_Hieronymus, king of Syracuse, whose grandfather Hiero had been a
faithful ally of Rome, revolts to the Carthaginians, and for his
tyranny is put to death by his subjects. Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus,
the proconsul, defeats the Carthaginians under Hanno at Beneventum
chiefly by the services of the slaves in his army, whom he
subsequently liberated. Claudius Marcellus, the consul, besieges
Syracuse. War is declared against Philip, king of Macedon, he is
routed by night at Apollonia and retreats into Macedonia. This war is
intrusted to Valerius the praetor. Operations of the Scipios against
the Carthaginians in Spain. Syphax, king of the Numidians, is received
into alliance by the Romans, and is defeated by Masinissa, king of the
Massillians, who fought on the side of the Carthaginians. The
Celtiberians joined the Romans, and their troops having been taken
into pay, mercenary soldiers for the first time served in a Roman
camp._
* * * * *
1. On his return from Campania into Bruttium, Hanno, with the
assistance and under the guidance of the Bruttians, made an attempt
upon the Greek cities; which were the more disposed to continue in
alliance with the Romans, because they perceived that the Bruttians,
whom they feared and hated, had taken part with the Carthaginians. The
first place attempted was Rhegium, where several days were spent
without effect. Meanwhile the Locrians hastily conveyed from the
country into the city, corn, wood, and other things necessary for
their use, as also that no booty might be left for the enemy. The
number of persons which poured out of every gate increased daily, till
at length those only were left in the city whose duty it was to repair
the walls and gates, and to collect weapons in the fortresses. Against
this mixed multitude, composed of persons of all ages and ranks, while
rambling through the country, and for the most part unarmed, Hamilcar,
the Carthaginian, sent out his cavalry, who, having been forbidden to
hurt any one, only interposed their squadrons, so as to cut them off
from the city when dispersed in flight. The general himself, having
posted himself upon an eminence which commanded a view of the country
and the city, ordered a cohort of Bruttians to approach the walls,
call out the leaders of the Locrians to a conference, and promising
them the friendship of Hannibal, exhort them to deliver up the city.
At first the Bruttians were not believed in any thing they stated in
the conference, but afterwards, when the Carthaginian appeared on the
hills, and a few who had fled back to the city brought intelligence
that all the rest of the multitude were in the power of the enemy,
overcome with fear, they said they would consult the people. An
assembly of the people was immediately called, when, as all the most
fickle of the inhabitants were desirous of a change of measures and a
new alliance, and those whose friends were cut off by the enemy
without the city, had their minds bound as if they had given hostages,
while a few rather silently approved of a constant fidelity than
ventured to support the opinion they approved, the city was
surrendered to the Carthaginians, with an appearance of perfect
unanimity. Lucius Atilius, the captain of the garrison, together with
the Roman soldiers who were with him, having been privately led down
to the port, and put on board a ship, that they might be conveyed to
Rhegium, Hamilcar and the Carthaginians were received into the city on
condition that an alliance should be formed on equal terms; which
condition, when they had surrendered, the Carthaginian had very nearly
not performed, as he accused them of having sent away the Roman
fraudulently, while the Locrians alleged that he had spontaneously
fled. A body of cavalry went in pursuit of the fugitives, in case the
tide might happen to detain them in the strait, or might carry the
ships to land. The persons whom they were in pursuit of they did not
overtake, but they descried some ships passing over the strait from
Messana to Rhegium. These contained Roman troops sent by the praetor,
Claudius, to occupy the city with a garrison. The enemy therefore
immediately retired from Rhegium. At the command of Hannibal, peace
was concluded with the Locrians on these terms: that "they should live
free under their own laws; that the city should be open to the
Carthaginians, the harbour in the power of the Locrians. That their
alliance should rest on the principle, that the Carthaginian should
help the Locrian and the Locrian the Carthaginian in peace and war."
2. Thus the Carthaginian troops were led back from the strait, while
the Bruttians loudly complained that Locri and Rhegium, cities which
they had fixed in their minds that they should have the plundering of,
they had left untouched. Having therefore levied and armed fifteen
thousand of their own youth, they set out by themselves to lay siege
to Croto, which was also a Greek city, and on the coast, believing
that they would obtain a great accession to their power, if they could
get possession of a city upon the sea-coast, which had a port and was
strongly defended by walls. This consideration annoyed them, that they
neither could venture on the business without calling in the
Carthaginians to their assistance, lest they should appear to have
done any thing in a manner unbecoming allies, and on the other hand,
lest, if the Carthaginian general should again show himself to have
been rather an umpire of peace than an auxiliary in war, they should
fight in vain against the liberty of Croto, as before in the affair of
the Locrians. The most advisable course, therefore, appeared to be,
that ambassadors should be sent to Hannibal, and that a stipulation
should be obtained from him that Croto, when reduced, should be in
possession of the Bruttians. Hannibal replied, that it was a question
which should be determined by persons on the spot, and referred them
to Hanno, from whom they could obtain no decisive answer. For they
were unwilling that so celebrated and opulent a city should be
plundered, and were in hopes that if the Bruttians should attack it,
while the Carthaginians did not ostensibly approve or assist in the
attack, the inhabitants would the more readily come over to them. The
Crotonians were not united either in their measures or wishes. All the
states of Italy were infected with one disease, as it were, the
commons dissented from the nobles, the senate favouring the Romans,
while the commons endeavoured to draw the states over to the
Carthaginians. A deserter announced to the Bruttii that such a
dissension prevailed in the city, that Aristomachus was the leader of
the commons, and the adviser of the surrender of the city, that the
city was of wide extent and thinly inhabited, that the walls in every
part were in ruins, that it was only here and there that the guards
and watches were kept by senators, and that wherever the commons kept
guard, there an entrance lay open. Under the direction and guidance of
the deserter, the Bruttians completely invested the city, and being
received into it by the commons, got possession of every part, except
the citadel, on the first assault. The nobles held the citadel, which
they had taken care beforehand to have ready as a refuge against such
an event. In the same place Aristomachus took refuge, as though he had
advised the surrender of the city to the Carthaginians, and not to the
Bruttians.
3. The wall of the city of Croto in circuit extended through a space
of twelve miles, before the arrival of Pyrrhus in Italy. After the
devastation occasioned by that war, scarcely half the city was
inhabited. The river which had flowed through the middle of the town,
now ran on the outside of the parts which were occupied by buildings,
and the citadel was at a distance from the inhabited parts. Six miles
from this celebrated city stood the temple of Juno Lacinia, more
celebrated even than the city itself, and venerated by all the
surrounding states. Here was a grove fenced with a dense wood and tall
fir trees, with rich pastures in its centre, in which cattle of every
kind, sacred to the goddess, fed without any keeper; the flocks of
every kind going out separately and returning to their folds, never
being injured, either from the lying in wait of wild beasts, or the
dishonesty of men. These flocks were, therefore, a source of great
revenue, from which a column of solid gold was formed and consecrated;
and the temple became distinguished for its wealth also, and not only
for its sanctity. Some miracles are attributed to it, as is generally
the case with regard to such remarkable places. Rumour says that there
is an altar in the vestibule of the temple, the ashes of which are
never moved by any wind. But the citadel of Croto, overhanging the sea
on one side, on the other, which looks towards the land, was protected
formerly by its natural situation only, but was afterwards surrounded
by a wall. It was in this part that Dionysius, the tyrant of Sicily,
took it by stratagem, approaching by way of some rocks which faced
from it. This citadel, which was considered sufficiently secure, was
now occupied by the nobles of Croto, the Bruttians, in conjunction
even with their own commons, besieging them. The Bruttians, however,
perceiving at length that it was impossible to take the citadel by
their own efforts, compelled by necessity, implored the aid of Hanno.
