_The Oppian law, respecting the dress of the women, after much
debate, repealed, notwithstanding it was strenuously supported
by Marcus Porcius Cato, the consul. The consul's successes in
Spain. Titus Quinctius Flamininus finishes the war with the
Lacedaemonians and the tyrant Nabis; makes peace with them,
and restores liberty to Argos. Separate seats at the public
games, for the first time, appointed for the senator. Colonies
sent forth. Marcus Porcius Cato triumphs on account of his
successes in Spain. Further successes in Spain against the
Boians and Insubrian Gauls. Titus Quinctius Flamininus,
having subdued Philip, king of Macedonia, and Nabis, the
Lacedaemonian tyrant, and restored all Greece to freedom,
triumphs for three days. Carthaginian ambassadors bring
intelligence of the hostile designs of Antiochus and
Hannibal._
1. Amid the serious concerns of important wars, either scarcely
brought to a close or impending, an incident intervened, trivial
indeed to be mentioned, but which, through the zeal of the parties
concerned, issued in a violent contest. Marcus Fundanius and Lucius
Valerius, plebeian tribunes, proposed to the people the repealing of
the Oppian law. This law, which had been introduced by Caius Oppias,
plebeian tribune, in the consulate of Quintus Fabius and Tiberius
Sempronius, during the heat of the Punic war, enacted that "no woman
should possess more than half an ounce of gold, or wear a garment of
various colours, or ride in a carriage drawn by horses, in a city,
or any town, or any place nearer thereto than one mile; except on
occasion of some public religious solemnity." Marcus and Publius
Junius Brutus, plebeian tribunes, supported the Oppian law, and
declared, that they would never suffer it to be repealed; while
many of the nobility stood forth to argue for and against the motion
proposed. The Capitol was filled with crowds, who favoured or opposed
the law; nor could the matrons be kept at home, either by advice or
shame, nor even by the commands of their husbands; but beset every
street and pass in the city, beseeching the men as they went down to
the forum, that in the present flourishing state of the commonwealth,
when the private fortune of all was daily increasing they would suffer
the women to have their former ornaments of dress restored. This
throng of women increased daily, for they arrived even from the
country towns and villages; and they had at length the boldness to
come up to the consuls, praetors, and magistrates, to urge their
request. One of the consuls, however, they found especially
inexorable--Marcus Porcius Cato, who, in support of the law proposed
to be repealed, spoke to this effect:--
2. "If, Romans, every individual among us had made it a rule to
maintain the prerogative and authority of a husband with respect to
his own wife, we should have less trouble with the whole sex. But now,
our privileges, overpowered at home by female contumacy, are, even
here in the forum, spurned and trodden under foot; and because we are
unable to withstand each separately, we now dread their collective
body. I was accustomed to think it a fabulous and fictitious tale,
that, in a certain island, the whole race of males was utterly
extirpated by a conspiracy of the women. But the utmost danger may be
apprehended equally from either sex, if you suffer cabals, assemblies,
and secret consultations to be held: scarcely, indeed, can I
determine, in my own mind, whether the act itself, or the precedent
that it affords, is of more pernicious tendency. The latter of these
more particularly concerns us consuls, and the other magistrates:
the former, yourselves, my fellow-citizens. For, whether the measure
proposed to your consideration be profitable to the state or not, is
to be determined by you, who are about to go to the vote. As to the
outrageous behaviour of these women, whether it be merely an act of
their own, or owing to your instigations, Marcus Fundanius and Lucius
Valerius, it unquestionably implies culpable conduct in magistrates. I
know not whether it reflects greater disgrace on you, tribunes, or on
the consuls: on you certainly, if you have, on the present occasion,
brought these women hither for the purpose of raising tribunitian
seditions; on us, if we suffer laws to be imposed on us by a secession
of women, as was done formerly by that of the common people. It was
not without painful emotions of shame, that I, just now, made my way
into the forum through the midst of a band of women. Had I not been
restrained by respect for the modesty and dignity of some individuals
among them, rather than of the whole number, and been unwilling that
they should be seen rebuked by a consul, I should have said to them,
'What sort of practice is this, of running out into public, besetting
the streets, and addressing other women's husbands? Could not
each have made the same request to her husband at home? Are your
blandishments more seducing in public than in private; and with other
women's husbands, than with your own? Although if the modesty of
matrons confined them within the limits of their own rights, it did
not become you, even at home, to concern yourselves about what laws
might be passed or repealed here.' Our ancestors thought it not
proper that women should perform any, even private business, without
a director; but that they should be ever under the control of parents,
brothers, or husbands. We, it seems, suffer them, now, to interfere in
the management of state affairs, and to introduce themselves into the
forum, into general assemblies, and into assemblies of election. For,
what are they doing, at this moment, in your streets and lanes? What,
but arguing, some in support of the motion of the plebeian tribunes;
others, for the repeal of the law? Will you give the reins to their
intractable nature, and their uncontrolled passions, and then expect
that themselves should set bounds to their licentiousness, when you
have failed to do so? This is the smallest of the injunctions laid on
them by usage or the laws, all which women bear with impatience: they
long for liberty; or rather, to speak the truth, for unbounded freedom
in every particular. For what will they not attempt, if they now come
off victorious?
3. "Recollect all the institutions respecting the sex, by which
our forefathers restrained their undue freedom, and by which they
subjected them to their husbands; and yet, even with the help of all
these restrictions, you can scarcely keep them within bounds. If,
then, you suffer them to throw these off one by one, to tear them all
asunder, and, at last, to be set on an equal footing with yourselves,
can you imagine that they will be any longer tolerable by you? The
moment they have arrived at an equality with you, they will have
become your superiors. But, forsooth, they only object to any new
law being made against them: they mean to deprecate, not justice,
but severity. Nay, their wish is, that a law which you have admitted,
established by your suffrages, and confirmed by the practice and
experience of so many years to be beneficial, should now be repealed;
that is, that, by abolishing one law, you should weaken all the
rest. No law perfectly suits the convenience of every member of the
community: the only consideration is, whether, upon the whole, it be
profitable to the greater part. If because a law proves obnoxious to
a private individual, that circumstance should destroy and sweep it
away, to what purpose is it for the community to enact general laws,
which those, with reference to whom they were passed, could presently
repeal? I should like, however, to hear what this important affair
is which has induced the matrons thus to run out into public in this
excited manner, scarcely restraining from pushing into the forum and
the assembly of the people. Is it to solicit that their parents, their
husbands, children, and brothers may be ransomed from captivity
under Hannibal? By no means: and far be ever from the commonwealth so
unfortunate a situation. Yet, even when such was the case, you refused
this to their prayers. But it is not duty, nor solicitude for their
friends; it is religion that has collected them together. They
are about to receive the Idaean Mother, coming out of Phrygia from
Pessinus! What motive, that even common decency will allow to be
mentioned, is pretended for this female insurrection? Why, say they,
that we may shine in gold and purple; that, both on festal and common
days, we may ride through the city in our chariots, triumphing over
vanquished and abrogated law, after having captured and wrested from
you your suffrages; and that there may be no bounds to our expenses
and our luxury.
