BOOK XXVI.

_Hannibal encamps on the banks of the Amo, within three miles of

Rome. Attended by two thousand horsemen, he advances close to the

Colline gate to take a view of the walls and situation of the city. On

two successive days the hostile armies are hindered from engaging by

the severity of the weather. Capua taken by Quintus Fulvius and Appius

Claudius, the chief nobles die, voluntarily, by poison. Quintus

Fulvius having condemned the principal senators to death, at the

moment they are actually tied to the stakes, receives despatches from

Rome, commanding him to spare their lives, which he postpones reading

until the sentence is executed. Publius Scipio, offering himself for

the service, is sent to command in Spain, takes New Carthage in one

day. Successes in Sicily. Treaty of friendship with the Aetolians. War

with Philip, king of Macedonia, and the Acarnanians._

* * * * *

1. The consuls, Cneius Fulvius Centumalus and Publius Sulpicius Galba,

having entered on their office on the ides of March, assembled the

senate in the Capitol, and took the opinion of the fathers on the

state of the republic, the manner of conducting the war, and on what

related to the provinces and the armies. Quintus Fulvius and Appius

Claudius, the consuls of the former year, were continued in command;

and the armies which they before had were assigned to them, it being

added that they should not withdraw from Capua, which they were

besieging, till they had taken it. The Romans were now solicitously

intent upon this object, not from resentment so much, which was never

juster against any city, as from the consideration that as this city,

so celebrated and powerful, had by its defection drawn away several

states, so when reduced it would bring back their minds to respect for

the former supreme government. Two praetors also of the former year,

Marcus Junius and Publius Sempronius, were each continued in command

of the two legions which they had under them, the former in Etruria,

the latter in Gaul. Marcus Marcellus also was continued in command,

that he might, as proconsul, finish the war in Sicily with the army he

had there. If he wanted recruits he was to take them from the legions

which Publius Cornelius, the propraetor, commanded in Sicily, provided

he did not choose any soldier who was of the number of those whom the

senate had refused to allow to be discharged, or to return home till

the war was put an end to. To Caius Sulpicius, to whose lot Sicily had

fallen, the two legions which Publius Cornelius had commanded were

assigned, to be recruited from the army of Cneius Fulvius, which had

been shamefully beaten, and had experienced a dreadful loss the year

before in Apulia. To soldiers of this description the senate had

assigned the same period of service as to those who fought at Cannae;

and as an additional mark of ignominy upon both, they were not allowed

to winter in towns, or to build huts for wintering within the distance

of ten miles from any town. To Lucius Cornelius, in Sardinia, the two

legions which Quintus Mucius had commanded were assigned; if recruits

were wanted, the consuls were ordered to enlist them. To Titus

Otacilius and Marcus Valerius was allotted the protection of the

coasts of Sicily and Greece, with the legions and fleets which they

had commanded. The Greek coast had fifty ships with one legion; the

Sicilian, a hundred ships with two legions. Twenty-three legions were

employed by the Romans in carrying on the war this year by land and

sea.

2. In the beginning of the year, on a letter from Lucius Marcius being

laid before the senate, they considered his achievements as most

glorious; but the title of honour which he assumed (for though he was

neither invested with the command by the order of the people, nor by

the direction of the fathers, his letter ran in this form, "The

propraetor to the senate") gave offence to a great many. It was

considered as an injurious precedent for generals to be chosen by the

armies, and for the solemn ceremony of elections, held under auspices,

to be transferred to camps and provinces, and (far from the control of

the laws and magistrates) to military thoughtlessness. And though some

gave it as their opinion, that the sense of the senate should be taken

on the matter, yet it was thought more advisable that the discussion

should be postponed till after the departure of the horsemen who

brought the letter from Marcius. It was resolved, that an answer

should be returned respecting the corn and clothing of the army,

stating, that the senate would direct its attention to both those

matters; but that the letter should not be addressed to Lucius

Marcius, propraetor, lest he should consider that as already

determined which was the very point they reserved for discussion.

After the horsemen were dismissed, it was the first thing the consuls

brought before the senate; and the opinions of all to a man coincided,

that the plebeian tribunes should be instructed to consult the commons

with all possible speed, as to whom they might resolve to send into

Spain to take the command of that army which had been under the

conduct of Cneius Scipio. The plebeian tribunes were instructed

accordingly, and the question was published. But another contest had

pre-engaged the minds of the people: Caius Sempronius Blaesus, having

brought Cneius Fulvius to trial for the loss of the army in Apulia,

harassed him with invectives in the public assemblies: "Many

generals," he reiterated, "had by indiscretion and ignorance brought

their armies into most perilous situations, but none, save Cneius

Fulvius, had corrupted his legions by every species of excess before

he betrayed them to the enemy; it might therefore with truth be said,

that they were lost before they saw the enemy, and that they were

defeated, not by Hannibal, but by their own general. No man, when he

gave his vote, took sufficient pains in ascertaining who it was to

whom he was intrusting an army. What a difference was there between

this man and Tiberius Sempronius! The latter having been intrusted

with an army of slaves, had in a short time brought it to pass, by

discipline and authority, that not one of them in the field of battle

remembered his condition and birth, but they became a protection to

our allies and a terror to our enemies. They had snatched, as it were,

from the very jaws of Hannibal, and restored to the Roman people,

Cumae, Beneventum, and other towns. But Cneius Fulvius had infected

with the vices peculiar to slaves, an army of Roman citizens, of

honourable parentage and liberal education; and had thus made them

insolent and turbulent among their allies, inefficient and dastardly

among their enemies, unable to sustain, not only the charge, but the

shout of the Carthaginians. But, by Hercules, it was no wonder that

the troops did not stand their ground in the battle, when their

general was the first to fly; with him, the greater wonder was that

any had fallen at their posts, and that they were not all the

companions of Cneius Fulvius in his consternation and his flight.

Caius Flaminius, Lucius Paullus, Lucius Posthumius, Cneius and Publius

Scipio, had preferred falling in the battle to abandoning their armies

when in the power of the enemy. But Cneius Fulvius was almost the only

man who returned to Rome to report the annihilation of his army. It

was a shameful crime that the army of Cannae should be transported

into Sicily, because they fled from the field of battle, and not be

allowed to return till the enemy has quitted Italy; that the same

decree should have been lately passed with respect to the legions of

Cneius Fulvius; while Cneius Fulvius himself has no punishment

inflicted upon him for running away, in a battle brought about by his

own indiscretion; that he himself should be permitted to pass his old

age in stews and brothels, where he passed his youth, while his

troops, whose only crime was that they resembled their general, should

be sent away in a manner into banishment, and suffer an ignominious

service. So unequally," he said, "was liberty shared at Rome by the

rich and the poor, by the ennobled and the common people."

3. The accused shifted the blame from himself to his soldiers; he

said, "that in consequence of their having in the most turbulent

manner demanded battle, they were led into the field, not on the day

they desired, for it was then evening, but on the following; that they

were drawn up at a suitable time and on favourable ground; but either

the reputation or the strength of the enemy was such, that they were

unable to stand their ground. When they all fled precipitately, he

himself also was carried away with the crowd, as had happened to Varro

at the battle of Cannae, and to many other generals. How could he, by

his sole resistance, benefit the republic, unless his death would

remedy the public disasters? that he was not defeated in consequence

of a failure in his provisions; that he had not, from want of caution,

been drawn into a disadvantageous position; that he had not been cut

off by an ambuscade in consequence of not having explored his route,

but had been vanquished by open force, and by arms, in a regular

engagement. He had not in his power the minds of his own troops, or

those of the enemy. Courage and cowardice were the result of each

man's natural constitution." He was twice accused, and the penalty was

laid at a fine. On the third accusation, at which witnesses were

produced, he was not only overwhelmed with an infinity of disgraceful

charges, but a great many asserted on oath, that the flight and panic

commenced with the praetor, that the troops being deserted by him, and

concluding that the fears of their general were not unfounded, turned

their backs; when so strong a feeling of indignation was excited, that

the assembly clamorously rejoined that he ought to be tried capitally.