He endeavoured to bring the Crotonians to surrender, under an
agreement that they should allow a colony of Bruttians to settle
there; so that their city, desolate and depopulated by wars, might
recover its former populousness: but not a man besides Aristomachus
did he move; they affirmed, that "they would die sooner than, mixing
with Bruttians, be turned to the rites, manners, and laws, and soon
the language also of others." Aristomachus alone, since he was neither
able to persuade them to surrender, nor could obtain an opportunity
for betraying the citadel as he had betrayed the city, deserted to
Hanno. A short time afterwards ambassadors of Locri, entering the
citadel with the permission of Hanno, persuaded them to allow
themselves to be removed to Locri, and not resolve to hazard
extremities. They had already obtained leave from Hannibal to do this,
by ambassadors sent for this purpose. Accordingly, Croto was
evacuated, and the inhabitants were conducted to the sea, where they
embarked; and the whole multitude removed to Locri. In Apulia,
Hannibal and the Romans did not rest even during the winter. The
consul Sempronius wintered at Luceria, Hannibal not far from Arpi.
Slight engagements took place between them, accordingly as either side
had an opportunity or advantage; by which the Roman soldiery were
improved, and became daily more guarded and more secure against
stratagems.
4. In Sicily, the death of Hiero, and the transfer of the government
to his grandson, Hieronymus, had completely altered all things with
regard to the Romans. Hieronymus was but a boy, as yet scarcely able
to bear liberty, still less sovereign power. His guardians and friends
gladly observed in him a disposition which might be easily plunged
into every kind of vice; which Hiero foreseeing, is said to have
formed an intention, in the latter part of his long life, of leaving
Syracuse free, lest the sovereignty which had been acquired and
established by honourable means, should be made a sport of and fall
into ruin, under the administration of a boy. This plan of his his
daughters strenuously opposed, who anticipated that the boy would
enjoy the name of royalty, but that the administration of all affairs
would be conducted by themselves and their husbands, Andranodorus and
Zoippus, for these were left the principal of his guardians. It was
not an easy task for a man in his ninetieth year, beset night and day
by the winning artifices of women, to disenthral his judgment, and to
consult only the good of the state in his domestic affairs.
Accordingly, all he did was to leave fifteen guardians over his son,
whom he entreated, on his death-bed, to preserve inviolate that
alliance with the Romans, which he had himself cultivated for fifty
years, and to take care that the young king should, above all things,
tread in the steps of his father, and in that course of conduct in
which he had been educated. Such were his injunctions. On the death of
the king, the will was brought forward by the guardians, and the young
king, who was now about fifteen, introduced into the public assembly,
where a few persons, who had been placed in different parts on purpose
to raise acclamations, expressed their approbation of the will; while
all the rest were overwhelmed with apprehensions, in the destitute
condition of the state, which had lost as it were its parent. The
funeral of the king was then performed, which was honoured more by the
love and affection of his citizens than the attentions of his kindred.
Andranodorus next effected the removal of the other guardians, giving
out that Hieronymus had now attained the years of manhood, and was
competent to assume the government; and thus, by voluntarily resigning
the guardianship which he shared with several others, united the
powers of all in himself.
5. It would scarcely have been easy even for any good and moderate
king, succeeding one so deeply rooted in their affections as Hiero
was, to obtain the favour of the Syracusans. But Hieronymus, forsooth,
as if he was desirous of exciting regret for the loss of his
grandfather by his own vices, showed, immediately on his first
appearance, how completely every thing was changed. For those who for
so many years had seen Hiero and his son Gelon differing from the rest
of the citizens neither in the fashion of their dress nor any other
mark of distinction, now beheld the purple, the diadem, and armed
guards, and their king sometimes proceeding from his palace in a
chariot drawn by four white horses, according to the custom of the
tyrant Dionysius. This costliness in equipage and appearance was
accompanied by corresponding contempt of everybody, capricious airs,
insulting expressions, difficulty of access, not to strangers only,
but even to his guardians also, unheard of lusts, inhuman cruelty.
Terror so great took possession of every body therefore, that some of
his guardians, either by a voluntary death, or by exile, anticipated
the tenor of his inflictions. Three of those persons to whom alone
belonged a more familiar access to the palace, Andranodorus and
Zoippus, sons-in-law of Hiero, and one Thraso, were not much attended
to upon other subjects, but the two former exerting themselves in
favour of the Carthaginians, while Thraso argued for the Roman
alliance, they sometimes engaged the attention of the young king by
their zeal and earnestness. It was at this time that a conspiracy
formed against the life of the tyrant was discovered by a certain
servant, of the same age as Hieronymus, who from his very childhood
had associated with him on entirely familiar terms. The informer was
able to name one of the conspirators, Theodotus, by whom he himself
had been solicited. He was immediately seized, and delivered to
Andranodorus to be subjected to torture, when, without hesitation, he
confessed as to himself, but concealed his accomplices. At last, when
racked with every species of torture, beyond the power of humanity to
bear, pretending to be overcome by his sufferings, he turned his
accusation from the guilty to the innocent, and feigned that Thraso
was the originator of the plot, without whose able guidance, he said,
they never would have been bold enough to attempt so daring a deed, he
threw the guilt upon such innocent men, near the king's person, as
appeared to him to be the most worthless, while fabricating his story
amid groans and agonies. The naming of Thraso gave the highest degree
of credibility to the story in the mind of the tyrant. Accordingly he
was immediately given up to punishment, and others were added who were
equally innocent. Not one of the conspirators, though their associate
in the plot was for a long time subjected to torture, either concealed
himself or fled, so great was their confidence in the fortitude and
fidelity of Theodotus, and so great was his firmness in concealing
their secret.
6. Thus on the removal of Thraso, who formed the only bond which held
together the alliance with the Romans, immediately affairs clearly
indicated defection. Ambassadors were sent to Hannibal, who sent back
in company with a young man of noble birth named Hannibal, Hippocrates
and Epicydes, natives of Carthage, and of Carthaginian extraction on
their mother's side, but whose grandfather was an exile from Syracuse.