4. "Often have you heard me complain of the profuse expenses of the
women--often of those of the men; and that not only of men in private
stations, but of the magistrates: and that the state was endangered by
two opposite vices, luxury and avarice; those pests, which have
been the ruin of all great empires. These I dread the more, as the
circumstances of the commonwealth grow daily more prosperous and
happy; as the empire increases; as we have now passed over into Greece
and Asia, places abounding with every kind of temptation that can
inflame the passions; and as we have begun to handle even royal
treasures: so much the more do I fear that these matters will bring
us into captivity, rather than we them. Believe me, those statues from
Syracuse were brought into this city with hostile effect. I already
hear too many commending and admiring the decorations of Athens and
Corinth, and ridiculing the earthen images of our Roman gods that
stand on the fronts of their temples. For my part I prefer these
gods,--propitious as they are, and I hope will continue to be, if
we allow them to remain in their own mansions. In the memory of
our fathers, Pyrrhus, by his ambassador Cineas, made trial of the
dispositions, not only of our men, but of our women also, by offers of
presents: at that time the Oppian law, for restraining female luxury,
had not been made; and yet not one woman accepted a present. What,
think you, was the reason? That for which our ancestors made no
provision by law on this subject: there was no luxury existing which
needed to be restrained. As diseases must necessarily be known before
their remedies, so passions come into being before the laws which
prescribe limits to them. What called forth the Licinian law,
restricting estates to five hundred acres, but the unbounded desire
for enlarging estates? What the Cincian law, concerning gifts and
presents, but that the plebeians[1] had become vassals and tributaries
to the senate? It is not therefore in any degree surprising, that no
want of the Oppian law, or of any other, to limit the expenses of the
women, was felt at that time, when they refused to receive gold and
purple that was thrown in their way, and offered to their acceptance.
If Cineas were now to go round the city with his presents, he would
find numbers of women standing in the public streets to receive them.
There are some passions, the causes or motives of which I can no
way account for. For that that should not be lawful for you which
is permitted to another, may perhaps naturally excite some degree of
shame or indignation; yet, when the dress of all is alike, why should
any one of you fear, lest she should not be an object of observation?
Of all kinds of shame, the worst, surely, is the being ashamed of
frugality or of poverty; but the law relieves you with regard to both;
since that which you have not it is unlawful for you to possess. This
equalization, says the rich matron, is the very thing that I cannot
endure. Why do not I make a figure, distinguished with gold and
purple? Why is the poverty of others concealed under this cover of
a law, so that it should be thought that, if the law permitted, they
would have such things as they are not now able to procure? Romans,
do you wish to excite among your wives an emulation of this sort,
that the rich should wish to have what no other can have; and that
the poor, lest they should be despised as such should extend their
expenses beyond their means? Be assured, that when a woman once begins
to be ashamed of what she ought not to be ashamed of, she will not be
ashamed of what she ought. She who can, will purchase out of her own
purse; she who cannot, will ask her husband. Unhappy is the husband,
both he who complies with the request, and he who does not; for what
he will not give himself, he will see given by another. Now, they
openly solicit favours from other women's husbands; and, what is more,
solicit a law and votes. From some they obtain them; although, with
regard to yourself, your property, or your children, they would be
inexorable. So soon as the law shall cease to limit the expenses of
your wife, you yourself will never be able to do so. Do not suppose
that the matter will hereafter be in the same state in which it was
before the law was made on the subject. It is safer that a wicked man
should even never be accused, than that he should be acquitted; and
luxury, if it had never been meddled with, would be more tolerable
than it will be, now, like a wild beast, irritated by having been
chained, and then let loose. My opinion is, that the Oppian law ought,
on no account, to be repealed. Whatever determination you may come to,
I pray all the gods to prosper it."
[Footnote 1: Previous to the passing of the Cincian law, about ten
years before this time, the advocates who pleaded in the courts
received fees and presents: and as all or most of these were senators,
the plebeians are here represented as tributary to the senate. By the
above law they were forbidden to receive either fees or presents.]
5. After him the plebeian tribunes, who had declared their intention
of protesting, added a few words to the same purport. Then Lucius
Valerius spoke thus in support of the measure which he himself had
introduced:--"If private persons only had stood forth to argue for and
against the proposition which we have submitted to your consideration,
I for my part, thinking enough to have been said on both sides, would
have waited in silence for your determination. But since a person of
most respectable judgment, the consul, Marcus Porcius, has reprobated
our motion, not only by the influence of his opinion, which, had he
said nothing, would carry very great weight, but also in a long and
careful discourse, it becomes necessary to say a few words in answer.
He has spent more words in rebuking the matrons, than in arguing
against the measure proposed; and even went so far as to mention a
doubt, whether the matrons had committed the conduct which he censured
in them spontaneously or at our instigation. I shall defend the
measure, not ourselves: for the consul threw out those insinuations
against us, rather for argument's sake than as a serious charge.
He has made use of the terms cabal and sedition; and, sometimes,
secession of the women: because the matrons had requested of you, in
the public streets, that, in this time of peace, when the commonwealth
is flourishing and happy, you would repeal a law that was made against
them during a war, and in times of distress. I know that these and
other similar strong expressions, for the purpose of exaggeration, are
easily found; and, mild as Marcus Cato is in his disposition, yet in
his speeches he is not only vehement, but sometimes even austere. What
new thing, let me ask, have the matrons done in coming out into public
in a body on an occasion which nearly concerns themselves? Have
they never before appeared in public? I will turn over your own
Antiquities,[1] and quote them against you. Hear, now how often they
have done the same, and always to the advantage of the public. In the
earliest period of our history, even in the reign of Romulus, when the
Capitol had been taken by the Sabines, and a pitched battle was fought
in the forum, was not the fight stopped by the interposition of the
matrons between the two armies? When, after the expulsion of the
kings, the legions of the Volscians, under the command of Marcius
Coriolanus, were encamped at the fifth stone, did not the matrons turn
away that army, which would have overwhelmed this city? Again, when
Rome was taken by the Gauls, whence was the city ransomed? Did not
the matrons, by unanimous agreement, bring their gold into the public
treasury? In the late war, not to go back to remote antiquity, when
there was a want of money, did not the funds of the widows supply the
treasury? And when even new gods were invited hither to the relief of
our distressed affairs, did not the matrons go out in a body to the
sea-shore to receive the Idaean Mother? The cases, you will say, are
dissimilar. It is not my purpose to produce similar instances; it is
sufficient that I clear these women of having done any thing new. Now,
what nobody wondered at their doing in cases which concerned all in
common, both men and women, can we wonder at their doing in a case
peculiarly affecting themselves? But what have they done? We have
proud ears, truly, if, though masters disdain not the prayers of
slaves, we are offended at being asked a favour by honourable women.
[Footnote 1: Alluding to a treatise by Cato, upon the antiquities of
Italy, entitled "Origines," which is the word used here by Valerius.]
6. "I come now to the question in debate, with respect to which the
consul's argument is twofold: for, first, he is displeased at the
thought of any law whatever being repealed; and then, particularly,
of that law which was made to restrain female luxury. His former
argument, in support of the laws in general, appeared highly becoming
of a consul; and that on the latter, against luxury, was quite
conformable to the rigid strictness of his morals. There is,
therefore, a danger lest, unless I shall show what, on each subject,
was inconclusive, you may probably be led away by error. For while
I acknowledge, that of those laws which are instituted, not for any
particular time, but for eternity, on account of their perpetual
utility, not one ought to be repealed; unless either experience evince
it to be useless, or some state of the public affairs render it so; I
see, at the same time, that those laws which particular seasons have
required, are mortal, (if I may use the term,) and changeable with the
times. Those made in peace are generally repealed by war; those made
in war, by peace; as in the management of a ship, some implements are
useful in good weather, others in bad. As these two kinds are thus
distinct in their nature, of which kind does that law appear to be
which we now propose to repeal? Is it an ancient law of the kings,
coeval with the city itself? Or, what is next to that, was it written
in the twelve tables by the decemvirs, appointed to form a code of
laws? Is it one, without which our ancestors thought that the honour
of the female sex could not be preserved? and, therefore, have we also
reason to fear, that, together with it, we should repeal the modesty
and chastity of our females? Now, is there a man among you who does
not know that this is a new law, passed not more than twenty years
ago, in the consulate of Quintus Fabius and Tiberius Sempronius? And
as, without it, our matrons sustained, for such a number of years,
the most virtuous characters, what danger is there of their abandoning
themselves to luxury on its being repealed? For, if that law had been
passed for the purpose of setting a limit to the passions of the sex,
there would be reason to fear lest the repeal of it might operate as
an incitement to them. But the real reason of its being passed,
the time itself will show Hannibal was then in Italy, victorious at
Cannae: he already held possession of Tarentum, of Arpi, of Capua, and
seemed ready to bring up his army to the city of Rome. Our allies
had deserted us. We had neither soldiers to fill up the legions, nor
seamen to man the fleet, nor money in the treasury. Slaves, who were
to be employed as soldiers, were purchased on condition of their price
being paid to the owners at the end of the war. The farmers of the
revenues had declared, that they would contract to supply corn and
other matters, which the exigencies of the war required, to be paid
for at the same time. We gave up our slaves to the oar, in numbers
proportioned to our properties, and paid them out of our own incomes.
