armies, one of the consuls was recalled to Rome, on account of the
elections. This year gaols were first erected in the circus. While the
attention of the public was still occupied by the Privernian war, an
alarming report of the Gauls being in arms, a matter scarcely ever
slighted by the senate, suddenly came on them. The new consuls,
therefore, Lucius Æmilius Mamercinus and Caius Plautius, on the calends
of July, the very day on which they entered into office, received orders
to settle the provinces immediately between themselves; and Mamercinus,
to whom the Gallic war fell, was directed to levy troops, without
admitting any plea of immunity: nay, it is said, that even the rabble of
handicrafts, and those of sedentary trades, of all the worst qualified
for military service, were called out; and a vast army was collected at
Veii, in readiness to meet the Gauls. It was thought proper not to
proceed to a greater distance, lest the enemy might by some other route
arrive at the city without being observed. In the course of a few days
it being ascertained, on a careful inquiry, that every thing on that
side was quiet at the time; the whole force, which was to have opposed
the Gauls, was then turned against Privernum. Of the issue of the
business, there are two different accounts: some say, that the city was
taken by storm; and that Vitruvius fell alive into the hands [of the
conquerors]: others maintain that the townsmen, to avoid the extremities
of a storm, presenting the rod of peace, surrendered to the consul; and
that Vitruvius was delivered up by his troops. The senate, being
consulted with respect to Vitruvius and the Privernians, sent
directions, that the consul Plautius should demolish the walls of
Privernum, and, leaving a strong garrison there, come home to enjoy the
honour of a triumph; at the same time ordering that Vitruvius should be
kept in prison, until the return of the consul, and that he should then
be beaten with rods, and put to death. His house, which stood on the
Palatine hill, they commanded to be razed to the ground, and his effects
to be devoted to Semo Sancus. With the money produced by the sale of
them, brazen globes were formed, and placed in the chapel of Sancus,
opposite to the temple of Quirinus. As to the senate of Privernum, it
was decreed, that every person who had continued to act as a senator of
Privernum, after the revolt from the Romans, should reside on the
farther side of the Tiber, under the same restrictions as those of
Velitræ. After the passing of these decrees, there was no further
mention of the Privernians, until Plautius had triumphed. After the
triumph, Vitruvius, with his accomplices, having been put to death, the
consul thought that all being now fully gratified by the sufferings of
the guilty, allusion might be safely made to the business of the
Privernians, he spoke in the following manner: "Conscript fathers, since
the authors of the revolt have received, both from the immortal gods and
from you, the punishment so well merited, what do ye judge proper to be
done with respect to the guiltless multitude? For my part, although my
duty consists rather in collecting the opinions of others than in
offering my own, yet, when I reflect that the Privernians are situated
in the neighbourhood of the Samnites, our peace with whom is exceedingly
uncertain, I should wish, that as little ground of animosity as possible
may be left between them and us."
21. The affair naturally admitted of a diversity of opinions, each,
agreeably to his particular temper, recommending either severity or
lenity; matters were still further perplexed by one of the Privernian
ambassadors, more mindful of the prospects to which he had been born,
than to the exigency of the present juncture: who being asked by one of
the advocates for severity, "What punishment he thought the Privernians
deserved?" answered, "Such as those deserve who deem themselves worthy
of liberty." The consul observing, that, by this stubborn answer, those
who were adverse to the cause of the Privernians were the more
exasperated against them, and wishing, by a question of favourable
import, to draw from him a more conciliating reply, said to him, "What
if we remit the punishment, in what manner may we expect that ye will
observe the peace which shall be established between us?" He replied,
"If the peace which ye grant us be a good one, both inviolable and
eternal; if bad, of no long continuance." Then indeed some exclaimed,
that the Privernian menaced them, and not in ambiguous terms; and that
by such expressions peaceable states were incited to rebellion. But the
more reasonable part of the senate interpreted his answers more
favourably, and said, that "the words they had heard were those of a
man, and of a free-man. Could it be believed that any people, or even
any individual, would remain, longer than necessity constrained, in a
situation which he felt painful? That peace was faithfully observed,
only when those at peace were voluntarily so; but that fidelity was not
to be expected where they wished to establish slavery." In this opinion
they were led to concur, principally, by the consul himself, who
frequently observed to the consulars, who had proposed the different
resolutions, in such a manner as to be heard by several, that "surely
those men only who thought of nothing but liberty, were worthy of being
made Romans." They consequently both carried their cause in the senate;
and, moreover, by direction of that body, a proposal was laid before the
people, that the freedom of the state should be granted to the
Privernians. The same year a colony of three hundred was sent to Anxur,
and received two acres of land each.
22. The year following, in which the consuls were Publius Plautius
Proculus and Publius Cornelius Scapula, was remarkable for no one
transaction, civil or military, except the sending of a colony to
Fregellæ, a district which had belonged to the Sidicinians, and
afterwards to the Volscians; and a distribution of meat to the people,
made by Marcus Flavius, on occasion of the funeral of his mother. There
were many who represented, that, under the appearance of doing honour to
his parent, a deserved recompence was made to the people, for having
acquitted him, when prosecuted by the ædiles on a charge of having
debauched a married woman. This distribution of meat intended as a
return for favours shown on the trial, proved also the means of
procuring him the honour of a public office; for, at the next election,
though absent, he was preferred before the candidates who solicited in
person the tribuneship of the commons. The city of Palæpolis was
situated at no great distance from the spot where Neapolis now stands.
The two cities were inhabited by one people: these came from Cumæ, and
the Cumans derive their origin from Chalcis in Eubœa. By means of
the fleet in which they had been conveyed hither, they possessed great
power on the coast of the sea, near which they dwelt. Having first
landed on the islands of Ænaria, and the Pithecusæ, they afterwards
ventured to transfer their settlement to the continent. This state,
relying both on their own strength, as well as on the treacherous nature
of the alliance of the Samnites with the Romans; or, encouraged by the
report of a pestilence having attacked the city of Rome, committed
various acts of hostility against the Romans settled in the Campanian
and Falernian territories. Wherefore, in the succeeding consulate of
Lucius Cornelius, and Quintus Publilius Philo a second time, heralds
being sent to Palæpolis to demand satisfaction, when a haughty answer
was returned by these Greeks, a race more magnanimous in words than in
action, the people, in pursuance of the direction of the senate, ordered
war to be declared against the Palæpolitans. On settling the provinces
between the consuls, the war against the Greeks fell to Publilius.
Cornelius, with another army, was appointed to watch the Samnites if
they should attempt any movement; but a report prevailed that they,
anxiously expecting a revolt in Campania, intended to march their troops
thither; that was judged by Cornelius the properest station for him.
