than when lately answering the Thessalians and Perrhæbians, and
said:—“My dispute is not now with the Maronites, or with Eumenes, but
with you yourselves, Romans, from whom I have long ago seen that I can
obtain no justice. The cities of Macedonia, which had revolted from me
during a suspension of arms, I thought should in justice be restored to
me; not that they would have made any great accession to my dominions,
because the towns are small in themselves, and besides, are situated on
the extremities of the frontiers; but because the example was of great
consequence towards retaining the rest of the Macedonians in their
allegiance. This was refused me. In the Ætolian war, I was ordered by
the consul, Manius Acilius, to lay siege to Lamia, and when I had there
undergone a long course of fatigue in fighting and constructing works,
and was on the point of mounting the walls, the consul recalled me from
the city when almost in my possession, and compelled me to draw off my
troops from it. As some consolation for this hard treatment, I received
permission to seize on some forts, rather than cities, of Thessaly,
Perrhæbia, and Athamania. These also you yourselves, Quintus Cæcilius,
have taken from me a few days ago. The ambassadors of Eumenes, just now,
took for granted, it seems, that Eumenes would with more justice than I
possess whatever belonged to Antiochus. I judge the matter to be widely
different. For Eumenes could not have remained on his throne, unless the
Romans had engaged in the war, and not unless they had conquered.
Therefore he has received a favour from you, not you from him; whereas,
so far were any part of my dominions from being in danger, that, when
Antiochus voluntarily offered to purchase my alliance, with three
thousand talents and fifty decked ships, guaranteeing to me all the
cities of Greece of which I had heretofore been in possession, I
rejected that offer. I avowed myself his enemy, even before Manius
Acilius brought over an army into Greece. In conjunction with that
consul, I supported whatever share of the war he gave me in charge. To
the succeeding consul, Lucius Scipio, when he proposed leading his army
by land to the Hellespont, I not only gave a passage through my
dominions, but also made roads for him, built bridges, supplied him with
provisions, and escorted him, not only through Macedon, but likewise
through Thrace; where, besides other business, I had to procure peace
from the barbarians. In requital of this zeal, not to call it merit,
towards you, whether would it be proper in you, Romans, to enlarge and
increase my dominions by acts of generosity, or to ravish from me what I
possessed, either in my own right or through your kindness. The cities
of Macedon, which you acknowledge to have belonged to my kingdom, are
not restored. Eumenes comes to plunder me as he would Antiochus, and, if
you choose to believe him, covers his most shameless chicanery under the
decree of the ten ambassadors, by which principally he can be refuted
and convicted. For is it not expressly and plainly set down in that
writing, that the Chersonese and Lysimachia are granted to Eumenes; and
where are Ænus, Maronea, and the cities of Thrace annexed to it in
writing? That which he did not dare even to ask from them, shall he
obtain from you, as if under their grant? It is a matter of importance
in what light you choose to consider me. If you are resolved to
persecute me as an enemy and foe, proceed to act as you have begun: but,
if you have any consideration for me as a king in friendship and
alliance with you, I must entreat you not to judge me deserving of such
injurious treatment.”
29. The king’s discourse made a considerable impression on the
ambassadors; they therefore left the matter in suspense, by this
indecisive resolution, that “if the cities in question were granted to
Eumenes by the decree of the ten ambassadors, they would make no
alteration. If Philip subdued them in war, he should, by the laws of
war, hold them as the prize of victory. If neither were the case, then
their judgment was, that the decision should be referred to the senate;
and in order that all things might remain in their original state, the
garrisons in those cities should be withdrawn.” These causes,
principally, alienated the regard of Philip from the Romans, so that the
war naturally seems not set on foot by his son Perseus for any fresh
causes, but rather for these causes, bequeathed by the father to the
son. At Rome there was hitherto no suspicion of a war with Macedonia.
Lucius Manlius, the proconsul, had by this time come home from Spain. On
his demanding a triumph from the senate assembled in the temple of
Bellona, the greatness of his exploits justified the demand, but
precedent opposed it; for it was a rule, established by ancient
practice, that no commander, who had not brought home his troops, should
triumph, unless he had delivered up the province to his successor, in a
state of thorough subjection and tranquillity. An honour of a middling
grade was conferred on Manlius, namely, that he should enter the city in
ovation. He carried in the procession fifty-two golden crowns, one
hundred and twenty-two pounds’ weight of gold, with sixteen thousand
three hundred pounds of silver; and announced in the senate, that his
quæstor, Quintus Fabius, was bringing ten thousand pounds’ weight of
silver, and eighty of gold, and that he would carry it likewise to the
treasury. During that year there was a formidable insurrection of the
slaves in Apulia. Lucius Postumius, prætor, governed the province of
Tarentum, and conducted with much severity inquiries into a conspiracy
of peasants, who had infested the roads and public pastures with
robberies. Of these, he passed sentence on no less than seven thousand;
many of whom made their escape, and on many punishment was inflicted.
The consuls, after being long detained in the city by the levies, set
out at length for their provinces.
30. This year, Caius Calpurnius and Lucius Quintius, the two prætors in
Spain, drew their troops out of winter quarters, at the commencement of
spring, and making a junction of them in Bæturia, for they were resolved
to proceed in the operations of the campaign with united zeal and
harmony, advanced into Carpetania, where the enemy’s camp lay. At a
small distance from the towns of Hippo and Toletum, a fight began
between the foraging parties, to whom when reinforcements came from both
armies from the camps, the entire armies were by degrees drawn out into
the field. In this irregular kind of battle, the advantage of the ground
and the manner of fighting were in favour of the enemy. The two Roman
armies were routed, and driven into their camp; but the enemy did not
pursue the dismayed Romans. The Roman prætors, lest their camp should
be attacked next day, giving the signal in silence, led away their army
in the dead of the following night. At the first dawn, the Spaniards
came up to the rampart in battle array, and entered the camp which,
beyond their expectation, was deserted, and made prey of whatever had in
the hurry and confusion been first left behind; and then, returning to
their own station, remained, for a few days, at rest within their camp.
Of the Romans and allies, there were killed in the battle and the
pursuit, five thousand men, out of whose spoils the enemy furnished
themselves with arms. They then advanced to the river Tagus. All the
intermediate time the Roman prætors employed in collecting aid from the
allied Spanish states, and reviving the spirits of their men after the
dismay occasioned by their defeat. When their strength appeared
adequate, and the soldiers too called for their enemy, to blot out in
vengeance their former disgrace, they pitched their camp at the distance
of twelve miles from the river Tagus; but decamping thence at the third
watch, and marching with their army in a square, reached the bank of the
river at break of day. The enemy’s camp was on a hill at the other side
of the river. They immediately led their army across the river where it
was fordable in two places, Calpurnius having the command of the right,
Quintius of the left. The enemy continued motionless, since they were
surprised at the sudden arrival of the Romans, and busy in
consultations, when they might have excited confusion among the troops
during their hurry in passing the river. In the mean time the Romans
brought over all their baggage, and threw it together in a heap, and
seeing the enemy, at length, begin to move, and having no time for
fortifying a camp, they formed their line of battle. In the centre were
placed the fifth legion, serving under Calpurnius, and the eighth, under
Quintius, which composed the principal strength of their army. All the
way to the enemy’s camp they had an open plain, free from all danger of
ambush.
