and as supplicants, held out olive branches; but at length they were
raised, and withdrew from the senate-house. They then began to ask the
opinions of the senators. The most inveterate against the Rhodians were
those, who as consuls, prætors, or lieutenant-generals, had been engaged
in the war with Macedon. Marcus Porcius Cato was the principal supporter
of their cause, who, though naturally austere, acted his part as a
senator, on this occasion, with much mildness and lenity. I will not
introduce here a specimen of his copious eloquence, by relating what he
said: his speech is extant, and is comprised in the fifth book of his
Antiquities. The answer given to the Rhodians was, that “they should
neither be declared enemies, nor any longer remain in alliance with
Rome.” At the head of this embassy were Philocrates and Astymedes. They
determined that half their number, with Philocrates, should carry home
to Rhodes an account of their proceedings; and that the other half, with
Astymedes, should remain at Rome, that they might be acquainted with
what passed, and inform their countrymen. For the present, they were
commanded to remove their governors out of Lycia and Caria, before a
certain day. This intelligence was announced at Rhodes; and although it
was galling in itself, yet as the Rhodians were relieved from the dread
of a greater evil, for they had feared a war, the announcement created
joy. They therefore immediately voted a present, amounting in value to
twenty thousand pieces of gold, and deputed Theætetus, the commander of
their fleet, on that embassy. They wished to procure an alliance with
the Romans; but, in such a manner, as that no order of the people should
pass concerning it, nor any thing be committed to writing; for in either
of these cases, if they failed in succeeding, there would be greater
disgrace in the refusal. The admiral of the fleet was empowered, singly,
to negotiate that business, if he could effect it without any law being
brought forward at Rome on the subject; for, during a considerable
length of time, they had maintained a friendship with the Romans, in
such a manner as not to bind themselves by a treaty of alliance, for no
other reason than that they might neither preclude the kings from all
hope of their assistance, if any of them should need it, nor themselves
from a participation of the advantages which might accrue from the good
fortune and liberality of the said kings. At this time, however, an
alliance seemed particularly desirable, not to render them more secure
from others, (for excepting the Romans, they feared none,) but to make
them less suspected by the Romans themselves. About this time, the
Caunians revolted from them, and the Mylasensians seized on the towns of
the Euromensians. The spirit of their community was not so totally
broken as to hinder their perceiving, that, if Lycia and Caria were
taken from them by the Romans, their other provinces would either assert
their own freedom by a revolt, or be seized on by their neighbours; and
that they themselves would then be shut up in a small island; within the
shores of a barren country, which could by no means maintain the
numerous people in so large a city. They therefore sent out with all
speed, a body of troops, and reduced the Caunians to obedience, though
they had received succours from Cybara: and afterwards defeated in a
battle at Orthosia the Mylassians and Alabandians, who, having seized
the province of Euroma, had marched against them with their allied
forces.
26. Whilst these events are occurring in Rhodes, different matters are
going on in Macedon and Rome; in the mean time, in Illyria, Lucius
Anicius, having reduced king Gentius under his power, as before
mentioned, placed Gabinius over a garrison that he posted in Scodra,
which had been the capital of the kingdom; and appointed Caius Licinius
commander in Rhizon and Olcinium, which were towns very conveniently
situated. Leaving these two in charge of Illyria, he marched with the
rest of his forces into Epirus. Here, Phanota was the first place which
submitted to him; the whole multitude, with fillets on their heads,
coming out to meet him. Placing a garrison there, he went over into
Molossis, all the towns of which province, except Passora, Tecmo,
Phylace, and Horreum, having surrendered, he marched first against
Passora. The two men of the greatest authority in that city, were
Antinous and Theodotus, who were remarkable for their warm attachment to
Perseus, and hatred to the Romans; the same individuals had instigated
the whole nation to revolt from the Romans. These men, since they had no
hope of pardon, owing to their consciousness of guilt, shut the gates,
that they might be buried under the general ruin of their country, and
exhorted the multitude to prefer death to slavery. No man dared to open
his lips against men of such transcendent power. At last one Theodotus,
a young man of distinction, (when his greater dread of the Romans had
overpowered the lesser fear of his own leaders,) exclaimed, “What
madness has seized you, to make the public accessory to the crimes of
two individuals? I have often heard mention made of men who offered
themselves to death for the sake of their country; but those are the
first that were ever found, who required that their country should
perish for them. Why not open our gates, and submit to that power to
which the whole world has submitted?” As he spoke thus, the multitude
followed him; on which Antinous and Theodotus rushed out on the advanced
guards of the enemy, and freely exposing themselves to their weapons,
were slain, and the city was surrendered to the Romans. Through a
similar obstinacy in Cephalus, a man in power, the gates of Tecmo were
shut: when he was put to death, Anicius received the surrender of the
town. Neither Phylace nor Horreum stood a siege. Having thus reduced
Epirus, Anicius distributed his troops in winter quarters, through the
most convenient towns; and returning into Illyria, held a general
convention at Scodra, where the five commissioners had arrived from
Rome, and to which place he had summoned the principal men from all
parts of the province. There, with advice of the council, he proclaimed
from his tribunal, that “the senate and people of Rome granted freedom
to the Illyrians; and that he would withdraw his garrisons from all
their towns, citadels, and castles. That the Issensians and Taulantians,
with the Pirustans, that were included among the Dassaretians, the
Rhizonites, and the Olcinians, should not only enjoy liberty, but
likewise an immunity from taxes; because when Gentius was in his full
strength, they had revolted to the Romans. That the same exemption was
granted to the Daorseans; because they forsook Caravantius, and came
over with their arms to the Romans; and that the Scodrans, Dassaretians,
Selepitans, and the rest of the Illyrians, should pay half the taxes
which they had formerly paid to their king.” He then divided Illyria
into three districts; he made the first division out of the people above
mentioned, the second comprehended all the Labeatians, and the third the
Agranonites, Rhizonites, and Olcinians, with the contiguous states.
Having established this constitution in Illyria, he returned into
Epirus, to his winter quarters at Passaro.
27. While these matters are passing in Illyria, Paullus, before the
arrival of the ten commissioners, sent his son Quintus Maximus, who was
by this time returned from Rome, to sack Agassæ and Æginium: Agassæ,
because the inhabitants, after surrendering their city to the consul,
and voluntarily soliciting an alliance with Rome, had revolted again to
Perseus: the crime of the people of Æginium was of a late date; not
giving credit to the report of the Romans being victorious, they had
treated with hostile cruelty some soldiers who came into the city. He
also detached Lucius Postumius to pillage the city of Ænia; because the
inhabitants had continued in arms with more obstinacy than the
neighbouring states. Autumn now drew nigh; at the commencement of this
season, when he resolved to make a tour through Greece, in order to take
a view of those curiosities, which, being celebrated by fame, are
represented as greater than they really are when examined by the eye, he
gave the command of his quarters to Caius Sulpicius Gallus, and, with a
moderate retinue, began his journey, accompanied by his son Scipio, and
Athenæus, king Eumenes’ brother, and directed his route through Thessaly
to the famous oracle at Delphi; where he offered sacrifices to Apollo,
and, in honour of his victory, destined for his own statues some
unfinished columns in the vestibule, on which they had intended to place
statues of king Perseus. He also visited the temple of Jupiter
Trophonius at Lebadia; where, after viewing the mouth of the cave,
through which people applying to the oracle descend, in order to obtain
information from the gods, he sacrificed to Jupiter and Hercyna, who
have a temple there; and then went down to Chalcis, to see the
curiosities of the Euripus, and of the island of Eubœa, which is there
united to the continent by a bridge. From Chalcis he passed by sea to
Aulis, a port three miles distant, famous for having been formerly the
station of Agamemnon’s fleet of one thousand ships, and distinguished
also for the temple of Diana, in which that king of kings sought a
passage for his fleet to Troy, by offering his daughter Iphigenia as a
victim at the altar. Thence he came to Oropus, in Attica; where an
ancient prophet is worshipped as a god, and has an old temple, rendered
delightful by the surrounding springs and streams. He then went to
Athens, which, though filled with only the decayed relics of ancient
grandeur, still contained many things worthy of observation; the
citadel, the port, the walls connecting Piræeus with the city; the
dockyards, the monuments of illustrious generals, the statues of gods
and men, alike remarkable for the variety of the materials and the
ingenuity of the artists.
