mountains, from which, on the former days, they had marched forward at
sun-rise, all in order and regular array. On this day they did not take
arms until they had made a full meal of food and wine; and then they
came out in loose order, and regardless of their ranks, as they expected
with certainty, that the enemy would not venture out beyond the rampart.
As they were approaching in this disorderly manner, the shout being
raised by every one in the camp at once, even by the suttlers and
servants, the Romans rushed out by all the gates at the same time. This
event was so entirely unexpected by the Ligurians, that they were
confounded no less than if they had been caught in an ambush. For a
short time, some appearance of a fight was maintained, and then followed
a hasty flight, and a general slaughter of the fugitives. When the
signal was given to the cavalry to mount their horses, and not to suffer
any to escape, they were all driven in a confused flight to their camps,
and soon beaten out of them also. Above fifteen thousand of the
Ligurians were killed, and two thousand five hundred taken. In three
days after, the whole state of the Ingaunian Ligurians gave hostages,
and surrendered. The masters and crews of the ships, which had been
employed in piracies, were carefully sought, for, and thrown into
prison; and thirty-two ships of that description were taken by Caius
Matienus, one of the two on the Ligurian coast. Lucius Aurelius Cotta,
and Caius Sulpicius Gallus, were sent to Rome to announce these
transactions and bring a letter to the senate, and at the same time to
request that, as the business of the province was finished, Lucius
Æmilius might have permission to leave it, and to bring away his troops
and disband them. Both requests were granted by the senate, and a
supplication was decreed, at all the shrines, for three days; the
prætors Petillius and Fabius received orders, the former to discharge
the city legions, the latter to excuse the allies and Latins from the
levies, and that the city prætor should write to the consuls, that the
senate thought proper that the occasional soldiers, enlisted on account
of the sudden alarm, should be immediately discharged.
29. The colony of Gravisca was established this year in a district of
Etruria, formerly taken from the Tarquinians, and five acres of land
were given to each settler. The commissioners who conducted it were
Caius Calpurnius Piso, Publius Claudius Pulcher, and Caius Terentius
Istra. The year was rendered remarkable by a drought, and a scarcity of
the productions of the earth. It is handed down on record, that during
the space of six months no rain fell. In the same year, some workmen in
the farm of Lucius Petillius, a notary, at the foot of the Janiculum,
digging the ground deeper than usual, discovered two stone chests, about
eight feet long and four broad, the covers of which were soldered with
lead. Both the chests had inscriptions in Greek and Latin letters, one
signifying that therein was buried Numa Pompilius, son of Pompo, and
king of the Romans; the other, that therein were contained the books of
Numa Pompilius. When the owner of the ground had, by the advice of his
friends, opened these chests, the one which, according to its
inscription, contained the body of the king, was found perfectly empty,
without any trace of a human body or of any thing else having ever been
in it; the whole being consumed by the decay of such a number of years.
In the other were found two bundles, tied round with waxed cords, and
each containing seven books, not only entire, but apparently quite
fresh. Seven were in Latin, and related to the pontifical law; and seven
in Greek, containing the doctrines of philosophy, such as might have
been known in that age. Valerius Antias adds, that they contained the
doctrines of Pythagoras, supporting, by this plausible fiction, the
credit of the vulgar opinion, that Numa had been a disciple of
Pythagoras. The books were read, first, by Petillius’s friends, who were
present at the discovery. Afterwards, when they became publicly spoken
of in consequence of many others reading them, Quintus Petillius, the
city prætor, having a desire to read those books, borrowed them from
Lucius Petillius, with whom he was familiarly acquainted, in consequence
of Quintus Petillius having, when quæstor, made him a notary, and chosen
him as one of ten. On reading the principal heads of the contents, he
perceived that most of them had a tendency to undermine the established
system of religious doctrines, and, thereupon, he told Lucius Petillius,
that “he was determined to throw those books into the fire; but before
he did so, he gave him leave, if he thought he had any right or appeal
to demand the restitution of them, to make the trial, which he might do
and preserve his favour.” The notary applied to the plebeian tribunes,
and the tribunes referred the matter to the senate. The prætor declared,
that he was ready to make oath that those books ought not to be read or
preserved; and the senate decreed, that “the prætor’s having offered his
oath ought to be deemed sufficient evidence that those books should,
without delay, be burned in the comitium, and that such a price should
be paid to the owner as might be judged reasonable by the prætor,
Quintus Petillius, and the majority of the plebeian tribunes.” The
notary did not receive the money. The books, however, were burned in the
comitium, in the view of the people, the fire being made by the public
servants, whose duty it was to assist at sacrifices.
30. A formidable war broke out this summer in the Hither Spain, where
the Celtiberians assembled such a force as they had hardly ever brought
into the field before, amounting to no less than thirty-five thousand
men. Quintus Fulvius Flaccus was governor of this province, who, because
he heard that the Celtiberians were arming their young men, drew
together all the succours he could procure from the allies. But he was
by no means equal to the enemy in point of numbers. Early in spring, he
marched his army into Carpetania, and fixed his camp close to the town
of Æbura, in which he posted a small garrison. In a few days after, the
Celtiberians pitched their camp at the foot of a hill, about two miles
from that place. When the Roman prætor was informed of their approach,
he detached his brother, Marcus Fulvius, with two troops of the allied
horse, to the enemy’s post, to take a view of them; ordering him to
advance as near as possible to their rampart, so as to form a judgment
of the size of the camp; and not to engage in fight, but to retreat if
he should see the enemy’s cavalry coming out. He acted according to his
instructions, and for several days there was nothing further done than
these two troops showing themselves, and then retreating when the
enemy’s cavalry sallied from their tents. At length, the Celtiberians
came out, with their entire force of horse and foot together, and
drawing up in a line, posted themselves about midway between the two
camps. The whole plain was level, and convenient for fighting, and here
the Spaniards stood waiting for their enemy. The Roman general kept his
men within the rampart during four successive days, while the others
constantly drew up theirs, and formed in the same place. No motion was
made by the Romans; and from that time the Celtiberians, because they
had not an opportunity of engaging, remained quiet in their camp; their
cavalry only advanced as out-posts, to be ready in case of any movement
being made by Fulvius. Both parties went for wood and forage behind
their own camps, neither interrupting the other.
31. When the Roman prætor thought that, by his inactivity for so many
days, he had created in the Celtiberians a firm persuasion that he would
not be first in any movement, he ordered Lucius Acilius, with the left
wing of allies and six thousand provincial auxiliaries, to make the
circuit of a mountain behind the enemy, and as soon as he should hear
the shout, to pour down from them on their camp. This party, to avoid
being seen, set out in the night. At the dawn of day Flaccus sent Caius
Scribonius, a præfect of the allies, with the allied cavalry of the left
wing, to the enemy’s rampart; when the Celtiberians, observing that they
approached nearer, and were also more numerous than usual, all their
cavalry poured forth from the camp, and at the same time the signal is
given to the infantry to sally forth. Scribonius, according to his
instructions, no sooner heard the neighing of the enemy’s cavalry than
he wheeled about and retreated to the camp, on which they pursued with
the more violence. First the cavalry, and in a short time the line of
infantry, came up, confidently expecting that they should be able to
assault the camp before night, and they were five hundred paces, not
more, from the rampart. Flaccus, therefore, thinking that they were now
drawn far enough from their camp, to hinder them from giving it any
succour, as he had his troops already formed within the works, burst out
from three sides at once; and at the same time raised the shout, not
only to inspire ardour for the fight, but also that the party on the
mountain might hear it. Nor did these make any delay, but, according to
their orders, poured down on the camp, where five thousand men, not
more, were left to guard it, and when the smallness of their numbers,
the multitude of the assailants and the unexpectedness of the affair,
had struck terror into them, the camp was taken almost without a
struggle. Acilius set fire to that part of the camp which was most
exposed to the view of the combatants.