31. When the Spaniards saw the two bodies of Romans, on their side of
the river, they rushed suddenly out of the camp, and advanced to battle
at full speed, that they might fall upon them before they should unite
and put themselves in order. The fight, in the beginning, was urged with
great fury; the Spaniards being elated by their late success, and the
Roman soldiery inflamed to rage, by a discomfiture to which they were
unaccustomed. The centre, consisting of two legions of the greatest
bravery, fought with the utmost vigour. The enemy, seeing that they
could not be forced from their ground by any other means, resolved to
make their attack in form of a wedge; and this body, becoming
continually more numerous and more compact, pressed hard on them. When
the prætor, Calpurnius, perceived that his line was distressed in this
part, he hastily despatched two lieutenants-general, Titus Quintilius
Varus and Lucius Juventius Thalna, to animate the courage of the two
legions, who were ordered to say, that “all hopes of victory, and of
retaining possession of Spain, depended entirely on them. If they should
give ground, not a man in that whole army would ever see Italy, no, nor
even the farther bank of the Tagus.” He himself, at the head of the
cavalry of the two legions, making a small circuit, charged the flank of
the wedge, which was pressing upon his centre. Quintius, likewise, with
his cavalry, charged the enemy on the other flank; but the horsemen of
Calpurnius fought with far greater spirit, while the prætor himself
exceeded all others. He was the first that struck down one of the enemy,
and he pushed in among the troops in the centre, in such a manner that
it was hard to distinguish to which side he belonged. Thus the horse
were animated by the extraordinary valour of the prætor, and the
infantry by that of the horse. Shame, because they saw the prætor in the
midst of the enemy’s weapons, inspired the foremost centurions. They
all, therefore, earnestly pressed the standard-bearers, urging them to
carry forward the ensigns, and the soldiers to follow with speed. All
set up the shout anew, and made an attack as violent as if it were made
from the higher ground. Like a flood, therefore, they broke and bore
down the enemy in dismay, nor could they be resisted, pouring in one
after another, The cavalry pursued the fugitives to their camp, and
mixing with the crowd of the runaways, penetrated within the rampart.
Here the fight was renewed by the troops left to guard the camp, and
the Roman horsemen were obliged to dismount. While they were engaged,
the fifth legion came up, and afterwards the rest of the troops joined
them with all the speed they could. The Spaniards were cut to pieces in
all parts of the camp; not more than four thousand men made their
escape. Of these about three thousand, who kept their arms, took
possession of a mountain in the neighbourhood, and one thousand, who
were in general but half armed, dispersed through the country. This army
of the enemy had contained thirty-five thousand men, of whom that very
small number survived the battle. One hundred and thirty-three standards
were taken. Of the Romans and allies, a few more than six hundred fell;
and of the provincial auxiliaries, about one hundred and fifty. The loss
of five military tribunes, and a few Roman horsemen, served principally
to give the victory the appearance of being a bloody one. The army
lodged in the enemy’s camp, as they had not had time to fortify one of
their own. Next day the cavalry was praised by Calpurnius in an
assembly, and presented with trappings; and he declared publicly, that
through their bravery, principally, the enemy had been defeated, and
their camp stormed and taken. Quinctius, the other prætor, presented his
cavalry also with chains and clasps. A great many centurions also, of
both the armies, received gratuities, especially those who were in the
centre.
32. The consuls, as soon as they had finished the levies, and other
business which required to be done at Rome, led the army into their
province, Liguria. Sempronius marched from Pisæ against the Apuan
Ligurians, and by ravaging their lands, and by burning their villages
and forts, he opened that difficult country, as far as the river Macra
and the harbour of Luna. The enemy took possession of a mountain which
had been the ancient retreat of their forefathers; but the difficulty of
access being overcome, they were dislodged by force. Appius Claudius,
against the Ingaunian tribe, rivalled in several successful battles the
good fortune and bravery of his colleague. He also stormed six of their
towns, in which he made many thousand prisoners, beheading forty-three
of the chief promoters of the war. The time of the elections now drew
near; but Claudius came home to Rome sooner than Sempronius, to whom the
business of presiding at the elections had been allotted, because his
brother, Publius Claudius, stood candidate for the consulship. His
competitors, of patrician rank, were Lucius Æmilius, Quintus Fabius
Labeo, and Servius Sulpicius Galba, who had been candidates before, and
now renewed their suit, for an honour which was the more justly due to
them, owing to their repulses, as it had been refused before. Besides,
as it was not lawful that more than one patrician should be appointed,
there was a closer contest between the four candidates. The plebeian
candidates likewise were men in high esteem. Lucius Porcius, Quintus
Terentius Culleo, and Cneius Bæbius Tamphilus; these two had been
disappointed, but had cherished hopes of attaining the honour at some
future time. Claudius was the only new candidate. Quintus Fabius Labeo
and Lucius Porcius Licinus were marked out by public opinion as the
successful persons; but Claudius, the consul, unattended by his lictors,
canvassed with his brother through all parts of the forum,
notwithstanding the loud remonstrances of his opponents and the greater
part of the senate, who insisted that “he ought to remember that he was
consul of the Roman people, rather than the brother of Publius Claudius.
Why should he not rather sit on his tribunal, content himself with
presiding, and remain a silent spectator of the business.” Yet he could
not be restrained from a display of his immoderate zeal. The election
was, also, several times interrupted by contentions between the plebeian
tribunes; some of whom struggled hard in opposition to the consul, and
others in support of the cause which he favoured. At last, Appius
conquered all opposition, so as to set aside Fabius, and bring in his
brother. Thus was Publius Claudius Pulcher elected consul, beyond his
own, and indeed the general expectation. Lucius Porcius Licinus carried
his election also, because the contest among the plebeian candidates was
conducted with a decent degree of warmth, and not with the violence of
Claudius. Then was held the election of prætors. Caius Decimius Flavus,
Publius Sempronius Longus, Publius Cornelius Cethegus, Quintus Nævius
Matho, Caius Sempronius Blæsus, and Aulus Terentius Varro, were made
prætors. Such were the occurrences at home and abroad of this year,
during the consulate of Appius Claudius and Marcus Sempronius.
33. In the beginning of the following year, Publius Claudius and Lucius
Porcius, the consuls, when Quintus Cæcilius, Marcus Bæebius, and
Tiberius Sempronius, who had been sent to adjust the matters in dispute
between the kings, Philip and Eumenes, and the states of the
Thessalians, had given an account of their embassy, introduced to the
senate ambassadors from those kings and states. On this occasion, the
same arguments were repeated by all parties, which had been urged before
the ambassadors in Greece. The senate then decreed that a new embassy,
the principal man of which was Appius Claudius, should be sent into
Macedonia and Greece, to know whether the several states had been
restored to the Rhodians, Thessalians, and Perrhæbians. Instructions
were given to the same, that the garrisons should be withdrawn, from
Ænus and Maronea, and that all the sea-coast of Thrace should be made
free and independent of Philip and the Macedonians. They were ordered
also to go to Peloponnesus, from which the former ambassadors had
departed, leaving affairs in a more unsettled state than they would have
been if they had not come thither. For besides other matters, they were
even sent away without an answer by the Achæan council, nor was an
audience of that body granted to them at their request. When Quintus
Cæcilius made a heavy complaint on this subject, and at the same time
the Lacedæmonians deplored the demolition of their walls, the carrying
off their poor people into Achaia, the selling of them there, and the
depriving them of the laws of Lycurgus, by which the nation had been
supported unto that time, the Achaians laboured principally to excuse
their having refused a meeting of the council by quoting a law which
enacted, that a council should not be summoned, except on business of
peace or war, or when ambassadors should come from the senate with
letters or written instructions. That this kind of excuse should not be
made in future, the senate observed to them, that they ought to take
care that Roman ambassadors should at all times have an opportunity of
applying to their council, in like manner as an audience of the senate
was always given to them, at any time when they wished it.
34. After those embassies were dismissed, Philip, being informed that he
must yield up the states, and evacuate the towns in question, was highly
enraged against all, yet vented his fury on the Maronites in particular.