All our gold and silver, in imitation of the example given by the
senators, we dedicated to the use of the public. Widows and minors
lodged their money in the treasury. It was provided by law that we
should not keep in our houses more than a certain quantity of wrought
gold or silver, or more than a certain sum of coined silver or brass.
At such a time as this, were the matrons so eagerly engaged in
luxury and dress, that the Oppian law was requisite to repress such
practices; when the senate, because the sacrifice of Ceres had been
omitted, in consequence of all the matrons being in mourning, ordered
the mourning to end in thirty days? Who does not clearly see, that
the poverty and distress of the state, requiring that every private
person's money should be converted to the use of the public, enacted
that law, with intent that it should remain in force so long only as
the cause of enacting the law should remain? For if all the decrees
of the senate and orders of the people, which were then made to answer
the necessities of the times, are to be of perpetual obligation, why
do we refund their money to private persons? Why do we contract for
public works for ready money? Why are not slaves brought to serve in
the army? Why do not we, private subjects, supply rowers as we did
then?
7. "Shall, then, every other class of people, every individual, feel
the improvement in the condition of the state; and shall our wives
alone reap none of the fruits of the public peace and tranquillity?
Shall we men have the use of purple, wearing the purple-bordered gown
in magistracies and priests' offices? Shall our children wear gowns
bordered with purple? Shall we allow the privilege of wearing the toga
praetexta to the magistrates of the colonies and borough towns, and
to the very lowest of them here at Rome, the superintendents of the
streets; and not only of wearing such an ornament of distinction while
alive, but of being buried with it when dead; and shall we interdict
the use of purple to women alone? And when you, the husband, may wear
purple in your great coat, will you not suffer your wife to have a
purple mantle? Shall your horse be more splendidly caparisoned than
your wife is clothed? But with respect to purple, which will be worn
out and consumed, I can see an unjust, indeed, but still a sort of
reason, for parsimony; but with respect to gold, in which, excepting
the price of the workmanship, there is no waste, what objection can
there be? It rather serves as a reserve fund for both public and
private exigencies, as you have already experienced. He says there
will be no emulation between individuals, when no one is possessed
of it. But, in truth, it will be a source of grief and indignation to
all, when they see those ornaments allowed to the wives of the Latin
confederates of which they themselves have been deprived; when they
see those riding through the city in their carriages, and decorated
with gold and purple, while they are obliged to follow on foot, as
if the seat of empire were in the country of the others, not in their
own. This would hurt the feelings even of men, and what do you think
must be its effect on those of weak women, whom even trifles can
disturb? Neither offices of state, nor of the priesthood, nor
triumphs, nor badges of distinction, nor military presents, nor
spoils, can fall to their share. Elegance of appearance, and
ornaments, and dress, these are the women's badges of distinction; in
these they delight and glory; these our ancestors called the women's
world. What else do they lay aside when in mourning, except their gold
and purple? And what else do they resume when the mourning is over?
How do they distinguish themselves on occasion of public thanksgivings
and supplications, but by adding unusual splendour of dress? But then,
(it may be said,) if you repeal the Oppian law, should you choose to
prohibit any of those particulars which the law at present prohibits,
you will not have it in your power; your daughters, wives, and even
the sisters of some, will be less under control. The bondage of
women is never shaken off without the loss of their friends; and they
themselves look with horror on that freedom which is purchased with
the condition of the widow or the orphan. Their wish is, that their
dress should be under your regulation, not under that of the law; and
it ought to be your wish to hold them in control and guardianship, not
in bondage; and to prefer the title of father or husband to that of
master. The consul just now made use of some invidious terms, calling
it a female sedition and secession; because, I suppose, there is
danger of their seizing the sacred mount, as formerly the angry
plebeians did; or the Aventine. Their feeble nature must submit
to whatever you think proper to enjoin; and, the greater power you
possess, the more moderate ought you to be in the exercise of your
authority."
8. Although all these considerations had been urged against the motion
and in its favour, the women next day poured out into public in much
greater numbers, and in a body beset the doors of the tribunes who had
protested against the measure of their colleagues; nor did they retire
until this intervention was withdrawn. There was then no further doubt
but that every one of the tribes would vote for the repeal of the law.
Thus was this law annulled, in the twentieth year after it had
been made. The consul Marcus Porcius, as soon as the Oppian law was
abolished, sailed immediately, with twenty-five ships of war, of which
five belonged to the allies, to the port of Luna, where he ordered the
troops to assemble; and having sent an edict along the sea-coast, to
collect ships of every description, at his departure from Luna he left
orders that they should follow him to the harbour of Pyrenaeus, as
he intended to proceed thence against the enemy with his collective
fleet. They accordingly, after sailing by the Ligurian mountains and
the Gallic bay, congregated together on the day appointed. From thence
they went to Rhoda, and forcibly dislodged a garrison of Spaniards
that were in that fortress. From Rhoda they proceeded with a
favourable wind to Emporiae, and there landed all the forces,
excepting the crews of the ships.
9. At that time, as at present, Emporiae consisted of two towns,
separated by a wall. One was inhabited by Greeks from Phocaea, whence
the Massilians also derive their origin; the other by Spaniards. The
Greek town, being open towards the sea, had but a small extent of
wall, not above four hundred paces in circuit; but the Spanish town,
being farther back from the sea, had a wall three thousand paces in
circumference. A third kind of inhabitants was added by the deified
Caesar settling a Roman colony there, after the final defeat of the
sons of Pompey. At present they are all incorporated in one mass; the
Spaniards first, and, at length, the Greeks; having been adopted
into the Roman citizenship. Whoever had, at that period, observed the
Greeks exposed on one side to the open sea, and on the other to the
Spaniards, a fierce and warlike race, would have wondered by what
cause they were preserved. Deficient in strength, they guarded against
danger by regular discipline; of which, among even more powerful
people, the best preservative is fear. That part of the wall which
faced the country, they kept strongly fortified, having but one gate,
at which some one of the magistrates was continually on guard. During
the night, a third part of the citizens kept watch on the walls,
posting their watches, and going their rounds, not merely from the
force of custom, or in compliance with the law, but with as much
vigilance as if an enemy were at their gates. They never admitted
any Spaniard into the city, nor did they go outside the walls without
precaution. The passage to the sea was open to every one: but, through
the gate, next to the Spanish town, none ever passed, but in a large
body; these were generally the third division, which had watched on
the walls the preceding night. The cause of their going out was this:
the Spaniards, ignorant of maritime affairs, were fond of trafficking
with them, and glad of an opportunity of purchasing, for their own
use, the foreign goods, which the others imported in their ships; and,
at the same time, of finding a market for the produce of their lands.