32. The Celtiberians in the rear of their own line first observed the
flames, and the news spread quickly through the whole army, that the
camp was lost, and was even then completely in a blaze, which filled
them with dismay, while it gave fresh spirits to the Romans; for now the
shouts of victory raised by their friends struck their ear, and the
enemies’ camp appeared all on fire. The Celtiberians hesitated for some
time, uncertain how to act, but when they considered that, in case of a
defeat, they had no place of refuge, and that their only hope now lay in
their arms, they renewed the combat afresh, with greater obstinacy.
Their centre was pressed hard by the fifth legion; but their men
advanced with more confidence against the left wing, where they saw that
the Romans had posted the provincial auxiliaries, troops of their own
kind. The left wing of the Romans was now near being defeated, had not
the seventh legion come to its support. At the same time, the troops
left in garrison at Æbura came up during the heat of the battle, and
Acilius closed on the enemy’s rear. Thus surrounded, the Celtiberians
were, for a long time, cut off in great numbers, and at last the
survivors betook themselves to flight in every direction. The cavalry,
in two divisions, were sent in pursuit, and made great havoc. There were
killed, of the enemy, on that day, twenty-three thousand, and four
thousand seven hundred were taken, with more than five hundred horses,
and eighty-eight military ensigns. The victory was great, but not
obtained without loss of blood. There fell, of the two Roman legions, a
few more than two hundred men; of the Latin confederates, eight hundred
and thirty; and of foreign auxiliaries, about two thousand four hundred.
The prætor led back his victorious troops to their tents: Acilius was
ordered to remain in the camp which he had taken. Next day the spoils of
the enemy were collected, and those whose bravery had been remarkable
were presented with gifts in a public assembly.
33. The wounded were then conveyed into the town of Æbura, and the
legions marched through Carpetania, against Contrebia. The garrison
there, on being invested, sent for succours to the Celtiberians; but
these were long in coming, not because they were unwilling to give
assistance, but that after they had begun their march the roads were
rendered impassable, and the rivers swelled by continued rains, so that
their countrymen, despairing of assistance, capitulated. Flaccus also,
being compelled by the same severe weather, brought his whole army into
the city. The Celtiberians, who were on their march, having heard
nothing of the capitulation, when the rains abated at last, passed the
rivers, and came to Contrebia. When they saw no camp before the town,
supposing either that it was removed to the other side, or that the
enemy had retired, they came up towards the walls in careless disorder.
The Romans made a sally against them from two gates, and attacking them
in confusion completely routed them. The same circumstance that disabled
them from standing their ground and maintaining a fight,—their not
having come in one body, or in a regular disposition, round their
standards,—proved favourable to many in making their escape: for they
scattered themselves widely over the whole plain, so that the Romans
could no where enclose any considerable body of them. However, there
were about twelve thousand killed, and more than five thousand taken,
with four hundred horses, and sixty-two military standards. The
stragglers, flying homewards, turned back another body of Celtiberians,
whom they met on the road, by informing them of the surrender of
Contrebia, and their own defeat; whereupon they all immediately
dispersed, and made the best of their way to their several villages and
forts. Flaccus, leaving Contrebia, led his legions through Celtiberia
ravaging the country; he stormed many forts until at length the greatest
part of the Celtiberians surrendered.
34. Such were the transactions of that year in Hither Spain. In the
Farther province, Manlius fought several successful battles with the
Lusitanians. In the same year the Latin colony of Aquileia was
established in the Gallic territory. Three thousand foot soldiers
received each fifty acres, centurions a hundred, horsemen a hundred and
forty. The three commissioners who conducted the settlement were Publius
Cornelius Scipio Nasica, Caius Flaminius and Lucius Manlius Acidinus.
Two temples were dedicated this year, one to Venus Erycina, at the
Colline gate; Lucius Porcius Licinius duumvir, son of Lucius, dedicated
it. This temple had been vowed, during the Ligurian war, by Lucius
Porcius, the consul The other to Piety, in the herb-market. Manius
Acilius Glabrio, the duumvir, dedicated this temple; he erected a gilded
statue of his father Glabrio, the first of the kind that ever was seen
in Italy. This was the person who vowed the temple, on the day whereon
he gained the decisive victory over king Antiochus, at Thermopylæ, and
who, likewise, had contracted for its being built, in pursuance of a
decree of the senate. At the same time when these temples were
consecrated, Lucius Æmilius Paullus, the proconsul, triumphed over the
Ingaunian Ligurians. He carried in the procession twenty-five golden
crowns, but no other article of either gold or silver. Many Ligurian
chiefs were led captives before his chariot, and he distributed to each
of his soldiers three hundred _asses_.[57] The arrival of ambassadors
from the Ligurians, begging that a perpetual peace might be established,
enhanced the reputation of this triumph, and they asserted, that “the
Ligurians had come to a resolution never again to take arms, on any
occasion, except when commanded by the Roman people.” This answer was
given to the Ligurians, by Quintus Fabius, the prætor, by order of the
senate, that “such kind of language was not new with the Ligurians; but
it concerned chiefly their own interest that their disposition should be
new, and conformable to their language. They must go to the consuls, and
perform whatever was commanded by them; for the senate would never
believe, from any other than the consuls, that the Ligurians were really
and sincerely disposed to peace.” Peace however was made with that
people. In Corsica, a battle was fought against the inhabitants. The
prætor, Marcus Pinarius, slew in the field about two thousand of them;
by which loss they were compelled to give hostages, and a hundred
thousand pounds of wax. The army was then carried over into Sardinia,
and some successful battles were fought against the Iliensians, a
nation, even at the present day, not in every particular friendly to us.
In this year a hundred hostages were restored to the Carthaginians, and
the Roman people enabled them to live in peace, not only among
themselves, but also with Masinissa, who at that time with an armed
force held possession of the land in dispute.
35. The consuls had nothing to do in their province. Marcus Bæbius,
being summoned home to Rome to preside at the elections, created consuls
Aulus Postumius Albinus Luscus and Caius Calpurnius Piso. Then Tiberius
Sempronius Gracchus, Lucius Postumius Albinus, Publius Cornelius Mammula
Titus Minucius Molliculus, Aulus Hostilius Mancinus, and Caius Mænius
were made prætors. All these entered into office on the ides of March.
In the beginning of this year in which Aulus Postumius Albinus and Caius
Calpurnius Piso were consuls, Lucius Minucius, lieutenant-general, and
two military tribunes, Titus Mænius and Lucius Terentius Massilicta, who
had come from Hither Spain from Quintus Fulvius Flaccus, were introduced
to an audience of the senate by Aulus Postumius the consul. These, after
informing the senate of the two victories gained, of the submission of
Celtiberia, and of the conclusion of the business of the province, and
that there was no occasion either to send pay, as usual, or corn to the
army for that year, requested, first, that “on account of these
successes a thanksgiving should be performed to the immortal gods; and,
then, that leave should be given to Quintus Fulvius, on his quitting the
province, to bring home from it the army which had served under him and
many former prætors, with much bravery. They represented, that this
measure, besides the propriety of it, was in some degree necessary, for
the troops were so obstinately bent on it, that it did not seem possible
to keep them longer in the province; but, if they were not disbanded,
they would either leave it without orders, or, if any one would attempt
to detain them by compulsion, would break out into a dangerous mutiny.”