He gave a charge to Onomastus, who had the command of the sea-coast, to
put to death the leaders of the opposite party. This man, through the
agency of a person called Cassander, a partisan of the king’s, who had
resided a long time in Maronea, having introduced Thracians by night,
put the inhabitants to the sword, as if the city had been taken by
storm. When the Roman ambassadors complained of his acting with such
cruelty towards the innocent Maronites, and with such presumption
towards the Roman people, in killing, as enemies, those very persons to
whom the senate had adjudged the restoration of liberty, he denied that
“any of those matters concerned him, or any one belonging to him; that
they had quarrelled among themselves, and fought, because some wished to
bring over their state to his side, others to that of Eumenes. That they
might easily ascertain this; and they had only to ask the Maronites
themselves.” For he was confident, that while they were all under the
impression of terror, since the late massacre, not one of them would
dare to utter a word against him. Appius said, that “a case so clear
ought not to be examined into as if it were doubtful. But if he wished
to remove the guilt from himself, let him send Onomastus and Cassander,
the actors in that business, to Rome, that the senate might examine
them.” At first, these words so entirely disconcerted the king, that
neither his colour nor his looks remained unchanged; then, after some
time, having collected his thoughts, he replied, that “he would send
Cassander, who had been in Maronea, if it was their desire: but as to
Onomastus, how could that matter affect him, who, so far from being in
Maronea, was not even near it?” He was more careful of Onomastus, as a
more valued friend, yet he dreaded him much more lest he might make
discoveries; because he had, in person, conversed with him on the
subject, and he had made him an agent and accomplice in many similar
acts. Cassander is supposed to have been taken off, that the truth might
not be divulged, by poison administered by persons sent to escort him
through Epirus to the sea-coast.
35. The ambassadors departed from the conference with Philip in such a
manner that they made it manifest that none of these acts pleased them;
and Philip, with a full resolution to have recourse again to arms.
Because his strength was as yet insufficient for that purpose, he
resolved, in order to procure delay, to send his younger son Demetrius
to Rome, to clear him from the above-named charges; and at the same time
to deprecate the wrath of the senate. Philip had strong expectations
that the young man himself, because he had, while a hostage at Rome,
exhibited proofs of a princely disposition, would have a good deal of
influence now. Meanwhile, under the pretence of carrying succour to the
Byzantians, but in reality with design to strike terror into the
chieftains of the Thracians, he marched into their country, utterly
defeated them in an engagement, in which he took their commander,
Amadocus, prisoner, and then returned to Macedonia, having first
despatched emissaries to induce the barbarians, living near the Danube,
to make an irruption into Italy. The arrival of the Roman ambassadors,
who had been ordered to go from Macedonia into Achaia, was expected in
Peloponnesus; and in order that the Achæans might settle their plans of
conduct towards them beforehand, their prætor, Lycortas, summoned a
general council. Here the affair of the Lacedæmonians was taken into
consideration. It was observed that “from enemies, they were turned
accusers; and there was reason to fear lest they should prove more
formidable, after having been conquered, than when at war: for in it the
Achæans had the Romans as allies in their cause; now the same Romans
were more favourable to the Lacedæmonians than to the Achæans. Even
Areus and Alcibiades, both restored from exile through the kindness of
the Achæans, had undertaken an embassy to Rome, in prejudice to a nation
to which they were so much obliged; and had used language so severe,
that they seemed to have been banished from their country, instead of
being restored to it.” A general clamour arose, requiring him to put the
question on each of them by name; and as every thing was directed by
passion, not by reason, they were condemned to die. In a few days after
this the Roman ambassadors arrived, and a council was summoned to meet
them at Clitor, in Arcadia.
36. Before they transacted any business, alarm was excited in the
Achæans, accompanied by the reflection, how unlikely the dispute was to
receive impartial judgment, when they saw in company with the
ambassadors Areus and Alcibiades, whom in their last council they had
condemned to death; yet none of them dared to utter a word. Appius
acquainted them that the senate was much displeased at those matters,
of which the Lacedæmonians made complaint before them; “first, the
massacre that took place at Compasium of those who, in obedience to the
summons of Philopœmen, came to stand a trial; then after such barbarity
had been exercised towards men, that their cruelty might be felt in
every part, the having demolished the wall of that famous city, having
abrogated its laws of the greatest antiquity, and abolished the
discipline of Lycurgus, so famed throughout the world.” After Appius had
spoken to this effect, Lycortas, both because he was prætor and because
he was of the faction of Philopœmen, the adviser of all that was done at
Lacedæemon, answered him thus: “Appius Claudius, our speech before you
is attended with more difficulties than we had lately before the senate
at Rome; for then we had to answer the accusations of the Lacedæmonians,
but now we stand accused by yourselves, before whom our cause is to be
heard. But to this disadvantage of situation we submit with this hope,
that you will hear us with the temper of a judge, laying aside the
character of an advocate, in which you just now appeared. I at least,
though the matters of which the Lacedæmonians complained formerly in
this place, before Quintus Cæcilius, and afterwards at Rome, have been
just recapitulated by you, yet shall consider myself as answering for
them, not to you, but before you. You charge us with the murder of those
men, who being called out by the prætor, Philopœmen, to trial, were put
to death. This I think a charge of such a nature, that it ought not to
be advanced against us, either by you, Romans, or by any in your
presence. Why so? Because it was written in the treaty with you, that
the Lacedæmonians should not intermeddle with the cities on the coast.
At the time when they, taking up arms, seized by assault in the night
those towns with which they had been forbidden to interfere; if Titus
Quintius, if a Roman army had been in Peloponnesus, as formerly, the
captured and oppressed inhabitants would surely have fled to them for
relief. As you were at a great distance, to whom else would they fly but
to us, your allies, whom they had seen at a former time bringing aid to
Gythium; whom they had seen in conjunction with you, besieging Lacedæmon
on their account? In your stead, therefore, we undertook a just and
rightful war. And when other men approve of this step, and even the
Lacedæmonians cannot censure it; the gods themselves, also, by giving us
the victory, have shown their approbation of it; how then can acts done
under the laws of war come under civil disquisition? Of these acts,
however, the greatest part nowise affect us. The summoning to trial men,
who had excited the populace to arms, who had stormed and plundered the
towns on the coast, who had murdered the principal inhabitants, was our
act; but the putting them to death when they were coming into the camp
was yours, Areus and Alcibiades, who now, since it is the will of the
gods, arraign us, and not ours. The Lacedæmonian exiles (in the number
of whom, these two men then were) were then in our camp, and believing
that they were the objects of attack because they had chosen the
maritime towns for their residence, made an assault on those by whose
means they had been banished, and who they perceived with indignation
would not suffer them even to grow old in exile with safety.
Lacedænonians therefore, not Achæans, slew Lacedæmonians; nor is it of
any consequence to dispute, whether they were slain justly or unjustly.
37. “But then, Achæans, the abolition of the laws and ancient discipline
of Lycurgus, with the demolition of the walls, are unquestionably your
acts: now how can both these charges be brought forward by the same
persons, since the walls of Lacedæmon were built, not by Lycurgus, but a
few years ago, for the purpose of subverting the discipline of Lycurgus?
The tyrants erected them lately as a fortress and defence for
themselves, not for the state; and if Lycurgus should rise this day from
the dead, he would rejoice at their ruins, and would say that he now
acknowledged his country, and ancient Sparta. You ought not to have
waited for Philopœmen, or the Achæans; you should have removed and
razed, with your own hands, every vestige of tyranny; for these were the
foul scars of slavery. And as during almost eight hundred years, while
ye were without walls, ye were free, and for some time even chiefs of
Greece; so, after being bound with walls, as with fetters, you were
slaves for one hundred years. As to what concerns the abrogating their
laws, I conceive that the tyrants took away the ancient laws of
Lacedæmon, and that we did not deprive them of their own laws which
they did not possess, but gave them ours; nor did we neglect the
interests of their state, when we made it a member of our council, and
incorporated it with ourselves, so that the whole Peloponnesus should
form one body and one council. If we were living under laws different
from what we imposed on them, in that case I think they might complain
of being treated unfairly, and consequently be displeased. I know,
Appius Claudius, that the kind of discourse which I have hitherto used
is not proper either for allies, addressing their allies, or for an
independent nation; but, in truth, for slaves pleading before their
masters. For if the herald’s proclamation, in which you ordered the
Achæans, first of all the states of Greece, to be free, was any thing
more than empty sound; if the treaty be valid, if the alliance and
friendship be maintained on equal terms, why do not I inquire what you
Romans did, on the taking of Capua, as well as you demand what we, the
Achæans, did towards the Lacedæmonians, when we conquered them in war?