Through their means an alliance was formed between Hannibal and the
tyrant of Syracuse; and, with the consent of Hannibal, they remained
with the tyrant. As soon as Appius Claudius, the praetor, whose
province Sicily was, had received information of these events, he sent
ambassadors to Hieronymus; who, upon stating that the object of their
mission was to renew the alliance which had subsisted between the
Romans and his grandfather, were heard and dismissed in an insulting
manner, Hieronymus asking them sneeringly, "how they had fared at the
battle of Cannae? for that the ambassadors of Hannibal stated what
could hardly be credited." He said, "he wished to know the truth, in
order that before he made up his mind, he might determine which he
should espouse as offering the better prospect." The Romans replied,
that they would return to him when he had learned to receive embassies
with seriousness; and, after having cautioned, rather than requested
him, not rashly to change his alliance, they withdrew. Hieronymus sent
ambassadors to Carthage, to conclude a league in conformity with the
alliance with Hannibal. It was settled in the compact, that after they
had expelled the Romans from Sicily, (which would speedily be effected
if the Carthaginians sent ships and troops,) the river Himera, which
divides the island in nearly equal portions, should be the limit of
the Carthaginian and Syracusan dominions. Afterwards, puffed up by the
flattery of those persons who bid him be mindful, not of Hiero only,
but of king Pyrrhus, his maternal grandfather, he sent another
embassy, in which he expressed his opinion that equity required that
the whole of Sicily should be conceded to him, and that the dominion
of Italy should be acquired as the peculiar possession of the
Carthaginians. This levity and inconstancy of purpose in a hot-headed
youth, did not excite their surprise, nor did they reprove it, anxious
only to detach him from the Romans.
7. But every thing conspired to hurry him into perdition. For having
sent before him Hippocrates and Epicydes with two thousand armed men,
to make an attempt upon those cities which were occupied by Roman
garrisons, he himself also proceeded to Leontium with all the
remaining troops, which amounted to fifteen thousand foot and horse,
when the conspirators (who all happened to be in the army) took
possession of an uninhabited house, which commanded a narrow way, by
which the king was accustomed to go to the forum. The rest stood here
prepared and armed, waiting for the king to pass by. One of them, by
name Dinomenes, as he was one of the body-guards, had the task
assigned him of keeping back the crowd behind in the narrow way, upon
some pretext, when the king approached the door. All was done
according to the arrangement. Dinomenes having delayed the crowd, by
pretending to lift up his foot and loosen a knot which was too tight,
occasioned such an interval, that an attack being made upon the king,
as he passed by unattended by his guards, he was pierced with several
wounds before any assistance could be brought. When the shout and
tumult was heard, some weapons were discharged on Dinomenes, who now
openly opposed them; he escaped from them, however, with only two
wounds. The body-guard, as soon as they saw the king prostrate, betook
themselves to flight. Of the assassins, some proceeded to the forum to
the populace, who were rejoiced at the recovery of their liberty;
others to Syracuse to anticipate the measures of Andranodorus and the
rest of the royal party. Affairs being in this uncertain state, Appius
Claudius perceiving a war commencing in his neighbourhood, informed
the senate by letter, that Sicily had become reconciled to the
Carthaginians and Hannibal. For his own part, in order to frustrate
the designs of the Syracusans, he collected all his forces on the
boundary of the province and the kingdom. At the close of this year,
Quintus Fabius, by the authority of the senate, fortified and
garrisoned Puteoli, which, during the war, had begun to be frequented
as an emporium. Coming thence to Rome to hold the election, he
appointed the first day for it which could be employed for that
purpose, and, while on his march, passed by the city and descended
into the Campus Martius. On that day, the right of voting first having
fallen by lot on the junior century of the Anien tribe, they appointed
Titus Otacilius and Marcus Aemilius Regillus, consuls, when Quintus
Fabius, having obtained silence, delivered the following speech:
8. "If we had either peace in Italy, or had war with such an enemy
that the necessity to be careful was less urgent than it is, I should
consider that man as wanting in respect for your liberty, who would at
all impede that zealous desire which you bring with you into the
Campus Martius, of conferring honours on whom you please. But since
during the present war, and with the enemy we have now to encounter,
none of our generals have ever committed an error which has not been
attended with most disastrous consequences to us, it behoves you to
use the same circumspection in giving your suffrages for the creation
of consuls, which you would exert were you going armed into the field
of battle. Every man ought thus to say to himself I am nominating a
consul who is to cope with the general Hannibal. In the present year,
at Capua, when Jubellius Taurea, the most expert horseman of the
Campanians, gave a challenge, Claudius Asellus, the most expert among
the Roman horsemen, was pitted against him. Against the Gaul who at a
former period gave a challenge on the bridge of the Amo, our ancestors
sent Titus Manlius, a man of resolute courage and great strength. It
was for the same reason, I cannot deny it, that confidence was placed
in Marcus Valerius, not many years ago, when he took arms against a
Gaul who challenged him to combat in a similar manner. In the same
manner as we wish to have our foot and horse more powerful, but if
that is impracticable, equal in strength to the enemy, so let us find
out a commander who is a match for the general of the enemy. Though we
should select the man as general whose abilities are greater than
those of any other in the nation, yet still he is chosen at a moment's
warning, his office is only annual; whereas he will have to cope with
a veteran general who has continued in command without interruption,
unfettered by any restrictions either of duration or of authority,
which might prevent him from executing or planning every thing
according as the exigencies of the war shall require. But with us the
year is gone merely in making preparations, and when we are only
commencing our operations. Having said enough as to what sort of
persons you ought to elect as consuls, it remains that I should
briefly express my opinion of those on whom the choice of the
prerogative century has fallen. Marcus Aemilius Regillus is flamen of
Quirinus, whom we can neither send abroad nor retain at home without
neglecting the gods or the war. Otacilius is married to my sister's
daughter, and has children by her, but the favours you have conferred
upon me and my ancestors, are not such as that I should prefer private
relationship to the public weal. Any sailor or passenger can steer the
vessel in a calm sea, but when a furious storm has arisen, and the
vessel is hurried by the tempest along the troubled deep, then there
is need of a man and pilot We are not sailing on a tranquil sea, but
have already well nigh sunk with repeated storms, you must therefore
employ the utmost caution and foresight in determining who shall sit
at the helm Of you, Titus Otacilius, we have had experience in a
business of less magnitude, and, certainly you have not given us any
proof that we ought to confide to you affairs of greater moment The
fleet which you commanded this year we fitted out for three objects:
to lay waste the coast of Africa, to protect the shores of Italy, but,
above all, to prevent the conveyance of reinforcements with pay and
provisions from Carthage to Hannibal. Now if Titus Otacilius has
performed for the state, I say not all, but any one of these services,
make him consul But if, while you had the command of the fleet
supplies of whatever sort were conveyed safe and untouched to
Hannibal, even as though he had no enemy on the sea, if the coast of
Italy has been more infested this year than that of Africa, what can
you have to urge why you should be preferred before all others as the
antagonist of Hannibal? Were you consul, we should give it as our
opinion that a dictator should be appointed in obedience to the
example of our ancestors Nor could you feel offended that some one in
the Roman nation was deemed superior to you in war It concerns
yourself more than any one else, Titus Otacilius, that there be not
laid upon your shoulders a burthen under which you would fall I
earnestly exhort you, that with the same feelings which would
