Suppliants carrying Olive-branches in their hands till they came within sight of the Roman Camp where they made an halt for a little time as if they came to beg for Peace but on a sudden flinging away their Ensigns of petitioning they fell to brandishing and clattering their Arms and with an horrible Clamour rush'd in to the Camp where all were put into a consternation both by their fury and their noise But this Fraud of the Barbarians Gracchus by a like Artifice eluded and beat back on their heads For pretending to fly he quitted the Camp but no sooner were they got into it and busie a plundering but he rallies his Army and in good earnest falls upon them and not only slew a great part of them but seized the City from whence they came After this pushing on his good Fortune he compelled innumerable Towns exhausted with the Calamities of War to surrender themselves and subdued the neighbouring Nations Then dividing the Lands amongst the Poor and assigning to every Nation their certain bounds he made a League with all the Celtiberians and the People adjacent who had sided with them whereby he brought over a considerable part of Spain to an Alliance with the Romans and their Posterity embraced the same Treaty as a Law which makes that seem less wonderful which is related by Polybius viz. That Gracchus took by Force or subverted three hundred Cities of the Celtiberians which Posidonius thinks to be a Fiction and that the Actions of that Expedition were augmented beyond all measure in favour of Gracchus since neither the Extent of the Country nor its Nature could yield so many Cities in that dry and barren Soil And the Spaniards except those that border on our Seas though they are very numerous build and inhabit Villages rather than Cities nor are they a few of them that lead a life almost like Savages in the Woods troublesom to those more Civil people that dwell near them But we must consider that under the Name of Celtiberians were comprehended all those neighbouring Nations who were in League with them As on the one side the Arevacans Carpetans Oretanes and other People about the River Tagus and on the other side the Vascons towards the River Iberus amongst whom he rebuilt the Town Gacchurris a perpetual Monument of his Valour and Atchievements which place the Spaniards formerly called Illurcis The same Summer L. Postuminius Governour of the farther Spain in quality of Propraetor routed the Enemy killing forty thousand of them and subdued the Lusitanians and Vaccaeans Whilst these things were doing A. Manlius Vulso the Consul whose Province we told you was the Cisalpine Gallia seeing all that Country in a profound Peace and no hopes for him to acquire a Triumph on either side of the Po unless it were beyond the Alps grew desirous to advance his Arms another way and luckily it happen'd that some Commotions of the Istrians and Illyrians though they were rather predatory Excursions by Sea and Land upon Roman Allies than warlike Invasions invited him to pass the Bounds of Italy Those people always enured to Robbery and Spoil were grown weary of their Peace though they both had long since made tryal to their Cost of the Roman Puissance The Illyrians having been weakned with several Overthrows especially in the days of their Queen Teuta whom Cn. Fulvius Centumalus and A. Posthumius Albinus having attacqued with Forces both by Sea and Land deprived of part of her Kingdom and forced her to beg Peace upon very hard Terms some few years before the beginning of the second Punick War Not long after which viz. about forty three years since the Istrians were defeated by the two Consuls P. Cornelius Scipio Asina and M. Minucius Rufus and almost utterly subdued but afterwards their Spirits in a new Generation being elevated they returned to their old Trade of affronting the Romans their new Princes in each place not restraining but rather encouraging the insolence of their people The Ruler of the Illyrians was Gentius the Son of Paluratus who in the heat of his youthful blood was fond to have armed that which c. as fol. 791. aforesaid A Supplement of two Gaps near together at the End of the eighteenth Chapter of the same Book fol. 799. C. Valerius having heard of the death of his Collegue Q Petillius leads his Army against the Ligurians and joining his own Troops with those who lately under the others Conduct had driven the Enemy out of the Mountains did so inclose and defeat them that he abundantly sacrificed them to his Partners Ghost Hence returning to Rome and admitted to Audience by the Senate in the Temple of Bellona he gave an account both of Petillius's Actions and his own demanding a Triumph for himself and such Honours to be done to his Collegues Memory as the dead were capable of A Supplication was order'd for two days and a Triumph granted him but upon that Legion by whom Petillius was if not deserted yet at least not so valiantly defended as they ought to have done the Fathers thought fit to lay a Mark of their Displeasure by an Order That they should have no Pay for that year Some few days after Valerius triumphed over the Ligurians being drawn in a stately Chariot with four Horses through the City to the Capitol After this the holding of the Assemblies for chusing Consuls and Praetors came to be considered touching which there happen'd no small Debate in the Senate because C. Valerius Laevinus the only surviving Consul of all the three that had been the last year was not chosen in the beginning of the year but subrogated in the room of Cn. Cornelius Scipio Hispalus deceased during his Magistracy Now those that were skill'd in Religious Rites and the Common Laws of the Nation said That seeing both the ordinary Consuls of that year happen'd to be taken off one by a natural Death and the other by the Wars the Consul substituted in the room of either of them could not legally hold the aforesaid Assemblies And the Pontiffs being consulted declaring themselves to be of the same Opinion the matter came to an Inter-regency And by the Court held by the Inter-regent there were chosen Consuls P. Mucius Scaevola and M. Aemilius Lepidus the second time Next day Praetors were created viz. C. Popillius Laenas T. Annius Luscus C. Memmius Gallus C. Cluvius Saxula Sext. Cornelius Sulla and App. Claudius Centho Amongst whom the Provinces were thus allotted to the Consuls the Cisalpine Gallia and Liguria the latter to Mucius the former to Lepidus Of the Praetors Cluvius had the City-Jurisdiction Annius the Foreign Pop. Laenas Sicily Memmius the higher Spain Corn. Sulla Sardinia Centho the further Spain How many and what Legions or Forces of the Latine Allies were assigned to each the Ancients are silent However it can scarce be doubted but before they went to their respective Provinces they did by the Senate's Order inspect the Sibylline Books and
having first pick'd up the Spoils of the Camps returned to his Colleague who having possessed himself of Acerrae where he found a great quantity of Provisions with much ado defended himself against the Enemy about Milan a Capital Town of the Insubrian Gauls But by Marcellus his arrival the Scene was much alter'd For both the Gaesates went home when they heard their King was slain and also the Milaneses being abandon'd by them could not defend their City So that great numbers of the Insubrians being killed and Milan and Como taken the other Towns afterwards and the whole Nation of the Insubrians surrendred themselves having obtain'd conditions of Peace that were reasonable enough part onely of their Lands being confiscated M. Marcellus having performed his charge held a very splendid and magnificent Triumph over the Insubrian Gauls and Germans the first of March This is the first mention of Germans in Roman Story these being some Mercenary Soldiers rais'd in Countries beyond the Rhine who came into Italy under the conduct of Viridomarus Some of whom and also of the Gauls being taken Prisoners Men of huge size and Stature went before the Victors Chariot among the most precious Spoils The Consul Himself followed after who made a gallant Show carrying the Arms he had devoted in his hands to Jupiter Feretrius on whom the Army richly clad and equipped attended and as they went celebrated the Consuls Praises with Songs and Acclamations When the Cavalcade had come in this order to Jupiters Temple M. Marcellus alighting from his Chariot hung up in that Temple the Magnificent Spoils being the third Man after Romulus and Au. Cornelius Cossus and the last too that ever did so The Roman People view'd these Arms with greater pleasure because the Enemies were said to have Vow'd the Romans Arms to Vulcan and the joy for this Victory was so great that the Senate and People of Rome out of the Spoils made a Present to Apollo's Shrine at Delphos of a golden Bowl and bestowed on their Confederates and Friends round about some of the Arms taken from the Gauls To Hiero King of Syracuse besides some of the Spoils they sent the price of that Corn which he had furnished the Romans with during the Gallic War The Istrians were the next Enemies they had who annoying the Seas by Piracy took several Vessels belonging to the Romans that were laden with Corn against whom the two Consuls P. Cornelius and M. A. U. 532 Minucius Rufus being sent subdued some by force and obliged others to surrender themselves But yet I do not find that these triumph'd because I suppose their Victory had cost a great deal of Roman blood A. U. 533 This year there arose in Spain a Star of malevolent influence upon several Kingdoms and People Hannibal Hasdrubal's Successor of whose rise and Exploits many things are to be delivered in the course of this History by a greater hand Mean while L. Veturius and C. Lutatius marched out with their Forces to the Alps and rather using Treaties and Negotiations than Arms with those People they brought over several of them to embrace the Roman Alliance A War brake out again with the Illyrians at this time by reason of Demetrius Pharius his Tyranny who pretending his Alliance with Rome molested the neighbouring Nations as he pleased himself and therefore Complaints were made against him from several parts He trusting in the Power in which upon his revolt from Teuta he was setled by the Romans and his being Protector to Pinneus during his Minority whose Mother Triteuta he had married he carried himself with as great State as a King and because troublesom and insupportable as well to his Country-men as Neighbours And even those People of Illyria that were the Roman Confederates and Allies he endeavour'd to subdue and having put to Sea with a Fleet of fifty Pinnaces well manned he sail'd beyond Lessus contrary to the Treaty made with the Romans and wasted the Cyclades small Islands in the Archipelago and forced some of the People to pay him Tribute And now he had got on his side as many of the Istrians as were dissaffected to the Romans since the late War and forced the Atintanes to join with him Neither did he regard the Romans at all for he thought now they were ingaged in the Gallic War and likewise were under apprehensions of another with Carthage they would have neither Power nor leisure to revenge their Confederates quarrel or to afford them protection Beside he doubted not but he should be assisted with what Force he pleased by Philip King of Macedon because in his War with Cleomenes he had lent him Aid being himself General of the Illyrian Auxiliaries A War therefore is declared against him and preparations were made accordingly Mean time L. Aimilius and C. Flaminius the Censors perform'd the Lustration wherein 270213 men were polled At that time a multitude of freed men which liv'd dispersed amongst all the Tribes gave great disturbances to the City so that the Censors in imitation of Q. Fabius Maximus reduced them into four Tribes the Esquilina Palatina Suburrana and Collina C. Flaminia in the same Censorship payed the High-way as far as Ariminum and built a Cirque both which Works were called by the name of their Author the Flaminian Cirque and the Flaminian Way The same Censors proposed to the Commons the Metilian Law concerning Fullers not supposing the Care of those meaner things to be below the regards of their great Office At this time the Rebellion in Illyria obliged the Senate to send M Livius Salinator and L. Aimilius Paul us the Consuls to that Province Demetrius on the other side was preparing very briskly for War A. U. 534 having put a Garison into Dimalus and provided all other things that were necessary for holding out a long Siege In some places he caus'd the principal men to be kill'd whose loyalty he suspected and deliver'd the government of their respective Towns to such as were his own Creatures and Adherents and out of his whole Kingdom he selected a Body of six thousand men which he kept with him for the defence of Pharus Whilst these things pass'd on thus L. Paulus the Consul marching out in the beginning of Spring came to Illyria and understanding that the Enemies relied very much upon the Works and defences of Dimalus thought by them an impregnable Fort he judg'd that if he could take this place he might put the Enemy into a great consternation Whereupon he sat down before it and his men made such brisk attacques upon the place that it was taken by storm within seven days aftar it had been first invested Nor was the Consul mistaken in his opinion for the report hereof being immediately spread through the neighbouring Cities Ambassadours came from all places round yielding themselves up to the Romans The Consul having accepted their submissions and taken them under his protection went to the Isle of Pharus where Demetrius his Palace
seconded both with Messengers from Hippocrates and Letters from Annibal affirming That now was the only time to recover Sicily with the greatest Honour imaginable and being himself present in person no ill Orator to promote the business he got them to transport these Forces in all speed to Sicliy soon after his Arrival he took Agrigentum and the other Cities that took part with the Carthaginians were so flusht with hopes of expelling the Romans out of the Island that even the besieged Syracusians took heart and thought they could defend the Town well enough with part of their Forces and so divided themselves Epicides to guard the City and Hippocrates to join Himilco and carry on the War against the Roman Consul In order thereto one night he march'd out with ten thousand Foot and five hundred Horse and pass'd unperceiv'd between the Roman Guards at places where no Sentinels were set and encamp'd near the Town Acerrae Marcellus had march'd in great haste hoping to have got to Agrigentum before the Enemy but sailing therein was now coming back that way not in the least dreaming to meet an Army of Syracusians however for fear of Himilco and his Carthaginians who were superiour to him in numbers he march'd very warily and in good order to encounter any sudden accident This care and diligence against the Punicks turn'd to good account against these Syracusians For coming upon them as they were pitching their Tents and out of Array and for the most part unarm'd the Foot were hemm'd in and cut to pieces the Horse after a small Skirmish fled with Hippocrates to Acrae This Defeat having somewhat restrain'd the Sicilians that before were all for revolting from the Romans Marcellus return'd to Syracuse and within few days Himilco having join'd Hippocrates encamp'd about eight miles from thence upon the River Anatis About the same time there arriv'd in the great Port of Syracuse Admiral Bomilcar with a Fleet of fifty five Sail from Carthage and the Roman Navy consisting of thirty Sail put on shore the first Legion at Panormus so that now the War seem'd diverted from Italy and both Nations intent only upon the gaining of Sicily This Roman Legion Himilco doubted not but to intercept in their passage to Syracuse but he mistook the way marching high up in the Land whilst they went along the shore the Navy sailing by them all the way and so came to Pachynus where App. Claudius met them with part of his Souldiers Nor did the Carthaginian Fleet continue at Syracuse for Bomilcar neither thought himself able to engage the Romans at Sea not could do his Friends any good but rather impoverish them and waste their Provisions therefore he hoised Sail back again for Africk And Hamilco having dogg'd Marcellus as far as Syracuse hoping to have met with some advantage to have fought him before he had join'd the rest of his Forces finding no such opportunity and that before Syracuse the Enemy was too strong both by their Works and their Numbers that he might not vainly spend time in looking upon his besieged Friends whom he could not help he march'd thence to see what places he could by his presence or Force withdraw from the Roman Obedience and first of all he was receiv'd at Marguntia whose Inhabitants betray'd the Roman Garrison there he got abundance of Provisions of all sorts stor'd up by the Romans This encourag'd other Towns to the like Revolt and the Roman Garrisons were every where driven out by Force or circumvented and cut off by Fraud The City Enna situate on a Hill every way very steep was not only impregnable by Nature but secur'd by a strong Garrison under a Captain not easie to be wheadled viz. L. Pinarius a sharp man and one who confided more in his own caution than the Sicilians fidelity especially since he was now every day alarm'd with so many treacherous pranks play'd round about him Therefore night and day he kept strict Guards and Watches his Souldiers were always in Arms nor durst any depart from his Post which the chief Burghers perceiving who already had bargain'd with Himilco to betray the Garrison they thought it best to play above board and by open means effect their design they therefore tell the Governour That both the City and Castle ought to be in their own hands and disposal since they entred into League with the Romans as Freemen and yielded up themselves not as Slaves and Vassals to be kept under per duress and as it were in a prison therefore they thought it but just and fit that the Keys of the Gates should be restor'd unto them Amongst good Allies there is no greater obligation than their own fidelity and the People and Senate of Rome would no doubt have the greater kindness for them when they should see them continue firm and stedfast to their Friendship not by constraint but of their own free inclinations The Governour answers That he was placed there in Garrison by his General and from him receiv'd both the Keys of the Gates and the Custody of the Castle and held the same neither at his own disposal nor at the pleasure of the Enneans but of his who committed them unto him That for a Captain to quit his Post was amongst the Romans punish'd with certain death wherein their Ancestors had been so strict as even Parents had not spared their own Children when guilty therein And seeing the Consul Marcellus was but hard by they might if they pleas'd send to him about it who only had the proper Right and Authority to gratifie them in this matter They flatly told him That they would not stand sending after Marcellus but if fair words would not prevail were resolv'd to take other measures to redeem their Liberties Pinarius replied If you think much to address your Messengers to the Consul yet do me this favour as to call a Common Hall for my satisfaction that I may know whether these Demands proceed only from some few mens humours or be the sentiments of the whole body of the City Which they granted and appointed a general Assembly on the morrow Assoon as he parted from them and was got into the Castle he calls a Council of War and thus harangues them I believe Fellow-Souldiers you have heard in how miserable a manner the Roman Garrisons abroad are of late betray'd and destroy'd by these Sicilians which Treachery you have hitherto avoided first and principally through the goodness of the Gods and in the next place by your own Valour and vigilance in standing night and day to your Arms and I wish we might as well pass the time that is to come without either suffering or acting any horrible violence We must still exercise the same Caution as we have done hitherto against their secret fraud which because it has not yet succceded they now openly and publickly demand the Keys of the Gates which we shall no sooner surrender but the Carthaginians will be Masters of
That Lightning had toucht the Wall and Gate of the Town Ostia That at Caere a Vultur slew into Joves Temple and that at Volsinii a Pool was turn'd into Blood To avert these tokens there was one day spent in Supplications and for several dayes together great Sacrifices kill'd but not found acceptable and for a long time the Gods would shew no signs of favour but all these ill portents in the Issue lighted only on the Consuls heads without much danger to the State The solemn Games in honour of Apollo were first celebrated by P. Cornelius Sulla the City Praetor when Q Fulvius and Ap. Claudius were Consuls and thence-forwards all City Praetors had observ'd them but they were only vow'd from year to year and held on uncertain days but this year a Pestilence grievously afflicting the City and Country yet rather by long tedious lingering Diseases than any mighty Mortality on that account both Supplications were made at every Shrine and P. Licinius Varus the Praetor of the City was required to prefer a Bill to the people that the aforesaid Games should be vow'd for ever on a stated day and in pursuance of that Law he was the first that so vow'd them and order'd them to be held the fifth of July and on that day they were kept always after Concerning the Arretines there continually arriv'd suspitious reports which encreas'd the Senates Care to secure that Town Therefore they wrote Letters to C. Hostilius That he should without delay cause them to find Hostages and send them to Rome by C. Terentius Varro who carried these Orders Upon whose Arrival Varro caused one Legion that encamp'd before the Walls to march into the Town and having planted Guards in places requisite summons the Senators together and demands of them Hostages who requiring two days time to consider of it he told them If they did not forthwith provide them he would on the morrow seize on all the Senators Children Then he caused the Colonels to keep the Gates and the Prefects of the Allies and Centurions to be upon the Watch that none in the night made their escape out of the City But this was not so diligently perform'd but seven of the principal Senators with their Children got away who being found wanting next morning when the Senate was call'd over all their Estates were confiscated of the other Senators Hostages to the number of a hundred and twenty being for the most part their own Children were received and delivered to Terentius to be conveyed to Rome whose report of things still encreas'd the Senates Jealousies Therefore as if a Sedition in Tuscany were just at hand they order'd him the said Varro to march with one of the City Legions to Arretium and there keep Garrison whilst C. Hostilius with the rest of the Army kept moving to and fro through the whole Country and prevent all occasions of mischief Terentius coming thither with his Legion demanded the Keys of the Gates of the Magistrates who pretended they were lost but he believing they were designedly laid out of the way presently claps on new Locks and Keys on all the Gates and took care to be Master of all things in the Town He gave special warning also to Hostilius as touching the Tuscans in general that he should never rest secure of their fidelity unless he had first depriv'd them of all possible means of rebelling After this there was great debate in the Senate about the Tarentines Fabius defending and pleading for them after he had conquer'd them by his Arms but others were much incensed against them and most said their crime was no less than the Capuans and that they ought as severely to be punisht at last the Vote of the House pass'd according to the advice of M. Acilius that the City should be kept under a Garrison and none of the Inhabitants suffer'd to range without the Walls and that the whole matter should be re-heard when the affairs of Italy were in a more setled condition nor was the dispute less hot concerning M. Livius Governour of the Castle of Tarentum some condemning him because through his negligence the City of Tarentum was betray'd to the Enemy others voting to have rewards bestowed upon him for having so bravely defended the Castle for five years together and because by his means chiefly the City was recovered but some were for a middle course urging That the cognizance of the matter did not so properly belong to that House as to the Censors and of that opinion was Fabius himself but added withal that he must confess Livius had been a main means of the recovering of Tarentum as his Friends boasted in his favour for if he had not lost it it could never have been regain'd T. Quintius Crispinus one of the Consuls went into Lucania with recruits to the Army that had served under Q. Fulvius Flaccus but Marcellus was still detain'd by new scruples of Religion and odd presages happening one after another amongst other things whereas in the Gallick War at Clastidium he had made a Vow to build a Temple to Honour and Vertue the same being finisht the Colledge of Priests would not suffer it to be Dedicated because they said one Chappel could rightly be dedicated but to one Deity and no more for otherwise if it should be smitten with Lightning or any other prodigious token happen therein it would be a very difficult matter to expiate the same since they could not know to which God the Sacrifices ought to be made for one Sacrifice cannot be offered to two Gods unless in some special Cases so there was fain to be another Temple erected just by to Vertue and great hast was made to run it up but it was not his Fortune to see either of them Dedicated At last he set forwards to the Army that he left last year at Venusia carrying with him recruits Crispinus seeing Fabius had got so much honour by taking of Tarentum laid Siege to Locri in the Bruttians Country having sent for all sorts of Engines of Battery and other Artillery from Sicily and also Ships to assault that part of the Town which lay towards the Sea but he was forc'd to give over that Siege because Annibal was advanc'd as far as Licinium and he was told his Collegue had drawn his Forces already out of Venusia with whom he was willing to join therefore from the Bruttii he returns into Apulia and between Venusia and Bantia the two Consuls encamp'd not above three miles from each other Annibal having turn'd the War from Locri comes that way too and both Consuls being men of hot Spirits were every day leading their Souldiers into the Field to offer him Battel not doubting but if they could engage him now with the joint Forces of two Consulary Forces they should put an end to the War Annibal considering that in the two Bouts he had last year with Marcellus once he was Conquerour and the other time worsted concluded if he
an Enemy that can alone compare with all those together Yet this same Fabius was reckoned rather cautious than eager and as you may doubt whether he were in his Nature more given to make delays or that such delays were in the War then in hand very convenient to be made so nothing is more certain than this That one man by his delays restored our Commonwealth as Ennius has it Q. Fabius Maximus his Son was chosen Augur in his room and in his place as Pontifex for he had two Priesthoods succeeded Ser. Sulpicius Galba The Roman Games were celebrated one day and the Plebeian Sports thrice all over by the Aediles M. Sextius Sabinus and C. Tremellius Flaccus who were both made Praetors with C. Livius Salinator and C. Aurelius Cotta Divers Authors make it uncertain who held the Assembly of that year whether it was C. Servilius the Consul or because he was imployed by Order of Senate at that time in Etruria to make inquiry into several Conspiracies among the Nobility there P. Sulpicius who was by him declared Dictator In the beginning of the next year M. Servllius and Tib. Claudius having summoned a Senate into the Capitol proposed the business of the Provinces Among which they desired U. C. 548 that for Italy and Africa they might cast Lots because they both would fain have had Africa But Q. Metellus was so active in that affair that Africa was neither given nor denied The Consuls were order'd to treat with the Tribunes of the People That if they thought good they might ask the People which of them they would have to go and make War in Africa Thereupon all the Tribes voted for P. Scipio But notwithstanding the Consuls put the Province of Africa for so the Senate had decreed upon the chance of Lots T. Claudius had the luck to have it and was to go into Africa with a Fleet of fifty Ships all five bank'd Gallies and be in the same Commission as Scipio M. Servilius had Etruria Caius Sorvilius being continued in the same Province if the Senate had a mind the Consul should stay in the City As to the Praetors M. Sextius had Gaul and P. Quintilius Varus was to deliver to him the two Legions as well as the Province C. Livius was to have the Bruttii and those two Legions that P. Sempronius the Proconsul the year before commanded Cn. Tremellius to have Sicily and the two Legions there from P. Villius Tappulus who was Praetor the year before That Villius the Propraetor with twenty long Ships and a thousand Soldiers should defend the Coast of Sicily and that from thence with the other twenty Ships should carry the 1500 Men to Rome C. Aurelius Cotta happen'd to have the City for his Province and to the rest according as each of them then had possession of Provinces and Armies their Commands were continued The Empire that year was defended with no more than sixteen Legions But then that they might appease the Gods and so begin all that they had to do it was decreed That the Consuls before they went to the War should celebrate those Games that T. Manlius the Dictator when M. Claudius Marcellus and T. Quintius were Consuls had vowed to set forth with such greater Sacrifices as he had resolved on if the Commonwealth for that five years continued in the same state The Games therefore were performed in the Cirque four days together and the Victims offered to such Gods as they were devoted to Amidst these things both their hope and their fear increased each day nor could they be sufficiently satisfied Whether they ought most to rejoyce that Annibal by departing out of Italy after sixteen years continuance there had left the possession of it clear to the Roman People or rather to fear his going over into Africa with an healthful and a stout Army For the place they thought not the danger was alter'd Q. Fabius who was lately dead being used to prophesie and that very probably of a great Fight which they should have there and that Annibal would be a more grievous Enemy in his own Country than he had been in a foreign Land Nor would Scipio now have to do either with Syphax a rude and barbarous King whose Army of Fellows that were half Scullions Statorius was wont to lead or with his Father-in-law Asdrubal a General more apt to run away than fight or with tumultuary Armies raised in an hurry out of an half-armed crowd of Country-fellows but with Annibal who was almost born in his Fathers Tent who was a very warlike General nursed and brought up among Arms a Soldier long ago whilst yet a Boy and a General though hardly even yet a Man who being already grown an old Man for his Conquests had filled the Spaniards the Gauls and all Italy from the Alpes to the Streights with Monuments of his Exploits and now had an Army at his heels who had been Soldiers as long as himself and were hardned with enduring all sorts of labour which it is hardly credible that men could ever undergo that had been a thousand times embrued in Roman blood and still bore the spoils not only of common Soldiers but of Roman Generals also That Scipio would meet many persons there who had slain Roman Praetors and Generals too with their own hands adorned with mural and vallare Coronets i. e. Crowns that they had for first scaling a Wall or getting up a Bulwark that had straggled through Roman Camps and Roman Cities too which they had taken That there were now so many Fasces bundles of Rods belonging to the Roman Magistrates as Annibal could shew that he had taken from Generals that he had slain Revolving these dreadful apprehensions in their minds they themselves increased their own cares and fears for that they had been used for some years past to have a War in several parts of Italy which was protracted by such slow degrees that they had no near prospect of seeing any end of it but that now Scipio and Annibal being Generals of an equal match and fit to try the last push had put all people into an expectation And those also who had a great confidence in Scipio with hopes of Victory the nearer view their minds had of it the more concerned they were The Carthaginians also were in the same condition For they one while repented when they considered Annibal and the great Actions that he had done that they ever desired a Peace but another while when they remembred that they had been twice conquered in set Battles that Syphax was taken themselves beaten out of Spain and Italy and all by the sole courage and conduct of Scipio they were terrified at the thoughts of him as of a fatal General born to be their ruine Annibal was now come to Adrumetum where taking some few days to refresh his Soldiers after their having been tossed upon the Sea he was alarm'd with fearful News That all the parts about Carthage were
unanimous consent of the Senate the Tribune was sain to yield and by an order of Senate L. Lentulus came into the City Ovant He brought as booty along with him forty four thousand pounds of Silver Bullion and of Gold two thousand four hundred pounds giving each of his Souldiers a hundred and twenty Asses apiece By this time the Consuls Army was brought from Aretium to Ariminum and five thousand of the Allies of the Latine Race were coming over out of Gaul into Etruria Wherefore L. Furius making great marches from Ariminum against the Gauls who then were a besieging Cremona he pitched his Camp fifteen hundred paces from the Enemy He had a good opportunity to have done his business had he gone straight on and attacked the Enemies Camp For they santered and stragled about the Country without leaving any strong Garison there behind them But he feared his Souldiers were too weary because they had marched so very fast Thereupon the Gaules being recalled by the shouts of their own Party left the Booty that they had gotten and made back to their Camp coming the next day into the Field Nor did the Romans delay the fight though they had hardly time to set their men in Battalia the Enemy ran in upon them with such speed The right Wing for he had an Army of Allies divided into Wings was planted in the Van and the two Roman Legions in the Reer M. Furius Commanded the Right Wing M. Caecilius the Legions and L. Valerius Flaccus the Horse being all of them Lieutenants The Praetor had with him two Lieutenants Cn. Letorius and P. Titinius by whose help he might be able to look about him and be ready for all the Enemies sudden efforts First then the Gauls with all their whole Body gathered into one place hoped to overthrow and rout the right VVing which was in the front but seeing they had no success in that attempt they endeavoured to wheel about from their Wings and enclose the Enemies Army which to such a multitude against so few seemed very easie VVhen the Praetor saw that he also went about to dilate his Army and therefore drew the two Legions out of the Reer to the right and left in order to cover the VVing that fought the Front and vow'd to build a Temple in honour of Jupiter if that day he routed the Enemy After which he ordered L. Valerius that on the one side he should send forth the Horse that were in the two Legions and on the other side those of the Allies against the Enemies VVing or suffer them to surround or circumvent their Main Body And at the same time he himself as soon as he saw the Gauls Main Body grown thin after the widening and spreading of their VVings commanded his men at their close Order to attack them and break their Ranks by which means the Wings were beaten by the Horse and the main Body by the Foot Whereupon of a sudden the Gauls being slain in great numbers on every side turned their backs and ran toward their Camp as hard as they could drive Whither the Horse first pursuing them and by and by the Foot also they made an attack upon their Camp Little less than six thousand men made their escape thence there being killed and taken above thirty five thousand with eighty military Ensigns and Gallick Waggons laden with much Booty to the number of above two hundred Amilcar the Carthaginian General fell in that Battle and three noble Generals of the Gauls Of the Placentine Captives there were full two thousand Freemen delivered back to the Inhabitants This was a great Victory and the cause of much joy at Rome concerning which when the Letters came a supplication was decreed to be made for three Days together There fell of Romans and their Allies in that Battel two Thousand many of them belonging to the right VVing upon which the Enemy at first made their fiercest Attack Now though the Praetor had almost made an end of the VVar yet C. Aurelius the Consul also having perfected what was to be done at Rome going into Gallia took the Victorious Army from the Praetor whilst the other Consul being coming into his Province about the latter end of Autumn wintered near Apollonia C. Claudius and the Roman three-bank'd Gallies as I told you before who were sent from the Navy that was in Harbour at Corcyra to Athens being arrived at the Pyraeeus revived the hopes of their Allies who were now in a very desponding condition For neither were those incursions by Land that used to be made from Corinth through Megara into their Country any longer continued nor durst the Thieves and Pirates of Chalcis that had infested not only the Sea but all the Maritime Country also belonging to the Athenians pass Sunium or appear in the open Sea without the streights of Euripus Besides these there came three Rhodian four-bank'd Gallies and there were three Attick open Ships on purpose to defend the Sea Coast VVith this Navy though Claudius was of opinion that the City and Country of Athens might be for the present sufficiently defended he had a greater thing offered to him by mere chance Certain banished Persons that were driven from Chalcis by injuries which they received at Court brought him word That Chalcis might be taken without the trouble of fighting for it For the Macedonians because there was no fear of any Enemies being near them straggled up and down and the townsmen relying upon the Macedonian Garrison neglected the keeping and securing of their City By their advice therefore he set out but though he came so soon to Sunium that he might by day-light have got as far as the entrance into the streights of Euboea yet lest if he pass'd the Promontory or Cape he might be discovered he kept his Navy in the same station till night As soon as it was night he moved and sailing gently to Chalcis a little before day in that part of the City that is least inhabited he with a few Men scaled and took the adjoyning Tower and the Wall about it Then finding in some places the Sentinels asleep and in others no Sentinel at all they went forward to those places where there were more Houses and there having kill'd the Watch and broke open the Gate they let in the otner multitude of their own Souldiers Whereupon they ran all about the City increasing the tumult by setting fire on the Houses that were about the Market Place The Kings store-houses also and his Armory were burnt with great quantities of VVarlike Instruments and Engines Then there began to be made a slaughter both of such as fled and such as made resistance too in all parts nor was there any one fit to bear Arms that was not either slain or put to flight besides that Sopater also an Acarnanian who was Governour of the Garrison was kill'd by which means all the spoil was first carried into the Market Place and then put on
to their Walls put the Greeks into a greater fright than ordinary Wherefore they ran immediately into the Castle so that the Enemy took possession of the City but when they had continued in the Castle for the space of two days relying upon the strength of the place more than their own Arms both they and the Garrison yielded upon condition That they might be transported with each of them one Garment to Delium in Boeotia The City it self then the Romans delivered to King Attalus but themselves carried away the spoil and Ornaments thereof Attalus lest the Island should be totally deserted perswaded most of the Macedonians and some of the Andrians to stay there After that those persons who by compact had been transported to Delium were recalled by the Kings Promises as being the more inclined to believe him because they had a mind to return into their own native Country From Andrus they crossed over to Cythnus where having spent some dayes to no purpose in attaquing the City seeing it was scarce worth their while to take it they went their wayes At Prasiae a Town upon the Continent in Attica twenty Ships of the Issaeans were joined to the Roman Fleet which were sent to plunder the Carystian Territories The rest of the Navy lay at Gaerestum a famous Port of Euboea till the Issaeans returned from Carystum Then all of them setting Sail together through the main Ocean passed by the Island of Scyros and arrived at Icus Where being detained some few dayes by a strong Northwind as soon as the weather grew a little calmer they put over to Scyathus a City that Philip had lately ruined and rifled There the Souldiers stragling about the Fields brought back to their Ships all the Corn and other things that they found sit to eat But there was no plunder left nor had the Greeks deserved to be rifled Thence going to Cassandrea they first took Mendis a Village on the Sea-Coast belonging to that City and then having passed the Cape in order to bring their Fleet about to the very Walls of the City they were almost drowned in a storm which then arose by which means being dispersed and having lost a great part of their Artillery they got as fast as they could ashore That Tempest too was an omen a foreboding sign to them to make them fight by Land When therefore they had gathered all their Ships into one place they landed their men and attacked the City but being repulsed with many Wounds for there was in it a strong Garison of the Kings they retreated from that vain Enterprize and went over to Canastrum in Pallene From whence passing by the Cape of Torona they sailed towards Acanthus Where having first wasted the Country and then taken the City it self by storm they plunder it Then going no farther forward for their Ships were already laden with spoils they returned to Scyathus and thence for Euboea from whence they came Then leaving their Fleet there they entred the Malian Bay with ten Ships to go and confer with the Aetolians about the management of the War Sipyrrhicas an Aetolian was the chief person employed in that Embassy who came to Heraclea to advise with the King and the Roman Lieutenant Attalus was required according to the League to send out a thousand men for he owed them that number now that they had engaged in a War against Philip. But that was refused because the Aetolians themselves had formerly showed themselves very backward to go and plunder Macedonia at that time when Philip being a burning up all things both sacred and profane about Pergamus they might have drawn him thence to defend his own Country By this means the Aetolians were dismissed with hopes rather than aid though the Romans promised them all the assistance that could be Apustius returned with Attalus to the Fleet where they began to consult about the taking of Oreum a City very well fortified not only with Walls but because it had been formerly attempted with a strong Garison too Twenty Rhodian Ships with close Decks men of War had joined them after the taking of Andrus under the Command of the Prefect Admiral Agesimbrotus which Fleet they ordered to Harbour at Zelasium a Cape of Isthmia opportunely seated on the other side above Demetrias that if the Macedonian Ships should move from thence they might secure those parts Heraclides the Kings Admiral was with his Fleet at Demetrias but resolved to make no attempt by force so much as upon occasion if through the Enemies negligence he had an opportunity The Romans and King Attalus attacked Oreum in several places the Roman upon that side where the Castle stands to the Sea and the Kings men against the Valley which lies between the two Castles where the City is also divided by a Wall And as their Posts were distant so also the matter of their attacque was very different For the Romans used Tortoises sheds of Boards to keep off Arrows c. and Hurdles with battering Rams which they applyed to the Walls whilst the Kings men used Cross-Bows huge Slings and all other sorts of Warlike-Engines throwing vast Stones and making Mines with all other devices that they had tryed in the former attack But now there were not only more Macedonians there than before to defend that City but they had likewise more Courage having been chastized by the King for their former fault and being mindful of both his threats and promises for the future insomuch that the Romans had little hopes so suddenly to take it Wherefore the Lieutenant thinking it the best way to imploy himself elsewhere in the mean time left men enough to finish the Works and so crossed over into the adjacent parts of the Continent where he by his sudden arrival took Larissa not that famous City so called in Thessaly but another whom they name Cremaste all but the Castle Attalus also surprized Aegeleon whilst the Inhabitants at the time when the other City was besieged feared nothing less But when the Works at Oreum were finished the Garison within being quite tired out with continual labour and watching day and night besides their Wounds part of their Wall also was struck down with a battering Ram and had gaps in it at several places So that the Romans brake through in the night time over those ruinated places and another way above the Port into the Castle Attalus at break of day having the signal given him by the Romans himself also marched into the City after the Walls were part of them demolished Whereupon the Townsmen and the Garison fled into the other Castle from whence two days after they made a Surrender The City fell to the Kings share but the Captives to the Romans By this time it was the Autumnal Aequinox and the Euboean Bay which they call Caela is look'd upon by the Mariners as a dangerous place at that time to pass Wherefore desiring to get out of it before the stormy
in a pitch'd Battle nor dar'd to leave the City when all people were in such suspence and so unsetled in their minds Quintius having now prepared all things for his march decamped and the next Day came to Sellasia which lies upon the River Oenus where Antigonus King of Macedonia was said to have fought a set Battle with Cleomenes Tyrant of Lacaedemon Thence hearing that the ascent was difficult and the way narrow he went round about over the Mountains but sent a party before him to secure his passage in a Road that was broad and open enough to the River Eurotas which runs almost under the very Walls of the Town At which place as the Romans were encamping the Tyrants Auxiliaries set upon them and Quintius himself also who went before with the most active Horse and Foot at such a rate that they put them into a fright and confusion they expecting no such thing because they had met no body all the way they came but had passed as it were through a conquered Country For sometime therefore they were at a loss the Horse calling to the Foot and the Foot the Horse for assistance since none of them had any confidence in their own abilities At length the Legions came up and when the Regiments of the Vanguard were engaged in the fight those who so lately had been a terrour to them were forced to fly for fear into their City The Romans having retired so far from the Wall as to be out of Darts cast stood for some time in Battalia but anon when they saw none of the Enemies would come out to oppose them return'd to their Camp The next day Quintius went forward with his Army all in Array along by the River side by the City and under the Mountain Menelaus The Legionary Regiments went foremost and the Light-armour with the Horse brought up the Reer Nabis had the mercenary Souldiers in which he reposed all his trust in Battalia and ready under their Ensigns within the Walls to set upon the Enemy behind When therefore the last Company was just gone by they sallied out in the same confusion that they had done the day before Ap. Claudius brought up the Reer who having prepar'd the minds of his men for what was likely to come to pass that it might not surprize them commanded the Ensigns immediately to face about and so turn'd all the whole Army upon the Foe By which means as though two form'd regular Armies had join'd Battle they fought for some time upon an even lay till Nabis's Souldiers at last inclined to run though that they had not been so sure to have done had not the Achaeans who knew those parts very well come upon them But these made a great slaughter among them and disarm'd a great many that were dispers'd in their flight all over the Country Then Quintius Encamp'd near Amyclae where when he had plunder'd all places round the City which stood in a populous and pleasant Country seeing that none of the Enemies would come out of their Gates removed his Camp to the River Eurotas from whence he march'd into the Vale that lies under Taygetus laying wast both that and all the Country as far as the Sea-side At the same time L. Quintius reduced the Towns upon the Sea-Coast partly by voluntary Surrender and partly through fear or by force And then being inform'd That the Town of Gyttheum was the receptacle of all the Lacedemonians maritime provisions and that the Roman Camp was not far from the Sea he resolved to attack it with all his Forces It was at that time a strong City for the multitude of its Inhabitants as well as its being furnish'd with all kind of Warlike Preparations Now as Quintius was going about this difficult business King Eumenes and the Rhodian Fleet came very seasonably in to his assistance and the vast multitude of Seamen muster'd up out of the three Fleets in few dayes accomplish'd all those works that are necessary for the attacking of a City so well guarded both by Sea and Land The Wall therefore was soon overturn'd when they once applied their Tortoises to it being batter'd by their Rams also For by the repeated strokes of them was one of the Towers thereof demolish'd and all the Wall about it by the fall of that knock'd down so that the Romans endeavour'd to get in not only at the Gate where the passage was more plain in order to distract and draw the Enemy from defending the breach but at the place which they had broken down Nor did they much miss of making way where they design'd only the hope they had that the City would be surrender'd retarded their motion though it was soon frustrated For you must know that there were two Governours of that City called Dexagoridas and Gorgopas who were in equal authority over it Of whom Dexagoridas had sent a Message to the Roman Lieutenant That he would surrender the City but when they had agreed upon the time and way to do the business the Traitor was kill'd by Gorgopas and the City more vigorously defended by one alone By which means the attack had now been more difficult had not T. Quintius come up with four thousand choice Souldiers But when he had shown his Army from the brow of an Hill not far from the City and that L. Quintius with his works lay hard upon them both at Sea and Land then real despair forced Gorgopas also to take that course which he had reveng'd with death upon the other He therefore on condition that he might carry off those Souldiers that were in Garison there surrender'd the City to Quintius But before Gythium was surrender'd Pythagoras the Governour of it left Argus and committing the care of that City to Timocrates the Pellenian went with a thousand mercenary Souldiers and two thousand Argives to Nabis at Lacedemon Nabis as he was startled at the first arrival of the Roman Fleet and the surrender of the Towns upon the Sea Coast so though he were comforted with the small hopes of Cythium being still in the possession of his Friends when he heard that that too was deliver'd up to the Romans seeing that the Enemy lay all round the City to the Landward which spoiled all his hopes and that to the Seaward also he was intercepted thought it the best way to yield to Fortune and therefore sent an Herald first into the Camp to know whether they would suffer him to send Embassadours to them Which when he had got leave to do Pythagoras came to the General with no other Message but to desire that the Tyrant might come and talk with the General Thereupon a Council was presently call'd who being all of opinion that they ought to admit of a Conference the time and place was appointed for it And when they came with some small Forces following them to the Hills that are in the middle of that Region leaving their Regiments of both sides thereupon the
Mankind who have long admired your Name and Empire as much as the immortal Gods Now what it was very hard to gain I am afraid 't is more difficult to preserve You undertook to defend the liberty of an ancient noble Nation whether you consider the Fame of what they have done or your general commendation for humanity and learning from the Tyranny of Kings And therefore it behoves you perpetually to protect all that Nation which you have receiv'd into your care and tutelage Those Cities that are in the ancient Country of Greece in Europe are not more Grecian Cities than your Colonies which formerly went thence into Asia nor has the changing of their Climate alter'd their nature or their manners We dare every City of us vie with our Parents and Founders in a pious contest for good Arts and Virtue You have many of you been in the Cities of Greece and Asia Save that we are farther distant from you we are outdone in nothing else The Massilians whom if their nature could have been overcome by the genius as it were of the soil so many unciviliz'd Nations as lye round about them had long e'r this corrupted are as much esteemed we hear and justly valued by you as though they lived in the very centre of all Greece For they have kept not only the tone of the Language the Garb and Habit but above all the Manners Laws and Humour of their Country free and entire from the Contagion of their Neighbours The bound of their Empire now is Mount Taurus and whatsoever is within that limit you ought not to think remote But wheresoever your Arms have come thither also 't is fit your justice should reach even from this City Let the Barbarians who never knew any Laws but the commands of their Lords have what they delight in Kings whilst the Greeks are pleas'd with their own Fortune that is their Wills They formerly with domestick force also embraced Empire now they wish that where the Empire at present is there it may for ever continue It is enough for them to defend their Liberty with your Arms since they cannot with their own But some Cities were of Antiochus's side and others before of Philips and Pyrrhus's being Tarentines Not to reckon up any other Nations Carthage is free and enjoys its own Laws See you Grave Fathers how much you owe to this example of yours You will be perswaded to deny that to Eumenes's avarice which you denyed to their own must just anger We Rhodians leave it to your judgment what brave and faithful service we have done you both in this and all other Wars that you have waged upon that Coast And now in time of Peace we give you such advice as if you approve of it will make all People believe that you use your Victory with more Gallantry than you got it This Oration seemed sutable to the Roman grandeur After the Rhodians Antiochus's Embassadors were call'd in who after the ordinary manner of those that beg Pardon Having confessed the Kings error beseech'd the Senate that they would remember and consult their own clemency rather than the Kings faults who had already suffer'd sufficiently for it and in fine that they would by their Authority confirm the Peace made by L. Scipio on the same terms that he had granted it Thereupon not only the Senate agreed to the observation of that Peace but the People also in a few Days after gave their consent The League was struck in the Capitol with Antipater head of the Embassy and Son to King Antiochus's Brother After which the other Embassadors likewise out of Asia had their audience To all which there was this answer given That the Senate after the manner of their Ancestors would send ten Embassadors into Asia to controvert and compose all differences there but that this should be the result of all that all the Country on this side Mount Taurus that was within the Confines of King Antiochus 's Kingdom should be given to Eumenes except Lycia and Caria as far as the River Meander and that should be subject to the Rhodians That the rest of the Cities in Asia that had been stipendiary to Attalus should all pay a tribute to Eumenes but those that had been tributary to Antiochus should be free and without any imposition They pitch'd upon for these ten Embassadors Q. Minucius Rufus L. Furius Purpureo Q. Minucius Thermus Ap. Claudius Nero Cn. Cornelius Merula M. Junius Brutus L. Aurunculeius L. Aemilius Paulus P. Cornelius Lentulus and P. Aelius Tubero Now concerning those things that required their presence upon the place to debate them these Persons were free to do as they thought good but concerning the business in general the Senate determin'd thus That all Lycaonia both the Phrygias Mysia the Kings Woods all Lydia and Ionia except such Towns as had been free at the same time when they fought with King Antiochus and particularly Magnesia near Sipylum with Cana which is called Hydrela and the Country of the Hydrelites lying toward Phrygia the Castles and Villages by the River Meander and all Towns but what were free before the War Telmissus also by name with the Forts belonging to it and the Lands that had belonged to Ptolomy of Telmissus that all these places and things above written should be given to King Eumenes To the Rhodians was assigned all Lycia beyond the aforesaid Telmissus the Forts belonging thereunto and the Lands that formerly appertain'd to Ptolomy of Telmissus for these were excepted both by Eumenes and the Rhodians too That part of Caria too was given to them that lies nearer to the Island of Rhodes beyond the River Meander consisting of Towns Villages Castles and Lands that reach as far as Pisidia saving such Towns among them that had been at liberty the Day before they fought with King Antiochus in Asia For this when the Rhodians had given the Senate thanks they treated concerning the City of Soli in Cilicia saying That they as well as themselves were descended from the Argives from which Cognation they came to love like Brothers Wherefore they desired this extraordinary favour that they would deliver that City from being slaves to the Kings Thereupon King Antiochus's Embassadors were call'd and discours'd but could not be in any wise prevailed upon Antipater appealing to the League against which the Rhodians desired to have not only Soli but to go over Mount Taurus and take all Cilicia Upon that the Rhodians being call'd back into the Senate when the House had told them how vehement the Kings Embassadour was they added That if the Rhodians thought that matter concern'd the dignity of their City the Senate would by all manner of means overcome the obstinacy of the Embassadours With that the Rhodians thank'd them much more heartily than before and said they would rather yield to the arrogance of Antipater than give any occasion of disturbing the Peace So that there was no alteration made as
Victory called by the Ancients Vicaepota now stands Thereupon they made Laws not only to acquit the Consul from the suspicion of his being ambitious to be King that turned the Tide so much the other way that they made him even Popular from whence he came to be Surnamed Poplicola But before all others they made the Law concerning the appealing to the People against Magistrates and Out-lawing any Man both in his Life and Goods who should Conspire to make himself King These Laws were grateful to the People which when he had made by himself that he alone might gain the favour of the People he afterwards called an Assembly to chuse himself a Collegue Sp. Lucretius was created Consul who being very ancient and wanting strength to perform all the Duties of a Consul within a few days Deceased and M. Horatius Pulvillus was put in his place I do not find in some ancient Authors that Lucretius was ever Consul but that Horatius immediately succeeded Brutus which I suppose was occasioned for that he had signalized his Consulship with no remarkable Action and therefore it was not taken notice of The Temple of Jupiter in the Capitol was not as yet Dedicated wherefore Valerius and Horatius being Consuls cast Lots which of them should Dedicate it it fell to Horatius's Lot and in the mean time Poplicola went to the War against the Veians The Relations of Valerius were more concerned than they ought to have been that the Dedication of so famous a Temple should be committed to Horatius and therefore indeavouring by all means they could to hinder it and having in vain tryed other ways they brought an ill Message to him whilest he had his Hand upon the Post and was Praying to the gods that his Son was dead wherefore his Family being Contaminated with a dead Corps he could nor Dedicate that Temple Whether he had so much strength of mind as not to believe it it is neither certainly related nor can I well tell but this is certain he did not desist from what he was about when the Messenger came save only that he ordered the Body to be buried but still held the Post went on with his Prayers and Dedicated the Temple These were the Transactions both at home and abroad in the first year after the Kings were expelled Then P. Valerius was a second time made Consul with Titus Lucretius and now the Tarquinii had fled to Lar. Porsena King of Clusium where mixing advice with entreaties they desired him That he would not suffer them who were Descended from the Etrurians of the same Blood and Name to be put upon such necessities and Banished and now especially they begged of him not to let that growing custom of Deposing Kings to go unrevenged that Liberty it self was sweet enough and that if Kings did not defend their Kingdoms with as much vigour as Cities desired Liberty all things would be levelled the loftiest with the lowest nor would any thing be high or eminent above others in any City whatsoeâ—er but Kingdoms would come to an end which were the most glorious things known either to the gods or men Porsena thinking that at that time there was a King of Rome and also that the King of Etruria was strong in his Forces came to Rome with a dreadful Army Nor were the Senate ever possessed with such a terror before that time so strong were the Clusians at that juncture and the name of Porsena so great Nor did they only fear their Enemies but even their own Citizens too lest the Roman Commonalty astonished with fear should re-admit the Royal Family into the City and accept of Peace even with slavery The Senate therefore upon that occasion were very kind to the People taking especial care for Provisions and sending several Persons some to the Volsci and others to Cumae to buy Corn. The priviledg also of selling Salt because it was dear should be put into publick hands and taken from private Persons besides that they freed the People from paying of Freight and Tribute which they made the rich pay who were able to bear the burthen of it For the poor they said paid enough to the State if they bred up their Children and this Indulgence of the Senate when the City was afterwards streightned by Siege and Famin kept it in such Concord that the lowest as well as the highest abhorred the name of King nor was there any one from that time who grew so popular by ill Arts as all the Senate then was upon the count of their good management When the Enemy came up all the Country People removed into the City which they Fortified with strong Guards while some part seemed sufficiently fenced with Walls and others with the Tiber. But the Wooden Bridg did almost afford a passage to the Enemy had it not been for one Man whose name was Horatius Cocles for the fortune of Rome prepared him that day as a Bulwark who being by chance then posted upon that Bridg when he saw Janiculum taken at a sudden Attack from whence the Enemies ran down as fast as they could and that the Romans left their Arms as well as their Ranks he stop'd them and calling to witness both gods and men told them That 't was in vain for them to fly if their Garison were Deserted for if they left the Bridg behind them free for the Enemy to go over there would soon be more of the Enemies in the Palace and the Capitol than in Janiculum Wherefore he advised them that they would break down the Bridg with fire or Sword or any other violent means and that he would receive the shock of the Enemy with as much vigour as one man could do With that he went to the end of the Bridg and being remarkable amongst those that fled for facing about to engage the Enemy he astonished them to see such a Miracle of Audacity But shame kept two Persons to be his Assistants whose names were Sp. Lartius and Titus Harminius who were both descended from Noble Families and renowned for their Atchievements With them he for some time susteined the first storm of the danger and the most tumultuous part of the Fight But soon after he made them also retire to a safe station when there was but a small part of the Bridg remaining and those who were cutting it down recalled them Then hurling round his baleful eyes upon the Etrurian Commanders one while he Challenged single Persons and anon inveighed against all of them together telling them That being the Slaves of proud Kings and negligent of their own Liberty they came to destroy that of others Thereupon they staid for some time while one looked upon the other to begin the Battel Then shame made the Etrurian Army move who setting up a great shout threw all their Darts upon one single Enemy which he receiving in his Shield stood stoutly to it upon the Bridg from which they endeavoured to force him But at that
be intent upon the Shew I remember what the young Sabines did in this City upon the like occasion I am in great fear lest they should do any thing that were rash or unadvised but this I thought good Consuls to tell you before-hand upon my own as well as your account For my part I am resolved immediately to go home lest staying here I be infected with the Contagion of any mans deeds or words Having so said he went his way The Consuls having related the matter to the Senate which though it were doubtful in it self came from a certain Author the Person as it is usual moved them more than the thing to an unnecessary Caution they therefore made an Order that the Volsci should depart the City and sent their Officers to bid them all be gone before night Whereupon the Volsci were at first possessed with great terror and ran to their Lodgings to pack up their Goods but as they went away they were very much incensed that they should be forced to quit the City at that Festival time when the Games were Celebrated and amidst a Concourse as if it were both of men and gods like so many Villains As they were going almost all in a Body Tullus who was got before them to the head of the Ferentine River as each of them came up to him applied himself to the chief of them enquiring what the matter was and seeming very angry by which means they listening diligently to what he said which was enough be sure to move their spleen he drew not only them but the rest of the Multitude into the Plain near the way where ranging them into the form of an Assembly he made this Speech said he Though yon have forget the former Injuries and Massacres which the Roman People have been guilty of with all their other abuses offered to the Nation of the Volsci yet how can you bear this days affront from them who have begun their pastimes so much to our dishonour Are you not sensible that they have Triumphed over you this day and that you by coming away are made the scorn of all their Citizens all strangers and neighbouring People What do you imagin they thought who saw you come away or they that met you coming in such an ignominious Troop but that our Nation is guilty of some great crime whereby if we were present at the Shews we should pollute their Games and need an expiation for which reason we were forced away from the Society and Convention of all good men What then Can we be satisfied that we live because we made haste to come away But indeed this is not coming but running away And can you think this City is not your Enemies where if you had stayed but one day you must all have died for it In short by this they have proclaimed a War against you but much to the disadvantage of those that did it if you are men With that they being themselves before enraged but farther incited by what he said went to their several homes where each of them instigating their Neighbours they caused the whole Nation of Volsci to Revolt The Generals that were chosen for that War by universal consent were Attius Tullus and C. Marcius a Banished Roman in whom they reposed more hope than ordinary Nor did he any ways frustrate that hope to make it easily appear that the Roman State was strengthened more-by their Commanders than their Army He therefore went to Circaei from whence he first drove out the Roman Colony and delivered that City free into the hands of the Volsci and thence crossing over into the Road called Via Latina took from the Romans Satricum Longula Rolusca and Corioli their new Conquests From thence he went and took Lavinium Corbio Vitellia Trebia Labici and Pedum lastly from Pedum he marched toward the City and at the Ditches called Fossae Cluiliae which are five thousand paces from it having pitched his Camp fell a pillaging the Roman Dominions But he sent amongst the Pillagers a Party of Soldiers to save the Lands of the Patricii or such as were of the Senatorian Order from being Ravaged either because he hateâ— the common People most or thereby to create a Discord between the Senate and them And so indeed it had certainly been the Tribunes did so much incense the People who were themselves enraged by accusing the Nobility had not the fear of a foreign Enemy united them in the strictest bonds of Concord yea though they suspected and hated one another But this one thing only they did not like that the Senate and the Consuls placed all their hopes in Arms for the People desired any thing rather than War Sp. Nautius and Sext. Furius were now Consuls who whilest they were calling over the Legions and distributing their men upon the Walls and in other places where they thought fit to set Guards and Sentinels they were startled with the Seditious Clamor of a great Multitude who cryed out for Peace and then forced them to call a Senate and to propose the sending of Embassadors to C. Marcius The Senate accepted the Proposal when they saw the People were discouraged and sent several Agents to Marcius to Treat for Peace but they brought back a sharp Answer which was this If the Volsci had their Land again they might possibly hear of Peace but if the Romans would enjoy the spoil of War whilest they themselves lived at ease he remembred what injuries his Countrymen had done him as well as what kindness he had received from the Volsci and therefore would endeavour to make it appear that Banishment did but provoke much less subdue his Spirit Soon after the same Persons were sent a second time but were not admitted into the Camp whereupon they say that the Priests also went in their Robes as Petitioners to the Enemies Camp but prevailed no more than the Embassadors had done before them Then the Matrons flocked in great numbers to Veturia Coriolanus his Mother and Volumnia his Wife though I do not find whether that were done by publick advice or were the effect of female fear but this is certain they so far prevailed that not only Veturia who was an ancient Woman but Volumnia also carrying along with her two little Boys whom she had by Marcius went into the Enemies Camp and defended that City by their Prayers and Tears as Women which they could not protect with Arms as Men. When they came to the Camp and Coriolanus was told that there was a great Troop of Women come from Rome he who had not been concerned either at publick Majesty in the Embassadors or at the sight or thoughts of any Religious thing when the Priests came was at first much more obstinate to the Womens tears 'till one of his Familiars who discovered Veturia standing between her Daughter-in-law and her Grand-children with greater shew of sorrow than any of the rest told him if my eyes do not deceive me yonder
his pleased them and with that they made a sort of Officers called Triumviri whose names were T. Quintius A. Virginius and P. Furius to divide the Lands all People that woulâ— have any share being ordered to give in their Names But plenty as it always does soon made them loath what they before so much desired wherefore so few of them gave in their Names that to fill up the number there were some of the Volsci added to them whilst the remaining Multitude chose rather to demand the Land at Rome than take Possession of it in another place The Aequi Petitioned Q. Fabius who was come into their Country with an Army for Peace but made it void themselves by a sudden Incursion into the Latin Dominions Q. Servilius the Year following being Consul with Sp. Posthumius was sent against the Aequi and pitched his Camp in the Latin Territories where he was forced to stay because U. C. 286 his Army was sick This War was protracted to the third Year whilst Q. Fabius and T. Quintius were Consuls and that Province was allotted to Fabius out of course because he U. C. 287 when he was Victorious against them had granted the Aequi a Peace He therefore going with great assurance that the very fame of his Name would make the Aequi submit sent Embassadors to the Council of that Nation to tell them That Q. Fabius the Consul said that he brought Peace from the Aequi to Rome but that he now came from Rome with a War against them the same right hand being now armed that he had formerly given them as a confirmation of friendship whose perfidiousness and perjury was the cause of it the gods were now witnesses and would be by and by revengers yet he be it how it would be could still wish that the Aequi would rather comply of their own accord than undergo the hardships of War if they repented they should have free access to his experienced clemency but if they went on in their perjury they were like to make War in opposition to the gods more than their Enemies Which Message was so far from having any effect upon them that the Embassadors had like to have been abused and an Army was sent into Algidum a Town of the Aequi against the Romans Of which when News was brought to Rome the indignity of the thing more than the danger brought the other Consul out of the City so that two Consular Armies came to meet the Enemy in such order as that they could joyn Battel at the same instant But it being almost night one of the Enemies cryed out This Romans is more out of ostentation than any design you have to fight you set your Army in Battalia when night is coming on but we shall need more day-light to make an end of the dispute which we are like to have to morrow at Sun-rising come again into the Field and you shall have your fill of fighting ne'r fear it At which words the Soldiers being incensed whilst they were led back into their Camp 'till the next day thought the night would be very long ere they should come to fight and therefore refreshed themselves with meat and sleep The next day assoon as it was light the Roman Army was ready somewhat sooner than the Enemy but at last the Aequi too marched forth The Battel was vehement on both sides for that the Romans fought out of anger and hatred whilst the Aequi being conscious of the danger they were in by what they had done and despairing of any future favour were thereby induced to attempt and try the utmost that they could Yet the Aequi were not able to withstand the Roman Forces and therefore being defeated they fled into their own Confines where being still averse to Peace the bold Multitude began to blame their Leaders For running the hazard of a pitched Battel wherein the Romans so far out-did them Saying That the Aequi were better skilled in Devastations and Incursions and that many stragling Parties did more execution with them than a vast Body of one formed Army They therefore leaving a Garrison in their Camp went out with such a tumult into the Roman Dominions that they created a terror even in the very City And that which put them into a greater fright was that they could imagin nothing less than that the Enemy whom they had Conquered and besieged almost in their very Camp would remember to Plunder the Country wherefore the fearful Country folks ran into the Gates and magnifying not only the ravage or the small Bands of those who committed it but even all things else by their vain fear cryed out That the Armies and Legions of the Enemies were come upon them and were advancing in a full Career toward the City From these the next took the uncertain Story and made a worse of it to others insomuch that the tumult and clamour of this Alarm was very little different from the consternation that a City is usually in upon its being taken It happened then that Consul Quintius was come back from Algidum to Rome which was a remedy for their fear For he having appeased the uproar and chid them for fearing a Conquered Foe set a Guard upon the Gates and then calling a Senate after he had by their Authority ordered a Cessation of all Judicial proceedings he went to defend their Confines leaving Q. Servilius Prefect of the City but found not the Enemy in the Country The matter was very well managed by the other Consul who setting upon the Enemy in the way which he knew they would come whilst they were loaded with the Booty and consequently more uneasie in their March he made their prey their ruin For there were but few of the Enemies who escaped the Ambuscade besides that all the spoils were re-taken by the Romans By which means Q. returning to the City put an end to the Justitium or Intermission of Justice which lasted but four days After that there was a Tax made and a Lustrum or time to take a view of the Citizens appointed by Quintius In which the Poll-Bill came to an hundred twenty four thousand two hundred and fifteen Sestercies without reckoning Orphans and the like From that time there was nothing which was memorable done in the Country of the Aequi but they retire into their Towns permitting all they had to be burned and laid waste and the Consul when he had gone over all their Country several times with an Army that Pillaged each part of it returned to Rome with great applause and equal spoils Then A. Posthumius Albus and Sp. Furius Fusus were Consuls the latter of whose Names U. C. 288 some write Furius Fusius which I take notice of to you that Readers may not think there is any difference in the man though there be in the name There was no doubt of it but one of these Consuls would make War against the Aequi wherefore the Aequi desired aid of the Volsci of
