self-conquest--the most important conquest of all--had been altogether
lost sight of, and she had failed in obtaining the victory over her own
vices. Though she possessed, nominally, a constituted body of rulers,
money was actually the governing power; and so debasing is its
influence, that it is more fatal to the liberty of a people to be ruled
with a rod of gold, than with a rod of iron. No consideration but
pecuniary consideration had any weight, corruption presided in the
courts of law, the people were bought by the Senate, and the Senate sold
the people. In the army there was a system of shameless plunder on the
part of the commanders, and the soldiers followed their leaders with
avidity.
Numidia had, since the death of Masinissa, been ruled over by his son
Micipsa, who, by his will, put his kingdom, as it were, into commission,
by giving it to his two sons, Hiempsal and Adherbal, conjointly with a
lad whom he had adopted, and whose name was Jugurtha. Jugurtha was a
person of excellent manners and genteel address, an excellent horseman,
the first to strike the lion[68] in the field, and himself a lion much
run after in society.
On the death of Micipsa, when the three rulers came to the throne of
Numidia, they found the accommodation rather insufficient, and Jugurtha
insolently threw himself down in the middle of it. By this act the two
sons of Micipsa were practically set aside, and Jugurtha assumed that in
himself alone the monarchy was centered. His next act was to propose the
abolition of the acts of the last five years of Micipsa's reign,
declaring that they ought all to be dotted out, on the ground of the old
man's dotage. Hiempsal, with a touch of sarcasm, assented to the
proposal, observing--"We shall then get rid of you, as your adoption was
an act performed within the prescribed period." This attempt to be funny
was a serious matter to Hiempsal, for Jugurtha caused the would-be wag
to be murdered in the palace.
After this instance of sharp practice, on the part of Jugurtha, Adherbal
began to tremble in his shoes lest he might be made to walk in his
brother's footsteps. This fear was so nearly on the point of being
realised, that Adherbal took to flight, and ran all the way to Rome, to
ask for aid; upon which a commission of inquiry, consisting of ten
members, was despatched to Numidia.
To refer any matter to a commission, has always been considered
equivalent to laying it permanently on the shelf; and such might have
been the result of the quarrel of the Numidian princes, had it not been
for the fact that Jugurtha had settled the dispute in his own way,
before the commissioners had even opened their inquiry. By the time they
had arrived on the spot to which they had been sent, they found one of
the parties dead, and the other in possession of all that he desired.
Jugurtha was, of course, the survivor in this affair; and when the
ambassadors, on their arrival, expressed their astonishment at their
services having been dispensed with, he, by offering them something for
their trouble, sent them home fully and shame-fully satisfied.
Every spark of honour was not, however, extinct in Rome; for the
tribune, C. Memmius, who had not received, or, indeed, had not been
offered, any of Jugurtha's gold, became virtuously indignant at the
disgraceful harvest made by the ten commissioners. His agitation was so
far successful, that war was declared, and the Consul, L. Calpurnius
Bestia, with his legate, M. Æmilius Scaurus, were sent to invade Africa.
Bestia immediately made the best bargain he could for himself, by
concluding a peace with Jugurtha, on certain terms, for which the Roman
Consul's own terms were most exorbitant. He and his legate, Scaurus,
accepted a nominal surrender of all Jugurtha's tents, horses, and
elephants; but he was allowed to reserve nearly the whole of his canvas
booths and his menagerie.
When the tribune Memmius heard of the venality of the ambassadors, and
of the money they had corruptly made by their services abroad, he, whose
duties kept him at home, became more indignant than ever. He denounced,
in abusive language, the abuse of which they had been guilty, and
succeeded at last in carrying a motion that Jugurtha should appear to
answer for his offences of bribery and corruption before the Senate. The
summons was carried to Africa, by the stern and incorruptible Cassius,
who refused every offer of cash, and insisted on the personal appearance
of Jugurtha at the time and place appointed. The artful Numidian came
with a very small retinue and a very long purse; for he knew that in
meeting such an antagonist as Rome, he should not have to draw the steel
from the scabbard, but the gold from the treasury. He threw purses in
all directions; and so extensive was his bribery, that the criminals who
had accepted his money were a strong majority over the few who were
qualified, by not having participated in the offence, to sit in judgment
over it. Memmius, who had seen none of Jugurtha's gold, insisted on his
giving up the names of those who had received it; but there was such a
vehement and general shout of "No," that any further inquiry as to who
were the culprits, would have been quite superfluous.