influence you if standing armed for battle, you were called upon
suddenly to elect two generals, under whose conduct and auspices you
were to fight, you would this day elect your consuls, to whom your
children are to swear allegiance, at whose command they are to
assemble, and under whose protection and care they are to serve. The
Trasimene Lake and Cannae are melancholy precedents to look back upon,
but form useful warnings to guard against similar disasters Crier,
call back the younger century of the Amen tribe to give their votes
again"
9. Titus Otacilius, vociferating in the most furious manner, that his
object was to continue in the consulship, the consul ordered the
lictors to go to him, and as he had not entered the city, but had
proceeded directly without halting from his march to the Campus
Martius, admonished him that the axes were in the fasces which were
carried before him. The prerogative century proceeded to vote a second
time, when Quintus Fabius Maximus for the fourth time, and Marcus
Marcellus for the third time, were created consuls. The other
centuries voted for the same persons without any variation. One
praetor, likewise, Quintus Fulvius Flaccus, was re-elected; the other
new ones who were chosen, were Titus Otacilius Crassus a second time,
Quintus Fabius, son of the consul, who was at that time curule aedile,
and Publius Cornelius Lentulus. The election of the praetors
completed, a decree of the senate was passed, that Quintus Fulvius
should have the city department out of the ordinary course, and that
he in preference to any other should command in the city while the
consuls were absent in the war. Great floods happened twice during
this year, and the Tiber overflowed the fields, with great demolition
of houses and destruction of men and cattle. In the fifth year of the
second Punic war Quintus Fabius Maximus for the fourth time, and
Marcus Claudius Marcellus for the third time, entering upon their
office, drew the attention of the state upon them in a more than
ordinary degree, for there had not been two such consuls now for many
years. The old men observed, that thus Maximus Rullus and Publius
Decius were declared consuls for conducting the Gallic war; that thus
afterwards Papirius and Carvilius were appointed to that office
against the Samnites, the Bruttians, and the Lucanian with the
Tarentine people. Marcellus, who was with the army, was created consul
in his absence; to Fabius, who was present and held the election
himself, the office was continued. The critical state of affairs, the
exigencies of the war, and the danger which threatened the state,
prevented any one from looking narrowly into the precedent, or
suspecting that the consul was actuated by an excessive love of
command; on the contrary, they applauded his magnanimity in that when
he knew the state was in want of a general of the greatest ability,
and that he was himself confessedly such an one, he thought less of
the personal odium which might arise out of the transaction, than of
the good of the state.
10. On the day on which the consuls entered on their office, the
senate was assembled in the Capitol, and in the first place a decree
was passed to the effect that the consuls should draw lots, and settle
between themselves which should hold the election for the creation of
censors, before they proceeded to join the army. Next, all those who
had the command of armies were continued in their offices, and ordered
to remain in their provinces; Tiberius Gracchus at Luceria, where he
was with an army of volunteer slaves; Caius Terentius Varro in the
Picenian, and Manius Pomponius in the Gallic territory. Of the
praetors of the former year, it was settled that Quintus Mucius should
have the government of Sardinia as propraetor, Marcus Valerius the
command of the sea-coast near Brundusium, watchful against all the
movements of Philip, king of the Macedonians. To Publius Cornelius
Lentulus, the praetor, the province of Sicily was assigned. Titus
Otacilius received the same fleet which he had employed the year
before against the Carthaginians. Many prodigies were reported to have
happened this year, which increased in proportion as they were
believed by the credulous and superstitious. That crows had built a
nest within the temple of Juno Sospita at Lanuvium; that a green
palm-tree had taken fire in Apulia; that a pool at Mantua, formed by
the overflowing of the river Mincius, had assumed the appearance of
blood; that it had rained chalk at Cales, and blood at Rome in the
cattle market; that a fountain under ground in the Istrian street had
discharged so violent a stream of water, that rolling along with the
impetuosity of a torrent, it carried away the butts and casks which
were near it; that the public court in the Capitol had been struck by
lightning; also the temple of Vulcan in the Campus Martius, a nut-tree
in the Sabine territory, a wall and gate at Gabii. Now other miracles
were published: that the spear of Mars at Praeneste moved forward of
its own accord; that in Sicily an ox had spoken; that a child in the
womb of its mother cried out Io Triumphe! in the country of the
Marrucinians; at Spoletum, that a woman was transformed into a man; at
Hadria, that an altar, with appearances as of men surrounding it in
white clothing, was seen in the heavens. Nay, even in the city of Rome
itself, after a swarm of bees had been seen in the forum, some persons
roused the citizens to arms, affirming that they saw armed legions on
the Janiculum; but those who were on the Janiculum at the time,
declared that they had seen no person there besides the usual
cultivators of the hill. These prodigies were expiated by victims of
the larger kind, according to the response of the aruspices; and a
supplication was ordered to all the deities who had shrines at Rome.
11. The ceremonies which were intended to propitiate the gods being
completed, the consuls took the sense of the senate on the state of
the nation, the conduct of the war, what troops should be employed,
and where they were severally to act. It was resolved that eighteen
legions should be engaged in the war; that the consuls should take two
each; that two should be employed in each of the provinces of Gaul,
Sicily, and Sardinia; that Quintus Fabius, the praetor, should have
the command of two in Apulia, and Tiberius Gracchus of two legions of
volunteer slaves in the neighbourhood of Luceria; that one each should
be left for Caius Terentius, the proconsul, for Picenum, and to Marcus
Valerius for the fleet off Brundusium, and two for the protection of
the city. To complete this number of legions six fresh ones were to be
enlisted, which the consuls were ordered to raise as soon as possible;
and also to prepare the fleet, so that, together with the ships which
were stationed off the coasts of Calabria, it might amount that year
to one hundred and fifty men of war. The levy completed, and the
hundred new ships launched, Quintus Fabius held the election for the
creation of censors, when Marcus Atilius Regulus and Publius Furius
Philus were chosen. A rumour prevailing that war had broken out in
Sicily, Titus Otacilius was ordered to proceed thither with his fleet;
but as there was a deficiency of sailors, the consuls, in conformity
with a decree of the senate, published an order that those persons who
themselves or whose fathers had been rated in the censorship of Lucius
Aemilius and Caius Flaminius, at from fifty to one hundred thousand
_asses_, or whose property had since reached that amount, should
furnish one sailor and six months' pay; from one to three hundred
thousand, three sailors with a year's pay; from three hundred thousand
to a million, five sailors; above one million, seven sailors; that
senators should furnish eight sailors with a year's pay. The sailors
furnished according to this proclamation being armed and equipped by
their masters, embarked with cooked provisions for thirty days. Then
first it happened that the Roman fleet was manned at the expense of
individuals.
12. These unusually great preparations alarmed the Campanians
particularly, lest the Romans should commence the year's campaign with
the siege of Capua. They therefore sent ambassadors to Hannibal, to
implore him to bring his army to Capua, and tell him that new armies
were levying at Rome for the purpose of besieging it; and that there
was not any city the defection of which had excited more hostile
feelings. As they announced this with so much fear, Hannibal concluded
he must make haste lest the Romans should get there before him; and
setting out from Arpi, took up his position in his old camp at Tifata,
above Capua. Leaving his Numidians and Spaniards for the protection
both of the camp and Capua, he went down thence with the rest of his
troops to the lake Avernus on the pretence of performing sacrifice,
but in reality to make an attempt upon Puteoli and the garrison in it.