for their industrious service in the War But the thousand men of Antium because they came too late when the Battel was over were dismissed with little less than ignominy After that they called a publick Assembly and made L. Aebutius with P. Servilius Consuls who entered upon their Office the first day of August as the beginning of the Year at that time U. C. 289 was computed That was a grievous season and it chanced to be a Pestilent Year both to City and Country nor to the Men more than their Cattel But the fear of being Plundered increased the violence of the Disease by their taking of Sheep and the like as well as Country People into the City For the mixture and conflux of all sorts of Animals did not only annoy the Citizens with unusual smells but the Country folks too were crouded up into little huts where the heat and watching was very offensive to them yea the friendly Offices that they were fain to do each other together with the Contagion it self promoted the Distemper all over the Town When they were in this condition and hardly able to endure their present calamities the Hernici sent Embassadors in haste to tell them That the Aequi and the Volsci having united their Forces had encamped in their Country and by that means had pillaged all their Confines But besides that the thinness of the Senate was an argument to their Allies that the City was afflicted with a Plague they went away with a very sad answer That the Hernici might joyn with the Latins and defend themselves for that the City of Rome was through the sudden anger of the gods depopulated by a Disease not but that if that calamity should by any means be removed they would assist their Allies as they had done the Year before and at all other times The Embassadors thereupon departed carrying back a sadder Message than they brought in that they were to carry on that War by themselves only which when they were supported even with the strength of Rome they were hardly able to sustein But the Enemy made no great stay in the Hernican Territories for they Marched on thence into the Roman Dominions which lay deserted even without the injuries of War now that the Inhabitants were all fled into the City Where seeing they met with no body no not so much as without Arms but passed through all the Country which was not only unguarded but untilled too without any interruption they came to the third Stone i. e. three Miles from Rome in the Road called Via Gabina In the mean time Consul Aebutius was dead nor had his Collegue Servilius any great hopes of recovering besides that many of the Nobility the greater part of the Senate and almost all that were of a fit age to make Soldiers were now infected insomuch that they were not only disabled for Foreign Expeditions such as the case at that exigence required but had hardly men enough to supply even their quiet Garrisons For the Senators themselves as many as were able did Duty on the Watches like common Soldiers whilst one of the Aediles of the People went the rounds and lookt after other things to whom also the chief Administration of Affairs and the Sovereign Power of the Consuls was devolved But the gods who were the Guardians of the City and its good fortune together defended all they had though they were now as it were without an head and without strength which gave the Volsci and the Aequi the hearts rather of Robbers than of Enemies For they had little hopes not only of making Rome their own but even of coming so much as up to the Walls of it seeing the Houses a great way off and the high Hills whereby they were mightily discouraged that setting up a general murmur through their whole Camp and crying Why did they stay and lose time in a desart wast Country amidst a rot of Cattel and Men too without any hopes of Plunder when they might go into fresh Quarters near Tusculum where all things were to be had in abundance They took up their Ensigns immediately and Marched cross the Country through the Lavinian Fields to the Tusculan Hills for thither all the force and stress of the War was now translated In the mean while the Hernici and the Latins being moved not only with pity but shame too that they should neither oppose a common Enemy that came against Rome with such a destroying Army nor lend any aid to their Besieged Allies went with a joynt Army toward Rome where seeing they could not meet with the Enemy they followed the directions of Passengers and the tracts of their feet 'till they met them coming down from Tusculanum into the Albane Vale. But there they had much the worst of it nor was their constancy to their Allies successful to them at that time Mean while there was as great a Mortality at Rome by the Pestilence as there was in the War of their Allies by the Sword and then died the Consul who lived alone 'till that time besides other famous men as M. Valerius T. Virginius Rutilus the Augurs and Ser. Sulpicius who was chief Curio like an Arch-Deacon to a Company of Parish Priests besides that the Distemper raged far and near among all People of mean Quality insomuch that the Senate being destitute of human assistance made all the People apply themselves to the gods in publick acts of Devotion commanding them to go with their Wives and Children and make their supplications to Heaven for mercy and pardon They therefore being called forth by publick Authority to do what each mans Calamities force him to filled all the Temples where Mothers lying prostrate on the ground and brushing the Pavement with their hair implored the mitigation of Heavens wrath and prayed that the Plague might cease Then by degrees whether they had obteined Pardon of the gods or forasmuch as the unseasonable time of the Year was over their Bodies being pretty well discharged of their Distempers began to be more healthful and therefore applying their minds to publick affairs when several Interregnums that is the Intervals of five days when there was no chief Magistrate in the City were passed P. Valerius Publicola the third day of his Interregnum made two Consuls whose Names were L. Lucretius Tricipitinus and T. Veturius or it may be Vetusius Geminus who entered upon their Consulship upon the 9th of August when the City was now in good health and able not only to defend it self from an Enemy but of it self also to wage a War When therefore the Hernici brought them Intelligence That the Enemy was come down into their Confines they straightway promised them assistance and raised two Armies under the Command of the Consuls Veturius was sent against the Volsci to make an offensive War against them whilst Tricipitinus being set to repress the Devastations of their associated Contries went no farther than the Country of the Hernici Veturius
took occasion thereby to defend his Brother and all his Collegues saying He wondred how it should happen that they who had sought after the Decemvirate so earnestly themselves should either alone or more than any others oppose the Decemviri Or how it came to pass that though for so many months when the City was at quiet no Man made any question whether they were legal Magistrates that had the sovereign Power in their hands they should now engage in Civil Quarrels when their Enemies were almost at their Gates unless perhaps they thought amidst such disturbances it might not so well be discerned what they did But he thought it not fair or just for any Man now when their minds should be imployed with greater matters to make any other thing the ground of delay to such a weighty affair For his part he would agree that whereas Valerius and Horatius pretended the Decemviri were out of their Office before the Ides of May the Senate when the Wars were over and the Commonwealth at rest should debate of it and that even now Appius Claudius should so prepare himself as to give an account of that Assembly which he being a Decemvir himself held for the creating of the Decemviri and should put it to the question whether they were created for one year only or for so long time 'till what Laws were lacking should be passed But he thought best at present to omit all other things except the War concerning which if common same was false and not only other Messengers but even the Tusculan Embassadors also brought them wrong intelligence they should send out Scouts to find the certainty and bring a true relation of it But if they believed the Messengers and the Embassadors they ought to make a Levy assoon as they could and the Decemviri to lead the Armies where-ever they pleased without any other cause to obstruct them The Junior Senators so over-voted the rest of the House as to make them comply with this advice Therefore Valerius and Horatius rising up again more vehement than before cryed out They would have leave to speak touching the Commonwealth that they would speak to the People if the Faction would not let them do so there for no private persons could hinder them either in the Senate-house or any other Assembly nor would they yield to such imaginary Authority Then Appius supposing that their Power was like to be ruined if they did not resist the violence of those Men with equal audacity cryed out It had been better for you to have spoken to the business in hand and to Valerius who said He would not hold his tongue for any private person he commanded a Lictor to go and seize him Upon which Valerius at the door of the Senate-house calling the Romans to witness of what he had done L. Cornelius took Appius in his Arms and though he did not consult the good of him which he seemed to save decided the contest so that Valerius by Cornelius's means had leave to say what he would But his Liberty reaching no farther than words the Decemviri had their ends The Consular Men also and the Seniors by reason of that remaining grudg they had to the Tribunes Power which they thought the People were more in love with than the Authority of the Consuls were even better pleased afterward that the Decemviri should go out of their Office voluntarily than that the People should rise again through hatred to them For if the matter were gently managed so as to put the Consuls into their former state without popular noise and tumult the People might possibly either by the interposition of Wars or moderation of the Consuls in their Office be brought to forget the Tribunes So then the Senate agreed to make a Levy and the Juniors seeing the Power of the Decemviri was without Appeal answered to their Names When therefore the Legions were raised the Decemviri chose among themselves fit Persons to go into the War and to Command the Army The chief of the Decemviri were Q. Fabius and Ap. Claudius but the War seemed greater at home than abroad They therefore thought that Appius's violence was more fit to appease the City Tumults and that Fabius though a Person of no great constancy in good Actions was very skillful in Military Affairs For the Decemviri and his Collegue had so altered this Man who had been formerly very famous for his Conduct both in Peace and War that he chose rather to be like Appius than himself To him therefore they committed the management of the War against the Sabines making Man Rabuleius and Q. Petilius his Collegues whilst M. Cornelius with L. Minucius T. Antonius Caeso Duilius and M. Sergius was sent into Algidum Sp. Oppius being by general consent left assistant to Ap. Claudius in the Government and Defence of the City But the Commonwealth was managed no better in the Wars than it was at home though the Commanders only fault was that they had made themselves odious to their fellow Citizens but the rest of the blame lay all upon the Soldiers who to hinder any thing fâ—om being ever done prosperously under the Conduct of the Decemviri permitted them to be oveâ—come though to their own as well as their Leaders dishonour So they were routed not only by the Sabines at Eretum but by the Aequi in Algidum Whereupon making hast from Eretum in the night time they pitched their Camp on a rising ground more near the City between Fidenae and Crustumenia to which place seeing the Enemies pursued them they never engaged in a fair Battel buâ— deâ—ended themselves by the Situation of the place and with a Bullwark not by their Courage or Arms. But their offence in Algidum was far greater and so was their slaughter too besides that they lost their Camp also with all their Baggage and ran away to Tusculum where they hoped nor failed they then of their expectation to live by the kindness and mercy of those old friends they had there In the mean time such dreadful news was brought to Rome That laying aside their hatred to the Decemviri the Senate thought fit to set Watches all about the City commanding all that could bear Arms to secure the Walls and stand in Garisons before the Gates Nor only so but they ordered Arms and supplies to be sent to Tusculum and that the Decemviri should go from the Castle of Tusculum into a Camp that the other Camp should be transferred from Fidenae into the Sabine Territories and that by a voluntary Attack upon them the Enemies should be deterred from making any attempt upon the City To the slaughter received from the Enemy the Decemviri added two horrid Exploits the one in the Wars and the other at home The first of which was this There was one L. Siccius in the Country of the Sabines who through the hatred which he bore to the Decemviri having talked privately with the common Soldiers about
as fast as they came from City to City By which means the Youth of all those Towns being gathered to Antium they pitched their Camp there and waited for the Enemy Which being told at Rome with much more noise than the thing deserved the Senate presently as in difficult circumstances it was their last refuge to do ordered a Dictator to be appointed At which Julius and Cornelius they say were vexed and that the business was carried with great heat of mind Whereupon when the chief of the Senate in vain complaining that the Tribunes Military were not in the Senates disposal at last also appealed to the Tribunes of the People and said that the Consuls had been forced by their Authority upon such an occasion ere that time the Tribunes of the People who were glad to see the Senate at variance made answer by way of Irony That they could never assist them who were not fit to be reckoned in the number of Citizens or so much as Men if their honours ever became promiscuous or the Commonwealth were shared among them then they would take care that the Orders of Senate should not be evacuated by the pride of any Magistrates but in the mean time the Patricicians who were void of all respect to Law or Magistracy might assume the Tribunes Power also if they pleased and act as they would themselves for them This contention had seized upon the thoughts of Men at a very unseasonable time when they had such a War upon their hands till Julius and Cornelius having long alternately discoursed That it was not just the honour conferred upon them should be taken from them by the People Ahala Servilius a Tribune of the Soldiers said He had held his tongue so long not because he was not resolved in his opinion for what good Citizen could divide his own interest or designs from the publick but because he had more mind that his Collegues should yield to the Senates Authority on their own accord than suffer the Tribunes of the Peoples aid to be implored against them yea at that time also if the thing would have permitted him he would willingly have given them time to recede from his resolute opinion but since the necessities for a War would not bear any humane deliberations he valued the Commonwealth more than the good will of his Collegues if the Senate continued in the same mind he would declare a Dictator that night and if any one interposed to hinder any legal Decree of Senate from being made yet he would be satisfied with their Authority and approbation By which having gained a great deal of just commendations and good will among all People he declared P. Cornelius Dictator and was himself by him made Master of the Horse He therefore was an example to his Collegues and all others that took notice of him that favour and honour sometimes are found to court those Men who are not ambitious of it But this War was not very memorable the Enemies being slain at Antium in one slight Conflict After which the Army being Victorious pillaged the Volscian Territories stormed the Castle that stood upon the Lake Fucinus and in it took three thousand Prisoners forcing the rest of the Volsci into their Walls because they could not defend their Country Then the Dictator having so managed the War as that he seemed only to attend upon fortune returned into the City with more felicity than glory and laid down his Office The Tribunes of the Soldiers seeing there was no talk of a Consular Assembly I suppose out of anger which they conceived upon the score of making a Dictator appointed an Assembly for chusing of Tribunes Military Whereupon the Senate was much more concerned observing that their Cause was betrayed by their own Party and therefore as the Year before they had made even worthy Men odious by being competitors with the most rascally of the Plebeians so at that time preparing all the chief of the Senate with splendour and favour to stand for it they got all the places so that no Plebeian could be admitted At which time the four that were chosen were all Men that had before born the same U. C. 348 Offices and their names L. Furius Medullinus C. Valerius Potitus Numerius Fabius Vibulanus and C. Servilius Ahala which last of them was made again and continued in his Office as for his other vertues so also through the late favour which he only by his moderation gain'd That Year because the time of the Truce with the Veians was out they began to demand things back by their Embassadors and Heralds who coming to the Frontiers of that Country the Veians Embassadors met them desiring That they would not go to Veii before they themselves had been with the Roman Senate The Senate upon their Petition granted that seeing the Veians were under some intestine discontents there should be no demands made of any thing back again so far they were from taking the advantage of other Peoples misfortunes for their own ends Then they received a Defeat in the Volscian Territories by losing the Garrison of Verrugo where there was so much importance as to time that though they could have succoured the Soldiers who were there besieged by the Volsci and begged their assistance if they had hastened the Army that was sent as supplies to them came up at such a juncture that finding all the Enemy stragling about the Country for Plunder after their late slaughter they overthrew them In this case the Senate were the occasion of their slowness more than the Tribunes who because they heard the Garrison made a brave defence thought nothing could be too hard for them for indeed they were stout fellows nor were they unrevenged of their Foes either whilst they lived or even after death The Year following U. C. 349 P. and Cn. Cornelius Cossus Numerius Fabius Ambustus and L. Valerius Potitus being Tribunes of the Soldiery with Consular Authority the Romans made War upon the Veians for a proud answer made by the Veian Senate to their Embassadors when they came to demand a reprisal which was That if they did not get them gone as fast as they could out of their City and Country they would serve them as Lar. Tolumnius had formerly done some of their Predecessors in that employment Which answer of their the Senate took so ill that they decreed the Tribunes of the Soldiery should propose to the People the declaring of a War against the Veians assoon as possible Which when it was first offered the young Men began to murmur and said They had not yet done with the Volsci that two Garrisons of theirs were lately quite disabled and still kept with great hazard that no Year passed in which they had not some Battel and now as if they were sorry they had no more work for them they must needs prepare for a new War with a People that were their most powerful Neighbours and like to engage all
Etruria in their quarrel This was what they said of their own accord but ever and anon the Tribunes of the People also helpt to blow the Coals saying That the greatest War they had was between the Senate and the Commons whom they industriously teazed with warfare and exposed to mortal Enemies sending them a great way from the City lest being at home they might in Peace remember their Liberty the Colonies the publick Lands or consult how to vindicate the freedom of their Votes And to cokes the old Soldiers they reckoned up the Campaign they had each one served in with their wounds and scars therein received What whole place said they have you in your Bodies to receive new wounds What blood remaining to be shed for the Commonwealth By this kind of method both in their Discourses and Speeches they having made the People averse to the undertaking of a War the time was protracted for proposing of that Law which it was manifest if then it were made liable to the Peoples envy would be annulled In the mean time they thought fit that the Tribunes Military should lead the Army into the Volscian Dominions Cn. Cornelius being the only Person left at Rome The three Tribunes therefore finding that the Volsci had no Camp in any place nor would put themselves upon the hazard of a fight divided them into three Parties and went several ways to plunder the Country Valerius marched to Antium and Cornelius to Ecetrae ravaging the whole Country which way soever they went to keep the Volsci asunder Fabius which was the great design attacked the Town of Anxur without any pillaging of the Country which Anxur was the same place that is now called Terracinae lying upon a Marsh on which side Fabius began his Assault Then four Regiments sent about under the Command of C. Servilius Ahala having taken possession of an Hill that lies above the City from thence it being an Avenue unguarded with great noise and tumult invaded the Walls At which the Men who defended the lower part of the City being amazed gave Fabius an opportunity to use his scaling Ladders By which means all places were full of the Enemy and there was upon the Walls for a long time a slaughter not only of such as ran away but those that made resistance either with Arms or without They therefore being subdued were forced having no hopes to be saved by yielding to fall a fighting Whereupon it being declared all on a sudden that no Men except such as were in Arms should be injured the rest of the Multitude all voluntarily laid down their Arms of whom there were two thousand and five hundred taken Prisoners but Fabius kept the Soldiers from taking any other booty till his Collegues came saying that those Armies also had taken Anxur who had averted the Volsci from the defence of that place Who when they came the three Armies rifled the Town which was very rich in Mony and Goods which the People had laid up for many years and that bounty of the Generals first reconciled the Commons to the Senate But after that also there was an addition made to it by the seasonable munificence of the Nobility especially which was that before any mention of the People or the Tribunes the Senate should Decree That the Soldiers should be paid out of the publick Treasury whereas before that time every Man had born his own Charges Nothing they say was ever more kindly taken by the Commons who for that reason flocked to the Senate-house and catching hold of the Senators hands as they came out said they were truly called Patres i. e. Fathers and that they had now so brought it about That no Man in Rome as long as he had any strength left would spare either his body or blood For they were not only pleased with what they received but very much satisfied that their Estates would be quiet at least whilst their bodies were imployed in the service of the Common-wealth besides that it was freely offered to them being never proposed by the Tribunes or desiâ—ed by themselves for that redoubled their joy and made it much the greater favour The Tribunes of the People being the only Persons that had no share in the common joy and concord of the two Estates said That would not prove so pleasant and prosperous to all the Senators as they believed and that their design was more plausible at first view than in the end it would appear For how should they raise that Mony but by laying a Tax upon the People so that they had given away other Mens Estates Nor would they who had been old Soldiers though others did suffer them that were now concerned to go to the Wars on better terms than they had done or be willing since they had formerly maintained themselves to pay others With this kind of discourse they instigated part of the Commons but at last the Tribunes also when the Tax was imposed declared They would be assistant to any one that would not pay his share towards the Tax for maintaining the Soldiers The Senate therefore having begun a good work were as persevering in the defence of it themselves first paying their proportion And because their Mony was not yet Coined certain Persons conveying the heavy Bullion in Waggons to the Treasury made the Collection look very great also When the Senate had given in their Quota with all integrity according to their Estates the chief of the Commons who were friends of the Nobility began by agreement to bring in their allotment Whom when the Common People saw not only commended by the Senate but look'd upon by all Men of a Military Age as good Citizens they presently despised the Tribunes encouragement and strove who should pay first Then when the Law was pass'd for declaring a War against the Veians the new Tribunes of the Soldiers who had Consular Power led an Army to Veii made up great part of Voluntiers Now the Tribunes were T. Quintius Capitolinus T. Quintius U. C. 350 Cincinnatus C. Julius Julus a second time A. Manlius L. Spurius Medullinus a second time and Manius Aemilius Mamercinus They first besieged Veii at the beginning of which Siege there being a full Assembly of the Etrurians at the Temple of Voltumna it was not agreed upon whether the Veians should be defended by a publick War of the whole Nation But that Assault was more slow the Year U. C. 251 after part of the Army with the Tribunes being called away to the Volscian War That Year produced Tribunes Military with Consular Authority whose names were C. Valerius Potitus a third time Manius Sergius Fidenas P. Cornelius Maluginensis Cn. Cornelius Cossus Caeso Fabius Ambustus and Sp. Nautius Rutilus who was now a second time in that Office They engaged with the Volsci between Ferrentinum and Ecetra the Romans happening to win the day But after that the Tribunes began to lay Siege to Artena a Town belonging to the Volsci
Tribunes of the People at Rome who long since sought but could not find out any cause of Innovation they ran forth into the publick Assembly and there put scruples into the Peoples heads saying This it was that made the Soldiers have so much Mony allowed them and he saw very well that that gift would be anointed over with the poyson of their Enemies That the Peoples Liberty was bought and sold that the Youth of Rome was for ever removed and banished from the City and the Commonwealth that now they gave not way even to Winter or the season of the Year or had time to visit their own Houses and look after their Estates What did they think was the reason why the Campaign was continued Why truly they would find it to be no other than lest by the number of those young Men in whom all the strength of the People lay there should be any thing done for their advantage besides that they were vexed and kept under with greater severity than the Veians For they spent the Winter under their own roofs defending their City with curious Walls and the natural situation of the place whilst the Roman Soldier continued in toil and pains all over snow and frost under his Hutt and did not lay down his Arms so much as in the Winter time which usually gives a Cessation to all Wars both by Land and Sea That neither the Kings nor before the Tribunes Power was set up those proud Consuls nor the severe Commands of a Dictator nor the importunate Decemviri ever injoyned them so much servitude as to make a Campaign perpetual though the Tribunes of the Soldiers took the liberty to tyrannize at that rate over the Roman Commonalty What would they have done had they been Consuls or Dictators who made the Proconsulate which was but the image as it were of Consular Authority appear so fierce and severe But that indeed that fell upon them not without reason since there was not so much as one place for a Plebeian among eight Tribunes of the Soldiers That the Patricians formerly used to fill up three places with the greatest zeal imaginable but that now they go as though they were all eight yoaked together to get their Commands and no Plebeian can come amongst them who if he did nothing else might put his Collegues in mind that their Children and fellow Citizens were in the Wars and not their Slaves who ought in the Winter at least to be brought home to their own Houses and once in the Year visit their Parents Children and Wives use their liberty and chuse Magistrates Whilst they bawled out to this effect they created to themselves an adversary who was full hard enough for them viz. Ap. Claudius who was left by his Collegues to restrain and suppress the Seditions of the Tribunes a Person used even from his youth to Plebeian Contests and who 't is said some Years before advised his Collegues by their intercession to dissolve the power of the Tribunes He therefore at that time being not only of ready wit but beaten to it by custom too made this Speech Romans if you ever doubted whether the Tribunes of the People were always the Authors of Seditions upon yours or their own accounts I am certain that ceaseth this Year to be a doubt and as I rejoyce that you at last are confuted out of so long an error so I congratulate with you and for your sakes with the Commonwealth that this error is removed by your happiness more than any thing else Is there any Man that doubts whether the Tribunes of the People were ever offended and provoked with any injuries of yours if perchance you ever did them any so much as at the Senates largess to the People when they allowed such a sum to each Soldier What do you believe they either at that time feared or would at this day disturb but the concord of the several Orders by which means they suppose they may best dissolve the Tribunes Power Thus they like drudging Artificers that love to be doing seek themselves work and desire that there may always be some grievance in the Commonwealth that they may be by you imployed to cure it For do you defend or oppose the Commons Are you the Adversaries of the Soldiery or do you plead their Cause Unless you 'l say whatever the Senate does displeases us whether it be for or against the People And as Masters forbid their Servants to have any thing to do with strangers as thinking it fit for them to be equally unconcerned with them either in good or ill Offices so you deny the Senate all commerce with the People lest we by our courtesie and munificence should oblige the Commons or they be subject and obedient to us How much rather should you if you had any I do not say civility but humanity in you favour and as much as in you lies indulge the courtesie of the Senate and the obedience of the People Between whom if there were a perpetual agreement who may not dare to promise that this Empire would in a short time be the greatest among all our Neighbour Nations Now I shall tell you anon how this Design of my Collegues not drawing the Army off from Veii before they had done the business was not only advantagious but necessary too though at present I intend to discourse touching the very condition of them that are Soldiers there Which Speech of mine I believe might seem very just not only before you but even in the Camp if it were made there before the very Army themselves In which if I could think of nothing to say my self I might well be content with what our adversaries have already said They lately denied that the Soldiers ought to have a largess given them because they never had any such thing before how then can they be angry now that they who have a new advantage given them should have a new proportionable trouble injoyned them There never is any pains without some profit nor profit for the most part without pains Pains and pleasure though very unlike each other in their natures are yet joyned one to the other by a kind of natural connection The Soldiery heretofore took it ill that they should serve the Commonwealth at their own charge and yet the same Persons were very glad that they could Till their Ground part of the Year and get enough to maintain them and their Family both at home and in the Wars But now they are very well satisfied that the Commonwealth is a gain to them and receive their stipend with great joy Wherefore he ought to be content to be a little longer than ordinary absent from his House and Family who is at no great charge If the Commonwealth should call him to account might it not justly say you have an yearly stipend do the work of an Year Do you think it just for you to receive a whole Years pay for
put them into a mighty fear for that the Romans believed that all Etruria was up in Arms and come in a full body against them and the same opinion put the Veians also into confusion in the City By this means the Roman Camp was attacked on both sides so that they ran together carrying their Ensigns to and fro nor could they well keep the Veians within their Works or defend their own Fortifications and save themselves from their Enemy without but their only hope was if they were succoured from the bigger Camp that some of their Legions might fight on one side against the Capenate and Faliscan and the rest withstand the Sallies of the Townsmen But Virginius commanded the Camp who was privately hated and an Enemy to Sergius He therefore when it was told him that several of their Forts were attacked that the Enemy had got over the Fortifications and made their way in on both sides kept his Men in their Arms saying That if there were need of his assistance his Collegue would send to him But the obstinacy of the other equalled his arrogance for he lest he should seem to desire any aid from his Enemy chose rather to be overcome by the Enemy than conquer by the help of his fellow Citizen The Romans for a long time were killed in the midst between their two Enemies but at last forsaking their Works some few of them got into the bigger Camp though the greatest part and Sergius himself made their escape to Rome where laying all the blame upon his Collegue it was ordered that Virginius should be sent for from the Camp and the Lieutenants Command it in the mean time Then the matter was debated in the Senate and the Collegues inveighed against each other whilst few regarded the Commonwealth but most of them took this or the others part as their private love and favour inclined them The chief of the Senators whether that ignominious defeat was received through the default or infelicity of the Generals were of opinion That they ought not to expect the due time of the Assembly but forthwith to create new Tribunes of the Soldiers who should enter upon their Office on the first of October To which opinion of theirs there was so general a consent that the rest of the Tribunes Military did not at all gainsay it But yet Sergius and Virginius for whose sake it was manifest that the Senate repented of the Magistrates for that Year first of all begged pardon for that ignominy and then interposed against the Order of Senate saying That they would not go out of their Office before the 15 of December which was the solemn day for Magistrates to enter upon their Offices Hereupon the Tribunes of the People who had held their tongues against their wills when they saw such an agreement among the People and the City in so happy a state began very fiercely to threaten the Tribunes Military that if they would not submit to the Senates Authority they would order them to be carried to Prison Then C. Servilius Ahala a Tribune Military said As for your parts Tribunes of the People and your menaces I truly would willingly try how little justice these threats have in them more than we have resolution but that 't is a great crime to contend against the Authority of the Senate wherefore do you cease whilst we are a quarrelling to seek occasion of charging any injury upon us and my Collegue shall either do what the Senate orders or if they persist in their resolutions I 'll immediately nominate a Dictator that shall force them to quit their Offices Which Speech of his being approved on by all general assent the Senators were glad that there was some other greater force found out besides the dread of the Tribunes Power to curb the Magistrates and so they being over-powered by universal consent held the Assembly for chusing Tribunes Military who were to enter into their Office upon the Kalends of October and quitted their own Offices before that day By L. Valerius Potitus who was now Tribune Military a fourth time M. Furius Camillus a second time Manius Aemilius Mamercinus a third time Cn. Cornelius Cossus a second time Caeso Fabius Ambustus and L. Julius Julus being all of them invested with Consular Authority there were many exploits done both at home and abroad for they were engaged in many Wars at the same time not only at Veii but at Capena Falerii and against the Volsci to recover Anxur from the Enemy besides that at Rome they took a great deal of pains in making their Levy and gathering the Tribute and had a mighty contest about taking in the Tribunes of the People nor did the judgments passed by them who a little before had been dignified with Consular Authority cause any small animosities The Tribunes Military thought fit first of all to make the Levy nor were the younger People only enrolled but the elder also forced to give in their names in order to secure the City But look how much the number of the Soldiers was augmented so much the more Mony was necessary to pay them and that was raised by a Tax to which the Persons that paid it were very unwilling to consent at least such of them who staid at home because they were to undergo the duty of Soldiers and serve the Commonwealth in defending the City Now though these things were grievous in themselves the Tribunes of the People by their seditious Speeches made them seem much more intolerable saying That the Soldiers had Mony raised for them upon no other account but to destroy and undo the Commons partly by War and partly by Taxes That one War had been protracted now for three Years together and was ill managed out of design that they might keep it on foot the longer That afterward there were Forces raised at one Levy for four Wars and that even Boys and old Men were taken for Soldiers That now there was no difference between Summer and Winter lest the poor Commons should ever have any rest who were now also at last made Tributary too so that when they came home again with their bodies quite tired out all over wounds and broken with age and found all places unmanured by reason of the long absence of the owners they must pay Tribute out of their decayed Estate and return their pay as though they had taken it up at Use to the Commonwealth manifold Amidst the Levy the Tribute and the many greater affairs wherewith their minds were taken up the number of the Tribunes of the People could not be made up at the Assembly wherefore they contended to have Patricians chosen into the void places which seeing they could not obtain yet to invalidate the Trebonian Law it was so brought about that C. Lacerius and M. Acutius were taken in to be Tribunes of the People and that no question by means of the Patricians It happened that that Year C. Trebonius was
business in Then again they were of opinion that they deferred their resolutions till night that their coming might be more dreadful Last of all when they came not then they thought 't was deferred till the next day that they might search all places more narrowly Thus their calamity was mingled with perpetual fear which was much augmented when they saw their Enemies Colours advance to the Gates of the City However the City was not that whole night nor the day following in such a consternation as they were in when they fled from Allia For when they had no hopes of defending the City with so small a company as was left they thought fit that the Youth of the Town with their Wives and Children and also that the strongest of the Senators should betake themselves into the Tower and Capitol and having got Arms and Provision together from thence to defend their Gods and Men and maintain the Roman Name there to preserve their Flamen those of the Vestal Priest-hood and whatever was sacred from fire and common ruin and not to leave off worshiping them as long as there were Men alive to Worship If the Tower and Capitol those receptacles of their Gods if the Senate the Head of their publick Council if their Military Youth did but survive the imminent ruin of their City they thought the loss of their old Men and the Mobile that was left behind them to perish in the City not very considerable And that the Multitude might take it more patiently at the hands of the Commons the old Men of Triumphal and Consular Dignity declared openly they would die with them and not be a burthen to the small Company that were fit to bear Arms with those Bodies which were not able to bear Arms or defend their Country Thus the Seniors though appointed to die comforted one another then they encouraged the company of young Men following them even to the Capitol and Tower and commending to their Youth and Valour the remaining Fortune of that City that had conquered in all Wars for 360 Years together The sad departure of those who were their only hopes and help from those who were resolved not to out-live the destruction of the City the howlings and cries of Women running after sometimes one and sometimes another and asking their Husbands and Children What death they would die The cloudy face and dismal appearance of all things were without all question the highest aggravation of calamity that can befall humane nature Yet a great many of them followed their Mistresses into the Tower being not invited thereunto nor forbidden by any because 't was not manly to have Women with them though they were useful to their Children in the Siege Another Company of the Commons whom so small a Hill could not hold nor feed in such a scarcity of Provision break as it were in Army out of the City and go to Janiculum From thence they are scattered some of them over the Fields others go to the neighbouring Cities without any Conduct or Advice every Man following his own Counsel and comforting himself with his own hope at the same time that they bewailed the Publick In the mean time the Flamen Quirinalis or Romulus's Priest and the Vestal Virgins taking no care of their own concerns consult what Gods they should carry with them and what because they were not able to carry off all they should leave behind and which was the safest place to put them in and at last think it the best way to dig a hole in the Chapel next to the Flamen Q's House where they thought it a sin to spit and they lay them up in Vessels The rest they divided among them and carry over the great Timber-bridg that leads to Janiculum And when Q. Albinus one of the Roman Commons who was carrying his Wife and Children and the rest of their unwarlike gang in a Cart out of the City saw them upon the Hill he made a difference between Divine and Humane things supposing it a piece of irreligion to let Priests and Vestal Virgins Persons of publick Office carry their Gods on Foot whilst he and his were carried in a Cart he therefore ordered his Wife and Children to come down and helped them up and carried them to Caere where they determined to go In the mean time all things being as well settled at Rome as their circumstances would permit for the defence of the Tower the old Men return into their Houses and being fully resolved to die they wait for the coming of their Enemies Those Magistrates among them that had been carried in their Chairs of State to the Senate-house that they might die attended with all the Ensigns of their former Fortune Honour or Valour put on their August Robes wherein they had either triumphed or devoutly waited upon the Chariots that carried Images and in the middle of their Houses sate in their Ivory Chairs There are some that report that repeating their Vow which M. Fabius the Pontifex recited to them they Devoted and gave up themselves for their Country and the Roman Citizens The Gauls in regard they had now enjoyed a whole nights respite from fighting and indeed because they were never engaged in any doubtful Battel neither did they at that time take the City by force and violence entred with minds not discomposed with heat or anger at the Collins Gate the day after and when they came into the Forum they cast their eyes upon the Temples of the Gods and the Tower which was the only Specimen of War then leaving a small Garrison lest any out of the Tower or Capitol should assault them when they were dispersed they betake themselves to Plunder not meeting so much as a Man in the streets some of them rush in throngs into the Houses next them others into those farthest off concluding them yet unpillaged and consequently stuffed with Prey but when they saw no body they were frighted thence upon supposition the Enemy would by some trick set upon them as they were scattered and so they returned in Companies to the Forum and places near the Forum And there seeing the Commons Houses locked and the Palaces of the Nobility open they lingred more in entring the open Houses than the shut But when they beheld them sitting in such State and Habits far beyond any thing that is Humane when they beheld the Majesty and Gravity they carried in their looks they approach them with such reverence as if they had been Gods And when they had for a time stood by them as if they had been so many Images 't is reported that one of the Gauls stroaked down M. Papyrius his Beard which they then wore very long and thereupon the old Man shook his Ivory staff at him Then began the slaughter The rest were murthered in their Chairs When they had killed the Nobles they gave no Quarter to any but killed and plundered their Houses and then set them on fire But the
first day they did not burn much of the City because perhaps all of them had not a mind to it or because the chief of the Gauls thought it best only to burn some few Houses thereby to terrifie those that had shut themselves up to yield freely and to engage them upon hopes of enjoying what was left When the Romans from the Tower saw the whole City full of Enemies and running up and down every Street when they saw fresh murthers in one place or other continually they were not only almost distracted in their minds but they were also not able to fix either their ears or eyes upon any one Object for the shouts of the Enemies the lamentations of Women and Children the crackling of the fire and the noise of Houses falling every-where did turn away their trembling minds their eyes and faces from what before they reflected on Thus they were placed by fortune to behold the fall of their Country having nothing left them to defend but their own bodies labouring under a far greater misery than ever any besieged Persons did because they saw all they had in the hands of the Enemy Neither did a quieter night succeed that fatal day but even the night and the day after and every minute they beheld fresh spectacles of Rapine and Murther Yet notwithstanding they were thus laden and overwhelmed with calamities did their courage sink but though they saw all places levelled by flames and ruins they were resolved to defend their liberty to the last and the little Hill which was all that was left to them For now the like mischiefs happening every day they were accustomed to miseries and laying by all thoughts of their own concerns they trusted only to their Arms and Swords which they beheld with pleasure in their own right hands accounting them the only Relicks of their hopes When the Gauls who for some days spared the Houses saw nothing remaining among the ruins of the Captive City but Armed Men and those not at all terrified by these misfortunes nor inclinable to yield up themselves unless they were assaulted they resolve to try the utmost and assaulted the Tower At break of day at the sound of the Trumpet they meet and are put in order in the Forum Then giving a shout and having made a Fence to keep the Fire-balls and stones from them they march under the Tower Against whom the Romans did nothing rashly nor fearfully but having fortified all their passages with Guards and knowing the steeper the Hill was the easier they could beat them down they let them climb up to the middle of it and then from a Place somewhat higher which was as it were for the purpose they set upon the Gauls and throwing them down made a great slaughter Insomuch that no part of them nor all of them together ever after attempted to get up again Being therefore quite out of all hopes of taking the Tower by Force they lay Siege against it which they never thought of till that time having themselves burnt all the Corn in the City and that which was in the Fields was carried thence to Veii The Army then being divided some of them pillaged the neighbouring People others kept Siege at the Tower receiving supplies of Provision from the Foragers But as the Gauls went from the City to try the Valour of the Romans even fortune herself led them to Ardea where Camillus was banished who being there in greater sorrow for the calamities of the Publick than his own blaming both Gods and Men and with indignation wondring what was become of those Men who with him took Veii and Falisci who in other Wars came off with greater Courage than success on a sudden hears that the Army of the Gauls are coming and when the trembling Ardeatians asked him What they should do Though before he kept from the publick Councils he then goes into the middle of the Assembly and as if he had been inspired said thus My old friends of Ardea who are now also my fellow Citizens since not only your kindness has so contrived it but my fortune too has put me into these circumstances I hope none of you think that I was forgetful of my condition in coming hither but the affair in hand and the common danger forces every one to contribute what they can in this case now that the Garrison is in such a consternation And indeed when should I return my acknowledgments for your great favours to me if I omit this opportunity Or where can you make use of me if not in War Upon the reputation of this skill in Military affairs I lived in my own Country but though I were conquered in War yet in peace I was banished by my ungrateful fellow Citizens Now you Ardeans have an occasion offered to you not only of requiting the Romans for all their extraordinary kindnesses that you your selves well remember nor is it any reproach to say so since you know 't is true but of making this your City very glorious for its warlike actions against a common Enemy The Nation that is a coming against you are such a sort of Men to whom nature has given rather great than strong bodies and therefore they bring to every combat more dread than force Take the Roman miscarriage for an instance of it They took the City when it lay open to them but were beaten off from the Castle and the Capitol with a small Party Now being quite tired with the fatigue of a Siege they march off and straggle like Vagabonds about the Country where they are filled with Meat and Wine that they get by thieving When night comes on they lay themselves down by the Rivers sides without any Fortification without any formed Camp and without any Watches all over the Fields like so many wild Beasts being now since their prosperity grown much more careless than ever If you therefore resolve to defend your Walls and not to suffer your whole Country to be turned into Gaul stand to your Arms in a full body at the first watch and follow me to kill not to fight and if I do not give you an opportunity whilst they are asleep to kill them like beasts I am content to undergo the same fate at Ardea as I have met with at Rome Now every body both Friends and Enemies wore before convinced that there was never such a Man in the World at that time for Warlike affairs so that the Assembly being dismissed they refreshed themselves and then waited very diligently till the signal should be given Which being given they met Camillus assoon as it was night at the Gates and when they were got a little way from the City as he had foretold them they came to the Camp of the Gauls which was unguarded and neglected on every side which they with a great shout invaded Nor had they any need to fight but slew all before them killing their naked bodies which were dissolved and
confusion so that the whole body of them fell headlong down After that the tumult being allayed they spent the remainder of the night as much as People under such a disturbance when the pass'd danger still ran in their minds in quiet Next morning assoon as it was day the Soldiers were called by sound of Trumpet to a Council before the Tribunes where since there was a reward due both to good and bad actions Manlius was first commended for his Courage and presented not only by the Tribunes but by consent of the Soldiers also for they each of them brought into his house which was in the Castle half a pound of meal and two quarts of Wine which was indeed but a small thing to speak of but their necessity had made it a great argument of their love to him in that each one of them depriving himself of his Victuals neglected his own Body and the common conveniences of life to shew their respect to that one Man Then the Sentinels of that place where the Enemy had stoln up were summoned to appear and though P. Sulpicius Tribune of the Soldiers had declared That he would punish them all according to the Law of Arms yet since the general voice of the Soldiers who laid the fault upon one of them was so uniform he desisted and spared the rest but threw down the person who doubtless was guilty of the crime by universal approbation from the Rock From that time the Watches began to be more intent on both sides not only among the Gauls who had heard that there were Messengers who came to and fro between Veii and Rome but among the Romans also who remembred the danger of that night But above all other misfortunes of the Siege and the War famin prest the Armies on both sides besides that the Gauls had the Plague also among them who being encamped in a place that lay among Tombs and Burial places which was hot by reason of the flames and full of smoak scattering ashes and not only dust upon them when any wind was stirring whereof that Nation is very impatient as being used to moisture and cold and not only so but being tormented with excessive heat of the weather and very fainty died like rotten sheep For now they had buried so many single Persons that they were quite a weary of it and therefore burnt them promiscuously in great heaps altogether and thence the famous place called Busta Gallica the Gauls Burial place took its name After that they made a Truce with the Romans and had Parleys by permission from the Generals at which seeing the Gauls did often tell them of their scarcity and would have had them upon the score of their necessity to have made a surrender they say that in many places there was bread cast down from the Capitol into the Enemies Camp But now their want of Provisions could no longer be either hid or endured wherefore whilst the Dictator himself made the Levy at Ardea he ordered L. Valerius Master of the Horse to bring away the Army from Veii and then prepared and formed a Body strong enough to attack the Enemy In the mean time the Army in the Capitol being tired out with continual Duty and Watching yet having overcome all human evils except hunger which nature had made invincible look'd day after day whether any relief appeared from the Dictator till at last now that their hopes as well as their meat was quite spent so that the Soldiers though they continued in their stations were ready to faint for weakness under their Arms they desired either to surrender or be delivered from that necessity upon what terms soever they could since the Gauls openly professed That they would take a small sum to raise the Siege Thereupon a Senate was held and the Tribunes Military were imployed to make the bargain So the business was transacted at a Parley between P. Sulpitius a Tribune Military and Brennus the petit King of the Gauls and a thousand pounds of Gold was set as the value of a People who were soon after to Command the World But though this thing were very base in it self yet there was a farther indignity added to it for the Gauls brought false Weights which the Tribune refusing the insolent Gaul added to the weight a Sword and there was a voice heard which the Romans could not endure saying Wo to the Conquered But the Gods and Men too kept the Romans from buying their lives for by a kind of fatality before the cursed bargain was made an end of for they wrangled so long that the Gold was not yet all weighed the Dictator came up who commanded the Gold to be taken away and the Gauls to be gone Which seeing they refused to do and said they had made a bargain he told them That Contract was not valid which was made after he was chosen Dictator by an inferior Magistrate without his Order and with that gave the Gauls warning to prepare themselves for Battel Ordering his own Men to throw all their Baggage in an heap together to make ready their Arms and retrieve their Country not by Gold but their Swords as having in view the Temples of their Gods their Wives Children and their native soil which was now deformed by the misfortunes of War with all other things that could be lawfully defended regained or revenged When he had so done he set his Army in Battalia as the nature of the place would suffer him amidst the ruins of the City which was half destroyed besides that it was also naturally uneven and provided all things which by the art of War could be prepared or made choice of as advantagious for his Men. The Gauls were surprized at this new accident but yet took up their Arms and ran upon the Romans with more fury than consideration And now their fortune was changed for now the assistance of the Gods and Human Counsels helped the Romans so that upon the first onset the Gauls were routed with as much ease as at Allia they had Conquered After that they were again defeated in a more formal Battel eight Miles from Rome upon the Road that leads to Gabii whither they had fled out of the former fight by the Conduct and good management of the same Camillus There they were all slain their Camp taken and not so much as a Messenger left to carry the news of their defeat into their Country The Dictator having recovered his Country from the Enemy returned triumphant into the City and among the Soldiers sayings which they threw out very uncouthly he was truly stiled The Romulus and Father of his Country yea a second builder of their City After that when he had preserved his Country in time of War he did the like in Peace too without all question in that he hindered them from removing to Veii though not only the Tribunes were very intent upon it since the City was burnt but the common People too were
send Priests from thence hither to do so neither of which can be done with safety to our Ceremonies And that I may not run through all the Holy Rites or speak of all the Gods in particular at Jupiters Feast can the bed that he is to lie upon be set in any place but the Capitol Why should I talk of the eternal fire of Vesta or that Image which is kept in her Temple as a pledg of Dominion Why should I talk of your Ancilia i. e. holy Shields Mars Gradicus and thou Father Romulus Would you have all these holy things left in a prophane place which are as old as the City and some too older than the Original of it Do but consider what difference there is between us and our Fore-Fathers they delivered to us certain Rites to be performed in the Albane Mount and at Lavinium Was it a Religious act to translate these holy Rites from the Cities of our Enemies to Rome and shall we carry them hence to our City of Veii without committing the greatest offence imaginable Pray call to mind how often the holy Rites have been performed anew when any thing of ancient usage has been by negligence or chance omitted What was it of late after the prodigy of the Albane Lake but the renewing of the holy Rites and repeating the auspicies that healed the Commonwealth when it was sick of the Veian War But besides this we as being mindful of the ancient Worship have not only translated strange Gods to Rome but set up new ones How signal and memorable a day upon the score of the Matrons extraordinary zeal was Queen Juno brought over from Veii and lately dedicated in the Aventine We ordered a Temple to be built to Aius Locutius in the new Street upon the account of that heavenly voice that was heard we added the Ludi Capitolini Games in honour of Jupiter to other Solemnities and built a new College for that purpose by order of the Senates What needed we to have taken all this care if we were resolved to leave the City of Rome together with the Gauls If we did not stay in the Capitol so many Months whilst the Siege lasted of our own free will If we were kept from our Enemies by fear But we talk now of holy Rites and Temples what have we at last to say of the Priests Don't you consider what a crime 't is for them to vary from their ancient Customs The Vestals for example have one sole place of Residence from which nothing ever remov'd them but the taking of the City And for the Flamen Dialis Jupiter ' s chief Priest to stay one night without the City is a great offence Now wou'd you make these persons Veian instead of Roman Priests Shall thy Vestals Vesta leave thee or shall the Flamen by dwelling abroad contract each night so much guilt not only to him but the Common-wealth too What shou'd I mention other things which we do by direction of the Soothsayers most of them within the limits of the City neither forgetting nor neglecting any part of them The curiate Assemblies that manage the Millitary affairs and the centuriate Assemblies at which you choose Consuls and Tribunes Military where can they be held as they ought to be but where they use to be Shall we transfer all these things to Veii or shall the people meet to hold the Assemblies with so much inconvenience to them in this City which is deserted both by Gods and Men But the thing it self some will say compells us to leave this City which is laid wast with fire and ruine and go to Veii where all things are entire nor vex the poor commonalty here with Building No Romans this reason I suppose though I should not tell you so you know to be rather given out than real you that remember how before the coming of the Gauls when our Buildings both private and publick were all safe and the City standing this same business was in agitation about our going to Veii Now see Tribunes how much difference there is between mine and your opinion You think that though it were not fit so to do at that time yet now it may be and I on the contrary do not wonder at it before you hear what 't is am of opinion that though at that time we might have removed when our City was standing yet we ought not now to leave these ruins For then the reason of our removing into a City which we had taken might have been our Victory which would have been glorious to us and our Posterity but now this removal will look sneaking and dishonourable in us but glorious to the Gauls for we shall seem not to have left our Country with Victory but to have been defeated and lost it Did our flight at Allia the taking of our City or the besieging of the Capitol lay such a necessity upon us that we should desert our native Soil and Banish our selves or run away from that place which we could not defend And could the Gauls destroy Rome which the Romans seem not able to rebuild What remains but that they now come with new Forces for 't is well known they are an incredible multitude and settle by your permission in this City which they took and you desert Yea what if not the Gauls but your old Enemies the Aequi and the Volsci shou'd do this that is come to Rome Wou'd you have them be called Romans and you Veians Or wou'd you rather that this place shou'd be your solitude than your Enemies City Truly I cannot see what is a greater crime Are you willing to commit these offences because you are loth to build and had rather suffer so much disgrace If there cou'd be no better or larger House built in the whole City than yonder Hovel where my Builder works had we not better live in Hovels like Shepherds and Country people among our our own holy things and houshold Gods than to go publickly and banish our selves Did our Fore-Fathers who came hither out of several Countrys and were Shepherds when there was nothing in these places but Woods and Fens build a new City in so short a time and shall we think it difficult though the Capitol and the Castle are safe and the Temples of our Gods standing to rebuild a City that 's burnt Or shall we all together refuse to do that in the case of a publick conflagration which we should each of us have done if our own single Houses had been burnt What pray' if either by treachery or misfortune there shou'd happen a fire at Veii and the flames as it may chance being diffused by the wind shou'd consume great part of the City shall we remove thence to Fidenae Gabii or any other City Has that native Soil no influence upon you at all Nor this Earth which we call Mother Does the love we bear to our Country only affect the outside and the rafters of the Building Truly
and other works Which when he saw they did not hinder by any Sally forth thinking the Enemy had too little resolution in them for him upon that account to expect and wait for so lingring a Victory he encouraged his Soldiers not to tire themselves with a tedious fatigue as they that attack'd the Veians for Victory was in their hands and so scaling the Walls on every side through the great alacrity of his men took the Town The Volscians laying down their Arms surrendred themselves But the Generals mind was set upon a greater matter which was the taking of Antium the chief City of the Volscians For that was the first cause of the late War But because so strong a City cou'd not be taken without great preparation Instruments and Engines of War he leaving his Collegue with the Army went to Rome to perswade the Senate to Sack Antium Whilst he was discoursing upon this affair I suppose the Gods were pleased that the Antian State shou'd continue somewhat longer there came Embassadors from Nepete and Sutrium to desire aid against the Tuscans saying that they had but a small time to bring in their Auxiliaries Thither therefore did Fortune divert Camillus's Force from Antium For since those places were opposite to Etruria and as it were Barriers and Gates thereunto they did what they cou'd upon any new design to get possession of them as the Romans did to recover and defend them Wherefore the Senate thought fit that Camillus shou'd be treated with to quit Antium and undertake the Etrurian War The City Legions which Servilius had Commanded were assigned him though he wou'd rather have had that experienced and well disciplin'd Army which was in the Country of the Volsci but yet he refused nothing that was offer'd by the Senate only he desir'd that Valerius might be his assistant and partner in the Command Quintius and Horatius were sent as Successors to Valerius in the Volscian Territories So Furius and Valerius setting forth from the City arrived at Sutrium where they found one part of the Town already taken by the Etrurians and the Townsmen in the other part scarce able to repell the Enemies force by blocking up the Streets But then not only the arrival of the Roman aids but the very name of Camillus which was of such renown both among the Enemies and their Allies for the present supported their declining condition and gave their Friends time to bring in their Succours Wherefore Camillus having divided the Army ordered his Collegue to go with his Forces about and attack the Walls on that side which the Enemy had gotten possession of not so much out of any hopes he had that they might be able to take the City by Scaling it as that when the Enemy was diverted to the defence of that part the Townsmen who were now wearied with fighting might be eased of their toil and he himself have an opportunity to enter the Walls without any opposition Which being done at the same time on both sides so that the Etrurians were environed by a double terror seeing their Walls attack'd with the greatest vehemency and the Enemy already within their City they Sallied forth at a certain Gate which was the only one not Besieged in a consternation all at once There were a great many of them slain as they fled both in the City and all over the Country but the most part of them were killed by Furius's men within the Walls whilst Valerius's Soldiers being more nimble and fit for a pursuit followed them and made no end of killing those they overtook before night when they cou'd no longer see them When Sutrium was retaken and restored to the Allies the Army was led to Nepete which the Etrurians now had wholly in their hands being taken by Surrender They thought it wou'd cost the more pains to retake that City not only because it was all in the Enemies possession but also because the Surrender had been made by the contrivance of some part of the Nepesines who betray'd their City Yet they resolved to send to the chief of them to separate themselves from the Etrurians and shew that integrity and fidelity in themselves which they had required of the Romans Whereupon when answer was brought back That they were not able to do any thing at all in the case for the Etrurians had possession of their Walls and the Guards of their Gates They first of all put the Townsmen into a fright by pillaging the adjacent Country and seeing that they had a more sacred regard to the Surrender which they had made to the Etrurians than to their Alliance with the Romans the Roman Army got Fagots out of the Neighbouring Fields and march'd up to the Walls Where having fill'd the Trenches they apply'd their scaling Ladders and upon the first shout and effort took the Town Thereupon the Nepesines were ordered to lay down their Arms and the Soldiers were commanded not to meddle with any of them that was unarmed but the Etrurians were all kill'd arm'd or unarm'd And of the Nepesines also those that had been the authors of the Surrender were beheaded though the innocent multitude had their Estates again and the Town was left with a Garrison in it Having in this manner retaken two Allied Cities from the Enemy the Tribunes brought back their Victorious Army with great glory to Rome The same year the Latins and the Hernicans were called to account and asked Why for several years together they had not sent their Quota of Soldiers according to agreement To which both Nations in full Assembly made Answer That there was no publick fault or design to be laid to their charge for that some of their Youth were Soldiers in the Volscian Territories but that those young Men themselves underwent the penalty of an ill design for there was ne'r an one of them that came home again But that the reason why they did not send in such a number of Soldiers was their daily dread of the Volscians who were a pest that stuck so close to them that they cou'd not be rid of it even by so many continued Wars one upon the neck of another Which when the Senate heard they were of opinion that they rather wanted a fit opportunity than good grounds to make a War The following Year when A. Manlius P. Cornelius T. and L. Quintius Capitolinus L. Papirius Cursor again and C. Sergius again were Tribunes with Consular Authority there broke out a grievous War abroad but a more grievous Sedition at home the War from the Volscians to which there came in as an addition a revolt of the Latins and Hernicans and the Sedition from whence it was least to be feared even from a person of a Noble Family and great Honour viz. M. Manlius Capitolinus who being a man of a proud Spirit as he contemn'd all their Noblemen envied one and that was M. Furius a person very extraordinary both for his Honours and his Virtues
Tears with what trembling expectations do the Senate and whole People of Capua our Wives and our Children attend our Return Assured I am that the whole Multitude are thronging about the Gates with their eyes fixt on the Road that leads from hence impatiently waiting to know what News what Answer you will be pleased by us to return them in this doubtful Juncture and Perplexity One word if favourable is able to present them with Safety Victory Life and Liberty But if otherwise I dread to presage the Consequences wherefore to conclude determine of us either as of those that shall and will ever be your Confederates and faithful Allies or else such as must presently be the most forlorn People upon Earth and worse than nothing The Ambassadors being commanded to withdraw the Senate having debated the matter tho the greater part acknowledged that a City so very great and opulent with a Country both the most fertile of all Italy and conveniently situate near the Sea which might serve the Romans as a Granary or Store-house when ever scarcity of Corn and Victuals should happen would be of great Emolument to them Yet they resolved to prefer the keeping of their Faith before all advantages And the Consul was ordered to return this Answer The Senate O Campanians conceives you very worthy of assistance But it is fit that we so entertain your Amity as not to violate any of our former Alliancies the Samnites you must know are in League with us therefore we must deny your request of taking Arms against them since that were first to fight with the Gods by a breach of our Oaths and what success can we then expect in our unjust Encounters against men But we will do for you as much as we can in Justice and Honour viz. send Ambassadors to our Confederates and Allies to intreat them not to offer you any violence or injury Whereunto the principal Ambassador according to the instructions they had brought from home replied thus Altho you are not pleased with just force to defend what is ours against unjust violence and outrage yet sure you will maintain that which is your own Behold therefore Conscript Fathers Here we freely surrender into your hands and into the Dominion of the People of Rome the whole Nation of the Campanians the City of Capua with our Lands the sacred Temples of the Gods and all other things sacred and prophane resolved that whatever henceforwards we may suffer we will suffer in the quality of your Subjects and voluntarily devoted Vassals Saying which they all held up their hands to the Consul in a suppliant posture and orewhelm'd with Tears fell down on their Knees at the entrance of the Senate-House The Fathers sensibly touch'd with the Consideration of the uncertainty of humane Fortunes to see a People so abounding in Wealth and famous for Luxury Superfluous Magnificence and State to whom their Neighbours but t'other day had sought for Aid be now so dispirited as to Resign themselves and all they hold in the World into the power and dispose of others concluded now that it was a duty Incumbent on their Trust and Honour not to abandon those that were become their Subjects or see them betray'd into Ruine and that the Samnites if they should Invade those Territories to which the Romans were now lawfully Intituled should therein act unjustly and Infringe the Peace and therefore decreed that Ambassadors should forthwith be sent thither with instructions to represent at large to the Samnites the request of the Campanians the Senates Answer mindful of the Alliance they had with the Samnites and lastly how the Surrender was made and then to desire and request them by all the Ties of mutual Freindship to forbear their Vassals and not with Hostile Arms invade those Territories which were become part of the Roman Dominions with further Order that if they found these gentle Entreaties did not prevail then they should solemnly in the name of the Senate and People of Rome denounce and Charge the Samnites not to meddle with the City Capua or any part of that Country But when the Ambassadors came to deliver their Message in the Council of the Samnites they received not only this fierce and haughty Answer That they would still proceed in the War but their Magistrates going out of the Council Chamber even in the presence of the Roman Ambassadors called for the Captains of their Troops and with aloud Voice Commanded them To March forthwith into the Country of Campania to forrage there and make all the spoil they could Which being reported by the Ambassadors at their return The Senate laying aside the Care of all other Affairs sent to demand Restitution and that being denied solemnly proclaimed War decreeing likewise that this matter should at the first opportunity be propounded to the People by whose Order the two Consuls took the Field Valerius into Campania Cornelius into Samnium the former pitch'd his Tents at the foot of the Hill Gaurus the latter at Saticula The Samnite Legions first advanced towards Valerius for that way they thought the Brunt of the War would lye and the rather to be reveng'd on the Campanians that had been so ready first to yeild their own and now call in other Auxiliary Forces against them No sooner had they descri'd the Romans Camp but in all hast they every own for his own part called lustily to their Commanders for the Signal of Battel assuring themselves and saying plainly That the Romans should speed just as well in their assisting the Campanians as the Campanians had done before them in Aiding the Sidicins Valerius after he had amused the Enemy for some few days with light skirmishes and picqueerings to try their Mettal resolved at last to Fight them but first Encouraged his Men in a short Speech to this purpose That this new War or new Enemy ought not in the least to terrifie them For always the further off from the City they bore Arms the more weak and cowardly People they had to cope with That they ought not to count the Samnites stout and valiant because they had defeated the Sidicins or Campanians for in all Engagements one side or other must of necessity be worsted That undoubtedly the Campanians were overcome by their own excess of Luxury and effeminate softness more than by the courage of their Enemies However what were two prosperous Battels of the Samnites in so many Ages if set in competition with so many Honourable Victories of the People of Rome who could almost number more Triumphs than years since the Foundation of their City who have with their Swords in their hands subdued all the Nations round them as the Sabines the Hetrurians the Latins Hernicks Aequians Volscians and Auruncans And after having cut to pieces the Gauls in so many Battels have at last made them glad to get away by Sea in a shameful flight and disorder Besides as every one ought to go into the Field animated
with the glory of his past Warlike and Valiant Exploits so 't is no small encouragement to consider under whose leading and auspicious Conduct you are to venture the fortune of the day whether he be a man that can only make brave and daring Speeches one stout and feirce in words but unexperienced in the practice of Arms Or whether he be one that can himself handle his Weapons always ready to advance in Person before the Standards and both able and willing to endure all hazards and fatigues in the heat of the Battel 'T is my Deeds Gentlemen Soldiers not my Words that I would have you follow and to receive from me not only Command but also Example who not by bribing or the canvassing of Factions nor yet by Courtship and Orations usual Arts with Noble Men but by this right hand of mine have attained to three Consulships and the highest pitch of Glory There was a time indeed when it might have been objected that this was no wonderful matter but easy to one of my Birth and Quality being a Person of Noble Blood descended form the deliverers of their Country and whose Family bore the Consulship the very first year that the City had a Consul But now the Case is altered the way unto a Consulship lies equally open to you Commoners as to us of the Nobility for 't is not now as heretofore the priviledge of the Gentry but the reward of vertve and Courage look up therefore Gentlemen Soldiers and aym at this Sovereign Honour Tho men by the approbation of the Gods have given me the Surname of Corvinus yet have I not forgot the Ancient name of Publicola appropriate to our Family I have and ever will as always I have done the Commons of Rome at all times alike both abroad in Wars and at home in Peace as a private Man and as a publick Magistrate and no less when I was Consul than when Tribune and the same affections I retein'd throughout all my several Consulships as for the work in hand come along brave Boys and with the assistance of Heaven purchase this day for your selves as well as me a fresh and intire Triumph over the Samnites There never was a General more familiar with his Soldiers as ready as the meanest of them to undertake any duty and in their Military Exercises or pastimes when they tried each others nimbleness and strength he would often make one with a most obliging freedom his countenance unchang'd whether he got the Mastery or were Foil'd nor would he refuse any man for the meanness of his quality that offer'd to try a Bout with him In his deeds he was kind and bountiful to his power and as occasion required In words no less mindful of others Freedom than of his own Place and Dignity and which most of all renders a man acceptable to the People the same vertues and moderation which raised him to Honours and Preferments he always retain'd in the management and enjoyment of them Therefore the whole Army following this exhortation of a General so beloved with an incredible chearfulness March'd out of their Camp into the Field Never was Battel more obstinately fought on both sides their Hopes were like their Forces equal and each party charg'd full of Confidence in themselves and yet without contempt of the Enemy The Samnites were animated with their late successes and double Victory but just before The Romans on the Contrary stood upon that Honour and Reputation which they had enjoyed and daily encreased for the space of 400 years and their Conquests almost ever since the Foundation of their City each of them appeared the more solicitous because they had a new Enemy to deal with whom they had never tried before The manner of the fight shew'd the stoutness of their courage neither party for a considerable time yeilding one Foot The Consul seeing they could not be made retreat by down right blows thought to terrifie them by sending a party of Horse to break their Front but the Ground was too streight for them to do any good and they had not room to Charge whereupon the Consul returning to the Van of the Legions leaps off his Horse ' T is we Footmen quoth he when all is done must do the work come on then and as ye shall see me wherever I go make way by dint of Sword into the Enemies Main-Battel so do you every one down with all that oppose or stand in your way and presently through all that Grove of Pikes and glittering Spears you shall see wee 'l make an open passage over their slain Carcasses He had no sooner said this but the Cavalry by his Command Charged the Enemies Wings and made way for the Foot to come up to their Main-Body where first and formost the Consul charged in Person and kill'd the first man he met upon the spot the sight whereof enflam'd his men so that every one most manfully laid about him The Samnites tho they received more wounds than they gave stood to it still most resolutely and now the fight had continued a good while great slaughter there was all round the Samnites Ensigns but no flying on either side for they had resolved that nothing but Death should Conquer them The Romans therefore finding their own strength begin to decay through weariness and not much day-light left in a transport of Rage and Fury gave a fresh Charge all at once upon the Enemy who then first of all began to give Ground and soon after betook themselves to flight Then were abundance of the Samnites slain and taken Prisoners nor had but few of them escaped if night coming on so fast had not interrupted the victory rather than ended the Battel The Romans confessed that they never engaged with a more resolute and stubborn Enemy and the Samnites being demanded what it was that after so brave a Resistence first caused them to fly did affirm that the eyes of the Romans appeared to them like flames of fire and their Looks and Countenances feirce and terrible as those of Persons mad or distracted which sight did more daunt tham then any thing else and this dread of theirs they manifested not only by the event of the Battel but by their dislodging of their Camp and private retreat that night so that next morning the Romans took possession of their empty Huts wheâ—e the Campanians came crowding in Multitudes to rejoice and congratulate their victory But this Joy had like to have been spoil'd by a disaster in Samnium for the other Consul Cornelius advancing from Saticula had unwarily March'd his Army into a Forrest through which ran an hollow Valley on the side whereof the Enemy lay in Ambuscade nor did he discover them till he was so far Engaged as he knew not how to Retreat with safety But whilst the Samnites waited till he should have brought his whole Body into that deep Valley that they might have them all at the same advantage
