Campanian mercenaries, who had seized Rhegium in the same way as the Mamertines had made themselves masters of Messana. The voice of justice prevailed, and the Senate declined the proposal. But the Consuls, thirsting for glory, called together the popular assembly, who eagerly voted that the Mamertines should be assisted; in other words, that the Carthaginians should not be allowed to obtain possession of Messana. The Consul App. Claudius, the son of the blind Censor, was to lead an army into Sicily. But during this delay the Carthaginian party in Messana had obtained the ascendency, and Hanno, with a Carthaginian garrison, had been admitted into the citadel. Hiero had concluded peace with the Mamertines through the mediation of the Carthaginians, so that there was no longer even a pretext for the interference of the Romans. But a legate of the Consul App. Claudius, having crossed to Sicily, persuaded the Mamertines to expel the Carthaginian garrison. Hiero and the Carthaginians now proceeded to lay siege to Messana by sea and land, and the Romans no longer hesitated to declare war against Carthage. Such was the commencement of the first Punic War (B.C. 264). The Carthaginians commanded the sea with a powerful fleet, while the Romans had no ships of war worthy of the name. But the Consul App. Claudius, having contrived to elude the Carthaginian squadron, landed near the town of Messana, and defeated in succession the forces of Syracuse and Carthage. In the following year (263) the Romans followed up their success against Hiero. The two Consuls advanced to the walls of Syracuse, ravaging the territory of the city and capturing many of its dependent towns. The king became alarmed at the success of the Romans; and thinking that they would prove more powerful than the Carthaginians, he concluded a peace with Rome. From this time till his death, a period of nearly fifty years, Hiero remained the firm and steadfast ally of the Romans. The Romans, now freed from the hostility of Syracuse, laid siege to Agrigentum, the second of the Greek cities in Sicily, which had espoused the cause of the Carthaginians at the commencement of the war. The siege lasted seven months, and numbers perished on both sides. But at length the Romans gained a decisive victory over the Carthaginian army which had been sent to raise the siege, and obtained possession of the town (B.C. 262). The first three years of the war had already made the Romans masters of the greater part of Sicily. But the coasts of Italy were exposed to the ravages of the Carthaginian fleet, and the Romans saw that they could not hope to bring the war to a successful termination so long as Carthage was mistress of the sea. They had only a small number of triremes, galleys with three banks of oars, and were quite unable to cope with the quinqueremes, or large vessels with five banks of oars, of which the Carthaginian navy consisted. The Senate, with characteristic energy, determined to build a fleet of these larger vessels. A Carthaginian quinquereme, which had been wrecked upon the coast of Italy, served as a model; and in the short space of sixty days from the time the trees were felled, 130 ships were launched. While the ships were building, the rowers were trained on scaffolds placed upon the land like benches of ships at sea. We can not but feel astonished at the daring of the Romans, who, with ships thus hastily and clumsily built, and with crews imperfectly trained, sailed to attack the navy of the first maritime state in the world. This was in the fifth year of the war (B.C. 260). One of the Consuls, Cn. Cornelius, first put to sea with only 17 ships, but was surprised near Lipara, and taken prisoner with the whole of his squadron. His colleague, C. Duilius, now took the command of the rest of the fleet. He saw that the only means of conquering the Carthaginians by sea was to deprive them of all the advantages of manoeuvring, and to take their ships by boarding. For this purpose, every ship was provided with a boarding-bridge 36 feet in length, which was pulled up by a rope and fastened to a mast in the fore part of the ship. As soon as an enemy's ship came near enough, the rope was loosened, the bridge fell down, and became fastened by means of an iron spike in its under side. The boarders then poured down the bridge into the enemy's ship. Thus prepared, Duilius boldly sailed out to meet the fleet of the enemy. He found them off the Sicilian coast, near Mylæ. The Carthaginians hastened to the fight as if to a triumph, but their ships were rapidly seized by the boarding-bridges, and when it came to a close fight their crews were no match for the veteran soldiers of Rome. The victory of Duilius was complete. Thirty-one of the enemy's ships were taken, and fourteen destroyed; the rest only saved themselves by an ignominious flight. On his return to Rome, Duilius celebrated a magnificent triumph. Public honors were conferred upon him; he was to be escorted home in the evening from banquets by the light of torches and the sound of the flute, and a column adorned with the beaks of the conquered ships, and thence called the Columna Rostrata, was set up in the forum.[28] [Illustration: Columna Rostrata.] For the next few years the war languished, and nothing of importance was effected on either side; but in the ninth year of the struggle (B.C. 256) the Romans resolved by strenuous exertions to bring it to a conclusion. They therefore made preparations for invading Africa with a great force. The two Consuls, M. Atilius Regulus and L. Manlius, set sail with 330 ships, took the legions on board in Sicily, and then put out to sea in order to cross over to Africa. The Carthaginian fleet, consisting of 350 ships, met them near Ecnomus, on the southern coast of Sicily. The battle which ensued was the greatest sea-fight that the ancient world had yet seen. The boarding-bridges of the Romans again annihilated all the advantages of maritime skill. Their victory was decisive. They lost only 24 ships, while they destroyed 30 of the enemy's vessels, and took 64 with all their crews. The passage to Africa was now clear, and the remainder of the Carthaginian fleet hastened home to defend the capital. The Romans landed near the town of Clupea, or Aspis, which they took, and there established their head-quarters. From thence they laid waste the Carthaginian territory with fire and sword, and collected an immense booty from the defenseless country. On the approach of winter, Manlius, one of the Consuls, by order of the Senate, returned to Rome with half of the army, while Regulus remained with the other half to prosecute the war. He carried on his operations with the utmost vigor, and was greatly assisted by the incompetency of the Carthaginian generals. The enemy had collected a considerable force, which they intrusted to three commanders, Hasdrubal, Bostar, and Hamilcar; but these generals avoided the plains, where their cavalry and elephants would have given them an advantage over the Roman army, and withdrew into the mountains. There they were attacked by Regulus, and utterly defeated with great loss; 15,000 men were killed in battle, and 5000 men, with 18 elephants, were taken. The Carthaginian troops retired within the walls of the capital, and Regulus now overran the country without opposition. Many towns fell into the power of the Romans, and among others Tunis, which was at the distance of only 20 miles from Carthage. The Numidians took the opportunity of recovering their independence, and their roving bands completed the devastation of the country. The Carthaginians, in despair, sent a herald to Regulus to solicit peace; but the Roman general, intoxicated with success, would only grant it on such intolerable terms that the Carthaginians resolved to continue the war and hold out to the last. In the midst of their distress and alarm, succor came to them from an unexpected quarter. Among the Greek mercenaries who had lately arrived at Carthage was a Lacedæmonian of the name of Xanthippus. He pointed out to the Carthaginians that their defeats were owing to the incompetency of their generals, and not to the superiority of the Roman arms; and he inspired such confidence in the government, that he was forthwith placed at the head of their troops. Relying on his 4000 cavalry and 100 elephants, Xanthippus boldly marched into the open country to meet the enemy, though his forces were very inferior in number to the Romans. Regulus readily accepted battle thus offered; but it ended in his total overthrow. Thirty thousand Romans were slain; scarcely 2000 escaped to Clupea, and Regulus himself, with 500 more, was taken prisoner. This was in the year B.C. 255. Another disaster awaited the Romans in this year. Their fleet, which had been sent to Africa to carry off the remains of the army of Regulus, had not only succeeded in their object, but had gained a victory over the Carthaginian fleet. They were returning home when they were overtaken off Camarina, in Sicily, by a fearful storm. Nearly the entire fleet was destroyed, and the coast was strewed for miles with wrecks and corpses. The Romans, with undiminished energy, immediately set to work to build a new fleet, and in less than three months 220 ships were ready for sea. But the same fate awaited them. In B.C. 253 the Consuls had ravaged the coasts of Africa, but, on their return, were again surprised by a fearful storm off Cape Palinurus. A hundred and fifty ships were wrecked. This blow, coming so soon after the other, damped the courage even of the Romans; they determined not to rebuild the fleet, and to keep only 60 ships for the defense of the coast of Italy and the protection of the transports. The war was now confined to Sicily; but, since the defeat of Regulus, the Roman soldiers had been so greatly alarmed by the elephants, that their generals did not venture to attack the Carthaginians. At length, in B.C. 250, the Roman proconsul, L. Metellus, accepted battle under the walls of Panormus, and gained a decisive victory. The Carthaginians lost 20,000 men; 13 of their generals adorned the triumph of Metellus; and 104 elephants were also led in the triumphal procession. This was the most important battle that had been yet fought in Sicily, and had a decisive influence upon the issue of the contest. It so raised the spirits of the Romans that they determined once more to build a fleet of 200 sail. The Carthaginians, on the other hand, were anxious to bring the war to an end, and accordingly sent an embassy to Rome to propose an exchange of prisoners, and to offer terms of peace. Regulus, who had been now five years in captivity, was allowed to accompany the embassadors, with the promise that he would return to Carthage if their proposals were declined. This embassy is the subject of one of the most celebrated stories in the Roman annals. The orators and poets relate how Regulus at first refused to enter the city as a slave of the Carthaginians; how afterward he would not give his opinion in the Senate, as he had ceased by his captivity to be a member of that illustrious body; how, at length, when induced by his countrymen to speak, he endeavored to dissuade the Senate from assenting to a peace, or even to an exchange of prisoners; and when he saw them wavering, from their desire to redeem him from captivity, how he told them that the Carthaginians had given him a slow poison, which would soon terminate his life; and how, finally, when the Senate, through his influence, refused the offers of the Carthaginians, he firmly resisted all the persuasions of his friends to remain in Rome, and returned to Carthage, where a martyr's death awaited him. It is related that he was placed in a barrel covered over with iron nails, and thus perished. Other writers state, in addition, that, after his eyelids had been cut off, he was first thrown into a dark dungeon, and then suddenly exposed to the full rays of a burning sun. When the news of the barbarous death of Regulus reached Rome, the Senate is said to have given Hamilcar and Bostar, two of the noblest Carthaginian prisoners, to the family of Regulus, who revenged themselves by putting them to death with cruel torments. Regulus was one of the favorite characters of early Roman story. Not only was he celebrated for his heroism in giving the Senate advice which secured him a martyr's death, but also on account of his frugality and simplicity of life. Like Fabricius and Curius, he lived on his hereditary farm, which he cultivated with his own hands; and subsequent ages loved to tell how he petitioned the Senate for his recall from Africa when he was in the full career of victory, as his farm was going to ruin in his absence, and his family was suffering from want. The Carthaginian dominion in Sicily was now confined to the northwestern corner of the island, and Lilybæum and Drepanum were the only two towns remaining in their hands. Lilybæum, situated upon a promontory at the western extremity of the island, was the strong-hold of the Carthaginian power; and accordingly the Romans determined to concentrate all their efforts, and to employ the armies of both Consuls in attacking this city. This siege, which is one of the most memorable in ancient history, commenced in B.C. 250, and lasted till the termination of the war. In the second year of the siege (B.C. 249), the Consul P. Claudius, who lay before Lilybæum, formed the design of attacking the Carthaginian fleet in the neighboring harbor of Drepanum. In vain did the auguries warn him. The keeper of the sacred chickens told him that they would not eat. "At any rate," said he, "let them drink;" and he ordered them to be thrown overboard. His impiety met with a meet reward. He was defeated with great loss; 93 of his ships were taken or destroyed, and only 30 escaped. Great was the indignation at Rome. He was recalled by the Senate, ordered to appoint a Dictator, and then to lay down his office. Claudius, in scorn, named M. Claudius Glycias, a son of one of his freedmen. But the Senate would not brook this insult; they deprived the unworthy man of the honor, and appointed in his place A. Atilius Calatinus. The other Consul, C. Junius, was equally unfortunate. He was sailing along the coasts of Sicily with a convoy of 800 vessels, intended to relieve the wants of the army at Lilybæum, when he was overtaken by one of those terrible storms which had twice before proved so fatal to the Roman fleets. The transports were all dashed to pieces, and of his 105 ships of war only two escaped. Thus the Roman fleet was a third time destroyed. These repeated misfortunes compelled the Romans to abandon any farther attempts to contest the supremacy of the sea. About this time a really great man was placed at the head of the Carthaginian army--a man who, at an earlier period of the war, might have brought the struggle to a very different termination. This was the celebrated Hamilcar Barca,[29] the father of the still more celebrated Hannibal. He was still a young man at the time of his appointment to the command in Sicily (B.C. 247). His very first operations were equally daring and successful. Instead of confining himself to the defense of Lilybæum and Drepanum, with which the Carthaginian commanders had been hitherto contented, he made descents upon the coast of Italy, and then suddenly landed on the north of Sicily, and established himself, with his whole army, on a mountain called Herctè (the modern _Monte Pellegrino_), which overhung the town of Panormus (the modern _Palermo_), one of the most important of the Roman possessions. Here he maintained himself for nearly three years, to the astonishment alike of friends and foes, and from hence he made continual descents into the enemy's country, and completely prevented them from making any vigorous attacks either upon Lilybæum or Drepanum. All the efforts of the Romans to dislodge him were unsuccessful; and he only quitted Herctè in order to seize Eryx, a town situated upon the mountain of this name, and only six miles from Drepanum. This position he held for two years longer; and the Romans, despairing of driving the Carthaginians out of Sicily so long as they were masters of the sea, resolved to build another fleet. In B.C. 242 the Consul Lutatius Catulus put to sea with a fleet of 200 ships, and in the following year he gained a decisive victory over the Carthaginian fleet, commanded by Hanno, off the group of islands called the Ægates. [Illustration: Plan of Mount Ercta. A. Ercta, now _Monte Pellegrino_. B. Panormus, the modern _Palermo_.] This victory gave the Romans the supremacy by sea. Lilybæum, Drepanum, and Eryx might now be reduced by famine. The Carthaginians were weary of the war, and indisposed to make any farther sacrifices. They therefore sent orders to Hamilcar to make peace on the best terms he could. It was at length concluded on the following conditions: that Carthage should evacuate Sicily and the adjoining islands; that she should restore the Roman prisoners without ransom, and should pay the sum of 3200 talents within the space of ten years (B.C. 241). All Sicily, with the exception of the territory of Hiero, now became a portion of the Roman dominions, and was formed into a Province, governed by a Prætor, who was sent annually from Rome. [Footnote 26: The Phoenicians were called by the Latins _Poeni_, whence the adjective _punicus_, like _munire_ from _moenia_, and _punire_ from _poena_.] [Footnote 27: Probably the same as the Hebrew _Shofetim_, i.e., Judges.] [Footnote 28: The inscription upon this column, or, at any rate, a very ancient copy of it, is still preserved in the Capitoline Museum at Rome.] [Footnote 29: _Barca_ is the same as the Hebrew word _Barak_, "lightning."] [Illustration: Coin of Carthage.] CHAPTER XI. EVENTS BETWEEN THE FIRST AND SECOND PUNIC WARS. B.C. 240-210. Twenty-three years elapsed between the First and Second Punic Wars. The power of Carthage, though crippled, was not destroyed; and Hamilcar returned home, burning with hatred against Rome, and determined to renew the war upon a favorable opportunity. But a new and terrible danger threatened Carthage upon her own soil. The mercenary troops, who had been transported from Sicily to Africa at the conclusion of the war, being unable to obtain their arrears of pay, rose in open mutiny. Their leaders were Spendius, a runaway Campanian slave, and Matho, a Libyan. They were quickly joined by the native Libyans, and brought Carthage almost to the brink of destruction. They laid waste the whole country with fire and sword, made themselves masters of all the towns except the capital, and committed the most frightful atrocities. Carthage owed her safety to the genius and abilities of Hamilcar. The struggle was fierce and sanguinary, but was at length brought to a successful issue, after it had lasted more than three years, by the destruction of all the mercenaries. It was called the War without Peace, or the Inexpiable War (B.C. 238). The Romans availed themselves of the exhausted condition of Carthage to demand from her the islands of Sardinia and Corsica, and the payment of a farther sum of 1200 talents. The mercenary troops in Sardinia, who had also revolted, had applied to Rome for assistance; and the Senate menaced her rival with war unless she complied with these unjust demands. Resistance was impossible, and Sardinia and Corsica were now formed into a Roman province, governed, like Sicily, by a Prætor sent annually from Rome (B.C. 238). This act of robbery added fresh fuel to the implacable animosity of Hamilcar against the grasping Republic. He now departed for Spain, where for many years he steadily worked to lay the foundation of a new empire, which might not only compensate for the loss of Sicily and Sardinia, but enable him at some time to renew hostilities against Rome. Rome was now at peace, and in B.C. 235 the Temple of Janus, which had remained open since the days of Numa, was closed for a second time. Two new tribes were added to the Roman territory, thus making their total number thirty-five. The Temple of Janus did not long remain closed. The Illyrians, who dwelt near the head of the Adriatic upon its eastern side, were a nation of pirates, who ravaged the coasts of this sea. The Senate having sent embassadors to the Illyrian queen, Teuta, to complain of these outrages, she not only refused to attend to their complaints, but caused one of the embassadors to be murdered. War was straightway declared, and a Roman army for the first time crossed the Adriatic (B.C. 229). Demetrius of Pharos, an unprincipled Greek, who was the chief counselor of Teuta, deserted his mistress, and surrendered to the Romans the important island of Corcyra. Teuta was obliged to yield to the Romans every thing they demanded, and promised that the Illyrians should not appear south of Lissa with more than two vessels. The suppression of piracy in the Adriatic was hailed with gratitude by the Grecian states, and deserves notice as the first occasion upon which the Romans were brought into immediate contact with Greece. The Consul Postumius, who had wintered in Illyria, sent envoys to Athens, Corinth, and other Grecian cities, to explain what had been done. The envoys were received with honor, and thanks were returned to Rome (B.C. 228). The Romans had scarcely brought this trifling war to an end when they became involved in a formidable struggle with their old enemies the Gauls. Since the conquest of the Senones in B.C. 289, and of the Boii in B.C. 283, the Gauls had remained quiet. The Romans had founded the colony of Sena after the subjugation of the Senones; and in B.C. 268 they had still farther strengthened their dominion in those parts by founding the colony of Ariminum. But the greater part of the soil from which the Senones were ejected became Public Land. In B.C. 232 the Tribune C. Flaminius carried an Agrarian Law to the effect that this portion of the public land, known by the name of the "Gallic Land,"[30] should be distributed among the poorer citizens. This alarmed the Boii, who dwelt upon the borders of this district. They invoked the assistance of the powerful tribe of the Insubres, and being joined by them, as well as by large bodies of Gauls from beyond the Alps, they set out for Rome. All Italy was in alarm. The Romans dreaded a repetition of the disaster of the Allia. The Sibylline Books being consulted, declared that Rome must be twice occupied by a foreign foe; whereupon the Senate ordered that two Gauls and a Grecian woman should be buried alive in the forum. The allies eagerly offered men and supplies to meet a danger which was common to the whole peninsula. An army of 150,000 foot and 6000 horse was speedily raised. A decisive battle was fought near Telamon in Etruria. The Gauls were hemmed in between the armies of the two Consuls. As many as 40,000 of their men were slain, and 10,000 taken prisoners (B.C. 225). The Romans followed up their success by invading the country of the Boii, who submitted in the following year (B.C. 224). In B.C. 223 the Romans for the first time crossed the Po, and the Consul C. Flaminius gained a brilliant victory over the Insubres. The Consuls of the next year, Cn. Cornelius Scipio and M. Claudius Marcellus, continued the war against the Insubres, who called in to their aid a fresh body of Transalpine Gauls. Marcellus slew with his own hand Viridomarus, the chief of the Insubrian Gauls, and thus gained the third _Spolia Opima_. At the same time Scipio took Mediolanum (Milan), the chief town of the Insubres. This people now submitted without conditions, and the war was brought to an end. To secure their recent conquests, the Romans determined to plant two powerful Latin colonies at Placentia and Cremona, on opposite banks of the Po. These were founded in B.C. 218, and consisted each of 6000 men. The Via Flaminia, a road constructed by C. Flaminius during his consulship (B.C. 220), from Rome to Ariminum, secured the communication with the north of Italy. While the Romans were engaged in the Gallic wars, the traitor Demetrius of Pharos had usurped the chief power in Illyria, and had ventured upon many acts of piracy. In B.C. 219 the Consul L. Æmilius Paullus crossed the Adriatic, and soon brought this second Illyrian war to an end. Demetrius fled to Philip of Macedon, where we shall shortly afterward see him prompting this king to make war against Rome. The greater part of Illyria was restored to the native chiefs; but the Romans retained possession of Corcyra, and of the important towns of Apollonia and Oricum on the coast. Meanwhile Hamilcar had been steadily pursuing his conquests in Spain. The subjugation of this country was only a means to an end. His great object, as already stated, was to obtain the means of attacking, and, if possible, crushing that hated rival who had robbed his country of Sicily, Sardinia, and Corsica. His implacable animosity against Rome is shown by the well-known tale that, when he crossed over to Spain in B.C. 235, taking with him his son Hannibal, then only nine years old, he made him swear at the altar eternal hostility to Rome. During the eight years that Hamilcar continued in Spain he carried the Carthaginian arms into the heart of the country. While he conquered several states in war, he gained over others by negotiation, and availed himself of their services as allies or mercenaries. He fell in battle in B.C. 229, and was succeeded in the command by his son-in-law Hasdrubal. His plans were ably carried out by his successor. The conciliatory manners of Hasdrubal gained him the affections of the Spaniards; and he consolidated the Carthaginian empire in Spain by the foundation of New Carthage, now Cartagena, in a situation admirably chosen on account of its excellent harbor and easy communication with Africa, as well as from its proximity to the silver mines, which supplied him with the means of paying his troops. The conduct of his warlike enterprises was intrusted to the youthful Hannibal, who had been trained in arms under the eye of his father, and who already displayed that ability for war which made him one of the most celebrated generals in ancient or modern times. The successes of Hamilcar and Hasdrubal could not fail to attract the notice of the Romans, and in B.C. 227 they concluded a treaty with the latter, by which the River Iberus (Ebro) was fixed as the northern boundary of the Carthaginian empire in Spain. Hasdrubal was assassinated in B.C. 221 by a slave whose master he had put to death. Hannibal had now acquired such a remarkable ascendency over the army that the soldiers unanimously proclaimed him commander-in-chief, and the government at Carthage hastened to ratify an appointment which they had not, in fact, the power to prevent. Hannibal was at this time in the 26th year of his age. There can be no doubt that he already looked forward to the invasion and conquest of Italy as the goal of his ambition; but it was necessary for him first to complete the work which had been so ably begun by his two predecessors, and to establish the Carthaginian power as firmly as possible in Spain. This he accomplished in two campaigns, in the course of which he brought all the nations south of the Iberus into subjection to Carthage. Early in the spring of B.C. 219 he proceeded to lay siege to Saguntum, a city of Greek origin, founded by the Zacynthians. Though situated to the south of the Iberus, and therefore not included under the protection of the treaty between Hasdrubal and the Romans, Sagantum had concluded an alliance with the latter people. There could be little doubt, therefore, that an attack upon this city would inevitably bring on a war with Rome; but for this Hannibal was prepared, or, rather, it was unquestionably his real object. The immediate pretext of his invasion was the same of which the Romans so often availed themselves--some injury inflicted by the Saguntines upon one of the neighboring tribes, who invoked the assistance of Hannibal. But the resistance of the city was long and desperate, and it was not till after a siege of nearly eight months that he made himself master of the place. During all this period the Romans sent no assistance to their allies. They had, indeed, as soon as they heard of the siege, dispatched embassadors to Hannibal, but he referred them for an answer to the government at home, and they could obtain no satisfaction from the Carthaginians, in whose councils the war-party had now a decided predominance. A second embassy was sent, after the fall of Saguntum, to demand the surrender of Hannibal, in atonement for the breach of the treaty. After much discussion, Q. Fabius, one of the Roman embassadors, holding up a fold of his toga, said, "I carry here peace and war; choose ye which ye will." "Give us which you will," was the reply. "Then take war," said Fabius, letting fall his toga. "We accept the gift," cried the Senators of Carthage. Thus commenced the Second Punic War. [Illustration: Coin of Hiero.] [Footnote 30: Gallicus ager.] [Illustration: Lake Trasimenus.] CHAPTER XII. THE SECOND PUNIC WAR: FIRST PERIOD, DOWN TO THE BATTLE OF CANNÆ. B.C. 218-216. The Second Punic War was not so much a contest between the powers of two great nations--between Carthage and Rome--as between the individual genius of Hannibal on one hand, and the combined energies of the Roman people on the other. The position of Hannibal was indeed very peculiar. His command in Spain, and the powerful army there, which was entirely at his own disposal, rendered him in great measure independent of the government at Carthage, and the latter seemed disposed to devolve all responsibility upon him. Even now they did little themselves to prepare for the impending contest. All was left to Hannibal, who, after the conquest of Saguntum, had returned once more to New Carthage for the winter, and was there actively engaged in preparations for transporting the scene of war in the ensuing campaign from Spain into Italy. At the same time he did not neglect to provide for the defense of Spain and Africa during his absence. In the former country he placed his brother Hasdrubal, with a considerable army, great part of which was composed of Africans, while he sent over a large body of Spanish troops to contribute to the defense of Africa, and even of Carthage itself. All his preparations being now completed, Hannibal quitted his winter quarters at New Carthage in the spring of B.C. 218, and crossed the Iberus with an army of 90,000 foot and 12,000 horse. The tribes between that river and the Pyrenees offered at first a vigorous resistance, and, though they were quickly subdued, Hannibal thought it necessary to leave behind him a force of 11,000 men under Hanno to maintain this newly-acquired province. His forces were farther thinned by desertion during the passage of the Pyrenees, which obliged him to send home a large body of his Spanish troops. With a greatly diminished army, but one on which he could securely rely, he now continued his march from the foot of the Pyrenees to the Rhone without meeting with any opposition; for the Gaulish tribes through which he passed were favorably disposed to him, or had been previously gained over by his enemies. The Consul P. Cornelius Scipio had been ordered to proceed to Spain, but various causes had detained him in Italy, and upon landing at Massilia (Marseilles) he found that Hannibal was already advancing toward the Rhone. Meantime the Carthaginian general effected his passage across the river, notwithstanding the opposition of the Gauls; and when Scipio marched up the left bank of the river he found that Hannibal had advanced into the interior of Gaul, and was already three days in advance of him. Despairing, therefore, of overtaking Hannibal, he determined to sail back to Italy and await him in Cisalpine Gaul; but as the Republic had already an army in that province, he sent the greater part of his own forces into Spain under the command of his brother Cn. Scipio. This prudent step probably saved Rome; for if the Carthaginians had maintained the undisputed mastery of Spain, they might have concentrated all their efforts to support Hannibal in Italy, and have sent him such strong re-enforcements after the battle of Cannæ as would have compelled Rome to submit. Hannibal, after crossing the Rhone, continued his march up the left bank of the river as far as its confluence with the Isère. Here he interposed in a dispute between two rival chiefs of the Allobroges, and, by lending his aid to establish one of them firmly on the throne, secured the co-operation of an efficient ally, who greatly facilitated his farther progress. But in his passage across the Alps he was attacked by the barbarians, and as he struggled through the narrow and dangerous defiles the enemy destroyed numbers of his men. It was some days before he reached the summit of the pass. Thenceforth he suffered but little from hostile attacks, but the descent was difficult and dangerous. The natural difficulties of the road, enhanced by the lateness of the season (the beginning of October, at which time the snows had already commenced in the high Alps), caused him almost as much loss as the opposition of the barbarians on the other side of the mountains. So heavy were his losses from these combined causes, that, when he at length emerged from the valley of Aosta into the plains of the Po and encamped in the friendly country of the Insubres, he had with him no more than 20,000 foot and 6000 horse.