The only punishment the Senate ventured to inflict upon Jugurtha, was a
sentence of banishment; and it was indeed quite natural that the
dishonourable members should have been glad to send speedily out of the
way the principal witness to their own turpitude. As Jugurtha quitted
Rome, he expressed his disgust at her venality, in a sentiment which
came with but an ill grace from an accomplice in her infamy. "Oh!" he
exclaimed, with an air of affected horror, "Oh! thou venal city; thou
wouldst sell thyself to perdition, if thou couldst only find a
purchaser!" The exact point at which this claptrap was uttered, who was
at hand to hear it, and supposing the reporters to have been present,
whether they proceeded to take it down, are points which the historians
have not shown any disposition to look into.
After the retirement of the only witness, the inquiry into the bribery
cases was prosecuted with considerable vigour. Scaurus, who had been one
of the chief delinquents, attempted to expiate his own faults by getting
himself appointed a member of the committee, and passing as severe
sentences as he could upon his fellow criminals.
War with Jugurtha was again declared; for it was one of the most
prolific sources of a profitable job to those in power. The Consul,
Spurius Posthumius Albinus, was despatched with an army to Africa; but
he soon came home, like his predecessors, with a large fortune, which
seemed to be the kind of fortune of war that attended all who went to
fight against Numidia. He left the army under the guidance of his
brother Aulus, who, with his officers, were easily bribed into accepting
any terms, provided they were of a pecuniary nature, that Jugurtha
proposed to them. The Senate, however, refused to ratify the
dishonourable peace concluded by Aulus; and thus, by the somewhat
dishonest process of repudiating the acts of an authorised agent, Rome
was again free to make a further property of the Numidian sovereign. At
last, however, the affair was placed in honourable hands, by the
appointment of Metellus (Q. C.) to the command of the army. His probity
placed him far above any bribe that Jugurtha could offer; and though it
is a maxim with many, that every man has his price, it may be said of
Metellus that his moral standard was too high for any pecuniary standard
to be applied to it.
With the generosity of true genius, Metellus selected as his legate a
man capable of sharing with himself any of the honours that might be
gained in the wars about to be undertaken. This man was Caius Marius,
who had been, in early life, a labourer; but, while working with the
spade, he felt sure that something would eventually turn up in his
favour. He had served as a common soldier, but proved himself no common
man; and he rose, step by step, to a highly respectable position.
Vanity, however, was one of his weak points, and he fell into the hands
of an old Syrian fortune-teller, who resorted to all sorts of tricks to
persuade him that he was destined for the highest honours. He mentioned
his aspirations to Metellus, and hinted at the possibility of his
obtaining the Consulship; but his superior officer burst into a loud
laugh, which, instead of putting Marius out of conceit, put him further
into it. He proceeded to Rome, and, by a series of popular speeches, in
which he promised everything to the people, he, of course, gained their
suffrages. Having obtained the Consulship, he was despatched to finish
the war against Jugurtha; but Metellus, having first pretended that
there was nothing more to be done, for that he had settled the whole
business himself, resigned his post to Marius.
Peace had indeed been already concluded with Jugurtha; but Rome, with
its habitual want of faith, re-opened the war, which terminated at last
in Jugurtha's being taken prisoner. He was drawn behind the chariot of
Marius--a situation little less exalted than being tied to a cart's
tail, and in that position received the pelting of a pitiless storm of
mud from the congenial hands of a cowardly populace. Being thrown into a
damp dungeon, he--as we are told by the grave historians--still
preserved his wit; for he exclaimed, as he entered his prison, "By
Hercules, what a cold bath!"--a touch of humour which seems to us
remarkable for neither breadth, point, nor neatness. When, however, we
consider the moisture of the circumstances under which he was placed, we
cannot be surprised that he should have failed in an attempt at dry
humour.