28. After sacrificing to Minerva, the guardian of the citadel, he
continued his journey, and on the second day arrived at Corinth. The
city was then flourishing, as this visit was prior to its fall; the
citadel too, and the isthmus, afforded admirable views; the former,
within the walls, and towering up to an immense height, yet abounding
with springs; and the latter, separating by a narrow neck two seas,
which wash it on the east and west. He next visited the celebrated
cities of Sicyon and Argos; then Epidaurus, which, though unequal to
them in opulence, was yet remarkable for a famous temple of Esculapius,
which, standing at five miles’ distance from the city, was at that time
rich in offerings, which the sick had dedicated to that deity, as an
acknowledgment for the remedies which restored them to health; but now,
full of the traces of them only, whence they have been torn away. Thence
he proceeded to Lacedæmon, renowned, not for magnificent works of art,
but for its laws and discipline; and then, passing through Magalopolis,
he went up to Olympia. Here, having taken a view of all things worthy of
notice, and beholding Jupiter in a manner present before him, he was
struck with the deepest reverence; therefore he ordered preparations to
be made for a sacrifice, with more than usual magnificence, and as if he
were going to make offerings in the Capitol; having made his circuit
through Greece in such a manner as not to inquire into the sentiments
which any one, either in his public or private capacity, entertained in
the war against Perseus, lest he might disturb the minds of the allies
with any kind of apprehensions. On his way back to Demetrias, a crowd of
Ætolians, in mourning apparel, met him: on his expressing surprise, and
asking the reason of this proceeding, he was told that five hundred and
fifty of the chief of their countrymen had been put to death by Lyciscus
and Tisippus, who surrounded their senate with Roman soldiers, sent by
their commander Bæbius; that others had been driven into exile; and that
the accusers were in possession of the goods of the killed and exiled.
They were ordered to wait on him at Amphipolis; and then, having met
Cneius Octavius at Demetrias, who informed him that the ten
commissioners were landed, he laid aside all other business, and went to
Apollonia to meet them. And when Perseus, owing to the negligence of his
guard, had come hither to meet him from Amphipolis, (the distance is a
day’s journey,) Æmilius spoke to him with great courtesy; but is said
to have severely reprimanded Caius Sulpicius, when he reached the camp
at Amphipolis; first, for allowing Perseus thus to ramble through the
province, and next, for indulging the soldiers so far as to suffer them
to strip the buildings on the city walls of the tiles, in order to cover
their own winter huts. These tiles he ordered to be carried back the
buildings to be repaired, and put in their former condition. He gave in
charge to Aulus Postumius, Perseus, with his elder son Philip, and sent
them into a place of confinement; his daughter and younger son he
ordered to be brought from Samothrace to Amphipolis, and treated them
with all possible kindness.
29. When the day arrived, on which he had ordered ten chiefs from each
of the states to attend at Amphipolis, and all the writings wherever
deposited, and the money belonging to the king, to be brought thither,
he seated himself, with the ten commissioners, on his tribunal, while
the whole multitude of the Macedonians surrounded him. Though they were
inured to the government of a king, yet the strange tribunal presented a
terrible appearance; the path that was cleared towards the prætor by the
removal of the people, the herald, the sergeant, were all objects
strange to their eyes and ears, and capable of inspiring awe in allies,
much more in conquered enemies. Silence being proclaimed by the herald,
Paullus declared in the Latin language the regulations adopted by the
senate, and by himself with the advice of the council; and the prætor,
Cneius Octavius, (for he too was present,) translated them into the
Greek language, and read them aloud. First of all he ordered, that “the
Macedonians should live free; possessing the same cities and lands as
before; governed by their own laws, and creating annual magistrates; and
that they should pay to the Roman people one-half of the taxes which
they had paid to their kings. Next, that Macedon should be divided into
four districts. That the division which should be deemed the first,
should comprehend the lands between the rivers Strymon and Nessus: to
this territory should be added the territory beyond the Nessus, towards
the east, wherein Perseus had possessed villages, castles, or towns,
excepting Ænus, Maronea, and Abdera; and the country beyond the Strymon,
verging towards the west, including all Bisaltica, with Heraclea, which
they call Sintice. That the second district should be the country
enclosed by the river Strymon, on the east, where were excepted
Sintice-Heraclea and Bisaltica, and by the river Axius on the west; to
which should be added the Pœnians, who dwelt near the river Axius, and
on its right bank. The third district comprised the territory bounded by
the river Axius on the east, the Peneus on the west, and Mount Bora on
the north. That to this division should be joined that tract of Pæonia,
which stretches along the western side of the Axius; Edessa also, and
Berœa, should be united to it. The fourth district was to consist of the
country on the north of Mount Bora, touching Illyria on one side, and
Epirus on the other. He then appointed the capitals of the districts in
which the councils should be held: of the first district, Amphipolis; of
the second, Thessalonica; of the third, Pella; and of the fourth,
Pelagonia. In these he ordered that the councils of the several
districts should be assembled, the public money deposited, and the
magistrates elected.” He then gave notice, “that it was determined, that
there should not be intermarriage, nor liberty to purchase lands or
houses, out of the limits of their respective districts, that the mines
of gold and silver must not be worked; but those of iron and copper
might.” The tax imposed upon such persons as worked them, was one half
of that which they had paid to the king. He likewise forbade the use of
imported salt. To the Dardanians, who laid claim to Pæonia, because it
had formerly been theirs, and was contiguous to their territory, he
declared that, “he gave liberty to all who had been under subjection to
Perseus.” After the refusal of Pæonia, he granted them liberty to
purchase salt, and ordered that the third district should bring it down
to Stobi, in Pæonia; and he fixed the price to be paid for it. He
prohibited them from cutting ship timber themselves, or suffering others
to cut it. To those districts which bordered on the barbarians, (and
excepting the third, this was the case with them all,) he gave
permission to keep armed forces on their frontiers.
30. These terms, announced on the first day of the convention, affected
the minds of those who were present with very different emotions.