23. The senate received information, from both the consuls, that there
was very little hope of peace with the Samnites. Publilius informed
them, that two thousand soldiers from Nolæ, and four thousand of the
Samnites, had been received into Palæpolis, a measure rather forced on
the Greeks by the Nolans than agreeable to their inclination. Cornelius
wrote, that a levy of troops had been ordered, that all Samnium was in
motion, and that the neighbouring states of Privernum, Fundi, and
Formiæ, were openly solicited to join them. When in consequence it was
thought proper, that, before hostilities were commenced, ambassadors
should be sent to the Samnites, an insolent answer is returned by them;
they even went so far as to accuse the Romans of behaving injuriously
towards them; but, nevertheless, they took pains to clear themselves of
the charges made against them, asserting, that "the Greeks were not
assisted with either counsel or aid by their state, nor were the
Fundanians or Formians tampered with by them; for, if they were disposed
to war, they had not the least reason to be diffident of their own
strength. However, they could not dissemble, that it gave great offence
to the state of the Samnites, that Fregellæ, by them taken from the
Volscians and demolished, should have been rebuilt by the Romans; and
that they should have established a colony within the territory of the
Samnites, to which their colonists gave the name of Fregellæ. This
injury and affront, if not done away by the authors, they were
determined themselves to remove, by every means in their power." When
one of the Roman ambassadors proposed to discuss the matter before their
common allies and friends, their magistrate said, "Why do we disguise
our sentiments? Romans, no conferences of ambassadors, nor arbitration
of any person whatever, can terminate our differences; but the plains of
Campania, in which we must meet; our arms and the common fortune of war
will settle the point. Let our armies, therefore, meet between Capua and
Suessula; and there let us decide, whether the Samnite or the Roman
shall hold the sovereignty of Italy." To this the ambassadors of the
Romans replied, "that they would go, not whither their enemy called, but
whither their commanders should lead." In the mean time, Publilius, by
seizing an advantageous post between Palæpolis and Neapolis, had cut off
that interchange of mutual aid, which they had hitherto afforded each
other, according as either place was hard pressed. Accordingly, when
both the day of the elections approached, and as it was highly
inexpedient for the public interest that Publilius should be called away
when on the point of assailing the enemy's walls, and in daily
expectation of gaining possession of their city, application was made to
the tribunes, to recommend to the people the passing of an order, that
Publilius Philo, when his year of office should expire, might continue
in command, as pro-consul, until the war with the Greeks should be
finished. A letter was despatched to Lucius Cornelius, with orders to
name a dictator; for it was not thought proper that the consul should be
recalled from the vigorous prosecution of the war now that he had
entered into Samnium. He nominated Marcus Claudius Marcellus, who
appointed Spurius Postumius master of the horse. The elections, however,
were not held by the dictator, because it became a question whether he
had been appointed under an irregularity; and the augurs being
consulted, pronounced that it appeared that the dictator's appointment
was defective. The tribunes inveighed against this proceeding as
dangerous and dishonourable; "for it was not probable," they said, "that
such defect could have been discovered, as the consul, rising in the
night, had nominated the dictator while every thing was still;[172] nor
had the said consul in any of his letters, either public or private,
made any mention of such a thing to any one; nor did any person whatever
come forward who said that he saw or heard any thing which could vitiate
the auspices. Neither could the augurs sitting at Rome divine what
inauspicious circumstance had occurred to the consul in the camp. Who
did not plainly perceive, that the dictator's being a plebeian, was the
defect which the augurs had discovered?" These and other arguments were
urged in vain by the tribunes: the affair however ended in an
interregnum. At last, after the elections had been adjourned repeatedly
on one pretext or another, the fourteenth interrex, Lucius Æmilius,
elected consuls Caius Pætelius, and Lucius Papirius Mugillanus, or
Cursor, as I find him named in some annals.
[Footnote 172: Any noise happening during the taking of the auspices was
reckoned inauspicious; hence _silentium_ signified among the augurs,
every circumstance being favourable.]
24. It has been recorded, that in this year Alexandria in Egypt was
founded; and that Alexander, king of Epirus, being slain by a Lucanian
exile, verified in the circumstances of his death the prediction of
Jupiter of Dodona. At the time when he was invited into Italy by the
Tarentines, a caution had been given him, "to beware of the Acherusian
waters and the city Pandosia, for there were fixed the limits of his
destiny." For that reason he made the greater haste to pass over to
Italy, in order to be at as great a distance as possible from the city
Pandosia in Epirus, and the river Acheron, which, after flowing through
Molossis, runs into the lakes called Infernal, and is received into the
Thesprotian gulf. But, (as it frequently happens, that men, by
endeavouring to shun their fate, run directly upon it,) after having
often defeated the armies of Bruttium and Lucania, and taken Heraclea, a
colony of the Tarentines, Consentia and Metapontum from the Lucanians,
Terina from the Bruttians, and several other cities of the Messapians
and Lucanians; and having sent into Epirus three hundred illustrious
families, whom he intended to keep as hostages, he posted his troops on
three hills, which stood at a small distance from each other, not far
from the city Pandosia, and close to the frontiers of the Bruttians and
Lucanians, in order that he might thence make incursions into every part
of the enemy's country. At that time he kept about his person two
hundred Lucanian exiles, as faithful attendants, but whose fidelity,
according to the general disposition of people of that description, was
ever ready to follow the changes of fortune. When continual rains spread
such an inundation over all the plains, as cut off from the three
separate divisions of the army all means of mutual aid, the two parties,
in neither of which the king was present, were suddenly attacked and
overpowered by the enemy, who, after putting them to the sword, employed
their whole force in blockading the king himself. From this place the
Lucanian exiles sent emissaries to their countrymen, and stipulating a
safe return for themselves, promised to deliver the king, either alive
or dead, into their power. But he, bravely resolving to make an
extraordinary effort, at the head of a chosen band, broke through the
midst of their forces; engaged singly, and slew the general of the
Lucanians, and collecting together his men, who had been scattered in
the retreat, arrived at a river which pointed out his road by the ruins
of a bridge which had been recently broken by the violence of the flood.
Here, while the party was fording the river on a very uneven bottom, a
soldier, almost spent with fatigue and apprehension, cried out as a
reflection on the odious name of it,--"You are justly named Acheros
(dismal):" which expression reaching the king's ears, and instantly
recalling to his mind the fate denounced on him, he halted, hesitating
whether he should cross over or not. Then Sotimus, one of the royal band
of youths which attended him, asking why he delayed in such a critical
moment, showed him that the Lucanians were watching an opportunity to
perpetrate some act of treachery: whereupon the king, looking back, and
seeing them coming towards him in a body, drew his sword, and pushed on
his horse through the middle of the river. When he had now reached the
shallow, a Lucanian exile from a distance transfixed him with a javelin:
after his fall, the current carried down his lifeless body, with the
weapon sticking in it, to the posts of the enemy: there a shocking
mangling of it took place; for dividing it in the middle, they sent one
half to Consentia, and kept the other, as a subject of mockery, to
themselves. While they were throwing darts and stones at it, a woman
mixing with the crowd, who were enraged to a degree beyond the credible
extent of human resentment, prevailed on them to stop for a moment. She
then told them with tears in her eyes that she had a husband and
children, prisoners among the enemy; and that she hoped to be able with
the king's body, however disfigured, to ransom her friends: this put an
end to their outrages. The remnants of his limbs were buried at
Consentia, entirely through the care of the woman; and his bones were
sent to Metapontum to the enemy, from whence they were conveyed to
Epirus to his wife Cleopatra and his sister Olympias; the latter of whom
was the mother, the former the sister, of Alexander the Great. Such was
the melancholy end of Alexander of Epirus; of which, although fortune
did not allow him to engage in hostilities with the Romans, yet, as he
waged war in Italy, I have thought it proper to give this brief account.