The desire of this mutual intercourse caused the Spanish town to be
freely open to the Greeks. They were thus the more protected as being
sheltered under the friendship of the Romans, which they cultivated
with as much cordial zeal, though not possessed of equal resources,
as the Massilians. On this account they received the consul, and his
army, with kindness and cordiality. Cato staid there a few days, until
he could learn what force the enemy had, and where they lay; and, not
to be idle during even that short delay, he spent the whole time in
exercising his men. It happened to be the season of the year when
the Spaniards had the corn in their barns. He therefore ordered
the purveyors not to purchase any corn, and sent them home to Rome,
saying, that the war would maintain itself. Then, setting out from
Emporiae, he laid waste the lands of the enemy with fire and sword,
spreading terror and flight through the whole country.
10. At the same time, as Marcus Helvius was going home from Farther
Spain, with an escort of six thousand men, given him by the praetor,
Appius Claudius, the Celtiberians, with a very numerous force, met
him near the city of Illiturgi. Valerius says, that they had twenty
thousand effective men; that twelve thousand of them were killed, the
town of Illiturgi taken, and all the adult males put to the sword.
Helvius, soon after, arrived at the camp of Cato; and as the region
was now free from enemies, he sent back the escort to Farther Spain,
and proceeded to Rome, where, on account of his successful services,
he entered the city with an ovation. He carried into the treasury, of
silver bullion, fourteen thousand pounds' weight; of coined, seventeen
thousand and twenty-three denarii;[1] and Oscan[2] denarii, one
hundred and twenty thousand four hundred and thirty-eight.[3] The
reason for which the senate refused him a triumph was, because he
fought under the auspices, and in the province, of another. He had
returned, moreover, two years after the expiration of his office,
because after he had resigned the government of the province to
Quintus Minucius, he was detained there during the succeeding year,
by a severe and tedious sickness he therefore entered the city in
ovation, only two months before his successor, Quintus Minucius,
enjoyed a triumph. The latter also brought into the treasury
thirty-four thousand eight hundred pounds' weight of silver,
seventy-eight thousand denarii,[4] and of Oscan denarii two hundred
and seventy-eight thousand.[5]
[Footnote 1: 549l. 14s.]
[Footnote 2: Osca, now Huesca, was a city in Spain, remarkable for
silver mine near it.]
[Footnote 3: 659l. 11s. 9-1/2d.]
[Footnote 4: 2430l. 11s. 3d.]
[Footnote 5: 8889l. 6s. 9d.]
11. Meanwhile, in Spain, the consul lay encamped at a small distance
from Emporiae. Thither came three ambassadors from Bilistages,
chieftain of the Ilergetians, one of whom was his son, representing,
that "their fortresses were besieged and that they had no hopes
of being able to hold out, unless the Roman troops came to their
assistance. Three thousand men," they said, "would be sufficient;" and
they added, that, "if such a force came to their aid, the enemy would
not keep their ground." To this the consul answered, that "he was
truly concerned for their danger and their fears; but that he had by
no means so great an amount of forces, as that, while there lay in his
neighbourhood such a powerful force of the enemy, with whom he daily
expected a general engagement, he could safely diminish his strength
by dividing his troops." The ambassadors, on hearing this, threw
themselves at the consul's feet, and with tears conjured him "not
to forsake them at such a perilous juncture. For, if rejected by the
Romans, to whom could they apply? They had no other allies, no other
hope on earth. They might have escaped the present hazard, if they had
consented to forfeit their faith, and to conspire with the rest; but
no menaces, no appearances of danger, had been able to shake their
constancy, because they hoped to find in the Romans abundant succour
and support. If there was no further prospect of this, if it was
refused them by the consul, they called gods and men to witness, that
reluctantly and under compulsion they must change sides, to avoid such
sufferings as the Saguntines had undergone; and that they would perish
together with the other states of Spain, rather than alone."
12. They were thus dismissed on that day without any positive answer.
During the following night, the consul's thoughts were greatly
perplexed and divided. He was unwilling to abandon these allies, yet
equally so to diminish his army, which might either oblige him to
decline a battle, or occasion danger in an engagement. He was firmly
resolved, however, not to lessen his forces, lest he should in the
mean time suffer some disgrace from the enemy; and therefore he
judged it expedient, instead of real succour, to hold out hopes to the
allies. For he considered that, in many cases, but especially in war,
mere appearances have had all the effect of realities; and that
a person, under a firm persuasion that he can command resources,
virtually has them; that by that very confidence he was insured in his
hopes and efforts. Next day he told the ambassadors, that "although
he was afraid to lend a part of his forces to others, and so to weaken
his own, yet that he was giving more attention to their circumstances
and danger than to his own." He then gave orders to the third part
of the soldiers of every cohort, to make haste and prepare victuals,
which they were to carry with them on board ships, and that the
vessels should be got in readiness against the third day. He desired
two of the ambassadors to carry an account of these proceedings to
Bilistages and the Ilergetians; but, by kind treatment and presents,
he prevailed on the chieftain's son to remain with him. The
ambassadors did not leave the place until they saw the troops embarked
on board the ships; then reporting this at home as a matter of
certainty, they spread, not only among their own people, but likewise
among the enemy, a confident assurance of the approach of Roman
succours.
13. The consul, when a specious appearance had been sufficiently
exhibited, ordered the soldiers to be recalled from the ships; and, as
the season of the year now approached when it would be proper to enter
on action, he pitched a winter camp at the distance of three miles
from Emporiae. From this post he frequently led out his troops to
ravage the enemy's country; sometimes to one quarter, sometimes to
another, as opportunity offered, leaving only a small guard in the
camp. They generally began their march in the night, that they might
proceed as far as possible from the camp, and surprise the enemy
unawares; and this practice disciplined the new-raised soldiers, and
great numbers of the enemy were cut off; so that they no longer dared
to venture beyond the walls of their forts. When he had made himself
thoroughly acquainted with the temper of the enemy, and of his own
men, he ordered the tribunes and the praefects, with all the horsemen
and centurions, to be called together, and addressed them thus: "The
time is arrived, which you have often wished for, when you might have
an opportunity of displaying your valour. Hitherto you have waged war
rather as marauders than as regular troops; you shall now meet your
enemies hand to hand, in regular fight. Henceforward you will have
it in your power, instead of pillaging country places, to exhaust the
treasures of cities. Our fathers, at a time when the Carthaginians
had in Spain both commanders and armies, and had themselves neither
commander nor soldiers there, nevertheless insisted on its being an
article of treaty, that the river Iberus should be the boundary of
their empire. Now, when two praetors of the Romans, when a consul, and
three armies are employed in Spain, and, for near ten years past, no
Carthaginian has been in either of its provinces, yet we have lost
that empire on the hither side of the Iberus. This it is your duty to
recover by your valour and arms; and to compel this nation, which is
in a state rather of giddy insurrection than of steady warfare, to
receive again the yoke which it has shaken off." After thus generally
exhorting them, he gave notice, that he intended to march by night to
the enemy's camp; and then dismissed them to take refreshment.
14. At midnight, after having given his attention to the auspices, he
began his march, that he might take possession of such ground as he
chose, before the enemy should observe him. Having led his troops
beyond their camp, he formed them in order of battle, and at the first
light sent three cohorts close to their very ramparts. The barbarians,
surprised at the Romans appearing on their rear, ran hastily to arms.
In the mean time, the consul observed to his men, "Soldiers, you have
no room for hope, but in your own courage; and I have, purposely,
taken care that it should be so. The enemy are between us and our
camp; behind us is an enemy's country. What is most honourable, is
likewise safest; namely, to place all our hopes in our own valour."