The war with Jugurtha was no sooner at an end, than Rome found herself
threatened by the swords of half-a-dozen different foes; and, in default
of being able to cut herself into six, for the purpose of dividing her
strength, she seemed in danger of such a cutting-up at the hands of her
enemies. It would be a tedious task to unravel the excessive tangle into
which the threads of history are thrown by the windings of those
numerous lines of barbarians who kept themselves suspended over Rome at
about this period. The Cimbri, a Celtic race, entered into an alliance
with the Teutoni--a German band--and threw themselves upon Gaul; which
was unable to throw them off again. They encountered the Consul, M.
Junius Silanus, to whom they applied for a country to be assigned to
them; but, as this modest request could not be attended to, they set
upon Silanus, and gave him a sound beating. At length the Consul, Q.
Servilius Cœpio, offered to meet the difficulty, and approached the
Rhone, but the Cimbri cut to pieces 80,000 soldiers and 40,000 camp
followers; at least, if we are to believe the authorities, who are
always ready to mince men, though never mincing matters.
Cœpio--according to the same authentic accounts--was glad to make his
escape across the Rhone with a handful of men, and the term, "handful"
is in this instance not misapplied; for as the number is said to have
been exactly ten, he might have easily told them off on his fingers. As
if to show that they had not been actuated by mercenary motives, the
Cimbri threw into the river the whole of their booty; and, not satisfied
with spoiling the foe, they proceeded to spoil the property taken in
battle.
It says little to the credit of Rome that her dangers seemed to damp the
ambition of her citizens, and no one evinced an anxiety for the perilous
honours of the Consulship. Those among the aristocracy who claimed a
sort of prescriptive right to the government in times when there was
everything to be got, now that there was a prospect of everything being
lost, shrunk from the responsibility of a high position. The plebeian,
Marius, was declared to be the only man for the situation; and, instead
of being obliged to solicit the Consulship, it was thrust upon him even
before he had returned from Africa.
His first care was to get together an army capable of bearing the
fatigues of a military life, in preference to those who were only fit to
support its gaudy trappings. He enlisted large numbers of working men,
and tested their strength by putting into their hands a spade before he
entrusted them with a sword, subjecting them to all sorts of privations,
and putting them even upon reduced rations--an experiment that was by no
means rational. Many of the soldiers, who, under a generous diet, would
have become strong healthy men, dwindled to mere skeletons, and many of
the recruits were reduced so low that their strength was past
recruiting. Those who were able to stand against the fatigue, were hardy
enough to stand against anything; and, in order to give them the benefit
of a lengthy training, he refused to accept battle until a convenient
opportunity. He allowed the Teutoni to pass his camp, and, as they did
so, they inquired tauntingly if there were any messages or parcels for
Rome, as they--the Teutoni--were on their journey thither. Marius
pursued them to Aquæ Sextiæ--now Aix--and purposely pitched his camp in
such a place, that water could not be obtained without a fight for it.
Every soldier who went down to the river was obliged to draw his sword
as he drew the water he required, and, while he fought with one hand,
defended himself as well as he could with a bucket in the other. The
Teutoni were completely defeated, and rushed, for safety, to their
wagons; but all who remained in the rear, together with many who had got
into the van, were cut to pieces.
Marius had no sooner disposed of the Teutoni, than he heard that the
Cimbri were pouring themselves all over the plains of Lombardy; and,
proceeding to meet them, he threatened to "turn their bones into
whitening for the fields," a menace that proves the practice of bone
manuring to be an agricultural process of great antiquity. He drew up
his army near Verona, at a place called the Campi Raudii, and found the
front ranks of the Cimbri linked together by chains,--an arrangement
adopted, probably, to prevent their running away, and making them feel
bound to stand against the enemy. Marius, with considerable tact, got
into such a position that the sun got into their eyes, and the wind blew
their noses. Unable to look their danger in the face, they were sent
winking and sneezing to destruction.