they had rebell'd get to be made free Denizens of Rome 25. The Palaepolitans vanquish'd and besieg'd submit 26. Q. Publilius who first besieg'd them is continued in Command and allow'd to Triumph 28. The Commons freed from the Tyranny of their Creditors by reason of the filthy Lust of Lucius Papirius who would have ravish'd C. Publilius his Debtor 30. Whil'st L. Papirius the Dictator was gone from the Army to Rome to repeat the Sacrifices Q Fabius General of the Horse invited by an occasional advantage fights with the Samnites contrary to his Edict and worsts them for which the Dictator goes about to punish him 33. Fabius flies to Rome 35. And when his cause would not hold water at Law by the Peoples intreaty he obtains a Pardon 36. This Book contains the prosperous proceedings against the Samnites THE Consuls now were C. Plautius the second time and L. Aemilius Mamercus U. C. 412 when the Setines and Norbans sent advice to Rome that the Privernates had Revolted with Complaints of damages by them sustained Intelligence also arriv'd That an Army of Volscians under the Conduct of the Antiates were Encamp'd at Satricum The management of both these Wars fell to Plautius's Lot who advancing first to Privernum presently gave them Battel The Enemy was easily vanquish'd the Town taken but restored only a strong Garison placed in it and two parts of their Lands taken away from them Thence the Victorious Army march'd to Satricum against the Antiates where a cruel Battel was fought with great slaughter on both sides and when a Tempest had parted them before either could lay claim to the Victory the Romans nothing wearied with that so doubtful Conflict made preparations to renew the Encounter in the Morning But the Volscians having taken an Account of what Men they had lost had not so much mind to repeat the Danger For in the Night thereby confessing themselves beaten they dislodged and in fear and confusion went their ways towards Antium leaving their wounded Men and part of their Baggage behind them A power of Arms were found amongst the Dead and in their Camp which the Consul promis'd to Dedicate to the Goddess called Mother Lua thought to signifie the Earth which after Blood-shed was to be appeas'd with Offerings and Lustrations after which he forrag'd and spoil'd the Enemies Country as far as the Sea-Coast Aemilius the other Consul made an Inroad into the Sabellian Territories but neither were the Samnites in the Field nor did their Legions offer to oppose him On the contrary as he was destroying all before him with Fire and Sword they sent Ambassadors to him desiring Peace whom he referr'd to the Senate where having obtain'd Audience their haughty stomachs being come down They requested the Romans to grant them Peace and leave to prosecute their War against the Sidicins which they alledged they might with the more Justice and Equity desire since as they had sought and entred into Amity with the People of Rome in their highest Prosperity and not as the Campanians enforced by necessity so the Arms they desired to bear was against the Sidicins always their Enemies and never Friends to the Romans A Nation who neither in Peace as the Samnites ever desired any Alliance with the Romans nor yet in time of War had like the Campanians requested any Assistance from thence and could not pretend to be under the protection of or in subjection to the People of Rome When touching these Demands of the Samnites Tib. Aemelius the Praetor had consulted the Senate and they had thought fit to renew the League he returned them this Answer That as it was not the fault of the People of Rome that the Friendship heretofore concluded between them was not perpetual so since they now seem'd to be weary of the War of which themselves were the occasion the Romans would not oppose the Renewing of the League and settling of the Ancient Amity But as to the Sidicins they should not interpose but leave the Samnites to their Liberty of making Peace and War as they should think best The League being ratified they return'd home and forthwith the Roman Army was recall'd having got a years Pay and Corn for three months according to the Capitulation made with the Consul for granting them a Truce till their Ambassadors came back The Samnites now imployed all their Forces against the Sidicins and doubted not but in little time to be Masters of their City Then first of all the Sidicins made an offer to yield up themselves and become Subjects to the Romans but the Senate rejected the same as coming too late and wrested as it were from them perforce in their last Extremity Whereupon they tendred the same to the Latines who already of their own accord had revolted and taken Arms nor were the Campanians wanting to join in the same Association so much fresher in their minds was the memory of the Injuries offered them by the Samnites than of the good Offices done them by the Romans Out of so many several Nations confederated together a vast Army was raised which under the Conduct of the Latines invaded the Borders of the Samnites and slew more in Forraging and Plundering than by fair Fighting And though the Latines seem'd to have the better on 't in several Skirmishes yet they were well content for avoiding frequent Encounters to retreat out of the Enemies Territories Then had the Samnites time to send Ambassadors to Rome who made complaint to the Senate That they suffered as hard measure now they were Confederates as they did before whil'st they were Enemies and therefore did humbly request That the Romans would be satisfied with that Victory which they snatch'd out of the Samnites hands over the Campanians and Sidicins and not suffer them now to be trampled under foot by united multitudes of base and cowardly people That if the Latins and Campanians were Subjects to the People of Rome they would by their Authority restrain them from Infesting the Samnites Country and if they refuse that then they would by force of Arms compel them to forbear Hereunto the Senate framed a doubtful Answer For on the one side they were ashamed to say that the Latins were not now under their Dominion and on the other side afraid that if they should go about to rufflle with them it might alienate them the more and cause them to break out into open Hostility therefore they told the Ambassadors That as to the Campanians they were united not by League but by absolute Surrender and therefore whether they would or no they would make them be quiet But in their League with the Latins there was no Article whereby they should be prohibited from making War against whomsoever they thought fit This Answer as it sent away the Samnites altogether uncertain what measures the Romans would take so it wholly estranged the Campanians for fear and at the same time rendred the Latins more stout and daring as if the Romans
would now yield to any thing rather than displease them Therefore under a colour of making Preparations against the Samnites they summoned and held frequent Councils one after another where the chief Persons secretly amongst themselves in all their Consultations mainly intended the settling and adjusting a War against the Romans wherein the Campanians consented to joyn as well as the rest and bear Arms against Those who so lately had preserv'd and protected them Now although these Councils were industriously concealed because they were desirous to have utterly cut off the Samnites behind them before the Romans should take the Alarm yet the Plot was discovered and some hints thereof given at Rome by some amongst them who were obliged to the Romans for private Kindnesses and hospitable Entertainment Hereupon the Consuls were commanded to resign their Office before the usual time that new ones might the sooner be created to make Preparations against the eminent danger threatned but here a scruple of Conscience arose whether it might not be ominous if the Assembly for Election should be held by those whose Government was thus abridged therefore they rather chose to have an Inter-reign and two Inter-regents there were one after another M. Valerius and M. Fabius the later created Consuls T. Manlius Torquatus the third time and P. Decius Mus. That year Alexander King of the Epirots arrived in Italy with a Navy and had his first attempts met with success would no doubt have push'd forwards his Fortune and at last have involv'd the Romans in War In the same Age his Sisters Son Alexander the Great flourish'd who whil'st in another part of the World he shewed himself Invincible by Arms was in the prime of his years conquered by death As for the Romans although they plainly perceived the Revolt of their Associates and all the Tribes of the Latins yet they thought it best to dissemble the matter and make shew as if they were only concerned for the Samnites and not for themselves To which purpose they sent for ten of the Principal Persons amongst the Latins to come to Rome pretending to give them in Charge what their pleasure was to have done The Latines at that time had for their two Praetors L. Annius of Setia and L. Numicius of Circeia both Roman Colonies by whose means not only Signia and Velitre two other Colonies of Rome but the Volscians also were excited to take Arms and joyn in the Confederacy These two Gentlemen therefore it was thought fit to summon by Name nor could they be ignorant what it was they were sent for about However they presently call a Council to whom they Declare how they were cited to Rome and what Treatment they expected desiring the Advice of that Assembly what answer they should make After one had given his Opinion this way and another that Annius stands up and says Although I my self moved you to consult of an Answer yet I conceive it more concerns the main Interest of our State to determine what to do than what to say For when we are once come to a Resolution how to conduct our Affairs it will not be difficult to accommodate Words to our purpose For if even now already under the umbrage of an equal Alliance we can be content tamely to suffer Slavery what hinders but that betraying the Sidicins we truckle to all the Commands not only of the Romans but the Samnites too and fairly tell the Romans that we will lay down our Arms whenever they please to nod us into Obedience But if at length the Natural desire of Liberty make any Impression upon our Hearts or can set an edge upon our Spirits If in truth there be a League between us and if Association ought to be nothing else but an equal Fruition of the same Liberty and Priviledges If we may now glory what heretofore we were asham d to own that we are Kinsmen to the Romans and of their own Blood If that be indeed an Associated Army which they have by whose Accession they double their Strength and which their Consuls in beginning or ending their proper Wars will never separate from their own Why is there not an Equality in all things else Why is not one of the Consuls chosen by the Latins Where there is part of the Burthen why is there not part of the Government Nor would this in it self be any great matter of Honor to us since thereby we shall acknowledge Rome to be the Head of Latium but by our remissness hitherto and truckling wholly under them with patience so long we have made it seem to be an Honorable Demand and worthy to be insisted upon But if ever you wish'd to see the Day wherein you might participate in the Government and assert your Rights and Liberties Behold That time is now presented to you by your own Courage and the Gracious favor of the Gods you try'd their patience by denying to levy Soldiers at their Command who can doubt but they were mad at heart when we brake that Custom which had pass'd uncontroul'd above 200. years yet they calmly pocketed the Affront We waged War against the Peligni in our own Names yet They who heretofore would not allow us a Right to defend our own Borders never Interpos'd That we had taken the Sidicins into our Protection That the Campanians were revolted from them to us That we were raising Forces against the Samnites their own Confederates all this they heard and knew well enough yet still they stirr'd not once out of their City How come they to be thus modest and quiet Can it proceed from any thing but a Consciousness of our Puissance and their own weakness I have it from very good hands That when lately the Samnites made their Complaints against us the Roman Senate returned such a cold Answer as plainly shewed That they themselves pretended not to require that Latium should be under the Roman Empire You have nothing to do but assume and lay Claim to that which they already tacitly yield unto you If any be afraid to be the Speaker Behold here am I who not only in the Hearing of the People of Rome and their Senate but of Jupiter himself who resides in the Capitol am ready to tell them plainly That if they expect we should continue in League and Amity with them They must from us receive one of their Consuls and part of the Senate All that were present hearing him not only perswade but promise to undertake this with so great a Spirit and Resolution signified their Approbation with a Shout and consented That he should do and say whatsoever he thought expedient for the wellfare of the Latine Nation and suitable to the Trust reposed in him When he with the rest came to Rome the Senate appointed to give them Audience in the Capitol where when T. Manlius the Consul by the Direction and Authority of the Senators pressed them earnestly Not to make War on the Samnites who were now the
abroad in the Streets The Consuls themselves kept in like private Men and would exercise no Function of their Office but what they were forc'd unto by an Act of the Senate namely To nominate a Dictator to preside at the Election of the next Consuls so they appointed Q. Fabius Ambustus Dictator and P. Aelius Paetus General of the Horse But there being some defect in the Ceremonies of their Creation M. Aemilius Papus and L. Valerius Flaccus were nominated in their Rooms but neither did they hold the Assemblies for Election for the People being out of conceit with all the Magistrates of that Year as unlucky the business came to an Inter-Regency And Inter-Regents there were Q. Fabius Maximus and M. Valerius Corvus which latter created Consuls Q. Publius Philo and L. Papirius Cursor the second time A Choice highly approved by the whole City there being not two braver Generals in that Age. The very Day they were Created they entred upon their Office for so the Senate had expresly ordered and after the solemn and ordinary Acts touching Religion were pass'd according to Custom They proposed the matter of the Caudine Agreement to be taken into Consideration And Publius who had the chief Authority that day commanded Spurius Posthumius to speak to that Point who rising up with looks altogether as sad and dejected as when he went under the Gallows I am not ignorant said he O ye Consuls that t is not for Honor-sake but for greater Ignominy that I am called forth and that I am commanded to speak at this time not as a Senator but as a Criminal guilty both of an unfortunate ill-manag'd War and a most unworthy dishonorable Peace But since you have not been pleased to put the Question touching either our Guilt or Punishment I shall omit all Apology and Defence which yet it were not difficult to make before Persons that are not ignorant of Humane Chances the variable Accidents of War and those Necessities whereunto men are often driven rather by their Destinies than Default Waving all that I say I shall briefly declare my Opinion in the matter by you propos'd which I hope will shew whether it was for my own sake or to preserve your Legions that I obliged my self in that Stipulation call it either base or necessary which you please sure I am 't is such as being made without the privity or order of the People the State of Rome is thereby no ways bound Nor is there any thing from thence due to the Samnites but only the Bodies of us who were the Sponsors therein let us naked and in chains be delivered up to them by the Heralds let us discharge the People of those Religious ties if in any we have intangled them that so without the least violation of any Law Divine or Humane the War may be begun afresh In the mean time let the Consuls Levy Arm and Muster an Army but not enter a step into the Enemies Country till all the Ceremonies of our Rendition be legally performed And you O Immortal Gods I beseech and implore that if it were your pleasure not to grant the Consuls Sp. Posthumius and T. Veturius success against the Samnites yet at least you would be satisfied to have seen us dragg'd under the Gallows to have seen us obliged in an Infamous Sponsion and for the same to have beheld us delivered strip'd and bound into the hands of the Enemy ready to receive upon our Heads even with the loss of our Lives all their rage and spight Be pleased to accept this as a sufficient Expiation and vouchsafe to grant That the new Consuls and Roman Legions under their Conduct may so manage the present War against the Samnites as all other Wars against them were wont to be managed before our unhappy Consulship This generous Speech raised at once so great an Admiration and Compassion in the Breasts of all the Senators That they could scarce believe it to be the same Sp. Posthumius who had been the Promoter of so dishonorable a Treaty and then they were sensibly touch'd with pity that so brave a man should suffer extraordinary Tortures above others at the Enemies hands for perswading the Reversal of that Peace for the Cities Honor which he made for its Safety However all applauded him and approved of his Motion only there was a little opposition made by L. Livius and Q. Maelius the Tribunes of the Commons who alledged That neither could the People be absolv'd from the Religious Obligations of that Treaty unless all were restored to the Samnites and every thing put into the same state as at Caudium Nor yet could they acknowledge that by consenting to an Agreement which preserved a whole Army of Romans they had incurr'd any Crime or deserv'd any Punishment And lastly since their Persons by virtue of their Office were Sacred and Inviolable could not by Law be given up to the Enemy or exposed to any Out-rage Posthumius replyed In the mean time surrender us the Prophane whom without injuring Religion ye may and afterwards deliver these Sacred Gentlemen as soon as ever they are out of their Office But if you will be rul'd by me let them first be soundly scourged here publickly in the Common-Hall that they may pay some Interest for this delay of their Punishment As for their denying that our Rendition will discharge the People who is so ignorant in the Heralds-Law as not to see that they do it rather to save their own Bacon than that they themselves can believe it so to be I do not deny Grave Fathers that bare Promises and Stipulations as well as Leagues are to be accounted Sacred and observ'd by all that have any regard to Faith towards Men or Piety towards the Gods But this I resolutely deny That any thing done without the Peoples consent is Obligatory to them Suppose the Samnites in the same fit of Pride whereby they extorted from us this Promise had insisted and compell'd us to pronounce the solemn Form of Words which those use who surrender up the Propriety and Dominion of Cities would you My Lords the Tribunes yield the People of Rome were thereby become Vassals and this City its Temples Chappels Bounds and Waters presently vested in the Samnites But to wave speaking of a Surrender since 't is only a Stipulation that is here in question What I pray if we had undertook and promised that the People of Rome should forsake and abandon this City or set Fire to it or no longer to have Magistrates Senate or Laws or to be again Govern'd by Kings God forbid that say you Well but pray then observe 't is not the Indignity of things that discharges the Obligation of a Promise If the People without their own consent can be bound to one thing they may be bound to all nor does that which perhaps some may think material at all alter the case whether it be the Consul or the Dictator or the Praetor that enters into
have got possession of had not the Roman Horse alighted whom the Samnites imitated and so a fierce encounter happened between them about the Corps of their Generals wherein the Romans had indisputably the better on 't and having recovered the Body of Aemilius triumphantly carryed it with a Joy intermix'd with Sorrow unto their own Camp The Samnites having lost their General and made tryal of their Fortune in this Skirmish quitted all thoughts of relieving Saticula and returned to the Siege of Plistia And within few days after Saticula surrendred to the Romans and the Samnites by storm made themselves Masters of Plistia Now the Seat of War is chang'd the Legions led from Samnium and Apulia unto Sora a Town that had revolted to the Samnites and Massacred all the Roman Colony planted there The Roman Army first hastned thither with speedy marches to revenge the Murther of their Citizens and recover the Colony but were alarm'd by their Scouts that the Samnite-Legions were in the rear of them and at no great distance whereupon they faced about to meet them and near Lantulae was fought a doubtful Battel for neither the slaughter nor flight of either Party but Night determined it whil'st each side was yet doubtful whether they had the best or worst on 't Some Authors relate that the Romans lost the day and that Q. Aemilius General of the Cavalry here lost his life In whose place C. Fabius being chosen was dispatch'd from Rome with a fresh Army and having by Messengers sent before consulted the Dictator where he should hault and when and on which side he should Attack the Enemy put himself in a close Ambuscade The Dictator having for several days after the Fight kept himself in his Trenches rather like one besieg'd than a Besieger of others on a sudden set up the Signal of Battel and thinking it a better whet to valiant minds to let them have no hope but what sprung from their own Courage concealed from his Soldiers the arrival of the new Master of Horse with Auxiliaries And as if there had been no way for their Escape but by breaking through the midst of their Enemies thus bespeaks them We are here Gentlemen Soldiers surrounded and can expect no passage unless we cut it out with our Swords our present Quarters are safe enough by the Entrenchments and Fortifications but will be rendred untenable by scarcity for all things near us are eaten up or else those that should supply us are revolted and suppose the People were willing the Avenues are block'd up I will therefore no longer defeat your good Fortune by confining you to your Tents into which you may at any time if you should miss of a Victory retreat and secure your selves as you did the other day But 't is fit our Fortifications should be defended by Arms rather than our Arms sheltered by our Works let them have a Camp well fortified to retire to that have a mind to spin out a War We for our parts will voluntarily deprive our selves of all hopes but that of Victory Advance therefore your Ensigns upon the Enemy and as soon as the Army is got beyond the Works let those that are appointed set fire on the Camp your Losses brave Soldiers shall be sufficiently recompenc'd with the Plunder of all the Nations round about that have revolted With this Speech of the Dictator's intimating no less than the last necessity the Soldiers incens'd warmly fell upon the Enemy and the seeing their Tents flaming behind them though it were only the foremost that were ordered to be burn'd added not a little to their Fury with a violent Charge they disordered the Enemies Front and presently after upon view of the Tents burning which was the Signal agreed on the General of the Horse comes up and fell upon the Enemy in the Rear The Samnites being thus environ'd were glad every Man to shift for himself as well as he could A vast multitude of them shuffling together for fear in an heap and hindering one another in that confusion from making any Defence were cut to pieces The Camp of the Enemy seiz'd and ransack'd loaded with whose Spoils the Romans returned to their Camp and yet scarce so much pleased with their Victory as overjoyed to find beyond all expectation their Tents safe and sound save only a small part on the skirts of the Camp a little disfigured and ruinated by the Fire From thence they returned to the Siege of Sora where the new Consuls M. Paetelius and C. Sulpicius receiv'd the Army from the Dictator Fabius many of the old Soldiers being discharged and new Regiments listed for supplies But whil'st they found the Town so fortified by its situation as to be too strong for an attack by Storm and that to starve it would take up too much time it happened a Renegado privately got out and desiring the Roman Out-guards to carry him to the Consuls promised to betray the place and upon examination finding his Overture probable he prevailed with them to remove their Camp which was now just under the Walls six miles off by means whereof the Enemies Corps-du-guard by day and their Watch by night would be more negligent And he himself the next night having laid some Companies in Ambuscade in a Wood carries with him Ten select Soldiers up the steep and almost unpassable Hill by winding ways unto a Fort which had then no Soldiers in it as thinking it secure enough since the Enemy was retreated These men carryed with them more Darts and Lances than so small a number could well use Besides there were abundance of Stones both naturally lying there and heap'd up by the Townsmen to render the place more defensible When he had here planted his Men he shewed them a narrow steep foot-path leading out of the Town to that Tower From getting up here says he Three men well arm'd may keep off never so great a multitude Now you are ten in number and which is more Romans and of Romans the stoutest and most valiant Both the place will make for your advantage and the time for the night renders all things that are uncertain and not well known much greater and more terrible to those that are already afraid let me alone to fill the Town with dread and amazement Do you but diligently keep possession of the Fort. Then down he runs with the greatest noise and tumult he could make crying out Arm Arm Arm Where 's your Faith fellow Citizens Where 's your Courage The Fort is taken by the Enemy hasten to defend your selves or presently all your Throats will be cut This news thumping at the chief Persons doors he told and to all he met running out into the Streets upon the hurry he made The alarm and fear was presently spread throughout the City the trembling Magistrates send Scouts to the Fort who bringing back word that the same was possess'd by Armed men whom they multiplyed to a vast number they gave over
in greater numbers and plyed their Blows more lustily and besides the affrighted Horses flying backwards trod to pieces many of the Foot that came to their rescue who beginning to fly set the whole Roman Army upon the run and the Samnites plaid upon their backs as they fled seeing this the Consul wheeling about with his Horse rode before to the Camp-Gate where he planted a good Guard of the Cavalry charging them that whoever came thither were he friend or foe Samnite or Roman they should immediatly dispatch him And threatning the same Severities he set himself against the Soldiers that were running towards the Camp Whither away Sirrah cries he to each Soldier he met you shall here meet with Men and Arms to oppose your Cowardize as well as in the Field as long as your Consul lives here 's no entring the Camp without Victory Take your choice therefore whether you will fight with the Enemy or with your Fellow-Citizens Whil'st the Consul thus entertain'd them the Horse came round about threatning them with the naked points of their Spears and command them at their peril to face about Fortune was not wanting in this Extremity to the Consuls courage for it happened that the Samnites did not follow the Chase so hard but he had both ground and time enough to rally his Men and bring about his Standards to face the Enemy Then they began to hearten on one another to try the other Bout the Captains snatch'd the Colours and themselves advanc'd and flourish'd them to encourage their Men telling them The Enemy was but few in number and weary as well as they and besides came against them now in disorder and a confused march Amongst the rest the Consul lifting up his hands to Heaven with a loud Voice that the Soldiers might hear him vows a Temple to Jupiter Stator Jove the Stayer if the Roman Army should cease their flight stand to it bravely and in this second Charge defeat the Samnites Thence-forwards they endeavored on all hands both Commanders and Soldiers Foot and Horse to reinforce the Battel with their utmost efforts nor was the favor of the Gods as it seems wanting to take pity on the Roman Name at that Juncture so quickly the Dice turn'd the Enemies in a moment boat back from the Camp and reduc'd to the same spot of Ground where the Fight first began Where by the great heap of their Fardles and Baggage they were stop'd in their retreat and for fear of losing their Gear cast themselves in a Ring to defend it but whil'st the Roman Foot charg'd them in the Front their Horse were got about and fell upon in the Rear so that they were cut to pieces in the middle or taken Captive For the number of the Prisoners was Seven thousand three hundred who were all forced to pass naked under the Gallows and so released the number of those slain out-right amounted to Four thousand eight hundred Nor had the Romans much cause to boast of their Victory for the Consul taking a review of his Army found that he had lost in these two days Seven thousand and three hundred Men. During these Occurrences in Apulia the Samnites with another Army attack Interamna a Roman Colony situate on the High Road to Latium and though they could not win the Town they plundered the Country round about it and as they were driving away a vast Booty as well of Cattel as of People whom they had taken they chanc'd to be met with by the Victorious Consul in his return from Luceria and lost not only their Prey but marching straglingly and in disorder were most of them cut to pieces The Consul march'd to Interamna where he made Proclamation for all persons to come and receive their Goods recovered from the Enemy and leaving his Army there he himself repair'd to Rome to hold the Elections He put in for a Triumph but that honor was denied him as well because he had lost so many thousand Men as because he had released the Prisoners only upon their passing under the Gallows without holding them to Ransom or some harder Articles The other Consul Posthumius finding no work for his Arms in Samnium carryed his Army into Tuscany where first he wasted the Fields of the Volsinians and when they came out to defend themselves fought with them almost under their own Walls Two thousand and two hundred being slain the rest sheltered themselves in the City being so near Thence he advanc'd to the Territory of Rosellum where he not only harrass'd the Country but also took the City and therein above Two thousand People besides almost Two thousand men slain before the Walls But still the Peace that Year obtain'd in Tuscany was more honorable and of greater advantage than all these successes of War For three of the most considerable States viz. The Volsinians Perusians and Aretians the principal People of all that Country made Overtures for Peace and having upon an agreement to allow his Soldiers so much Corn and Cloaths obtain'd the Consuls leave to send their Agents to Rome for that purpose obtain'd a Truce for the term of Forty years each City paying down for a present Fine the sum of Five hundred thousand Asses about One thousand five hundred sixty two pound ten shillings sterling For these exploits the Consul claiming a Triumph rather for fashion-sake than that he could hope to obtain it some of the Senators objected against him That he did not set out from the City so early as he ought to have done others that he left Samnium and went into Tuscany without Orders some because they were his Enemies some because they were the other Consuls Friends to whom it would be some satisfaction that his Colleague was put by that Honor as well as he all for some reasons or other were against his Triumphing whereupon in an Huff he thus express'd his Resentments to the Senate Though I have a very great Deference and Veneration Conscript Fathers for the Majesty and Authority of this House yet I shall not so far regard it as to forget that I am Consul As by the right of my Place I manag'd these Wars so having happily concluded them subdued both the Samnites and Tuscans and obtained Victory and Peace by the same Right will I Triumph without asking your leave and so in an heat flung out of the Senate Amongst the Tribunes of the Commons there was variance some threatning to oppose their Negative That he should not Triumph in this manner as had never yet been practised and must be a very ill president others of them were for favoring and promoting his Triumph After much ado the matter was brought before the People in Common-Hall where the Consul being summoned after he had Remonstrated how heretofore the Consuls L. Horatius and Marcus Valerius and of late his own Father C. Marcius Rutilius when he was Censor had all Triumph'd not by the Authority of the Senate but by the
tug on 't he was forc'd to encounter the Enemy oft-times in Pitch'd-Battels continual Skirmishes and frequent Sallies so that 't was neither a meer Siege nor an even War in the Field for the Samnites did not so much defend themselves with their Walls as their Walls with their Bodies and their Arms but in the end by these daily Conflicts he reduc'd it to a just Siege and partly with Batteries and partly by main force took the City where the enraged Soldiers committed great slaughter there being 7400 cut to pieces and not full 3000 that had Quarter The Booty which was very considerable because the Samnites had brought all they had into a few Cities was distributed amongst the Soldiers The Ground was now all covered with Snow and there was no enduring longer abroad in the Field therefore the Consul march'd his Army out of Samnium and coming to Rome a Triumph was Decreed him by a universal consent and accordingly he did Triumph before he went out of his Office with as great State and Magnificence as those days could afford The Horse and Foot appeared in the Cavalcade adorn'd with all their Prizes of Honor Many a Civic Garland was worn that day by such as had saved the Lives of their Fellow-Citizens many that first mounted the Enemies Rampire and others that were formost in Scaling their Walls were distinguish'd by their several Badges and Crowns The Samnites spoils made a gallant show and the People took great delight in comparing them with those brought home by his Father wherewith the publick Buildings were beautified Divers noble Prisoners famous for their own or their Ancestors actions were led along in Chains and amongst the rest there was a vast quantity of Brass Bullion raised by the ransom of Prisoners amounting to Two millions five hundred thirty three thousand Asses in weight about 25006 l. 13 s. 4 d. sterling and of Silver taken in the several Cities 1330 pounds weight and upwards amounting to 3990 l. of our mony All this mony Brass and Silver was carryed into the common Treasury and nothing of the whole Booty given to the Soldiers which as it caused much discontent and envy so the same was encreased amongst the common People because they were charged with a Tax to pay off the Soldiers whereas if the Consul in a vain glorious humor had not brought these Sums into the Chamber of the City the same would have been enough both to have rewarded the Army and satisfied their Arrears Moreover before he went out of his Consulship he Dedicated the Temple of Quirinus which his Father being Dictator had Vowed for that he himself made any such Vow in the heat of the Battel I find not in any ancient Author nor could he in so short a time have finish d it This Temple he garnish'd with the Enemies Spoils whereof there was such abundance as not only suffic'd to deck up the same and the Town-Hall but great quantities of them were divided amongst and sent unto their next Allies and Colonies to beautifie their Temples and publick Buildings After the Triumph the Army took up Winter-Quarters amongst the Vestins because those parts were liable to be infested by the Incursions of the Samnites In the interim the other Consul Carvilius in Etruria first sate down before the City Troilus and for a great sum of mony gave leave for 470 of the richest Burgers to depart thence whither they list the rest of the Rabble fell into his hands after he had stormed the Town After which he took in five very strong and well fortified Castles Here were slain of the Enemy 2400 and almost 2000 taken Prisoners The Faliscans then coming to a Treaty he granted them a Truce for a Year upon paying down One hundred thousand Asses 312 l. 10 s. sterling and paying off his Soldiers for that Year After these signal Successes he came home to receive the honor of a Triumph which if not so glorious as his Colleagues for his Actions in Samnium yet adding his Services in Tuscany he might justly boast an equal merit He brought into the Exchequer of Brass mony Three hundred and ninety thousand pieces 637 l. 15 s. 7 d. sterling and with the rest built a Chappel to Sors Fortunae or good Fortune near the Temple dedicated to the same Goddess by King Servius Tullus Out of the Booty he gave his Soldiers 102 Asses 6 s. 5 d. ob sterling apiece and twice as much to each Centurion and Trooper which was so much the more gratefully accepted since his Colleague had been so nigardly as to give his Men nothing And indeed so much was this Consul in the Peoples favor that 't is said he protected his Lieutenant L. Posthumius who being Indicted by M. Cautius a Tribune of the Commons put off the Judgment by alledging his Command in the Army and that during his absence they could not proceed to a definitive Sentence The Year being now expired the new Tribunes of the Commons entred upon their Office but they not being duly elected five days after others were chosen in their stead The same Year a Lustrum or general Survey of the City was held by P. Cornelius Arvina and C. Marcius Rutilus the Censors and there were assessed 262322 Roman Citizens These were the six and twentieth Censors since that Office erected and this the nineteenth survey that had been taken The same Year and never before divers Persons that had done good Services in the Wars sate in the Publick Theaters to behold the Roman Plays with Wreaths and Garlands of Flowers upon their Heads and then too came up the fashion borrowed from the Greeks to honor those with Palm-branches that won the Prizes at those solemn Sports The Curule Aediles that exhibited these Sports having fined the Grasiers that held City-Lands for defrauding the Publick did with the Mony new pave the Road from Mars's Temple to the Beast-Market L. Papirius held the Court for electing of Consuls and chose Gurges the Son of Q. Fabius Maximus and D. Junius Brutus Scaeva and Papirius himself was made Praetor The many Prosperities of this Year were scarce able to ballance one Affliction which was that of the Pestilence so grievous both in the City and Country that it was look'd upon as an immediate Judgment from Heaven The Sacred Books of the Sibyls were consulted to know when the Gods would be pleas'd to put a period to this Calamity or what remedy there might be for it where 't was found That the God Aesculapius must be fetch'd from Epidaurus to Rome But so involved they were in Wars that nothing could this Year be done in it save only that one day was solemnly observed in honor of and supplications to the said Aesculapius THE SUPPLEMENT OF LIVY By John Freinsheim DECADE II. BOOK XI Lucius Annaeus Florus HIS EPITOME Fabius Gurges the Consul having been defeated by the Samnites and the Senate minding to remove him from his Command Fabius Maximus his Father
others of her Sex looking upon the Battel from the top of a House and happening to see Pyrrhus eagerly coming up towards the person that wounded him was so concern'd for her Sons danger that she took a Tile from the top of the House and with both hands threw it on Pyrrhus's head Thus Pyrrhus died miserably and ignobly a Person outdone by none in that Age for Courage Conduct and Experience in Military Affairs and several other endowments both of Body and Mind but the fruit of his Atchievements and the lustre of his other Excellencies was destroy'd by his Ambition for he wanted nothing of being a happy Man but Contentment In fine had he been as circumspect in maintaining as he was industrious in making Conquests the World could not have shew'd a greater Prince When the news hereof came to Italy it was receiv'd with joy or regret according as People were differently affected to the Person While other Nations which were free bought their Peace with Rome upon such terms as they could get the Tarentines were not able to take those measures they would have done being over-rul'd by Milo and the Garison of the Epirots between whom matters improv'd from lighter Affronts to an open quarrel The Tarentines thus sorely afflicted on both sides by the Romans their Enemies without the Walls and the Epirots within sent Ambassadours for aid to Carthage the Carthaginians who already possess'd a great part of Sicily and wish'd rather to make themselves Masters of the Maritime Coasts of Italy than that they should fall into the hands of the Romans readily came with a Navy equipp'd under pretence of casting out Milo but intending if they could take Tarentum to defend it against the Romans When L. Papirius the Consul was also arriv'd thither Tarentum was block'd up out all sides the Romans besieging by Land the City and Citadel and the Carthaginians besieging the Citadel by Sea In this state of Affairs whilst the Romans were no less solicitous that the Carthaginians should not take the place than that themselves should take it whilst they cunningly tried all the Methods of Victory they sent to Milo by private Messengers promising if Tarentum were deliver'd into their hands by his means they would dismiss him and his Countrymen safe home Milo thinking it the best course to do so at present treats with the Tarentines that they should unanimously consult concerning their common safety and by degrees he persuades them to send him Ambassadour to L. Papirius and that he would get such conditions from him as would be for the advantage of them all When these People being tir'd with cares and dangers had willingly assented to him he went likewise to the Consul with whom he had laid the Plot and return'd from him with very advantageous Conditions and hopes of Peace upon reasonable terms This credulity expos'd the Tarentines to security and confidence laying aside all care and circumspection and thereby administred an opportunity to Milo not onely to deliver the Citadel but the Town also to the Romans The Carthaginians being not well pleas'd with this event departed pretending themselves still Friends to the Romans and that they were come for no other end but to drive out Milo According to some Authors I find that the Romans had warn'd the Carthaginians not to meddle in the Tarentine Affair for in so doing they would act contrary to the Articles of the League but that the Carthaginians did not onely slight the admonition but also that the Punic Auxiliaries fought in the Tarentine Army against the Romans from which distaste the War that was waged against the Carthaginians in Sicily first broke out though the Carthaginians being desirous to conceal their falshood by perjury swore they had acted all things squarely and honestly But as I do not deny but such things might pass between the Generals while the Romans could not endure the presence of the Carthaginians and the Carthaginians colour'd the matter as well as they could or that People commonly discours'd such things so I am of Opinion that the War rose upon other reasons both because they did not enter upon the War presently and also because the War in Sicily rising afterwards chiefly broke out by reason of the Mamertines while the Punic League was still valid Their Dominion being thus inlarged the Consuls returning to Rome being receiv'd with a great deal of rejoycing triumphed afterwards with Honour and Renown In the mean while Q. Fabius Gurges and the rest who had been sent to Alexandria gave an Account of their Embassy in the Senate how that they had been entertain'd with all manner of civility costly Presents being sent to them when they came and richer ones when they were returning home But that it was conceiv'd more for the honour of the Roman abstinence to refuse the former modestly But as for the rest which had been receiv'd they had carried them into the Treasury of the Roman People before they had done any other business and as for the golden Crowns sent to them at Alexandria when they were invited to a Feast according to the usual custom of the Court that they had receiv'd them for the Omens sake and plac'd them at Night upon the King's Statues The Senate being very glad for the success of the Embassy and gravity of the Ambassadours returning them thanks for rendring the Roman Manners venerable even to forein Nations by their continence order'd those Presents to be restor'd them which they had put into the Treasury and the People saying That the Commonwealth would then be best manag'd when that base course of getting Riches by the Acquests of Ministers of State during their imployments was taken away immediately decreed the same thing and the Treasurers readily delivering up the Money as they were commanded these Persons worthy of this fruit of their abstinence with equal glory refus'd and receiv'd the Egyptian Wealth Q. Fabius the Chief Ambassadour was I suppose upon this account preferr'd before so many noble Persons and chosen President of the Senate by the Censors Curius and Papirius whilst both for the nobleness of his blood and his Father's deserts as also for his two Consulships and as many Triumphs he seem'd ripe for any Honour In the same year M. Curius the Censor defray'd the charge of bringing the River Anien into the City with the booty taken from the Enemy Out of which he was so unwilling to be enrich'd himself privately that when he was charg'd by some Adversaries of his with having imbezzled that Money bringing out a wooden Cruise that he us'd to Sacrifice withal he swore that he had carried no more of the booty into his own House but that a Man that deserves for the greatness of his Atchievements and other famous proofs of his Vertues to have his more remarkable Deeds and Sayings taken notice of though we digress a little For I think it not unfit or impertinent to the business of an Historian to relate
to put off the Affrican Expedition Nor did the Carthaginians oppose them though they had once resolved among themselves to stop them in their Voyage But Hanno hastening before to fortifie Carthage Hamilcar durst not stir but kept at Heraclea whilst the Roman Fleet were neither incommoded by the Enemy nor the weather in their Voyage There were those that fear'd this long Expedition and trembled at the very name of Affrica and Mannius a Colonel was one of those who refus'd to obey the Orders of the Consul but Regulus being highly inrag'd against the man threatned to take off his head if he would not submit Thus at length the Consul was obey'd a nearer and greater terrour expelling all fears of the Journey There is a Promontory called Hermeum which from the Bay of Carthage runs out far into the Sicilian Sea The foremost of the Roman Galleys arrived upon that Coast and there staying a while till the whole Fleet had come up the Consuls passing by the Affrican shore came to the Town Here the Legions first landed and the Ships being hal'd ashore some works were made to defend them the City was invested because it would not surrender at first and being either deliver'd up or quitted by the affrighted Inhabitants for both is reported fell into the hands of the Romans And now though the Carthaginians labour'd under great distresses yet they were very glad that things had fallen out better to them than they expected For they feared hearing the success of their men at Sea that the Romans would have marched out-right to the Walls of Carthage upon which taking heart again they applied themselves to raise Forces and to defend the City and the Territories belonging to it The Consuls in the mean while having dispatch'd a Message to Rome both to inform the Senate of what was already done and also to consult them upon the present juncture of Affairs fortifie Clupea intending it for their Head-quarters and having placed a Garison in it for the defence of the Town and the Country marched on with the rest of their forces wasting that fertile and well-cultivated Country which had not seen an Enemy since the time of Agathocles they destroyed likewise many stately Palaces and carried away abundance of plunder besides above twenty thousand men none daring to oppose them They likewise took several Towns by storm and surrender wherein they found some desertors and set at liberty great numbers of Roman Citizens taken in the last Wars among whom I take Cn. Cornelius to have been who was again made Consul two years after In the mean while those that had been sent by the Consuls to Rome returned with the Senates Commands whereby One of the Consuls was order'd to stay in Affrica with such a part of their Forces as they should judg necessary to keep there without prejudice to the Commonwealth and the other to bring the rest of the Fleet and Forces to Rome So now Winter approaching M. Regulus remained behind with near fifteen thousand Foot five hundred Horse and forty Galleys the rest of the Fleet under the conduct of L. Manlius who safely pass'd the Coasts of Sicily returned to Rome laden with abundance of spoils and Slaves We find there were twenty thousand Slaves brought to Rome by Manlius and that a A. U. 498 Naval Triumph was decreed to him After this Ser. Fulvius Paetinus Nobilior and M. Aemilius Paulus were made Consuls to these Sicily and the Fleet were assign'd in charge They were unwilling to call Regulus home in the midst of his Victories and successes in Affrica and therefore he was commanded to manage the War in Affrica with the Character of Proconsul This Decree of the Senate none dislik'd so much as that very Person in honour of whom it was made who therefore complain'd in a Letter to the Senate among others giving this reason for his desiring one to be sent in his room that by the death of his Steward who was intrusted with the tilling of a little Field of his of seven acres in Pupinia a hir'd servant of his had taken this opportunity to run away carrying with him his Houshold-stuff wherefore his presence was requisite lest his Farm being neglected his Wife and Children should be starv'd upon which the Senate decreed that M. Regulus his Land should be till'd at the Public charge the Goods he had lost restor'd him and maintenance given to his Wife and Children These were the manners of those golden days But as oft as I read or write of such things I cannot but reflect with my self how much more lasting is the reward that accrues to men by Valour and Virtue than by Riches for the glory of M. Regulus survives so many Ages after him while the vastest Wealth perishes with and often before its Owners The Carthaginians mean while having constituted two Generals Asdrubal the Son of Hanno and Bostar call'd for a third Hamilcar out of Sicily who came speedily from Heraclea to Carthage with five thousand Foot and five hundred Horse These having held consultation together determined that their Army should be kept no longer within Walls as they had done till then and that the Romans were not to be suffered to act as they did at pleasure Then fir'd with eager resolutions to fight they led out their Army while Regulus over-running all the Country around came at last to the River Bagrada and when he was incamped there a sudden disaster befell his Army which was attended with some damage and greater terrour For a Serpent of prodigious Size set upon the Soldiers going for Water and the men being astonished and in vain resisting the Serpent swallowed up some of them in her jaws and bruised others twisting her self round about and lashing them with her Tail some also were destroyed by the venomous scent of this Monsters breath nay Regulus was so pester'd by it that he was forced with all his Army to come and fight for the possession of the River But seeing that he lost many men and yet could neither wound nor conquer the Serpent being arm'd with such thick scales as defended her from the Darts they threw at her he order'd Engines to be planted and thus with battering Rams they were forced to storm the Enemy like to some Castle After some shot made in vain a huge stone broke her Chine and so cool'd the impetuousness and fierceness of this formidable Monster and at last with much ado the Serpent was kill'd which had occasion'd so great terrour to the Legions and Cohorts that Regulus protested he had rather storm Carthage than have the same to do again with such another Monster But the Romans could incamp no longer there for the noisomness of this Serpents Carcass which corrupted the water with gore and infected the Country round with the scent And here Humane pride may blush at its own folly whilst it fancies nothing able to withstand its power This is certain that one Serpent alive engag'd the
at liberty might in the midst of the Stream ride securely and either Charge them with Handy-stroaks or kill them at a distance with their Darts and Lances abundance of the formost were drowned and not a few by the violence of the Current driven to Land just in the mouth of the Enemy where they were trod to pieces by the Elephants the hindmost with more safety got back to their own Bank but being scattered before they could rally together and recover themselves out of that Consternation Annibal with his Army in good order entered the River beat them from the Bank and made them run for 't and having harrass'd all those Countries in short time brought the Carpetans also to an entire submission Now were the Carthaginians Masters of all beyond the River Iberus except the Saguntines with whom they had yet no War but to administer occasion for it a quarrel is fomented between them and some of their Neighbors especially the Turdetani and he pretended to favor the latter who indeed was the only Instrument that under-hand set them all at variance which at last the Saguntines perceiving and that he intended not so much to act as a Mediator for an amicable composure of their differences as to seek colourable pretences to destroy them with open force they dispatch'd away Ambassadors for Rome to crave assistance against that violence which was certainly coming upon them The Consuls of Rome at that time were P. Cornelius Scipio and T. Sempronius Longus who having introduced the Ambassadors into the Senate and proposed the matter It was resolved That Ambassadors should be sent into Spain to inspect the state and condition of their Allies who should if they found cause solemnly require Annibal to forbear all acts of Hostility against the Saguntines who were Friends and Confederates with the People of Rome and from thence to sail over into Africk to Carthage and there give in a Memorial of the Complaints of their Allies But before these Ambassadors could set forwards certain Intelligence arriv'd That Saguntum was already much sooner than any body expected it actually Besieged Then the whole matter is again taken into consideration by the Senate some advised forthwith to dispatch the Consuls into the Provinces of Spain and Africk with Commission to make War both by Land and Sea others thought it better to bend all their Forces wholly against Annibal in Spain Nor wanted there some Opinions That a matter of such vast Importance was not rashly to be undertaken and that therefore they should stay for the return of the Ambassadors before they proceeded to a final Resolution Which last advice seeming most safe was embraced and the Ambassadors so much the sooner hastned away viz. P. Valerius Flaccus and Q. Bebius Pamphilus first to Annibal before Saguntum and thence to Carthage if he would not desist to demand him the said Annibal to be delivered up into the Romans hands to be punish'd for violating the League Whil'st the Romans amus'd themselves with these Consultations Saguntum is assaulted with the greatest violence imaginable This City was abundantly the richest of any beyond the Iberus situate well nigh a mile from the Sea The Inhabitants are said to be Originally descended from the Isle of Zant but mix'd with some People that came from Ardea a Town of the Rutilians in few Years time it became a place very rich strong and considerable as well in respect of the Revenues and product of their Lands and their great Traffick by Sea as for the multitude of Inhabitants and that strict and sacred Discipline whereby they would remain firm to their Allies though it were to their own destruction Annibal after he had Invaded their Territories with a formidable Army and harrass'd all the adjacent Country Invested the City but chiefly made his assaults three ways there was one corner of the Wall shooting out into a more open Valley than any other part all thereabouts against which he resolv'd to erect his Works call'd Vineae certain Galleries or Blinds made of Timber and Hurdles under covert of which his Men might make their approaches and bring up their Battering-Rams to play against the Wall But as the ground a a distance seem'd very even and fit for such purposes so in the Process of their Work tit did not at all answer expectation for it was commanded by a vast Tower and the Wall it self as being at a place most exposed to danger was there built more high and strong than any where else besides the choicest and ablest Men were Posted there to make the most vigorous Defence where there was like to be the most violent Attack These first with their Darts and Lances thrown at a distance beat off the Enemy so that the Pioneers could not with any safety follow their Work afterwards they not only pepper'd them from the Tower and the Walls but grew so hardy as to Sally out upon them and not only beat up their Guards but many times would enter their Trenches and Works and yet in all these daring Skirmishes lost not more Men than they cut to pieces of the Carthaginians nay Annibal himself unadvisedly approaching too near the Wall happening to be wounded in the Thigh with a light Javelyn so that for the present he fell down his Men were thereat so daunted and in such disorder that they had like quite to have deserted all their aforesaid Engines and Fortifications Then for some days till the Generals hurt was cured the Siege indeed was continued but no great Assaults made however though they had a Cessation from actual Conflicts yet on both sides they were as busie as ever in preparing new Devises and Engines wherewith to mischief one another whereupon a little while after the Service grew hotter than before and in several places at once even in some where you would think it impossible these Galleries were carryed on and the Battering-Rams brought up to the very Wall Annibal had plenty of Men to spare for 't is said he had not less than an Hundred and fifty thousand Men in Arms but the Townsmen what with framing and managing Engines to annoy the Enemy and what with defending themselves in so many places had all their hands full and more than they could well perform For now were the Walls continually battered by the Rams and in many parts thereof shattered but at one place above the rest a breach was made so wide that the City lay open and naked to the Enemy and presently after three Towers and all the Wall betwixt them fell down with an horrible crash insomuch that the Carthaginians then verily perswaded themselves the Town was their own At this Breach as if the Wall had protected both Parties before they met in heaps and fought with equal fierceness as if the one side had been as eager to come out as the other to get in This Engagement was not like those tumultuary Sallies and Skirmishes which are wont to happen at the
assaults of Cities wherein one party has the better of the other but seem'd to be a formal Battel or pitch'd Field in the open space between the breaches of the Wall and the Houses of the City which stood at a little distance within On the one side they were transported with hope on the other with despair the Punicks looking upon the City as taken if they did but strive a little more and the Saguntines resolving now to fortifie and defend their native City with their Bodies since it now was destitute of Walls nor would any one retreat a step for fear an Enemy should advance in his place and so get ground The closer the Fight was the more were kill'd and wounded for there was not a Dart flung not a blow struck almost but it must do some Execution either on their Bodies or at least on their Armor but especially the Saguntines used a Weapon called Falerica which they lanced in manner of a Dart having a long shaft and round except at the end where it was headed with Iron bound about with Tow smeared with Pitch the Iron head was three foot long that it might pierce through both the Armor and the Body but if it happened only to stick in the Target without reaching the Body yet it was very terrible because being flung after the middle was set on fire by its motion through the Air it burn'd more violently and so forced those on whom it lighted to fling away their Armor and remain naked to receive the blows that afterwards were made at them When thus for a long time the Battel had continued doubtful the Saguntines taking heart because they had been able to defend themselves so long even beyond their own hopes and expectation and the Carthaginians looking upon themselves as little better than vanquish'd because they had not compleated the Victory the Townsmen all at once on a sudden set up a shout beat back the Enemy to the ruines of the Wall and there being encumbred in their Retreat thrust them clean out and at last put them to a disorderly flight and chased them as far as their Camp In the mean time news came that Ambassadors were arrived from Rome but Annibal sent some to meet them at the Sea-side giving them to understand That he thought it would not be safe for them to venture their Persons amongst the Arms of so many barbarous Nations and that for his own part amongst those dangerous and troublesom Affairs he was engaged in he had no leisure to give Audience unto or treat with Ambassadors But well he knew That upon refusing to admit them they would forthwith away to Carthage therefore he had sent Letters and Agents before to the chief Persons of the Barchine Faction to prepare the minds of that Party that nothing should be graunted in favor of the Romans or to his own prejudice So their Ambassy thither was altogether as vain and without effect as to him save only that they were there entertain'd and had Audience Hanno alone though the whole Body of the Senate was against him pleaded the Cause of the breach of League and was heard with great silence and attention in respect of his Authority rather than for any consent they yielded to his Opinion I have often said he in the name and for the sake of the Gods who are the Witnesses unto and Judges of solemn Treaties and Leagues admonished and forewarned you That you should not send any of Amilcars race unto the Camp That neither the Ghost nor Progeny of that Man would ever be at quiet nor any Peace with the Romans be inviolably observed whil'st there remains one alive of the Barchine Name and Family But sent you have notwithstanding all my Cautions and conferr'd the chief Command of your Armies upon a Youth enflamed with the ambition of being an Absolute Monarch over you and who perceives nothing can be more conducive to such his Designs than the raising one War after another whereby he may always live in Arms and surrounded with Legions By this indiscreet Action you have as it were administred fewel to the Flame and fed that Fire which already scorches and in time will consume you At this instant your Armies besiege Saguntum contrary to your League and Solemn Capitulations What can you thence expect but that ere long the Roman Legions should encompass our Carthage under the conduct of those very Gods who in the former War took Vengeance upon us for the like perfidiousness What Are you yet to learn what kind of Enemy it is you hereby provoke Or have you forgot your selves or the Fortune of both Nations Your good Lord General forsooth would not admit into the Camp the Ambassadors of our Allies coming also on the behalf of those who were likewise in Alliance with us and thereby have violated the Law of Nations These Ambassadors of our Friends having received a greater affront than ever is wont to be offered to the Publick Messenger of Enemies address themselves now to you to demand satisfaction for the Injuries sustained desiring you to keep that League to which you are sworn That you would not make your Generals fault your own by justifying or suffering it to pass with impunity Without engaging you in the Quarrel they only require him to be delivered up to Justice who is the Offender and insolently guilty of all these Infractions of the common Pence The more gently they deal and the longer it is ere they begin the more obstinately will they I fear continue their just Resentments and Severities if once you shall necessitate them to it Reflect upon proceedings past set before your Eyes the Overthrows you sustain'd at Eryx and the Aegatian Isle and all the Calamities which ye suffered for Four and twenty years space as well by Land as Sea nor was a Beardless Boy then your General but his Father Amilcar himself a second Mars as those of that Gang were wont to magnifie him but the mischief on 't was we could not then as we were obliged by Treaty hold our hands off from Tarentum in Italy just for all the World as we must now be medling with Saguntum therefore the Gods as well as Men took the matter in hand and in the end vanquish'd us though with fair words and specious pretences we made it seem doubtful which Nation was the Aggressor the Issue of the War determined it and as a just Judge where the Right was bestowed the Victory Carthage it is against which Annibal at this instant is raising his Mantlets and his Galleries and all his Warlike Engines 'T is her Walls he batters so fiercely with the Ram These very Ruines of Saguntum I wish I may prove a false Prophet will fall on our heads The War begun with the Saguntines must be fought with the Romans What then says some body shall we deliver up so brave a Man as Annibal to them I know my words will be of small weight or authority
in that matter because of the old Fewds between his Father and my self yet I must avow That as I rejoiced when Amilcar dyed for this very reason Because if he had lived we had before this time been involv'd in Wars with the Romans so looking upon this Youth an Imp of his as the very Fury and Fire-brand of such a War I cannot but hate and detest him and rather than that should happen do not only think him fit to be surrendred to them to expiate the breach of the League but if no body demanded him to be Transported as far as there is Sea or Land and to be eternally Banish'd to some place so remote as his name might never hereafter reach our Ears nor his turbulent Genius have any influence to disturb the Repose of our State 'T is therefore my judgment That we presently send away Ambassadors to Rome to give the Senate satisfaction and others to Annibal commanding him forthwith to withdraw the Army from Saguntum and to deliver up the said Annibal himself to the Romans according to the League and that a third Ambassy be dispatch'd to the Saguntines to make them reparation for the Injuries they have sustained When Hanno had concluded his Speech there was none thought it necessary to answer him and bandy the matter with words so intirely prepossessed was almost the whole Senate in Annibals favor only they told Hanno That he had made a virulent Harangue and talk'd more like an Enemy than Flaccus Valerius himself the Roman Ambassador To whom afterwards this Answer was return'd That it was not Annibal but the Saguntines themselves that begun the War and that the People of Rome would deal unjustly If they should prefer the new Amity of the Saguntines before that of the Carthaginians who were their most antient Allies Whil'st the Romans thus spend time in Ambassies Annibal finding his Soldiers wearyed with continual Skirmishes and toil in the Works gave them a few days refreshment setting Guards to defend his Galleries and Engines of Battery and in the mean time endeavors to raise the Spirits of his Men sometimes provoking them against the Enemy and sometimes encouraging them with hopes of Booty But when one day he told them They should have the whole Pillage of the City they were so enflam'd and eager that if he had presently led them on no force seem'd able to resist them The Saguntines as they were quiet this while from fighting being neither assaulted by the Enemy nor yet making any Sallies so they ceased not night or day from Fortifying themselves and making a new Retrenchment behind the Breach But after this short Calm the Storm was more furious than ever nor could they tell so various were the Attacks Shouts and Alarms on every side where they should first apply themselves to make Defence Annibal himself was present in Person to hearten on his Soldiers that were driving up a Tower upon Rowlers so high that it over-look'd all the Fortifications of the City which approaching near the Walls well furnish'd in every Story with Catapulta and Balistae two sorts of Engines the first of which shot whole shoals of great Arrows Darts and the like Weapons the other discharg'd showers of great and small Stones they therewith beat off the Defendants and Annibal taking that opportunity sent about Five hundred African Pioneers to undermine the Wall near the bottom nor was it hard to be done being built after the old fashion with Loam instead of Chalk so that it quickly came all tumbling down much further than they had weakned it and through those large Breaches whole Troops of armed Men entred at once into the Town and withal possess'd themselves of a little Hillock and got thither all their Engines and raised a Wall about it so that they might have within the City it self a Bastilion of their own that like a Castle might command all parts on the other hand the Saguntines ran up a Counter-mure to secure that part of the City that was not yet taken Thus both sides fortifie and fight with the utmost diligence and courage yet though they dispute the ground by Inches the City daily grows less and less they still defending stoutly so much as was left until at last scarcity of all Necessaries by reason of the long Siege encreasing and their expectations of relief as fast diminishing the Romans their only hope being so far off and round about them nothing but Enemies they seem'd almost ready to despair yet then for a while their Spirits were bouy'd up by some disturbances amongst the Oretanes and Carpetanes which obliged Annibal himself to repair thither For those People discontented at too rigorous Levies of Soldiers that had been made amongst them had seized some of the Muster-Masters and threatned to revolt but by Annibals sudden arrival in those Parts were quell'd and glad to lay down their Arms. The Siege of Saguntum in the mean time was nothing slackned for Maharbal the Son of Himilco whom Annibal had left Commander in Chief so bestirred himself That neither his own Soldiers nor the Townsmen found any miss of the General This Maharbal had made some fortunate Attacks and with three Rams shattered several parts of the Wall and shewed Annibal at his return every place full of fresh Ruins whereupon the Body of the Army is presently brought up to storm the Castle or main Cittadel it self where a most desperate and bloody Fight was maintain'd with great multitudes slaughtered on each side but in conclusion one part of the said Fortress taken Things being in this extremity there were some small hopes of Peace by the mediation of two Persons Alcon a Saguntine and Alorcus a Spaniard Alcon supposing he could prevail somewhat by way of Entreaty unknown to the Saguntines got by night to Annibal but after he saw all his Lamentations would do no good and that nothing but severe Conditions were propounded as from an incensed Conqueror instead of an Envoy he resolved to turn a Fugitive and so continued with the Enemy alledging That whoever should offer to move his Country-men to a Peace on such terms they would certainly kill him Which terms were these That they should make restitution and satisfaction to the Turditanes for all losses and damages surrender up whatever Gold or Silver they had and departing out of the City but with one suit of Apparel apiece dwell at such place as the Carthaginians should appoint Alcon affirming That the Saguntines would never accept of those Conditions Alorcus replyed Where all things fail the stoutest Courages will fail and be glad to submit to Fortune withal offering himself to carry those Articles and use his endeavors to compass a Peace He was at that time a Soldier in Annibal's Army but publickly profess'd a kindness for the Saguntines with whom he had formerly sojourn'd and been kindly entertained Who having openly surrendred his Arms to the outmost Sentinels pass'd over their Works and was carryed as he
had it been a matter to be determined by Reasoning 't was plain on their side for the League with Asdrubal was not in the same Tenor nor to be compared with that concluded by Lutatius since that of Lutatius had an express Clause that it should hold good and firm If the People of Rome should approve it but in Asdrubals there was no such Exception and besides as by tacite consent for so many years during his Life it was approved of so neither after his Death had they desired to have it altered Yet still put case they should stand wholly to the first Treaty the Saguntines were therein sufficiently comprehended under those general Words The Allies of both Parties excepted For neither was it said The Allies that then were nor that none afterwards should be received into Alliance Since therefore they might by the Treaty assume new Associates who can imagine it just or reasonable either That none should be received into Amity for any merits whatsoever or that being once received they should not be Defended Provided That no Allies of the Carthaginians should be solicited to break with them or having of their own accord revolted from them should be entertain'd into Friendship by the Romans The Roman Ambassadors according to their Instructions went from Carthage into Spain to visit the several Cities there to endeavor to draw them to their Confederacy or alienate them from the Carthaginians They addressed themselves first to the Bargusians by whom being courteously received as weary of the Punick Government they excited several petty Nations beyond Iberus to a desire of Innovations Then they came to the Volscians whose shrewd Answer reported through all Spain wholly averted the rest of the People from joining with the Romans For thus the eldest of their Council accosted them With what face can you Romans desire we should prefer your Amity before that of the Carthaginians Since when the Saguntines had so done they were by you their Allies more cruelly betrayed than by their Enemies the Carthaginians destroy'd For my part I conceive you must go and seek you Confederates where the Calamities of Saguntum were never heard of To the People of Spain the yet smoaking Ruines of that miserable City are as a dolesome Example so an illustrious Warning That none ever hereafter repose confidence on Roman Faith or trust to their Protection Immediately they were commanded to depart the Volscian Territories nor did they afterwards meet with any kinder Language in any Diet or Council in all Spain so that having in vain traversed that Country they went their ways into France There they thought it a new and terrible sight to see them all repair to Council in their Armor for such was the mode of the Country But when extolling the Valor and Glory of the People of Rome and the Grandeur of their Empire the Ambassadors desired They would not allow the Carthaginians who were about to Invade Italy a passage through their Dominions such a laughter and shout was set up as could scarce be appeased by the Magistrates and Graver sort so silly and impudent a request it seem'd to them to think that the French would be such Coxcombs as rather than suffer the War to pass into Italy to turn it upon themselves and expose their own Country to be harassed and ruined for the sake of Strangers But at length the noise being quallified this Answer was returned to the Ambassadors That neither the Romans had deserved so well nor the Carthaginians so ill at their hands that they should embroil themselves or take Arms for the one or against the other But rather on the contrary they had receiv'd Intelligence That the People of their Nation were by the Romans driven out of their antient Possessions in Italy forced to pay Tribute and treated with all sorts of Outrages and Indignities The same or such like Answers they met with in the rest of the French Assemblies nor received any kind Entertainment or friendly Language till they came to Marseilles from whom being their Old Allies and who had narrowly pry'd into all Intrigues they understood That Annibal had already prepossessed the French but withal That they were not like long to continue in good Terms with him they were a People of such a fierce and untractable temper unless continually he fed their Grandees with Gold of which that Nation is most greedy and covetous Having thus pass'd through and amongst the several People of Spain and France the Ambassadors return home to Rome quickly after the Consuls were gone into their respective Provinces and found the Eyes of the whole City altogether intent upon the fortune of the War it being credibly related That the Carthaginians had already pass'd the River Iberus Annibal after the taking of Saguntum being retired to New Carthage for Winter-Quarters and advertised of all that pass'd both at Rome and Carthage and that he was look'd upon not only as the General but the Promoter too and sole cause of the War so soon as he had divided and sold the rest of the Pillage that remained thought good now no longer to conceal his Intentions but assembled the Soldiers of the Spanish Nations and thus discoursed them I believe even you your selves Fellow Soldiers cannot but see that having now reduc'd all the States of Spain to Obedience and Peace we must either lay down our Arms and disband our selves or transfer the War into other Lands for so shall these Nations flourish not only with the advantages of Peace but reap the fruits of War and Victory if we shall bravely endeavor to acquire both Riches and Glory from others Since therefore our Campaign is like shortly to lie at a further distance and it is uncertain when you may again have an opportunity to visit your own homes and what there is dear to every one therefore to such of you as desire to go see your Families and Friends I am willing to give free Pass-ports but withal strictly charge you to be back again here at the Rendezvous early in the Spring That then the Gods being our Assistants we may go in hand with a War that cannot fail to yield us a plentiful Harvest of Wealth and Glory There was not one in a manner to whom this free leave of visiting their Native Homes was not very welcome because they had already a longing to see their Relations which was encreased by the thoughts of being removed to a greater distance from them This rest all Winter between the Labors past and those they were to undergo refresh'd as well their Minds as their Bodies and prepared them to endure all fatigues as briskly as ever In the very beginning of the Spring according to the aforeseid Edict they came again to a Rendezvous and Annibal having taken a Muster of all the Auxiliaries sent from the several Nations Marching to Cadiz there paid his old Vows to Hercules and obliged himself in new ones If the rest of his Undertakings should