This gave rise to a new controversy; for when the tribune, who had

twice prosecuted him as for a finable offence, now, on the third

occasion, declared that he prosecuted him capitally; the tribunes of

the commons being appealed to, said, "they would not prevent their

colleague from proceeding, as he was permitted according to the custom

of their ancestors, in the manner he himself preferred, whether

according to the laws or to custom, until he had obtained judgment

against a private individual, convicting him either of a capital or

finable offence." Upon this, Sempronius said, that he charged Cneius

Fulvius with the crime of treason; and requested Caius Calpurnius, the

city praetor, to appoint a day for the comitia. Another ground of hope

was then tried by the accused, viz. if his brother, Quintus Fulvius,

could be present at his trial, who was at that time flourishing in the

fame of his past achievements and in the near expectation of taking

Capua. Fulvius wrote to the senate, requesting the favour in terms

calculated to excite compassion, in order to save the life of his

brother; but the fathers replied, that the interest of the state would

not admit of his leaving Capua. Cneius Fulvius, therefore, before the

day appointed for the comitia arrived, went into exile to Tarquinii,

and the commons resolved that it was a legal exile.

4. Meanwhile all the strength of the war was directed against Capua.

It was, however, more strictly blockaded than besieged. The slaves and

populace could neither endure the famine, nor send messengers to

Hannibal through guards so closely stationed. A Numidian was at length

found, who, on undertaking to make his way with it, was charged with a

letter; and going out by night, through the midst of the Roman camp,

in order to fulfil his promise, he inspired the Campanians with

confidence to try the effect of a sally from every quarter, while they

had any strength remaining. In the many encounters which followed,

their cavalry were generally successful, but their infantry were

beaten: however, it was by no means so joyful to conquer, as it was

miserable to be worsted in any respect by a besieged and almost

subdued enemy. A plan was at length adopted, by which their deficiency

in strength might be compensated by stratagem. Young men were selected

from all the legions, who, from the vigour and activity of their

bodies, excelled in swiftness; these were supplied with bucklers

shorter than those worn by horsemen, and seven javelins each, four

feet in length, and pointed with steel in the same manner as the

spears used by light-armed troops. The cavalry taking one of these

each upon their horses, accustomed them to ride behind them, and to

leap down nimbly when the signal was given. When, by daily practice,

they appeared to be able to do this in an orderly manner, they

advanced into the plain between the camp and the walls, against the

cavalry of the Campanians, who stood there prepared for action. As

soon as they came within a dart's cast, on a signal given, the light

troops leaped down, when a line of infantry formed out of the body of

horse suddenly rushed upon the cavalry of the enemy, and discharged

their javelins one after another with great rapidity; which being

thrown in great numbers upon men and horses indiscriminately, wounded

a great many. The sudden and unsuspected nature of the attack,

however, occasioned still greater terror; and the cavalry charging

them, thus panic-struck, chased them with great slaughter as far as

their gates. From that time the Roman cavalry had the superiority; and

it was established that there should be velites in the legions. It is

said that Quintus Navius was the person who advised the mixing of

infantry with cavalry, and that he received honour from the general on

that account.

5. While affairs were in this state at Capua, Hannibal was perplexed

between two objects, the gaining possession of the citadel of

Tarentum, and the retaining of Capua. His concern for Capua, however,

prevailed, on which he saw that the attention of every body, allies

and enemies, was fixed; and whose fate would be regarded as a proof of

the consequences resulting from defection from the Romans. Leaving

therefore, a great part of his baggage among the Bruttians, and all

his heavier armed troops, he took with him a body of infantry and

cavalry, the best he could select for marching expeditiously, and bent

his course into Campania. Rapidly as he marched he was followed by

thirty-three elephants. He took up his position in a retired valley

behind Mount Tifata, which overhung Capua. Having at his coming taken

possession of fort Galatia, the garrison of which he dislodged by

force, he then directed his efforts against those who were besieging

Capua. Having sent forward messengers to Capua stating the time at

which he would attack the Roman camp, in order that they also, having

gotten themselves in readiness for a sally, might at the same time

pour forth from all their gates, he occasioned the greatest possible

terror; for on one side he himself attacked them suddenly, and on the

other side all the Campanians sallied forth, both foot and horse,

joined by the Carthaginian garrison under the command of Bostar and

Hanno. The Romans, lest in so perilous an affair they should leave any

part unprotected, by running together to any one place, thus divided

their forces: Appius Claudius was opposed to the Campanians; Fulvius

to Hannibal; Caius Nero, the propraetor, with the cavalry of the sixth

legion, placed himself in the road leading to Suessula; and Caius

Fulvius Flaccus, the lieutenant-general, with the allied cavalry, on

the side opposite the river Vulturnus. The battle commenced not only

with the usual clamour and tumult, but in addition to the din of men,

horses, and arms, a multitude of Campanians, unable to bear arms,

being distributed along the walls, raised such a shout together with

the clangour of brazen vessels, similar to that which is usually made

in the dead of night when the moon is eclipsed, that it diverted the

attention even of the combatants. Appius easily repulsed the

Campanians from the rampart. On the other side Hannibal and the

Carthaginians, forming a larger force, pressed hard on Fulvius. There

the sixth legion gave way; being repulsed, a cohort of Spaniards with

three elephants made their way up to the rampart. They had broken

through the centre of the Roman line, and were in a state of anxious

and perilous suspense, whether to force their way into the camp, or be

cut off from their own army. When Fulvius saw the disorder of the

legion, and the danger the camp was in, he exhorted Quintus Navius,

and the other principal centurions, to charge the cohort of the enemy

which was fighting under the rampart; he said, "that the state of

things was most critical; that either they must retire before them, in

which case they would burst into the camp with less difficulty than

they had experienced in breaking through a dense line of troops, or

they must cut them to pieces under the rampart: nor would it require a

great effort; for they were few, and cut off from their own troops,

and if the line which appeared broken, now while the Romans were

dispirited, should turn upon the enemy on both sides, they would

become enclosed in the midst, and exposed to a twofold attack."

Navius, on hearing these words of the general, snatched the standard

of the second company of spearmen from the standard-bearer, and

advanced with it against the enemy, threatening that he would throw it

into the midst of them unless the soldiers promptly followed him and

took part in the fight. He was of gigantic stature, and his arms set

him off; the standard also, raised aloft, attracted the gaze both of

his countrymen and the enemy. When, however, he had reached the

standards of the Spaniards, javelins were poured upon him from all

sides, and almost the whole line was turned against him; but neither

the number of his enemies nor the force of the weapons could repel the

onset of this hero.