Maximus, on receiving intelligence that Hannibal had set out from
Arpi, and was returning to Campania, went back to his army, pursuing
his journey without intermission by night or by day. He also ordered
Tiberius Gracchus to bring up his troops from Luceria to Beneventum,
and Quintus Fabius the praetor, the son of the consul, to go to
Luceria in the room of Gracchus. At the same time the two praetors set
out for Sicily, Publius Cornelius to join his army, Otacilius to take
the command of the sea-coast and the fleet; the rest also proceeded to
their respective provinces, and those who were continued in command
remained in the same countries as in the former year.
13. While Hannibal was at the lake Avernus, five noble youths came to
him from Tarentum. They had been made prisoners partly at the lake
Trasimenus, and partly at Cannae, and had been sent home by the
Carthaginian with the same civility which he had shown towards all the
Roman allies. They stated to him that, impressed with gratitude for
his favours, they had succeeded in inducing a large portion of the
Tarentine youth to prefer his alliance and friendship to that of the
Romans; and that they were sent by their countrymen as ambassadors to
request Hannibal to bring his forces nearer to Tarentum; that if his
standards and camp were within sight of Tarentum, that city would be
delivered into his hands without delay; that the commons were under
the influence of the youth, and the state of Tarentum in the hands of
the commons. Hannibal after bestowing the highest commendations upon
them, and loading them with immense promises, bid them return home to
mature their plans, saying that he would be there in due time. With
these hopes, the Tarentines were dismissed. Hannibal had himself
conceived the strongest desire of getting possession of Tarentum. He
saw that it was a city opulent and celebrated, on the coast, and lying
conveniently over against Macedonia. And that as the Romans were in
possession of Brundusium, king Philip would make for this port if he
crossed over into Italy. Having completed the sacrifice for which he
came, and during his stay there laid waste the territory of Cumae as
far as the promontory of Misenum, he suddenly marched his troops
thence to Puteoli to surprise the Roman garrison there. It consisted
of six thousand men, and the place was secured not only by its natural
situation, but by works also. The Carthaginian having waited there
three days, and attempted the garrison in every quarter, without any
success, proceeded thence to devastate the territory of Naples,
influenced by resentment more than the hope of getting possession of
the place. The commons of Nola, who had been long disaffected to the
Romans and at enmity with their own senate, moved into the
neighbouring fields on his approach; and in conformity with this
movement ambassadors came to invite Hannibal to join them, bringing
with them a positive assurance that the city would be surrendered to
him. The consul, Marcellus, who had been called in by the nobles,
anticipated their attempt. In one day he had reached Suessula from
Cales, though the river Vulturnus had delayed him crossing; and from
thence the ensuing night introduced into Nola for the protection of
the senate, six thousand foot and three hundred horse. The
dilatoriness of Hannibal was in proportion to the expedition which the
consul used in every thing he did in order to preoccupy Nola. Having
twice already made the attempt unsuccessfully, he was slower to place
confidence in the Nolans.
14. During the same time, the consul, Fabius, came to attempt
Casilinum, which was occupied by a Carthaginian garrison; and, as if
by concert, Hanno approached Beneventum on one side from the
Bruttians, with a large body of foot and horse, while on the other
side Gracchus approached it from Luceria. The latter entered the town
first. Then, hearing that Hanno had pitched his camp three miles from
the city, at the river Calor, and from thence was laying waste the
country, he himself marched without the walls, and pitching his camp
about a mile from the enemy, harangued his soldiers. The legions he
had consisted for the most part of volunteer slaves, who chose rather
to earn their liberty silently by another year's service, than demand
it openly. The general, however, on quitting his winter quarters, had
perceived that the troops murmured, asking when the time would arrive
that they should serve as free citizens. He had written to the senate,
stating not so much what they wanted as what they had deserved; he
said they had served him with fidelity and courage up to that day, and
that they wanted nothing but liberty, to bring them up to the model of
complete soldiers. Permission was given him to act in the business as
he thought for the interest of the state, and, accordingly, before he
engaged with the enemy, he declared that the time was now arrived for
obtaining that liberty which they had so long hoped for; that on the
following day he should fight a pitched battle on a level and open
plain, in which the contest would be decided by valour only, without
any fear of ambuscade. The man who should bring back the head of an
enemy, he would instantly order to be set free; but that he would
punish, in a manner suited to a slave, the man who should quit his
post; that every man's fortune was in his own hands; that not he
himself alone would authorize their enfranchisement, but the consul,
Marcus Marcellus, and the whole body of the fathers, who, on being
consulted by him on the subject, had left the matter to his disposal.
He then read the letter of the consul and the decree of the senate, on
which they raised a general shout of approbation, demanded to be led
to battle, and vehemently urged him to give the signal forthwith.
Gracchus broke up the assembly, after proclaiming the battle for the
following day. The soldiers, highly delighted, particularly those
whose enfranchisement was to be the reward of one day's prowess,
employed the remaining time in getting ready their arms.
15. The next day, as soon as the trumpets began to sound, they were
the first to assemble at the general's tent, armed and ready for
action. When the sun had risen, Gracchus led out his troops to the
field of battle; nor did the enemy delay to engage him. His troops
consisted of seventeen thousand infantry, principally Bruttians and
Lucanians, with twelve hundred horse, among which were very few
Italians, almost all the rest being Numidians and Moors. The contest
was fierce and protracted. For four hours neither side had the
advantage, nor did any other circumstance more impede the Romans, than
that the heads of their enemies were made the price of their liberty.
For when each man had gallantly slain his enemy, first, he lost time
in cutting off his head, which was done with difficulty amid the crowd
and confusion, and secondly, all the bravest troops ceased to be
engaged in fight, as their right hands were employed in holding the
heads; and thus the battle was left to be sustained by the inactive
and cowardly. But when the military tribunes reported to Gracchus that
the soldiers were employed not in wounding any of the enemy who were
standing, but in mangling those who were prostrate, their right hands
being occupied in holding the heads of men instead of their swords, he
promptly ordered a signal to be given that they should throw down the
heads and charge the enemy; that they had given evident and signal
proofs of valour, and that the liberty of such brave men was certain.
Then the fight was revived, and the cavalry also were sent out against
the enemy. The Numidians engaging them with great bravery, and the
contest between the cavalry being carried on with no less spirit than
that between the infantry, the victory again became doubtful; when,
the generals on both sides vilifying their opponents, the Roman
saying, that their enemies were Bruttians and Lucanians, who had been
so often vanquished and subjugated by their ancestors; the
Carthaginian, that the troops opposed to them were Roman slaves,
soldiers taken out of a workhouse; at last Gracchus exclaimed, that
his men had no ground to hope for liberty unless the enemy were routed
and put to flight that day.