Some persons were killed, suppose, by us. What! did not you behead the
Campanian senators? We demolished their walls: you not only destroyed
the walls, but you took the city and the lands. But you say, the treaty
is on equal terms only in appearance, but, in reality, the Achæans
possess a precarious state of freedom, while the Romans enjoy supreme
power. I am sensible of it, Appius; and if I ought not, I do not
remonstrate; but, I beseech you, let the difference between the Romans
and Achæans be as great as it may, not to place people, who are foes to
both, on an equal footing with us, your allies, or even on a better.
For, as to setting them on an equality, that we ourselves have done,
when we gave them our own laws, when we made them members of the Achæan
council. Vanquished,—they are not content with what satisfies their
conquerors; foes,—they demand more than allies enjoy. What we have
ratified by our oaths, what we have consecrated as inviolable to eternal
remembrance, by records engraved in stone, they want to abolish, and to
load us with perjury. Romans, for you we have high respect; and, if such
is your wish, dread also; but we more respect and dread the immortal
gods.” He was heard with general approbation, and all declared that he
had spoken as became the dignity of his office; so that it was easily
seen, that the Romans could not support their ascendency by acting
gently. Appius then said, that “he earnestly recommended it to the
Achæans to conciliate friendship, while it was in their power to act
voluntarily; lest they might presently do so unwillingly and by
compulsion.” These words were heard by all with grief, but inspired them
with fear of refusing compliance. They only requested the Romans “to
make such alterations respecting the Lacedæmonians as they should judge
proper, and not involve the Achæans in the guilt of annulling what they
had sanctioned with their oaths.” Nothing more was done, only the
sentence lately passed on Areus and Alcibiades was reversed.
38. In the beginning of this year, when the business of assigning the
provinces to the consuls and prætors was taken under consideration at
Rome, Liguria was decreed to the consuls, because there was no war any
where else. As to the prætors, Caius Decimius Flavus obtained, by lot,
the city jurisdiction; Publius Cornelius Cethegus, that between citizens
and foreigners; Caius Sempronius Blæsus, Sicily; Quintus Nævius Matho,
Sardinia; he had also the charge of making inquisition concerning
poisons; Aulus Terentius Varro, Hither Spain; and Publius Sempronius
Longus, Farther Spain. From the two latter provinces deputies arrived
about this time,—Lucius Juvencius Thalna and Titus Quintilius Varus;
who, having informed the senate how formidable the war was that was
finished by them in Spain, requested that, in consideration of such
happy success, a thanksgiving should be performed to the immortal gods,
and permission granted to the prætors to bring home the armies. The
senate decreed a thanksgiving for two days, and ordered that the
question respecting the armies should lie over, and be proposed when
they would be deliberating concerning the armies for the consuls and
prætors. A few days after this, they voted to the consuls, for Liguria,
two legions each, which Appius Claudius and Marcus Sempronius had
commanded. With regard to the armies in Spain, there was a warm
contention between the new prætors and the friends of the absent ones,
Calpurnius and Quintius. On each side were plebeian tribunes, and, on
each, a consul. The former threatened, if the senate voted for bringing
home the armies, to protest against their decree; the latter, that, if
such a protest were made, they would not suffer any other business to
proceed. At last, the interest of the absent prætors was overpowered,
and a decree of the senate passed, that “the prætors should enlist four
thousand Roman foot, and four hundred horse; with five thousand foot,
and five hundred horse, of the Latin confederates; whom they should
carry with them into Spain. That, when they should have divided these
between the legions, they should discharge whatever number should then
be in each legion, above five thousand foot and three hundred horse,
dismissing those first who had served out their number of campaigns,
afterwards the others according to their bravery displayed under
Calpurnius and Quintius.”
39. After this dispute was ended, another immediately arose, in
consequence of the death of a prætor, Caius Decimius. There stood
candidates for his place, Cneius Sicinius and Lucius Pupius, who had
been ædiles the year before; Caius Valerius, the flamen of Jupiter, and
Quintus Fulvius Flaccus, who, though he did not appear in the white
gown, because he was curule ædile elect, yet pressed his suit with more
warmth than any of them. The contest lay between him and the priest of
Jupiter. Fulvius at the beginning seemed to have an equal chance with
the flamen, and afterwards surpassed him; on which, some of the plebeian
tribunes insisted that no account should be taken of him, because one
person could neither hold nor administer two offices, especially curule
ones, at the same time; while others of them thought it proper that he
ought to be exempted from the laws, in order that the people might have
the power of electing prætor the person whom they wished. The consul,
Lucius Porcius, was, from the beginning, inclined to refuse admitting
him a candidate; and afterwards, wishing to have the countenance of the
senate in so doing, he called the members together, and told them that
“he desired their judgment in the case where a curule ædile elect,
without any colour of law, and setting a precedent insufferable in a
free state, stood candidate for the prætorship; for his part, unless
they determined otherwise, he intended to hold the election according to
law.” The senate voted, that the consul, Lucius Porcius, should
recommend to Quintus Fulvius, not to obstruct the elections for
substituting a prætor in the room of Caius Decimius from proceeding
according to law. When the consul, in pursuance of this decree, applied
to him on the subject, he answered, that “he would do nothing unworthy
of himself,” by which indeterminate answer he left room for people to
interpret his intention agreeably to their wish, and that he meant to
submit to the direction of the senate. But, in the assembly, he urged
his pretensions with more eagerness than ever: alleging as a charge,
that the kindness of the Roman people was being wrested from him, and an
odium excited against him on account of his suing for a second post of
honour; as if it were not manifest that, when elected præter, he must
instantly abdicate the ædileship. The consul, seeing the candidate’s
obstinacy increase, and the public favour incline to him more and more,
dissolved the assembly, and summoned a meeting of the senate; where, in
a full house, they passed a vote, that “inasmuch as the directions of
the senate had produced no effect on Flaccus, the affair concerning him
should be laid before the people.” A general assembly being summoned,
when the consul made a full representation of the matter, Fulvius, not
even then swerving from his determination, returned thanks to the Roman
people “for the great zeal which they had shown in their desire to make
him prætor, as often as opportunity had been given them of declaring
their sentiments;” and assured them that “it was his resolution not to
disappoint such instances of the attachment of his countrymen.” This
determined declaration increased the ardour of people for his cause to
such a degree, that he would undoubtedly have been chosen prætor, if the
consul had admitted him to stand. The tribunes maintained a violent
altercation, both with their colleagues and with the consul, until, at
length, the senate passed a decree, that “whereas the obstinacy of
Quintus Flaccus, and the ill-judged party zeal of many among the people,
had prevented the assembly for filling the place of a prætor, from being
held according to law. The senate therefore gave their judgment, that
the present number of prætors was sufficient, that Publius Cornelius
should hold both jurisdictions in the city, and celebrate the games of
Apollo.”
40. No sooner was this election stopped by the prudence and firmness of
the senate, than another ensued, in which the contest was still greater;
since it was concerning a more important subject, and between
competitors more numerous and more powerful. The censorship was the
object of contention of the following candidates, Lucius Valerius
Flaccus, Publius Scipio, Lucius Scipio, Cneius Manlius Vulso, and Lucius
Furius Purpureo, patricians; Marcus Porcius Cato, Marcus Fulvius
Nobilior, Tiberius Sempronius Longus, Marcus Sempronius Tuditanus,
plebeians. But Marcus Porcius far surpassed all of them, both plebeians
and patricians of the highest ranks. So great powers of mind and energy
of intellect were in this man, that no matter how lowly the position in
which he was born, he appeared capable of attaining to the highest rank.
No one qualification for the management of business, either public or
private, was wanting to him. He was equally skilled in affairs relating
to town and country. Some have been advanced to the highest honours by
their knowledge of the law, others by their eloquence, some by military
renown; but this man’s genius was so versatile, and so well adapted to
all things, that in whatever way engaged, it might be said, that nature
formed him for that alone. In war, he was most courageous,
distinguishing himself highly in many remarkable battles; and, when he
arrived at the highest posts, was likewise a most consummate commander.