6. Marcus Atilius, the lieutenant-general, also caused the standard of

the first company of principes of the same legion to be borne against

a cohort of the Spaniards. Lucius Portius Licinus and Titus Popilius,

the lieutenant-generals, who had the command of the camp, fought

valiantly in defence of the rampart, and slew the elephants while in

the very act of crossing it. The carcasses of these filling up the

ditch, afforded a passage for the enemy as effectually as if earth had

been thrown in, or a bridge erected over it; and a horrid carnage took

place amid the carcasses of the elephants which lay prostrate. On the

other side of the camp, the Campanians, with the Carthaginian

garrison, had by this time been repulsed, and the battle was carried

on immediately under the gate of Capua leading to Vulturnus. Nor did

the armed men contribute so much in resisting the Romans, who

endeavoured to force their way in, as the gate itself, which, being

furnished with ballistas and scorpions, kept the enemy at bay by the

missiles discharged from it. The ardour of the Romans was also clamped

by the general, Appius Claudius, receiving a wound; he was struck by a

javelin in the upper part of his breast, beneath the left shoulder,

while encouraging his men before the front line. A great number,

however, of the enemy were slain before the gate, and the rest were

driven in disorder into the city. When Hannibal saw the destruction of

the cohort of Spaniards, and that the camp of the enemy was defended

with the utmost vigour, giving up the assault, he began to withdraw

his standards, making his infantry face about, but throwing out his

cavalry in the rear lest the enemy should pursue them closely. The

ardour of the legions to pursue the enemy was excessive, but Flaccus

ordered a retreat to be sounded, considering that enough had been

achieved to convince the Campanians, and Hannibal himself, how unable

he was to afford them protection. Some who have undertaken to give

accounts of this battle, record that eight thousand of the army of

Hannibal, and three thousand Campanians, were slain; that fifteen

military standards were taken from the Carthaginians, and eighteen

from the Campanians. In other authors I find the battle to have been

by no means so important, and that there was more of panic than

fighting; that a party of Numidians and Spaniards suddenly bursting

into the Roman camp with some elephants, the elephants, as they made

their way through the midst of the camp, threw down their tents with a

great noise, and caused the beasts of burden to break their halters

and run away. That in addition to the confusion occasioned, a

stratagem was employed; Hannibal having sent in some persons

acquainted with the Latin language, for he had some such with him, who

might command the soldiers, in the name of the consuls, to escape

every one as fast as he could to the neighbouring mountains, since the

camp was lost; but that the imposture was soon discovered, and

frustrated with a great slaughter of the enemy; that the elephants

were driven out of the camp by fire. However commenced, and however

terminated, this was the last battle which was fought before the

surrender of Capua. Seppius Lesius was Medixtuticus, or chief

magistrate of Capua, that year, a man of obscure origin and slender

fortune. It is reported that his mother, when formerly expiating a

prodigy which had occurred in the family in behalf of this boy, who

was an orphan, received an answer from the aruspex, stating, that "the

highest office would come to him;" and that not recognising, at Capua,

any ground for such a hope, exclaimed, "the state of the Campanians

must be desperate indeed, when the highest office shall come to my

son." But even this expression, in which the response was turned into

ridicule, turned to be true, for those persons whose birth allowed

them to aspire to high offices, refusing to accept them when the city

was oppressed by sword and famine, and when all hope was lost, Lesius,

who complained that Capua was deserted and betrayed by its nobles,

accepted the office of chief magistrate, being the last Campanian who

held it.

7. But Hannibal, when he saw that the enemy could not be drawn into

another engagement, nor a passage be forced through their camp into

Capua, resolved to remove his camp from that place and leave the

attempt unaccomplished, fearful lest the new consuls might cut off his

supplies of provision. While anxiously deliberating on the point to

which he should next direct his course, an impulse suddenly entered

his mind to make an attack on Rome, the very source of the war. That

the opportunity of accomplishing this ever coveted object, which

occurred after the battle of Cannae, had been neglected, and was

generally censured by others, he himself did not deny. He thought that

there was some hope that he might be able to get possession of some

part of the city, in consequence of the panic and confusion which his

unexpected approach would occasion, and that if Rome were in danger,

either both the Roman generals, or at least one of them, would

immediately leave Capua; and if they divided their forces, both

generals being thus rendered weaker, would afford a favourable

opportunity either to himself or the Campanians of gaining some

advantage. One consideration only disquieted him, and that was, lest

on his departure the Campanians should immediately surrender. By means

of presents he induced a Numidian, who was ready to attempt any thing,

however daring, to take charge of a letter; and, entering the Roman

camp under the disguise of a deserter, to pass out privately on the

other side and go to Capua. As to the letter, it was full of

encouragement. It stated, that "his departure, which would be

beneficial to them, would have the effect of drawing off the Roman

generals and armies from the siege of Capua to the defence of Rome.

That they must not allow their spirits to sink; that by a few days'

patience they would rid themselves entirely of the siege." He then

ordered the ships on the Vulturnus to be seized, and rowed up to the

fort which he had before erected for his protection. And when he was

informed that there were as many as were necessary to convey his army

across in one night, after providing a stock of provisions for ten

days, he led his legions down to the river by night, and passed them

over before daylight.

8. Fulvius Flaccus, who had discovered from deserters that this would

happen, before it took place, having written to Rome to the senate to

apprize them of it, men's minds were variously affected by it

according to the disposition of each. As might be expected in so

alarming an emergency, the senate was immediately assembled, when

Publius Cornelius, surnamed Asina, was for recalling all the generals

and armies from every part of Italy to protect the city, disregarding

Capua and every other concern. Fabius Maximus thought that it would be

highly disgraceful to retire from Capua, and allow themselves to be

terrified and driven about at the nod and menaces of Hannibal. "Was it

probable that he, who, though victorious at Cannae, nevertheless dared

not approach the city, now, after having been repulsed from Capua, had

conceived hopes of making himself master of Rome? It was not to

besiege Rome, but to raise the siege of Capua that he was coming.

Jupiter, the witness of treaties violated by Hannibal, and the other

deities, would defend the city of Rome with that army which is now at

the city." To these opposite opinions, that of Publius Valerius

Flaccus, which recommended a middle course, was preferred. Regardful

of both objects, he thought that a letter should be written to the

generals at Capua, informing them of the force they had at the city

for its protection, and stating, that as to the number of forces which

Hannibal was bringing with him, or how large an army was necessary to

carry on the siege of Capua, they themselves knew. If one of the

generals and a part of the army could be sent to Rome, and at the same

time Capua could be efficiently besieged by the remaining general and

army, that then Claudius and Fulvius should settle between themselves

which should continue the siege of Capua, and which should come to

Rome to protect their capital from being besieged. This decree of the

senate having been conveyed to Capua, Quintus Fulvius, the proconsul,

who was to go to Rome, as his colleague was ill from his wound,

crossed the Vulturnus with a body of troops, to the number of fifteen

thousand infantry and a thousand horse, selected from the three

armies. Then having ascertained that Hannibal intended to proceed

along the Latin road, he sent persons before him to the towns on and

near the Appian way, Setia, Cora, and Lanuvium, with directions that

they should not only have provisions ready in their towns, but should

bring them down to the road from the fields which lay out of the way,

and that they should draw together into their towns troops for their

defence, in order that each state might be under its own protection.

9. On the day he crossed the Vulturnus, Hannibal pitched his camp at a

small distance from the river. The next day, passing by Cales, he

reached the Sidicinian territory, and having spent a day there in

devastating the country, he led his troops along the Latin way through

the territory of Suessa, Allifae, and Casinum. Under the walls of

Casinum he remained encamped for two days, ravaging the country all

around; thence passing by Interamna and Aquinum, he came into the

Fregellan territory, to the river Liris, where he found the bridge

broken down by the Fregellans in order to impede his progress. Fulvius

also was detained at the Vulturnus, in consequence of Hannibal's

having burnt the ships, and the difficulty he had in procuring rafts

to convey his troops across that river from the great scarcity of

materials. The army having been conveyed across by rafts, the

remainder of the march of Fulvius was uninterrupted, a liberal supply

of provisions having been prepared for him, not only in all the towns,

but also on the sides of the road; while his men, who were all

activity, exhorted each other to quicken their pace, remembering that

they were going to defend their country. A messenger from Fregella,

who had travelled a day and a night without intermission, arriving at

Rome, caused the greatest consternation; and the whole city was thrown

into a state of alarm by the running up and down of persons who made

vague additions to what they heard, and thus increased the confusion

which the original intelligence created. The lamentations of women

were not only heard from private houses, but the matrons from every

quarter, rushing into the public streets, ran up and down around the

shrines of the gods, sweeping the altars with their dishevelled hair,

throwing themselves upon their knees and stretching their uplifted

hands to heaven and the gods, imploring them to rescue the city of

Rome out of the hands of their enemies, and preserve the Roman mothers

and their children from harm. The senate sat in the forum near the

magistrates, in case they should wish to consult them. Some were

receiving orders and departing to their own department of duty; others

were offering themselves wherever there might be occasion for their

aid. Troops were posted in the citadel, in the Capitol, upon the walls

around the city, and also on the Alban mount, and the fort of Aesula.

During this confusion, intelligence was brought that Quintus Fulvius,

the proconsul, had set out from Capua with an army; when the senate

decreed that Quintus Fulvius should have equal authority with the

consuls, lest on entering the city his power should cease. Hannibal,

having most destructively ravaged the Fregellan territory, on account

of the bridge having been broken down, came into the territory of the

Lavici, passing through those of Frusino, Ferentinum, and Anagnia;

thence passing through Algidum he directed his course to Tusculum; but

not being received within the walls, he went down to the right below

Tusculum to Gabii; and marching his army down thence into the

territory of the Pupinian tribe, he pitched his camp eight miles from

the city. The nearer the enemy came, the greater was the number of

fugitives slain by the Numidians who preceded him, and the greater the

number of prisoners made of every rank and age.

10. During this confusion, Fulvius Flaccus entered the city with his

troops through the Capuan gate, passed through the midst of the city,

and through Carinae, to Esquiliae; and going out thence, pitched his

camp between the Esquiline and Colline gates. The plebeian aediles

brought a supply of provisions there. The consuls and the senate came

to the camp, and a consultation was held on the state of the republic.