16. These words at length kindled their courage so effectually, and
renewing the shout, as if suddenly changed into other men, they bore
down upon the enemy with such impetuosity that they could not longer
be withstood. First, of the Carthaginians who stood before the
standards; then the standards were thrown into disorder; and lastly
the whole line was compelled to give way. They then turned their backs
downright, and fled precipitately to their camp with such terror and
consternation, that not a man made stand in the gates or on the
rampart; while the Romans, who pursued them so close as to form almost
a part of their body commenced the battle anew, enclosed within the
rampart of the enemy. Here the battle was more bloody as the
combatants had less room to move, from the narrowness of the place in
which they fought. The prisoners too assisted; for snatching up swords
in the confusion, and forming themselves into a body, they slew the
Carthaginians in the rear and prevented their flight. Thus less than
two thousand men out of so large an army, and those principally
cavalry, effected their escape with their commander, all the rest were
slain or taken prisoners. Thirty-eight standards were taken. Of the
victors about two thousand fell. All the booty except that of the
prisoners was given up to the soldiery. Such cattle also as the owners
should identify within thirty days was excepted. When they returned to
their camp loaded with spoil, about four thousand of the volunteer
slaves who had fought with less spirit, and had not joined in breaking
into the enemy's camp, through fear of punishment, took possession of
a hill not far from the camp. Being brought down thence the next day
by a military tribune, it happened that they arrived during an
assembly of the soldiers which Gracchus had called. At this assembly
the proconsul, having first rewarded the veteran soldiers with
military presents, according to the valour displayed, and the service
rendered by each man in the engagement, then observed, with respect to
the volunteer slaves, that he would rather that all should be praised
by him whether deserving it or not, than that any one should be
chastised on that day. I bid you, said he, all be free, and may the
event be attended with advantage, happiness, and prosperity to the
state and to yourselves. These words were followed by the most cordial
acclamations, the soldiers sometimes embracing and congratulating one
another, at other times lifting up their hands to heaven, and praying
that every blessing might attend the Roman people, and Gracchus in
particular; when Gracchus addressed them thus: "Before I had placed
you all on an equal footing with respect to the enjoyment of liberty,
I was unwilling to affix any marks by which the brave and dastardly
soldier might be distinguished. But now the pledge given by the state
being redeemed, lest all distinction between courage and cowardice
should disappear, I shall order that the names of those persons be
laid before me, who, conscious of their dastardly conduct in the
battle, have lately seceded. I shall have them cited before me, when I
shall bind them by an oath, that none of them, except such as shall
have the plea of sickness, will, so long as they serve, take either
meat or drink in any other posture than standing. This penalty you
will bear with patience when you reflect that it is impossible your
cowardice could be marked with a slighter stigma." He then gave the
signal for packing up the baggage; and the soldiers, sporting and
jesting as they drove and carried their booty, returned to Beneventum
in so playful a mood, that they appeared to be returning, not from the
field of battle, but from a feast celebrated on some remarkable
holiday. All the Beneventans pouring out in crowds to meet them at the
gate, embraced, congratulated, and invited the troops to
entertainments. They had all prepared banquets in the courts of their
houses, to which they invited the soldiers, and of which they
entreated Gracchus to allow them to partake. Gracchus gave permission,
with the proviso that they should feast in the public street. Each
person brought every thing out before his door. The volunteers feasted
with caps of liberty on their heads, or filletted with white wool;
some reclining at the tables, others standing, who at once partook of
the repast, and waited upon the rest. It even seemed a fitting
occasion that Gracchus, on his return to Rome, should order a picture
representing the festivities of that day to be executed in the temple
of Liberty, which his father caused to be built on the Aventine out of
money arising from fines, and which his father also dedicated.
17. While these events occurred at Beneventum, Hannibal having laid
waste the territory of Naples, moved his camp to Nola. The consul, as
soon as he was aware of his approach, sent for Pemponius the
propraetor, with the troops he had in the camp above Suessula; and
then prepared to meet the enemy and to make no delay in fighting. He
sent out Caius Claudius Nero in the dead of night with the main
strength of the cavalry, through the gate which was farthest removed
from the enemy, with orders to make a circuit so as not to be
observed, and then slowly to follow the enemy as they moved along, and
as soon as he perceived the battle begun, to charge them on the rear.
Whether Nero was prevented from executing these orders by mistaking
the route, or from the shortness of the time, is doubtful. Though he
was absent when the battle was fought, the Romans had unquestionably
the advantage; but as the cavalry did not come up in time, the plan of
the battle which had been agreed upon was disconcerted and Marcellus,
not daring to follow the retiring enemy, gave the signal for retreat
when his soldiers were conquering More than two thousand of the enemy
are said, however, to have fallen on that day; of the Romans, less
than four hundred. Nero, after having fruitlessly wearied both men and
horses, through the day and night, without even having seen the enemy,
returned about sunset; when the consul went so far in reprimanding him
as to assert, that he had been the only obstacle to their retorting on
the enemy the disaster sustained at Cannae. The following day the
Roman came into the field, but the Carthaginian, beaten even by his
own tacit confession, kept within his camp. Giving up all hope of
getting possession of Nola, a thing never attempted without loss,
during the silence of the night of the third day he set out for
Tarentum, which he had better hopes of having betrayed to him.
18. Nor were the Roman affairs administered with less spirit at home
than in the field. The censors being freed from the care of letting
out the erection of public works, from the low state of the treasury,
turned their attention to the regulation of men's morals, and the
chastisement of vices which sprung up during the war, in the same
manner as constitutions broken down by protracted disease, generate
other maladies. In the first place, they cited those persons who,
after the battle of Cannae, were said to have formed a design of
abandoning the commonwealth, and leaving Italy. The chief of these was
Lucius Caecilius Metellus, who happened to be then quaestor. In the
next place, as neither he nor the other persons concerned were able to
exculpate themselves on being ordered to make their defence, they
pronounced them guilty of having used words and discourse prejudicial
to the state, that a conspiracy might be formed for the abandonment of
Italy. After them were cited those persons who showed too much
ingenuity in inventing a method of discharging the obligation of their
oath, namely, such of the prisoners as concluded that the oath which
they had sworn to return, would be fulfilled by their going back
privately to Hannibal's camp, after setting out on their journey. Such
of these and of the above-mentioned as had horses at the public
expense were deprived of them, and all were degraded from their tribes
and disfranchised. Nor was the attention of the censors confined to
the regulation of the senate and the equestrian order. They erased
from the lists of the junior centuries the names of all who had not
served during the last four years, unless they were regularly
exempted, or were prevented by sickness. Those too, amounting to more
than two thousand names, were numbered among the disfranchised, and
were all degraded. To this more gentle stigma affixed by the censors,
a severe decree of the senate was added, to the effect that all those
whom the censor had stigmatized, should serve on foot, and be sent
into Sicily to join the remains of the army of Cannae, a class of
soldiers whose time of service was not to terminate till the enemy was
driven out of Italy. The censors, in consequence of the poverty of the
treasury, having abstained from receiving contracts for the repairs of
the sacred edifices, the furnishing of curule horses, and similar
matters, the persons who had been accustomed to attend auctions of
this description, came to the censors in great numbers, and exhorted
them to "transact all their business and let out the contracts in the
same manner as if there were money in the treasury. That none of them
would ask for money out of the treasury before the war was concluded."