[31] Such were the forces with which he descended into Italy to attempt the overthrow of a power that a few years before was able to muster a disposable force of above 700,000 fighting men. Five months had been employed in the march from New Carthage to the plains of Italy, of which the actual passage of the Alps had occupied fifteen days. Hannibal's first care was now to recruit the strength of his troops, exhausted by the hardships and fatigues they had undergone. After a short interval of repose, he turned his arms against the Taurinians (a tribe bordering on, and hostile to, the Insubrians), whom he quickly reduced, and took their principal city (Turin). The news of the approach of P. Scipio next obliged him to turn his attention toward a more formidable enemy. In the first action, which took place in the plains westward of the Ticinus, the cavalry and light-armed troops of the two armies were alone engaged, and the superiority of Hannibal's Numidian horse at once decided the combat in his favor. The Romans were completely routed, and Scipio himself severely wounded; in consequence of which he hastened to retreat beyond the Ticinus and the Po, under the walls of Placentia. Hannibal crossed the Po higher up, and, advancing to Placentia, offered battle to Scipio; but the latter declined the combat, and withdrew to the hills on the left bank of the Trebia. Here he was soon after joined by the other Consul, Ti. Sempronius Longus, who had hastened from Ariminum to his support. Their combined armies were greatly superior to that of the Carthaginians, and Sempronius was eager to bring on a general battle, of which Hannibal, on his side, was not less desirous, notwithstanding the great inferiority of his force. The result was decisive; the Romans were completely defeated, with heavy loss; and the remains of their shattered army, together with the two Consuls, took refuge within the walls of Placentia. The battles of the Ticinus and Trebia had been fought in December, and the winter had already begun with unusual severity, so that Hannibal's troops suffered severely from cold, and all his elephants perished except one. But his victory had caused all the wavering tribes of the Gauls to declare in his favor, and he was now able to take up his winter quarters in security, and to levy fresh troops among the Gauls while he awaited the approach of spring. [Illustration: Coasts of the Mediterranean, illustrating the History of the Punic.] As soon as the season permitted the renewal of military operations (B.C. 217), Hannibal entered the country of the Ligurian tribes, who had lately declared in his favor, and descended by the valley of the Macra into the marshes on the banks of the Arno. He had apparently chosen this route in order to avoid the Roman armies, which guarded the more obvious passes of the Apennines; but the hardships and difficulties which he encountered in struggling through the marshes were immense; great numbers of his horses and beasts of burden perished, and he himself lost the sight of one eye by a violent attack of ophthalmia. At length, however, he reached Fæsulæ in safety, and was able to allow his troops a short interval of repose. The Consuls for this year were Cn. Servilius and C. Flaminius. The latter was the author of the celebrated Agrarian Law which occasioned the Gallic War, and in his first consulship he had gained a great victory over the Insubrian Gauls (see p. 79)(Sixth paragraph of Chapter XI.--Transcriber). He had been raised to his second consulship by popular favor, in spite of the opposition of the Senate; and he hurried from Rome before the Ides of March,[32] lest the Senate might throw any obstacle in the way of his entering upon his consulship. He was a man of great energy, but headstrong and reckless. When Hannibal arrived at Fæsulæ, Flaminius was with his army at Arretium. It was always the object of Hannibal to bring the Roman commanders to a battle, and therefore, in moving from Fæsulæ, he passed by the Roman general, and advanced toward Perugia, laying waste the fertile country on his line of march. Flaminius immediately broke up his camp, and, following the traces of Hannibal, fell into the snare which was prepared for him. His army was attacked under the most disadvantageous circumstances, where it was hemmed in between rocky heights, previously occupied by the enemy, and the Lake of Trasimenus. Its destruction was almost complete. Thousands fell by the sword, among whom was the Consul himself; thousands more perished in the lake, and no less than 15,000 prisoners fell into the hands of Hannibal, who on his side is said to have lost only 1500 men. Hannibal's treatment of the captives on this occasion, as well as after the battle of the Trebia, was marked by the same policy on which he afterward uniformly acted; the Roman citizens alone were retained as prisoners, while their Italian allies were dismissed without ransom to their respective homes. By this means he hoped to excite the nations of Italy against their Roman masters, and to place himself in the position of the leader of a national movement rather than that of a foreign invader. It was probably in order to give time for this feeling to display itself that he did not, after so decisive a victory, push on toward Rome itself; but, after an unsuccessful attempt upon the Roman colony of Spoletium, he turned aside through the Apennines into Picenum, and thence into the northern part of Apulia. Here he spent a great part of the summer, and was able effectually to refresh his troops, who had suffered much from the hardships of their previous marches; but no symptoms appeared of the insurrections he had looked for among the Italians. Meantime the Romans had collected a fresh army, which they placed under the command of Q. Fabius Maximus, who had been elected Dictator by the Comitia of the Centuries. Fabius formed a different plan for the campaign. He determined to keep the heights, and not to risk a battle, but at the same time to watch the Carthaginian army, cut off its supplies, and harass and annoy it in every possible way. From pursuing this policy he received the surname of _Cunctator_, or the _Lingerer_. Hannibal now recrossed the Apennines, descended into the rich plains of Campania, and laid waste, without opposition, that fertile territory. But he was unable either to make himself master of any of the towns, or to draw the wary Fabius to a battle. The Roman general contented himself with occupying the mountain passes leading from Samnium into Campania, by which Hannibal must of necessity retreat, and believed that he had caught him, as it were, in a trap; but Hannibal eluded his vigilance by an ingenious stratagem, passed the defiles of the Apennines without loss, and established himself in the plains of Apulia, where he collected supplies from all sides, in order to prepare for the winter. Meantime the Romans, having become impatient at the inactivity of Fabius, raised Minucius, the Master of the Horse, to an equality in command with Fabius. His rashness very nearly gave Hannibal the opportunity, for which he was ever on the watch, to crush the Roman army by a decisive blow; but Fabius was able to save his colleague from destruction; and Hannibal, after obtaining only a partial advantage, took up his winter quarters at the small town of Geronium. Minucius acknowledged his error, and resumed his post of Master of the Horse. During the winter the Romans made preparations for bringing an unusually large force into the field. The people thought that it needed only a man of energy and decision at the head of an overwhelming force to bring the war to a close. They therefore raised to the consulship C. Terentius Varro, said to have been the son of a butcher, who had been for some time regarded as the champion of the popular party. The Senate regarded this election with dismay, as Varro possessed no military experience; and they therefore persuaded the people to appoint as his colleague L. Æmilius Paullus, who had distinguished himself by the way in which he had conducted the Illyrian war during his consulship. Hannibal remained at Geronium until late in the spring (B.C. 216), when, compelled to move by the want of provisions, he surprised the Roman magazines at Cannæ, a small town of Apulia, and established his head-quarters there until the harvest could be got in. Meanwhile the two Roman Consuls arrived at the head of an army of little less than 90,000 men. To this mighty host Hannibal gave battle in the plains on the right bank of the Aufidus, just below the town of Cannæ. We have no statement of the numbers of his army, but it is certain that it must have been greatly inferior to that of the enemy; notwithstanding which, the excellence of his cavalry, and the disciplined valor of his African and Spanish infantry, gave him the most decisive victory. The immense army of the Romans was not only defeated, but annihilated, and between forty and fifty thousand men are said to have fallen in the field, among whom was the Consul Æmilius Paullus, both the Consuls of the preceding year, the late Master of the Horse, Minucius, above eighty senators, and a multitude of the wealthy knights who composed the Roman cavalry. The other Consul, Varro, escaped with a few horsemen to Venusia, and a small band of resolute men forced their way from the Roman camp to Canusium; all the rest were killed, dispersed, or taken prisoners. Hannibal has been generally blamed for not following up his advantage at once, after so decisive a victory, by an immediate advance upon Rome itself--a measure which was strongly urged upon him by Maharbal. "Only send me on with the cavalry," said this officer, "and within five days thou shalt sup in the Capitol." Whatever may be the motives that deterred Hannibal from marching upon Rome, we can not but be surprised at his apparent inactivity after the battle. He probably expected that so brilliant a success would immediately produce a general rising among the nations of Italy, and remained for a time quietly in Apulia, until they should have had time to declare themselves. Nor were his hopes disappointed; the Hirpinians, all the Samnites (except the Pentrian tribe), and almost all the Apulians, Lucanians, and Bruttians, declared in favor of Carthage. But, though the whole of the south of Italy was thus apparently lost to the Romans, yet the effect of this insurrection was not so decisive as it would at first appear; for the Latin colonies, which still, without exception, remained faithful, gave the Romans a powerful hold upon the revolted provinces; and the Greek cities on the coast, though mostly disposed to join the Carthaginians, were restrained by the presence of Roman garrisons. Hence it became necessary to support the insurrection in the different parts of Italy with a Carthaginian force. Hannibal marched first into Samnium, and from thence into Campania, where he obtained possession of the important city of Capua, the gates of which were opened to him by the popular party. Here he established his army in winter quarters. Thus ends the first period of the war, in which Hannibal had met with uninterrupted success. Three great victories in three years, followed by the revolt of a city scarcely inferior to Rome itself in importance, seemed to promise a speedy termination of the war. [Illustration: Route of Hannibal. (See p. 90.) (After footnote 32--Transcriber)] [Footnote 31: The pass of the Alps which Hannibal crossed was probably the Graian Alps, or _Little St. Bernard_. See note "On the Passage of Hannibal across the Alps" at the end of this chapter.] [Footnote 32: At this time the Consuls entered upon their office on the Ides of March. It was not till B.C. 153 that the consulship commenced on the Kalends of January.] NOTE ON HANNIBAL'S PASSAGE ACROSS THE ALPS. (See p. 84.)(Fourth paragraph of Chapter XII.--Transcriber) The narrative in the text is taken from that of the Greek historian Polybius, which is certainly by far the most trustworthy that has descended to us; but that author has nowhere clearly stated by which of the passes across the Alps Hannibal effected his march; and this question has given rise to much controversy both in ancient and modern times. Into this discussion our limits will not allow us to enter, but the following may be briefly stated as the general results: 1. That after a careful examination of the text of Polybius, and comparison of the different localities, his narrative will be found, on the whole, to agree best with the supposition that Hannibal crossed the Graian Alps, or _Little St. Bernard_; though it can not be denied that there are some difficulties attending this line, especially in regard to the descent into Italy. 2. That Cælius Antipater certainly represented him as taking this route (Liv., xxi., 38); and as he is known to have followed the Greek history of Silenus, who is said to have accompanied Hannibal in many of his campaigns, his authority is of the greatest weight. 3. That Livy and Strabo, on the contrary, both suppose him to have crossed the Cottian Alps, or _Mont Genèvre_. But the main argument that appears to have weighed with Livy, as it has done with several modern writers on the subject, is the assumption that Hannibal descended in the first instance into the country of the Taurinians, which is opposed to the direct testimony of Polybius, who says expressly that he descended among the Insubrians, and _subsequently_ mentions his attack on the Taurinians. 4. That, as according to Livy himself (xxi., 29), the Gaulish emissaries who acted as Hannibal's guides were Boians, it was natural that these should conduct him by the passage that led directly into the territory of their allies and brothers-in-arms, the Insubrians, rather than into that of the Taurinians, a Ligurian tribe, who were at this very time in a state of hostility with the Insubrians. And this remark will serve to explain why Hannibal chose apparently a longer route, instead of the more direct one of Mont Genèvre. Lastly, it is remarkable that Polybius, though he censures the exaggerations and absurdities with which earlier writers had encumbered their narrative, does not intimate that any doubt was entertained as to the line of march; and Pompey, in a letter to the Senate, written in 73 B.C., alludes to the route of Hannibal across the Alps as something well known. Hence it appears clear that the passage by which he crossed them must have been one of those frequented in subsequent times by the Romans. This argument seems decisive against the claims of _Mont Cenis_, which have been advocated by some modern writers, that pass having apparently never been used till the Middle Ages--See _Dict. of Greek and Roman Biography_, vol. ii., p. 334, 335. [Illustration: Plain of Cannæ.] CHAPTER XIII. SECOND PUNIC WAR: SECOND PERIOD, FROM THE REVOLT OF CAPUA TO THE BATTLE OF THE METAURUS. B.C. 215-207. Capua was celebrated for its wealth and luxury, and the enervating effect which these produced upon the army of Hannibal became a favorite theme of rhetorical exaggeration in later ages. The futility of such declamations is sufficiently shown by the simple fact that the superiority of that army in the field remained as decided as ever. Still it may be truly said that the winter spent at Capua (B.C. 216-215) was in great measure the turning-point of Hannibal's fortune, and from this time the war assumed an altered character. The experiment of what he could effect with his single army had now been fully tried, and, notwithstanding all his victories, it had decidedly failed; for Rome was still unsubdued, and still provided with the means of maintaining a protracted contest. But Hannibal had not relied on his own forces alone, and he now found himself, apparently at least, in a condition to commence the execution of his long-cherished plan--that of arming Italy itself against the Romans, and crushing the ruling power by means of her own subjects. It was to this object that his attention was henceforth mainly directed. From this time, also, the Romans changed their plan of operations, and, instead of opposing to Hannibal one great army in the field, they hemmed in his movements on all sides, guarded all the most important towns with strong garrisons, and kept up an army in every province of Italy to thwart the operations of his lieutenants and check the rising disposition to revolt. It is impossible here to follow in detail the complicated operations of the subsequent campaigns, during which Hannibal himself frequently traversed Italy in all directions, appearing suddenly wherever his presence was called for, and astonishing and often baffling the enemy by the rapidity of his marches. All that we can do is to notice very briefly the leading events which distinguished each successive campaign. The campaign of B.C. 215 was not marked by any decisive events. The Consuls were Q. Fabius Maximus (whose plan of conducting the war had been fully vindicated by the terrible defeat of Cannæ) and Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus. With the advance of spring Hannibal took up his camp on Mount Tifata, where, while awaiting the arrival of re-enforcements from Carthage, he was at hand to support his partisans in Campania and oppose the Roman generals in that province. But his attempts on Cumæ and Neapolis were foiled, and even after he had been joined by a force from Carthage (very inferior, however, to what he had expected), he sustained a repulse before Nola, which was magnified by the Romans into a defeat. As the winter approached he withdrew into Apulia, and took up his quarters in the plains around Arpi. But other prospects were already opening before him. In his camp on Tifata he had received embassies from Philip, king of Macedon, and Hieronymus of Syracuse, both of which he had eagerly welcomed, and thus sowed the seeds of two fresh wars, and raised up two formidable enemies against the Roman power. These two collateral wars in some degree drew off the attention of both parties from that in Italy itself; yet the Romans still opposed to the Carthaginian general a chain of armies which fettered all his operations; and though Hannibal was ever on the watch for the opportunity of striking a blow, the campaign of B.C. 214 was still less decisive than that of the preceding year. Fabius was again elected Consul, and Marcellus was appointed his colleague. Early in the summer Hannibal advanced from Apulia to his former station on Mount Tifata to watch over the safety of Capua; from thence he had descended to the Lake Avernus, in hopes of making himself master of Puteoli, when a prospect was held out to him of surprising the important city of Tarentum. Thither he hastened by forced marches, but arrived too late; Tarentum had been secured by a Roman force. After this his operations were of little importance, until he again took up his winter quarters in Apulia. During the following summer (B.C. 213), while all eyes were turned toward the war in Sicily, Hannibal remained almost wholly inactive in the neighborhood of Tarentum, the hopes he still entertained of making himself master of that important city rendering him unwilling to quit that quarter of Italy. Before the close of the ensuing winter he was rewarded with the long-looked-for prize, and Tarentum was betrayed into his hands by two of its citizens. The advantage, however, was incomplete, for a Roman garrison still held possession of the citadel, from which he was unable to dislodge them. The next year (B.C. 212) was marked by important events in Sicily and Spain, to which we must now direct our attention. Hiero, so long the faithful ally of Rome, died shortly after the battle of Cannæ (B.C. 216), and was succeeded by his grandson Hieronymus, a vain youth, who abandoned the alliance of Rome for that of Carthage. But he was assassinated after a reign of fifteen months, and a republican form of government was established in Syracuse. A contest ensued between the Roman and Carthaginian parties in Syracuse, but the former ultimately prevailed, and Epicydes and Hippocrates, two brothers whom Hannibal had sent to Syracuse to espouse his interests, had to quit the city, and took refuge at Leontini. Such was the state of affairs when the Consul Marcellus arrived in Sicily (B.C. 214). He forthwith marched against Leontini, which Epicydes and Hippocrates defended with a considerable force. He took the city by storm, and, though he spared the inhabitants, executed in cold blood 2000 Roman deserters whom he found among the troops that had formed the garrison. This sanguinary act at once alienated the minds of the Sicilians, and alarmed the mercenary troops in the service of Syracuse. The latter immediately joined Hippocrates and Epicydes, who had made their escape to Herbessus; the gates of Syracuse were opened to them by their partisans within the walls, and the party hostile to Rome was thus established in the undisputed command of that city. Marcellus now appeared before Syracuse at the head of his army, and, after a fruitless summons to the inhabitants, proceeded to lay siege to the city both by sea and land. His attacks were vigorous and unremitting, and were directed especially against the quarter of Achradina[33] from the side of the sea; but, though he brought many powerful military engines against the walls, these were rendered wholly unavailing by the superior skill and science of Archimedes, which were employed on the side of the besieged. All the efforts of the assailants were baffled; and the Roman soldiers were inspired with so great a dread of Archimedes and his engines,[34] that Marcellus was compelled to give up all hopes of carrying the city by open force, and to turn the siege into a blockade. The siege was prolonged far on into the summer of B.C. 212, nor did there appear any prospect of its termination, as the communications of the besieged by sea were almost entirely open. In this state of things Marcellus fortunately discovered a part of the walls more accessible than the rest; and, having prepared scaling ladders, effected an entrance at this point during the night which followed a great festival, and thus made himself master of Epipolæ. The two quarters called Tyché and Neapolis were now at his mercy, and were given up to plunder; but Epicydes still held the island-citadel and the important quarter of Achradina, which formed two separate and strong fortresses. Marcellus, however, made himself master of the fort of Euryalus, and had closely invested Achradina, when the Carthaginian army under Himilco and Hippocrates advanced to the relief of the city. Their efforts were, however, in vain; all their attacks on the camp of Marcellus were repulsed, and they were unable to effect a junction with Epicydes and the Syracusan garrison. The unhealthiness of the country soon gave rise to a pestilence which carried off both the Carthaginian generals and led to the entire break-up of the army. Shortly afterward the treachery of a leader of Spanish mercenaries in the Syracusan service opened to Marcellus the gates of Achradina, and in the general attack that ensued he made himself master of the island of Ortygia also. The city was given up to plunder, and Archimedes was slain by a Roman soldier, being so intent upon a mathematical problem at the time that he did not answer a question that was asked him. He was deeply regretted by Marcellus, who gave orders for his burial, and befriended his surviving relatives.