Marius celebrated the success of the day in a magnificent triumph, and
paraded, among his trophies, a Cimbric king of such a gigantic height,
that, notwithstanding his humiliating position, everybody looked up to
him.
For the sixth time the consulship was bestowed on Marius, though not
without a vast amount of bribery on the part of the successful
candidate, who, while he corrupted the electors with one hand, raised a
temple to Virtue and Honour with the other. He had now become so
inflated with vanity, that he came swelling into the Senate in his
triumphal robes; but he was so coldly received, that he pretended he
had forgotten to change his dress, though his astonishment was as
clearly put on as his objectionable attire. He caused to be engraved
upon his buckler the image of a Gaul pulling out his tongue; an allegory
rather difficult to comprehend, except by adopting the somewhat vulgar
reading, that the design was emblematical of the fact that, after the
victory of Marius, the Gaul might as well pull out his tongue at once,
as there could be no chance of his giving a licking to the Romans.
Marius was so popular, that he was acknowledged as the third founder of
Rome; Romulus, Camillus, and himself being figuratively regarded as so
many bricks that the city had been built upon.
Success had rendered Marius so arrogant, that he committed many illegal
acts, declaring that, amid the clashing of the swords of war, the silent
motion of the sword of justice could neither be heard nor attended to.
His morbid appetite for mob popularity caused him to enter into a
disgraceful alliance with an unprincipled demagogue, named L. Appuleius
Saturninus, whose performances equalled his promises; but he always
promised one thing, and performed another. He adopted the extremely
liberal side in politics, and proposed, among other liberal measures,
that every member of the Senate should bind himself by an oath to
support some very liberal law for dealing with property, by taking it
from those who had it, and giving it to those who were ready to take it.
This friend of freedom suggested, further, that every senator attempting
to exercise a free will, should pay a heavy penalty. One of the
aristocratic party having ventured on proposing an amendment, was driven
from the Senate by a shower of missiles. Another having suggested that
he heard thunder--a sign at which the Assembly should have broken
up--was told that there would probably be some hail, with hail-stones of
real stone, if he opposed the project of Saturninus. Marius had the
courage to declare that he would never take the degrading oath; Metellus
seconded his resolution; and the whole Senate, with one voice--which
turned out, ultimately, to be _vox et præterea nihil_--swore that they
would never swear to what the people had dared to demand of them.
Notwithstanding this spirited proposition, Marius had not sufficient
bravery to brave the popular clamour, and his courage had died away
before five days had expired. Having called a special meeting of the
Senate, he intimated that second thoughts were sometimes best, and that,
after his first thought, there had occurred to him a second, which he
proposed that they should place upon their minutes. He concluded by
intimating that he had been pelted in public for the part he had taken,
and, as the people were determined, apparently, on having their fling,
there was little use in opposing them. He declared his attachment to his
native soil; and, though he had always kept it in his eye, he objected
to its being thrown in his face by his own countrymen. He finished by
proposing that the oath should be taken, with a mental reservation that
it should not be kept--a disgraceful compromise between cowardice and
conscience, which the Senate without hesitation assented to. There was,
after this, so little disposition to freedom among the members, that
Metellus Numidicus was the only one who held out; and he, instead of
remaining to battle with the abuse, preferred sneaking away from it into
voluntary exile.
Saturninus not only put himself up for the tribuneship a third time, but
endeavoured to get the Consulship for one Servilius Glaucia; and these
noisy demagogues--by way of guiding the people in their choice--coolly
murdered C. Memmius, who had started as an opposition candidate.
Marius now began to perceive that he had connected himself with a
disreputable set, and finding his popularity on the wane, he repudiated
his new political allies as suddenly as he had joined with them. He
drove Saturninus to the Capitol, where, being without provisions, the
demagogue found himself at last driven to an unprovisional surrender.
Saturninus, Glaucia, and others were put to death by the command of
Marius, who thus regained the good opinion of the people, though he had,
in fact, simply trampled under foot, when down, those whom he had taken
by the hand when they were uppermost. Having so far reinstated himself
in the favour of the public, Marius retired into private life; and it
was time that he should do so, while he had yet a certain amount of
popularity left to fall back upon.