perceived it The Conflict had now lasted near three hours every where sharp but near the Consul most fierce and cruel for as he was attended with the stoutest and bravest Men so for his own Personal Valor and Gallantry he came not behind the best of them but in his rich Armor wherever he saw his Men distressed or over-powered thither presently he flew to their aid and shewed no less care and good nature in succoring and defending his Friends than courage in Charging furiously the Enemy until at last a certain Knight of Milain named Ducarius knowing him by sight as well as by his Arms cries out to his Country-men Yonder is the Consul the same who cut to pieces our Legions and plundered our City and Territories now will I presently offer him up a Sacrifice to the Ghosts of our Fellow-Citizens that by his means were piteously slain saying this he clapp'd spurs to his Horse and with an irresistible violence Charged in amongst the thickest of the Enemy and having first cut off a Squires head that interposed himself seeing him come so fierccly he in the next place ran the Consul himself quite through the Body with his Lance and fain he would have disarm'd and riffled him but some of the Triarii step'd over the Corps with their Targets and kept him off Thence many began to take their heels and presently neither the deep Lake nor the high Mountain could stop their fear were the way never so strait or never so steep like blind men they venture on 't in hopes to escape and Horse and Man Man and Arms are tumbled head-long one upon another A great number seeing no other means to get away endeavored to wade through the Lake finding it fordable on the edges and went so far till nothing but their head and shoulders appeared above Water and some so inconsiderate was their fear sought to save themselves by swimming which being an endless and impossible work they were either drowned their breath and spirits failing or else after they had made much hast and took excessive pains to no purpose with much ado made back again to recover the Land where the Enemies Horse that were now advanc'd a pretty way into the water miserably cut them to pieces Six thousand or thereabouts of the Van-Guard charging desperately through that Battalion of the Enemy which was right before them got safe out of the Plain and seized on the top of a little Hill altogether ignorant of what became of their Fellows for by reason of the Fog they could not see what pass'd nor learn the Fortune of the Battel only could hear their shouts and cries and the clattering of Armor But by this time that the Romans all gave ground the Sun being got pretty high dispell'd the Mist and then they could clearly see that all was lost therefore for fear the Enemy who had discovered them at a distance should send their Cavalry to fall upon them they got up their Ensigns and hastned away with all expedition but Maharbal with all the Horse he could make pursued them all Night and the next day being almost come up with them who besides other Calamities were almost ready to faint for hunger they came to a Treaty with him who promised That if they would surrender their Arms they should be freely released and without being strip'd go whether they list which Annibal perform'd as Religiously as Carthaginians are wont to do for no sooner were they in his power but he detained them every one Prisoners and loaded them with Chains This is that noble Battel at the Thrasymenan Lake one of the most memorable of those few Over-throws which the People of Rome had hitherto sustained Fifteen thousand of them slain in the Field and Ten thousand more dispersed in their flight all over Tuscany by several by-ways got at last to Rome Of the Enemy Fifteen hundred kill'd out-right but on both sides a great number dyed afterwards of their Wounds The loss is differently related by several hands but for my part as I love not to write vain Untruths or any thing without good warrant a trick most Authors are too much guilty of I have herein chiefly followed Fabius one that was living at the time of this War Such of the Prisoners taken as were of the Romans Allies Annibal set at liberty without Ransome but the Romans themselves kept in strict Custody the Bodies of his own Men cull'd out of the promiscuous heaps of the Dead he ordered to be buryed and also caused diligent search to be made for the Corps of Flaminius to bestow thereon the honor of a Funeral but they could not find it Upon the first Intelligence brought to Rome of this Defeat the People ran altogether in a fright and tumult into the Forum and the good Wives wandered about the streets enquiring of all they met What news from the Army and what this disaster was that People talk'd of At last the Multitude being assembled thick as it were to a publick Audience and turning to the Town-Hall and the Senate-House and calling frequently on the Magistrates to know the matter a little before Sun-set Marcus Pomponius the Praetor came forth and said There has been a great Battel fought and we are worsted and though he spake no more words nor told them the certainty of any particulars yet filling one anothers heads with Rumors they carryed home news That the Consul and a great part of his Forces were slain that very few were left alive and those either scattered by flight through Tuscany or else taken Prisoners by the Enemy And look how many Casualties can possibly befal a routed Army into so many perplexities were all their minds distracted who had any Relations that serv'd under C. Flaminius all the while they were ignorant what was the true Fortune of each nor did any Man certainly know what to hope or fear On the morrow and some days following abundance of People but most Women stood at the Gates waiting to see their Friends come home or some that could tell tidings of them and flock'd about every one they met asking a thousand Questions nor could they that were of their acquaintance get rid of their continual Enquiries There might you have seen an Alphabet of Faces and read in their looks whether the news each had received were good or ill and Houses fill'd with those which at their first coming knew not whether their business would be to Congratulate or Condole The Female Sex especially were extream as well in Joy as Grief one standing at the Gate spying on a sudden her Son returned safe is reported to have expired whil'st she embraced him and another who had received false news of her Sons being slain as she sat mourning at home he happened to come in which so transported her with … cess of Joy that she immediately fell down dead The Praetors caused the Senate for divers days to sit close from Sun-rising to Sun-setting consulting With
what Forces and under what Conduct they might be able to resist and give some check to these Victorious Carthaginians Before they were come to any certain Resolution advice arrives of another late disaster viz. That Four thousand Horse dispatch'd away by Servilius the Consul under the Conduct of C. Centenius the Pro-Praetor to the assistance of his Colleague were hemm'd in by Annibal in Umbria for thither upon news of the Armies defeat at Thrasymenus they had diverted their march This Intelligence variously affected Mens minds some taken up already with thoughts of a greater Calamity counted the loss of the Horse would be but small in regard of the former defeat but others judged That what happened was not so much to be esteemed by the importance of the thing it self as by their present Circumstances For as it happens in the Natural Body of Man if it be weak and crasie every disorder or disease is more grievously felt and proves more dangerous than a much greater injury or distemper to a person that is sound and strong so when any Calamity comes upon the Body Politick of State already enfeebled and languishing we are to measure the same not so much by the greatness of the loss as by the tender and decayed strength unable to endure any thing whatsoever that does surcharge or agrieve it Therefore at last the City applyed themselves to that soverain and oft-approved Remedy long desired but not yet administred viz. The appointing of a Dictator But since the Consul was absent who alone it was thought had power to nominate that Magistrate and Italy was so over-run by the Enemy that it was not safe sending Letters or Messengers unto him nor any president could be shewn that ever the People at any time did create a Dictator They therefore chose Q. Fabius Maximus with the title of Pro-Dictator and M. Minuceus Rufus General of the Horse who had Commission from the Senate To fortifie the Walls and Towers of the City To post necessary Guards where they saw cause To break down what Bridges they thought fit To impede the Enemies march and if they could not clear Italy of the Carthaginians yet at least to defend the City against them Annibal in the mean time marches directly through Umbria as far as Spoleto and having grievously wasted all the Neighboring Country attacks that City but being repulsed with great loss of his Men guessing by the strength of that one Colony against which he had such small success how difficult a matter it would be to assault Rome it self he diverted his course into the Picene Territories not only abounding in Fruits of all sorts but full of rich Plunder besides which his Soldiers equally covetous and poor greedily pillaged and carryed away There for some days he kept a standing Camp to refresh his Soldiers wearyed out with their Winter Marches and untoward Passage through the Fens and especially with the late Battel which prov'd more fortunate in the Event than slight or easie in the Conflict it self When he thought he had sufficiently recruited his Men who of themselves were more inclinable to Forragings and Booties than unprofitable ease and lying still he dislodged and journyed forwards spoiling first the Praetutian and Hadrian Fields and afterwards the Marsians Marrucins and Pelignians as far as Arpi and Luceria the next Province to Apulia Cn. Servilius the other Consul having had some small Skirmishes with the Gauls and taken one of their Towns of no great note after he was advertiz'd of the defeat of his Colleague and his Army apprehending the Mother City of his Country to be now in danger that he might not be absent in the last Extremity hastned towards Rome Q. Fabius Maximus the Dictator the same day he entred upon his Office assembled the Senate and beginning first with matters of Religion telling the Fathers That the late Consul C. Flaminius had committed a greater fault by his neglecting the Ceremonies and Auspices than either by his rashness or unskilfulness and that the Gods themselves were to be consulted what Atonements they would accept of to allay their displeasure prevailed so far that what is rarely done but on the account of some direful Prodigies the Decemvirs were commanded to Inspect the Sibylline Books who from those fatal Leaves reported to the Fathers That the cause of the present War was a Vow made to Mars not rightly performed which must be renewed and accomplished in a more ample manner That the great Games must be Vowed to Jupiter and Temples to Venus Erycina and to Dame Mens the Goddess of Understanding Moreover that a solemn Supplication and Lectistern should be Celebrated and a publick Vow made of a Sacred Spring that is to give the Gods all the young Cattel that should be brought forth in one whole Spring if they prospered in the Wars and the Commonwealth should be continued in the same state as before the War broke out The Senate because Fabius was taken up with the management of Affairs Military ordered M. Aemilius the Praetor according to the directions of the Colledge of Pontiffs to take care That all these Religious matters be with all speed performed Upon these Ordinances of the Senate L. Cornelius Lentulus the chief Pontiff when the Praetor came to consult their Colledge gave advice That in the first place the business of a Sacred Spring should be proposed to the People for without their consent it could not be Vowed whereupon the same was propounded to them in this form of Words following Pleaseth it you and do you command that the thing be done in this manner If the State of the People of Rome and Quirites shall as I desire it should for the space of five years next ensuing continue safely preserved in these Wars between the Romans and Carthaginians and with the Gauls on this side the Alps Then the People of Rome will perform an Oblation and Gift given and vowed viz. That all the Encrease whatsoever which the Spring shall yield and afford of Sheep and Swine Goats and Kine from the day that the Senate and People shall appoint shall be Sacrificed to Jupiter provided the said Animals be not before dedicated to some other of the Gods Provided That he that Sacrifices may do it when he will on what conditions he will and in what manner soever he shall have done it the same may stand for good and rightfully performed If the Beast that should be Sacrificed happen to dye let it not be accounted Sacred nor be imputed as a fault to him who ought to have offered it If any one unawares shall wound or kill any of these Animals thus Vowed let it not be accounted Criminal in him If any shall steal or hide any of them out of the way let it not be imputed for wickedness unto the People nor to him from whom it shall be so stol'n or hidden If any shall Sacrifice it on an unlucky day wherein Sacrifices are forbidden let it be counted
wittingly or willingly then do thou O mighty Jupiter confound me my House and Family and bring me and all that I have to destruction and a most shameful end And you Metellus I require to swear after me as I have done and all the rest of you to take the same Oath for whoever shall refuse let him be assured 't is against him I have drawn this Sword Terrified no less than if it had been the Conqueror Annibal himself they all took the Oath and yielded themselves up to Scipio's Conduct Whil'st these things were doing at Canusium about 4000 Horse and Foot who were dispersed over the Country in the Rout were rallyed together and came up to the Consul at Venusia whom the Inhabitants received very courteously and having Quartered them from House to House bestowed upon the Horse to every one a Vest and Tunick and 25 Quadri-gates or pieces of mony with Chariots and four Horses engraven on them the whole sum amounts to about 15 s. 7 d. ob a Man and to the Foot ten such pieces and what Arms they wanted and in all other respects publick and private treated them most Hospitably as if they had strove that it should not be said All the People of Venusia were out-done by the kind Offices of one single Gentlewoman of Canusium But indeed by this time the Multitude at the later place were grown very burthensom to Madam Busa for they were now near Ten thousand in number Therefore as soon as Appius and Scipio understood that the other Consul was safe they sent an Express to acquaint him what Forces Horse and Foot they had with them and to know his pleasure Whether they should continue there or march to him at Venusia Varro thought best to go himself with what strength he had to Canusium so as now they made a pretty good shew of a Consular Army and seemed able to defend themselves if not by force of Arms in the Field yet at least by the strength of the Walls within the Town But at Rome the news went currant That not so much as any remnant of Citizens and Allies was left but that both the Consuls with their two Armies were all put to the Sword and hew'n to pieces to the last Man Never was there known whil'st the City was yet safe so much terror and tumult within the Walls of Rome I will therefore even at first sink under so great a Burthen and say nothing at all rather than undertake to set forth that which after I have used all the words I can will be represented far short of Truth After the Consul Flaminius and his Army destroy'd but last year at Thrasymenus this was not only a new wound added to that before it was heal'd but a Defeat that was as bad as many Overthrows altogether for every body said That with the two Consuls two whole Consular Armies were cut off That there was no longer any such thing in the World as a Roman Camp a Roman General or a Roman Soldier That Annibal was already Lord of Apulia of Samnium and as good as all Italy Nor was there certainly any other Nation under Heaven but would have fainted and suffered themselves to have been utterly over-whelm'd and crush'd with the weight of so mighty a Disaster Shall I compare hereunto the Defeat with the Carthaginians received at Sea near the Isle Aegates wherewith their Spirits were so broken that at once they were content to part both with Sicily and Sardinia and also to make themselves Subjects and Tributaries to the Romans Or their other Overthrow afterwards in Africk which utterly broke the back of this very Annibal and made him confess himself vanquish'd Neither of them are in any respect comparable to this save only that they were born and supported with less Courage and Resolution P. Furius and M. Pomponius the Praetors summon'd the Senate to sit in the Hostilian Court and consult for the safeguard of the City for they could not doubt but the Enemy having defeated their Armies would advance to assault Rome the only work that was behind to compleat the War But as the Fathers were much to seek what Remedies to apply to Calamities so great and yet not known to the full so their Debates were disturb'd with the loud Out-cries of the Women who almost in every House fill'd the Air with Lamentations and promiseuously mourn'd for the Quick as well as the Dead it not yet being certainly known who was slain Whereupon Fabius advised That Parties of Light-Horse should be sent out both on the Appian and Latine Road to enquire of such as they met that came from the Fight and were straggling home if any of them could give a true account of the Consuls and Armies misfortune and if the Immortal Gods had in compassion suffered any of the Roman name to survive where those Forces were Whither Annibal march'd next after his Victory What Preparations he makes What he is doing at present and what he probably designs for the future That in this Affair the nimblest and most active Young Men should be employed and in the mean time the Senators because there were few inferior Magistrates in Towns or at least the People would not so much reverence their Authority should themselves in Person appease this Hurly-burly and fearful tumult in the City by debarring the Dames and all sorts of Women from coming abroad into the streets but every one to keep in their own House by restraining the mournful Exclamations of whole Families and making silence through the Town To take order that all Posts and Messengers of News should to rights be brought before the Praetors without prattling to the Rabble by the way and that every body should patiently at home wait for such Tidings as particularly concern'd them Likewise to set Guards at the Gates to keep all Persons from going out of the City and make all Men see That they can have no hopes to preserve themselves but in defending the City and its Walls And when by these means the Hurry was over then might the Fathers fitly be called again together and take further Measures for the Publick Safety This Advice being generally approved and the Magistrates having cleared the Forum of the multitude that were thronging together the Senators divided themselves into several parts of the City to still the Uproars Then at last arriv'd Letters from Terentius the Consul giving an account That L. Aemilius the Consul was slain and the greatest part of the Army That himself was at Canusium rallying those that escaped this mighty Over-throw as scattered Planks after a Ship-wreek That the Forces he had got with him were about Ten thousand strong but disordered and of several Regiments and Bands intermixt That Annibal still continued at Cannae busie in taxing what Ransoms the Prisoners shall pay and intent upon the rest of the Pillage and neither measuring his late Victory with that Grandieur of Mind usual to Conquerors nor making that advantage
several young Noblemen were slain and amongst the rest Hegeas that commanded that Squadron charging too far upon those that seem'd to fly was cut off However when Annibal came to view the Walls of the Town how strong and impregnable they were he was discouraged from sitting down before it From thence he turn'd his march towards Capua a City grown luxurious with a long prosperity and indulgence of Fortune but amongst all corruptions that there raigned it was most of all infected with the licentiousness of the Commons who beyond all measure abused their Liberty Pacuvius Calavius a man of noble descent and popular in his Carriage but by ill Courses grown Rich had both the Senate and the Commons very much at his Devotion He happen'd to be their Chief Magistrate that year the Romans were over-thrown at Thrasymenus and having some inkling that the Commons who a long time had mortally hated the Senate might if Annibal came that way attempt such a desperate Villany as to murder all the Senators and surrender the City to the Carthaginians though he were an ill man yet he was not so profligately wicked but he rather desired to domineer over the Common-wealth in being than utterly to subvert it and knowing no State could subsist if once depriv'd of publick Council he bethinks himself of a course whereby he might both preserve the Senate and oblige them as well to the Commons as himself Assembling therefore one day the Senate together after a solemn Preface protesting That in no case he could approve of any design of revolting from the Romans unless it were upon necessity as having himself Children by the Daughter of Appius Claudius and his own Daughter married to Livius at Rome but he told them there was a thing in agitation of greater importance and far more dreadful consequence than that For the Commons had a design not only by way of Revolt and Rebellion to rid the City of the Senate's Authority but even to Massacre the Senators and so to yield up to Annibal and the Carthaginians the City void of all Governours and Magistracy That he knew how to free them from this imminent danger if they would trust him with the management of it and forget former jars and differences which had happen'd between them and himself concerning publick affairs All of them present consenting for meer fear to what he propounded I will says he shut you up here in the Council Chamber and by seeming to approve and be a Confederate in those Councils which I should not otherwise be able to oppose I will work a way for your safety and for performance hereof I will give you any security that you your selves shall demand Thus having pass'd his solemn Promise to be true to them away he goes shuts up the Senate-House and sets a Guard in the Lobby and all the Avenues charging them to let no body pass in or out without his Order Then he calls all the people together to the Town-Hall and makes this Speech to them That which so often you have wisht for Fellow Citizens of Capua even an opportunity to punish and revenge your selves of your naughty and accursed Senate is now fairly presented and may with equal ease and safety be perform'd for you need not in a tumultuous way assault their several Houses which by reason of the strong Guards they keep of their Clients and Bond-slaves was not to be done without great hazard but you may set upon them altogether in the Council-Chamber where they are fast shut up alone and without Armour Friends or dependants to rescue them Yet shall you do nothing rashly but I will bring every one of them severally before you to receive your impartial Doom that each according to his desert may be punisht However in the first place you must not so far indulge your just resentments as to suffer a present heat or desire of revenge to betray your future safety For as I conceive it is only these wicked Senators whose persons and ill practices you hate not that you mean wholly to abolish and live without a Senate For either you must have a King which I know you abhor to think of or else that which is the only Council of a Free City a Senate Therefore we have two things before us To Cashier the old Senate and furnish our selves with a new one In order thereunto I will cause the several Senators to be cited and demand your Sentence upon them and what you Decree shall be done but before any be Executed you shall first chuse some good substantial person of Wisdom and Courage worthy to succeed in his place Then down he sits and Orders the Senators names to be drawn by Lot and the man that it first fell upon to be brought thither from the Council Chamber As soon as his name was mentioned every one cryed out That he was a wicked Wretch and a Villain and well deserv'd to be hang'd Then says Pacuvius Well Gentlemen I see what your Judgment is of him Let him turn out like a base Fellow as he is and now go on to chuse a good just and worthy Senator in his room At first they were all husht and silent for want of a better man to supply his place by and by some bold Fellow of the Crowd laying aside modesty names one that he had a fancy for but then presently the Clamour was louder against him than the other some crying out they did not know him others laid vile Crimes to his Charge another said he was a Beggar or else they objected his base descent or scandalous sordid imployment and when a second or third was named the more impetuous they were and muster'd up against every one a thousand Exceptions so that 't was plain the people were weary of the Senator in being but wanted a better to put in his place For to what purpose was it to put up the same men again whom they had already nominated unless to hear them reproach'd afresh and if they went on to others still they appear'd more base and unfit than such as first occurr'd to their thoughts so that at last the people began to whisper one to another Better trust a Knave we know than a Knave we do not know and desired that the old Senators might be set at liberty By this Policy Pacuvius having saved the Senators Lives oblig'd them to himself much more than to the Commons and without Arms govern'd all things at his pleasure none controuling him Thence-forwards the Senators forgetting their Dignity began to court and Complement the Rabble to invite and treat them sumptuously at their Houses to Espouse their Quarrels were always ready to stand by them and appoint Judges favourable to that party that was most in credit with the Mobile so even in the Senate it self all things were transacted just as if it were an Assembly of the Populace That City had always been too much given to Luxury as well by the
for no great difference there was either in numbers or kinds of the Souldiers but in their Courage and Resolution there was abundance of odds for the Romans though they fought far from their Country yet were easily perswaded by their Officers That it was for no less a prize than Italy and the City of Rome it self that they were that day to contend therefore as if all their hopes of ever seeing their Country again depended on this one Battel they had fix'd their minds either to conquer or die Nothing so resolute were the Souldiers of the other side being for the most part Spaniards willing rather to be overcome at home than with Victory to be drawn into Italy therefore at the very first push almost before there was a Dart thrown their main Battel retreated and being then so much the more fiercely press'd upon by the Romans plainly ran away however in both Wings the service was hot enough the Carthaginians on the one side and the Africans on the other charg'd the Romans briskly and had them in a manner enclosed but the Roman Army being rallied altogether in the middle of them was strong enough to keep off both Wings for facing several ways they maintain'd the fight in two places at once but both in one and the other having before routed the Enemies main body were superiour in numbers as well as Courage a power of men were kill'd that day and if the Spaniards had not fled so fast before the Battle was well begun there had very few of the whole Army escap'd The Horse were not at all engag'd to speak of for as soon as the Numidians saw their main Battel shrink they presently fled as fast as they could driving the Elephants before them and left the Flanks naked Asdrubal himself maintain'd the Fight till he plainly saw all was lost and then accompanied with a very few got away out of the midst of the slaughter his Camp the Romans took and plunder'd and if any people of Spain stood Neuters before the success of this day turn'd the Scale and brought them over to the Romans and so far was Asdrubal from pursuing his march to Italy that he had no hopes to continue long with safety in Spain The two Scipio's sending Intelligence of this action to Rome the whole City was overjoy'd not so much for the Victory it self though very considerable but because Asdrubal was prevented from coming into Italy Whilst this was doing in Spain Petelia a City of the Bruttii after several months Siege was taken by Himilco one of Annibals Captains yet it cost him dear many of his men being kill'd or wounded nor was it his Force abroad so much as Famine within that subdued the Town for having eaten up all their Provisions of Corn and flesh of what Creatures soever they liv'd at last upon Shoomakers-Leather Weeds Roots the Inward Barks of Trees tops of Briars and Brambles and the like nor did they submit as long as they were able to stand on their Legs or wield their Swords After the taking of this Town the same Party of Carthaginians marcht to Consentia which made nothing so brave a Defence but surrendred in few days About the same time an Army of the Bruttii sat down before Croton a City built and inhabited by the Greeks heretofore rich and potent but now so weakned by several losses and disasters that there were not in it twenty thousand Souls of all sorts so that for want of men to defend it the Enemy easily got possession of the City but some that fled to the Castle held out still The Locrians also by the treachery of some of their Grandees revolted to the Bruttii and Carthaginians and only the Rhegines of all that Country continued true to the Romans and had the good luck to preserve all along their own liberty nay this deserting humour like an infection spread into Sicily nor was the Family of King Hiero free from the Contagion for his eldest Son Gelo contemning both the old Age of his Father and also after the defeat at Cannae the Friendship of the Romans turned unto the Carthaginians and had no doubt made a great alteration in Sicily had he not been taken off by Death so very opportunely just in the nick when he was arming the multitude and soliciting the Allies to Rebellion that his own Father did not escape some Censures as if he had hastned his end These were the remarkable Actions that happen'd in Italy Afric Sicily and Spain that year towards the end of which Q. Fabius Maximus desired leave of the Senate to dedicate that Temple which he had vow'd to Venus Erycina when he was Dictator Accordingly it was decreed that T. Sempronius the Consul Elect as soon as he came into his Office should move the people to create Duumvirs for that affair In honour of Aemilius Lepidus lately deceased who had twice been both Consul and Augur his three Sons Lucius Marcus and Quintus exhibited certain Funeral Games and caused two and twenty couple of Fencers to play at sharps for three dayes space in the publick Market place The Aediles of the Chair C. Laetorius and Tib Sempronius Gracchus Consul Elect who during his Aedileship had been General of the Horse celebrated for three dayes together the Roman Games and the like was done for the Commons by M. Aurelius Cotta and M. Claudius Marcellus At the end of the third year of the Punick War Tib. Sempronius the Consul entred upon his Magistracy on the fifteenth of March. The Praetors were Q Fulvius Flaccus for the City and M. Valerius Laevinus for the Foreigners Ap. Claudius Pulcher for Sicily and Q. Mucius Scaevola for Sardinia M. Marcellus was by the people continued in his Command as Vice-Consul as being the only General that since the loss at Cannae had fought the Enemy with success The first day the Senate met in the Capitol it was resolv'd That a double Tax should this year be levied the first to be immediately collected for paying all Arrears to the Souldiers except those that were at Cannae Then concerning the Aâ—mies it was ordered That the Consul Sempronius should appoint a day for the two City Legions to Rendevous at Cales That six Legions should be conducted to the Camp of Claudius above Suessula and the Legions that were at present there being for the most part the Cannian Army should be carried over into Sicily by Ap. Claudius the Praetor and those that were now in Sicily brought home to Rome To the Army appointed to Muster at Cales M. Claudius Marcellus was sent and commanded to lead the Detachment of the City Legions from thence to the Camp of Claudius and lastly to receive the charge of the old Army and conduct it into Sicily T Metilius Croto was dispatcht by Ap. Claudius People silently expected when the Consul should appoint the Elections for chusing him a Partner and when they saw Marcellus whom they pitcht upon for that place in reward of
prefer the Carthaginians Friendship before that of the Romans That if both Consuls with their Armies were at Nola they would be no more a match for Annibal than they were at Cannae and how vain was it then to think that one Praetor with but a few raw Souldiers could secure them That it would more concern them than Annibal whether the Town were his by Surrender or by Storm for his it would certainly be as well as Capua and Nuceria but what odds there was between the Fortune of the former and latter of those places they who lay almost in the middle between them both could not be ignorant That he not for Omens-sake mention the consequences if they were subdued by assault but this he could promise them that if they would yield up the Town and Garrison no other should prescribe the terms of the League between them and Annibal but themselves To this Herennius Bassus answer'd That there had now for many years been an Alliance and firm Friendship between the people of Rome and the Nolans of which neither of them to this very day had any cause to repent and that for their own part if they had been inclinable to change sides and make their Faith follow the measures of Fortune yet the same was now too late for had they intended to yield to Annibal it should have been before they had call'd in a Roman Garrison with whom now they communicated all Councils and lookt upon them to have as much interest in the City as themselves and therefore resolv'd to run all hazards with those who were come thither for their protection This Conference dasht Annibals hopes of gaining Nola by Treachery therefore encompasses it round with his Forces that he might at once storm it in all parts But Marcellus having drawn up his Forces within the Gate when he saw they came up near the Wall sallies out with a mighty shout At the first Charge some of the Enemy were beat back and cut off but afterwards drawing together from all parts a most fierce Fight began with equal Forces and undoubtedly it might have prov'd memorable at the first rate had not a violent storm of rain parted them so that after a short bout serving only to whet their Courage on both sides they were forced to retreat the Romans into the City and the Punicks to their Camp of the latter there were not above thirty slain and most of them at the first irruption The Romans lost not a man The rain continuing all that night and part of the next day kept them though eager on both sides to decide the matter within their Works On the day following Annibal sent part of his Forces to Forage the adjacent Country belonging to the Town which as soon as Marcellus understood he drew out of the City and offer'd Battel nor did Annibal refuse it There was about a Mile between the City and the Camp on which they fought for all the Country round about Nola consists of open Champain Ground The shout set up by both sides caused the nearest of these Troops that were sent a plundering to return and share in the Battel The Nolans offer'd themselves to augment the Roman Army but Marcellus applauding their forwardness order'd them to remain for a Reserve and carry off the wounded men but forbear Engaging unless he gave them a Signal The Fight was doubtful the Generals Encouraging their men as much as 't was possible and the Souldiers came on as resolutely Marcellus bids his Troops Charge home the Enemy the very same Enemy whom they worsted but the other day and but a while ago made run at Cumes and who he himself though then General of another Army had last year beaten from before this City Nola that at present part of them were absent a plundering in the Country and for those that were here they were effeminated by Campanian Luxury having been rioting a whole Winter together with Wine and Wenches and all kind of Debauchery That their former strength and vigour was gone those stout able Bodies and couragious minds decay'd with which they pass'd the Pyrenaean Hills and overcame the steep Cliffs of the Alps These are but the Reliques the outward Images of those brave Fellows so degenerate so enfeebled that they can scarce support their Arms or with fainting Limbs wield their Weapons That Capua had been no less fatal to Annibal than Cannae to the Romans There his Warlike Courage was smother'd there his Military Discipline lost there the glory of his past actions buried and all his hopes blasted for the future Whilst Marcellus to raise his own mens Courage upbraided thus the Enemy Annibal himself reproach'd them with yet more bitter reflections I acknowledge says he the same Arms and the same Standards which I saw and had with me at Trebia at Thrasymenus and last of all at Cannae but I must avow that I brought not the same Souldiers out of Capua that I carried in to Winter there What Do you now make a great business on 't to Encounter a Roman Lieutenant and hardly sustain the Charge of one Legion and petty Squadron when two whole Consulary Armies were never wont to stand before you Can you with any patience endure that Marcellus with a few raw new-rais'd Forces and Nolan Auxiliaries should thus a second time brave and challenge us to a Battel Where is that Souldier of mine who unhors'd the Consul Flaminius and cut off his Head Where 's that brave Fellow that nail'd their other Consul L. Paulus to the ground at Cannae Are your Swords blunted Or are your strong Nerves cramp'd and your right hands benum'd or Palsy struck Or what other Prodigy hath befaln you You that though much inferiour in numbers have always been wont to cut to pieces multitudes will you now yoâ— are much the more numerous suffer your selves to be baffled by a few You bounc'd and talk'd high how you would storm the Walls of Rome it self if any would but lead you on see now a lesser piece of service before you here would I first make trial of your strength and Courage Go on make your selves Masters of this Nola a Town situate in an open Plain defended neither by Sea nor River and when you have loaded your selves with the spoils of that opulent City I will from thence lead you whithersoever you please or else follow you But neither his Reproaches nor his Encouragements could raise their Spirits for being every where beat back and giving ground and the Romans therewith the more animated as well as with the Exhortations of their General and the shouts of their Friends the Nolans the Carthaginians in fine betook them to their Heels and were beat into their Camp Which the Roman Souldiers would fain have presently attacqu'd but Marcellus thought it more fit to sound a Retreat and brought them back to Nola where they were receiv'd with great Joy and the Congratulations even of the Commons who before were more
inclinable to the Carthaginians There were slain that day above five thousand of the Enemy six hundred taken with nineteen Standards and two Elephants besides four that were kill'd in the Fight The Romans lost not full a thousand men The next day was spent as it were by consent in burying their dead Marcellus caused all the spoils of the Enemy to be burnt in a mighty Pile as a Sacrifice to Vulcan The day following one thousand two hundred seventy and two Horse part Numidians and part Spaniards upon some disgust I believe or in hopes of better pay deserted Annibal and fled to Marcellus and did the Romans very faithful and stout service afterwards in that War and after the same was over had for their reward large quantities of Lands in their own respective Countries given them Annibal having sent back Hanno amongst the Bruttii marches with his own Forces to take up Winter-Quarters in Apulia and Encamp'd near Arpi Of which Q. Fabius having advice caused Provisions to be carried from Nola and Naples to the Camp above Suessula and having strengthned the Works and left a sufficient Force to defend it all Winter he himself with the gross of his Army advanc'd nearer Capua and wasted all the Territories thereunto belonging with Fire and Sword so much that the Capuans though with no great Considence of their strength were enforc'd to come out of the City and Encamp before it in the open Plain They were in all six thousand strong but the Foot not considerable for service their Cavalry was better and therefore they endeavour'd to provoke the Enemy to Horse-Skirmishes Amongst many noble Campanians that serv'd on Horseback there was one Cerrinus Jubellius Surnam'd Taurea a very stout man so that when he serv'd in the Roman Army there was never a Cavalier counted his match but Claudius Asellus This Gallant therefore having a good while rode picqueering and surveying the Enemies Troops at last having made silence inquired where Claudius Asellus was For quoth he since he was wont to contend with me in words which was the best man let him now come out and decide it with his Arms and either give the spoils of Honour if he be vanquisht or bear them away if he prove Victor This being told Asellus he only staid to ask the Consuls leave to go out to fight this Challenger which being granted he presently Arms and Mounts and being advanc'd up to the Enemies Out-guards calls upon Taurea by name and bids him come forth when he durst to the Encounter To be Spectators of this Combate the Romans were come out of their Camp in great numbers and the Capuans fill'd both the Rampire and the Wall of the City After the Champions had interchang'd a few daring Speeches to set off the Action they clapt Spurs to their Horses directing at each other the deadly points of their Spears but having open ground enough they avoided each other and seem'd like to protract the Combate a good while without giving or receiving any wound Whereupon the Capuan told the Roman This would be but a trial of Skill between their Horses which was the most nimble and best manag'd not a decision which of the Riders was the stoutest and most valiant unless they rode off that plain ground into the hollow way that was hard by where having no liberty to shuffle or evade they must of necessity come to handy gripes and close together He had scarce so soon utter'd the words but Claudius turn'd his Horse head and rode into the narrow way but Taurea fiercer with his Tongue than his hands cry'd out Of all things in the World I care not to meddle with an Ass alluding to his Antagonists name in a Ditch and so rode away which saying thence forwards became a by word amongst Country people Claudius having rid a pretty while up and down the hollow Lane without meeting his Enemy comes back into the Plain and loading his Adversary with a thousand Reproaches for his Cowardize return'd victorious with great Joy and Congratulation to the Camp Some Annals add to this Horse-Combat a strange Circumstance and indeed wonderful if true as by the common opinion it is counted no less viz. That Claudius pursuing after Taurea when he fled to the City entred with him at one Gate standing open and rode out clear at another unhurt to the great astonishment of the Enemy After this the Camps were quiet and the Consul remov'd somewhat further off the Town that the Capuans might have liberty to sow their Fields nor did he spoil their Corn till it was grown up in the Blade fit for his Horse and then he cut it down and carried it away to the Camp at Suessula he gave Order to M. Claudius the Pro-Consul that retaining at Nola a Garrison sufficient to secure the place he should dismiss the rest of his Forces and send them home to Rome that they might no longer be a burthen to their Allies and a Charge to the Common-wealth T. Gracchus having drawn the Legions that were at Cumes unto Luceria in Apulia dispatcht them from thence for Brundusium under the Conduct of M. Valerius the Praetor commanding him to secure the Salentine Coast and provide all things necessary against Philip and the Macedonian War Towards the end of this Summer arriv'd Letters from the two Scipio's giving an account what great and fortunate Exploits they had perform'd in Spain But that their Souldiers Arrears were very great and Cloths and Corn and indeed all things wanting both for the Army and the Fleet as for their pay if the Exchequer were low they would find some course to raise it from the Spaniards but the other necessaries must be sent from Rome for otherwise they would neither support the Army nor retain the Province in Obedience These Letters read there was not one of the Senators but acknowledg'd that both what they wrote was true and that they desired no more than was fit and reasonable but then again they considered what great Forces they already had to maintain both at Land and Sea and how a new Fleet must presently be fitted out if the Macedonian War went on That as for Sicily and Sardinia which before the War brought in considerable Taxes to the Treasury they were now scarce able to maintain those Souldiers that 't was necessary to keep there in Garrison That therefore the only way they had at present to supply the publick Charge was by the Tribute laid upon their own Citizens and Subjects but as the number of those that were to pay the same was extreamly diminisht by the late mighty slaughters at Thrasymenus and Cannae so those few that were lest if burthen'd by too many Exactions and payments would perish and be undone another way so that if the Commonwealth could not be supported by Credit and borrowing of money she was not like to bear up by her own Revenue The Result was That Fabius the Praetor should Assemble all the people
should presently be a League concluded on terms indifferent for both Parties But that promise was not very well perform'd because Amilcar charg'd them with having fraudulently dismiss'd and suffer'd the Romans to escape which the Locrians endeavour'd to excuse by alledging that they ran away and they could not help it And a Party of Horse was sent to pursue them if by chance either the Tide might cause any of the Vessels to stay in the Current of the streight or drive them on shore but though they did not overtake them yet they had sight of other Ships crossing from Messina to Rhegium being Roman Forces sent by Claudius the Praetor to secure that City with a Garrison whereupon the Enemy presently withdrew from before Rhegium The Terms allow'd the Locrians by Annibal's Command were these That they should live under their own Laws and Customs That the City should be free for the Carthaginians to come into but the Locrians should have the Command of the Port and on either side they should mutually assist each other both in Peace and War So the Carthaginians retired from the Streights the Bruttians being much discontented that they had left untoucht Rhegium and Locri both which Cities they design'd to have had the plunder of Therefore soon after they by themselves arm fifteen thousand of their own men and march to assault Croton which was also a City inhabited by Greeks and a Sea-Port imagining they should not a little encrease their wealth and power by being Masters of a well-fortified City so conveniently situate on the Sea-side But still they were pinch'd with a shrewd Dilemma if they did not invite the Carthaginians to join with them in this Expedition it might be counted an affront and breach of the social League between them If they did and they should again act the part rather of Arbitrators of Peace than Assistants in the War then they should fight against the Liberty of the Crotonians as they had done against the Locrians to no purpose and get nothing for their pains Therefore the best expedient they thought was to send Agents to Annibal and obtain his promise that Croton when taken should belong to the Bruttii But Annibal told them That those present on the place could best advise of that matter and referr'd them to Hanno who never would give them any positive Answer for neither were they willing that so noble and rich a City should be plunder'd and on the other side thought that the Crotonians when attacqu'd by the Bruttians seeing that the Carthaginians neither approv'd nor assisted the same might so much the sooner of their own accord revolt to them and desire the Punick assistance Nor were the people of Croton all of a mind for one and the same Disease had infected almost all the Cities of Italy and set the Nobles and the Commons at variance the Senate favouring the Romans and the Populace the Carthaginians This dissention within the City the Bruttians were made acquainted with by a Renegade That Aristomachus was the head of the popular Faction and a great stickler for yielding the City to Annibal That the City being so very vast and the Walls in several places ruinous the Guards and Watches of the Senators and those of the Commons were set at the respective breaches many times a great distance from each other and whereever the Commoners were upon duty they might enter without resistance Upon this Intelligence and with the guidance of this Fugitive the Bruttii environ'd the City round about and being let in by the Commons at the first assault became Masters of the whole City except the Castle which the Nobles held in their own hands and had well-stor'd it with all Provisions for a refuge for themselves in any such surprize Aristomachus fled thither as well as the rest as having been the Adviser to surrender the Town to the Carthaginians not to the Bruttians The Wall of this City Croton before the coming of Pyrrhus into Italy contain'd twelve Miles in compass but after the desolation made by that War scarce one half part of it was inhabited the River that formerly ran through the middle of the Town flow'd now at a great distance from any of the Streets and the Castle stood far from any Houses Six Miles from this City was a noble Temple more famous than the City it self dedicated to Juno Lacinia frequented with great Devotion by all the neighbouring Nations There was a sacred Grove enclosed with a thick under-Wood and losty Fir-Trees in the midst of it were gallant delicate Pastures wherein were fed Beasts consecrated to the Goddess of all sorts without any Keeper for as they went out to feed each kind by themselves so at night they came home every one to his Stall or Pinfold secure from any harm either by the way-layings of wild Beasts or being stoln by men great encrease therefore and profit was made by these Cattel insomuch that out of that Income a solid Pillar of gold was made and consecrated and the Temple renowned for its riches as well as its sanctity And as generally to such notable places are ascrib'd some Miracles or other the story goes That in the very Threshold of this Temple there was an Altar the ashes on which no Wind though ever so high or boisterous could blow away or so much as stir As for the Castle of Croton on the one side it stands on the Sea on the other it looks towards the Fields in old time defended only by the natural advantages of its scituation afterwards fortified with a Wall on that part where Dionysius the Tyrant of Sicily having gain'd the Cliffs behind surpriz'd and took it This Fortress strong enough as they thought to secure them was held by the Nobles as aforesaid besieg'd not only by the Bruttians but their own people too Who at last finding the same impregnable against their Forces were forc'd by necessity to desire Hanno's assistance but he endeavouring to draw them to a surrender upon Terms offers them a Colony of the Bruttii to be planted amongst them and so fill up their City again to its antient frequency of Inhabitants to which not a man would in the least hearken except it were only Aristomachus all the rest affirming That they would sooner die than being mixt with the Bruttians degenerate into Foreign Rites Manners and Laws and in time into a strange barbarous Language Aristomachus alone seeing he could neither prevail with them to surrender nor yet had any opportunity to betray the Castle as he had done the City fled away to Hanno Soon after this Embassadours from Locri by Hanno's permission came up to the Castle and were admitted in who perswaded the Gentlemen there to transport themselves to Locri rather than hazard the last Extremities to which purpose if they pleas'd to accept it they had already obtained for them Annibals pass by Embassadours sent to him on that very Errand So all the persons of note of
the Territories of Naples more for madness and revenge than out of any hopes to gain that City upon his advance so near the Commons of Nola who had long been Enemies to the Romans and at difference on that account with their own Senate began to be very tumultuous and sent Messengers to Annibal with Assurances that they would yield the Town if he pleased to come to receive it But Marcellus the Consul upon Advice from the Nobles of that City prevented their design for in one day he marched from Cales to Suessula although part of the time was spent in ferrying over the River Vulturnus and next night sent into Nola six thousand Foot and three hundred Horse for a Guard for the Senate and as Marcellus used all celerity to secure Nola so Annibal having already been twice deceived linger'd out the time not much crediting the Nolans promises About this time the Consul Fabius came before Casilinum where was a Punick Garrison and to Beneventum at one and the same time as if they had been agreed came Hanno out of the Bruttians Country with a strong Party of Foot and Horse on one side and Ti. Gracchus from Luceria on the other side who got first into the Town and being advertiz'd that Hanno lay about three miles off on the River Calores and plunder'd the Country he issued out of the Gates on that side and drew up within a mile of the Enemy where he made a Speech to his Souldiers who consisted chiefly of the Volunteer-Bondmen who were willing rather to deserve their liberty by another years service silently than to claim it with publick Clamours yet when he parted from his Winter-Quarters he perceived some of them murmured and complained to one another What shall we never serve in the Quality of Free-men And he had wrote to the Senate not so much what they desired as what they deserved assuring their Lordships That they had performed good and faithfuâ— servâ—â— all along to that very day and wanted nothing but their freedom to pass for as good and lawfâ—â— Souldiers as any in their Army whereupon they left it to him to do as he should think best for the Commonwealth Therefore before they went now to fight he told them That the hâ—ppy moment they so long had wisht for the time of enjoying their liberty was now arrived For next morning they should engage the Enemy in a pitch'd Battel in a free and open Field where without any tricks or stratagems the matter must be decided by pure Valour and the dint of Sword That whoever should bring thence the Head of an Enemy he would immediately make him free and on the other side whoever should fly or give ground should as a Bond-slave be scourged So that now every man had his Fortune in his own hands and that they might be assured of their freedom acquainted them that it was not only he himself that promised it them but the Consul Marcellus and the whole Senate whom he had consulted therein And so caused the Consuls Letter and Sâ—nates Order to be publickly read before them Which they entertain'd with a mighty shout and earnestly begg'd that he would presently give them have to fall upon the Enemy but Gracchus told them next morning would be time enough and so dismissed them who all were exceeding joyful especially those that hoped on the morrow to earn their liberty and spent the rest of that day in making ready their Arms. Next day assoon as the Trumpets began to sound they first presented themselves before any of the rest of the Troops at the Generals Pavilion arm'd compleatly and ready to fight at Sun-rising Gracchus drew up in Battalia nor was the Enemy behind hand but altogether as ready for the Encounter they were seventeen thousand Foot for the most part Bruttians and Lucanians and twelve hundred Horse of whom a very few were Italians the rest almost all Numidians and Moors The Fight was both sharp and tedious for four long hours together none could say which had the better on 't Nor did any thing hinder the Romans more than the Enemies Heads being made the price of their Liberty for as any one stoutly slew an Enemy he must first spend time in cutting off his Head which was difficult to do in the crowd and tumult and then their right hands being employ'd to hold the Heads the most valiant were able to do no further service and so the whole brunt lay upon the weakest and most timorous so that the Marshals of the Field inform'd Gracchus That none of his men now wounded a standing Enemy but busied themselves in butchering the dead and carried in their right hands mens Heads instead of Arms. He gave Orders That they should all at once fling away the Heads and press on upon the Enemy That they had already given sufficient proofs of their Valour and behaving themselves so gallantly they need not doubt of their Liberty Then was the Fight renew'd and also the Horse charg'd the Enemy whom the Numidians as stoutly receiv'd and between them the Encounter was no less furious than amongst the Foot and now again it was an even Lay to which the Victory would incline The Generals on both sides heartned on their men The Roman minding his Souldiers how oft these Bruttians and Lucanians had been subdued by their Ancestors and the Carthaginian cryed out They had to do only with a few Roman Bond-slaves and Varlets And at last seeing things in an extremity Gracchus declared That not a man should hope for freedom unless the Enemy were discomfited and put to flight That word set their Spirits all on fire and as if it had transform'd them into other men with a new shout they charg'd the Enemy so fiercely that there was no standing before them First the Punick Van-Guard gave ground then their Standards and at last their main Body took their heels towards their Camp in such disorder and consternation that they did not so much as face about at the Ports nor endeavour to defend their Rampier but the Romans following them pell-mell continued the Fight even within the Enemies Works where as the Conflict was more troublesom for want of room so the Slaughter was more dreadful the same being augmented by the Prisoners that were there before in custody who snatching up Weapons in that tumult fell upon the Rear of the Carthaginians and stopt their slight so that of all that great Army not full two thousand and those for the most part Horse escaped with their General the rest being either slain or taken together with eight and thirty Colours The Conquerors lost near two thousand men All the Booty was given to the Souldiers except the Prisoners and such of the Cattel as the Owners should come in and claim within thirty days Being return'd loaded with Plunder to the Camp about four thousand of the Volunteer-Bondmen who did not fight so well as the rest nor broke in so soon into
the Roads and have their Eyes about them that no Countrymen should spy the Army on their march or be able to give notice of it therefore those they overtook they were to carry back and those they met to kill that the people might think they were a Gang of Thieves and Highway-men rather than part of an Army He himself made a long march and Encampt next Night not above fifteen miles from Tarentum and even there would not discover where his design lay only calling his Souldiers together charg'd them That not a man should straggle out of the Road or quit his rank That they should diligently wait for the words of Command but attempt nothing without Orders and in due time he would acquaint them what was to be done About the same instant news came to Tarentum That the Numidian Horse were abroad a plundering and put the Countrymen far and near into great fright and consternation yet upon this Intelligence the Roman Governour concern'd himself no further than to Order a Party of Horse to go at break of day next Morning to beat them back from Forraging but as to any preparations for his Security was altogether remiss and took this Excursion of the Numidians as an Argument that Annibal with his Army was not dislodg'd but still continued at their old Leaguer Annibal as soon as it was dark set forwards again Philemenus went before and led them loaded with his Hunting Game as he used to be the rest of the Conspirators waited their time to execute their several Charges as was before agreed amongst them which was that Philemenus carrying in his Venison at the Wicket should get in a parcel of armed men and Annibal on the other part should march up to the Gate call'd Temenis which situate on the Landside was towards the East a little within the Wall as it were in a nook when Annibal approach'd pretty near that Gate he gave a signal by a blaze of Fire which was answer'd in like manner by Nico that Commanded a Forlorn Hope and presently both extinguisht again that the City might take no notice on 't Annibal march'd up silently towards the Gate whilst Nico seizing the Watchmen unawares and killing them as they lay half asleep opens the Port Annibal enters with the Foot but Orders his Horse to stay without that on open ground they might be ready where there should be most occasion Philemenus by this time was come near the Wicket on the other side which he was wont to go in at and raising the Watchman with his usual Whistle and Voice well known bidding him make hast for they had got such a prize as they could hardly stand under it the Portal was flung open two lusty Fellows carrying in a vast Wild Boar between them himself follow'd with one of the Huntsmen lightly-arm'd and whilst the Fellow was staring upon and admiring the greatness of the Beast thrust him through with an Hunting Spear presently thirty more armed get in and cut to pieces the rest of the Watch fling open the great Gate and the whole Party enter with Banners display'd and so being silently led to the Market place join Annibal who then dividing two thousand Gauls into three Squadrons sent them to secure several parts of the City and the Tarentines and Africans to seize those streets that were most populous with Orders to kill all the Romans they met but spare the Inhabitants and that the same might be observ'd directed some of the Tarentines to go in the head of each Party to bid each of their Townsmen they should see at a distance be quiet keep out of the way and fear nothing By this time all places were full of tumult and clamour as is wont to be in a City taken but what the matter was no body certainly understood The Tarentines suspected the Romans were going to plunder their City the Romans imagin'd the Townsmen were up to cut their Throats by Treachery The Governour awaken'd at the first hubbub fled to the Haven and thence in a Skiff to the Castle That which added to the terrour was a Trumpet heard from the Theatre for it was a Roman Trumpet provided by the Conspirators for this purpose and being unskilfully sounded by a Graecian not at all used to such Instruments it was doubtful whose side it was of or what signal was thereby meant to be given but when it grew somewhat light and the Romans saw the Punick and Gallick Arms there was no more doubting in the Case and the Grecians seeing the Romans every where lie kill'd were satisfied the City was taken by Annibal After 't was grown perfect day and those Romans that surviv'd were fled into the Castle and the hurry was pretty well over Annibal Commanded the Tarentines to assemble at the Common Hall without Weapons which they did accordingly except those that accompanied the Romans to the Castle resolv'd to run the same Fortune with them Annibal made a winning Speech to the Tarentines putting them in mind how courteous he had been to their Citizens taken either at Thrasymenus or Cannae withal inveighing against the proud domineering humour and oppressions of the Romans and then required them all to depart every one to his own dwelling and write his name upon his door and that those Houses which should not be so written upon he would forthwith give his Souldiers a signal to plunder and if any should presume to write a name on any House wherein the Romans were Quarter'd which were all empty Houses he would punish them as Enemies The Assembly being dismiss'd and the Houses by that token distinguisht which were to be treated as Friends and which as Enemies the Signal was given and the Souldiers fell to plundering as fast as they could and got some parcel of Pillage Next day he march'd to attacque the Castle but seeing it so advantagiously situate defended by the Sea which washes the greatest part of it as a Peninsula and with vast high and steep Rocks and towards the City fortified with a gallant Wall and mighty Ditch and that it was neither to be won by Scalado nor Battery that he might not by securing the Tarentines lose opportunities for greater affairs nor yet leave them exposed to the Excursions of the Romans at their pleasure from the Castle he appointed a Rampier to be raised between the City and the Castle not without hopes That the Romans to hinder the same would come out and so he might have an opportunity to fight them and if they rashly adventur'd too far might by a notable slaughter so weaken the Garrison that the Tarentines themselves might thenceforwards easily defend their City against them His hopes prov'd prophetical for no sooner was the work began but out came the Romans falling full drive upon the Pioneers and the Guard set for their defence retreated on purpose that seeming success might encrease their confidence and they might follow them in greater numbers and further but upon a
resort That Enquiry should be made after the said Volunteers requiring them forthwith to repair to their Ensigns All which directions were executed with the greatest care imaginable Appius Claudius the Consul after he had constituted D. Junius Captain of the Sconce erected at the mouth of the River Vulturnus and M. Aurelius Cotta Governour of Puteoli with Orders to them both That as fast as any Ships arrived with Corn from Etruria or Sardinia they should convey the same to the Camp went back himself to Capua where he found his Collegue Q. Fulvius busie in carrying Provisions thither from Casilinum and making all possible Preparations for assaulting that City which thenceforwards was invested by both Consuls who besides sent for Claudius Nero the Praetor with his Army from Suessula who leaving there a small Guard to secure the place march'd with the rest of his Forces to join them so that now Capua was surrounded with three distinct Armies who falling to work in several places endeavour'd to draw a Line of Circumvallation about it and in divers Quarters at once they skirmish'd with the men of Capua whenever they sallied out to hinder their Fortifications with such success that at last the Townsmen were glad to keep within their Walls but before the Line was fully finish'd the Capuans sent Messengers to Annibal complaining That he had abandon'd their City and as bad as yielded it up to the fury of the Romans withal beseeching him That now at least he would relieve them being not only besieg'd but shut up by Retrenchments on every side P. Cornelius advised the Consuls by Letters That before they had fully invested Capua with their Works they should offer as many of them as thought fit liberty to come out and carry their Goods with them That all should pass free until the fifteenth of March but whoever stay'd longer must expect to be treated as Enemies These Overtures were made to the Capuans but entertain'd only with scorn revilings and menaces Annibal by this time had advanced from Herdonia to Tarentum as hoping by force or fraud to gain the Castle there but meeting with a disappointment turned his March to Brundusium supposing that Town would be betray'd into his hands Whilst there he spent his time in vain the before-mentioned Messengers from Capua accosted him both with Complaints and Entreaties to whom he magnificently answer'd That he had once already raised that Siege and was sure the Consuls would never abide his second coming Thus fed with hopes those Messengers return'd but could scarce get into Capua it was so inclosed round by this time with a double Trench and Rampier Whilst Capua was thus closely beleaguer'd an end was put to the tedious Siege of Syracuse promoted not only by the Skill of the General and Valour of the Army that assailed it but also by Intestine Treachery For Marcellus at the beginning of the Spring not knowing whether he were best bend all his Forces towards Agrigentum against Himilco and Hippocrates or continue before Syracuse which he found could not be taken by Storm being impregnable both by Sea and Land nor yet starved out since the passage in a manner lay open for Carthage to send them in all kinds of Provisions yet to leave no stone unturn'd he order'd some Deserters for there were several of the Syracusian Nobles with the Romans being expell'd from home because they would not consent to the Revolt to sound the minds of those that had been of their Faction and to assure them That if Syracuse were deliver'd into his possession by their means they should remain free and live at their own discretion but they could get no opportunity of Conference For many in the Town being suspected to be that way inclined all eyes were fix'd upon them that they should hold no Correspondence with the Enemy At last a Servant of one of the Exiles being admitted into the City as a Deserter to a few confiding men proposed somewhat of the business who thereupon in a Fisher-boat cover'd with Nets got to the Roman Camp and discoursed with their Country-men that were there In the same manner others one after another to the number of eighty in all consulted them But when all things were adjusted for betraying the City one Attalus taking snuff that he was not sooner intrusted with the Intrigue discover'd it to Epicides and so they were every one put to death with cruel Tortures This design thus blasted a while after another probable one was offer'd One Damippus a Lacedemonian sent from Syracuse to King Philip being intercepted by the Romans Epicides was wonderful solicitous to ransom him nor was Marcellus unwilling to grant the same the Romans for some time having courted the Friendship of the Aetolians with whom the Lacedemonians were allied The fittest place for the Commissioners on both sides to meet for setling that Affair was at the Wharf Trogili hard by the Tower which they call Galeatra It happen'd as they repaired thither several times about this business one of the Roman Commissioners viewing seriously the Wall counting the stones that appeared in Front and reckoning with himself their proportion whereby he was pretty well able to give a good guess at its whole height and found it not so high as he and others heretofore had imagined it so that now he made no doubt but ordinary scaling Ladders might reach it This he communicates to Marcellus who look'd upon it as a thing not to be slighted but forasmuch as there was no coming at that place at present because by reason of its lowness it was kept with a stronger Guard than any other part of the Wall it was thought fit to wait some opportunity which as Luck would have it soon offer'd it self by means of a Fugitive who gave Intelligence That there was a solemn Feast held within the City in Honour of Diana for three days together and what good Chear they wanted by reason of the Siege was abundantly supplied with plenty of Wine of which not only Epicides had bestow'd a great quantity on the Commons but the great men in every Ward allow'd a proportion besides at their own Charges for their poorer Neighbours to make merry with Upon this Intimation Marcellus calls a Council of War and caused his Chief Officers to chuse out fit Captains and Souldiers for such a difficult piece of Service and privately provided their scaling Ladders ordering them to refresh themselves and go to sleep for at night they were to be employ'd in an Expedition Then when he thought the Enemy after their Feasting and Carouzing were got into their first sleep he commanded one Company of Souldiers to carry Ladders and near a thousand well-arm'd to follow them with a silent March to the place where the formost mounting the Wall without any noise or opposition encourag'd the rest to follow them By this time the thousand select Souldiers had made themselves Masters of one part of the City and the rest of the
Forces advanced and with a multitude of Ladders scaled the Wall a Sign being given them for that purpose by those within from the Gate Hexapylos for so far they march'd without any opposition most of the Garrison being either feasting in the Forts and already drunk and asleep or else drinking on still and so drowsie that they minded nothing and some few found in their Hutts were kill'd The Wicket at Hexapylos they began to break open with great violence and the Trumpet according to agreement founded from the Wall to let them know they were there ready to second them No longer was the matter carried closely but with open force and they made it their business to daunt and terrifie the Enemy rather than steal upon them unawares being come as far as Epipolae a place full of Watchmen and Guards and indeed terrified they were for assoon as they heard the Trumpets sounding and the shouts of those that had got possession of part of the Wall and City the Guards imagining all lost fled as hard as they could drive along the Wall or endeavour'd to leap down from it and in that fright precipitated one another But still the greater part wholly ignorant of any danger lay drown'd in wine and sleep and besides the City was of so vast an extent and scatteringly built that those in one part were not sensible of what was a doing in the other But when Marcellus came in with all his Forces he rouzed them all and every one was in an hurry to take Arms and defend if they could the City which was almost taken already Epicides made haste from the Island which they call Nasos at the Head of a Company of Souldiers making full account to drive the Enemy out again with ease as supposing they were but some few who by the negligence of the Sentinels were got over the Wall and therefore those of the Town whom he met running away in a fright he severely chid telling them They themselves increased the tumult by being afraid of Bugbears making the matter worse and more terrible than it was But when he saw all that part of the City called Epipolae was seized and full of armed men after a small Skirmish with Darts at a distance whereby he only provok'd the Enemy rather than much hurt them he march'd back into the Acradine not so much for fear of the Enemies force or numbers as lest some Treachery should happen within by occasion of his absence and in that confusion he might find the Gates of the Acradine and Island shut against him Marcellus after he was come within the Walls from the highest places took a view of the whole City one of the fairest at that time in the World at which sight 't is said that Great Conquerour could not refrain weeping whether they were tears of Joy at his having atchiev'd so mighty a Service or rather of pity condoling the uncertainty of all humane Grandeur when he call'd to mind the antient Glories of this Town how they destroyed the Athenian Fleets and cut to pieces two vast Armies of theirs together with their Generals how gallantly they waged War a long time with the Carthaginians How many rich and potent Princes had there held their Royal Courts amongst whom he could not but with a more peculiar passion remember the late King Hiero a Prince Illustrious for abundance of excellent Endowments which Fortune conferr'd upon him or his own Vertue acquir'd but for nothing more famous than his constant inviolable Friendship and repeated good Offices towards the people of Rome when all these things at once occurr'd to his mind and withal he consider'd That all that Beauty and Glory within one hours space was like to be on a light Fire and reduc'd to rubbish and ashes it could not but make strange Emotions in so generous a Breast therefore to make the overthrow as gentle as he could before he advanc'd his Ensigns against the Acradine he sent before such Syracusians as were in his Camp to perswade their Countrymen to surrender and not push on things to the last Extremity But the Gates and Walls of the Acradine were guarded for the most part by Renegades who having no hopes of saving themselves by a Treaty would not suffer any others to come near the Walls or hold any Parley therefore Marcellus seeing that overture had not success marcht back unto Euryalus which was a small Fort on the farther part of the City remote from the Sea and commanding the Highway that leads into the Fields and the very heart of the whole Island a place very convenient for the taking up of provisions The Governour of this Sconce was one Philodemus an Argive placed there by Epicides to whom Marcellus sent Sosis one of the Killers of the late Tyrant to capitulate with him touching yielding up the said place but after a long Conference could bring him to nothing but return'd word to Marcellus That he would take time to consider of it and so drill'd out the time from day to day whilst Hippocrates and Himilco were advancing with their Troops not doubting but after their Arrival they might be able to cut off the whole Roman Army being enclosed on each side within the Walls Marcellus perceiving that Eurialus was neither like to be surrendred nor easily taken Encamp'd between Neapolis and Tyche two parts of the City so named which for their bigness might pass for intire Cities of themselves fearing that if he should go into streets well inhabited his Souldiers greedy of Booty would not be kept together but be apt to straggle abroad for plunder thither came to him both from Neapolis and Tyche Agents with Olive-Branches and sacred Fillets about their Heads and Veils after the manner of Suppliants beseeching him To forbear putting the Inhabitants to the Sword or firing the City which entreaties for so they were rather than Propositions or demands being considered Proclamation was made throughout the Camp That no Souldiers should presume to offer the least violence to the persons of any people of Free born condition but for all goods whatsoever they should take them for booty Marcellus's Camp was defended on both sides with Housing as with a Wall and he bestow'd a strong Guard at the Gates thereof facing the ends of the streets lest it should be attacqu'd whilst his Souldiers were a pillaging For as soon as the Signal was given they every where broke open the Doors and fell a rummaging in every Corner filling all places with tumult and terrour but refrain'd from bloodshed nor was there any end of their rifling and ransacking till they had seiz'd and carried away every thing of value and utterly emptied the place of all those riches which the Inhabitants had so long in their prosperity been heaping together Amidst these stirs Philodemus seeing no hopes of being reliev'd upon Articles that he should march away safely to Epicides drew out his Garrison and yielded the Fort to the Romans whose
Souldiers being generally busy in that part of the City which they had already taken Bomilcar taking the advantage thereof and of a tempestuous night wherein the Roman Fleet by reason of the rough weather could not ride at Anchor in the main Sea got out of the Haven of Syracuse with thirty five Ships and set Sail for Carthage leaving fifty five Sail still behind with Epicides and the Syracusians and having inform'd the Carthaginians in what extream danger the affairs of Syracuse were at that Juncture return'd again thither reinforc'd with an hundred Sail for which 't is reported he was richly rewarded with Presents made him by Epicides out of King Hiero's Treasury Marcellus having gain'd Euryalus and planted there a Garrison was rid of one of his former fears viz. Lest some new Forces of the Enemy abroad should get into that Fortress behind him where they might greatly have annoy'd his men being then as it were enclosed within the Walls Thence-forwards he began to besiege the Acradine having posted his Forces at convenient places in three distinct Camps and was in good hopes in short time to reduce those within to extream want and scarcity The Guards on either side had for some days been pretty quiet when on a sudden the Arrival of Hippocrates and Himilco so incourag'd the Enemy that on all parts they of themselves began to attacque the Romans for both Hippocrates having Encampt and strongly fortified himself by the great Key and given a Signal to those in Acradine fell upon the old Quarters of the Romans where Crispinus Commanded in Chief and at the same time Epicides sallied out upon Marcellus's Guards and the Carthaginian Fleet came and lay close by the shore that was between the City and the Roman Camp to hinder Crispinus's having any succour sent him from Marcellus and yet after all this ado the noise and tumultuous Alarm was greater than the Execution For Crispinus did not only repulse Hippocrates from his Works but pursued him as he fled and Marcellus as easily beat back Epicides into the City so as they seem'd now sufficiently provided against the like sudden Sallies or Irruptions for the future Besides there happen'd a Calamity common to them both viz. a grievous Plague which much took off their minds on either side from prosecuting the War It being now Autumn the place it self naturally unwholsome and a bad Air and the weather intolerable hot mightily distemper'd their Bodies in each Camp but much more without the City than within As first they fell sick and died by the distemperature of the Season and noisomness of the place so afterwards by visiting and tending one another when sick the Disease was spread and became infectious so that those that were taken ill either perisht for want of help and looking to or else they that went to assist and tend them were seiz'd with the same violence of the distemper so that continually there were Coarses carrying to their Graves nothing to be met with but Spectacles of Mortality and night and day there were heard in all places lamentation and dying groans But at last being continually used to this misery their hearts were so hardned that they not only gave over to mourn for the dead but even so much as to carry them forth or inter them so that the dead Bodies lay scatter'd all about on the ground in the sight of those who every moment look'd for the like miserable death themselves Thus the dead kill'd the sick and the sick infected the sound partly with fear and partly with corruption and pestiferous stench Insomuch that some chusing rather to die on the Swords point would venture alone to invade the Enemies Guards on purpose that they might be kill'd out of the way However the Plague was hotter by far in the Carthaginian Camp than in the Romans by reason of bad water the tedious Siege they had endured and the great slaughter there committed Therefore the Sicilians when once they saw the sickness spread so fast got away and stole every man home to the Cities near adjoining but the Carthaginians having no place to retire to were generally swept away by the raging Pestilence together with both their Generals Hippocrates and Himilco and indeed there was scarce a man of them escaped Marcellus when he found the Mortality encreased so sorely drew his men into the City where the Houses and shadowy places yielded some refreshment to the sick yet still a great many of the Roman Army were by this Pestilence destroy'd The Carthaginian Land-Army being thus totally consumed those Sicilians who had served under Hippocrates withdrew themselves into two Towns which were not great but strong and well fortified one but three Miles from Syracuse the other fifteen Miles and thithey they convey'd all manner of Victuals from their own Cities adjoining and sent abroad for recruits of men In the mean time Bomilcar was return'd as we told you with a greater Fleet from Carthage for he gave account of the Syracusians condition in such terms as gave hopes not only that he might come time enough to relieve them but also that the Romans notwithstanding they had in a manner taken the City might be surprized and taken therein themselves by which suggestions he prevail'd so with the Senate That they granted him abundance of Ships of Burthen laden with all sorts of necessary Provisions but also encreas'd the number of his Men of War so that with one hundred and thirty Sail of tall Ships and seventy Merchant-men he put out to Sea with a Gale fair enough to wast him over to Sicily but the same Wind did not serve him to double the point of the Cape Pachymus The Report of Bomilcars arrival first and then his delay beyond expectation wrought diversly in the minds of the Romans and Syracusians administring matter sometimes of fear and sometimes of joy unto them both At last Epicides apprehending That if the same Easterly Winds should long continue the Navy might possibly sail back for Carthage he leaving the Guard of the Acridine to the Commanders of the hired Souldiers goes down by water to Bomilcar riding still with his Fleet in the Road that looks towards Africk and fearing to venture an Engagement at Sea not that he was inferiour in strength or number of Ships for he had considerably more than the Enemy but because that Wind sat more favourably for the Romans Fleet than for his However Epicides was so importunate that he in Fine prevail'd with him to hazard the Fortune of a Sea-fight On the other side Marcellus seeing the Sicilian Forces gathering together against him from all parts of the Island and understanding that this Punick Fleet brought vast quantities of provisions that he might not be blockt up by Sea and Land in an Enemies City resolv'd to hinder Bomilcar from coming into the Bay of Syracuse Thus rid the two Armado's affronting each other about the head of Pachynus ready to Engage as soon as calm