[35] The booty found in the captured city was immense: besides the money in the royal treasury, which was set apart for the coffers of the state, Marcellus carried off many of the works of art with which the city had been adorned, to grace his own triumph and the temples at Rome. This was the first instance of a practice which afterward became so general; and it gave great offense not only to the Greeks of Sicily, but to a large party at Rome itself. The fall of Syracuse was followed, though not immediately, by the subjugation of the whole island by the Romans; but these successes were counterbalanced by the defeat and death of the two Scipios in Spain. We have already seen that P. Scipio, when he landed at Massilia and found himself unable to overtake Hannibal in Gaul, sent his brother Cneius with the army into Spain, while he himself returned to Italy. In the following year (B.C. 217) Publius himself crossed over into Spain, where he found that his brother had already obtained a firm footing. They continued in Spain for several years, during which they gained many victories, and prevented Hasdrubal from marching into Italy to support his victorious brother. When Hasdrubal was recalled to Africa to oppose Syphax, one of the Numidian kings, who was carrying on war against Carthage, the Scipios availed themselves of his absence to strengthen their power still farther. They gained over new tribes to the Roman cause, took 20,000 Celtiberians into their pay, and felt themselves so strong in B.C. 212 that they resolved to cross the Iberus and to make a vigorous effort to drive the Carthaginians out of Spain. They accordingly divided their forces; but the result was fatal. Publius was destroyed, with the greater part of his troops; and Cneius was also defeated, and fell in battle, twenty-nine days after the death of his brother. These victories seemed to establish the superiority of Carthage in Spain, and open the way for Hasdrubal to join his brother in Italy. In Italy (B.C. 212) the two Consuls Appius Claudius and Q. Fulvius began to draw together their forces for the purpose of besieging Capua. Hannibal advanced to relieve it, and compelled the Consuls to withdraw; but he was unable to force either of them to fight. Shortly afterward he returned again to the south to urge on the siege of the citadel of Tarentum, which still held out; and he spent the winter and the whole of the ensuing spring (B.C. 211) in its immediate neighborhood. But during his absence the Consuls had renewed the siege of Capua, and prosecuted it with such activity, that they had succeeded in surrounding the city with a double line of intrenchments. The pressing danger once more summoned Hannibal to its relief. He accordingly presented himself before the Roman camp, and attacked their lines from without, while the garrison co-operated with him by a vigorous sally from the walls. Both attacks were however repulsed, and Hannibal, foiled in his attempt to raise the siege by direct means, determined on the bold manoeuvre of marching directly upon Rome itself, in hopes of thus compelling the Consuls to abandon their designs upon Capua, in order to provide for the defense of the city. But this daring scheme was again frustrated; the appearance of Hannibal before the gates of Rome for a moment struck terror through the city; but a considerable body of troops was at the time within the walls; and the Consul Fulvius, as soon as he heard of Hannibal's march, hastened, with a portion of the besieging army, from Capua, while he still left with the other Consul a force amply sufficient to carry on the siege. Hannibal was thus disappointed in the main object of his advance, and he had no means of effecting any thing against Rome itself, where Fulvius and Fabius confined themselves strictly to the defensive, allowing him to ravage the whole country without opposition, up to the very walls of Rome. Nothing therefore remained for him but to retreat, and he accordingly recrossed the Anio, and marched slowly and sullenly through the land of the Sabines and Samnites, ravaging the country which he traversed. From thence he retired to the Bruttii, leaving Capua to its fate. The city soon after surrendered to the Romans. Its punishment was terrible. All the leaders of the insurrection were beheaded; the chief men were imprisoned; and the rest of the people were sold. The city and its territory were confiscated, and became part of the Roman domain. The commencement of the next season (B.C. 210) was marked by the fall of Salapia, which was betrayed by the inhabitants to Marcellus; but this loss was soon avenged by the total defeat and destruction of the army of the Proconsul Cn. Fulvius at Herdonea. The Consul Marcellus, on his part, carefully avoided an action for the rest of the campaign, while he harassed his opponent by every possible means. Thus the rest of that summer too wore away without any important results. But this state of comparative inactivity was necessarily injurious to the cause of Hannibal; the nations of Italy that had espoused that cause when triumphant now began to waver in their attachment; and in the course of the following summer (B.C. 209) the Samnites and Lucanians submitted to Rome, and were admitted to favorable terms. A still more disastrous blow to the Carthaginian cause was the loss of Tarentum, which was betrayed into the hands of Fabius, as it had been into those of Hannibal. In vain did the latter seek to draw the Roman general into a snare; the wary Fabius eluded his toils. The recovery of Tarentum was the last exploit in the military life of the aged Fabius, and was a noble completion to his long list of achievements. From the time of the battle of Cannæ he had directed almost exclusively the councils of his country, and his policy had been pre-eminently successful; but the times now demanded bolder measures, and something else was necessary than the caution of the Lingerer to bring the war to a close. After the fall of Tarentum Hannibal still traversed the open country unopposed, and laid waste the territories of his enemies. Yet we can not suppose that he any longer looked for ultimate success from any efforts of his own; his object was doubtless now only to maintain his ground in the south until his brother Hasdrubal should appear in the north of Italy, an event to which he had long anxiously looked forward. Yet the following summer (B.C. 208) was marked by some brilliant achievements. The two Consuls, Crispinus and Marcellus, who were opposed to Hannibal in Lucania, allowed themselves to be led into an ambush, in which Marcellus was killed, and Crispinus mortally wounded. Marcellus was one of the ablest of the Roman generals. Hannibal displayed a generous sympathy for his fate, and caused due honors to be paid to his remains. The following year (B.C. 207) decided the issue of the war in Italy. The war in Spain during the last few years had been carried on with brilliant success by the young P. Scipio, of whose exploits we shall speak presently. But in B.C. 208, Hasdrubal, leaving the two other Carthaginian generals to make head against Scipio, resolved to set out for Italy to the assistance of his brother. As Scipio was in undisputed possession of the province north of the Iberus, and had secured the passes of the Pyrenees on that side, Hasdrubal crossed these mountains near their western extremity, and plunged into the heart of Gaul. After spending a winter in that country, he prepared to cross the Alps in the spring of B.C. 207, and to descend into Italy. The two Consuls for this year were C. Claudius Nero and M. Livius. Nero marched into Southern Italy to keep a watch upon Hannibal; Livius took up his quarters at Ariminum to oppose Hasdrubal. The latter experienced little loss or difficulty in crossing the Alps. The season of the year was favorable, and the Gauls were friendly to his cause. But instead of pushing on at once into the heart of Italy, he allowed himself to be engaged in the siege of Placentia, and lost much precious time in fruitless efforts to reduce that colony. When at length he abandoned the enterprise, he sent messengers to Hannibal to apprize him of his movements, and concert measures for their meeting in Umbria. But his dispatches fell into the hands of the Consul Nero, who formed the bold resolution of instantly marching with a picked body of 7000 men to join his colleague, and fall upon Hasdrubal with their united forces before Hannibal could receive any information of his brother's movements. Nero executed his design with equal secrecy and rapidity. Hannibal knew nothing of his departure, and in a week's time Nero marched 250 miles to Sena, where his colleague was encamped in presence of Hasdrubal. He entered the camp of Livius in the night, that his arrival might not be known to the Carthaginians. After a day's rest the two Consuls proceeded to offer battle; but Hasdrubal, perceiving the augmented numbers of the Romans, and hearing the trumpet sound twice, felt convinced that the Consuls had united their forces, and that his brother had been defeated. He therefore declined the combat, and in the following night commenced his retreat toward Ariminum. The Romans pursued him, and he found himself compelled to give them battle on the right bank of the Metaurus. On this occasion Hasdrubal displayed all the qualities of a consummate general; but his forces were greatly inferior to those of the enemy, and his Gaulish auxiliaries were of little service. The gallant resistance of the Spanish and Ligurian troops is attested by the heavy loss of the Romans; but all was of no avail, and seeing the battle irretrievably lost, he rushed into the midst of the enemy, and fell, sword in hand, in a manner worthy of the son of Hamilcar and the brother of Hannibal. The Consul Nero hastened back to Apulia almost as speedily as he had come, and announced to Hannibal the defeat and death of his brother by throwing into his camp the severed head of Hasdrubal. "I recognize," said Hannibal, sadly, "the doom of Carthage." The victory of the Metaurus was, as we have already said, decisive of the fate of the war in Italy, and the conduct of Hannibal shows that he felt it to be such. From this time he abandoned all thoughts of offensive operations, and, withdrawing his garrisons from Metapontum and other towns that he still held in Lucania, collected together his forces within the peninsula of the Bruttii. In the fastnesses of that wild and mountainous region he maintained his ground for nearly four years, while the towns that he still possessed on the coast gave him the command of the sea. [Footnote 33: See the map in the "Smaller History of Greece," p. 117.] [Footnote 34: The story that Archimedes set the Roman ships on fire by the reflected rays of the sun is probably a fiction, though later writers give an account of this burning mirror.] [Footnote 35: Upon his tomb was placed the figure of a sphere inscribed in a cylinder. When Cicero was Quæstor in Sicily (B.C. 75), he found his tomb near one of the gates of the city, almost hid among briers, and forgotten by the Syracusans.] [Illustration: Hannibal.] CHAPTER XIV. SECOND PUNIC WAR. THIRD PERIOD: FROM THE BATTLE OF THE METAURUS TO THE CONCLUSION OF THE WAR. B.C. 206-201. After the battle of the Metaurus, the chief interest of the war was transferred to Spain and Africa. The Roman armies were led by a youthful hero, perhaps the greatest man that Rome ever produced, with the exception of Julius Cæsar. The remaining period of the war is little more than the history of P. Scipio. This extraordinary man was the son of P. Scipio, who fell in Spain in B.C. 212, as already related. In his early years he acquired, to an extraordinary extent, the confidence and admiration of his countrymen. His enthusiastic mind led him to believe that he was a special favorite of heaven; and he never engaged in any public or private business without first going to the Capitol, where he sat some time alone, enjoying communion with the gods. For all he proposed or executed he alleged the divine approval: he believed himself in the revelations which he asserted had been vouchsafed to him; and the extraordinary success which attended all his enterprises deepened this belief. P. Scipio is first mentioned in B.C. 218 at the battle of the Ticinus, where he is reported to have saved the life of his father, though he was then only 17 years of age. He fought at Cannæ two years afterward (B.C. 216), when he was already a tribune of the soldiers, and was one of the few Roman officers who survived that fatal day. He was chosen along with Appius Claudius to command the remains of the army, which had taken refuge at Canusium; and it was owing to his youthful heroism and presence of mind that the Roman nobles, who had thought of leaving Italy in despair, were prevented from carrying their rash project into effect. He had already gained the favor of the people to such an extent that he was unanimously elected Ædile in B.C. 212. On this occasion he gave indications of the proud spirit, and of the disregard of all the forms of law, which distinguished him throughout life; for when the tribunes objected to the election, because he was not of the legal age, he haughtily replied, "If all the Quirites wish to make me Ædile, I am old enough." After the death of Scipio's father and uncle, C. Nero was sent out as Proprætor to supply their place; but shortly afterward the Senate resolved to increase the army in Spain, and to place it under the command of a Proconsul to be elected by the people. But when they were assembled for this purpose, none of the generals of experience ventured to apply for so dangerous a command. At length Scipio, who was then barely twenty-four, to the surprise of every one, offered himself as a candidate. But the confidence which he felt in himself he communicated to the people, and he was accordingly chosen with enthusiasm to take the command. Scipio arrived in Spain in the summer of B.C. 210. He found that the three Carthaginian generals, Hasdrubal, son of Barca, Hasdrubal, son of Gisco, and Mago, were not on good terms, and were at the time engaged in separate enterprises in distant parts of the peninsula. Instead of attacking any of them singly, he formed the project of striking a deadly blow at the Carthaginian power by a sudden and unexpected attack upon New Carthage. He gave the command of the fleet to his intimate friend Lælius, to whom alone he intrusted the secret of the expedition, while he led the land-forces by extremely rapid marches against the city. The project was crowned with complete success. The Carthaginian garrison did not amount to more than a thousand men, and before any succor could arrive New Carthage was taken by assault. The hostages who had been given by the various Spanish tribes to the Carthaginians had been placed for security in the city. These now fell into the hands of Scipio, who treated them with kindness; and the hostages of those people who declared themselves in favor of the Romans were restored without ransom. Scipio also found in New Carthage magazines of arms, corn, and other necessaries, for the Carthaginians had there deposited their principal stores. The immediate effects of this brilliant success were immense. Many of the Spanish tribes deserted the Carthaginian cause; and when Scipio took the field in the following year (B.C. 209) Mandonius and Indibilis, two of the most powerful and hitherto the most faithful supporters of Carthage, quitted the camp of Hasdrubal Barca, and awaited the arrival of the Roman commander. Hasdrubal was encamped in a strong position near the town of Bæcula, in the upper valley of the Bætis (Guadalquiver), where he was attacked and defeated by Scipio. He succeeded, however, in making good his retreat, and retired into northern Spain. He subsequently crossed the Pyrenees, and marched into Italy to the assistance of his brother Hannibal, as already narrated. In B.C. 207 Scipio gained possession of nearly the whole of Spain, by a decisive victory near a place variously called Silpia or Elinga, but the position of which is quite uncertain. Hasdrubal, son of Gisco, and Mago, took refuge within the walls of Gades, which was almost the only place that now belonged to the Carthaginians; and all the native chiefs hastened to acknowledge the supremacy of Rome. But the victories of Scipio had had but a small share in winning Spain. His personal influence had won far more people than his arms had conquered. He had gained such an ascendency over the Spaniards by his humanity and courage, his courtesy and energy, that they were ready to lay down their lives for him, and wished to make him their king. The subjugation of Spain was regarded by Scipio as only a means to an end. He had formed the project of transferring the war to Africa, and thus compelling the Carthaginians to recall Hannibal from Italy. He therefore resolved, before returning to Rome, to cross over into Africa, and secure, if possible, the friendship and co-operation of some of the native princes. His personal influence had already secured the attachment of Masinissa, the son of the king of the Massylians, or Western Numidians, who was serving in the Carthaginian army in Spain; and he trusted that the same personal ascendency might gain the more powerful support of Syphax, the king of the Massæsylians, or Eastern Numidians. With only two quinqueremes he ventured to leave his province and repair to the court of Syphax. There he met his old adversary, Hasdrubal, son of Gisco, who had crossed over from Gades for the same purpose; and the two generals spent several days together in friendly intercourse. Scipio made a great impression upon Syphax; but the charms of Sophonisba, the daughter of Hasdrubal, whom the latter offered in marriage to Syphax, prevailed over the influence of Scipio. Syphax married her, and from that time became the zealous supporter and ally of the Carthaginians. During Scipio's absence in Africa a formidable insurrection had broken out in Spain; but on his return it was speedily put down, and terrible vengeance was inflicted upon the town of Illiturgis, which had taken the principal share in the revolt. Scarcely had this danger passed away when Scipio was seized with a dangerous illness. Eight thousand of the Roman soldiers, discontented with not having received their usual pay, availed themselves of this opportunity to break out into open mutiny; but Scipio quelled it with his usual promptitude and energy. He crushed the last remains of the insurrection in Spain; and to crown his other successes, Gades at last surrendered to the Romans. Mago had quitted Spain, and crossed over into Liguria, to effect a diversion in favor of his brother Hannibal, and there was therefore now no longer any enemy left in Spain. Scipio returned to Rome in B.C. 206, and immediately offered himself as a candidate for the consulship. He was elected for the following year (B.C. 205) by the unanimous votes of all the centuries, although he had not yet filled the office of Prætor, and was only 30 years of age. His colleague was P. Licinius Crassus, the Pontifex Maximus, who could not, therefore, leave Italy. Consequently, if the war was to be carried on abroad, the conduct of it must of necessity devolve upon Scipio. The latter was anxious to land at once in Africa, and bring the contest to an end at the gates of Carthage; but the older members of the Senate, and among them Q. Fabius Maximus, opposed the project, partly through timidity and partly through jealousy of the youthful conqueror. All that Scipio could obtain was the province of Sicily, with permission to invade Africa if he should think it for the advantage of the Republic; but the Senate resolutely refused him an army, thus making the permission of no practical use. The allies had a truer view of the interests of Italy than the Roman Senate; from all the towns of Italy volunteers flocked to join the standard of the youthful hero. The Senate could not refuse to allow him to enlist these volunteers; and such was the enthusiasm in his favor that he was able to cross over to Sicily with an army and a fleet, contrary to the expectations and even the wishes of the Senate. While busy with preparations in Sicily, he sent over Lælius to Africa with a small fleet to concert a plan of co-operation with Masinissa. But meantime his enemies at Rome had nearly succeeded in depriving him of his command. Although he had no authority in Lower Italy, he had assisted in the reduction of Locri, and after the conquest of the town had left Q. Pleminius in command. The latter had been guilty of such acts of excesses against the inhabitants, that they sent an embassy to Rome to complain of his conduct. Q. Fabius Maximus eagerly availed himself of the opportunity to inveigh in general against the conduct of Scipio, and to urge his immediate recall. Scipio's magnificent style of living, and his love of Greek literature and art, were denounced by his enemies as dangerous innovations upon old Roman manners and frugality. It was asserted that the time which ought to be given to the exercise and the training of his troops was wasted in the Greek gymnasia or in literary pursuits. Though the Senate lent a willing ear to these attacks, they did not venture upon his immediate recall, but sent a commission into Sicily to inquire into the state of the army. During the winter Scipio had been busy in completing his preparations; and by this time he had collected all his stores, and brought his army and navy into the most efficient state. The commissioners were astonished at what they saw. Instead of ordering him to return to Rome, they bade him cross over to Africa as soon as possible. Accordingly, in B.C. 204, Scipio, who was now Proconsul, sailed from Lilybæum and landed in Africa, not far from Utica. He was immediately joined by Masinissa, who rendered him the most important services in the war. He commenced the campaign by laying siege to Utica, and took up his quarters on a projecting headland to the east of the town, on a spot which long bore the name of the Cornelian Camp. Meantime the Carthaginians had collected a powerful army, which they placed under the command of Hasdrubal, son of Cisco, Scipio's old opponent in Spain; and Syphax came to their assistance with a great force. In the beginning of B.C. 203 Scipio planned a night-attack upon the two camps occupied by Hasdrubal and Syphax. With the assistance of Masinissa, his enterprise was crowned with success: the two camps were burned to the ground, and only a few of the enemy escaped the fire and the sword. Among these, however, were both Hasdrubal and Syphax; the former fled to Carthage, where he persuaded the Senate to raise another army, and the latter retreated to his native dominions, where he likewise collected fresh troops. But their united forces were again defeated by Scipio. Hasdrubal did not venture to make his appearance again in Carthage, and Syphax once more fled into Numidia. Scipio did not give the Numidian prince any repose; he was pursued by Lælius and Masinissa, and finally taken prisoner. Among the captives who fell into their hands was Sophonisba, the wife of Syphax, whom Masinissa had long loved, and had expected to marry when she was given to his rival. Masinissa now not only promised to preserve her from captivity, but, to prevent her falling into the hands of the Romans, determined to marry her himself. Their nuptials were accordingly celebrated without delay; but Scipio, fearful of the influence which she might exercise over his ally, sternly upbraided him with his weakness, and insisted on the immediate surrender of the princess. Unable to resist this command, Masinissa spared her the humiliation of captivity by sending her a bowl of poison, which she drank without hesitation, and thus put an end to her own life. These repeated disasters so alarmed the Carthaginians that they resolved to recall Hannibal and Mago. Hannibal quitted Italy in B.C. 203, to the great joy of the Romans. For more than 15 years had he carried on the war in that country, laying it waste from one extremity to another; and during all this period his superiority in the field had been uncontested. The Romans calculated that in these 15 years their losses in the field alone had amounted to not less than 300,000 men; a statement which will hardly appear exaggerated when we consider the continued combats in which they were engaged by their ever-watchful foe. As soon as Hannibal landed in Africa the hopes of the Carthaginians revived, and they looked forward to a favorable termination of the war. Hannibal, however, formed a truer estimate of the real state of affairs; he saw that the loss of a battle would be the ruin of Carthage, and he was therefore anxious to conclude a peace before it was too late. Scipio, who was eager to have the glory of bringing the war to a close, and who feared lest his enemies in the Senate might appoint him a successor, was equally desirous of a peace. The terms, however, which the Roman general proposed seemed intolerable to the Carthaginians; and as Hannibal, at a personal interview with Scipio, could not obtain any abatement of the hard conditions, he was forced, against his will, to continue the war. Into the details of the campaign, which are related very differently, our limits will not permit us to enter. The decisive battle was at length fought on the 19th of October, B.C. 202, on the Bagradas, not far from the city of Zama; and Hannibal, according to the express testimony of his antagonist, displayed on this occasion all the qualities of a consummate general. But he was now particularly deficient in that formidable cavalry which had so often decided the victory in his favor; his elephants, of which he had a great number, were rendered unavailing by the skillful management of Scipio; and the battle ended in his complete defeat, notwithstanding the heroic exertions of his veteran infantry. Twenty thousand of his men fell on the field of battle, as many were made prisoners, and Hannibal himself with difficulty escaped the pursuit of Masinissa. Upon his arrival at Carthage he was the first to admit the magnitude of the disaster, and to point out the impossibility of the farther prosecution of the war. The terms, however, now imposed by Scipio were much more severe than before. Carthage had no alternative but submission; but the negotiations were continued for some time, and a final treaty was not concluded till the following year (B.C. 201). By this treaty it was agreed that the Carthaginians were to preserve their independence and territory in Africa, but to give up all claims to any foreign possessions; that they were to surrender all prisoners and deserters, all their ships of war except ten triremes, and all their elephants; that they were not to make war in Africa, or out of Africa, without the consent of Rome; that they were to acknowledge Masinissa as king of Numidia; that they were to pay 10,000 talents in silver in the course of fifty years. Scipio returned to Italy in B.C. 201, and entered Rome in triumph. He was received with universal enthusiasm; the surname of Africanus was conferred upon him, and the people, in their gratitude, were anxious to distinguish him with the most extraordinary marks of honor. It is related that they wished to make him Consul and Dictator for life, and to erect his statue in the Comitia, the Senate-house, and even in the Capitol, but that he prudently declined all these invidious distinctions. [Illustration: The Capitoline Wolf.] [Illustration: Coin of Antiochus the Great.] CHAPTER XV. WARS IN THE EAST. THE MACEDONIAN, SYRIAN, AND GALATIAN WARS. B.C. 214-188. The Second Punic War made the Romans undisputed masters of the western shores of the Mediterranean. Sicily, Sardinia, and Corsica were Roman provinces; Spain owned the Roman supremacy; Carthage was completely humbled, and her powerful neighbor Masinissa was the steadfast ally of Rome. The Roman Republic was now the most powerful state in the ancient world. Her legions had been trained to war by long struggles with Gauls, Spaniards, and Africans, and were superior to all other troops in discipline, experience, and valor. She now naturally turned her eyes toward the East, whose effeminate nations seemed to offer an easy conquest. The Greek kingdoms in Asia, founded by the successors of Alexander the Great, bore within them the seeds of decay. The mighty kingdom of SYRIA, which had once extended from the Indus to the Ægean Sea, had now lost some of its fairest provinces. The greater part of Asia Minor no longer owned the authority of the Syrian kings. PONTUS was governed by its own rulers. A large body of Gauls had settled in the northern part of Phrygia, which district was now called GALATIA after them. A new kingdom was founded in Mysia, to which the name of PERGAMUS was given from its chief city; and Attalus, who was king of Pergamus during the Second Punic War, formed an alliance with Rome as a protection against Syria and Macedonia. The king of Syria at this time was Antiochus III., who, from his victory over the Parthians, had received the surname of the Great. EGYPT was governed by the Greek monarchs who bore the name of Ptolemy. They had, even as early as the time of Pyrrhus, formed an alliance with Rome (see p. 66)(Fourteenth paragraph of Chapter IX.--Transcriber). The kingdom had since declined in power, and upon the death of Ptolemy IV., surnamed Philopator, in B.C. 205, the ministers of his infant son Ptolemy Epiphanes, dreading the ambitious designs of the Macedonian and Syrian kings, placed him under the protection of the Roman Senate, who consented to become his guardians. The Republic of RHODES was the chief maritime power in the Ægean Sea. It extended its dominion over a portion of the opposite coasts of Caria and Lycia, and over several of the neighboring islands. Like the king of Pergamus, the Rhodians had formed an alliance with Rome as a protection against Macedonia. MACEDONIA was still a powerful kingdom, governed at this time by Philip V., a monarch of considerable ability, who ascended the throne in B.C. 220, at the early age of seventeen. His dominion extended over the greater part of Greece; but two new powers had sprung up since the death of Alexander, which served as some counterpoise to the Macedonian supremacy. Of these the most important was the ACHÆAN LEAGUE, which embraced Corinth, Arcadia, and the greater part of the Peloponnesus.[36] The ÆTOLIAN LEAGUE included at this time a considerable portion of Central Greece. ATHENS and SPARTA still retained their independence, but with scarcely a shadow of their former greatness and power. Such was the state of the Eastern world when it came into contact with the arms of Rome. We have already seen that during the Second Punic War Philip had been engaged in hostilities with the Roman Republic. Demetrius of Pharos, who had been driven by the Romans from his Illyrian dominions,[37] had taken refuge at the court of Philip, and soon acquired unbounded influence over the mind of the young king. This wily Greek urged him to take up arms against the grasping Republic; and the ambition of Philip was still farther excited by the victories of Hannibal. After the battle of Cannæ (B.C. 216) he concluded a treaty with Hannibal; but, instead of supporting the Carthaginian army and fleet, his proceedings were marked by an unaccountable degree of hesitation and delay. It was not till B.C. 214 that he appeared in the Adriatic with a fleet, and laid siege to Oricus and Apollonia, which the Romans had retained possession of at the close of the Illyrian war.