Liberty being granted them beyond their expectation, and the annual
tribute being lightened, gave them high satisfaction; but then, by the
prohibition of a commercial intercourse between the districts, Macedon
appeared dismembered, like an animal torn asunder into separate limbs,
which stood in need of mutual aid from each other; so little did the
Macedonians themselves know how great was the extent of their country,
how aptly it was formed for a division and how content each part could
be with its own resources. The first division contains the Bisaltians,
men of the greatest courage (residing beyond the river Nessus, and on
both sides of the Strymon); it has many peculiar productions of the
vegetable kingdom, and mines also, and the advantages derived from the
city of Amphipolis, which, standing just in the way, shuts up every
passage into Macedonia from the east. The second division has two very
remarkable cities, Thessalonica and Cassandria, and the country of
Pallene, producing grain and fruits in abundance; its harbours at Torone
and Mount Athos, (they call the latter the port of Ænea,) besides
others, some of which are conveniently situated opposite Eubœa, and some
upon the Hellespont, give it opportunities for maritime business. The
third district has the celebrated cities of Edessa, Berœa, and Pella;
and is partly inhabited by the Vettians, a warlike people; also by great
numbers of Gauls and Illyrians, who are industrious husbandmen. The
fourth district is occupied by the Eordæans, Lyncestans, and
Pelagonians, to whom are joined Atintania, Stymphalis, and Elemiotis.
All this tract is cold and rough, and unfavourable to tillage; it has
men whose dispositions are like the land that they till. Their vicinity
to the barbarians renders them more ferocious; for they at one time
inure them to arms, and at another are in peace, and introduce their
customs among them. Having separated the interests of the several
districts of Macedon by this division, he declared that he would give
them a constitution which should bind the Macedonians in general, when
he was prepared to give them a body of laws also.
31. The Ætolians were then summoned to appear; in which trial the
inquiry was directed to discover, rather, which party had favoured the
Romans, and which the king, than which had done, and which suffered
injury; for the murderers were absolved from guilt, and likewise the
banishment of the exiles confirmed, and the death of the citizens
overlooked. Aulus Bæbius alone was condemned for having lent Roman
soldiers as agents in the butchery. This result in the case of the
Ætolians puffed up the party which favoured the Romans to an
intolerable degree of arrogance, throughout all the states and nations
of Greece; and subjected all those, on whom the slightest suspicion of
being in the king’s interest fell, to be trodden under their feet. Of
the leading men in the states, there were three parties; two of which
paying servile court either to the Romans, or the kings, sought to
aggrandize themselves by enslaving their countries; while one, adopting
a middle course, and struggling against both, stood up in support of
their laws and liberty. Although the last had the greatest share of the
affection of their countrymen, still they had the least interest among
foreigners. The partisans of the Romans being elated by the success of
their party, alone held the offices of magistracy, and alone were
employed on embassies. Great numbers of these, coming from the diets of
Peloponnesus, Bœotia, and other parts of Greece, filled the ears of the
ten commissioners with insinuations, that “those who, through folly, had
openly boasted of being friends and intimates of Perseus, were not the
only persons who had favoured his cause; much greater numbers had done
so in secret. That there was another party, who under pretence of
supporting liberty, had, in the diets, advanced every measure contrary
to the Romans; and that these nations would not continue faithful,
unless the spirit of these parties was broken, and the influence of
those, who had no other object than the advancement of the Roman power,
was augmented and strengthened.” These persons, whose names were given
in by this clique, were summoned by the general’s letter out of Ætolia,
Acarnania, Epirus, and Bœotia, to follow him to Rome, and plead their
cause. Two of the ten commissioners, Caius Claudius and Cneius Domitius,
went to Achaia, that they might, on the spot, summon by proclamation the
persons implicated. This was done for two reasons; one was because they
believed that the Achæans would have greater spirit and confidence than
the rest, and might disobey, and perhaps even endanger Callicrates, and
other authors of the charges, and informers. The other reason for
summoning them on the spot, was, that the commissioners had in their
possession letters from the chief men of the other nations, which had
been found among the king’s papers; but with regard to the Achæans the
charges were not clear, because no letters of theirs had been
discovered. When the Ætolians were dismissed, the Acarnanian nation was
called in. No alteration was made in their situation, only Leucas was
disunited from their council. Then making more extensive inquiries
respecting those who had, publicly or privately, favoured the king, they
extended their jurisdiction even into Asia, and sent Labeo to demolish
Antissa, in the island of Lesbos, and to remove the inhabitants to
Methymna; because they had received within their port, and supplied with
provisions, Antenor, the commander of the king’s fleet, while cruising
with his squadron on the coast of Lesbos. Two distinguished men were
beheaded, Andronicus, son of Andronicus, an Ætolian, because, imitating
his father, he had borne arms against the Roman people; and Neo, a
Theban, by whose advice his countrymen had formed an alliance with
Perseus.
32. This examination into foreign matters having intervened, the general
assembly of the Macedonians was again summoned, and information was
given them that “with regard to the government of Macedon, they must
elect senators called by themselves Synedroi, by whose advice the
republic should be directed.” Then was read a list of Macedonians of
distinction, who, with their children above fifteen years of age, were
ordered to go before him into Italy. This injunction, at first view
cruel, appeared afterwards to the Macedonian populace to have been
intended in favour of their freedom. For the persons named were
Perseus’s friends and courtiers, the generals of his armies, and the
commanders of his ships or garrisons; men accustomed to pay servile
obedience to the king, and to domineer haughtily over others; some
immoderately rich, others vying in expense with those to whom they were
unequal in fortune, all living in regal pomp and luxury; in a word, none
possessed of a disposition suited to a member of a commonwealth, and all
incapable of paying due obedience to the laws, and of enjoying an equal
participation of liberty. All, therefore, who had held any employment
under the king, even those who had been upon the most trivial embassies,
were ordered to leave Macedon and go into Italy; and the penalty of
death was denounced against any who disobeyed the mandate. He framed
laws for Macedon with such care, that he seemed to be giving them not to
vanquished foes, but to allies who had merited well; laws so wise, that
even experience (which is the only corrector of laws) could not find
any fault in them after a long trial. Turning from serious business, he
celebrated with great pomp at Amphipolis games, for which he had been
making preparations for a long time, having sent people to the states
and kings in Asia to give notice of the intended diversions, and in his
late tour through Greece he had himself mentioned his design to the
principal people. There came thither from every region in the world,
multitudes of artists of every sort, skilled in such exhibitions, and
vast numbers of wrestlers and noble horses; deputations also came with
victims and every other mark of respect usually shown out of regard to
gods or men, in great games of Greece. Hence it came to pass, that the
people admired not only the magnificence, but likewise the skill
displayed in the entertainments; in which kind of business the Romans
were, at that time, quite inexperienced. Feasts were also provided for
the ambassadors with the same degree of care and opulence. They made
frequent mention of an expression of his, that to furnish out a feast,
and to conduct games, seldom fell to the lot of him who knew how to
conquer.
33. When the games of every kind were finished, he put the brazen
shields on board the ships; the rest of the arms, being all collected
together in a huge pile, the general himself, after praying to Mars,
Minerva, mother Lua, and the other deities, to whom it is right and
proper to dedicate the spoils of enemies, set fire to them with a torch,
and then the military tribunes who stood round all threw fire on the
same. It was remarkable, that, at such a general congress of Europe and
Asia, where such multitudes were assembled, some to congratulate the
victors, some to see the shows; and where such numerous bodies of land
and naval forces were quartered, so great was the plenty of every thing,
and so moderate the price of provisions, that presents of divers
articles were made by the general to private persons, and states, and
nations; not only for their present use, but even to carry home with
them. The stage entertainments, the gymnastics, and the horse races, did
not afford a more pleasing spectacle to the crowd which had assembled,
than the Macedonian booty, which was all exposed to view, consisting of
the ornaments of the palace at Pella, namely, statues, pictures,
tapestry, and vases, formed of gold, silver, brass, and ivory, in so
elaborate a manner, that they seemed intended not merely for present
show, like the furniture of the palace of Alexandria but even for
continual use. These were embarked in the fleet and given in charge to
Cneius Octavius, to be carried to Rome. Paullus, after dismissing the
ambassadors with great courtesy, crossed the Strymon, and encamped at
the distance of a mile from Amphipolis; then resuming his march, he
arrived on the fifth day at Pella. Having passed by that city, he halted
for two days at a place called Spelæum, and detached his son Quintus
Maximus and Publius Nasica, with half of the troops, to lay waste the
country of the Illyrians, who had assisted Perseus in the war, ordering
them to meet him at Oricum; then, taking the road to Epirus, on his
fifteenth encampment, he reached the city of Passaro.