and killed the Elephants on the very Rampier just as they were getting over whose bodies falling back into the Trench served as a Bridge for the Enemy to get over upon so as there upon the Carcasses of the Elephants happen'd a very great slaughter of men On the other side of the Camp the Capuans and Punick Garrison were long since beat back and in the pursuit the Conflict was hot at the very Gate of Capua which opens to the River Vulturnus nor was it so much the Valour of the Defendants that hindred the Romans from breaking into the City as the Balists and Scorpions and other Engines placed there which gaul'd them at a distance but especially that brave Attacque of the Romans was dasht by the hurt of their General Appius Claudius who as he was encouraging his men at the head of them happen'd to be wounded with a Dart above his breast in the left shoulder However a great number of the Enemy were slain before the Gate and the rest in confusion beat into the City And Annibal perceiving the slaughter that was made of the Spanish Regiment and how valiantly the Camp was defended despairing of success gave over the Assault sounded a Retreat to his Foot and to secure them placed his Horse in the Rear lest the Enemy should fall upon them as they march'd off which the Roman Legions were wondrous eager to have done but Flaccus thought it better to forbear judging they had done well enough already in effecting two such signal Services in one day viz. to let both the Capuans and Annibal himself see how little he was able to contribute to their Relief Those that write the story of this Battel relate that there were kill'd eight thousand of Annibals Army and three thousand Capuans fifteen Colours taken from the former and eighteen from the latter But in others I do not find the Fight so considerable but that the Fright was far greater than the Conflict for they say That the Numidians and Spaniards unexpectedly broke into the Roman Camp and that their Elephants passing through the midst thereof overthrew abundance of their Tents with an horrid noise which made the Sumpter-Horses break their bridles and run straggling to and fro bearing down all before them and that besides this Confuâ—ion Annibal added a Stratagem by sending in certain persons that could speak the Latine Tongue very well for some such he had with him who in the Consuls Names commanded the Souldiers That since the Camp was lost every one should shift for himself to the adjacent Mountains But this fraud was soon discovered and revenged by a great slaughter of his men and that the Elephants were driven out of the Camp with fire 'T is certain this however it began or ended was the last that was fought before the Surrender of Capua whose chief Magistrate whom they call Medixtutichus for that year was one Seppius Lesius a person of mean obscure Birth 'T is reported that his Mother upon a time being to expiate some domestical ill Omen that happen'd in her House on his behalf being then an Orphan the Southsayer told her That Boy should one day arrive to the chief place of dignity in Capua who not believing any such matter replyed Truly Sir Capua must be in a sad condition when my Child comes to be the most honourable person there which words spoken in jest prov'd true in sad earnest For the City being straitned with Sword and Famine and its case desperate all persons of Qâ—ality declining Offices Lesius by complaining That Capua was abandon'd and betray'd by the great men prevail'd with the people to Elect him and was the last of the Capuans that there bore Rule Annibal finding that he could neither tempt the Romans to venture a pitcht Field nor was able to break through their Leaguer to relieve the Town was forc'd without effecting his design to dislodge from thence lest the new Consuls should blockade him up and intercept his provisions As he was studying what course to take next a freak took him in the head to march to rights to Rome and strike at the very Root of the War which as he had always desired so both others commonly grumbled and himself could not deny That he had slipt a fair opportunity for that purpose after the Victory at Cannae nor did he despair but that by surprize and the unexpected terrour of an assault he might make himself Master at least of some part of the City Besides if Rome were once in danger he believ'd one or both the Roman Generals would quit Capua and hasten to its rescue whose Forces being divided and consequently weakned might give either him or the Capuans an opportunity of some good Fortune against them The only thing that troubled him was the fear lest upon notice of his retreat the Capuans in despair should yield to a surrender To prevent which he hires a Numidian a bold Fellow fit for any desperate undertaking for a large reward to fly unto the Roman Camp as a Deserter and thence to get into the City with Letters privately bestow'd about him the tenour of which was full of encouragement That his marching from thence was for their good and safety whereby he doubted not but to draw the Roman Forces from assaulting Capua to defend their own City of Rome and therefore they should not despond but hold out a few days longer and he would warrant them the Siege should be raised Then he caused all the Vessels taken in the River Vulturnus to be brought up to the Fort which he had before erected there for his security and understanding there were enow of them to transport his whole Army in one night he drew down his Legions thither in the dark and before Morning had ferried them all over Before this was accomplisht Fulvius Flaccus by some Renegado's got an inkling of the design and sent an Express to Rome to advertize the Senate which news variously affected mens minds according to their several fancies and dispositions and as so important an occurrence required the Senate was immediately Assembled to consult what was to be done P. Cornelius sirnamed Asina was of Opinion That without regard of Capua or any thing else all the Generals and Forces throughout Italy should be forthwith sent for to secure the City But Fabius Maximus thought it the most dishonourable thing in the World to raise the Siege of Capua and be terrified and hurry to and fro at every beck and vain Menace of Annibal He that when he was Victorious at Cannae durst not yet approach the City is it likely he can have any hopes of taking Rome when he was soundly beat but the other day from Capua If he were marching that way it was not to besiege Rome but only to raise the Siege of Capua which otherwise he knew not how to relieve That there was no doubt but Jove the witness to those Leagues which Annibal had violated and the other Gods
would with that Army which was at present in and about the City sufficiently defend them against his violence and outrages Between these differing Opinions P. Valerius Flaccus proposed a middle Expedient approved of by the Body of the Senate for having a due regard to the importance of both Affairs he advis'd That an Express should be sent to the Commanders that lay before Capua to acquaint them what Guards the City had already and as for the strength of Annibals Army or how many Forces would be necessary to continue the Siege of Capua they themselves could best judge and therefore if one of the Generals and part of the Army could be spared without any hazard of interrupting the Siege then Claudius and Fulvius should agree between themselves which should continue there and which should come with all Expedition to Rome to keep their Native City from being invested by the Enemy A Decree of the Senate to this purpose being brought to the Leaguer at Capua Q. Fulvius the Pro-Consul undertook the Expedition for Rome because his Collegue was not yet able to march by reason of the wound he lately received out of the three Armies he made a Draught of fifteen thousand Foot and a thousand Horse and with them pass'd the River Vulturnus And having intelligence That Annibal would march along the road call'd The Latine Street he took the other way call'd Via Appia and sent Curriers before unto Setia Sora and Lavinium which are situate near thereunto not only to provide and lay up Necessaries for him in their Towns but to cause the Country to bring in their provisions to the said road and to assemble what Forces they could into their Towns for their defence and all to be in Arms and stand upon their Guard Annibal that day he passed Vulturnus encamped not far from the River The next day arrived near Cales in the Sidicines Country where he spent one day in forraging and so led his Army along the Latine Way by Suessula Allifanum and the Territories of Casinum where he remain'd two days encamped and made great spoil in the neighbouring Country From thence leaving Interramna and Aquinum he came near Fregellae as far as the River Liris where he found the Bridge beat down by the Fregellanes to interrupt his March Fulvius was likewise stay'd at the River Vulturnus for Annibal having burnt all the Barges and Lighters he was forc'd to make Rafts and Punts to set over his men and found not a little difficulty therein by reason of the great scarcity of Wood in those parts But when he was once got over there met with no obstruction in the rest of his March but was plentifully furnish'd with all sorts of Provisions not only in the Towns but on the Road and the Souldiers were very chearful and to encourage one another would cry Come let 's mend our pace remembring that we go to defend our Country A Post from Fregellae that rode night and day arriving at Rome with the News of Annibals advance to that Town put the City into great consternation and the concourse of people adding vain fictions of their own to the News they heard made a greater hurry than the Messenger and set the whole City in an uproar The Women fill'd not only their private houses with their lamentations but you should see multitudes of Matrons running about streets with their hair about their Ears and sweeping the Altars of the Gods with their lovely Locks kneeling on the bare ground and with hands lifted up to Heaven beseeching the Divine Powers That they would vouchsafe to keep the City of Rome out of the hands of the Enemy and preserve the Roman Matrons and their Children and little ones from all violence and abuse The Body of the Senate were ready in the Common Hall to give their Advice whenever the Magistrates desired it some having receiv'd their necessary Orders depart every one to his Charge Others offer themselves to be employ'd in any Service where-ever there was occasion Guards are set in the Castle in the Capitol and upon the Walls all places about the City were well man'd the Alban Mount and Castle of Tusculum furnish'd with strong Garrisons But during this Alarm News came that Fulvius the Proconsul was upon his March with an Army from Capua and because he should not according to the common course be abridg'd of his Authority when he came into the City the Senate passed a special Vote That he should have equal Command with the Consuls themselves Annibal having most severely plunder'd and wasted the Fregellanes Country in revenge for their breaking down the Bridges march'd through the Frusinat Ferentinate and Anaguine Territories unto those of the Labici and so by Algidum advanc'd towards Tusculum but being there denied Entrance within their Walls he went a little below it on the right hand to Gabii and so into Pupinia and encamp'd within eight miles of Rome The nearer the Enemy approach'd the more dreadful havock they made and the greater slaughter of the Peasants that fled before them abundance of all Conditions and Ages being taken by his Numidian Horse who scour'd the Country before his Army In this distress and tumult Fulvius Flaccus entred Rome with his Army at the Gate Capena and march'd through the midst of the City along the street Carinae unto Port Esquiline and going forth thereat encamp'd between that and the other Gate called Collina The Aediles of the Commons conveying Provisions and the Consuls and whole body of the Senate likewise repairing thither where they sat in Council about the State of the Commonwealth And agreed it was That the Consuls should also lye encamped not far from the same Gates That C. Calpurnius Praetor of the City should be Governour of the Castle and the Capitol and the Senators be always ready in the Forum to be advised with upon any sudden Accidents In the mean time Annibal was come forwards as far as the River Anio and kept a standing Leaguer but three miles off the City whence he himself in person with two thousand Horse advanc'd up towards the Gate Collina as far as Hercules's Temple and rode all about as near as he could to take a view of the Walls and Situation of the City Flaccus could not without indignation behold him take this liberty to brave them at his pleasure and therefore sent out a body of Horse to beat off the Enemy and send them back to their Camp Whilst they were skirmishing the Consuls gave Order That a Squadron of Numidian Horse to the number of twelve hundred who some time before revolted from the Enemy and at that time lay upon the Aventine Hill should hasten through the City and out at the Esquiline to engage the Enemy as knowing that none were so fit for that Service seeing the ground where they fought was very uneven full of Banks and Vallies Garden-Houses Sepulchres and hollow Ways but when the people at a distance saw them riding
also beyond Sea were checquer'd with interchangeable Fortune King Philip in a very ill time became their Enemy but then the Aetolians and Attalus King of the lesser Asia did voluntarily offer to be their new Allies Fate even then by that Overture seeming to promise them the Empire of the East In like sort the Carthaginians as they lost Capua so they had won Tarentum and as they gloried not a little because without any opposition they had come up to the very Walls of Rome so they were pretty well mortified to find nothing at all gain'd in the end by that Expedition and that they should be so much slighted as whilst they sat before one Gate of Rome an Army of Romans was led forth at another and sent away into Spain And even in Spain also the greater hopes they had were that upon the death of two such renowned Generals and both their Armies routed the War would be at an end and the Romans driven from thence for ever the greater was their vexation to see those Victories rendred vain and of no use to them by the Valour of L. Marcius an unexpected Captain chosen in haste and performing such mighty Acts when they thought themselves sure enough that there was no body to make head against them Thus Fortune poizing their affairs in equal Scales all things were on both sides in a kind of wavering suspense and as well their hopes as their fears ran as high as at the very first moment that the War began But that which most of all gaul'd Annibal was that the seeing Capua more vigorously attacqu'd by the Romans than by him defended had quite alienated the affections of many of the States of Italy neither could he secure them all with sufficient Garrisons unless he meant to Cantonize his whole Army into driblets which would undo him in the Field and on the other side he was not willing by withdrawing his Garrisons to trust to his Allies Fidelity who being once left at liberty might easily be sway'd any way by their hopes or fears At last as he was naturally addicted to Avarice and Cruelty he resolved upon this course to plunder and make spoil of those Cities which he was not able to keep and so leave them wast and empty for the Enemy an Enterprize not more wicked and dishonourable in its first attempt than mischievous to himself in its consequences for he thereby utterly lost the hearts not only of those who actually suffer'd under these unjust violences and rapines but of all the rest besides for though the present loss and calamity reach'd but some few yet every body thought himself concern'd in the Example Nor was the Roman Consul wanting to solicite all such Cities as yielded him any grounds of hope that they might be brought over to the Roman Interest There were in Salapia two Noblemen eminent above all the rest Dasius and Blasius the former a firm Adherent to Annibal the latter as much as he durst favour'd the Romans and by secret Overtures had given Marcellus some hopes of a Revolt but the matter could not be brought about without the concurrence of Dasius wherefore after much musing and long delays he at length resolved rather for want of better Counsel than on any likelyhood of speeding to address himself to Dasius and acquaint him with the design Who not only out of aversion to the thing it self but Envy to the proposer as being the only man in the Town that was his match discovers the Plot to Annibal whereupon they both were summon'd to appear and as Annibal was sitting on his Tribunal dispatching some other affairs that he might anon the better attend unto the accusation of Blasius whilst the Plaintiff and Defendant stood apart by themselves a pretty way from the rest of the people Blasius briskly speaks to Dasius and again solicited him to deliver up the Town to the Romans Upon which Dasius as if now the matter were plain and manifest cries out aloud That even just now in the very presence of Annibal he was again instigating him to practise Treason and betray the City But this seem'd so extravagant a thing that Annibal nor any present could believe it but concluded rather that the accusation proceeded from Emulation and Malice and that therefore he chose to charge him with such a Crime as was not capable of other Witnesses that he himself might more freely devise lies against him and so they were both dismiss'd yet did not Blasius for all that give over this bold attempt but continued baiting of him with perpetual remonstrances how advantagious it would be both to themselves in particular and their Country in general whereby he at last prevail'd with him to consent that the City Salapia and the Punick Garrison there which consisted of five hundred Numidians should be rendred unto Marcellus but this could not be effected without much bloodshed for they were the stoutest Squadron of Horse in all the Carthaginian Army wherefore though they were surpriz'd and their Horses stood them scarce in any stead in the City yet with such Weapons as in that sudden Alarm they could catch up they first attempted to break their way through but finding that impossible they fought still most desperately to the last nor were there above fifty of them taken alive all the rest being kill'd upon the spot and the loss of this Wing of Horse was much more considerable to Annibal than of the City Salapia for never from that day forwards had the Carthaginians the better of the Romans in Cavalry which before was the only advantage they had over them and by which they obtain'd all their Victories About this time the Castle of Tarentum was grievously straitned for provisions and hardly able to hold out the only hope that M. Livius the Governour and the rest of that Garrison had was that they should be supplied from Sicily and for the safe Convoy thereof along the Coast of Italy there rod at Anchor a Fleet well near of twenty Sail before Rhegium The Admiral of which Fleet and of those Vessels appointed to transport Corn from time to time was one D. Quintius a person of obscure Birth but with many brave services he had signaliz'd himself and won much honour in military affairs at first he had the Command but of five Ships whereof two of the greatest which were three-Banked Gallies were allow'd him by Marcellus afterwards for his success in several Conflicts three more were added of five Banks of Oars apiece and at last he himself by calling upon the Confederate Cities as Rhegium Velia and Pastum for their Quota's of Ships which by their Treaties they were to furnish the Romans with made up a pretty Armado consisting as aforesaid of twenty Sail. As this Fleet put off from Rhegium it happen'd in their Voyage that Democrates Admiral of Tarentum with much a like number of Ships came up with them about five Leagues from Tarentum in a Bay call'd The
offering to strike a stroke he betook him to his heels and getting out at a Postern Gate accompanied with Epicides and some few more came down to the Sea-side where meeting very luckily with a small Vessel they went aboard and stood away for Africk leaving the peaceable possession of all Sicily which for so many years had been both the Seat and Prize of their Wars unto the Enemy The rest of the multitude as well Punicks as Sicilians without making any defence running blindly away and finding all passages stopt were cut to pieces at the Gates The Town being secured Laevinus caused the chief Burghers concern'd in the Revolt to be first scourged and then beheaded the rest he sold for Slaves and all the Booty and sent the Money to Rome The report of the Overthrow of Agrigentum being spread through Sicily presently turn'd all their affections to the Romans in a little time twenty Towns were betray'd six taken by storm forty came in and surrendred of their own accord The principal persons of all which Cities the Consul either rewarded or punish'd according to every ones deserts and forced the Sicilians to lay aside their Arms and apply themselves to Husbandry and Tillage that the Island might not only yield Bread enough for its Inhabitants but serve as often heretofore it had done Rome and all Italy with Provisions in a time of scarcity From Agatirna he carried back with him into Italy a lewd Crew of unruly people about four thousand in number being a Gallimausry of all sorts of Rascals banish'd Rogues Bankrupts and notorious Malefactors deserving death by the Laws of those several Cities wherein formerly they dwelt and being run their Country some for one Fact some for another they herded all together at Agatirna and liv'd by Robberies and Rapine Laevinus thought it no good Policy to leave behind him these Rake-hells in an Island scarce yet well setled in Peace lest they should continually prove fuel for new Combustions and therefore took them with him as knowing they would be of ale to the Rhegines to forrage and rove about the Bruttians Country for they had desired a Company that were well acquainted with thieving and stealing and these he thought would fit them And so as for Sicily this year put an end to the War In Spain P. Scipio early in the Spring set his Ships out to Sea and summon'd all the Auxiliaries of the Allies to rendezvous at Tarracon ordering all the Ships both Men of War and Vessels of Burden to stand for the Mouth of the River Iberus whither he also commanded the Legions to march assoon as they left their Winter-Quarters and himself with five thousand of the Associate Auxiliaries from Tarracon repaired thither Upon his first Arrival he thought good to make a Speech especially to the old Souldiers who had gone through so many Brunts and Disasters and therefore having drawn them up in a Body he in the Head of the whole Army spoke to this effect There never perhaps was a new General besides my self that was obliged by Justice and Merit to applaud and return thanks to his Souldiers before ever he had employ'd them But as for me before ever I saw the Camp or this Province Fortune had made me beholding to you first for your Piety and those kind regards you paid to my Father and Uncle both when living and dead And that when this Province was as it were wholly lost by those mighty Overthrows yet you by your Valour recovered the entire possession of it for the People of Rome and me the next Successour in Sovereign Command And now since by the favour and assistance of the Gods we design and resolve not so much to secure our own Residence in Spain as to dispossess the Carthaginians and not leave them any footing there not to stand on the Banks of Iberus to obstruct the Enemies passage but to go over our selves and make their present Quarters the Seat of War I am not without apprehensions that some of you may think it a more great and daring Enterprize than comports either with the fresh remembrance of those late Defeats or my own green and unexperienced Age. Certainly our disasters in Spain no man breathing has reason more to resent or longer to bear in mind than my self as having therein lost both a Father and an Uncle all in less than thirty days space whereby sorrow upon sorrow and one Funeral after another was unfortunately heap'd upon our Family But as this desolate Estate of our private Name where in a manner I alone am left alive of all our Race as oft as I think thereof pierces my heart and wounds me in the tenderest part of my Soul so both the publick Vertue and Fortune of our Commonwealth do again revive my Spirits and will not suffer me to despair since it seems to have been always our Fate to thrive by Afflictions and not to have compleated any Conquests until we first seem'd utterly overthrown and reduced to the last Extremities I shall wave Examples of old times as of Porsena the Gauls or the Samnites and begin only with these Punick Wars How many brave Fleets gallant Commanders and stout Armies did we lose in the former War And what shall I say of this which we are at present engaged in In all our defeats I have been either personally present or where I was absent none has reason to be more sensible of them than I. The River Trebia the Lake Thrasimenus and the Town Cannae what are they else but so many Monuments Sepulchres and Tombs of the Roman Armies there cut to pieces and of their Consuls slain Add hereto the almost general Revolt of Italy Sicily and the greater part of Sardinia Nay add moreover this last affright and terrour when the Carthaginian Tents were pitch'd between the River Anio and the Walls of Rome and from our very Gates we beheld Annibal vaunting himself as a Conquerour In all these ruines and dreadful shocks of our State the Vertue and Courage of the People of Rome held up its head above water upright and immoveable You Gentlemen Souldiers were the first that after the discomfiture at Cannae under the Conduct and good Fortune of my Father put a stop to Asdrubal in his Expedition towards the Alps design'd for Italy who if once he had join'd his Brother Annibal the Roman Name had undoubtedly by this time been extinct which Success balanced and supported all our former Losses At present by the favour of the Immortal Gods our Affairs are in a more smiling condition and grow every day better and better both in Italy and Sicily In the latter Syracuse and Agrigentum are taken the Enemy clear beaten out and the whole Island reduc'd to the Roman Devotion In the former the Town Arpi is recovered by Surrender the City Capua taken by Storm and Annibal himself having in a trembling flight measur'd all the way from Rome to the Bruttians Country in the upper Calabria
desperate service for not only the height of the Wall kept them off but also the same being built as it were indented all along running sometimes out and presently in again wheresoever they approach'd they were liable to be charg'd from thence on both Flanks as well as in the Front But on the other part through the Meer they met with no opposition for neither was the Wall there fortified with any Bullwarks as supposing it defended sufficiently by the Lake nor were there for the same reason any Guards plac'd thereon but all were busy on the other side where there seem'd to be the greater danger Thus the Romans without resistance unexpectedly entred the City and march'd with all Expedition towards that Quarter where the Conflict was and so taken up were the Defendants minds and Eyes some fighting and the rest looking on and encouraging their Fellows that not one of them ever perceiv'd the Town taken behind their backs until the Invaders Darts from thence lighted upon them then finding themselves beset both ways every one endeavour'd to shift for himself the Walls having none left to defend them were mounted the Gate equally batter'd within and without broke all to pieces and the whole Army entred at their pleasure whilst those that were already got over the Wall kill'd all those of the Town they could meet with but the main body march'd in good Order through the midst of the City up to the Market place and seeing the Enemy in their flight did chiefly make two ways some to the Mount on the East-side of the City where was a Guard of five hundred Souldiers others towards the Castle to which Mago himself was retired with most of those who were beat from the Walls Scipio sent a Party to win the Mount who gain'd the same at the first Charge the rest of his Forces he himself led up to attacque the Castle where after some defence Mago finding resistance vain and no hopes left to retrieve so desperate a Game surrendred up the same together with himself and all that were in it Till this Fort was yielded the Execution continued in the City and all those of years they could meet with were put to the Sword but then Command was given that they should forbear further slaughter And the Conquerours generally betook them to ransack and plunder getting a vast Booty and very rich of all kinds There were taken of Free-born People of the Male Sex ten thousand or upwards but such of them as were Natural Citizens of the place Scipio discharged restoring to them such of their Goods as the fury of the Souldiers had left The Handicrafts-men being about two thousand in number he obliged by an Edict to serve the People of Rome in their several Crafts but with a promise that they should in short time be set at liberty if they made haste with those Military Preparations wherein they should be employed The rest of the multitude of Inhabitants such as were young men or stout robust Servants he disposed of in the Navy which he increased with eight Ships now taken from the Enemy But the Spanish Hostages he treated with a peculiar respect and no less kindness than if they had been the Sons of Allies The Warlike Artillery and Provisions here seized on were almost incredible of those Engines called Catapults of the greater sort almost an hundred and twenty and two hundred eighty one smaller ones of Scorpions great and small and of all sorts of Armour and Weapons a mighty quantity together with seventy four Military Ensigns likewise a power of Gold and Silver was carried in to the General two hundred seventy six golden Bowls almost all of them weighing at least a pound a piece of Coined Silver eighteen thousand three hundred pound weight besides abundance of Silver Plate Of all which an Account being taken the same was committed to the Charge of C. Flaminius the Treasurer forty thousand Bushels of Wheat two hundred and seventy thousand of Barley of Merchants Ships and Vessels of Burthen there were one hundred and thirteen taken in the Haven many of them laden with Corn Armour Brass Iron Sail-Cloth Cordage and Timber for Shipping so that the City it self was to be esteem'd as the least part of what the Romans gain'd there The same Evening Scipio having committed the Guard of the City to C. Laelius and the Mariners return'd himself with the Legions to their Camp and order'd his Souldiers to refresh themselves almost quite tired out with the various fatigues of that day as having fought a Battel in the Field and undergone so much toil and danger both in taking the City and afterwards in assaulting the Castle upon great disadvantages The next day having call'd together his Army and the Seamen He in the first place return'd thanks and praises to the Immortal Gods who had been graciously pleased not only to deliver into his hands in one days space the most mighty and opulent City in all Spain but had before heap'd up there almost all the Riches both of Spain and Africk whereby as the Enemies were now to seek of all things and had nothing to help themselves withal so he and his had enough and to spare of whatsoever their hearts could desire Then he proceeded to commend the Courage and Bravery of his Souldiers taking particular notice That neither the Enemies fierce Sally nor the mighty height of the Wall nor the untry'd Fords of the Lake nor the Fort advantageously situated on an Hill nor last of all a most strong and well fortified Castle was able in the least to daunt their Spirits nor hinder them from surmounting and breaking through all these difficulties till they obtain'd compleat possession of Victory And therefore though all and every man of them deserved Rewards at his hands yet the principal Honour of a Mural Crown belonged properly to him that first mounted the Wall and therefore let him that dâ—serves that Honour come in and claim his Due Whereupon there were two that put in for 't Q. Trebellius a Centurion of the fourth Legion and Sext. Digitius a Seaman nor was the Contention so hot for the Prize between these two themselves as amongst the whole Forces divided into two Factions the Land-men taking the formers part wherein they were headed by M. Sempronius Tuditanus and the Seamen the latters for whom also the Admiral C. Laelius himself appeared and made all the interest he could The Debate growing so fierce that it was like to come to a Mutiny Scipio told them he would constitute three Delegates as Judges who upon full hearing of the Cause and Witnesses should determine which of the Pretenders had the Right These Commissioners were C. Laelius and M. Sempronius the Advocates of each Party to whom he added P. Cornelius Caudinus as an indifferent Person between them both but this caused a greater heat of Contention because these Gentlemen before endeavour'd to moderate each Party but they now being taken off by
Spouse has been kept here with no less modesty and reverence than if she had been all this while with your Father and Mother-in-Law her kind Parents Reserv'd she has been and kept for you alone that you might receive her untoucht and as a Present worthy both of you and my self All the return I expect for this gift is That henceforth you will be a Friend and Well-willer to the State of Rome and if indeed you take me to be an honest good man such as all these Nations have known both my Father and Vncle to have been before me then be assur'd That the City of Rome yields abundance more that are like us and that there is not a Nation this day under Heaven that is either a better Friend or a more formidable Enemy The young Prince confounded between an excess of joy and bashfulness held Scipio by the hand and invok'd all the Gods beseeching them to recompence him for this superlative savour on his behalf who should never be able to make acknowledgments for the same sutable either to his own desires or the merits of the thing Then the Maids Parents and Kindred were call'd who since the Lady was restor'd gratis for whose Redemption they had brought a great summ of gold began to intreat Scipio That he would be pleas'd to accept thereof which they should take as the next kindness to that he had done them in delivering their Daughter Scipio seeing them so importunate seems willing to take it and bids them lay it at his Feet Then calling Allucius Here says he besides the Portion you are to have from your Father-in-Law Let me help to encrease your Marriage Fortune take all this Gold and keep it for you and yours So being sent home over-joy'd with these Presents and Civilities he fill'd all the Country with Scipio's Praises and how brave and worthy a person he was telling them There was come over into Spain a young man in all respects resembling the Immortal Gods and who equally vanquisht all men with his Arms and his Courtesies Amongst his Dependents he soon raised fourteen hundred choice Horse and with them return'd to Scipio Laelius continued with Scipio till the Prisoners Hostages and Booty were by their mutual consent dispos'd of and then in a Galley of five Banks of Oars was dispatcht away for Rome with tidings of the Victory withal carrying Mago and about fifteen Senators Prisoners thither Scipio spent those few dayes he design'd to remain at Carthage in exercising his Sea and Land Forces The first day he caused all the Legions to run in their Arms a four-miles-course Next day he employ'd them in scouring and furbishing up their Armour before their Tents The third day they drew up in Parties and charg'd one another as in Battalia but arm'd only with wooden Swords and blunt rebated Darts and Javelins The fourth day they rested The fifth they ran again in their Armour as before and so continued this course of Exercise all the while they quarter'd at Carthage Whilst the Seamen as often as the weather was calm and would permit used to row out into the open Sea and vye one Galley with another for nimbleness and sometimes representing shews of a Sea-fight Thus without the City they were busy in hardening their Bodies and enuring their minds for service both at Sea and Land and within the Town nothing was heard but the clatter of Artificers and Workmen preparing all sorts of military Furniture shut up in divers Shops and Workhouses for that purpose The General had his Eye every where now he was aboard the Fleet by and by exercising himself with the rest of the Legions sometimes he took a view how the Works went on in the Armory and amongst the Shipwrights where every one endeavour'd to out work the other hoping so much the sooner to gain their Liberty Having thus set them to work and repair'd the Walls where there were any breaches or decays leaving a sufficient Garrison he march'd back to Tarracon being met by the way by several Embassies of whom some he presently dispatcht and appointed others to attend him there where he had ordered a General Diet or Assembly to be held by the Deputies of all the Allies old and new and almost all those Nations on this side of Iberus and many of the further Spain appear'd accordingly The Carthaginian Generals industriously suppress'd the report of New Carthage's being taken but when it grew too notorious to be any longer denied or concealed they used all their Art to undervalue it and make it seem as a thing of no great moment That there was indeed one single City of Spain taken by surprize and as it were by stealth in one dayes time which small exploit had so puft up the young man that he fancied it a mighty Victory but when their three Generals and their Victorious Armies should approach him the Ghosts of his Father and his Vncle would begin to haunt him Such like Speeches they gave out amongst the people though in themselves they were sadly sensible how great a blow it was and how much their strength in all respects was decay'd by this loss of New Carthage DECADE III. BOOK VII The EPITOME 1. Cn. Fulvius the Proconsul with his Army is slain at Herdonea by Annibal 2. But Cl. Marcellus the Consul has better Fortune against the same Enemy at Numestrio and obliges Annibal to retreat by night 14 c. Marcellus pursues him and urged him still as he retired until he obliged him to another Engagement 16. Wherein at first Annibal had the better on 't but in the next Fight Marcellus worsted him 17 18. Fabius Maximus the Father being Consul recovers Tarentum by the Treachery of some in that City 20 21. Scipio sights with Asdrubal the Son of Amilcar at Betula in Spain and defeats him where amongst others having taken a Royal Youth of wondrous Beauty he sent him home to his Vncle Massanissa with several Presents 29. Claudius Marcellus and T. Quintius Crispinus the Consuls going out to take a view of the Country are surprized by Annibal with a Stratagem Marcellus being killed and Crispinus escaping by Flight 32 c This Book also contains the Actions of P. Sulpicius the Praetor against Philip and the Achaeans 38. The Censors take a solemn Survey of the City and purged it by Sacrifices where there were enrolled an hundred thirty seven thousand one hundred and eight persons By which Account it appeared how many Romans were lost by the late unfortunate Wars 41 c. Asdrubal having with a fresh Army passed the Alps to join his Brother Annibal is cut off with six and fifty thousand of his men by the Conduct of M. Livius but especially by the good Service of Claudius Nero the other Consul 45. Who being appointed to make head against Annibal left the Camp so privately as the Enemy was not aware of it and with a choice Body of Souldiers surrounded Asdrubal and so defeated
the Enemy had got his Ring therefore if any Letters came in Marcellus's Name or under his Sign Manual they should regard them as Counterfeits and Snares This Message was scarce got to Salapia when Letters were brought thither as from Marcellus That he intended to be there in person the night following and therefore willed the Souldiers that were there in Garrison to be in readiness if he should have any occasion to use them But the Salapians being forewarn'd easily smelt the Plot That Annibal design'd to be reveng'd on them not only for revolting but also for killing his Troopers treated the Messenger who was a Roman Fugitive with very fair words but sent him back that he might not observe how they prepared matters for as soon as he was gone they dispose of all the Townsmen in apt places for Guards round the City and set extraordinary Watches About the Gate where 't was believ'd the Enemy would come was posted the main strength of the Garrison Annibal about the fourth Watch came up to the Town having a Company in the Van that consisted of Roman Fugitives and in Roman Arms who coming to the Gate all spoke Latine and rouzed the Watch bidding them make haste and open the Gate for the Consul was come The Watchmen making as if they had been half asleep when they began to call bustled about and bestirred themselves mightily The Portcullis was let down which some of them with Leavers and Pullies began to pull up as high as a man might go under it upright The passage was scarce open when the Renegado's rush'd in at the Portal striving who should enter first but when about six hundred of the Enemy were got in on a sudden letting go the Rope that held it up down comes the Portcullis with a mighty noise and makes all fast The Deserters that were let in to make a shew as if they were all amongst Friends had their Arms not on their backs but their shoulders as well enough for a March and the Salapians being well arm'd easily cut them to pieces whilst others from the Gates Walls and Bullwarks with Stones Darts and Javelins pelted the rest of the Enemies that were without and drove them off So Annibal caught in his own trap was glad to be gone and march'd to raise the Siege of Locri which Town Cnicius had for some time batter'd furiously with abundance of Engines brought out of Sicily insomuch that Mago the Governour began to despair of defending the place but his hopes were reviv'd first by the news of Marcellus's being kill'd and especially by an Express That Annibal having sent his Numidian Horse before was in Person with the rest of his Army on their March to relieve him Therefore assoon as by a Sign from the Tops of the Hills he understood the Numidians were near hand he flings open the Gate and makes a desperate Sally on the Enemy which caused for a while a doubtful Fight because unexpected and not that he was of equal strength but assoon as the Numidians too charged in the Rear the Romans were so scar'd that they run in droves to the Sea and got aboard their Ships abandoning their Works and leaving behind them all their Engines of Battery and other Artillery So by the approach of Annibal Locri was set free Crispinus after he was advertiz'd that Annibal was return'd to the Bruttians commanded M. Marcellus a Colonel to lead the Army which his Collegue had commanded towards Venusia whilst he himself march'd his Legions to Capua the pain of his Wounds being so grievous that he could scarce endure the shaking of his Horse-litter He sent Letters to Rome of the Death of his Collegue and in what a dangerous condition he was himself so that he could not repair to Rome to hold the Elections both because he thought he should not be able to hold out so tedious a Journey as likewise for that he was in pain for Tarentum lest Annibal should bend his Forces thither out of the Bruttians Country That it would be necessary to send him some discreet and experienced persons with whom he might consult concerning the Affairs of the State The reading of these Letters caused great lamentation for the death of one Consul and no less fear of losing the other Therefore Q. Fabius the Son is dispatched to the Army at Venusia and to the Consul were sent three Commissioners Sext Julius Caesar L. Licinius Pollio and L. Cnicius Alimentus who was but just arriv'd from Sicily They were to acquaint the Consul That if he were not able to come to Town himself he should within some part of the Roman Territories nominate a Dictator for holding the Elections And that if he himself went to Tarentum then the pleasure of the Senate was That Q. Claudius the Praetor should march thence with his Legions into such part of the Country where he might defend most Cities of the Allies The same Summer M. Valerius with a Navy of an hundred Sail passed over from Sicily unto Africk and landing near the City Clupea wasted the Country a long way without any opposition but retir'd in an hurry to their Ships being advertiz'd that the Carthaginian Armado consisting of eighty three Ships was making that way with whom they engag'd not far from the said City Clupea and took eighteen of them and scatter'd the rest and so with a mighty Booty obtain'd both at Sea and Land return'd unto Lilybaeum Likewise this Summer King Philip assisted the Achaeans at their humble request being oppressed by Machanidas the Tyrant of Lacedemonia and also by the Aetolians who wafting an Army over the narrow Sea between Naupactum and Patrae which the Inhabitants call the Rios wasted their Territories There was also a Report That Attalus King of the lesser Asia would make an Expedition into Europe because the Aetolians in their last Diet had chosen him their Protector When therefore Philip made a descent into Greece the Aetolians met him near Lamia under the Conduct of Pyrrhus who was that year created Praetor with King Attalus because the latter was absent but they had with them Auxiliaries from him and almost a thousand from the Roman Fleet sent by P. Sulpicius but Philip routed them in two several Battels with great slaughter in each so that they were glad to shelter themselves within the Walls of Lamia whilst Philip retired unto Phalera a Town in the Gulf of Malea heretofore very populous for its excellent Haven and safe Rodes near hand for Ships to ride in and other advantages both by Sea and Land To this place repaired Embassadours from Ptolemy King of Egypt and from the Rhodians Athenians and Chians as Mediators to take up the Differences between Philip and the Aetolians and of nearer Neighbours there was Aminander Prince of the Athamanians Not that any of these were so much concern'd altogether for the Aetolians a sort of People more fierce and imperious than the Greeks generally use to be but to
at them before they were well got out of the Vale. The Spaniards stooped down at the Weapons which were thrown by the Foe and then rose up again to fling them back again which the Romans receiving as they use upon their Shields that were joyned together at their close order they came by that means Foot to Foot and began to sight with their Swords As to the roughness of the place though it made the swiftness of the Celtiberians whose way it was to run as they fought of no use to them was no great disadvantage to the Romans for they all were accustomed to a standing sort of sighting save that the straitness of it and the brambles that grew there broke their ranks so that they were forced to engage one to one or two to two as in a Duel That therefore which hindered the Enemies slight was at the same the occasion of their being slaughtered as easily as if they had been bound hand and foot And now when almost all the Shield-Men of the Celtiberians were killed the light-armed Men and Carthaginians who came to their assistance from the other Camp were smitten and slain not above two thousand Foot and all the Horse who had scarce yet entered into the Battel escaped with Mago whilst Hanno the other General with them who came last when the fight was over was taken alive almost all the Horse and all the old Foot that were left following Mago came the tenth day to Asdrubal in the Province of Gades The Celtiberian new Souldiers getting into the adjacent Woods fled thence to their own homes By this very seasonable Victory they did not gain near so much by ending that present War as by stifling the cause of a future which was so likely to ensue if the Carthaginians could have perswaded the other Nations to take up Arms as they had done the Celtiberians Wherefore when he had commended Silanus in very kind expressions Scipio having some hopes of putting an end to the War if he did not frustrate it himself by delays went to finish what remained thereof into the farthest part of Spain against Asdrubal The Carthaginian therefore having his Camp in Baetica in order to keep the minds of his Allies to their Allegeance immediately took up his Ensigns and more like a Flight than a March led his Men to the Ocean and to Gades But then imagining that as long as he kept his whole Army close together he should be exposed as a large mark for the Romans to aim at before he passed the Strait to go to Gades he dispersed his Soldiers all about into the several Cities that they might defend themselves within the Walls and the Walls also with their Arms. Scipio observing the War was dissipated all over the Country and that to carry his Men to the several Cities would be a tedious rather than a great task marched back again yet lest he should leave that Region free to the Enemy he sent L. Scipio his Brother with ten thousand Foot and a thousand Horse to attack the most opulent City in those Parts which the Barbarians call Oringin which City is situate in the Consines of the Melessians a Spanish People whose Country is very fruitful though the Inhabitants digg Silver there too That was Asdrubal's head Quarters from whence he made excursions round about upon the inland People Scipio having pitched his Camp near that City before he invested it with any works sent certain Messengers to the Gates to try at that small distance how the Inhabitants stood affected and to perswade them to make experiment rather of the friendship than the force of the Romans but having no peaceful answer he enclosed the City with a Trench and a double Bulwark dividing his Army into three parts with a design that one part should be continually making their assault whilst the other lay still in the mean time When the first part began to attack it the Fight was very bloody and doubtful for they could not easily come near to make use of their scaling Ladders for the Darts that fell upon them from the Walls And now those who had set their Ladders up against the Walls were some of them thrust down with Forks made on purpose whilst others were laid hold on with Iron Hooks and were in danger to be by them pluck'd up to the top Which when Scipio perceived and that the Battel was now pretty equal through the smalness of his numbers yea that the Foe was too hard for him as fighting from the Wall he made the first party retire and fell on with the other two at once which thing put the Enemy who were already tired with fighting with the first into such a fright that not only the Towns People forsook the Walls and ran forthwith away but the Carthaginian Garrison also for fear the City should be betrayed quitting their station betook themselves into one certain place That made the Towns People the more afraid that if the Enemy should once get into the Town they should be all kill'd as fast as they came to hand without any distinction or question whether they were Carthaginians or Spaniards Wherefore streight opening the Gate they ran in great numbers out of the Town holding their Shields before them lest any Darts might be thrown at a distance upon them but holding out their right hands naked that the Romans might see they had thrown away their Swords Whether the Romans did not perceive that by reason of the distance between them or whether they suspected some ill design to be in it I cannot tell but this is certain they fell upon those that were coming out and kill'd them as an opposite Army carrying their victorious Ensigns in at the same Gate In other parts also they cut and broke the Gates open with Axes and Hatchets whilst every Horseman as he came in went according to order directly to take possession of the Forum or Market-place The Horse had a party of Triarii assistant to them and though the Legionary Soldiers went through the other parts of the Town yet they abstained from pillaging any Man that they met except such as defended themselves with Arms. The Carthaginians were all committed to Prison with about three hundred Towns-Men who had shut the Gates the rest had the Town at command and their Goods restored to them There fell at the Siege of that Town about two thousand of the Enemy but not above ninety Romans The taking of that City was not only happy for them that were imployed in it but made their arrival look very glorious to the General and the rest of the Army when they came with such a multitude of Captives before them Scipio therefore having commended his Brother and with as much Rhetorick as he was able compared the taking of Oringin by him with the taking af Carthage by himself because the Winter was now at hand being neither able to attempt Gades nor follow Asdrubal's Army which was
his coming for all the Men that were either in the Fields or in the adjacent Castles of Potidania or Apollonia fled into the Woods and Mountains but the Cattle which for hast could not be driven off were taken and carried into the Ships Having sent these and the rest of the booty with Nicias Governour of the Achaeans to Aegium he went to Corinth and ordered his Foot-Forces to be led thence through Boeotia by Land whilst he himself sailing from Cenchrea along by Attica above Sunium in the middle almost of the Enemies Navies he came to Chalcis There having commended their fidelity that neither hope nor fear had changed their resolutions and exhorted them to remain as constant for the future in their alliance if they desired to be in their present condition rather than to undergo the fortune of the Oritans and Opuntians he sailed from Chalcis to Oreum where having committed the Government and keeping of the City to such of the Nobility as chose rather to run away than surrender themselves to the Romans he crossed over to Demetrias from Euboea whence he first came to assist his Allies After which having laid the keels or foundations of one hundred long Ships at Cassandrea and got together a great number of Ship-Carpenters to perfect that work seeing not only that Attalus's going away but the aid he himself gave to his then oppressed Allies had made all things quiet in Greece he went back into his own Kingdom to make War upon the Dardans At the end of that Summer when these things passed in Greece Q. Fabius Maximus who was sent Embassador from M. Livius the Consul to the Senate at Rome having brought word That the Consul thought L. Porcius with his Legions a sufficient guard to the Province of Gallia so that he might come thence and the consular Army be brought away The Senate ordered not only M. Livius but his Colleague also C. Claudius to return to the City save that there was this one exception in the Decree that M. Livius's Army should be brought away and Nero's Legions that opposed Annibal should stay in the Province Now between the Consuls there was this agreement made by Letters That as they had unanimously carried on the business so though they came out of several Countries they should arrive at the City both on a day and that he who came first to Praeneste should stay there for his Colleague It so happened that they came both to Praeneste at the same time from whence having sent the Edict before hand that three Days after there must be a full Senate held at the Temple of Bellona they approached near to the City out of which the multitude ran in all hast to meet them Nor did the rabble salute them all together but each one for himself desiring to touch the Consuls Conquering Hands some congratulated and other gave them thanks That by their means the Commonwealth was preserved When they therefore having as it is the custom for all Generals told what they had done had likewise required that for their faithful service to the Commonwealth not only the Gods might be honoured but they also have the priviledge to enter in Triumph into the City to which the Senate made answer That they would decree what they required first upon account of the Gods and secondly next to the Gods on the score of the Consuls merits they ordered not only a supplication in both their Names but a Triumph to both of them In which affair lest they two who had unanimously carried on the War should be divided as to the Triumph they made this agreement That since M. Livius had done all his business in his own Province and that day when the Battel was to be 't was his turn to observe the auspicies and so begin the Battel and that Livius 's Army was brought to Rome but Nero 's could not stir out of the Province that therefore M. Livius should enter the City upon a Chariot drawn by four Horses with the Soldiers following of him and C. Claudius should go in on Horse-back without any Souldiers to attend him The Triumph being thus concerted as it augmented he glory of them both so did it most encrease his fame who yeilded as much to his Colleague in point of honour as he outdid him in desert For they said That Man on Horse-back in six days time ran all the whole length of Italy and engag'd with Asdrubal in Gallia the same day that Annibal thought he had pitched his Camp against him in Apulia By which means one Consul for both parts of Italy opposed on the one hand his policy and on the other his Body against two great Captains against two great Commanders That the name of Nero was enough to keep Annibal in his Camp and what was the ruine of Asdrubal but his arrival Wherefore the other Consul might go if he would enthroned upon a lofty Chariot with so many Horses but a true Triumph was carried through the City upon one single Horse and Nero though he went on foot would be renowned both for the glory that he gain'd in that War and that he contemned in that Triumph These discourses of the Spectators pursued Nero as far as the Capitol They brought of Money into the Treasury three millions and eighty thousand Sesterces M. Livius gave the Souldiers fifty six Asses a piece and C. Claudius promised his absent men as much when he returned to the Army It was observed that Day the Soldiers cast forth more jocular Verses upon C. Claudius than upon their own Consul That the Horse commended L. Veturius and Q. Caecilius two Lieutenants very much exhorting the Commons To make them two Consuls for the next year That the Consuls back'd the Horse-mens proposal and the Day following in an Assembly declared before the People what stout and faithful service those two Lieutenants especially had done them When the time of Assembly was now at hand and it was ordered that the Assembly should be held by a Dictator C. Claudius the Consul declared M. Livius his Colleague Dictator and Livius made Q. Caecilius Master of the Horse but he created the same Caecilius also Consul with L. Veturius at the very time when he was Master of the Horse Then the Praetorian Assembly was held and C. Servilius M. Cecilius Metellus T. Claudius Asellus Q. Mamilius Turinus who then was Aedile of the People were created Praetors which Assembly being ended the Dictator laid down his Office and dismissing the Army went by an order of Senate into the Province of Etruria to make inquisition What People of Etruria or Umbria had any intentions to revolt from the Romans to Asdrubal a little before his coming and which of them had assisted him with Men Provisions or in any other manner These things were done that Year at home and abroad The Roman Games were performed thrice over from the beginning to the end by the Aediles Curules chief Surveyors of publick works
and actions and the Plebeian Games also as often by the Plebeian Aediles whose names were U. C. 544 Manius Pomponius Matho and Q Mamilius Turinus In the thirteenth Year of the Punick War when L. Veturius Philo and Q. Caecilius Metellus were Consuls the Province of the Bruttii was given to them both that they might wage War with Annibal Then the Praetors chose their Posts M. Caecilius Metellus the City Q. Mamilius a Foreign Aid C. Servilius Sicily and T. Claudius Sardinia The Armies were thus divided to one of the Consuls that which C. Claudius had who the Year before was Consul and to the other that which Q. Claudius the Propraetor had which was two Legions M. Livius the Proconsul who was continued in Commission for another Year was to have the two Legions of Volunteers in Etruria of C. Terentius the Propraetor And it was decreed that Q. Mamilius who had resigned his Jurisdiction to his Colleague should have Gallia with the Army there commanded by L. Portius the Propraetor he being enjoyned to pillage all those Gallick Countries that had revolted to the Carthaginians upon the arrival of Asdrubal C. Servilius was to take care of Sicily in the same manner as C. Mamilius had done with the two Cannensian Legions The old Army under the command of A. Hostilius was brought out of Sardinia and the Consuâ—s raised a new Legion for T. Claudius to take over along with him thither Q. Claudius was continued in Commission for another Year to be Governour of Tarentum and C. Hostilius Tubulus of Capua M. Valerius the Proconsul whose business it had been to defend the Sea Coast about Sicily was commanded to deliver up thirty Ships to C. Servilius and with all the rest of the Navy to return home In the City which was much concerned for the great jeopardy they were in upon the prospect of such Wars the People laying all the causes of both their good and bad fortune upon the Gods related many strange Prodigies to wit That at Tarracina the Temple of Jupiter and at Satricum that of the Goddess called Mater Matuta were set on fire by Lightning But the Satricans were no less terrified at two Snakes that rowled into the very door of Jupiter 's Temple From Antium News was brought That the ears of Corn appeared bloody to the reapers At Caere there was a Pigg born with two heads and Lamb both Male and Female At Alba they said there were two Suns seen and that at Fregelli it grew light of a sudden in the night time It was reported also That an Oxe was heard to speak in the Roman Dominions and the Altar of Neptune seen to be all over in a sweat in the Circus Flaminius That the Temples of Ceres Salus and Quirinus were fir d by lightning The Consuls therefore were ordered to make greater Sacrifices than ordinary upon the account of these Prodigies and Supplications one Day But that which terrified the minds of men more than all the Prodigies that either were seen at home or told of from abroad was the fires being out in the Temple of Vesta for which that Vestal Virgin who was to look to it that night was whipt with a rod by the order of P. Licinius the Chief Priest Which accident though the Gods had no hand in it but it happened by mere humane negligence was ordered to be atoned for with great Sacrifices and Supplication to be made at the Temple of Vesta Before the Consuls went to the War they were admonished by the Senate That they should take care to restore the Commonalty into the Country again that by the bounty of the Gods the War was removed from the City of Rome and out oâ— Latium so that the People might live in the Country now without fear that it was not fit they should take more care to cultivate Sicily than Italy But this was very difficult to the People not only by reason that the free Inhabitants were lost in the Wars but for want of Servants because their Cattel were driven away and their Villages all demolished or burnt Nevertheless a great part of them compelled by the authority of the Consuls returned into the Country Those that first made mention of this were the Embassadors from Placentia and Cremona who complained That the neighbouring Galls made incursions into their Country which they laid wast and that great part of their husbandmen were gone away their Cities being but thin and their Country wast and desart Mamilius the Praetor was ordered to defend the Colonies from the Enemy The Consuls in pursuance to an order of Senate made an Edict That all who were Citizens of Placentia or Cremona should return before such a day into their Colonies Then in the beginning of the Spring they went to the War Q. Cecilius the Consul received the Army from C. Nero and L. Veturius from Q. Claudius the Propraetor and fill'd it up with new Men that he himself had raised The Consuls led their Army into the Country belonging to Consentia which they pillaged all over But when the Men were laden with spoils they were disturbed by the Bruttii and Numidian Darters in a new pass insomuch that not only the Booty but their Souldiers themselves were in danger though it was a tumult rather than a fight Wherefore having sent their plunder before them the Legions escaped safe into secure Places Thence they marched into Lucania which Country returned and submitted to the Roman People without any fighting There was nothing done with Hannibal that Year for neither did he offer himself having receiv'd such a wound both publick and private nor did the Romans molest him whilst he was at quiet So very great did they think that one Commanders strength to be though all things else about him had been ruined And indeed I know not whether he were more admirable in Prosperity or Adversity For though he were not only in an Enemies Country for thirteen Year so far from home and carried on the War with such variety of fortune and an Army not of his own Countrymen but made up of a mixture of all Nations that had neither the same Laws Customes or Language but different Complections different Garments different Arms different Rites different Religions and almost different Gods too yet he so coupled them together as it were by one common band that they never mutiny'd either among themselves or against their General though he often wanted Money to pay them and Provisions were scarce in the Enemies Country for lack whereof in the former Punick War there was a great deal of mischief done among the Officers and Souldiers But when Asdrubal's Army with its General in whom all hopes of Victory lay was destroyed and Annibal leaving the rest of Italy was got into one corner of it inhabited by the Bruttii who would not wonder that there should never be any disturbance in his Camp For besides other things there was this addition made to his necessities that he
the Carthaginians and the Illiturgitans by betraying and killing such as fled to them for succour had added a new crime to that of their revolt But upon those People at his first coming when Spain was in a doubtful disposition it would not have been to his advantage so much as according to their deserts to have exercised any severities though now when things were all composed because the time of inflicting due punishment upon them seemed to be come he sent for L. Marcius with the third part of his Forces from Tarraco and ordered him to go and attack Castulo whilst he himself with the rest of his Army arrived at Illiturgi in about five Days The Gates were shut and all things set ready for the defence of the Town their Conscience of what they knew they deserved being to them instead of a Declaration of War Then Scipio began to exhort his Souldiers saying That the Spaniards themselves by shutting their Gates shewed not only what they feared but what they deserved wherefore they ought to wage War against them with much more animosity than against the Carthaginians For with these they contended almost without any passion for Empire and Glory only but of those they ought to take revenge for their treachery cruelty and villany That now the time was come in which they might be even with them for the horrid murder of their fellow-soldiers and the treachery that was designed against themselves also if they had fled that way yea that they might make them an example to all posterity and provide that no man should ever think any Roman Citizen or Soldier in any fortune so mean as to injure him The Soldiers being excited by this exhortation of their General divided their scaling Ladders among such Men as they chose out of every maniple and when the Army was so parted between them that Laelius commanded one half as Lieutenant they attacked the frighted City in two places at once Then not one General only or a great many of their Nobility but their own fear being conscious of what they had done perswaded the Towns-men with all speed to defend their City for they remembered and told each other That it was not Victory but Punishment which was sought for of them That it was of great importance where a Man dye whether in a Battel and in the Field where the fortune of War which is common to all men used oftentimes to raise the vanquished and afflict the conquerour or whether when their City was burnt and demolished they expired before the faces of their Wives and Children by stripes and bonds suffering all the cruelties and indignities imaginable Wherefore not only those of military age or Men but Women also and Boys came thither to assist them even above their strength either of body or mind reaching them Weapons as they fought and Stones to fortifie the Walls For it was not the Liberty alone which was at stake for which the Valiant were most concern'd but the extremity of all Punishments and ghastly Death was before all their Eyes Their minds were inflamed not only with striving who should take most pains or undergo most danger but even by looking at one another also Wherefore the Fight was begun with so much ardour that that very Army which subdued all Spain being often repelled by the Youth of that one Town was put to a dishonourable plundge Which when Scipio saw fearing lest by so many vain attempts of his Men his Enemies courage should increase and his Soldiers grow more disheartened he thought it his business to endeavour to bear a share in the danger and chiding the Soldiers sloth commanded the Ladders to be brought to him threatening That he himself if the rest were afraid would get up Accordingly he went with no small hazard under the Walls at which a shout was set up round about by the Soldiers who were much concerned for their General and Ladders began to be erected in several Places at the same time On the other side Laelius made his onset whereby the strength of the Towns-men was overcome the Defendants knock'd down and the Walls seized The Castle also on that side where it seemed impregnable was taken in the hurly-burly The African Fugitives who at that time were among the Roman Auxiliaries whilst the Towns-men were imployed in defending those Places where they thought there was most danger and the Romans got up whereever they could make their approaches spied a very high part of the City which because it was covered with an exceeding high Rock was neither fortified with any works nor had any men to defend it They therefore being light-timber'd Men and through much exercise very nimble carried Iron Spikes along with them and clim'd up where they could by the unequal prominencies of the Rock But where it was in any Place too steep and smooth they stuck their Spikes in at small distances and made steps as it were the first of them helping those that followed up by their hands and the last heaving up such as went before them till they came to the top Then they ran down into the City which was already taken by the Romans Then it appear'd that the City was attack'd merely out of spleen and hatred since no one was desirous to take any live Prisoners nor minded the Plunder though every thing lay wide open to their rapine they only kill'd both arm'd and unarmed Women as well as Men yea their cruel fury proceeded even to the slaughter of Infants Then they put fire to the Houses and demolished those they could not burn so earnest they were to obliterate the very footsteps of that City and rase the very memory of their Enemies seat From thence Scipio led his Army to Castulo which City not only the Spaniards that came thither but also the remainder of the Punick Army that was left since their being routed and scattered to all parts stood in defence of But the News of the slaughter at Illiturgi had prevented Scipio's arrival whereupon a terrour and despair had seized on all the Castulonians and upon several accounts since every single Person would consult his own Interest without regard to any body else there arose first a tacite jealousie and then open discord made a division between the Carthaginians and the Spaniards The latter of whom were publickly perswaded by Cerdubellus to make a surrender Himilco commanded the Punick Auxiliaries all whom and the City by a private compact Cerdubellus betrayed to the Romans But that Victory was more mild than the former nor were these People guilty of so great a crime besides that their voluntary surrender had taken off some part of the Enemies fury Then Marcius was sent to reduce the Barbarians if any there were not yet in perfect subjection to the Roman Empire Scipio went back to Carthage to pay his vows to the Gods and set forth the fencing Prize which he had designed upon account of the death of his Father
of the Commonwealth I do not value your honour above the publick good If indeed there were either no War in Italy or the Enemy such an one as that a man could get no credit by conquering of him he that should keep you in Italy though he did it for the publick good might seem to go about to rob you of an opportunity of going to War and gaining great glory there But seeing Annibal has been our Enemy and with an entire Army beset Italy for these fourteen years will you be sorry P. Cornelius to lose your glorious opportunity in Africa if whilst you are Consul you drive such an Enemy who has been the cause of so much death and slaughter among us out of Italy And if as C. Lutatius had the honour to end the last Punick War so you have of this unless Amilcar is to be preferr'd for a General before Annibal or that War to this or that Victory may probably be more glorious and honourable than this if it so fall out that we whilst you are Consul overcome him would yoâ— rather draw Amilcar from Drepanum and Eryce than drive the Carthaginians and Annibal out of Italy Even you your self though you love the glory you have gain'd more than what you hope for would not boast more of their having deliver'd Spain from War than you would of freeing Italy from the same misfortunes Annibal is not yet so abject but that whoever chuses another War must needs seem rather to fear than slight him Do you prepare for this then and go thus round about so as that when you are got into Africa you hope Annibal will follow you rather than bend your Forces straight to the place where Annibal is Are these the glorious Palms that you aim at for a reward of your ending the Punick War This ought to take precedence even in Nature that when you have defended your own Country you should go to oppose a foreign Land Make peace in Italy before you raise a War in Africa and let us be rid of our fear before we procure any such to others If you by your Conduct and good Fortune can do both with all my heart when you have conquer'd Annibal take Carthage But if one of those Victories must needs be left to new Consuls the former as it is greater and of more renown so it will be after that the occasion of another For now besides that the Treasury cannot maintain two several Armies in Italy and Africa besides that we have not wherewithal to keep up our Navies nor can supply sufficient provisions for them who does not see what mighty dangers we run into P. Licinius will make a War in Italy and P. Scipio in Africa What if Annibal which all the Gods forbid and I tremble to speak it though what has happen'd may happen again should be victorious and advance as far as this City shall we then send for you our Consul out of Africa as we did for Q Fulvius from Capua I need not say that the event of War will be the same in Africa as here Your Family your Father and Vncle who were slain with their Armies in thirty days may be an example to you who by your great Exploits both at Sea and Land had so augmented the fame of your own Family and the Roman People among Foreign Nations The time would fail me if I should reckon up the Generals that have rashly ventur'd over into an Enemies Country to the great damage of your own persons and loss of their Arms. The Athenians a very prudent People who left a War at home by the advice of a Youth who was as active as noble and went over with a great Navy into Sicily quite ruined their flourishing Commonwealth in one Sea-fight But I repeat things that are foreign and ancient This very same Country of Africa and M. Atilius may be a signal Example to us of both sorts of Fortune Let me tell you P. Cornelius when you come within sight of Africa your Conquests in Spain will seem to have been but sport and pastime to you For what comparison is there When you went to Spain you coasted along by Italy and France through a calm and peaceable Sea till your Navy arrived at Emporiae a City belonging to our Allies where setting your men ashore you led them all through safe places to the Friends and Associates of the Roman People at Tarraco from whence again you march'd throuâ—h Roman Garrisons all along till you came to the River Iberus where round about there lay the Armies of your Father and Vncle who after they had lost their Generals were incens'd by that very misfortune and that great man L. Marcius who though he were a tumultuary Leader and chosen in haste by the Suffrage of the Soldiery for a time only yet if he had had the Ornaments of Nobility and equal Honours would not have been inferiour to the most famous Commanders in any part of military skill Then Carthage was attack'd with all the ease imaginable whilst ne're an one of three Punick Armies would defend their Allies All other things nor do I lessen them were no ways comparable to a War with Africa in which you have ne're a Port for our Navy ne're a Country at peace with us ne're a City that is our Ally or a King our Friend no place to lye still nor no place to march forward in Where-ever you look about you all things appear at enmity with you Rashness is not always successful and fraud procures it self credit by small things that when occasion serves it may cheat to greater advantage Their Enemies did not circumvent your Father and Vncle with their Arms sooner than the Celtiberians their Allies with fraud nor were you your self in so much danger from Mago and Asdrubal the Enemiâ—s Generals as from Mandonius and Indibilis whom you had receiv'd into friendship And can you trust the Numidians who have experienced a defection in their own Soldiers Both Syphax and Masinissa wish themselves to be the most puissant Princes in all Africa rather than the Carthaginians should be most powerful and the Carthaginians to be before any body else At present indeed an emulation between them and all occasions of quarrelling provoke them against each other because they have no foreign Foe to fear but do you once shew them Roman Arms and a foreign Army they will run together as if it were to quench a common Conflagration Those same Carthaginians who made but a weak defence in Spain will defend the Walls of their Country the Temples of their Gods their Altars and Houses at another guise rate Now when as they go to Battel their fearful wives follow them and their small children meet them But then besides all this what if the Carthaginians confiding in the agreement of Africa the fidelity of the Kings their Allies their own Walls when they see Italy bereft of that assistance which you and your Army could give it