This year, the fifth time since the building of the city, the
lectisternium was performed at Rome for procuring the favour of the same
deities to whom it was addressed before.
25. When the new consuls had, by order of the people, sent persons to
declare war against the Samnites, and they themselves were making all
preparations with greater energy than against the Greeks, a new
accession of strength also came to them when expecting no such thing.
The Lucanians and Apulians, nations who, until that time, had no kind of
intercourse with the Roman people, proposed an alliance with them,
promising a supply of men and arms for the war: a treaty of friendship
was accordingly concluded. At the same time, their affairs went on
successfully in Samnium. Three towns fell into their hands, Allifæ,
Callifæ, and Ruffrium; and the adjoining country to a great extent was,
on the first arrival of the consuls, laid entirely waste. Whilst the war
on this side was commenced with so much success, so the war in the other
quarter where the Greeks were held besieged, now drew towards a
conclusion. For, besides the communication between the two posts of the
enemy being cut off, by the besiegers having possession of part of the
works through which it had been carried on, they now suffered within the
walls hardships far more grievous than those with which the enemy
threatened them, and as if made prisoners by their own garrison, they
were now subjected to the greatest indignities in the persons of their
wives and children, and to such extremities as are generally felt on the
sacking of cities. When, therefore, intelligence arrived that
reinforcements were to come from Tarentum and from the Samnites, all
agreed that there were more of the latter already within the walls than
they wished; but the young men of Tarentum, who were Greeks as well as
themselves, they earnestly longed for, as they hoped to be enabled by
their means to oppose the Samnites and Nolans, no less than to resist
their Roman enemies. At last a surrender to the Romans appeared to be
the lightest evil. Charilaus and Nymphius, the two principal men in the
state, consulting together on the subject, settled the part which each
was to act; it, was, that one should desert to the Roman general, and
the other stay behind to manage affairs in the city, so as to facilitate
the execution of their plan. Charilaus was the person who came to
Publilius Philo; he told him that "he had taken a resolution, which he
hoped would prove advantageous, fortunate, and happy to the Palæpolitans
and to the Roman people, of delivering the fortifications into his
hands. Whether he should appear by that deed to have betrayed or
preserved his country, depended on the honour of the Romans. That for
himself in particular, he neither stipulated nor requested any thing;
but, in behalf of the state, he requested rather than stipulated, that
in case the design should succeed, the Roman people would consider more
especially the zeal and hazard with which it sought a renewal of their
friendship, than its folly and rashness in deviating from its duty." He
was commended by the general, and received a body of three thousand
soldiers, with which he was to seize on that part of the city which was
possessed by the Samnites; this detachment was commanded by Lucius
Quinctius, military tribune.
26. At the same time also, Nymphius, on his part, artfully addressing
himself to the commander of the Samnites, prevailed upon him, as all the
troops of the Romans were employed either about Palæpolis or in Samnium,
to allow him to sail round with the fleet to the territory of Rome,
where he undertook to ravage, not only the sea-coast, but the country
adjoining the very city. But, in order to avoid observation, it was
necessary, he told him, to set out by night, and to launch the ships
immediately. That this might be effected with the greater despatch, all
the young Samnites, except the necessary guards of the city, were sent
to the shore. While Nymphius wasted the time there, giving contradictory
orders, designedly, to create confusion, which was increased by the
darkness, and by the crowd, which was so numerous as to obstruct each
other's operations, Charilaus, according to the plan concerted, was
admitted by his associates into the city; and have filled the higher
parts of it with Roman soldiers, he ordered them to raise a shout; on
which the Greeks, who had received previous directions from their
leaders, kept themselves quiet. The Nolans fled through the opposite
part of the town, by the road leading to Nola. The flight of the
Samnites, who were shut out from the city, was easier, but had a more
disgraceful appearance; for they returned to their homes without arms,
stripped, and destitute of every thing; all, in short, belonging to them
being left with their enemies; so that they were objects of ridicule,
not only to foreigners, but even to their own countrymen. I know that
there is another account of this matter, according to which the town is
represented to have been betrayed by the Samnites; but I have this
account on the authority most worthy of credit; besides, the treaty of
Neapolis, for to that place the seat of government of the Greeks was
then transferred, renders it more probable that the renewal of
friendship was voluntary on their side. A triumph was decreed to
Publilius, because people were well convinced that the enemy, reduced by
the siege, had adopted terms of submission. These two extraordinary
incidents, which never before occurred in any case, befell this man: a
prolongation of command never before granted to any one; and a triumph
after the expiration of his office.
27. Another war soon after arose with the Greeks of the other coast. For
the Tarentines having, for a considerable time, buoyed up the state of
Palæpolis with delusive hopes of assistance, when they understood that
the Romans had gotten possession of that city, as if they were the
persons who had suffered the disappointment, and not the authors of it,
they inveighed against the Palæpolitans, and became furious in their
anger and malice towards the Romans; on this account also, because
information was brought that the Lucanians and Apulians had submitted to
the Roman people; for a treaty of alliance had been this year concluded
with both these nations. "The business," they observed, "was now brought
almost to their doors; and that the matter would soon come to this, that
the Romans must either be dealt with as enemies, or received as masters:
that, in fact, their interests were involved in the war of the Samnites,
and in its issue. That that was the only nation which continued to make
opposition; and that with power very inadequate, since the Lucanians
left them: these however might yet be brought back, and induced to
renounce the Roman alliance, if proper skill were used in sowing
dissension between them." These reasonings being readily adopted, by
people who wished for a change, some young Lucanians of considerable
note among their countrymen, but devoid of honour, were procured for
money; these having lacerated each other's persons with stripes, after
they had come naked into a public meeting of their countrymen, exclaimed
that, because they had ventured to go into the Roman camp, they had been
thus beaten with rods, by order of the consul, and had hardly escaped
the loss of their heads. A circumstance, so shocking in its nature,
carrying strong proofs of the ill-treatment, none of artifice, the
people were so irritated, that, by their clamours, they compelled the
magistrates to call together the senate; and some standing round that
assembly, insisted on a declaration of war against the Romans, others
ran different ways to rouse to arms the multitude residing in the
country. Thus the tumult hurrying into imprudence the minds even of
rational men, a decree was passed, that the alliance with the Samnites
should be renewed, and ambassadors sent for that purpose. Because this
so sudden a proceeding was totally devoid of any obvious cause for its
adoption, and consequently was little relied on for its sincerity; they
were, however, obliged both to give hostages, and also to receive
garrisons into their fortified places; and they, blinded by fraud and
resentment, refused no terms. In a little time after, on the authors of
the false charges removing to Tarentum, the whole imposition came to
light. But as they had given all power out of their own hands, nothing
was left them but unavailing repentance.