Law Reform, and the extension of the franchise, had now become the two
great questions of the day; for the tribunals were courts of in-justice,
and the Italians thought that as much weight ought to be allowed to the
Italic as to the Roman character. It was the policy of the Senate to
purchase popularity at almost any price, and the members were ready to
outbid each other by the most extravagant offers, for the object of
their ignoble competition. Among the boldest of the bidders was M.
Livius Drusus, the son of old Drusus--the colleague of Gracchus--who
seems to have inherited his father's propensity for sacrificing all his
principle, in order to convert it into political capital. Young Drusus
is said to have been a remarkable man, because, when Quæstor in Asia, he
dispensed with the insignia of office, preferring to depend upon his own
personal bearing, and, perhaps, wishing to save the cost of those
externals which, sometimes, take from the public functionary quite as
much in the way of emolument, as they bring him in the way of dignity.
He had been elected to the Tribuneship, and in that capacity he did
everything he could to catch the breath of popular applause, which often
sullies the brightness of the object that seeks to reflect the
evanescent vapour.
One of the principal propositions of M. Livius Drusus was, that the
judges should be liable to be brought to trial themselves, for their
mode of conducting the trials of others. This attempt to undermine the
independence of the judicial order, was shown to be so fatal to the
administration of justice, that the people, who, after all, require only
to be convinced of what is right in order to take the right direction,
repudiated the proposal which Drusus had intended to be the means of
misleading them, and obtaining for himself--under false pretences--a
little additional popularity. It was pointed out to them, that a judge
who felt every trial at which he was presiding to be his own, and who
would be always divided between the calm demands of justice on one hand,
and the unreasoning voice of public clamour on the other, would feel
himself exposed to a pressure that would prevent him from maintaining an
upright position. Notwithstanding his failure in this instance, M.
Livius Drusus made himself the champion of the movement, and opened his
house every evening, to give political advice gratis to all who were
desirous of consulting him. He was engaged in this manner during one of
his evenings at home, when he was suddenly stabbed by a shoe-maker's
knife; and though the assassin was never discovered, the blow was
supposed to have been connived at by some persons who had persuaded the
cobbler to risk his awl in the dangerous effort. As a Roman could never
die without a claptrap in his mouth, Drusus was of course prepared with
a neat speech on the melancholy occasion. Having ejaculated, "Oh! thou
ungrateful Republic, thou hast never lost a more devoted son!" he
arranged his toga in becoming folds, and bowing to circumstances--
bowing, perhaps, to the audience as well--he gracefully expired.
[Illustration: Drusus is stabbed, and expires gracefully.]
The Italians, being deprived of the support of Drusus, were more than
ever oppressed, and the multitude, whom it is customary to regard as
synonymous with the liberal party, became vehement in denouncing the
idea of allowing an equality of rights to all classes of Roman subjects.
The Italians, therefore, came to the resolution, that if Rome was not to
exist for them, it should not exist at all; but that they would either
bring the city to the ground, or raise themselves from the dust to which
injustice had lowered them. Several of the Italian nations formed
themselves into a league, but never did a league go to such lengths as
the one in question; for some of its members murdered the prætor,
Servilius Cœpio, and his legate, who attended a meeting in the hope of
conciliation at the Theatre of Asculum.
The next step of the Italians was to start a republic of their own,
under the name of Italica; and by way of giving it an imposing
appearance, it was to have a senate five hundred strong--though in a
deliberative assembly numbers are not so much an element of strength as
of weakness. It was to have two annual consuls, and no less than twelve
prætors; it being perhaps the policy of the framers of the constitution
to have plenty of patronage to tempt adherents to the new government.
The two consuls first appointed were Silo Popædius, a Marsian, and C.
Papius Mutilus, a Samnite, who took the field with great vigour, but
took little else in the first instance; for Silo fell in the fight,
though Mutilus, whose army was terribly mutilated, obtained some success
in Campania.