[37] He succeeded in taking Oricus; but the arrival of a small Roman force, under the command of M. Valerius Lævinus, compelled him to raise the siege of Apollonia, and to burn his own ships to prevent their falling into the hands of the enemy. For the next three years the war was carried on with unaccountable slackness on both sides; but in B.C. 211 it assumed a new character in consequence of the alliance which the Romans formed with the Ætolian League. Into the details of the campaigns which followed it is unnecessary to enter; but the attention of the Romans was soon afterward directed to affairs in Spain, and the Ætolians were left almost alone to cope with Philip. The Achæans also joined Philip against the Ætolians, and the latter people were so hard pressed that they were glad to make peace with the Macedonian king. Shortly afterward the Romans, who were desirous of turning their undivided attention to the invasion of Africa, also concluded peace with him (B.C. 205). The peace, which thus terminated the First Macedonian War, was probably regarded by both parties as little more than a suspension of hostilities. Philip even went so far as to send to the Carthaginians in Africa a body of 4000 men, who fought at Zama under the command of Hannibal. At the same time he proceeded to carry out his plans for his own aggrandizement in Greece, with out any regard to the Roman alliances in that country. In order to establish his naval supremacy in the Ægean Sea, he attacked the Rhodians and Attalus, king of Pergamus, both of whom were allies of Rome. He had also previously made a treaty with Antiochus, king of Syria, for the dismemberment of the Egyptian monarchy, which was placed under the guardianship of the Roman people. It was impossible for the Senate to pass over these acts of hostility, and accordingly, in the year after the conclusion of the Second Punic War, the Consul P. Sulpicius Galba proposed to the Comitia of the Centuries that war should be declared against Philip. But the people longed for repose, and rejected the proposition by the almost unanimous vote of every century. It was only by the most earnest remonstrance, and by representing to them that, unless they attacked Philip in Greece, he would invade Italy, like Hannibal, that they were induced to reverse their decision and declare war (B.C. 200). Philip was at this time engaged in the siege of Athens, which had joined Attalus and the Rhodians. The Consul Galba crossed over to Epirus, and Athens was relieved by a Roman fleet; but before he withdrew, Philip, prompted by anger and revenge, displayed his barbarism by destroying the gardens and buildings in the suburbs, including the Lyecum and the tombs of the Attic heroes; and in a second incursion which he made with large re-enforcements he committed still greater excesses. For some time, however, the war lingered on without any decided success on either side. The Consul Villius, who succeeded Galba in B.C. 199, effected nothing of importance, and it was not till the appointment of the Consul T. Quinctius Flamininus to the command that the war was earned on with energy and vigor (B.C. 198). He forced his way through the passes of Antigonea, which were occupied by the enemy, invaded Thessaly, and took up his winter quarters in Phocis and Locris. In the following year (B.C. 197) the struggle was brought to a termination by the battle of Cynoscephalæ (Dogs' Heads), a range of hills near Scotussa, in Thessaly. The Roman legions gained an easy victory over the once formidable Macedonian phalanx: 8000 Macedonians were killed and 5000 taken prisoners, while Flamininus lost only 700 men. Philip was obliged to sue for peace, and in the following year (B.C. 196) a treaty was ratified by which the Macedonians were compelled to renounce their supremacy, to withdraw their garrisons from the Grecian towns, to surrender their fleet, and to pay 1000 talents for the expenses of the war, half at once, and half by annual instalments in the course of ten years. Thus ended the SECOND MACEDONIAN WAR. At the ensuing Isthmian games, which were celebrated at Corinth in the summer of this year, Flamininus was present, and a herald at his command solemnly proclaimed the independence and freedom of Greece. This unexpected news was received with overwhelming gratitude and joy; the throngs of people that crowded round Flamininus to catch a sight of their liberator, or to touch his garment, were so enormous as almost to endanger his life. Flamininus remained two years longer in Greece in order to settle the affairs of the country. He seems to have been actuated by a sincere desire to restore the internal peace and welfare of Greece; and whenever his actions appear at variance with this object, he was under the influence of the policy of the Republic. Thus, though he made war upon Nabis, the tyrant of Sparta, and deprived him of the southern portion of Laconia, he did not expel him from Sparta, that he might serve as a useful check upon the Achæans. When Flamininus returned to Italy in B.C. 194, he withdrew the Roman garrisons from all the Grecian towns, even from Corinth, Chalcis, and Demetrias, the three strongest fortresses in the country, which were called the Fetters of Greece. On his departure he convoked an assembly of the Greeks at Corinth, in which he exhorted them to use their freedom wisely, and to remain faithful to Rome. Flamininus had been absent five years. His reputation was second only to that of Scipio Africanus. His triumph, which was most magnificent, lasted three days. It has been already mentioned that Philip had formed an alliance with Antiochus III., king of Syria, surnamed the Great, for the dismemberment of the Egyptian monarchy. During the war between Philip and the Romans, Antiochus had occupied Asia Minor, and was preparing to cross into Greece. Upon the conclusion of this war, Flamininus sternly forbade him to set foot in Europe, and for a time he shrank from a contest with the victorious arms of Rome. But the Ætolians, who had fought on the Roman side, were discontented with the arrangements of Flamininus. Their arrogance led them to claim the chief merit of the victory of Cynoscephalæ, and their cupidity desired a larger share in the spoils of the war. Flamininus had scarcely quitted Greece before the Ætolians endeavored to persuade Philip, Nabis, and Antiochus to enter into a league against the Romans. Philip at once refused, but Nabis took up arms, and Antiochus willingly entered into the designs of the Ætolians. At this time Hannibal appeared as an exile at the Syrian court. After the Second Punic War he had set himself to work, like his father Hamilcar at the end of the previous war, to prepare means for renewing the contest at no distant period. He introduced various reforms in the constitution, and seems to have deprived the Oligarchy of their exclusive power; but they avenged themselves by denouncing him to the Romans as engaged in negotiations with Antiochus to induce him to take up arms against Rome. The Senate sent envoys to Carthage to inquire into these charges; and Hannibal, seeing that his enemies were too strong for him, secretly took flight, and reached the court of Antiochus in safety. He was received with the highest honors, and urged the king to place an army at his disposal with which he might invade Italy. But Antiochus was persuaded by the Ætolians to cross over into Greece, and accordingly landed at Demetrias in Thessaly in B.C. 192. The Romans now declared war against Antiochus, and in the following year (B.C. 191) the Consul Acilius Glabrio marched into Thessaly. The king had intrenched himself in the passes of Thermopylæ, that he might prevent the Romans from penetrating into Central Greece. But there was, as is well known, a difficult passage across Mount Oeta, by which the Persians had descended to fight with Leonidas. This passage was now forced by M. Cato, who was serving as one of the Consul's lieutenants, and as soon as he appeared in the rear of the Syrian army they fled in confusion, and the battle was won. Antiochus now hastened back to Asia, abandoning all farther hopes of conquest in Greece. As soon as he had placed the sea between himself and the Romans he thought that he was safe; but Hannibal warned him of his error, and said that he wondered that the Romans had not already followed him. Next year (B.C. 190) L. Cornelius Scipio, the brother of the great Africanus, and C. Lælius, the intimate friend of the latter, were Consuls. L. Scipio was anxious to have the command of the war against Antiochus; but the Senate had not much confidence in his ability, and it was only in consequence of his brother Africanus offering to serve under him as his lieutenant that he obtained the command which he desired. Meantime Antiochus had collected a vast army from all parts of his dominions, and, advancing northward from Ephesus, laid waste the kingdom of Pergamus. But upon the approach of the Roman army, which entered Asia by crossing the Hellespont, Antiochus retreated southward; and the decisive battle was fought near Magnesia, at the foot of Mount Sipylus. The Romans obtained an easy and bloodless victory over the vast but disorderly rabble of the Syrian monarch. Only 400 Romans fell, while Antiochus lost 53,000 men. He at once gave up the contest in despair, and humbly sued for peace. The conditions were hard. He had to cede all his dominions west of Mount Taurus (that is, the whole of Asia Minor), to pay 15,000 Euboic talents within twelve years, to give up his elephants and ships of war, and to surrender to the Romans Hannibal and some others who had taken refuge at his court. Hannibal foresaw his danger, and made his escape to Crete, from whence he afterward repaired to the court of Prusias, king of Bithynia. L. Scipio returned to Rome in the following year, bringing with him enormous treasures. In imitation of his brother, he assumed the surname of ASIATICUS. The Romans were now at leisure to punish the Ætolians, who had to make head against the Romans by themselves. The Consul M. Fulvius Nobilior (B.C. 189) took their chief town, Ambracia, after an obstinate resistance, and compelled them to sue for peace. This was granted, but on the most humiliating conditions. They were required to acknowledge the supremacy of Rome, to renounce all the conquests they had recently made, to pay an indemnity of 500 talents, and to engage in future to aid the Romans in their wars. The power of the Ætolian league was thus forever crushed, though it seems to have existed, in name at least, till a much later period. The colleague of M. Fulvius Nobilior was Cn. Manlius Vulso, who had received Asia as his province, that he might conclude the peace which his predecessor, Scipio Asiaticus, had made with Antiochus, and arrange the affairs of Asia. But Manlius was not content with the subordinate part allotted to him; and being anxious for booty as much as for glory, he attacked the Galatians in Asia Minor, without waiting for any instructions from the Senate, and in direct opposition to the ten commissioners who had been sent to arrange conjointly with him the affairs of Asia. This was the first instance in which a Roman general had made war without the authority of the Senate or the People; a dangerous precedent, which was afterward only too faithfully followed. The Galatians were, as has been already said, a body of Gauls, who, after laying waste a great part of Asia Minor, had settled in the north of Phrygia. They had fought in the army of Antiochus at Magnesia, and this supplied Manlius with a pretext for marching against them. He defeated them in two battles, and compelled them to sue for peace. The campaign greatly enriched Manlius and his legions, as the Gauls had accumulated enormous wealth by their many conquests in Asia. Manlius remained another year (B.C. 188) in the East as Proconsul, and, in conjunction with the ten commissioners, formally concluded the peace with Antiochus, and settled the affairs of Asia. Eumenes, the king of Pergamus, received Mysia, Lydia, and part of Caria. The Rhodians obtained the remaining portion of Caria, together with Lycia and Pisidia. Manlius returned to Rome in B.C. 187, and his triumph, like that of Scipio Asiaticus, was most magnificent. But his soldiers, like that of Scipio, introduced into the city the luxuries of the East. These campaigns, as we shall presently see, exercised a most injurious influence upon the character of the Roman nobles and people, teaching them to love war for the sake of acquiring wealth, and prompting them to acts of robbery and rapine. [Footnote 36: See the "Smaller History of Greece," p. 214.] [Footnote 37: See p. 79. (Eighth paragraph of Chapter XI.--Transcriber)] [Illustration: Roman Soldiers. (From Column of Trajan.)] CHAPTER XVI. WARS IN THE WEST. THE GALLIC, LIGURIAN, AND SPANISH WARS. B.C. 200-175. While the Roman legions in the East were acquiring wealth and winning easy conquests, their less fortunate comrades in the West were carrying on a severe struggle with the warlike Gauls, Ligurians, and Spaniards. The Romans had hardly concluded the Second Punic War when they received intelligence that Hamilcar, a Carthaginian officer, had excited several tribes in Northern Italy to take up arms against Rome. These were the Gauls on both sides of the Po, and the Ligurians, a race of hardy mountaineers, inhabiting the upper Apennines and the Maritime Alps. They commenced the war in B.C. 200 by the capture and destruction of the Roman colony of Placentia, and by laying siege to that of Cremona, the two strong-holds of the Roman dominion in Northern Italy. The Romans now set themselves to work, with the characteristic stubbornness of their nation, to subdue thoroughly these tribes. The Insubres and the Cenomani, to the north of the Po, were the first to yield; but the Boii resisted for some years all the efforts of the Romans, and it was not till B.C. 191 that the Consul P. Cornelius Scipio Nasica received their final submission. He slaughtered the Boii without mercy, and made it one of the claims of his triumph that he had left only children and old men alive. This warlike people was now thoroughly subdued, and from henceforth Cisalpine Gaul became a Roman province, and gradually adopted the language and customs of Rome. The submission of the people was secured by the foundation of new colonies and the formation of military roads. In B.C. 190 a colony was established at Bononia, now Bologna, in the country of the Boii, and six years afterward others were also founded at Mutina (Modena) and Parma. A military road made by M. Æmilius Lepidus, Consul for B.C. 180, and called the Via Æmilia, was a continuation of the Via Flaminia, and ran from Ariminum past Placentia, Mutina, and Parma to Placentia. The subjugation of the Ligurians was a longer and more difficult task. These hardy mountaineers continued the war, with intermissions, for a period of eighty years. The Romans, after penetrating into the heart of Liguria, were seldom able to effect more than to compel the enemy to disperse, and take refuge in their villages and castles, of which the latter were mountain fastnesses, in which they were generally able to defy their pursuers. But into the details of these long-protracted and inglorious hostilities it is unnecessary to enter. The conquests of Scipio Africanus had driven the Carthaginians out of Spain, and established the Roman supremacy in that country. Accordingly, soon after the end of the Second Punic War (about B.C. 198), the Romans proceeded to consolidate their dominion in Spain by dividing it into two provinces, each governed by a Prætor, which were called Hispania Citerior, or Hither Spain, and Hispania Ulterior, or Farther Spain, and divided from each other by the Iberus or the Ebro. But it was little more than the eastern part of the peninsula that was really subject to Rome. The powerful tribes of the Celtiberians in Central Spain, the Lusitanians in Portugal, and the Cantabrians and Gallæcians in the northwest, still maintained their independence. The division of the country into two provinces showed that the Romans intended to occupy it permanently, and occasioned a general insurrection. The Consul M. Porcius Cato, of whom we shall speak more fully presently, was sent to put down this insurrection (B.C. 195). The whole country was in arms; but his military genius and indefatigable industry soon re-established the superiority of Rome. He gained several decisive victories, contrived to set tribe against tribe, and took native mercenaries into his pay. The details of his campaign are full of horrors. We read of the wholesale slaughter of men who had laid down their arms, of multitudes sold as slaves, and of many more who had put themselves to death to escape this fate. Cato was not the man to feel any compunctions of conscience in the performance of what he considered a rigorous public task. He boasted of having destroyed more towns in Spain than he had spent days in that country. When he had reduced the whole of Hither Spain to a hollow, sullen, and temporary submission, he returned to Rome, and was rewarded with a triumph. The severe measures of Cato only exasperated the Spaniards. They again took up arms, and continued to resist the Roman Prætors for the next sixteen years, till Tib. Sempronius Gracchus, the father of the celebrated tribunes, after gaining several brilliant victories over the Celtiberians, granted them an honorable peace. By his wise measures and conciliatory conduct he won the affections of the natives, and induced them to submit to the Roman supremacy (B.C. 179). It remains to mention two other wars in the West. The Sardinians and Corsicans revolted, and held out for two years against the Conqueror of Spain (B.C. 177-175). But Gracchus effected their complete subjugation, and brought to Rome so large a number of captives for sale as to give rise to the proverb "Sardi venales" for any thing that was cheap and worthless. The Istrians, near the head of the Adriatic Gulf, had been conquered by the Romans just before the Second Punic War. But their complete subjugation was now necessary, on account of their proximity to the newly-formed province of Cisalpine Gaul. Accordingly, the Consuls invaded Istria in B.C. 178, and in the following year the whole people was reduced to submission. [Illustration: Temple of Jupiter Capitolinus. (From a Coin.)] [Illustration: Lictors.] CHAPTER XVII. THE ROMAN CONSTITUTION AND ARMY. The career of foreign conquest upon which the Republic had now entered continued with little or no interruption till the establishment of the Empire. We may here pause to take a brief survey of the form of government, as well as of the military organization by which these conquests were effected. The earlier history of the Roman constitution has been already related. We have seen how, after a long struggle, the Plebeians acquired complete political equality with the Patricians. In the Second Punic War, the antagonism between the two orders had almost disappeared, and the only mark of separation between them in political matters was the regulation that, of the two Consuls and two Censors, one must be a Patrician and the other a Plebeian. Even this fell into disuse upon the rise of the new Nobility, of which we shall speak in the next chapter. The Patricians gradually dwindled away, and it became the custom to elect both Consuls and Censors from the Plebeians.[38] * * * * * I. THE MAGISTRATES.--Every Roman citizen who aspired to the consulship had to pass through a regular gradation of public offices, and the earliest age at which he could become a candidate for them was fixed by a law passed in B.C. 179, and known by the name of the Lex Annalis. The earliest age for the Quæstorship, which was the first of these magistracies, was 27 years; for the Ædileship, 37; for the Prætorship, 40; and for the Consulship, 43. All magistrates at Rome were divided into _Curules_ and those who were not Curules. The Curule Magistrates were the Dictators, Censors, Consuls, Prætors, and Curule Ædiles, and were so called because they had the right of sitting upon the _Sella Curulis_, originally an emblem of kingly power, imported, along with other insignia of royalty, from Etruria. 1. The _Quæstors_ were the paymasters of the state. It was their duty to receive the revenues, and to make all the necessary payments for the military and civil services. There were originally only two Quæstors, but their number was constantly increased with the conquests of the Republic. Besides two Quæstors who always remained at Rome, every Consul or Prætor who conducted a war or governed a province was attended by one of these magistrates. 2. The _Ædileship_ was originally a Plebeian office, instituted at the same time as the Tribuneship of the Plebs.[39] To the two Plebeian Ædiles two Curule Ædiles were added in B.C. 365. The four Ædiles in common had the charge of the public buildings,[40] the care of the cleansing and draining of the city, and the superintendence of the police. They had also the regulation of the public festivals; and the celebration of the Ludi Magni, or Great Games, was their especial function. Originally they received a sum of money from the state to defray the expenses of these games, but the grant was withdrawn about the time of the First Punic War; a measure attended with important consequences, since the higher magistracies were thus confined to the wealthy, who alone could defray the charges of these costly entertainments. After the Macedonian and Syrian wars, the Curule Ædiles often incurred a prodigious expense, with the view of pleasing the people, and securing their votes in future elections. 3. The institution of the _Prætorship_ in B.C. 366 has been already narrated. There was originally only one Prætor, subsequently called Prætor Urbanus, whose chief duty was the administration of justice. In B.C. 246 a second Prætor was added, who had to decide cases in which foreigners were concerned, and who was hence called Prætor Peregrinus. When the territories of the state extended beyond Italy, new Prætors were created to govern the provinces. Two Prætors were appointed to take the administration of Sicily and Sardinia (B.C. 227), and two more were added when the two Spanish provinces were formed (B.C. 197). There were thus six Prætors, two of whom staid in the city and the other four went abroad. Each Prætor was attended by six Lictors. 4. The _Consuls_ were the highest ordinary magistrates at Rome, and were at the head both of the state and the army. They convoked the Senate and the Assembly of the Centuries; they presided in each, and had to see that the resolutions of the Senate and the People were carried into effect. They had the supreme command of the armies in virtue of the Imperium conferred upon them by a special vote of the People. At the head of the army, they had full power of life and death over their soldiers. They were preceded by twelve lictors, but this outward sign of power was enjoyed by them month by month in turn. The magistrates above-mentioned were elected annually, but it was the practice frequently to prolong the command of the Consuls or Prætors in the provinces under the titles of Proconsuls or Proprætors. In the later times of the Republic it was usual for both Consuls and several Prætors to remain at Rome during their year of office, and at its close to take the command of provinces, with the titles of Proconsuls or Proprætors. 5. The _Dictatorship_, which occurs so often in the early history of the Republic, disappears altogether after the Second Punic War. As the Republic became powerful, and had no longer to dread any enemies in Italy, there was no necessity for such an extraordinary magistracy as the Dictatorship, but whenever internal dangers seemed to require a stronger executive, the Senate invested the Consuls with dictatorial power.[41] 6. The _Censors_ were two in number, elected every five years, but they held their office for a year and a half. They were taken, as a general rule, from those who had been previously Consuls, and their office was regarded as the highest dignity in the state. Their duties, which were very extensive and very important, may be divided into three classes, all of which, however, were closely connected. (_a_). Their first and most important duty was to take the Census. This was not simply a list of the population, according to the modern use of the word, but a valuation of the property of every Roman citizen. This valuation was necessary, not only for the assessment of the property-tax, but also for determining the position of every citizen in the state, which was regulated, in accordance with the constitution of Servius Tullius, by the amount of his property. Accordingly, the Censors had to draw up lists of the Classes and Centuries. They also made out the lists of the Senators and Equites, striking out the names of all whom they deemed unworthy, and filling up all vacancies in the Senate. (_b._) The Censors possessed a general control over the conduct and morals of the citizens. In the exercise of this important power they were not guided by any rules of law, but simply by their own sense of duty. They punished acts of private as well as public immorality, and visited with their censure not only offenses against the laws, but every thing opposed to the old Roman character and habits, such as living in celibacy, extravagance, luxury, etc. They had the power of degrading every citizen to a lower rank, of expelling Senators from the Senate, of depriving the Equites of their horses, and of removing ordinary citizens from their tribes, and thus excluding them from all political rights. (_c._) The Censors also had the administration of the finances of the state, under the direction of the Senate. They let out the taxes to the highest bidders for the space of a lustrum, or five years.[42] They likewise received from the Senate certain sums of money to keep the public buildings, roads, and aqueducts in repair,[43] and to construct new public works in Rome and other parts of Italy. Hence we find that many of the great public roads, such as the Via Appia and Via Flaminia, were made by Censors. * * * * * II. THE SENATE.--The Senate was in reality the executive government of Rome, and the Magistrates, of whom we have been speaking, were only its ministers. The Senate consisted of Three Hundred members, who held the dignity for life unless expelled by the Censors for reasons already mentioned, but they could not transmit the honor to their sons. All vacancies in the body were filled up by the Censors every five years from those who had held the Quæstorship or any higher magistracy. The Censors were thus confined in their selection to those who had already received the confidence of the people, and no one could therefore enter the Senate unless he had some experience in political affairs. The power of the Senate was very great. It exercised a control over legislation, since no law could be proposed to the Assemblies of the People unless it had first received the approval of the Senate. In many cases "Senatus consulta"[44] were passed, which had the force of laws without being submitted to the Popular Assemblies at all. This was especially the case in matters affecting religion, police, administration, the provinces, and all foreign relations. In foreign affairs the authority of the Senate was absolute, with the exception of declaring war and making peace, which needed the sanction of the Centuries. The Senate assigned the provinces into which the Consuls and Prætors were to be sent; they determined the manner in which a war was to be conducted, and the number of troops to be levied; they prolonged the command of a general or superseded him at their pleasure, and on his return they granted or refused him a triumph; they alone carried on negotiations with foreign states, and all embassadors to foreign powers were appointed by the Senate from their own body. In home affairs they had the superintendence in all matters of religion. They had also the entire administration of the finances. When the Republic was in danger the Senate had the power of suspending the laws by the appointment of a Dictator, or by investing the Consuls with dictatorial power, as already mentioned. * * * * * III. THE POPULAR ASSEMBLIES.--1. The _Comitia Curiata_, the Patrician assembly, had become a mere form as early as the First Punic War. The gradual decline of its power has been already traced. It continued to meet for the transaction of certain matters pertaining to the Patrician gentes, but was represented simply by 30 lictors. 2. The constitution of the _Comitia Centuriata_, as established by Servius Tullius,[45] had undergone a great change between the time of the Licinian Rogations and the Punic Wars, but both the exact time and nature of this change are unknown. It appears, however, that its object was to give more power and influence to the popular element in the state. For this purpose the 35 tribes were taken as the basis of the new Constitution of the Centuries. Each tribe was probably divided into five property Classes, and each Classis was subdivided into two Centuries, one of Seniores and the other of Juniores. Each tribe would thus contain 10 Centuries, and, consequently, the 35 tribes would have 350 Centuries, so that, with the 18 Centuries of the Knights, the total number of the Centuries would be 368. The Comitia of the Centuries still retained the election of the higher magistrates, the power of enacting laws, of declaring war and making peace, and also the highest judicial functions. Accusations for treason were brought before the Centuries, and in all criminal matters every Roman citizen could appeal to them.