Assembly and chid them very severely for their revolt upon the Authors thereof he inflicted certain punishments and gave their Goods to the Nobility of the other Faction for their great fidelity to the Romans saying That he would neither give the Locrians any thing nor take any thing from them publickly but that they should send Ambassadors to Rome and should have such fortune as the Senate thought fit Yet one thing he was sure of that though they had deserv'd but very ill of the Roman People they would be in a better condition under the Romans though enraged at them than they had been under the Carthaginians their pretended Friends After that he himself leaving Q. Pleminius the Lieutenant and the Garrison that had taken the Castle to defend the City went over to Messana with the same Force that he brought thence The Locrians had been so tyrannically and cruelly used by the Carthaginians after their Revolt from the Romans that they seemed to bear any moderate injuries not only with a patient but even almost with a willing mind But indeed Pleminius did so far exceed Amilcar who had been Governour of the Garrison and the Roman Soldiers that were there the Carthaginians in wickedness and avarice that they seemed to contend not with arms but with vices Nor was there any thing omitted that makes the condition of a more powerful man hateful to the helpless either by the Commander or his Men but they committed unspeakable outrages upon their own Bodies their Wives and Children Nay more their avarice did not abstain from Sacriledge it self for they violated not only other Temples but that of Proserpina also wherein were Treasures that had been untouch'd in all Ages save that they were said to be plunder'd by Pyrrhus who yet brought back his spoils with expiatory Sacrifices for his crime And as before the Kings Ships being torn to pieces in wracks brought nothing whole to shore except the Goddesses Money that they carried away so then also in another kind of misfortune that same Money made all of them who were concern'd in the violating of that Temple so mad that they turn'd mortal Enemies to one another Officer against Officer and Soldier against Soldier Pleminius was Governour of all though part of the Soldiers which he brought along with him from Rhegium were under him and part under the Tribunes A Soldier belonging to Pleminius having stollen a silver Cup out of a Townsmans house as he was running away with it those that own'd it pursuing him he met by chance with Sergius and Matienus Tribunes of the Soldiery by whose command the Cup was taken from him But that caused a noise a quarrel and at last a fight too between Pleminius's Soldiers and those of the Tribunes the multitude and mutiny still increasing according as every man came seasonably up to his Party Pleminius's Soldiers who were overcome having flock'd to Pleminius and shewn their blood and wounds not without roaring and indignation with a relation how he himself also was abused by ill language he all inflamed with anger ran out of his house forthwith and order'd the Tribunes being called before him to be stript and the rods made ready But whilst they were about taking off their cloaths which was a good while for they made resistance and called upon the Soldiers for assistance there came on a sudden a throng of Soldiers flush'd with their late Victory from all places as though they had had an Alarm to fight against an Enemy And when they saw the Tribunes bodies so cut with the rods they being then much more incens'd fell foul upon the Lieutenant without any respect either to Authority or even Humanity it self having first been very severe upon the Lictors and having got him apart from his own Men they tore him in such an hostile manner that mangling his Ears and his Nose they left him for dead When this News came to Messana Scipio after a few days came in a Gally with six ranks of Oars to Locri and having heard the cause between Pleminius and the Tribunes acquitted Pleminius whom he left in Garrison there but condemn'd the Tribunes and committed them to Prison in order to their being sent to the Senate at Rome himself returning to Messana and thence to Syracuse Pleminius being unable to contain his passion and thinking that the injury done to him was neglected or at least not sufficiently resented by Scipio for that no man else could possibly tell how it ought to be revenged but he that had felt the smart thereof by enduring it commanded the Tribunes to be brought before him and having torn them with all the severities that any body is able to suffer killed them nor was he satisfied with punishing of them alive only but threw them forth unburied also He used the same cruelty likewise to the Locrian Nobility who he heard went to Scipio to complain of injuries which he had done them and those things which he had done before so barbarously through lust or avarice to them whilst they were his Friends he then in his anger multiply'd them insomuch that his actions brought infamy and envy not to himself alone but to the Emperour And now the time of the Assembly was at hand when a Letter came from P. Licinius the Consul to Rome That he and his Army were afflicted with a grievous disease nor could they subsist unless the same or a worse distemper befel the Enemy Wherefore because he could not come to the Assembly in person he would if the Senate pleased declare Q. Caecilius Metellus Dictator for that Assembly it being necessary to the good of the Commonwealth that Q. Caecilius 's Army should be disbanded For there was neither any use of them at present now that Annibal was gone into his Winter-quarters but the distemper was so hot in that Camp that unless they were quickly disbanded there would not be one man of them left alive Thereupon the Senate left it to the Consul to do what he thought fit with respect to the common good and his own integrity At that time there was a superstitious humor got into the City which sprang from a Verse found in the Sibylls Books that were lookt into upon the account of its having frequently that year rain'd stones and the Verse was this That whensoever any foreign Enemy invaded Italy he might be driven thence and vanquished if the Image of Cybele called Mater Idaea were brought from Pessinus to Rome This Verse found out by the Decemviri moved the Senate so much the more because the Ambassadors also who carried the Offering to Delphi brought word not only that the Entrails when they sacrificed to Apollo gave them very joyful tokens but also that their Oracles answer was That for a greater Victory than that out of the spoils whereof they made that Present was shortly like to happen to the Roman People To which as a confirmation of their hopes they added Scipio's foresight as it
were concerning the end of the War when he desir'd the Province of Africa Wherefore to make themselves sure of that Victory which was thus portended by Prophecies Omens and Oracles they consulted which way they should get this Goddess over to Rome The Roman People at that time had no Alliance with any of the Cities in Asia yet remembring that Aesculapius also was sent for out of Greece even before they were in League with that Country upon the score of the Peoples health and now since they had newly contracted a Friendship with King Attalus by means of their common War against Philip so that he was like to do all he could for the Roman Peoples sake they sent Ambassadors to him to wit M. Valerius Laevinus who had been twice Consul and done great things in Greece M. Caecilius Metellus a Praetorian fit to be a Praetor or a Praetors Fellow Ser. Sulpicius Galba an Aedilitian an Aediles Fellow and two Questorians Questors Fellows C. Tremellius Flaccus and M. Valerius Falco To these men they allotted five Gallies of five banks of Oars that they might go to those Countries where the Majesty of the Roman Nation was to be kâ—pt up in such a Port as became the Dignity of the Roman People They therefore in their way to Asia went first to Delphi and consulted the Oracle there what hopes it would give them and the Roman People that they should effect the business for which they were sent on an Embassy from Rome To which 't is said the Oracle made this answer That by means of King Attalus they should obtain what they sought And bid them when they had brought the Goddess to Rome to take care that the best man in all that City should entertain her They accordingly came to the King at Fergamus who receiv'd them very courteously and carried them to Pessinus in Phrygia where he deliver'd unto them the Sacred stone which the Inhabitants said was the Mother of the Gods commanding them to convey it to Rome Then M. Valerius Falco being sent before brought word from the Ambassadors That the Goddess was a coming and that they must seek out the best man in the whole City to receive her into his house with all due Ceremony Q. Caecilius Metellus was at that time declar'd Dictator by the Consul in the Country of the Bruttii to hold the Assembly and his Army disbanded whose Master of the Horse was L. Veturius Philo. The Dictator therefore held the Assembly in which they made for Consuls M. Cornelius Cethegus and P. Sempronius Tuditanus when he was absent in the Province of Greece which was then committed to his Administration After that they chose Praetors to wit T. Claudius Nero M. Martius Ralla L. Scribonius Libo and M. Pomponius Matho When the Assembly was over the Dictator quitted his Oâ—fice The Roman Games were thrice perform'd anew and the Plebeian ones seven times Cneius and L. Cornelius Lentulus were the two Curuâ—e Aediles chief Aediles of whom Lucius had the Province of Spain who being chosen in his absence he though absent bore that Honour T. Claudius Asellus and M. Junius Pennus were the Plebeian Aediles That year M. Marcellus dedicated the Temple of Virtue at the Gate called Porta Capena in the seventeenth year after his Father had vow'd so to do in Gaul at Clastidium when he was first Consul M. Aemilius Regillus also who was the Flamen Martialis i. e. Mars's Priest died that year For that two years the affairs of Greece were much neglected Whereupon Philip seeing the Aetolians quite deserted by the Roman in whose assistance only they had any confidence forced them to desire and make a Peace upon what Terms he himself pleased Which if he had not done with all speed P. Sempronius the Proconsul who was sent as Successor in his Command to Sulpicius had with 10000 Foot 1000 Horse and 30 Ships of War which was no small preparation to succour an Ally most certainly ruin'd him as he was making War against the Aetolians Assoon as the Peace was just made there came a Messenger to the King and told him That the Romans were come to Dyrrachium that the Parthini and other Neighbour Nations were put in hopes of some innovation and that Dimallum a City was attack'd For the Romans had turn'd their Forces that way instead of going as they were order'd to assist the Aetolians being angry that they had made a Peace with the King against the League it being done without their consent When Philip heard that lest there should any great stirs arise among the neighbouring Nations and People he went great days journies till he came to Apollonia whither Sempronius was gone having sent Laetonius the Lieutenant with part of the Forces and 15 Ships into Aetolia to see how things stood and break off if he could the Peace Philip laid waste the Lands belonging to the Apolloniates and drawing his Men up to the City gave the Romans an opportunity of fighting But seeing that they were content only to defend their Walls and be quiet nor thinking himself strong enough to attack the City he desire to make with the Romans as he had done with the Aetolians a Peace if he could or at least a Truce and without provoking them any more by a fresh quarrel return'd into his own Kingdom At that time the Epirotes tired out with a tedious War having first inquired into the Romans inclination thereunto sent Ambassadors to Philip about making a general Peace saying That they were sure it would be concluded upon if he came to a Parley with P. Sempronius the Roman General He was easily induced for the King himself was not averse to it to come over into Epirus Phoenice is a City of Epirus where the King having first had a Conference with Eropus Dardas and Philip Generals of the Epirotes he afterward met with Sempronius There was also at that Conference Aminander King of the Athamanes with other Magistrates of the Epirotes and Acarnanians Of whom General Philip first made a Speech and begg'd both of the King and the Roman General that they would make an end of the War and so far favour the Epirotes P. Sempronius made the Conditions of Peace which were That the Parthini Dimallum Bargulum and Eugenium should be subject to the Romans but that Atintania if upon sending Ambassadors to Rome he could get the Senates leave should be under the Macedonian The Peace therefore being made upon those Terms there were brought into the same League by the King Prusias King of Bithynia the Achaeans Boeotians Thessalians Acarnans and Epirotes and by the Romans the Ilienses King Attalus Pleuratus Nabis Tyrant of Lacedaemon the Eleans Messenians and Athenians These Conditions were signed and sealed and a Truce made for two months till they could send Ambassadors to Rome to get the people there to allow a Peace upon such Conditions Accordingly all the Tribes consented to it because since the War was turn'd into Africa they
full of Soldiers and therefore hasted by great marches to Zama Zama is five days journey from Carthage from whence the Spies that he sent before being taken by the Roman Guards and brought to Scipio he committed them to the Tribunes of the Soldiers and bade them without any fear to visit all parts of the Camp ordering them to be carried which way they would And then having asked them Whether they had seen as much as they thought necessary he order'd some Men of his to be their Convoy and sent them back to Annibal Annibal was not well pleased to hear any thing that they told him for they said among other things that Masinissa also chanced to come that very day with 6000 Foot and 4000 Horse but was most dismay'd at the confidence of his Enemy which he thought was not built upon an ill foundation Wherefore though he himself were the cause of that War and that by his coming he had broken the Truce and frustrated the hopes of their mutual Leagues yet supposing that he might obtain an easier Peace if he desired it whilst his Army was still entire than when it was conquered he sent a Messenger to Scipio to desire the favour of a Parley Whether he did so of his own accord or by publick advice I cannot positively say But Valerius Antias says That he was overcome in the first Battle by Scipio in which there were 12000 Soldiers slain upon the place 1700 taken and that the former Ambassadors with ten more came into the Camp to Scipio Who not refusing to come to a Parley both the Generals by consent advanced their Camps that they might meet at a nearer distance Scipio sate down not far from the City of Nadagara that being a place convenient as upon other accounts so also for that they could have water within a Darts cast of it Annibal posted himself upon an Hill 4000 paces from thence which was safe and otherwise very convenient save only that their watering place was a great way off And in the midst between them both there was a Plain that they might look all over and see that there were no Ambuscades laid They therefore leaving their Arms at an equal distance behind them came together with each of them an Interpreter being not only the two greatest Generals of their time but equal to any King or Commander that ever was heard of in any Country For some small time they gazed upon each other and silently stood almost astonished with mutual admiration till Annibal first began Since the Fates have so decreed That I who first made War upon the Roman People and who so often had Victory even in my hands should come of my own accord to desire a Peace I am glad that I have happen'd to meet with you above all men living to beg it of Nor will it be amidst all their glories the least of their commendations that Annibal to whom the Gods had given the Victory over so many Roman Generals should yield to you and that you should put an end to this War which was more remarkable for yours than for our misadventures My Case presents you also with this strange turn of Fortune that I who took up Arms when your Father was Consul and fought a set Battle with him as Roman General should now come to his Son unarmed to sue for Peace It had indeed been best for our Forefathers if the Gods had given them such minds as that you might have been content with Italy and we with Africa for Sicily and Sardinia do not make even you amends for so many Navies so many Armies and so many brave Generals as you have lost But what is past may more easily be reprehended than amended We have so far desired other peoples possessions that we have fought for our own nor was there only a War upon you in Italy and upon us in Africa but you also have seen almost at your very Gates and upon your Walls the Ensigns and Arms of your Enemies and we from Carthage it self have heard the noise of a Roman Camp What therefore we should most abominate and you above all things wish we come to treat of Peace whilst you are in prosperity and we who are concerned in the Treaty are such sort of persons not only whose greatest interest it is to have a Peace but also to whom whatsoever we do our Cities will ratifie and confirm We only want a mind that does not abhor the thoughts of quiet For my part my age has now instructed me who am going an old Fellow into the Country whence I came a meer Boy nor only age but prosperity and adversity both have so far taught me that I had rather follow Reason than Fortune But I fear thy youth and perpetual felicity are too unruly both to endure the advice of quiet thoughts For he does not easily consider the dubious events of Fortune whom she hath never deceived What I was at Thrasymenum and at Cannae that you are now Fortune has never failed you though you were hardly old enough to bear Arms when you were first put into Commission for you attempted all things with the greatest audacity imaginable You revenged your Fathers and your Vncles death and from the misfortune of your Family receivedst signal renown for thy Courage and Piety you have recovered the two Spains that were lost and driven out four Punick Armies thence Then being created Consul when others had not courage enough to defend Italy you went over into Africa and having here slain two Armies and at the same time taken and burnt two Camps taken Syphax a most puissant King Prisoner with so many Cities belonging both to him and us hast drawn me also who have staid there now full sixteen years out of Italy Your mind may well desire Victory rather than Peace I know you have a great rather than an useful Spirit and Fortune favour'd me too once as she now does you But if in our prosperity the Gods would infuse into us good thoughts we should consider not only what had but what might happen But that you may forget all others I am a sufficient example for you in all cases For I who lately having pitch'd my Camp between the River Anien and the City you saw just ready to scale the Walls of Rome am now before you bereft of two stout Men that were my Brothers and famous Generals near the Walls of my almost besieged Country to deprecate those things for the sake of mine own wherewith I terrified your City A man should always give least credit to the greatest Fortune Now you are prosperous and we in doubtful circumstances you look upon Peace to be great and specious in you who grant it but in us who desire it it seems rather necessary than honourable Yet let me tell you a certain Peace is better and more safe than a Victory we only hope for The former is in their disposal but the latter in the power
he proposed the getting the Achaean Youth out of Peloponnesus as so many Hostages to engage their Nation in the Roman War To which Cycliades General of the Achaeans thinking it to no purpose to speak said only this that by the Laws of the Achaeans it was not lawful to propose any other thing in Council but what they were called together about and so making a Decree for the raising of an Army against Nabis he dismissed the Council with the same Courage and freedom that he held it though before that time he was lookt upon to be one of King Philips Creatures Philip therefore being frustrated in his great hopes raised some few Volunteers returned to Corinth and so into Attica At that very time when Philip was in Achaia Philocles the Kings Prefect coming out of Euboea with two thousand Thracians and Macedonians to ravage the Confines of the Athenians he passed over the Mountain Cytheron over against Eleusis Where sending half of his men round about to plunder the Country he lay with the rest close in a place very fit for an Ambuscade that if any Sally should be made from the Castle of Eleusis upon his men whilst they were at their work he might surprize the Enemy as they came thronging out But his Ambuscade was discovered and therefore having recall'd those Souldiers that were gone a plundering and put them in a way to attack the Castle he went to Eleusis but coming back from thence much wounded he joined himself to Philip who was then coming out of Achaia The King himself also attempted to take that Castle But the Roman Ships coming from Piraeeus with a Guard that was admitted into it forced him to desist from the Enterprize After that having divided his Army the King sent Philocles with part of it to Athens and with the rest went himself to Piraeeus to the end that whilst Philocles by drawing near their Walls and threatning them with an Assault kept the Athenians within their City he might have an opportunity to take the Piraeeus when it was left with so small a Guard But his attempt upon the Piraeeus was full as difficult as that upon Eleusis because there were almost all the same persons to defend it Wherefore from the Piraeeus he immediately marched to Athens from whence being repulsed by a sudden eruption of the Foot and Horse between the two half demolished Walls that join the Piraeeus to Athens he desisted from attacking the City and having again divided the Army between himself and Philocles went to pillage the Country But having committed the former outrage by demolishing of the Sepulchres about the City he caused all the Temples of their Gods that were lookt upon as sacred in any Village to be burnt and demolished The Country of Attica being very curiously adorned with that sort of works by reason both of its native Marble and the ingenuity of its Artificers gave occasion to this mad action of his For he was not content only to demolish the Temples and overturn the Statues but he ordered the stones also to be broken a pieces lest if they were left whole they might serve to repair the Ruines And when his fury was not so much satisfied as it wanted matter to work upon he went out of the Enemies Country into Boeotia nor did he do any thing else worth the speaking of in Greece The Consul Sulpicius at that time was Encamped between Apollonia and Dyrrbachium near the River Apsus whither he sent for T. Apustius his Lieutenant and dispatched him away with part of the Forces to plunder the Enemies Confines Whereupon Apustius having pillaged all the Borders of Macedonia and taken Corrhagum Gerrhunium and Orgessus three Castles at the first Effort came to Antipatria a City situate in a very narrow avenue Where first calling out the chief men of the place to a Parley he endeavoured to perswade them to put themselves under the protection of the Romans but afterward seeing that they slighted what he said as trusting in their numbers their Walls and the situation of their City he stormed and took it killing all those that were of Age and giving all the plunder to the Souldiers besides that he demolished the Walls and burnt the whole Town This dreadful news made Codrion a Town sufficiently fortified and strong enough surrender it self to the Romans without any more ado Where having left a Guard he took Ilion a name more known upon the account of a City so called in Asia than upon the score of this Town by force of Arms. But as the Lieutenant returned to the Consul with a vast Booty one Athenagoras a Prefect of the Kings setting upon his Reer whilst he passed a certain River put the hindmost of his men into disorder Upon whose shouts and consternation the Lieutenant riding swiftly back again made the Army face about and having placed the Baggage in the middle set his Army in Array but the Kings men could not endure the shock of the Romans Many of them were slain and more taken so that the Lieutenant leading his Army safe back to the Consul was thence sent forthwith to the Fleet. The War being begun with such success the petit Kings and Princes that border upon Macedonia came to the Roman Camp Pleuratus son of Scordiletus Aminander King of Athamanes and of the Dardanes Bato son to Longarus Longarus had waged War upon his own account against Demetrius Philips Father Who promising their assistance received this answer from the Consul That when he brought his Army into Macedonia he would make use of the Dardanes and of Pleuratus as Auxiliaries imploying Aminander to instigate the Aetolians To Attalus's Embassadors for they also were come thither at the same time he gave order That the King their Master should stay for the Roman Navy at Aâ—gina where he wintered and joyning it should engage Philip as he had done formerly in a Sea Fight Nor did Philip prepare more slowly for the War being now got into Macedonia sending his Son Perseus a very Boy and some of his Favourites to instruct and guide the Lads nonage with part of his Forces to besiege the Streights that are at Pelagonia Then he demolished Sciathus and Peparethus lest they might prove a prey and a reward to the Enemy sending Embassadors to the Aetolians lest that Nation being disturbed at the coming of the Romans should revolt Now there was a Convention to be of the Aetolians upon a set day which they call Panaetolium a meeting of all the Aetolians at which that they might be present not only the Kings Embassadors made great hast but L. Furius Purpureo also sent from the Consul came in quality of an Embassador Embassadors likewise from the Athenians met at that Convention But first the Macedonians with whom they had made the latest League had Audience VVho seeing there was no new matter said They had nothing of News to tell them for upon the same grounds that they having
and Syracuse to our charge To Rhegium I confess in the time of the War with Pyrrhus we at the request of the Rhegians themselves sent a Legion to assist them who made themselves Masters of that City that they were sent to defend But did we approve of that injustice No we persecuted that wicked Legion which when we had subdued and forced to give our Allies satisfaction at the expence of their Necks we restored their City Country and all they had with their Liberties and Laws back to the Rhegians When the Syracusans were oppressed by Foreign Tyrants to make their oppression appear the more grievous after we had assisted them and been fatigued for three years together both by Sea and Land in attacking well fortified Cities seeing that the Syracusans themselves chose rather to be enslaved to Tyrants than to be taken by us we took and restored their City when we had freed it with the same Arms. Nor do we deny that Sicily is our Province or that some Cities that were on the Carthaginians side unanimously making War against us as their Allies are stipendiary and tributary more to us But on the other hand we would have both you and all People else to know that we have made each of their conditions proportionable to their deserts Must we repent for punishing the Campanians an act which they themselves cannot complain of These People after we had fought for them against the Samnites almost seventy years to our great loss after we had obliged them to us first by a League secondly by intermarriages and consequently by all the bonds of consanguinity and lastly by making them free of our City these very People I say in the time of our misfortunes were the first in all Italy who having barbarously murdered our Garison revolted to Annibal and then being incensed that we should besiege them sent Annibal to attack Rome Now if neither their City nor so much as a man of them were yet alive who could say but they had suffered according as they deserved More of them through consciousness of the ill things which they had done kill'd themselves than were put to death by us And from the rest we only so far took away their Town and Country that we still allowed them an habitation letting their innocent City stand as secure as that whosoever at this day sees it will find no sign at all of its being stormed or taken But what do I talk of Capua when we granted a Peace and liberty even to Carthage after we had conquer'd it Our greatest danger is lest by pardoning those we conquer too easily we incite more people for that very reason to try the fortune of War against us So much in our defence and against Philip whose domestick Parricidies and slaughters of his nearest Relations and Friends with his Lust more inhumane if possible than his Cruelty you who live nearer to Macedonia are better acquainted with than we are As for you Aetolians we undertook a War upon your account against Philip and you made a Peace with him without our knowledge But perhaps you 'll say that when we were engaged in the Punick War you were forced for fear to admit of Terms of Peace from him who then was more powerful and that we also having greater things upon our hands our selves omitted the War that you had laid down 'T is true but now by the bounty of the Gods seeing the Punick War is made an end of we bend all our strength against Macedonia and you have good opportunity of restoring your selves into our Friendship and Alliance unless you had rather perish with Philip than conquer with the Romans When the Roman had said this all of them were inclined to the Roman side but Damocritus Praetor of the Aetolians who as the report goes had received money from the King Philip assenting to neither party said That nothing was so injurious to publick Counsels as hastiness For it was attended with swift repentance though too late and to no purpose since counsels hurried so precipitately on could not be either recalled or amended But that a time might be now appointed for that deliberation whereof he thought they ought to wait the maturity or ripeness And since the Laws provided that they should not treat of War or Peace but in a Panaetolick or a Pylaick Assembly of all the Aetolians and at Pylae or Thermopylae he therefore advised them immediately to resolve that the Praetor when he had a mind to treat of Peace or War should without any design fairly summon an Assembly and that whatever was then proposed or decreed should be as valid and of the same force as if it had been the act of a Panaetolick or Pylaick Council The Embassadors being thus dismissed without any positive Answer he said He had taken the best course for the safety of their Nation for now they would be on that side which happened to have the best luck These things were done in the Council of the Aetolians Mean while Philip made preparation for the War both by Sea and Land drawing all his Naval Forces to Demetrias in Thessaly supposing that Attalus and the Roman Fleet would move from Aegina in the beginning of the Spring he made Heraclides Admiral of the Navy as he had done formerly with a charge to look to the Sea Coast But he himself mustered up all the Land Forces he could believing that he had gotten two great Auxiliaries from the Romans the Aetolians on the one side and the Dardanes on the other whilst his Son Perseus blocked up the streights at Pelagonia The Consul in the interim did not prepare for but actually wage a War leading his Army through the Confines of the Dassaretians where he kept the Corn that he brought from his own Winter-Quarters entire because that Country afforded supplies sufficient for his Souldiers The Towns and Villages surrendred themselves partly of their own freewill and partly for fear some being also taken by storm and others found to be deserted by the Barbarians who fled into the adjacent Mountains After which he pitched his Camp at Lycus near the River Bevus from whence he sent for Corn to all the Storehouses of the Dassaretians that were thereabout Philip saw all People round about in a consternation and great fear but not knowing which way the Consul was bent sent a Party of Horse to find out whither the Enemy intended The Consul was at the same loss For though he knew the King was gone out of his Winter Quarters he knew not what Country he was bound for Wherefore he likewise had sent some of his Horse as Scouts to watch his motions Which two adverse Parties after they had a long time stragled about the Dassaretian Territories to and fro at last met in the same rode Whereupon they both knew as soon as they heard the noise of the Men and Horses though at a good distance that the Enemy was at hand so that
of them three Hundred Sesterces as a ransome and march away without their Arms. They therefore being redeemed at that rate went over into Boeotia unarmed Then the Naval Forces having within a few days taken two famous Cities in Euboea sailing about a promontory of Attica went toward Cenchreae a Port belonging to the Corinthians The Consul in the mean time had a longer and a more severe Siege of it than any body expected and the Enemy made resistance on that part where he least imagined they would have done For he supposed That all the difficulty would lye in demolishing the Wall and that if once he had made a breach for his Soldiers to march through into the City he should rout and kill the Enemy as People use to do when they take Cities But when he had battered down part of the Wall with his Rams so that his Men went over the very ruines into the City that was but as it were the begining of a new and a fresh toil For the Macedonians that were in Garrison there being not only numerous but choice Men too and thinking it would be a mighty honour to them if they could defend the City by dint of Arms and Courage rather than by the help of Walls so doubled their Ranks and strengthened their main Body within that when they saw the Romans coming over the Ruines they beat them out again through a narrow difficult pass that would hardly give them room to retreat That the Consul took very hainously and considering that that dishonour did not tend to the hindrance of his taking one City only but had an influence upon the issue of the whole War in general which many times depended opon very small and trivial circumstances having clear'd the place which was incumbered with the ruines of the Wall he applyed to it a Tower of a mighty height which would carry a great number of armed Men upon the several floors that were one above another in it and send forth several Regiments in Battalia by turns to break through if they could the Cuneus i. e. Wedge a Body of Men in form of a Wedge of the Macedonians which they themselves call a Phalanx But in Places so narrow the space that was broken down in the Wall being not very wide the sort of Arms that the Enemy used and their manner of fighting was more convenient For when the Macedonians had put themselves into their close order with their Spears of a vast length before them so thick that their Bucklers joyn'd together and made as it were a Testudo i. e. a Military Engine in form of a Tortoise the Romans who seeing it was to no purpose to fling their Javelins at them had drawn their Swords could neither come near them nor cut off their Spears or if they perchance had cut or broken e'r an one off the staff of it with its sharp broken end between the Iron points of those Spears that were still entire and fill'd up and kept the fence still as strong as before Besides which the remaining part of the Wall that was yet standing preserved both their flanks nor could they conveniently either give back or make any sally forth a thing which usually put the ranks into disorder But to animate them the more yet there was another thing that happened by mere chance For there was a Turret built upon the Mound before the Earth was grown firm with one wheel sunk so deep into a rut that it hung all on one side so that the Enemies thought it would fall and the Souldiers who stood upon it were even distracted for fear Seeing therefore that nothing succeeded as he would have it the Consul was unwilling to have any comparison made either between the Souldiers or their sorts of Weapons and at the same time had no good prospect either of taking the Town or any means of Wintering so far from the Sea and in places that were already laid wast by the misfortunes and ravage of the War Wherefore quitting the Siege because there was never a Port on all the Coast of Acarnania and Aetolia that would at once both contain all the Ships of burden that brought in Provisions for the Army and afford Huts for the Legions to winter in Anticyra in Phocis lying toward the Bay of Corinth was lookt upon as most conveniently situated not only because there they should not be far from Thessaly and the Enemies Quarters but also because Peloponnesus was over-against them divided from it by a small Arm of the Sea Aetolia and Acarnania being behind them and Locris and Boeotia of each side In Phocis he took Phanotea upon the first Assault without fighting for it nor did Anticyra hold out very long Then he became Master of Ambrysus and Hyampolis but Daulis because it stood upon a high Hill was impregnable either by scaling or any other works But yet by pelting those that were in Garison there with Darts and such like Weapons that they had to throw upon them when they had provoked them to sally forth with running away from and pursuing them by turns so as to have some light Skirmishes though to little or no purpose they brought them to that degree of contempt and negligence that the Romans prest in with them at the Gate as they made their Retreat Six other mean Castles of Phocis came into their hands through fear more than by strength of Arms. Elatia shut their Gates resolving unless they were compelled to it not to admit the Roman General or his Army into their Walls But whilst the Consul was a besieging Elatia he had hopes of a thing of far greater consequence to wit that the Achaeans would revolt from the King and enter into an Alliance with the Romans For they had expelled Cycliades the Head of that Faction that were for Philip and Aristaenus who had a mind to have that Nation make a League with the Romans was then the chief Magistrate The Roman Fleet then lay at Cenchreae with Attalus and the Rhodians where they were all in Consultation how to attack Corinth He therefore thought it the best way before they went about that affair to send Embassadors to the Achaeans with a Promise that if they would revolt from the King they should have Corinth into the antient Council of that Nation Accordingly by advice of the Consul there were Embassadors sent to the Achaeans from his Brother L. Quintius Attalus the Rhodians and Athenians and at Sicyon they had their Audience Now the inclinations of the Achaeans were very various for the Lacedaemonian a grievous and continual Enemy scared them on the one hand as the Romans did on the other besides that they were obliged both by ancient and late kindnesses received from the Macedonians though they suspected the King himself upon the score of his Cruelty and perfidiousness and valued him not upon what he just then did for them but foresaw that he would be a Tyrannical Master to them after
the War was ended Nor were they only ignorant what each particular person in their Senate or in the publick Assemblies of all the Nation delivered as their opinion but even they themselves could not well tell what in their own minds they desired or wished for The Embassadors therefore being introduced to men of such unstable resolutions had leave to speak the Roman Embassador whose name was L. Calpurnius first and King Attalus's Embassadors next and after them the Rhodians Then Philips Embassadors too had their Audience and last of all the Athenians were heard to the end that they might confute what the Macedonians said They most of them inveighed severely against the King for that no men had undergone more hardships or suffered so severely as they had And that Assembly was adjourned a little before Sun-setting the day being spent in continued Speeches made by so many Embassadors 20. The next day the Council was called again in which when the Cryer had as the Custom is among the Greeks giving leave by authority of the Magistrates to any one that would to speak and no one came forth they stood a good while silent looking upon one another Nor was it any wonder that they who by meditating voluntarily upon things repugnant one to another were grown stupid should be disturbed at these long Speeches that were made from Morning till Night with all the nicety and subtlety that was to be imagined At last Aristaenus the Praetor or chief Magistrate for fear he should dismiss the Assembly without saying any thing spoke thus Where said he is now that animosity Achaeans that makes you in your Feasts and publick Meetings hardly able to refrain from fighting one another when any mention happens to be made of Philip and the Romans Now in a Council appointed on purpose for that business and nothing else though you have heard the Speeches of the Embassadors on both sides though the Magistrates propose it to you and the Cryer invites you to speak you are dumb If care for the publick good cannot yet the different respects methinks that you bear to this or that Party might open some of your mouths Especially seeing there is no man so dull as that he can be ignorant that now is the time for every man to give his opinion what he thinks most advisable before we resolve upon any particular When it is once decreed every man is bound to defend that as a good and useful League which before displeased him This Exhortation of the Praetors did not fail of making any body speak but even of extorting from that great Assembly though made up of so many several Nations so much as a hum or murmur Thereupon Aristaenus the Praetor began again Achaeans said he you do not want counsel more than tongues but every one of you is loth to consult the publick good with the hazard of your own safety Perhaps I also should hold my tongue if I were a private person But now as I am Praetor I consider that either we should not have given the Embassadors their Audience in a publick Council or not sent them thence without an Answer Yet how can I make an Answer but by having your resolutions upon the matter And since never an one of you either will or dare give his opinion let us take the Speeches made yesterday by the Embassadors instead of your opinions as if they had not requested what was for their own advantage but perswaded us to what they thought for our interest only The Romans the Rhodians and Attalus desire an Alliance and a Friendship with us and think it just for us to assist them in the War which they are now engaged in against Philip. Philip on the other side puts us in mind of our Alliance with him and the Oath that we took requiring one while that we be of his side and telling us another while that he is content we should not concern our selves at all of either side Does no body know why they that are not yet our Allies desire more than he that is Why this proceeds not from Philips modesty nor the impudence of the Romans No the Achaean Ports both add to and diminish the confidence of the Demandants We see nothing belonging to Philip except one Embassador but the Roman Fleet lies at Cenchrea with the spoils of all the Cities in Euboea besides that the Consul and his Legions are divided from us by nothing but a small Arm of the Sea and over-running all Phocis and Locris Do you wonder why Cleomedon Philips Embassador treated so diffidently with us of late to induce us to take up Arms for the King when if according to that very League and Oath that he pretends we are obliged by we should demand of him the assistance of Philip against Nabis the Lacedaemonians and the Romans he would not only not be able to find a Guard to defend us but not know even what to say in answer thereunto No more than Philip himself the last Year who having tryed by promising to levy War against Nabis to draw all our Youth hence into Euboea when he saw that we would neither allow him that assistance nor be concerned in the Roman War forgot that alliance he now brags of and left us as a prey and spoil to Nabis and the Lacedemonians Besides I did not think Cleomedons Speech to be at all consistent in it self For he slighted the Roman War and said the event of it would be the same as that of the former War that they had with Philip. Why then does he at a distance desire our aid rather than present defend us his old Allies at once from Nabis and the Romans Vs did I say Yea why did he suffer Eretria and Carystus to be so taken Why so many Cities of Thessaly in the same manner Why Locris and Phocis Or why does he let Elatia be so attack'd at this time Why went he from the streights of Epirus and those impregnable Barriers upon the River Aous Was it force or fear or his own choice that made him quit the Post that he was in there and march quite away into his own Kingdom If upon his own inclination he left so many Allies to be pillaged by their Enemies how can he deny but that his Allies ought to look to themselves If for fear he ought to pardon our fear also If he retreated because he was Conquer'd why then how is it likely Cleomedon that we Achaeans should endure the shock of the Roman Arms which you Macedonians were not able to bear Shall we believe you that the Romans do not come against us now with greater Forces than formerly rather than believe our own Eyes They then assisted the Aetolians with a Fleet but had neither a Consular General nor an Army to carry on that War The Sea-Port Towns belonging to Philip 's Allies were in a fright and an uproar But the Inland places were so secure from the Roman Arms that Philip
pillaged the Aetolians when 't was in vain for them to implore the Romans aid But now the Romans having made an end of the Punick War which they endured for sixteen years within the very Bowels as it were of Italy did not only send Auxiliaries to the Aetolians to assist them in their War but were themselves Commanders in person both by Sea and Land against Macedonia This is now the third Consul that makes War upon that Country with all the strength he can Sulpicius engaged in Macedonia it self with the King and defeated him laying wast the most opulent part of his Kingdom And now of late Quintius when Philip was posted at the Barriers of Epirus relying upon the nature of the place the Fortifications thereof and the Army that was with him forced him from his Camp and then pursuing him into Thessaly took the Kings Garisons and Cities that were his Allies almost before the Kings own Eyes Admit that to be false which the Athenian Embassadors just now said touching the Kings Cruelty Avarice and Lust nor let us concern our selves for what wicked actions he was guilty of in Attica against all the Gods Coelestial and Infernal much less for what the Cianians and Abydenes have endured who are so far from us Yea if you please let us forget even our own Wounds the slaughter and plunder committed at Messena in the middle of Peloponnesus and how Garitenes a Gentleman that entertained him very kindly at Cyparissia was kill'd contrary to all right and reason almost in the very midst of a Feast as likewise how Aratus both Father and Son of Sicyon though he used to call the unhappy old Gentleman Father and the Sons Wife also carried away into Macedonia to be his Whore besides which let all his other violations both of Virgins and Matrons be buried in Oblivion Supposing Philip to be free from all these Vices for fear of whose Cruelty is it that you are all so silent Let us imagine that we were discoursing with Antigonus an extraordinary mild and just King who deserved very well of us all would he think you desire us to do what even in that case were impossible Peloponnesus is a Peninsula joining to the Continent by a narrow neck of Land called an Isthmus and exposed to nothing more than a Naval War If an hundred Ships of War and fifty of a lighter sort with open Decks with thirty Issaick Barks should begin to waste the Sea-Coast and attack the Cities that lie unguarded even upon the very shore shall we betake our selves into the Inland Countries as though we were not harassed with an intestine War that gnaws almost our very bowels When Nabis and the Lacedaemonians press so hard upon us by Land and the Roman Fleet by Sea where shall I find the Kings assistance and the Macedonian Guards Or shall we our selves defend with our own Arms the Cities that shall be attacked For we defended Dymae very bravely in the former War The misfortunes of other people afford us Examples enough and therefore let us not seek how we may prove an Example to them Do not refuse because the Romans voluntarily desire our Friendship to grant them that which you ought to have wished and sued for by all means For they being forced you see by fear in a Foreign Country and having a mind to lie under the umbrage of your aid fly to your Alliance for protection that they may be received into your Harbours and make use of your provisions They have the Sea at their Command and make whatever Land they arrive at immediately their own Dominions That which they desire they can force but because they have a mind to spare you they will not suffer you to give any cause for your own ruine For as to what Cleomedon said just now as the middle and the safest way for you to take that is to say that you should be quiet and not take up Arms that is not a middle but no way at all For besides that you must either accept of or contemn the Roman Alliance what shall we be without adhering firmly to some side as men that wait for the event of things so as to apply our Counsels to the fortune of the War but a prey to the Conquerour Do not disdain what is offered you though so freely since it is that which you ought to have wished for with all your hearts It will not be always in your power to do as now you may either one or the other The same occasion will not often nor long present it self You for a long time have rather wished than dared to deliver your selves from Philip. But now those people who would set you at Liberty have crossed the Seas without any pains or danger to you with great Navies and Armies If you despise their Alliance you are mad for you must necessarily have them either for your Friends or Enemies After this speech of the Praetors there was an humm set up by some to signifie their assent and by others to reprove those that did assent And now not only each particular Person but all the Nations were at variance among themselves besides that between the Magistrates of that Nation they call them Demiurgi being ten in number there was as brisk and hot a dispute as between the Mobile Of whom five said They would propose the making of an alliance with the Romans and give their Votes accordingly whilst the other five said There was a Law that made it criminal either to propose before the Magistrates or decree any thing in Council that was contrary to an alliance with Philip. And this Day too was spent in brangling so that there was but one Day of the due time for a Council to last remaining for the third Day the Law ordered that the Decree should pass upon which they were so very hot that Parents could scarce keep their hands off of their Children One Rhisiasus of Pellene had a Son called Memnon a Demiurgus one of those ten Officers of that Party which was against reciting of the Decree or having their opinions all ask'd He therefore having a long time conjur'd his Son To let the Achaeans consult the publick safety and not go about by his stubbornness to ruine the whole Country seeing his intreaties did no good he swore he would kill him with his own hand and not look upon him as a Son but an Enemy till he at last by threats so far prevailed over him as that the next Day he sided with those that were for proposing the business Who being now a good many all the several Nations almost approving of it and declaring what they were going to decree the Dymaeans and Megalopolitans with some of the Argives before the Bill was pass'd rose up and left the Council nor did any Body either admire at or disapprove of what they did For Antigonus had restored the Megalopolitans who in the memory of their Grandfathers had been beaten thence
into their Country and to the Dymaeans who were lately taken and rifled by the Roman Army Philip giving order that they should be redeemed where-ever they were in slavery gave back not only their Liberty but their Country too And as for the Argives they besides that they believe the Macedonian Kings to be come originally from them were many of them obliged to Philip upon several private accounts and by familiar friendship For these reasons because the Council was inclined to make an Alliance with the Romans they went out and they were pardoned for so doing because they had been obliged not only very much but very lately too by several kindnesses that the Macedonians had done them The rest of the Nations belonging to the Achaeans when their opinions were demanded confirmed an alliance with Attalus and the Rhodians by a present Decree just then but deferr'd it to the Romans because without the Peoples consent it could not be ratified till such time as Embassadors could be sent to Rome At the present they agreed to send three Embassadors to L. Quintius and remove all the Achaean Army to Corinth which City it self Quintius was then attacking after he had taken Cenchreae And they indeed encamped over against that Gate which leads to Sicyon The Romans fell upon that side of the City toward Cenchreae and Attalus leading his Men over through the Isthmus attack'd it first more slowly from Lechaeum the Port of the opposite Sea as hoping to see a mutiny between the Townsmen and the Kings Guards But seeing that they all defended it the Macedonians as though it had been their own common Country and the Corinthians by making Androsthenes Governour of the Garrison whom they obeyed for his humanity and justice in his Office as if he had been one of their own Citizens and chosen by majority of Votes so that the Assailants only hopes now lay in force Arms and Works and therefore they raised vast Mounds before the Walls on every side A Ram on that side where the Romans made their Attack had beaten down some part of the Walls To which place because it was now berest of all fortifications the Macedonians ran in throngs to defend it upon which there happened to be a bloody Battel between them and the Romans And first of all the Romans were easily kept off by mere Multitude but when the Auxiliaries belonging both to the Achaeans and Attalus were slain the fight was pretty equal nor could any body doubt but the Romans would easily force the Macedonians and Greeks to quit their Ground There were a great number of Italian Fugitives who part of them out of Annibals Army came over for fear of being punished by the Romans and followed Philip and part of them were Sea Men who having left their Fleets revolted to the hopes of a more honourable Warfare Despair of being pardoned if the Romans overcame made these Men rather mad than bold There is the Promontory of Juno over against Sicyon which they call Acraa that runs a great way out into the Sea from whence Philocles one of the Kings Praefects having passed over to Corinth almost seven Thousand Paces led fifteen Hundred Men after him through Boeotia There were Barks ready from Corinth to take that Guard in and carry them to Lechaeum Whereupon Attalus advised them To set fire of their Works and presently quit the Siege But Quintius was more pertinacious in the Enterprize Yet even he when he saw the Kings Guards posted at every Gate so that it was not easie for them to sustain the shock of a sally out of the Town was of Attalus's opinion Thus without effecting their design and having dismiss'd the Achaeans they returned to their Ships Attalus went for Piraeâ—us and the Romans for Corcyra Whilst these things were carryed on by their Naval Forces the Consul having pitched his Camp in Phocis near Elatia endeavoured to do the business first by way of Parley and Conference with the Nobility of that City but when they told him They had not power to do any thing at all for that the Kings Men were more numerous and strong than the Townsmen then he attacked the City with Works and Arms on every side When he applyed the Ram to the Wall as much of it as between the Towers was knock'd down having left the City defenceless and that with a great crash and noise as it fell not only the Romans march'd in through the new breach but also from all parts of the Town ev'ry one left their stations and ran together to that place that was so throng'd by the Enemy The Romans at the same time clamber'd over the Ruines and brought their Ladders up to the standing Walls and whilst the heat of the fight fix'd not only the Eyes but the Minds of the Enemies upon that one part only where the conflict was the Wall was scaled in several other places and the Soldiers clamb over into the City Upon the hearing of which tumult the Enemy being affrighted at it left the place which they so many of them together defended and sled all for fear into the Castle with the unarm'd Rabble at their heels By this means the Consul took possession of the City Which when he had rifled he sent certain Persons into the Castle who were to promise the Kings Men their lives if they would go away without their Arms and their liberty to the Elatians upon which having given his solemn word for the performance he after some few days was Master of the Castle But when Philocles the Kings Praefect came into Achaia not only Corinth was free'd from the Siege but the City of the Argives also was betrayed to Philocles by certain Princes or Noblemen therein after they had first try'd how the vulgar stood affected They had a custom on the first day of their Assemblies as an Omen for the Praetors to pronounce the Names of Jupiter Apollo and Hercules to which Law there was an addition made That King Philip should be joined with them whose name seeing the Cryer did not add now that they had made a Peace with the Romans there was first an hum set up by the multitude and soon after a great noise made by those that pronounced Philips name as being willing he should enjoy his legal honour till at last his name was repeated with a general assent In confidence of this favour Philocles being sent for thither in the night time seized an Hill that stood above the City which Castle they call Larissa and planting a Guard there as he went down to the Town below it by break of day in an hostile posture an Army ready in Battalia met him For there was a Garison of Achaeans lately put into that place consisting of about five hundred Youths chosen out of all their Cities Over which Aenesidemus a Dymaean was chief Commander To him the Kings Prefect sent this advise that he would march out of the City for that they were not
deceitful and sly that in War he durst not come to a fair push for it or fight a pitch'd Battle but running away used to burn and plunder all the Towns before him and though he were Conquer'd destroy the reward of those that got the Victory That the ancient Kings of Macedonia did not use to do so but were wont to engage in the open Field to spare the Cities as much as they could that their Empire might be the more opulent For what policy was it by destroying those things for the sake whereof a War is Proclaimed to leave a mans self nothing but blood and slaughter That Philip had wasted more Cities in Thessaly the year before that belong'd to their Allies than all that ever were Enemies to that Country Nay that he had taken more from the Aetolians themselves when he was their Ally than since he was their Enemy That he had possessed himself of Lysimachia after he had beaten out the Governour and the Garrison belonging to the Aetolians That he had likewise utterly ruined and razed Cius a City under their jurisdiction That by the same fraud he now also had Thebes Phthiae Echinus Larissa and Pharsalus Philip being moved at what Alexander said put his Ship nearer to the Shore that he might be the better heard But when he began to inveigh most bitterly against the Aetolians Phaneas interrupted him and said The business did not depend upon words they must either conquer or obey better Men than he was Ay answered Philip one that cannot see his way before him deriding the imperfection of Phaneas's eye-sight For he was naturally more apt to gibe than becomes a King nor could he even when he talk'd of the most serious matters forbear scurrility But then he began to be very angry That the Aetolians as though they were Romans should bid him depart out of Greece who could not tell which were the bounds of it For in Aetolia it self the Agraei the Apodeotae and the Amphilochi who are a great share of it were not properly any part of Greece Can they justly complain that I did not let their Allies alone when they themselves observe this ancient custom as a Law to let their Youth go for Souldiers even against their own Allies save that they do not publickly allow of it and the adverse Armies on both sides have many times Aetolian Auxiliaries on both sides Nor did I take Cius but only assisted Prusias my Friend and Ally who was besieging of it and defended Lysimachia from the Thracians But because necessity forced me from keeping of that City to look after this War the Thracians are now possessed of it So much for the Aetolians Now to Attalus and the Rhodians I do not rightfully owe the least thing in the World For the War was first raised not by me but by them Yet out of the respect I have for the Romans I will restore Peraea to the Rhodians and his Ships to Attalus with all the Captives that shall appear But as to the restoring of Nicephorium and the Temple of Venus what can I answer to such demands unless which is the only way that Groves and Woods can be restored that I 'll be at the charge of planting them afresh since the Kings are pleased to desire an Answer to all their several demands The latter end of his Speech was against the Achaeans in which beginning first with Antigonus and then proceeding to what he himself had deserved of that Nation he bid them read over their decrees which contain'd all honours both divine and humane to be paid to him to which he added by way of comparison their late resolution concerning the Army wherewith they had revolted from him to the Romans inveighing bitterly against their perfidiousness but yet he said he would give them Argos again That he would discourse with the Roman General concerning Corinth and desire to know of him whether he thought it reasonable that he should quit those Cities only which he himself had taken in time of War and was in that right still possessed of or even those also which he had received from his Ancestors As the Achaeans and Aetolians were going to reply to what he had said it being nigh Sun-setting the Conference was adjourn'd till next day and Philip return'd into the Harbour from whence he came as the Romans and their Allies did into their Camp The next Morning Quintius came to Nicaea for that was the place agreed upon at the time appointed But there came not so much as any Messenger from Philip for several hours till at last when they despair'd of his coming the Ships on a sudden appear'd And then Philip told them That seeing such hard and unworthy things were imposed upon him he not knowing what to do had spent all that day in deliberating about that affair But it was generally believed that he deferred his coming till that time of day on purpose that the Achaeans and Aetolians might not have time enough to make their Answers And indeed he himself confirm'd that belief by desiring that all others might be sent away lest the time should be taken up in wrangling and he alone be admitted to make some end of the business to speak with the Roman General That proposal at first was not accepted of lest the Allies should seem to be excluded but afterward seeing he would not be deny'd the Roman General by universal consent removing all the rest walkt along with Appius Claudius Tribune of the Souldiers to the very Sea side and the King with two that he had with him the day before came a shore Where when they had discoursed each other privately for some time they parted Now it is not certainly known what account Philip gave his people of that interview but Quintius made this report to his Allies That in regard to the Romans Philip would retire from all the Borders of Illyricum would send back the Fugitives and all the Captives that he couâ—d find That he would restore to Attalus his Ships and with them the Seamen that were taken in them and to the Rhodians that Country which they call Peraea but would not stir from Jassus and Bargyllae That he would give the Aetolians Pharsalus and Larissa again but not Thebes And in justice to the Achaeans would not only quit Argos but Corinth also But this design of his pleased none of all the Allies out of whose Dominions he either would or would not depart For they said they lost more than they got by it nor should they ever lay aside their animosities till he had drawn his Guards out of all Greece in general The whole Assembly so loudly declar'd this one striving to out-roar the other that Philip though he stood a great way off heard what they said Wherefore he desir'd of Quintius That he would defer the whole matter till the next day at which time he would certainly either perswade them or be himself perswaded into another opinion Thereupon
the King without Arms. For he said he did not fear them but the banish'd Argives that were under their Command Then when they began to talk of terms of friendship the Roman requir'd two things the one That he would make an end of the War with the Achaeans and the other That he would send Auxiliaries along with him against Philip. To which last thing he consented but instead of Peace with the Achaeans they had only a Truce granted them till the War with Philip should be made an end of There was also a Debate raised by King Attalus concerning Argos the King affirming that Nabis when Philocles had Knavishly betrayed the City to him as basely kept it and Nabis that he was sent for by the Argives themselves to defend them Thereupon the King requir'd that an Assembly of the Argives might be summoned to know the truth of that matter Nor did the Tyrant refuse it but the King said He ought to draw all his Guards out of the City and leave the Assembly free without any Lacedemonians mingled among them to declare what the Argives sentiments were To which the King reply'd That he would not so that this Debate came to no issue but they departed from the Conference the Tyrant giving the Roman six hundred Cretans and making a Truce between him and Nicostratus Praetor of the Achaeans for four months From thence Quintius went to Corinth and came up to the Gate with his Regiment of Cretans that Philocles the Governour of that City might see the Tyrant was revolted from Philip. Then Philocles himself also came to a Parley with the Roman General who advising him to go immediately and deliver up the City receiv'd such an Answer that he might perceive he had rather deferred it than that he denied the doing of it From Corinth Quintius went over to Anticyra and thence sent his Brother to make an attempt upon the Acarnanians Attalus went for Argos to Sicyon And there not only that City augmented the former honours which the King had with the addition of new ones but the King also besides that he had sometime before redeemed for them a piece of Land sacred to Apollo with the expence of a great summ of money at that time too lest he should pass by a City that was in amity and alliance with him without some mark of his munificence presented them with ten Talents of Silver and sixty thousand Bushels of Corn and so he went back to the Fleet at Cenchrea In the mean time Nabis having set a strong Guard upon Argos return'd to Lacedaemon where considering that he himself had sufficiently plundered the Men he sent his Wife to Argos to pillage the Women Accordingly she sending sometimes for the Ladies one by one and sometimes several of them that were related together to her House by Flatteries and threats got from them not only all their gold but at last all their Cloaths too and fine Attire DECADE IV. BOOK III. The EPITOME Tit. Quintius Flaminius the Pro-Consul made an end of the War with Philip whom he defeated in a pitched Battle at Cynocephalae in Thessaly L. Quintius the Pro-Consuls Brother admitted the Acarnans to a Surrender after he had taken Leucas their chief City C. Sempronius Tuditanus the Praetor was slain with his whole Army by the Celtiberians Attalus who by reason of his sudden indisposition was carried from Thebes to Pergamus died Peace was granted to Philip upon his request and liberty thereby given to all Greece L. Furius Purpureo and Claudius being Consuls subdued the Boii the Insubrians and the Gauls for which Marcellus triumphed Annibal having in vain endeavoured to raise a War in Africa for which he was accused to the Romans by Letters from the heads of the contrary Faction for fear of the Romans who had sent Embassadours to the Carthaginian Senate about that affair went over to Antiochus King of Syria who at that time was providing for a War against the Romans THese things passed in the Winter and in the beginning of the Spring Quintius having sent for Attalus to Elatia and being desirous to subdue Boeotia which to that time was in a wavering condition went through Phocis and pitched his Camp five thousand paces from Thebes which is the Metropolis of Boeotia From thence the next day with the Souldiers belonging to one Ensign Attalus and the Embassadors that were come to him in great numbers from all places he went forward toward the City commanding the Spearmen of that Legion which were two thousand to follow him at the distance of a thousand paces When he was about half way thither Antiphilus Praetor of the Boeotians met him the rest of the Inhabitants waiting to see him and the King come upon the City Walls There were but a small number of Arms and Souldiers in sight to attend them for the windings of the Roads and the Vales that lay between covered the Spearmen who came after When he was now come near to the City he slackened his pace as though he would salute the Company that came forth to meet him But the true reason of his so doing was that the Spearmen might overtake him The Townsmen since the Lictors drove the Crowd before them saw not the Body of armed men who immediately followed before they came to the Generals Inn. Then as though their City had been betrayed and taken by the contrivance of Antiphilus the Praetor they all stood amazed For it was manifest that the Boeotians had no room left for a free consultation in that Assembly which was appointed to be on the next day However they concealed their grief which to no purpose and not without some danger they must have shewn In the Assembly Attalus spoke first He began with what his Ancestors and he himself had deserv'd not only of all Greece in general but particularly of the Boeotians but being now more crazy and infirm than to endure the fatigue of making Speeches he stopt of a sudden and fell down Thereupon whilst they carried the King away the proceedings were interrupted After him Aristaenus Praetor of the Achaeans was heard with so much the more Authority in that he perswaded the Boeotians to nothing else but what he had formerly told the Achaeans Some few things were added by Quintius too who extolled the Roman integrity more than their Arms or Wealth Then a Bill which was preferred by the Dicaearch Chief-Justice of Plataeae and read concerning an Alliance to be made with the Romans was accepted and passed by the Votes of all the Cities of Boeotia none daring to oppose it Quintius having tarried at Thebes so long as Attalus's unexpected circumstances requir'd when he saw that there was no present danger of his Life but only of a weakness in his Limbs left him behind till he was well and returned to Elatia from whence he came Where having now made the Boeotians as the Achaeans formerly his Allies seeing he had all things secure and quiet behind him
into their own Country He therefore having made that one Expedition much more successfully than to answer the rest of his Fortune had thereby repaired the Courage of his men and went back to Thessalonica Now the Punick War was not so seasonably made an end of lest at the same time they should be forced to engage with Philip also as since Antiochus was now raising War in Syria Philip was overcome For besides that it was more easy to cope with them severally than if they had join'd their Forces into one Body Spain too at the same time put themselves into a posture of War Antiochus though having the Summer before reduced all the Cities belonging to Ptolomy in Coelosyria into his own hands he was gone to Winter at Antioch yet was not afterward for all that the more at ease For he with all the strength of his Kingdom having muster'd up vast Forces both by Land and Sea and sent before him in the beginning of the Spring his two Sons Ardues and Mithridates with an Army by Land whom he order'd to stay for him at Sardeis himself set forth with a Fleet of a hundred men of War and other small Vessels to the number of two hundred designing not only to make some attempts upon the Cities that lay upon the Sea-Coast of Cilicia and Caria which were surrender'd to Ptolomy but likewise to assist Philip for the War was not yet made an end of both with his Land and Sea Forces The Rhodians did many brave exploits as well by Sea as by Land according to the fidelity they professed toward the Roman People and the Dignity of the Greek Nation in general but there was nothing more magnificent than that they that Summer being no way frighted at the fatal War which then hung over them sent Embassadors to the King That they would meet him at Nephelida a promontory of Cilicia famous for an ancient League made with the Athenians if he would not keep his forces there not out of any hatred to him but that he might not joyn with Philip and be an obstacle to the Romans whilst they were setting Greece at liberty Antiochus at that time was besieging Coracesium for that Town unexpectedly shut their Gates and kept him in action after Zephyrium Soli Aphrodisias Corycuus Selinus to which he passed by a promontory of Cilicia called Anemurium with all the other Castles upon that Coast had either for fear or freely without fighting for it surrendered themselves There the Rhodians had their audience whose Embassy though it were such as it might have incensed the King yet he restrained his passion and told them That he would send Embassadors to Rhodes with Commission to renew that ancient friendship with that City which he himself and his Ancestors had formerly contracted and to bid them not to fear the Kings coming For it should not be any dammage or disadvantage to them or their Allies since he was resolved not to incur the displeasure of the Romans Of which not only his late Embassy to them but the honourable decrees of the Senate and their answers to him were a good argument At that time it happened that the Embassadors came back from Rome who had their audience and were dismiss'd according as the time required whilst the event of the War against Philip was yet uncertain As the Kings Embassadors were transacting of this affair in the Rhodian Assembly there came a Messenger That the War was made an end of at Cynocephalae Whereupon the Rhodians being freed from all fear of Philip resolv'd to meet Antiochus with a Fleet. But yet they did not neglect that other business of defending the liberty of the allied Cities belonging to Ptolomy which were in danger of a War from Antiochus For they sent Auxiliaries to some of them admonishing and advising the rest concerning the Enemies designs and were the cause of liberty to the Caunians Mindians and Halicarnassians and Samians But it is not worth while to prosecute the whole relation of what particular things were done in these places since I am scarce able to give you an account of those actions which more properly concern the Roman War At the same time also King Attalus who was sick at Thebes being carried to Pergamus died in the seventy first year of his Age after he had Reigned forty four Years To this man fortune had given nothing that might make him hope for the Kingdom excepting riches But by using them at once both prudently and magnificently he so brought it about that he himself first and afterward others also thought him not unworthy of the Kingdom He therefore having conquer'd the Gauls in one Battle which Nation was by reason of their late arrival there more terrible than ordinary to Asia took upon him the name of King to the greatness of which he always made his spirit equal He govern'd his Subjects with the greatest justice imaginable and religiously kept his promise with his Allies He left behind him a Wife and four Children being mild and munificent to his Friends He left his Kingdom so firm and stable that the possession of it descended to the third Generation This being the state of things in Asia Greece and Macedonia when the War with Philip was scarce yet ended not a Peace throughly concluded on there arose a great commotion in the farther Spain which was then the Province of M. Helvius He thereupon by Letters acquainted the Senate that the two petit Kings Colcas and Luscinus were up in Arms that seventeen Towns resolv'd to rise with Colcas and with Luscinus those strong Cities Cardo and Bardo besides all the Sea-Coast who having not yet declar'd themselves were resolv'd to second their Neighbours motions When this Letter was read by M. Sergius the Praetor whose jurisdiction lay between the Citizens and Foreigners the Senate decreed that after the Assembly for Praetors was over that Praetor who happen'd to have Spain for his Province should make report to the Senate as soon as possible concerning the War in Spain About the same time the Consuls came to Rome who holding a Senate in the Temple of Bellona and desiring to triumph for their successful Atchievements in the War has this request return'd upon them by C. Atinius Labeo and C. Vrsanius Tribune of the people That they might treat touching a triumph separately for they would not endure that such a thing should be proposed in common lest their honour should be equal where their merit was disproportionate And when Minucius said that Italy was the joint Province of them both where he and his Collegue did every thing by common consent and agreement to which Cornelius added That the Boii who came over the Po against them to assist the Insubrians and the Caenomans were by his Collegue who wasted all their Villages and Country turn'd back to defend their own Territories the Tribunes reply'd That Cornelius they confessed had done such mighty things in the War that they could
Mountains within view Nabis with some chosen men to guard his person and Quintius with his Brother King Eumenes Sosilaus of Rhodes Aristaenus Praetor of the Achaeans and some few Tribunes of the Souldiers came down to meet each other Then having his choice given him whether he would speak first or hear Quintius before him the Tyrant thus began If I T. Quintius and all you that are here present could of my self have found out any reason why you should either declare or actually wage War against me I should have silently expected the issue of my Fortune But as the case now stands I could not perswade my self but I must needs know before I dy'd what I had done to deserve death And truly if you were such persons as they say the Carthaginians are who have no regard to the sacred obligations of Friendship and Alliance I should not wonder to find you careless what you did to me But now I see you and know that you are Romans who bear a most religious respect to the obligations of divine constitutions and to the Friendly compacts that are made between you and others looking back upon my self I hope I am worthy not only to be concern'd publickly with the rest of the Lacedemonians in that ancient League between you and them but upon my own particular account also to maintain that Friendship and Alliance which was so lately renew'd in the War against Philip. But I you 'll say have violated and overthrown that union by being possessed of the City of Argos How shall I defend this action By matter of fact or by the occasion The matter of fact affords me a double defence For I received that City from their own hands who call'd me into their assistance and deliver'd it to me nor did I take possession of it or get it when being on Philips side it was not in Alliance with you Besides which the time also clears me in that though I at the same time had Argos in my hands I was their Ally and you contracted with me to send you aids for the War not to draw my Garison out of Argus But to say truth in this controversy concerning Argus I have the better of you both as to the equity of the thing it self in that I took not a City that was yours but the Enemies and that by consent not by force and by your confession too for that in the conditions of Alliance you left me Argus to do what I would with But the name of Tyrant and my actions lie heavy upon me inasmuch as I make the slaves free and carry the poor Commonalty into the Country But as to the name I can answer that I whatever I am continue still the same man that I was when you T. Quintius your self made the Alliance with me Then I remember you called me King though now I see I am stiled a Tyrant Wherefore if I had changed my name of Government I ought to be accountable for my inconstancy but seeing you change it you ought to be so for yours As to the number of the Commons being increas'd by making the slaves free and the division of Lands among the poorer sort I can even in this point also defend my self upon the score of the time I had done all this what ever it be before you enter'd into an Alliance with me and when you receiv'd my Auxiliaries that I sent you in the War against Philip. But if I had done them even now lately I cannot say what injury I should have done you in it or how far I should have forfeited your Friendship but this I can affirm that I should have done according to the custom and prescript of our Ancestors Pray do not you measure what is done at Lacedemon by your Laws and Customs There is no necessity to compare all particulars You chose an Horse or a Foot Souldier by his condition in the state and making some few very rich will needs have the Commonalty to be subject to that small number but our Law-giver would not have the Common-Wealth to be in the hands of a few whom you call a Senate nor suffer one rank or other in our City to be above the rest supposing that by an equality of fortune and dignity it would be so brought about that many would bear Arms for their Country I confess I have been more prolix than the short way of speaking in our Country allows and might have told you in brief that I since I contracted a Friendship with you have done nothing to make you repent of it To this the Roman General reply'd We never contracted any Alliance or Friendship with Thee but with Pelops the just and lawful King of Lacedemon Whose right the Tyrants also who afterward by force had made themselves Masters of Lacedemon when they were employed sometimes in the Punick Wars sometimes in the Gallick Wars and sometimes elsewhere usurped as thou too in this Macedonian War hast now done For what would be more absurd than for us who waged a War against Philip to set Greece at liberty to contract a Friendship with a Tyrant and that such a Tyrant too as is more cruel and violent against his own Country-men than any one that ever was before him But we though thou hadst not taken nor didst not keep Argus by fraud since we pretend to deliver all Greece ought to restore Lacedemon also to its ancient liberty and Laws of which you as though you would vie with Lycurgus just now made mention Shall we take care that Philips Guards be drawn out of Jassus and Bargyllae but leave Argus and Lacedemon two such famous Cities once the glory of all Greece in thy hands to diminish the honour of our having deliver'd all Greece by their being still in slavery But the Argives you say were on Philips side very good but we 'll pardon you in this point though you are not angry on our behalf We know very well that two or three at most and not the whole City were guilty of that fault as well as that when you and your guard were sent for and taken into the City there was nothing done by publick advice or consent We know that the Thessalians Phocians and Locrians were all unanimously for Philip and yet now that we have deliver'd all the rest of Greece what do you think we 'll do with the Argives who are innocent of any publick design You said the crimes of having freed the slaves and divided the Lands among the poorer sort of people were laid to their charge and truly they are no small ones though they are nothing to those exploits that you and your party do every day one on the neck of another Call a free Assembly at Argus or Lacedemon if thou hast a mind to hear the true objections that may be made against thy most Tyrannical Government To pass by all other things of longer standing what a barbarous murder did that Pythagoras thy