He then ordered the cohorts to retreat, in order to draw out the
barbarians by the appearance of flight. Every thing happened as he had
expected. The enemy, thinking that the Romans retired through fear,
rushed out of the gate, and filled the whole space between their
own camp and the line of their adversaries. While they were hastily
marshalling their troops, the consul, who had all his in readiness,
and in regular array, attacked them when in disorder. He caused the
cavalry from both wings to advance first to the charge: but those on
the right were immediately repulsed, and, retiring in disorder, spread
confusion among the infantry also. On seeing this, the consul ordered
two chosen cohorts to march round the right flank of the enemy, and
show themselves on their rear, before the two lines of infantry could
close. The alarm which this gave the enemy, which had been thrown to
a disadvantage by the cowardice of the Roman horse, restored the fight
to an equality. But such a panic had taken possession of both the
cavalry and infantry of the right wing, that the consul laid hold of
several with his own hand, and turned them about with their faces to
the enemy. As long as the fight was carried on with missile weapons,
success was doubtful; and on the right wing, where the disorder and
flight had first began, the Romans with difficulty kept their ground.
On their left wing, the barbarians were both hard pressed in in front;
and looked back, with timidity, at the cohorts that threatened their
rear. But when, after discharging their iron darts and large javelins,
they drew their swords, the battle, in a manner, began anew. They were
no longer wounded by random blows from a distance, but, closing foot
to foot, placed all their hope in courage and strength.
15. When the consul's men were now spent with fatigue, he reanimated
their courage by bringing up into the fight some subsidiary cohorts
from the second line. These formed a new front, and being fresh
themselves, and with fresh weapons attacking the wearied enemy in
the form of a wedge, by a furious onset they first forced their way
through them; and then, when they were once broken, scattered them and
put them to flight. They returned towards their camp across the fields
with all the speed they could make. When Cato saw the rout become
general, he rode back to the second legion, which had been posted in
reserve, and ordered the standards to be borne before it, and that it
should advance in quick motion, and attack the camp of the enemy. If
any of them, through too much eagerness, pushed forward beyond his
rank, he himself rode up and struck them with his javelin, and also
ordered the tribunes and centurions to chastise them. By this time the
camp of the enemy was attacked, though the Romans were kept off from
the works by stones, poles, and weapons of every sort. But, on the
arrival of the fresh legion, the assailants assumed new courage, and
the enemy fought with redoubled fury in defence of their rampart. The
consul attentively examined every place himself, that he might break
in at that quarter where he saw the weakest resistance. At a gate on
the left, he observed that the guard was thin, and thither he led the
first-rank men and spearmen of the second legion. The party posted
at the gate were not able to withstand their assault; while the rest,
seeing the enemy within the rampart, abandoned the defence of the
camp, and threw away their standards and arms. Great numbers were
killed at the gates, being stopped in the narrow passages by the
throng of their own men; and the soldiers of the second legion cut off
the hindmost, while the rest were plundering the camp. According to
the account of Valerius Antias, there were above forty thousand of
the enemy killed on that day. Cato himself, who was certainly no
disparager of his own merits, says that a great many were killed, but
he specifies no number.
16. The conduct of Cato on that day is judged deserving of
commendation in three particulars. First, in leading round his army so
far from his camp and fleet, as to fight the battle in the very middle
of the enemy, that his men might look for no safety but in their
courage. Secondly, in throwing the cohorts on the enemy's rear.
Thirdly, in ordering the second legion, when all the rest were
disordered by the eagerness of their pursuit, to advance at a full
pace to the gate of the camp, in compact and regular order under their
standards. He delayed not to improve his victory; but having sounded a
retreat, and brought back his men laden with spoil, he allowed them a
few hours of the night for rest; and then led them out to ravage the
country. They spread their depredations the wider, as the enemy were
dispersed in their flight; and this circumstance, no less than the
defeat of the preceding day, obliged the Spaniards of Emporiae,
and those of their neighbourhood, to make a submission. Many also,
belonging to other states, who had made their escape to Emporiae,
surrendered; all of whom the consul received with kindness, and after
refreshing them with victuals and wine, dismissed to their several
homes. He quickly decamped thence, and wherever the army proceeded on
its march, he was met by ambassadors, surrendering their respective
states; so that, by the time when he arrived at Tarraco, all Spain on
this side of the Ebro was in a state of perfect subjection; and the
Roman prisoners, and those of their allies and the Latin confederates,
who by various chances had fallen into the hands of the enemies in
Spain, were brought back by the barbarians, as an offering to the
consul. A rumour afterwards spread abroad, that Cato intended to lead
his army into Turditania; and it was given out, with equal falsehood,
that he meant to proceed to the remote inhabitants of the mountains.
On this groundless, unauthenticated report, seven forts of the
Bergistans revolted; but the Roman, marching thither, reduced them
to subjection without any battle worthy of narration. Not very long
after, when the consul returned to Tarraco, and before he removed
to any other place, the same persons revolted again. They were
again subdued; but, on this second reduction, met not the same mild
treatment; they were all sold by auction, that they might not any
oftener disturb the peace.
17. In the mean time, the praetor, Publius Manlius, having received
the army from Quintius Minucius, whom he had succeeded, and joined to
it the old army of Appius Claudius Nero, from Farther Spain, marched
into Turditania. Of all the Spaniards, the Turditanians are reckoned
the least warlike; nevertheless, relying on their great numbers, they
went to oppose the march of the Romans. The cavalry, having been sent
forward, at once broke their line; and with the infantry there was
hardly any conflict. The veteran soldiers, well acquainted with the
enemy and their manner of fighting, effectually decided the battle.
This engagement, however, did not terminate the war. The Turdulans
hired ten thousand Celtiberians, and prepared to carry on the war with
foreign troops. The consul, meanwhile, alarmed at the rebellion of
the Bergistans, and suspecting that the other states would act in
like manner when occasion offered, took away their arms from all the
Spaniards on this side of the Iberus; which proceeding affected them
so deeply, that many laid violent hands on themselves; this fierce
race considering that, without arms, life was of no value. When this
was reported to the consul, he summoned before him the senators of
every one of the states, to whom he spoke thus: "It is not more our
interest than it is your own, that you should not rebel; since your
insurrections have, hitherto, always drawn more mi fortune on the
Spaniards than labour on the Roman armies. To prevent such things
happening in future, I know but one method, which is, to put it out
of your power to rebel. I wish to effect this in the gentlest way, and
that you would assist me therein with your advice. I will follow none
with greater pleasure than what yourselves shall offer." They all
remaining silent, he told them that he would give them a few days'
time to consider the matter. When, on being called together, even in
the second meeting, they uttered not a word, in one day he razed the
walls of all their fortresses; and marching against those who had not
yet submitted, he received in every country, as he passed through,
the submission of all the neighbouring states. Segestica alone, an
important and opulent city, he reduced by works and engines.
18. Cato had greater difficulties to surmount, in subduing the enemy,
than had those commanders who came first into Spain; for this reason,
that the Spaniards, through disgust at the Carthaginian government,
came over to their side; whereas he had the task of enforcing their
submission to slavery, in a manner, after they had been in full
enjoyment of liberty. Besides, he found the whole province in a
state of commotion; insomuch, that some were in arms, and others were
compelled to join in the revolt by being besieged, nor would they
have been able to hold out any longer if they had not received timely
succour. But so vigorous was the spirit and capacity of the consul,
that there was no kind of business, whether great or small, which he
did not himself attend to and perform; and he not only planned and
ordered, but generally executed in person such measures as were
expedient; nor did he practise a more strict and rigorous discipline
over any one than over himself. In spare diet, watching, and labour,
he vied with the meanest of his soldiers; nor, excepting the honour of
his post, and the command, had he any peculiar distinction above the
rest of the army.