Then, in peace, if consulted on a point of law, he was the wisest
counsellor; if a cause was to be pleaded, the most eloquent advocate.
Nor was he one of those whose oratory was striking only during their own
lives, without leaving after them any monument of it. On the contrary,
his eloquence still lives, and will long live, consecrated to memory by
writings of every kind. His orations are many, spoken for himself, for
others, and against others; for he harassed his enemies, not only by
supporting prosecutions against them, but by maintaining causes in
opposition to them. Enmities in abundance gave him plenty of employment,
and he never permitted them to lie dormant; nor was it easy to tell
whether the nobility laboured harder to keep him down, or he to oppress
the nobility. His temper, no doubt, was austere, his language bitter and
unboundedly free, but his mind was never conquered by his passions, his
integrity was inflexible, and he looked with contempt on popularity and
riches. In spare diet, in enduring toil and danger, his body and mind
were like iron; so that even old age, which brings all things to
dissolution, did not break his vigour. In his eighty-sixth year he stood
a trial, pleaded his own cause, and published his speech; and in his
ninetieth year, he brought Servius Galba to trial, before the people.
41. On this occasion, when he was a candidate for censorship, as in all
his previous career, the nobility endeavoured to crush him. All the
candidates, likewise, except Lucius Flaccus, who had been his colleague
in the consulship, combined to disappoint him of the office, not merely
with a view to their own success, in preference to him, or because they
felt indignant at the idea of seeing a man of no family censor, but
because from one who had received offence from most of them, and who
wished to retaliate, they anticipated a severe censorship, that would
endanger the reputations of many. For, even while soliciting, he uttered
frequent menaces, and upbraided them with using their interest against
him, because they dreaded an impartial and courageous execution of the
duty of censor; at the same time, giving his interest to Lucius
Valerius. He said, that “he was the only colleague, in conjunction with
whom he could correct modern profligacy, and re-establish the ancient
morals.” People were so inflamed by such discourses, that, in spite of
the opposition made by the nobility, they not only made Marcus Porcius
censor, but gave him for his colleague Lucius Valerius Flaccus.
Immediately after the election of censors, the consuls and prætors went
abroad to their provinces, except Quintus Nævius, who was detained from
going to Sardinia, for no less than four months, by inquisitions
concerning poisonings, a great part of which he held out of the city, in
the corporate towns and villages; for that method was judged the more
eligible. If we are to credit Valerius Antias, he condemned about two
thousand men, Lucius Postumius, the prætor, to whose lot the province of
Tarentum had fallen, punished numerous conspiracies of the peasants,
and, with great care, finished the remainder of the inquiries concerning
the Bacchanalians. Many of these, who had not appeared on being
summoned, or had deserted their bail, were then lurking in that part of
Italy; some of them he sentenced to punishment, and others he sent under
a guard to the senate at Rome, where they were all committed to prison
by Publius Cornelius.
42. In Farther Spain, the Lusitanians being weakened by the late war,
matters remained quiet. In Hither Spain, Aulus Terentius took the town
of Corbia, in Suessetania, by engines and regular works, and sold the
prisoners, after which the troops had rest in their winter quarters in
that province also. The former prætors, Caius Calpurnius Piso and Lucius
Quintius, came home to Rome; a triumph was voted to both by the senate
with great unanimity. Caius Calpurnius triumphed first, over the
Lusitanians and Celtiberians. He carried in procession eighty-three
golden crowns, and twelve thousand pounds’ weight of silver. In a few
days after, Lucius Quintius Crispinus triumphed over the same
Lusitanians and Celtiberians, bearing in his triumph the same quantity
of gold and silver. The censors, Marcus Porcius and Lucius Valerius,
while anxious curiosity was blended with fear, made their survey of the
senate; they expelled seven from the senate, one of them a man of
consular rank, highly distinguished by nobility of birth and honourable
employments,—Lucius Quintius Flaminius. It is mentioned, as a practice
instituted in the memory of our forefathers, that the censors should
annex marks of censure to the names of such as they degraded from the
senate. There are severe speeches of Cato, against those whom he either
expelled the senate, or degraded from the equestrian rank, but by far
the most so is that against Lucius Quintius. Had he spoken, in the
character of prosecutor, previous to the censure, and not in that of
censor after it, not even his brother Titus, if he were his colleague,
could have suffered Quintius to remain in the senate. Among other
charges, he objected to him, that he had, by hopes of extraordinary
presents, prevailed on Philip, a Carthaginian and a catamite, to
accompany him into his province of Gaul; that this youth, in order to
enhance the merit of his complaisance to the consul, used frequently, in
wanton squabbling, to upbraid him for having quitted Rome just before
the show of gladiators. It happened, that while they were at a feast and
heated with wine, a message was brought into the place of entertainment,
that a Boian, of high rank, had come as a deserter with his children,
and wished to see the consul, that he might, in person, receive his
assurance of protection. He was accordingly introduced into the tent,
and began to address him through an interpreter: but while he was
speaking, Quintius said to his catamite, “Since you left the show of
gladiators, have you a mind to see this Gaul dying?” When he had
assented, but scarcely in earnest, the consul, drawing a sword that
hung over his head, first struck the Gaul as he was speaking, and then,
when he was running out, and imploring the protection of the Roman
people, and of those present, ran him through the side.
43. Valerius Antias, as he was one who never read Cato’s speech, and
only gave credit to a tale published without authority, tells the story
in another manner, but similar to this in lust and cruelty. He writes,
that, at Placentia, the consul invited to an entertainment a woman of
ill fame, with whom he was desperately enamoured. There, displaying his
importance to this courtesan, he told her, among other matters, with
what severity he had conducted the inquisitions, and how many he had
then in prison under sentence of death, whom he intended to behead. Then
she, being next him on the couch, said, that having never seen an
executioner perform his office, she was very desirous of seeing such a
thing; on which, the indulgent lover ordered one of those wretches to be
dragged to the spot, and there cut off his head. The deed of death,
whether committed as the censor or as Valerius reports it, was barbarous
and inhuman; that in the midst of feasting and cups, when it is
customary to offer libations to the gods, and to pray for happiness, a
human victim should be butchered, and the table stained with his blood,
and this for the entertainment of an acknowledged wanton. In the latter
part of Cato’s speech, he proposes to Quintius, that if he denied this
fact, and the others of which he accused him, he should give security to
abide a legal trial; but if he confessed them, could he suppose, he
asked him, that any one would be sorry for his disgrace; the disgrace of
him who, in the midst of a feast, being intoxicated with wine and lust,
had sported with the blood of a human being.
44. In the review of the knights, Lucius Scipio Asiaticus was degraded.
In fixing the rates of taxation, also, the censor’s conduct was harsh
and severe to all ranks of men. People were ordered to give account upon
oath, of women’s dress, and ornaments, and carriages exceeding in value
fifteen thousand asses;[53] and it was further ordered, that slaves,
younger than twenty years, which, since the last survey, had been sold
for ten thousand asses[54] or more, should be estimated at ten times
their value; and that, on all these articles, a tax should be laid of
three denariuses[55] for each thousand asses.[56] The censors took away
water which belonged to the public running or carried into any private
building or field; and they demolished within thirty days all buildings
or sheds, in possession of private persons, that projected into public
ground. They then engaged contractors for executing national works, with
the money decreed for that purpose,—for paving cisterns with stone, for
cleansing the sewers where it was requisite, and forming new ones on the
Aventine, and in other quarters where hitherto there had been none.