The senate ordered, that Liguria should be the province of both the
consuls. The prætors then cast lots for theirs. The city jurisdiction
fell to Aulus Hostilius; the foreign, to Titus Minucius; Sicily, to
Publius Cornelius; Sardinia, to Caius Mænius; Farther Spain, to Lucius
Postumius; and Hither Spain, to Tiberius Sempronius. As this last was to
succeed Quintus Fulvius Flaccus, and wished that the province might not
be stripped of the veteran troops, he spoke thus: “Quintus Minucius, I
demand of you, since you assert, in your report, that your province is
subdued, do you think, that the Celtiberians will always faithfully
observe the treaty, so that the province may be kept in obedience
without an army? If you cannot give us any assurance of, or undertake to
answer for, the fidelity of the barbarians, but think that, at all
events, there must be an army maintained there, I pray you, whether
would you recommend to the senate to send a reinforcement into Spain, in
order that those soldiers only who have served out their time may be
discharged, and the recruits mixed with the veterans? or to withdraw the
veteran legions, and enlist new ones, and send them in their place? and
this, although the contempt entertained for such new recruits might
rouse barbarians of more pacific tempers to a renewal of war? would it
be a matter easier said than done, to reduce to complete subjection a
province naturally fierce, and constantly renewing the war? A few
states, as I am informed, who were awed, more than the rest, by the
nearness of our winter quarters, have submitted to our authority and
dominion, while those more remote are in arms. This being the case,
conscript fathers, I now give notice beforehand, that, with the army at
present there, I will undertake to execute the business of the republic;
but, if Flaccus bring those legions home with him, I will choose some
quiet part of the country for winter quarters, and will not expose raw
soldiers to an enemy so remarkably ferocious.”
36. To these questions, which he had been asked, the lieutenant-general
answered, that “neither he nor any other could possibly divine what were
the sentiments of the Celtiberians, or what they would be in future;
therefore he could not deny that it would be proper to send an army
among a barbarous people, who, though reduced to a state of quiet, were
not yet sufficiently inured to subjection; but whether a new army or a
veteran one might be requisite, rested with him to decide who could
ascertain with what sincerity the Celtiberians would observe the peace;
and who, at the same time, had assurance that the troops would remain
quiet, if kept longer in the province. If a conjecture were to be formed
of their intentions, either from their conversations with each other, or
from the expressions with which they interrupted the general’s
harangues, they had openly and loudly declared, that they would either
keep their commander in the province, or come home with him to Italy.”
This discussion, between the prætor and the lieutenant-general, was
suspended by the consuls introducing other matters; for they thought it
right, that their own provinces might be adjusted before they
deliberated concerning the army of the prætor. An army entirely new was
decreed to the consuls: two Roman legions to each, with their proportion
of cavalry; and of the Latin allies, the usual number of fifteen
thousand foot and eight hundred horse. With these forces, they were
directed to make war on the Apuan Ligurians. Publius Cornelius and
Marcus Bæbius were continued in command, and ordered to hold the
government of the provinces until the consuls should arrive. They were
ordered then to disband their troops, and return to Rome. Then they
deliberated concerning the army under Tiberius Sempronius. The consuls
were ordered to enlist for him a new legion of five thousand two hundred
foot and four hundred horse; and also a thousand Roman foot and five
hundred horse; and to command the allies of Latium to furnish seven
thousand foot and three hundred horse. With this army it was determined
that Sempronius should go into Hither Spain. Permission was granted to
Quintus Fulvius, with respect to all those soldiers, whether Romans or
allies, who had been transported into Spain previous to the consulate of
Spurius Postumius and Quintus Marcius; and likewise to such as, after
the junction of the reinforcements, should be found in the two legions,
above the number of ten thousand four hundred foot and six hundred
horse; and in the Latin auxiliaries above twelve thousand foot and six
hundred horse, who had behaved with courage under Quintus Fulvius in the
two battles with the Celtiberians,—these, if he thought proper, he might
bring home. Thanksgivings were also decreed, because he had managed the
republic successfully; and the rest of the prætors sent into their
provinces. Quintus Fabius Buteo had his command in Gaul. It was resolved
that eight legions should be employed this year, besides the veteran
army then in Liguria, which expected to be speedily disbanded; and that
very army was made up with difficulty, in consequence of the pestilence
which continued, for the third year, to depopulate the city of Rome and
all Italy.
37. Tiberius Minucius, the prætor, died of this malady; and soon after,
Caius Calpurnius, the consul; also many illustrious men of all ranks;
so that at last this calamity began to be considered as a prodigy. Caius
Servilius, chief pontiff was ordered to find out proper atonements for
the wrath of the gods; the decemvirs to inspect the books, and the
consul to vow offerings, and to present gilded statues, to Apollo
Æsculapius, and Health; which he vowed and gave. The decemvirs
proclaimed, on account of the sickness, a supplication of two days in
the city, and in all the market-towns and villages; all persons above
the age of twelve years offered the supplication, with garlands on their
heads, and holding laurels in their hands. There had, also, crept into
people’s minds a suspicion of human villany in regard to it whereupon
Caius Claudius, the prætor, who had been substituted in the room of
Tiberius Minucius, was commissioned by a decree of the senate, to make
inquisition concerning acts of poisoning committed in the city, or
within ten miles of it; and Caius Mænius was ordered to do the same,
before he passed over to his province, Sardinia, in the market-towns and
villages beyond the tenth stone. The death of the consul was most
suspected. It was reported that he had been murdered by his wife, Quarta
Hostilia; and when her son, Quintus Fulvius Flaccus, was proclaimed
consul in the room of his stepfather, the death of Piso began to excite
much more suspicion; for witnesses appeared, who testified, that, after
Albinus and Piso were declared consuls, in which election Flaccus had
suffered a disappointment, his mother upbraided him with being refused
the consulship a third time, and then desired him to make ready to stand
candidate again, saying, “she would take such measures that within two
months he should be made consul.” This expression verified by the event,
which was but too real, joined to many other evidences of the same
tendency, appeared such strong proof, that Hostilia was condemned. In
the spring of this year, the levies detained the new consuls at Rome;
while the death of one of them, and the holding of the assembly to
substitute another in his place, occasioned still further delays. In the
mean time Publius Cornelius and Marcus Bæbius, who, in their consulate,
had done nothing worth mention, led their troops into the country of the
Apuan Ligurians.
38. The Ligurians, who did not expect an attack before the arrival of
the consuls in the province, were surprised, and surrendered to the
number of twelve thousand men. Cornelius and Bæbius, having consulted
the senate by letter, determined to bring them down from their mountains
into a plain country, so far from home, that they should have no hope of
a return; for they were convinced, that before this was done no end
could be put to the war in Liguria. There was a tract of land in
Samnium, the public property of the Roman people, formerly occupied by
the Taurasinians. When they intended to transplant the Apuan Ligurians
to this country, they published an order, that this people should quit
the mountains, with their wives and children, and bring all their
effects along with them. The Ligurians made, by their ambassadors, many
humble supplications that they might not be compelled to relinquish
their native home, the soil in which they were born, and the tombs of
their forefathers. They promised to give up their arms, and deliver
hostages. After they failed in all their solicitations, and were
destitute of strength for the maintenance of a war, they obeyed the
order. Forty thousand men, of free condition, with their women and
children, were transplanted at the expense of the public, and a hundred
and fifty thousand sesterces[58] were given them, to provide necessaries
for their new habitations. Cornelius and Bæbius, who removed them, were
commissioned to divide and apportion the lands; but, at their own
request, the senate appointed five other commissioners, by whose advice
they should act. When they had finished this business, and brought home
their veteran soldiers to Home, a triumph was decreed them by the
senate. These were the first who ever triumphed without having fought an
enemy. Hostages only were led before their chariots; for there appeared
not, in their triumphs, either spoils to be carried, or prisoners to be
led captives, or money to be distributed to the soldiers.