It was resolved that the consuls should encamp in the neighbourhood of

the Colline and Esquiline gates; that Caius Calpurnius, the city

praetor, should have the command of the Capitol and the citadel; and

that a full senate should be continually assembled in the forum, in

case it should be necessary to consult them amidst such sudden

emergencies. Meanwhile, Hannibal advanced his camp to the Anio, three

miles from the city, and fixing his position there, he advanced with

two thousand horse from the Colline gate as far as the temple of

Hercules, and riding up, took as near a view as he could of the walls

and site of the city. Flaccus, indignant that he should do this so

freely, and so much at his ease, sent out a party of cavalry, with

orders to displace and drive back to their camp the cavalry of the

enemy. After the fight had begun, the consuls ordered the Numidian

deserters who were on the Aventine, to the number of twelve hundred,

to march through the midst of the city to the Esquiliae, judging that

no troops were better calculated to fight among the hollows, the

garden walls, and tombs, or in the enclosed roads which were on all

sides. But some persons, seeing them from the citadel and Capitol as

they filed off on horseback down the Publician hill, cried out that

the Aventine was taken. This circumstance occasioned such confusion

and terror, that if the Carthaginian camp had not been without the

city, the whole multitude, such was their alarm, would have rushed

out. They then fled for refuge into their houses and upon the roofs,

where they threw stones and weapons on their own soldiers as they

passed along the streets, taking them for enemies. Nor could the

tumult be repressed, or the mistake explained, as the streets were

thronged with crowds of rustics and cattle, which the sudden alarm had

driven into the city. The battle between the cavalry was successful,

and the enemy were driven away; and as it was necessary to repress the

tumults which were arising in several quarters without any cause, it

was resolved that all who had been dictators, consuls, or censors,

should be invested with authority till such time as the enemy had

retired from the walls. During the remainder of the day and the

following night, several tumults arose without any foundation, and

were repressed.

11. The next day Hannibal, crossing the Anio, drew out all his forces

in order of battle; nor did Flaccus and the consuls decline to fight.

When the troops on both sides were drawn up to try the issue of a

battle, in which Rome was to be the prize of the victors, a violent

shower of rain mingled with hail created such disorder in both the

lines, that the troops, scarcely able to hold their arms, retired to

their camps, less through fear of the enemy than of any thing else. On

the following day, likewise, a similar tempest separated the armies

marshalled on the same ground; but after they had retired to their

camps the weather became wonderfully serene and tranquil. The

Carthaginians considered this circumstance as a Divine interposition,

and it is reported that Hannibal was heard to say, "That sometimes he

wanted the will to make himself master of Rome, at other times the

opportunity." Two other circumstances also, one inconsiderable, the

other important, diminished his hopes. The important one was, that

while he lay with his armed troops near the walls of the city, he was

informed that troops had marched out of it with colours flying, as a

reinforcement for Spain; that of less importance was, that he was

informed by one of his prisoners, that the very ground on which his

camp stood was sold at this very time, without any diminution in its

price. Indeed, so great an insult and indignity did it appear to him

that a purchaser should be found at Rome for the very soil which he

held and possessed by right of conquest, that he immediately called a

crier, and ordered that the silversmiths' shops, which at that time

stood around the Roman forum, should be put up for sale. Induced by

these circumstances he retired to the river Tutia, six miles from the

city, whence he proceeded to the grove of Feronia, where was a temple

at that time celebrated for its riches. The Capenatians and other

states in the neighbourhood, by bringing here their first-fruits and

other offerings according to their abilities, kept it decorated with

abundance of gold and silver. Of all these offerings the temple was

now despoiled. After the departure of Hannibal, vast heaps of brass

were found there, as the soldiers, from a religious feeling, had

thrown in pieces of uncoined brass. The spoliation of this temple is

undoubted by historians; but Caelius asserts, that Hannibal, in his

progress to Rome, turned out of his way to it from Eretum. According

to him his route commenced with Amiternum, Caetilii, and Reate. He

came from Campania into Samnium, and thence into Pelignia; then

passing the town Sulmio, he entered the territory of the Marrucini;

thence through the Alban territory he came to that of the Marsi, from

which he came to Amiternum and the village of Foruli. Nor is this

diversity of opinion a proof that the traces of so great an army could

be confounded in the lapse of so brief a period. That he went that way

is evident. The only question is, whether he took this route to the

city, or returned by it from the city into Campania?

12. With regard to Capua, Hannibal did not evince such obstinate

perseverance in raising the siege of it as the Romans did in pressing

it; for quitting Lucania, he came into the Bruttian territory, and

marched to the strait and Rhegium with such rapidity, that he was very

near taking the place by surprise, in consequence of the suddenness of

his arrival. Though the siege had been urged with undiminished vigour

during his absence, yet Capua felt the return of Flaccus; and

astonishment was excited that Hannibal had not returned with him.

Afterwards they learnt, by conversations, that they were abandoned and

deserted, and that the Carthaginians had given up all hopes of

retaining Capua. In addition to this a proclamation was made by the

proconsul, agreeably to a decree of the senate, and published among

the enemy, that any Campanian citizen who came over before a stated

day should be indemnified. No one, however, came over, as they were

held together by fear more than fidelity; for the crimes they had

committed during their revolt were too great to admit of pardon. As

none of them passed over to the enemy, consulting their own individual

interest, so no measure of safety was taken with regard to the general

body. The nobility had deserted the state, nor could they be induced

to meet in the senate, while the office of chief magistrate was filled

by a man who had not derived honour to himself from his office, but

stripped the office of its influence and authority by his own

unworthiness. Now none of the nobles made their appearance even in the

forum, or any public place, but shut themselves up in their houses, in

daily expectation of the downfall of their city, and their own

destruction together. The chief responsibility in every thing devolved

upon Bostar and Hanno, the praefects of the Punic garrison, who were

anxious on account of their own danger, and not that of their allies.

They addressed a letter to Hannibal, in terms, not only of freedom,

but severity, charging him with "delivering, not only Capua into the

hands of the enemy, but with treacherously abandoning themselves also,

and their troops, to every species of torture;" they told him "he had

gone off to the Bruttians, in order to get out of the way, as it were,

lest Capua should be taken before his eyes; while, by Hercules, the

Romans, on the contrary, could not be drawn off from the siege of

Capua, even by an attack upon their city. So much more constant were

the Romans in their enmity than the Carthaginians in their friendship.

If he would return to Capua and direct the whole operations of the war

to that point, that both themselves and the Campanians would be

prepared for a sally. That they had crossed the Alps not to carry on a

war with the people of Rhegium nor Tarentum. That where the Roman

legions were, there the armies of the Carthaginians ought to be. Thus

it was that victories had been gained at Cannae and Trasimenus; by

uniting, by pitching their camp close to that of the enemy, by trying

their fortune." A letter to this effect was given to some Numidians

who had already engaged to render their services for a stated reward.

These men came into the camp to Flaccus under pretence of being

deserters, with the intention of quitting it by seizing an

opportunity, and the famine, which had so long existed at Capua,

afforded a pretext for desertion which no one could suspect. But a

Campanian woman, the paramour of one of the deserters, unexpectedly

entered the camp, and informed the Roman general that the Numidians

had come over according to a preconcerted plan of treachery, and were

the bearers of letters to Hannibal; that she was prepared to convict

one of the party of that fact, as he had discovered it to her. On

being brought forward, he at first pretended, with considerable

pertinacity, that he did not know the woman; but afterwards, gradually

succumbing to the force of truth, when he saw the instruments of

torture called for and preparing, he confessed that it was so. The

letters were produced, and a discovery was made of an additional fact,

before concealed, that other Numidians were strolling about in the

Roman camp, under pretence of being deserters. Above seventy of these

were arrested, and, with the late deserters, scourged with rods; and

after their hands had been cut off, were driven back to Capua. The

sight of so severe a punishment broke the spirit of the Campanians.

13. The people, rushing in crowds to the senate-house, compelled

Lesius to assemble a senate, and openly threatened the nobles, who had

now for a long time absented themselves from the public deliberations,

that unless they attended the meeting of the senate, they would go

round to their houses and drag them all before the public by force.