Then, dividing their tasks, Flaccus built a mole at Nepthunia, on the
coast, and made a road through the Formian mountains. Cato purchased for
the use of the people two halls, the Mænian and Titian, in the Lautumiæ,
and four shops, and built there a court of justice, which was called the
Porcian. They farmed out the several branches of the revenue at the
highest prices, and bargained with the contractors for the performance
of the public services on the lowest terms. When the senate, overcome by
the prayers and lamentations of the publicans, ordered those bargains to
be revoked, and new agreements to be made; the censors, by an edict,
excluded from competition the persons who had eluded the former
contracts, and farmed out all the same branches at prices very little
reduced. This was a remarkable censorship, and the origin of many deadly
feuds: it rendered Marcus Porcius, to whom all the harshness was
attributed, uneasy during the remainder of his life. This year, two
colonies were established, Potentia in Picenum, and Pisaurum in the
Gallic territory. Six acres were given to each settler. The same
commissioners had the ordering of both colonies, and the division of the
lands, Quintus Fabius Labeo, Marcus Fulvius Flaccus, and Quintus Fulvius
Nobilior. The consuls of that year performed nothing memorable at home
or abroad.
45. They elected to serve as consuls for the ensuing year, Marcus
Claudius Marcellus and Quintus Fabius Labeo. These, on the ides of
March, the first day of their assuming the administration, proposed to
the senate to determine their provinces, and those of the prætors. The
prætors appointed were, Caius Valerius, flamen of Jupiter, who had been
candidate the year before, Spurius Posthumius Albinus, Publius
Cornelius Sisenna, Lucius Pupius, Lucius Julius, and Cneius Sicinius.
Liguria was ordered to be the province of the consuls, and the armies
were assigned to them, which Publius Claudius and Marcus Porcius had
commanded. The two Spains, without being put to the lot, were reserved
for the prætors who held them the year before, and also their own
armies. The prætors were ordered to regulate their casting lots, in such
a manner, that the flamen of Jupiter should have one or other of the
judicial employments at Rome. The foreign jurisdiction fell to his lot,
that between citizens to Cornelius Sisenna. Sicily was assigned to
Spurius Posthumius, Apulia to Lucius Pupius, Gaul to Lucius Julius,
Sardinia to Cneius Sicinius. Lucius Julius was ordered to hasten to his
province, because some transalpine Gauls, as was mentioned before,
having made their way through the forests into Italy, by an unknown
road, were building a town in the country which now forms the district
of Aquileia. Orders were given to the prætor to prevent their doing so,
as far as might lie in his power without appealing to arms; and, if it
should be necessary to stop them by force, to give information to the
consuls, one of whom was, in that case, directed to march his legions
against those Gauls. Towards the close of the preceding year, an
assembly had been held for the purpose of electing an augur, in the room
of Cneius Cornelius deceased, when Spurius Posthumius Albinus was
chosen.
46. In the beginning of this year, Publius Licinius Crassus, chief
pontiff, died, in whose room was appointed Marcus Sempronius Tuditanus,
and Caius Servilius Geminus was raised to the place of chief pontiff. On
occasion of the funeral of Publius Licinius a largess of flesh was
distributed to the people, and one hundred and twenty pair of gladiators
fought. The funeral games lasted three days; and, after the games, a
public feast was given. During the feast, and while the couches were
spread over the forum, a storm came on with violent gusts of wind, and
compelled most of the people to pitch tents in that place. The same, on
the weather clearing up, in a short time after, were removed. It was
rumoured about, that they had fulfilled a prophecy which soothsayers had
pronounced, among the decrees of the fates, that, inevitably, tents
would be pitched in the forum. As soon as they were relieved from those
religious fears, they were struck with new ones, by showers of blood
falling for two days, in the area of Vulcan’s temple, and a supplication
was ordered by the decemvirs for the sake of expiating the prodigy.
Before the consuls set out for their provinces, they introduced the
embassies from the countries beyond the sea to an audience of the
senate; and at no time was there in Rome such a number of people from
those regions. For, as soon as a report spread through the nations which
border on Macedon, that accusations and complaints against Philip were
listened to by the Romans with some degree of attention, and that it had
been of advantage to many to complain;—all these states and nations, and
even individuals, on their own accounts, (for he was a troublesome
neighbour to every one,) flocked to Rome, with hopes of obtaining either
redress of their injuries, or, at least, the consolation of expressing
their griefs. An embassy came also from king Eumenes, with his brother
Athenæus, to complain of the garrisons not being withdrawn by Philip out
of Thrace; and, likewise, of his sending succours into Bithynia, to
Prusias, who was at war with Eumenes.
47. Demetrius, who was then very young, had to answer all these
representations; and it was no easy matter to retain in memory, either
all the charges which were brought against his father, or what was
proper to be said in reply. For the charges were not only numerous, but
most of them exceedingly frivolous; of disputes about boundaries, of men
forced away and cattle driven off; of justice, either capriciously
administered or refused; of property adjudged either by force or
influence. When the senate perceived that Demetrius could not explain
any of those matters distinctly, and that they could not gain
satisfactory information from him, and when, at the same time, the
youth, through inexperience and bashfulness, was much embarrassed, they
ordered that he should be asked whether he had received from his father
any written instructions on those points; and on his answering that he
had, it appeared to them better and more proper to receive the answers
of the king himself, on each particular head; so they immediately called
for the scroll, but afterwards gave him leave to read it to them in
person. Here were his apologies on each subject, compressed into a
narrow compass; informing them that, in some cases, he had acted in
conformity to the determinations of the ambassadors; in others, that the
fault of not conforming to them, lay not in him, but actually in the
persons themselves who accused him. He had interspersed, also,
complaints concerning the injustice of the decrees, and the partiality
with which the discussion was carried on in presence of Cæcilius, and of
the insults that were offered him, in a most unworthy and unmerited
manner by all. The senate inferred from these marks that his mind was
irritated; nevertheless, on the young man apologizing for some things,
and undertaking that others should be performed in the manner most
agreeable to the senate, they ordered the answer to be given him, that
“in no instance had his father acted with more propriety, or given more
pleasure to the senate, than in his choosing, whatever the nature of
those transactions might be, to send his excuses for them to the Romans,
by his son Demetrius. That the senate could leave unnoticed, forget, and
put up with, many past matters, and believe also that they might place
confidence in Demetrius; for though they restored his person to his
father, they still had his mind as a hostage, and were convinced that,
as far as he could, without infringing on his duty to his father, he was
a friend to the Roman people. That, to do him honour, they would send
ambassadors into Macedon, in order that, if any thing which ought to
have been done was left undone, it might then be effected, but still
without requiring an atonement for former omissions. That they wished
Philip also to be sensible, that it was owing to the kind offices of his
son Demetrius, that the treaty between him and the Roman people remained
inviolate.”
48. These declarations, which were made with the intention of adding to
the dignity of his character, proved to the young man the cause of
immediate envy, and of not far distant ruin. The Lacedæmonians were next
introduced, when many insignificant disputes were agitated. Those which
might be deemed important were—whether the persons whom the Achæans had
condemned, should be reinstated or not; whether they slew with justice
or the reverse those whom they put to death; the question was debated
also whether the Lacedæmonians should continue in the Achæans’ council,
or, as had formerly been the case, that single state in Peloponnesus
should have separate independence. It was determined Òthat the
condemned should be reinstated, and the sentences passed reversed; that
Lacedæmon should continue in the Achæan council, and that this decree
should be committed to writing, and signed by the Lacedæmonians and
Achæans. Quintus Marcius was sent ambassador into Macedon, with orders,
likewise, to take a view of the affairs of the allies in Peloponnesus;
for there also disturbances still subsisted, in consequence of the old
quarrels, and Messene had revolted from the Achæan confederacy. But if I
were to trace out the cause and progress of this war, I should deviate
from the resolution by which I determined not to treat of foreign
events, further than they are connected with the affairs of Rome.