39. In the same year Fulvius Flaccus, the proconsul in Spain, as his
successor did not come to the province at the usual time, having drawn
out the troops from their winter quarters, proceeded to lay waste the
farther part of Celtiberia, whose inhabitants had not come in to make
submission. But by this proceeding he rather provoked than terrified the
spirits of the barbarians; so that, having collected secretly a body of
forces, they beset the Manlian pass, through which they knew, with
certainty, that the Roman army would march. Gracchus had commissioned
his colleague, Lucius Postumius Albinus, who was going to the Farther
Spain, to desire Quintus Fulvius to bring his forces to Tarraco, where
he intended to discharge the veterans, to distribute the reinforcements
among the respective corps, and reorganize the entire army. The day also
was mentioned to Flaccus, and that not very distant, on which his
successor would arrive. When tidings of this new arrangement had
compelled Flaccus to drop the business which he had undertaken, and to
lead away the troops in haste out of Celtiberia, the barbarians,
unacquainted with the reason, and supposing that he had discovered their
revolt and secret assembling of an army, and that he was retreating
through fear, beset the pass with the greater determination. When the
Roman army entered this defile, at the dawn of day, immediately the
enemy starting up attacked it at two sides at once. And when Flaccus saw
this, he put down the confusion arising among the soldiers by giving
orders through the centurions that every man should keep his post, in
the order of march, and make ready his arms; then collecting the baggage
and beasts of burden, into one spot, partly by himself, partly by the
help of the lieutenants-general, and military tribunes, he formed his
troops as the time and place required, without any confusion. He put
them in mind, that they were to engage with men “who had been twice
reduced to submission; that guilt and perfidy, not valour or courage,
were their only accessions. That these people had put it in their power
to make their return to their country which otherwise would have been
ignoble, glorious and splendid; for they would now carry home their
swords red from the slaughter, and spoils dropping blood.” The time did
not allow more to be said, as the enemy were rapidly advancing upon
them; the extremities of the wings were already engaged, and quickly
after the entire lines.
40. The battle was furious in every part, but the success various. The
two legions fought with extraordinary bravery, nor were the two cohorts
of the allies remiss; but the foreign auxiliaries were hard pressed, by
men armed like themselves, and rather a better description of soldiers;
nor were they able to maintain their ground. The Celtiberians, as soon
as they perceived that, in a regular line, and in fair fighting, they
were no match for the legions, made a charge against them, in the form
of a wedge, in which sort of attack they excel so much, that on whatever
part they direct their assault they cannot be withstood. On this
occasion, too, the legions were ordered, and the line was almost broken.
When Flaccus observed this disorder, he rode up to the legionary
cavalry, asking them, “Have we any support in you? Is the whole army to
be lost?” Whereupon they called to him from all sides, to “tell them
what he wished to be done; and that it should be instantly attempted.”
“Cavalry of the two legions, double your troops,” he replied, “and
charge the wedge, which is attacking our soldiers; you will make a more
violent charge, if you spur your horses without bridles against the foe.
This expedient is recorded to have been often employed by the Roman
cavalry with great advantage.” They obeyed his orders, and taking off
the bits of the bridle, they spurred in full career through that body
twice, forward and backward, breaking their spears to pieces, and making
great havoc of the enemy. The Celtiberians, on this dispersion of their
wedge, on which had been their whole reliance, were quite dismayed, and
almost giving over the fight, looked about for ways to escape. And now,
when the allied horse saw this brilliant exploit of the Roman cavalry,
they were so inflamed by the example of their bravery, that without
waiting for orders, they made a charge on the enemy, while they were in
confusion. Then truly all the Celtiberians scatter and fly, and the
Roman general, when he saw their backs, vowed a temple to Equestrian
Fortune, and games in honour of Jupiter supremely good and great. The
fugitives, dispersing, were pursued with much slaughter, through the
whole length of the pass. Seventeen thousand of the enemy are recorded
to have been killed on this occasion, and more than four thousand taken,
with two hundred and seventy-seven military standards, and near one
thousand one hundred horses. The victorious army pitched no camp on that
day. This victory, however, was not gained without loss; four hundred
and seventy-two Roman soldiers, one thousand and nineteen of the allies
and Latins, and besides these three thousand of the auxiliaries
perished. The victorious army, having thus reasserted their former
renown, finished their march to Tarraco. The prætor, Tiberius
Sempronius, who had arrived two days before, came out to meet Fulvius on
the road, and congratulated him on the important services which he had
rendered to the commonwealth. They then, with perfect unanimity, settled
what soldiers they should discharge, and what they should retain; and
Fulvius, embarking the disbanded soldiers in the fleet, set sail for
Rome, while Sempronius led the legions into Celtiberia.
41. Both the consuls led their armies into Liguria, but on different
sides. Postumius, with the first and third legions, invested the
mountains of Balista and Suismontium; and, by securing the narrow passes
leading thereto with guards, cut off all supplies of provisions; and by
want of every thing he reduced them to an entire obedience. Fulvius,
with the second and fourth legions, marched from Pisæ against the Apuan
Ligurians; and having received the submission of that part of them which
inhabited the banks of the river Macra, he put them, to the number of
seven thousand men, on board ships, and sent them along the Etrurian
coast to Neapolis, from whence they were conducted into Samnium, and
lands were assigned to them among their countrymen. The vine-yards of
the Ligurians of the mountains were cut down and their corn burnt by
Aulus Postumius, until, compelled by all the calamities of war, they
surrendered and delivered up their arms. From thence Postumius
proceeded, by sea, to visit the coast of the Ingaunian and Intemelian
tribes. Before these consuls joined the army which had been ordered to
meet at Pisæ, Aulus Postumius, and a brother of Quintus Fulvius, Marcus
Fulvius Nobilior, had the command of it. Fulvius was military tribune of
the second legion. He in his months[59] of command disbanded the legion,
after obliging the centurions to swear, that they would carry the money
in their hands to the treasury, and deliver it to the quæstors. When
this was announced to Aulus at Placentia, to which place he happened to
have made an excursion, he set out with some light horsemen, in quest of
the disbanded men; and such as he could overtake, he sharply rebuked and
brought back to Pisæ, and then apprised the consul of the whole matter.
When he laid the business before the senate, a decree was passed that
Marcus Fulvius should be banished into that part of Spain beyond New
Carthage; and a letter was given him by the consul, to be carried into
Farther Spain, to Publius Manlius. The soldiers were ordered to return
to their standards; and it was decreed, that, as a mark of disgrace,
that legion should, for that year, receive but half a year’s pay. The
consul was likewise ordered to sell the person and property of every
soldier who should not return to the army.