The fear of this procured the magistrate a full senate. Here, while

the rest contended for sending ambassadors to the Roman generals,

Vibius Virrius, who had been the instigator of the revolt from the

Romans, on being asked his opinion, observed, that "those persons who

spoke of sending ambassadors, and of peace, and a surrender, did not

bear in mind either what they would do if they had the Romans in their

power, or what they themselves must expect to suffer. What! do you

think," says he, "that your surrender will be like that in which

formerly we placed ourselves and every thing belonging to us at the

disposal of the Romans, in order that we might obtain assistance from

them against the Samnites? Have you already forgotten at what a

juncture we revolted from the Romans, and what were their

circumstances? Have you forgotten how at the time of the revolt we put

to death, with torture and indignity, their garrison, which might have

been sent out? How often, and with determined hostility, we have

sallied out against them when besieging us, and assaulted their camp?

How we invited Hannibal to come and cut them off? And how most

recently we sent him hence to lay siege to Rome? But come, retrace on

the other hand what they have done in hostility towards us, that you

may learn therefrom what you have to hope for. When a foreign enemy

was in Italy, and that enemy Hannibal; when the flame of war was

kindled in every quarter; disregarding every other object,

disregarding even Hannibal himself, they sent two consuls with two

consular armies to lay siege to Capua. This is the second year, that,

surrounded with lines and shut up within our walls, they consume us by

famine, having suffered in like manner with ourselves the extremest

dangers and the severest hardships, having frequently had their troops

slain near their rampart and trenches, and at last having been almost

deprived of their camp. But I pass over these matters. It has been

usual, even from of old, to suffer dangers and hardships in besieging

an enemy's city. The following is a proof of their animosity and

bitter hatred. Hannibal assaulted their camp with an immense force of

horse and foot, and took a part of it. By so great a danger they were

not in the least diverted from the siege. Crossing the Vulturnus, he

laid waste the territory of Cales with fire. Such calamities inflicted

upon their allies had no effect in calling them off. He ordered his

troops to march in hostile array to the very city of Rome. They

despised the tempest which threatened them in this case also. Crossing

the Anio, he pitched his camp three miles from the city, and lastly,

came up to the very walls and gates. He gave them to understand that

he would take their city from them, unless they gave up Capua. But

they did not give it up. Wild beasts, impelled by headlong fury and

rage, you may divert from their object to bring assistance to those

belonging to them, if you attempt to approach their dens and their

young. The Romans could not be diverted from Capua by the blockade of

Rome, by their wives and children, whose lamentations could almost be

heard from this place, by their altars, their hearths, the temples of

their gods, and the sepulchres of their ancestors profaned and

violated. So great was their avidity to bring us to punishment, so

insatiable their thirst for drinking our blood. Nor, perhaps, without

reason. We too would have done the same had the opportunity been

afforded us. Since, however, the gods have thought proper to determine

it otherwise, though I ought not to shrink from death, while I am

free, while I am master of myself, I have it in my power, by a death

not only honourable but mild, to escape the tortures and indignities

which the enemy hope to inflict upon me. I will not see Appius

Claudius and Quintus Fulvius in the pride and insolence of victory,

nor will I be dragged in chains through Rome as a spectacle in a

triumph, that afterwards in a dungeon, or tied to a stake, after my

back has been lacerated with stripes, I may place my neck under a

Roman axe. I will neither see my native city demolished and burnt, nor

the matrons, virgins, and free-born youths of Campania dragged to

constupration. Alba, from which they themselves derived their origin,

they demolished from her foundations, that there might remain no trace

of their rise and extraction, much less can I believe they will spare

Capua, towards which they bear a more rancorous hatred than towards

Carthage. For such of you, therefore, as have a mind to yield to fate,

before they behold such horrors, a banquet is furnished and prepared

at my house. When satiated with wine and food, the same cup which

shall have been given to me shall be handed round to them. That potion

will rescue our bodies from torture, our minds from insult, our eyes

and ears from seeing and hearing all those cruelties and indignities

which await the vanquished. There will be persons in readiness who

will throw our lifeless bodies upon a large pile kindled in the

court-yard of the house. This is the only free and honourable way to

death. Our very enemies will admire our courage, and Hannibal will

learn that those whom he deserted and betrayed were brave allies."

14. More of those who heard this speech of Virrius approved of the

proposal contained in it, than had strength of mind to execute what

they approved. The greater part of the senate being not without hopes

that the Romans, whose clemency they had frequently had proof of in

many wars, would be exorable by them also, decreed and sent

ambassadors to surrender Capua to the Romans. About twenty-seven

senators, following Vibius Virrius to his home, partook of the banquet

with him; and after having, as far as they could, withdrawn their

minds, by means of wine, from the perception of the impending evil,

all took the poison. They then rose from the banquet, after giving

each other their right hands, and taking a last embrace, mingling

their tears for their own and their country's fate; some of them

remained, that they might be burned upon the same pile, and the rest

retired to their homes. Their veins being filled in consequence of

what they had eaten, and the wine they drank, rendered the poison less

efficacious in expediting death; and accordingly, though the greater

part of them languished the whole of that night and part of the

following day, all of them, however, breathed their last before the

gates were opened to the enemy. The following day the gate of Jupiter,

which faced the Roman camp, was opened by order of the proconsul, when

one legion and two squadrons of allies marched in at it, under the

command of Caius Fulvius, lieutenant-general. When he had taken care

that all the arms and weapons to be found in Capua should be brought

to him; having placed guards at all the gates to prevent any one's

going or being sent out, he seized the Carthaginian garrison, and

ordered the Campanian senators to go into the camp to the Roman

generals. On their arrival they were all immediately thrown into

chains, and ordered to lay before the quaestor an account of all the

gold and silver they had. There were seventy pounds of gold, and three

thousand two hundred of silver. Twenty-five of the senators were sent

to Cales, to be kept in custody, and twenty-eight to Teanum; these

being the persons by whose advice principally it appeared that the

revolt from the Romans had taken place.

15. Fulvius and Claudius were far from being agreed as to the

punishment of the Campanian senators. Claudius was disposed to grant

their prayer for pardon, but Fulvius was more inclined to severity.

Appius, therefore, was for referring the entire disposal of the

question to the Roman senate. He thought it right also, that the

fathers should have the opportunity of asking them whether any of the

Latin confederates, or of the municipal towns, had taken part in these

designs, and whether they had derived any assistance from them in the

war. Fulvius, on the contrary, urged that they ought by no means to

run the hazard of having the minds of faithful allies harassed by

doubtful accusations, and subjected to informers who never cared at

all what they did or what they said. For this reason he said that he

should prevent and put a stop to any such inquiry. After this

conversation they separated; Appius not doubting but that his

colleague, though he expressed himself so warmly, would, nevertheless,

wait for a letter from Rome, in an affair of such magnitude. But

Fulvius, fearing that his designs would be frustrated by that very

means, dismissed his council, and commanded the military tribunes and

the praefects of the allies to give notice to two thousand chosen

horsemen to be in readiness at the third trumpet. Setting out for

Teanum with this body of cavalry, he entered the gate at break of day,

and proceeded direct to the forum; and a number of people having

flocked together at the first entrance of the horsemen, he ordered the

Sidicinian magistrate to be summoned; when he desired him to bring

forth the Campanians whom he had in custody. These were all

accordingly brought forth, scourged, and beheaded. He then proceeded

at full speed to Cales; where, when he had taken his seat on the

tribunal, and while the Campanians, who had been brought forth, were

being bound to the stake, an express arrived from Rome, and delivered

to him a letter from Caius Calpurnius, the praetor, and a decree of

the senate. A murmur immediately pervaded the whole assembly,

beginning at the tribunal, that the entire question respecting the

Campanians was referred to the decision of the fathers, and Fulvius,

suspecting this to be the case, took the letter, and without opening

it put it into his bosom, and then commanded the crier to order the

lictor to do his duty. Thus punishment was inflicted on those also who

were at Cales. The letter was then read, together with the decree of

the senate, when it was too late to prevent the business which was

already executed, and which had been accelerated by every means to

prevent its being obstructed. When Fulvius was now rising from his

seat, Jubellius Taurea, a Campanian making his way through the middle

of the city and the crowd, called upon him by name, and when Flaccus,

who wondered greatly what he could want, had resumed his seat, he

said, "Order me also to be put to death, that you may be able to

boast, that a much braver man than yourself has been put to death by

you." Fulvius at first said, that the man could not certainly be in

his senses, then, that he was restrained by a decree of the senate,

even though he might wish it, when Jubellius exclaimed "Since, after

the capture of my country, and the loss of my relations and friends,

after having killed, with my own hand, my wife and children to prevent

their suffering any indignity, I am not allowed even to die in the

same manner as these my countrymen, let a rescue be sought in courage

from this hated existence." So saying, he thrust a sword, which he had

concealed under his garment, right through his breast, and fell

lifeless at the general's feet.