34. Not far from this was the camp of Anicius, to whom he sent a letter,
desiring him not to be alarmed at any thing that should happen, for “the
senate had granted to his soldiers the plunder of those cities in Epirus
which had revolted to Perseus.” Having despatched centurions, who were
to give out that they came to bring away the garrisons, in order that
the Epirotes might be free, as well as the Macedonians; he summoned
before him ten of the principal men of each city, and after giving them
strict injunctions that all their gold and silver should be brought into
the public street, he then sent cohorts to the several states. Those
that were destined for the more remote states set out earlier than those
who were sent to the nearer, that they might all arrive on the same day.
The tribunes and centurions were instructed how to act. Early in the
morning all the treasure was collected; at the fourth hour the signal
was given to the soldiers to plunder, and so ample was the booty
acquired, that the shares distributed were four hundred denariuses[101]
to a horseman, and two hundred to a footman. One hundred and fifty
thousand persons were led away captive. Then the walls of the plundered
cities, they were about seventy in number, were razed; the effects sold,
and the soldiers’ shares paid out of the price. Paullus then marched
down to the sea to Oricum, having by no means satisfied the wishes of
his men as he had imagined, for they were enraged at being excluded from
sharing in the spoil of the king, as if they had not waged any war in
Macedon. When he found, at Oricum, the troops sent with his son Maximus
and Scipio Nasica, he embarked the army, and sailed over to Italy.
Anicius, a few days after, having held a convention of the rest of the
Epirotes and Acarnanians, and having ordered those of their chiefs,
whose cases he had reserved for consideration, to follow him into Italy,
waited only for the return of the ships that the Macedonian army had
used, and then passed over to Italy. At the time that these events took
place in Macedon and Epirus, the ambassadors that had been sent with
Attalus, to put a stop to hostilities between the Gauls and king
Eumenes, arrived in Asia. Having agreed to a suspension of arms for the
winter, the Gauls were gone home, and the king had retired to Pergamus
into winter quarters, where he fell sick of a grievous disease. The
first appearance of spring drew out both parties from their respective
homes; the Gauls had advanced as far as Synnada, while Eumenes had
collected from every quarter his forces, at Sardis. Then the Romans held
a conference with Solovettius, general of the Gauls, at Synnada, and
Attalus accompanied them; but it was not thought proper that he should
enter the camp of the Gauls, lest the passions of either party might be
heated by debate. Publius Licinius held a conference with the Gallic
chieftain, and brought back word that he was rendered more haughty by
the attempt to persuade him; so that it might, therefore, seem matter of
wonder that the mediation of Roman ambassadors should have had so great
influence on Antiochus and Ptolemy, two powerful kings, as to make them
instantly conclude a peace; and yet, that it had no influence with the
Gauls.
35. The captive kings, Perseus and Gentius, with their children, were
the first brought to Rome, and put in custody, and next the other
prisoners; then such of the Macedonians and principal men of Greece as
had been ordered to come to Rome; for of these, not only such as were at
home were summoned by letter, but even those who were said to be at the
courts of the kings. In a few days after, Paullus was carried up the
Tiber to the city, in a royal galley of vast size, which was moved by
sixteen tiers of oars, and decorated with Macedonian spoils, consisting
not only of beautiful armour, but of tapestry, which had been the
property of the king; while the banks of the river were covered with the
multitudes that poured out to do him honour. After a few days, arrived
Anicius, and Cneius Octavius with his fleet. A triumph was voted by the
senate to all three: and instructions were given to Quintus Cassius, the
prætor, to apply to the plebeian tribunes, who, by the authority of the
senate, should propose to the commons the passing of an order to invest
them with military command during the day on which they should ride
through the city in triumph. Those in the middle rank are never assailed
by popular displeasure, which usually aims at the highest. With regard
to the triumphs of Anicius and Octavius, no hesitation was made; yet
they detracted from the merits of Paullus, with whom these men could
not, without blushing, set themselves in comparison. He had kept his
soldiers under the ancient rules of discipline, and had made smaller
donations out of the spoil, than they hoped to receive, since the
treasures of the king were so large; for if he had indulged their
avarice, there would have left nothing to be carried to the treasury.
The whole Macedonian army was disposed to attend negligently in support
of their commander, at the assembly held for the passing of the order.
But Servius Sulpicius Galba, (who had been military tribune of the
second legion in Macedon, and who was a personal enemy of the general,)
by his own importunities, and by soliciting them through the soldiers of
his own legion, had instigated them to attend in full numbers, to give
their votes, and to “take revenge on a haughty and morose commander, by
rejecting the order proposed for his triumph. The commons of the city
would follow the judgment of the soldiery. Was it probable that he could
not give the money? The soldiers could confer honours! Let him not hope
to reap the fruits of gratitude among those from whom he had not merited
them.”
36. The soldiers were urged on by these expressions, and when, in the
Capitol, Tiberius Sempronius, tribune of the commons, proposed the
order, and private citizens had an opportunity of speaking on the law,
no one came forward to speak in favour of it, as there was not a doubt
entertained of its passing. Whereupon Servius Galba suddenly came
forward and demanded of the tribune, that, “as it was then the eighth
hour, and as there would not be time enough to produce all the reasons
for not ordering a triumph to Lucius Æmilius, they should adjourn to the
next day, and proceed with the business early in the morning: for he
would require an entire day to plead that cause.” When the tribune
desired, that he would say then whatever he chose to object; by his
speech he protracted the affair until night, representing to the people
and reminding the soldiers, that “the duties of the service had been
enforced with unusual severity; that greater toil and greater danger had
been imposed on them than the occasion required; while, on the other
hand, in respect of rewards and honours, every thing was conducted on
the narrowest scale; and if such commanders succeeded, military
employment would become more irksome and more laborious to the soldiers,
while it would produce to the conquerors neither riches nor honours.
That the Macedonians were in a better condition than the Roman soldiers.
If they would attend next day, in full numbers, to reject the order, men
in power would learn, that every thing was not in the disposal of the
commander, but that there was something in that of the soldiery.” The
soldiers, instigated by such arguments, filled the Capitol next day with
such a crowd, that no one else could find room to vote. When the tribes
which were first called in gave a negative to the question, the
principal men in the state ran together to the Capitol, crying out, that
“it was a shameful thing that Lucius Paullus, after his success in such
an important war, should be robbed of a triumph; that commanders should
be given up, in a state of subjection, to the licentiousness and avarice
of their men. As it was, too many errors were made through a desire to
gain popularity; but what must be the consequence if the soldiers were
raised into the place of masters over their generals?” All heaped
violent reproaches on Galba. At last, when the uproar was calmed, Marcus
Servilius, who had been consul and master of the horse, requested from
the tribunes that they would begin the proceedings anew, and give him an
opportunity of speaking to the people. These, after withdrawing to
deliberate, being overcome by the influence of the leading men of the
state, began the proceedings over again, and declared that they would
call back the tribes as soon as Servilius and other private persons
should have delivered their sentiments.