19. The Celtiberians, summoned forth by the enemy for hire, as above
mentioned, rendered the war in Turditania more difficult to the
praetor, Publius Manlius. The consul, therefore, in compliance with a
letter from the praetor, led his legions thither. The Celtiberians
and Turditanians were lying in separate camps at the approach of
the Romans, who began immediately to skirmish with the Turditanians,
making attacks on their advanced guards; and they constantly came
off victorious from every engagement, however rashly undertaken. The
consul ordered some military tribunes to enter into a conference with
the Celtiberians, and to offer them their choice of three proposals:
first, to come over, if they wished it, to the Romans, and receive
double the pay for which they had agreed with the Turditanians: the
second, to depart to their own homes, on receiving assurance, under
the sanction of the public faith, that it should not operate to their
injury that they had joined the enemies of the Romans: the third was,
that, if they were absolutely determined on war, they should appoint a
day and place to decide the matter with him by arms. The Celtiberians
desired a day's time for consideration; and an assembly was held, but
in great confusion, from the Turditanians mingling in it, so that no
resolution could be come to. Although it was uncertain whether
there was to be war or peace with the Celtiberians, the Romans,
nevertheless, just as though the latter were determined on, brought
provisions from the lands and forts of the enemy, and soon ventured
to go within their fortifications, relying on private truces, as
they would on a common intercourse established by authority. When the
consul found that he could not entice the enemy to a battle, he first
led out a number of cohorts, lightly accoutred, in regular order, to
ravage a part of the country which was yet unhurt; then hearing that
all the baggage of the Celtiberians was deposited at Saguntia,
he proceeded thither to attack that town, but was unable,
notwithstanding, to provoke them to stir. Paying, therefore, his own
troops and those of Minucius, he left the bulk of his army in the
praetor's camp, and, with seven cohorts, returned to the Iberus.
20. With that small force he took several towns. The Sidetonians,
Ausetanians, and Suessetanians came over to his side. The Lacetanians,
a remote and wild nation, still remained in arms; partly through their
natural ferocity, and partly through consciousness of guilt, in having
laid waste, by sudden incursions, the country of the allies, while the
consul and his army were employed in the war with the Turditanians.
He therefore marched to attack their capital, not only with the Roman
cohorts, but also with the troops of the allies, who were justly
incensed against them. The town was stretched out into considerable
length, but had not proportionable breadth. At the distance of about
four hundred paces from it he halted, and leaving there a party
composed of chosen cohorts, he charged them not to stir from that spot
until he himself should come to them; and then he led round the rest
of the men to the farther side of the town. The greater part of his
auxiliary troops were Suessetanians, and these he ordered to advance
and assault the wall. The Lacetanians, knowing their arms and
standards, and remembering how often they had themselves, with
impunity, committed every kind of outrage and insult in their
territory, how often defeated and routed them in pitched battles,
hastily threw open a gate, and all, in one body, rushed out against
them. The Suessetanians scarcely stood their shout, much less their
onset; and the consul, on seeing this happen, just as he had foreseen,
galloped back under the enemy's wall to his cohorts, brought them up
quickly to that part of the city where all was silence and solitude,
in consequence of the Lacetanians having sallied out on the
Suessetanians, and took possession of every part of it before the
Lacetanians returned; who, having nothing now left but their arms,
soon surrendered themselves also.
21. The conqueror marched thence, without delay, to the fort of
Vergium. This was, almost entirely, a receptacle of robbers and
plunderers, and thence incursions were made on the peaceable parts
of the province. One of the principal inhabitants deserted out of
the place to the consul, and endeavoured to excuse himself and his
countrymen; alleging, that "the management of affairs was not in their
hands; for the robbers, having gained admittance, had reduced the
fort entirely under their own power." The consul ordered him to return
home, and pretend some plausible reason for having been absent; and
then, "when he should see him advancing to the walls, and the robbers
intent on defending the city, to seize the citadel with such men as
favoured his party." This was executed according to his directions.
The double alarm, from the Romans scaling the walls in front, and the
citadel being seized on their rear, at once entirely confounded the
barbarians. The consul, having taken possession of the place, ordered,
that those who had secured the citadel should, with their relations,
be set at liberty, and enjoy their property, the rest of the natives
he commanded the quaestor to sell; and he put the robbers to death.
Having restored quiet in the province, he settled the iron and silver
mines on such a footing, that they produced a large revenue; and, in
consequence of the regulations then made, the province daily increased
in riches. On account of these services performed in Spain, the senate
decreed a supplication for three days.
22. During this summer, the other consul, Lucius Valerius Flaccus,
fought a pitched battle with a body of the Boians in Gaul, near the
forest of Litanae, and gained a complete victory. Eight thousand
of the Gauls are said to have been slain; the rest, desisting from
further opposition, retired quietly to their several villages and
lands. During the remainder of the summer, the consul kept his army
near the Po, at Placentia and Cremona, and repaired the buildings in
these cities which had been demolished in the war. While the affairs
of Italy and Spain were in this posture, Titus Quinctius had spent the
winter in Greece, in such a manner, that excepting the Aetolians, who
neither had gained rewards of victory adequate to their hopes, nor
were capable of being long contented with a state of quiet, all
Greece, being in full enjoyment of the blessings of peace and liberty,
were highly pleased with their present state; and they admired
not more the Roman general's bravery in arms, than his temperance,
justice, and moderation in victory. And now a decree of the senate
was brought to him, containing a denunciation of war against Nabis
the Lacedaemonian. On reading it, Quinctius summoned a convention of
deputies from all the allied states, to be held, on a certain day, at
Corinth. Whither when many persons of the first rank came together,
from all quarters, forming a very full assembly, from which even the
Aetolians were not absent, he addressed them in this manner:--"The
Romans and Greeks, in the war which they waged against Philip, were
united in affections and councils, and they had each no less their
separate reasons for entering into it. For he had violated friendship
with the Romans; first by aiding our enemies, the Carthaginians; and
then by attacking our allies here: and, towards you, his conduct was
such, that even if we had been willing to forget our own injuries,
those offered by him to you would have constituted a sufficient
occasion of war. But the business to be considered this day has
relation wholly to yourselves: for the subject which I propose to your
consideration is, whether you choose to suffer Argos, which, as you
know, has been seized by Nabis, to remain under his dominion; or
whether you judge it reasonable, that a city of such high reputation
and antiquity, seated in the centre of Greece, should be restored to
liberty, and placed in the same state with the rest of the cities of
Peloponnesus and of Greece. This question, as you see, merely respects
yourselves; it concerns not the Romans in any decree, excepting so
far as the one city being left in subjection to tyranny hinders their
glory, in having liberated Greece, from being full and complete.
If, however, you are not moved by regard for that city, nor by the
example, nor by the danger of the contagion of that evil spreading
wider, we, for our parts, shall rest content. On this subject I desire
your opinions, resolved to abide by whatever the majority of you shall
determine."