of six months between Nabis the Romans King Eumenes and the Rhodians That T. Quintius and Nabis should presently send Embassadors to Rome to get the Peace confirm'd by authority of the Senate That the day on which the terms of Peace were given out to Nabis should be the beginning of the Truce and that between that day and the tenth day following all his Guards should be drawn out of Argus and the other Towns that were in the Argive Dominions so as that they should be deliver'd up quite empty and free to the Romans as likewise that no slave of the * That is Nabis's Kings either publick or private should be taken thence or if any had been before that time so taken away they should be faithfully restored to their Masters That he should send back the Ships which he had taken from the Maritime Cities nor should himself have any Ship excepting two Pinnaces that should not be rowed with above sixteen Oars That he should re-deliver their Captives and Fugitives to all the Allies of the Roman People and to the Messenians all things that appear'd or the Masters of such goods knew to be theirs That he should also restore to the Banish'd Lacedemonians their Children and Wives that had a mind to go along with their Husbands but that no man should be forced to go with any banish'd person against her will That all the goods belonging to Nabis's mercenary Souldiers who were gone away either to their own Cities or over to the Romans should be carefully restored unto them That he should not have any City in the Island of Creet and that those which he had he should surrender to the Romans That he should make no Alliance with any Cretan City or any body else nor wage War with them That he should draw his Guards out of all those Cities that either he himself had restored or had surrender'd themselves and all they had up to the protection and government of the Roman People keeping himself and all that belong'd to him from ever medling with any of them That he build no Town or Castle either in his own or any Foreign Dominions That he should give five Hostages for the performance of all this such as the Roman General should approve of and among the rest his own Son for one with a hundred Talents of silver at present and fifty every year for eight years together These terms being written his Camp was removed more near to the City and they sent to Lacedemon though none of them to say truth pleas'd the Tyrant save that beyond expectation there was no mention made of bringing back the banish'd persons But that which most offended him was that the Ships and Maritime Cities were taken from him For the Sea brought him in great profit being that he infested all the Coast from Malea with Piratical Ships Besides that he had all the youth of those Cities to supply him with the far best sort of Souldiers These conditions though he consider'd of them in private with his Friends were notwithstanding the publick Discourse his Guards being very apt as in other matters of trust so to betray his Secrets Yet they did not all in general find fault with the whole but each man with those particulars which more immediately concern'd him Those that had married banish'd mens Wives or had any of their goods were very angry as if they had been to lose and not to restore them The Slaves that were freed from the Tyrant did not only think their freedom would be of no consequence to them but their thraldom much worse than before now they were to return into the hands of their incensed Masters The mercenary Souldiers also were not only troubled that their stipend would come to nothing in time of Peace but likewise saw that there was no returning for them into their own Cities which hated the Guards belonging to Tyrants as much as the Tyrants themselves When they had first talk'd thus in Crowds among themselves they straightway ran and took up their Arms. By which tumult when the Tyrant saw the Mobile were of themselves sufficiently provoked he order'd an Assembly to be forthwith summon'd Where when he had declar'd what the Roman General had imposed upon him to which he had added some things more grievous and more unworthy of his own head at each of which sometimes all of them and sometimes a part of the Assembly shouted he ask'd them What they would have him answer to those Proposals or what he should do to which they almost unanimously reply'd That he should make no answer at all but prepare for the War bidding him each man for himself as the Mobile use to do be of good Courage and hope the best for fortune always favour'd the Valiant With which words the Tyrant was so animated that he cry'd out Antiochus and the Aetolians would assist him and that he had Forces enough to hold out the Siege By which means they had also forgot that there had been any mention made of Peace and ran to their several Posts resolving no longer to be quiet Whereupon the excursions of some few that came out to provoke the Romans with the Darts that they threw put the Romans soon past all doubt but they must necessarily sight and from that time for the space of four dayes they had light Skirmishes at first without being able certainly to know what would be the issue of it But the fifth day the Lacedemonians were forced into the Town in such a consternation that some of the Roman Souldiers falling upon the Reer of them that fled got into the City through the gaps as things then stood that were in the Wall Then Quintius having sufficiently restrain'd the Enemies Excursions by the fright he then put them into and supposing that nothing now remained for him to do but to attack the City it self sent certain persons to fetch all the Naval Forces from Gythium whilst he himself in the mean time with the Tribunes of the Souldiers rode round the Walls to view the situation of the Town Now Sparta you must know was formerly unwalled but the Tyrants of late dayes had built a Wall in the open and plain parts thereof defending the higher places that were less accessible with guards of armed men instead of Fortifications When he had taken a satisfactory prospect of every thing supposing that the best way to take it was to invest it he posted all his men quite round the City whose number was of Romans Allies Horse and Foot with Land and Sea Forces all together full fifty thousand fighting men Some of which brought Ladders others Fire and others other things wherewithal not only to attack the City but to affright the Besieged Then he commanded to set up an Huzza and all begin the Assault at the same time to the end that the terrified Lacedemonians might not know where first to make resistance and which part to assist being in a
that besides the Army which he already had he should raise another of tumultuary Souldiers to the number of twelve thousand Foot and four hundred Horse to secure the Sea Coast of that Province which lay toward Greece Now the Praetor did not make that Levy out of Sicily only but the adjacent Islands also and fortified all the maritime Towns that stand to Greece ward with Garisons There was also an addition made to the former rumours by the arrival of Attalus Brother to Eumenes who brought word that King Antiochus was come with an Army over the Hellespont and that the Aetolians so prepared themselves as to be in Arms against his arrival Whereupon there were thanks paid to Eumenes who was absent as well as to Attalus who was present for whom they order'd an House rent free at publick Shows or Playes and splendid Entertainment with presents of two Horses with Armour accordingly silver Vessels of a hundred and golden ones of twenty pound weight When seveal Messengers one after another brought news that the War was now at hand they thought it concern'd them as soon as they could to choose new Consuls Whereupon an order of Senate was made that M. Fulvius the Praetor should send a letter forthwith to the Consul to let him understand that the Senate would have him deliver up the Province and the Army to his Lieutenants and return to Rome and upon the Road to send an Edict before him to give notice of the Assembly for choosing of Consuls The Consul obeyed this letter and having sent an Edict before him came to Rome That Year also there was great canvassing three Patricians standing for the same place whose names were P. Cornelius Scipio Son of Cneius who the Year before had been repulsed L. Cornelius Scipio and Cn. Manlius Volsco The Consulate was bestowed on P. Scipio that it might appear the honour was only suspended and not denyed to such a Man as he was whose Colleague was a Plebeian call'd Manius Acilius Glabrio The next Day there were chosen for Praetors L. Aemilius Paulus M. Aemilius Lepidus M. Junius Brutus A. Cornelius Mammula C. Livius and L. Oppius both of them sir-named Salinator This was the same Oppius that had conducted the Fleet into Sicily Now in the mean time whilst the new Magistrates were casting Lots for their Provinces M. Baebius was ordered to go over from Brundusium with all his Forces into Epirus and keep them about Apollonia M. Fulvius the City Praetor being imploy'd to build fifty new five bank'd Ships or Galleys Thus did the Roman People prepare themselves for all the attempts of Antiochus Nor did Nabis now defer the War but with all the force he had attack'd Gythium and pillaged all the Country of Achaia for sending aid to the Besieged The Achaeans for all that durst not meddle in the War before their Embassadours were come back from Rome that they might know what the Senates pleasure was but after the Embassadours were return'd they not only summon'd a Council to meet at Sicyon but sent Embassadours to T. Quintius for his advice In the Council they were all inclin'd to make a War though a Letter that came from T. Qâ—intius put some stop to it in which he told them that he would have them stay for the Praetor and the Roman Fleet. Now though some of the Nobility continu'd of the same opinion and others thought it best to make use of his advice whom they had consulted in the affair the greatest number expected Philopaemenes opinion who at that time was Praetor and excell'd all men of that age in prudence as well as authority He therefore having first told them it was a good custom among the Achaeans that the Praetor when he consulted about a War should not give his opinion in the case bad them resolve as soon as possible of what they pleas'd their Praetor would put their Decrees in Execution with integrity and care and endeavour as far as lay within the power of humane industry that they should not repent either of Peace or War This Speech of his conduced more to the inciting of them to a War than if by direct perswasion he had shewn his desire of managing their business Thereupon by unanimous consent they resolv'd upon a War leaving the time and method of carrying it on wholly to the Praetor Philopoemen besides that it was Quintius's advice to them himself also thought sit to expect the Roman Fleet which might defend Gythium toward the Sea but fearing lest the thing would not admit of delay nor that Gythium only but the Forces also sent to secure that City would be lost fitted out the Ships belonging to the Achaeans The Tyrant also had gotten a small Fleet to hinder any aids that might be sent in by Sea to the besieged of three men of War with some Barks and long Gallies having deliver'd his old Fleet according to contract up to the Romans Now to try the agility of these new Ships and that all things might be ready for an Engagement at the same time he made them put forth to Sea where he every day exercised the Rowers and the Souldiers with the imitation of a Sea-fight supposing that the hopes of the Siege depended upon his intercepting the maritime succours The Praetor of the Achaeans as he was equal to any of the famous Generals that ever were in the experimental part as well as the knowledge of Land fights so in Naval affairs was very unskilful being an Arcadian that lived in an Inland Country and ignorant of all Foreign matters save that he had been a Souldier and Commanded the Auxiliaries in Creet Now there was an old Gally of four Banks that had been taken eighty years before as it brought Craterus's Wife Nicaea from Naupactum to Corinth with the same of which Ship he being taken for it had been a signal Vessel formerly in the Kings Fleet order'd it to be brought down from Aegium though it were very rotten and almost ready to fall in pieces with age This therefore being at that time the Admirals Ship and riding before all the rest of the Fleet as Tiso of Patrae who was Admiral sailed in her the Laconian Ships from Gythium met them and upon its first bearing up being an old Vessel that was all over leaky with a new strong Ship it was split and all the men in her taken Thereupon the rest of the Fleet as fast as their Oars would give them leave seeing the Admirals Ship lost ran away Philopoemen himself was in a small Scout-ship nor did he stop in his flight till he came to Patrae But that accident did not at all dishearten him who was a military man and had gone through a great many misfortunes but on the contrary he said that if he had offended in Sea affairs of which he was ignorant he had the more hopes of succeeding in those things which he was well acquainted with and therefore would take care to make that
when we admired how he got such variety of Venison at that time of Year the man not so vain as these persons are smiling said that by several sorts of Sawces and wayes of dressing all that variety of counterfeit Venison was made of a tame Swine The same might be fitly said of the Kings Forces that were just then so much boasted of For all those several sorts of Arms and the many names of Nations unheard of as Dahae Medes Cadusians and Elymaeans were all Syrians more fit to be Slaves than Souldiers upon the score of their servile inclinations And I wish Achaeans I could lay before your Eyes this great Kings hasty march from Demetrias one while to Lamia into the Council of the Aetolians and anon to Chalcis You should see the quantity of two small Legions and those not compleat neither in the Kings Camp you should see the King one while almost begging Corn of the Aetolians to give to his Souldiers and anon borrowing money at Use to pay his Army another time standing at the Gates of Chalcis and by and by excluded thence and having seen nothing else but Aulis and Euripus returning into Aetolia Truly not only Antiochus did ill to believe the Aetolians and the Aetolians to hearken to his vanity and therefore you ought not to be deceived but to trust and rely upon the Romans honour and Friendship which you have so often experienced and throughly tryed For whereas they say 't is best for you not to intermeddle in the War nothing is so contrary and foreign to your interest or advantage for without any thanks on either side and without any honour too you will be the prey of them that conquer Nor did his Answer seem absurd to either party besides that it was easy for his Speech to find a favourable Entertainment with them who were willing to hear it For there was no dispute or doubt but they would all look upon those to be either Friends or Enemies to the Achaeans whom the Roman People so esteemed and would order a War to be proclaimed against Antiochus and the Aetolians They likewise presently sent Auxiliaries whither Quintius thought fit of five hundred men to Chalcis and five hundred to Piraeeus For there was like to be an Insurrection at Athens by means of some who through hopes of reward endeavour'd to draw the Mobile with money for which they are apt to sell themselves and their Country too over to Antiochus till Quintius was sent for by those of the Roman Party and upon the information of one Leon Apollodorus Author of their Revolt was condemn'd and banish'd Thus did the Embassadours return from the Achaeans to the King with a sad Answer The Boeotians gave no positive Answer only said that when Antiochus was come into Boeotia then they would deliberate what to do Antiochus hearing that both the Achaeans and King Eumenes had sent to the Garison of Chalcis supposed it his best way to make what hast he could not only that his men might come thither before them but that if possible they might meet them on the way and therefore sent Menippus with about three thousand Souldiers and all his Fleet to Polyxenida marching himself in a few dayes after with six thousand of his own men and of that number which could be raised on a sudden at Lamia not very many Aetolians The five hundred Achaeans a small aid who were sent by King Eumenes under the Command of Xenoclides a Chalcidese having got safe over the Euripus before the wayes were beset arrived at Chalcis And the Roman Souldiers too who were themselves also about five hundred whilst Menippus lay incamped before Salganea came to Hermaeum whence you pass over out of Boeotia into the Island of Euboea Mictio was with them in quality of an Embassadour from Chalcis to Quintius being sent to desire that very Garison Who when he saw the Streights possess'd by the Enemy went no farther toward Aulis but turn'd toward Delium with a resolution from thence to cross over into Euboea Delium is a Temple of Apollo lying upon the Sea five thousand paces from Tanagra And about four thousand paces from thence there is a passage over the Sea into the nearest parts of Euboea Where both in the Temple and the Grove which are as sacred as those places which the Greeks call Asyla i. e. Sanctuaries and before either any War was proclaimed or so far begun that the Romans had ever heard of drawn Swords or any bloodshed as their Souldiers who had nothing else to do were some of them gazing upon the Temple and the Grove others walking without their Arms upon the Beach and great part of them gone into the Fields to get Wood and Forage Menippus set upon them on a sudden as they were stragling about and kill'd them taking fifty alive Some few of them escaped among whom Mictio was one being taken on Board a small Merchant Man This accident as it was a vexation to Quintius and the Romans upon the score of their having lost so many men so it seemed to give them some farther right to make War against Antiochus Antiochus having brought his Armour to Aulis and sent Envoys a second time partly of his own men and partly Aetolians to Chalcis to treat of the same things that they had lately done but with greater menaces prevailed with ease notwithstanding all that Mictio and Xenoclides could do to the contrary to have the Gates open'd unto him Those that were of the Roman Party went out of the City a little before the Kings coming whilst the Achaeans and Eumenes's men kept at Salganea And in Euripus some few Roman Souldiers fortified the Castle for security Menippus began to attack Salganea and the King himself the Castle of Euripus Whereupon the Achaeans and Eumenes's men having first contracted for their safe departure march'd out of their Garison but the Romans defended Euripus with more resolution And yet they too since they were besieged both by Sea and Land and saw the Enemy bringing Engines and all Warlike Instruments together could not hold out the Siege Now when the King had got that which was the chief place in all Euboea the other Cities of that Island did not refuse to submit unto him Which made him think he had begun the War very fortunately seeing so great an Island as that and so many convenient Cities were now become subject to him DECADE IV. BOOK VI. The EPITOME 19 20. Manlus Acilius Glabrio being Consul with the assistance of King Philip conquer'd Antiochus at Thermopylae and drew him out of Greece c. 34. He also subdued the Aetolians 36. P. Cornelius Scipio Nasica dedicated the Temple of Cybele whom he had brought into the Palace being judg'd by the Senate to be the best man in the City 38 39 40. He likewise accepted of a Surrender made by the Boil in Gaul whom he conquer'd and triumph'd over them 44. Gives an account of several prosperous Sea-fights
Heralds made Answer That they when they were consulted in the case of Philip had formerly determined that it was not at all material whether the Declaration were made to him in Person or to any Garison And that their Friendship with him seemed to be sufficiently renounced in that they had not thought fit either to restore such things as his Embassadours had so often demanded back or to make any satisfaction That the Aetolians had voluntarily declared War against themselves in having by force taken Demetrias a City belonging to their Allies attempted both by Sea and Land to make themselves Masters of Chalcis and brought King Antiochus over into Europe to wage War against the People of Rome When therefore they had gotten all things in due order Manius Acilius the Consul made an Edict that what Souldiers L. Quintius had raised and those also that he had injoin'd the Allies and Latines to Levy being to go along with him into his Province with the Tribunes of the first and third Legions should all of them Rendezvous at Brundusium upon the Ides of May. After which he himself went from the City upon the sixth of May in a Warlike Robe at what time the Praetors also departed into their Provinces About the same time there came Embassadours from the two Kings Philip and Ptolomy King of Aegypt to Rome with promises of aid money and Corn besides that from Ptolomy were brought a thousand pounds of gold and twenty thousand pounds of silver But there was none of it accepted only thanks return'd to the King for his kind offer And whereas they both promised to come with all their Forces into Aetolia and be present in the War Ptolomy was excused for that Engagement To Philips Embassadours they made this Answer that he would mightily oblige the Senate and People of Rome if he were not wanting to assist Manius Acilius their Consul There came Embassadours likewise from the Carthaginians and King Massinissa and the Carthaginians promised that they would bring a thousand Bushels of Wheat and five hundred thousand of Barley to the Army besides half as much to Rome wherefore they desired that the Romans would accept of it as a present from them said that they would send out a Fleet of their own men and pay all that Tribute which they ought to do at several times for many years to come then all at once Maessinissa's Embassadours said their King would send five hundred Bushels of Wheat and three hundred thousand of Barley to the Army in Greece three hundred thousand Bushels of Wheat and two hundred and and fifty thousand of Barly to Rome besides five hundred Horse and twenty Elephants to Manius Acilius the Consul As to the Corn they both receiv'd this Answer That the Roman People would make use of it upon condition that they would take money for it As to the Fleet they excused the Carthaginians except it were so that they ow'd them any Ships by compact but for the money they would have none of it before the dayes appointed for the payment thereof Whilst these things were in agitation at Rome Antiochus at Chalcis lest he should be idle all the Winter time partly himself solicited the several Cities by his Embassadours as they on the other hand partly came of their own accord to him as the Epirotes for Example by universal consent of that Nation and the Eleans from Peloponnesus The Eleans desired aid against the Achaeans who they believ'd since they had contrary to their mind declar'd War against Antiochus would make the first attempt upon their City He therefore sent them a thousand Foot under the Command of Euphanes a Cretan The Embassy of the Epirotes shew'd no freedom or simplicity of inclination at all to any side for they were willing to contract a Friendship with the King but so as not by any means to offend the Romans desiring him not disadvantagiously to engage them in the matter who were set up against Italy for all Greece and should receive the first efforts of the Romans But if he himself could defend Epirus with his Land and Sea Forces all the Epitotes would gladly receive him into their Cities and Ports If he could not they desired him not to expose them naked and unarm'd as they were to the Roman War The design of that Embassy was evidently this that whether as they the rather believ'd he would he abstain'd from Epirus they might preserve an entire Friendship with the Roman Armies having sufficiently reconciled the King in that they would have receiv'd him if he came to them or whether he came they might that way also hope for pardon from the Romans in that they not expecting Auxiliaries from a place so distant had submitted to his present force To this so intricate an Embassy he having no ready Answer to make said He would send Embassadours to them to treat of those things that concern'd both him and them in common Then he himself went into Boeotia which had such specious pretensions for their animosity against the Romans as I told you viz. the death of Barchyllas and the War raised against Coronea upon the account of the Roman Souldiers that were there slain the famous Discipline of that Nation being much decay'd from what it had been and the present state of many being such that they could not rest long without making some alteration in the Common-wealth So being met by throngs of the Boeotian Nobility from all parts he arrived at Thebes where in a Council of the whole Nation though he had begun the War not only at Delium by an attack upon the Roman Garison there but at Chalcis also and that with no small or doubtful acts of hostillity yet he made the same Speech that he had done in the first Conference at Chalcis and by his Embassadours in the Council of the Achaeans desiring that they would enter into an Alliance with him and not proclaim War against the Romans but every body knew what the design was However for a light verbal pretext thereunto a Decree was made for the King against the Romans When he had made this Country too his Allies going back to Chalcis from whence he sent a Letter before hand that the Aetolian Nobility should meet at Demetrias for him to discourse them about the grand affairs of their State he came thither by Sea on the day that was appointed for the Council Not only Amynander was sent for out of Athamania to consult with them but Annibal the Carthaginian also who for a long time had not been admitted was present at that Council They consulted concerning the Thessalians and thought fit to try the inclinations of all such of that Nation as were then present only they were of different opinions in the case some of them being perswaded that they ought to go immediately about their work others that they ought to defer it till the beginning of the spring others that they ought only to send Embassadours
the same time they sent five hundred men under the command of Hippolochus for a Garison to Pherae but they being excluded from access to that place now that the Kings men had beset all the Roads went to Scotussa To the Larissaean Embassadours the King gave this mild Answer That he was come into Thessaly not to make War but to defend and establish the liberty thereof He also sent an Envoy to say much the same thing to the Pheraeans but they giving him no Answer sent themselves an Embassadour to the King by name Pausanias who was one of the chief men in their City Who when he had spoken to the same purpose being in the same circumstances as others had done for the Chacideses in the parley at the Streight of Eupirus and some things more boldly too the King having advised the Pheraeans to deliberate again and again for fear they should take that course of which whilst they were too cautious and provident for the time to come they would repent at present dismissed them When this news came to Pherae they presently resolv'd out of their love to the Romans to undergo all that the Fortune of War should cast upon them They therefore prepar'd themselves as fast as possible to defend their City whilst the King at the same time began to attack their Walls on every side as knowing well enough for there was no doubt of it that it depended upon the event of his attempt upon that City which he first set upon whether he should be contemn'd or fear'd by the whole Nation of the Thessalians wherefore he put the besieged into all the consternation he could The first effort of the attack they endured with resolution enough but soon after when many fell or were wounded as they were making their defence their hearts began to fail them But being recall'd by the chastisement of the Nobility to persevere in their design they left the outward circle of the Wall seeing their Forces were now wasted and retired into the inner part of the City about which there was a shorter Line of Circumvallation At last being quite tired out they fearing lest if they were taken by force they should find no favour from the Conquerer surrender'd themselves Thereupon the King without any delay sent four thousand men whilst the terrour was fresh to Scotussa where the Inhabitants never stuck to surrender having seen the Example of the Pheraeans before their Eyes who were forced at their cost to do that at last which at first they so pertinaciously refused Together with that City Hippolochus also and the Larissaean Garison were surrender'd But they were all dismiss'd by the King without any hurt done to them for that the King thought that would be a thing of great moment to reconcile the affections of the Larissaeans unto him Within ten dayes after his coming to Pherae having perfected these matters he went with his whole Army to Crano which he took upon his first arrival From thence he went and took possession of Cypaera Metropolis and the Castles thereabouts so that all places in that part of the Country excepting Atrax and Gyrto were now in his hands Then he resolv'd to attack Larissa supposing that either for fear since the other Cities were so lately taken or in gratitude for his dismissing of their Garison or by the Example of so many Cities that had surrender'd themselves they would no longer persist in their obstinacy He therefore having order'd his Elephants to be driven before the Ensigns for terrour march'd with a square Body up to the City to the end that the minds of great part of the Larissaeans might float to and fro between present fear of an Enemy and respect for their absent Allies At the same time Amynander with the Athaman Youth seiz'd Pellinaeum and Menippus going into Perrhoebium with three thousand Aetolian Foot and two hundred Horse took Mallaea and Cyretiae by storm plundering all the Country of Tripolitis Having done all this with great celerity they return'd to the King at Larissa and came just as he was consulting what to do with that place For there they were of different opinions some saying that they must use violence and not defer attacking the Walls with Works and Engines on every side at once it being a City seated on a Plain and easy of access which way they pleas'd whilst others said one while it was a City of such strength as not to be compar'd to Pherae and anon took notice that it was Winter and such a time of year as was not fit for any Warlike Enterprize much less for besieging or taking of Cities Whilst the King hereupon stood doubtful between hope and fear Embassadors from Pharsalus who came by chance to surrender their City raised his Courage In the mean time M. Boebius having met and confer'd with Philip in the Dassaretian Territories sent Appius Claudius by common consent to guard Larissa who marching through Macedonia by great Journeys came to that highest part of the Mountains that lies above Gonni Gonni is a Town twenty thousand paces from Larissa situate in the very entrance of the Lawn called Tempe Where having Encamp'd on more ground than he needed to have done in regard to the numbers he had and kindled more Fires than were necessary he made the Enemy believe what he design'd they should to wit that the whole Roman Army was there with Philip. Whereupon the King telling his men for an excuse that Winter was near at hand after he had staid only one day retired from Larissa and went back to Demetrias the Aetolians and the Athamans too going into their own Territories likewise Appias though he saw that the Siege was raised the only thing he was sent thither for yet he went down to Larissa to confirm their Allies in their affections for the future so that there was a double joy among them not only for that the Enemy was departed out of their Confines but that they saw a Roman Garison within their Walls The King going from Demetrias to Chalcis fell in love with a Damsel of that place who was Daughter to Cleoptolemys whom when he had tired out first by Proxy and then by his own importunities himself in person the Gentleman being unwilling to match his Daughter into a Family so much above her at last having gain'd his request kept his Wedding as if it had been in the midst of Peace and spent the remaining part of the Winter in feasting drinking sleeping and such pleasures as attended that kind of Life wherewith he was tired rather than cloy'd All his great Officers too who in Boeotia especially had the over-sight of his Winter-Quarters were guilty of the same debauchery and so were the common Souldiers also nor did any one of them put on his Armour keep his watch or station or do any thing else that belong'd to a Souldier Wherefore in the beginning of the Spring when he was come through Phocis into Acarnania
they must have been pursu'd hinder'd those that follow'd but most of all the Elephants being in the Reer by whom the Foot could scarce pass but the Horse by no manner of means their Horses were so scar'd at them making a greater disturbance among themselves than in the very Battle The rifling of the Camp too took up some time yet they pursued the Enemy that day as far as Scarphia And having kill'd and taken many on the road not only Horses and Men but Elephants also and slain those they could not take they return'd to their Camp which had been attempted that day in the very time of the fight by the Aetolians that were Ingarison'd at Heraclaea though without any success proportionable to their bold attempt The Consul at the third watch of the night following having sent the Horse before to pursue the Foe at break of day went forward with the Legions Antiochus was gone somewhat before as having never stopt in his flight till he came to Elatia where having gather'd up all the remainder of the fight and flight went with a very small number of half-arm'd Souldiers to Chalcis The Roman Horse did not overtake the King himself indeed at Elatia but they destroy'd great part of his scatter'd men who staid there being either tired with marching or wandering up and down as having fled through unknown ways without any guides to conduct them Nor did ever a man escape except five hundred that were about the Kings Person of the whole Army and but a small number of the ten thousand men that I told you Polybius said the King brought over with him into Greece What if we believe Valerius Antias who sayes that there were sixty thousand Souldiers in the Kings Army of which forty thousand were slain and above five thousand taken with two hundred and thirty military Ensigns Of the Romans there fell a hundred and fifty in the very Battle but defending themselves from the Incursion of the Aetolians not above fifty Whilst the Consul led his Army through Phocis and Boeotia the Cities being conscious of their revolt stood before their several Gates in the garb of Suppliants for fear they might be hostilely rifled but he went on every day as if he had been in an Allies Country without doing any hurt at all till he came into the Coronaean Dominions The Statue which was set up in the Temple of Minervae Itoneae moved him to passion and therefore he gave the Souldiers leave to ravage all the Fields about that Temple But then he bethought himself that since that Statue had been set up by the common consent of all Boeotia it was unworthy to be severe upon the Coroneses only so that having immediately recall'd his Souldiers he put an end to their plunder and only chastiz'd the Boeotians in words for their ingratitude toward the Romans from whom they had receiv'd so great and late benefits Just in the time of the fight ten Ships of the Kings with their Admiral Isidorus stood at Thronium in the Malian Bay Thither Alexander of Acarnania who was sick of his Wounds having fled as the Messenger of their unfortunate Battle and therefore those Ships affrighted at the fresh news of such a terrible accident went thence to Cenaeum in Euboea There Alexander died and was buried Three Ships also which being come from Asia were got into the same Port when they heard of the Armies overthrow return'd to Ephesus Isidorus from Cenaeum went over to Demetrias thinking that the King might happily fly thither At the same time A. Atilius Admiral of the Roman Navy met a great deal of provisions belonging to the King which came over the streight that lies near the Island of Andrus drowning some and taking others of the Ships that brought it But those that came last turn'd their course into Asia whilst Atilius going to Piraeeus from whence he came with the Fleet of Prize Ships that he had taken divided a great quantity of Corn not only among the Athenians but the other Allies of that Country Antiochus a little before the Consuls coming departed from Chalcis and first put in at Tenus going thence to Ephesus When the Consul came to Chalcis the Gates were thrown open since Aristotle the Kings Prefect upon his approach had left the City The other Cities also in Euboea were deliver'd up without any contest and in a few dayes when all things were totally setled the Army was carry'd back without the least hurt done to any City to Thermopylae being much more commendable for their moderation after Victory than for the Victory it self Then the Consul sent M. Cato by whom the Senate and People of Rome should know undoubtedly what was done to Rome He from Creusa which is a Port of the Thespieses lying in the inmost part of the Corinthian Bay went to Patrae in Achaia from whence he Coasted along the shores of Aetolia and Acarnania as far as Corcyra and so to Hydruntum in Italy In five dayes from thence he went at a great rate by Land to Rome where entering the City before day he went from the Gate straight to the Praetor M. Junius who call'd a Senate as soon as 't was day Now L. Cornelius Scipio who had been sent thither by the Consul some dayes before when he came and heard that Cato who got before him was in the Senate took him there just as he was telling the news Thence the two Embassadours by order of the Senate were brought into the Assembly of the People where they related the same things concerning the affairs in Aetolia as they had done in the Senate Thereupon a Supplication was decreed for three dayes and that the Praetor should make forty of the greater sort of Sacrifices to what Gods he thought good At the same time also M. Fulvius Nobilior who two years before went Praetor into the farther Spain came ovant into the City carrying before him of Bigate Silver i. e. stamp'd with the form of a Chariot a hundred and thirty thousand pieces and more than that twelve thousand pounds of silver Bullion with a hundred and twenty seven pounds of Gold Acilius the Consul sent before-hand from Thermopylae to the Aetolians at Heraclaea that they should then at least when they had tried the Kings vanity repent and having deliver'd up Heraclaea should think of desiring the Senates pardon whether for their fury or their errour That there were other Cities of Greece besides them which had revolted from the Romans though they had deserv'd very well of them but because after the Kings flight in confidence of whom they had departed from their duty they had not added obstinacy to their crime they were receiv'd into their protection again So the Aetolians also though they did not follow but send for the King and had been Leaders not Allies in the War if they could be penitent might be safe To which they answering not a Word it was manifest that the business was to be done
Aemilius who had the Sea Province was order'd to take twenty long Ships and his Seamen of M. Junius who was Praetor the year before himself to raise a thousand Seamen and two hundred Foot and to go with those Ships and Souldiers into Asia and receive the Navy from C. Livius The two Spains and Sardinia were continu'd for another year in the hands of those that had them to whom also the same Armies were allotted There were two Tithes of Corn exacted that year from Sicily and Sardinia whereof the Sicilian Corn was order'd to be carry'd to the Army in Aetolia and the Sardinian partly to Rome and partly into Aetolia as the Sicilian was Before the Consuls went into their Provinces they thought fit to have certain Prodigies expiated by the High-Priests At Rome the Temple of Juno Lucina was burnt with Lightning so that the Roof and the Doors of it were defaced At Puteoli the Wall and Gate were struck in many places with a Thunderbolt and two men kill'd At Nursia 't was well known that in a clear day there arose a storm and that there also two Freemen were kill'd The Tusculans said that it rained Earth with them and the Reatines that a Mule brought forth in their Territories These therefore were expiated and the Latine Feriae a time of Sacrificing in memory of a League between the Latines and the Romans celebrated for that the flesh a portion of the sacred Feast which should have been given to the Laurentes a people concern'd in the same affair had not been distributed to them There was also a Supplication ordain'd upon those religious accounts concerning which the Decemviri directed out of their Books to what Gods it should be made Ten ingenuous Youths and as many Virgins who had all of them their Fathers and Mothers still alive were to be present at that Sacrifice and the Decemviri made it in the night time with suckling Beasts as Lambs Calves c. P. Cornelius Scipio Africanus before he went set up an Arch in the Capitol over-against the way that leads up thither with seven gilded Ensigns two Horses and two marble Cisterns before it At the same time forty three of the Aetolian Nobility of whom Damocritus and his Brother were two being brought to Rome by two Regiments sent by Manius Acilius were put into the Lautumiae Stone-quarries a Prison where they were bound to dig and cut stone Then the Regiments return'd to the Army by order of L. Cornelius the Consul and Embassadours came from Ptolomy and Cleopatra who reign'd over Aegypt to congratulate with Manius Acilius for his having when Consul expelled Antiochus out of Greece and to desire the Senate that they would send an Army into Asia for that all things were in a confusion not only in Asia but in Syria too That the King of Aegypt would be ready to do whatever the Senate should resolve upon The Senate return'd the King thanks and order'd the Embassadours to be presented each one of them with four thousand Asses a sort of Roman Coin L. Cornelius the Consul having perfected what he had to do at Rome gave order in a publick Assembly that all the Souldiers which he himself had raised as a supplement to the other Forces and those that were in the Bruttian Territories with A. Cornelius the Pro-Praetor should all meet upon the 13th of July at Brundusium He likewise nominated three Lieutenants Sex Digitius L. Apustius and C. Fabricius Luscinus to muster up the Ships from all the Sea Coast thereabout to Brundusium and when all things were now ready went from the City in his Warlike garb There were five thousand Voluntiers of Romans and their Allies who had been discharg'd from the Wars under their General P. Africanus but now attended upon the Consul at his going forth and gave in their names At the same time that the Consul march'd to the Wars upon the day that the Games were celebrated in honour of Apollo which was the 9th of July when the Sky was clear and in the day time the Heavens were darken'd by the Moon going under the Orb of the Sun and Eclipsing it L. Aemilius Regillus also who happen'd to have the command of the Fleet went away at the same time L. Aurunculeius was imploy'd by the Senate to build thirty Gallies of five Banks and twenty of three because there was a report that Antiochus since the last Sea-fight was setting out a Navy somewhat bigger than before The Aetolians before their Embassadours brought word back from Rome that there was no hopes of peace though all their Sea-Coast toward Peloponnesus was ravaged by the Achaeans being more mindful of their danger than their loss to intercept the Romans passage possessed themselves of the Mountain Corax For they did not question but in the beginning of the Spring they would return to attack Naupactum But Acilius who knew that was expected thought it better to undertake an Enterprize unlookt for and besiege Lamia which was not only reduced almost into a desperate condition by Philip but then also for that very reason because they fear'd no such matter might be easily surpriz'd He therefore marching from Elatia Encamped first in the Enemies Country about the River Sperchius from whence he remov'd in the night and at break of day invested the Walls with Souldiers quite round Their fear and consternation as in case so unexpected was very great yet they that day defended their City with more resolution than any one could believe they would have done the Men fighting upon the Walls against which there were Ladders set in many places and the Women bringing Weapons of all sorts and Stones for them to throw down upon the Foe Acilius having given the signal for a retreat led his men back about the middle of the day into his Camp where when they had refreshed their Bodies with Victuals and sleep before he dismiss'd the Council of War held in his own Tent he gave them charge to be ready arm'd before day and said that he would not bring them back into the Camp before they had taken the City So making his attack at the same time as he did the day before in several places seeing the Townsmen strength Weapons and above all their hearts failed them he in a few hours took the City In which having partly sold and partly divided the Booty among his men he held a Consult to advise what he next should do They were none of them for going to Naupactum since the Woods at Corax were taken up by the Aetolians Yet that they might not be idle all the Summer and lest the Aetolians should gain that Peace by his delays which they could not obtain of the Senate Acilius resolv'd to attack Amphissa Accordingly the Army was led from Heraclea through Oeta thither Where having Encamped near the Walls he began to attack the City not by investing it quite round as he did Lamia but with works He planted his battering Rams
of War and though the Wind were against him before Day got into the Port of Pygela Where when he had rested all Day for the same reason as before he in the Night put over to the nearest part of Samus From whence when he had ordered Nicander an Arch-pirate to go with five Men of War to Palinurus and thence to carry the Soldiers the nearest way he could to Panormus rereward of the Enemy he himself in the mean time dividing the Fleet that he might make sure of the entrance into the Port on both sides made toward the same place Pausistratus at first being a little disturb'd at such a surprise but soon after like an old Soldier recovering his Courage thought the Enemy might be better kept off by Land than by Sea and therefore led his Men in two Bodies to those Promontories that with two horns as it were running into the Sea make the Port supposing that from thence he should with his darting Weapons easily remove the Foe But Nicander who was sent by Land having spoiled their project he immediately altered his resolution and bad them all get on board the Ships With that both the Soldiers and Seamen too were in a great consternation and fled as it were into their Ships when they saw themselves circumvented both by Land and Sea too Pausistratus thinking it the only means to save himself if he could make way through the Ports mouth and break out into the main Sea after he saw that his Men were all on board bad the rest follow whilst he in the head of them rowing briskly on bore up toward the entrance of the Port. When his Ship was now just going out at the Ports mouth Polyxenidas set him with three five-bank'd Gallys by whose beaks he was split and sunk his Men being kill'd with Weapons that were thrown upon them among whom Pausistratus also whilst he fought with great briskness was slain For the rest of the Ships some were taken before some of them in the Port and other some by Nicander as they were putting off from the Shore Only five Rhodian Ships with two Coans escaped making their way for fear of the blazing flames through the midst of the Fleet. For the Ships carryed before them upon two long Poles that stuck out from their Prowes in Iron Pans a great deal of Fire The Erythraean Gallies of three banks having met the Rhodian Ships whom they came to assist not far from Samus turn'd their course into Hellespont to the Romans About the same time Seleucus took Phocaea by the treachery of the Sentinels who open'd one of the Gates to him so that Cymae and other Cities upon the same Coast revolted to him for fear Whilst these things past in Aeolis Abydus having for several Days held out the Siege the Kings Men defending the Walls thereof now that they were all tired and by the permission too of Philotas who was Governour of the Garrison their Magistrates treated with Livius concerning terms of surrendering their City Now that matter was the longer in agitation for that they could not agree whether the Kings Men should march out with or without their Arms so that whilst they were discoursing of it news came of the defeat of the Rhodians and made them quit the debate For Livius fearing lest Polyxenidas proud of his success in so great an action should surprise the Navy that was at Canae strait left the Siege of Abydus and guarding of Hellespont to lance those Ships that were taken up into the Docks at Canae Eumenes also came to Elea whilst Livius with all his Fleet to which he had joyned two Mitylaenean three-bank'd Gallies sailed toward Phocaea Which when he heard was holden by a strong Garrison belonging to the King and that Seleucus's Camp was not far off having ravaged the Sea Coast and put the booty consisting chiefly of Men as fast as he could on board the Ships staid only so long till Eumenes with his Fleet overtook him and then sailed for Samus The Rhodians as soon as they heard of the defeat of their Countrymen were at first both affrighted and very much grieved For besides the loss of Ships and Soldiers they had lost all the flower and strength of their Youth many Noblemen having followed among other things the authority of Pausistratus which with his own Country was deservedly very great But soon after for that they were circumvented by fraud and that especially by a Citizen of their own their grief turned into fury Wherefore they immediately sent forth ten Ships and in a few days after ten more under the command of Eudamus whom though he were not equal to Pausistratus for his other Warlike Virtues they believ'd would be as much more cautious as he had less Skill and Courage The Romans and King Eumenes went with their Fleet first to Erythra where having tarried one Night the next Day they got to Corycum a Promontory near Teios from whence being willing to cross over to the nearest Port of Samus they staid not for the Suns rising by which the Mariners might have observed the state of the Heavens but put themselves upon the hazard of a tempest For in the midway the Wind standing full North they were tost in a storm Polyxenidas supposing that the Enemy would go to Samus to join the Rhodian Fleet set out from Ephesus and touch'd first at Myonnesus from whence he went over to an Island called Macris that there he might have an opportunity to set upon any stragling Ships if any such there were as the Navy went by or upon their Reer at least When he saw their Navy was dispers'd by the storm he at first thought that a good occasion to attack them but a little after the Wind rising and rowling still much greater Waves upon them seeing he could not come at them he went over to the Island of Aethalia that he might next day meet the Ships that were going to Samus A small party of the Romans came as soon as it was dark into the Port of Samus then empty and the rest of their Fleet having been tost on the Ocean all night put into the same Port. There having intelligence from the Country People that the Enemies Fleet lay at Aethalia they held a Council to advise Whether they should engage them presently or stay for the Rhodian Fleet. Thereupon deferring the business for so it was resolv'd they put over to Corycum from whence they came Polyxenidas also having staid to no purpose return'd to Ephesus Then the Roman Ships when the Sea was free from Enemies went over to Samus whither the Rhodian Fleet after a few dayes likewise came For which that it might appear they waited they sailed immediately for Ephesus either to have an Engagement or that if the Enemy declined fighting which was a thing of great importance in respect to the apprehensions of the several Cities they might force from them a confession of their fear So they stood with
toward Adramytteum through a rich Country which they call the Plain of Thebes and was celebrated by Homer's Pen. Nor did the Kings Souldiers get more booty in any other place of Asia Aemilius also and Eumenes came to the same City of Adramytteum to be a guard to it though they went round about by Sea It happen'd that at the same time a thousand Foot and a hundred Horse commanded by Diophanes came to Elaea out of Achaia For whom when they were landed Attalus sent certain persons to meet and conduct them in the night to Pergamus They were all old Souldiers well skill'd in military affairs and their Captain himself Scholar to Philopaemen the best General of all the Greeks at that time They took two dayes to rest themselves and their Horses and to view the Enemies Posts where and when they might best make their approaches or retreat The Kings men came up near to the Foot of the Hill on which the City stands so that they had liberty to plunder behind them since no body sally'd out not so much as to the places where their own men stood who could throw a Dart to any considerable distance But when they were once for fear forced into their Walls the Kings men began first to contemn and then to neglect them For great part of them had not their Horses either sadled or bridled besides that leaving some few standing to their Arms in Rank and File the rest got away and stragled all over the Fields some of them playing at several sorts of youthful Games some eating in the shade and others lying down asleep Which when Diophanes from the high City of Pergamus beheld he commanded his men to take up their Arms and stand ready at the Gate whilst he himself went to Attalus and told him he had a design to attempt the Enemies Post Attalus was very unwilling to let him as seeing that he must fight with a hundred Horse against three hundred and a thousand with four thousand but yet being over-perswaded he consented so Diophanes going out at the Gate sate down not far from the Enemies Camp and waited for an occasion Those that were at Pergamus thought it rather madness in him than courage and the Enemies too who for some little time turn'd toward them when they saw they were not at all concern'd neither did they themselves alter any thing of their former negligence but more than that slighted the fewness of them Diophanes for some time kept his men quiet as though he had brought them out to see a show only but when he saw the Enemy gone out of their Ranks commanded the Foot to make what hast they could after him he himself in the head of the Horse with his own Troop as hard as he could drive whilst all the Horse and Foot together set up a mighty shout of a sudden invaded the Enemies station Nor only the men but the Horses too were frighted and having broken their Bridles caused a distraction and a tumult among their own men Some few Horses stood undaunted whom they could not easily either Saddle or Bridle or Mount so that the Achaeans occasion'd a greater consternation than by the number of their Horsemen one would have thought they should have done But the Foot coming regularly and prepared set upon the Enemy whilst they were scatter'd about through negligence and almost half a sleep by which means they were kill'd and put to flight all over the Plains Diophanes having follow'd them as far as it was safe for him to the great honour of the Achaean Nation for not only Men but Women also saw him from the Walls of Pergamus return'd into the Garison of the City The next Day the Kings Men being more composed and regular encamped five Hundred Paces farther from the City and the Achaeans about the same time came forth into the same place For many hours they watched on both sides very intently as though they had every moment expected the attack but when not long before Sun-set it was time to go back into their Camp the Kings Men putting all their Ensigns together began to march in a Body more fit for a journey than a fight Diophanes lay still whilst they were in sight and then ran in upon their Reer with the same force as he had done the Day before whereby he again put them into such a fright and a tumult that though their backs were cut no one of them made the least resistance but all in an hurry and scarce able to keep their ranks they were forced back into their Camp This audacity of the Achaeans made Seleucus remove his Camp out of the Territories of Pergamus Antiochus when he heard that the Romans and Eumenes were come to defend Adramytteum meddled not with that City though he plundered the Country about it Then he took Peraea a Colony of the Mitylenians Cotton and Corylenus Aphrodisias and Crene were taken upon the first attempt From thence he return'd through Thyatira to Sardeis whilst Seleucus continuing upon the Sea-Coast was a terrour to some and a guard to others The Roman Fleet with Eumenes and the Rhodians returned first to Mitylene and then back from whence it came to Elaea From thence going to Phocaea they arrived at an Island which they call Bachius hard by Phocaea where when they had hostilely rifled all the Temples which before they had not meddled with and violated the Images in them and indeed the Island was curiously adorn'd they went to the very City it self Which after they had divided among them and having so attack'd it saw that without Works Arms and Ladders it could not be taken since a Garrison sent by Antiochus of three Thousand Men was now in it they presently laid aside the thoughts of a Siege and the Navy went back to the Island having done nothing else but plundered the Country about the City From thence it was resolved That Eumenes should be sent home and prepare for the Consul and his Army what was necessary for their passage over the Hellespont that the Roman and Rhodian Fleet should return to Samus and there tarry in a readiness lest Polyxenidas should move from Ephesus The King accordingly return'd to Elaea the Romans and the Rhodians to Samus where M. Aemilius the Praetors Brother dyed The Rhodians having celebrated his Funeral went to Rhodes to be there in a readiness against a Fleet which there was a report was coming out of Syria with thirteen Ships of their own one Coan Gally of five banks and another Gnidian Two Days before Eudamus came with the Navy from Samus the thirteen Ships from Rhodes being sent along with Pamphilidas their Admiral against the Syrian Fleet taking to their assistance four Ships that were as a guard to Caria raised the Siege from before Daedala and some other small Castles which the Kings Men were attempting to take By this time it was resolved that Eudamus should set out with all speed to
Antioch Seleucus Son to Antiochus came into the Consuls Camp according to the League made with Scipio to provide Corn for the Army where there arose a small debate about Attalus's Auxiliaries for that Seleucus said Antiochus had agreed to give Corn to none but Roman Souldiers But that also was decided by the Consuls resolution who sending a Tribune gave order that the Roman Souldiers should not take any Corn before Attalus 's Auxiliaries had receiv'd it From thence he went on to Gordiutichus as they call it and so in three marches to Tabae a City standing upon the Confines of Pisidia on that part that lies toward the Pamphylian Sea where since the Forces of that side of the Country were entire there were men very eager to fight And even the Horse sallying out upon the Roman Army put them at the first attack into great disorder But soon after when it appear'd that they were not equal either in number or courage being forced into the City they ask'd pardon for their errour and were ready to yield themselves They were injoin'd to pay twenty five Talents of Silver and sixty thousand Bushels of Wheat and so were admitted to make their surrender Three days after they came to the River Chaus from whence they went and took the City of Eriza upon the first attempt Then they proceeded to the Castle of Thabusion which stands upon the River Indus so called from one Indus who was there thrown off an Elephant And now they were not far from Cibyra but no Embassy came from Moagetes King of that City who was a man very faithless and wayward in all his dealings Wherefore to try his inclinations the Consul sent before him C. Helvius with four thousand Foot and five hundred Horse This Party was met just as they enter'd into his Confines by Embassadours who told them that the King was ready to do what they commanded and desir'd that he would come peaceably into their Country keeping the Souldiers from making havock of it They brought fifteen Talents from a Crown of Gold and Helvius promising to keep the Country entire from Plunder order'd the Embassadours to go and wait upon the Consul To whom since they said the same thing before him too the Consul made Answer We Romans have not any testimony of the Tyrants good will toward us besides that all the World know him to be such a person as that we ought to think of punishing rather than making an Alliance with him The Embassadours being disturb'd at this desir'd nothing else than that he would accept of the Crown and that he would permit the King to come and discourse him in order to atchieve himself Accordingly the next day by permission of the Consul the King came into the Camp cloth'd and attended like an ordinary Man Where he made a submissive humble Speech extenuating his own power and complaining of the poverty of the Cities in his Dominions which were besides Cibyra Syleum and Alimne Out of these he with some diffidence promised though he beggar'd himself and all his people to raise twenty five Talents Whereunto the Consul reply'd This mockery of yours can no longer be born with Was there not reason enough for your being ashamed of cheating us by your Embassadours when you were absent but you must persist in the same impudence when present too Five and twenty Talents would exhaust your Kingdom Let me tell you Sirs unless you pay five hundred Talents to us in three dayes you must expect a ravage in your Country and a Siege before your City Walls The King though frighted at this denunciation yet continu'd in his obstinate pretence of poverty but by degrees making an illiberal addition sometimes with cavilling and other whiles with begging and feigned tears was brought to a hundred Talents to which were added sixty thousand Bushels of Corn. All this was done within six days From Cibyra he led the Army through the Sindian Territories and Encamped on the farther side of the River Calaures The next day they march'd by the Fenn Caralitis and halted at Mandropolis From whence when they went on to the next City named Lagos the Inhabitants ran all away for fear They therefore rifled the Town that was forsaken of its people but abounded in all sorts of provisions Then from the Spring-head of the River Lysis they went forward next day to the River Cobulatus The Termessians at that time having taken the City attack'd the Castle of Isionda so that the besieged having no other hopes of aid left sent Embassadours to the Consul to desire his assistance saying that they with their Wives and Children being shut up in the Castle every day expected death either by Sword or Famine Whereupon the Consul who before had a mind to go into Pamphylia had then a good occasion offer'd him and at his arrival raised the Siege from before Isionda He granted Termessus a Peace though he took fifty Talents of Silver from them as he likewise did to the Aspendians and the other people of Pamphylia Out of Pamphylia he return'd the first day to the River Taurus and the next Encamp'd at Xyline Come as they call it From thence he went straight to the City of Cormasa the next City to which is Darsa That he found deserted by the Inhabitants for fear but full of all necessaries Whence as he went on by the Fenns Embassadours met him from Lysinoe to surrender their City Then he came into the Sagalassene Territories a fruitful and a rich soil inhabited by the Pisidians who are much the best Warriers in all that Country Whom as that animates so does the fertility of the soil the multitude of their people and the situation of their City which among those few that are there is fortified The Consul because there was no Embassy ready at the Confines sent his men to plunder the Country By that means at last their obstinacy was tamed when they saw all they had taken away They therefore sent Embassadours who bargaining to give the Consul fifty Talents a hundred and twenty thousand Bushels of Wheat and sixty thousand of Barly obtain'd a Peace From thence going onward to the head of the River Obrima he Encamp'd at a Village called Aporidos Come whither Seleucus also came the next day from Apamea and from that place having first sent his sick men and other cumbersome Baggage to Apamea took Guides of Seleucus's providing along with him and march'd that day into the Plains of Metropolis and the next day on to Diniae in Phrygia Then he came to Synnada the Towns thereabout being deserted for fear When therefore he had laden his Army with the plunder of them so that they could scarce march five thousand paces in a day he came to a place called old Beudos From thence he went to Anabura the next day to the head of the River Alander and the third day Encamp'd at Abbassus There he continu'd for several dayes because he was come to the
had been scatter'd all over the Country in their flight being met together again in one place great part of them wounded or unarm'd and destitute of all necessaries sent Envoys to the Consul concerning a Peace Then Manlius to come to Ephesus whilst he himself making hast to get out of those parts that were so cold by reason of Taurus being so nigh for now it was the middle of Autumn brought back his Victorious Army into Winter Quarters upon the Sea-Coast Whilst these things were transacted in Asia all things in the other Provinces were quiet At Rome the Censors T. Quintius Flaminius and M. Claudius Marcellus review'd the Senate of which P. Scipio Africanus now the third time chosen President there being only four names pass'd over in order to their being put out of the Senate none of whom had ever rode in a Curule Chair They were also very mild in their review of the Knighthood They likewise bargain'd for the building of an House upon the place where that of Sp. Maelius called now Aequimelium stood in the Capitol and to have the street paved with Flint from the Capene Gate to the Temple of Mars The Companions consulted the Senate to know where they should be poled and it was decreed that it should be done at Rome There were great Waters that Year The Tiber over-whelm'd the Campus Martius and all the lower parts of the City twelve times Now when Cn. Manlius the Consul had made an end of the War against the Gauls in Asia the other Consul M. Fulvius having subdu'd the Aetolians went over into Cephalenia and sent all about to the Cities of that Island to inquire Whether they would rather yield themselves to the Romans or try the Fortune of a War Whereupon their fear so far prevailed with them that they all submitted to a Surrender So Hostages being required of them the Nesiotes Cranians Palleans and Samians according to the ability of such a poor people gave twenty By this means an unexpected Peace smiled upon Cephalenia when on a sudden one of their Cities namely the Samians for what reason is not known revolted For they said that since their City was situate in a convenient place they were afraid lest they might be forced by the Romans to remove from it But whether they form'd these apprehensions in themselves and by vain fears depriv'd themselves of rest or whether such a thing might be talk'd of by the Romans and so brought to their Ears is not certain save that as soon as they had given their Hostages they presently shut their Gates nor would they even at the request of their own Natives for the Consul had sent to the Walls of the City to move the compassion of those that were Parents or Countrymen at least to the Hostages desist from their undertaking Thereupon the City began since they return'd no peaceable answer to be attack'd The Consul had all sorts of Provisions of Warlike Instruments and Engines brought over from the Siege of Ambracia besides that the Souldiers quickly perfected all such Works as were to be raised Wherefore their Rams being apply'd in two places at once began to shake the Walls Nor did the Samians omit any thing whereby either the Works or the Enemy might be removed but made resistance by two things more especially the one in that they still repaired the inward Wall when it was beaten down with a strong new one and the other in that they fallied out of a sudden one while upon the Enemies Works and another while upon their Guards in which attempts they for the most part got the better of it There was one slight way at last found out scarce worth the mentioning to restrain them and that was this There were a hundred Slingers sent for from Aegium Patrae and Dyma who had been used even from their Childhood according to the custom of their Country to throw round stones that lie upon the Sea-shores among the Sand into the open Sea Wherefore they used that instrument to greater advantage and with more certainty and a stronger blow than the Balearian Slingers did Neither has their Sling one Leather only in the bottom of it as the Balearian and that of other Nations hath but three which are fasten'd close and hard together with many seams least the Leather being loose the Stone or Bullet should roull to and fro when they are going to fling it so that lying dead upon the bottom it is hurl'd forth as from a Cross-Bow They therefore being used to throw Coronets of a small compass from a great distance did not only wound the heads of the Enemies but any part of their Faces that they design'd to hit These things kept the Samians from sallying forth either so frequently or so boldly insomuch that they desired the Achaeans from the Walls for a little time to draw off and quietly look on whilst they engaged with the Romans The Samians held out the Siege for four Months But at last since of those few that they were some daily fell or were wounded and they that remained were tired both in their Bodies and Minds too the Romans getting in the Night over the Wall through the Fort which they call Cyatis for the City runs Westward toward the Sea side came into the Market-place Whereupon the Samians seeing part of their City was taken fled with their Wives and Children into the bigger Fort and from thence the next day making their Surrender their City being risled they were all sold for Slaves The Consul having set all things in order at Cephalenia and put a Garison into Samus went over into Peloponnesus at the request of the Aegians chiefly and the Lacedaemonians who had for a great while together desired his Company there The meeting of the general Assembly or Council of Achaia was originally always appointed to be at Aegium either out of respect to the dignity of that City or for the convenience of the place But this usage Philopoemen that Year first of all endeavour'd to abolish and therefore prepared a Bill to be pass'd into a Law that the meeting should be in all the Cities that sent Members to the Achaian Parliament by turns And accordingly when the Consul was a coming the chief Magistrates in each City summoning them to Aegium Philopoemen who then was State-holder order'd the Assembly to be at Argos Whither when it appear'd that they were all resolv'd to come the Consul also though he favour'd the Aegians most came to Argos where when upon debate he saw the matter incline the other way he desisted from his first design of being for Aegium After that the Lacedaemonians engaged him in their quarrel their City being most infested by a company of people that were banish'd thence Of whom great part dwelt in the Maritime Castles of the Laconian Coast which was all taken away from the Lacedaemonians Which indignity the Lacedaemonians being scarce able to endure in order to their having some Avenue
that he himself hastening to Naupactum whither the Aetolians were sled permitted Philip to make War upon Athamania and Amynander and to add those Cities which the Aetolians had taken from the Thessalians to his own Kingdom Nor had â—e much ado to drive Amynander out of Athamania and take several Cities He likewise reduced Demetrias which is a strong City and very opportunely situated for all designs with the Magnetians to himself After that he took some Cities in Thrace too that were disturb'd by the Vice of taking a new and unusual liberty through the seditions of their Nobility by joining with the party which was overcome in that domestick broil By this means for the present was the Kings Anger against the Romans appeas'd But yet he never ceased even in times of Peace from raising of Forces to make use of in War whenever he had an occasion He encreased the Revenues of his Kingdom not only out of the Fruits of the Country and Customs in the Sea Port Towns for Wars exported and imported but he likewise not only set men to dig the old Mines that had been long intermitted but made new ones too in many places But to restore the multitude of men whom he had lost in the War he not only provided for a new Generation of men by forcing all people to get and breed up Children but he brought over a great number of Thracians also into Macedonia where being for some time quiet from Wars he bent all his thoughts and care upon a method how to augment the wealth of his Kingdom But then there came the same reasons again to move his passion against the Romans For the complaints of these Thessalians and Perrhebians concerning their Cities being possess'd by him and of the Embassadours of King Eumenes concerning some Thracian Towns that were taken by force were so heard that it was evident enough they were not neglected But that which moved the Senate most was that they had heard he affected the possession of Aenus and Maronea for they did not care so much for the Thessalians The Athaman Embassadours also came complaining not that they had lost some part or the Borders of their Country but that all Athamania in general was now in the Kings hands Banish'd persons too of Maronea were beaten out by the Kings Guards because they had defended the cause of their liberty They brought word not only that Maronea but Aenus also was in Philips possession There likewise came Embassadours from Philip to clear him of those accusations who said That there was nothing done but by permission of the Roman Generals That the Cities of Thessaly Perraebia Magnesia and Athamania with Amynander were in the same case as the Aetolians That when Antiochus was beaten the Consul being himself imploy'd in attacking the Cities of Aetolia sent Philip to retake those Cities and that they being now subdu'd by force did pay obedience to him The Senate that they might not determine of any thing in the Kings absence sent Embassadours to discuss those points whose names were Q. Caecilius Metellus M. Baebius Tamphilus and T. Sempronius just before whose coming there was a Council appointed of all those Cities who had any controversy with the King to meet at Tempe in Thessaly There when the Roman Embassadours in the place of Arbitrators the Thessalians Perraebians and Athamans as the Accusers and Philip to hear the crimes charg'd against him like a Prisoner were all sate together every one of those who were the heads of the Embassies according to their natural inclination their good or ill will to Philip discours'd more mildly or severely Now there came into the debate Philippopolis Tricca Phalonia Eurymene and the other Towns thereabouts whether they belong'd to the Thessalians though they were by force taken away and kept by the Aetolians for it was well known that Philip took them from the Aetolians or whether they had been anciently Aetolian Towns For Acilius granted them to the King upon that condition only if they had anciently belong'd to the Aetolians and if they were under the Aetolians out of their own free will and not compell'd by force of Arms. The debates touching the Towns of Perraebia and Magnesia were much of the same nature for the Aetolians had confounded the rights of them all by their possessing of them upon several occasions But to these things that were in debate there were added the complaints of the Thessalians that he was resolv'd if he must restore those Towns they should have them all rifled and deserted For besides those that were lost by the Fortune of War he had taken away five hundred of the best of their youth into Macedonia and there unworthily imploy'd them in servile business besides that he took care that those which he was forced to render to the Thessalians should be of no use to them That Thebes in Pthiotis was a Sea Port that had once been very advantagious to the Thessalians But the King having got a Fleet of Merchant-men that were to sail by Thebes to Demetrias had taken all the trade thither That now he did not abstain from violating Embassadours neither who are lookt upon as sacred by all Nations for he laid an Ambuscade for those that were a going to Quintius Whereby all the Thessalians were put into such a fright that never an one of them durst so much as open their mouths either in their Cities or in the publick Assemblies of their Nation For the Romans who were the Authors of their liberty were a great way off that a tyrannical Master stuck close to their sides who hinder'd them from making use of the Romans goodness but what was freedom if their tongues were not free That even now in confidence of the Embassadours they groan'd rather than spake and that unless the Romans found out some way whereby the Greeks that lived in Macedonia might be eased of their fears and Philips audacity taken off it was not only to no purpose that he was conquer'd but that they were set at liberty That he ought to be held in with a streight rein like a Wresty Horse that will not easily be ruled Thus spake the last of them somewhat sharply though the former had mildly assaged his wrath desiring that he would pardon them since they pleaded for liberty and that laying aside the austerity of a Master he would use to shew himself an Ally and a Friend and thereby imitate the Roman People who chose to make themselves Allies by love rather than by fear When the Thessalians had been heard the Perraebians said that Gonnocondylum which Philip had named Olympias belong'd to Perraebia and desired that it might be restored to them They made the same request also concerning Mallaea and Ericinium The Athamans too demanded back their liberty together with the Castles of Athenaeum and Petnaeum Philip that he might seem rather an accuser than guilty himself also beginning with complaints said that the Thessalians had taken
by force and Arms Menelais in Dolopia which formerly belong'd to his Kingdom As also that Petra in Pieria was taken by the same Thessalians and the Perraebians together That they took Xyniae which was undoubtedly an Aetolian Town into their own Dominions and that Perachelois which belong'd to Athamania was wrongfully made part of the Thessalian Territories For as to the crimes that were objected against him concerning his laying wait for the Embassadours and frequenting or forsaking such and such Sea-Ports the one was very ridiculous that he should give an account what Ports his Merchants or Mariners went to and other was quite contrary to his constant usage For it was now so many years that their Embassadours had never ceased to carry stories of him one while to the Roman Generals and another while to the Senate at Rome yet which of them did he ever abuse so much as in words only That they pretended there was an Ambuscade once laid for those that were a going to Quintius but they did not say withal what besel them That such crimes were invented by them who sought for something which they might falsely object when they had nothing of truth to tell That the Thessalians did insolently and immoderately abuse the indulgence of the Romans whilst they too greedily guzled down pure liberty as those that had been long thirsty did Wine That upon the same score they like Slaves who are contrary to their expectations on a sudden set at liberty they try'd the freedom of their speech and tongue and vaunted themselves by inveighing and railing against their Governours Then raised by his passion he added That Sun was not yet set for all dayes that were to come which threatning saying of his not only the Thessalians but the Romans also took as spoken against them And when the murmur that arose upon those words was at last again allay'd he then made Answer to the Embassadours of the Perraebians and Athamanians in this manner That the case of those Cities for which they pleaded was altogether the same That the Consul Acilius and the Romans gave him then when they belong'd to the Enemy That if they that gave him that present would take it from him again he knew he must yield but they would thereby do an injury to a better and a more faithful Friend to oblige a light and an useless parcel of Allies For there was no obligation more fading than that of liberty especially among such people as by making a bad use of it were like to destroy it Having heard the case the Embassadours declared That they thought fit the Macedonian Garisons should be drawn out of those Cities and that the Kingdom should be bounded by its ancient limits As to the injuries which they complain'd were done to them on both sides that they would appoint a legal method how a decision should be made between those Nations and the Macedonians The King being mightily offended with what they said they went thence to Thessalonica to inquire concerning the Cities of Thrace Where the Embassadours of King Eumenes told them That if the Romans had a mind that Aenus and Maronea should be free it did not sute with their modesty to say any thing else save to admonish them that they would leave them really and not verbally free nor suffer their gift to be intercepted by another person But if they less regarded the Cities in Thrace yet it was more consonant to reason that Eumenes should have those Towns that were subject to Antiochus as the rewards of War than that Philip should whether upon the score of his Father Attalus 's merits in the War which the Roman People waged against Philip or of his own who was concern'd in all the toil and danger of the War with Antiochus both by Sea and Land Besides that he had the judgment of the ten Embassadours in the case before hand who when they gave him Chersonesus and Lysimachia gave him Maronea and Aenus too which by their very Neighbourhood were as it were dependencies upon that greater present For upon the account of what merit toward the Roman People or right of Government since they were so far from the Confines of Macedonia had Philip put Garisons into those Cities That they would order the Maronites to be called in and from them they should receive a more satisfactory account of the state of those Cities Then the Maronean Embassadours being call'd in said That the Kings Garison was not only in one part of the City but in several places at the same time and that Maronea was full of Macedonians By which means the Kings flatterers domineered there That they alone had the liberty to speak both in the Senate and in other publick Assemblies and that they not only took to themselves but confer'd upon others also all kinds of honour That every good man who had any regard to his liberty and the Laws was either banish'd his Country or forced to live there in disgrace and silence subject to a parcel of Rascals They also added some few words concerning the right of their Borders saying That Q. Fabius Labeo when he was in those parts set Philip a boundary which was to be the Kings old road that goes into the Paroreia i. e. the Country near the Mountains of Thrace and comes no where nigh the Sea but that Philip afterward went a new way whereby to take in the Cities and Country belonging to the Maronites To this Philip taking a quite different method of Discourse from that which he lately used against the Thessalians and Perraebians said I have no controversy with the Maronites or with King Eumenes but even with you Romans from whom I have long observ'd that I can have no justice done me I thought it reasonable that the Macedonian Cities which in the time of the Truce had revolted from should be again restored to me not because that would be any great addition to my Kingdom for they are not only small Towns but situate also upon the very Frontiers of my Dominions but because the example would conduce very much to the keeping of the other Macedonians within the bounds of their Allegiance But this was deny'd me Then being order'd in the Aetolian War by the Consul Manius Acilius to attack Lamia when I had been long fatigued there with Battles and Works as I was just ready to scale the Walls and had almost taken the City the Consul recall'd me and forced me to draw my Forces off from it To make me amends for the injury it was permitted that I should retake some certain Castles rather than Cities of Thessaly Perraebia and Athamania And those too you Q. Caecilius some few dayes after took from me A little before that the Embassadours of Eumenes forsooth took it for an unquestionable truth that what belongs to Antiochus it was more reasonable Eumenes should be Master of than I. But that I take to be quite contrary For Eumenes could not