37. Servilius then said: “Romans, if we had no other means of judging
what a consummate commander Lucius Æmilius was, this one would be
sufficient: that, notwithstanding he had in his camp soldiers so fickle
and mutinously inclined, with an enemy so noble, so zealous, and so
eloquent, to stir up the passions of the multitude, yet he never had any
sedition in his army. That strictness of discipline, which they now
hate, kept them then in order. Subjected to the ancient rules, they did
not mutiny. If truly, Servius Galba wished to make his debut as an
orator in the case of Lucius Paullus, and to give a specimen of his
eloquence, still he ought not to obstruct his triumph, since, if there
was no other reason in its favour, the senate had judged it to be well
merited. But on the day after the triumph, when he should see Æmilius in
a private station, he should prefer a charge, and prosecute him
according to the laws; or else, at a later period, when he himself
should be invested with magistracy, let him cite Paullus to a trial, and
accuse his enemy before the people. By such conduct Lucius Paullus would
both receive the reward of his proper conduct, a triumph for
extraordinary success in war, and also meet punishment, if he had
committed any thing unworthy of his former or present reputation.
Instead of which, he has undertaken to detract from the merits of a man
to whom he cannot impute either crime or dishonour. Yesterday he
demanded a whole day, for making his charges against Lucius Paullus, and
he spent four hours, which remained of that day, in delivering a speech
to that purpose. What accused man was ever so transcendently wicked,
that the offence of his life could not be set forth in that number of
hours? And yet, in all that time, what did he object to him, that Lucius
Paullus, if actually on his trial, would have wished to be denied? Let
any one with me fancy for a moment, two assemblies: one composed of the
soldiers who served in Macedon; the other, of sounder judgment,
unbiassed either by favour or dislike; where the whole body of the Roman
people is the judge. Let the cause of the accused be pleaded, first,
before the citizens, peaceably assembled in their gowns. Servius Galba,
what have you to say before the Roman citizens? for such a discourse, as
you made before, is totally precluded. You were obliged to stand at your
posts with too much strictness and attention; the watches were visited
with too much exactness and severity; you had more fatigue than
formerly, because the general himself went the rounds, and enforced the
duties. On the same day you performed a march, and, without repose,
were led forth to battle. Even when you had gained a victory, he did not
allow you rest: he led you immediately in pursuit of the enemy. When he
has it in his power to make you rich, by dividing the spoil, he intends
to carry the king’s treasure in his triumph, and deposit it in the
treasury. Though these arguments may have some incentive to stimulate
the passions of soldiers, who imagine that too little deference has been
shown to their licentious temper, and too little indulgence to their
avarice; yet they would have no kind of influence on the judgment of the
Roman people; who, though they should not recollect old accounts, and
what they heard from their parents, of the numerous defeats suffered in
consequence of the desire of commanders to gain popularity, or of
victories gained in consequence of strict enforcement of discipline; yet
must they surely remember, what a difference there was in the last Punic
war between Marcus Minucius, the master of the horse, and Quintus Fabius
Maximus, the dictator. The accuser, therefore, would soon know, that any
defence, on the part of Paullus, would be superfluous.
38. “Let us now pass to the other assembly; and here I am not to address
you as citizens, but as soldiers, if, indeed, this name can cause a
blush, and inspire you with shame, for your injurious treatment of your
general. And I for my part feel my own mind affected in a very different
manner, when I suppose myself speaking to an army, from what it was,
just now, when my speech was addressed to the commons of the city. For
what say you, soldiers, is there any man in Rome, except Perseus, that
wishes there should be no triumph over Macedon; and are you not tearing
him in pieces with the same hands with which you subdued the
Macedonians? That man, who would hinder you from entering the city in
triumph, would, if it had been in his power, have hindered you from
conquering. Soldiers, you are mistaken, if you imagine that a triumph is
an honour to the general only, and not to the soldiers also, as well as
to the whole Roman people. This honour does not belong to Paullus alone.
Many who failed of obtaining a triumph from the senate, have triumphed
on the Alban Mount, No man can wrest from Lucius Paullus the honour of
having brought the Macedonian war to a conclusion, any more than he can
from Caius Lutatius, that of putting an end to the first Punic war, or
from Publius Cornelius, that of finishing the second; or from those who,
_since those generals_, have triumphed. Neither will a triumph add to,
or diminish, the honour of Lucius Paullus as a commander: the character
of the soldiers, and of the whole Roman people, is more immediately
concerned therein, lest they should incur the imputation of envy and
ingratitude towards one of their most illustrious citizens, and appear
to imitate, in this respect, the Athenians, who have persecuted their
distinguished men by exciting the hatred of the populace. Sufficient
error was committed by your ancestors in the case of Camillus, whom they
treated injuriously, before the city was recovered from the Gauls
through his means; error sufficient, and more than sufficient, was
committed by you in the case of Publius Africanus. How must we blush,
when we reflect that the habitation and house of the conqueror of Africa
was at Liternum; that his tomb is shown at Liternum! And shall Lucius
Paullus, equal to any of those men in renown, receive from you an equal
share of ill-treatment? Let then this infamy be first blotted out, which
is shameful in the eyes of other nations, and injurious to ourselves;
for who will wish to resemble either Africanus, or Paullus, in a state
ungrateful and inimical to the virtuous? If there were no disgrace in
the case, and the question merely concerned glory, what triumph does not
imply the general glory of the Roman race? Are all the numerous triumphs
over the Gauls, the Spaniards, and the Carthaginians, called the
triumphs of the generals only, or of the Roman people? As the triumphs
were celebrated not merely over Pyrrhus, or Hannibal, or Philip, but
over the Epirotes and Carthaginians; so it was not the individual,
Manius Curius, or Publius Cornelius, nor Titus Quinctius, but the
Romans, that triumphed. This, indeed, is the peculiar case of the
soldiers, who, themselves both crowned with laurel, and conspicuous for
the presents each one has received, proclaim the triumph by name, and
march in procession through the city, singing their own and their
commander’s praises. If, at any time, soldiers are not brought home from
a province to such honours, they murmur; and yet, even in that case,
they consider themselves distinguished, even in their absence, because
by their hands the victory was obtained. Soldiers, if it should be
asked, for what purpose you were brought home to Italy, and not
disbanded immediately, when the business of the province was finished;
why you came to Rome, in a body, round your standards; why you loiter
here, and do not repair to your several homes: what other answer can you
give, than that you wished to be seen triumphing? And, certainly, you
have a right to show yourselves as conquerors.