16. Because not only what related to the punishment of the Campanians,

but most of the other particulars of this affair, were transacted

according to the judgment of Flaccus alone, some authors affirm that

Appius Claudius died about the time of the surrender of Capua, and

that this same Taurea neither came to Cales voluntarily nor died by

his own hand, but that while he was being tied to the stake among the

rest, Flaccus, who could not distinctly hear what he vociferated from

the noise which was made, ordered silence, when Taurea said the things

which have been before related "that he, a man of the greatest

courage, was being put to death by one who was by no means his equal

in respect to valour." That immediately on his saying this, the

herald, by command of the proconsul, pronounced this order. "Lictor,

apply the rods to this man of courage, and execute the law upon him

first." Some authors also relate, that he read the decree of the

senate before he beheaded them, but that as there was a clause in it,

to the effect, that if he thought proper he should refer the entire

question to the senate, he construed it that the decision as to what

was most for the interest of the state was left to himself. He

returned from Cales to Capua. Atella and Calatia surrendered

themselves, and were received. Here also the principal promoters of

the revolt were punished. Thus eighty principal members of the senate

were put to death, and about three hundred of the Campanian nobles

thrown into prison. The rest were distributed through the several

cities of the Latin confederacy, to be kept in custody, where they

perished in various ways. The rest of the Campanian citizens were

sold. The remaining subject of deliberation related to the city and

its territory. Some were of opinion that a city so eminently powerful,

so near, and so hostile, ought to be demolished. But immediate utility

prevailed, for on account of the land, which was evidently superior to

any in Italy from the variety and exuberance of its produce, the city

was preserved that it might become a settlement of husbandmen. For the

purpose of peopling the city, a number of sojourners, freed-men,

dealers, and artificers, were retained, but all the land and buildings

were made the property of the Roman state. It was resolved, however,

that Capua should only be inhabited and peopled as a city, that there

should be no body-politic, nor assembly of the senate or people, nor

magistrates. For it was thought that a multitude not possessing any

public council, without a ruling power, and unconnected by the

participation of any common rights, would be incapable of combination.

They resolved to send a praefect annually from Rome to administer

justice. Thus were matters adjusted at Capua, upon a plan in every

respect worthy of commendation. Punishment was inflicted upon the most

guilty with rigour and despatch, the populace dispersed beyond all

hope of return, no rage vented in fire and ruins upon the unoffending

houses and walls. Together also with advantage, a reputation for

clemency was obtained among the allies, by the preservation of a city

of the greatest celebrity and opulence, the demolition of which, all

Campania, and all the people dwelling in the neighbourhood of

Campania, would have bewailed, while their enemies were compelled to

admit the ability of the Romans to punish their faithless allies, and

how little assistance could be derived from Hannibal towards the

defence of those whom he had taken under his protection.

17. The Roman senate having gone through every thing which required

their attention relative to Capua, decreed to Caius Nero six thousand

foot and three hundred horse, whichever he should himself choose out

of those two legions which he had commanded at Capua, with an equal

number of infantry, and eight hundred horse of the Latin confederacy.

This army Nero embarked at Puteoli, and conveyed over into Spain.

Having arrived at Tarraco with his ships, landed his troops, hauled

his ships ashore, and armed his mariners to augment his numbers, he

proceeded to the river Iberus, and received the army from Titus

Fonteius and Lucius Marcius. He then marched towards the enemy.

Hasdrubal, son of Hamilcar, was encamped at the black stones in

Ausetania, a place situated between the towns Illiturgi and Mentissa.

The entrance of this defile Nero seized, and Hasdrubal, to prevent his

being shut up in it, sent a herald to engage that, if he were allowed

to depart thence, he would convey the whole of his army out of Spain.

The Roman general having received this proposition gladly, Hasdrubal

requested the next day for a conference, when the Romans might draw up

conditions relative to the surrender of the citadels of the towns, and

the appointment of a day on which the garrisons might be withdrawn,

and the Carthaginians might remove every thing belonging to them

without imposition. Having obtained his point in this respect,

Hasdrubal gave orders that as soon as it was dark, and during the

whole of the night afterwards, the heaviest part of his force should

get out of the defile by whatever way they could. The strictest care

was taken that many should not go out that night, that the very

fewness of their numbers might both be more adapted to elude the

notice of the enemy from their silence, and to an escape through

confined and rugged paths. Next day they met for the conference; but

that day having been spent, on purpose, in speaking and writing about

a variety of subjects, which were not to this point, the conference

was put off to the next day. The addition of the following night gave

him time to send still more out; nor was the business concluded the

next day. Thus several days were spent in openly discussing

conditions, and as many nights in privately sending the Carthaginian

troops out of their camp; and after the greater part of the army had

been sent out, he did not even keep to those terms which he had

himself proposed; and his sincerity decreasing with his fears, they

became less and less agreed. By this time nearly all the infantry had

cleared the defile, when at daybreak a dense mist enveloped the whole

defile and the neighbouring plains; which Hasdrubal perceiving, sent

to Nero to put off the conference to the following day, as the

Carthaginians held that day sacred from the transaction of any serious

business. Not even then was the cheat suspected. Hasdrubal having

gained the indulgence he sought for that day also, immediately quitted

his camp with his cavalry and elephants, and without creating any

alarm escaped to a place of safety. About the fourth hour the mist,

being dispelled by the sun, left the atmosphere clear, when the Romans

saw that the camp of the enemy was deserted. Then at length Claudius,

recognising the Carthaginian perfidy, and perceiving that he had been

caught by trickery, immediately began to pursue the enemy as they

moved off, prepared to give battle; but they declined fighting. Some

skirmishes, however, took place between the rear of the Carthaginians

and the advanced guard of the Romans.

18. During the time in which these events occurred, neither did those

states of Spain which had revolted after the defeat that was

sustained, return to the Romans, nor did any others desert them. At

Rome, the attention of the senate and people, after the recovery of

Capua, was not fixed in a greater degree upon Italy than upon Spain.

They resolved that the army there should be augmented and a general

sent. They were not, however, so clear as to the person whom they

should send, as that, where two generals had fallen within the space

of thirty days, he who was to supply the place of them should be

selected with unusual care. Some naming one person, and others

another, they at length came to the resolution that the people should

assemble for the purpose of electing a proconsul for Spain, and the

consuls fixed a day for the election. At first they waited in

expectation that those persons who might think themselves qualified

for so momentous a command would give in their names, but this

expectation being disappointed, their grief was renewed for the

calamity they had suffered, and then regret for the generals they had

lost. The people thus afflicted, and almost at their wits' end, came

down, however, to the Campus Martius on the day of the election,

where, turning towards the magistrates, they looked round at the

countenances of their most eminent men, who were earnestly gazing at

each other, and murmured bitterly, that their affairs were in so

ruinous a state, and the condition of the commonwealth so desperate,

that no one dared undertake the command in Spain. When suddenly

Publius Cornelius, son of Publius who had fallen in Spain, who was

about twenty-four years of age, declaring himself a candidate, took

his station on an eminence from which he could be seen by all. The

eyes of the whole assembly were directed towards him, and by

acclamations and expressions of approbation, a prosperous and happy

command were at once augured to him. Orders were then given that they

should proceed to vote, when not only every century, but every

individual to a man, decided that Publius Scipio should be invested

with the command in Spain. But after the business had been concluded,

and the ardour and impetuosity of their zeal had subsided, a sudden

silence ensued, and a secret reflection on what they had done, whether

their partiality had not got the better of their judgment? They

chiefly regretted his youth, but some were terrified at the fortune

which attended his house and his name, for while the two families to

which he belonged were in mourning, he was going into a province where

he must carry on his operations between the tombs of his father and

his uncle.