42. In the same year Lucius Duronius, who had been prætor the year
before, returned with ten ships from Illyricum to Brundusium, and
leaving the fleet in that harbour, came to Rome, and in giving a recital
of the services which he had performed in his province, he threw the
blame of all the piracies committed by sea, on Gentius, king of
Illyricum, as their undoubted cause. “From his kingdom,” he said, “came
all the ships that had ravaged the coast of the Hadriatic; that he had
sent ambassadors on the subject, but they were not even allowed an
audience of the king.” Some time before this, ambassadors had come to
Rome from Gentius, who said, that “when the Romans came for the purpose
of holding a conference with the king, he happened to be sick in a
remote part of his dominions; and that Gentius requested of the senate,
not to give credit to the forged charges which his enemies had made
against him.” Duronius added, that injuries were offered to many Roman
citizens and Latin allies, in Gentius’s dominions; some of whom he held
in confinement in Corcyra. It was their pleasure that all these should
be brought to Rome; that the prætor, Caius Claudius, should inquire into
that business; and that until this were done, no answer should be given
to king Gentius, or his ambassadors. Among many others whom the
pestilence of this year cut off, several priests also died. Lucius
Valerius Flaccus, a pontiff, died of it; and in his room was substituted
Quintus Fabius Labeo. Publius Manlius, who had lately come home from the
Farther Spain, and was triumvir of religious feasts, died also; Quintus
Fulvius, son of Marcus, then a mere youth, succeeded him. The appointing
of a king of the sacrifices in the room of Cneius Cornelius Dolabella,
gave rise to a dispute between Caius Servilius, chief pontiff, and
Lucius Cornelius Dolabella, naval duumvir; whom the pontiff ordered to
resign his office, to the end that he might inaugurate him; and on the
duumvir’s refusing to do this, a fine was therefore imposed on him by
the pontiff; and when the latter appealed, they contended about the
affair before the people. After a majority of the tribes, being called
in, had ordered that the duumvir should comply with the requisition of
the pontiff, and that if he would resign his commission the fine should
be remitted, an unfavourable omen from the heavens intervened, which
broke off the proceedings of the assembly. After this the pontiffs were
prevented by religious scruples from inaugurating Dolabella. They
consecrated Publius Clælius Siculus, who had been installed in the
second place. Towards the end of the year, Caius Servilius Geminus, the
chief pontiff, also died; the same was decemvir of religious affairs. In
his room, as pontiff, Quintus Fulvius Flaccus was nominated by the
college; but Marcus Æmilius Lepidus, was elected chief pontiff, though
many illustrious men sought that office; and Quintus Marcius Philippus
was appointed to the office of the same, as decemvir of religious
affairs. Spurius Postumius Albinus, an augur, died; and the augurs
elected into his place Publius Scipio, son of Africanus. On the request
of the people of Cumæ that year, leave was granted them to use the Latin
language in their public business, and that their auctioneers should
have a right to use the Latin language in selling.
43. To the Pisans, offering ground for the establishment of a Latin
colony, thanks were returned by the senate, and triumvirs were appointed
to conduct that business; these were Quintus Fabius Buteo, Marcus
Pompilius Lænas, and Publius Pompilius Lænas. A letter was brought from
Caius Mænius, the prætor, (to whom, after that the province of Sardinia
had fallen to his lot, orders were given to make inquisition concerning
sorceries, in places more than ten miles distant from the city,) the
purport of which was, “that he had already passed sentence on three
thousand people; and that still, in consequence of fresh discoveries,
the business of the inquisition increased so much on his hands, that he
must either drop the prosecution of the inquiries, or give up the
province.” Quintus Fulvius Flaccus returned to Rome from Spain, with a
high reputation for his military exploits; and while he waited without
the city in expectation of a triumph, was elected consul with Lucius
Manlius Acidinus. And after a few days, he rode through the city in
triumph, accompanied by the soldiers whom he had brought with him. He
carried in the procession a hundred and twenty-four golden crowns,
together with thirty-one pounds’ weight of gold, and of coined Oscan
silver a hundred and seventy-three thousand two hundred pieces.[60] He
gave out of the booty to each of the soldiers fifty denariuses; double
that sum to a centurion; triple it to a horseman; and the same sums to
the Latin allies, with double pay to all. This year, for the first time,
a law was proposed by Lucius Villius, plebeian tribune, ascertaining at
what ages men might sue for, and hold each office in the state. Hence
the surname Annalis was given to his family.
44. Four prætors were elected, after a lapse of many years, by the
Bæbian law, which enacted that four should be elected every alternate
year; and the persons appointed were Cneius Cornelius Scipio, Caius
Valerius Lævinus, Quintus Mucius Scævola, and Publius Mucius Scævola,
sons of Quintus. To the consuls, Quintus Fulvius and Lucius Manlius, was
decreed the same province as to the preceding ones, and the same number
of forces, infantry, cavalry, citizens, and allies. In the two Spains,
Tiberius Sempronius and Lucius Postumius were continued in command, with
the same armies which they then had; and to recruit their numbers, the
consuls were ordered to enlist, of Romans three thousand foot and three
hundred horse, and of the Latin allies, five thousand foot and four
hundred horse. Publius Mucius Scævola obtained by lot the city
jurisdiction, and likewise the business of the inquisitions concerning
sorcery, in the city, and within ten miles of it; Cneius Scipio, the
foreign jurisdiction; Quintus Mucius Scævola, Sicily; and Caius Valerius
Lævinus, Sardinia. The consul, Quintus Fulvius, before he meddled with
any of the public business, declared that “he intended to acquit both
himself and the state of the obligation of fulfilling the vows which he
had made; that on the day of his last battle with the Celtiberians, he
had vowed to perform games in honour of Jupiter supremely good and
great, and to build a temple to Equestrian Fortune; and that by the
Spaniards a contribution of money had been made for these purposes.” A
vote was passed that the games should be performed, and that duumvirs
should be appointed to contract for the building of the temple. With
regard to the expenses, a limitation was fixed, that “no greater sum
should be expended on the games than that which had been voted to
Fulvius Nobilior, when he exhibited games on the conclusion of the
Ætolian war; and that the consul should not, on account of these games,
send for, collect, or receive, or do any thing contrary to the decree of
the senate passed concerning games in the consulate of Lucius Æmilius
and Cneius Bæbius.” The senate qualified their vote in this manner, on
account of the lavish expense occasioned by the games of Tiberius
Sempronius, the ædile, which had been burthensome not only to Italy and
the Latin allies, but even to the provinces abroad.
45. The winter of that year was rendered severe by falls of snow and
storms of every kind; those kinds of trees which are susceptible of
injury from cold, were all blighted; and it continued at that time
somewhat longer than on other occasions. Wherefore a tempest coming on
suddenly, and with intolerable violence, shortly after, interrupted the
Latin festivals on the mount; and they were celebrated afterwards,
pursuant to an order of the pontiffs. The same storm also threw down
many statues in the Capitol, disfigured very many buildings by
lightning, as the temple of Jupiter at Tarracina, the white temple at
Capua, and a Roman gate; and in some places the battlements of the wall
were overthrown. Among the rest of these prodigies, an account was
received from Reate, that a three-footed mule had been foaled there. On
account of those portents, the decemvirs, having been ordered to consult
the books, declared to what gods, and with how many victims, sacrifices
should be performed; and that on account of very many places being
disfigured by lightning, a supplication of one day should be performed
at the temple of Jupiter. Then the votive games of the consul Quintus
Fulvius were exhibited with great magnificence, during ten days. Soon
after was held the election of censors. Marcus Æmilius Lepidus, chief
pontiff, and Marcus Fulvius Nobilior, who had triumphed over the
Ætolians, were chosen. Apparent hostilities existed between these men,
which were frequently displayed in many violent disputes, both in the
senate and in the assemblies of the people. When the election was ended,
the censors, according to ancient custom, seated themselves in curule
chairs in the Campus Martius, near the altar of Mars; whither in a few
minutes came the principal senators, accompanied by the body of the
citizens, of whom Quintus Cæcilius Metellus spoke as follows:—
46. “Censors, we are not unmindful that you have been just now, by the
whole body of the Roman people, set over our morals; and that we ought
to be admonished and ruled by you, not you by us. Nevertheless, that
should be pointed out which in you may either give offence to all good
men, or at least what they would wish to be altered. When we look at you
separately, Marcus Æmilius, Marcus Fulvius, we know not, in the whole
state, any one person whom, if we were called back again to vote, we
could wish to be preferred to you; but when we behold you both together,
we cannot avoid fearing that you are but ill associated; and that the
public may not reap as much advantage from your being exceedingly
pleasing to every one of us, as injury, from your being displeasing one
to another. You have for many years past harboured an enmity, violent in
its degree, and detrimental to yourselves; and it is to be feared, that
from this day forward it may prove more detrimental to us and to the
state, than it has been to you. As to the reasons why we fear this, many
observations which might be made occur to yourselves; had you not
happened to be implacable they would have engrossed your senses. These
feuds we all beseech you to terminate this day, in that sacred place,
and to suffer those whom the Roman people have united by their
suffrages, to be united by us, through this re-establishment of
friendship also. May you, with unanimity and harmony, choose the senate,
review the knights, hold the census, and close the lustrum, as truly and
sincerely as you would wish that to happen which you express in the
words, used in almost all your prayers, ‘that this affair may prove good
and prosperous to me and my colleague:’ and cause us men also to believe
that you really desire that which you entreat of the gods. Titus Tatius
and Romulus, after they had engaged in battle as public enemies, in the
midst of the forum of this city, reigned there with unanimity. Not only
quarrels, but wars, are ended; and from deadly foes men frequently
become faithful allies, nay, sometimes, even fellow-citizens. The
Albans, after the demolition of Alba, were brought over to Rome: the
Latins, the Sabines, were admitted into the number of citizens. It is a
common saying, and, because founded in truth, has become a proverb, that
‘friendships ought to be immortal, but enmities mortal.’” A roar of
approbation burst forth: and presently after, the voices of every one
present, joining in the same request, interrupted his speech. Then
Æmilius, besides other complaints, represented, that through Marcus
Fulvius he had been twice deprived of the consulship, which seemed sure.