39. “Triumphs have been lately celebrated over Philip, father of the
present king, and over Antiochus. Both these triumphs over them took
place when they were in possession of their thrones, and shall there be
no triumph over Perseus, who has been taken prisoner, and, with his
children, brought away to the city? But if Lucius Paullus, as a private
citizen, should, amid the crowd of gowned citizens, interrogate, from
the lower ground, those mounting to the Capitol in a chariot, and clad
in gold and purple,—‘Lucius Anicius, Cneius Octavius, whether do you
esteem yourselves, or me, more deserving of a triumph?’ I am confident
they would yield him the chariot, and, through shame, themselves present
to him their ensigns of honour. And do ye choose, citizens, that Gentius
should be led in procession, rather than Perseus; do you wish to triumph
over an accessary, rather than over the principal in the war? Shall the
legions from Illyria, and the crews of the fleet, enter the city with
laurel crowns; and shall the Macedonian legions, after being refused a
triumph, be only spectators of other men’s glories? What then will
become of such a rich booty, the spoils of a victory so lucrative? Where
shall be buried so many thousand suits of armour, stripped from the
bodies of the enemy? shall they be sent back to Macedon? Where shall be
lodged the statues of gold, of marble, and of ivory: the pictures, the
tapestries, such a quantity of wrought silver and gold, and such a mass
of royal money? Shall they be conveyed to the treasury by night, as if
they were stolen? What? when will that greatest of shows, the celebrated
and powerful captive king, Perseus, be exhibited to the eyes of a
victorious people? Most of us remember what a concourse the captured
king Syphax, an auxiliary only in the Punic war, caused; and shall the
captured king, Perseus, with his sons, Philip and Alexander, names so
illustrious, be withdrawn from the eager gaze of the state? All men are
eagerly anxious to behold Lucius Paullus himself, twice consul, the
conqueror of Greece, entering the city in his triumphal chariot. We
made him consul for this very purpose, that he should finish a war which
had been protracted for four years, to our great shame. When he obtained
that province by lot, and when he was setting out for it, with presaging
minds, we destined to him victory and triumph; and shall we now, when he
is victorious, refuse him a triumph; shall we defraud, not only men, but
the gods also of the honours due to them? For a triumph is due to the
gods also, and not to men only: your ancestors commenced every business
of importance with worshipping them, and ended all in the same manner.
The consul, or prætor, (when going to his province and to a war, dressed
in his military robe, and attended by his lictors,) offers vows in the
Capitol; and when he returns victorious, after bringing the war to a
conclusion, carries in triumph to the Capitol, to the deities to whom he
made the vows, the due offering of the Roman people. The victims that
precede him are not the most immaterial part of the procession,—to
demonstrate that the commander comes home with thanksgivings to the gods
for the success granted to the state. You may slay at sacrifices
performed by different persons, all those victims, which he has claimed
to be led in his triumph. Do you intend to interrupt those banquets of
the senate which (whether they are meant for the gratification of men,
or both of gods and men) are not partaken of either in any private or
even public unconsecrated place, but only in the Capitol,—because such
is the will of Servius Galba? Shall the gates be shut against the
triumph of Lucius Paullus? Shall Perseus, king of Macedon, with his
children, the multitude of other captives, and the spoils of the
Macedonians, be left behind on this side of the river? Shall Lucius
Paullus, in a private character, go straight from the gate to his house,
as if returning home from his country-seat? And do you, centurion, and
you, soldiers, listen to the votes of the senate respecting your
general, Paullus, rather than to what Servius Galba may invent? Listen
to me, who say this, rather than to him. He has learned nothing, but to
speak; and even that with rancour and malice. I have three-and-twenty
times fought against the enemy, on challenges; from every one with whom
I engaged, I brought off spoils. I have my body plentifully marked with
honourable scars, all received in front.” It is said that he then
stripped himself, and mentioned in what war each of his wounds was
received; while he was showing these, he happened to uncover what ought
to be concealed, and a swelling in his groins raised a laugh among those
near him. He then said, “This too, which excites your laughter, I got by
continuing days and nights on horseback; nor do I feel either shame or
sorrow for it, any more than for these scars, since it never prevented
me from rendering effectual service to the republic, either in peace or
war. An aged soldier, I have shown to youthful soldiers this body of
mine, often wounded by the weapons of the enemy. Let Galba expose his,
which is sleek and unhurt. Tribunes, be pleased to call back the tribes
to vote. Soldiers, I[102] _will go down among you, and will follow you
as you proceed to give your votes, and I will mark the turbulent and
ungrateful, and such as require that they should not be governed by the
general, but that he should become their willing slave, through a desire
to gain popularity.” The great body of the soldiers felt so deeply the
justice of this reproof, that they changed their minds, so that all the
tribes, when recalled to give their votes, passed unanimously the bill
concerning the triumph. Therefore Paullus, having at length overcome the
malice and detraction of his enemies, celebrated a triumph over king
Perseus and the Macedonians, which lasted three days, namely, the
fourth, third, and second days, before the calends of December. This
triumph, whether we consider the greatness of the conquered king, or the
appearances of the images, or the quantity of money, was by far the most
magnificent that was ever celebrated, so that by its greatness it
precluded all comparison with occurrences of a similar nature. The
people having raised stands, like those in the theatre, along the
market-place and the other streets of the city, by which the procession
was to move, were spectators, and were dressed in white gowns. All the
temples were open, and were wreathed with garlands and smoking with
incense. The lictors and beadles kept the whole extent of the streets
clear, and the way open, by removing from the middle of them the mob,
which was crowding together and wandering about. Although the gorgeous
spectacle was destined to occupy three days, as we have already
mentioned, yet the first day scarcely sufficed for the procession of the
statues and paintings, which were placed on two hundred and fifty
chariots. The next day all the most beautiful and most magnificent arms
of the Macedonians were carried along on many waggons; and these arms
were glittering with all the brightness of steel, or lately polished
brass, and were piled up in such a manner with regard to one another,
that although they seemed to be heaped up in masses rather than
artificially arranged, yet they presented to the eye a striking
appearance, owing to this very fortuitous and confused arrangement:
helmets were mixed with shields, and coats of mail with greaves, and
Cretan targets, and Thracian bucklers, and quivers, in one heap with the
bridles of horses, and naked swords exposing their threatening points,
and Macedonian spears projecting from the sides. And as all these arms
were loosely bound together, whenever they clashed with one another in
the carriage, they sent forth a certain terrible and martial sound, so
that not even the arms of the conquered could be viewed without a
feeling of fear. Then more than seven hundred and fifty vases, filled
with coined silver, were borne along by three thousand men. Each vase
contained three talents, and was borne by four men. There were some who
bore silver bowls, and goblets, and cups, and vessels made of horn,
remarkable as well for the beauty of their arrangement, as for their
size and weight, and the surpassing workmanship of the raised carving.
On the third day, at the very dawn, the trumpeters began the march,
playing not only the festal strains which were usual in solemn
processions, but also sounding the war-notes, as if they were advancing
to battle. A hundred and twenty fat oxen with gilded horns, and adorned
with fillets and wreaths of flowers, were led along. Young men, begirt
with bands of exquisite workmanship, led the bulls along; and to them
were added as companions, boys who bore golden and silver goblets. Then
followed the persons who bore the coined gold in seventy-seven vases,
each of which contained three talents, like those in which the silver
was carried. Then was seen the sacred goblet, ten talents in weight,
adorned with precious gems, which Paullus had ordered to be made, and
also the goblets of Antigonus and Seleucus, and the cups made by
Thericles, and other distinguished artists, all made of gold, with to
which the saloons of Perseus had been furnished. After them came the
chariot of Perseus, laden with his arms, and a diadem in addition. A
band of captives followed, namely, Bethys, the son of king Cotys, who
had been sent by his father into Macedon as a hostage, and subsequently
taken by the Romans along with the children of Perseus; then the
children of Perseus themselves, accompanied by a band of tutors and
guardians, who in tears stretched forth their hands mournfully to the
spectators, and instructed the boys to implore suppliantly the mercy of
the victorious people. There were two sons and one daughter who excited
the greater commiseration in the spectators, because they themselves, on
account of their age, could scarcely comprehend their misfortunes.