49. One event deserves to be mentioned: that, notwithstanding the
Achæans had a superiority in the war, Philopœmen, their prætor, was
taken prisoner on his march to secure Corone, which the enemy meant to
attack, being, with a small party of horse, surprised in a dangerous
defile. It is said that he might have effected his own escape, by the
aid of some Thracians and Cretans who were with him, but the shame of
deserting his horsemen, the most distinguished youths in the nation,
selected by himself a short time before, detained him there. Whilst he
is procuring for these an opportunity of getting clear of the narrow
defile, by closing the rear in person, and sustaining the assaults of
the enemy, his horse fell. By the shock of his fall, and the weight of
the horse, which fell upon him, he was very nearly killed on the spot;
for he was now seventy years old, and his strength had been greatly
impaired by a tedious illness, from which he was but just recovered.
Lying thus on the ground, the enemy pouring on, secured him. Out of
respect to his character, however, and from regard to his merit, they
raised him up, when they recognised him, with as much care as if he had
been their own commander, and revived him, and carried him out of that
remote valley into the road, and they scarcely believed their own
senses, on account of the unexpected joy; however, some of them sent on
messages to Messene, that the war was at an end, for they were bringing
Philopœmen prisoner. At first it seemed so incredible, that the
messenger was deemed either a liar or a madman. Afterwards, when numbers
came, one after another, all asserting the same, credence was at length
given to the matter; and, before they well knew whether he was come
near the city, all, freemen and slaves, with even women and children,
poured out to enjoy the sight; insomuch that the multitude quite closed
up the gate, whilst each person seemed unlikely to consider the thing as
certain unless he should obtain certain belief by his own eye-sight.
Those who conducted Philopœmen, with difficulty removing those in their
way, were able to enter the gate, but the dense crowd completely blocked
up the street; and, as the greatest part of these were excluded from the
sight, they suddenly filled a theatre which was contiguous to the
street, and all with one voice insisted that he should be brought
thither for the public view. The magistrates and leading men, fearing
that compassion for so great a man, on seeing him, would cause some
disturbance; as many would be moved by respect for his former dignity,
when they compared it with his present condition, and many by the
recollection of his transcendent merits, placed him where he could be
seen at a distance. And quickly after hurried him away out of the sight
of the people, who were told by the prætor, Dinocrates, that there were
some subjects intimately connected with the decision of the war, on
which the magistrates wished to interrogate him. Having carried him
thence to the senate-house, and called the council together, they began
a consultation on the measures to be pursued.
50. The evening came on while they were still at a loss, not only about
other matters, but even about the place where he might be kept with
proper security during the following night. They were quite confounded
at the greatness of his former fortune and merit; and they neither dared
to undertake the guarding of him at their houses, nor thought it safe to
trust the custody of him to any individual. At last some persons
reminded them of a public treasury under ground, enclosed with hewn
stone; into this place he was put down, in chains, and a huge stone,
with which it is generally covered, was placed over it, with the help of
a machine. After having thus determined to trust to the place, rather
than to any man, for his safe keeping, they waited with impatience for
the dawn. On the following day, the whole populace, mindful of his
former services to the state, declared their opinion, that they ought to
spare him, and to seek through his means some remedies for their present
misfortunes. But the authors of the revolt, in whose hands was the
management of affairs, consulting in secret, unanimously resolved to put
him to death; but whether they should do it speedily, or defer it, was
for some time a matter of doubt. The party that were more eager for his
immediate execution, at length prevailed, and a person was sent to him
with poison. They relate, that on receiving the cup, he only asked if
Lycortas, the other commander of the Achæans, and the horsemen had
escaped; and being told that they were safe, he said, “It is well,” and
then intrepidly drinking the contents of the cup, expired shortly after.
The actors of this piece of cruelty, however, did not long rejoice at
his death; for Messene being conquered in war, delivered up the guilty
individuals to the Achæans, when they positively demanded them. The
bones of Philopœmen were restored, and his funeral was attended by the
whole Achæan council, every human honour being heaped on him to such a
degree, that they did not withhold divine ones. So much is conceded to
this man by historians, both Greek and Latin, that several of them have
recorded, as a circumstance remarkably distinguishing this year, that
three illustrious commanders died in it, Philopœmen, Hannibal, and
Publius Scipio. To such an extent have they placed him on an equal
footing with the most consummate generals of the two most powerful
nations.
51. Titus Quintius Flamininus came ambassador to king Prusias, who had
incurred the jealousy of the Romans, by entertaining Hannibal after the
flight of Antiochus, and by making war on Eumenes. At the court of
Prusias, either because, among other discourse, he reproached him with
his giving protection to a person, who, of all men living, was the most
inveterate enemy to the Roman nation, who had incited, first his own
country, and afterwards, when its power was reduced, king Antiochus, to
make war on Rome; or because Prusias himself, with the design of
gratifying Flamininus and the Roman people, conceived the design of
killing Hannibal, or delivering him into their hands; immediately after
the first conference with Flamininus, a party of soldiers was sent to
guard Hannibal’s house. The Carthaginian had always foreseen some such
end of his life; for he knew the implacable hatred which the Romans bore
him, and placed little confidence in the faith of kings. Besides, he had
experienced the fickle temper of Prusias, and had, for some time,
dreaded the arrival of Flamininus, as an event fatal to him. Encircled
by enemies on every side, in order to have always some path open for
flight, he had made seven passages from his house, of which some were
concealed, lest they might be invested by a guard. But the imperious
government of kings suffers nothing to remain secret which they choose
to discover. They surrounded the circuit of the entire house with guards
in such a manner, that no one could escape from it. Hannibal, on being
told that some of the king’s soldiers were in the porch, endeavoured to
escape through a back door, which was the most private, and from which
the passage was most secret; but, perceiving that to be guarded by a
body of soldiers, and every avenue round to be blocked up by the guards
that were posted, he called for poison, which he had long kept in
readiness to meet such an event, and said, “Let us release the Romans
from their long anxiety, since they think it too long to wait for the
death of an old man. Flamininus will gain no very great or memorable
victory over one unarmed and betrayed. What an alteration has taken
place in the behaviour of the Roman people, this day affords abundant
proof. Their fathers gave warning to Pyrrhus, their armed foe, then
heading an army against them in Italy, to beware of poison. The present
generation have sent an ambassador, of consular rank, to persuade
Prusias villanously to murder his guest.” Then imprecating curses on the
head of Prusias, and on his kingdom, and calling on the gods who
presided over hospitality, and were witnesses of his breach of faith, he
drank off the contents of the cup. This was the end of the life of
Hannibal.
52. Both Polybius and Rutilius say, that Scipio died in this year; but I
do not agree either with them, or Valerius. Not with them, because I
find that in the censorship of Marcus Porcius and Lucius Valerius, the
censor himself, Lucius Valerius, was chosen prince of the senate,
although Africanus had occupied that place for the three preceding
lustrums; and, if he were alive, unless he had been displaced from the
senate, which disgrace no one has recorded, another prince would not
have been chosen in his room. The authority of Antias is refuted by the
plebeian tribunate of Marcus Nævius, against whom there is extant a
speech signed by Publius Africanus. Now, this Marcus Nævius, in the
register of the magistrates, appears to have been plebeian tribune in
the consulate of Publius Claudius and Lucius Porcius; but he entered on
the tribuneship in the consulate of Appius Claudius and Marcus
Sempronius, on the fourth day before the ides of December, from which
time to the ides of March, when Publius Claudius and Lucius Porcius
became consuls, there are three months. Thus it appears that he was
living in the tribunate of Marcus Nævius, and might have been prosecuted
by him; but that he died before the censorship of Lucius Valerius and
Marcus Porcius. The deaths of the three most illustrious men of their
respective nations have a similarity, not only in respect to the
concurrence of the times, but in this circumstance also, that no one of
them met a death suitable to the splendour of his life. In the first
place, neither of them died or was buried in his native soil. Hannibal
and Philopœmen were taken off by poison; Hannibal breathed his last in
exile, betrayed by his host; Philopœmen in captivity, in a prison, and
in chains. Scipio, though neither banished nor condemned, yet under
prosecution, and summoned as an absent criminal to a trial, at which he
did not appear, passed sentence of voluntary exile, not only on himself
while alive, but likewise on his body after death.