19. Perceiving the solicitude and anxiety which people felt, after

performing the business with so much ardour, he summoned an assembly,

in which he discoursed in so noble and high minded a manner, on his

years, the command intrusted to him, and the war which he had to carry

on, as to rekindle and renew the ardour which had subsided, and

inspire the people with more confident hopes than the reliance placed

on human professions, or reasoning on the promising appearance of

affairs, usually engenders. For Scipio was not only deserving of

admiration for his real virtues, but also for his peculiar address in

displaying them, to which he had been formed from his earliest

years;--effecting many things with the multitude, either by feigning

nocturnal visions or as with a mind divinely inspired; whether it was

that he was himself, too, endued with a superstitious turn of mind, or

that they might execute his commands and adopt his plans without

hesitation, as if they proceeded from the responses of an oracle. With

the intention of preparing men's minds for this from the beginning, he

never at any time from his first assumption of the manly gown

transacted any business, public or private, without first going to the

Capitol, entering the temple, and taking his seat there; where he

generally passed a considerable time in secret and alone. This

practice, which was adhered to through the whole of his life,

occasioned in some persons a belief in a notion which generally

prevailed, whether designedly or undesignedly propagated, that he was

a man of divine extraction; and revived a report equally absurd and

fabulous with that formerly spread respecting Alexander the Great,

that he was begotten by a huge serpent, whose monstrous form was

frequently observed in the bedchamber of his mother, but which, on any

one's coming in, suddenly unfolding his coils, glided out of sight.

The belief in these miraculous accounts was never ridiculed by him,

but rather increased by his address; neither positively denying any

such thing nor openly affirming it. There were also many other things,

some real and others counterfeit, which exceeded in the case of this

young man the usual measure of human admiration, in reliance on which

the state intrusted him with an affair of so much difficulty, and with

so important a command, at an age by no means ripe for it. To the

forces in Spain, consisting of the remains of the old army, and those

which had been conveyed over from Puteoli by Claudius Nero, ten

thousand infantry and a thousand horse were added; and Marcus Junius

Silanus, the propraetor, was sent to assist in the management of

affairs. Thus with a fleet of thirty ships, all of which were

quinqueremes, he set sail from the mouth of the Tiber, and coasting

along the shore of the Tuscan Sea, the Alps, and the Gallic Gulf, and

then doubling the promontory of the Pyrenees, landed his troops at

Emporiae, a Greek city, which also derived its origin from Phocaea.

Ordering his ships to attend him, he marched by land to Tarraco; where

he held a congress of deputies from all the allies; for embassies had

poured forth from every province on the news of his arrival. Here he

ordered his ships to be hauled on shore, having sent back the four

triremes of the Massilians which had, in compliment to him, attended

him from their home. After that, he began to give answers to the

embassies of the several states, which had been in suspense on account

of the many vicissitudes of the war; and this with so great dignity,

arising from the great confidence he had in his own talents, that no

presumptuous expression ever escaped him; and in every thing he said

there appeared at once the greatest majesty and sincerity.

20. Setting out from Tarraco, he visited the states of his allies and

the winter quarters of his army; and bestowed the highest

commendations upon the soldiers, because, though they had received two

such disastrous blows in succession, they had retained possession of

the province, and not allowing the enemy to reap any advantage from

their successes, had excluded them entirely from the territory on this

side of the Iberus, and honourably protected their allies. Marcius he

kept with him, and treated him with such respect, that it was

perfectly evident there was nothing he feared less than lest any one

should stand in the way of his own glory. Silanus then took the place

of Nero, and the fresh troops were led into winter quarters. Scipio

having in good time visited every place where his presence was

necessary, and completed every thing which was to be done, returned to

Tarraco. The reputation of Scipio among his enemies was not inferior

to that which he enjoyed among his allies and countrymen. They felt

also a kind of presentiment of what was to come, which occasioned the

greater apprehension, the less they could account for their fears,

which had arisen without any cause. They had retired to their winter

quarters in different directions. Hasdrubal, son of Gisgo, had gone

quite to the ocean and Gades; Mago into the midland parts chiefly

above the forest of Castulo; Hasdrubal, son of Hamilcar, wintered in

the neighbourhood of Saguntum, close upon the Iberus. At the close of

the summer in which Capua was recovered and Scipio entered Spain, a

Carthaginian fleet, which had been fetched from Sicily to Tarentum, to

cut off the supplies of the Roman garrison in the citadel of that

place, had blocked up all the approaches to the citadel from the sea;

but by lying there too long, they caused a greater scarcity of

provisions to their friends than to their enemies. For so much corn

could not be brought in for the townsmen, along the coasts which were

friendly to them, and through the ports which were kept open through

the protection afforded by the Carthaginian fleet, as the fleet itself

consumed, which had on board a crowd made up of every description of

persons. So that the garrison of the citadel, which was small in

number, could be supported from the stock they had previously laid in

without importing any, while that which they imported was not

sufficient for the supply of the Tarentines and the fleet. At length

the fleet was sent away with greater satisfaction than it was

received. The scarcity of provisions, however, was not much relieved

by it; because when the protection by sea was removed corn could not

be brought in.

21. At the close of the same summer, Marcus Marcellus arriving at the

city from his province of Sicily, an audience of the senate was given

him by Caius Calpurnius, the praetor, in the temple of Bellona. Here,

after discoursing on the services he had performed, and complaining in

gentle terms, not on his own account more than that of his soldiers,

that after having completely reduced the province, he had not been

allowed to bring home his army, he requested that he might be allowed

to enter the city in triumph; this he did not obtain. A long debate

took place on the question, whether it was less consistent to deny a

triumph on his return to him, in whose name, when absent, a

supplication had been decreed and honours paid to the immortal gods,

for successes obtained under his conduct; or, when they had ordered

him to deliver over his army to a successor, which would not have been

decreed unless there were still war in the province, to allow him to

triumph, as if the war had been terminated, when the army, the

evidence of the triumph being deserved or undeserved, were absent. As

a middle course between the two opinions, it was resolved that he

should enter the city in ovation. The plebeian tribunes, by direction

of the senate, proposed to the people, that Marcus Marcellus should be

invested with command during the day on which he should enter the city

in ovation. The day before he entered the city he triumphed on the

Alban mount; after which he entered the city in ovation, having a

great quantity of spoils carried before him, together with a model of

the capture of Syracuse. The catapultas and ballistas, and every other

instrument of war were carried; likewise the rich ornaments laid up by

its kings during a long continuance of peace; a quantity of wrought

silver and brass, and other articles, with precious garments, and a

number of celebrated statues, with which Syracuse had been adorned in

such a manner as to rank among the chief Grecian cities in that

respect. Eight elephants were also led as an emblem of victory over

the Carthaginians. Sosis, the Syracusan, and Mericus, the Spaniard,

who preceded him with golden crowns, formed not the least interesting

part of the spectacle; under the guidance of one of whom the Romans

had entered Syracuse by night, while the other had betrayed to them

the island and the garrison in it. To both of them the freedom of the

city was given, and five hundred acres of land each. Sosis was to have

his portion in the Syracusan territory, out of the lands which had

belonged either to the kings or the enemies of the Roman people,

together with a house at Syracuse, which had belonged to any one of

those persons who had been punished according to the laws of war.

Mericus and the Spaniards who had come over with him were ordered to

have a city and lands assigned to them in Sicily, which had belonged

to some of those who had revolted from the Romans. It was given in

charge to Marcus Cornelius to assign them the city and lands wherever

he thought proper. In the same country, four hundred acres of land

were decreed to Belligenes, by whose means Mericus had been persuaded

to come over. After the departure of Marcellus from Sicily, a

Carthaginian fleet landed eight thousand infantry and three thousand

Numidian cavalry. To these the Murgantian territories revolted; Hybla,

Macella, and certain other towns of less note followed their

defection. The Numidians also, headed by Mutines, ranging without

restraint through the whole of Sicily, ravaged with fire the lands of

the allies of the Romans. In addition to these unfortunate

circumstances, the Roman soldiers, incensed partly because they had

not been taken from the province with their general, and partly

because they had been forbidden to winter in towns, discharged their

duties negligently, and wanted a a leader more than inclination for a

mutiny. Amid these difficulties Marcus Cornelius, the praetor,

sometimes by soothing, at other times by reproving them, pacified the

minds of the soldiers; and reduced to obedience all the states which

had revolted; out of which he gave Murgantia to those Spaniards who

were entitled to a city and land, in conformity with the decree of the

senate.