Therefore the majority of the spectators could not refrain from tears,
and a sort of silent grief saddened the minds of all, and prevented them
from enjoying real pleasure, as long as the children met their gaze.
Behind his children walked Perseus with his wife, in a mourning robe,
dressed in sandals, after the Greek custom, like a person stupified and
astonished, whom the greatness of his calamities seemed to have deprived
of reason. Then followed a crowd of friends and acquaintances, in whose
countenances deep grief was depicted, for whenever they gazed on the
king they wept bitterly, demonstrating clearly that they were grieved on
account of his calamities, but forgot their own. Perseus had endeavoured
to avert this ignominy by entreaties, and had sent persons to Æmilius,
to beg that he should not be led in the triumphal procession. Æmilius
smiled at the dastardly spirit of the wretch, and said, “that this
request was formerly, and is even now, under his own actions and power;”
thereby giving him a silent hint, that he should avoid by a noble death
that of which he was afraid. But his irresolute mind was not capable of
adopting so determined a design, and under the soothing influence of
some hope, he preferred being considered part of his own spoil. Then
four hundred golden crowns were carried along, which had been sent by
almost all the states of Greece and Asia, through their ambassadors, as
gifts to Paullus, and an expression of their joy for his victory: their
value, if they were considered intrinsically, was immense, yet they
constituted a slight addition to the enormous treasures which were borne
in that triumph._
40. Valerius Antias tells us, that the total of the captured gold and
silver, carried in the procession, was one hundred and twenty millions
of sesterces;[103] but from the number of chariots, and the weights of
the gold and silver, specifically set down by himself, the amount is
unquestionably made much greater. An equal sum, it is said, had been
either expended on the late war, or dissipated during the flight, when
he sought Samothrace; and it was more wonderful on this account, because
so large a quantity of money had been amassed within the space of the
thirty years that intervened since Philip’s war with the Romans, partly
out of the produce of the mines, and partly from the other branches of
revenue. Philip began war against the Romans almost destitute of money;
Perseus, on the contrary, was immensely rich. Last came Paullus himself,
in his chariot, making a very majestic appearance, both from the dignity
of his person, and from his age. After his chariot, among other
illustrious personages, were his two sons, Quintus Maximus and Publius
Scipio; then the cavalry, troop by troop, and the cohorts of infantry,
each in its order. The donative distributed among them was one hundred
denariuses[104] to each footman, double to a centurion, and triple to a
horseman; and it is believed that he would have given as much more to
the infantry, and in the same proportion to the others, had they not
objected to his attaining the present honour, or had they answered with
thankful acclamations, when that sum was announced as their reward. But
Perseus, led through the city of his enemies in chains, before the
chariot of the general, his conqueror, was not the only instance at the
time of the misfortunes incident to mankind; another appeared even in
the victorious Paullus, though glittering in gold and purple. For, of
two sons, (whom, after having given away two others on adoption, he had
retained at home, the sole heirs of his name, household gods, and
estate,) the younger, about twelve years old, died five days before the
triumph, and the elder fourteen years of age, three days after it; who
ought to have been carried in the chariot with their father, dressed in
the prætexta, and anticipating, in their hopes, the like kind of honours
for themselves. A few days after, at a general assembly granted by
Marcus Antonius, tribune of the people, after Paullus has descanted on
his own proper services, as usually done by other commanders, his
speech was memorable, and worthy of a Roman chief.
41. “Although, Romans, I think you are not ignorant that I have
successfully administered the state, nor that two dreadful strokes have
lately crushed my house; since now my triumph and now the funerals of my
two sons have been exhibited to your view; yet permit me, I pray you, to
take in few words, and with that temper which becomes me, a comparative
view of my own private situation, and the happy state of the public.
Departing from Italy, I sailed from Brundusium at sun-rise; at the ninth
hour, with my whole squadron, I reached Corcyra. On the fifth day after
that I offered sacrifice to Apollo, at Delphi, in expiation of myself,
of your armies and fleets. From Delphi I arrived on the fifth day in the
camp; where, having received the command of the army, and altered
several matters which greatly impeded success, I advanced into the
country; as the enemy’s camp was impregnable, and Perseus could not be
brought to an action, I forced the pass of Petra in the very face of his
guards, and at length, compelled the king to come to an engagement, and
gained a complete victory. I reduced Macedonia under the power of the
Romans; and in fifteen days finished a war, which four consuls before me
had for four years conducted in such a manner, that each left it to his
successor more formidable than he had found it. Other prosperous events
followed in consequence of this; all the cities of Macedon submitted;
the royal treasure came into my hands; the king himself, with his
children, was taken in the temple of Samothrace, just as if the gods
themselves delivered him into my hands. I now thought my good fortune
excessive, and on that account to be suspected; I began to dread the
dangers of the sea in carrying away the king’s vast treasure, and
transporting the victorious army. When all arrived in Italy, after a
prosperous voyage, and I had nothing further to wish, I prayed that (as
fortune generally from the highest elevation rolls backwards) my own
house, rather than the commonwealth, might feel the change. I hope,
therefore, that the republic is free from danger, by my having undergone
such an extraordinary calamity, as to have my triumph, in mockery as it
were of human fortunes, intervene between the funerals of my two sons.
And though Perseus and myself are at present exhibited as the most
striking examples of the vicissitudes of mortals, yet he,—who, himself
in captivity saw his children led captive,—has them still in safety;
while I who triumphed over him, went up in my chariot to the Capitol
from the funeral of one son, and came down from the Capitol to the bed
of the other, just expiring; nor out of so large a family of children is
there one remaining to bear the name of Lucius Æmilius Paullus. For, as
out of a numerous progeny, the Cornelian and Fabian families have two of
them who were given in adoption. In the house of Paullus, except the old
man, none remains. However, your happiness, and the prosperous state of
the commonwealth, console me for this ruin of my house.” 42. These
words, expressed with such magnanimity, moved the minds of the audience
with deeper commiseration than if he had with tears bewailed the loss of
his children in the most plaintive terms.
Cneius Octavius celebrated a naval triumph over king Perseus, on the
calends of December. That triumph was without prisoners or spoils. He
distributed to each seaman seventy-five denariuses;[105] to the pilots
who were on board, twice that sum; and to the masters of ships, four
times. A meeting of the senate was then held. The fathers ordered that
Quintus Cassius should conduct king Perseus and his son Alexander to
Alba, to be there kept in custody; but that he should retain his
attendants, money, plate, and furniture. Bitis, son to the king of
Thrace, was sent to Carseoli; with the hostages he had given to Macedon,
the rest, who had been led in triumph, were ordered to be shut up in
prison. A few days after this passed, ambassadors came from Cotys, king
of Thrace, bringing money to ransom his son and the said hostages. When
they were introduced to an audience of the senate, and alleged, as an
argument, in excuse of Cotys, that he had not voluntarily assisted
Perseus in the war, but had been compelled to do it; and likewise
requested the senate to allow the hostages to be ransomed, at any price
that should be judged proper; the following answer was returned to them:
that “the Roman people remembered the friendship which had subsisted
between them and Cotys, and likewise his predecessors, and the Thracian
nation; that the giving of hostages was the very fault laid to his
charge, and not an apology for it; for Perseus, even when at rest from
others, could not be formidable to the Thracian nation, much less when
he was embroiled in a war with Rome. But that notwithstanding that Cotys
had preferred the favour of Perseus to the friendship of the Roman
people, yet the senate would consider rather what suited their own
dignity, than what treatment he had merited; and would send home his son
and the hostages; that the kind acts of the Roman people were always
gratuitous, and that they chose to leave the value of them in the memory
of the receivers, rather than to demand it at the time.” Titus Quintius
Flamininus, Caius Licinius Nerva, and Marcus Caninius Rebilus were
nominated ambassadors to conduct the hostages to Thrace; and a present
of two thousand _asses_[106] was made to each of the Thracian
ambassadors. Bithys was fetched from Carseoli, and, accompanied by the
hostages, was sent to his father along with the ambassadors. Some of the
king’s ships which were taken from the Macedonians, which were of a size
never seen before, were hauled ashore in the field of Mars.