28. This year there arose, as it were, a new era of liberty to the Roman
commons; in this that a stop was put to the practice of confining
debtors. This alteration of the law was effected in consequence of the
lust and signal cruelty of one usurer. His name was Lucius Papirius. To
him one Caius Publilius having surrendered his person to be confined for
a debt due by his father, his youth and beauty, which ought to have
excited commiseration, operated on the other's mind as incentives to
lust and insult. He first attempted to seduce the young man by impure
discourses, considering the bloom of his youth his own adventitious
gain; but finding that his ears were shocked at their infamous tendency,
he then endeavoured to terrify him by threats, and reminded him
frequently of his situation. At last, convinced of his resolution to act
conformably to his honourable birth, rather than to his present
condition, he ordered him to be stripped and scourged. When with the
marks of the rods imprinted in his flesh the youth rushed out into the
public street, loudly complaining of the depravedness and inhumanity of
the usurer; a vast number of people, moved by compassion for his early
age, and indignation at his barbarous treatment, reflecting at the same
time on their own lot and that of their children, flocked together into
the forum, and from thence in a body to the senate-house. When the
consuls were obliged by the sudden tumult to call a meeting of the
senate, the people, falling at the feet of each of the senators, as they
were going into the senate-house, presented to their view the lacerated
back of the youth. On that day, in consequence of the outrageous conduct
of an individual, the strongest bonds of credit were broken; and the
consuls were commanded to propose to the people, that no person should
be held in fetters or stocks, except convicted of a crime, and in order
to punishment; but that, for money due, the goods of the debtor, not his
person, should be answerable. Thus the confined debtors were released;
and provision made, for the time to come, that they should not be liable
to confinement.
29. In the course of this year, while the war with the Samnites was
sufficient in itself to give full employment to the senate, besides the
sudden defection of the Lucanians, and the Tarentines, the promoters of
the defection, [another source of uneasiness] was added in a union
formed by the state of the Vestinians with the Samnites. Which event,
though it continued, during the present year, to be the general subject
of conversation, without coming under any public discussion, appeared so
important to the consuls of the year following, Lucius Furius Camillus a
second time, and Junius Brutus Scæva, that it was the first business
which they proposed to the consideration of the state. And though the
matter was still recent, still great perplexity seized the senate, as
they dreaded equally the consequences, either of passing it over, or of
taking it up; lest, on the one hand, impunity might stir up the
neighbouring states with wantonness and arrogance; and, on the other,
punishment inflicted on them by force of arms, and dread of immediate
danger, might produce the same effect by exciting resentment. And the
whole body, too, was in every way equal in strength to the Samnites,
being composed of the Marsians, the Pelignians, and the Marrusinians;
all of whom would have to be encountered as enemies, if the Vestinians
were to be interfered with. However, that side prevailed which might, at
the time, seem to have more spirit than prudence; but the event proved
that fortune assists the brave. The people, in pursuance of the
direction of the senate, ordered war against the Vestinians; that
province fell by lot to Junius, Samnium to Camillus. Armies were led to
both places, and by carefully guarding the frontiers, the enemy were
prevented from joining their forces. But the other consul, Lucius
Furius, on whom the principal weight of the business rested, was
withdrawn by chance from the war, being seized with a severe sickness.
Being therefore ordered to nominate a dictator to conduct the business,
he nominated Lucius Papirius Cursor, the most celebrated general, by
far, of any in that age, who appointed Quintus Fabius Maximus Rullianus
master of the horse: a pair of commanders distinguished for their
exploits in war; more so, however, for a quarrel between themselves, and
which proceeded almost to violence. The other consul, in the territory
of the Vestinians, carried on operations of various kinds; and, in all,
was uniformly successful. For he both utterly laid waste their lands,
and, by spoiling and burning their houses and corn, compelled them to
come to an engagement; and, in one battle, he reduced the strength of
the Vestinians to such a degree, though not without loss on his own
side, that the enemy not only fled to their camp, but, fearing even to
trust to the rampart and trench, dispersed from thence into the several
towns, in hopes of finding security in the situation and fortifications
of their cities. At last, having undertaken to reduce their towns by
force, amid the great ardour of the soldiers, and their resentment for
the wounds which they had received, (hardly one of them having come out
of the battle unhurt,) he took Cutina by scalade, and afterwards
Cingilia. The spoil of both cities he gave to the soldiers, in
consideration of their having bravely surmounted the obstruction both of
gates and walls.
30. The commanders entered Samnium under uncertain auspices; an
informality which pointed, not at the event of war, for that was
prosperous, but at the furious passions and the quarrels which broke out
between the leaders. For Papirius the dictator, returning to Rome in
order to take the auspices anew, in consequence of a caution received
from the aruspex, left strict orders with the master of the horse to
remain in his post, and not to engage in battle during his absence.
After the departure of the dictator, Fabius having discovered by his
scouts that the enemy were in as unguarded a state as if there was not a
single Roman in Samnium, the high-spirited youth, (either conceiving
indignation at the sole authority in every point appearing to be lodged
in the hands of the dictator, or induced by the opportunity of striking
an important blow,) having made the necessary preparations and
dispositions, marched to a place called Imbrinium, and there fought a
battle with the Samnites. His success in the fight was such, that there
was no one circumstance which could have been improved to more
advantage, if the dictator had been present. The leader was not wanting
to the soldiers, nor the soldiers to their leader. The cavalry too,
(finding, after repeated charges, that they could not break the ranks,)
by the advice of Lucius Cominius, a military tribune, pulled off the
bridles from their horses and spurred them on so furiously, that no
power could withstand them; forcing their way through the thickest of
the enemy, they bore down every thing before them; and the infantry
seconding the charge, the whole body was thrown into confusion. Twenty
thousand of the enemy are said to have fallen on that day. I have
authority for saying that there were two battles fought during the
dictator's absence, and two victories obtained; but, according to the
most ancient writers, only this one is found, and in some histories the
whole transaction is omitted. The master of the horse getting possession
of abundance of spoils, in consequence of the great numbers slain,
collected the arms into a huge heap, and burned them; either in
pursuance of a vow to some of the gods, or, if we choose to credit the
authority of Fabius, it was done on this account, that the dictator
might not reap the fruits of his glory, inscribe his name on them, or
carry the spoils in triumph. His letters also, containing an account of
the success, being sent to the senate, not to the dictator, showed
plainly that he wished not to impart to him any share of the honour; who
certainly viewed the proceeding in this light, for while others rejoiced
at the victory obtained, he showed only surliness and anger; insomuch
that, immediately dismissing the senate, he hastened out of the
senate-house, and frequently repeated with warmth, that the legions of
the Samnites were not more effectually vanquished and overthrown by the
master of the horse, than were the dictatorial dignity and military
discipline, if such contempt of orders escaped with impunity. Thus,
breathing resentment and menaces, he set out for the camp; but, though
he travelled with all possible expedition, he was unable, however, to
outstrip the report of his coming. For messengers had started from the
city before him, who brought intelligence that the dictator was coming,
eager for vengeance, and in almost every second sentence applauding the
conduct of Titus Manlius.