53. During these transactions in Peloponnesus, from which my narration
digressed, the return of Demetrius with the ambassadors into Macedonia,
affected people’s minds in various manners. The generality of the
Macedonians, whom the apprehension of an impending war with the Romans
had struck with terror, looked with the highest esteem on Demetrius, as
the promoter of peace; and, at the same time, with confident hope,
destined for him the throne, after the demise of his father. They
argued, that “although he was younger than Perseus, yet he was born of a
wife, and the other of a concubine; that the latter, born of a mother
who prostituted her person, had no likeness to any particular father,
whereas the former had a striking resemblance of Philip. Besides it was
probable that the Romans would place him on the throne of his father, as
Perseus had no pretensions to their favour.” Such was the conversation
of people, in general. Fear tortured Perseus, lest his age alone might
not sufficiently secure his interest, his brother having the advantage
of him in every other particular; while Philip himself, believing that
it would scarcely rest with his decision which of them he should leave
heir to his dominions, began to think that his younger son encroached on
him more than he could wish. He was sometimes displeased at the numerous
attendance of the Macedonians round Demetrius, and chagrined at
perceiving that there was a second court during his own life-time. The
young prince no doubt came home much elevated in his own estimation,
elated with the honours paid him by the senate, and their having
conceded to him, what they had refused to his father; insomuch that
every mention of the Romans, whatever degree of respect it procured him
from the rest of the Macedonians, created an equal degree of envy, not
only in the breast of his brother, but also in that of his father;
especially after the Roman ambassadors arrived, and the king was obliged
to evacuate Thrace, to withdraw his garrisons, and to perform the other
articles, either according to the decisions of the former ambassadors or
the late regulations made by the senate. But all this he did with great
reluctance, and even with anguish of mind, the more on this account,
because he saw his son more frequently in company with them than with
himself; nevertheless, to avoid giving any pretence for an immediate
commencement of hostilities, he acted submissively towards the Romans.
Thinking it necessary to turn away their thoughts from a suspicion of
any such designs, he led an army into the heart of Thrace, against the
Odrysians, Dantheletians, and Bessians. He took the city of
Philoppopolis, after it was deserted by the inhabitants, who fled with
their families to the tops of the nearest mountains; and, by wasting the
country, reduced the barbarians living in the plains to submission. Then
leaving a garrison in Philoppopolis, which, was soon after expelled by
the Odrysians, he began to build a town in Deuriopus. This is a district
of Pæonia, near the river Erigonus, which, flowing from Illyricum
through Pæonia, falls into the river Axius. Not far from the old city of
Stobæ he built his new one, which he ordered to be called Perseis, that
this honour might be conferred on his eldest son.
54. While these things passed in Macedonia, the consuls went to their
provinces. Marcellus sent forward an express to Lucius Porcius, the
proconsul, to lead up the legions to the new town of the Gauls; they
surrendered themselves to the consul on his arrival. There were of
these twelve thousand fighting men, most of whom had arms, which they
had forced from the inhabitants: all which, to their great
mortification, were taken from them, as was every thing else which they
had either acquired by plundering in the country, or had brought along
with them. They sent ambassadors to Rome to complain of those
proceedings, who being introduced to an audience of the senate, by the
prætor Caius Valerius, represented that “in consequence of a redundancy
of people in Gaul they had been compelled by the want of land, and
indeed of every thing, to cross the Alps in quest of a settlement: that
they had settled in those lands which they found waste and uncultivated
without doing injury to any. They had likewise begun to build a town,
which was a proof that they did not come to ravage either city or lands.
That some time ago, Marcus Claudius sent them a message, that unless
they surrendered to him he would march against them, and that preferring
a certain, though not very honourable peace, to the uncertainties of
war, they had thrown themselves on the protection of Rome before they
submitted to its power. That in a short time after, being ordered to
quit the country, they had intended to remove without murmuring to
whatever part of the world they were able; and that, notwithstanding,
their arms, and finally all the property which they had brought with
them, or driven before them, were taken from them. They therefore
besought the senate and people of Rome not to treat harmless people, who
had surrendered themselves, with greater severity than they would
enemies.” To this discourse the senate ordered the following answer to
be given: That “neither had they acted properly in coming into Italy,
and attempting to build a town in the territory of others, without
permission from any Roman magistrate commanding in that province; nor
did the senate approve of people who had surrendered being stripped of
their property. They would therefore send to the consuls ambassadors,
who would order all their effects to be restored, provided they returned
to the place whence they came; and who would also proceed to the other
side of the Alps, and give warning to the Gallic states to keep their
people at home. That the Alps, an almost impassable barrier, lay between
the two countries, and whoever should pass in future, should meet no
better fate than those who first proved them to be passable.” The
ambassadors sent were Lucius Furius Purpureo, Quintus Minucius, Publius
Manlius Acidinus. The Gauls, on the restoration of such property as they
were in possession of, without wronging any man, withdrew out of Italy.
55. The transalpine states answered the Roman ambassadors in terms of
kindness. Their elders even found fault with the excessive lenity of the
Roman people, in “suffering men to depart with impunity, who, without an
order of their nation, left their home, attempted to seize on lands
belonging to the Roman empire, and to build a town in a territory which
belonged to others. They ought,” they said, “to have paid a heavy
penalty for their inconsiderate conduct; and as to the restoration of
their effects, they expressed a fear, lest, in consequence of this too
great forbearance, others might be encouraged to attempts of a like
nature.” They not only entertained the ambassadors, but conferred
considerable presents on them. The consul, Marcus Claudius, when he had
sent the Gauls out of his province, began to prepare for a war with the
Istrians, and wrote to the senate for permission to lead the legions
into their country. That measure pleased the senate. They formed an
intention of establishing a colony at Aquileia; nor were they able to
decide whether it should consist of Latins or Roman citizens; at last
however they passed a vote in favour of a Latin settlement. The
commissioners appointed for the purpose were, Publius Scipio Nasica,
Caius Flaminius, and Lucius Manlius Acidinus. In the same year, colonies
of Roman citizens were led out to Mutina and Parma. Two thousand men
were settled in each colony, on lands which lately belonged to the
Boians, and formerly to the Tuscans; they received at Parma eight acres,
at Mutina five each. These colonists were conducted by Marcus Æmilius
Lepidus, Titus Æbutius Carus, and Lucius Quintius Crispinus. The colony
of Saturnia, also consisting of Roman citizens, was settled on the lands
of Caletra, by Quintus Fabius Labeo, Caius Afranius Stellio, and
Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus. Ten acres were assigned to each man.
56. In the same year Aulus Terentius Varro, the proprætor, fought some
successful battles with the Celtiberians, not far from the river Iberus,
in the territory of Auseta, reducing several towns, which they had
fortified in that quarter. The Farther Spain was quiet during the whole
year, because Publius Sempronius, the proprætor, was seized with a
lingering disorder, and the Lusitanians, when no one attacked them, very
opportunely kept quiet. In Liguria nothing extraordinary was performed
by Quintus Fabius, the consul. Marcus Marcellus being recalled out of
Istria to attend the elections, disbanded his army, and came home to
Rome. He elected Cneius Bæbius Tamphilus and Lucius Æmilius Paulus
consuls. This latter had been curule ædile, along with Marcus Æmilius
Lepidus, from the time of whose consulate this was the fifth year; and
this very Lepidus had been made consul after two repulses. Then Quintus
Fulvius Flaccus, Marcus Valerius Lævinus, Publius Manlius a second time,
Marcus Ogulnius Gallus, Lucius Cæcilius Denter, and Caius Terentius
Istra, were elected prætors. Towards the close of the year, a
supplication was performed on occasion of prodigies, for people were
persuaded that it had rained blood for two days in the court of the
temple of Concord; and an account was received, that near the coast of
Sicily a new island, which had never been there before, rose out of the
sea. Valerius, of Antium, asserts that Hannibal died in this year, and
that besides Titus Quintius Flamininus, whose name was celebrated in
this business, Lucius Scipio Asiaticus, and Publius Scipio Nasica, were
sent ambassadors to Prusias on that occasion.