23. After the address of the Roman general, the several deputies
proceeded to give their opinions. The ambassador of the Athenians
extolled, to the utmost of his power, and expressed the greatest
gratitude for the kindness of the Romans towards Greece, "in having,
when applied to for assistance, brought them succours against Philip;
and now, without being applied to, voluntarily offering assistance
against the tyrant Nabis." He at the same time severely censured
the conduct of some, who, in their discourses, "depreciated those
kindnesses, and propagated evil surmises of the future, when it would
better become them rather to return thanks for the past." It was
evident that this was pointed at the Aetolians: wherefore Alexander,
deputy of that nation, having first inveighed against the Athenians,
who, having formerly been the most strenuous supporters of liberty,
now betrayed the general cause, for the sake of recommending
themselves by flattery. He then complained that "the Achaeans,
formerly soldiers of Philip, and lately, on the decline of his
fortune, deserters from him, had regained possession of Corinth, and
were so acting as that they might acquire Argos; while the Aetolians,
who had first opposed their arms to Philip, who had always been
allies of the Romans, and who had stipulated by treaty, that, on the
Macedonian being conquered, the lands and cities should be theirs,
were defrauded of Echinus and Pharsalus." He charged the Romans with
insincerity, because, "while they put forth empty professions of
establishing liberty, they held possession of Demetrias and Chalcis
by their garrisons; though, when Philip hesitated to withdraw his
garrisons from those places, they always urged against him that the
Grecians would never be free while Demetrias, Chalcis, and Corinth
were in the hands of the others. And, lastly, that they named Argos
and Nabis merely as a pretext for remaining in Greece, and keeping
their armies there. Let them carry away their legions to Italy;
and the Aetolians were ready to undertake, either that Nabis should
voluntarily withdraw his forces from Argos, on terms; or they would
compel him by force of arms to comply with the unanimous judgment of
Greece."
24. This arrogant speech called up, first, Aristaenus, praetor of the
Achaeans, who said:--"Forbid it, Jupiter, supremely good and great,
and imperial Juno, the tutelar deity of Argos, that that city should
be staked as a prize between the Lacedaemonian tyrant and the Aetolian
plunderers, under such unhappy circumstances, that its being retaken
by you should be productive of more calamitous consequences than its
capture by him. Titus Quinctius, the sea lying between us, does not
secure us from those robbers; what then will become of us, should they
procure themselves a stronghold in the centre of Peloponnesus? They
have nothing Grecian but the language, as they have nothing human but
the shape. They live under customs and rites more brutally savage than
any barbarians, nay, than wild beasts themselves. Wherefore, Romans,
we beseech you, not only to recover Argos from Nabis, but also to
establish the affairs of Greece on such a footing, as to leave these
countries adequately secured from the robberies of the Aetolians." The
rest concurring in these censures on the Aetolians, the Roman general
said, that "he had himself intended to have answered them, but that
he perceived all so highly incensed against those people, that the
general resentment required rather to be appeased than irritated.
Satisfied, therefore, with the sentiments entertained of the Romans,
and of the Aetolians, he would simply put this question: What was the
general opinion concerning war with Nabis, in case of his refusing to
restore Argos to the Achaeans?" When all had pronounced for war, he
recommended to them, to send in their shares of auxiliary troops, each
state in proportion to its ability. He even sent an ambassador to the
Aetolians; rather to make them disclose their sentiments, which was
the actual result, than with any hope of obtaining their concurrence.
He gave orders to the military tribunes, to bring up the army from
Elatia. To the ambassadors of Antiochus, who, at this time, proposed
to treat of an alliance, he answered, that "he could say nothing on
the subject in the absence of the ten ambassadors. They must go to
Rome, and apply to the senate."
25. As soon as the troops arrived from Elatia, Quinctius set out to
lead them towards Argos. When near Cleonae he was met by the praetor,
Aristaenus, with ten thousand Achaean foot and one thousand horse; and
having joined forces, they pitched their camp at a small distance from
thence. Next day they marched down into the plains of Argos, and
fixed their post about four miles from that city. The commander of the
Lacedaemonian garrison was Pythagoras, the tyrant's son-in-law, and
his wife's brother; who, on the approach of the Romans, posted strong
guards in both the citadels, for Argos has two, and in every other
place that was commodious for defence, or exposed to danger. But,
while thus employed, he could by no means dissemble the dread inspired
by the approach of the Romans; and, to the alarm from abroad, was
added an insurrection within. There was an Argive, named Damocles,
a youth of more spirit than prudence, who held conversations, with
proper persons, on a design of expelling the garrison; at first, with
the precaution of imposing an oath, but afterwards, through his
eager desire to add strength to the conspiracy, he estimated people's
sincerity with too little caution. While he was in conference with
his accomplices, an officer, sent by the commander of the garrison,
summoned him to appear before him, and he perceived that his design
was betrayed; on which, exhorting the conspirators, who were present,
to take arms with him, rather than be tortured to death, he went on
with a few companions towards the forum, crying out to all who wished
the preservation of the state, to follow him as the vindicator and
author of their liberty. He could prevail on none to join him; for
they saw no prospect of any attainable advantage, and much less any
sufficiently powerful support. While he exclaimed in this manner, the
Lacedaemonians surrounded him and his party, and put them to death.
Many others were afterwards seized, the greater part of whom were
executed, and the remaining few thrown into prison. During the
following night, great numbers, letting themselves down from the walls
by ropes, came over to the Romans.
26. As these men affirmed, that if the Roman army had been at the
gates, this commotion would not have ended without effect; and that,
if the camp was brought nearer, the Argives would not remain inactive;
Quinctius sent some horsemen and infantry, lightly accoutred, who,
meeting at the Cylarabis, a place of exercise, less than three hundred
paces from the city, a party of Lacedaemonians, who sallied out of a
gate, engaged them, and, without much difficulty, drove them back into
the town; and the Roman general encamped on the very spot where the
battle had been fought. There he passed one day, on the look-out if
any new commotion might arise; but perceiving that the inhabitants
were quite depressed by fear, he called a council concerning the
besieging of Argos. All the deputies of Greece, except Aristaenus,
were of one opinion, that, as that city was the sole object of the
war, with it the war should commence. This was by no means agreeable
to Quinctius; but he listened, with evident marks of approbation,
to Aristaenus, arguing in opposition to the joint opinion of all
the rest; while he himself added, that "as the war was undertaken in
favour of the Argives, against the tyrant, what could be less proper
than to leave the enemy in quiet, and lay siege to Argos? For his
part, he was resolved to point his arms against the main object of the
war, Lacedaemon and the tyrant." He then dismissed the meeting, and
sent out light-armed cohorts to collect forage. Whatever was ripe in
the adjacent country, they reaped, and brought together; and what
was green they trod down and destroyed, that the enemy might not
subsequently get it. He then proceeded over Mount Parthenius, and,
passing by Tegaea, encamped on the third day at Caryae; where he
waited for the auxiliary troops of the allies, before he entered the
enemy's territory. Fifteen hundred Macedonians came from Philip, and
four hundred horsemen of the Thessalians; and now the Roman general
had no occasion to wait for more auxiliaries, having abundance; but he
was obliged to stop for supplies of provisions, which he had ordered
the neighbouring cities to furnish. He was joined also by a powerful
naval force; Lucius Quinctius had already come from Leucas, with forty
ships; eighteen ships of war had arrived from the Rhodians; and king
Eumenes was cruising among the Cyclades, with ten decked ships, thirty
barks, and smaller vessels of various sorts. Of the Lacedaemonians
themselves, also, a great many, who had been driven from home by the
cruelty of the tyrants, came into the Roman camp, in hopes of being
reinstated in their country; for the number was very great of those
who had been banished by the several despots, during many generations
since they first got Lacedaemon into their power. The principal person
among the exiles was Agesipolis, to whom the sovereignty of Lacedaemon
belonged in right of his birth; but who had been driven out when an
infant by Lycurgus, after the death of Cleomenes, who was the first
tyrant of Lacedaemon.