On the other hand, Fulvius complained that he had always been assailed
by Æmilius, and that security had been given for him, which was attended
with great disgrace. Nevertheless, each of them intimated that if the
other would wish, he was ready to submit to the direction of such a
number of the most respectable members of the state; and all present
urgently repeating their request, they mutually pledged their right
hands, and their honour, to dismiss in reality and forget all animosity.
Then the whole assembly expressing the highest applause of their
behaviour, they were escorted to the Capitol. Both the attention paid to
such a matter by the persons of the first consequence, and the
compliance of the censors, were most warmly approved and commended by
the senate. The censors then demanded that a sum of money should be
assigned to them, which they might expend in public works; and the
customs of one year were accordingly decreed to them.
47. In the same year the proprætors in Spain, Lucius Postumius and
Tiberius Sempronius, settled between them, that Albinus should march
through Lusitania, against the Vaccæans, and thence return into
Celtiberia, and Gracchus penetrate into the remotest parts of that
province, if the commotions there were more dangerous. First, having
made an unexpected assault on the city of Munda, by night, he took it by
storm; then, after having received hostages and placed a garrison, he
proceeded to attack their forts and ravage the country with fire, until
he arrived at another very strong city, (the Celtiberians call it
Certima,) there, when he was already advancing his works, deputies came
out from the town, whose speech partook of all the simplicity of the
earliest times, not dissembling their wishes to continue the war, if
they had strength to support it.—For they requested permission to go
into the camp of the Celtiberians, and procure assistance from them; and
said, that “if they did not obtain it they would then deliberate apart
from them.” By the permission of Gracchus they went; and in a few days
after brought with them ten other ambassadors. It was mid-day. The first
thing that they asked of the prætor was, that he would order some drink
to be given them. After drinking off the first caps, they asked a second
time, causing thereby loud laughter from those present, at minds so
unpolished, and ignorant of all civilization. The eldest of them then
says, “We have been sent by our nation to ask, on what do you rely that
you attack us?” To this question Gracchus answered, that “he came
relying on an excellent army; which if they chose to see, in order to
carry back more certain information to their friends, he would give them
an opportunity;” and he orders the military tribunes to draw up, in
array, all the forces both horse and foot, and make them go through
their exercise in arms. After this sight, the ambassadors, being
dismissed, deterred their people from attempting to succour the besieged
city. When the townsmen had from the towers raised fires, (which was the
signal agreed upon,) to no purpose, and had been disappointed in their
only hope of relief, they capitulated. A contribution of two million
four hundred thousand sesterces[61] was imposed on them; and they were
ordered to furnish forty horsemen of the highest rank among them, not
under the denomination of hostages, for they were ordered to serve as
soldiers, but in reality to be pledges for their fidelity.
48. From thence Gracchus now marched to the city of Alce, where lay the
camp of the Celtiberians, from which the ambassadors had lately come.
When he had harassed them for some days with skirmishes, by sending his
light troops to charge their advanced guards, he made attacks more
important every day, in order to entice them all out of their
intrenchments. As soon as he perceived that his object had been
effected, he gives orders to the præfects of the auxiliaries, that after
a short contest they should suddenly turn their backs, as if they were
overpowered by numbers, and fly with all haste to the camp: in the mean
time he himself drew up all his forces in order, within the rampart, at
all the gates. No long time had intervened, when he saw a body of his
own troops flying back, according to the preconcerted plan, and the
barbarians following in a disorderly pursuit. He had his army drawn up
within the trench in readiness for this very opportunity. He therefore
delayed only so long as to allow his own men to retreat into the camp by
a free passage; then, raising the shout, he rushed forth from all the
gates at the same time. The enemy did not sustain the unexpected shock.
They who came to assault his camp could not defend even their own. For
they were instantly routed put to flight, driven in a panic within their
trenches; and at last beaten out of them. On that day nine thousand of
the enemy were killed, and three hundred and twenty taken, with a
hundred and twelve horses and thirty-seven military ensigns. Of the
Roman army there fell a hundred and nine.
49. After this battle, Gracchus led the legions to ravage Celtiberia.
And when he was carrying and driving off all things from every quarter,
some states voluntarily, others through fear, submitted to his yoke;
within a few days he received the submission of a hundred and three
towns; he got immense booty. He then marched back to Alce, whence he
came, and set about besieging that city. The townsmen withstood the
first assault of the enemy; as soon as they found themselves attacked,
not only by arms but by works also, having despaired of any protection
in the city, they all retired to the citadel. And then at last they sent
envoys, and surrendered themselves, and every thing belonging to them,
to the Romans. Great plunder was obtained from this. Many prisoners of
distinction fell into his power, among whom were two sons and a daughter
of Thurrus. This chieftain, who governed those tribes, was by far the
most powerful of all the Spaniards. On hearing the disasters of his
countrymen he sent persons to request protection for himself when coming
to the camp to Gracchus, and he came. And he first asked him, “Whether
the lives of himself and his subjects would be spared?” When the prætor
answered that they would; he asked again, “Whether it would be allowed
him to bear arms on the side of the Romans?” To this too Gracchus
assenting, he said, “I will follow you then against my old allies, since
they have not thought proper to pay any regard to me.” From that time he
united himself to the Romans, and by his brave and faithful exertions he
in many places advanced the Roman interest.
50. After this, Ergavia, a celebrated and powerful city, terrified by
the disasters of the surrounding states, opened its gates to the Romans.
There are some writers who say, that this submission of the towns was
not made with sincerity; that, from whatever district he might have led
the legions, hostilities were there renewed forthwith; and that he
afterwards fought, near Mount Caunus, a pitched battle with the
Celtiberians, from break of day to the sixth hour; that many fell on
both sides, and that the Romans did not perform any feat from which you
might believe that they were not vanquished, excepting that, next day,
they offered battle to the enemy remaining in their intrenchments: that
they employed that whole day in collecting the spoils, on the third day
they fought again a more desperate battle, then there was no doubt that
the Celtiberians were at last completely defeated, and their camp taken
and plundered. Twenty-two thousand of the enemy were killed on that day,
more than three hundred taken, and almost an equal number of horses, and
seventy-two military standards. This put an end to the war: the
Celtiberians concluded a sincere peace, and did not waver in their
allegiance as before. They say also, that during the same summer Lucius
Postumius fought twice with success in the Farther Spain against the
Vaccæans, killed thirty-five thousand of the enemy, and took their camp.