43. While the memory of the Macedonian triumph was remaining not only in
the minds but almost before the eyes of the people, Lucius Anicius
triumphed over king Gentius and the Illyrians, on the day of the
festival of Quirinus. These exhibitions were considered rather as
similar than equal. The commander himself was inferior; Anicius was not
to be compared in renown with Æmilius; a prætor, in dignity of office,
with a consul; neither could Gentius be set on a level with Perseus, nor
the Illyrians with the Macedonians; nor the spoils, nor the money, nor
the presents obtained in one country, with those obtained in the other.
But though the late triumph outshone the present, yet the latter, when
considered by itself, appeared very far from contemptible. For Anicius
had, in the space of a few days, entirely subdued the Illyrian nation,
though they were remarkable for their courage both on land and sea, and
confident in the strength of their position; he had also taken their
king and the whole royal family. He carried in his triumph many military
standards, and much spoil of other sorts, with all the royal furniture;
and also twenty-seven pounds’ weight of gold, and nineteen of silver,
besides three thousand denariuses,[107] and, in Illyrian money, the
amount of one hundred and twenty thousand.[108] Before his chariot were
led Gentius, with his queen and children; Caravantius, the king’s
brother, and several Illyrian nobles. Out of the booty he gave
forty-five denariuses[109] to each footman, double that sum to a
centurion, triple it to a horseman; to the Latin allies the like sums as
to natives, and to the seamen the same as to the soldiers. The soldiers
attended this triumph with greater demonstrations of joy than that of
Æmilius, and the general was celebrated in abundance of songs. Valerius
Antias says, that twenty thousand sesterces[110] were produced by the
sale of the booty, besides the gold and silver carried to the treasury;
but, as no sources appeared from which such a sum could be raised, I
have set down my authority instead of asserting the fact. King Gentius,
with his queen, children, and brother, was, pursuant to an order of the
senate taken to Spoletium, to be kept there in custody; the rest of the
prisoners were thrown into prison at Rome; but the people of Spoletium
refusing the charge, the royal family was removed to Iguvium. There
remained of the Illyrian spoil, two hundred and twenty barks, which
Quintus Cassius, by order of the senate, distributed among the
Corcyreans, Apollonians, and Dyrrachians.
44. The consuls of this year, after merely ravaging the lands of the
Ligurians, as the enemy never brought an army into the field, returned
to Rome to elect new magistrates, without having performed any matter of
importance; and on the first day on which the assembly could meet, they
appointed Marcus Claudius Marcellus, and Caius Sulpicius Gallus,
consuls. Lucius Livius, Lucius Appuleius Saturninus, Aulus Licinius
Nerva, Publius Rutilius Calvus, Publius Quintilius Varus, and Marcus
Fonteius, were elected prætors on the next day. The two city provinces,
the two Spains, Sicily, and Sardinia were decreed to these prætors.
There was an intercalation made in the calendar this year, which took
place on the day after the feast of Terminus. One of the augurs, Caius
Claudius, died this year, and Titus Quintus Flamininus was chosen in his
place by the college. The flamen quirinalis, Quintus Fabius Pictor, died
also. This year king Prusias arrived at Rome with his son Nicomedes.
Coming into the city with a large retinue, he went directly from the
gate to the forum, to the tribunal of the prætor, Quintus Cassius; and a
crowd immediately collecting, he said, that “he came to pay his
respects to the deities inhabiting the city of Rome, and to the Roman
senate and people, to congratulate them on their conquest of the two
kings, Perseus and Gentius, and the augmentation of their empire by the
reduction of Macedon and Illyria under their dominion.” When the prætor
told him that, if he chose it, he would procure him audience of the
senate on the same day, he desired two days’ time, in which he might go
round and visit the temples of the gods, see the city, and his
acquaintances and friends. Lucius Cornelius Scipio, then quæstor, who
had been sent to Capua to meet him, was appointed to conduct him around
Rome. A house was likewise provided, capable of lodging him and his
retinue with convenience. On the third day after, he attended at a
meeting of the senate. He congratulated them on their success, recounted
his own deserts towards them during the war, and then requested that “he
might be allowed to fulfil a vow of sacrificing ten large victims in the
Capitol, and one to Fortune at Præneste; a vow which had been made for
the success of the Roman people. He further desired that the alliance
with him might be renewed; and that the territory taken from king
Antiochus, and not granted to any other, but now in possession of the
Gauls, might be given to him.” Lastly, he recommended to the senate his
son Nicomedes. He was assisted by the interest of all those who had
commanded armies in Macedon; his requests therefore were granted, except
that with regard to the territory, concerning which he received this
answer: that “they would send ambassadors to examine the matter on the
spot. If the territory in question had become the property of the Roman
people, and if no grant had been made of it, they would deem no other so
deserving of a present of the kind as Prusias. But if it had not
belonged to Antiochus, it evidently, in consequence, did not become the
property of the Roman people; or if it had been already granted to the
Gauls, Prusias must excuse the Roman people if they did not choose to
confer a present on him in violation of the rights of others. A present
cannot be acceptable to the receiver, which he knows the donor may take
away whenever he thinks proper. That they cheerfully accepted his
recommendation of Nicomedes; and Ptolemy, king of Egypt, was an instance
of the great care with which the Roman people supported the children of
their friends.” With this answer Prusias was dismissed. Presents were
ordered to be given him to the value of * * * * sesterces besides vases
of silver, weighing fifty pounds. And they voted that gifts should be
given to his son Nicomedes of the same value with those given to
Masgaba, the son of king Masinissa; and that the same victims, and other
matters pertaining to sacrifices, should be furnished to the king at the
public expense, as to the Roman magistrates, whenever he chose to make
the offering, either at Rome or at Præneste; and that twenty ships of
war should be assigned to him, and which were then lying at Brundusium,
of which he should have the use until he arrived at the fleet which was
presented to him. That Lucius Cornelius Scipio should not quit him, but
defray all his expenses, and those of his retinue, until they went on
board the ships. We are told that Prusias was wonderfully rejoiced at
the kind treatment which he received from the Roman people; that he
refused all that had been offered to himself, but ordered his son to
receive the present of the Roman people. Such are the accounts given of
Prusias by our own writers. Polybius, however, represents that king as
having degraded the majesty of his name,—and says that he used to meet
the ambassadors, wearing a cap, and having his head shaved, calling
himself a freed slave of the Roman people, and, accordingly, bearing the
badges of that class; that likewise at Rome, when coming into the
senate-house, he stooped down and kissed the threshold; called the
senate his tutelar deities, and used other expressions not so honourable
to the hearers as disgraceful to himself. He staid in the city and its
vicinity not more than thirty days, and then returned to his kingdom,
and the war that had been carried on in Asia. * * * * * * * * * *
Here ends all that has reached us of this history. Of ninety-five
books more, which it originally consisted of, the contents only
have been preserved; they are as follow:—