[46] But, notwithstanding these extensive powers, their influence in the state was gradually superseded by the Assembly of the Tribes. 3. The _Comitia Tributa_ obtained its superior influence and power mainly through its Tribunes. The Assembly of the Centuries, being summoned and presided over by the Consuls, was, to a great extent, an instrument in the hands of the Senate, while that of the Tribes, being guided by its own magistrates, and representing the popular element, was frequently opposed to the Senate, and took an active part in the internal administration of the state. The increasing power of the Tribunes naturally led to a corresponding increase in the power of the Tribes. The right of Intercession[47] possessed by the Tribunes was extended to all matters. Thus we find the Tribunes preventing the Consuls from summoning the Senate and from proposing laws to the Comitia of the Centuries. As the persons of the Tribunes were sacred, the Senate could exercise no control over them, while they, on the contrary, could even seize a Consul or a Censor, and throw him into prison. The only effective check which the Senate had upon the proceedings of the Tribunes was, that one Tribune could put his veto upon the acts of his colleagues. Consequently, by securing the support of one member of the body, the Senate were able to prevent the other Tribunes from carrying out their plans. The _Plebiscita_ enacted by the Tribes had the same force as the _Leges_ of the Centuries.[48] There were thus two sovereign assemblies at Rome, each independent of the other; that of the Tribes, as already observed, was the most important at the period which we have now reached. * * * * * IV. FINANCES.--The ordinary expenditure of the Roman state was not large. All the magistrates discharged their duties without pay; and the allied troops, which formed so large a portion of a Roman army, were maintained by the allies themselves. The expenses of war were defrayed by a property-tax called _Tributum_, which was usually one in a thousand, or one tenth per cent., but after the last war with Macedonia the treasury received such large sums from the provinces that the tributum was abolished. From this time the expenses of the state were almost entirely defrayed by the taxes levied in the provinces. The other revenues of the state, which bore the general name of _Vectigalia_, may be dismissed with a few words. They consisted of the rents arising from the public lands, of the customs' duties, of the taxes upon mines, salt, etc. * * * * * V. THE ARMY.--The Roman army was originally called _Legio_; and this name, which is coeval with the foundation of Rome, continued down to the latest times. The Legion was therefore not equivalent to what we call a regiment, inasmuch as it contained troops of all arms, infantry, cavalry, and, when military engines were extensively employed, artillery also. The number of soldiers who, at different periods, were contained in a legion, does not appear to have been absolutely fixed, but to have varied within moderate limits. Under Romulus the legion contained 3000 foot-soldiers. From the expulsion of the Kings until the second year of the Second Punic War the regular number may be fixed at 4000 or 4200 infantry. From the latter period until the consulship of Marius the ordinary number was from 5000 to 5200. For some centuries after Marius the numbers varied from 5000 to 6200, generally approaching to the higher limit. Amid all the variations with regard to the infantry, 300 horsemen formed the regular complement of the legion. The organization of the legion differed at different periods. 1. _First Period. Servius Tullius._--The legion of Servius is so closely connected with the Comitia Centuriata that it has already been discussed,[49] and it is only necessary to state here that it was a phalanx equipped in the Greek fashion, the front ranks being furnished with a complete suit of armor, their weapons being long spears, and their chief defense the round Argolic shield (_clipeus_). 2. _Second Period. The Great Latin War_, B.C. 340.--The legion in B.C. 340 had almost entirely discarded the tactics of the phalanx. It was now drawn up in three, or perhaps we ought to say, in five lines. The soldiers of the first line, called Hastati, consisted of youths in the first bloom of manhood, distributed into 15 companies or maniples (_manipuli_), a moderate space being left between each. The maniple contained 60 privates, 2 centurions (_centuriones_), and a standard-bearer (_vexillarius_). The second line, the Principes, was composed of men in the full vigor of life, divided in like manner into 15 maniples, all heavily armed. The two lines of the Hastati and Principes taken together amounted to 30 maniples, and formed the Antepilani. The third line, the Triarii, composed of tried veterans, was also in 15 divisions, but each of these was triple, containing 3 maniples. In these triple maniples the veterans, or Triarii proper, formed the front ranks; immediately behind them stood the Rorarii, inferior in age and prowess, while the Accensi, or supernumeraries, less trustworthy than either, were posted in the extreme rear. 3. _Third Period. During the Wars of the younger Scipio._--Under ordinary circumstances four legions were levied yearly, two being assigned to each Consul. It must be observed that a regular consular army no longer consisted of Roman legions only, but, as Italy became gradually subjugated, the various states under the dominion of Rome were bound to furnish a contingent, and the number of allies usually exceeded that of the citizens. They were, however, kept perfectly distinct, both in the camp and in the battle-field. The men belonging to each legion were separated into four divisions. 1. 1000 of the youngest and poorest were set apart to form the Velites, the light-armed troops or skirmishers of the legion. 2. 1200 who came next in age (or who were of the same age with the preceding, but more wealthy) formed the Hastati. 3. 1200, consisting of those in the full vigor of manhood, formed the Principes. 4. 600 of the oldest and most experienced formed the Triarii. When the number of soldiers in the legion exceeded 4000, the first three divisions were increased proportionally, but the number of the Triarii remained always the same. The Hastati, Principes, and Triarii were each divided into 10 companies, called Maniples. The Velites were not divided into companies, but were distributed equally among the Hastati, Principes, and Triarii. Each maniple was subdivided into two centuries, commanded by a centurion. Each legion had six superior officers, called Tribuni Militum. The legion was also divided into 10 cohorts; and as the cohorts were all equal to each other, the strength of the cohort varied from time to time with the strength of the legion, and thus at different periods ranged between the limits of 300 and 600. Three hundred horse-soldiers were apportioned to each legion, divided into 10 troops (_turmæ_), out of which three officers were chosen named Decuriones. The infantry furnished by the Socii was for the most part equal in number to the Roman legions, the cavalry twice or thrice as numerous, and the whole were divided equally between the two consular armies. Each Consul named 12 superior officers, who were termed Præfecti Sociorum, and corresponded by the Legionary Tribunes. _Fourth Period. From the times of the Gracchi until the downfall of the Republic._[50]--After the times of the Gracchi the following changes in military affairs may be noticed: In the first consulship of Marius the legions were thrown open to citizens of all grades, without distinction of fortune. The whole of the legionaries were armed and equipped in the same manner, all being now furnished with the pilum. The legionaries, when in battle-order, were no longer arranged in three lines, each consisting of ten maniples with an open space between each maniple, but in two lines, each consisting of five cohorts, with a space between each cohort. The younger soldiers were no longer placed in the front, but in reserve, the van being composed of veterans. As a necessary result of the above arrangements, the distinction between Hastati, Principes, and Triarii ceased to exist. The Velites disappeared. The skirmishers, included under the general term Levis Armatura, consisted for the most part of foreign mercenaries possessing peculiar skill in the use of some national weapon, such as the Balearic slingers, the Cretan archers (_sagittarii_), and the Moorish dartmen. When operations requiring great activity were undertaken, such as could not be performed by mere skirmishers, detachments of legionaries were lightly equipped, and marched without baggage for these special services.[51] The cavalry of the legion underwent a change in every respect analogous to that which took place with regard to the light-armed troops. The Roman Equites attached to the army were very few in number, and were chiefly employed as aids-de-camp and on confidential missions. The bulk of the cavalry consisted of foreigners, and hence we find the legions and the cavalry spoken of as completely distinct from each other. After the termination of the Social War, when most of the inhabitants of Italy became Roman citizens, the ancient distinction between the Legiones and the Socii disappeared, and all who had served as Socii became incorporated with the Legiones. In the course of the history the Triumphs granted to victorious generals have been frequently mentioned, and therefore a brief description of them may appropriately close this sketch of the Roman army. A Triumph was a solemn procession, in which a victorious general entered the city in a chariot drawn by four horses. He was preceded by the captives and spoils taken in war, was followed by his troops, and, after passing in state along the Via Sacra, ascended the Capitol to offer sacrifice in the Temple of Jupiter. From the beginning of the Republic down to the extinction of liberty a Triumph was recognized as the summit of military glory, and was the cherished object of ambition to every Roman general. After any decisive battle had been won, or a province subdued by a series of successful operations, the general forwarded to the Senate a laurel-wreathed dispatch containing an account of his exploits. If the intelligence proved satisfactory the Senate decreed a public thanksgiving.[52] After the war was concluded, the general, with his army, repaired to Rome, or ordered his army to meet him there on a given day, but did not enter the city. A meeting of the Senate was held without the walls, that he might have an opportunity of urging his pretensions in person, and these were then scrutinized and discussed with the most jealous care. If the Senate gave their consent, they at the same time voted a sum of money toward defraying the necessary expenses, and one of the Tribunes applied for a plebiscitum to permit the Imperator to retain his imperium on the day when he entered the city. This last form could not be dispensed with, because the imperium conferred by the Comitia did not include the city itself; and accordingly the military power of the general ceased as soon as he re-entered the gates, unless the general law had been previously suspended by a special enactment. [Illustration: A Roman general addressing the soldiers. (From a Coin.)] [Footnote 38: Two Plebeian Consuls were first appointed in B.C. 172, and two Plebeian Censors in B.C. 131.] [Footnote 39: See p. 31. (Eighth paragraph of Chapter IV.--Transcriber)] [Footnote 40: Hence their name, from _Ædes_, a temple.] [Footnote 41: This was done by the well-known formula "Videant," or "Dent operam Consules, ne quid res publica detriment capiat."] [Footnote 42: These farmers of the public revenue were called _Publicani_.] [Footnote 43: It is not easy to define with accuracy the respective duties of the Censors and Ædiles in relation to the public buildings; but it may be stated in general that the superintendence of the Ædiles was more in the way of police, while that of the Censors had reference to all financial matters.] [Footnote 44: A _Senatus consultum_ was so called because the Consul who brought a matter before the Senate was said _Senatum consulere_.] [Footnote 45: See p. 19.(Ninth paragraph of Chapter III.--Transcriber)] [Footnote 46: The technical word for this appeal was _Provocatio_. The word _Appellatio_ signified an appeal from one magistrate to another.] [Footnote 47: See p. 31.(Eighth paragraph of Chapter IV.--Transcriber)] [Footnote 48: See p. 40.(Eighth paragraph of Chapter V.--Transcriber)] [Footnote 49: See p. 19.(Ninth paragraph of Chapter III.--Transcriber)] [Footnote 50: We anticipate the course of events in order to give under one view the history of the Roman legion.] [Footnote 51: Hence the frequent occurrence of such phrases as _expediti_, _expediti milites_, _expeditæ cohortes_, and even _expeditæ legiones_.] [Footnote 52: Called _Supplicatio_.] [Illustration: Scipio Africanus.] CHAPTER XVIII. INTERNAL HISTORY OF ROME DURING THE MACEDONIAN AND SYRIAN WARS. CATO AND SCIPIO. The conquests of the Romans in the East had exercised a most pernicious influence upon the national character. They were originally a hardy, industrious, and religious race, distinguished by unbending integrity and love of order. They lived with great frugality upon their small farms, which they cultivated with their own hands; but they were stern and somewhat cruel, and cared little or nothing for literature and the arts. Upon such a people the sudden acquisition of wealth produced its natural effects. They employed it in the gratification of their appetites, and in coarse sensual pleasures. Some of the Roman nobles, such as Scipio Africanus, Flamininus (the conqueror of Philip), and others, acquired a love for Greek literature and art; but the great mass of the nation imitated only the vices of the Greeks. Cooks, who had formerly been the cheapest kind of slaves at Rome, now became the most valuable. A love of luxury and a general depravity gradually spread through all classes of society. A striking instance of the growing licentiousness of the times was brought to light in B.C. 186. It was discovered that the worship of Bacchus had been introduced from Southern Italy into Rome and other towns, and that secret societies were formed, which, under the cloak of this worship, indulged in the most abominable vices. A stringent inquiry was made into these practices; the most guilty were put to death; and a decree of the Senate was passed, forbidding the worship of Bacchus in Rome and throughout Italy. Another circumstance will illustrate the manners of the times. L. Flamininus, the brother of the conqueror of Philip, and Consul in B.C. 192, took with him into Cisalpine Gaul a beautiful Carthaginian boy, to whom he was attached. The youth complained of leaving Rome just before the exhibition of the games of the gladiators. Shortly after reaching the province, when Flamininus was feasting with his favorite, a Boian chief came into the Consul's tent to implore his protection. Flamininus seized this opportunity to please the boy, and, telling him that he should be rewarded for not seeing the gladiators, he ordered an attendant to stab the Gaul, that his favorite might enjoy the dying agonies of the man. The increasing love of gladiatorial combats was another indication of the national character. These brutalizing sports are said to have taken their origin from the Etruscans, who were accustomed to kill slaves and captives at the funerals of their relatives. They were first exhibited at Rome in the beginning of the First Punic War (B.C. 264). At first confined to funerals, they were afterward exhibited by the Ædiles at the public games, with the view of pleasing the people. The passion for this brutalizing amusement rose to a great height toward the end of the Republic and under the Empire. Great pains were taken with the training of gladiators, who were divided into different classes according to their arms and modes of fighting. Among many other important consequences of these foreign wars, two exercised an especial influence upon the future fate of the Republic. The nobles became enormously rich, and the peasant proprietors almost entirely disappeared. The wealthy nobles now combined together to keep in their own families the public offices of the state, which afforded the means of making such enormous fortunes. Thus a new Nobility was formed, resting on wealth, and composed alike of plebeian and patrician families. Every one whose ancestry had not held any of the curule magistracies[53] was called a New Man, and was branded as an upstart.[54] It became more and more difficult for a New Man to rise to office, and the Nobles were thus almost an hereditary aristocracy in the exclusive possession of the government. The wealth they had acquired in foreign commands enabled them not only to incur a prodigious expense in the celebration of the public games in their ædileship, with the view of gaining the votes of the people at future elections, but also to spend large sums of money in the actual purchase of votes. The first law against bribery[55] was passed in B.C. 181, a sure proof of the growth of the practice. The decay of the peasant proprietors was an inevitable consequence of these frequent and long-protracted wars. In the earlier times the citizen-soldier, after a few weeks' campaign, returned home to cultivate his land; but this became impossible when wars were carried on out of Italy. Moreover, the soldier, easily obtaining abundance of booty, found life in the camp more pleasant than the cultivation of the ground. He was thus as ready to sell his land as the nobles were anxious to buy it. But money acquired by plunder is soon squandered. The soldier, returning to Rome, swelled the ranks of the poor; and thus, while the nobles became richer and richer, the lower classes became poorer and poorer. In consequence of the institution of slavery there was little or no demand for free labor, and as prisoners taken in war were sold as slaves, the slave-market was always well supplied. The estates of the wealthy were cultivated by large gangs of slaves; and even the mechanical arts, which give employment to such large numbers in the modern towns of Europe, were practiced by slaves, whom their masters had trained for the purpose. The poor at Rome were thus left almost without resources; their votes in the popular assembly were nearly the only thing they could turn into money, and it is therefore not surprising that they were ready to sell them to the highest bidder. Many distinguished men saw with deep regret the old Roman virtues disappearing, and strove vigorously against these corruptions of the national character. Of this party the most conspicuous member was M. Porcius Cato, who may be taken as a type of the old Roman character. He was born at Tusculum in B.C. 234. When a young man, the death of his father put him in possession of a small hereditary estate in the Sabine territory, at a distance from his native town. It was here that he passed the greater part of his boyhood, hardening his body by healthful exercise, and superintending and sharing the operations of the farm. Near his estate was an humble cottage, which had been tenanted, after three triumphs, by its owner M. Curius Dentatus, whose warlike exploits and simple character were often talked of with admiration in the neighborhood. The ardor of the youthful Cato was kindled. He resolved to imitate the character, and hoped to rival the glory, of Dentatus. Opportunity was not wanting. He took his first military lessons in the campaigns against Hannibal, and gained the favor and friendship of Fabius Maximus. He was also patronized by L. Valerius Flaccus, a Roman noble in his neighborhood, and a warm supporter of the old Roman manners, who had observed Cato's eloquence, as well as his martial spirit. Encouraged by Fabius and Flaccus, Cato became a candidate for office, and was elected Quæstor in B.C. 204. He followed P. Scipio Africanus to Sicily, but there was not that cordiality of co-operation between Cato and Scipio which ought to subsist between a Quæstor and his Proconsul. Fabius had opposed the permission given to Scipio to carry the attack into the enemy's home, and Cato, whose appointment was intended to operate as a check upon Scipio, adopted the views of his friend. Cato was Prætor in Sardinia in B.C. 198, where he took the earliest opportunity of illustrating his principles by his practice. He diminished official expenses, walked his circuits with a single attendant, administered justice with strict impartiality, and restrained usury with unsparing severity. He had now established a reputation for pure morality and strict old-fashioned virtue. He was looked upon as the living type and representative of the ideal ancient Roman. To the advancement of such a man opposition was vain. In B.C. 195 he was elected Consul with his old friend and patron L. Valerius Flaccus. During his consulship a strange scene took place peculiarly illustrative of Roman manners. In B.C. 215, at the height of the Punic War, a law had been passed, proposed by the Tribune Oppius, that no woman should possess more than half an ounce of gold, nor wear a garment of divers colors, nor drive a carriage with horses within a mile of the city, except for the purpose of attending the public celebration of religious rites. Now that Hannibal was conquered, and Rome abounded with Carthaginian wealth, there being no longer any necessity for women to contribute toward the exigencies of an impoverished treasury the savings spared from their ornaments and pleasures, two Tribunes thought it time to propose the abolition of the Oppian law; but they were opposed by two of their colleagues. The most important affairs of state excited far less interest and zeal than this singular contest. The matrons blockaded every avenue to the forum, and intercepted their husbands as they approached, beseeching them to restore the ancient ornaments of the Roman matrons. Even Flaccus wavered, but his colleague Cato was inexorable. Finally, the women carried the day. Worn out by their importunity, the two Tribunes withdrew their opposition, and the hated law was abolished by the suffrage of all the tribes. Cato's campaign in Spain during his Consulship, which added greatly to his military reputation, has been already related. He afterward served in Greece under M. Glabrio, where he distinguished himself at the battle of Thermopylæ fought against Antiochus (B.C. 191). The victory of Zama had made P. Scipio Africanus the first man in the Republic, and for a time silenced all his enemies. But the party of Fabius still cherished their old animosity against him, and Cato inherited the hatred of his friend and patron. After the return of P. Scipio and his brother Lucius from the war against Antiochus, they were charged with having been bribed to let off the Syrian monarch too leniently, and of having appropriated to their own use a portion of the money which had been paid by Antiochus to the Roman state. The first blow was directed against Lucius Scipio. At the instigation of Cato, the two Petillii Tribunes of the people required Lucius to render an account of all sums of money which he had received from Antiochus. Lucius accordingly prepared his accounts; but, as he was in the act of delivering them up, the proud conqueror of Hannibal indignantly snatched them out of his hands, and tore them in pieces, saying "it was unworthy to call to account for a few thousands a man who had paid millions into the treasury." But this haughty conduct appears to have produced an unfavorable impression, and his brother, when brought to trial in the course of the tame year, was declared guilty, and sentenced to pay a heavy fine. The Tribune ordered him to be dragged to prison, and there detained till the money was paid; whereupon Africanus, still more enraged at this fresh insult to his family, and setting himself above the laws, rescued his brother from the hands of the Tribune's officer. The contest would probably have been attended with fatal results had not Tib. Gracchus, the father of the celebrated Tribune, and then Tribune himself, had the prudence, although he disapproved of the violent conduct of Africanus, to release his brother Lucius from the sentence of imprisonment. The successful issue of the prosecution of Lucius emboldened his enemies to bring the great Africanus himself before the people. His accuser was the Tribune M. Nævius. When the trial came on, Scipio did not condescend to say a single word in refutation of the charges that had been brought against him, but descanted long and eloquently upon the signal services he had rendered to the commonwealth. Having spoken till nightfall, the trial was adjourned till the following day. Early next morning, when the Tribunes had taken their seats on the rostra, and Africanus was summoned, he proudly reminded the people that this was the anniversary of the day on which he had defeated Hannibal at Zama, and called upon them to neglect all disputes and lawsuits, and follow him to the Capitol, there to return thanks to the immortal gods, and pray that they would grant the Roman state other citizens like himself. Scipio struck a chord which vibrated in every heart; their veneration for the hero returned; and he was followed by such crowds to the Capitol that the Tribunes were left alone in the rostra. Having thus set all the laws at defiance, Scipio immediately quitted Rome, and retired to his country seat at Liternum. The Tribunes wished to renew the prosecution, but Gracchus wisely persuaded them to let it drop. Scipio never returned to Rome. He would neither submit to the laws, nor aspire to the sovereignty of the state, and he therefore resolved to expatriate himself forever. He passed his remaining days in the cultivation of his estate at Liternum, and at his death is said to have requested that his body might be buried there, and not in his ungrateful country (B.C. 183). Hannibal perished in the same year as his great opponent. Scipio was the only member of the Senate who opposed the unworthy persecution which the Romans employed against their once dreaded foe. Each of these great men, possessing true nobility of soul, could appreciate the other's merits. A story is told that Scipio was one of the embassadors sent to Antiochus at Ephesus, at whose court Hannibal was then residing, and that he there had an interview with the great Carthaginian, who declared him the greatest general that ever lived. The compliment was paid in a manner the most flattering to Scipio. The latter had asked, "Who was the greatest general?" "Alexander the Great," was Hannibal's reply. "Who was the second?" "Pyrrhus." "Who was the third?" "Myself," replied the Carthaginian. "What would you have said, then, if you had conquered me?" asked Scipio, in astonishment. "I should then have placed myself above Alexander, Pyrrhus, and all other generals." After the defeat of Antiochus, Hannibal, as we have already seen, took up his abode with Prusias, king of Bithynia, and there found for some years a secure asylum. But the Romans could not be at ease so long as Hannibal lived, and T. Flamininus was at length dispatched to the court of Prusias to demand the surrender of the fugitive. The Bithynian king was unable to resist; but Hannibal, who had long been in expectation of such an event, took poison to avoid falling into the hands of his implacable foes. We now return to Cato, whose Censorship (B.C. 184) was a great epoch in his life. He applied himself strenuously to the duties of his office, regardless of the enemies he was making. He repaired the water-courses, paved the reservoirs, cleansed the drains, raised the rents paid by the publicani for farming the taxes, and diminished the contract-prices disbursed by the state to the undertakers of public works. There can be no doubt that great abuses existed in the management of the public finances, with which nothing but the undaunted courage and administrative abilities of Cato could have successfully grappled. He was disturbing a nest of hornets, and all his future life was troubled by their buzz, and their attempts to sting. But, though he was accused no fewer than forty-four times during the course of his life, it was only once that his enemies prevailed against him. His enactments against luxury were severe and stringent. He levied a heavy tax upon expensive slaves and costly furniture and dress. He justly degraded from the Senate L. Flamininus for the act of abominable cruelty in Gaul which has been already narrated.