31. Fabius instantly called an assembly, and entreated the soldiers to
"show the same courage in protecting him, under whose conduct and
auspices they had conquered, from the outrageous cruelty of the
dictator, which they had so lately displayed in defending the
commonwealth from its most inveterate enemies. He was now coming," he
told them, "frantic with envy; enraged at another's bravery and success,
he was mad, because, in his absence, the business of the public had been
executed, with remarkable success; and if he could change the fortune of
the engagement, would wish the Samnites in possession of victory rather
than the Romans. He talked much of contempt of orders; as if his
prohibition of fighting were not dictated by the same motive, which
caused his vexation at the fight having taken place. He wished to
shackle the valour of others through envy, and meant to take away the
soldiers' arms when they were most eager for action, and that no use
might be made of them in his absence: he was further enraged too,
because without Lucius Papirius the soldiers were not without hands or
arms, and because Quintus Fabius considered himself as master of the
horse, not as a beadle to the dictator. How would he have behaved, had
the issue of the fight been unfortunate; which, through the chances of
war and the uncertainty of military operations, might have been the
case; since now, when the enemy has been vanquished, (as completely,
indeed, as if that leader's own singular talents had been employed in
the matter,) he yet threatens the master of the horse with punishment?
Nor is he more incensed against the master of the horse, than against
the military tribunes, the centurions, and the soldiers. On all, he
would vent his rage if he could; and because that is not in his power,
he vents it on one. Envy, like flame, soars upwards; aims at the summit;
that he makes his attack on the head of the business, on the leader. If
he could put him out of the way, together with the glory of the service
performed, he would then lord it, like a conqueror over vanquished
troops; and, without scruple, practise against the soldiers what he had
been allowed to act against their commander. That they should,
therefore, in his cause, support the general liberty of all. If the
dictator perceived among the troops the same unanimity in justifying
their victory that they had displayed in the battle, and that all
interested themselves in the safety of one, it would bend his temper to
milder counsels. In fine," he told them, "that he committed his life,
and all his interests, to their honour and to their courage."
32. His speech was received with the loudest acclamations from every
part of the assembly, bidding him "have courage; for while the Roman
legions were in being, no man should offer him violence." Not long
after, the dictator arrived, and instantly summoned an assembly by sound
of trumpet. Then silence being made, a crier cited Quintus Fabius,
master of the horse, and as soon as, on the lower ground, he had
approached the tribunal, the dictator said, "Quintus Fabius, I demand of
you, when the authority of dictator is acknowledged to be supreme, and
is submitted to by the consuls, officers endowed with regal power; and
likewise by the prætors, created under the same auspices with consuls;
whether or no you think it reasonable that it should not meet obedience
from a master of the horse? I also ask you whether, when I knew that I
set out from home under uncertain auspices, the safety of the
commonwealth ought to have been endangered by me, whilst the omens were
confused, or whether the auspices ought to be newly taken, so that
nothing might be done while the will of the gods remained doubtful? And
further, when a religious scruple was of such a nature as to hinder the
dictator from acting, whether the master of the horse could be exempt
from it and at liberty? But why do I ask these questions, when, though I
had gone without leaving any orders, your own judgment ought to have
been regulated according to what you could discover of my intention? Why
do you not answer? Did I not forbid you to act, in any respect, during
my absence? Did I not forbid you to engage the enemy? Yet, in contempt
of these my orders, while the auspices were uncertain, while the omens
were confused, contrary to the practice of war, contrary to the
discipline of our ancestors, and contrary to the authority of the gods,
you dared to enter on the fight. Answer to these questions proposed to
you. On any other matter utter not a word. Lictor, draw near him." To
each of these particulars, Fabius, finding it no easy matter to answer,
at one time remonstrated against the same person acting as accuser and
judge, in a cause which affected his very existence; at another, he
asserted that his life should sooner be forced from him, than the glory
of his past services; clearing himself and accusing the other by turns;
so then Papirius' anger blazing out with fresh fury, he ordered the
master of the horse to be stripped, and the rods and axes to be got
ready. Fabius, imploring the protection of the soldiers, while the
lictors were tearing his garments, betook himself to the quarters of the
veterans, who were already raising a commotion in the assembly: from
them the uproar spread through the whole body; in one place the voice of
supplication was heard; in another, menaces. Those who happened to stand
nearest to the tribunal, because, being under the eyes of the general,
they could easily be known, entreated him to spare the master of the
horse, and not in him to condemn the whole army. The remoter parts of
the assembly, and the crowd collected round Fabius, railed at the
unrelenting spirit of the dictator, and were not far from mutiny; nor
was even the tribunal perfectly quiet. The lieutenants-general standing
round the general's seat besought him to adjourn the business to the
next day, and to allow time to his anger, and room for consideration;
representing that "the indiscretion of Fabius had been sufficiently
rebuked; his victory sufficiently disgraced; and they begged him not to
proceed to the extreme of severity; not to brand with ignominy a youth
of extraordinary merit, or his father, a man of most illustrious
character, together with the whole family of the Fabii." When they made
but little impression either by their prayers or arguments, they desired
him to observe the violent ferment of the assembly, and told him that
"while the soldiers' tempers were heated to such a degree, it became not
either his age or his wisdom to kindle them into a flame, and afford
matter for a mutiny; that no one would lay the blame of such an event on
Quintus Fabius, who only deprecated punishment; but on the dictator, if,
blinded by resentment, he should, by an ill-judged contest, draw on
himself the fury of the multitude: and lest he should think that they
acted from motives of regard to Quintus Fabius, they were ready to make
oath that, in their judgment, it was not for the interest of the
commonwealth that Quintus Fabius should be punished at that time."