It is however more probable, that he came into the province too late to
succeed well in that summer.
51. The censors inspected the senate with sincere unanimity. Marcus
Æmilius Lepidus, the censor, who was likewise chief pontiff, was chosen
head of the senate; three were expelled from that body. Lepidus restored
some who were rejected by his colleague. They completed these works with
the money which had been assigned, and divided between them:—Lepidus
built a mole at Tarracina, an unpopular work, because he had estates
there, and brought into the account of the public expenditure what ought
to have been done at his own expense. He contracted for the building of
a theatre and stage near the temple of Apollo, the whitening of the
temple of Jupiter in the Capitol, and the columns around it; he also
removed from those columns the statues that stood unseemingly before
them, and took down from them the shields and military ensigns of all
sorts hung thereon. Marcus Fulvius made contracts for works more
numerous and of more use; a haven on the Tiber, and piers for a bridge
across it; on which piers Publius Scipio Africanus and Lucius Mummius,
who were the censors, many years after, bargained for the erection of
arches; a court of justice behind the new bankers’ houses, and a
fish-market surrounded with shops, which he sold to private persons;
also a forum and portico, on the outside of the gate Trigemina; another
portico behind the dock-yard, and one at the temple of Hercules; also a
temple of Apollo Medicus, behind that of Hope, on the bank of the Tiber.
They had besides, some of the money undivided, and out of this they
jointly agreed to pay for water being brought, and arches being made;
but Marcus Licinius Crassus hindered this work, for he would not suffer
it to be brought through his grounds. They also established many port
duties and customs, and took care that very many public chapels, which
had been occupied by private individuals, should be public and
consecrated, and open to the people. They likewise made an alteration in
the mode of voting; for, through all the regions, they divided the
tribes[62] according to the different ranks, conditions, and callings of
men.
52. One of the censors, Marcus Æmilius, petitioned the senate, that a
sum of money should be voted for the celebration of games, in honour of
the dedication of the temples of Imperial Juno and Diana, which he had
vowed eight years before, when employed in the Ligurian war. They
accordingly voted twenty thousand _asses_.[63] He dedicated those
temples each in the Flaminian circus; and celebrated theatrical games
for three days after the dedication of the temple of Juno, and for two
after that of Diana, and each day in the circus. He also dedicated a
temple to the deities of the sea[64] in the field of Mars, which Lucius
Æmilius Regillus had vowed eleven years before this, in a naval
engagement against the commanders of king Antiochus. Over the gate of
the temple was hung up a tablet with this inscription: “This temple was
vowed by Lucius Æmilius, the son of Marcus Æmilius, on coming forth from
a battle which he fought for the purpose of establishing peace, in which
he concluded a mighty war and subdued kings,—because under his auspices,
command, and successful generalship, the fleet of king Antiochus, under
the very eyes of Antiochus himself and his entire army, cavalry and
elephants, was conquered, thrown into confusion, shattered, and put to
flight, on the eleventh day before the calends of January; and there on
that day thirteen ships of war with all their crews taken. When that
battle was fought, king Antiochus and his dominions * * * * * * *.[65]
On this account he vowed a temple to the titular gods of the sea.” In
the same manner a tablet was placed over the gate of the temple of
Jupiter, on the Capitol.
53. Two days after the censors had inspected the senate, the consul
Quintus Fulvius marched against the Ligurians; and having with his army
crossed over pathless mountains and woody valleys, he fought a pitched
battle with the enemy, and not only defeated them in the field, but took
their camp the same day. Three thousand two hundred of the enemy, and
all that tract of Liguria, surrendered. The consul brought down all
those who surrendered into the low-lands, and posted guards on the
mountains. His letters from that province quickly reached Rome, and
thanksgivings for three days were voted on account of his successes. The
prætors, during these thanksgivings, celebrated divine worship by
sacrificing forty victims of the larger kind. By the other consul,
Lucius Manlius, nothing worth recording was done in Liguria. Transalpine
Gauls, to the number of three thousand, coming over into Italy, without
offering to commit hostilities on any one, petitioned the consul and
senate for some land, that they might live as peaceable subjects, under
the government of the Roman people. But the senate ordered them to quit
Italy, and enjoined the consul Quintus Fulvius to search after and
punish those who had been the first to advise them to cross the Alps.
54. This year died Philip, king of the Macedonians, being worn out with
old age, and grief occasioned by his son’s death. He spent the winter at
Demetrias, in great anguish of mind, occasioned both by regret for his
son and contrition for his own cruelty. His other son also disquieted
his mind, who, both in his own opinion and that of others, was
undoubtedly king. The eyes of all were turned to him, and his own old
age was desolate. Some only waiting for his death, while others did not
even wait for that event. By which circumstance he was still more
distressed, and with him Antigonus, son of Echecrates, named after his
uncle Antigonus, who had been guardian to Philip, a man of royal
dignity, and famed also for a remarkable battle which he fought against
Cleomenes the Lacedæmonian. The Greeks called him the Guardian, to
distinguish him from the other princes of that surname.[66] His nephew
Antigonus, of all the friends whom Philip had honoured with his favours,
alone remained uncorrupted; and this faithful attachment to him had made
Perseus, who had been in no wise his friend, become now his most
inveterate enemy. He, foreseeing in his mind with what danger to himself
the inheritance of the kingdom would fall to Demetrius, as soon as he
perceived the king’s mind to waver, and that he sometimes sighed with
regret for the loss of his son; at one time by listening, and at another
by making mention of the deed, as being rashly done, he himself was at
hand, adding his complaint to the frequent lamentations of the
king;—and, as the truth usually affords many traces of itself, he
assisted with the most zealous diligence, in order that the whole might
be brought to light as speedily as possible. Of the agents employed in
that business, those who were most generally supposed guilty, were
Apelles and Philocles, who had gone ambassadors to Rome, and had brought
the letter under the name of Flamininus, which had proved so ruinous to
Demetrius. They generally murmured in the palace, that it was a forgery,
falsified by the secretary, and that the seal was counterfeited.
55. But while this thing was rather a matter of suspicion than of
certainty, Antigonus accidentally met Xychus, whom he seized and brought
to the palace; then leaving him in custody of guards, Antigonus went on
to the apartment of Philip, to whom he said, “I think I understood from
many conversations, that you would value it highly, if you could
ascertain the whole truth respecting your sons, which of the two was
assailed by the other’s deceit and secret machinations. Xychus, the only
man in the world who can unravel this mystery, is now in your power. I
met him by accident, and I have brought him to the palace; order him to
be called into your presence.” On being brought in, he at first denied;
but with such irresolution, as showed that by a slight application to
his fears he would become a ready informer. He did not withstand the
sight of the executioner and the instruments of torture, but disclosed
the whole process of the villany of the ambassadors, and his own
services therein. Persons were instantly despatched to seize the
ambassadors, and they apprehended by surprise Philocles, who was
present, but Apelles, who had been sent in pursuit of a person called
Chærea, having heard of the information given by Xychus, went over into
Italy. With respect to Philocles, no certain account has been published:
some say, that for a time he boldly denied all knowledge of the matter;
but that when Xychus was confronted with him, he persisted no longer;
others, that he even suffered the rack without confessing. Philip’s
grief was renewed and doubled; and he felt his unhappiness, with regard
to his children, press the heavier on him, because one of them was not.