[56] The strong national prejudices of Cato appear to have diminished in force as he grew older and wiser. He applied himself in old age to the study of Greek literature, with which in youth he had no acquaintance, although he was not ignorant of the Greek language. Himself an historian and orator, the excellences of Demosthenes and Thucydides made a deep impression upon his kindred mind. But throughout life his conduct was guided by prejudices against classes and nations whose influence he deemed to be hostile to the simplicity of the old Roman character. When Eumenes, king of Pergamus, visited Rome after the war with Antiochus, and was received with honor by the Senate, and splendidly entertained by the nobles, Cato was indignant at the respect paid to the monarch, refused to go near him, and declared that "kings were naturally carnivorous animals." He had an antipathy to physicians, because they were mostly Greeks, and therefore unfit to be trusted with Roman lives. He loudly cautioned his eldest son against them, and dispensed with their attendance. When Athens sent three celebrated philosophers, Carneades, Diogenes, and Critolaüs, to Rome, in order to negotiate a remission of the 500 talents which the Athenians had been awarded to pay to the Oropians, Carneades excited great attention by his philosophical conversation and lectures, in which he preached the pernicious doctrine of an expediency distinct from justice, which he illustrated by the example of Rome herself: "If Rome were stripped of all that she did not justly gain, the Romans might go back to their huts." Cato, offended with his principles, and jealous of the attention paid to the Greek, gave advice which the Senate followed: "Let these deputies have an answer, and a polite dismissal as soon as possible." Cato was an unfeeling and cruel master. His conduct toward his slaves was detestable. The law held them to be mere chattels, and he treated them as such, without any regard to the rights of humanity. After supper he often severely chastised them, thong in hand, for trifling acts of negligence, and sometimes condemned them to death. When they were worn out, or useless, he sold them, or turned them out of doors. He treated the lower animals no better. His war-horse, which bore him through his campaign in Spain, he sold before he left the country, that the state might not be charged with the expenses of its transport. As years advanced he sought gain with increasing eagerness, but never attempted to profit by the misuse of his public functions. He accepted no bribes; he reserved no booty to his own use; but he became a speculator, not only in slaves, but in buildings, artificial waters, and pleasure-grounds. In this, as in other points, he was a representative of the old Romans, who were a money-getting and money-loving people. [Footnote 53: See p. 117.(Third paragraph of Chapter XVII.--Transcriber)] [Footnote 54: The _Nobiles_ were distinguished from the _Ignobiles_. The outward distinction of the former was the _Jus Imaginum_. These Imagines were figures with painted masks of wax, representing the ancestors who had held any of the curule magistracies. They were placed in cases in the atrium or reception-hall of the house, and were carried in the funeral procession of a member of the family. Any one who first obtained a curule magistracy became the founder of the nobility of his family. Such a person was himself neither a _Nobilis_ nor an _Ignobilis_. He was termed a _Novus Homo_, or a new man.] [Footnote 55: The Latin word for bribery is _ambitus_, literally canvassing. It must not be confounded with _repetundæ_, the offense of extortion or pecuniary corruption committed by magistrates in the provinces or at Rome.] [Footnote 56: See p. 127.(Second paragraph of Chapter XVIII.--Transcriber)] [Illustration: Island in the Tiber, with the Fabrician and Cestian Bridges.] CHAPTER XIX. THE THIRD MACEDONIAN, ACHÆAN, AND THIRD PUNIC WARS. B.C. 179-146. In B.C. 179 Philip died, and was succeeded by his son Perseus, the last monarch of Macedonia. The latter years of the reign of Philip had been spent in preparations for a renewal of the war, which he foresaw to be inevitable; and when Perseus ascended the throne, he found himself amply provided with men and money for the impending contest. But, whether from a sincere desire of peace, or from irresolution of character, he sought to avert an open rupture as long as possible, and one of the first acts of his reign was to obtain from the Romans a renewal of the treaty which they had concluded with his father. It is probable that neither party was sincere in the conclusion of this peace, at least neither could entertain any hope of its duration; yet a period of seven years elapsed before the mutual enmity of the two powers broke out into open hostilities. Meanwhile, Perseus was not idle; he secured the attachment of his subjects by equitable and popular measures, and formed alliances not only with the Greeks and the Asiatic princes, but also with the Thracian, Illyrian, and Celtic tribes which surrounded his dominions. The Romans naturally viewed these proceedings with jealousy and suspicion; and at length, in 172, Perseus was formally accused before the Roman Senate by Eumenes, king of Pergamus, in person, of entertaining hostile designs against the Roman power. The murder of Eumenes near Delphi, on his return homeward, of which Perseus was suspected, aggravated the feeling against him at Rome, and in the following year war was declared. Perseus was at the head of a numerous and well-appointed army, but of all his allies, only Cotys, king of the Odrysians, ventured to support him against so formidable a foe. Yet the war was protracted three years without any decisive result; nay, the balance of success seemed on the whole to incline in favor of Perseus, and many states, which before were wavering, now showed a disposition to join his cause. But his ill-timed parsimony restrained him from taking advantage of their offers, and in B.C. 168 the arrival of the Consul L. Æmilius Paullus completely changed the aspect of affairs. Perseus was driven from a strong position which he had taken up on the banks of the Enipeus, forced to retreat to Pydna, and, finally, to accept an engagement near that town. At first the serried ranks of the phalanx seemed to promise superiority; but its order having been broken by the inequalities of the ground, the Roman legionaries penetrated the disordered mass, and committed fearful carnage, to the extent, it is said, of 20,000 men. Perseus fled first to Pella, then to Amphipolis, and finally to the sanctuary of the sacred island of Samothrace, but was at length obliged to surrender himself to a Roman squadron. He was treated with courtesy, but was reserved to adorn the triumph of his conqueror. Such was the end of the Macedonian empire. The Senate decreed that Macedonia should be divided into four districts, each under the jurisdiction of an oligarchical council. Before leaving Greece, Paullus was commanded by the Senate to inflict a terrible punishment upon the Epirotes, because they had favored Perseus. Having placed garrisons in the seventy towns of Epirus, he razed them all to the ground in one day, and carried away 150,000 inhabitants as slaves. Epirus never recovered from this blow. In the time of Augustus the country was still a scene of desolation, and the inhabitants had only ruins and villages to dwell in. Paullus arrived in Italy toward the close of B.C. 167. The booty which he brought with him from Macedonia, and which he paid into the Roman treasury, was of enormous value; and his triumph, which lasted three days, was the most splendid that Rome had yet seen. Before his triumphal car walked the captive monarch of Macedonia, and behind it, on horseback, were his two eldest sons, Q. Fabius Maximus, and P. Scipio Africanus the younger, both of whom had been adopted into other families. But his glory was darkened by the death of his two younger sons, one dying a few days before, and the other a few days after his triumph. After the triumph Perseus was thrown into a dungeon, but, in consequence of the intercession of Paullus, he was released, and permitted to end his days in an honorable captivity at Pella. His son Alexander learned the Latin language, and became a public clerk at Rome. The fall of the Macedonian monarchy made Rome the real mistress of the eastern shores of the Mediterranean. The most haughty monarchs trembled before the Republic. Antiochus Epiphanes had invaded Egypt, and was marching upon Alexandria, when he was met by three Roman commissioners, who presented him with a decree of the Senate, commanding him to abstain from hostilities against Egypt. The king, having read the decree, promised to take it into consideration with his friends, whereupon Popillius, one of the Roman commissioners, stepping forward, drew a circle round the king with his staff, and told him that he should not stir out of it till he had given a decisive answer. The king was so frightened by this boldness that he immediately promised to withdraw his troops. Eumenes, king of Pergamus, whose conduct during the war with Perseus had excited the suspicion of the Senate, hastened to make his submission in person, but was not allowed to enter Rome. Prusias, king of Bithynia, had the meanness to appear at Rome with his head shaven, and in the dress of a liberated slave. The Rhodians, who had offered their mediation during the war with Perseus, were deprived of Lycia and Caria. In Greece itself the Senate acted in the same arbitrary manner. It was evident that they meant to bring the whole country under their sway. In these views they were assisted by various despots and traitors in the Grecian cities, and especially by Callicrates, a man of great influence among the Achæans, who for many years had lent himself as the base tool of the Romans. He now denounced more than a thousand Achæans as having favored the cause of Perseus. Among them were the historian Polybius, and the most distinguished men in every city of the League. They were all apprehended and sent to Italy, where they were distributed among the cities of Etruria, without being brought to trial. Polybius alone was allowed to reside at Rome in the house of Æmilius Paullus, where he became the intimate friend of his son Scipio Africanus the younger. The Achæan League continued to exist, but it was really subject to Callicrates. The Achæan exiles languished in confinement for seventeen years. Their request to be allowed to return to their native land had been more than once refused; but the younger Scipio Africanus at length interceded on their behalf, and prevailed upon Cato to advocate their return. The conduct of the aged Senator was kinder than his words. He did not interpose till the end of a long debate, and then simply asked, "Have we nothing better to do than to sit here all day long debating whether a parcel of worn-out Greeks shall be carried to their graves here or in Achaia?" A decree of the Senate gave the exiles permission to return; but, when Polybius was anxious to obtain from the Senate restoration to their former honors, Cato bade him, with a smile, beware of returning to the Cyclops' den to fetch away any trifles he had left behind him. The Achæan exiles, whose numbers were now reduced from 1000 to 300, landed in Greece (B.C. 151) with feelings exasperated by their long confinement, and ready to indulge in any rash enterprise against Rome. Polybius, who had returned with the other exiles, in vain exhorted them to peace and unanimity, and to avoid a hopeless struggle with the Roman power. Shortly afterward an adventurer laid claim to the throne of Macedonia (B.C. 149). He was a man of low origin called Andriscus, but he pretended to be the son of Perseus, and assumed the name of Philippus. At first he met with some success, and defeated the Roman Prætor Juventius, but, after reigning scarcely a year, he was conquered and taken prisoner by Q. Metellus. The temporary success of Andriscus had encouraged the war-party in the Achæan League. Polybius had quitted the country to join his friend Scipio in Africa; and Diæus and Critolaüs, the most violent enemies of Rome, had now undisputed sway in the League. Diæus incited the Achæans to attack Sparta, on the ground that, instead of appealing to the League respecting a boundary question, as they ought to have done, they had violated its laws by sending a private embassy to Rome. The Spartans, feeling themselves incompetent to resist this attack, appealed to the Romans for assistance; and in B.C. 147 two Roman commissioners were sent to Greece to settle these disputes. The commissioners decided that not only Sparta, but Corinth, and all the other cities, except those of Achaia, should be restored to independence. Their decision occasioned serious riots at Corinth. All the Spartans in the town were seized, and even the Roman commissioners narrowly escaped violence. On their return to Rome a fresh embassy was dispatched to demand satisfaction for these outrages. But the violent and impolitic conduct of Critolaüs, then Strategus of the League, rendered all attempts at accommodation fruitless, and, after the return of the embassadors, the Senate declared war against the League. The cowardice and incompetence of Critolaüs as a general were only equaled by his previous insolence. On the approach of the Romans from Macedonia under Metellus he did not even venture to make a stand at Thermopylæ; and, being overtaken by them near Scarphea, in Locris, he was totally defeated, and never again heard of. Diæus, who succeeded him as Strategus, displayed rather more energy and courage, and made preparations to defend Corinth. Metellus had hoped to have had the honor of bringing the war to a conclusion, and had almost reached Corinth, when the Consul L. Mummius landed on the Isthmus and assumed the command. The struggle was soon brought to a close. Diæus was defeated in battle; and Corinth was immediately evacuated, not only by the troops of the League, but also by the greater part of the inhabitants. On entering the city, Mummius put to the sword the few males who remained, sold the women and children as slaves, and, having earned away all its treasures, consigned it to the flames (B.C. 146). Corinth was filled with masterpieces of ancient art; but Mummius was so insensible to their surpassing excellence as to stipulate with those who contracted to convey them to Italy that, if any were lost in the passage, they should be replaced by others of equal value! Mummius then employed himself in chastising and regulating the whole of Greece; and ten commissioners were sent from Rome to settle its future condition. The whole country, to the borders of Macedonia and Epirus, was formed into a Roman province, under the name of Achaia, derived from that confederacy which had made the last struggle for political existence. The Roman commissioners then proceeded northward, and also formed Macedonia into a province. Polybius, who had hastened to Greece immediately after the capture of Corinth, exerted all his influence to alleviate the misfortunes of his countrymen, and to procure for them favorable terms. As a friend of Scipio he was received by the Roman commissioners with great distinction, and obtained from them a relaxation of some of the most severe enactments which had been made against the Achæans. Metellus and Mummius both triumphed on their return to Rome, the former taking the surname of Macedonicus, the latter that of Achaicus. Carthage, so long the rival of Rome, had fallen in the same year as Corinth. The reforms introduced by Hannibal after the battle of Zama had restored some degree of prosperity to the state; and, though the Roman party obtained the supremacy after he had been compelled to fly to Antiochus, the commercial activity of the Carthaginians restored to the city much of its former influence. Rome looked with a jealous eye upon its reviving power, and encouraged Masinissa to make repeated aggressions upon its territory. At length the popular party, having obtained more weight in the government, made a stand against these repeated encroachments of Masinissa. Thereupon Cato recommended an instant declaration of war against Carthage; but this met with considerable opposition in the Senate, and it was at length arranged that an embassy should be sent to Africa to gain information as to the real state of affairs. The ten embassadors, of whom Cato was the chief, offered their arbitration, which was accepted by Masinissa, but rejected by the Carthaginians, who had no confidence in Roman justice. The deputies accurately observed the warlike preparations and the defenses of the frontier. They then entered the city, and saw the strength and population it had acquired since the Second Punic War. Upon their return Cato was the foremost in asserting that Rome would never be safe as long as Carthage was so powerful, so hostile, and so near. One day he drew a bunch of early ripe figs from beneath his robe, and, throwing it upon the floor of the Senate-house, said to the assembled fathers, who were astonished at the freshness and fineness of the fruit, "Those figs were gathered but three days ago at Carthage; so close is our enemy to our walls." From that time forth, whenever he was called upon for his vote in the Senate, though the subject of debate bore no relation to Carthage, his words were, "Delenda est Carthago," "Carthage must be destroyed."[57] Cato's opinion prevailed, and the Senate only waited for a favorable opportunity to destroy the city. This soon occurred. The popular party having driven into exile the powerful partisans of Masinissa, the old Numidian king invaded the Carthaginian territory, and defeated the army which had been raised to oppose him (B.C. 150). This led to a change in the government, and the aristocratical party, once more restored to power, hastened to make their submission to Rome. But the Romans had resolved upon war, and, when the Carthaginian embassadors arrived at Rome, the two Consuls were already levying troops. The embassadors, knowing that resistance was hopeless, sought to appease the anger of the Senate by unconditional obedience. They were ordered to send 300 youths of the noblest families to meet the Consuls at Lilybæum, and were told that the Consuls would acquaint them with the farther orders of the Senate. At Lilybæum the Consuls found the hostages awaiting them, and then promised the Carthaginian envoys that the decision of the Senate should be announced to them in Africa. Upon reaching Utica, which surrendered to them in despair, the Consuls informed the Carthaginians that, as their state would henceforth be under the protection of Rome, they had no longer any occasion for arms, and must surrender all the munitions of war. Even this demand was complied with, and the Roman commissioners who were sent to Carthage brought to the Roman camp 200,000 stand of arms, and 2000 catapults. The Consuls, thinking that the state was now defenseless, threw off the mask, and announced the final resolution of the Senate: "That Carthage must be destroyed, and that its inhabitants must build another city ten miles distant from the coast." When this terrible news reached Carthage, despair and rage seized all the citizens. They resolved to perish rather than submit to so perfidious a foe. All the Italians within the walls were massacred; the members of the former government took to flight, and the popular party once more obtained the power. Almost superhuman efforts were made to obtain means of defense; corn was collected from every quarter; arms were manufactured day and night; the women cut off their long hair to be made into strings for the catapults, and the whole city became one vast work-shop. The Consuls now saw that it would be necessary to have recourse to force; but they had no military ability, and their attacks were repulsed with great loss. The younger Scipio Africanus, who was then serving in the army as military tribune, displayed great bravery and military skill, and, on one occasion, saved the army from destruction. Still no permanent success was gained, and Scipio returned to Rome, accompanied by the prayers of the soldiers that he would come back as their commander. In the following year (B.C. 148) the new Consul L. Calpurnius Piso was even less successful than his predecessors. The soldiers became discontented; the Roman Senate and people, who had anticipated an easy conquest, were indignant at their disappointment, and all eyes were turned to Scipio. Accordingly, when he became a candidate for the ædileship for the ensuing year (B.C. 147), he was unanimously elected Consul, though he was only thirty-seven years old, and had not, therefore, attained the legal age for the office. This remarkable man was, as we have already said, the son of L. Æmilius Paullus, the conqueror of Macedonia. He was adopted by P. Scipio, the son of the great Africanus, and is therefore called Scipio Africanus Minor, to distinguish him from his grandfather by adoption. To these names that of Æmilianus is sometimes added to mark the family of his birth, so that his full designation was P. Cornelius Scipio Africanus Æmilianus. His intimacy with the historian Polybius has been already mentioned. He appears from his earliest years to have devoted himself with ardor to the study of literature; and he eagerly availed himself of the superior knowledge of Polybius to direct him in his literary pursuits. He was accompanied by the Greek historian in almost all his campaigns, and, in the midst of his most active military duties, lost no opportunity of enlarging his knowledge of Greek literature and philosophy by constant intercourse with his friend. Nor did he neglect the literature of his own country, for Terence was admitted to his intimacy, and he is even said to have assisted him in the composition of his comedies. His friendship with Lælius, whose tastes and pursuits were so congenial to his own, has been immortalized by Cicero's celebrated treatise "On Friendship." [Illustration: Plan of Carthage. A. Inner Port. B. Outer Port. C. Outlet to Sea. D. Scipio's Mole. E. New Outlet to Sea, cut by the Carthaginians.] Scipio landed in Africa in B.C. 147. His first step was to restore discipline to the army. He next took by storm Megara, a suburb of Carthage, and then proceeded to construct a work across the entrance of the harbor to cut off the city from all supplies by sea. But the Carthaginians defended themselves with a courage and an energy rarely paralleled in history. While Scipio was engaged in this laborious task, they built a fleet of fifty ships in their inner port, and cut a new channel communicating with the sea. Hence, when Scipio at length succeeded in blocking up the entrance of the harbor, he found all his labor useless, as the Carthaginians sailed out to sea by the new outlet. But this fleet was destroyed after an obstinate engagement which lasted three days. At length, in the following year (B.C. 146), Scipio had made all his preparations for the final assault. The Carthaginians defended themselves with the courage of despair. They fought from street to street, and from house to house, and the work of destruction and butchery went on for six days. The fate of this once magnificent city moved Scipio to tears; and, anticipating that a similar catastrophe might one day befall Rome, he is said to have repeated the lines of the Iliad over the flames of Carthage: "The day shall come when sacred Troy shall perish, and Priam and his people shall be slain." Scipio returned to Rome in the same year, and celebrated a splendid triumph on account of his victory. The surname of Africanus, which he had inherited by adoption, had now been acquired by his own exploits. A portion of the dominions of Carthage was assigned to Utica. The remainder was formed into a Roman province under the name of Africa. Carthage itself was leveled to the ground, and a curse pronounced upon any who should rebuild the city. C. Gracchus, however, only twenty-four years afterward, attempted to found a new city upon the ancient site under the name of Junonia; but evil prodigies at its foundation, and the subsequent death of Gracchus, interrupted this design. The project was revived by Julius Cæsar, and was carried into effect by Augustus; and Roman Carthage, built at a short distance from the former city, became the capital of Africa, and one of the most flourishing cities in the ancient world. In the fifth century it was taken by Genseric, and made the capital of the Vandal kingdom in Africa. It was retaken by Belisarius, but was finally captured and destroyed by the Arabs in A.D. 647. Its site is now desolate, marked only by a few ruins. [Footnote 57: This story must appear to strange to those who know not that it was a custom for Roman Senators, when called upon for their vote, to express--no matter what the question--any opinion which they deemed of great importance to the welfare of the state.] [Illustration: Personification of the River Tiber.] CHAPTER XX. SPANISH WARS, B.C. 153-133. FIRST SERVILE WAR, B.C. 134-132. The generous policy of Tib. Sempronius Gracchus in B.C. 179[58] had secured for Spain a long period of tranquillity. But in B.C. 153, the inhabitants of Segeda having commenced rebuilding the walls of their town, which was forbidden by one of the articles in the treaty of Gracchus, a new war broke out, which lasted for many years. The Celtiberians in general espoused the cause of Segeda, and the Consul Q. Fabius Nobilior made an unsuccessful campaign against them. His successor, the Consul M. Claudius Marcellus, grandson of the Marcellus who was celebrated in the Second Punic War, carried on the war with vigor, and concluded a peace with the enemy on very fair terms (B.C. 152). The Consul of the following year, L. Lucinius Lucullus, finding the Celtiberians at peace, turned his arms against the Vaccæi, Cantabri, and other nations as yet unknown to the Romans. At the same time the Prætor Ser. Sulpicius Galba invaded Lusitania, but, though he met with some advantage at first, he was subsequently defeated with great loss, and escaped with only a few horsemen. In the following year (B.C. 150) he again invaded the country from the south, while Lucullus attacked it from the north. The Lusitanians therefore sent embassadors to Galba to make their submission. He received them with kindness, lamented the poverty of their country, and promised to assign them more fertile lands, if they would meet him in three bodies, with their wives and children, in three places which he fixed upon. The simple people believed him. But he meditated one of the most atrocious acts of treachery and cruelty recorded in history. He fell upon each body separately, and butchered them, men, women, and children, without distinction. Among the very few who escaped was Viriathus, the future avenger of his nation. Galba was brought to trial on his return to Rome on account of this outrage; and Cato, then in the 85th year of his age, inveighed against his treachery and baseness. But Galba was eloquent and wealthy, and the liberal employment of his money, together with the compassion excited by his weeping children and ward, obtained his acquittal. Viriathus appears to have been one of those able guerrilla chiefs whom Spain has produced at every period of her history. He is said to have been first a shepherd and afterward a robber, but he soon acquired unbounded influence over the minds of his countrymen. After the massacre of Galba, those Lusitanians who had not left their homes rose as a man against the rule of such treacherous tyrants. Viriathus at first avoided all battles in the plains, and waged an incessant predatory warfare in the mountains; and he met with such continued good fortune, that numbers flocked to his standard. The aspect of affairs seemed at length so threatening that in B.C. 145 the Romans determined to send the Consul Q. Fabius Maximus into the country. In the following year Fabius defeated Viriathus with great loss; but this success was more than counterbalanced by the revolt of the Celtiberians, the bravest and most noble-minded of the Spaniards. The war is usually known by the name of the Numantine, from Numantia, a town on the River Douro, and the capital of the Arevaci, the most powerful of the Celtiberian tribes. Henceforward two Roman armies were employed in Spain, one in the north against the Celtiberians, and the other in the south against Viriathus and the Lusitanians. The war against the Lusitanians was at first brought to a conclusion. In B.C. 141 Viriathus surprised the Proconsul Fabius Servilianus in a narrow pass, where escape was impossible. He used his victory with moderation, and suffered the Romans to depart uninjured, on condition of their allowing the Lusitanians to retain undisturbed possession of their own territory, and recognizing him as a friend and ally of Rome. This treaty was ratified by the Roman people; but the Consul Q. Servilius Cæpio, who succeeded Fabius in the command in southern Spain, found some pretext for violating the peace, and renewed the war against Viriathus. The latter sent envoys to Cæpio to propose fresh terms of peace; but the Roman Consul persuaded them, by promises of large rewards, to murder their general. On their return they assassinated him in his own tent, and made their escape to the Roman camp before the Lusitanians were aware of the death of their chief. But, when the murderers claimed their reward, the Consul coolly told them that the Romans did not approve of the murder of a general by his own soldiers. The Lusitanians continued in arms a little longer, but the war virtually terminated by the death of Viriathus. Their country was finally reduced to subjection by the Consul D. Junius Brutus in B.C. 138, who also crossed the rivers Douro and Minho, and received the surname of Callaïcus in consequence of his receiving the submission of the Callaïci, or Gallæci, a people in the northwest of Spain. The war against the Celtiberians was at first conducted with success by the Consul Q. Metellus Macedonicus, who during his Prætorship had defeated the pretender to the Macedonian throne. But the successors of Metellus experienced repeated disasters, and at length, in B.C. 137, the Consul C. Hostilius Mancinus, being entirely surrounded by the Celtiberians, was obliged to sign a peace with them, in which he recognized their independence. He only obtained these terms on condition that his Quæstor, Tib. Sempronius Gracchus, who was greatly respected by the Spaniards for his father's sake, should become responsible for the execution of the treaty. The Senate refused to ratify it, and went through the hypocritical ceremony of delivering over Mancinus, bound and naked, to the enemy. But the Numantines, like the Samnites in a similar case, declined to accept the offering. The Numantine war continued in the same disastrous manner to the Roman arms, and the people now called upon Scipio Africanus to bring it to a conclusion. We have already traced the career of this eminent man till the fall of Carthage. In B.C. 142 he was Censor with L. Mummius. In the administration of the duties of his office he followed in the footsteps of Cato, and attempted to repress the growing luxury and immorality of his contemporaries; but his efforts were thwarted by his colleague. He vainly wished to check in the people the appetite for foreign conquests; and in the solemn prayer which he offered at the conclusion of the lustrum he changed the usual supplication for the enlargement of the Republic into one for its preservation. He was now elected Consul a second time, and was sent into Spain in B.C. 134. His first efforts were directed, as in Africa, to the restoration of discipline in the army, which had become disorganized and demoralized by every kind of indulgence. Two remarkable men served under Scipio in this war. Marius, afterward seven times Consul, and the Numidian prince Jugurtha. Having brought his troops into an effective condition, Scipio, in the following year, proceeded to lay siege to Numantia. The town was defended by its inhabitants with the courage and perseverance which has pre-eminently distinguished the Spaniards in all ages in the defense of their walled towns. It was not till they had suffered the most dreadful extremities of famine, eating even the bodies of the dead, that they surrendered the place (B.C. 133). Fifty of the principal inhabitants were selected to adorn Scipio's triumph; the rest were sold as slaves, and the town was leveled to the ground. He now received the surname of Numantinus, in addition to that of Africanus. During the Numantine war Rome was menaced by a new danger, which revealed one of the plague-spots in the Republic. We have already had occasion to describe the decay of the free population in Italy, and the great increase in the number of slaves from the foreign conquests of the state.