27. Although Nabis was enclosed between such powerful armaments on
land and sea, and, on a comparative view of his own and his enemy's
strength, could scarcely conceive any degree of hope; yet he did not
desist from the war, but brought, from Crete, a thousand chosen young
men of that country in addition to a thousand whom he had before; he
had, besides, under arms, three thousand mercenary soldiers, and ten
thousand of his countrymen, with the peasants, who belonged to the
fortresses. He fortified the city with a ditch and rampart; and lest
any intestine commotion should arise, curbed the people's spirits by
fear, punishing them with extreme severity, as he could not hope for
good wishes towards a tyrant. As he had his suspicions respecting some
of the citizens, he drew out all his forces to a field called Dromos,
(the course,) and ordered the Lacedaemonians to be called to an
assembly without their arms. He then formed a line of armed men round
the place where they were assembled, observing briefly, "that he ought
to be excused, if, at such a juncture, he feared and guarded against
every thing that might happen; and that, if the present state of
affairs subjected any to suspicion, it was their advantage to be
prevented from attempting any design, rather than to be punished
for attempting it: he therefore intended," he said, "to keep certain
persons in custody, until the storm, which then threatened, should
have passed over; and would discharge them as soon as the enemy should
have been driven away, from whom the danger would be less, when proper
precaution was taken against internal treachery." He then ordered the
names of about eighty of the principal young men to be called over,
and as each answered to his name, he put them in custody. On the night
following, they were all put to death. Some of the Helotes, a race of
rustics, who have been feudal vassals even from the earliest times,
being charged with an intention to desert, they were driven with
stripes through all the streets, and put to death. The terror which
this excited so confounded the multitude, as to deter them from
all attempts to effect a revolution. He kept his forces within the
fortifications, knowing that he was not a match for the enemy in the
field; and, besides, he was afraid to leave the city, while all men's
minds were in a state of such suspense and uncertainty.
28. Quinctius, when all his preparations were now sufficiently made,
decamped; and, on the second day, came to Sellasia, on the river
Oenus, on the spot where it is said Antigonus, king of Macedonia,
fought a pitched battle with Cleomenes, tyrant of Lacedaemon. Being
told that the ascent from thence was difficult, and the passes narrow,
he made a short circuit by the mountains, sending forward a party to
make a road, and came, by a tolerably broad and open passage, to the
river Eurotas, where it flows almost immediately under the walls of
the city. Here, the tyrant's auxiliary troops attacked the Romans,
while they were forming their camp, together with Quinctius himself,
(who, with a division of cavalry and light troops, had advanced beyond
the rest,) and threw them into a state of alarm and confusion; not
expecting any thing of the kind, as no one had opposed them throughout
their whole march, and they had passed, as it were, through a friendly
territory. The disorder lasted a considerable time, the infantry
calling for aid on the cavalry, and the cavalry on the infantry, each
having but little confidence in himself. At length, the foremost ranks
of the legions came up; and no sooner had the cohorts of the vanguard
taken part in the fight, than those who had lately been an object of
dread were driven back in terror into the city. The Romans, retiring
so far from the wall as to be out of the reach of weapons, stood there
for some time in battle-array; and then, none of the enemy coming out
against them, retired to their camp. Next day Quinctius led on his
army in regular order along the bank of the river, passed the city, to
the foot of the mountain of Menelaus, the legionary cohorts marching
in front, and the cavalry and light infantry bringing up the rear.
Nabis kept his mercenary troops, on whom he placed his whole reliance,
in readiness, and drawn up in a body, within the walls, intending to
attack the rear of the enemy; and, as soon as the last of their troops
passed by, these rushed out of the town, from several places at once,
with as great fury as the day before. The rear was commanded by Appius
Claudius, who having beforehand prepared his men to expect such an
event, that it might not come upon them unawares, instantly made
his troops face about, and presented an entire front to the enemy. A
regular engagement, therefore, took place, as if two complete lines
had encountered, and it lasted a considerable time; but at length
Nabis's troops betook themselves to flight, which would have been
attended with less dismay and danger, if they had not been closely
pressed by the Achaeans, who were well acquainted with the ground.
These made dreadful havoc, and dispersing them entirely, obliged
the greater part to throw away their arms. Quinctius encamped near
Amyclae; and afterwards, when he had utterly laid waste all the
pleasant and thickly inhabited country round the city, not one of the
enemy venturing out of the gates, he removed his camp to the river
Eurotas. From thence he ravaged the valley lying under Taygetus, and
the country reaching as far as the sea.
29. About the same time, Lucius Quinctius got possession of the towns
on the sea-coast; of some, by their voluntary surrender; of others, by
fear or force. Then, learning that the Lacedaemonians made Gythium the
repository of all their naval stores, and that the Roman camp was at
no great distance from the sea, he resolved to attack that town
with his whole force. It was, at that time, a place of considerable
strength; well furnished with great numbers of native inhabitants and
settlers from other parts, and with every kind of warlike stores. Very
seasonably for Quinctius, when commencing an enterprise of no easy
nature, king Eumenes and the Rhodian fleet came to his assistance. The
vast multitude of seamen, collected out of the three fleets, finished
in a few days all the works requisite for the siege of a city so
strongly fortified, both on the land side and on that next the sea.
Covered galleries were soon brought up; the wall was undermined, and,
at the same time, shaken with battering rams. By the frequent shocks
given with these, one of the towers was thrown down, and, by its fall,
the adjoining wall on each side was laid flat. The Romans, on this,
attempted to force in, both on the side next the port, to which the
approach was more level than to the rest, hoping to divert the enemy's
attention from the more open passage, and, at the same time, to enter
the breach caused by the falling of the wall. They were near effecting
their design of penetrating into the town, when the assault was
suspended by the prospect which was held out of the surrender of
the city. This however, was subsequently dissipated. Dexagoridas and
Gorgopas commanded there, with equal authority. Dexagoridas had sent
to the Roman general a message that he would give up the city; and,
after the time and the mode of proceeding had been agreed on, he
was slain as a traitor by Gorgopas, and the defence of the city was
maintained with redoubled vigour by this single commander. The further
prosecution of the siege would have been much more difficult, had not
Titus Quinctius arrived with a body of four thousand chosen men. He
showed his army in order of battle, on the brow of a hill at a small
distance from the city; and, on the other side, Lucius Quinctius plied
the enemy hard with his engines, both on the quarter of the sea, and
of the land; on which Gorgopas was compelled to adopt that proceeding,
which, in the case of another, he had punished with death. After
stipulating for liberty to carry away the soldiers whom he had there
as a garrison, he surrendered the city to Quinctius. Previous to the
surrender of Gythium, Pythagoras, who had been left as commander
at Argos, having intrusted the defence of the city to Timocrates of
Pellene, with a thousand mercenary soldiers, and two thousand Argives,
came to Lacedaemon and joined Nabis.
30. Although Nabis had been greatly alarmed at the first arrival of
the Roman fleet, and the surrender of the towns on the sea-coast,
yet, as long as Gythium was held by his troops he had quieted his
apprehensions with that scanty hope; but when he heard that Gythium,
too, was given up to the Romans, and saw that he had no room for any
kind of hope on the land, where every place round was in the hands
of the enemy, and that he was totally excluded from the sea, he
considered that he must yield to fortune. He first sent a messenger
into the Roman camp, to learn whether permission would be given to
send ambassadors. This being consented to, Pythagoras came to the
general, with no other commission than to propose a conference between
that commander and the tyrant. A council was summoned on the proposal,
and every one present agreeing in opinion that a conference should
be granted, a time and place were appointed. They came, with moderate
escorts, to some hills in the interjacent ground; and leaving their
cohorts there, in posts open to the view of both parties, they went
down to the place of meeting; Nabis attended by a select party of his
body-guards; Quinctius by his brother, king Eumenes, Sosilaus, the
Rhodian, Aristaenus, praetor of the Achaeans, and a few military
tribunes.