33. When by these expostulations they rather irritated the dictator
against themselves, than appeased his anger against the master of the
horse, the lieutenants-general were ordered to go down from the
tribunal; and after several vain attempts were made to procure silence
by means of a crier, the noise and tumult being so great that neither
the voice of the dictator himself, nor that of his apparitors, could be
heard; night, as in the case of a battle, put an end to the contest. The
master of the horse was ordered to attend on the day following; but when
all assured him that Papirius, being agitated and exasperated in the
course of the present contention, would proceed against him with greater
violence, he fled privately from the camp to Rome; where, by the advice
of his father, Marcus Fabius, who had been three times consul, and
likewise dictator, he immediately called a meeting of the senate. While
he was strenuously complaining before the fathers of the rage and
injustice of the dictator, on a sudden was heard the noise of lictors
before the senate-house, clearing the way, and Papirius himself arrived,
full of resentment, having followed, with a guard of light horse, as
soon as he heard that the other had quitted the camp. The contention
then began anew, and the dictator ordered Fabius to be seized. Where,
when his unrelenting spirit persisted in its purpose, notwithstanding
the united intercessions of the principal patricians, and of the whole
senate, Fabius, the father, then said, "Since neither the authority of
the senate has any weight with you; nor my age, which you wish to render
childless; nor the noble birth and merit of a master of the horse,
nominated by yourself; nor prayers which have often mitigated the rage
of an enemy, and which appease the wrath of the gods; I call upon the
tribunes of the commons for support, and appeal to the people; and since
you decline the judgment of your own army, as well as of the senate, I
call you before a judge who must certainly be allowed, though no other
should, to possess more power and authority than yourself, though
dictator. I shall see whether you will submit to an appeal, to which
Tullus Hostilius, a Roman king, submitted." They proceeded directly from
the senate-house to the assembly; where, being arrived, the dictator
attended by few, the master of the horse by all the people of the first
rank in a body, Papirius commanded him to be taken from the rostrum to
the lower ground; his father, following him, said, "You do well in
ordering us to be brought down to a place where even as private persons
we have liberty of speech." At first, instead of regular speeches,
nothing but altercation was heard; at length, the indignation of old
Fabius, and the strength of his voice, got the better of noise, while he
reproached Papirius with arrogance and cruelty. "He himself," he said,
"had been dictator at Rome; and no man, not even the lowest plebeian, or
centurion, or soldier, had been outraged by him. But Papirius sought for
victory and triumph over a Roman commander, as over the generals of the
enemy. What an immense difference between the moderation of the
ancients, and modern oppression and cruelty. Quinctius Cincinnatus when
dictator exercised no further severity on Lucius Minucius the consul,
although rescued by him from a siege, than leaving him at the head of
the army, in the quality of lieutenant-general, instead of consul.
Marcus Furius Camillus, in the case of Lucius Furius, who, in contempt
of his great age and authority, had fought a battle with a most
disgraceful result, not only restrained his anger at the time so as to
write no unfavourable representation of his conduct to the people or the
senate; but after returning home, when the patricians gave him a power
of electing from among his colleagues whoever he might approve as an
associate with himself in the command, chose that very man in
preference to all the other consular tribunes. Nay, that not even the
resentment of the people, with whom lay the supreme power in all cases,
was ever exercised with greater severity towards those who, through
rashness and ignorance, had occasioned the loss of armies, than the
fining them in a sum of money. Until that day, a capital prosecution for
ill conduct in war had never been instituted against any commander, but
now generals of the Roman people when victorious, and meriting the most
honourable triumphs, are threatened with rods and axes; a treatment
which would not have been deemed allowable, even towards those who had
been defeated by an enemy. What would his son have to suffer, if he had
occasioned the loss of the army? if he had been routed, put to flight,
and driven out of his camp? To what greater length could his resentment
and violence be stretched, than to scourge him, and put him to death?
How was it consistent with reason, that through the means of Quintus
Fabius, the state should be filled with joy, exulting in victory, and
occupied in thanksgivings and congratulations; while at the same time,
he who had given occasion to the temples of the gods being thrown open,
their altars yet smoking with sacrifices, and loaded with honours and
offerings, should be stripped naked, and torn with stripes in the sight
of the Roman people; within view of the Capitol and citadel, and of
those gods not in vain invoked in two different battles? With what
temper would the army which had conquered under his conduct and auspices
have borne it? What mourning would there be in the Roman camp! what joy
among their enemies!" This speech he accompanied with an abundant flow
of tears; uniting reproaches and complaints, imploring the aid both of
gods and men, and warmly embracing his son.
34. On his side stood the majesty of the senate, the favour of the
people, the support of the tribunes, and regard for the absent army. On
the other side were urged the inviolable authority of the Roman
government and military discipline; the edict of the dictator, always
observed as the mandate of a deity; the orders of Manlius, and his
postponing even parental affection to public utility. "The same also,"
said the dictator, "was the conduct of Lucius Brutus, the founder of
Roman liberty, in the case of his two sons. That now fathers were
become indulgent, and the aged indifferent in the case of the authority
of others being despised, and indulge the young in the subversion of
military order, as if it were a matter of trifling consequence. For his
part, however, he would persevere in his purpose, and would not remit
the smallest part of the punishment justly due to a person who fought
contrary to his orders, while the rites of religion were imperfectly
executed, and the auspices uncertain. Whether the majesty of the supreme
authority was to be perpetual or not, depended not on him; but Lucius
Papirius would not diminish aught of its rights. He wished that the
tribunitian office, inviolate itself, would not by its interposition
violate the authority of the Roman government; nor the Roman people, to
their own detriment particularly, annihilate the dictator and the rights
of the dictatorship together. But if this should be the case, not Lucius
Papirius but the tribunes and the people would be blamed by posterity in
vain; when military discipline being once dissolved, the soldier would
no longer obey the orders of the centurion, the centurion those of the
tribune, the tribune those of the lieutenant-general, the
lieutenant-general those of the consul, nor the master of the horse
those of the dictator. No one would then pay any deference to men, no,
nor even to the gods. Neither edicts of generals nor auspices would be
observed. The soldiers, without leave of absence, would straggle at
random through the lands of friends and of foes; and regardless of their
oath would, influenced solely by a wanton humour, quit the service
whenever they might choose. The standards would be unattended and
forsaken: the men would neither assemble in pursuance of orders, nor
would any distinction be made as to fighting by night or by day, on
favourable or unfavourable ground, by order or without the orders of
the general; nor would they observe standards or ranks; the service,
instead of being solemn and sacred, would be confused and the result of
mere chance, like that of freebooters. Render yourselves then, tribunes
of the commons, accountable for all these evils to all future ages.
Expose your own persons to these heavy imputations in defence of the
licentious conduct of Quintus Fabius."