[59] As slaves were cheap, in consequence of the abundant supply, the masters did not care for their lives, and treated them with great barbarity. A great part of the land in Italy was turned into sheep-walks. The slaves were made responsible for the sheep committed to their care, and were left to supply themselves with food as they best could. It was an aggravation of their wretched lot, that almost all these slaves had once been freemen, and were not distinguished from their masters by any outward sign, like the negroes in the United States. In Sicily the free population had diminished even more than in Italy; and it was in this island that the first Servile War broke out. Damophilus, a wealthy landowner of Enna, had treated his slaves with excessive barbarity. They entered into a conspiracy against their cruel master, and consulted a Syrian slave of the name of Eunus, who belonged to another master. This Eunus pretended to the gift of prophecy, and appeared to breathe flames of fire from his mouth. He not only promised them success, but joined in the enterprise himself. Having assembled to the number of about 400 men, they suddenly attacked Enna, and, being joined by their fellow-citizens within the town, quickly made themselves masters of it. Great excesses were committed, and almost all the freemen were put to death with horrid tortures. Eunus had, while yet a slave, prophesied that he should become king. He now assumed the royal diadem, and the title of King Antiochus. Sicily was at this time swarming with slaves, a great proportion of them Syrians, who flocked to the standard of their countryman and fellow-bondsman. The revolt now became general, and the island was delivered over to the murderous fury of men maddened by oppression, cruelty, and insult. The Prætors, who first led armies against them, were totally defeated; and in B.C. 134 it was thought necessary to send the Consul C. Fulvius Flaccus to subdue the insurrection. But neither he, nor the Consul of the following year, succeeded in this object; and it was not till B.C. 132 that the Consul P. Rupilius brought the war to an end by the capture of Tauromenium and Enna, the two strong-holds of the insurgents. The life of Eunus was spared, probably with the intention of carrying him to Rome, but he died in prison at Morgantia. About the same time died Attalus Philometor, the last king of Pergamus, leaving no children (B.C. 133). He beqeuathed his kingdom and treasures to the Roman people; but Aristonicus, a natural son of Eumenes, the father of Attalus, laid claim to the crown. He even defeated the Consul P. Licinius Crassus, who fell in the engagement (B.C. 131), but he was himself defeated and taken prisoner in the following year. The kingdom of Pergamus was formed into a Roman province under the name of Asia (B.C. 129). The foreign dominions of Rome now comprised the ten following provinces, to which is added the date of the formation of each: 1. Sicily, B.C. 241. 2. Sardinia and Corsica, B.C. 238. 3, 4. The two Spains, Citerior and Ulterior, B.C. 205. 5. Gallia Cisalpina, B.C. 191. 6. Macedonia, B.C. 146. 7. Illyricum, probably formed at the same time as Macedonia. 8. Achaia, that is, Southern Greece, virtually a province after the capture of Corinth, B.C. 146, though the exact date of its formation is unknown. 9. Africa, consisting of the dominions of Carthage, B.C. 146. 10. Asia, including the kingdom of Pergamus, B.C. 129. To these an eleventh was added in B.C. 118 by the conquest of the southern portion of Transalpine Gaul between the Alps and the Pyrenees. In contrast with the other portions of Gaul, it was frequently called simply the "Provincia," a name which has been retained in the modern Provence. [Footnote 58: See p. 115.(The end of Chapter XVI.--Transcriber)] [Footnote 59: See p. 128.(Fifth paragraph of Chapter XVIII.--Transcriber)] [Illustration: Stairs of the modern Capitol.] CHAPTER XXI. THE GRACCHI. B.C. 133-121. The more thoughtful Romans had foreseen the dangers with which Rome was menaced by the impoverishment of her free population, and the alarming increase in the number of slaves. It is said that Lælius, the friend of the elder Scipio Africanus, had at the close of the Second Punic War meditated some reforms to arrest the growing evil, but had given them up as impracticable. The Servile War in Sicily had lately revealed the extent of the peril to which the Republic was exposed. It must have been felt by many that the evil would never have reached its present height if the Livinian Law had been observed, if men had been appointed to watch over its execution, and if the newly-acquired public lands had from time to time been distributed among the people. But the nobles, from long possession, had come to regard the public land as their own; many had acquired their portions by purchase, inheritance, or marriage; and every one shrank from interfering with interests supported by long prescription and usage. Still, unless something was done, matters would become worse; the poor would become poorer, and the slaves more numerous, and the state would descend more rapidly into the yawning abyss beneath it. Under these circumstances, two young men, belonging to one of the noblest families in Rome, came forward to save the Republic, but perished in the attempt. Their violent death may be regarded as the beginning of the Civil Wars, which ended in the destruction of freedom, and the establishment of the despotism of the Empire. Tiberius and Caius Gracchus were the sons of Tib. Sempronius Gracchus, whose prudent measures gave tranquillity to Spain for so many years.[60] They lost their father at an early age, but they were educated with the utmost care by their mother, Cornelia, the daughter of Scipio Africanus the elder, who had inherited from her father a love of literature, and united in her person the severe virtue of the ancient Roman matron with the superior knowledge and refinement which then prevailed in the higher classes at Rome. She engaged for her sons the most eminent Greek teachers; and it was mainly owing to the pains she took with their education that they surpassed all the Roman youths of their age. Tiberius was nine years older than his brother Caius. The latter had more ability, but Tiberius was the more amiable, and won all hearts by the simplicity of his demeanor and his graceful and persuasive eloquence. So highly was Tiberius esteemed, that as soon as he reached the age of manhood he was elected Augur, and at the banquet given at his installation Appius Claudius, then Chief of the Senate, offered him his daughter in marriage. When Appius returned home and informed his wife that he had just betrothed their daughter, she exclaimed, "Why in such a hurry, unless you have got Tib. Gracchus for her husband?" Sempronia, the only sister of Tiberius, was married to the younger Scipio Africanus. Tiberius was thus, by birth and marriage, connected with the noblest families in the Republic--the grandson of the conqueror of Hannibal--the son-in-law of the Chief of the Senate--and the brother-in-law of the destroyer of Carthage. Tiberius served under his brother-in-law in Africa, and was the first who scaled the walls of Carthage. He was Quæstor in B.C. 137, and accompanied the Consul C. Hostilius to Spain, where he saved the army by obtaining a treaty with the Numantines, which the Senate refused to ratify.[61] In passing through Etruria, on his way to Spain, Tiberius had observed with grief and indignation the deserted state of that fertile country. Thousands of foreign slaves were tending the flocks and cultivating the soil of the wealthy landowners, while Roman citizens, thus thrown out of employment, could scarcely procure their daily bread, and had not a clod of earth to call their own. He now conceived the design of applying a remedy to this state of things, and with this view became a candidate for the Tribunate, and was elected for the year B.C. 133. Tiberius, however, did not act with precipitation. The measure which he brought forward had previously received the approbation of some of the wisest and noblest men in the state; of his own father-in-law Appius Claudius; of P. Mucius Scævola, the great jurist, who was then Consul; and of Crassus, the Pontifex Maximus. It was proposed to re-enact the Licinian Law of B.C. 364--which had, in fact, never been repealed--but with some modifications and additions. As in the Licinian Law, no one was to be allowed to possess more than 500 jugera of public land; but, to relax the stringency of this rule, every possessor might hold in addition 250 jugera for each of his sons. All the rest of the public land was to be taken away from them and distributed among the poor citizens, who were not to be permitted to alienate these lots, in order that they might not be again absorbed into the estate of the wealthy. An indemnity was to be given from the public treasury for all buildings erected upon lands thus taken away. Three commissioners (Triumviri) were to be elected by the tribes in order to carry this law into execution. The Law affected only Public Lands, but it was no less a revolutionary measure. It is true that no prescription can, as a general rule, be pleaded against the rights of the state, but the possessors of the public lands had enjoyed them without question for so long a period that they had come to regard these lands as their private property. In many cases, as we have already said, they had been acquired by _bonâ fide_ purchase, and the claim of the state, now advocated by Gracchus, was regarded as downright robbery. Attacks upon property have produced the greatest convulsions in all states, and the Roman landowners were ready to have recourse to any measures to defeat the law. But the thousands who would be benefited by it were determined to support Tiberius at any risk. He told them that "the wild beasts of Italy had their dens, and holes, and hiding-places, while the men who fought and bled in defense of Italy wandered about with their wives and children without a spot of ground to rest upon." It was evident that the law would be carried, and the landowners therefore resorted to the only means left to them. They persuaded M. Octavius, one of the Tribunes, to put his veto upon the measure of his colleague. This was a fatal and unexpected obstacle. In vain did Tiberius implore Octavius to withdraw his veto. The contest between the Tribunes continued for many days. Tiberius retaliated by forbidding the magistrates to exercise any of their functions, and by suspending, in fact, the entire administration of the government. But Octavius remained firm, and Tiberius therefore determined to depose him from his office. He summoned an Assembly of the People and put the question to the vote. Seventeen out of the thirty-five tribes had already voted for the deposition of Octavius, and the addition of one tribe would reduce him to a private condition, when Tiberius stopped the voting, anxious, at the last moment, to prevent the necessity of so desperate a measure. Octavius, however, would not yield. "Complete what you have begun," was his only answer to the entreaties of his colleague. The eighteenth tribe voted, and Tiberius ordered him to be dragged from the rostra. Octavius had only exercised his undoubted rights, and his deposition was clearly a violation of the Roman constitution. This gave the enemies of Gracchus the handle which they needed. They could now justly charge him not only with revolutionary measures, but with employing revolutionary means to carry them into effect. The Agrarian Law was passed without farther opposition, and the three commissioners elected to put it in force were Tiberius himself, his father-in-law Appius Claudius, and his brother Caius, then a youth of twenty, serving under P. Scipio at Numantia. About the same time news arrived of the death of Attalus Philometor, king of Pergamus, who had bequeathed his kingdom and treasures to the Republic. Tiberius therefore proposed that these treasures should be distributed among the people who had received assignments of lands, to enable them to stock their farms and to assist them in their cultivation. He even went so far as to threaten to deprive the Senate of the regulation of the new province, and to bring the subject before the Assembly of the People. The exasperation of the Nobility was intense. They tried every means to blacken the character of the Tribune, and even spread a report that he had received, a diadem and a purple robe from the envoy from Pergamus, and that he meditated making himself King of Rome. It was evident that his life would be no longer safe when he ceased to be protected by the sanctity of the Tribune's office. Accordingly, he became a candidate for the Tribunate for the following year. The Tribunes did not enter upon their office till December, but the election took place in June, at which time the country people, on whom he chiefly relied, were engaged in getting in the harvest. Still, two tribes had already voted in his favor, when the nobility interrupted the election by maintaining that it was illegal, since no man could be chosen Tribune for two consecutive years. After a violent debate the Assembly was adjourned till the following day. Tiberius now became alarmed lest his enemies should get the upper hand, and he went round the forum with his child, appealing to the sympathy of the people and imploring their aid. They readily responded to his appeal, escorted him home, and a large crowd kept watch around his house all night. Next day the adjourned Assembly met on the Capitol in the open space in front of the Temple of Jupiter. The Senate also assembled in the Temple of Faith close by. Scipio Nasica, the leader of the more violent party in the Senate, called upon the Consul Mucius Scævola to stop the re-election, but the Consul declined to interfere. Fulvius Flaccus, a Senator, and a friend of Tiberius, hastened to inform him of the speech of Nasica, and told him that his death was resolved upon. Thereupon the friends of Tiberius prepared to resist force by force; and as those at a distance could not hear him, on account of the tumult and confusion, the Tribune pointed with his hand to his head, to intimate that his life was in danger. His enemies exclaimed that he was asking for the crown. The news reached the Senate. Nasica appealed to the Consul to save the Republic, but as Scævola still refused to have recourse to violence, Nasica sprung up and exclaimed, "The Consul is betraying the Republic! let those who wish to save the state follow me." He then rushed out of the Senate-house, followed by many of the Senators. The people made way for them; and they, breaking up the benches, armed themselves with sticks, and rushed upon Tiberius and his friends. The tribune fled to the Temple of Jupiter, but the door had been barred by the priests, and in his flight he fell over a prostrate body. As he was rising he received the first blow from one of his colleagues, and was quickly dispatched. Upward of 300 of his partisans were slain on the same day. Their bodies were thrown into the Tiber. This was the first blood shed at Rome in civil strife since the expulsion of the kings. Notwithstanding their victory, the Nobles did not venture to propose the repeal of the Agrarian Law, and a new Commissioner was chosen in the place of Tiberius. The popular indignation was so strongly excited against Scipio Nasica that his friends advised him to withdraw from Italy, though he was Pontifex Maximus, and therefore ought not to have quitted the country. He died shortly afterward at Pergamus. All eyes were now turned to Scipio Africanus, who returned to Rome in B.C. 132. When Scipio received at Numantia the news of the death of Tiberius, he is reported to have exclaimed in the verse of Homer[62]-- "So perish all who do the like again." The people may have thought that the brother-in-law of Tiberius would show some sympathy with his reforms and some sorrow for his fate. They were, however, soon undeceived. Being asked in the Assembly of the Tribes by C. Papirius Carbo, the Tribune, who was now the leader of the popular party, what he thought of the death of Tiberius, he boldly replied that "he was justly slain." The people, who had probably expected a different answer, loudly expressed their disapprobation; whereupon Scipio, turning to the mob, bade them be silent, since Italy was only their step-mother.[63] The people did not forget this insult; but such was his influence and authority that the Nobility were able to defeat the bill of Carbo by which the Tribunes might be re-elected as often as the people pleased. Scipio was now regarded as the acknowledged leader of the Nobility, and the latter resolved to avail themselves of his powerful aid to prevent the Agrarian Law of Tiberius from being carried into effect. The Italians were alarmed at the prospect of losing some of their lands, and Scipio skillfully availed himself of the circumstance to propose in the Senate (B.C. 129) that all disputes respecting the lands of the Italians should be taken out of the hands of the Commissioners and transferred to the Consuls. This would have been equivalent to an abrogation of the law, and accordingly the three Commissioners offered the most vehement opposition to his proposal. In the forum he was attacked by Carbo, with the bitterest invectives, as the enemy of the people; and upon his again expressing his approval of the death of Tiberius, the people shouted out, "Down with the tyrant!" In the evening he went home accompanied by the Senate and a great number of the Italians. He retired to his sleeping-room with the intention of composing a speech for the following day. Next morning Rome was thrown into consternation by the news that Scipio was found dead in his room. The most contradictory rumors were circulated respecting his death, but it was the general opinion that he was murdered. Suspicion fell upon various persons, but Carbo was most generally believed to have been the murderer. There was no inquiry into the cause of his death (B.C. 129). Scipio was only 56 at the time of his death. To the Republic his loss was irreparable. By his last act he had come forward as the patron of the Italians. Had he lived he might have incorporated them in the Roman state, and by forming a united Italy have saved Rome from many of the horrors and disasters which she afterward suffered. The leaders of the popular party perceived the mistake they had made in alienating the Italians from their cause, and they now secured their adhesion by offering them the Roman citizenship if they would support the Agrarian Law. As Roman citizens they would, of course, be entitled to the benefits of the law, while they would, at the same time, obtain what they had so long desired--an equal share in political power. But the existing citizens, who saw that their own importance would be diminished by an increase in their numbers, viewed such a proposal with the utmost repugnance. So strong was their feeling that, when great numbers of the Italians had flocked to Rome in B.C. 126, the Tribune M. Junius Pennus carried a law that all aliens should quit the city. Caius Gracchus spoke against this law, and his friends still remained faithful to the cause of the Italians. In the following year (B.C. 125), M. Fulvius Flaccus, who was then Consul, brought forward a Reform Bill, granting the Roman citizenship to all the Italian allies. But it was evident that the Tribes would reject this law, and the Senate got rid of the proposer by sending him into Transalpine Gaul, where the Massilians had implored the assistance of Rome against the Salluvians. In the previous year Caius Gracchus had gone to Sardinia as Quæstor, so that the Senate had now removed from Rome two of their most troublesome opponents, and the Italians had lost their two most powerful patrons. Bitter was the disappointment of the Italians. Fregellæ, a town of Latium, and one of the eighteen Latin colonies which had remained faithful to Rome during the Second Punic War, took up arms, but its example was not followed, and it had to bear alone the brunt of the unequal contest. It was quickly reduced by the Prætor L. Opimius; the city was utterly destroyed; and the insurrection, which a slight success would have made universal, was thus nipped in its bud (B.C. 125). [Illustration: The Forum in its present state.] Caius Gracchus had taken very little part in public affairs since his brother's death. He had spoken only twice in public: once in favor of the law of Carbo for the re-election of Tribunes, and a second time in opposition to the Alien Act of Junius Pennus, as already mentioned. But the eyes of the people were naturally turned toward him. His abilities were known, and the Senate dreaded his return to Rome. He had been already two years in Sardinia, and they now attempted to retain him there another year by sending fresh troops to the province, and by commanding the Proconsul to remain in the island. But Caius suddenly appeared at Rome, to the surprise of all parties (B.C. 124). His enemies brought him before the Censors to account for his conduct, but he defended himself so ably that not only was no stigma put upon him, but he was considered to have been very badly used. He showed that he had served in the army twelve years, though required to serve only ten; that he had acted as Quæstor two years, though the law demanded only one year's service; and he added that he was the only soldier who took out with him a full purse and brought it back empty. Exasperated by the persecution of the Senate, Caius determined to become a candidate for the Tribuneship, and to reform the Roman constitution. He was elected for the year B.C. 123, and lost no time in bringing forward a number of important measures which are known as the Sempronian Laws. His legislation was directed to two objects: the amelioration of the condition of the poor, and the weakening of the power of the Senate. Caius was the greatest orator of all his contemporaries; the contagion of his eloquence was irresistible, and the enthusiasm of the people enabled him to carry every thing before him. I. His principal laws for improving the condition of the people were: 1. The extension of the Agrarian Law of his brother by planting new colonies in Italy and the provinces. 2. A state provision for the poor, enacting that corn should be sold to every citizen at a price much below its market value. This was the first of the _Leges Frumentariæ_, which were attended with the most injurious effects. They emptied the treasury, at the same time that they taught the poor to become state paupers, instead of depending upon their own exertions for a living. 3. Another law enacted that the soldiers should be equipped at the expense of the Republic, without the cost being deducted from their pay, as had hitherto been the case. II. The most important laws designed to diminish the power of the Senate were: 1. The law by which the Judices were to be taken only from the Equites, and not from the Senators, as had been the custom hitherto. This was a very important enactment, and needs a little explanation. All offenses against the state were originally tried in the Popular Assembly; but when special enactments were passed for the trial of particular offenses, the practice was introduced of forming a body of Judices for the trial of these offenses. This was first done upon the passing of the Calpurnian Law (B.C., 149) for the punishment of provincial magistrates for extortion in their government (_De Repetendis_). Such offenses had to be tried before the Prætor and a jury of Senators; but as these very Senators either had been or hoped to be provincial magistrates, they were not disposed to visit with severity offenses of which they themselves either had been or were likely to be guilty. By depriving the Senators of this judicial power, and by transferring it to the Equites, Gracchus also made the latter a political order in the state apart from their military character. The name of Equites was now applied to all persons who were qualified by their fortune to act as Judices, whether they served in the army or not. From this time is dated the creation of an _Ordo Equestris_, whose interests were frequently opposed to those of the Senate, and who therefore served as a check upon the latter. 