Afterwards the owners of those slaves whom Tiberius Sempronius had
manumitted at Beneventum, came to them, stating that they were sent
for by the public bankers, to receive the price of their slaves, but
that they would not accept of it till the war was concluded. This
disposition on the part of the commons to sustain the impoverished
treasury having manifested itself, the property of minors first, and
then the portions of widows, began to be brought in; the persons who
brought them being persuaded, that their deposit would no where be
more secure and inviolable than under the public faith. If any thing
was bought or laid in for the widows and minors, an order upon the
quaestor was given for it. This liberality in individuals flowed from
the city into the camp also, insomuch that no horseman or centurion
would accept of his pay, and those who would accept it were reproached
with the appellation of mercenary men.
19. Quintus Fabius, the consul, was encamped before Casilinum, which
was occupied by a garrison of two thousand Campanians and seven
hundred of the soldiers of Hannibal. The commander was Statius Metius,
who was sent there by Cneius Magius Atellanus, who was that year
Medixtuticus and was arming the slaves and people without distinction,
in order to assault the Roman camp, while the consul was intently
occupied in the siege of Casilinum. None of these things escaped
Fabius. He therefore sent to his colleague at Nola, "That another army
was requisite, which might be opposed to the Campanians, while the
siege of Casilinum was going on; that either he should come himself,
leaving a force sufficient for the protection of Nola, or if the state
of Nola required him to stay there, in consequence of its not being
yet secure against the attempts of Hannibal, that he should summon
Tiberius Gracchus, the proconsul, from Beneventum." On this message,
Marcellus, leaving two thousand troops in garrison at Nola, came to
Casilinum with the rest of his forces; and at his arrival the
Campanians, who were already in motion, desisted from their
operations. Thus the siege of Casilinum was commenced by the two
consuls. But as the Roman soldiers received many wounds as they rashly
approached the walls, and as they did not succeed satisfactorily in
their attempts. Fabius gave it as his opinion that this, which was a
small matter, though as difficult as more important ones, should be
abandoned, and that they should retire from the place, as affairs of
greater moment were pressing. Marcellus, however, succeeded in
persuading him that they should not go away with their object
unaccomplished, observing that as there were many objects which great
generals should not attempt, so when once attempted they should not be
abandoned, because the mere report in either case would have important
consequences. Upon this the vineae and all kinds of military works and
engines were applied; in consequence of which, the Campanians
entreated Fabius to allow them to retire to Capua in safety; when a
few of them having come out of the town, Marcellus took possession
of the gate through which they passed, and first slew all
indiscriminately who were near the gate, and then rushing in, the
slaughter commenced in the town also. About fifty of the Campanians,
who at first came out of the city, having fled for refuge to Fabius,
arrived safe at Capua under his protection. Thus Casilinum was
captured on an accidental opportunity which occurred during the
conferences and delay of those who were soliciting protection. The
prisoners, both those who were Campanians and those who were
Hannibal's soldiers, were sent to Rome, where they were shut up in a
prison. The crowd of townsmen was distributed among the neighbouring
people to be kept in custody.
20. At the same time that the consuls retired from Casilinum, their
object having been accomplished, Gracchus, who was in Lucania, sent,
under a prefect of the allies, some cohorts which he had levied in
that country to ravage the lands of the enemy. These, as they were
straggling in a careless manner, Hanno surprising, retorted upon his
enemy a defeat not much less disastrous than he had himself received
at Beneventum, and then hastily retired to the territory of the
Bruttians, lest Gracchus should overtake him. Of the consuls,
Marcellus returned to Nola, whence he had come, Fabius proceeded to
Samnium to waste the lands, and recover by force the cities which had
revolted. The Samnites of Caudium suffered the severest devastation;
their fields were laid waste by fire for a wide extent, and both men
and cattle were conveyed away as booty. The towns of Compulteria,
Telesia, Compsa, Melae, Fulfulae, and Orbitanium, were taken by storm.
Blandae, belonging to the Lucanians, and Aecae to the Apulians, were
taken after a siege. Twenty-five thousand of the enemy were captured
or slain in these towns, and three hundred and seventy deserters
recovered; who, being sent to Rome by the consul, were all of them
beaten with rods in the comitium, and thrown down from the rock. Such
were the achievements of Fabius within the space of a few days. Ill
health detained Marcellus from active operations at Nola. The town of
Accua also was taken by storm, during the same period, by the praetor
Quintus Fabius, whose province was the neighbourhood of Luceria; he
also fortified a stationary camp at Ardonea. While the Romans were
thus employed in different quarters, Hannibal had reached Tarentum,
utterly destroying every thing whichsoever way he went. In the
territory of Tarentum, the troops at length began to march in a
peaceable manner. There nothing was violated, nor did they ever go out
of the road; it was evident that this was done not from the moderation
of the soldiery, or their general, but to conciliate the affections of
the Tarentines. However, on advancing almost close to the walls
without perceiving any movement, which he expected would occur on the
sight of his vanguard, he pitched his camp about a mile off the city.
Three days before the arrival of Hannibal, Marcus Livius, who had been
sent by Marcus Valerius, the propraetor, commanding the fleet at
Brundusium, had enlisted the young nobility of Tarentum, and
stationing guards at every gate, and round the walls, wherever
circumstances made it necessary, had kept such a strict watch both by
day and night, as to give no opportunity for making any attempt either
to the enemy or doubtful allies. On this account several days were
consumed there to no purpose, when Hannibal, as none of those who had
come to him at the lake Avernus, either came themselves or sent any
letter or message, perceiving that he had carelessly followed delusive
promises, moved his camp thence. Even after this he did not offer any
violence to the Tarentine territory, not quitting the hope of shaking
their allegiance to the Romans, though his simulated lenity had
hitherto been of no advantage to him; but as soon as he came to
Salapia he collected stores of corn there from the Metapontine and
Heraclean lands; for midsummer was now past, and the situation pleased
him as a place for winter quarters. From hence the Moors and Numidians
were detached to plunder the territory of Sallentum, and the
neighbouring woods of Apulia, from which not much booty of any other
sort was obtained, but principally droves of horses, four thousand of
which were distributed among his horsemen to be broken.
21. The Romans, since a war by no means to be despised was springing
up in Sicily, and the death of the tyrant had furnished the Syracusans
with more enterprising leaders, rather than changed their attachment
to the Carthaginian cause, or the state of their minds, decreed that
province to Marcus Marcellus, one of their consuls. After the
assassination of Hieronymus, at first a tumult had taken place among
the soldiery in the territory of the Leontines. They exclaimed
furiously that the manes of the king should be appeased with the blood
of the conspirators. Afterwards the frequent repetition of the word
liberty, which was restored to them, a word so delightful to the ear,
the hopes they had conceived of largesses from the royal treasury, and
of serving in future under better generals, the relation of the horrid
crimes and more horrid lusts of the tyrant, effected such an
alteration in their sentiments, that they suffered to lie unburied the
corpse of the king, whom a little before they regretted. As the rest
of the conspirators remained behind, in order to keep the army on
their side, Theodotus and Sosis, mounted on the king's horses, rode
off to Syracuse with all possible speed, that they might surprise the
king's party, while unacquainted with all that had occurred. But they
were anticipated not only by report, than which nothing is swifter in
such affairs, but also by a messenger who was one of the royal
servants. In consequence, Andranodorus had occupied with strong
garrisons the Insula and the citadel, and every other convenient part
which he could. After sunset, when it was now growing dark, Theodotus
and Sosis rode in by the Hexapylum, and displayed the royal vest
stained with blood, and the ornament of the king's head; then passing
through the Tycha, and calling the people at once to liberty and arms,
bid them assemble in the Achradina. Some of the multitude ran out into
the streets, some stood in the porches of their houses, while others
looked out from the roofs and windows, and inquired what was the
matter. Every part of the city was filled with lights and noises of
various kinds. Assemblies of armed men were formed in the open spaces.