22. As both the consuls had Apulia for their province, and as there

was now less to be apprehended from Hannibal and the Carthaginians,

they were directed to draw lots for the provinces of Apulia and

Macedonia. Macedonia fell to the lot of Sulpicius, who succeeded

Laevinus. Fulvius having been called to Rome on account of the

election, held an assembly to elect new consuls; when the junior

Veturian century, which had the right of voting first, named Titus

Manlius Torquatus and Titus Otacilius. A crowd collecting round

Manlius, who was present, to congratulate him, and it being certain

that the people would concur in his election, he went, surrounded as

he was with a multitude of persons, to the tribunal of the consul, and

requested that he would listen to a few words from him; and that he

would order the century which had voted to be recalled. While all

present were waiting impatiently to hear what it was he was going to

ask, he alleged as an excuse the weakness of his eyes; observing, that

"a pilot or a general might fairly be charged with presumption who

should request that the lives and fortunes of others might be

intrusted to him, when in every thing which was to be done he must

make use of other people's eyes. Therefore he requested, that, if it

seemed good to him, he would order the junior Veturian century to come

and vote again; and to recollect, while electing consuls, the war

which they had in Italy, and the present exigencies of the state. That

their ears had scarcely yet ceased to ring with the noise and tumult

raised by the enemy, when but a few months ago they nearly scaled the

walls of Rome." This speech was followed by the century's shouting

out, one and all, that "they would not in the least alter their vote,

but would name the same persons for consuls;" when Torquatus replied,

"neither shall I as consul be able to put up with your conduct, nor

will you be satisfied with my government. Go back and vote again, and

consider that you have a Punic war in Italy, and that the leader of

your enemies is Hannibal." Upon this the century, moved by the

authority of the man and the shouts of admirers around, besought the

consul to summon the elder Veturian century; for they were desirous of

conferring with persons older than themselves, and to name the consuls

in accordance with their advice. The elder Veturian century having

been summoned, time was allowed them to confer with the others by

themselves in the _ovile_. The elders said that there were three

persons whom they ought to deliberate about electing, two of them

having already served all the offices of honour, namely, Quintus

Fabius and Marcus Marcellus; and if they wished so particularly to

elect some fresh person as consul to act against the Carthaginians,

that Marcus Valerius Laevinus had carried on operations against king

Philip by sea and land with signal success. Thus, three persons having

been proposed to them to deliberate about, the seniors were dismissed,

and the juniors proceeded to vote. They named as consuls, Marcus

Claudius Marcellus, then glorious with the conquest of Sicily, and

Marcus Valerius, both in their absence. All the centuries followed the

recommendation of that which voted first. Let men now ridicule the

admirers of antiquity. Even if there existed a republic of wise men,

which the learned rather imagine than know of; for my own part I

cannot persuade myself that there could possibly be a nobility of

sounder judgment, and more moderate in their desire of power, or a

people better moralled. Indeed that a century of juniors should have

been willing to consult their elders, as to the persons to whom they

should intrust a command by their vote, is rendered scarcely probable

by the contempt and levity with which the parental authority is

treated by children in the present age.

23. The assembly for the election of praetors was then held, at which

Publius Manlius Vulso, Lucius Manlius Acidinus, Caius Laetorius, and

Lucius Cincius Alimentus were elected. It happened that just as the

elections were concluded, news was brought that Titus Otacilius, whom

it seemed the people would have made consul in his absence, with Titus

Manlius, had not the course of the elections been interrupted, had

died in Sicily. The games in honour of Apollo had been performed the

preceding year, and on the motion of Calpurnius, the praetor, that

they should be performed this year also, the senate decreed that they

should be vowed every year for the time to come. The same year several

prodigies were seen and reported. At the temple of Concord, a statue

of Victory, which stood on the roof, having been struck by lightning

and thrown down, stuck among the figures of Victory, which were among

the ornaments under the eaves, and did not fall to the ground from

thence. Both from Anagnia and Fregellae it was reported that a wall

and some gates had been struck by lightning. That in the forum of

Sudertum streams of blood had continued flowing through a whole day;

at Eretum, that there had been a shower of stones; and at Reate, that

a mule had brought forth. These prodigies were expiated with victims

of the larger sort, the people were commanded to offer up prayers for

one day, and perform the nine days' sacred rite. Several of the public

priests died off this year, and fresh ones were appointed. In the room

of Manius Aemilius Numida, decemvir for sacred rites, Marcus Aemilius

Lepidus was appointed; in the room of Manius Pomponius Matho, the

pontiff, Caius Livius; in the room of Spurius Carvilius Maximus, the

augur, Marcus Servilius. As Titus Otacilius Crassus, a pontiff, died

after the year was concluded, no person was nominated to succeed him.

Caius Claudius, flamen of Jupiter, retired from his office, because he

had distributed the entrails improperly.

24. During the same time Marcus Valerius Laevinus, having first

sounded the intentions of the leading men by means of secret

conferences, came with some light ships to a council of the Aetolians,

which had been previously appointed to meet for this very purpose.

Here having proudly pointed to the capture of Syracuse and Capua, as

proofs of the success of the Roman arms in Sicily and Italy, he added,

that "it was a custom with the Romans, handed down to them from their

ancestors, to respect their allies; some of whom they had received

into their state, and had admitted to the same privileges they enjoyed

themselves, while others they treated so favourably that they chose

rather to be allies than citizens. That the Aetolians would be

honoured by them so much the more, because they were the first of the

nations across the sea which had entered into friendship with them.

That Philip and the Macedonians were troublesome neighbours to them,

but that he had broken their strength and spirits already, and would

still further reduce them to that degree, that they should not only

evacuate the cities which they had violently taken from the Aetolians,

but have Macedonia itself disturbed with war. And that as to the

Acarnanians, whose separation from their body was a source of grief to

the Aetolians, he would place them again under their ancient system of

jurisdiction and dominion." These assertions and promises of the Roman

general, Scopas, who was at that time praetor of the nation, and

Dorymachus, a leading man among the Aetolians, confirmed on their own

authority, extolling the power and greatness of the Roman people with

less reserve, and with greater force of conviction. However, the hope

of recovering Acarnania principally moved them. The terms, therefore,

were reduced to writing, on which they should enter into alliance and

friendship with the Roman people, and it was added, that "if it were

agreeable to them and they wished it, the Eleans and Lacedaemonians,

with Attalus, Pleuratus, and Scerdilaedas, should be included on the

same conditions." Attalus was king of Asia; the latter, kings of the

Thracians and Illyrians. The conditions were, that "the Aetolians

should immediately make war on Philip by land, in which the Romans

should assist, with not less than twenty quinqueremes. That the site

and buildings, together with the walls and lands, of all the cities as

far as Corcyra, should become the property of the Aetolians, every

other kind of booty, of the Romans. That the Romans should endeavour

to put the Aetolians in possession of Acarnania. If the Aetolians

should make peace with Philip, they should insert a stipulation that

the peace should stand good only on condition that they abstained from

hostilities against the Romans, their allies, and the states subject

to them. In like manner, if the Romans should form an alliance with

the king, that they should provide that he should not have liberty to

make war upon the Aetolians and their allies." Such were the terms

agreed upon; and copies of them having been made, they were laid up

two years afterwards by the Aetolians at Olympia, and by the Romans in

the Capitol, that they might be attested by these consecrated records.

The delay had been occasioned by the Aetolian ambassadors' having been

detained at Rome. This, however, did not form an impediment to the

war's proceeding. Both the Aetolians immediately commenced war against

Philip, and Laevinus taking, all but the citadel, Zacynthus, a small

island near to Aetolia, and having one city of the same name with the

island; and also taking Aeniadae and Nasus from the Acarnanians,

annexed them to the Aetolians; and also considering that Philip was

sufficiently engaged in war with his neighbours to prevent his

thinking of Italy, the Carthaginians, and his compact with Hannibal,

he retired to Corcyra.