thence as from an unexhaustible Fountain The remainder of his Speech was by way of perswasion My Lords I relate not these things said he from the mouth of uncertain Fame or a greedy desire to beâ—ieve or wish that the truth of ill things should be prov'd upon my Enemy but on my own knowledge and experience in the same manner as if I had been sent a spy to report to you the things I saw nor would I have left my own Kingdom and the share of glory which by your benignity I possess to pass so vast a Sea to bring you trifling Tales to forfeit your esteem I have survey'd the noblest Cities of Asia as well as Greece discovering daily their intentions in which if they should be suffer'd to proceed they would not have it in their power to retrieve their safety by repentance I have observed how Perseus not contented within the limits of Macedonia sometimes by force of Arms sometimes by favour and benevolence obtains those Countries he ne'r could get by Conquest I have weigh'd the unequal conditions whilst he prepareth War on you and you perform the terms of Peace with him although it appears no less to me than his being already in actual Hostility Adrupolis your Friend he hath driven from his Kingdom Artetarus the Illyrian another of your Allies he slew because he found he had written Letters unto you Eversa and Callicrates Thebans and Princes of that City because in the Boeotian Council they spoke something too freely against him declaring they would relate to you those proceedings he commanded they should be put to death He sent Auxiliaries to the Bizantines contrary to agreement He made War on Dolopia invaded Thessaly and Doris and subdu'd them both that in civil War by the help of the stronger side he might afflict and trouble the other He made a mixture and confusion of all things in Thessaly and Perroebia hoping thereby to cancel Book-Debts and other accounts by which releasing Debtors from their Engagements he oblig'd them to assist him in oppressing their Creditors and principal Officers While this is doing you quietly look on your suffering him to act these things in Greece without controul makes him presume that not a man will dare to arm himself to oppose his passage into Italy how this consisteth with your honour and safety is not for me to judge it was my duty as your Friend and Ally to prevent your being surpriz'd in Italy by Perseus And now having perform'd this necessary Office and in some measure acquitted my self as became my fidelity what more remains but that I pray the Gods and Goddesses you may protect your own Republick and defend your Allies that depend upon you This Oration extreamly mov'd the Fathers but for the present none knew more than that the King had been before the Senate so silent were they all but the War being finish'd both the Kings Speech and the Senates Answer were divulg'd Some few dayes after the Senate gave Audience to Perseus's Embassadours but being prepossess'd by King Eumenes their defence and supplications were rejected the fierce deportment of Harpalus the chief Embassadour did not a little exasperate the Senate who endeavour'd to perswade them to credit the Apology of his Master that he never acted any thing tending to Hostility but if he perceiv'd they came upon him in this manner seeking occasions of War he resolv'd to defend himself with courage for the hazard of the Field was common and the event of War uncertain All the Cities of Greece and Asia were extreamly solicitous to know the proceedings of Perseus's Embassadours and King Eumenes with the Senate for upon his coming most of the States supposing he might occasion some commotion had sent their Embassadours to Rome speciously pretending other affairs Among others there was an Embassy from the Rhodians the chief of which was Satyrus who doubted not but that Eumenes had join'd the crimes of his City with those of Perseus and therefore by interest of his Patrons and Friends he had obtain'd leave to debate their business with the King before the Senate wherein he invey'd against Eumenes with too much heat upbraiding him for his fomenting Wars between the Lycians and the Rhodians and that he had been a greater Enemy to Asia than Antiochus This Oration was well receiv'd by those of Asia who began already to incline to Perseus but it prov'd not so with the Senate nor was it in the least advantagious to their City but on the contrary these Conspiracies against Eumenes rais'd his estimation with the Romans still increasing their honours and gifts upon him presenting him a Chariot of State with a Staff and Scepter of Ivory These Embassies being dispatch'd Harpalus returns with all speed into Macedonia and tells the King That he had left the Romans making no preparations as yet for War but so offended it easily appeared they would not long defer it nor was Perseus displeased with this relation relying on the valour of his Souldiers But of all others he hated Eumenes most with whose bloud he laid the foundation of the War for suborning one Evander a Candiot and Captain of some Auxiliaries and with him three Macedonians accustom'd to such actions to kill the King He gave them Letters to one Praxo an Hostess of great esteem and wealth among the Delphians being well assured Eumenes would be at Delphis to Sacrifice to Apollo These Traytors with Evander watched all opportunities to execute their design in the passage where men ascend from Cirrha to the Temple before they come to the place frequented with the usual concourse of the people there stood on the lest of the path a Mud-Wall or Bank arising a little above the foundation by which one at once could only pass for on the right hand the Earth was fallen down and a breach made of a great depth behind this Bank the Traytors hid themselves and rais'd some steps like stairs that from above as from the top of a Wall they might discharge their Treason on the King Before him coming from the Sea there march'd his Friends and Guards disorderly mixt when the way grew streight and narrow his train by degrees waxt thinner but when they came to the place where they could not go but one by one Pantaleon an Aetolian Prince with whom the King was then ingaged in some Discourse enter'd first that narrow passage immediately the Traytors roll'd two mighty stones upon the King one fell upon his head the other on his shoulder the people seeing Eumenes fail confusedly deserted him Pantaleon only had the Courage to stay and relieve the King The Traytors by a short compass about the Wall might soon have reach'd the place where the King lay and finish'd what they had begun but supposing the deed was done they fled to the top of Parnassus with that hast that they kill'd one of their Companions being unable to keep pace with them through that steep and craggy Mountain lest
but at his first approach they surrender'd the City Cyretia endeavouring to make resistance the first day in a sharp Skirmish he was repulsed from the Gates but the day following attacking it with all his force they all before night yielded him submission Mylae was the next Town and so strong that the hope of it's being impregnable had render'd the Inhabitants a great deal fiercer thinking it not sufficient to shut the Gates against the King but they also cast out many scurrilous reproaches oâ— him and the Macedonians which proceeding seeing it had more inraged the Enemy to the assault and themselves likewise despairing of pardon enflam'd them the more fiercely to defend themselves so that for the space of three dayes they were attack'd and defended with much gallantry on both sides The number was so great of the Macedonians that relieving one another by turns they easily maintain'd the assault but the Townsmen that defended the Walls night and day not only their wounds but continual watching and labour had quite worn them out The fourth day when the Scaling-Ladders were every where raised on the Walls and the Gates assailed with greater force the Townsmen being driven from the Walls ran to defend the Gate and made a sudden sally on the Enemy which was rather an effect of blind rage than a true confidence of their strength but being few in number and quite tired out they were beaten back by those that were fresh and vigorous and in the pursuit their Enemies were received with them thorough the open Gate Thus the City was taken and sacked and the free people that survived the slaughter were exposed to sale The greatest part of the Town being burnt and ruined the Camp moved to Phalanna and the day after came to Gyrtone but hearing that T. Minucius Rufus and Hyppias the Thessalian Praetors had fortified that place he passed by without making any attempt however he surprized Elatia and Gonnus being smitten with terrour at his unexpected approach which two Towns are situate in the Streights which lead to Tempe Gonnus especially and therefore he left it fortified with a very strong Garison both of Horse and Foot and a triple Ditch and Rampier He determined to go himself to Sycurium there to expect the Enemy and commanded his Army to Forage all the Country of the Enemy that lay under him For Sycurium is seated at the Foot of the Mountain Ossa having on the South-side lying under it the Thessalian Plains and behind Macedonia and Magnesia To these commodities may be added the extraordinary healthfulness of the clime and the multitude of Fountains continually running round about it The Roman Consul by this time marching with his Army towards Thessaly at first began his expedition with some celerity thorough Epirus but when he had passed over into Athamania with great difficulty and slow marches thorough a rough and almost unpassable Country he arrived at Gomphi If the King at that time and place with his Forces in order had met him at the head of a young disciplin'd Army compos'd of tired men and Horses the Romans themselves cannot deny but that they must have received a very great overthrow but when they arriv'd at Gomphy without any opposition besides their joy for overcoming those difficulties they began also to despise their Enemies for their ignorance of their own advantages The Consul having duly sacrificed and distributed Corn to the Souldiers remained there some few dayes for the refreshing of his men and Horses When he heard that the Macedonians overran all Thessaly and destroyed the Countries of their Allies being now sufficiently recruited he led his Army to Larissa afterwards when he was about three miles distant from Tripolis which they call Scea he incamped by the River Peneus About this time Eumenes came by Sea to Chalcis with his Brothers Attalus and Athenaeus leaving his Brother Philetaerus at Pergamus Protector of his Kingdom departing hence with his Brother Attalus and four thousand Foot and a thousand Horse he came to the Consul leaving at Chalcis two thousand Foot under the Command of his Brother Athenaeus Thither also came other Auxiliaries to the Romans from all the parts of Greece many of which particulars being so inconsiderable are lost in oblivion The Appolloniats sent three hundred Horse and a hundred Foot From the Aetolians came one Company only the greatest number of Horse the whole Nation could raise nor did all the Thessalonians which were separated and quartered asunder in the Roman Camp exceed three hundred Horse and the Achaeans sent a thousand of their youth armed for the most part like the Cretesians About this time also came C. Lucretius the Praetor who went before with the Ships to Cephalenia after he had appointed his to sail above Malea with his Fleet to Chalcis himself went aboard a Trireme Galliot passing the Gulf of Corinth to pre-possess the affairs in Boeotia his Voyage was the slower because of the infirmity of his Body M. Lucretius coming to Chalcis and hearing that the City of Haliartus was besieged by P. Lentulus sent a Messenger to command him in the name of the Praetor to depart thence The Lieutenant having entered on that affair with the Boeotian youth who had taken part with the Romans left the Walls The raising of this Siege made room for another For M. Lucretius with a Naval Army of ten thousand Souldiers with two thousand of the Kings which were under Athenaeus immediately besieged Haliartus and being just ready to make an attack the Praetor from Creusa joined with them And about the same time Ships from the Allies arrived at Chalcis Two Punicaean Quinquereme Galliots two Trireme Galliots from Heraclea in Pontus four from Chalcedon as many from Samos and five four-oar'd Gallies from Rhodes the Praetor because there was no where any Sea-War remitted all these again to the Allies Q Marcius also after he had taken Halops and assaulted Larissa which is called Cremaste came by Sea to Chalcis This was the State of affairs in Boeotia when Perseus as was said before lay incamped at Sycurium having drawn together all the Forage of that Country round about sent Souldiers to destroy the Territory of the Pheraeans supposing that the Romans being drawn far from their Camp to the relief of their Confederates might be surprized But when he found them nothing moved by tumult he gave the Booty except the men which was large in Cattle of all sorts to be merrily devoured among his Souldiers Afterwards about the same time the King and Consul both consulted where they should begin the War The King's Courage was much increased by the devastation of the Pheraeans permitted by the Enemy and therefore resolved nor to give any space of further prolonging to march immediately towards their Camp The Romans also were of opinion that delay would have rendered them infamous among their Confederates resenting it as a thing extreamly dishonourable that the Pheraeans were not succoured as they were
the Town began to make a Work or Mound on the upper side by the heighth whereof he might get over the Walls Which whilst it was a making great numbers of the Townsmen in the mean time were taken off by several accidents in frequent Skirmishes in which they sallying out strove to defend their own Walls and hinder the progress of the Enemies Works and even those that remained were render'd useless through their continual toil both day and night together with their loss of blood As soon as the Mound was made up close to the Wall the Kings Regiment whom they call Nicatores i. e. Conquerours got upon it and with Ladders made a forceable entry into the City in many places at once killing all that were at mans estate and committing the Women and Children to Custody but the rest of the booty fell to the Souldiers shares From thence returning Conquerour to Stubera he sent Pleuratus an Illyrian who was in banishment under his protection and Aputeus a Macedonian from Beraea Embassadours to Gentius charging them to declare what he had done that Summer and Winter against the Romans and the Dardans together with his late Atchievements in Illyricum even in a Winters Expedition and also to advise Gentius that he would enter into an Alliance with him and the Macedonians When these persons were got over the top of the Mountain Scordus they came at last with much ado through the deserts of Illyricum which by ravaging the Country the Macedonians had made on purpose that the Dardans might not have an easy access into Illyricum or Macedonia to Scodra King Gentius was at Lissus and so the Embassadours being summon'd thither when they came to tell their message had a very favourable Audience but receiv'd an Answer to no effect viz. That he wanted not an inclination to make War against the Romans but to put what he desired in execution he wanted money more than any thing else This Answer they carry'd back to the King at Stubera whilst he was selling the Illyrian Captives Thereupon the same Embassadours together with Glaucias one of his Lifeguard were sent back again without any mention of money by which alone the poor Barbarian could be induced to join in the War In the mean time Perseus having pillaged Ancyra led his Army back again into Penestae and when he had secur'd the Garison of Vscana with those about it in all the several Castles which he had taken and went back into Macedonia L. Caelius a Roman Lieutenant was Governour of Illyricum who not daring to stir when the King was in those parts endeavour'd after his departure in Penestae to retake Vscana but being repuls'd by a Garison of Macedonians that were in it after he had received many Wounds led his Forces back to Lychnidum From whence after some few dayes he sent M. Trebellius of Fregellae with a very considerable body of men into Penestae to take Hostages of such Cities as had continu'd in Alliance with and faithful to the Romans He likewise order'd them to proceed as far as the Parthinians for they too had agreed to give Hostages and to make their demands from both Nations without tumult The Hostages of Penestae were sent to Apollonia and those of the Parthini to Dyrrachium which the Greeks at that time more frequently called Epidamnum In the mean time Ap. Claudius being desirous to take off the ignominy which he had contracted in Illyricum began to attack the Castle of Phanotes in Epirum against which he brought with him the Athaman and Thesprotian Auxiliaries besides the Roman Army to the number of six hundred men but it was not worth his while for Clevas whom Perseus had left there with a strong Garison to defend it At that time Perseus going into Elimea after he had muster'd up an Army about those parts marched by the desire of the Epirotes to Startus which was then the strongest City of Aetolia and is seated above the Ambracian Bay near the River Achelous He went thither with ten thousand Foot and three hundred Horse of which he took along with him the less number by reason of the streightness and roughness of the wayes The third day when he was come to the Mountain Citius he could scarce get over it for the depth of the Snow nor hardly find a place to Encamp in Wherefore departing thence because he could not stay there rather than because either the way or the season was tolerable with great toil especially to his Beasts the second day he Encamp'd at the Temple of Jupiter whom they call Nicaeus From thence after a tedious Journey he came and was stopp'd at the River Arachthus by the depth of it During which stay of his there having made a Bridge he led his Forces over it and when he had gone forward one dayes Journey met Archidamus Prince of the Aetolians who deliver'd Stratus up into his hands That day he pitch'd his Camp upon the Confines of Aetolia and march'd from thence the day after to Stratus where having incamped near the River Achelous when he was in expectation that the Aetolians would come in throngs out at every Gate to put themselves under his protection he found the Gates all shut and the very night that he came the Roman Garison retaken with C. Popillius the Lieutenant The Noblemen who being compelled thereunto by the authority of Archidamus then present had invited the King thither going out somewhat slower than Archidamus to meet him had given opportunity to the adverse Faction to send for Popillius with a thousand Foot from Ambracia Dinarchus also Colonel of the Aetolian Horse came very seasonably with six hundred Foot and a hundred Horse It was well known that he came to Stratus with a design to serve Perseus but that afterward his mind being alter'd with the event he sided with the Romans against whom he at first set out Nor was Popillius more secure than he ought to be among such sickle dispositions wherefore he got the Keyes of the Gates and the keeping of the Walls immediately into his own hands removing Dinarchus the Aetolians and the Stratian Youth into the Castle under pretence of making them a guard to it Perseus having attempted to gain several Parleys from the Hills that lie above the upper side of the City when he saw they were obstinate and endeavour'd with Darts at a distance to beat him off Encamped five miles from the City beyond the River Petitarus Where when he had call'd a Council Archidamus and the Renegadoes of Epirus disswaded him and the Macedonian Nobility were of opinion that he ought not to fight against the unseasonable time of the year having no Provisions before hand for that the Besiegers were like to feel the want of every thing sooner than the Besieged especially since the Enemies Winter-Quarters were not far from thence whereby he was so discouraged that he removed his Camp into Aperantia The Aperantians unanimously received him for the sake of
scarce believe but that seeing all those splendid and magnificent Works and Ornaments were left without any reason there must be some design at the bottom of it Wherefore he staid one day to search all places round about it and then decamped and being confident that there would be Corn enough ready for him he march'd forward that day to a River called Mitys The next day he went on and took the City of Agassa by voluntary surrender Whereupon that he might engage the affections of the other Macedonians unto him he was content with Hostages only and promised them to leave their City without any guard in it and that they should live freely under their own Laws From thence he march'd a dayes Journey and Encamped by the River Ascordus but seeing that the farther he went from Thessaly the greater scarcity there was of all forts of Provisions he went back to Dium by which means every body came to understand what inconveniencies he must have undergone by being foreclosed from Thessaly who could not with any safety move any considerable distance from that Country In the mean time Perseus having muster'd all his Forces and Officers before him in one Body began to blame the Governours of Garisons but especially Asclepiodotus and Hippias saying that by them the inlets or barriers of Macedonia were betray'd to the Romans though no body had been more justly guilty of that fault than he himself When the Consul saw a Navy out at Sea and from thence conceiv'd some hopes that the Roman Ships were coming with Provisions for there was great scarcity of all necessaries and almost extream want he was told by some that came into the Port that the Ships of burden were left at Magnesia Whereupon he being uncertain what he had best to do for he had now work enough to grapple with the difficulty of his present circumstances without the help of an Enemy to aggravate his ill fortune there was a Letter very opportunely brought from Sp. Lucretius That he was master of all the Castles that were upon Tempe and about Phila and that he had found in them great plenty of Corn and other things fit for present use The Consul was very glad of this news and thereupon march'd from Dium to Phila not only to strengthen that Garison but likewise to distribute Corn which was too long a coming by Sea among his Souldiers But that Journey of his had no good report for some said be retreated for fear because if he the General had staid he must of necessity have engaged in a Battle others that he knew not the daily vicissitudes of War since when a fair opportunity was offer'd to him he omitted that which he could not easily retrieve For as soon as he quitted the possession of Dium he excited the Enemy so that he Perseus then grew sensible that those things might be recover'd which he had by his own remisness or cowardise formerly lost For when he heard that the Consul was gone returning to Dium he repaired all such things as the Romans had either demolish'd or defaced setting up the Battlements of the Walls that were knock'd down and making them tight again on every side and when he had so done he Encamped on this side the River Enipeus five miles from the City that he might have the very River which was very difficult to pass for his security This River runs out of the Vale under the Mountain Olympus being but small in Summer time though in the Winter when 't is raised by the rains it not only runs over the Cliffs a great depth but likewise by carrying the Earth along with it into the Sea makes very deep gulphs and by hollowing the main Channel turns the Banks on each side into Precipices Perseus supposing that by this River the passage of his Enemy might be obstructed design'd there to spend the remaining part of that Summer But at this juncture the Consul sent Popillius from Phila with two thousand arm'd men to Heraclea which is distant from Phila about five miles in the midway between Dium and Tempe and situate upon a Rock that hangs over a River Popillius before he drew his men up to the Walls sent certain persons to perswade the Magistrates and Nobility that they would rather try the honour and clemency of the Romans than the force of their Arms. But that advice did no good because there appeared Fires near Enipeus out of the Kings Camp With that Popillius began to attack them both by Land and Sea for the Navy being arrived lay ready near the shore with Arms Works and Engines all at once There were also certain young men of Rome who converting the Games of the Circus to a Warlike use took the lowest part of the Wall For the custom was in those days before this excess was introduced to fill the Circus with Beasts out of all Nations and to contrive several sorts of shews nor did they make above one match of Chariot-driving and another of Vaulting from one Horse to another both which took not up above one hours time Among other things there were about sixty young men and sometimes more brought in arm'd by the Marshals of the Games The bringing in of these persons was partly an imitation of an Army exercising and partly of a more gentile exercise than that of Souldiers somewhat nearer to the Gladiators or Fencers use of Arms. And when they had made other motions in point of exercise they put themselves into a square Body with their shields close over their Heads the first standing the other bending somewhat lower the third lower than they the fourth lower than the third and the last kneeling till they made a Testudo a covering for their heads and bodies like a Tortoise-shell sloping up like the roof of an House Then at the distance of about fifty Feet two of them ran forth arm'd and daring one the other when they had got up from the bottom to the top of the Tortoise over the closed Shields they one while skipt about the exteriour part of it as though they had been to make a defence and anon engaged each other in the midst of it as though they had been on firm ground Now they having made a Tortoise or Target Fence very like to this used in the Games of the Circus and apply'd it to such a part of the Wall when the Souldiers that were upon it came near they were as high as those that defended the Town and having beaten them off the Walls the Souldiers belonging to two Enâ—igns got over into the City In this one thing only they differ'd that in the Front and Flanks they held not their Shields above their Heads lest they might expose their Bodies but before them as men do when they fight By which means the Darts flung from the Wall did not hurt them whilst they made their approach but being thrown upon their united Shields slid down to the bottom as rain does off
could and enter'd the City The report of this new relief forced the Romans and the King too Eumenes to quit the Siege and so they doubling the Cape arrived with the Fleet at Torone But as soon as they began to attack that place also finding that it was defended by a strong body of men they thought 't was in vain to make any farther attempt and went to Demetrias Where when upon their approach they saw the Walls all cover'd over with Souldiers they sailed by with their Fleet to Iolcus resolving when they had wasted the Country thereabout to return and besiege Demetrias At this time too the Consul lest he should be guilty of sitting down idle in an Enemies Country sent M. Popillius with five thousand men to attack the City of Meliboea which is situate at the foot of the Mountain Ossa on that side which lies toward Thessaly and stands very opportunely above Demetrias The first arrival of the Enemy put the Inhabitants of the place into some consternation but when they had recover'd themselves from the fright they ran several wayes to the Gates and the Walls where they suspected the Foe would make their approaches whereby they presently cut off all the Enemies hopes that they might be taken upon the first effort Thereupon preparation was made for a Siege and all works in order to it taken in hand When Perseus heard that not only Meliboea was attempted by the Consuls Army but that the Navy also stood at Iolcus with design from thence to attack Demetrias he sent Euphranor one of his Captains with two thousand choice men to Meliboea commanding him that if he raised the Siege of the Romans from before Meliboea he should get privately into Demetrias before they decamped from Iolcus to that City When those that besieged Meliboea saw him on a sudden upon the Hills they left their works in great confusion but first set them on fire and so they retreated from Meliboea Euphranor having raised the Siege from before one City march'd strait to Demetrias Nor did the Inhabitants of that place then believe that they could defend their Walls only but their Country also from devastation for they made sallies out upon the stragling Pillagers and wounded many of the Enemies Notwithstanding the Praetor and the King rode about the Walls to view the situation of the City and see if they might attempt it either by works or force on any side There was a report that conditions of Peace were treated of between Eumenes and Perseus by Cydas a Cretan and Antimachus who at that time was Governour of Demetrias but this is unquestionable that they retreated from Demetrias Eumenes sailed to the Consul and having congratulated his prosperous entrance into Macedonia went away to Pergamus in his own Kingdom Marcius Figulus the Praetor having sent part of the Fleet to Winter at Sciathus went with the rest of the Ships to Oreum in Eubaea supposing that City to be the most commodious for sending of Provisions to the Armies that were in Macedonia and Thessaly There are very different accounts concerning King Eumenes If you believe Valerius Antias he sayes that he neither assisted the Praetor though he often sent for him by Letters nor went with the Consuls good liking into Asia but took it ill that he had not the liberty to lodge in the same Camp and that he could not be induced to leave behind him even those Gallick Troops which he had brought thither with him That his Brother Attalus not only staid with the Consul but also that he was very faithful to him all along and did mighty service in the War Whilst the War continu'd in Macedonia there came Embassadours from a petit King of the Gauls beyond the Alpes his name 't is said was Balanos but of what Nation he was is not mention'd to Rome who promised aid toward the carrying on of the Macedonian War For which the Senate return'd him their thanks and sent him several Presents viz. a gold Chain of two pound weight and several golden Goblets of four pound weight with a trapped Horse and Arms for an Horseman After the Gauls the Pamphylian Embassadours brought into the Senate House a golden Crown made out of twenty thousand Philippeans pieces of Gold like Jacobus's and desiring that they might have leave to lay that Present up in the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus and likewise to sacrifice in the Capitol they were permitted besides that they received a very kind Answer to their Petition for renewing the Alliance between them and Rome and had each of them a Present sent them of two thousand pounds of brass Then the Embassadours from King Prusias and soon after from the Romans who discourse very differently concerning the same thing had their Audience both of which Embassies treated about concluding of a Peace with King Perseus Prusias came with a Petition rather than a demand professing that he had to that day been for the Romans and as long as the War continu'd would be But since Embassadours came from Perseus to him about making an end of the War with the Romans and that he had promised them to intercede with the Senate on their behalf he begg'd of them that if they could be perswaded to lay aside their animosity they would let him have the honour of being thought a Peace-maker Thus said the Kings Embassadours The Rhodians having proudly reckon'd up what kindnesses they had done the Roman People and arrogated the greater share of the Victory over King Antiochus to themselves added That when there was Peace between the Macedonians and the Romans their Alliance began with King Perseus but that they broke off with him against their wills and for no other reason that he gave them but only because the Romans would needs have them bear a part with them in the War Of which War they had now felt the many inconveniences for three years together for the Sea being so block'd up with Ships that all commerce was obstructed their Island was reduced to extream want and they had lost not only their customs but their trading too Wherefore since they could no longer endure it they had sent other Embassadours into Macedonia to Perseus to declare unto him that the Rhodians thought fit he should conclude a Peace with the Romans and that they were sent to Rome with the same message That the Rhodians would consider what to do against those who should be the cause why the War was not made an end of I am sure that these words cannot even at this day be read or heard without indignation and thence we may imagine how much those Senators were concern'd that were by when they were spoken Claudius sayes They received no answer but that there was only an act of Senate read over whereby the Roman People ordain'd that the Carians and Lycians should be free States and that there were Letters dispatch'd to both those Nations to let them know what the
incited the people against the Rhodians and had promulgated a petitionary Bill That a War might be declared against the Rhodians and that they would chose out of the Magistrates of that year one to be sent with the Fleet to serve in that War hoping that he himself might be the man But this was opposed by M. Antonius and M. Pomponius Tribunes of the people But indeed as the Praetor had gone a wrong way to work against all former precedents in that he without having first consulted the Senate or inform'd the Consuls meerly on his own head proposed the Question Whether they would will and command that a War should be proclaimed against the Rhodians whereas in former times the Senate had been always consulted after which it was referr'd to the people so had the Tribunes of the people too since it was the custom that no man should oppose a Law before private persons had leave to perswade or disswade the passing of it For by that means it often had happen'd that they who had not profess'd that they would oppose it having consider'd the inconvenience of such a Law were induced by the reasons of those that spoke against to oppose it and also that those who came to oppose it many times desisted as being over-born by the authorities of those who spoke for it Thereupon the Praetor and the Tribunes vied which of them should act most irregularly Whether we have done amiss is yet a doubt but yet we suffer all punishments and ignominies already Formerly when the Carthaginians were conquer'd Philip and Antiochus defeated and we came to Rome where we walk'd from our publick Lodgings to the Senate-House to congratulate with you grave Fathers we went out of the Senate-House into the Capitol with offerings to their Gods but now we come from a sordid Inn where we are hardly entertain'd for our money being commanded to stay almost like Enemies without the City in this squalid condition into the Roman Senate-House though we are those Rhodians on whom you so lately bestow'd the Provinces of Lycia and Caria and conferr'd the most ample rewards and honours You make the Macedonians and Illyrians free as we have heard though they were Slaves before they made War against you not that we envy any Bodies good Fortune but rather acknowledge the Clemency of the Roman People and will you make the Rhodians who did nothing but lie still all the time of this War your Enemies instead of Allies No certainly Romans you are such persons as pretend that their Wars are therefore successful because they are just nor do you boast so much in the event of them for having got the Victory as in the beginning that you do not undertake them without reason The besieging of Messana in Sicily made the Carthaginians his attacking of Athens endeavouring to bring all Greece into slavery and assisting Hannibal with men and money made Philip their Enemy Antiochus himself being sent for by the Aetolians their Enemies came freely out of Asia with a Fleet into Greece where having made himself Master of Demetrias Chalcis and the Streights of Thermopylae he endeavour'd to force you from the possessions of their Empire His opposing of their Allies together with his killing of several petit Kings and Princes of Nations or States were the ground of their War with Perseus But 'pray what pretext can our misfortune have if we must perish I do not yet distinguish the case of the City from that of Polyaratus and Dinon our Fellow-Citizens and those whom we have now brought to deliver up to you But though all of us who are Rhodians were equally guilty yet what could we be charged with in this War Did we favour Perseus's Party and as in the War against Antiochus and Philip we were for you against those Kings so now for the King against you 'Pray ask C. Livius and L. Aemillius Regillus who were the Admirals of their Fleet in Asia how we use to assist our Allies and how ready we are to undertake the toil of War Your Ships never engaged without us We fought with our Fleet once at Samus and again in Pamphylia against General Annibal which Victory is therefore the more glorious to us in that though we at Samus had lost a great part of our Ships in an unfortunate Battle and the best of our youth we were not yet daunted even with that great overthrow but had the Courage again to meet the Kings Fleet as they came out of Syria These things I have related not to boast for we are not at present in such prosperous circumstances but to let them see how the Rhodians use to assist their Allies After the defeat of Philip and Antiochus we received of you most ample rewards If Perseus had had the same Fortune as you through the blessing of the Gods and their own valour now have and we had come into Macedonia to the victorious King to require rewards for our service what 'pray could we have said That he was assisted by us with Money or Corn with Land or Sea Forces What Garison could we have pretended to have kept Where could we have said we had fought either under his Officers and by our selves If he should have ask'd us where we had had any Souldiers or so much as one Ship within his Garisons what could we have answer'd Perhaps we should have made just such a defence before him as we do before you For this we have gotten by sending Embassadours to both Parties in order to Peace that we have the good will of neither yea are accursed and in danger on the one side Though Perseus indeed might truly object what you grave Fathers cannot viz. that we in the beginning of the War sent Embassadours to you to promise you all things necessary for the carrying on thereof and that we would be ready upon all occasions with Naval Arms and all our youth as in the former Wars Which that we did not perform was their fault who for what reason we know not despised and slighted our aids But yet for all that we did nothing as Enemies nor were we wanting in the duty of good Allies but only were by you forbid to perform our promise What then Rhodians Was there nothing either done or said in their City against their wills wherewithal the Roman People might be justly offended I am not here at present going to defend all that was done I am not so mad but to distinguish the faults of private men from the publick case For there is no City but hath sometimes ill Citizens and always a giddy rabble I have heard that there have been men even among you who by flattering the mobile have committed many enormities as also that common people formerly separated themselves from you during which time the mannagement of the Common-wealth was not in their power Now if this could happen in a City so well regulated as this is can any man wonder that there should be
make them uncapable of common Right who have the same common Houshold Gods the same Children the same Sacred Rites in common with their Husbands If you are grown weary of the female Sex or think the Commonwealth can subsist without them 't were better send them far away into solitary Desarts and condemn them to perpetual Banishment 't will sure look like a most unjust and unworthy proceeding That all the while the Commonwealth was poor we should allow the Ladies their share of its Goods but strip them thereof now the State is become rich Nor is this Sex only serviceable to help us to get Children and rock Cradles or cool our amorous heats with divertivâ— dalliance but many times in Examples of Virtues for noble Deeds and prudent Counseâ—s they do far exceed us men nay with these Estates of theirs which are now forsooth become the objects of our Envy 't is well known they have supported the tottering State when it was almost quite overthrown with the violence of Annibal 's Arms and by a seasonable Supply from their liberal Purses raised it again to its pristine strength and glory To work the more commiseration were added the peculiar toils of that Sex and the perils of Child-bearing to them no less formidable than the hazards of War to men nor was it forgot that to this Sex was committed the keeping of the Eternal Vestal Fire on which the Fate of the Roman Empire depended But all these Arguments were blown away by the breath of Marcus Cato a man constant to the same opinion in his old Age as he had maintain'd in the vigour of his youth whose Oration on this occasion may be read in the fifth Book of Originals the substance of which will be enough to be recited here He was then in the sixty fifth year of his Age yet with a loud Voice and strong Lungs he remonstrated That in vain were that distinction observ'd from the very Infancy of the Commonwealth between Agnati and Cognati Kindred of the Fathers and of the Mothers side if the condition of Males and Females must be all alike That it was far from the true intent and meaning of the twelve Tables to allow Women the whole Inheritance but for the keeping up the name and honour of Families every ones Sons in the first place were to be his Heirs and for want of such Issue then those next of his Blood all which is according to natural right Nor was the power granted to Fathers of Families to bequeath their Estates as they thought fit design'd for this purpose That being blinded with the inticements and flatteries of Women they should transfer all their Estates into strange and new Families and ruine their own but rather to enable them the better to preserve and relieve their own Family by leaving the Inheritance to their Sons and competent Portions to their Daughters But still care should be taken to make Women esteem Chastity sparingness and obedience to be their best Dowry To what purpose did our Ancestors so scrupulously provide that they should be always held under the tutelage either of their Parents Brethren or next of Blood if they shall be suffer'd to abuse vast Estates and by the help thereof break through all the Obligations of the Laws and restraints of modesty In fine so strongly did he inveigh against female weakness and so lively paint out their excesses when Mistresses of large Fortunes that he extorted a general consent especially when he urg'd That 't was the custom of these rich and haughty Dames upon their Marriage to make an Agreement and bring such a considerable Portion to their Husbands but reserve a greater share at their own dispose than they would vouchsafe to afford them which reserv'd money they would afterwards at the Husbands request lend him or some part thereof but upon the least falling out they would set one of their own Servants reserv'd likewise that the Husband had nothing to do with him who should perpetually haunt and dun him no less importunately than if he were a strange Debtor which was such an insolence as ought not to be endured And therefore in indignation against that practice all agreed to pass the said Law as Voconius had propos'd it The Supplement of the first defective passage in the forty fourth Book at the end of the thirtieth Chapter fol. 854. Then the Fleet was conducted by the Praetor to Pantauchus to defend the Confederate Cities from injuries This Fleet was excellently Equipp'd and furnisht with all necessaries and besides the former Forces had on Board five thousand Mariners for so many we told you before were lately rais'd for the service of this present Illyrian War but the Enemy scarce gave them opportunity to come to a full Engagement For what could those Pirates only enur'd to Rapine dare or be able to do against such a well-appointed Fleet which almost as soon as they saw affrighted them and made them by the lightness of their Vessels endeavour to secure themselves in a disorderly flight some few of the foremost and heavier Ships were presently at the first on set partly sunk and partly taken and so yielded us a cheap and easy Victory nor was that enough but Anicius pursued those that thought to have escap'd and coming up with a great number of them lying close amongst the Islands near the Continent he with promises of Quarter induc'd them to yield and presently all the Islands that were subject to Gentius at first sight did likewise surrender themselves c. As fol. 854. The Supplement of the second defective passage of the forty fourth Book after the thirty second Chapter fol. 855. The Souldiers were order'd to get timber out of the next Woods to fortify the Rampier with which the Camp with incredible labour and no less expedition was round about encircled which Perseus also fortified with Bastions and military Engines disposed in all places convenient whereby he thought himself secure against all the Roman Force and that he might hold them in play till wearied and weakned with the difficulties of so long a Siege they might at length desist from the attempt But Paulus Aemilius by how much he saw the Macedonian strength to be the greater and how carefully and cautiously they had provided for and manag'd their affairs so much the more diligent was he to leave no stone unturn'd nor in any thing be wanting to elude their Arts by his own skill and removing all obstacles effect the work His Camp was plentifully supply'd with Provisions out of Thessaly that lay just at his back but they were much straitned for Water for by the unusual drought the River near hand was dry'd up nor were there any Springs or but very few and those muddy not yielding near enough Water to supply so great a multitude so that his men daily perisht for thirst and his Horses died as fast for the same reason The Consul therefore sent some to search all
about the Hill Olympus near the foot whereof he lay encamp'd if they could discover any Springs but they bringing backward that all was as dry as a Rock he would not for all that despair but having in person diligently survey'd the situation and nature of the place he at last commanded the Sutlers and Tankard-Bearers to follow him to the Sea c. as fol. 855 The Supplement of the third defective passage in the forty fourth Book at the end of the thirty fourth Chapter fol. 856. and foresaw questionless where he might pass over then that having reduc'd the Discipline of his Camp to the antient severity he made the Romans exercise themselves in daily decursions and all kind of military toils and in fine omitting nothing that belong'd to the care or duty of an Excellent General Perseus I say seeing Paulus do all this found that in such apparent danger he must use no delays for he had not now to deal with such as Licinius Hostilius or Marcius but with an old experienc'd Commander active vigilant and inslam'd only with the desire of Victory and Glory and who by various representations of Battel acted amongst his own men in jest was preparing for a fight in earnest which must needs determine the Fate of the War Therefore he also resolv'd to encourage his Souldiers as much as he could to instruct them in military Exercises to add new works to those he had cast up already and fortify his Camp with more Machines and Engines one above another But whilst they were thus busy on either side unexpected Intelligence arriv'd from Illyricum That King Gentius was routed by Anicius the Praetor and he himself and all hiâ— Family Prisoners to the Romans and his whole Country in their power Which thing encouraged c. as fol. 856 The Supplement of the fourth defective Passage of the 44th Book at the End of the 35th Chapter fol. 857. shelving to the Sea side Perseus minding only what was before his eyes was intent to repulse the Enemy on that side and void of all other care In the mean time P. Nasica with his selected Party was come towards the Sea as far as Heracleum as if he designed with a Fleet to attacque the Enemies Camp but there ordering his Souldiers to refresh themselves he waited for the Approach of Night and communicated the Consul's real Orders to the Centurions and pursuant thereunto as soon as it grew duskish turning his March towards the Mountain silently led his Troops to Pythium where arriving after almost three days hard March through rugged Ways up Hill and down Hill he found it necessary to refresh his weary Men with a Nights sleep But of the Cretans who to the Number of two hundred attended Scipio in this Expedition a certain Fellow as they are naturally a treacherous people understanding what the design was had got away during their March and sled to Perseus acquainting him who suspected no such matter where his danger lay This surpriz'd and astonish'd the King who could not quit his Camp and with all his Forces advance to meet Nasica for then he should leave the Frontiers open for Aemilius to pierce into the Bowels of his Kingdom therefore he dispatcht Milo one of his Chief Favourites with two thousand Macedonians and ten thousand Auxiliaries with all expedition to seize the Passes and hinder the Romans coming that way Polybius relates That these caught our Forces napping and fell upon them aslâ—ep in their Tents but Nasica writes That there was a sharp and doubtful Skirmish at a Pass on the Brow of an Hill and that amongst other Accidents a Thracian made at him with his Sword whom he thrust through with a Javelin and that after a long Dispute the Macedonians gave ground and Milo himself flinging away his Arms was glad to take his Heels after which the Romans pursuing them had an easie descent into the Plains without any opposition In this posture of Affairs Perseuâ— was at a loss what to do for there he could not remain with safety his Camp on that side being unfortified And there seem'd but two ways left either to retreat to Pydna and expect the Enemy under the Walls of that City where he might with less hazard venture a Battel or else to disperse his Army into Garrisons to defend the chief Cities and retain his Subjects in Obedience and carrying in thither all Corn Cattel and Fruit lay the whole Country waste before the Enemy who then what for scarcity of Provisions and what with the Macedonians continual Incursions would not be able long to subsist Neither of these Courses wanted its danger but the last besides that it was a work of time and by dividing the Forces would as it were reduce the whole strength of the Kingdom to nothing leaving the Frontiers naked all Parts would immediately be sill'd with terrour Fire and Sword and all kind of desolation and the Country-men seeing themselves utterly abandoned would for ever be alienated in their affections and Duty therefore most of his Friends rather advised the first method to keep his Army together for a Battel for it would not be only more glorious but safer too with all the Force he could make to confront the Enemy before they had proceeded too far and if opportunity offered it self to put it to a push for certainly his People when they were to fight for all that was dear to them either Sacred or Civil for their Children and for their Wives under the conduct and in the presence of their King exposing himself in the same common danger than which there cannot possibly be a stronger or more sacred incitement to make men fight couragiously would not be wanting on their parts but bravely repulse the Enemy The King though he were very loth to veâ—ture his whole Stake at one Throw yet prevail'd with by these Reasons prepares for a Battel and having removed to Pydna assigns to each of his Commanders his proper Post and Charge and that all things should be in readiness to fight when there was occasion The Country was an open Champaign fit for Horse-service and able to receive not only a competent Body of heavy-armed Foot but rising in some places with continued Hills was convenient for Archers and other light harness'd Souldiers whence they might make their Excursions and râ—treat again in safety Two Rivers the Inhabitants call one Aeso and the other Leucus did rather divide than water the Fields their Chanels were then so narrow and scarce any Stream in them yet they seem'd to be of some use since the passing them must nâ—eds delay the Romans at least for a while in the Cariere of their Attack In the mean Aemilius sinding the Passage into the Enemies Country opened by Scipio joins Forces with him and so with Banners display'd marches to rights towards the Enemy but when he saw them so advantageously posted and every way prepared to give him Battel he thought sit to pause a
the Gauls at that River v. 37. Alorcus his Speech to the Saguntines xxi 13. Alps how difficult to pass xxi 23. In the Winter shut up xxvii 38. Altar built by Annibal on which was inscribed an Account of his Exploits xxviii 45. Amilcar the Father of Annibal counted a second Mars xxi i. Amilcar the Son of Bomilcar xxiii 49. Amilcar the Son of Gisgo xxi 51. Amulius deposes his elder Brother Numitor i. 3. is beheaded 5. Andronicus beheaded for taking up Arms with his Father against the Romans xlv 31. Annales the Family of the Villii so called for preferring a Law establishing how many years old each person must be that pretended to any Office xl 43. Annibal at nine years old takes an Oath to be an Enemy to the Romans xxi i. His Character 4. Besiges Saguntum who were allied to the Romans 6. Takes that City the chief persons having first burnt themselves and their treasure 14. His Speech to his Souldiers in their Winter Quarters 21. His Vision inviting him into Italy 22. He passes the River Rhosne 27. His Speech to his men loth to pass the Alps 30. His difficult march over the Alps 33. He softens the Rocks with Fire and Vinegar 37. The number of his Forces 38. He shews his Souldiers a prize first and then makes a Speech to them before they fought 43. Routs the Romans at Trebia 54. Like to be destroy'd passing the Appenine 58. He loses one of his Eyes passing through the Fens xxii 2. Defeats the Romans at Thrasymenus and where the Consul Flaminius is slain 6. Routs the Romans at Cannae where forty thousand of them were kill'd 46. Neglects to march from thence to Rome and is told That he knew how to gain but not to improve a Victory 51. He is worsted by Marcellus at Nola xxiii 16. Debauches his Army by Wintering in Capua 18. He besieges Sempronius in Cumes and is beaten off 37. He carries Ships over Land at Tarentum xxv 10. Defeats Fulvius 21. Attempts to relieve Capua but is beaten off with loss xxvi 6. Resolves to march to Rome 7. Grievously harasses the Country 8. Views Rome in person 10. Draws up in Battalia twice but is prevented from fighting by Tempests 11. The ground on which he lay sold at a full price Ibidem Whereupon he Retreats Ibidem He uses Marcellus's Signet but in vain xxvii 3. Is deceived in the time of his Brother Asdrubal's passage over the Alps 41. Beaten in Lucania by Claudius Nero 44. His words when he saw the Head of his Brother Asdrubal 53. He was as admirable in adversity as prosperity and why xxviii 12. Is beaten near Croton by P. Sempronius xxix 36. Sent for home to defend Carthage xxx 9. His words on that occasion and departure accordingly 20. Arrives in Africk 25. Desires a Parley with Scipio 29. His Speech to Scipio 30. Scipio's Answer 31. Is totally defeated by Scipio twenty thousand of his men slain and almost as many taken 35. Returns beaten to Carthage thirty six years after he went from thence Ibidem He laughs at the tears of his Countrymen and gives the reason 44. He is hated at Carthage and why xxxiii 48. Accused by the Romans of conspiring with King Antiochus 49. Flies from Carthage in a Lawyers habit Ibidem Entertain'd at Tyre as his Grandmother Country and thence comes to King Antiochus at Ephesus 51. His reasons to move King Antiochus to a War in Italy xxxiv 60. Being in disgrace with Antiochus clears himself xxxv 19. He forewarns Antiochus that the Romans would invade Asia xxxvi 41. Discourse between him and P. Scipio xxxv 14. After the defeat of Antiochus flies to King Prusias and being like to be delivered up to the Romans poisons himself xxxix 51. L. Annius a Latine Praetor of Setia his Oration at home against the Romans viii 4. His Speech in the Roman Senate 5. Antium a very rich City yielded to the Romans ii 63 65. A Colony sent thither viii 14 Antiochus the Great prepares to come into Europe xxxiii 40. Is Shipwrackt 43. Supposed to poison his own Son xxxv 15. Is sent for to deliver Greece and decide the Controversy between the Aetolians and Romans 33. Lands in Greece 43. His Speech 44. War declar'd against him by the Romans xxxvi i. Falls in Love with and Marries a mean Gentlewoman of Chalcis and himself and Army grow debaucht ii Is totally routed 19. His Fleet worsted 44. Releases P. Scipio's Son gratis xxxvii 37. Routed by Scipio at Magnesia and above fifty thousand slain 43. His Embassadours Speech for Peace and the Terms demanded by the Romans 45. The Articles of Peace between him and the Romans xxxviii 38. Antiochus Epiphanes sends Embassadors to Rome xlii 6. His odd manners and humours xli 20. And in the Supplement of the fourth and fifth defective passage Popilius draws a Circle about him with his Wand and demands his Answer before he stirr'd out of it xlv 12. Antipater made Governour of Asia xxxviii 16. Is taken xlii 66. Anxur taken iv 59. A Colony sent thither viii 21. Apollonian Embassadors being affronted those that did it though Noblemen and Magistrates are sent Prisoners thither but freely return'd xv 13. Apollo for eight days together is honour'd v. 13. A golden Goblet sent him to Delphos 25. Appeal to be allowed from any Magistrate to the people ii 8. No man should offer to make any Magistrate without liberty of Appeal if he did it should be lawful to kill him iii. 55. Appulians a League with them viii 25. Archimedes defends Syracuse by his wonderful Engines xxiv 34. Is kill'd and how xxv 32. Argos famous for the death of King Pyrrhus xxxi 7. The Inhabitants pillaged by the Wife of Nabis the Tyrant xxxii 40. Aricia and Ardea submitting their Controversie touching a parcel of Land to the Arbitrement of the Romans they adjudged it to themselves from them both iii. 72. Aristaenus Praetor of the Achaians his Speech xxxii 21. Arms though consecrated taken down from the Temples and made use of in necessity xxii 57. xxiv 21. Aâ—pos taken by Q. Fabius xxiv 46. Asdrubal takes upon him the Command of Spain xxi 22. Is commanded to march into Italy and join Annibal xxiii 27. Worsted by the Scipio's 29. His passage over the Alps quicker than Annibal's and the reasons xxvii 41. He is slain with fifty six thousand Carthaginians near Sena xxvii 51. Asdrubal Hoedus his Speech for a Peace to the Senate xxx 40. Ascanius the Son of Aeneas builds Alba Longa i. 3. Asia a passage for the Romans thither open'd by Eumenes xxxvii 33. The Cities of Asia yield themselves to P. Scipio The humors of the people of Asia xxxviii 17. xxxix 6. Astapa the horrid Tragedy acted there xxviii 22. Astronomy how useful in War xliv 37. Asylum or Sanctuary made by the Romans i. 8. Athenians foolishly draw a War upon themselves xxxi 14. Are besieged by Philip 24. Eloquence highly priz'd by them 44. Their Edicts
above all the rest there was one L. Bantius who having before been in the Conspiracy and consequently fearing the Roman Praetor was always contriving either to betray the Town or else to run away to the Enemy A stout young man he was and one of the bravest Cavaliers of all the Romans Confederates who being found half dead amongst the heaps of the slain at Cannae Annibal not only took care to have his wounds cured but also sent him home with very bountiful gifts in gratitude for which favours he was willing to yield up Nola into his hands and the Praetor having an Eye upon him plainly perceiv'd that his head was at work by all means to compass that alteration Now there were but two ways to deal with him either to cut him off by rigour or win him by Courtesy and he thought it a better course to gain unto himself so brave and valiant a Friend than only to deprive the Enemy of him Therefore sending for him he thus kindly accosts him I cannot but judge that you have many amongst your Fellow Citizens that envy you since no one man of your Town hath all this while given me an account of your Character and those gallant military Exploits you have done but 't is not possible any mans merit that serves under the Romans should long lye obscure or unrewarded several that were your Fellow Souldiers have of late inform'd me what a stout Gentleman you are how often and how bravely you have hazarded your Life for the honour and safety of the people of Rome and particularly how in the Battel of Cannae you gave not over fighting till having scarce any blood left you were beat down by the heaps of Men Horses and Arms tumbling upon you Therefore I applaud and wish all success to your valour which from me shall never want either Honour or Reward and the oftner you visit me you shall find it shall be the more for your dignity and profit and withal besides these fair promises gave him an excellent Horse and ordered the Treasurer to tell him out five hundred Bigats of Silver between fifteen and sixteen pound sterling and likewise commanded the Lictors to admit him to his presence without any waiting whenever he came to speak with him These Civilities of Marcellus did so charm the mind of this haughty young Gentleman that thence forwards of all their Associates no one did more strenuously or faithfully promote the Roman Interest Annibal having again removed his Camp from Nuceria to Nola Marcellus upon their approach withdrew his Army into the Town not that he was afraid to keep the Field but to prevent any opportunity of betraying the City seeing too many of the Inhabitants inclinable thereunto After this they began on both sides to arrange their Forces and face each other the Romans under the Walls of Nola the Carthaginians before their own Entrenchments thus there happen'd several Skirmishes between the City and the Camp with various success For the Generals neither hindred small parties that were eager to fight nor yet would give the signal for a general Battel whilst thus the two Armies were continually upon their Guard Marcellus was advertiz'd by the chief Nobles of Nola That there were secret correspondencies held by night between some of the inferiour Townsmen and the Carthaginians who had agreed That when the Romans were march'd out of the Gates they should seize their Baggage and Carriages and shut the Gates upon them and secure the Walls that being Masters both of their Goods and of the City they would let in the Carthaginians instead of the Romans Upon this advice Marcellus having thankt the Senators that gave it resolv'd before any mutiny should happen in the City to hazard the Fortune of a Battel At the three Gates that fronted the Enemy he drew up his Army in three distinct Bodies giving order that the Carriages should follow and the Lackies Snapsack Boys and weak or sick Souldiers to carry Palizado's for the Rampire At the middle Gate he placed the choicest of the Roman Legions and Horse at the other two the new-raiz'd men and those lightly arm'd together with the Auxiliary Horse The Townsmen were commanded not to come near the Walls or Gates and sufficient Guards appointed to the Carriages and Baggage to prevent any surprize thus prepared they stood within the Gates Annibal who stood in Battalia most part of the day as he had done several dayes before wondred greatly at first that neither the Roman Army came out nor any one in Arms appeared on the Walls but at last concluding his correspondence was discovered and that for meer fear they were thus still and quiet sends back part of his Forces into their Camp with order to bring out all the Artillery necessary for the storming the Town not doubting but if he assaulted them briskly the people within would quickly raise some tumult But anon when his Souldiers were all in a hurry every man about his charge in the Front and he was just advancing to storm the Walls on a sudden one of the Gates flew open Marcellus sounds a charge his men set up a shout and first the Foot and after them the Horse issue and charge the Enemy with all the violence imaginable By that time they had sufficiently terrified and disorder'd their main Body P. Valerius Flaccus and C. Aurelius two Lieutenant Generals issued forth at the other two Gates upon their Flanks and Wings The Snapsack-Boys Attendants and other multitude set to Guard the Baggage shouted and hallow'd as fast as the best of them so that whereas the Carthaginians before despised them especially for the smallness of their numbers they now fancied them to be a mighty Army I dare not indeed affirm what some Authors write That of the Enemy there were two thousand three hundred slain and but one man lost on the Romans side but be the Victory greater or less it was an excellent piece of service at this Juncture and I think I may say of the greatest consequence of any thing acted in all that War For at that time of day it was a more difficult matter for the Romans that had been of late so often baffled not to be overcome by Annibal than afterwards to overcome him Annibal seeing no hopes of making himself Master of Nola retreated to Acerrae Marcellus in the mean time causing the Gates of Nola to be shut and Guards set that none should pass forth sat judicially in the Market place to examine those that had held private Conference with the Enemy of whom above seventy being found guilty were Beheaded their Goods sold and the Money delivered to the Senate then marching away with his Army above Suessula he Encamp'd himself The Punick endeavour'd first to draw the Acerrans to a voluntary Surrender but finding them obstinate begins to besiege and storm the Town whose Inhabitants had more Stomach than Courage and therefore despairing to defend themselves as soon as they saw
a Circumvallation was making before their Walls before the Line was finisht in the dead of the night stole away as well as they could by the Guards and fled every one as his Wits guided or his fear carryed him into such Cities of Campania as continued firm to the Romans Annibal after he had plunderd and burnt Acerrae having intelligence that the Roman Dictator and Legions were come up towards Casilinum fearing lest being so near they should have some design upon Capua leads his Army to Casilinum There were then in that Town five hundred Praenestines with a few Romans and Latâ—nes which the news of the defeat at Cannae had brought thither For the levy at Praeneste not being finisht by the day appointed they setting out late from home being come to Casilinum join'd with certain Romans and others of the Allies and set forwards from thence in a pretty handsome Body but the noise of the overthrow at Cannae turn'd them back again to Casilinum where having spent some days suspecting and being no less suspected of the Campanians for they were mutually counter-plotting upon each other hearing at last for certain that Capua was revolted and had entertain'd Annibal they one night massacred the Townsmen and seiz'd on that part of the City which stood on this side Vultuâ—nus for that River ran through and divided it where they still kept Garison being reinforc'd with a Company of Perusines consisting of four hundred and sixty men driven to Casilinum by the same sad tidings that brought the Praenestines thither and as they seem'd enow to defend that place considering the Walls were of so small a space and that they were flankt on one side by the River so for the proportion of Corn whereof they had but little they were indeed too many Annibal being come pretty near sent a Party of Getulians under the Conduct of one Isalca with Orders first if he could come to a Parley to perswade them with fair words to open their Gates and receive a Garison but if they continued obstinate to attack them briskly and try if in any part he could storm the Town When they came up to the Walls this Barbarian Captain finding nothing but stillness and solitude concluded they had abandon'd it for fear and set his men to break open the Gates and force the Locks and Bars but on a sudden the Gates flew open and two compleat Companies drawn up within sally out with a mighty shout and cut to pieces abundance of the Enemy The first being thus repuls'd Maharbal was sent with a greater force yet neither could he endure the charge of these Companies sallying out upon him At last Annibal Encamping just before the Walls prepares with all his Forces and utmost strength to assault this little City and petty Garison and whilst he pressed hard upon them investing it round with his Souldiers he lost a great many men and especially such as were most active and forwards once upon a sally planting his Elephants between them and home he had like to have intâ—rcepted them and forc'd them to run for their lives into the City not a few considering their small number being left dead behind them and more had been cut off if the approach of night had not favour'd them The next day the Assailants were all sharp set to give a fresh and hot charge and the more to enflame them a golden Coronet was proposed to whatever should first scale the Wall and the General himself upbraided them that they who storm'd Saguntum should stand so long trifling about a paltry Borough situate too upon a Plain and at the same time put them all in general and each man by himself in mind of the gallant service they had done at Cannae Thrasymenus and Trebia then began they to play their Engines and undermine nor omitted any thing that could be attempted either by Force or Art The Defendants raised Mounts within to oppose their Fabricks without and prevented their Mines with Countermines and cross Trenches so as both above ground and beneath they frustrated all their designs till at last Annibal for very shame gave over the Enterprize And having fortified his standing Camp and left a competent Guard to defend it because he would not seem wholly to quit the Siege withdrew into Capua for his Winter Quarters There he kept his Army most part of the Winter in close Houses and waâ—m Beds who always before had been enur'd to all the hardships that men could endure and not acquainted with good keeping much less with the delights of the World Thus those very men that had triumph over the horrours of the Alps and were not to be broken by any Extremity were spoil'd and undone by too good usage and excess of pleasures to which they so much the more greedily abandon'd themselves as they were unaccustomed thereunto Sleep and drunkenness and delicate Fare and Wenching the Stews and the Hot Houses Ease and Idleness which every day gâ—ew more pleasant and habitual had so weakned their Bodies and debauch'd their minds that henceforwards they subsisted rather by the reputation of their past Victories than any present strength or manhood Insomuch that those well skill'd in affairs of War reckon this Wintering at Capua to be no less an over sight in Annibal than his not marching to rights to Rome from the Battel of Cannae For that delay did only seem to defer but this errour destroy'd the hopes of Victory for ever Most certain it is he march'd out of Capua as it were with a new Army for they had nothing of their old Discipline or hardy Courage For not only they parted thence intangled or encumbred with Harlots but when they came to lie abroad in the Field and to endure hard marches and other military toils their Bodies and Spirits fainted just as if they had been raw fresh-water Souldiers so that all that Summer abundance of them fled from their Colours and the chief place of resort where they lurk'd and shelter'd themselves was Capua The Winter being pretty well over Annibal again took the Field and return'd to Casilinum where though there had not been much Battery yet the Blockade continuing had reduced the Townsmen and Garison to the extremity of want Marcellus with all his heart would have relieved them but he was hindred both by the overflow of the River Vulturnus and the intreaties of the people of Nola and Acerrae fearing to be over-run by the Capuans if once the Roman Garisons were withdrawn As for T. Sempronius Gracchus who at that time commanded in chief the Roman Army in those parts the Dictator being gone to Rome to repeat the Auspices had given express Orders not to attempt any thing in his absence so that though he lay Encamp'd near Casilinum yet he could not stir a foot to help them and yet there came to him daily such tidings as might have provok'd the greatest patience in the World for 't was certain that some not able
three hundred Souldiers to their relief and the Rhodians but one Gally of four Banks on a side out of his Fleet that lay at Tenedus Yea afterward when they could hardly hold out the Siege and Attalus himself came that way he only made a show of aid at some small distance assisting his Allies neither by Sea nor Land The Abydenes at first planting their Engines of War upon the Walls did not only beat them off that came to assault them by Land but made the station where their Ships also lay uneasy to the Foe After which when part of their Wall was broken down and the Enemy had now Mined under it all on a sudden as far as the opposite Wall they sent Embassadors to the Kings for terms of Surrender Whereupon they agreed That the Rhodian Gally with its Naval Allies and King Attalus ' s men should freely pass away and they themselves would march out of their City with each of them one Garment apiece To whom seeing Philip would not afford any hopes of Peace unless they would grant all that he desired the Answer sent by that Ambassy through indignation and despair so far enraged them that they growing as mad as the Saguntines caused all their Matrons to be shut up in the Temple of Diana and their Freeborn Boyes and Girls and Infants with their Nurses in a Gymnasium or place of Exercise their Gold and Silver to be carried into the Market-place their precious attire to be thrown into two Ships the one a Rhodian and the other a Cyzicene that were in their Harbour the Priests and their Victims to be brought thither and Altars set in the midst of it And there they first chose out such persons who when they saw their Army all slain as they fought before the ruinated Wall should kill their Wives and Children throw all the Gold and Silver and the Garments that were in the Ships into the Sea and set fire in as many places as they could to the Buildings both private and publick To which they were obliged by an Oath which the Priests repeated in an Execrable Form before them and all that were able to bear Arms were sworn not a man of them to stir from the place till they had got the Victory They therefore out of reverence to the Gods fought so pertinaciously that when the night was ready to part them the King affrighted at their resolution retreated first The Nobility who underwent the greatest part of the Fatigue seeing some few though very much wounded and tired yet alive sent the Priests in their Sacred Robes at break of day to Philip to surrender the City But before the Surrender was made M. Aemilius though the youngest of those Roman Embassadors that were sent to Alexandria came by consent of the other three when they heard that Abydos was Besieged to Philip complaining that he made an offensive War upon Attalus and the Rhodians besides that even at that time he attempted Abydos To which the King making Answer That he was set upon by Attalus and the Rhodians without any provocation Aemylius reply'd What and did the Abydenes too set upon you without provocation At which the King being not used to hear truth thought his Language too pert to be used before a King and told him Your Age Beauty and above your name as a Roman makes you too sawcy I would have you first remember their Leagues and keep the Peace you made with me For if you provoke me to it I am resolv'd you shall find that the Kingdom and name of the Macedonians may be as Renowned in War as that of the Romans Then dismissing the Embassador Philip took all the Gold and Silver that was there heaped up together but lost the Booty of the men For the multitude were so enraged that on a sudden thinking them betrayed who died in the fight and upbraiding each other with perjury especially the Priests who had made a Surrender to the Enemy of those very men alive that they had devoted to Death ran all forthwith and kill'd their Wives and Children together with themselves by all wayes of Death that were The King amazed at their Fury restrained the violence of his Souldiers and declar'd he would give the Abydenes three dayes time to die in in which space the conquered committed more outrages upon themselves than the insulting Conquerours before had done Nor was there any one of them taken Prisoner unless he were hindered from destroying himself either by being in Bonds or some other necessity Philip having put a Guard into Abydus returned into his Kingdom But even now when the destruction of the Abydenes as that of Saguntum did Annibal had animated Philip for the Roman War the news met him That the Consul was already come into Epirus having put all his Land Forces into Apollonia and all his Naval Forces into Corcyca for Winter Quarters In the mean while the Embassadors that were sent into Africa concerning Amilcar General of the Gallick Army had this Answer from the Carthaginians That they could do no more than banish him and confiscate his Estate That they had sent back all the Renegadoes and Fugitives which they could find out and that about that matter they would send Embassadors to Rome to satisfie the Senate And that they sent two hundred thousand Bushels of Wheat to Rome and as many to the Army in Macedonia From thence the Embassadors went into Numidia to the Kings giving the Presents to Massinissa and telling him what they had to say Thereupon he would have given them two thousand Horse but they accepted of only one thousand which he himself took care to have Shipped off and sent them with two hundred thousand Bushels of Wheat and as many of Barley into Macedonia The third part of their Embassy was to Vermina who going to the very Frontiers of his Kingdom to meet the Embassadors he let them write down what terms of Peace they pleased For he said That any kind of Peace between him and the Roman people would be good and just They therefore gave him terms of Peace for a confirmation whereof they bad him send Embassadors to Rome At the same time L. Cornelius Lentulus the Pro-Consul returned out of Spain who having told the Senate what things he had perform'd with courage and success for many years together and desired to enter into the City in Triumph The Senate lookt upon what he had done to deserve a Triumph but they had no precedent for it that any one who was not either a Dictator a Consul or a Praetor when he performed such and such exploits had ever triumph'd Now he was Pro Consul of Spain and not Consul or Praetor Yet they condescended so far that he make his Entry into the City Ovant though T. Sempronius Longus Tribune of the People was against it saying that that was equally as much against the Custom of their Ancestors and all Precedents But at last overcome by the