Those who had no arms tore down from the temple of the Olympian
Jupiter the spoils of the Gauls and Illyrians, which had been
presented to Hiero by the Roman people, and hung up there by him; at
the same time offering up prayers to Jupiter, that he would willingly,
and without feeling offence, lend those consecrated weapons to those
who were arming themselves in defence of their country, of the temples
of their gods, and their liberty. This multitude was also joined by
the watches which were stationed through the principal quarters of the
city. In the island, Andranodorus, among other places, secured the
public granaries by a garrison. This place, which was enclosed by a
wall of stones hewn square, and built up on high, after the manner of
a citadel, was occupied by a body of youth, who had been appointed to
garrison it, and these sent messengers to the Achradina, to give
information that the granaries and the corn were in the power of the
senate.
22. At break of day the whole populace, armed and unarmed, assembled
at the senate-house in the Achradina: where from the altar of Concord,
which stood there, one of the nobles, named Polyaenus, delivered a
liberal and temperate address. He said, that "men who had experienced
servitude and contumely, were enraged against an evil which was well
known, but that the Syracusans had rather heard from their fathers
than seen with their own eyes the disasters which civil discord
introduces." He said, "he commended them for the alacrity with which
they had taken arms; but that he should commend them more if they
should abstain from using them unless compelled by extreme necessity.
At present he advised that ambassadors should be sent to Andranodorus,
to charge him to submit to the direction of the senate and the people,
to throw open the gates of the island, and withdraw the garrison. If
he resolved to usurp the sovereignty of which he had been appointed
guardian, that he would recommend that their liberty be recovered more
energetically from Andranodorus than it had been from Hieronymus."
From this assembly ambassadors were despatched. The senate began now
to meet, which though during the reign of Hiero it had continued to be
the public council of the state, from the time of his death up to the
present had never been assembled or consulted upon any subject. When
the ambassadors came to Andranodorus, he was himself moved by the
unanimous opinion of his countrymen, by their having possession of
other parts of the city, and by the fact that the strongest part of
the island was betrayed and placed in the hands of others; but his
wife, Demarata, the daughter of Hiero, still swelling with the pride
of royalty and female presumption, called him out from the presence of
the ambassadors, and reminded him of the expression so often repeated
by the tyrant Dionysius, "that a man ought only to relinquish
sovereign power when dragged by the feet, and not while sitting on
horseback. That it was an easy thing, at any moment one pleased, to
give up possession of grandeur, but that to create and obtain them was
difficult and arduous. That he should obtain from the ambassadors a
little time to deliberate, and to employ it in fetching the soldiers
from the Leontines; to whom, if he promised the royal treasure, every
thing would be at his disposal." This advice, suggested by a woman,
Andranodorus neither entirely rejected nor immediately adopted,
considering it the safer way to the attainment of power to temporize
for the present. Accordingly he told the ambassadors to carry word
back, that he should act subserviently to the senate and the people.
The next day, as soon as it was light, he threw open the gates of the
island, and came into the forum of the Achradina; then mounting the
altar of Concord, from which Polyaenus had delivered his harangue the
day before, he commenced a speech by soliciting pardon for his delay.
"He had kept the gates closed," he said, "not as separating his own
from the public interest, but from fear as to where the carnage would
stop when once the sword was drawn; whether they would be satisfied
with the blood of the tyrant, which was sufficient for their liberty,
or whether all who were connected with the court, by consanguinity,
affinity, or any offices, would, as implicated in another's guilt, be
butchered. After he perceived that those who had liberated their
country were desirous of preserving it when liberated, and that the
counsels of all were directed towards the public good, he had not
hesitated to restore to his country his own person and every thing
else which had been committed to his honour and guardianship, since
the person who had intrusted him with them had fallen a victim to his
own madness." Then turning to the persons who had killed the tyrant,
and calling on Theodotus and Sosis by name, he said, "You have
performed a memorable deed, but believe me, your glory is only
beginning, not yet perfected; and there still remains great danger
lest the enfranchised state should be destroyed, if you do not provide
for its tranquillity and harmony."
23. At the conclusion of this speech, he laid the keys of the gates
and of the royal treasure at their feet; and on that day, retiring
from the assembly in the highest spirits, they made supplication with
their wives and children at all the temples of the gods. On the
following day an assembly was held for the election of praetors.
Andranodorus was created among the first; the rest consisted for the
most part of the destroyers of the tyrant; two of these, Sopater and
Dinomenes, they appointed in their absence. These, on hearing of what
had passed at Syracuse, conveyed thither the royal treasure which was
at Leontini, and put it into the hands of quaestors appointed for that
purpose. The treasure also in the island and the Achradina was
delivered to them, and that part of the wall which formed too strong a
separation between the island and the other parts of the city, was
demolished by general consent. Every thing else which was done was in
conformity with this inclination of their minds to liberty.
Hippocrates and Epicydes, on hearing of the death of the tyrant, which
Hippocrates had wished to conceal even by putting the messenger to
death, being deserted by the soldiery, returned to Syracuse, as that
appeared the safest course under present circumstances; but lest if
they appeared there in common they should become objects of suspicion,
and looked upon as persons who were seeking an opportunity of
effecting some change, they in the first place addressed themselves to
the praetors and then through them to the senate. They declared, that
"they were sent by Hannibal to Hieronymus, as to a friend and ally;
that they had obeyed the orders of that man whom their general wished
them to obey; that they desired to return to Hannibal; but as the
journey would not be safe, as armed Romans were ranging at large
through the whole of Sicily, that they requested to be furnished with
some escort which might convey them in safety to Locri in Italy; and
that thus they would confer a great obligation upon Hannibal, with
little trouble." The request was easily obtained, for they were
desirous of getting rid of these generals of the king, who were
skilled in war, and at once necessitous and enterprising. But they did
not exert themselves so as to effect what they desired with the
requisite speed. Meanwhile these young men, who were of a military
turn and accustomed to the soldiers, employed themselves in
circulating charges against the senate and nobles, sometimes in the
minds of the soldiers themselves, sometimes of the deserters, of which
the greater part were Roman sailors, at other times of men belonging
to the lowest order of the populace, insinuating, that "what they were
secretly labouring and contriving to effect, was to place Syracuse
under the dominion of the Romans with the pretence of a renewed
alliance, and then that faction and the few promoters of the alliance
would be supreme."