35. The tribunes now confounded, and more anxiously concerned at their
own situation than at his for whom their support was sought, were freed
from this embarrassment by the Roman people unanimously having recourse
to prayers and entreaties, that the dictator would, for their sakes,
remit the punishment of the master of the horse. The tribunes likewise,
following the example set them of employing entreaties, earnestly
beseech the dictator to pardon human error, to consider the immaturity
of the offender's age; that he had suffered sufficiently; and now the
youth himself, now his father, Marcus Fabius, disclaiming further
contest, fell at the dictator's knees and deprecated his wrath. Then the
dictator, after causing silence, said, "Romans, it is well. Military
discipline has prevailed; the majesty of government has prevailed; both
which were in danger of ceasing this day to exist. Quintus Fabius, who
fought contrary to the order of his commander, is not acquitted of
guilt; but after being condemned as guilty, is granted as a boon to the
Roman people; is granted to the college of tribunes, supporting him with
their prayers, not with the regular power of their office. Live, Quintus
Fabius, more happy in this united sympathy of the state for your
preservation, than in the victory in which you lately exulted. Live,
after having ventured on such an act, as your father himself, had he
been in the place of Lucius Papirius, would not have pardoned. With me
you shall be reconciled whenever you wish it. To the Roman people, to
whom you owe your life, you can perform no greater service than to let
this day teach you a sufficient lesson to enable you to submit to lawful
commands, both in war and peace." He then declared, that he no longer
detained the master of the horse, and as he retired from the rostrum,
the senate being greatly rejoiced, and the people still more so,
gathered round him and escorted him, on one hand commending the
dictator, on the other congratulating the master of the horse; while it
was considered that the authority of military command was confirmed no
less effectually by the danger of Quintus Fabius than the lamentable
punishment of young Manlius. It so happened, that, through the course of
that year, as often as the dictator left the army the Samnites were in
motion: but Marcus Valerius, the lieutenant-general who commanded in the
camp, had Quintus Fabius before his eyes for an example, not to fear any
violence of the enemy, so much as the unrelenting anger of the dictator.
So that when a body of his foragers fell into an ambuscade and were cut
to pieces in disadvantageous ground, it was generally believed that the
lieutenant-general could have given them assistance if he had not been
held in dread by his rigorous orders. The resentment for this also
alienated the affections of the soldiery from the dictator, already
incensed against him because he had been implacable towards Quintus
Fabius, and because he had granted him pardon at the intercession of the
Roman people, a thing which he had refused to their entreaties.
36. The dictator, having appointed Lucius Papirius Crassus, as master of
the horse, to the command of the city, and prohibited Quintus Fabius
from acting in any case as magistrate, returned to the camp; where his
arrival brought neither any great joy to his countrymen, nor any degree
of terror to the enemy: for on the day following, either not knowing
that the dictator had arrived, or little regarding whether he were
present or absent, they approached his camp in order of battle. Of such
importance, however, was that single man, Lucius Papirius, that had the
zeal of the soldiers seconded the dispositions of the commander, no
doubt was entertained that an end might have been put that day to the
war with the Samnites; so judiciously did he draw up his army with
respect to situation and reserves, in such a manner did he strengthen
them with every advantage of military skill: but the soldiers exerted no
vigour; and designedly kept from conquering, in order to injure the
reputation of their leader. Of the Samnites, however, very many were
slain; and great numbers of the Romans wounded. The experienced
commander quickly perceived the circumstance which prevented his
success, and that it would be necessary to moderate his temper, and to
mingle mildness with austerity. Accordingly, attended by the
lieutenants-general, going round to the wounded soldiers, thrusting his
head into their tents, and asking them, one by one, how they were in
health; then, mentioning them by name, he gave them in charge to the
officers, tribunes, and præfects. This behaviour, popular in itself, he
maintained with such dexterity, that by his attention to their recovery
he gradually gained their affection; nor did any thing so much
contribute towards their recovery as the circumstance of this attention
being received with gratitude. The army being restored to health, he
came to an engagement with the enemy; and both himself and the troops,
being possessed with full confidence of success, he so entirely defeated
and dispersed the Samnites, that that was the last day they met the
dictator in the field. The victorious army, afterwards, directed its
march wherever a prospect of booty invited, and traversed the enemies'
territories, encountering not a weapon, nor any opposition, either
openly or by stratagem. It added to their alacrity, that the dictator
had, by proclamation, given the whole spoil to the soldiers; so that
they were animated not only by the public quarrel, but by their private
emolument. Reduced by these losses, the Samnites sued to the dictator
for peace, and, after they had engaged to supply each of his soldiers
with a suit of clothes and a year's pay, being ordered to apply to the
senate, they answered, that they would follow the dictator, committing
their cause wholly to his integrity and honour. On this the troops were
withdrawn out of Samnium.
37. The dictator entered the city in triumph; and, though desirous of
resigning his office immediately, yet, by order of the senate, he held
it until the consuls were elected: these were Caius Sulpicius Longus a
second time, and Quintus Æmilius Cerretanus. The Samnites, without
finishing the treaty of peace, the terms being still in negotiation,
brought home with them a truce for a year. Nor was even that faithfully
observed; so strongly was their inclination for war excited, on hearing
that Papirius was gone out of office. In this consulate of Caius
Sulpicius and Quintus Æmilius, (some histories have Aulius,) to the
revolt of the Samnites was added a new war with the Apulians. Armies
were sent against both. The Samnites fell by lot to Sulpicius, the
Apulians to Æmilius. Some writers say, that this war was not waged with
the Apulians, but that the allied states of that nation were defended
against the violence and injustice of the Samnites. But the
circumstances of the Samnites, who could with difficulty, at that
period, support a war in which themselves were engaged, render it more
probable that they did not make war on the Apulians, but that both
nations were in arms against the Romans at the same time. However, no
memorable event occurred. The lands of the Apulians and of Samnium were
utterly laid waste; but in neither quarter were the enemy to be found.
At Rome, an alarm, which happened in the night, suddenly roused the
people from their sleep, in such a fright, that the Capitol and citadel,
the walls and gates, were all filled with men in arms. But after they
had called all to their posts, and run together in bodies, in every
quarter, when day approached, neither the author nor cause of the alarm
could be discovered. This year, in pursuance to the advice of Flavius,
the Tusculans were brought to a trial before the people. Marcus Flavius,
a tribune of the commons, proposed, that punishment should be inflicted
on those of the Tusculans, "by whose advice and assistance the
Veliternians and Privernians had made war on the Roman people." The
Tusculans, with their wives and children, came to Rome. The whole party
in mourning habits, like persons under accusation, went round the
tribes, throwing themselves at the feet of the citizens. The compassion
thus excited operated more effectually towards procuring them pardon,
than all their arguments did towards clearing them of guilt. Every one
of the tribes, except the Pollian, negatived the proposition. The
sentence of the Pollian tribe was, that the grown-up males should be
beaten and put to death, and their wives and children sold by auction,
according to the rules of war. It appears that the resentment which rose
against the advisers of so rigorous a measure, was retained in memory by
the Tusculans down to the age of our fathers; and that hardly any
candidate of the Pollian tribe could, ever since, gain the votes of the
Papirian.
38. On the following year, in the consulate of Quintus Fabius and Lucius
Fulvius, Aulus Cornelius Arvina being made dictator, and Marcus Fabius
Ambustus master of the horse, a levy being held with more than usual
rigour in consequence of their apprehension of a very serious war in
Samnium, (for it was reported that some young men had been hired from
their neighbours,) led forth a very strong army against the Samnites.