2. Another law was directed against the arbitrary proceedings of the Senate in the distribution of the provinces. Hitherto the Senate had assigned the provinces to the Consuls after their election, and thus had had it in their power to grant wealthy governments to their partisans, or unprofitable ones to those opposed to them. It was now enacted that, before the election of the Consuls, the Senate should determine the two provinces which the Consuls should have; and that they should, immediately after election, settle between themselves, by lot or otherwise, which province each should take. These laws raised the popularity of Caius still higher, and he became for a time the absolute ruler of Rome. He was re-elected Tribune for the following year (B.C. 122), though he did not offer himself as a candidate. M. Fulvius Flaccus, who had been Consul in B.C. 125, was also chosen as one of his colleagues. Flaccus, it will be recollected, had proposed in his consulship to give the Roman franchise to the Italian allies, and it was now determined to bring forward a similar measure. Caius therefore brought in a bill conferring the citizenship upon all the Latin colonies, and making the Italian allies occupy the position which the Latins had previously held. This wise measure was equally disliked in the forum and the Senate. Neither the influence nor the eloquence of Gracchus could induce the people to view with satisfaction the admission of the Italian allies to equal rights and privileges with themselves. The Senate, perceiving that the popularity of Gracchus had been somewhat shaken by this measure, employed his colleague, M. Living Drusus--who was noble, well-educated, wealthy, and eloquent--to undermine his influence with the people. With the sanction of the Senate, Drusus now endeavored to outbid Gracchus. He played the part of a demagogue in order to supplant the true friend of the people. He gave to the Senate the credit of every popular law which he proposed, and gradually impressed the people with the belief that the Nobles were their best friends. Gracchus proposed to found two colonies at Tarentum and Capua, and named among the founders some of the most respectable citizens. Drusus introduced a law for establishing no fewer than twelve colonies, and for settling 3000 poor citizens in each. Gracchus, in the distribution of the public land, reserved a rent payable to the public treasury. Drusus abolished even this payment. He also gained the confidence of the people by asking no favor for himself; he took no part in the foundation of colonies, and left to others the management of business in which any money had to be expended. Gracchus, on the other hand, superintended every thing in person; and the people, always jealous in pecuniary matters, began to suspect his motives. During his absence in Africa, whither he had gone as one of the three Commissioners for founding a colony upon the ruins of Carthage, Drusus was able to weaken his popularity still farther. On his return he endeavored in vain to reorganize his party and recover his power. Both he and Flaccus failed in being re-elected Tribunes; while L. Opimius and Q. Fabius, two personal enemies of Gracchus, were raised to the Consulship. The two new Consuls had no sooner entered upon office (B.C. 121) than they resolved to drive matters to extremities. One of the first measures of Opimius was a proposal to repeal the law for colonizing Carthage, because it had been established upon the site which Scipio had cursed. It was evident that a pretext was only sought for taking the life of Gracchus, and Flaccus urged him to repel violence by force. Caius shrunk from this step, but an accident gave his enemies the pretext which they longed for. The tribes had assembled at the Capitol to decide upon the colony at Carthage, when a servant of the Consul Opimius, pushing against Gracchus, insolently cried out, "Make way for honest men, you rascals." Gracchus turned round to him with an angry look, and the man was immediately stabbed by an unknown hand. The assembly immediately broke up, and Gracchus returned home, foreseeing the advantage which this unfortunate occurrence would give to his enemies. The Senate declared Gracchus and Flaccus public enemies, and invested the Consuls with dictatorial powers. During the night Opimius took possession of the Temple of Castor and Pollux, which overlooked the forum; summoned a meeting of the Senate for the following morning, and ordered all the partisans of the Senate to be present, each with two armed slaves. Flaccus seized the Temple of Diana on the Aventine, and distributed arms to his followers: here he was joined by Gracchus. Civil war was thus declared. After some fruitless attempts at negotiation, the Consul proceeded to attack the Aventine. Little or no resistance was made, and Flaccus and Gracchus took to flight, and crossed the Tiber by the Sublician bridge. Gracchus escaped to the Grove of the Furies, accompanied only by a single slave. When the pursuers reached the spot they found both of them dead. The slave had first killed his master and then himself. The head of Gracchus was cut off, and carried to Opimius, who gave to the person who brought it its weight in gold. Flaccus was also put to death, together with numbers of his party. Their corpses were thrown into the Tiber, their houses demolished, and their property confiscated. Even their widows were forbidden to wear mourning. After the bloody work had been finished, the Consul, by order of the Senate, dedicated a temple to Concord! At a later time statues of the two Gracchi were set up in public places, and the spots on which they fell were declared holy ground; but for the present no one dared to show any sympathy for their fate. Their mother Cornelia retired to Misenum, where she was visited by the most distinguished men. She loved to recount to her guests the story of her noble sons, and narrated their death without showing sorrow or shedding tears, as if she had been speaking of heroes of the olden time. [Illustration: Temple of Saturn at Rome.] [Footnote 60: See p. 115.(The end of Chapter XVI.--Transcriber)] [Footnote 61: See p. 146.(Fifth paragraph of Chapter XX.--Transcriber)] [Footnote 62: _Od._, i. 47.] [Footnote 63: It must be recollected that the mob at Rome consisted chiefly of the four city tribes, and that slaves when manumitted could be enrolled in these four tribes alone.] [Illustration: A Roman Trophy.] CHAPTER XXII. JUGURTHA AND HIS TIMES. B.C. 118-104. The murder of C. Gracchus and his adherents left the Nobility undisputed masters of the state, till their scandalous conduct in the Jugurthan War provoked a reaction against them, and raised to power a more terrible opponent than the Gracchi had ever been. This man, who took such signal vengeance upon the Nobility, was the lowborn MARIUS. He was a native of Arpinum, and was said to have worked for wages as a common peasant before he entered the ranks of the army. He first served in Spain, and was present at the siege of Numantia in B.C. 134. Here he distinguished himself so much that he attracted the notice of Scipio Africanus, and received from him many marks of honor. Scipio indeed admitted him to his table; and on a certain occasion, when one of the guests asked Scipio where the Roman people would find such another general after his death, he is said to have laid his hand on the shoulder of Marius, and said, "Perhaps here." The name of Marius does not occur again for many years, but he doubtless continued to serve in the army, and became so distinguished that he was at length raised to the Tribunate of the Plebs in B.C. 119, though not till he had attained the mature age of 38. Only two years had elapsed since the death of C. Gracchus; and the Nobles, flushed with victory, resolved to put down with a high hand the least invasion of their privileges and power. But Marius had the boldness to propose a law for the purpose of giving greater freedom at elections; and when the Senate attempted to overawe him, he ordered one of his officers to carry the Consul Metellus to prison. Marius now became a marked man. He lost his election to the Ædileship, and with difficulty obtained the Prætorship (B.C. 115); but he added to his influence by his marriage with Julia, the sister of C. Julius Cæsar, the father of the future ruler of Rome. His military abilities recommended him to the Consul Metellus (B.C. 100), who was anxious to restore discipline in the army and to retrieve the glory of the Roman name, which had been tarnished by the incapacity and corruption of the previous generals in the Jugurthan War, which now requires our attention. Masinissa, the ruler of Numidia, and so long the faithful ally of the Romans, had died in B.C. 149, at the advanced age of 90, leaving three sons, Micipsa, Mastanabal, and Gulussa, among whom his kingdom was divided by Scipio Africanus, according to the dying directions of the old king. Mastanabal and Gulussa dying in their brother's lifetime, Micipsa became sole king. Jugurtha was a bastard son of Mastanabal; but Micipsa brought him up with his own sons, Hiempsal and Adherbal. Jugurtha distinguished himself so much that he began to excite the jealousy of Micipsa. In order to remove him to a distance, and not without a hope that he might perish in the war, Micipsa sent him, in B.C. 134, with an auxiliary force, to assist Scipio against Numantia; but this only proved to the young man a fresh occasion of distinction. By his zeal, courage, and ability he gained the favor not only of his commander, but of all the leading nobles in the Roman camp, by many of whom he was secretly stimulated to nourish ambitious schemes for acquiring the sole sovereignty of Numidia; and notwithstanding the contrary advice of Scipio, the counsels seem to have sunk deep into the mind of Jugurtha. On his return he was received with every demonstration of honor by Micipsa; nor did he allow his ambitious projects to break forth during the lifetime of the old man. Micipsa, on his death-bed, though but too clearly foreseeing what would happen, commended the two young princes to the care of Jugurtha; but at the very first interview which took place between them after his decease (B.C. 118) their dissensions broke out with the utmost fierceness. Shortly afterward Jugurtha found an opportunity to surprise and assassinate Hiempsal; whereupon Adherbal and his partisans rushed to arms, but were defeated in battle by Jugurtha. Adherbal himself fled for refuge to the Roman province, from whence he hastened to Rome to lay his cause before the Senate. Jugurtha had now the opportunity, for the first time, of putting to the test that which he had learnt in the camp before Numantia of the venality and corruption of the Roman nobility. He sent embassadors to Rome to counteract, by a lavish distribution of bribes, the effect of the just complaints of Adherbal, and by these means succeeded in averting the indignation of the Senate. A decree was, however, passed for the division of the kingdom of Numidia between the two competitors, and a committee of Senators sent to enforce its execution; but as soon as these arrived in Africa, Jugurtha succeeded in gaining them over by the same unscrupulous methods, and obtained, in the partition of the kingdom, the western division adjacent to Mauritania, by far the larger and richer portion of the two (B.C. 117). But this advantage was far from contenting him, and shortly afterward he invaded the territories of his rival with a large army. Adherbal was defeated in the first engagement, his camp taken, and he himself with difficulty made his escape to the strong fortress of Cirta. Here he was closely blockaded by Jugurtha. The garrison surrendered on a promise of their lives being spared; but these conditions were shamefully violated by Jugurtha, who immediately put to death Adherbal and all his followers (B.C. 112). Indignation was now loud at Rome against the Numidian king; yet so powerful was the influence of those whose favor he had gained by his gold, that he would probably have prevailed upon the Senate to overlook all his misdeeds, had not one of the Tribunes, C. Memmius, by bringing the matter before the people, compelled the Senators to give way. War was accordingly declared against him, and one of the Consuls, L. Calpurnius Bestia, landed in Africa with a large army, and immediately proceeded to invade Numidia (B.C. 111). But Jugurtha easily bribed Bestia and M. Scaurus, who acted as his principal lieutenant, to grant him a favorable peace, on condition only of a pretended submission, together with the surrender of thirty elephants and a small sum of money. As soon as the tidings of this disgraceful transaction reached Rome, the indignation excited was so great that, on the proposition of C. Memmius, it was agreed to send the Prætor L. Cassius, a man of the highest integrity, to Numidia, in order to prevail on the king to repair in person to Rome, the popular party hoping to be able to convict the leaders of the Nobility by means of his evidence. The safe-conduct granted him by the state was religiously observed; but the scheme failed of its effect, for, as soon as Jugurtha was brought forward in the assembly of the people to make his statement, one of the Tribunes, who had been previously gained over by the friends of Scaurus and Bestia, forbade him to speak. He nevertheless remained at Rome for some time longer, and engaged in secret intrigues, which would probably have been ultimately crowned with success had he not in the mean time ventured to assassinate Massiva, son of Gulussa, who was putting in a claim to the Numidian throne. It was impossible to overlook so daring a crime, perpetrated under the very eyes of the Senate. Jugurtha was ordered to quit Italy without delay. It was on this occasion that he is said, when leaving Rome, to have uttered the memorable words, "A city for sale, and destined to perish quickly, if it can find a purchaser." War was now inevitable; but the incapacity of Sp. Postumius Albinus, who arrived to conduct it (B.C. 110), and still more that of his brother Aulus, whom he left to command in his absence, when called away to hold the elections at Rome, proved as favorable to Jugurtha as the corruption of their predecessors. Aulus, having penetrated into the heart of Numidia, suffered himself to be surprised in his camp; great part of his army was cut to pieces, and the rest only escaped a similar fate by the ignominy of passing under the yoke. But Jugurtha had little reason to rejoice in this success, great as it might at first appear; for the disgrace at once roused all the spirit of the Roman people; the treaty concluded by Aulus was instantly annulled, immense exertions made to raise troops, and one of the Consuls for the new year (B.C. 109), Q. Cæcilius Metellus, hastened to Numidia to retrieve the honor of the Roman arms. But this did not satisfy the people. The scandalous conduct of so many of the Nobles had given fresh life to the popular party; and the Tribune C. Mamilius carried a bill for the appointment of three Commissioners to inquire into the conduct of all of those who had received bribes from Jugurtha. Scaurus, though one of the most guilty, managed to be put upon the Commission. But he dared not shield his confederates. Many men of the highest rank were condemned, among whom were Bestia, Albinus, and Opimius. The last named was the Opimius who acted with such ferocity toward Caius Gracchus and his party. He died in exile at Dyrrhachium some years afterward, in great poverty. The Consul Metellus, who was an able general and a man of the strictest integrity, landed in Africa, with Marius as his lieutenant, in B.C. 109. As soon as Jugurtha discovered the character of the new commander he began to despair of success, and made overtures for submission in earnest. These were apparently entertained by Metellus, while he sought in fact to gain over the adherents of the king, and induce them to betray him to the Romans, at the same time that he continued to advance into the enemy's territories. Jugurtha, in his turn, detected his designs, attacked him suddenly on his march with a numerous force, but was, after a severe struggle, repulsed, and his army totally routed. Metellus ravaged the greater part of the country, but failed in taking the important town of Zama before he withdrew into winter quarters. But he had produced such an effect upon the Numidian king, that Jugurtha was induced, in the course of the winter, to make offers of unqualified submission, and even surrendered all his elephants, with a number of arms and horses, and a large sum of money, to the Roman general; but when called upon to place himself personally in the power of Metellus, his courage failed him, he broke off the negotiation, and once more had recourse to arms. Marius had greatly distinguished himself in the preceding campaign. The readiness with which he shared the toils of the common soldiers, eating of the same food, and working at the same trenches with them, had endeared him to them, and through their letters to their friends at Rome his praises were in everybody's mouth. His increasing reputation and popularity induced him to aspire to the Consulship. His hopes were increased by a circumstance which happened to him at Utica. While sacrificing at this place the officiating priest told him that the victims predicted some great and wonderful events, and bade him execute whatever purpose he had in his mind. Marius thereupon applied to Metellus for leave of absence, that he might proceed to Rome and offer himself as a candidate. The Consul, who belonged to a family of the highest nobility, at first tried to dissuade Marius from his presumptuous attempt, by pointing out the certainty of failure; and when he could not prevail upon him to abandon his design, he civilly evaded his request by pleading the exigencies of the public service, which required his presence and assistance. But, as Marius still continued to press him for leave of absence, Metellus said to him on one occasion, "You need not be in such a hurry to go to Rome; it will be quite time enough for you to apply for the Consulship along with my son." The latter, who was then serving with the army, was a youth of only twenty years of age, and could not, therefore, become a candidate for the Consulship for the next twenty years. This insult was never forgotten by Marius. He now began to intrigue against his general, and to represent that the war was purposely prolonged by Metellus to gratify his own vanity and love of military power. He openly declared that with one half of the army he would soon have Jugurtha in chains; and as all his remarks were carefully reported at Rome, the people began to regard him as the only person competent to finish the war. Metellus at last allowed him to leave Africa, but only twelve days before the election. Meeting with a favorable wind, he arrived at Rome in time, and was elected Consul with an enthusiasm which bore down all opposition. He received from the people the province of Numidia, although the Senate had previously decreed that Metellus should continue in his command. The exultation of Marius knew no bounds. In his speeches to the public, he gloried in his humble origin. He upbraided the Nobles with their effeminacy and licentiousness; he told them that he looked upon the Consulship as a trophy of his conquest over them; and he proudly compared his own wounds and military experience with their indolence and ignorance of war. It was a great triumph for the people and a great humiliation for the aristocracy, and Marius made them drink to the dregs the bitter cup. While engaged in these attacks upon the Nobility, he at the same time carried on a levy of troops with great activity, and enrolled any persons who chose to offer for the service, however poor and mean, instead of taking them from the five classes according to ancient custom.[64] Meantime Metellus had been carrying on the war in Africa as Proconsul (B.C. 108). But the campaign was not productive of such decisive results as might have been expected. Jugurtha avoided any general action, and eluded the pursuit of Metellus by the rapidity of his movements. Even when driven from Thala, a strong-hold which he had deemed inaccessible from its position in the midst of arid deserts, he only retired among the Gætulians, and quickly succeeded in raising among those wild tribes a fresh army, with which he once more penetrated into the heart of Numidia. A still more important accession was that of Bocchus, king of Mauritania, who had been prevailed upon to raise an army, and advance to the support of Jugurtha. Metellus, however, having now relaxed his own efforts, from disgust at hearing that C. Marius had been appointed to succeed him in the command, remained on the defensive, while he sought to amuse the Moorish king by negotiation. The arrival of Marius (B.C. 107) infused fresh vigor into the Roman arms. He quickly reduced in succession almost all the strong-holds that still remained to Jugurtha, in some of which the king had deposited his principal treasures; and the latter, seeing himself thus deprived step by step of all his dominions, at length determined on a desperate attempt to retrieve his fortunes by one grand effort. He with difficulty prevailed on the wavering Bocchus, by the most extensive promises in case of success, to co-operate with him in this enterprise; and the two kings, with their united forces, attacked Marius on his march, when he was about to retire into winter quarters. Though the Roman general was taken by surprise for a moment, his consummate skill and the discipline of his troops proved again triumphant; the Numidians were repulsed, and their army, as usual with them in case of a defeat, dispersed in all directions. Jugurtha himself, after displaying the greatest courage in the action, cut his way almost alone through a body of Roman cavalry, and escaped from the field of battle. He quickly again gathered round him a body of Numidian horse; but his only hope of continuing the war now rested on Bocchus. The latter was for some time uncertain what course to adopt, but was at length gained over by Sulla, the Quæstor of Marius, to the Roman cause, and joined in a plan for seizing the person of the Numidian king. Jugurtha fell into the snare; he was induced, under pretense of a conference, to repair with only a few followers to meet Bocchus, when he was instantly surrounded, his attendants cut to pieces, and he himself made prisoner, and delivered in chains to Sulla, by whom he was conveyed directly to the camp of Marius. This occurred early in the year B.C. 106. L. Cornelius Sulla, the Quæstor of Marius, who afterward plays such a distinguished part in Roman history, was descended from a Patrician family which had been reduced to great obscurity. But his means were sufficient to secure him a good education. He studied the Greek and Roman writers with diligence and success, and early imbibed that love of literature and art by which he was distinguished throughout his life. But he was also fond of pleasure, and was conspicuous even among the Romans for licentiousness and debauchery. He was in every respect a contrast to Marius. He possessed all the accomplishments and all the vices which the old Cato had been most accustomed to denounce, and he was one of those advocates of Greek literature and of Greek profligacy who had since Cato's time become more and more common among the Roman Nobles. But Sulla's love of pleasure did not absorb all his time, nor enfeeble his mind; for no Roman during the latter days of the Republic, with the exception of Julius Cæsar, had a clearer judgment, a keener discrimination of character, or a firmer will. Upon his arrival in Africa, Marius was not well pleased that a Quæstor had been assigned to him who was only known for his profligacy, and who had had no experience in war; but the zeal and energy with which Sulla attended to his new duties soon rendered him a useful and skillful officer, and gained for him the unqualified approbation of his commander, notwithstanding his previous prejudices against him. He was equally successful in winning the affections of the soldiers. He always addressed them with the greatest kindness, seized every opportunity of conferring favors upon them, was ever ready to take part in all the jests of the camp, and at the same time never shrank from sharing in all their labors and dangers. It is a curious circumstance that Marius gave to his future enemy and the destroyer of his family and party the first opportunity of distinguishing himself. The enemies of Marius claimed for Sulla the glory of the betrayal of Jugurtha, and Sulla himself took the credit of it by always wearing a signet ring representing the scene of the surrender. Marius continued more than a year in Africa after the capture of Jugurtha. He entered Rome on the first of January, B.C. 104, leading Jugurtha in triumph. The Numidian king was then thrown into a dungeon, and there starved to death. Marius, during his absence, had been elected Consul a second time, and he entered upon his office on the day of his triumph. The reason of this unprecedented honor will be related in the following chapter. [Illustration: Soldiers blowing Tubæ and Cornua. (From Column of Trajan.)] [Footnote 64: On this important change in the Roman army, see p. 124. (The end of Chapter XVII.--Transcriber)] [Illustration: Caius Marius.] CHAPTER XXIII. THE CIMBRI AND TEUTONES, B.C. 113-101.--SECOND SERVILE WAR IN SICILY, B.C. 103-101. A greater danger than Rome had experienced since the time of Hannibal now threatened the state. Vast numbers of barbarians, such as spread over the south of Europe in the later times of the Roman Empire, had collected together on the northern side of the Alps, and were ready to pour down upon Italy. The two leading nations of which they consisted are called Cimbri and Teutones, of whom the former were probably Celts and the latter Germans, but the exact parts of Europe from which they came can not be ascertained. The whole host is said to have contained 300,000 fighting men, besides a much larger number of women and children. The alarm at Rome was still farther increased by the ill success which had hitherto attended the arms of the Republic against these barbarians. Army after army had fallen before them. The Cimbri were first heard of in B.C. 113, in Noricum, whence they descended into Illyricum, and defeated a Roman army under the command of Cn. Papirius Carbo. They then marched westward into Switzerland, where they were joined by the Tigurini and the Ambrones. They next poured over Gaul, which they plundered and ravaged in every direction. The Romans sent army after army to defend the southwestern part of the country, which was now a Roman province; but all in vain. In B.C. 109 the Consul M. Junius Silanus was defeated by the Cimbri; in B.C. 107 the Tigurini cut in pieces, near the Lake of Geneva, the army of the Consul L. Cassius Longinus, the colleague of Marias, who lost his life in the battle; and shortly afterward M. Aurelius Scaurus was also defeated and taken prisoner. But the most dreadful loss was still to come. In B.C. 105 two consular armies, commanded by the Consul Cn. Mallius Maximus and the Proconsul Cn. Servilius Cæpio, consisting of 80,000 men, were completely annihilated by the barbarians: only two men are said to have escaped the slaughter. These repeated disasters hushed all party quarrels. Every one at Rome felt that Marius was the only man capable of saving the state, and he was accordingly elected Consul by the unanimous votes of all parties while he was still absent in Africa. He entered Rome in triumph, as we have already said, on the 1st of January, B.C. 104, which was the first day of his second Consulship. Meantime the threatened danger was for a while averted. Instead of crossing the Alps and pouring down upon Italy, as had been expected, the Cimbri marched into Spain, which they ravaged for the next two or three years. This interval was advantageously employed by Marius in training the new troops, and accustoming them to hardships and toil. It was probably during this time that he introduced the various changes into the organization of the Roman army which are usually attributed to him. Notwithstanding the sternness and severity with which he punished the least breach of discipline, he was a favorite with his new soldiers, who learned to place implicit confidence in their general, and were delighted with the strict impartiality with which he visited the offenses of the officers as well as of the privates. As the enemy still continued in Spain, Marius was elected Consul a third time for the year B.C. 103, and also a fourth time for the following year, with Q. Lutatius Catulus as his colleague. It was in this year (B.C. 102) that the long-expected barbarians arrived. The Cimbri, who had returned from Spain, united their forces with the Teutones. Marius first took up his position in a fortified camp upon the Rhone, probably in the vicinity of the modern Arles; and as the entrance of the river was nearly blocked up by mud and sand, he employed his soldiers in digging a canal from the Rhone to the Mediterranean, that he might the more easily obtain his supplies from the sea.[65] Meantime the barbarians had divided their forces. The Cimbri marched round the northern foot of the Alps, in order to enter Italy by the northeast, crossing the Tyrolese Alps by the defiles of Tridentum (_Trent_). The Teutones and Ambrones, on the other hand, marched against Marius, intending, as it seems, to penetrate into Italy by Nice and the Riviera of Genoa. Marius, anxious to accustom his soldiers to the savage and strange appearance of the barbarians, would not give them battle at first. The latter resolved to attack the Roman camp; but as they were repulsed in this attempt, they pressed on at once for Italy. So great were their numbers, that they are said to have been six days in marching by the Roman camp. As soon as they had advanced a little way, Marius followed them; and thus the armies continued to march for a few days, the barbarians in the front and Marius behind, till they came to the neighborhood of Aquæ Sextiæ (_Aix_). Here the decisive battle was fought. An ambush of 3000 soldiers, which Marius had stationed in the rear of the barbarians, and which fell upon them when they were already retreating, decided the fortune of the day. Attacked both in front and rear, and also dreadfully exhausted by the excessive heat of the weather, they at length broke their ranks and fled. The carnage was dreadful; the whole nation was annihilated, for those who escaped put an end to their lives, and their wives followed their example. Immediately after the battle, as Marius was in the act of setting fire to the vast heap of broken arms which was intended as an offering to the gods, horsemen rode up to him, and greeted him with the news of his being elected Consul for the fifth time. The Cimbri, in the mean time, had forced their way into Italy. The colleague of Marius, Q. Lutatius Catulus, despairing of defending the passes of the Tyrol, had taken up a strong position on the Athesis (Adige); but, in consequence of the terror of his soldiers at the approach of the barbarians, he was obliged to retreat even beyond the Po, thus leaving the whole of the rich plain of Lombardy exposed to their ravages. Marius was therefore rec