56. When Perseus was told that all was discovered, he was too powerful
to think that flight was necessary. He only took care to keep out of the
way, intending to guard himself, in the mean time, during the remainder
of Philip’s life, from the flame, as it were, of his burning resentment;
who, having lost hopes of subjecting the person of Perseus to
punishment, meditated on this, as the last resource, that he would not,
besides impunity, enjoy the reward of his wickedness also. Therefore he
addresses himself to Antigonus, to whom he was obliged for the discovery
of the fratricide; and whom he supposed the Macedonians, considering the
fresh renown of his uncle Antigonus, would neither be ashamed nor
displeased at having for their king. “Antigonus,” says he, “since I have
been brought into such a situation that the being childless, a state
which other parents reckon a curse, ought to be wished for by me, I am
resolved to transfer to you the kingdom which I received from your
uncle, and which his faithful and resolute guardianship not only
preserved for me, but even enlarged. You are the only friend I have,
whom I can judge worthy of the throne; and, if I had not one such, I
should wish it to perish and become extinct, rather than be a prize to
the treacherous villany of Perseus. I shall think Demetrius recalled
from the dead, and restored to me, if I can leave you substituted in his
room, who alone have wept for his innocent death, and for my unhappy
error.” After this discourse he did not fail to advance him by
conferring on him honours of every kind; and, as Perseus was absent in
Thrace, he went round the cities of Macedon, and recommended Antigonus
to the chief men; and, had his life been prolonged, there is no doubt
but that he would have left him in possession of the throne. After
leaving Demetrias, he staid a very long time at Thessalonica; and when
he had gone thence to Amphipolis, he was there seized with a severe
sickness. Yet it was evident that it was a disorder of the mind rather
than of the body, and that, owing to his anxieties and want of sleep,
for apparitions and phantoms of his innocent murdered son ever and anon
disquieted him, he breathed his last uttering awful imprecations on the
other. Nevertheless Antigonus might have been first acquainted with the
death of the king, had it not been immediately divulged. Calligenes, the
physician, who had the charge of his treatment, not expecting the king’s
death, sent to Perseus, on the first appearance of desperate symptoms,
messengers who had been previously stationed at different places; and
till his arrival he concealed the death of the king from all but those
who were in the palace.
57. Perseus therefore surprised them all, when not expecting, and
totally ignorant of, his arrival, and seized on the throne, which was
obtained by wickedness. The demise of Philip happened very seasonably
for the purpose of gaining time and collecting strength for the support
of a war: for, in a few days after, the nation of the Bastarnians, in
consequence of long solicitation, set out from their own abodes, with a
large force of infantry and cavalry, and crossed the Danube. Antigonus
and Cotto (the latter was a Bastarnian of distinction, and Antigonus had
been sent, much against his will, with this same Cotto, as ambassador,
to persuade his countrymen to take arms) went forward, to carry
intelligence of this to the king; but at a small distance from
Amphipolis a rumour, and then authentic information, acquainted them
with the king’s death; which event disconcerted the whole arrangement of
their plan. It had been arranged in this manner;—Philip was to procure
for the Bastarnians a safe passage through Thrace, and supplies of
provisions. In order to be able to effect this, he had courted the
chieftains in that country by presents, having pledged his faith that
the Bastarnians should march through it in a peaceable body. It was
proposed to exterminate the nation of the Dardanians, and to establish
settlements for the Bastarnians in their country: from which measure a
double advantage would accrue, if both the Dardanians, a nation ever
hostile to Macedonia, and anxiously looking to the unfortunate periods
of its kings, would be removed out of the way; and the Bastarnians,
having left their wives and children in Dardania, might be sent to
ravage Italy. That the road to the Adriatic Sea and Italy was through
the country of the Scordiscians, and that the army could not be led by
any other way; that the Scordiscians would readily grant a passage to
the Bastarnians, for they would have no dislike to people resembling
themselves in language and manners and would probably join them in an
expedition, when they saw that they were on their way to the plunder of
a most opulent nation. The remaining plans were accommodated to every
kind of event that might take place; for if the Bastarnians would be cut
off by the Romans, still the removal of the Dardanians, and the booty to
be gained from the remains of the former, and the full possession of
Dardania, would prove a consolation; or if they should be successful,
then, while the Romans would be employed in the Bastarnian war, he might
recover what he had lost in Greece. Such had been the designs of Philip.
58. The Bastarnians commenced their march in a peaceable array, relying
on the word of Cotto and Antigonus. But, not long after the report of
Philip’s death, neither the Thracians were easily dealt with, nor would
the Bastarnians be content with what they could purchase; nor could they
be kept in a body, so as not to go out of the road. In consequence,
injuries were committed on both sides; and, from the daily
multiplication of these, war at last burst forth. When at last the
Thracians were unable to withstand the great strength and numbers of the
enemy, having deserted their towns in the plains, they betook themselves
to a high mountain (they call it Donuca). When the Bastarnians wished to
come up, such a tempest there discomfited them, when in vain approaching
the summit of the mountain, as, we are told, destroyed the Gauls, when
plundering Delphi. They were not only overwhelmed with a deluge of rain,
followed by prodigious thick showers of hail, accompanied by tremendous
noises in the sky, thunder, and lightning which dazzled their sight; but
the thunderbolts, also, fell so frequently on all sides, that their
bodies seemed to be aimed at: and not only the soldiers, but their
officers also, being struck by them, fell. When therefore, in hasty
flight, they, rushing on blindly, were scattered, and tumbling over very
high rocks, and the Thracians also attacked them when already in dismay,
they themselves then said, that the gods were the cause of the flight,
and that the sky was falling on them. When, being dispersed by the
storm, as by a shipwreck, they had returned (most of them half armed) to
the camp whence they had set out, they then began to consider what they
should do; on which a disagreement ensued, some advising to return home,
and others to advance to Dardania. About thirty thousand men, under the
command of Clondicus, arrived at that place; the rest marched back, by
the same road through which they came, to the country beyond the Danube.
Perseus, having got possession of the kingdom, ordered Antigonus to be
put to death; and, until he could settle his affairs on a firm
foundation, sent ambassadors to Rome, to renew the treaty concluded by
his father, and to request the senate to give him the title of king.
These were the transactions of that year in Macedon.
59. One of the consuls, Quintus Fulvius, triumphed over the Ligurians;
which triumph, it was agreed, was granted rather to the greatness of his
influence, than to that of his exploits. He carried in the procession a
vast quantity of arms, taken from the enemy, but no money; yet he
distributed to each soldier three hundred _asses_, double that sum to a
centurion, triple it to a horseman. There was nothing in this triumph
more remarkable, than that it happened to be celebrated on the same day
of the year on which he had triumphed, after his prætorship, the year
before. After the triumph he proclaimed the assembly of election, in
which were chosen consuls, Marcus Junius Brutus, and Aulus Manlius
Vulso. Afterwards, a storm interrupted the election of prætors, though
three had been already elected; but on the following day, the fourth
before the ides of March,[67] the other three were elected, Marcus
Titinius Curvus, Tiberius Claudius Nero, and Titus Fonteius Capito. The
Roman games were renewed by the curule ædiles, Cneius Servilius Cæpio,
and Appius Claudius Centho, on account of the prodigies which had
occurred. In the public forum, where a lectisternium was being
celebrated, there was an earthquake, and the heads of the gods who were
on the couches turned away their faces, and the cloak and robes placed
on Jupiter fell off. It was also construed as a prodigy, that the mice
gnawed the olives on the table. For the expiation of these, nothing more
was done than repeating the celebration of the games.