Although in a hostile country, their camp was pitched in as careless a
manner as if the foe were at a great distance; when, suddenly, the
legions of the Samnites approached with so much boldness as to advance
their rampart close to an out-post of the Romans. Night was now coming
on; that prevented their assaulting the works; but they did not conceal
their intention of doing so next day, as soon as the light should
appear. The dictator found that there would be a necessity for fighting
sooner than he had expected, and lest the situation should be an
obstruction to the bravery of the troops, he led away the legions in
silence, leaving a great number of fires the better to deceive the
enemy. On account of the proximity of the camps, however, he could not
escape their observation: their cavalry instantly pursued, and pressed
closely on his troops, in such a way as to refrain from attacking them
until the day appeared. Their infantry did not even quit their camp
before daylight. As soon as it was dawn, the cavalry venturing to attack
the enemy by harassing the Roman rear, and pressing them in places of
difficult passage, considerably delayed their march. Meanwhile their
infantry overtook the cavalry; and now the Samnites pursued close with
their entire force. The dictator then, finding that he could no longer
go forward without great inconvenience, ordered the spot where he stood
to be measured out for a camp. But it was impossible, while the enemy's
horse were spread about on every side, that palisades could be brought,
and the work be begun: seeing it, therefore, impracticable, either to
march forward or to settle himself there, he drew up his troops for
battle, removing the baggage out of the line. The enemy likewise formed
their line opposite to his; fully equal both in spirit and in strength.
Their courage was chiefly improved from not knowing that the motive of
the Romans' retreat was the incommodiousness of the ground, so that they
imagined themselves objects of terror, and supposed that they were
pursuing men who fled through fear. This kept the balance of the fight
equal for a considerable time; though, of late, it had been unusual with
the Samnites to stand even the shout of a Roman army. Certain it is,
that the contest, on this day, continued so very doubtful from the third
hour to the eighth, that neither was the shout repeated, after being
raised at the first onset, nor the standards moved either forward or
backward; nor any ground lost on either side. They fought without taking
breath or looking behind them, every man in his post, and pushing
against their opponents with their shields. The noise continuing equal,
and the terror of the fight the same, seemed to denote, that the
decision would be effected either by fatigue or by the night. The men
had now exhausted their strength, the sword its power, and the leaders
their skill; when, on a sudden, the Samnite cavalry, having learned from
a single troop which had advanced beyond the rest, that the baggage of
the Romans lay at a distance from their army, without any guard or
defence; through eagerness for booty, they attack it: of which the
dictator being informed by a hasty messenger, said, "Let them only
encumber themselves with spoils." Afterwards came several, one after
another, crying out, that they were plundering and carrying off all the
effects of the soldiers: he then called to him the master of the horse,
and said, "Do you see, Marcus Fabius, that the fight has been forsaken
by the enemy's cavalry? They are entangled and encumbered with our
baggage. Attack them whilst scattered about, as is the case of every
multitude employed in plundering; you will find few mounted on
horseback, few with swords in their hands; and, while they are loading
their horses with spoil, and unarmed, put them to the sword, and make it
bloody spoil for them. I will take care of the legions, and the fight of
the infantry: yours be the honour which the horse shall acquire."
39. The body of cavalry, in the most exact order possible, charging the
enemy, who were straggling and embarrassed, filled every place with
slaughter: for amid the packages which they hastily threw down, and
which lay in the way of their feet, and of the affrighted horses, as
they endeavoured to escape, being now unable either to fight or fly,
they are slaughtered. Then Fabius, after he had almost entirely cut off
the enemy's horse, led round his squadrons in a small circuit, and
attacked the infantry in the rear. The new shout, raised in that
quarter, terrified the Samnites on the one hand; and when, on the other,
the dictator saw their troops in the van looking behind them, their
battalions in confusion, and their line wavering, he earnestly exhorted
and animated his men, calling on the tribunes and chief centurions, by
name, to join him in renewing the fight. Raising the shout anew, they
pressed forward, and as they advanced, perceived the enemy more and more
confused. The cavalry now could be seen by those in front, and
Cornelius, turning about to the several companies, made them understand,
by raising his voice and hands, that he saw the standards and bucklers
of his own horsemen. On hearing which, and at the same time seeing them,
they, at once, so far forgot the fatigue which they had endured through
almost the whole day, and even their wounds, that they rushed on against
the enemy with as much vigour and alacrity as if they were coming fresh
out of camp on receiving the signal for battle. The Samnites could no
longer sustain the charge of horse and foot together; part of them,
enclosed on both sides, were cut off; the rest were scattered and fled
different ways. The infantry slew those who were surrounded and made
resistance; and the cavalry made great havoc of the fugitives, among
whom fell their general. This battle crushed, at length, the power of
the Samnites so effectually, that, in all their meetings, they said, "it
was not at all to be wondered at, if in an impious war, commenced in
violation of a treaty, when the gods were, with justice, more incensed
against them than men, they succeeded in none of their undertakings.
That war must be expiated and atoned for with a heavy penalty. The only
alternative they had, was whether the penalty should be the guilty blood
of a few, or the innocent blood of all." Some now ventured to name the
authors of the war; one name in particular, by the united voices of all,
was mentioned, that of Brutulus Papius; he was a man of power and noble
birth, and undoubtedly the violator of the late truce. The prætors being
compelled to take the opinion of the assembly concerning him, a decree
was made, "that Brutulus Papius should be delivered into the hands of
the Romans; and that, together with him, all the spoil taken from the
Romans, and the prisoners, should be sent to Rome, and that the
restitution demanded by the heralds, in conformity to treaty, should be
made, as was agreeable to justice and equity." In pursuance of this
determination heralds were sent to Rome, and also the dead body of
Brutulus; for, by a voluntary death, he avoided the punishment and
ignominy intended for him. It was thought proper that his goods also
should be delivered up along with the body. But none of all those things
were accepted, except the prisoners, and such articles of the spoil as
were recognised by the owners. The dictator obtained a triumph by a
decree of the senate.
40. Some writers affirm, that this war was conducted by the consuls, and
that they triumphed over the Samnites; and also, that Fabius advanced
into Apulia, and carried off from thence abundance of spoil. But that
Aulus Cornelius was dictator that year is an undisputed fact. The
question then is, whether he was appointed for the purpose of conducting
the war, or on occasion of the illness of Lucius Plautius, the prætor;
in order that there might be a magistrate to give the signal for the
starting of the chariots at the Roman games. This latter is asserted of
him; and that after performing the business, which in truth reflected no
great lustre on his office, he resigned the dictatorship. It is not
easy to determine between either the facts or the writers, which of them
deserves the preference: I am inclined to think that history has been
much corrupted by means of funeral panegyrics and false inscriptions on
statues; each family striving by false representations to appropriate to
itself the fame of warlike exploits and public honours. From this cause,
certainly, both the actions of individuals and the public records of
events have been confused. Nor is there extant any writer, contemporary
with those events, on whose authority we can with certainty rely.
END OF VOL. I.
JOHN CHILDS AND SON, BUNGAY.